TWD: Saving Merle First - Chapter 74: Before Departure (Patreon)

The next morning.

Wade had barely slept the night before. His mind had been stuck on Dying Light the entire time.

The parkour runners from the Tower were practically ready-made scouts. Whether it was searching cities for supplies or heading out to gather intelligence, they were more than capable.

Their main leaders, Brecken and Jade, were also decent people with solid morals, so integrating them into the camp probably wouldn’t be difficult.

The hard part was figuring out how to contact the Tower and how to get them out.

Dale suddenly losing contact with them yesterday hadn’t actually been caused by his radio. Communications in Harran had been cut off, and with the massive walls surrounding it, the city was practically an isolated island.

As for going there personally to bring them out, Wade had no intention of doing that.

He wanted those people, sure, but he wasn’t about to risk his own group for them.

If they came, he’d welcome them.

If they didn’t, he wasn’t losing anything.

For now, he would wait and see.

There was only one objective today.

Kill the Volatiles.

There was no telling how long those things had already been around, and given enough time and food, they could actually evolve.

Wade rubbed his face, got dressed, put on his gear, and climbed out of the tent.

He stretched and glanced toward the watchtower in the distance, where T-Dog and Ryan were on guard, then gave a slight nod.

After yawning, he grabbed his toiletries and headed over to the nearby well to wash up.

The icy well water splashing against his face cleared some of the fog from his sleep-deprived mind.

After Wade dried himself off, Amy emerged from her tent as well. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were still bleary, and she looked only half awake.

She rubbed her eyes, finally made out Wade walking back with the light behind him, and smiled.

“Morning, Wade.”

“Morning, Amy. Why didn’t you sleep a little longer?”

“Couldn’t really sleep anymore, heh.”

She was still smiling when she suddenly seemed to remember something and quickly ducked back inside the tent.

Wade blinked.

What was that about?

Inside the tent, Amy grabbed a small mirror. The moment she confirmed what a disaster her hair looked like, she covered her face with both hands.

So embarrassing.

She should’ve fixed her hair before going outside...

Wade, meanwhile, didn’t think much of it.

After waking everyone who would be joining today’s operation, he started heating up some canned food.

Time was precious. Who knew where those Volatiles had come from? What if they had to cross several mountains just to reach their nest?

They might not even have time to stop and rest along the way.

Ryan came over after finishing his guard shift and immediately fixed his eyes on the cans warming over the fire.

Sure, canned food could be eaten cold, but it tasted completely different when heated.

Wade could tell he was hungry, so he grabbed a bag of sealed bread and tossed it over.

“Eat this for now.”

Ryan didn’t turn it down. He tore open the package and started eating.

“Just us going?”

“Yeah. Quality over quantity. Anyone who can’t keep up would only get in the way.”

Ryan stopped chewing for a moment and gave Wade a surprised look before nodding slightly.

Maybe this really was a place worth staying.

At the very least, its leader wasn’t some useless fool.

A camp like this might actually survive longer and make it farther in this world.

One by one, the others finished washing up and gathered around. Nearly everyone’s attention turned toward Wade as he tended the fire.

“Unless something unexpected happened, those things should be back in their nest by now. It could be an abandoned cabin, a cave, or even somewhere inside a small town. We have no way of knowing.”

“They move extremely fast. Even under direct sunlight, they’re still pretty quick, so nobody lets their guard down.”

“There’s only one rule for this operation. Don’t worry about conserving weapons or ammunition. Hit them with everything we have and try to wipe them out completely.”

“And finally, stay safe.”

“Slurp... slurp...”

An oddly out-of-place sound interrupted him.

Everyone turned toward Merle.

At some point, he had quietly pulled one of the cans away and was already eating.

Merle looked up.

“All that yapping just to say one thing, right? Kill ’em without getting ourselves killed.”

“...”

“...”

For a moment, Wade genuinely couldn’t tell whether Merle had suddenly gotten smarter or somehow become even dumber.

Daryl silently took another can, stuck his fork into it, and began eating without saying a word.

His silent support for Merle was obvious.

“Fine, let’s eat. Once we’re done, grab your gear and we’ll get moving. Oh, and bring two days’ worth of food. There’s a chance we won’t make it back tonight.”

Wade waved his hand, and everyone dug into the simple, slightly greasy breakfast.

Half an hour later, the group was fully geared up.

They grabbed their weapons, climbed into the pickup, and drove off.

The sudden roar of the engine startled Abraham awake.

He immediately stuck half his body out of his tent and looked outside, only to catch sight of Wade and the others disappearing into the distance.

They’re heading out on an operation?

Then why didn’t they wake me up?

Am I not good enough?

Three question marks might as well have been floating over Abraham’s head as his expression turned sour.