After dinner.
The group used tents to set up a simple Camp.
Looking around, they were too excited to sleep.
Everyone
The little ones gathered around Shawn, pestering him to tell them what had happened over the past two days.
Seeing that the adults in the team were also interested, Shawn began to explain, half-truthfully.
"Hoo—!"
"That night, it was truly earth-shattering! It moved ghosts and gods!"
"It was something that made women weep, children stop crying, and old people slap their thighs!"
"Even the two pigs we brought back, upon hearing it, had to tuck their ears and hide in the pigsty!"
"To be honest, there are children present, so I shouldn't really be saying this, but the children are just too enthusiastic."
"…"
Although he said he 'shouldn't say it,' Shawn's expression showed that he was speaking with increasing vigor.
The children listened intently, and the old people's mouths were stretched into wide grins.
The adults simply listened as a story, given how exaggerated Shawn's storytelling tone was.
Carol worked on the small trinkets she had brought along, watching Shawn, whose face was flushed by the bonfire, with a smile. He sat there, astonishing the children.
"No sooner said than done!"
"I saw a hundred Walkers, no less, charging at me!"
"You wouldn't believe it, those Walkers were quite different from ordinary Walkers; they could run even faster than a person!"
"But who am I—Shawn!"
"As the saying goes: Shawn, Shawn, never surrender when facing Wu!"
"With my destiny, a few hundred years ago, I would have been respectfully called 'King Wu'!"
"Facing a hundred Walkers, I grabbed two dried fish beside me and looked at the labels on their tails!"
"Guess what I saw?!"
Shawn's tone deepened, looking mysterious and profound.
The children closest to him held their breath, and Carl cautiously asked.
"Shou… Shawn, what did you see?"
The bonfire flames danced in Shawn's eyes. Shawn glanced at everyone before mysteriously speaking.
"I leaned in for a closer look and found several large characters written on it!"
"Made in~~Florida!"
Flo… Florida?!
The children's eyes immediately widened, feeling that Shawn was unfathomable.
"Exactly!" Shawn said with conviction.
"I thought to myself, since it's dried fish from Florida, it must be extraordinary!"
"So I slapped my thigh and simply held one dried fish in each hand."
"Suddenly, there was great thunder in the sky! Lightning flashed and thunder roared! Sand and stones flew! Dark clouds covered the sky!"
"A hundred Walkers, with their eyes glowing red, had already rushed into the church!"
Shawn suddenly emphasized his tone, making the children shrink their heads, their faces filled with trepidation.
"But I already said, who am I? King Wu! Would I be afraid of these beasts?"
"As soon as they got close, I used the two dried fish directly as nunchaku!"
"I attacked from both sides, striking them head-on, forcing them to retreat repeatedly."
"After two rounds, I beat them so hard that they turned around and crashed into the wall to commit suicide!"
At this point, Shawn's tone softened.
He pulled Carl into his arms and quietly asked him in his ear.
"Do you know why I used dried fish as nunchaku?"
Carl shook his head repeatedly.
Beth, who was beside him, moved closer as the story deepened, almost directly throwing herself into Shawn's arms like Carl.
Shawn looked around at everyone, and only when he was sure they were all listening intently did he nod with satisfaction.
"Heh—"
"These Walkers, smelling the scent of corpses on the dried fish, thought I was their Walker daddy."
Huh?
"Hahahahaha~~Shawn, you're so bad!"
Beth couldn't stop laughing. Who would say they were a Walker's daddy?
The adults in the Camp also grinned, completely taking Shawn's story as a joke.
Only Daryl and Merle in the crowd exchanged a meaningful glance.
"Brother, do you remember the almost congealed blood on Shawn when he came to rescue me?"
"Are you saying…"
"I don't think this is just a story, even though it sounds a bit too outlandish."
"You're right, how could Walkers run so fast? And hitting Walkers with dried fish is too ridiculous."
"No, no, what I'm saying is: Walkers can also commit suicide by crashing into a wall?!"
"Damn it, Merle, are you also trying to trick me with Shawn?"
"Hehe, brother, you forgot again, my uncle is also your uncle."
"…"
Inside the grassland Camp, laughter erupted instantly.
It was a completely different atmosphere from when Shawn was not around before.
Rick, with Lori in his arms, freed a somewhat numb hand and raised a beer bottle to Shawn in a salute.
Shawn looked over from a distance and also raised his beer in return.
Both tilted their heads back and drained their beers in one gulp.
"Phew—" Shawn let out a long breath, a faint aroma of malt liquor wafting from his nose.
"Although it's not as good as chilled, with this environment and these conditions, I don't know how many survivors outside would be envious to death."
Under the influence of alcohol, Shawn felt a bit smug.
But he had every right to be smug.
Only he knew what had happened inside the church.
Besides that, no one had seen his embarrassing state of being almost crushed to despair by the Berserkers.
Shawn could easily transform it into a different story.
Whether others believed it or not.
Anyway, Shawn had no intention of telling everyone the truth. Even if he did, they might not believe it, so for now, it was good to just listen to it as an amusing story.
After all, Shawn had always been carrying a heavy burden, moving forward without asking about the future?
"Who says those standing in the light~~are the only heroes~~"
Shawn played with little Carl for a while.
Humming a song, with the Stone Hammer on his shoulder, he happily began to patrol the grassland again.
The most taboo thing when doing something is to celebrate prematurely and lose all your previous efforts.
So, even though he was a bit drunk, Shawn still managed to inspect every corner of the grassland again, ensuring there were no loopholes that would allow Walkers to enter.
After all, plot is plot, and reality is reality.
Who knew if any small details in reality had been overlooked?
Shawn considered this place his future base Camp, so he was naturally more meticulous.
However, Shawn didn't notice that a figure was quietly following him from the crowd behind.
"Shawn."
The sudden voice from behind startled Shawn, who had been a little dazed.
He swung the great hammer with his right hand in reverse, circling it once and aiming it at the person behind him.
The hammer stopped, the iron spikes mere inches from the person's cheek.
Shane could even smell the metallic rust and strong scent of blood coming from the iron spikes.
Shawn had just used this hammer to kill someone that afternoon.
Shane looked at the hammer, swallowed, and quickly said.
"I just wanted to talk to you."
"Oh—"
"Isn't this Shane?"
"What could we possibly talk about? I'm not Lori."
Hearing Shawn's words, Shane's eyes suddenly widened as he looked at him.
But he saw Shawn with a half-smile, completely unlike his drunken state from earlier.
Shane even felt that perhaps Shawn had already noticed him when he had quietly followed him.
He just hadn't pointed it out directly.
-------------------------------
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