Chapter 45: I've Heard So Much About You, Dr. Jenner!
"Merle, you'd better wipe that blood off. If it gets in your mouth, I'll have to take action."
Caesar jumped down from the truck. His heavy body hit the ground with a thud. He walked toward Merle, pointing at him.
"You'd all better tell your team members too. Better safe than sorry."
"Alright, boss." Hearing this, Merle's expression changed. He quickly wiped his face while hastily checking Daryl.
Daryl shook off Merle irritably. "Has your brain been gnawed off by walkers? I use a crossbow."
Merle gave an awkward smile, then roared at his team members who were suppressing laughter. "What are you laughing at? Hurry up and check yourselves. Wipe off all the black blood. If the virus gets in your body, just wait to turn into a walker!"
Under his roar, several team members quickly sobered up and checked themselves and their teammates.
Merle's combat squad began checking themselves. This prompted other members in the convoy who'd just fought to check as well.
Caesar nodded with satisfaction. Reality wasn't television. The more careful you were, the easier it was to survive.
After a while, everyone heard footsteps approaching from the depths of the dim parking garage.
Caesar's expression turned serious. He raised his large hand. Everyone checking themselves immediately stopped moving.
Non-combat members in the convoy quickly got into vehicles and closed doors and windows.
Combat personnel—Daryl led his team to hide on both sides, concealing themselves beside vehicles already in the parking garage, gun barrels aimed at the source of the sound.
Caesar stood at the front of the team with Morales and a few others, staring intently ahead. Merle also stood beside Caesar with his machete, his gaze as alert as a wolf's.
Under the truck's lights, the footsteps drew closer and closer.
After seeing who was approaching, Caesar raised his hand to release the team from alert status.
"I've heard so much about you, Dr. Jenner!"
After cleaning up and resting, Dr. Jenner's mental state was much better. He looked very scholarly.
Caesar wore his helmet. His voice was somewhat muffled. The two men shook hands.
After shaking hands, Jenner's expression stiffened. He immediately felt some regret.
Caesar had just been slaughtering walkers. The riot gear was covered top to bottom with walker flesh and blood fragments. His hands were also full of blood plasma. After shaking, Jenner's hand was covered too.
Suppressing his nausea, Jenner withdrew his hand.
"Just now I saw your team fighting walkers. Your strength is indeed very powerful. I believe in the future you'll definitely be able to survive very well in the apocalypse."
Jenner ignored the strange feeling on his hand and very sincerely expressed his admiration for his future boss.
Caesar smiled and nodded. "Precisely because of this, we need you. I believe with your scientific research capabilities, you'll definitely be able to develop products beneficial to humanity."
Everyone carries the sedan chair together.
Jenner didn't last long in the show before dying. Caesar didn't know what his true research capabilities were. But a base being able to support a laboratory to develop vaccines represented a kind of hope for the future.
Even without results, it could make residents feel a sense of belonging to the base.
After Caesar and Jenner exchanged a few simple words, Caesar asked about the walkers appearing in the parking garage.
Jenner explained, "After the CDC sealed itself, I was the only person here. But before sealing, the CDC's garage was open to the outside."
"It must have been soldiers who were bitten and hid in the garage before turning into walkers. I never came to the garage either, so I didn't discover them."
Jenner felt somewhat afraid now. Fortunately, he could stay cooped up. Otherwise, if he'd entered the garage without any precautions, he'd probably have been torn apart by walkers in the blink of an eye.
After finishing his conversation with Jenner, Rick approached Caesar. The two men embraced.
"Caesar, I didn't expect to see you again."
Rick was somewhat excited. After leaving the convoy, he'd begun shouldering responsibility, bearing the burden of several people's lives.
This had left him somewhat at a loss. He was also grateful for everything Caesar had done at the quarry before.
Caesar removed his helmet, his face showing more sincerity. "I'm also very happy to see you."
Seeing you also means all the guns and ammunition in King County are mine.
Rick smiled, then suddenly stopped smiling and spoke seriously. "You probably don't know yet, but I just learned some bad news from Dr. Jenner today."
Dr. Jenner, who'd already perked up his ears, now stood not far away with all his attention focused on his ears, listening to Rick and Caesar's conversation.
That's right, just like this. Tell Caesar the news about the walker virus. Then he'll truly appreciate my research capabilities.
"Now everyone in the world is infected with the walker virus. Whether bitten by walkers or dying naturally, they'll turn into walkers."
"Oh, that. I already knew about it."
Caesar's calm words floated lightly into Jenner's ears, shattering his spirit.
What? He already knew.
Caesar shrugged. "I've encountered some bastards. They killed people, and the killed people turned into walkers and bit them to death."
Caesar briefly explained what happened. But he also took this opportunity to inform everyone in the convoy that all people were infected with the walker virus.
After most of the convoy learned about it, although somewhat surprised, they quickly accepted it.
After all, once they had the ability and courage to deal with the apocalypse, such bad news was no longer enough to affect them.
Seeing them accept it so quickly, especially Carol doing the same, Rick felt the difference between people was so great.
The few people who'd followed him were still deeply mired in fantasizing about the crisis of what to do after they died and became walkers, not realizing that figuring out how to survive now was the key.
"Caesar." Rick paused, glancing at Lori and Carl talking with Carol and her daughter. "I want to bring my family and join your team."
"I know I previously refused..."
"You can." Before Rick could confess his journey, Caesar nodded in agreement.
Rick looked at Caesar in surprise. Caesar said, "Rick, I believe you can survive very well in the apocalypse. I also believe you'll bring help to my camp and help more people survive."
After speaking, Caesar patted Rick's shoulder.
...
CDC, underground level one.
Caesar poured most of the diesel they'd brought into the CDC's power generation area. The entire power area was like a car that had drunk its fill of fuel. The residential area temporarily didn't need to conserve electricity or hot water.
Although rooms were limited, Caesar still had everyone take turns entering rooms to shower.
Among non-combat personnel, most were women. They bathed first, then entered the CDC's cafeteria to cook.
Some went to the laundry room to wash clothes.
A small portion returned to the parking garage to clean vehicles.
After bathing, combat personnel conducted patrols, exploring whether any walkers remained inside the CDC.
They also worked in three shifts, ensuring both day and night had people patrolling who could rush to any situation immediately.
With their addition, the CDC instantly seemed to return to its pre-apocalypse state—tight and orderly.
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