"What do you mean? Do you want to return to your base?"
Upon hearing what Merle said, Deanna was very perplexed. Obviously, this place is very safe, even if Merle can't leave, he still has his three meals a day and water without fail, so he should just wait for his opportunity to slowly integrate. She, better than anyone else, has dealt with politicians most of her life, so she knows that this type of deal can happen at times.
"Look, instead of being locked up in this damn place, it's better for my mental state and of course for others if I go out to investigate the surrounding areas. Didn't Airon mention that the weather in Texas is much better, and even if I had the chance to go back, I would search for more survivors? Even reaching the border we have with Mexico would be amazing for our future."
"Airon isn't really interested in the people of this place, what he wants is for them not to become a nuisance to his future plans, so it would be good for him if you explored all the surroundings as if you were just another survivor."
Looking at each other, Alicia was the first to express her opinion. "Merle has a point, we have Jon, so it's safe for now. Besides, Deanna, your proposal should start gaining strength in this place. Therefore, even if Merle isn't with us, we can slowly climb from this point."
When she heard these words, Deanna pondered for a few minutes. After understanding this, she lowered her voice and said, "Mercer has talked to me a lot, so we should think well of him for what he has told us about this place."
Merle looked at her, he didn't know this person. "Who the hell is Mercer?"
Deanna raised the corners of her mouth, looked at him a little amused, and then looked out unintentionally. "For your situation, you should have seen him every day."
"Every day?" Apart from nuts and peanuts, I could have seen many soldiers hidden under their plastic masks, so only the Oreo cookie remains. Well, Merle nicknamed him that just to identify him like the rest, not for anything in particular.
Thinking of Mercer, Merle frowned and suddenly said, "So Oreo's real name is Mercer, damn, even if his attitude towards me has improved over time, he's still a jerk."
"He's tough on the outside, but he's a man who cares about the people..." As she said this, Deanna lowered her voice and signaled, "Merle, if you really want to leave here, I can ask for Mercer's help, at least to make sure you're alive when you leave."
Merle grinned slyly and said nothing, he really didn't take Deanna's words into account.
This made him understand some things that really observant people notice. This place is not as violent and strict as he imagined. Although these soldiers are dressed like Star Wars characters, in Merle's final analysis, they are still ordinary people.
There was no comparison between the soldiers here and those in his organization. Therefore, he has full confidence in leaving this place, even without Mercer's help, it wouldn't be difficult.
"Don't worry about this matter. I won't return immediately after leaving here. If there is any news, I can bring it to you immediately. Besides, I don't think Airon will take long to get to this place."
"As Airon said, this plan could last for a few months or even years."
Not long after, the two women left here under Jon's watchful eye, while Merle continued to sit there, deep in thought, until a guard came in and escorted him out.
...
That same afternoon.
In a small town outside of the Commonwealth.
Boom!
Explosion!
"You sons of bitches..."
A car sped off down the road, and a man with a hood over his head lay on the ground with a bag by his side.
The man stood up, cursing the mothers of all the men who brought him to this place, and then removed the hood, revealing his old face. It was Merle.
"Weren't these the same bastards I beat up in the interrogation room?"
Merle dusted himself off and looked into the distance with a smile, taking a deep breath as he smelled the familiar scent of decay. It was something he missed in his dreams.
"Hehehe, I finally got out of prison." He picked up his backpack from the ground and then looked around at his surroundings, choosing a random direction to walk in.
After about half an hour, the sound of a motor could be heard in the town, and an old Beetle came out of a yard.
"Darling, it's just you and me against the world. Let's get out of this fucking place."
Caressing the steering wheel, Merle's expression became very relaxed. He had done everything he could to protect Deanna and Alicia, but these bastards simply didn't want to let him in. Now he could only retreat to the next best option within his reach.
After taking out a map and drawing a line with a pencil, he decided where to go. Anyway, there was no specific destination, and until he found a radio, he couldn't contact the base, so he would take his time to enjoy himself first.
But at the same time, a faint white figure shone in the rearview mirror, and the corner of Merle's mouth lifted, with a playful smile on his face.
This situation was really funny in his eyes. To Merle, these people still wanted to play with him, so wouldn't it be good for an old fox to teach the young ones a lesson?
After getting along well for a month, it is impossible to say that Merle knows nothing about these guys. They didn't reveal much, but he learned quite a bit.
Not to mention that Deanna and the others often came to visit him, sharing information about the base with him whenever they could, and he also learned a lot of internal information about the community.
Do the people in the Commonwealth not know about what is happening now? Of course they do, but so what? In their eyes, Merle was just an insignificant old man who would serve them to subdue Deanna.
As for why they didn't use anyone else who accompanied Deanna, it's because they obviously knew that even though the people who did enter were meek, they did not fear disaster. And Jon and Merle are the ones who can cause them a lot of trouble, so this would not end well.
To put it bluntly, some people simply did not want Deanna to have a good time and tried by all means to create problems for her. Now, the people behind it obviously sent some people to find out the real destination of the base they came from.
Merle ignored the people behind him, they could follow him if they wanted, he didn't even know where to go yet.
With a mocking smile on the corner of his mouth, he stepped on the accelerator and the car headed towards the main road, roaring and speeding away, leaving behind the two federal guards who were driving the car.
"Do you want to follow me?"
"I got into three fights on the way here, all for the blonde waitress..."
...
Two days later.
Boom! Crash!
"Hey, hey, I can't kill you with just a little bump."
A walker blocking the road was hit by a Beetle and after flying through the air, it hit the ground hard. Merle turned the steering wheel and the wheels passed directly over the walker's head, making a popping sound.
Merle smiled wickedly, but his eyes still paid attention to the surrounding environment, and the distant scene caught his attention.
"Damn, are those fucking leeches?"
The car continued driving a few hundred meters forward, slowly came to a stop by the side of the road, and what appeared in front of Merle was a large section of road blocked.
Jumping onto the roof of a car and looking at the situation in the distance, he saw an overturned truck occupying the road. There was only a small space to pass through, but obviously there was no room for a car like the one he was driving.
In addition, his car couldn't get through the abandoned vehicles in front of him. After cursing a few more times, Merle pulled out a can of gasoline from the back seat, put on a backpack, and finally put the machete on his shoulder.
A large number of walkers wandered the dirty streets, and wielding his machete, Merle attacked correctly and eliminated all his enemies in a few strikes. "I can fall in love with this smell, the smell of shit, freedom!"
Shaking the blood off his hands, he threw some of the black, stinky liquid from inside, then hung the head on a wire and tied it behind the backpack. After that, he looked at the map and knew that there were still a few kilometers left before reaching another town, so he had no choice but to walk.