The next day, clear.
Shawn and the others drove about 180 kilometers and spent the night in an undeveloped wasteland.
At night, a Walker knocked on their door, and Daryl, lying on the roof of the car, silently shot it in the head.
...
The third day, cloudy.
The convoy only traveled less than 100 kilometers.
But even so, by the time the convoy stopped, it was already 9 PM.
The reason was that while driving along a small road, they discovered a family farm, very similar to Hershel's.
However, this family was not so lucky; when Shawn crept in, their bodies were lying in the living room.
Faced with the apocalypse, they ultimately chose to kill each other.
But in this shitty environment, who could mock them for being cowardly?
It was just making a different choice, just like the Centers for Disease Control back then.
Because there were no living people to care for them, almost all the crops in the fields had died.
However, the real surprise was that Maggie found two wandering meat pigs, one male and one female, in the barn.
They had broken out of the pigsty, eaten all the reserve food in the barn, and even the hay used as bedding.
And even so, when Maggie found them, they were weak and listless from hunger.
If the convoy had arrived two days later, they would have probably joined their owners in escaping the apocalypse.
Dragging the two pigs onto the car, they dug up some deeply buried sweet potatoes from the farm and also packed some seeds to take with them.
So on this third day, the convoy traveled less than 100 kilometers.
...
The fourth day, light rain.
The sky had been gloomy, like the eve of a storm.
But thankfully, although the light rain hadn't stopped, its intensity hadn't continuously increased either.
To catch up on the progress lost yesterday, the convoy woke up early today and drove an additional 60 kilometers before stopping to eat and rest.
Unlike the worries of the second day, as the Prison's jungle grew closer, smiles appeared on everyone's faces.
The stable life Shawn had described was not far away.
...
The fifth day, continuous light rain.
Shawn frowned, his calf trembling slightly, his brows showing a hint of irritation and impatience.
If one looked closely, they would surely notice several bloodshot veins in the whites of his eyes, as if they were about to dye his entire eyeball red.
He looked up at the sky; the frequency of raindrops falling was getting faster and faster.
"It's been raining all day, and the rain seems to be getting worse."
"Rick, ask Daryl if he can find a place to shelter from the rain ahead, it's getting dark soon."
Rick nodded; even if Shawn hadn't said anything, he would have done the same.
He held the radio and called Daryl.
While they had cars for shelter from the rain, they would still be affected to some extent.
Sleeping inside the car at night was noisy, affecting everyone's sleep.
Excessive rain and precipitation would obscure vision, and the red overlord's road view system couldn't see clearly; even if a horde of Walkers approached, they wouldn't know...
About half an hour passed.
The sky had begun to darken, but there was still no sound from Daryl on the radio.
He and Merle seemed to have disappeared.
Another half an hour passed.
The sky was almost like thick ink, and the surrounding darkness was greedily encroaching, yet there was still no response from Daryl and him.
Clang clang clang--
Carol knocked on the back of the car.
"I feel something's not right; Daryl and them have been gone too long."
Rick turned around to comfort her, and when he turned back, he exchanged glances with Shawn, and both their hearts sank.
In fact, they had noticed something was amiss just after the first half hour.
Daryl had a radio; even if he hadn't found a place to shelter from the rain, he should at least have stayed within the radio signal range and communicated with Rick at a fixed frequency.
But the current situation was not like that.
Daryl and Merle had no news.
The radio was on the team channel, so even if Rick didn't intentionally ask to avoid drawing attention, the others in the other cars had probably noticed by now.
"Should we stop first and wait for Daryl and them to come back and find us?"
Rick discussed.
With their current unfixed positions, the most taboo thing was to search blindly and haphazardly.
Plus, the rain was getting heavier at night, so it would be better to let Daryl and them find their way back along the road.
After thinking for a moment, Shawn slowed down, just about to stop, but then he saw the RV in front suddenly brake sharply.
Screech--!
The brake pads suddenly locked, emitting a sound that could be heard clearly even in the heavy rain.
..."Hiss... hiss..."
It was at this moment that the radio suddenly crackled.
"Calling... Ri...ck, the RV... static... won't stop... the fuel tank... is empty... we can only... at night... hiss..."
But what followed was Old Dale's voice.
The radio was intermittent, but it wasn't difficult to discern from the message that after 5 days of continuous driving, the RV had finally broken down.
"Can you hear my voice?"
"Dale?"
Rick held the radio close to his mouth and asked loudly.
But after that, only strong static came from the other side.
Rick's hand dropped; he lowered his head and scratched his forehead, then touched his chin, rubbing his beard a few times.
Although he didn't speak, these uncharacteristic small movements exposed Rick's inner agitation at that moment.
Daryl and Merle hadn't responded, the RV had broken down, and now even the radio was affected by the heavy rain.
"Shawn, we can't leave tonight, but we can solve these problems, and we also need to wait for Daryl and them to come back."
Patting the radio hard again, Rick had no choice but to compromise.
Shawn's breathing grew heavier; he gripped the steering wheel tightly, not speaking.
"Shawn?"
"Hey, listen to me, it's not a big deal, okay?"
"We're all still here, and Daryl will definitely sort things out himself; I trust him."
"We just need to make sure the convoy doesn't run into trouble right now."
Seeing Shawn's abnormal state, Rick inwardly thought 'not good' and quickly softened his voice to comfort him.
Many members in the Camp trusted Shawn; if Shawn collapsed first, they would surely panic immediately afterward.
"...No, no."
Shawn spoke, and although he tried hard to suppress himself, his voice still sounded like a beast snarling angrily.
"I'm going to find them."
Shawn gritted his teeth.
He tried to keep his eyes down, not drawing attention.
He even felt that at this very moment, his eyes were emitting a faint blood-red glow.
Shawn turned his head, looking up.
An incredibly massive Blood Moon hung silently in the sky.
The Blood Moon made no sound, nor did it make any movement.
But by merely staring at it continuously, the Blood Moon seemed to suddenly appear right before his eyes, exerting a heavy pressure on Shawn.
Pressing on Shawn's chest, making his heart beat faster and faster... faster and faster...
Shawn's face was slightly flushed; he even felt as if all the blood in his body was surging wildly like a fountain.