Chapter 85
Lina sat up groggily, not because she had woken up, but because she had been woken up by noise.
After all, it's hard not to wake up to the sound of everyone being fully armed.
Aaron.
Numerous gun barrels were faintly pointing towards that spot.
Lena was still dazed and confused, looking around aimlessly. Judith was so frightened by the atmosphere that she started to cry. Rick handed Judith to Carl, who glanced at Lena at his feet and then gave Judith to her. Lena just stood there, holding the crying Judith and gently comforting her.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Aaron said, trying to step forward and shake hands with Rick.
Rick just stared at him indifferently. Rosita's gun was already cocked, and Sasha looked at Rick nervously. The scene was so tense that it seemed like a conflict was about to break out.
"You're saying he has weapons?" Rick looked at Maggie and Sasha. Aaron was someone they had brought back from outside that morning, or rather, he had come to them on his own initiative.
Maggie stepped forward and handed over a small pistol. Rick took a look at it, then put the pistol behind his back.
"What do you want?" Rick asked Aaron.
“He has a camp nearby,” Sasha said. “He wants us to come for interviews to join.”
“I really wish we could use a different word,” Aaron said gently, raising his hand.
“The interview made us sound like a dance troupe, and we only dance on Friday nights,”
He still had the mood to joke, and Lina nodded in approval. No wonder he would be her right-hand man in the future; she didn't have any arms.
This is a bit like hell. I'll mentally tap a wooden fish and say 111.
Of course, no one could laugh. Aaron looked at everyone helplessly, "Well, of course, that's not a camp, it's a community. I think you will all become valuable members, but it's not up to me to decide. My task is to persuade you to come home with me."
“I know, if it were you, I wouldn’t go either,” Aaron smiled helplessly. In this world, he believed that such a thing was a luxury.
“Unless I know where I’m going,” Aaron said, changing the subject.
“Sasha, can you give my bag to Rick?” Aaron asked, turning around.
Sasha stepped forward and handed the backpack on her back to Rick.
"There are photos in the front pocket," Rick said, taking the backpack with some skepticism and crouching down to search through it.
“Just talking about our community won’t convince you to come with me, so I brought those things. The photos aren’t very clear, I apologize in advance. We just discovered the used camera shop…”
When you're nervous, you can't help but ramble on, especially when Aaron is surrounded by a room full of fierce-looking people staring at him intently.
“Nobody cares,” Daryl said coldly behind Aaron.
Aaron turned around and glanced at Daryl. "You're absolutely right."
Lina couldn't help but chuckle; she found Aaron inexplicably amusing.
Given that she seemed rather oblivious to social cues, Amy took Judith from her arms, and Andrea dragged Lina into the inner cubicle to change clothes.
She slept so soundly last night that everyone was exhausted and no one had time to dress her. She's still wrapped in that tattered cloth, but thankfully it's thick fabric.
Rick opened the envelope, and Aaron, hearing the noise, began to explain, “That’s the first picture I wanted to show you, because everything else about the community I’m talking about doesn’t matter unless you know it’s safe there. If you join us, you’ll be safe. Every panel of that wall is a 15-foot-long, 12-foot-wide deoxidized steel plate, framed by cold-rolled steel beams and square tubing. Neither the living nor the zombies can get in without our permission. As I said, safety is important. In fact, there’s only one resource that’s more important to the survival of our community.”
“That’s a person,” Aaron said.
Rick turned to look at Michonne behind him. Michonne remained indifferent, seemingly still considering Aaron's words.
“We are very strong when we work together, and you can make us even stronger,” Aaron said sincerely.
“The next picture is of what’s inside the door…” Aaron was saying when Rick walked over to him.
Lina and Andrea came out and saw Rick knock Aaron unconscious with a vicious punch.
Lena glanced at poor Aaron. "Who told you to come at such a good time? Rick probably learned his lesson from the Terminal. Now that even the King of Heaven is trying to recruit him, he'll still get a beating."
“Let’s be clear, my expression wasn’t saying, ‘We’re going to attack this guy,’ was it?” Michonne looked at Rick in disbelief. “It was saying, ‘This guy seems alright to me.’”
Lina couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Rick remained calm as always. Although he had consulted Michonne, he wanted to be on the safe side. His companions were all kind and naive, so he needed to be more cautious, even if it meant playing the bad guy.
“We need to tie him up, empty his bag, and see what kind of person he really is,” Rick instructed the group.
