"Don't rush."
"I already said, I came in friendship."
Shawn smiled, not angered by Hershel's attitude.
Shawn narrowed his eyes: "If I'm not mistaken, the Zombies around the Farm have increased recently, haven't they?"
Hershel's fingers trembled at his words.
Shawn was right; almost half of their barn was filled with Zombies, and it would soon be unable to hold any more.
Recently, more and more Zombies were wandering around the Farm, and Hershel was wondering what had gone wrong.
Looking at Shawn, Hershel seemed to be all ears.
Placing the small cup on the coffee table, Shawn stood up and walked to the window in the hall, pushing aside a few blinds to look outside.
At that moment, a Zombie was wandering from a distance, moving forward aimlessly with dull, grey eyes.
"The city doesn't seem to be peaceful lately; most of the living creatures there have been eaten, so the Zombies are gradually moving towards the suburbs. Millions, tens of millions of Zombies are migrating."
What?!
Hershel's heart jolted, and he instinctively looked at his family, only to see his daughters also looking at him with worried expressions.
"Why should we believe you?"
Hershel's heart was in turmoil, but he showed no outward sign.
"Believe me or not, I just came out of Atlanta. I was besieged by a horde of Zombies there, and I know the terror of these man-eating creatures."
"Now... it's just the beginning, with one or two Zombies wandering around."
"Within half a year, this place will be discovered by the migrating Zombie horde. How long can your Farm last?"
Shawn looked back, and Hershel's heart skipped a beat.
It seemed that from Shawn's words, Hershel had already imagined the scene at that time.
The Farm was flat on all sides, with only a wooden house visible from afar. The tireless, pain-insensitive Zombies could easily reduce this wooden house to ruins, and they would only become blood-food for the Zombies.
"What do you suggest?"
Hershel's expression was still stern, but with this question, Shawn knew he had relented.
Hershel was somewhat like Rick, but not Rick.
They both had their families, struggling to survive in this apocalypse with their loved ones.
But Hershel was far from matching Rick's courage and daring... He was too old; this was simply not his era.
Shawn's face was once again adorned with a smile, looking very friendly.
"Huddle together for warmth. You allow us to live on the Farm, and we will naturally protect the Farm. We will help you deal with the Zombies that approach here."
"And these two friends of mine are skilled hunters. Compared to using your people, I believe their harvest will surely satisfy you." Shawn pointed to Daryl and Merle.
"We want half. You can stay next to the Farm, but you must not disturb my family or staff!"
Hershel immediately began discussing the distribution of meat.
"One-third, we can only give you one-third, and you still have to exchange it for food."
Shawn's expression remained unchanged as he looked at Hershel calmly; this was teaching him how to do business outside.
Hershel stroked the armrest of the sofa. Exchanging the Farm's food for meat was definitely not a losing deal. Most importantly, Shawn could solve the problem of approaching Zombies for them.
Moreover, relying on Otis and Jimmy, two novices, to go hunting, who knew how long it would take to get a meal.
As for the two people beside Shawn...
Hershel scrutinized Daryl and Merle, finally nodding in satisfaction.
"Deal."
Hershel extended his hand and shook Shawn's; this seemed to be a civilized transaction.
...
Inside the wooden house.
Hershel prepared the first lunch for Shawn and the others as a sign of goodwill.
Afterward, Shawn marked out an empty space next to the wooden house, laid a thin layer of wooden planks, and set up tents and a dissection stand.
This would be their Camp for the foreseeable future.
In the distance of the Farm, two more Zombies approached.
Shawn turned his head and looked towards the wooden house; Hershel was looking this way through the wooden house's glass window.
"The Camp is set up, time to get busy..."
Shawn stretched, picked up his Ma Bone Warhammer, and walked towards the Zombies.
He didn't let Merle and Daryl do it; this was Shawn's promise, and of course... it was also for experience points.
Lone Zombies were definitely a good opportunity for Shawn to gain experience points.
After the Quarry Camp incident, the Lv4 experience bar was more than two-thirds full. Counting it, he should be able to reach Lv5 in these two days.
Arriving in front of the Zombie, Shawn weighed the Ma Bone Warhammer in his hand, held the top-heavy giant hammer level, and gently placed it beside the staggering Zombie's head.
He took a practice swing like playing golf, then swung with full force!
Whoosh--!
Headshot hit, triggering the headshot chance, and the Zombie's head exploded directly.
He swung the Ma Bone Warhammer in a circle from above his head, using the inertia to smash it at the Zombie wandering beside him, hitting it squarely in the chest and pinning it to the ground.
Crack--
Another swing, breaking the lower leg of the third Zombie that had surrounded him from behind.
Then he hammered the heads of the two fallen Zombies 6 or 7 times in a row, completely eliminating the three Zombies.
"This..."
Inside the wooden house, Hershel put down his binoculars and exchanged surprised glances with the people beside him.
Shawn's brief display of skill left an indelible impression in their minds.
Although Shawn's movements were not nimble or elegant, a sense of ferocity was enough to leave people speechless and amazed.
A look of joy appeared on the faces of everyone in the wooden house.
The deal had been made, so the stronger Shawn was, the safer they would be; there was no faking that.
Returning to the Camp, Shawn nodded to the others.
"Free to move, hunt, do laundry and cook, find a car, whatever you want to do, but only one thing: do not disturb Hershel and his family. This is my promise to him."
After receiving affirmative replies from the others, Shawn knocked on the wooden house door.
Beth opened the door. She curiously looked Shawn up and down again, her voice softer than a mosquito's: "Is there anything else?"
"Hershel, I have one more question... Besides you all, do you know of any other people nearby?"
Shawn raised his head towards Hershel behind Beth and said.
"I'm not sure. We rarely leave the Farm. There's definitely no one here. If there is anyone, they must be in the town to the east."
Hershel spoke truthfully. After Shawn thanked him and exited the wooden house, he nodded to himself.
"If I'm not mistaken, the people who took the motorcycle should be that group." Shawn's previous suspicions were basically confirmed.
But as for the specifics, he would have to wait until he met that group later.
Taking the car keys from Andrea, Shawn drove alone, returning along the original path to the spot where they had rested last night.
It was also at this moment that a soft chime sounded in Shawn's ear, and an orange-yellow marker popped up in front of him.
[Apocalypse Quest: Retrieve Motorcycle (Collection Quest)]
Shawn's expression froze: "I didn't expect quests that could only be taken from the Apocalypse Merchant in the game to appear in this form... But it saves a lot of trouble."
Shawn's lips curled into a smile.
He saw an orange-yellow exclamation mark, a quest marker, appear in the distance within his field of vision.
According to the game's logic, this exclamation mark was the quest location, which meant it was the current location of the motorcycle!
Quest Objective