"If there are any problems at the Farm, come find us at the CDC anytime."
Rick extended his hand to Shawn and shook it, saying earnestly.
"Same goes for you."
Shawn smiled faintly.
If nothing unexpected happened, Shawn would still have to clean up their mess later.
The current Rick still needed to gain experience, and everyone following Rick still needed to grow; Shawn didn't want to interfere.
After a few brief words, several vehicles left one after another, leaving only a cloud of dust lingering in the air.
Shawn turned and returned to the vehicle where Andrea was, sitting in the passenger seat, giving a thumbs-up gesture to the 'Dixie brothers.' With five people and three vehicles, they began their journey south.
The sky gradually darkened.
The two leading motorcycles first stopped their roaring.
"It's too dark, I can't see anything except where the headlights shine. We can only continue tomorrow."
Daryl came to the car immediately and discussed with Shawn.
Shawn looked around: "You and Merle get in the car and rest. Everyone should close their car windows at night, don't get out, and wait until dawn to continue."
Bang--
The engine turned off, the car door slid shut, and the heavy door brought a sense of security and warmth.
Shawn pretended to take food from his bag, but in reality, he took some from his system backpack.
Some canned goods, biscuits, and bottled water—these were supplies Shawn had casually picked up in the mall before saving Merle, and they had been kept in his system backpack.
Although they weren't gourmet delicacies, being able to eat one's fill was already a luxury in the apocalypse, and everyone was satisfied.
Unlike Merle and Daryl, who wolfed down their food, Andrea and Amy ate cautiously, each bite causing 20% damage to a small biscuit.
"So, what should we do next?" Andrea couldn't help but ask.
Hearing Andrea's voice, everyone looked up. Merle merely scoffed at Andrea's concern and said nothing.
Shawn shrugged: "Like I said, that farmer is a good person. He will definitely allow us to live near the Farm."
"They have enough food, water, medical supplies, and even firearms. There, we can help each other."
Shawn ate the last bite of his canned food; the high-oil, high-sugar content food brought a bit of warmth throughout his body.
Of course, Shawn had no intention of settling down just yet. The Farm being breached was only a matter of time. Not to mention other humans, the Farm couldn't even stand against brainless Zombies.
This was merely a temporary residence, a safer place than the Quarry Camp.
Shawn would use this opportunity to extensively scavenge for food and weapons nearby, and incidentally clear out Zombies to level up.
Shawn had already realized during the group battle at the Quarry Camp that swinging a massive hammer consumed a lot of stamina, meaning he needed to eat more food.
And a higher level would provide more opportunities for error.
It wasn't every time that he would be as lucky as he was in Atlanta.
Once surrounded by a horde of Zombies on a vast open plain, even if he wasn't infected, he would be torn apart by the Zombies, one bite at a time.
In addition, there were many powerful survivor factions; they had far more people, stronger firepower… none of which the current Shawn could contend with.
Therefore, Shawn wanted to proceed slowly.
The days ahead were long, and impatient people often died the fastest.
"Sleep. Tomorrow we'll reach the Farm. That will be our home for a while, and everything will be alright."
Gently comforting Andrea and Amy, Shawn was actually saying this to Daryl and Merle as well.
They were all real people, with their own thoughts, and could not be treated as simple game or plot characters.
Just as Rick painted a rosy picture for his team, Shawn naturally had to outline a visible future for his own team.
The belief in survival.
To some extent, this was far more important than food.
Compared to the sudden bond of 'life-saving grace,' Shawn preferred to build their trust in him little by little.
Inside the car, breathing gradually steadied.
Shawn opened the seven days to die system's skill point allocation interface; a single skill point stood alone at the top.
"Basic Strength attribute is already level 3, and the second stage of Skull Crusher is unlocked."
Shawn put the skill point into Level 2 Skull Crusher.
[(Great Hammer Master) Level 2/5]
[You are now a Great Hammer Master, but never be conceited]
[Great Hammer weapons deal an additional 20% melee damage, increase block damage by 40%]
[Power attacks have a 30% chance to knock down targets, light attack stamina consumption reduced by 15%, power attack stamina consumption reduced by 30%]
[Increase Hammering the World magazine loot rate by 4 times. This bonus disappears when the next magazine is fully read.]
[Increase Great Hammer and Great Hammer parts loot rate by 4 times.]
The sense of control from his palm reassured Shawn. He glanced around, closed his eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, at dawn.
"Damn it! Damn, damn, damn!" An exasperated roar came from beside him.
Merle teaches you to shut up
What's wrong?
Shawn frowned and opened his eyes, looking out through the passenger side windshield, only to see Merle standing under a tree not far away, frantically kicking the tree trunk with the tip of his hard shoe.
The poor sapling trembled a few times, and a few fallen leaves fluttered down from above, landing right on Merle's somewhat bald head, making him even more exasperated.
"What's the matter?"
Shawn stepped forward to ask.
Amy leaned over and explained softly.
"This morning, Merle got up to pee, and it turned out that the motorcycles that were parked under the tree over there were gone."
Shawn's heart skipped a beat. He looked over and saw Daryl had already loaded his crossbow and was silently preparing to go cause trouble.
Shawn slapped his forehead.
The motorcycles were these two brothers' lifeblood…
However, having the motorcycles taken right under their noses, Shawn also felt a surge of inexplicable anger.
Coming in front of Daryl and stopping him, Shawn looked at him, then at Merle.
"I know you're angry, but our plan can't change."
"You don't need your help. You take Andrea and Amy to the Farm first. My brother and I will go look for the vehicles."
Daryl's face was dark, his long hair almost covering his eyes, but it couldn't hide his fury at that moment.
Damn it, this is too much!
"You know I don't mean that." Shawn was unmoved.
"We can already see the farmland from here, which means we're not far from the Farm. Let's go to the Farm first; maybe the owner there knows what happened."
"At the very least, we can settle down and then search little by little."
"If it really doesn't work out, I'll help you find two more motorcycles. If the people who took the vehicles are active nearby, we'll run into them sooner or later."
Daryl and Merle were both tough individuals, but Shawn was genuinely worried something would happen if they wandered in the woods day and night like two Zombies.