People followed the sound of the voice and saw that Negan was holding a bone, and he was the one who spoke the words a moment ago.
Hanna's eyes sparkled as she followed the voice and looked at Negan, who was sitting there with a smile on his face.
"Are your words convincing? Or are you willing to stay up all night and keep an eye on her?"
"Yes, I don't disagree... Within this group, I am the most aware of the threats, and for now, we don't know if this woman is from an organization we should be careful of. It's too risky for both us and what we'll do if we let her go."
Negan held his bat, his big smile showing the shiny teeth in his mouth, then stroked his beard. "Since we have a tanker truck, I myself will watch over her and take responsibility until you decide to accept her into our group. If you still distrust her after a week, how about letting her go by then?"
The person questioning Merle turned his head to look at him. Aaron, who was silent on the side, also stood up at this moment and pointed out, "I believe in Negan. Eric and I will help him watch over her and make sure she is protected all day."
Merle pursed his lips, opened his hands with an indifferent expression, "Alright, that's up to you, but speaking of this, I want everyone to be aware that I will punish this woman with the maximum penalty."
"There won't be any problems..."
Seeing that three people accepted the responsibility, everyone was there, and the rest had nothing to say even though they felt uncomfortable. They may not be familiar with Negan and the others, but Merle has been in the prison since it was taken over, and everyone knows what this man is capable of.
Now that the matter was resolved, Negan also set aside some food for the woman. The other party was obviously hungry, and the people around shook their heads with a complicated look.
Negan didn't speak, but silently placed a bottle of water next to the woman. Marlett was surprised, looked at him and thanked him vaguely.
Feeling the gratitude of this woman, Negan understood her situation and nodded with a smile, his observant eyes briefly resting on Marlett's stomach, and he said nothing.
After dinner, the night came quietly and without any problems. The arrival of the end of the world is a disaster for human beings, but it is a gift to nature. Countless walkers have become nutrients in the soil, nourishing the planet to recover from all the pollution.
The loss of city lights also allows the stars in the night sky to show their beautiful original appearance.
Accompanied by the night, a bonfire was lit next to the RV, making the faces of the people around it shine with orange light, and even Marlett, who was exhausted, looked very calm at this moment.
The effect of the food was immediate, and she recovered a lot after eating and drinking enough. At that moment, she was telling people about some new groups in Texas.
"After the military came and eliminated a group that was something like a cult, there were some groups with a few hundred people. We don't know much about them, but they are dangerous." Marlett paused, took a sip of water and saw people looking at her, and hurriedly explained.
"I don't know where the base camp of this force is. The other part is very mysterious. The camp I stayed in before was also someone who ran into the other part while leaving, but they just hid from them."
Merle listened to all of this in silence and briefly remembered the conversation with Airon, that crazy leader who was ten steps ahead of many people and wanted to control the border with Mexico and, if possible, start associating with those people. He knew it, Airon was looking for a way out in case they couldn't face the CRM or any other crazy organization that didn't care about the damage.
Merle wasn't interested in small groups, but the girl next to him listened seriously and clenched her fists when she heard Marlett's most painful memories.
Everyone sat by the campfire for over an hour. Merlett also presented what she knew and asked which group they belonged to, but Merle silently withdrew.
Minutes later, Negan pointed to the tanker truck just behind the modified RV, indicating to Merlett to accompany him.
Merlett nodded, followed him, and walked towards the truck. Aarón greeted him from behind and set up a night shift with Negan, then went back to sleep.
The two climbed into the fuel tanker truck, and Marlett stared fixedly at the dark night outside the truck, then suddenly turned her head and said to Negan.
"Thank you for today..."
Negan laughed under his breath and waved his hand indifferently: "Don't thank me. Although that girl is still very young, she is a kind girl. She is willing to speak good words for strangers. It's obvious that you have moved her, so what does it matter if I or the others believe you?" Negan held his bat, looked at the gun on his waist, listened to the sound around him, and closed his eyes in the driver's seat.
Merlett looked at him incomprehensibly, feeling uneasy. What does this guy mean by closing his eyes? Shouldn't he be watching me?
"Aren't you... afraid that I'll escape?" Merlett said these words to Negan.
"If you run away at night, the next few days until a week will be easier for me, don't you think?"
"Then... then you won't be punished?"
Upon hearing Marlett's question, Negan finally opened his eyes and looked at him with piercing eyes. The smile on his face did not disappear.
"I just believe that you are trustworthy and I am willing to trust you once. If you leave or even come back with someone else, trust me, you won't get any benefits." After finishing speaking, Negan didn't care about Marlett and closed his eyes again.
Suddenly, Negan felt something touching the lower part of his body and opened his eyes again under a tremble, and it was Marlett who had stretched out her hands.
Holding this woman's wrist, Negan pulled her hand away with a slight tug, and the smile on his face gradually disappeared.
"Your name is Negan? Just take this as a thank-you gift from me."
As he spoke, Negan looked at this woman who couldn't be more than twenty-five years old. Negan was a very shrewd man, so he immediately understood what was happening.
"This isn't what I want..."
"What?"
Negan thought about what he had done earlier, and suddenly felt that the other party must have misunderstood him. He helped Marlett only because his wife was also pregnant.
"Listen, my Lucille, she's still waiting for me in our community, the reason I saved you is not because of this, don't misunderstand me. I helped you because my Lucille is also pregnant, I understand your difficulty. I also want you to believe in us and know that there will be a safe place for you and your baby in the future."
...
The next morning, Negan opened his eyes early, looked at Marlett, who was still sleeping beside him, and shook his head at the memory of what had happened the night before.
There were already two people cooking in the open space outside at the moment, and two others were cleaning up some walkers attracted outside the camp.
"Negan, good morning."
Hanna, who was helping with the cooking, looked over and saw Negan who had just woken up. She smiled and waved her hand, pointing to the utensils in front of her, indicating that he should come and eat.
Negan smiled, walked over directly, took a bowl of food, and began to eat.
"Thank you for yesterday, Negan..."
The little Hanna walked over to him in a cute way, gave him a small hug.
"She's still just a kid..." Negan murmured as he watched Hanna scold Merle, who wanted more food.
Things seemed to have proceeded so peacefully that the group quickly embarked on a journey to the south. What awaited them was still unknown.