Most of the rooms they passed were filled with white-haired elderly people; some were sitting in wheelchairs, some were leaning on canes, some were being fed medicine, and others were gathered in groups of two or three, either playing chess or chatting.
Although their faces carried a hint of exhaustion, their eyes were peaceful.
Are these... the "grandpas and grandmas" Louis mentioned?
They really are grandpas and grandmas... Rick's gaze was somewhat dazed.
"The old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled," Merle, following behind, commented casually.
When his mutter was heard by several "gang members" nearby, several unfriendly looks were immediately cast over.
"Merle!" Rick looked back and gave him a low warning.
"What? You gonna arrest me?" Merle said nonchalantly. "Can't even tell the truth?"
"Shut up, that's enough." It was Daryl who pulled him from behind, making him reluctantly gesture as if zipping his mouth.
By then, Louis had already pulled Rick and walked with the limping, bald Felipe to the elderly man who was gasping for breath.
"Mr. Felipe," Louis stated his findings clearly in a childish voice, "I just heard Grandpa Gilbert's breathing, and it feels like there's heavy noise in his lungs."
"I once heard a doctor say that if some asthma patients keep using the same rescue inhaler, the effect will get worse and worse. Could it be drug resistance? Maybe we should see if there are other backup medicines."
"Also..." Louis spoke methodically.
The other adults just stood there in a daze, watching this eleven-year-old child discuss the old man's condition with Felipe in such a knowledgeable manner.
Rick was even more full of questions.
He knew Louis had some medical knowledge; after all, he was right there when Louis was learning from Gale.
At that time, he thought Gale calling Louis a "medical genius" was just a compliment, but he didn't expect it to be true.
While he was dazed, he suddenly noticed an Asian man wearing a baseball cap standing next to the old man. That person was their companion who had been taken away: Glenn!
"What's going on?" Rick couldn't help but step forward, his gaze searching.
"Louis is helping examine him," Glenn lowered his voice, his attention entirely on the old man. "He doesn't seem to be doing very well."
"Oh, God, he's asking about you! We thought you'd been dragged off to feed the wolves!"
T-Dog also noticed Glenn and leaned over to complain, "That guy named Guillermo just said he was going to slice you into thin pieces and feed you to the three most fierce and terrifying creatures!"
As he said this, three chihuahuas kept by the elderly man looked over, and one of them barked twice, fitting the scene perfectly.
Seeing everyone go from "fighting each other" to getting along, Rick finally couldn't take it anymore.
He didn't interrupt their conversation but instead walked up to Guillermo, who seemed to be the leader, and pulled him aside.
"Can I talk to you for a moment?"
After a conversation, Rick finally understood everything.
This place was actually a nursing home.
The employees who originally worked here had all fled, leaving these elderly people with no one to care for them, slowly waiting for death.
Felipe was a caregiver here, and their so-called "gang leader," Guillermo, was just a security guard. They couldn't bear to abandon these people, so they volunteered to stay and care for and protect the elderly.
Most of the others under them were also family members of the elderly, staying for similar reasons.
"Do you know how stupid this is?"
Rick looked at him with a very complex expression—admiration, inquiry, and a hint of lingering fear. "We almost... ended up killing you all!"
"All because of a damn misunderstanding."
Guillermo looked up, and in those eyes that were always full of ferocity, a sense of helplessness now emerged.
He looked at Rick, a man who, like him, was willing to give everything to protect his own people, and responded in a raspy voice:
"Weren't we the same?"
...While Rick and Guillermo were busy resolving the misunderstanding, Louis on the other side of the hall wasn't idle either.
He walked up to Felipe and asked, "Mr. Felipe, could I trouble you for some more alcohol, sutures, and clean gauze? His wrist needs to be re-dressed."
Felipe didn't hesitate at all upon hearing this and immediately nodded, "Of course, no problem. Do you need anything else?"
"Not for now, thank you."
Standing to the side, Merle couldn't help but twitch his brow as he watched this.
These medical supplies were hard currency now. But this brat managed to get them from the other party just like that?
Is this kid... that well-connected here?
Soon, Louis came over with the new medical supplies, knelt down, and prepared to undo the temporary bandage on Merle's wrist.
Merle looked at the scissors in his hand, his eyes filled with curiosity and confusion. "Wasn't it already done? Why deal with it again?"
"That was just emergency treatment."
Louis said without looking up, "Your wound is very deep; it must be debrided and sutured, otherwise there might be lasting effects."
Hearing this, Merle didn't ask further but just held out his hand, wanting to see what kind of tricks this kid could pull off.
Daryl stood aside, watching the youthful-looking Louis skillfully disinfect with alcohol cotton balls and perform the preparations, his heart filled with a sense of incongruity.
He quietly pulled Glenn next to him and asked in a low voice:
"Hey, what's going on? Weren't you two both kidnapped? How did he end up as a doctor?"
"Um... maybe only I was a hostage." Glenn shook his head with a complex expression, then lowered his voice:
"Louis was already very popular when I arrived."
"I heard that when he first woke up, his own body wasn't even well yet, but he treated someone next to him who couldn't lift their arm, and later saved a man with a leg infection, so..."
While the two were talking quietly, Louis had already picked up the suture needle and was about to start, but Merle suddenly seemed to think of something and looked at him with a face of disgust.
"Hey, kid, weren't you still running a fever today? You look so sickly, you won't pass your illness to me, will you?"
Louis said without looking up, "Don't worry, when I came back, Mr. Felipe already helped me with an IV drip, and I'm mostly better now. Besides..."
He looked up and gave a harmless smile, "You're my third patient today. The first two had no problems, so don't worry."
Hearing this, Daryl's expression became even more complex.
He looked at Louis's serious face as he debrided and sutured Merle's wound, feeling his understanding of children in this world being overturned bit by bit.
T-Dog was recalling the children he had met before and couldn't help but compare them to Louis. Could it be... this is what a genius is?
After Louis tied the last knot, cut the suture, changed the medicine, and re-wrapped it with clean gauze, Merle, who had been gritting his teeth in silence, finally couldn't help but ask:
"Kid, what did you do before all this?"
This question also voiced what everyone present was thinking. Everyone else pricked up their ears, listening curiously.
Louis wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked up in some confusion: "I was just a normal elementary school student, why?"
"Elementary schools teach students this nowadays?" Merle rolled his eyes. "Stop bullshitting."
"Oh, this," Louis showed an embarrassed expression.
"I learned this from Gale at Harrison Hospital after the apocalypse. She said... I have quite a talent for this."
Merle obviously didn't believe it and wanted to ask more, but a steady voice interrupted him.
"Louis is telling the truth."
Everyone looked back; it was Rick. He had finished talking with Guillermo and was walking toward them.
He walked to Louis's side and patted his shoulder, his tone gentle: "Alright, leave it to me here. You've been busy all day, go rest for a bit. We'll be heading back to the camp soon."
"Okay, Officer Rick." Louis nodded and obediently handed over the subsequent work to the others.
Silently going to the next room and making sure no one was around him, Louis finally breathed a sigh of relief and revealed a satisfied smile.
Plan successful!