The central base that had been out of sight for months was finally in sight, and Airon's attention was focused on the development of his own kingdom. The outer wall that is made of containers is only half complete, and more containers had not yet been installed, but other than that more watchtowers needed to be created.
When the convoy arrived at the gate of the third wall, there were some guards with weapons that communicated directly with the central base, and then there was movement on the outside of the second wall, where some cars and personnel began to move.
The distance was relatively long at this point, and the feelings of the people in the trucks were not very obvious. Now that they are inside the first base wall, their most intuitive feeling is just one word.
Extremely large!
Whether it was the heavily guarded walls, the extensive fields of crops, the reinforced gates, the firing points, the anti-aircraft defenses or the electricity, it was all very large.
Under Airon's order, the convoy passed straight through the second wall and reached the central area of the base.
The convoy slowly arrived at the base gate and immediately attracted the attention of those with machine guns at the firing points.
Airon was the first to get out of the modified RV, he signaled Tyler and Mike in the distance to approach. There was already a group at the gate, some were soldiers on guard duty and others workers going about their task.
Dale and Amy were doing a special inspection job, someone old and experienced with a smart, hard-working young woman. There was no fault in this type of combination.
Amy saluted with an excited smile, and Airon nodded in response.
"Commander! Welcome back."
Dale hugged him with a warm smile on his old face and then looked at the huge convoy that was still approaching.
"Did all these people come from where you went?"
"Most of them came back from Washington with me, we have to work hard to integrate them with the home base. There are good men and women in that group, strong leaders who will help me in the future."
Amy shot admiring glances and said aloud with some surprise. "It's amazing to bring back so many people at once, you can really get a fresh start wherever you go."
Dale looked at Airon and knew what he meant, he said the same words when he went for Shane and the same when he looked at strong men with a unique character.
"The group you sent arrived safely at the base in Georgia, I hear they all have settled down successfully." Amy was very happy to see Airon safe, but immediately thought that now is the time to have a nice talk, and when she heard Dale's words she knew she was right.
"Airon, now that security has been improved, all people entering and leaving the base must be inspected, and strangers will surrender their weapons as per protocol."
"I'm glad to hear that, now everything is more sophisticated and there is a strict military feel to it, has that caused people discomfort?"
"Everyone knows it's to protect us, life is quiet and we have enough entertainment as it was before. You know, the movies on Sundays are amazing. They managed to bring back replays of the ones from past World Cups and people who don't remember the games futball place bets."
Before Airon could respond, there was a sound of footsteps behind him, and then several voices said in unison.
"We have no problem giving up our weapons, this place is gorgeous." This voice belonged to Ezekiel and they all looked at the people around him, they all served and Ezekiel was the first to share his thoughts.
"Airon, you have lived up to your every word, all my people trust you and I do too. You have brought us back from the dead, and we are infinitely grateful."
Nodding his head in thanks for their understanding, Airon continued to turn his head to look at Mike and Tyler who had come to his side.
"Unfortunately Lori was bitten by a walker, she needs to see Carl and his daughter Judith one last time. We need to do this for Lori's children..."
"What!!!?"
"Oh God!"
At that moment, they saw some people get out of the White RV behind the convoy. Darryl and T-dog were carrying a stretcher to the side, Glenn and Maggie were supporting Rick who had no strength to the side.
Rick's complexion was very bad, but still he was following closely beside the stretcher where his wife was, the sad expression made everyone watching him a little worried, Michonne and the others got out of the truck right behind him, looking in his direction with a complex expression.
Dale and Amy ran over and first checked Lori on the gurney. She had already developed a high fever, her face was as pale as paper, but she was still conscious, but her expression was a bit anxious. She must have wanted to see her children as soon as possible.
"It doesn't hurt to say it, she brought it on herself. She liked leaving the base so much that she looked like an expert at what she did, as you ordered she was allowed to leave without being stopped, was this what you expected?" Tyler looked at Airon with curious eyes.
This wasn't the first time Airon had used some chain moves to take out annoying people, he had done it with Carol's husband back in the day and he expects pretty much the same result if Lori ignored the rules again.
