"Enough!"
Hershel slammed the table hard, clearly unwilling to continue this topic.
Maggie looked at her stubborn father, a flicker of disappointment in her eyes that he wouldn't listen to reason.
"You'll regret this," she said through gritted teeth.
"I am the owner of this farm!" Hershel turned his head away stubbornly. "As long as I'm alive, it's not your place to make the decisions here!"
Seeing his refusal to see reason, Maggie couldn't take it anymore and spun around to yank the door open.
Bang!
The heavy wooden door slammed shut behind her, causing dust on the hallway walls to shake and fall.
She stormed out of the hallway, not even noticing Louis hiding in the shadows of the corner.
Inside the room, Shawn looked at his father, who was trembling with anger, and showed a helpless expression.
...I'll go tell Rick to have their people stay away from the barn."
Shawn sighed and stood up. "But, Dad... keeping those things around really isn't a good idea."
After saying that, he also pushed the door open and left.
Standing in the shadows, Louis heard everything clearly, and a flash of surprise crossed his eyes.
He hadn't expected the attitudes of several people to change so drastically.
In the original show, Rick's Team was only reluctantly taken in by Hershel because Carl had been accidentally injured by someone from the farm, and Hershel acted out of guilt and his duty as a doctor.
Furthermore, during that period, Hershel had been wary of them, even forcing everyone to hand over their firearms and strictly forbidding the carrying of weapons.
But now, because they had indirectly saved Maggie and Shawn, Hershel's attitude toward them was completely different. Not only did he take them in voluntarily, but he also turned a blind eye to the large number of weapons they carried.
The more significant change lay within the family itself.
In the original work, Hershel insisted that Walkers were just sick. Although Maggie and the others had doubts, they basically followed his lead, even creating a significant rift with Rick's Team because of it.
It wasn't until later when Shane forced open the barn and killed all the Walkers they were keeping that these people were forced to accept reality.
But now, the situation had completely changed.
The eldest son Shawn, who was supposed to have died, had survived due to the previous butterfly effect.
Following that, he and Maggie had unfortunately fallen into the hands of that cult organization, "The Shepherd."
There, they witnessed firsthand how that lunatic used Walkers for so-called "judgment," and they personally experienced how distorted human nature could become for the sake of survival.
That hellish experience acted like a potent medicine, completely washing away the remaining innocence from both of them.
The simple days of dreaming on the farm were gone forever.
Standing before Hershel now were two survivors who had truly seen the bloody reality and crawled out from piles of the dead.
Therefore, their near-instinctive vigilance and disgust toward Walkers were naturally different from Hershel, who had been cooped up on the farm and still harbored illusions.
"This is a good thing," Louis nodded to himself.
Those Walkers in the barn were like a time bomb; they definitely had to be cleared out.
With the firm support of insiders like Maggie and Shawn, the resistance to solving this matter would be much smaller.
However... Louis rubbed his chin, his gaze becoming somewhat complex.
Compared to Hershel's stubbornness, what made him more curious was the phrase Maggie mentioned during the argument—
"After experiencing that incident."
What was 'that incident'?
Was she referring to them being taken by The Shepherd? Her tone didn't make it sound like it.
So, what exactly was the "incident" Maggie was talking about?
Could it be that before he and Rick arrived, some unknown tragedy had occurred in this seemingly peaceful paradise?
Wait... a detail suddenly flashed through Louis's mind.
When Hershel was telling them about the origins of The Shepherd's group, he mentioned a few names.
At the time, Louis was too busy focusing on the game's protagonist and the couple from Harrison Hospital, so he had ignored the others.
Thinking back now, when Hershel mentioned that family of three named "Kenny," his expression seemed a bit off.
Could it be that the "incident" Maggie spoke of was related to this family?
Thinking of this, Louis couldn't help but sigh with a bit of melancholy.
In his previous life, his old second-hand computer couldn't handle those large-scale games at all.
He had always thought about waiting until he saved enough money to buy a new device, and then properly play through the major games he liked, including the game versions of The Walking Dead and Harry Potter.
To ensure the best gaming experience later, he had even deliberately avoided all game livestreams and spoiler articles.
As it turned out, before he could replace the computer, he transmigrated.
"If I had known I'd end up here, I would have at least watched a playthrough of those games..."
Louis silently shed tears of regret in his heart.
Even if the plot didn't have much reference value, knowing the more detailed settings and the personalities of the characters would have allowed him to understand his own situation better.
Just as he was feeling extremely frustrated, a rich aroma of food wafted in through the crack in the door, making his stomach growl.
"Forget it, food is the most important thing."
Louis shook his head, temporarily pushing these headache-inducing plot questions to the back of his mind.
After all, he had just made an extremely mentally taxing "cross-world long-distance call." He felt hollowed out and in urgent need of energy replenishment.
Although the lunch was made from the farm's stock, with everyone working together to cook, the taste was exceptionally delicious.
However, after the meal, Louis's condition grew worse. His face was as pale as paper, and there were dark circles under his eyes.
Just as everyone was concernedly urging him to go upstairs for a nap—
The familiar roar of an engine came from outside the window, followed by everyone's exclamations.
"Shane and the others are back!"
"That's... oh my god! Who is that?"
A few minutes later, in the living room of the farmhouse.
Louis rubbed his eyes and walked to the top of the stairs, just in time to see Rick greeting a dust-covered, exhausted man with a look of pleasant surprise.
"Dr. Jenner!"
Standing behind Shane was indeed Dr. Jenner, who was supposed to have stayed at the CDC to "self-destruct." Although he looked like a mess, this was undoubtedly one of the best pieces of news today.
Rick stepped forward and excitedly patted the man's shoulder. "You're alive! Does that mean... the plan was a success?"
"In a way."
Dr. Jenner gave a bitter smile, took the water Maggie handed him, drank half of it in one gulp, and then said while panting, "I succeeded, but I also failed."
This ambiguous statement left everyone present stunned.
"It's complicated." The doctor wiped the water stains from the corner of his mouth. "Can I sit down and talk?"
Everyone immediately made room, and Rick introduced Dr. Jenner's identity to Hershel's family.
Upon hearing that this was a top scientist from the CDC, a light of respect and hope immediately burst from Hershel's eyes.
After sitting down, Dr. Jenner looked around. When his gaze swept over Louis standing at the top of the stairs, his brow suddenly furrowed.
"What's wrong with you?" He pointed at Louis's pale face. "Why do you look so terrible?"
As someone who knew about Louis's "special constitution," he was more nervous about Louis's health than anyone else.
"I'm fine, Doctor."
Louis waved his hand and leaned weakly against the railing. "I'm just tired from staying up late, a bit dizzy. I'll be fine after a nap."
Rick keenly captured the extraordinary tension in the doctor's eyes.
Recalling Louis's strange instructions at the factory and the scene where the doctor had spoken privately with Louis before leaving the CDC... several vague guesses flashed through his mind.
But he wisely chose to remain silent, calmly steering the conversation back on track:
"Doctor, what is the situation at the CDC?"
"What do you mean by 'succeeded but also failed'?"