Chapter 105: Selective Ignoring
The next day, daylight was bright.
Hershel drove a shabby pickup truck. In the passenger seat was the capable-dressed Maggie. Maggie held Otis's hunting rifle in her hands.
Hershel's mood was quite good. The corners of his mouth kept lifting upward.
Maggie pursed her lips, looking at the scenery along the way. She furrowed her brows in confusion. "Father, have the roads on this side all been cleared?"
They'd already approached Black Pine Valley's area. The abandoned vehicles on the road had long been pushed far away by heavy trucks. Walkers had also been cleared and buried or burned.
The road looked clean and refreshing.
Hershel looked left and right with a smile, nodding as he said: "Black Pine Valley is not far ahead. If Caesar and his people leave Black Pine Valley, they might clear it along the way."
Maggie nodded.
Looks like Black Pine Valley really was a good place. Under Caesar's leadership, Glenn should live very well.
Maggie couldn't help thinking. At the same time she also compared with the farm's situation.
The farm's drinking water and meals were good, but there weren't many people. It lacked socializing.
Every day facing her old father and Beth and the others, and because there were walkers outside, she'd almost never gone out much.
For her, this was very boring.
Thus, Maggie said lightly: "Black Pine Valley must have many people. Not boring like the farm."
The smile at the corners of Hershel's mouth gradually lowered. He turned his head to look at Maggie once.
That gaze held no blame, only apology.
---
When the two Hershels arrived at Black Pine Valley, Merle didn't make things difficult for them. He casually waved.
"Open the gate!"
After a day of simple repairs, the abandoned vehicles at Buffalo Pass gate had all been pushed open. Taking their place were two solid heavy trucks.
The two heavy trucks stood back-to-back blocking the middle of the pass, only revealing the truck bodies. The truck cabs hid behind the rocks on both sides.
The heavy truck beds were loaded full of thick sandbags, ensuring bullets wouldn't easily destroy the truck beds.
The two heavy trucks opened like two great doors. Hershel drove the pickup in.
Hershel nodded at Merle in greeting. "Hello."
"Yo!" Merle turned his head. Seeing Maggie, he perked up. His eyes brightened. He raised his sunglasses. "Pretty girl."
Without waiting for Maggie to respond, Hershel with a dark face directly closed the window, leaning sideways to block Maggie's figure, and directly started the vehicle.
The red old pickup rapidly drove past, splashing up some dust.
Merle looked dazedly for two glances at the departing pickup and complained.
"Fuck, I didn't even say anything and he left."
"Toby, am I not attractive to women?"
Merle casually asked.
"Uh..." Toby, Merle's trusted subordinate standing to the side, considered his wording. "Boss, you're very distinctive-looking, but most women probably can't appreciate it."
Merle furrowed his brows slightly. "Distinctive-looking... women... can't appreciate... you're just saying I'm ugly!"
Merle's eyes widened. He even kicked at the lounge chair.
Toby smiled awkwardly and dodged repeatedly.
Hershel drove along the dirt road. The road had several branches, but only one dirt road was built wider than all the other dirt roads combined, and had been maintained. There was no overgrown grass on it.
When passing through the gate, Toby had already told them the route.
Go straight, following the widest and best road forward.
"Father, the roads in this valley are better than the roads at our house." Maggie's hand rested on the car window. She glanced at the dirt road.
Hershel didn't refute. "Looks like Caesar values infrastructure very much."
"The mobile gate at the pass, the clearing of the outside lanes, and the internal passages..."
Maggie said with emotion: "Good infrastructure means people live well. And they have many people, and they're in the valley. They can hold parties and such."
Hershel was immediately choked up.
Because Maggie had suggested holding a small party at the farm to be happy. Hershel had rejected it immediately.
Music would attract those sick people. The farm also didn't have much diesel to generate electricity. There wasn't much alcohol either.
Perhaps this one small party could directly consume most of the farm's inventory.
Moreover, holding a party in the apocalypse? Just hearing it sounded wrong.
Hershel didn't stay silent long. His eyes suddenly brightened. His slack skin all spread open.
Maggie also froze.
In their field of vision appeared a black line. Gradually, the black line became clear.
That was a stretch of wooden houses. Each house's architectural style maintained consistency and stood row upon row.
Outside the wooden houses were also stretches of divided ranches. In the ranches you could see many cattle and sheep, mooing as they ate grass, glancing at the passing pickup.
Beside the herds of cattle and sheep were cowboys on horses—very typical cowboy dress. On their bodies and in their saddlebags were guns. Their eyes were sharp. They looked not too friendly.
Hershel nodded in acknowledgment to several cowboys without speaking, driving straight inward.
The roads in town had already been paved with quite a few large rocks, improving traction and also reducing the muddy feeling of the dirt.
On the road were many pedestrians. They made way for Hershel's vehicle while curiously sizing up the pickup.
The pickup quickly shuttled through the residential area and arrived at the core district.
Upon entering the core district, an armored vehicle led the pickup, escorting it all the way to the council hall.
The two got out of the vehicle. Hershel was about to ask the person driving the armored vehicle what to do about his vehicle.
He saw the armored vehicle rapidly depart.
Hershel opened and closed his mouth.
Just then, a voice reached Hershel's ears. "Hello, Mr. Hershel. Please walk this way."
Hershel turned his head to look.
It was a blonde beauty with her hair pinned up, wearing professional attire. On her body intermingled two temperaments—mature and innocent.
Amy smiled and extended her hand toward Maggie. "I'm Amy, Mr. Caesar's secretary and girlfriend."
Maggie shook hands. "Hello, my name is Maggie. This is my dad, Hershel."
"The boss wants you to go directly to his office. Then you can go chat with Dr. Jenner about the vaccine and some matters regarding the walker virus."
"After that, you'll need to teach our people how to plant."
Amy thoughtfully described the two people's tasks for today.
Hearing "vaccine," Hershel perked up. He pushed Maggie aside and leaned forward to ask: "May I ask, who is this Dr. Jenner?"
"Dr. Jenner is a researcher from the CDC. At the apocalypse's beginning, he was always at the CDC researching vaccines. Currently the vaccine still has no leads. Please don't hold too much hope."
Amy gave Hershel a preventive injection. She'd seen some people whose important family or friends had turned into walkers.
Hearing about vaccines they'd get excited like they'd been injected with adrenaline. But no matter how powerful a vaccine was, it couldn't revive the dead.
Hershel selectively ignored the latter sentence and asked on his own: "Then we can go find Caesar now."
"Oh right, what about my vehicle?"
"Give me your keys." Amy extended her hand. "I'll have someone drive it directly to the parking lot for you. When you leave, you can retrieve it then."
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