Chapter 36
"I want to come too!" Lina clung to Rick, gripping his arm tightly and bracing her feet against the ground, trying to drag him with her weight until he agreed.
However, the two light-colored marks left on the ground signaled the failure of Lina's plan.
Rick sighed helplessly, but without changing his expression, he dragged the 'burden' towards the car, carrying the supplies Patricia had prepared for their trip.
"Daryl! Moore!" Rick shouted, barely able to contain himself, fearing that Lena would sneak in and cheat on him while he was opening the car door.
The two brothers, who had been watching the show from a distance, exchanged a helpless glance, then each grabbed Lina and dragged her away.
Lina shouted, "This isn't fair! I'm innocent! I'm innocent!"
Amy and Beth couldn't help but huddle together and laugh, instantly brightening the gloomy atmosphere.
Rick shook his head helplessly at the roar behind him, threw his bag into the car, and leaned against the door to look back at the people around him. "Be careful, prepare fortifications, take turns on guard duty, don't overexert yourselves. If... remember, your lives are the most important thing, understand?"
“Don’t worry,” Glenn stepped forward. His face was much better, but it still looked somewhat colorful.
“Take care of the family,” Rick said with a smirk, then gestured for Carl and Michonne to get in the car. The three of them then sped off and disappeared from Lina’s sight.
Lina pouted angrily. Actually, she didn't really want to go; she just wanted to leave the prison temporarily. A look of confusion flashed in Lina's eyes. Fate seemed to want to follow its predetermined path, but she didn't know how to protect her family.
She's always been a player who's quick to give up; to be honest, she even wanted to leave.
Since her abilities were limited, she could at least choose not to be a witness. Yes, that's how cowardly she was.
“Come patrol with me.” Daryl rubbed Lina’s face vigorously; he didn’t want to see Lina so upset.
Lina snapped out of her reverie and nodded casually, since she didn't know what to do anyway.
Daryl's patrol wasn't about standing guard in the watchtowers in the prison yard, but about going out into the woods. A major battle was imminent, and he needed to figure out the number of walkers around and also circle around to see if anyone was watching them.
If you find it, kill it.
While we're at it, let's see if we can hunt some animals to take back for extra food. Who knows what might happen if a fight breaks out? What if these people try to starve them to death? Food reserves are extremely important.
"Lina," Daryl called softly, glancing at the distracted Lina out of the corner of his eye.
"What's wrong?" Lina drew the short sword from her waist and looked around warily.
“No, not those,” Daryl said. “Don’t you have anything to say to me?” Daryl released the branch he was holding and looked at Lina.
"...What should I say?" Lina pursed her lips awkwardly. She didn't want to lie, but she didn't know how to say it.
“…” Daryl also pursed his lips, seemingly a little angry, but silently suppressed his anger.
Lina stared absently at the knife in her hand; she was always a cowardly, escapist fool.
“Lina, we’ll protect this place together, okay?” Daryl said.
Compared to the naive young man he used to be, Daryl seemed to have changed a lot all of a sudden. Suddenly, Lina felt the age difference between them. He was becoming more and more stable and mature, while she was still a child who never grew up.
He was trying to find a solution, while she was afraid of the predetermined future, unable to resolve it, so she wanted to escape.
She hates solving problems. Why does life always have to have one unsolvable problem after another?
Why couldn't they have just gotten to the prison and gotten a perfect ending credits?
“Don’t be afraid,” Daryl reached out and wiped away the tears from Lina’s eyes. Lina then realized in a daze that she had been crying.
“I don’t know what you’re afraid of, but you have me, you have us, we’ll all be fine, everyone in prison will be fine,” Daryl said firmly.
“But what if everyone dies…” Lina said, choking back tears.
“I don’t know how to say it,” Daryl frowned. He rarely thought about these things. Rather than thinking about how everyone would die and who would be lost in the next second, he thought about how to survive. He would survive, and they would all survive.
“However, even if it weren’t for this messed-up world, people would still die. There’s no need to be afraid of death,” Daryl said, frowning. Heaven knows how much brainpower it took for him to say that. He genuinely wanted to help Lina relax and comfort her. Otherwise, a straight-up shot would have been more effective than any sour talk. At least that’s what Moore did.
But looking at Lina, he knew he shouldn't do that; what she needed wasn't simply to have fun or find amusement through sex.
“Lina, just watch over me. I won’t die, and I won’t let them die,” Daryl said.
Lina stared blankly at Daryl. Although it was a bit inappropriate, he was really cool, even his swagger was cool!
Lina guiltily looked away, her eyes darting around, not daring to land on Daryl.
