Chapter 14
Arrival at the Camp
Several cars drove along the highway under the boundless sunset.
There were no howls of the walking dead, no resounding heartbeats, and no shouts of companions.
Inside the truck, Rick, Glenn, Andrea, and the others felt as if they had escaped this cruel apocalypse and returned to a peaceful era.
My tense nerves gradually relaxed.
Enjoying the tranquility of the moment, the convoy gradually approached a valley.
In the middle of the valley is a lake, and the surrounding mountain road was originally built for the quarry.
The mountain road leading to Glenn and the others' camp was very rudimentary, with only simple gravel paving and was quite narrow, barely wide enough for two cars to drive side by side.
Rip drove his large truck onto the dirt road, taking up most of the space.
The truck was driving at the very back; Moore was driving a pickup truck, and Tite was driving another one.
With one hand on the gearshift and the other on the steering wheel, Moore said, "Everyone in this camp is a coward, easy to bully. The only troublesome one is the county sheriff."
"But this county policeman is easy to deal with. He has an old flame, and this old flame has a son. He actually treats this son as his own."
"He's really gotten addicted to being a stepfather. Hahahaha—"
As Moore spoke, he couldn't help but laugh, truly never expecting that such a person existed.
Caesar glanced at More but offered no comment.
In fact, the only one who would suffer if Sean and Lori were together is Rick; it would only benefit everyone else.
The large truck at the rear of the convoy made a lot of noise, creating a huge echo in the empty valley.
For a moment, the sound echoed back and forth in the valley.
Dale, standing on the roof of the RV, widened his eyes, put down his binoculars, and shouted back, "Something's up!"
The moment the shout rang out, the small camp was thrown into chaos.
The women doing housework ran in panic to hide, while the men with weapons stepped forward and gathered around Dale's RV.
One of the burly men, carrying a shotgun, ran a few steps and rushed out of the crowd. He stretched out his hand and said, "Dale, binoculars."
Dale looked at Sean and tossed the binoculars to him.
Sean took the binoculars and looked out. Sure enough, dust was billowing up on the winding dirt road, and he could see two pickup trucks and a van inside.
The truck was huge; if it crashed into them, their camp would be overturned instantly.
Sean's face instantly darkened. He cocked his shotgun and said to the people behind him, "These people are up to no good. Get ready."
"Grab all the weapons and let these guys know we're not to be messed with. This is our camp now. Let them go find another camp."
Sean had a good reputation, and at his command, many men in the camp nodded and turned to search for weapons in the camp, trying to have something on their hands.
Sean's heart sank as he glanced at the weapons in everyone's hands.
The fact that they were carrying weapons like fruit knives and shovels made it clear that this camp was extremely shabby.
But Sean had no choice. He suppressed his emotions, pressed the butt of his gun against his shoulder, and aimed at the approaching convoy.
The convoy stopped on the dirt road in front of the camp. Sean's muscles were tense as he moved his gun to aim at the door of each vehicle.
This ensures that if any enemy gets out of the vehicle and opens fire, a counterattack can be launched immediately.
bang-
The truck door opened, and out stepped Glenn, Morales, Andrea, and several others.
Upon seeing that it was a fellow camper, Sean instantly breathed a sigh of relief and moved his gun away.
Amy, Andrea's younger sister, saw that Andrea had finally returned, pushed through the crowd, and rushed to hug her sister.
"Andrea, why are you only just getting back?"
"I...we were trapped in Atlanta, but thankfully, we made it back alive."
Morales also embraced his two children and wife, and laughter washed away the tense atmosphere in the camp.
Moore pushed open the car door, spread his arms, and laughed arrogantly: "Oh my god. Are you all about to pee your pants?"
"Seeing me back, did you feel a tightness in your chrysanthemum? Hahahaha."
"Put away your junk and make way."
Mohr glanced at the scrap metal in everyone's hands, his face full of mockery, which made everyone blush and glare at him angrily.
Moor wouldn't tolerate them. He suppressed his smile, strode forward, and stared intently at one of them.
"Do you have a problem with that?"
The man swallowed hard, took a few steps back, and answered tremblingly, "No...no."
Once the man left, everyone dispersed.
Sean noticed Moore's domineering behavior, a ruthless glint flashed in his eyes, and his eyelids twitched.
"Sean!"
"Um?"
Startled by the sudden shout, Sean composed himself and looked at Morales: "What's wrong?"
Morales put his hand on his wife's shoulder, smiled, and pointed to the trucks: "In that convoy, there's a guy named Rick who says he's looking for his wife and son, I think it's Lori and Carl."
"What?"
Sean suspected there was something wrong with his ears, so he frowned and asked again.
When he finally heard Morales's words clearly, he felt a ringing in his ears.
He subconsciously glanced at Lori and Carl in the camp.
Carl screamed and ran toward the truck, and out of the truck was... Rick?
Immediately afterwards, Sean saw Lori run over and hug her son and husband.
Yes, the family is reunited.
Then... what am I?
Sean smiled mockingly and glanced at the happy crowd around him.
Caesar noticed every change in Sean's expression.
Caesar chuckled mockingly, "Tsk tsk tsk, he could have been a powerful figure in the apocalypse, but he's turned into this because of a woman."
"That's outrageous!"
……
The sun disappeared below the horizon, its light blocked by the dark mountain peaks.
The temperature dropped quickly, and campfires were lit in the camp, with the largest fire in the middle of the camp.
Many people sat around the central campfire, including Sean, Rick's family, Glenn, Morales' family, and others.
They were all core members of Sean's leadership team, as well as outsiders like Caesar.
Families like Carole's, who are on the fringes of the group, enjoy a small fire.
"So, how did you escape?"
Sean asked, puzzled.
He was certain that when he abandoned Rick, Shawn was absolutely certain that Rick was dead, or that Rick's heart had stopped beating.
Rick looked at Lori, and Lori looked back at Rick with deep affection.
"I don't know how, but I suddenly woke up in the hospital and met a father and son. They saved me."
At this point, Caesar's eyes lit up, interrupting Rick.
"You're really lucky. Hospitals are often the places with the most zombies. It's rare for you to escape."
Rick thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "There were very few walkers in the hospital at the time. There were only walkers inside one locked door, and very few in other places."