Three days passed far too quickly.
Oak Ridge, Kentucky.
An ice cream truck was driving along a mountain road. There were two people inside the truck, one big and one small. The smaller one was a teenage girl, and she was the one sitting in the driver's seat.
Hanna's eyes were wide open, and if anyone had ever wondered what the thousand-yard stare looked like, that was her expression right now.
"Shift, idiot!"
"Aaah, oooh."
Crack, boom.
"Idiot! You changed gears again!"
"The damn steering wheel to the right! Do you want to drive off the cliff? Are you trying to kill me?"
"I'm doing it right, stop yelling!"
"Look at the damn road ahead, why the hell are you staring at me?"
Merle watched Hanna's movements with a serious expression. To someone more observant, he wasn't as indifferent as he seemed.
Half an hour later, Merle got out of the passenger seat looking annoyed—not because he was scared, but because he felt sorry that the ice cream drawing on the truck was now completely wrecked.
After getting out of the truck, little Hanna became cautious, her big eyes scanning the surroundings before finally looking at Merle.
"What can we find in this abandoned place?"
"Haha, what do you know? As long as there are small towns like this and houses in the mountains, there's a better chance of finding communication equipment."
Hanna continued scanning the place suspiciously, but there was nothing unusual. Hearing Merle's words, she didn't overthink it. It seemed the old man wasn't lying.
At that moment, the two of them were standing at the entrance of the town. Merle didn't hurry to go in. Instead, he pulled out two bags of food and tossed one to Hanna without even looking at her.
"You've got to eat, then work."
Hanna didn't bother saying anything. She simply checked what there was to eat and began stuffing everything into her mouth. There was nothing to mention—now they only ate to survive. At that moment, both of her cheeks were puffed out as she chewed hard, making her look like a hamster.
After the two finished eating, they drank some water and started moving.
Hanna grabbed a bottle of water from the back seat, took a few sips, and then her eyes fell on the supplies in the last row.
She couldn't help but silently lament her poor skills. In her previous group, they had been trapped in a town, and just by searching a few houses, several of them had been bitten. In the end, they found nothing useful, and the remaining supplies they had were exhausted.
The group left the house, but they never expected that not long after, their entire group would be wiped out.
But Merle was different. Although the old man had a bad temper, his survival skills were truly good. Not only was it easy to gather supplies with him, but he could also easily handle more than a dozen walkers around him.
Now killing walkers felt like cutting fruit. Hanna had changed her perspective on eliminating walkers. But if there was something she admired, it was his ability to find shelter every night and his survival skills in the wild. She knew this because Merle hunted from time to time.
Hanna thought: A very strange dirty old man...
"Hey, what are you thinking about?"
Boom!
"Ah!" Hanna held her head after being struck by the old man.
"Grab your weapon and get ready, otherwise you'll end up dead."
"Fine..."
Merle walked toward the entrance of the town with a metal baseball bat and struck a billboard.
Dang! Crack! Dang!
The sound quickly echoed throughout the small town, which wasn't very big. The main reason he dared to do this was because there were no signs of human activity in the town.
There was a reaction. The walkers hiding in the darkness came out of their hidden corners one after another.
Rrrr!
The scene that reminded them of the world they lived in unfolded before their eyes. Merle simply walked toward the walkers, and a few seconds later, when he returned, only two remained.
With a vertical axe in her hand, thanks to old Merle's teaching over the past three days, Hanna could barely deal with two walkers at once.
In fact, through continued communication, Merle discovered that this girl was thirteen years old. So killing two walkers at her age was truly something incredible. But she was still weak and thin. She had been protected by her family and companions all this time. Besides, she hadn't been able to eat enough for a long time. Normally, during the growth period, a small body eats a lot—but many had encountered this damn world.
In these days, although Merle often scolded Hanna, she could at least eat her fill. That made her ignore everything else.
A few days ago, Merle found an axe of the right size—exactly the one Hanna was holding now.
So now Hanna had the right weapon and a determined expression. She slowly walked toward the walker. Although it was uncomfortable to face them due to her height, with Merle's guidance she gradually gained confidence.
Not only did Hanna know she had made great progress just by observing Merle's methods, but he also realized it from her results.
As the two walkers approached her, she adjusted her posture and moved her body so that both enemies were aligned in one direction.
When Hanna suddenly took a step forward, the walker was drawn to her and naturally tried to reach out and attack.
But Hanna dodged and slid her right foot to strike the weak point of the figure in front of her.
Crack!
The walker that was hit at its heel fell to the ground, and a sharp axe struck its head, taking its life in no time.
Hanna forcefully pulled the axe handle out and found that it was a bit stuck. She used all the strength in her legs to finally yank it free.
At that moment, the second walker had already extended its hand toward her. Hanna raised her left arm and swung the axe in her right hand toward the top of the walker's head.
However, before that, the walker had already grabbed Hanna's arm, and its blackened yellow teeth couldn't wait to bite into the thin arm it was holding.
Yet there was no expression of pain on Hanna's face, and the axe in her right hand crashed into the walker's head.
Crack!
The walker that had been about to bite its victim stopped, and its body fell to the ground lifelessly.
"Yes!"
Hanna couldn't help but celebrate after seeing that she had managed to kill two walkers at once. Then she turned toward Merle, looking at him proudly.
Merle spat on the ground and pointed at Hanna's arm. "Don't get excited, stupid brat. If I hadn't prepared protective gear for you, would you really have survived? What would you have done if instead of two there had been three? I remember telling you, didn't I? Don't fight unless it's absolutely necessary! What did you just do?"
Without the praise she expected, Hanna felt a little uncomfortable. She knew she had made considerable progress, but this old man always scolded her instead of giving her a compliment.
Looking at Hanna's pouting lips, Merle's tone didn't change. He still said coldly, "Listen, brat, what I'm teaching you is so you can live a little longer in this world. If you learn it, you'll have the ability to survive. If you're waiting for me to praise you, you're thinking about useless things."
"I can tell you very responsibly that I've seen a kid who was only seven or eight years old. To survive, he wasn't just good with aim, he was ruthless too. While you were being protected, he was already ready to survive on his own. Compared to him, you're lacking a lot. Do you understand?"
Of course, all of those words were just nonsense coming from Merle's mouth, but Hanna obviously took them seriously, and her expression became extremely serious.
Looking at Hanna's expression, Merle secretly nodded. In the last days, you must not become complacent waiting for praise, and you absolutely cannot let your guard down.
"Alright, remember why we came this time."