Chapter 8
"Hey, what are you guys playing?" Lina squatted down next to Karl. Mud, dolls? Playing house with mud dolls?
“Just playing around,” Carl said with a shrug and a pursed lip.
If he doesn't play these games, he'll have to do his homework, so let's play this instead.
Several girls were having a great time playing around the dolls. Lina glanced at Karl, took a lollipop out of her pocket, and said, "Here you go."
Carl was pleasantly surprised. "Really?"
“Of course,” Lina pulled out another one, Lucky, grape flavored.
Carl also popped a green apple-flavored lollipop into his mouth. It had been a long time since he last ate candy. Sean had brought back some chocolate.
Everyone shared their portions, and Mom and Sean gave him theirs. Even though he ate sparingly, he finished it quickly.
At this moment, the other three children also looked at Lina. Lina noticed their gazes and turned her head to look at them.
The three children looked away, embarrassed.
Lina pulled the last three green apple-flavored lollipops from her pocket. "Hey," she tossed the candies over.
"Thank you, Lina," the three children said shyly.
"You're welcome." Since she didn't like the flavor anyway, Lina chewed on the lollipop indifferently.
Suddenly she heard a sound coming from the bushes. Lina whispered to them, "Hey, now run back quietly." Lina slowly drew the short knife from her waist.
The children were startled. They nodded stiffly, got up, and ran back, but they couldn't help screaming after running a short distance.
Lina saw a deer with several arrows stuck in its rump, and a zombie was chasing it relentlessly.
Lina strode forward, killed the zombie with a single strike, and then looked at the frightened fawn.
This piece of meat is so big, it can't run away!
Lina's knife had pierced the walker, but she dared not stab the deer, while the approaching footsteps of the people began to make the deer restless.
Lina punched the deer in the head, knocking it unconscious.
"I'm so smart!" Lina squatted down happily next to the deer, while Rick and the others who arrived were stunned by the scene before them.
"Wow, a deer!" T exclaimed happily. Now everyone could have a good meal!
"Hey! I've been chasing it for ages! That son of a bitch!" Daryl emerged from the bushes with his crossbow in hand. He saw the walkers on the ground and the dead (or unconscious) deer.
"Damn it!" Daryl kicked the walker and began to examine the deer. He had worked so hard to get the deer; he didn't want it to be ruined!
“Now this is my deer,” Lina said, her bright eyes darting around as she stared intently at Daryl.
“It took me a lot of effort to get here,” Darryl said, pausing for a moment before frowning and glaring at Lina.
“But if it weren’t for me, it would have been eaten by the walkers, and all your work would have been for nothing, so it’s my deer now,” Lina said matter-of-factly.
“Alright, I’ll give you half. Do you want the top or the bottom?” Daryl thought about it and agreed. He picked up the knife and started gesturing. He wasn’t a stingy person. Anyway, this deer was big enough to eat, and he had a lot of squirrels.
“Can’t you just split it in half?” Lina gestured.
“Okay.” Daryl nodded. “It’s still alive. We need to carry it back and kill it first,” Daryl said.
“Let’s go to the river, not in the camp,” Rick advised.
“Let’s go to the river,” Daryl nodded, then suddenly looked up in confusion, “Who are you?”
“Rick Grimes,” Rick introduced.
Daryl nodded nonchalantly. "Daryl Dixon." He needed to find Moore to help him carry the deer and pack up.
Daryl stood up and was about to go to the camp to call Mor when he saw Lina hoist the deer onto her shoulder.
“WTF?” Daryl was stunned.
“You’ll get used to it, buddy,” Sean said with a sly grin. Sure enough, no one is immune to the scare of a kid with superhuman strength.
"Hey! Squirrel Killer! Follow me, I don't kill deer," Lina called out from afar.
“Damn squirrel killer,” Daryl muttered. “Damn superhuman strength.”
“Hey! Mor! Where the hell have you been?” Daryl shouted as he walked toward the camp.
“Well, I think he probably doesn’t want to come out anytime soon,” Sean said, picking his nose.
"What? What happened to him? What did you do to him?" Daryl looked at the crowd warily.
“He’s fine, I mean, intact,” Sean said somewhat awkwardly.
“What does ‘complete’ mean?” Daryl found the expression somewhat strange.
“You know your brother is a jerk, right?” Rick said bluntly.
“Hey! Watch your language.” Daryl pointed at Rick with displeasure. “Where the hell did you come from to dare talk about my brother like that?”
“A friendly cop who likes to tell the truth.” Rick shrugged.
"What's wrong with him?" Daryl asked Sean, ignoring Rick.
"Tsk, I've driven him to despair," Lina said, returning with the deer after a long while, having not seen anyone follow her. "Are you going to do it or not? If not, this deer is mine."
Darylton paused for a moment, "You really don't intend to add the deer I hunted between my deer?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? I hammered the deer, okay?" Lina said impatiently. "Hurry up, your brother has been withdrawn for two days. You can't get him to come out. With his pig-headed appearance, he probably won't have the courage to go out until he recovers."
"Hey, kid, watch out." Daryl glared at Lina, thinking she was just a slightly stronger, stupid brat.
Daryl ignored Lina and turned to walk toward the tent.
“Very well, now this is my deer.” Lina grumbled unhappily. “Who will help me butcher the deer?” She looked at the others.
“…Why don’t you add the deer you hunted?” Glenn said hesitantly.
"Why?" Lina looked at Glenn with some confusion.
Lori chuckled. "It's alright, ignore them, my dear."
Lina was stunned for a moment before she realized what was happening. She looked at everyone with some embarrassment.
To save face for this shy child, everyone waited until they were far away before laughing out loud.
Damn!
She had just said "my deer (dear)" and "damn" several times to the strange man she had just met!
