Chapter 7
Lina was nowhere to be found even after dinner, which made Rick start to worry.
“I’ll go with you to find her,” Glenn said. Although they were of different nationalities, Glenn, being Asian, felt a strong liking for the little girl.
Of course, he absolutely couldn't let Lina know that he privately considered Lina a "little" sister.
“Go ahead,” Lori nodded to Rick, who smiled back at her, picked up his gun, and walked out.
"Dad, can I come with you?" Carl asked, clinging to Rick who had just returned.
“No,” Lori shook her head at Carl. Rick could only shrug helplessly at Carl and pat him on the shoulder. “Listen to your mother.”
Carl ran back to his tent, feeling dejected.
Lowry shook his head helplessly and chased after them.
Glenn led Rick on a search and they came to a small lake. Lina started a fire by the lake, sat on the shore with her knees drawn up to her chest, and stared blankly at the fire.
“I thought something had happened to you,” Rick suddenly said, startling Lena so much that she almost jumped into the fire. Luckily, Glenn reacted quickly and pulled Lena back.
"Are you trying to scare me to death?" Lina said, clutching her chest, still shaken.
“Sorry, sorry,” Rick said awkwardly.
"What are you thinking about?" Glenn sat down next to Lina and pulled a foil packet from his pocket. "Here, eat up."
Lina paused for a moment, then took the still slightly warm food.
"What is this?" Lina asked in horror, lifting up something that looked like a leg.
“Frog legs,” Glenn shrugged. “They taste alright.”
"Eek!" Lina exclaimed in fear, throwing the food back.
“Seriously, you need to change your picky eating habits,” Glenn said, picking up the frog leg that Lina had thrown back and stuffing it into his mouth. “You eat that, it’s luncheon meat, a rare special for today.” Glenn mumbled as he ate the frog leg.
Rick poked at the fire and looked at the two men whose mouths were glistening with oil from eating.
"Still upset about what happened this afternoon?" Rick asked.
“Not entirely,” Lina said, putting down her food with a hint of frustration.
“Mor is that kind of guy, none of us like him,” Glenn said. “But his brother is a very good hunter, I think he’s better than his brother. It’s a pity he has a brother like Mor.” Glenn said regretfully that Daryl would have been a good partner if it weren’t for his brother.
“I don’t think so,” Lina retorted.
"What?" Glenn asked, puzzled.
"No, it's nothing." Lina didn't explain. After all, in everyone's eyes, she didn't know Daryl at all. And she knew that this was the Daryl who followed Rick. Now, who knew what this Daryl who followed Mor would become?
I'm even more frustrated now.
“It’s late,” Rick said after a moment’s thought. “You should come back with us. It’s dangerous for you to be here alone.”
“I don’t want to,” Lina said, staring at the fire. “I’m fine on my own.”
“No!” Glenn retorted vehemently, “You don’t even have a tent. It’s cold here at night, you’ll get sick, and what if there are zombies…”
“I’m not going back,” Lina retorted. “I just,” Lina looked at Rick with some annoyance, “I’m glad you found your family, really, but I think I should leave too.”
"Why?" Rick asked incredulously. He adjusted his position, squatting down beside Lena and placing his hand on her knee. "Lena, I can't let you go out alone. We both know how dangerous it is. You want to have company, I know. Is it Moore making you uncomfortable? I'll keep an eye on him..."
“No,” Lina didn’t know how to say it, “I just feel… a little lonely…” she said dejectedly, “You all have family and friends, even that bastard Moore has a brother, and I have nothing… I even have a lot of secrets I can’t tell anyone…”
"Anyway, I was alone before, wasn't I? I want to go see other places, travel around America," Lina said with a smirk.
“No,” Glenn said, pulling Lena’s shoulder excitedly. “No! You still have us. We’re friends now, aren’t we? Hey, Lena, honestly, I’m happier to see you join the camp than anything else. Most of the people in the camp are good people, but it’s just the two of us,” Glenn paused, “that makes me feel nostalgic.”
Lena looked at Glenn, somewhat hesitant. He would have Maggie, and everyone trusted and loved him. Everything would be alright soon.
Rick looked at Lina's expression and felt that she was thinking about something else. She had a secret, not the simple loneliness she described, but a deeper kind of loneliness.
That kind of loneliness, detached from the world.
"Lina," Rick looked at Lina seriously, and Lina looked at Rick with some surprise, "What's wrong?"
“I need you, everyone in the camp needs you, and I hope you can stay,” Rick said, looking earnestly into Lina’s eyes.
Lina was touched; she could see the seriousness in Rick's eyes.
“Yes,” Glenn echoed.
"...Then can you pretend I'm 18 or 20 years old?" Lina asked quietly.
"Don't even think about it." Rick laughed, stood up, and patted Lena's head. "Now, come back with us, little one."
“…I don’t like that title.” Lina pouted and stood up.
Glenn picked up the food bag from the ground and handed it to Lina, saying, "Eat quickly, or someone might try to take it from you when you get back."
“Moore Dixon?” Lina asked, raising an eyebrow. He was probably the most despicable person in the entire camp who would do something like this.
