He had originally thought that the apocalypse had smoothed out the sharp edges of this child, making him only care about those he held dear.
But now it seemed he was wrong.
Louis was not without compassion.
On the contrary, precisely because he deeply pitied the living struggling to survive, he tried his utmost to save them and keep them away from danger.
He also realized earlier than them that the Walkers before them were long past being 'human,' and showing mercy to them was cruelty to the living.
Thus, when necessary, he could end the lives of the Walkers with the weapon in his hand.
This child was far kinder, clearer-headed, and more decisive than he had imagined... At this moment, Louis had no idea that Rick had rationalized so much in just a few seconds, incidentally patching up the loopholes in his persona.
Seeing the other person remain silent and lost in thought, Louis felt a bit uncertain.
Logically, given Rick's personality, shouldn't he have immediately agreed and strongly supported it?
Was there something wrong? He decided to test the waters.
So, the smile on Louis's face gradually disappeared, replaced by a trace of apprehension.
He put down his tools, nervously rubbed his hands together, and asked in a small voice, "I'm sorry, did I cause you trouble? If it's inconvenient, I can also..."
Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a firm and powerful voice.
"No, Louis!"
Rick snapped back to reality. He took a deep breath, stepped forward, opened his arms, and gave the boy a solid, strong hug.
He let go and looked into Louis's slightly confused blue eyes, a genuine smile mixed with a hint of shame reappearing on his face.
"You did very well, extremely well."
He patted Louis's shoulder, his voice slightly hoarse from the surge of emotion, "I was just... ashamed that none of us thought of this."
He paused, his gaze shifting away from the warning sign and returning to Louis's face.
That look of shame gradually faded, replaced by an unprecedented firmness and recognition.
"Let's finish it together!"
Louis carefully observed Rick's expression, confirming that the sincerity and approval in his eyes were genuine. Only then did the stone in his heart finally settle, and he laughed happily, "No problem, Officer!"
Thus, the man and the child squatted on the ground together, starting to perfect that profoundly meaningful warning sign.
While helping him hold the edge of the sheet, Rick asked in a conversational tone, "By the way, Louis, there's one more thing I wanted to discuss with you..."
"What is it?"
"It's... about your status."
Rick apologetically explained the matter of him presumptuously treating Louis as his own son earlier.
After speaking, he crouched down so his eyes were level with the boy's, and said sincerely:
"Louis, I'm very sorry. The situation was urgent at the time, and I didn't ask for your opinion beforehand."
"But I want you to know," he looked seriously into Louis's eyes, "from now on, I will protect you as I would protect my own child."
"As for the status of 'son,'" Rick's tone softened, carrying a hint of tenderness, "that's just a title."
"If you are willing to accept it, we would all be happy to have one more family member. If you have other ideas, that's fine too."
He finally patted Louis's knee, giving him a reassuring smile.
"No matter what, you are one of us."
The hand Louis was using to spray paint suddenly froze. He slowly raised his head, his face filled with bewilderment.
He blinked, and it felt as if three large question marks had popped up over his head.
Wait, what?
What's going on? Have I already made it as a prince?
...Louis didn't directly refuse Rick's suggestion, as it was undoubtedly a good thing for him—an extra status meant extra protection—but he had to consider things more thoroughly.
Rick might be sincere, but what about his wife and biological son who had just been reunited? What would they think?
Family dynamics were complicated things.
Even though he had some understanding of the two based on the plot, and believed there was a high probability they wouldn't mind, this couldn't be completely guaranteed.
If those two had an issue with him, he'd better not join the fray.
Louis stroked his chin, quickly calculating in his mind: Even if this path didn't work out, it wasn't a big deal.
As far as he could tell, at least two important figures in the camp, Shane and Merle, were quite fond of him.
Moreover, Rick had said the camp sent people to pick up the Jones Family this morning, so they would probably be happy to look after him too.
Even if he couldn't become a prince, being a powerful minister would be more than enough.
Rick seemed to notice his hesitation and thoughtfully did not press the issue further.
"You can take your time to consider," he said gently. "If you feel it's inappropriate, I will explain it clearly to everyone."
Louis nodded. The two tacitly dropped the subject, temporarily accepting this 'father-son relationship'.
Before leaving the nursing home, Rick made a decision that surprised everyone.
He opened his gun bag, which he had finally managed to retrieve, and left nearly half of the guns and ammunition inside for Guillermo.
"You need these more than we do," he told Guillermo, his eyes extremely sincere.
What surprised Louis, however, was that unlike the plot in the original work, this time, Guillermo, after a moment of silence, also turned around and brought out some canned food and two bottles of antibiotics from the nursing home.
"No, these are too precious, you need these more..." Rick immediately refused.
