After a night of careful deliberation, a rough plan finally took shape in Louis's mind. He decided to head to Harrison Memorial Hospital across the street.
"Hiding here forever isn't a solution," he reasoned calmly.
"This building has already been discovered by hostile survivors. There is no guarantee they will not return. My food supplies are also running low. It is the right time to move."
After weighing all factors, the hospital where Rick was located was clearly the optimal choice.
There were likely large reserves of medicine, medical equipment, and emergency supplies stored inside. These were strategic resources far more valuable than snacks scavenged from convenience stores.
The hospital's complex layout, filled with wards, stairwells, and storage rooms, also made it far better suited for concealment and maneuvering than the exposed office building.
Most importantly, that was where Rick Grimes would wake up.
Staying close to him would allow Louis to track the flow of events accurately and prepare for his next step, which was joining the protagonist's group.
Once the decision was made, Louis did not hesitate.
He packed all of his collected supplies into a hiking backpack and carefully fitted the suitcase inside. After shouldering the heavy pack, which was nearly half his height, he took one last look at the temporary safe house that had sheltered him for several days.
Then he donned the invisibility cloak and slipped quietly into the pale morning mist.
The distance to the hospital was short, but the danger was real.
More Walkers roamed the streets than before, forcing Louis to move slowly through shadows and broken alleys.
Just as the hospital came into view, a scene at the next corner made him stop abruptly.
A middle-aged woman with black hair was slumped against the roadside. Her ankle appeared injured, and she was struggling to push herself up.
She did not notice that behind her, in her blind spot, a Walker wearing a nurse's uniform had been drawn by her movements and was closing in with stiff, dragging steps.
Louis's heart tightened.
He had not intended to intervene, but in that instant, instinct took over.
He raised his wand.
Pointing it at a fist-sized chunk of rubble beside the woman, he whispered, "Wingardium Leviosa."
The stone lifted silently into the air.
In the next moment, it shot forward like a projectile, whistling through the air and slamming into the back of the Walker's head from an angle the woman could not see.
Bang.
The impact split the Walker's skull open.
Only when the corpse collapsed behind her did the woman turn around. Seeing what had nearly happened, she let out a short scream and froze.
She stared at the fallen Walker, then at the empty street, her face filled with shock and lingering fear.
She quickly understood that an unseen Good Samaritan had saved her life.
Struggling to her feet, she bowed deeply toward the empty road.
"Thank you. Thank you," she whispered.
After a moment's hesitation, as if remembering something important, she opened her backpack and carefully took out two unopened boxes of antibiotics. She placed them gently on the ground.
"I don't know who you are," she said softly, "but thank you for saving me. This is all I have. I hope it helps you."
She bowed once more, then limped away, disappearing quickly around the corner.
Louis waited until she was completely gone.
Then, using nearby Walkers as cover, he stepped out from the shadows, retrieved the medicine, and placed it into his backpack.
Meanwhile, inside a nearby two-story house.
The moment the black-haired woman entered, a burly dark man hurried forward to support her.
"Jenny, where have you been?" he asked anxiously. "You look terrible. What happened?"
"Morgan," Jenny said, her voice still shaking. "I was almost bitten on the road just now."
She recounted what had happened, then lowered her head in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry. I gave the medicine we worked so hard to find to the person who saved me. Now we only have one box left."
Morgan did not scold her.
Instead, he pulled her into a tight embrace.
"You did the right thing, Jenny," he said quietly.
"Even in a world like this, we are still human. Helping others is what humans are supposed to do."
At that moment, a muffled cough came from the inner room.
A young dark boy walked out sleepily, rubbing his eyes.
"Dad? Mom?" he asked. "What's wrong?"
"Duane!"
The couple spun around in shock. Morgan rushed forward in a single stride and pressed his hand to his son's forehead.
"The fever is gone," he said breathlessly. "It's gone. The fever's basically gone."
In the midst of the apocalypse, the family of three clung tightly to one another.
At that very moment, Louis had no idea that his small, unintentional act had already set off a quiet ripple.
He had successfully entered Harrison Memorial Hospital.
The interior was deathly silent. A strange smell lingered in the air, a mixture of disinfectant and dried blood.
Wrapped in his invisibility cloak, Louis moved cautiously through the corridors, memorizing routes and searching for the ward where Rick might be.
As he passed a storage room, a sudden scream pierced the silence.
Louis froze and instantly slipped behind the doorframe, peering inside through the small window.
He had not expected to encounter other survivors in a hospital that seemed completely abandoned.
Inside the storage room, a blonde woman was backed into a corner by a Walker, terror written across her face as it closed in.
At the critical moment, a woman with short, sharp-cut hair burst in from the side and drove a dagger cleanly into the Walker's skull.
The body collapsed.
Breathing hard, the short-haired woman helped the blonde woman to her feet. Her gaze then shifted to a blonde man slumped in a wheelchair nearby, blood soaking through his clothing at the waist. He was unconscious.
Hidden beneath the invisibility cloak, Louis remained still and listened.
It did not take long for him to piece things together.
The injured man and the blonde woman were a couple named Paul and Karina. They had come from a survivor camp near the hospital, a camp that had been overrun by Walkers a few days earlier. They were among the few who had escaped.
The short-haired woman was Gayle, a doctor. After the outbreak, she had remained at the hospital, doing everything she could to care for patients who had not been evacuated in time.
Louis felt a quiet sense of understanding.
It seemed clear now why Rick had been able to lie in a coma for weeks without being discovered. Someone like Dr. Gayle had been protecting him.
As this thought crossed his mind, the conversation inside tightened his chest.
After examining Paul's condition, Dr. Gayle slowly stood up. Her expression carried sorrow and helpless restraint.
She shook her head.
"I'm sorry," she said to Karina. "His body is failing. His pulse is barely there."
She hesitated before continuing, her voice heavy.
"The supplies here are no longer enough to save him."
"I think… I need to take him away."
Karina collapsed to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.
Take him away.
The words sent a chill through Louis's spine.
An ominous feeling settled deep in his chest.