The next day, the atmosphere in the camp was quite lively, with people walking from one side to another organizing supplies and contributing to the camp.
Rick woke up to the noise, after brushing his teeth, he ran into Carol, who was ironing his clothes after washing them.
"Thank you, you are very kind, I truly appreciate it." Thanked Rick nodding toward her, after exchanging a few words with Carol, he walked toward Glenn.
"Look at them, they are like vultures, that is it, there is nothing left!" Complained Glenn looking at the stripped red sports car in front of him.
"The generators need fuel, if not, they will not have energy, sorry Glenn." Said Dale patting him on the shoulder before walking away.
"Tch, I was planning to use it a few more days." Grumbled Glenn annoyed.
"Maybe we can steal another one someday." Said Rick trying to comfort him, he patted him on the back and walked toward Lori, who was hanging clothes.
"Good morning, officer." Lori smiled when she saw him coming, Rick responded with a simple greeting.
"Did you sleep well?" Asked Lori acting flirtatious.
"Hm, yes, actually, it has been a long time since I slept that well." Responded Rick.
At that moment, the sound of a car interrupted them, that was Shane, who was returning with water for the camp.
"The water is here, gentlemen, remember to boil it before using it." Said Shane getting out of the car.
"Lori, I was thinking about the man we left behind yesterday, I was thinking about going back for him." Said Rick looking her in the eyes.
"Hm, are you telling me or asking me?" Asked Lori clearly disagreeing.
"I am asking you, of course." Responded Rick.
"I think it is crazy, I think it is the most stupid way for your son to lose his father.." Said Lori preparing to scold her careless husband, but she was interrupted by a sudden scream.
"Ahh!" The scream came from the forest, Rick reacted immediately, running in that direction with Shane and the others on his heels.
"Back, do not get close, do not get close!" Shouted a female voice, trembling, filled with panic.
When he arrived, he found Jacqui and Sophia running terrified, Rick passed them and continued running in the direction they were coming from.
Soon he encountered the iconic scene of the walker eating a deer with crossbow bolts embedded in it, this deer is obviously Daryl's prey.
Everyone surrounded the walker and for a while, only the sound of flesh being torn was heard, suddenly, they began to hit it, starring in a violent scene.
But for some unknown reason, they avoided hitting it in the head, it was not until Dale cut it off with an axe that they finally stopped.
"It is the first one we have had, they had never come this far." Said Dale with lingering fear.
"They must have run out of food in the city, they went out hunting." Added Jim deducing the reason behind the situation.
While everyone held their breath, suddenly, a sound came from the bushes, causing everyone to tense up, a moment later, a man with a crossbow in his hands came out, the tension dissipated instantly.
"Oh, son of a bitch, that is my deer!" Roared Daryl approaching the walker's body on the ground after understanding the situation.
He quickly began to kick it over and over to vent his anger, he had spent all night tracking the damn thing just for it to be wasted in such a stupid way.
"Damn it, by the way, what do you think if we cut this part off and take the rest?" Asked Daryl hopefully looking at the part that was devoured by the walker.
"Sorry, man, I would not risk it." Replied Shane without hesitation, Daryl clicked his tongue in response.
"Oh, come on, guys, seriously? You have to hit the brain, did you not know?" Asked Daryl driving an arrow into the socket of the decapitated walker, after retrieving the bolt, he began to walk toward the camp.
"Hey, Merle, come here, I brought some squirrels, let us cook!" Shouted Daryl calling his brother.
"Wait, Daryl, we have to talk, I need to tell you something." Said Shane preparing to tell the truth.
"Hm, about what?" Asked Daryl still in a bad mood.
"It is.. about Merle, there was a problem in Atlanta." Began Shane trying not to be blunt.
"So.. he is dead?" Asked Daryl lowering his gaze.
"We do not know." Responded Shane shaking his head.
"Is he dead or is he not?!" Growled Daryl exasperated.
"I am Rick, I will tell you what happened, your brother was a danger to everyone, I handcuffed him to a piece of metal on the roof, he is still there." Said Rick stepping forward.
"Haha, let me process this, you are telling me that you handcuffed my brother to a roof and left him there!" Shouted Daryl.
Anger invaded him when he saw him nod, immediately he lunged at him to beat him, only to be tackled by Shane, but he was not going to give up so easily, he pulled out a knife to continue, but he was restrained by the two officers once again.
"Bastards, let me go, this is illegal!" Growled Daryl trying to break free from Shane's grip.
"Yes, whatever, you can sue me." Said Shane in response.
"Fine, we can keep going like this all day, but I am sure your brother will not agree with that, so, can we talk calmly?" Asked Rick staring at Daryl, he stepped back when he saw him nod.
"I did not do that for pleasure, your brother does not get along with people, he was a danger, I had no other option, I am sorry." Apologized Rick.
