Chapter 53
In short, everything went back to the way it started, with the three of them walking along the road, heads down.
Actually, Beth was relieved. If she had sat in Lina's car again, she would have gotten carsick and thrown up.
Moor was furious. Lina was not only incompetent and a complete hindrance, but she also turned around and blamed him!
As for Lina, she acted as if nothing had happened and still had the nerve to nag on and on, saying it was all Mor's fault.
Is this his punishment for not believing in God? Moore felt a little tired. What did Daryl like about this kid? Couldn't they find someone else?
Seeing that Mo's face was getting uglier and uglier, Bess pulled at Larina, trying to tell her to stop talking, but Larina continued to chatter on and on, seemingly unfazed.
Strangely, Moore ignored Lina, and Beth looked back and forth between the two for a long time before falling silent... Perhaps this was their unique understanding?
But for the sake of the three-person team's safety, when Beth saw that Mor's face was extremely sour, she quickly started a conversation with Lina, and it was about Daryl, which both Lina and Mor liked to hear.
Although Moore continued walking ahead without looking back, Beth noticed that Moore's pace was slowing down and that he was getting closer and closer to them. Lina had already shut her mouth when Beth mentioned Daryl, and was looking at Beth expectantly.
“We went in circles, Daryl followed the direction you left in, but there were too many walkers,” Beth licked her lips nervously as she recalled the scene. “We’re out of bullets, but we can’t find any trace of you, Daryl…” Beth glanced at Lina. She never expected Daryl to cry, even though he didn’t cry in front of her.
"And then?" Lina asked curiously.
“We got lost,” Beth recalled the scene. Apart from the frantic escape, she didn’t have many other thoughts in her mind. It wasn’t until she stopped that Beth’s suppressed grief could no longer be contained and burst forth. She didn’t know how she could go on. Her family members were still missing, their fate unknown.
“Go that way,” Daryl said, dealing with the two walkers behind him. He then pulled the dazed Beth back to his senses and mechanically fled for his life.
“Can we still find them?” Beth asked.
“I don’t know,” Daryl was also distraught. He couldn’t find any trace of Lena. The forest was full of messy traces left by walkers. Was she still alive? Daryl didn’t dare to think about this question. He could only numbly follow the direction in his memory to look for Lena’s whereabouts.
They walked through the woods and came to the roadside, but found nothing.
As darkness fell, Daryl had to consider some practical matters. He looked at Beth beside him; he couldn't let her die.
Daryl felt a dull pain in his chest. He wished he were with Lina right now, but he wasn't; he was too late again.
Daryl opened the carriage door; it was fairly clean inside. "Stay inside and don't make a sound. I'll be back," Daryl told Beth.
“No, I’ll go with you,” Beth strongly objected. She didn’t want to stay here alone, even if she died on the way.
“Foolish,” Daryl said, suppressing her anger; she was throwing her life away.
“This is my decision,” Beth insisted. “My family is missing too, I…” Beth choked up, “They must be alive and waiting for us.”
Daryl pursed his lips. He saw the corpse under the car. Daryl took out a knife and dug into the rotting flesh, smearing it on himself and Beth. "Let's take a look, and then..."
He didn't know what happened next.
"So you actually went back?" Lina looked at Beth in surprise. Were these two so reckless to get together?
“Yes,” Beth sighed, “we found nothing, except for the dead people. It’s a bit, a bit shocking.”
“Yes,” Lina said, her mood also soured at the thought of the prison that had fallen.
"Then how did you end up in the cemetery?" Moore asked, glancing at Lina. How could she have guessed correctly?
“Coincidentally, I was feeling a bit down, so I wanted to get some drinks, and Daryl took me somewhere,” Beth said, looking at Lena. “To be honest, I kind of understand why you like him now. I thought he and Moore were both like that, you know, I’m sorry.” Beth glanced at Moore somewhat sheepishly. “Back at the farm, you two were a bit, well, detached.”
“We were arguing at the time,” Lina said.
