Chapter 19
Jim Goes Mad
Dell followed the gentle gravel path up to the platform.
He looked over and saw Jim digging a hole continuously, his body swaying with each stroke.
Dale frowned and called out, "Jim?"
Jim didn't answer, but Dale could see the large beads of sweat dripping down his body.
Dell suspected he had heatstroke and was not fully conscious.
Taking a deep breath, Dell walked over, wanting to get closer and ask.
Unexpectedly, Jim brandished the shovel and glared at Dale: "What do you think you're doing?"
Dale hadn't expected Jim to react so strongly, and could only raise his hands to reassure him, "I didn't mean to do anything, Jim, do you know what you're doing?"
"I know exactly what I'm doing," Jim said firmly.
Dell hesitated for a moment, then slowly backed away and left.
Dale, upon returning to camp, noticed Rick and Sean, who had already returned.
The two ate their food in a peaceful atmosphere.
"Everyone, I have some bad news."
Dale's somber tone sent a chill down the spines of those around him.
Sean frowned again, stood up, and said, "Go ahead and speak, Dale."
After Dell finished explaining, Sean and his men immediately went up to the platform.
A group of people scattered around Jim, but Jim remained unmoved, focused on digging a hole.
Rick took a deep breath, extended his hand, and said, "Hello, you must be Jim?"
Jim glanced at him, then at Sean beside him, and scoffed.
The laughter was abrupt, but Sean understood what Jim meant, and his face flushed red.
Rick wanted to press for more information, but Sean stopped him and directed Glenn, T-boy, and Morales to flank Jim from several directions.
Jim sensed something was wrong and swung his shovel a couple of times, but he had used too much force to dig the hole and didn't have much strength left.
Sean found an opening, stepped forward and snatched the shovel from Jim, and the rest of the men joined him.
Together they pinned Jim to the ground.
Seeing that Jim had been subdued, Rick told them to lift Jim's face up so he could ask him some questions.
The crowd suddenly parted, accompanied by gasps of surprise.
Rick looked over and saw Caesar, Rip, and Jimmy.
The three looked quite disheveled, covered in black blood and bits of flesh, making it impossible to discern the exact color of their clothes.
Caesar, in particular, had blood splattered all over his cowboy hat.
Caesar, reeking of bloodlust, entered the circle of people and saw Jim being held captive.
He wasn't in the mood to listen to this nonsense, so he strode forward and punched Jim hard in the chin.
Jim's eyes rolled back and he fainted.
"Someone, drag him away, tie him up, and give him some water to cool him down."
After he finished speaking, two or three unfamiliar faces stepped out from the crowd and dragged Jim away.
Caesar looked at Rick and Sean, "We need to be prepared, a huge wave of walkers is coming."
After Caesar explained the situation, Rick and Sean fell silent.
Sean and his group had been staying at the quarry camp for a long time. Although there wasn't much food, the small number of zombies made them feel the peace and stability of peacetime.
But now, the horde of zombies is about to attack.
Whether he fled or fought, Sean understood that he would no longer stay in the quarry camp.
Caesar said, "You have no choice. We have to stay and fight these walkers."
Rick and Sean looked up at Caesar.
"Do you think that if you escape, the walkers won't catch up? And how can you be sure there won't be even more walkers outside the valley?"
"From what I've observed, these zombies stumbled into the valley by accident after the zombie horde migrated from outside; they only make up a small fraction of the entire zombie horde."
"But if you go out, you'll run straight into a large horde of zombies."
The thought of leading his team into a horde of hundreds of thousands of zombies sent a chill down Sean's spine.
Rick also gasped.
"So, we really only have one choice: eliminate these zombies and then run away as fast as we can."
"Wait, even if we wipe out this group of zombies, won't we run into another horde of zombies if we go outside?"
Rick asked, puzzled.
Caesar shook his head: "The horde of zombies will be able to leave the valley tonight, so we need to hold out for at least tonight."
Rick nodded in understanding after hearing Caesar's explanation.
After discussing it, Caesar took his clothes and went to the lake to bathe, and Rip came over as well.
"What's wrong?"
Caesar noticed that Rip's expression was off and stopped to ask.
"I'm going to kill that Ed."
Rip said directly.
"Okay, when the zombie horde attacks tonight, I'll give you a wink, and you can just throw Ed into the horde."
"Don't do it yourself, it's too easy to spot."
Caesar did not ask for a reason, but gave his own assassination plan.
Having received a reply, Rip turned and left. In truth, he didn't need Caesar to devise a plan for killing Ed; he simply wanted Caesar's opinion so as not to cause Caesar any trouble.
No one went out of the camp all afternoon; everyone was focused on setting traps and moving vehicles.
The campsite is located in the middle of a gravel road, with a cliff in front and a forest behind, forming a circle.
Caesar learned from Rick that there weren't many walkers in the direction they were heading, indicating that the walkers mainly came from the direction Caesar was traveling.
The walkers should have entered through the gravel path at the valley entrance, then gone into the forest, using the occasional noises from the camp to pinpoint their location.
Therefore, Caesar positioned the main traps in this direction of the forest.
The traps were made by the brothers Daryl and Mohr, who were skilled hunters and had their own unique methods for making traps.
Limited by the camp's ingenuity and manpower, Caesar didn't have high expectations for these traps; he only needed them to warn them of the approaching zombies.
The main force blocking the walkers was some vehicles, which belonged to the camp's people, but unfortunately they didn't have enough fuel or the vehicles had problems and couldn't move.
Caesar then made use of the waste by dismantling the vehicles and removing all usable parts.
Use the car frame to block the way through the woods, and fill the bottom of the car with various kinds of soil to prevent the zombies from crawling out from under the car.
The trap is the first line of defense, the car is the second line of defense, and the third line of defense is themselves.
The walkers are fearless creatures; Caesar and his men cannot scare them away, so they must eliminate them all.
Caesar ordered everyone to wear enough clothes to reduce the possibility of being torn apart by the walkers.
Even if it sacrifices some flexibility, it's still better than a zombie bite.
Caesar also ordered the camp to make wooden spears. Although there were no suitable tools, a dozen or so were made, which was enough for the camp to defend itself.
These were things that Sean should have been doing, but Caesar inexplicably took over the command.
Perhaps it was because Caesar emerged from the woods covered in the blood of the carnage that he was unharmed and able to bring his men out alive.
The people in the camp believed that Caesar was capable of leading them to survival.
Sean's leadership position was already precarious, and now it has suddenly shifted to Caesar.