It was Louis who spoke up.
Shane was stunned for a moment, looking at the child with some surprise, and swallowed the words he was about to say.
"You mean that military base a hundred miles away?" Lori also looked at Louis in surprise.
"Yes," Louis nodded. "That was my original plan."
He began to explain methodically, "It's far from the danger zone, and as a military base, the army will definitely be on the front lines of the fight against the Walkers."
"At the same time, there might be complete fortifications, relatively sufficient weapons, ammunition, and supplies, and perhaps even order."
He listed the various benefits of going to Fort Benning with such clarity that Shane's brow gradually unfurled, even showing a look of approval.
However, Louis shifted his tone: "But after hearing what Officer Rick said and thinking it over, I've realized that the CDC might be a better option."
"Why?" Shane couldn't help but ask immediately; Louis's initial thought coincided with his own. "I think your first choice was right; Fort Benning is clearly safer."
"Because I thought of some things you told me before." Louis looked up, his clear blue eyes looking at Shane calmly.
Shane was a bit dazed. Had he... told him something special before?
"After you saved me, you mentioned the day you went to the hospital to visit Officer Rick."
Louis explained, "You said the hospital was in chaos, and you couldn't get Officer Rick out... and one of the main reasons was that the military was there too."
The expression on Shane's face froze instantly.
Louis's tone held no accusation, merely stating facts: "You told me they blockaded the roads, shot civilians indiscriminately, and even opened fire on those who just wanted to escape the danger."
The air around them seemed to freeze. The others in the camp also looked at Shane in surprise; they were clearly hearing the details of this for the first time.
"So I think," Louis's gaze swept over everyone, "even if Fort Benning is a military base with strong fortifications, the army... might not be friendly to us civilians."
"They might see us as a potential threat, or simply refuse us entry."
"Of course," he added, "distance is also an issue. A hundred miles—no one knows what will happen on the road, and we know nothing about the specific situation there."
"In contrast, while the CDC is dangerous, at least the goal is clearer, and... it exists to study the virus and save humanity, so the possibility of them taking in survivors might be higher."
Shane was completely stunned.
During those three days alone with Louis, he had indeed mentioned the chaos at the hospital intermittently due to his guilt and anxiety, but he hadn't expected the child to remember it all.
He remembered last night again; it was Louis's early warning that saved the entire camp from destruction.
Memories flashed through his mind, and the scales in his heart were constantly tipping.
After a long time, Shane let out a long breath, a helpless smile appearing on his face. He walked up to Rick and patted him on the shoulder.
"Alright... although I still think going to the city center is crazy. But, you guys have a point."
He glanced at Louis with a complex expression. "Instead of pinning our hopes on an uncertain army, it's better to take the initiative and find answers."
Rick looked at his old friend, relief and gratitude in his eyes.
"Does anyone else have any other opinions?" Shane asked, looking around at everyone.
Seeing that the two pillars of the team had finally reached an agreement, the others naturally raised no further objections and voiced their support one after another.
An argument that could have split the team due to a disagreement over the route was thus quietly defused by Louis in a seemingly ordinary discussion... Since they hadn't suffered much loss last night, everyone had mostly finished packing their luggage before the meal. So, after the plan was set, they set off for their destination before noon.
The convoy was led by Dale's RV, with Rick driving the truck carrying most of the supplies and the others in the middle, while Shane brought up the rear in a relatively nimble SUV.
What surprised Louis a bit was that, perhaps because last night's close-call battle showed them the team's potential, the Morales family stayed with the group this time, rather than choosing to leave midway to join relatives as in the original story.
This was undoubtedly a good thing for the team; Morales was a reliable person.
Louis stayed in Dale's RV with Carl, Sophia, Duane, and the other children, looked after by Lori and Carol.
The journey was not peaceful. They left the relatively safe quarry area and returned to the peril-filled highways. Abandoned vehicles were everywhere, and occasionally, Walkers could be seen wandering by the roadside.
The convoy even encountered several groups of survivors who looked ill-intentioned.
Some, seeing the grand scale of their convoy and the glimmer of weapons from afar, immediately retreated warily into abandoned buildings or the woods flanking the road, not daring to approach.
There were also one or two reckless groups who tried to set up roadblocks or approach for a robbery. Several tall, burly men held machetes and baseball bats, eyeing their vehicles with ill intent.
But when they saw the dark muzzles poking out of the car windows and the undisguised cold killing intent from some of the people, they ultimately didn't dare to make a move and grumblingly cleared the way.
These small disturbances didn't cause much of a stir. With experienced adults on board to handle them, Louis was happy to relax.
He lay in a corner of the back seat, covered with a blanket, and soon fell into a deep sleep.
His consciousness floated in chaos, as if enveloped in a warm mist.
Vaguely, he seemed to hear some blurred voices, intermittent, as if through a thick layer of glass.
Images also flickered before his eyes like faded old photographs, hazy and dim. Was it in a spacious office?
A Witch wearing a pointed hat and looking extremely serious... Hmm? Why did she look a bit like Professor McGonagall?
She seemed to be saying something to an old man with a long silvery-white beard and half-moon spectacles. Her expression was very grave, and her tone carried suppressed anger and worry:
"...must find... missing... young Wizard... Platform Nine and Three-Quarters... impossible..."
That white-bearded old man... Wait, that iconic long beard and gentle blue eyes... Could it be Dumbledore?
Just as Louis felt the dream was looking more and more like the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts, the scene shifted again.
A black-haired boy with round glasses and a lightning bolt scar on his forehead was pulling urgently at Dumbledore's robes, speaking rapidly:
"...House-elf... danger... kidnapping... a freshman... wall... too late..."
Harry Potter? What was he saying? A House-elf kidnapping a freshman? Which unlucky freshman was so miserable as to encounter this on their first day of school?
Louis was still groggily complaining about this bizarre plot in his dream, feeling as if he had grasped some key information.
But a heavy sleepiness surged over him again like a tide, completely swallowing those blurred images and voices, and he fell into an even deeper sleep once more.
After an unknown amount of time, as night quietly fell, a slight jolt from the vehicle slowing down and the sound of voices from outside the cabin woke Louis completely from his chaotic slumber.
He rubbed his bleary eyes and sat up with some effort. His head was still a bit groggy, and the fragments of that bizarre dream were quickly dissipating.
He shook his head to clear the remaining weirdness and looked out the car window in a daze.
The convoy had stopped at an abandoned gas station.
The place looked like it had been abandoned for a long time; the convenience store's glass doors were shattered all over the ground, and the gas pumps were rusty.
However, the surroundings were relatively open with a wide field of vision, making it a decent temporary rest stop.
Rick and Shane were standing outside the car, talking to a strange man. Dale also poked his head out of the RV, warily observing the surroundings.
The strange man looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old, his face wearing a shaken expression, and one of his pant legs had a long tear.
He was gesturing, his voice tearful and emotional as he told Rick and Shane something.
"What's happening?" Louis whispered to Carl, who had also been woken up.
Carl also looked out the window curiously and shook his head. "I don't know. Dad told us not to go down just now. It seems to be someone they met on the road."
At this moment, Lori came over from the driver's seat and signaled for the children to keep quiet.
"They found a survivor outside," she explained in a low voice. "He said his camp was just attacked by Walkers, and he seems to be the only one who escaped."
"Rick and Shane are questioning him carefully. You kids stay in the car and don't run off."
Hmm?
Louis frowned at the news. A lone survivor?