Chapter 87
Michonne helped Lina sit down, and Rick and the others got out of the car. The road behind them was crowded with walkers, and there were also walkers in front of them, so they couldn't see the RV at all.
“Let’s go back and find them,” Rick and Glenn said, getting into the car. But no matter how hard Glenn tried, the car wouldn’t obey him. Michonne got out to look; the engine compartment was full of severed limbs, which she struggled to pull out. But the number of walkers kept increasing, surrounding them.
Just then, Aaron panicked. There were too many zombies; he didn't want to die here!
A red light pierced the night—it was a flare gun, it was Eric! He was in danger!
Aaron didn't care about anything else. He shouted frantically that he wanted to get off, and despite everyone's attempts to stop him, he actually ran off. The dazed Lina was unfortunately pushed off, and Michonne, seeing this, didn't even bother to get back on the bus and quickly carried her on her back.
"Hurry up!" Rick shouted.
The group walked into the woods, but as the number of zombies increased, they became separated from each other.
"Where's Glenn?!" Rick saw Michonne carrying Lina on her back, surrounded by relentless walkers who had almost completely encircled them.
“I don’t know,” Michonne shook her head. She put Lina down, and Rick and Michonne stood back to back, protecting Lina behind them as they continued to clear away the walkers.
“He must be nearby,” Rick said. His revolver was out of bullets, so he pulled out a gun—a flare gun he’d gotten from Aaron.
The flare gun illuminated the scene before them: zombies, all of them were zombies.
Rick drew his knife, ready to fight to the death. A burst of gunfire rang out, and all the walkers in front of him fell to the ground.
It's Glenn and Aaron.
“If you’re going to tie me up, then hurry up,” Aaron said resignedly, handing over his pistol.
“No,” Rick glanced at Glenn, “there’s no time, let’s go that way.”
Lina felt a jolt and groggily opened her eyes. "Just leave me here..." The images she had just witnessed on the highway were still fresh in her mind: zombies, mountains of corpses.
“Shut up,” Michonne said angrily.
“Don’t worry, we’ve already gotten out,” Rick said, as they made their way through the woods to Highway 16.
"Where are they?" Rick asked Aaron angrily in a low voice.
"I don't know," Aaron said sincerely.
Rick glared at him angrily, "If..."
“Rick!” Michonne looked towards the woods on the other side, where there was a constant rustling sound.
Rick shut his mouth, and he and Glenn grabbed their guns and walked over there.
The branches and leaves were suddenly pushed aside, and Daryl ran out from inside.
"Are you alright?" He glanced at Rick and Glenn, his gaze settling on Lena on Michonne's back.
"It's alright, how about you guys?" Rick breathed a sigh of relief and put his gun away.
“It’s alright, they went around to where the signal flares were. I wanted to go find you.” Daryl walked over to Michonne with his crossbow and took Lina from her back.
He touched Lina's forehead; it wasn't too hot, but she still seemed drowsy.
“Did she wake up on the way?” Daryl asked.
“She’s awake, so she’s alright for now,” Michonne said. “We need to hurry,” she said, looking at Rick.
“…Yes,” Rick pondered for a moment, “we’ll go find them first.”
Daryl hung the crossbow in front of him, then carried Lina on his back. "Let's go."
“The signal flare is in the direction of the water tower,” Rick said, looking at Daryl, who nodded.
Let's go.
“I’ll do it, you still have the crossbow,” Glenn said as he walked up to Daryl.
“No, I can,” Daryl refused, already wanting to keep Lina out of his sight any longer, which was driving him crazy.
“Okay,” Glenn said helplessly, “let me know if you need any help.”
Upon reaching the vicinity of the water tower, Daryl looked around and then whistled. A moment later, a similar whistle echoed from the darkness.
Moore emerged from the darkness, glanced at Daryl and the others, and said, "I thought you were going to die there. It's finally my turn to lead."
Rick shrugged and walked on, patting Moore on the shoulder as he passed. "Keep it up."
Moore paused for a moment. "Keep what? Curse them to die?" He glanced at Rick, who was already far away. Moore pointed at Rick's back, then looked at Daryl and Glenn. "Is he out of his mind?"
Glenn pursed his lips, shrugged, and chased after Rick.
Michonne chuckled, and once inside, they learned what had happened.
Aaron's friend, well, his boyfriend Eric, fired the flare, and he injured his foot.
He had a broken ankle, and Maggie and Herschel helped him with some simple treatments.
Rick stood at the door for a long time, observing. He silently looked at Herschel beside him, who simply smiled gently.
It's not too late.
Rick licked his lips and turned to look at the two people inside the room.
