TWD: Saving Merle First - Chapter 70: The Setting Sun, Red as Blood (Patreon)

Wade had just finished dinner when he noticed the yellow bundle of connected rubber tubes in Ryan's hand and fell silent.

"What the fuck? You're saying that guy really was a suicide bomber?"

"Yeah. It's crudely made, but theoretically, this thing really can explode."

"Then why didn't it?"

Ryan gave Wade a strange look.

"This is going to sound ridiculous, but your arrow just happened to cut the detonator wire..."

Wade's brain short-circuited for a second.

He glanced at his Six-Dimensional Panel.

Nope.

There was no Luck stat.

And somehow he'd still managed to hit odds that absurdly low.

Damn.

There went one winning lottery ticket's worth of luck.

"Wait. Where the hell did they even get something like this? Did they loot it from a mining site?"

"No idea. Merle and Marcus are still questioning them, but don't get your hopes up. Those guys have completely fried their brains."

Wade nodded.

"All right. Thanks for the hard work. I'll give you an extra chicken leg tomorrow. Daryl's paying."

Daryl, who was in the middle of eating, slowly looked up at Wade in complete confusion.

How the hell had such a heartless capitalist survived this long?

The corner of Ryan's mouth twitched upward before he took the opportunity to ask another question.

"That group that came in earlier. That guy..."

"Abraham. Same as you, he was military before the apocalypse. I don't know what unit he served with, though. If you're curious, ask him yourself. You two might have more to talk about."

Having confirmed his suspicion, Ryan nodded.

"I will if I get the chance. I'm going to take this thing apart. Might be able to turn it into a grenade later."

Wade nodded.

With someone who actually knew what he was doing handling it, there wasn't much for him to worry about, though he still reminded Ryan to be careful.

After Ryan left, Wade looked over at Glenn, who was sitting there lost in thought.

"Glenn, how'd training go today?"

Glenn hesitated before answering.

"I feel pretty good about it, but I won't really know until I get some actual combat experience."

Wade didn't respond. He simply shifted his gaze toward T-Dog.

"Same here..."

Jim and Otis, standing beside him, just nodded without saying anything.

There was no deeper reason for it.

After seeing Wade and the others fight for real, they'd gained another layer of fear and respect for them.

That kind of pressure was hard to ignore.

Wade set his knife and fork beside his plate.

He'd used them plenty of times by now, but they still didn't feel as convenient as chopsticks.

"There might be a chance for some real combat later. Think it over first. You don't have to answer right away."

The moment Wade finished speaking, Maggie's voice came from nearby.

"Wade, I want to go too."

Wade turned toward her.

"Why?"

"I want to learn how to fight and protect my family too."

A peculiar glint flashed through Maggie's eyes.

Her little sister had already gotten such a huge head start.

She couldn't afford to fall behind.

If she wasn't going to be some delicate little flower, then she'd make herself dangerous enough to stand beside him.

Wade completely missed the look in Maggie's eyes.

What he cared about was having more people who could handle themselves independently, and Maggie's potential was definitely among the best in the group.

She'd gone from a farm girl to a capable leader in the original story.

There was no question about her potential.

So there was no real reason to exclude her from this mission.

Wade nodded.

"Fine. But you follow orders. This isn't another casual trip into town."

Maggie got the answer she wanted and smiled.

"Don't worry. I'm not some helpless little girl."

Beth, who had just arrived, stopped in her tracks and looked curiously at her sister.

Why did it feel like there was something else behind those words?

Was her sister trying to steal her man?

But when Beth looked at Wade's completely innocent expression, she quickly dismissed the thought.

Yeah.

Probably just her imagination.

"Wade~"

Beth blinked up at him, walked over, and obediently sat beside him.

For some reason, Wade suddenly felt like he'd been caught cheating.

Wait.

What the hell?

He'd been discussing serious business, right in front of everyone.

What was he even panicking about?

"What's up?"

Beth had just opened her mouth when Merle interrupted her from halfway across the camp.

His expression was unusually grim, as if he'd just stepped in something disgusting.

"Wade! I think you need to come over here!"

Wade immediately reached over and rubbed Beth's head reassuringly, then stood and headed toward Merle.

For once, Merle's timing was absolutely perfect.

"What's going on?!"

Same question as before.

This time, Wade sounded a lot more confident.

Once Wade got close, Merle lowered his voice.

"Those bastards finally talked. Their hideout's on a farm south of us. More than twenty people."

Wade frowned.

"What else? Don't tell me that's all you got out of them."

"Be happy we even got that much. Those idiots are completely fucked up on drugs. They're not scared of dying, and they sure as hell aren't scared of torture."

"..."

Wade fell silent.

This was the first time he'd personally seen just how badly drugs could mess someone up.

It was terrifying.

One thing was certain.

The camp was never recruiting addicts.

If someone wasn't even afraid of dying, how could you expect them to fear consequences?

All an enemy would have to do was wave some drugs in front of them, and they'd turn traitor on the spot and bring disaster straight into the camp.

"So?"

Merle grinned.

"When are we going?"

Wade smiled.

"When have you ever seen me wait until tomorrow to get revenge?"

Merle's grin widened.

"Fair point."

"All right. You eating and resting first, or eating when we get back?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

"Then get ready. No point wasting time."

Wade looked up at the sun sinking toward the horizon and narrowed his eyes.

The setting sun was red as blood.