Chapter 281 - Different paths

Just as the people of Alexandria were preparing to attack the people who were discovered at Hilltop and destroyed the Kingdom, with a bit of speculation that they might be able to save someone who is alive, something important happened at the Atlanta prison. 

"Are you guys planning on leaving early tomorrow morning?" 

"Well, Shane has agreed." 

"Can you take me with you?" 

"Lori, are you sure you want to get out? You still have two children waiting for you..." 

"I have to go out. I haven't heard from Rick in three days. I can't stay at the base anymore waiting for answers from other people." 

This group of people was exactly Andrea and the others who wanted to leave early, and Lori went straight to them when she heard the news that they were leaving tomorrow. 

Although Amy wanted to leave, she thought they were not qualified to search for and rescue Rick, so she looked at her sister next to her with some hesitation. 

"Are you serious? We're just doing this for exercise and we're not going very far this time. The place where Shane will go is too far from the base, what if something happens to us or we run into something we can't figure out?" 

Andrea was also hesitant, she was worried about her own safety, but she was more concerned about her younger sister's safety, after careful thought, she rejected the other party's request outright. 

A look of despair appeared on Lori's face, and her expression suddenly became a little indifferent. After glancing at a few people, she walked out of the room directly. 

"Who does she think she is, why put us at risk for her irrational ideas?" 

"Okay, let's not say some words we have in mind." 

Carol simply sat to the side and didn't say a word from start to finish. After Lori left, there was a thoughtful expression on her face for a moment, she said goodbye to the girls and left the room. 

After leaving the room, Carol slowly walked to where Lori's room was, she didn't knock on the door, but first put her hate on the door and listened intently, a high pitched scream reached her ears. 

Lori is someone she has known since the beginning of the last few days, and the relationship between the two has always been relatively good, especially the children of the two of them play every day to the point that they are tired, this bond gives Carol a fondness for Rick's family. 

Since the nightmare in her heart died, she gradually realized that only by being strong could she survive the last days. Although it took her a while to think about this idea, it was not too late so she was able to act to survive. 

When Airon was still at the base, she had a period of complaining. She often compared her life before the end of the world to the present. When the reality was much more difficult than she imagined, she now knows that many die day by day fighting for the base to stay safe. 

All this is because as she went out more and more she began to understand what the world is like today and what kind of life other survivors lived who were saved by organization. Not only did they have a safe shelter, but they were also well fed and clothed, and even the children began to receive education and training. 

Her feelings towards Airon gradually changed from nonconformity to gratitude and above all respect, and this respect caused her to begin to care about many things about her group. 

There were more and more types of walkers, some more dangerous than others. Every day, there was someone crying over lost loved ones who were infected by the virus or something else more unpleasant. 

After some hesitation, Carol decided to support Lori. 

Knock knock knock! 

"Who?" 

"It's me, Carol, can I come in?" 

The room was silent for a while, and it took a few minutes to hear the sound of the door opening, and soon Lori, red-eyed, opened the door. 

"Is there a problem?" 

Unconsciously looking back, Carol motioned to enter the room before speaking, gently pushed Lori into the room, then closed the door tightly, and then said in a very low voice. 

"Lori, I can join you tomorrow morning, but I have just one request!" 

This sudden support made Lori excited at that moment, she took Carol's hand without thinking and kept nodding her head. 

"That's good. My request is really very simple. You must listen to me throughout the entire process and you cannot act on your own under any circumstances." 

"I promise!" 

... 

Early the next morning, a modified pickup truck pulled out of the back yard, with some supplies and fuel in the trunk, and as it passed the inner yard gate, Lori climbed into the back seat of the truck with some stealth.

After getting into the car, Lori realized that including Carol, there were five other people in the car. She thought that only Carol would follow her, but she didn't expect it to be an old acquaintance. 

The one sitting in the driver's seat turned out to be Richard, who was the one who let him out when he first got out, the co-driver was a tall black man who was Oscar, who had been for a long time in prison. 

Also, there is a handsome young man next to Carol, if I remember correctly, his name should be Alex. 

"You?" 

"Ma'am, Carol explained to us, don't worry, we all followed her willingly." 

"Thank you!" 

"First thing is to get off the base, no need to get excited." Carol said with an indifferent expression. 

As the van approached the exit gate, several snipers were pointing towards the car ready to open fire if given the order. 

"Zz... What do we do Tyler?" Mike asked as he stood to the side of the snipers. 

"This is the second time that a woman named Lori has done something stupid, she will die sooner or later and the only thing I hope is that it's not inside our bases. What can we do? Let them out, all the people in that van don't value the safety they enjoy inside the base and I really hope half of them die so they appreciate our sacrifices." 

The soldiers at the door touched their headsets to each other, nodded and then signaled for the door to open. Their eyes were fixed on the window, and they showed only expressions filled with coldness. 

The van sped out of the base and headed toward the town where Rick had sent the latest news. 

... 

Rick's group. 

After discussing the plans with Abraham, the twelve members of the two teams temporarily formed a team and continued walking to the next town.

After walking for half a day, little Katia was exhausted, her steps became smaller and smaller, and she gradually fell to the back of the team. 

Last in line was Noa, little Katia was trying to get something out of her mouth when Eugene saw what the girl looked like and immediately understood.

He squatted down, trying to carry the girl on his back, but Katia shook her head for some reason and scanned the crowd in front of her with twinkling eyes. 

"What's the matter Katie, are you tired?" 

Guillermo, who was near the back of the team, noticed the situation behind, walked over and asked. 

The girl just bit her lip, lowered her head grumpily and Elen smiled a little sheepishly, then leaned over to interrupt Katie's hug, but it looked extremely strenuous. 

"It's been a long time since she's talked, all the time..." 

Motioning for her to put the girl down, Guillermo  bent down, looked at the silent girl, and his tone became strangely soft. "Katie, are you tired?" 

The girl kept lowering her head without any reaction, Elen to the side wanted to take her hand anxiously, but Guillermo stopped her with his gaze. 

"Do you miss grandfather?" 

After uttering these words, the girl finally answered. She raised her head slowly. Although she made no other movement, she let Guillermo clearly know her thoughts. 

"Do you know where we are going? There's a big playground there, and there are many friends like you who like to play there, and all their grandparents went to one place." 

"There are no such scary monsters in that place. They all went there because life put them in that place, but they will all be happy that they no longer suffer here. Your grandfather lives happily, he is in a much better place." 

As Guillermo narrated, the little girl's expression gradually relaxed a little, and some anger showed in her eyes, so she hurried to strike while the iron was hot. 

"How about this? When we get back, I'll introduce you to those kids. They have many, many toys, which you can play with and they can accompany you to explore the city wall.What do you think?" 

After a bit of coaxing, the girl finally nodded slightly, and then Guillermo turned around with a smile on his face and patted her waist with his hand. 

"Can Uncle carry you on his back?" 

Katie off to the side couldn't believe her eyes, she looked at the squatting man with surprise, her eyes were full of gratitude. 

At that moment, Rick and the others didn't have time to pay attention to the situation behind them. They walked to a sign at the side of the road, looked at the writing and looked at each other, all wearing inexplicable expressions 

There is a line on the sign: The terminal, the shelter for all survivors.