After speaking, Shawn was about to get up when he saw Clementine still lowering her head, silent.
But the next second, he heard Clementine speak stubbornly, her voice tinged with a sob.
"Then… can you send my parents' souls to heaven?"
She raised her head, tears welling up in her watery eyes.
'So Clementine's parents are already dead…'
Shawn thought for a moment.
"Hmm…"
"That depends on whether they were good people. If I send two bad guys to heaven, that old man God will be scolding me non-stop with his staff up there."
"They are good people, good people!"
Clementine clenched her small fists and took a step forward, looking a bit agitated.
It seemed she was afraid that if she spoke a second too late, Shawn would send her parents to hell.
"Then they will eventually meet in heaven, I promise you."
After receiving Shawn's assurance, Clementine's expression immediately relaxed a lot.
Shawn leaned close to her ear.
"But this kind of thing can't be said directly; you need to cooperate with me and prove it with action."
"What should I do?"
"Behind the Prison, there's an open space. You can dig two graves for your parents in the corner there, and then they can go to heaven."
"Really?"
"I'm more powerful than God," Shawn reminded her.
"Mhm!"
Clementine nodded vigorously, then pulled Lee's hand and eagerly ran towards the Prison exit.
Shawn stood up and watched her retreating figure until the two disappeared from sight.
In this apocalypse, everyone needs their own redemption, and even a child of a few years old is no exception.
Perhaps when she has exhausted her strength and slowly fallen asleep in Lee's warm embrace, everything will gradually start to get better.
"Remember what I said."
After saying a final word to Lily, Shawn turned and came to the second cell block in Sector B.
As soon as he entered the cell block, Shawn saw Old Dale from afar. He was sitting on a stool, leaning against the wall, chatting idly.
"Fishing?"
"Well, I liked it when I was young, but not so much when I got older."
"What? At my age, I should like fishing, something that requires patience?"
"Shawn said that I'm just a young man of 60 or 70. Even I still have hope for the future, so why are you so pessimistic?"
"Child, you actually remind me of my son whom I've never met. He's just like you…"
Old Dale's incessant chatter never stopped; he could always find something to talk about.
Old Dale was leaning against the wall, while Martinez in the cell was bare-chested, his upper body wrapped in bandages, leaning against the iron bars.
In the days since he woke up, Old Dale, the only one who appeared here, became one of Martinez's few pastimes.
When he saw Shawn appear, Old Dale immediately stood up and greeted him.
"Warden."
It seemed he had heard about what happened at the Prison entrance not long ago.
Martinez was startled when he heard this, then supported himself on the iron bars and forced himself to stand up and greet him.
"Hello, I'm Martinez. Thank you for your great mercy."
Martinez's face was still pale, but after Hershel's treatment, being able to get up and move around in just a few days already indicated that Martinez's physical condition was good.
Shawn couldn't help but feel a little satisfied when he heard Martinez's greeting.
…Listen, he truly was the former deputy of a powerful figure; he knows how to handle things.
The moment he saw Shawn, Martinez immediately lowered his posture.
He seemed to be worried that Shawn would settle the Governor's affairs with him. After his words fell, Martinez kept observing Shawn's expression, fearing that Shawn would be displeased and immediately turn hostile the next second.
"How did you survive back then?"
Shawn asked with some curiosity.
But Shawn remembered seeing Martinez shot by the Governor from afar, and then swept away by a Walker horde.
For an ordinary person, it would probably be difficult to even leave a complete corpse, let alone save their life.
But Martinez successfully survived, his vitality far exceeding that of ordinary people.
At the mention of this, Martinez's already pale face became even paler.
"Actually, I thought I was already dead at the time. My consciousness started to blur, but my body seemed to be moving on its own."
"I thought this was the perspective of becoming a Walker after death."
"I crawled all the way to the edge of the deep pit, intending to end myself with the wooden spikes below."
"But I missed, fainted, and when I woke up again, I was here."
Martinez's tone held some relief, as if he was glad he hadn't impaled himself at the time, otherwise it would have been a confused suicide.
'Well, another one where the body overrides the mind.'
Faced with Martinez's bizarre encounter, Shawn couldn't help but chuckle inwardly.
There are countless strange ways to die, and you can always see many here.
After Old Dale left, Shawn sat down on the stool he had brought, looking directly at Martinez.
It was only after a long while, when Shawn's gaze made Martinez feel uneasy, that he spoke.
"Do you want to live?"
Shawn's question was direct, simple, and blunt.
With the current power of the Prison, Shawn didn't seem to care much whether there was one more Martinez.
"Yes, more than ever!"
Martinez nodded vigorously without any hesitation.
What one lacks most, one desires most. After experiencing death once, Martinez only wanted to live.
He never wanted to experience that feeling again: the surge of adrenaline after a severe injury, yet his body gradually turning cold.
Shawn didn't answer him directly upon hearing this, only casually mentioning, "Starting today, your cell will be moved next door. Please remember one thing: you have not yet gained freedom."
"Next door, there's a group of people who aren't in the best mood, but they're also in a cell, so they can't hurt you."
"It's just that they still don't understand how rare it is to have a safe place to stay in this current environment."
"You used to be the Governor's subordinate. I think you can tell them that for me."
Shawn spoke unhurriedly, and Martinez nodded with every sentence, listening carefully.
Finally, Shawn looked at him again: "So, do you understand?"
"Yes!"
"Good."
Shawn snapped his fingers.
Then he called Oscar and had him take Martinez to 'move house'.
Martinez's new cell was the one Lily had been in not long ago, with Kenny and his remnants to the right.
As Shawn passed through Sector B, he casually met Martinez's gaze. He raised an eyebrow at Shawn, seemingly indicating that Shawn could rest assured, and that he would definitely handle things well.
Seeing this, Shawn's evaluation of Martinez rose another notch in his mind.
He could listen, would listen, and understood what was said.
Moreover, he had a clear understanding of his current situation. Even if Shawn had just told him to fight Kenny to the death, he would probably have expressed his loyalty without hesitation.
Yes, Martinez knew that Shawn wanted to subdue Kenny and the others, and he also knew that this was the test Shawn was giving him.
Just as Shawn had said, the Prison does not keep idlers; everyone needs to demonstrate their value.
Expressing one's value in specific events and demonstrating one's loyalty through action was a rare opportunity, and Martinez seized it.
And as the Governor's former deputy, no one was more suitable than Martinez to do this.
Through Martinez's mouth, Kenny would learn of Shawn's 'mercy' and his way of doing things.
"If one day isn't enough, then one month."
"They'll come to their senses eventually."
"When they come to their senses, Martinez will be released."
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