"What's that sound?"
"Rick, is someone here?!"
"…"
The entire Camp suddenly stirred. Rick subconsciously gripped his revolver, quickly stood up, and looked out into the distance from the top of the RV.
Then, without saying a word, even dropping the gun in his hand, Rick ignored the threat of the night and rushed towards the direction of the sound!
"Hey, Rick? Rick!"
Merle, who had just returned from the jungle, passed Rick.
Seeing Rick's appearance, Merle cursed him as an 'idiot', then turned around and followed with his long gun.
"What… what happened?"
Lori, her lips devoid of color, slowly opened her eyes. The noise from around the tent made it impossible for her to sleep.
Carol crawled into the tent, somewhat distressed, she touched Lori's forehead and cheek, and casually explained.
"Rick suddenly ran out for some reason, and Daryl and the others went after him."
At this point, Carol couldn't help but sigh.
Shawn hadn't returned, and she had originally planned to properly thank Shawn in the coming days with concrete actions, to thank Shawn for saving Sophia's life.
But who knew that the incomparably powerful Shawn would just fall outside like that.
"Life is truly unpredictable." Carol couldn't help but sigh again, looking like a woman burdened by constant worry.
But who knew that upon hearing Carol's words, the weak Lori suddenly struggled.
She struggled to get up from her sleeping bag, then, to Carol's astonishment, she stumbled step by step towards outside the Farm.
Carol quickly went forward to support her: "What's wrong?"
"Carl… Carl…"
Lori didn't reply, only continuously mumbling Carl's name.
Her eyes were fixed straight ahead, as if Carl would appear before her in the next second.
Faintly, Lori could hear Carl's voice calling her again and again in her ringing ears.
"Mum~~"
"Mum~~?"
The world before Lori's eyes began to blur, everything started to become multiple overlapping images, and her drooping eyelids finally couldn't hold on any longer and closed, collapsing to the ground amidst Carol's startled cry.
…
On the other side.
Music played in the red overlord, and Shawn and Carl's bodies swayed to the rhythm of the song.
The apocalypse has its advantages, doesn't it?
At least now no one would check Shawn's driving situation.
The sound inside the car completely drowned out the sounds outside, and Shawn's voice then drowned out the music.
"Carl!"
"We're almost there!"
"Are you ready to see Rick and Lori?!"
"Ready!!"
Carl's fair little face flushed red, imitating Shawn, he puffed out his voice and responded loudly.
"Hahahahaha-----"
Shawn laughed heartily and uninhibitedly.
He and Carl had gotten along very well these past few days. Looking at Carl, Shawn always had the illusion that he was also his own son.
No wonder Shane got too deeply into character back then, taking care of Lori and her son as a matter of course for Rick.
"Shawn, look, isn't that dad?"
Carl suddenly shouted.
"Hmm?" Shawn narrowed his eyes and casually turned off the music.
He saw a man in a light-colored shirt running towards them in the distance, falling several times along the way but not caring at all.
Screech--
A sound of air releasing came, and Shawn parked the red overlord on the main road in the middle of a field.
Jumping out of the driver's seat, Shawn smiled as he watched Rick run towards him.
"What's up, Rick? I said I'd bring Carl back safe and sound…"
Shawn spread his hands, about to embrace Rick, but who knew Rick would just brush past him, rushing to the passenger door and hugging Carl down from it.
Rick held Carl's head against his chest, unwilling to let go for a long time.
Only after deeply inhaling Carl's scent did Rick's heart, which had been empty for days, finally settle down.
A large stone fell from his heart, and Rick's expression became much more relaxed.
"It's good that you're back… it's good that you're back…"
Rick kept mumbling, as if what had returned was not just Carl, but also the spiritual pillar of his consciousness.
Shawn, standing by, couldn't help but smack his lips at this scene, until a fourth person's voice came from beside him.
"Brother, you're finally back. Did you have a good time out there? Not even coming back to Camp?"
Merle arrived behind Shawn, out of breath. He stood beside Shawn, patting Shawn's shoulder and teasing.
"Get lost." Shawn slapped Merle's hand away: "What happened in Camp while I was gone?"
Shawn looked at Rick… he seemed a bit off.
Merle didn't lean in close to Shawn's ear, but simply shouted loudly.
"Nothing much, just that after you left, that slut Shane found a group of Walkers in the barn, and then we took care of them together."
At least when it came to dealing with Walkers, Merle was on Shane's side.
"Then we continued training until Rick and Lori started worrying about you… Of course, mainly worrying about Carl, and then everything is as you see it now."
Merle shrugged, saying it somewhat indifferently.
Ultimately, Merle was just an old scoundrel; previously, he cared about nothing but his own brother.
Even if the man who was once called their father became a Walker and stood before him, he would not hesitate to pierce the other's skull with his long gun.
Thanks to that man also being an old scoundrel, Merle would be exceptionally merciful, whipping the corpse a hundred more times with the gun stock until the other's head was smashed to pieces.
Hearing this, Shawn understood.
"I didn't expect that just taking Carl away for 7 days… would elicit such a reaction."
Shawn secretly clicked his tongue, raising Carl's importance to Rick by another notch in his mind.
He dragged his stone hammer behind Rick, raised the hammer high, and swung it down forcefully.
Swoosh--!
A swaying Walker's body crashed down.
"Forgot to tell you, the Walkers wandering near the Farm have also increased recently." Merle grinned from behind.
"You might as well tell me after Rick gets bitten by a Walker."
Shawn didn't even want to retort to that old man.
Putting away the giant hammer, Shawn stepped forward and patted Rick's shoulder.
"Alright, Rick, let's talk when we get back to Camp. Carl didn't die outside, but he'll be strangled to death by you."
"Sorry, Carl." Rick quickly released Carl, his eyes turning red.
Only when he held his beloved in his arms again did Rick feel like he was alive.
"Get in the car." Shawn opened the back compartment of the red overlord.
When the group returned to Camp, everyone except Lori came out. They watched as the fire truck stopped outside the yard.
Glenn reacted the fastest, quickly going to the car door and opening the back door.
It wasn't until they saw Rick get out of the car, holding Carl in his wooden armor, that smiles unconsciously appeared on their faces.
"I thought our agreement was going to be voided here."
Hershel silently walked up to Shawn, dropped a sentence, and then left Shawn with a somewhat lonely back.