“Rick!” Michonne disagreed; she felt Rick was being overly tense.
"The rest of you, keep your eyes peeled for anything! They're coming for us!"
“We don’t know how or when they will come, but they will definitely come.”
Lina scratched her cheek. What's going on? Did her boyfriend break his own leg?
Maggie looked at Rick, "Sasha and I didn't see him at first. If he wanted to hurt us, he would have done it already."
Rick ignored Maggie's voice just as he had ignored Michonne's.
Lena poked Rick on the back. "You seem a little too nervous."
Rick paused. "Has anyone discovered anything?"
Lina frowned unhappily.
Glenn peered out from the doorway. "There are so many hiding places," he thought.
“Keep observing,” Rick said.
"..." Lina looked at Daryl, who was enthusiastically tying up Aaron.
"Poor kid," Lina looked at Aaron and shook her head helplessly.
“Come here, Lina,” Herschel beckoned to Lina, who glanced at Andrea, who shrugged at her.
Lina walked over hesitantly, and Herschel touched her forehead and took a thermometer out of his backpack.
“You have a fever,” Herschel said.
"Keep warm," Lina said.
"..." Herschel chuckled speechlessly, "If you insist on this..."
Yesterday he was worried that Lina might be sick, but seeing her change out of her wet clothes and stay by the fire, he thought maybe she was fine, but then...
“Rick!” Herschel called out.
Rick scratched his hair in exasperation and went with Herschel to the corner by the wall.
“Lina is right, you’re a little too tense,” Herschel said.
Rick licked his lips but didn't say anything.
“I know what you’re thinking, Rick, don’t be afraid to believe,” Herschel said, looking intently into his eyes. “We’re all here. This is about all of us. No matter what happens, we’ll always be together.”
Rick bit his lip. "Do you really think we should trust him?" It wasn't that he didn't want to, it was that he was afraid.
“Rick, don’t let fear get the better of you,” Herschel said, pausing. “And Lena has a fever, we need medicine.”
Rick closed his eyes, let out a long breath, and turned to look at Lina.
Lina touched the tip of her nose, guiltily looking away; it wasn't what she was thinking.
Aaron woke up at this moment, and he was even laughing, praising Rick, "That right cross punch was really powerful."
“Help him up,” Rick said.
“He’d better…” Maggie started to say he’d better rest, but Aaron interrupted her, “I’m fine.”
“He’s alright, help him up,” Rick said.
Maggie and Sasha reluctantly helped Aaron sit up.
"How many of you came? Do you have a flare gun?" Rick looked at the small red gun in Carl's hand, walked over, and took it. "You can use it to signal your comrades. How many people are here?"
Lina pouted, having just stepped on a landmine. "If you mention her boyfriend, he'll definitely get angry with you."
Lina glanced at the two people facing off in annoyance. Fine, she'd better go to sleep. Her head was a little sore, so she quickly made sure she was stepping on cotton, but her mind felt unusually clear.
"Does it matter?" Aaron asked, sounding rather unhappy.
“Yes, this is important,” Rick said seriously.
“No matter how many times I say it, 8, 32, 444? No matter how many times I say it, you won’t believe me,” Aaron said calmly.
Yes, that's right. Lina nodded while sitting on the ground, then collapsed to the ground with a thud, leaving everyone stunned.
"What happened to her?" Aaron asked, looking at Lina who had fallen to the ground.
Herschel helped Lina up, looked at Rick, and shook his head.
Rick bit his lip anxiously, then looked at Aaron.
“We can help her,” Aaron sighed. “You don’t believe me, but what about the people who left you water on the road? Yes, I’ve been following you for a while. You have no food and no water, but you haven’t attacked each other. You are survivors. You are human beings. So I’m saying, I hope you won’t hit me again when I say it again. Human beings are the most important resource in the world.”
“If I wanted to attack you, I would have done it already: set fire to the barn while you were resting, and shot you as you went out… I really don’t know how you can trust me.” Aaron had a headache.
"How many of you came?" Rick continued to ask.
“…one.” Aaron looked at him helplessly. “I know you won’t believe it, but I can drive you to the community right now. We have two cars, um…maybe you’ll have to squeeze in.” Aaron glanced at the people in the barn. “Please, please let me help you.”
Rick turned to look at Michonne, who nodded at him.
Rick looked at Herschel, who looked at him calmly and collectedly, yet was like a mirror reflecting him.
“Where’s your car, where are you?” Rick asked.
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