"Face the judgment!!"
"Face the judgment!!"
The surrounding crowd and guards instantly fell into a frenzy. They raised their hands high, chanting the slogan like broken records, their eyes filled with adoration for The Shepherd.
Everyone was trembling with rage.
Mercy? These bastards were just afraid they would fight to the death and cause casualties! They had stolen everything, and now it was called "mercy"?!
The Shepherd raised his hand and pressed it down, and all noise immediately ceased.
He looked at the captives with satisfaction and smiled. "Now, we will perform the corpse kiss trial on the one among you whose sins are most profound."
"What the hell is that?!" T-Dog cursed.
"It's simple," The Shepherd explained. "The sinner will kiss a Lost One (Walker). If he survives after being kissed, it proves his sins do not warrant death."
"If he dies, or turns into a Walker, it means he got what he deserved."
"You people are out of your damn minds!" T-Dog completely broke down. "Isn't that just murder?! How could anyone survive being bitten! You're all lunatics!"
"The Lost Ones are pure," a sub-leader beside The Shepherd immediately retorted righteously. "They have no souls, no selfish desires; they are the most impartial scales in God's hand!"
"If a person is innocent, The Lost Ones naturally won't harm him!"
"This is nothing but an excuse for you to torture people!" Jacqui couldn't help but curse as well.
"If you are unwilling," the sub-leader sneered, "you can all choose death right now."
The captives fell silent.
Death, or choosing one person to undergo that absurd "corpse kiss."
Rick slowly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his blue eyes were filled with determination.
He was the first to speak, his voice raspy yet firm: "I'll do it."
"No!!" Lori shook her head frantically, tears streaming down her face. "Rick! No! You can't! Carl needs you!!"
"Dad!" Carl finally couldn't help but cry out.
"Rick, shut up!" Shane growled as well, glaring at Rick with bloodshot eyes. In this moment, all jealousy and estrangement had vanished. "You can't fucking die! You still have to lead everyone forward!"
"No," Rick didn't look at them, his gaze fixed on The Shepherd. "This is my decision. I will take the responsibility."
"Stop arguing."
A calm female voice suddenly rang out.
Jacqui, the woman from the City Zoning Department, now had a faint smile of relief on her face.
"Pick me," she said softly. "I haven't wanted to live for a long time anyway."
Just as the others were about to say something, The Shepherd interrupted them.
"Oh, look... how touching."
The Shepherd suddenly chuckled, the sound grating in the cavernous workshop.
"The leader's sacrifice, the relief of the hopeless... a rare play to see in the apocalypse."
His smile was full of mockery.
"But, haven't you misunderstood something?"
"When did I ever say," The Shepherd tilted his head slightly, "that you have the right to choose?"
"The candidate for judgment," he pointed to the expressionless Believers around them, "will be chosen by us, the followers of God, to pick the one who most deserves to die."
The Shepherd gestured to the middle-aged woman who had been rejected on the highway: "Who do you think has the most profound sins?"
Without hesitation, the woman pointed at Daryl: "Him! He just tried to curse at me! He has no remorse at all!"
"I pick him too! He looks like a thug!"
"Yes! It's him!"
The votes quickly piled up. Daryl clenched his fists; he didn't defend himself, only glaring fiercely at the people.
"No..." The indifferent smile on Merle's face vanished.
Seeing his brother being pointed at by everyone, a wave of frenzied violence instantly shattered his reason, even overriding his fear of death.
"Fuck you all!!"
Merle struggled violently, turning toward the woman who had been watching them: "You bitch! I'm not just going to curse you, I'm going to kill you!"
"Once I get out of here, the first thing I'll do is fuck you over, then chop you and your son into pieces to feed the dogs!"
Then he began shouting abuse at all The Believers: "And you lot! Trash! Idiots! Sons of bitches!"
"You're all a bunch of brainless Walkers! I could take all of you down by myself!"
Finally, he looked directly up at The Shepherd, his face filled with extreme madness and contempt:
"Especially you! You ball-less charlatan! Who the fuck do you think you are, some kind of Shepherd?"
"You're not even fit to lick the soles of my boots! My dead skin is more precious than you! You're just a bastard!"
The entire factory went silent, leaving only the sound of Merle's heavy breathing.
All The Believers were stunned by these words. Presumably, they had never seen someone so eager to seek death; they didn't even react for a moment.
After a few seconds of daze, the blankness on their faces transformed into rage.
"Judge him!!"
"Yes! Him! He's the most evil one! Choose this blasphemer!"
In an instant, every finger shifted from Daryl to Merle.
Surprisingly, The Shepherd didn't seem displeased by Merle's insults; he maintained his calm posture:
"It seems we have chosen the one with the most profound sins."
"No..."
Daryl watched everything in disbelief.
"No!!!" His eyes nearly burst from their sockets as he lunged forward, struggling frantically. "You bastards! Let him go! Fuck! Merle!!"
He like a trapped beast, his eyes turned bloodshot, tears and rage bursting forth together.
The guards rushed forward, roughly hauling Merle off the ground and dragging him to the center of the workshop.
Merle didn't resist; he didn't even look back at his brother.
He paused as he passed by Rick.
"Listen, you damn Friendly Cop." Merle's voice was unusually calm, even slightly mocking.
Rick looked up with difficulty, meeting eyes that were no longer frenzied.
"I'm dying in your place." Merle grinned. "You owe me."
"You fucking... have to get Daryl out of here alive."
"You have to swear it!"
Rick looked at this bastard, the man he had personally handcuffed to the rooftop, the thug who was choosing to go to his death to protect his brother.
"I swear it." He didn't know what else to say, so he simply nodded heavily.
"Very well."
Merle grinned.
"Merle—!!!"
Daryl let out a desperate roar.
The others were already sobbing uncontrollably. T-Dog and Morgan closed their eyes in despair, and even Shane turned his head away, unable to watch.
The Shepherd slowly raised his hand.
"Begin the judgment."
Hearing this, a guard opened a heavy iron cage nearby and poked the trapped Lost One inside with a long blade.
The Walker walked step by step... toward Merle, whose hands were tied behind his back in the center of the workshop.