"Hi, I'm Eric," Eric greeted Rick with a sunny smile.
“Rick,” Rick said coldly, looking at Aaron.
Aaron shook Eric's hand. "It's alright," he said, getting up and walking outside.
"Excuse me, excuse me," Aaron said, looking around at the people in the room. "Thank you." If they hadn't saved Eric, he might have lost his lover because of his insistence.
He will never forgive himself.
“I owe you, I owe you all of you. I will make sure that when we reach the community, I will fully repay your kindness, once we arrive in Alexandria.”
“Now, I don’t know what you guys are thinking, but I don’t want to take a car tonight. Maybe we can set off tomorrow morning,” Aaron suddenly thought of something. He looked at Daryl beside him, or more precisely, at Lena on his back.
“We brought some pills; you might find them useful,” Aaron said.
“Yes,” Herschel nodded, “Eric already told me.”
Daryl looked at Herschel, his eyes full of questions. Would that even work? They should be heading to that damned Alexandria now; there's a doctor there!
“Fever reducers and antibiotics, not much, but enough for Lina. If her condition worsens, we’ll set off immediately,” Herschel said.
Daryl looked at everyone. "Give me the map, and I'll take her there," he said to Aaron.
“Then let’s go together,” Amy said, looking at the others.
“Hey, listen to that old man,” Moore grabbed Daryl by the collar, “Stop being so girly and get her to take her medicine.”
Daryl glared angrily at Moore.
Aaron looked at Daryl and Mor nervously, afraid that the two of them would start fighting.
Herschel shook his head helplessly, and together with Maggie, they snatched Lina from Daryl, fed her her medicine, and gave her some applesauce.
“I remember there was a blanket in the room,” Herschel said to Maggie.
“I’ll go get it,” Maggie said, getting up and going inside. As she passed by, Daryl was still angry with Moore, or perhaps he was angry with himself.
"Are you sure..." Rick walked up to Herschel and asked worriedly.
“No, Rick, I can’t be sure of anything. I’m just doing what I can,” Herschel said. “Calm down.”
"...How can we stay calm?" Rick frowned, his forehead wrinkles practically trapping hundreds of mosquitoes. "What if, I mean..."
“Don’t think about things that didn’t happen,” Herschel interrupted Rick. “Now you know and remember, we gave Lina fever reducers and sugar, and she just needs to rest.”
Rick scratched his head in frustration. He glanced at Daryl, who was staring at them, looking like a tightly strung bow.
"...Get some rest, everyone, and get ready to leave in the middle of the night," Rick said.
As for Aaron, Rick stared at him. “If you want to stay, you’ll have to sleep there,” he said, pointing to the outer area.
“No, I will not leave Eric’s side for even a moment,” Aaron refused.
“Rick!” Glenn walked up to him and lowered his voice. “He told us where the camp was, and he really only had one companion, his leg was injured, and he didn’t have a weapon. I want us to be safe too,” he looked at Rick, “but I can’t abandon all humanity. I know what I said, but this is really important.”
Rick hesitated for a moment, glanced at the expressions of the others, and gave in, "Okay."
Everyone crowded into the inner room, where it was safer. Abraham kept watch outside, but More didn't want to be crammed in with so many people, so he ran out as well.
Daryl placed the crossbow beside the sofa and looked at Lina lying on it. Her breathing had become much more steady, her face was still pale, but her lips had regained some color.
Aaron and Eric whispered to each other, and when they saw Daryl, Aaron smiled. "Eric and I have also been thinking about adopting a child, but that's a huge responsibility," they smiled at each other.
Daryl, who had been silent, became gloomy.
"...In fact, Lina is Daryl's girlfriend," Sophia whispered in Aaron's ear, though everyone heard her clearly.
Tara pursed her lips to suppress the wildly upturned corners of her mouth, turned her head away, and said, "It's not just her problem, is it?"
Aaron and Eric exchanged a startled glance, their pupils dilating in shock, and their eyes also began to show suspicion as they looked at Daryl.
“She’s an adult, and it was entirely of her own free will. No one was a kidnapper.” Carol smiled politely and pulled Sophia away from the trouble.
Aaron opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say, and he and Eric looked at each other blankly.
Daryl was a little unhappy, but to be honest, he was used to it. Besides, he didn't really care about other people's opinions anyway. He sat down, leaned back on the sofa, and closed his eyes to rest.
Didn't he also think of himself as a pervert at the beginning?
Lina, oblivious to her age, was brought back to reality by Aaron and the others while she was sleeping, carefree and enjoying her dream.
Blue sky, white clouds, green grass, a big brown and white dog... and a red bouncy ball.
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