"It is my fault, I dropped the key into a sewer, but I chained the door before we left, he should still be alive." Said T-Dog approaching.
"Damn, go to hell, just tell me where he is, I will go get him!" Cursed Daryl spitting on the ground to show his dissatisfaction.
"He will tell you, right Rick?" Said Lori suddenly, making it clear that it is not necessary for him to go to the city.
"I will go with you." Said Rick, which caused Lori's displeasure, she turned around, walking back to the RV.
"By the way, Rick, have you seen Carl?" Asked Shane suddenly, causing both Rick and Lori to stop dry.
"No." Responded Rick honestly.
Then he turned his head toward the camp, scanning the tents and vehicles, he looked at everyone around him, who shook their heads, Lori burst into tears instantly.
"Carl.. Carl, Rick, you must find Carl!" Shouted Lori hysterically, without even making sure that the boy was really lost.
This is Lori's true character, a selfish woman who lives in her own world, as long as she is not directly affected, the world can go to hell.
Rick and Shane also began to panic, just when they are preparing to form a search group, a deep moo sounded from the forest.
Suddenly, a boy of ten or eleven years old appeared with a handful of grass in one hand and holding a rope in the other, behind him, a fat cow followed him obediently.
Everyone remained completely paralyzed not knowing how to react, only after a while did they finally regain their composure.
"Carl, where were you?!" Lori was the first to approach him, checking him to see if he was hurt.
"Mom, I am fine, calm down, I just went out for a walk and found a lost cow in the forest." Responded Carl freeing himself from Lori, the cow let out a moo in confirmation while chewing the grass.
Lori hugged him against her chest anyway, trembling, as if she had been a second away from losing him, Rick approached with a tense face, checking him with his gaze.
Only after being sure that he was not hurt did he finally relax, then he fixed his gaze on the huge fat cow behind his son.
"Carl, do not do that again, you almost gave us a heart attack, tell me where you were, tell me exactly." Said Rick with a low but firm voice.
Carl looked at his father, and for an instant measured every face around him, Shane serious, Dale worried, Carol and Sophia still pale, Glenn looking confused, and Daryl staring at the cow as if it were a personal insult from the logic of the universe.
"I was near the forest, I did not go far, I was just walking, I heard mooing, I followed the sound and found her stuck between the bushes thanks to the rope."
"I gave her grass and she followed me, that is all." Said Carl without hesitation, maintaining an innocent expression, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
Rick's face showed a trace of disappointment, originally he thought there might be a herd nearby, maybe even a farm, people, but it seems that is not the case.
"You did well, Carl, but do not do that again, do not go away from the camp, alright?" Asked Rick and stroked his hair when he saw him nod.
After that, everything was much simpler, Shane and Jim will take care of butchering the cow while Rick, Glenn, T-Dog and Daryl will go look for Merle and hopefully weapons and Dale's tools.
"Sigh, it seems it worked." Murmured Carl when he finally managed to regain his freedom after moving away from Lori.
Obviously, all that about having found a cow in the forest was an excuse, the cow was brought by him from his farm in the world of Minecraft.
The reason is that there are many supplies missing in the camp, but what is most scarce is of course meat, at first he thought about intervening to prevent the walker from devouring Daryl's deer.
But after thinking about it carefully, he realized that it is not that simple, leaving aside that he did not even know where the deer was, it would be difficult to do it without risking being discovered.
Therefore, he made the decision to bring the meat directly from Minecraft, at the same time checking if he can transport living beings from one world to another.
Another thing he managed to discover is that a single cow can leave much more meat in the real world than in Minecraft, where it only leaves two or three pieces.
Carl stayed at a distance while Shane and Jim worked, observing the enormous amount of meat that could last a long time after drying or smoking it.
Leaving that aside, Carl began to think about what happened in the original plot, if everything follows its course, tonight the camp will be attacked by walkers.
Which brings us back to another crucial problem apart from food, security, the camp is practically a hive with multiple blind spots.
But there is not much Carl can do, it is not that he has not tried, in the morning he had discussed some countermeasures with Shane, but he only received a few comforting words.
It seems that Shane still thinks he is just a ten year old boy afraid of walkers, which is actually quite normal, but the problem is that Carl has a mission to fulfill.
[ Mission: Protect the Camp
• Details: Prevent the camp from being overrun, the fewer people die, the higher the reward
• Reward: Unknown
• Penalty: Death
• Status: Incomplete ]|
Carl frowned trying to think of a way to complete the mission in the best possible way.
Of course, he does not expect to save everyone in the camp, after all, there are still scum like Ed wandering around, but it would be great if he could save people like Amy or Jim, who died in the original work.
"First let us make sure everyone stays awake tonight." Murmured Carl looking at Amy's back in the distance.