“Maggie and I even secretly wondered what kind of idiot would carry a hundred-pound deer all the way back, despite being injured.” Beth couldn’t help but laugh when she thought about it, but when she thought of the farm, those days seemed like a long time ago.
“Right? I think it’s incredibly stupid too,” Lina nodded in agreement, glancing at Mor.
Moore curled his lip. "Who knows what you drugged him?" He felt utterly wronged. He'd carried a deer all that way, exhausted himself, and then this...
Morton paused, feeling somewhat troubled, wondering if she was still alive.
Beth continued recounting what happened next, and Moore listened somewhat absentmindedly. In short, his brother took the heartbroken kid to drink heavily and even burned down the house.
Moore glanced at Beth and then at Lina. He had been telling Daryl since he was a child that he should find a woman with big hips and breasts, but what happened? He always got along better with a bunch of little kids. It was infuriating.
According to the driving route, they should have been able to find a place to stay before dark, but the car was totaled and they had to walk. So when it got dark, the three of them were still walking along the road.
Lina didn't want to stay in the wild, but it looked like she had no choice but to make do today.
“I’ll go gather some branches,” Lina said to Moore, stopping her journey.
“No, I’ll go. You guys stay here,” Moore said, frowning.
“No,” Lina said, hands on her hips, “I can also find some wild vegetables while I’m at it. What about you? Are you going to peel tree bark?”
Moore curled his lip. "Then go ahead."
Lina snatched Moore's bag, said goodbye to Beth, and darted into the woods. Beth was a little worried, "Why don't we go together?"
“Don’t be silly,” Moore glanced at Beth’s hand, but staying on the main road wouldn’t work either. “Come with me.” Moore led Beth to the roadside, near the woods. It was less conspicuous here, and they could see things in the woods, but if someone came along the road, they wouldn’t see them at a glance.
After gathering firewood and digging up some wild vegetables, Lina started walking back. She wondered if it was just her imagination, but she thought she heard someone talking.
Lina thought for a moment, then walked through the woods to the roadside, not far from where they had just stopped, but...
Lena stared in disbelief at Rick and Michonne, who were being held at gunpoint.
Daryl was also beaten up by a group of people next to the car.
She just happened to run into it!
"Is she one of yours too?" Joe looked at Lina.
“No! We don’t know her,” Rick said nervously, swallowing hard, while he kept giving Lina meaningful glances.
“…Come here, little cutie.”
Rick panicked and jumped to his feet. "Let him go!" Joe pushed Rick back down.
"Fuck you, you piece of shit!" Lina roared, throwing down what she was holding, drawing her knife, and running towards Karl.
"Still saying you don't know me? Hmm, another lie." Qiao sneered.
“Hey, little girl, put down your knife,” Joe shouted, then pressed the gun hard against Rick. “Otherwise, I’ll teach him a lesson.”
“Listen, it was just me, only me, it had nothing to do with them,” Rick said.
Joe bent down and whispered in Rick's ear, "That's the truth, but first, we'll kill Daryl, then... I think it'll be these two women, then the boy, and finally I'll kill you. Then we'll be even." Joe grinned maliciously.
Lina looked at Rick and Michonne. The fat guy over there shoved Carl to the ground. In her haste, Lina threw her knife. Due to the distance and the fat guy's sudden lunge, the knife didn't hit his head. Instead, it grazed his shoulder, leaving a long wound, and flew away.
The fat man clutched his shoulder, furious and embarrassed. "You think I'm afraid of this?" He grinned maliciously, gave Lina a sinister look, stood up, grabbed Karl, and viciously brought his face close to Karl's. Karl felt the disgusting and foul smell right next to his ear and broke down in tears.
The fat man laughed, "Yes, little baby, cry, cry..." He excitedly pressed Karl to the ground again. Karl struggled desperately, but he was just a child, while the other party was an adult, and an extremely obese one at that.
Joe never cared about his subordinates' little quirks, as long as they didn't violate his rules. But Lina's repeated provocations angered him. He stopped laughing and looked at Lina. "No, I've changed my mind. I'll deal with this woman first. I'll make her regret being born."
