...To all the children:
By the time you read this letter, we old bones should have already embarked on the final journey of our lives.
Please do not panic, and do not be sad. This is a decision we made together after much discussion.
Since the day the apocalypse descended, we have been living in this nursing home.
These sturdy high walls protected us, but as time passed, they also trapped you.
We watched you risk your lives outside to find supplies, watched you bleed and get hurt to protect us, people who already have one foot in the grave... Children, we saw it all, yet we could only wait in silence.
Guillermo, you once said that everyone grows old, so we shouldn't be abandoned.
You were right.
In that old era shrouded in the radiance of civilization, this was indeed a self-evident truth.
But in this apocalypse today, not everyone is fortunate enough to live until their hair turns white.
You are our children.
Even if the world has collapsed to this point, even if the road ahead is pitch black, we still selfishly hope—
That you can survive, survive until the day the dawn of the New World arrives.
But we... are already old, we won't make it.
But that's okay.
Because we were young once, too.
We witnessed the glory and loneliness of an era, and possessed those long, peaceful years before the apocalypse came.
We have loved, hated, laughed, and cried... This life of ours has been enough.
So, even if we cannot see the New World you build with our own eyes, we have no regrets in our hearts.
Please don't come looking for us. This is the final journey we old folks have chosen for ourselves.
We do not wish to waste the final moments of our lives in fear of Walkers, or lingering on a sickbed.
Since the end is inevitable, why not choose a cooler way to say goodbye?
So, we picked up weapons and chose to move forward.
If we meet old friends in Heaven in the future, we can also proudly boast a few words—
Look! We are unyielding warriors! In the final moments of our lives, we still did not stop moving forward!
We did not die of old age, nor did we die in flight; instead, we fell on the path of the charge!
Please be proud of us, children.
Just as we have always been proud of you.
—With love, All the Elders
...The letter slipped from Guillermo's hand, falling lightly to the ground.
In the rain, only the suppressed sobs of several grown men remained.
"Bastards... a bunch of old bastards!"
Felipe covered his face, tears streaming through his fingers, "How could you... how could you just leave us like this..."
"Didn't you stop them?!"
Guillermo's mind went blank. He suddenly rushed toward Miguel, grabbing his shoulders and roaring, "You just watched them go to their deaths?!"
"We tried! Of course we tried!"
Miguel also broke down and cried, "But yesterday, Grandpa Gilbert pointed a gun at his own head... He said if we didn't let them go, he would die right in front of us!"
"They locked the door, we couldn't break it down... By the time we climbed out the window, they had already driven off in that school bus..."
"Where's the bus?! Which direction did they go?!"
Guillermo let go, his eyes bloodshot. "There's still time to catch up! We can bring them back!"
"Right! Go find them!" Felipe also shouted, "Even if we have to tie them up, we'll bring them back!"
Several young men turned to rush toward the vehicles.
"Wait." A tall figure blocked their path, stopping them.
It was Shane.
"Move!" Guillermo's eyes were red, like an enraged bull. "Those are our family!"
"Calm down first," Shane didn't move. He held down Guillermo's hand as he tried to pull open the car door. "It's raining outside, and there are Walkers everywhere."
"Driving out aimlessly now is meaningless except for getting yourselves killed."
"I know you're doing it for safety, but this isn't up for debate!" Guillermo's chest heaved violently as he fought against Shane's strength.
"I understand how you feel..." Shane frowned, still trying to soothe him.
"You don't understand shit!" Guillermo suddenly threw off Shane's hand and roared, "They're not your family, how could you possibly understand! Move!"
"Take your damn hand off the car door!" Felipe also raised his gun. Although it wasn't aimed at Shane, he was clearly overwhelmed by emotion.
Just as the situation was about to spiral out of control, Rick stepped forward, standing between Shane and Felipe.
"Look at me, Felipe, look at me."
Rick's gaze was sincere and firm, his voice carrying a convincing power. "Don't get worked up. No one wants to stop you from saving them. But..."
He sighed and turned to Guillermo, who was also panting heavily. "Guillermo, have you thought about it? Even if you catch up, even if you really bring them back... then what?"