"Is my sweet black still protected?"
"Yes, boss." Tyler said as he looked at Airon as if he understood his words.
No one stopped the group, and Dale who had approached Rick silently gave him his support.
Soon they reached the square in the backyard with no obstacles in the way but they did not take Parrot to the dormitory area, even if they were all leaders, Airon was not a stupid man to endanger his people like that.
Several people went straight to the dormitory where they soon found Carl and Jidith.
Airon stepped forward and rested his hand on Rick's shoulders, seeing him dazed, he felt very uncomfortable, but still said in a more emphatic tone.
"You need to get up, Carl and Judith are still counting on you, they are about to lose their mother, they especially can't see you defeated, do you understand that?"
Shane came over as well and said in a soft tone, "Listen, Carl and Judith will be here in a minute, do you need me to talk to him first?"
As if thinking about the child, the expression on Rick's face finally changed slightly, he looked at his wife on the gurney and shook his head slowly.
"Lori's time is running out, let her spend some time with the kids."
"Mom, Dad!"
As soon as the voice dropped, Carl's shout came from far away.
Soon after, a little boy came running in, with his white skin and clean clothes, accompanied by Beth, who was holding Judith who was barely six months old.
When Karl ran in, the first thing he saw was his father, and then he found Airon standing next to his father.
"Airon, when did you get back?"
Smiling and squatting down, Airon didn't answer his question, but propped his shoulders with both hands and his expression became much more serious.
"Carl, you're a very strong man now, you know that?"
"Yes, I've been helping to take care of my sister, and I also help people at the base with work! You don't know this, but now we kids train."
"That's awesome, you'll be a great leader in the future. But now you must hear this, your mother had quite a complicated accident. She is a bit sick, you have to be strong and support your mother, can you do that?"
Hearing the news that his mother was sick, Carl's little face immediately scrunched up, as if he was about to cry, but seeing the eyes of several adults around him, he held his mouth and nodded earnestly.
"I am an adult, I will comfort my mother so she can recover from her injuries."
Seeing his son's appearance, Rick finally reacted, knelt down and hugged his son,
"I'm sorry!
Carl!"
Airon stood up and looked at Beth, who was holding the baby, and nodded slightly toward her.
Beth nodded slightly as well, her eyes swept over the people to the side and finally settled on Darryl.
"You're back."
"Hello, child."
"Where's your brother?"
"He's on a mission and didn't come back with our group..."
...
Rick finally got to his feet and led Carl to the side of his wife's gurney. At that moment, Lori seemed to notice her movement, and turned her head slightly to look towards where her son was.
Breaking free of his father's hand, Carl ran to his mother's side and flung himself directly at her.
Even though she felt like every bone in her body was about to crumble, Lori struggled to sit up, put her hands on Carl's head and looked down at Judith in Beth's arms.
Reaching out to take her daughter, Judith was still sleeping with her eyes closed, as if she felt the breath of her mother, her two big blinking eyes opened and a smile appeared on her face. immediately.
Lori broke her composure and two lines of tears fell uncontrollably down her cheeks, she only had endless regret in her heart, but she was too late to fix it.
Just as the family of four was in mourning, another group of people suddenly burst in from outside, led by Candace and her husband Edwin, several women who were close to Lori, and a few other leaders.
A large number of people flooded into the room where Lori had been brought, and the originally spacious place was filled in no time, everyone had heavy expressions on their faces. .
It's not like Lori has amassed such a high popularity, most of these people came here because of Rick, and only a few women came to see Lori.
But the family was obviously in no mood to accept her grief, and these people could only wait and see in front of the door for a while before leaving temporarily.
After all, Carl couldn't contain himself, the boy who was about to turn nine years old had already understood some things between life and death, after all, being in this environment would still be affected to some extent.
But what surprised Airon was that this boy was much stronger than he imagined, he had been ignoring this boy for various things before, but he was also growing at his pace.
"It seems like everyone finds their way, I'm really sorry that I can't protect all of you... But, some of them don't deserve to be protected.