The woman didn't seem very frightened, but her voice sounded tired and strange.
Naturally, the group looked at the woman who had appeared out of nowhere, and Merle also narrowed his eyes and observed the surroundings before focusing on her again.
This person's clothes looked like they hadn't been changed in a long time. They were completely black, and there was even a greasy sheen on the knees and other parts of her body.
She had a machete at her waist, but no other weapons were visible—just that one.
Her entire face was hidden under the hood, giving her a mysterious aura.
Merle didn't lower his weapon. He took a few steps forward to get closer to the woman, then moved his wrist, the muzzle swaying as he kept it aimed at her.
"Who are you?"
The woman raised her hands, indicating she had no weapons, and then slowly explained: "I was just passing by. When you arrived, I was resting in the forest. Then I woke up when you started killing all the walkers, but since there were many of you, I didn't want to expose myself until I knew whether you were good or bad…"
After finishing, she made a gesture, removed her hood, and a face covered in mud appeared before everyone. Even through the mottled dirt, her features could still be seen.
"Have you been bitten?"
Merle's first concern was safety. Now that he was leading a group of people, even someone as unruly as him couldn't help but pay attention to such things.
The woman shook her head and pointed to the wound on her face as she spoke: "These injuries aren't from walkers. I got them when I tried to climb a tree."
Merle narrowed his eyes, thought for a moment, then waved the barrel of his gun: "Drop the weapon at your waist. Hanna, go check this woman. Do you remember what I taught you?"
Hanna nodded, took out a small-caliber pistol from her waist, and signaled for the woman to go to the back of the modified RV with her.
Seeing the little girl walking toward her, the woman was obviously a bit surprised. How old was this girl? They were asking a child to inspect her?
Catching the faint expression in the woman's eyes, Hanna's small face turned serious, showing a cold look: "What's wrong? Haven't you seen a child survive?"
"No, I just didn't expect there to be a little girl in a group of men like this," the woman said bluntly.
"Take off your clothes. I want to check if there are bite marks on your body."
The woman didn't take off her clothes immediately. She glanced back instinctively and lowered her voice when she saw no one was following: "Did you join them by force? Did these people do anything strange to you?"
Hanna's face showed confusion, and her voice rose as if she didn't understand what the lost woman was saying. "Take them off quickly. I won't say it a third time!"
"Alright, don't get angry…"
Seeing little Hanna's reaction, the woman quickly tightened her hands and began removing her clothes slowly. Her movements were very slow, and as she unfastened them, she continued speaking.
"My name is Merlett. What's your name?"
"Hurry up, we don't have time!"
Hanna raised her head and looked at the woman. She wasn't playing around—doing something stupid could end very badly.
The woman named Merlett quickly removed the clothes covering her body and then slowly turned around so the girl could clearly see every part of her body.
There were thick scars on Marlett's back and arms. The dense scars clung to her skin, making Hanna feel goosebumps all over her body. She was stunned for a moment, but the faint words from Marlett brought her back.
"These wounds were caused by a bad group of people. They would beat me when I went out and wouldn't feed me properly. They beat me when they were angry. Sometimes they beat me just for fun. I couldn't take it anymore, so I left that place."
After speaking, Marlett's eyes gradually showed a trace of pleading, and her voice became somewhat sorrowful.
"That group I belonged to beat me a lot, and with great difficulty I managed to escape. I wanted to kill all those bastards, but I think I'm pregnant. I don't know what I'll do with my life, but until I decide, I want to be as far away from those people as possible. Can you help me for now? I can assure you I won't bother you anymore."
Hanna hesitated. Marlett was about to push her story further and say something else, but she heard the other side speak.
"I know what you're afraid of, but I want to give you some very important advice. You'd better do what you can. There are no bad people in the group traveling here. I can't tell you much, but I can guarantee you won't regret it if you stay with us for a few more hours. Well, I won't say more. You can put your clothes back on."
After speaking, Hanna lowered her weapon and approached the woman as if she had let her guard down, watching her slowly get dressed, and then led her back to the others.
Marlett clasped her hands tightly. She looked at the girl's back. Countless thoughts ran through her mind. Reason told her that she should grab her from behind now and threaten her to let her go. But looking at the child's strong, slender back, she hesitated again.
Just as she was hesitating, little Hanna in front suddenly turned her head and smiled at her, then whispered: "My name is Hanna. Don't mind the grumpy old man, he's a good person."
That smile softened Marlett's heart, and she sighed inwardly. What did it matter now? If she could follow these well-dressed people, it would be good, but if they turned out to be bad, she would try to escape.
Thinking this, Marlett felt much calmer, and her steps forward became much steadier.
However, what she didn't notice was that when little Hanna turned her head, there was a small-caliber gun hidden in her left hand inside her jacket, so if Marlett made any kind of move, she wouldn't hesitate to shoot.
…
At that moment, there was already a circle of people around the modified RV. Except for two people on guard, the rest were eating.
Merle looked at the two returning figures, waved, and the little girl ran toward him, lowered her head, and said a few words. "Hey, are you really pregnant?"
Marlett nodded. Her eyes continued scanning these people. She ignored the slightly hostile gazes of others and finally met the eyes of a rough-looking man who had the gaze of a bad man.
"Yes…"
"Very well, Hanna told me about your situation, but I don't trust you very much. However, considering you're pregnant…"
The soldier who was eating nearby suddenly spoke, with a hint of resistance in his tone: "Merle, we shouldn't accept her, right?"
Merle didn't respond, but looked at the person who spoke. This was an older man; he was part of Guillermo's group.
"I'll handle it. Don't you trust me?" The old man didn't want his words to be misunderstood, so he said: "No, no, I just think it's too reckless to do this. After all, we don't know this person well. What if she is…"
"Alright, don't interrupt me." Merle waved his hand and looked at Marlett.
"Listen, you have two options. First, you can leave, but you have to wait until tomorrow when we depart. Second, tell us some information about this area, and I can provide you with some supplies. I'll decide what to do tomorrow morning."
"Old man!"
Hanna had said something good about Marlett, but Merle still had no intention of letting her stay, so she couldn't help but shout. However, Merle's eyes stopped her.
She stomped angrily on the ground, stepped aside, and buried herself in her food.
Just as little Hanna sat down, a voice with a strange tone rang out:
"Haha, let her be—I'll take care of her!"