Daryl saw Lena, but he was unable to do anything as he was being beaten. When he heard what Joe said, his heart skipped a beat, and the people beating him stopped. Daryl scrambled to his feet, and the group surrounded Lena.
"Get away from her!" Daryl didn't care about anything else. He stumbled and pushed aside the people in front of him, running over to shield Lina behind him.
Lena was shielded behind Daryl, with a car blocking their backs. People surrounded them, and Daryl angrily shoved them. Lena drew her long sword and looked at them warily.
“Put down your knife,” Joe said to Lina.
"Go to hell," Lina spat and looked at Joe with disdain.
“My patience is limited,” Joe said, looking at Lina with displeasure. “Let’s see if we cripple Daryl’s legs first, or his arms?” The men surrounding them quickly raised their guns and pointed them at Daryl.
“No,” Daryl said, pulling Lina back to prevent her from putting down her weapon.
Lena looked at him with some panic. She knew what would happen if she put down her weapon, but she couldn't kill all these people in one go. Rick and Michonne still had guns above their heads.
On the other side, Karl's sobs felt like needles piercing Lina's heart, and she helplessly lowered her hand that was holding the knife.
Screw it, she just told herself to calm down, but who can calm down?! Damn pedophile!
Seeing that Lina seemed to have resigned herself to her fate, the people around her stopped taking the knife in her hand seriously. Although Daryl tried his best to block Lina, he was no match for the crowd, and Lina was almost dragged away several times.
Daryl furiously beat up anyone who approached him; he had never felt so useless.
"Hurry up, or I can't guarantee what will happen to this little boy." Joe glared at the fat man, who pursed his lips, slowed down, and threateningly lifted Karl up.
Just as Lina was about to reluctantly put down her knife, Rick moved. He suddenly rammed backward, and Lina heard the gunshot. She immediately gripped her knife and quickly killed the person in front of her. Daryl also rushed forward and fought with them.
The scene was in complete chaos. Michonne sensed the panic behind her, grabbed a gun, and swiftly shot him dead. Lina and Daryl also finished the fight. Turning around, they saw Rick with blood streaming from his mouth and Joe's neck ripped open, trembling as he collapsed.
The fat man pulled out a knife, held it to Carl's neck, and looked at Rick in terror.
Rick's face was covered in blood. He spat out the bloody flesh from his mouth, looked coldly at the fat man, and left everyone with only one sentence: "He is mine."
Rick looked like a demon from hell, his sharp eyes fixed on the fat man as he strode menacingly toward him.
With blood on half his face, especially around Rick's mouth, the fat man was terrified and collapsed. He looked at Rick walking towards him, and in a panic, he let go of Carl, threw down the knife, and began to beg for mercy.
Michonne rushed to Carl's side and hugged him reassuringly. Carl, still shaken, looked at Rick.
Rick picked up the knife and viciously stabbed it into the fat man repeatedly, frantically and brutally...
Until he fell silent.
Rick looked down at him with a cold and cruel gaze, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Rick's gaze fell on Karl, who was being held by Michonne and trembling. He was somewhat dazed. He glanced at his hands, then turned around and sat down in the car in a disheveled state.
Lina looked at him with some worry. Daryl hugged Lina, and Lina stroked his head reassuringly.
“I thought…” Daryl choked up a little.
“We rescued Beth, and I forgot to wait for you, I’m sorry,” Lina said.
"It's you? Wait, you guys?" Daryl was a little taken aback. He let go of Lina and looked at her in confusion. "I mean, we encountered a car on the road, I hit it, and that's how we found Beth," Lina stammered.
"With whom?" Michonne and Karl walked over, and Karl returned the knife to Lina.
Lina took the knife, looked around, took off the coat from the person at her feet, and began to clean the knife.
"Me and..." Lina looked towards the roadside, "Well, here we are."
Daryl turned around, and there stood Moore and Beth.
“I heard gunshots, I thought you were dead,” Moore said, glancing at Lina.
"Dream on," Lina scoffed, putting the knife away.
Moore kicked the corpse at his feet. "What's going on here?"
