The girl was holding two peaches in her hands, looking nervously at Rick, who was still aiming his weapon at them, while the man beside her kept a smile on his face, seeming oddly cheerful as he said, "We only have two peaches, friends. Want something to eat?"
As he said this, the old man tossed a peach to Rick, who stood motionless, staring at the two with his weapon still raised at the strangers.
Daniel, standing next to him, stepped forward and said with some concern, "Rick, they're just regular survivors."
Rick slowly lowered his weapon and told the two of them, "Come down, it's safe."
"Yes, we'll come down now."
As soon as the man helped the girl down, Rick ran downstairs, cleared all the rooms, and came back down slowly, finding nothing unusual.
At that point, Daniel had already begun interrogating the two survivors, while Rick stepped to the side and observed them in silence.
...
"You're saying you've been hiding in a nearby greenhouse?"
Daniel looked at them calmly. The girl's name was Allison, and the old man was Chris. Jim, standing nearby, seemed in good spirits—after all, he rarely left the base. Daniel also seemed relatively calm.
The girl named Allison looked at everyone with an honest smile.
"How many days were you hiding in the barn?"
"We stayed there for two days, then the runners came, and we escaped."
Daniel carefully watched the two. While he seemed pleased to have found them, a trace of bitterness occasionally crossed his face, giving him a strange expression. He then pointed to Chris's bandaged shoulder.
"What happened to your shoulder?"
As soon as the wound was mentioned, Chris smiled and lightly rubbed it. "We jumped out of a window to avoid being eaten by the runners. I can tell you, breaking glass with your hands doesn't go like it does in the movies—it hurts like hell."
Jim stepped forward to examine the wound and said as he looked it over, "Runners, huh? Well, up until recently, we called them undead, walkers… The ones you call runners are really just a type of walker. From what we know, the virus in their bodies mutated, making them more dangerous."
"The bandage on your shoulder is dirty. Someone from our group will clean the wound shortly."
Allison, hearing this, showed a worried expression and asked, "Can someone help treat him?"
Jim nodded. His main reason for doing so was to check whether the wound was a bite, so he said, "Have a seat. I'll take care of it now."
After speaking, Jim gently helped Chris treat the wound, and after a while, he said, "Alright, good thing we have antibiotics to prevent infection. You'll need to take this pill and hopefully avoid any complications."
Everyone inspected Chris's shoulder and confirmed it wasn't a bite, which helped them relax and trust these people a little more.
"Thank you for your concern. Not everyone would do what you're doing for us nowadays," said Allison with a grateful smile.
The two of them were clearly touched for a moment, then quickly noticed everyone staring at them. Embarrassed, they looked away and said softly:
"Sir, thank you again."
Jim waved his hand and then asked the two, "Are you family?"
Allison gave a thoughtful look before answering, "At the beginning of all this, we met in a supermarket. My father died six months ago, and I've been with Mr. Chris since then—he was our neighbor."
"Do you have a weapon?" Jim asked casually.
Chris smiled, looked at Jim—who seemed like the friendliest one—and said, "Yes. We only have twelve bullets left. Usually takes five or six to kill a runner… just for one of them…"
Jim and the others probably understood their situation by now. Jim glanced at Rick, who had been silent and standing not far away. Rick was still deep in thought and hadn't looked at the two.
Jim felt that these two people likely didn't pose a threat and considered bringing them back, but Rick hadn't said anything yet. Just as Jim was about to speak, he asked suddenly:
"Sir, what's your decision?"
Rick finally reacted, stepped closer to the two, and looked them over.
Jim silently took two steps back.
Rick's deep voice rang in everyone's ears: "How many walkers have you killed?"
Chris froze for a moment, then gave a thoughtful look and answered quickly, "Two."
Rick's expression didn't change. He continued, "How many people have you killed?"
"None. How could we kill anyone?"
"Why not?"
Chris replied with a smile, "I like people. I used to think people were suffocating, but now that I can't see them anymore… I miss society."
Rick didn't ask anything else. He looked at the two for a moment and then said slowly, "Our base isn't far from here. It'll take less than half an hour to drive there."
Everyone looked at Rick with joy, and Chris asked eagerly, "Is there a fence there? Is it safe?"
Jim enjoyed watching their expressions upon hearing there was a base, and then smiled slightly. "Well, you can see it for yourselves when we get there."
Rick cut off their excitement and pointed outside. "You two stay here. We're heading out to pick some fruits from that greenhouse you mentioned."
Jim eagerly offered to lead the way, and the group got into the vehicle and headed to the greenhouse.
...
Two Humvees were on the road heading toward the prison when Rick suddenly asked Chris, who was sitting in the back, "Why did you two come here?"
This time Allison answered. She spoke sadly: "We used to be on the other side of Atlanta. We heard a lot of gunfire and explosions coming from this direction. When there were still more of us, our group decided to head that way, hoping for a chance. But the walkers were stirred up by the noise, and only the two of us made it."
Allison paused and asked, "By the way, sir, since your base is near here, do you know where the gunfire was coming from?"
Rick and Daniel exchanged looks, both showing surprise. They hadn't expected that earlier wave of walkers to have such far-reaching effects.
Many survivors—hundreds of them—had come to the prison for the same reason, which now made perfect sense.
Seeing the strange expressions of the two men in the front row, Chris gradually realized the truth and asked with rising excitement, "Captain Rick, could it be that the gunfire came from your base?"
Rick just smiled and said nothing, while Jim, sitting beside him, said with a bit of pride, "Yes, that base is us."
"Chris, Allison—we're here!"
The girl looked toward where Daniel was pointing, and her expression dimmed in an instant.