TWD - Chapter 499: Greenwood’s Gravestone (Patreon)

After leaving that sickening massacre behind, the group spent another two grim days driving through the mountains of Virginia.

Noah had become noticeably quieter.

He no longer pointed excitedly out the window, saying things like, “There used to be a great ice cream shop here,” or, “You could go rafting over there in the summer.”

Most of the time, he simply sat with his knees pulled close, staring blankly at the desolate scenery rushing past outside.

Sasha noticed his silence, but she didn’t try to comfort him. Instead, she checked the vehicle more often, studied the map more carefully, and arranged the night watch with extra caution whenever they made camp.

“By noon tomorrow, we should reach the outskirts of the river valley where the Greenwood community is located.”

On the evening of the third day, while they were spending the night at an abandoned ranger station, Tyreese spread the map out in the dim light of the campfire and pointed to a dotted line following a stream.

His voice was gentle, careful not to upset Noah, who sat curled up on the other side of the fire, staring into the flames.

Boone was crouched by the doorway. He looked up when he heard that.

“There’s a checkpoint at the entrance to the valley, but it’s old, and it’s collapsed.”

He and Kango had scouted several miles ahead earlier that day.

“Noah, there’s no sign of anyone alive out there. The whole place feels dead.”

Noah’s head snapped up.

His lips moved as if he wanted to argue, but when he saw Boone’s matter-of-fact expression, he swallowed the words and only gripped his pants more tightly.

Sasha poked the fire with a stick, making the flames burn a little brighter.

“Either way, we’ll approach and observe as planned. Noah.”

She looked at the young man.

“If... if the community is still there, we’ll assess it from the outside first. We’re not going to rush in. Understand?”

Noah nodded hard, a faint spark of hope returning to his eyes.

“I understand! The community’s careful! If strangers come close, they ask questions first and make sure there’s no threat before they... Really, they’re good people!”

Sasha said nothing more and finished assigning the night watch.

The next morning, the sky was overcast, heavy gray clouds hanging low over the ridgeline.

The convoy moved slowly along an old logging road completely swallowed by weeds, heading toward the Greenwood community marked on the map.

According to Noah’s description and the map, they should have found a checkpoint built from logs and sandbags at the entrance to the valley.

They might even have run into a community patrol.

Instead, when the SUV rolled over the final gravel slope and stopped at the supposed “entrance,” all they found was a silent ruin.

The checkpoint was gone.

Only a few charred wooden posts remained, jutting crookedly from the mud, wrapped in dead vines.

Nearby, where a small shack had probably once stood, there was nothing left but a scorched foundation and several twisted sheets of metal.

Noah was the first to throw open the door and jump out.

He stumbled toward the ruins.

“No... no, this can’t be...” he murmured, desperately turning over blackened pieces of wood as though the answer might be hidden underneath.

“Eli... Mr. Hansen... Grandma Martha...”

His voice grew weaker and weaker until it dissolved into broken sobs.

Sasha and the others got out as well and immediately spread into a defensive formation.

Boone moved toward the edge of the ruins and carefully examined the ground and the marks on the surrounding trees.

Tyreese followed several steps behind Noah, hammer in hand, keeping watch as the young man wandered through the wreckage in a daze.

“At least... a few months old.”

Boone used the tip of his knife to lift a half-buried can lid from the dirt.

“Place was burned. There are signs of fighting too. Look at the bullet holes in those trees. This didn’t happen recently.”

Sasha’s heart sank.

She looked at Noah standing motionless in the center of the ruins, his shoulders slumped as though every ounce of strength had drained out of him.

“Noah.”

Sasha walked over, keeping her voice as even as she could.

“We need to go farther in and take a look. Do you... want to come with us, or stay by the vehicle?”

Noah spun around.

Tears covered his face, but there was a desperate determination in his eyes.

“I’m going in! I have to... I have to see!

“Eli... my little brother... he’s smart. He must’ve hidden somewhere! He has to still be in there somewhere!”

The last words came out almost like a plea.

It was impossible to tell whether he was trying to convince them or himself.

Sasha and Tyreese exchanged a glance.

Tyreese gave a small nod.

“Then stay with us and keep your eyes open,” Sasha told Noah before addressing the others. “Boone, scout ahead. Zach, stay with the vehicle and keep our escape route secure. Tyreese, Kango, you’re with me.”

The group followed the faint remains of an old path deeper into the community.

The farther they went, the worse it became.

The plots that had once been cleared for vegetables were now buried beneath waist-high weeds and brush. The crops had died long ago.

Several houses that had clearly once been occupied had either collapsed or been reduced to blackened frames.

In some places, bleached bones lay scattered around the yards, gnawed by animals and strewn carelessly across the ground.

There were no walkers.

The silence was almost unbearable.

Only the wind moaned through the ruins like the sighs of the dead.

Noah’s face grew steadily paler, his breathing faster.

He nearly broke into a run toward the community center he remembered, where several of the main public buildings and Mr. Hansen’s home had once stood.

What he found there shattered the last of his hope.

The community center had been reduced to ruins as well.

The largest building, a longhouse that had served as both meeting hall and dining area, had burned completely. Only a few thick, charred beams remained, pointing toward the gloomy sky.

The tool shed beside it had partly collapsed and had been stripped bare.

The door to Mr. Hansen’s house was gone.

There were old bloodstains on the porch.

The windows were shattered, and the inside had been torn apart.

“No... no...”

Noah shook his head and backed away one step at a time until his back hit a dead tree.

He slid to the ground, covered his face with both hands, and began to shake violently as muffled sobs escaped through his fingers.

Tyreese sighed, crouched beside him, and gently rested a hand on his trembling shoulder.

He didn’t say anything.

Sasha, Boone, and Kango expanded the search, checking for survivors or possible threats.

Boone moved carefully through the ruins.

He pushed open the broken door of a half-collapsed storage room, sending dust drifting down from above.

Inside were several rotting sacks and broken containers.

His gaze moved across the room before suddenly stopping at one corner.

A child’s dried skeleton was curled up there, the tiny remains folded into a ball.

Beside it lay a crude wooden toy car with one wheel missing.

Boone silently stepped back outside and shook his head at Sasha.

No one in Noah’s community was alive.

There was only death.

Judging by the condition of the ruins, Greenwood had probably been destroyed not long after Noah and his father left for Georgia to search for supplies.

They searched for roughly half an hour.

Aside from confirming the community’s destruction and recovering a few useful items left behind, they found nothing.

Disappointment hung heavily over the group.

Just as Sasha was preparing to call everyone together and leave, Noah suddenly staggered to his feet.

The tear tracks on his face hadn’t dried, but his eyes were fixed on a house near the edge of the community.

Compared to the others, it looked relatively intact.

“That... that’s my house,” Noah said, his voice so hoarse it was barely audible. “My little brother, Eli... he’s still there.”

He started walking toward it like someone sleepwalking.

Tyreese immediately followed, worried.

Sasha silently signaled Kango to move with Tyreese and Noah and approach the house from the flank, while she and Boone stayed farther back to provide cover.

Noah reached the house.

The door stood slightly ajar.

On it were faded, childlike drawings of two little figures holding hands.

He and Eli had drawn them when they were children.

Noah raised a trembling hand and pushed the door open.

Creak—