Chapter 62: Taking the Prison Yard
"You..."
Old Dale still wanted to say something, but he was stopped by the look Shawn suddenly gave him. The words caught in his throat, unable to come out.
Shawn, his face covered in blood, walked up to Old Dale and asked in a calm voice, "What did you want to say, Dale?"
"Didn't the whole team agree to a dictatorship?"
"Or... did something change in the two days I was gone?"
Shawn's voice wasn't indifferent, but it was like a razor-thin sheet of ice, sharp enough to cut with a touch. Old Dale, under Shawn's gaze, trembled and could barely speak.
"No... nothing... has changed."
"Good."
Shawn's aura receded. He raised his hand and patted Old Dale's shoulder, then walked past him.
Shawn was indeed rational and could listen to the suggestions of others in the team. But that didn't mean he would follow them unconditionally. Otherwise, what was the point of this dictatorship? In Shawn's view, this was the perfect moment to exercise his power!
From now on, he would let everyone in the camp know one thing. Killing doesn't discriminate by age or gender. Anyone who dares to provoke them will be slaughtered!
Passing by Carol, she stopped him. Under his gaze, Carol took out a clean handkerchief and wiped the blood from his face.
"I knew you could bring them back," Carol said, her eyes benevolent. Since Ed's death, this was a look she had only shown to Sophia and Shawn.
Shawn said softly, "Thanks." Then he walked toward Rick.
Daryl and Merle, cradling their rifle and crossbow, flanked him on either side. After a brief hesitation, Carol followed, then Andrea, Glenn, Hershel...
Only when the entire team was facing a crisis did they truly understand the benefits of a so-called 'dictatorship'. At the very least, as long as Shawn was around, no one could make them kneel! No one!
Shawn arrived in front of Rick. Rick had already sheathed his machete and nodded at him, breathing heavily. "Thanks to you, Shawn."
The moment he saw Shawn, Rick had quietly breathed a sigh of relief. A huge weight was lifted from his heart, and he felt an unprecedented sense of peace. That group of prison guards had come so quickly. If Shawn hadn't arrived in time, he really couldn't think of a better way to end it.
As for Shawn's ruthless methods? Rick avoided Old Dale's gaze, seeing nothing. He could only see his wife and child, standing right in front of him, alive, without a single heart-wrenching bullet hole in them. And that was enough.
Shane stood to the side, his hands on his hips. When he looked at Shawn again, his expression gradually changed. What Shawn did was what he had wanted to do. Shawn showed no mercy, and he had hoped Shawn would show no mercy.
Enemies are enemies! Your own people are your own people! It was better to be clear on this point.
"Where did these people come from?" Shawn asked, looking at Rick. As far as he knew, the guards in the Prison were all long dead. Where did this group suddenly come from?
"I don't know. We had only just arrived when they came out of the woods on the other side. Every one of them had a gun. We were caught completely off guard," Rick said, shaking his head. He quickly recounted the entire process, a hint of anger in his voice.
Hearing this, Shawn suddenly understood. The current timeline was nearly half a year earlier than when Rick was supposed to have arrived. At that time, these cowardly prison guards would have either been eaten by walkers or killed by other survivor groups. But Rick's team arriving half a year early had happened to run into this group of guards who still hadn't given up on the Prison. That was why the previous scene had occurred.
"What a bunch of losers," Shawn cursed, looking at the guards' bodies. The entire treasure of the prison was right in front of them, but even if you handed them the key, they wouldn't dare to open it. What were they if not losers?
Shaking his head, Shawn gathered everyone. "As you can all see, I said I would bring you to the Prison, and now the Prison is right before your eyes."
"I said I would bring Daryl and Merle back in one piece, and they are standing right here, unharmed."
"So when we enter the Prison, I hope everyone will do exactly as I say. Fighting amongst ourselves will only continue to divide our team and put everyone in danger."
Shawn paused. Only after everyone indicated they had no objections did he nod. Taking the key from Rick, he spoke quickly. "There's no cover in the yard, so we'll take out the walkers there first, and then rest in the yard tonight."
"Glenn." Shawn took the chain off the gate, handed it to him, and instructed, "You're the fastest. Don't worry about the walkers inside for now. What you need to do is get to the opposite gate as fast as you can and lock it with this chain. Understand?"
Maggie gently squeezed Glenn's hand, her face full of worry. Glenn patted her hand and stepped forward to take the chain. "Leave it to me!" he said, his tone firm.
Seeing Glenn accept without hesitation, Shawn turned back to the group. "Same old rules. The elderly, women, and children will stay in the fenced walkway. The rest of you are responsible for protecting them."
With that, a smirk appeared on his lips. "As for the walkers inside, leave them all to me!"
Without waiting for anyone to object, Shawn directly opened the gate. With a powerful shove, the rusty 'creak' of the gate attracted all the nearby walkers.
With one swing of his hammer, Shawn could knock down two or three of the shambling walkers. Finishing off the downed ones was just a matter of one more blow. With his current strength, facing the 20 or 30 walkers in the yard alone was no problem at all. Not to mention, these walkers, trapped in a cage, were not nearly as aggressive as the ones outside. They just shambled and swayed, unable to surround him.
The sound of walkers hitting the chain-link fence started to echo from all sides as Rick and the others began to attract the attention of the remaining walkers.
When Shawn had cleared a path in front, Glenn, like an agile leopard, shot out of the cage. He expertly dodged the nearby walkers and, before the walkers from inside the prison could come out, slammed the sliding gate shut and secured it tightly with the chain.
"Done!" Glenn shouted, turning around. He came face to face with Shawn, who was walking over with his sledgehammer, which was still dripping with walker blood. He looked at Glenn and grinned.
At the right moment, a light, pleasant music played in his ear. "Perfect. I'm done too."
As night fell, Shawn and Rick split into two groups and checked the watchtowers at the four corners of the yard, making sure there were no missed walkers or survivors. Only after checking all four towers and all four corners of the fence and confirming there were no omissions did Shawn finally breathe a sigh of relief.
He returned to the temporary camp in the yard and took a bowl of mushroom soup from Carol. "When we find the prison cafeteria tomorrow, I'm never eating this stuff again."
The serious way he said it made several people around him laugh out loud. The atmosphere instantly became relaxed. Although a large number of walkers were watching them covetously from the other side, it didn't stop them from feeling happy at this moment.
Looking around, a sense of unreality suddenly washed over them.
"The Prison..."
"Is it really ours now?"
Back at the Farm camp, they had looked to the future, imagining themselves standing on the lawn of the Prison. And now, they had actually done it. They had at least conquered the land beneath their feet.
And for this, they had one person to thank.
They looked at Shawn. He was quietly drinking his mushroom soup, looking like a completely different person from the brutal figure of a short while ago.
*****
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