Guillermo froze for a moment. In that instant of hesitation, his anger seemed to be punctured. "Then what?"
"Bring them back by force, and then let them continue to be trapped in this yard?" Morales stepped out from the crowd and took over the conversation.
What he said wasn't very pleasant, but it was realistic:
"Let them watch you risk your lives every day to find a bit of food and medicine?"
"Let them lie in bed every day in guilt and fear, waiting for the day they die?"
"Is this what you want?"
Morales' words made Guillermo's body stiffen, and his pushing hands fell weakly.
He turned his head toward Rick and asked with a trembling voice, "You also think we shouldn't go? You also think it's good that they're gone, right?!"
Facing this question that was almost an accusation, Rick didn't get angry.
"No."
Rick shook his head and said solemnly, "I just want to say, if you have considered everything, if you are truly determined to find them..."
He paused and patted Guillermo's shoulder. "I will go with you."
Guillermo opened his mouth, for a moment not knowing what to say, his eyes instantly turning red.
"They left for your sake."
Morales looked into Guillermo's eyes and continued, "They didn't want to be a burden."
"I know!"
Guillermo clutched his hair in agony. "But we didn't need them to do this! We didn't need them to leave..."
"Perhaps for them right now, they don't need you to do this either," Louis' voice came from behind.
"They don't need you to search for them or try to make them stay."
Louis said softly, "They didn't want to wait for death in pain and fear; they chose to fight for themselves."
He looked into Guillermo's pained eyes. "If you chase after them now and bring them back by force, you'll be telling them that their choice was meaningless, and that they are still your burden."
Louis knelt down, picked up the letter soaked by the rain, gently brushed off the mud, and handed it back to Guillermo.
"Look clearly at what they wrote: 'Please be proud of us.'"
"What they want is dignity, the pride of shielding you from the wind and rain one last time as your elders."
"Don't strip away the grandparents' final wish."
These words were like a night breeze blowing away the mist, smoothing over those agitated flames, leaving only a bone-chilling sadness spreading in the heart.
Guillermo held the letter, his strength seemingly drained. He slowly slid down against the wall and finally slumped to the ground.
"Guillermo!" Felipe looked at him and shouted urgently, "What are you doing? Are we going to give up? Huh?"
Guillermo didn't answer.
He looked at the handwriting on the letter, tears falling drop by drop. He remained in that stiff posture, like a stone statue that had suddenly lost all support.
Time flowed in the suppressed silence, with only the sound of the rain clearly audible.
After a long time, Guillermo's lips moved, and a dry, hoarse sound came from his throat, as if every word required all his strength to be squeezed out of his chest.
"...This is," he spoke again, his voice carrying the pain of flesh being torn away, "their choice."
"I am..." His voice trailed off, and he visibly withered. The words he spoke were as light as a sigh, yet so heavy he couldn't bear them.
"I am... proud of them."
Felipe was stunned. Then, he also closed his eyes in pain and turned away, his shoulders shaking violently.
The rain was still falling.
Silence surrounded them.
Everyone took off their hats or simply stood solemnly. In this gloomy rainy day, they bowed their heads deeply toward the distance where the school bus had disappeared.
This was a farewell without a funeral.
In this cruel apocalypse, this group of defenseless elderly people, in their own way, gave these lost young people one final lesson—
About courage, about sacrifice, and about love.
At some point, the continuous drizzle gradually thinned and finally stopped.
The leaden-gray clouds seemed to be slowly pushed aside by an invisible hand. Sunlight stubbornly seeped through the gaps in the clouds, dispersing some of the gloom and bringing a long-awaited hint of warmth.
Louis stood at the back of the crowd, looking at the now-empty nursing home, his heart also feeling a bit bitter.
Just then, a voice so soft it seemed like a hallucination suddenly rang in his ear.
It was a voice filled with smiles and relief, piercing through the boundary between life and death, landing gently in his heart:
"...Thank you."
Louis whipped his head around.
There was no one behind him, only the soft breeze after the rain.