Lina was completely devastated.
*
“Hey! Moore! Are you dead?” Daryl yanked open the tent flap.
"Almost!" Moore said in a muffled voice, completely wrapped in a blanket.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Daryl reached out and pulled at Moore's blanket.
"Let go!" Moore resisted fiercely, but Daryl pounced on him and ripped off the blanket.
"WTF, you're so ugly you could scare a zombie to death." Daryl laughed gleefully. This kind of injury wasn't harmful, but it was extremely insulting.
"Hey! Little brother, watch who you're talking to!" Moore angrily pulled the blanket over his head again.
“Go kill the squirrel,” Daryl said, throwing the squirrel at Moore. “I shot a deer and need to clean it up.”
"Ha!" Moore threw the blanket aside. "That's my boy!" he exclaimed, hugging Daryl happily. "I'm going to make those guys drool!"
Daryl rolled his eyes. "Moll, that strong woman, has half a deer."
"Huh? Why? She hit you? Stole the deer you hunted?" Moore looked Daryl up and down, angrily rolling up his sleeves. "I'm going to kill her."
“No,” Daryl slung his crossbow over his shoulder, “otherwise she would have been given to that son of a bitch of a walker. I promised to give her half.”
“That doesn’t even need to be half!” Moore said, dissatisfied.
"Shut up." Daryl shoved Moore aside and walked out.
Moore picked up the squirrel skewers and followed, saying, "Hey, don't forget our plan."
Daryl stopped, rubbed his hair in frustration, and finally snatched the squirrel from Moore's hand, saying, "Get lost."
Moore watched Daryl's retreating figure with some frustration. His brother was good in every way, except that he was too soft-hearted.
It hasn't been long, and he can't bring himself to attack this place? Damn it!
Moore kicked aside the pile of firewood and angrily walked back into his tent to continue his reclusive life.
He'll figure it out. He definitely will.
*
Daryl absentmindedly approached the lake. The Chinese boy (?) was effeminate, holding a small knife, and closed his eyes, too afraid to look at the deer.
Daryl scoffed, snatched the knife, and shoved Glenn aside. "Watch out, Chinese boy."
“He’s Korean,” Lina said.
"Who cares?" Daryl said indifferently, severing the deer's artery with a knife and beginning to bleed it.
“I care.” Glenn shrugged, feeling aggrieved.
“I care too,” Lina said.
“Okay, okay, you two Koreans, can you move a little further away? You’re in the way.” Daryl shook the blood off his hands, which was met with screams from the two men.
"Hey! I'm Chinese!" Lina shouted angrily as she covered her head and ran away.
“Who the hell cares?!” Daryl shouted back defiantly.
"Do I care?" Glenn said weakly.
"Me too!" Lina screamed from afar.
Daryl glared fiercely at Glenn, who obediently picked up the bucket and stood far away with Lena.
“He’s a beast,” Lina muttered. “Friday!”
Glenn glanced around and nodded quietly.
“Hey! Coward, bring me the bucket!” Daryl shouted.
"...It's Glenn." Glenn, carrying his bucket, glanced at Lina with a bitter expression and slowly walked over.
*
The deer was quite large, but there were also many people in the camp. Daryl and Moore were cooking in front of their own tents, seemingly not wanting to join the others.
But he also gave half of the deer to the camp.
In his words, it's just going to rot anyway, so it's better to let you bunch of cowards have it.
Lena stared blankly at the backs of the Dixon brothers as she ate her roasted venison.
The two of them seemed to have argued. Moore tossed his head and went into the tent, while Daryl angrily kicked over the fire and disappeared with his crossbow.
"What a surprise, they actually argue?" Andrea remarked, following Lina's gaze.
“Daryl may be difficult to get along with, but he always manages to bring something back. But his brother…” Amy’s expression was complicated.
So that's why Moore was kept, Lina thought, glancing at Sean. Otherwise, he would have definitely kicked Moore out.
Of course, that's what everyone thinks.
Lena finished the last bite of venison and licked her fingers contentedly. This was the best meal she had had in a while, and she thanked Dixon for the treat.
“Oh, Lena,” Glenn, who had been nudged by Rick, looked toward the truck bed. “Lena, I have something to show you.”
"What?" Lina looked at Glenn in confusion.
“Come on.” Glenn excitedly pulled Lina up and led her toward the freight car.
A makeshift room converted from a train carriage.
Lina looked at the interior of the carriage with some surprise. There were small, roughly made windows and ventilation openings. The door had also been modified so that it could only be opened from the inside. There was also a makeshift bed made of several mats pieced together.
"Rick's first thought was, Dale said you barely slept all night, we took apart my cool car, the seats were really comfortable, the vents, Rick and Sean opened them up with tools..."
Lena gave Glenn a hug. "Thank you."
Glenn was a little surprised and patted Lina on the shoulder somewhat embarrassedly, "You're welcome. I wasn't much help, I just did some simple setup..."
“No, I know how much you like that car.” Lina released Glenn and laughed happily.
Glenn looked at Lina, who was genuinely happy. They hadn't known each other long, but this was the most sincere smile he had ever seen on Lina.
“She seems happy,” Lowry whispered in Rick’s ear.
“Yeah—” Rick nodded with a smile.
Lina ran back happily and gave everyone a hug.
Even Sean received a hug. You see, since Lena appeared, Sean was the only one in the entire camp who hadn't interacted with Lena.
Sean could clearly sense that Lena was avoiding him and didn't want to have any interaction with him.
Although he was indifferent to it, the hug surprised him greatly.
Lina was very happy. She liked the feeling of being remembered and was touched by what everyone did for her. It made her truly feel accepted.
It seems she has truly found companions, no, family.
For the first time, she began to thank herself for choosing to follow Rick.
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