Chapter 15: Recounting
"And in front of that hospital, there was a newly established military outpost. Most of the walkers inside had already been eliminated."
Rick was very certain he hadn't seen wrong. King County had extremely low walker density—you could only see groups of walkers at night.
Caesar's smile grew even wider. "Where are you from?"
"King County!"
"You know the gun shops in King County and most places with guns, right?"
Rip beside him glanced at Caesar. From his familiarity with Caesar, he'd already realized what Caesar wanted to do.
Rick didn't know why Caesar was asking this, but he still nodded and looked at Shane.
"We issued gun dealer licenses to many gun shops and gun permits to many people."
Hearing what he wanted to hear, Caesar no longer concealed his intentions. "Can you draw me a map? Just draw a map of King County, marking where there are firearms."
"Uh..."
Rick caught on. "But many of the guns in the gun shops should have been taken already."
Caesar smiled slightly. "Just write it. I can accept whether the harvest is good or bad."
Caesar naturally knew these gun shops had definitely been looted.
But Caesar also knew how much ammunition was in King County. Just look at Morgan's weapons cache.
Morgan had stayed in King County for several years, collecting a full house of firearms—a particularly frightening amount.
And that was what Morgan found on his own without a firearms map to guide him.
This showed how much military hardware remained there.
As everyone knows, in the apocalypse, what's lying on the ground is unwanted.
So many firearms unwanted—Caesar definitely wouldn't waste them. He'd gladly accept them all.
"Alright." Rick agreed.
"Wait, I have one condition."
"What condition?" Caesar asked.
Rick took a deep breath. "In King County, there's a father and son. They're my saviors. You can't harm them."
Rick had been a county sheriff for many years and had seen all kinds of people. He knew very clearly that Caesar's group were no saints.
Definitely not people who abided by peacetime rules.
Caesar nodded solemnly. "I promise I won't harm this father and son."
"I won't betray a man's promise."
Caesar made a fist with one hand and bumped knuckles with Rick.
The evening atmosphere was quite harmonious at one point—only Shane's expression didn't look good. He kept a cold face.
Only when Rick spoke with him would Shane manage a reluctant smile.
From Rick's understanding of Shane, he vaguely sensed something was wrong, but didn't dare think deeper about it.
The flames burned for a long time, the heat gradually decreasing.
Rip stood up, took quite a bit of firewood from the nearby woodpile, and added it to the fire.
The flames climbed onto the new firewood, burning with crackles and pops.
This sound irritated Shane. He dully took a sip of beer.
Just then, arguing sounds came from one part of the camp.
Everyone looked and saw the obese Ed suddenly stand up and slap Carol across the face.
The slap was extremely heavy. Carol fell to the ground, her face immediately swelling red, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.
Carol covered her face, not daring to look up at Ed, sobbing and crying.
Ed immediately attracted everyone's attention.
As the current leader, Shane stood up and walked aggressively toward Ed.
Ed was obviously somewhat afraid of Shane and moved back two steps.
Then, feeling he'd shown too much cowardice, he stepped forward two paces and was about to explain something.
"Shane, this is my fami—"
Without a word, Shane's heavy punch struck Ed's nose bridge.
Ed's nose bridge immediately bled. He let out pig-slaughtering screams, his fat limbs flailing wildly, trying to shrink back.
Shane was furious beyond measure. His leg muscles bulged as he kicked several times in succession, hitting Ed's lower back.
Ed gasped for breath, his eyes bulging.
Carol stared blankly at Ed, then suddenly reacted. She rushed forward and threw herself over Ed, crying and shaking her head at Shane.
"Please, don't hit Ed anymore. I beg you."
"Please..."
Carol's face streamed with tears and snot, her crying voice especially miserable.
Shane panted heavily and stepped back two paces. He saw Sophia standing to the side, frozen in terror.
At this point, Shane didn't know how to respond either. He could only squeeze out a few dry words.
"Ed, in my camp, you can't hit your wife and daughter."
"Next time, I'll beat you to death."
After speaking, Shane turned and left, not daring to look at Lori and the others' expressions.
He was right.
Carl was held in Lori's arms. Both their expressions were identically terrified.
Rick's expression was serious. He looked at Carol frantically caring for Ed.
Caesar's gaze fell on Carol's thin shoulders. Hmm, truly couldn't see Carol's potential at all.
"Boss, you like this type?"
Caesar's face darkened. Without turning his head, he threw an elbow.
The elbow struck right into Merle's face. Even though Caesar didn't use much force, Merle still fell back onto the ground, letting out a hoarse, unpleasant laugh.
"Hahahaha..."
"Your tent is mine now."
Caesar commandeered Merle's tent, then called over his companions.
Rip, Beth, Jimmy, and Tate.
Tate didn't speak because Jimmy had covered her mouth.
Tate glared straight at Jimmy.
"Alright, quiet down."
With Caesar's command, after Jimmy released Tate, she also didn't speak up.
"Tonight everyone stay alert, sleep closer together, keep distance from those camp people."
Caesar carefully instructed.
"These people have problems?" Rip asked.
Rip couldn't see what problems this group—who could be called completely harmless—could possibly have.
"No, they don't have problems. It's just that when something happens, they might drag us down."
Caesar explained very seriously.
A walker assault on camp wasn't scary—losing formation was scary.
Even if the walker numbers weren't many, these people who hadn't adapted to the apocalypse would very easily panic, causing camp chaos.
At that time, Caesar and his people would not only have to deal with walkers but also guard against these people.
So Caesar wanted to preemptively avoid the danger from these camp people.
Once walkers attacked, Caesar could immediately gather his subordinates. Maintaining formation would be enough to handle the walkers.
After giving instructions, Caesar walked toward Merle's tent.
On the way, Caesar saw Dale standing on the RV roof. The two nodded at each other.
Reaching Merle's tent, Caesar kicked Merle out and slept in it himself.
Merle couldn't beat Caesar, so he had no choice but to sleep in Daryl's tent.
The camp entered dreamland.
Lori lay naked in Rick's embrace, feeling her former lover's breath. Tears unconsciously flowed down.
Not far from her, Shane dully gulped down alcohol mouthful by mouthful, his heart incomparably depressed.
His mind constantly questioned why Rick had come back.
In a tent with lights still on, Carol carefully treated Ed's wounds.
Shane's punch had been very heavy. Ed's eye corner had split open, bleeding quite a bit.
His right eye socket was completely bruised.
Ed hissed in pain and raised his hand to slap Carol, telling her to be gentler.
Perhaps because Shane had hit hard, Ed's strike wasn't heavy. Carol endured silently without a sound.
Sophia waited on the side, her body shrinking and shrinking like a quail. Each time Ed struck, Sophia would cower, her eyes filled with fear.
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