Chapter 34
“We’ll have to go in and look for Carol in a bit,” Daryl said to the others, glancing upstairs.
“And this child, she needs food, otherwise she won’t survive,” Herschel said, taking the baby from Karl’s arms and examining her for a moment.
“I’ll go find it,” Glenn said.
“I’ll go too,” Maggie said.
“We need to hurry, it’s getting dark,” Daryl patted Lina on the shoulder and led Glenn and Maggie outside.
Lina looked upstairs, but Rick didn't move.
“Let’s go, we need to dig up a few…” Andrea said as she walked up to Lina.
“Yes,” Lina nodded absentmindedly and followed Andrea out.
“I think we can help too,” Axel and Oscar followed.
Andrea glanced at them without saying anything, but simply handed them two shovels.
The four of them silently dug a hole for Jimmy, T-boy, and Lowry.
After a while, Glenn came over.
"Didn't you go to find baby formula?" Andrea stopped what she was doing and looked at Glenn.
“The car couldn’t get through, so Daryl and Maggie rode off on their motorcycles.” Glenn took the shovel from Andrea’s hand, glanced at the two prisoners, and pursed his lips.
“It’s alright,” Andrea said.
"..." Glenn just kept his head down and dug the hole.
"Rick?" Andrea looked from a distance and saw that Rick seemed to have run into the building next to the restaurant.
Lina looked up, but she couldn't see anything. However, she could guess what it was.
"I'll go check," Andrea said, still worried.
“I’ll go with you,” Glenn said, glancing at Lina, who had dug a hole all by herself, something the two prisoners could easily manage.
“Okay,” Andrea nodded, and the two ran toward the restaurant.
Axel looked at Lina, "Hey, how did you do that? You're so strong..."
Lina ignored him; she didn't want to talk right now.
Oscar glared at Axel, who shrugged helplessly. "Just trying to lighten the mood..."
Lina dug two holes, picked up her shovel, and headed back; she still needed to go in and look for Carol.
When they got back, Beth and Amy had already tidied up Lori, changed her into clean clothes, and wrapped her in clean sheets.
“He’s not back yet,” Beth said, looking at Lina with some distress.
“Lowry should be laid to rest as soon as possible,” Lina said after glancing at him. “I’m going…”
The door was kicked open, and Rick and Glenn rushed in carrying Carol.
"Mom!" Sofia cried out and ran over.
“Herschel!” Andrea shouted.
Herschel went downstairs and checked Carol's eyelids. "She's fine, just fainted from exhaustion. Let her rest."
Rick nodded, picked up Carol and placed her on the bed, then looked up at the second floor.
“I’ve dug the hole,” Lina said sullenly as she walked up to Rick.
“…Thank you,” Rick said.
"Do you want me to help you carry her out?" Lina asked.
“No, no, I can do it myself,” Rick hesitated, pacing back and forth. Finally, he took a deep breath, went upstairs, and came down carrying Lowry’s body.
No one disturbed him; they watched him walk out of the cell.
As darkness fell, Glenn anxiously peered back and forth from the watchtower. Finally, a beam of light pierced the darkness, and Daryl returned successfully with Maggie!
*
Inside the cell, everyone was frantically trying to soothe Judith, who was crying incessantly; she was starving and needed food.
"Can't I have sugar water?" Lina was practically driven crazy by the baby's crying.
“No,” Herschel looked at her helplessly.
"But she's so hungry!" Lina stubbornly held up the sugar water she had prepared, while Amy and Beth blocked her way. "It's a baby!"
"Sweet water can replenish energy!" Lina declared confidently. She didn't want Judith to starve to death; even if she didn't starve, she'd be devastated!
Carl, holding Judith, looked at Lina, who was struggling beside him, and hesitated before turning to Rick, "Can't we really give her sugar water?"
"If they still don't come back tonight," Rick said, looking worriedly toward the door.
Just then, the door was pushed open, and Daryl ripped off his scarf. There were children here; it wasn't clean.
Maggie and Beth went to make the formula. Daryl took the bottle, picked up Judith, and put the bottle in her mouth. Judith finally stopped crying and swallowed the formula in big gulps.
Daryl looked at Judith and laughed; she was eating with gusto.
"Has she chosen a name?" Daryl asked Carl.
Carl hesitated for a moment, then looked at Rick.
“I used to have a teacher, Judith, how about that?” Carl said.
“Okay,” Rick patted Carl on the shoulder and looked at Judith in Daryl’s arms.
Daryl raised an eyebrow, glancing down at Judith, who was enjoying her meal. "Do you like it? You little sassy girl? Right? This name is better, isn't it?"
Everyone laughed.
Lina looked at Daryl and suddenly blushed.
F&%k! This country bumpkin looks damn charming now.
Amy smiled and casually found a seat, just in time to see Lina's expression.
Some people really did fail.
The next day, a funeral was held for T-boy, Jimmy, and Lowry.
People are inevitably feeling down, but they still have to keep struggling to survive.