But Guillermo forcefully bypassed him and stuffed the items directly into Louis's hiking bag.
"Take them," he looked at Rick, his tone brooking no argument, "you've given us far more than this."
He shook the gun in his hand, then his gaze shifted to Louis, and a trace of sincere gratitude appeared in those eyes that were always full of ferocity.
"Moreover, this isn't just for you, it's for your son too," Guillermo said gravely, "He saved our most important family member; this is what you deserve."
Rick looked at him, finally saying nothing more, only solemnly extending his hand for a firm shake.
The two men exchanged a look, nodded heavily at each other.
With that, the group finally concluded their heart-pounding Atlanta adventure and returned to their truck.
"Well, at least we brought back some medicine for the trip back to Atlanta. I thought we'd end up just scavenging your ragged hat."
As soon as the truck started moving, Daryl's dissatisfied voice rang out in the cramped cabin.
"You gave them half the guns and ammo!"
"Less than half," Rick corrected.
"For what? For a bunch of old folks who could end up in a coffin any minute?"
Daryl wanted to say a few more things, but Merle interrupted him.
"Oh, for God's sake, now you decide to object?"
Merle glanced at his brother from the window, speaking sarcastically, "When I said I was taking back the gun bag before we left, why were you silent?"
"Did you forget how to speak?"
Daryl was momentarily speechless.
Fortunately, Louis's voice timely rescued him: "Rick, what about that intersection ahead? Are we out of the city yet? Maybe we should stop here?"
"Hmm?" The people inside the truck suddenly looked puzzled.
But Rick immediately understood.
While slowing down and parking the vehicle on a relatively safe roadside, he briefly explained to everyone about Louis's previous plan to make a warning sign.
"We'll get down and hang it up; it should only take a few minutes."
Rick turned back apologetically, "Sorry, I haven't found the right time to tell you all until now."
"What's there to be sorry about!" T-Dog slapped his head and shook it, saying, "This is great news! Heavens, why didn't I think of that! Let me help you guys!"
Glenn's eyes also brightened; it was clear he supported the idea: "Count me in! Maybe I can help you hang up that sheet."
"Tsk."
Daryl let out an impatient click of his tongue, but he also jumped out of the truck without a word, grabbed the toolbox, and tilted his chin up, "Where are we hanging it? Hurry up."
In the end, only Merle remained in the truck.
Just as he was about to utter some disdainful taunts, Louis preemptively spoke up for him in a "thoughtful" manner:
"Uncle Merle's hand is injured, he probably can't handle heavy work like this. Let him rest well in the truck!"
These words precisely struck Merle's pride, and he immediately jumped up, sticking his head out of the truck and shouting:
"What nonsense are you spouting, brat?! Even if I only had one hand left, I'd still be stronger than all you weaklings combined!"
"Oh, really?" Louis showed an innocent smile and handed him a sledgehammer, "If you're so strong, then use this to drive this rebar into the ground to secure it."
Merle looked at the rebar, which was at least as thick as his thumb, then at Louis's matter-of-fact expression, and finally jumped out of the truck grumbling, snatched the sledgehammer, and started working.
This scene left the others present somewhat stunned; they had assumed someone like Merle would absolutely refuse to do such thankless, strenuous charity work.
Only Daryl looked thoughtfully at the blond boy who was 'innocently' directing his older brother, then urged the others, "Don't just stand there! Get moving!"
A few minutes later, through the combined efforts of everyone, a simple warning sign made of a bedsheet and two pieces of rebar was firmly erected at the entrance to the road.
The white bedsheet flapped loudly in the wind, and the black warning text on it was startling.
Glenn even used the remaining waterproof spray paint to repaint the slogan on the asphalt road surface.
The afterglow of the setting sun cast a gentle gold layer over the edge of this dead, silent city. The group retreated to the truck, looking at their 'masterpiece,' momentarily silent.
Glenn threw the empty spray can into the toolbox, clapped the dust off his hands, and smiled. T-Dog leaned against the front of the truck, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned.
Merle leaned against the truck door, impatiently flexing his bandaged wrist, mumbling under his breath, "Almost worked myself to death over this garbage."
Daryl stood slightly apart from the crowd, as usual, his arms crossed over his chest, but his gaze lingered on the warning sign for a long time.
The blinding sunset was just descending below the city skyline, shining direct golden rays, causing Louis to instinctively squint and raise a hand to shield his eyes.
Rick noticed this subtle movement.
He paused silently, reached up, took off the sheriffs hat from his head, and placed it on Louis's head under the surprised gaze of the boy.
After resting for a few minutes like this, Louis patted Rick's arm and said, "Let's go!"
The truck restarted, the roar of the engine breaking the long silence. It kicked up dust and proceeded steadily toward the camp.