"..." Glenn was just joking. Speaking of Moore, he probably hadn't shown up since the afternoon because he was embarrassed.
Of course, no one bothered to talk to him.
Glenn didn't say any of this to Lina; he just shrugged.
Lina interpreted this as agreement.
"I'll beat him every time I see him, until he submits to me," Lina said viciously, chewing on a roasted mushroom.
“Stay away from him,” Rick frowned. Moore wasn’t a good person, and he didn’t believe Moore was lying when he said he wanted to kill Lina.
“I’m not afraid of him at all,” Lina said defiantly. “I made him look like a little karaomi.”
“Lina, he’s a morally bankrupt scoundrel. You don’t know what he’s capable of, so,” Rick looked at Lina seriously, “I’m saying, no, stay away from him, okay?”
Lina shoved the last bite of food into her mouth in a huff, complaining, "Yes, Pa—"
Glenn chuckled, and Rick raised an eyebrow at him.
“I know what to do, Pa—” Glenn grinned and pulled Lina away.
Rick paced behind, touching his face. "Not that old, am I?" he thought. "Well, worrying makes you age," Rick sighed and followed.
“You sleep here, I’ll help you move your tent next to Amy and Andrea tomorrow,” Glenn said, packing up his own tent. “I’ll go squeeze in with T.”
Lina looked at him, "I'm sorry,"
“No, it’s not a big deal,” Glenn said, putting away his backpack and looking at Lina with a helpless expression. “We can look after each other, can’t we?” He ruffled Lina’s hair. “Don’t think too much about it. Get some rest. Everyone takes turns keeping watch at the camp, so it’s quite safe.”
Lina disagreed with that, but tonight was indeed safe.
“Thank you, Glenn,” Lina said earnestly.
“You’re welcome,” Glenn said, lifting the tent flap, then hesitating before stepping back. “To be honest, I’m almost ten years older than you, you know?” He looked at Lina expectantly.
Lina stared at Glenn. "Almost there, quick."
Glenn coughed awkwardly. "Does the Chinese age count?"
"You're being evasive, I'm being honest, and you want to round it off, huh?" Lina narrowed her eyes, a mischievous smile playing on her lips. "You're right," Lina paused, noticing Glenn's expectant gaze, and then grinned wickedly, "A-Za-Shi—(Korean for 'old man')."
Glenn arrived at T's tent, looking distracted. T looked at him suspiciously, "What's wrong?"
"No, no, no," Glenn stammered, clutching the straps of his backpack, then collapsed into the tent.
“Oh man, you don’t look too good.” T-boy was puzzled.
“Seriously, don’t joke about Lina’s age,” Glenn said in a muffled voice, buried in the cushion.
T raised an eyebrow, looking at Glenn with considerable interest.
*
Despite Glenn's generous sponsorship, Lena still couldn't get a good night's sleep; the soft tent made her feel completely insecure.
So she barely slept all night, only managing to doze off for a while when dawn broke.
Slowly, everyone in the camp woke up, and hearing the voices, Lina finally felt at ease and fell asleep.
“She barely slept all night,” said Dale, who was on watch for the second half of the night and saw Lina later sitting outside the tent looking at the stars.
Rick nodded. "She's not used to resting in places without walls. I think she's a little scared, since tents don't offer much protection."
Just then, Glenn and T-boy walked over, playfully bickering.
"You snore too loudly," Glenn mumbled sleepily. "You, you're the one who snores the loudest. You woke me up." T-boy said.
"It seems you two need some time to adjust to each other," Dell said with a smile.
"It's all his fault!"
"It's all his fault!"
Glenn and T-boy spoke in unison.
Rick smiled and looked at the truck that had driven back yesterday. "Dale, could I borrow a saw or an axe?"
Dell followed his gaze. "I don't usually like lending out tools, but," he paused, "you got lucky this time."
“Thank you,” Rick said.
"What are you going to do?" Glenn asked curiously.
“Do some handicrafts.” Rick patted Glenn on the shoulder. “Mind helping me out?”
Lina slept until noon. When she woke up groggily, she found that everyone was doing their jobs, but she was the only one who was like a shameless freeloader.
Lina rubbed her messy hair, looking at everyone in confusion, not knowing who to look for, what to do, or what to say.
Lowry, carrying a bucket, walked by and patted Lena on the shoulder. "Hey, go check that out."
Lina looked at the truck next to the RV, which had been dismantled into pieces, the poor truck with even the cargo bed destroyed. They were still around the truck, doing something to each other.
"What are you doing?" Lina asked curiously as she approached.
"Ah!!!" Glenn screamed, clutching his chest, startled by the sudden appearance of Lina.
"You're a bit timid, Azashi," Lina teased.
“No,” Glenn said somewhat helplessly, then suddenly remembered something, “Um, do you want to go, um, I mean, um—”
Rick then popped out of the carriage. "Hey, Lina, the kids are over there. Can you keep an eye on them for me?"
Well, Lina finally got her job. "So I'm finally a babysitter, huh?" Lina muttered.
“No, you’re the guardian of children, little boss.” Glenn seized the opportunity to get revenge.
"Hmph, coward," Lina made a face at Glenn, yawned, and walked toward the bushes.
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