Blind confidence can be cool too.
Indeed, Lena didn't take Daryl's words to heart at all. He really wouldn't die. After going from an undecided supporting role to a lead role, he would have his own spin-off series, living from America to France to England, and might even travel the world.
However, he also lost a lot.
Thinking of this, Lina's mood, which had just relaxed a little, became heavy again. She hated her own weakness; she didn't have the brains or the ability to protect everyone.
She was even timid and cowardly, afraid to face the pain of loss.
She couldn't just look at the present, just hope; she had been defeated by the distant future, and cowardly and timidly wanted to escape.
She thought she would be a savior, but as she built connections with these people, she realized she was nothing and could only suffer.
She can't learn to accept loss, nor does she want to, but she keeps experiencing loss and is destined to lose.
If time could be turned back, she would have secretly left that night at the Alexandria camp; she was afraid.
“We will do it. We’ve made it through such tough times,” Daryl ruffled Lina’s hair. “Don’t be a coward.”
"I'm such a coward—" Lina muttered softly, whimpering as she hugged Daryl and acted coquettishly.
Daryl looked helplessly at the large pendant in his arms. "We'll be alright—" Although Daryl was also uneasy, he believed it firmly.
While waiting for Rick to return, the governor sent a negotiating letter. Lina knew his plan: first, tell them to hand over Michonne and then both sides would be at peace; then, while they were fighting amongst themselves over whether or not to hand over Michonne, she would catch them off guard, or after they handed over Michonne, she would wipe them out.
He was not going to let the prison go; he wanted the place, regardless of whether they handed Michonne over or not, regardless of whether they gave in or not.
"What do you think?" Daryl tossed the paper in his hand to Glenn, who glanced at it and frowned. "They outnumber us, that's an advantage, but... I don't think they're genuinely interested in making peace." Glenn pursed his lips angrily.
“That’s unbelievable,” Glenn stated his judgment.
"Let's wait for Rick to come back and see what he has to say," Herschel said with some concern. Everything they were facing was a problem, and evacuating the prison might not be a bad thing.
But where else can they escape to? They've finally managed to live a peaceful life...
Herschel sighed wistfully; perhaps it was because he was getting old, but now he wanted a more secure decision.
They will win this battle; the only thing to worry about is that the governor is not dead.
She should stay outside, lurk in the woods, and kill the governor from behind!
Lina's eyes lit up. "That's it! Shoot me in the back!"
"What are you thinking about?" Lina's sudden heightened emotions made Daryl's eyelids twitch; he had a feeling that what she was thinking was not what he wanted to hear.
"I'm planning to move out," Lina said excitedly about her plan, "to hide in the woods, and then we'll surround them from the outside and shoot them in the back!"
Daryl took a deep breath. "You should go back to sleep."
"What do you mean? My plan is so reliable! So reasonable!" Lina looked at Daryl in disbelief, his expression and tone filled with disgust!
Even Moore couldn't help but laugh out loud. "This is a great opportunity. Don't worry, even if I only have one hand left, I can still shoot your brain out of prison, Damn! I've wanted to do this for a long time! Go, sweetheart, I will definitely not let you die at someone else's hands—" Moore even used his iron hand sword to draw a dangerous cross in the air.
It seems they wanted to let Lina rest in peace sooner rather than later.
Lina, her face contorted, ran upstairs.
Glenn rubbed his temples, looking at Lina's retreating figure with a headache. "Remember to keep an eye on her," Glenn said earnestly, patting Daryl's shoulder. "She'll definitely dare to run away."
Daryl's eye twitched. He wasn't surprised at all how serious Lina was about his plan; she would definitely run away.
“Okay,” Amy glanced at Daryl, ran back to her and Andrea’s cubicle, and came out a moment later with a familiar box in her hand. She carefully took Daryl’s hand and placed it in his.
"Try your best," Amy said earnestly.
Daryl looked at Amy, speechless for a moment.
Moore glanced at it and started arguing, "That's a box I finally managed to find! You should at least leave me a few!"
Amy sneered, "What, do I need a hood for manual sex too?"
Moore was speechless. Indeed, whether or not he did it wasn't entirely up to him. After all, he enjoyed having sex, but he had no interest in becoming a sex offender.
"When will I get to have more girls?" Moore muttered to himself, longing for the good life where he could have sex whenever he wanted.
Amy glared at Moore, then turned and left angrily.
Glenn stared in disbelief, then gave an awkward laugh, his eyes wide with shock, and left with a forced chuckle.
"Are you all crazy?" Daryl said expressionlessly, stuffing the condom into his pocket.
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