… …
Right next to the highway, in a complex jungle.
"Shh, shush, hey! Listen to me."
Rick crouched down, tightly holding the panicked little girl in front of him.
She was still clutching a doll tightly, but her first glance was at the revolver on Rick's hip.
"Shoot them, hit them…"
Sophia was somewhat incoherent; the chase with the Walkers earlier had terrified her so much that she could barely speak clearly, stammering.
Rick held Sophia's small hand, lowering his voice and patiently saying,
"I can shoot them, but if I do, all the Walkers on the highway will come over, and then we won't just be facing a few, but dozens or even hundreds of Walkers."
To be honest, at this moment, Rick missed Shawn.
At least when it came to killing Walkers with cold weapons in close combat, no one in the entire Quarry Camp dared to say they did it better than Shawn.
During the battle at the Quarry Camp, Shawn's performance was absolutely outstanding; the Walkers had no power to resist him. He seemed to be naturally unafraid of Walkers, incredibly fierce!
If Shawn were here, the Camp's people wouldn't completely wipe out the Walker horde on the highway, but at least they wouldn't need to rush around so frantically, right?
Shaking his head, Rick broke free from his thoughts. The low growls of Walkers surrounding him in the jungle constantly stimulated his nerves.
"Come, come here." Rick picked up Sophia with both hands: "You must listen to me completely, and stay here quietly. That way, we can both survive, understand?"
Sophia nodded fearfully and was hidden by Rick in a tree hollow by the pond.
Rick lured the two approaching Walkers in another direction, unaware that after he left, a frightened Sophia carefully crawled out of the tree hollow.
She looked around, hugging her doll tightly, and cautiously walked away in one direction.
"Don't worry, we'll definitely find Mom."
Sophia stepped over a fallen, damp tree trunk, continuously whispering words of comfort to her doll.
But everyone knew that this was Sophia being scared, using it to comfort herself.
She placed the doll on the ground, supporting herself with both hands to climb an upward rock, and then picked up the doll again.
But it was this moment of looking down; when she looked up again, there was an extra Walker in front of her.
The Walker slowly crawled up from the leaves that had concealed its body. It was unclear how this Walker had originally died here, but its movements had an added sense of 'concealment.'
(The initial Walkers retained some muscle memory, such as gripping bricks or using weapons.)
If Sophia hadn't happened to come here, this Walker would probably have continued to rot there, undiscovered.
Seeing the Walker staggering to its feet and about to come towards her, Sophia's face turned pale with fright, and she kept backing away.
But before she could retreat two steps, she stepped onto a 'small cliff' formed by rock decomposition. Sophia, clutching her doll, looked around helplessly, but she couldn't find Carol or Rick anywhere.
She desperately missed her family at the Quarry Camp now.
Every single person there, including Shawn, who had joined not long ago and then parted ways.
"I hope… I hope if you eat me, you won't eat my doll. She's very scared…" Sophia stammered, trying to 'reason.'
But everyone knew that the one who was scared at this moment was still Sophia herself.
She fearfully squeezed her eyes shut, her two slender legs had already lost the ability to move, and her whole body froze in place.
Recalling every little moment spent with her mother, Carol, Sophia couldn't cry, but only clutched her doll tighter with increasingly pale little hands.
It was as if her already frail self was protecting an even weaker version of herself.
The sound of footsteps on pine needles drew closer, and Sophia's heart pounded wildly.
She clearly wasn't ready to face death; she hadn't even understood the true meaning of death.
Sophia stood at the edge of the small cliff, letting out a low, fearful 'woo woo' sound, like a small animal cornered.
In just a few seconds, Sophia could even smell the foul odor emanating from the Walker's mouth.
"Mom!"
At this last moment, Sophia's scream echoed through the jungle, but then the imagined pain of being eaten didn't come; instead, there was only a cold, sticky sensation on her face.
Her eyelashes trembled slightly. Just as she was about to open her eyes, a deep, gentle shout came from beside her ear.
"Don't open your eyes."
This sudden voice startled Sophia, causing her to shut her eyes tightly again, not daring to open them.
This voice… it sounded somewhat familiar, but… where had she heard it before?
Sophia wrinkled her small, freckled nose; the scent reaching her nostrils was somewhat unbearable.
A 'crash' of shattering sound came from her ear, and then something heavy suddenly fell at Sophia's feet.
It was less than 10 centimeters away; Sophia could even hear some viscous sounds coming from it.
But then, Sophia felt a warm breath spray onto her face.
A soft handkerchief wiped across her face, and the nauseating, irritating smell quickly disappeared.
"Alright, open your eyes."
Sophia had long been unable to bear it, but she only cautiously opened her eyes when she heard that familiar voice speak again.
What came into view first was a tall, upright giant hammer. Following the direction of the hammer's long handle, Sophia finally saw the face that had last appeared in her memory.
Rustle—
The little girl suddenly threw herself into Shawn's embrace, her increasingly rapid breaths tickling Shawn's neck.
Her soft body seemed to want to melt directly into Shawn's embrace, refusing to let go.
Gently patting Sophia's back, Shawn softly comforted her.
"It's okay now. With me here, everything is okay."
Sophia clutched her doll tightly with one hand and rested the other on the back of Shawn's neck. Listening to Shawn's comfort, her nose stung, and suppressed sobs gradually emerged.
"Such a sensible child." Shawn couldn't help but sigh inwardly: "Even when crying, she lowers her voice. Is it because she's worried about attracting Walkers?"
"Alright," Shawn spoke again.
"Where are they? Carol, Rick… Where have they gone?"
Sophia then lifted her head from Shawn's warm embrace, her small face covered in tear stains.
She sniffled slightly: "I don't know. Rick told me to hide well. I ran out and couldn't find them."
Shawn picked up Sophia with one hand and walked, dragging the giant hammer with the other.
"Oh, it's okay, it's okay, don't cry anymore… If you cry too much, the doll will start crying too."
Shawn 'threatened.'
Gasp—!
Sophia was immediately startled and turned pale, not even having time to wipe away her tears. She quickly looked at the doll in her hand, and only slightly relaxed when she saw it was still the same.
Shawn smiled, looking at the well-behaved little girl.
"Your mother and Rick will be fine. First, come back to the Camp with your big brother, and big brother will help you find them later, okay?"
"Mhm." Sophia nodded obediently, burying her head back into Shawn's embrace.
Shawn carried Sophia and walked towards the fire truck.
But neither of them noticed that a piece of fabric was missing from Sophia's pant leg, and there was a new scrape.