The good news is that Rick didn't have a mental breakdown this time; perhaps it was a final farewell to Lowry.
“We still have to go in, find out what the walkers are like, and clean them up as much as possible. We also need to tie up some more walkers to the fence outside. We also need to figure out how to dig a trench. That will be a huge project. It’s getting cold and the soil won’t be easy to work with. And we also need to go out and search for food…” Rick pinched his temples, looking troubled. They didn’t have enough manpower right now.
“We don’t have to clean it all up,” Lina suddenly remembered the prison defense, “we need to lock the walkers up in every corner that only we know about.”
Rick understood Lina's meaning after a moment's thought. "Everything at the restaurant has been moved out. From now on, no one should go into the area except where we're staying or outside. Make sure to lock the doors. Also, we need some prey," Rick said, looking at Daryl.
“There’s a deer, but it’s probably been ruined,” Daryl said.
“It’s okay, it’s just bait,” Rick said, looking at Axel and Oscar. “You know the layout of this prison, I need you to draw a diagram.”
Oscar nodded.
"Search supplies in two-person teams, no risks allowed. Daryl and I, Maggie and Glenn, we'll take turns, try our best..." Rick was giving instructions when Lina jumped up as soon as she heard this.
What an unlucky combination! Rick and Daryl are out searching for supplies?
“I disagree!” Lina looked at Rick. “You can’t go with Daryl. I’m going with him.”
Rick raised an eyebrow, gave Daryl a half-smile, then looked at Lena. "Reason."
"You two went out searching for supplies together, and it sounds like you came up empty-handed," Lina said, wrinkling her nose.
"And why are they allowed to go on a date?" Lina complained softly.
Daryl choked and started coughing.
"Why can't I go with my brother?" Moore was also dissatisfied.
"What if you run away with Daryl?" Lina asked her rival.
"Huh?" Moore glared at Lina. "We can leave whenever we want, it's none of your business!"
"Why can't I interfere?" Lina said fiercely, hands on her hips, facing Mor.
Moll looked down at Lina with a mocking expression. "You'd better grow taller before you talk to me. I don't talk to little brats."
"I'm going to cut off your legs!" Lina lunged at Mor, baring her teeth and claws. Daryl quickly grabbed her around the waist, and she thrashed about in the air.
Rick looked wearily at the noisy crowd. "Alright, Daryl and Lena go together, Mor and I will stay and clean up the prison."
“I have some seeds here, but it would be even better if you could bring back more,” Herschel said calmly, ignoring the three noisy people.
Maggie nodded.
Lina, upon hearing this, couldn't resist interjecting, "I know that! Didn't your officials say that we country bumpkins know how to farm?"
Indiscriminate attack.
Everyone except Glenn laughed out loud; everyone else was embarrassed.
Glenn shut his mouth awkwardly, "I'm not good at that."
The scene remained silent, and Rick shook his head helplessly.
“Baby supplies, seeds, and an excavator, if we can find them,” Rick said.
“No problem,” Lina said, clinging to Daryl.
Rick glanced at her and sighed helplessly.
Lena nudged Daryl's arm. "Your arm is hurting my chest." He raised his arm across Lena's waist, which inevitably got stuck under her chest, near her stomach.
Daryl flung his hand away as if he'd been electrocuted, setting Lina down.
Lina finally landed on her feet.
"Sooner or later I'll saw off your legs while you're sleeping," Lina muttered. "So what if you're tall?"
"Alright, let's get ready. Glenn and Maggie are going out today?" Rick looked at the two of them, and they nodded.
"Don't push yourself, safety first," Rick advised.
"Understood." Glenn nodded.
“I still think you guys are bad at hoarding,” Lina complained. These people only know how to take what they have right now and have no sense of crisis at all.
“You go tomorrow,” Rick said to Lina, exchanging a helpless glance with Glenn.
"Hey! Where's my bag!" Lina slapped her forehead—her enormous backpack! She'd forgotten where she'd put it after it went empty!
“Rick, Beth and I want to learn something too,” Amy and Beth said nervously as they approached Rick. Andrea was always protecting Amy, and Maggie and Herschel were protecting Beth, but they couldn’t go on like this forever.
“You guys were pretty good with guns before,” Rick said, glancing at Herschel and Andrea.
“We also want to do something, instead of just doing chores all the time,” Amy said. “You know, not just guns.”
Rick hesitated for a moment, "We'll find some more knives. Can you help cut up the walkers at the door?"
“No problem,” Amy and Beth said.
Carol was still resting, while Sophia and Carl were responsible for attracting walkers inside the enclosure, and Moore, along with Amy and Beth, were outside cutting down and tying up walkers.
Moore rolled his eyes. Was it his turn to look after the kids?
Daryl went out and brought in the mangled deer, while Rick led the others into the prison. Today, they needed to figure out the route and roughly pinpoint the rooms where the walkers would be imprisoned.
Now that Moore is in prison, Glenn and Maggie shouldn't be arrested, right? Relieved, Lina plunged into her cell.
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