章節 481: Whisper in the Dark [2]

Mack ran all the way back to his small group's settlement, unaware that there were several pairs of eyes right behind him. It's not that he wasn't paying attention, but with his novice anti-recognition skills, he couldn't detect someone like Merle who knows how to move well in these kinds of areas.

As a result, Merle's large group would soon arrive at this community.

Merle didn't want to harm the other party. The initial purpose of coming here was to see the reaction of these people. If they really sent someone to eliminate them, he would handle those individuals without hesitation.

If the other party didn't have such a plan, he would take his time to thoroughly investigate this survivor community.

Taking advantage of the darkness of the night, Merle took a rifle and aimed it in the direction where Mack disappeared.

After about twenty minutes, Merle's expression became somewhat strange, and the half-smile on his face left the members of his group around him feeling a bit perplexed.

"Hehehe, this idiotic man is still a rare good person..."

...

It turned out that after Mack returned to the base, he immediately found the person in charge here. The leader of this place was a man who seemed to have a limited grasp of the language.

The other two were obviously awakened by Mack, and his words spread quickly, and soon everyone knew that Mack had brought back significant news.

Some had different opinions, but all the information revealed by Mack's words indicated that it wouldn't be easy to mess with the other party.

...

Merle gained a general understanding of the basic situation of these people, stretched his waist, and called everyone to get in the vehicles to catch some sleep.

Early the next morning.

Mack had only slept a few hours, as he had been restless all the time. So, after going to bed shortly after three in the morning, he woke up before seven.

There are still important things to do today. He will go out with a group to investigate a supermarket where apparently another group had taken most of the supplies. Of course, there are some more interesting items there. But the most essential ones were taken by those people, so if they want something that they have, everyone must go to their group's door to negotiate an exchange.

Santiago, the leader of Mack's group, wants to trade some items they have for medicines. There has been a contagious disease in their settlement recently. According to their group's doctor, antibiotics are needed. The quantity isn't much, but the problem is that they are scarce. If they can't find this medication, their community could face serious problems.

This kind of concern wasn't shown to the others. After some inquiries, Mack decided to go to that supermarket to try their luck. It wasn't the first time they went there, but this was the only chance to save the others.

Yes, the community he had recently joined was already a bit chaotic, which worried Santiago the most. Once they can't get the supplies, only they will lose this time.

But Mack knew that getting depressed now wouldn't help at all. "Don't worry, I have a solution, you just need to follow me."

Seeing Mack's affirmative expression, Santiago could only choose to believe him.

"Then let's move."

The two paid no attention to their surroundings, but behind a nearby house, several figures had already overheard their conversation word for word.

Seeing that these people had finally left the base with two individuals, Merle also showed a miserable smile and told several people to follow them.

...

"Just look at that, I don't think there's anything to worry about with those people..."

Under the strong sunlight, Merle and the others endured the heat. They had been following the two for over an hour now, and they could already see the outskirts of a small town in the distance.

After advancing for another half an hour, they finally entered the city. Merle became a bit more serious and instructed several people to be vigilant. No matter who the other party is, they should not be taken lightly. That's what Airon repeatedly warned them about before leaving.

After over a year of training, although Merle still had some minor issues, he was able to handle everything in this regard, and that's also why Airon entrusted him with this mission with confidence.

This city is not small, although there aren't many large buildings, it can be seen that there were quite a few people living here before the end of the world.

After walking through the city for ten minutes, Mack and Santiago reached the entrance of a medium-sized supermarket. There were some big men standing at the supermarket's entrance, most of them armed.

The two pushed an empty shopping cart and approached, unaware of what Santiago said, a man quickly came out of the supermarket.

Soon there was a confrontation between the two sides, but Mack apparently did nothing, so after a while, these men were let go.

Merle smiled and said, "Looks like they didn't fare well, let's go."

...

Santiago walked forward through the doorway with a dark expression, while Mack continued talking about what happened. But the people from the supermarket had already confirmed that these guests had nothing else to trade.

At the moment they were being pushed into an alley, five well-armed men emerged from the other side.

Santiago's complexion changed drastically, and he unconsciously raised the weapon in his hand, but when Mack took a closer look, he felt a chill run through his body.

"Hello, Mack, we will meet again!"

"You're the ones!"

"Do you know them?"

"Of course... I mean, of course not."

