TWD - Chapter 543: You Only Need to Do One Thing (Patreon)

Leah had thought of that too. She looked at Calista, her eyes slightly red.

Calista rubbed her nose and said awkwardly, “Leah.”

“Hmm?”

“You said earlier that you were worried about him.”

Leah nodded.

Calista stepped closer. “I know you’re worried.”

She paused. “So I sent someone else too.”

Leah froze. Someone else? “What?”

Calista didn’t explain. She simply glanced in another direction toward the ruins, where Cyrus stood alone, head bowed, lost in thought.

...

Ten minutes earlier.

Just as Gabriel and Victor were talking, Calista quietly slipped away from the crowd and found Cyrus.

He was leaning alone against a crumbling wall, gazing toward the shipyard in the distance, lost in thought.

Hearing footsteps, Cyrus turned his head. When he saw it was Calista, his body tensed instinctively.

Sunlight edged Calista’s silhouette in gold. Her light golden hair was tied back in a neat ponytail, leaving her entire face exposed. She was almost impossibly beautiful, but those gray-blue eyes made him afraid to look for too long.

Those eyes were too bright, bright enough to expose every hesitation and fear in his heart.

“Cyrus,” Calista said as she stopped beside him, her voice calm. “You’ve been watching this whole time.”

Cyrus’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “…Yes. I-I was watching Victor.”

“Worried about him?”

Cyrus nodded. “He’s my friend.”

Calista looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “Do you know what he’s going back there to do?”

Cyrus hesitated. “He-he isn’t going back to try to persuade The Pope…”

“No,” Calista cut in. “He’s going back to turn the others.”

Cyrus opened his mouth. “Turn them?”

“Yes,” Calista said. “He’ll approach them one at a time, talk to them one at a time, and let them know there’s another way.”

Cyrus’s eyes lit up for a moment, then the light faded again. “But he’s alone. He’s too impulsive…”

“I know,” Calista said, looking at him meaningfully. “That’s why I need you.”

Cyrus froze. “Me?”

“You only need to do one thing,” Calista continued, “and that is to help your friend.”

Cyrus did not understand what she meant.

Calista took a step forward, closing the distance between them. “If Victor goes back alone, do you think he’ll make it back alive?”

Cyrus’s expression changed. “He…”

“You know,” Calista said. “You know what The Pope is like, and you know what Victor is like. He’s stubborn, he can’t hide anything, and the moment someone questions him, he’ll spill everything.”

Cyrus fell silent because he knew she was right.

“He needs a partner,” Calista said. “Someone who can keep an eye on him, rein him in when he does something foolish, and find a way to save him if anything happens.”

She paused. “Would you be willing to do that?”

Cyrus’s breathing grew heavy. “You mean… you want me to go back too?”

Calista nodded. “Yes.”

Cyrus opened his mouth but couldn’t speak.

Calista continued, “You’re different from him. You’re more careful and more cautious. You know when to move forward and when to back off.”

Her voice was soft but firm. “He needs you.”

Cyrus’s eyes reddened, and his voice trembled slightly. “But if I go back, what if…”

“What if you die?” Calista finished his sentence for him.

Cyrus nodded.

Calista looked at him. “Will you die?”

Cyrus hesitated. “I…”

“You won’t,” Calista said. “You’re afraid to die, and people who are afraid to die tend to live longer.”

Cyrus didn’t know what to say.

Calista reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. The touch was light, but to Cyrus it carried more weight than any embrace. “Listen, Cyrus. You’re not going there to die. You’re going to help your friend stay alive. I won’t let either of you die.”

“All right, I’ll go!”

Calista nodded. She pulled a small walkie-talkie from her waistband and handed it to him. “Take this.”

Cyrus looked down at the device in surprise. “You guys still have long-range walkie-talkies like this?”

Calista set the walkie-talkie to the right channel and pointed to the button. “Hide it on you. Don’t let anyone find it. Press this and you’ll be able to talk to us. We’ll stay here for two or three days. If anything happens, report it immediately.”

Cyrus clenched the walkie-talkie tightly. “I will.”

The corner of Calista’s mouth twitched. “Good.”

She turned to leave, took two steps, then stopped and looked back at him. “Oh, and if Victor doesn’t listen to you, hit him on the back of the head with this.”

Cyrus froze for a moment, then smiled. “No problem!”

Calista nodded and walked away, leaving Cyrus standing there alone with the walkie-talkie clenched in his hand and something warm spreading through his chest.

...

After hearing Calista’s explanation, Leah stood frozen for several seconds. “You-you’re sending Cyrus too?”

Calista nodded. “Leah, he’s more useful than you think.”

Leah opened her mouth, then swallowed whatever she had been about to say. She remembered Cyrus standing in the shadows a moment ago. “He agreed?”

Calista looked at her. “He’s willing.”

Leah fell silent. Cyrus was no longer in that corner. He was standing at the edge of the ruins, his back to them, gazing toward the shipyard.

“Cali, how did you convince him?” Leah asked.

Calista thought for a moment. “I just told him his friend needs him.”

Leah said nothing. She only sighed, then reached out and gripped Calista’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

Then she walked up to Cyrus. “Are you sure, Cyrus?”

Cyrus nodded. “I’m sure.”

Leah looked at him with a complicated expression. “You don’t actually have to go. You only just got here.”

“I know, Leah,” Cyrus cut in. “But I owe Victor my life, and I don’t want him running back there like an idiot just to get himself killed.”

Leah fell silent. Cyrus looked at her, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. “Leah, your sister… she’s pretty great.”

Leah froze for a moment. “What?”

Cyrus smiled. “Nothing. I just think you’ve got a good sister. And she gave me this.”

He patted his chest, where a small bulge was visible.

Leah glanced at it and instantly understood. “Don’t lose it, and don’t let anyone find out.”

“I won’t. When I come back, I’ll bring him back with me.”

Leah’s throat tightened. She patted his arm. “All right. I’ll wait for both of you to come back.”

Cyrus left to find Victor.

Calista stood beside Leah, looking in that direction. “He’ll come back.”

Leah didn’t say anything.

“They’ll both come back,” Calista continued.

Twenty minutes later, Cyrus and Victor stood at the edge of the ruins at Sentry Post No. 3.

Victor still had a swollen bump on the back of his head from Daryl’s hit, but he had completely forgotten the pain. His eyes were bright, and he was practically buzzing with excitement. “Cyrus! You’re going too? That’s great!”

Cyrus looked at him helplessly. “Keep your voice down.”

Victor lowered his voice, but he still could not contain his excitement. “The two of us together? We can definitely pull this off!”

Cyrus sighed and rubbed his temples. “Listen to me. When we get back, don’t do anything impulsive!”

“I know, I know!” Victor interrupted him. “I’ll start with the ones I know best, talk to them one by one. I won’t do anything reckless.”

Cyrus looked at him, unsure whether to believe him. He touched the hard little square against his chest. The walkie-talkie was still there, which gave him a little more confidence.

“All right,” he said. “Our watch is over. Let’s go.”

The two turned and walked toward the shipyard.

After a few steps, Cyrus suddenly stopped. “Oh, right, Victor!”

Victor turned to look at him.

“Does the back of your head still hurt?”

Victor rubbed the back of his head, and his face fell. “Damn! It really fucking hurts! That damn crossbow guy hits hard!”

Cyrus couldn’t help but laugh. “Serves you right.”

Victor glared at him but didn’t argue.