“A bunch of perverts,” Lina said.
“That friendly officer looked like a zombie, awful,” Moore said, gesturing with his chin toward the side of the car. Rick looked somewhat dazed.
“Shut up,” Lina nudged Mohr, “go clean up the body.”
Moore glared at Lina unhappily, but quickly put his arm around Daryl's shoulder happily, and the two huddled together to discuss how to carry the body.
Daryl seemed distracted. Moore glanced at him and asked, "Is there anything you want to say?"
Daryl paused for a moment, then said, "I... I was with these people before."
Moore tossed the corpse aside. "So what? My God, you're just as difficult as your little girlfriend." Moore shook his head speechlessly and turned to leave.
Daryl stood there in a daze for a while, then followed Moore back.
“Michonne and Carl are in the car. I think he must be terrified,” Lena said as she ran over to Daryl when he returned. “Beth has a broken arm and is exhausted from the day. She’s resting in the car too. I threw the rest of the bodies on the side of the road.” Lena rambled on, wanting nothing more than to stay by Daryl’s side, even if it meant counting from one to ten and back again, repeating it countless times.
Daryl hugged Lina, and Lina shut her mouth, silently stroking his back. "This isn't your fault,"
"I didn't protect the prison, I didn't protect Bass, almost," and I didn't even protect you.
“It’s not your fault,” Lina said sullenly. “It’s me too. I didn’t protect anything.”
“It’s not your fault,” Daryl said.
Lina chuckled. "We both think the other is right, but we don't believe we're right either."
Daryl's lips curled slightly, but his furrowed brow still betrayed his guilt.
As dawn broke, Daryl put Lena down from his arms and let her lean against the car. He then went to get a bottle of water and a handkerchief, which he gave to Rick.
“Keep some for yourself,” Rick said after glancing at the table.
“You can’t see it, but he can,” Daryl said.
Seeing this, Rick took the handkerchief and began to wipe his face.
“I don’t know what kind of people they are,” Daryl said with some guilt.
"How did you end up with them?" Rick asked.
“I escaped with Beth, and we went to find Lina and stayed with her for a while,” Daryl said.
"Then why did you two separate?" Rick asked, puzzled. He remembered that Beth had just been with Morlina.
“She was kidnapped by a car,” Daryl said. “I chased it for a long time, found the car, but the person was dead. I couldn’t find Beth, and then I met Joe.”
“I know they’re bad, but they have a set of rules that are simple, stupid, but effective, and that’s enough.”
“And you were all alone,” Rick added. Daryl barely dared to look at Rick as he continued, “They said they were looking for someone, and last night they said they found someone. I was hesitating; I was going to leave, but I stayed. That’s when I saw the three of you, and you saw me too. I didn’t know they would do that.”
“It’s not your fault, Daryl,” Rick said, looking at Daryl’s expression and knowing he wasn’t listening. “Hey!” Rick looked at Daryl seriously. “This isn’t your fault. Right now, you’re back with us, and that’s the most important thing.” Rick stared at Daryl, trying to make sure he was taking his words to heart.
Daryl glanced at him, seemingly choked up, and quickly looked away.
“You’re my brother,” Rick said firmly.
Daryl was shaken. He looked at Rick, then silently turned back to lean against the carriage, as if he had let go of something. He looked much more relaxed. After a while, he looked at Rick and said, "Anyone would have done the same thing as you did last night."
“No, not necessarily,” Rick said, a wicked smile playing on his lips.
“You’ve lost control,” Daryl said, looking at Rick with certainty. “That’s not you at all.”
“No, this is who I am, this is why Carl and I are still alive,” Rick said, wiping his hands. “I want to keep him safe, that’s the only thing I care about.”
After eavesdropping on their conversation, Lina looked at Moore, who was also listening in, and winked at him. "You can't have him, your brother belongs to someone else!"
Moore glared at Lina. This kid was definitely up to no good. He then looked angrily at Rick's retreating figure. What was wrong with this guy? Didn't he have any brothers? Was this his younger brother? Was he really going to steal him?
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