Seeing Mack hesitate, Santiago looked at these people. They were dressed in what seemed to be military uniforms, but their equipment was very different, so he quickly associated them with the friendly group Mack encountered on the way. He whispered in Mack's ear, "Are these the people from yesterday?"

"What are you trying to do? Kidnap us?"

Merle laughed, pointed at Mack, and said, "For God's sake, is that how you see us?"

Mack quickly waved his hand to deny it. He never mentioned the word "kidnap" from start to finish. Moreover, the people in front of him outnumbered and outgunned them, so Santiago alone couldn't be their opponent.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to leave like this, but I don't know all of you, so I had to lie to protect the rest of my people from you."

Just as Mack helplessly extended his hands, Santiago suddenly thought of something. His face turned ugly again, and the barrel of his weapon pointed back at Merle's group.

"What about the rest of you? There should be more than five, right?"

Merle, without changing his expression, said, "Relax, we were just following you to confirm what you were going to do. Or do you think I would attack your base while you two are out on an excursion?"

Upon hearing this, Santiago's expression turned cold. That was what worried him, but Merle scoffed in boredom.

"Santiago, I don't think they're bad people. Let's go back first and think of other ways to confirm our suspicions."

"I apologize for my rudeness..." Santiago said after lowering his weapons.

Merle and the others didn't speak; they silently followed them, while Mack occasionally talked back to them.

Many people were relieved that these men didn't plan to kill them or do anything worse, so they smiled and invited them in.

After a while, Merle finally entered the interior of this place. At that moment, he was leading Negan, Aarón, and other soldiers to sit in the pharmacist's room.

The pharmacist was a dark-skinned man in his fifties, slender, and wearing a clean white lab coat. He looked like a private doctor before the end of the world.

At this moment, the two sides sat facing each other, and the atmosphere in the room was slightly silent.

Just now, the pharmacist had already asked all the questions they should. At this moment, they could confirm that Merle's group had no ill intentions.

Merle looked at Mack and suddenly said, "What do you mean?"

As his words fell, everyone's eyes unconsciously turned towards Mack. He frowned and thought for a moment before speaking slowly.

"Mr. Merle, first of all, thank you for saving me. It's my fault, and I left without saying goodbye because I was afraid they might be bad people for us. I believe you've also seen that most of our guards are ordinary people."

"It's also for this reason that supplies here are very scarce. I noticed many medicines in your supply truck, so I take the liberty to ask you all for help. We will find a way to compensate for all your losses. It's just that we can't get enough supplies to trade for medicines right now. The medicine we bought is not enough..."

Having said that, Mack looked expectantly at Merle and the others. Santiago's eyes lit up when he heard that the other party had medicine, but he never expected Merle to refuse.

"You can't trade supplies, so why should I give you medicine? We took risks to gather those medicines. What if my team members get sick? Even if they don't get sick, relying only on verbal assurances is like your words are enough to compensate for our losses?"

"Please, you can save our community..."

The pharmacist, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke. His voice was a bit low, but what he said immediately drew Merle's attention.

"I was bitten by a walker once..."

As he spoke, the pharmacist slowly opened his shirt as if to prove it, and a clearly visible bite scar on his shoulder was shocking.

"However, I didn't turn into a walker, so I must have antibodies in my body. The equipment here is simple, and there's no way to complete the experiment, so I can assure you that as long as you help us this time, I can cooperate with you for any kind of thing you need."

After finishing speaking, he only looked at Merle with piercing eyes, waiting for his response.

At that moment, the curtain leading to the back door of the pharmacist's room suddenly lifted, and a trembling figure came straight towards Mack, who was on the other side.

The pharmacist had quick eyes and quick hands, and he pushed Mack directly, and the walker grabbed the pharmacist's arm and bit it.

"Ahh!"

The pharmacist let out a cry of pain, followed by a soft sound in his ear.

It turned out that Aarón rushed forward and killed the walker directly.

"Quick, cut off your arm!"

Without waiting for the other party to react, Aarón grabbed the pharmacist's arm and walked towards the table.

"I'm fine, I'm immune to the virus, did you forget? Hahaha!"

Aarón was a little uncertain about this claim, so he could only look at Merle, seeing that the latter also nodded slightly, he stepped back.

Merle's initial reaction was to save the other party, but the pharmacist's mention of the immune system issue made him hesitate, and when he saw what the other party said, he simply let it pass.

"In that case, let's see if you're immune!"