92

Stay Alive

Chapter 92 – What Happened

A few minutes later, after Riya had tended to Lilly, she approached Alan and said, “She’s unconscious. I don’t know what’s wrong with her, but if she doesn’t wake up in a few days, there’s nothing more we can do.”

“Have you told her?” Alan asked, glancing at Margaret, who stood beside Lilly, watching her closely.

“She knows about Lilly’s condition.”

Alan nodded, then pulled Riya into another room and said, “That woman—the one with the sword—knows exactly how to move through the infected inside the city. That could be useful.”

“What do you mean?”

“We need to find a place where a team can reach us. That’s far more convenient than traveling on horseback, especially if we have doubts about how fast we can move.” Alan was trying to justify his seemingly illogical decisions based on the behavior he had always followed.

It wasn’t easy to explain drastic changes in his decisions when he had always acted differently.

Riya nodded. She believed Alan was interested in the way Margaret could move long distances through the infected without being attacked.

“It’s good to help them—they seem like good people,” Riya said as she returned with a tray of food for the guest.

They set the food on the table. Clementine, Amanda, and Cristian, after gathering firewood from the nearby area, approached.

“Who’s that person?”

“A guest—we’re helping her,” said Alan, who had brought some water.

Margaret came over after Clementine called her and said, “Thanks for the invitation.”

“There’s no need to thank us. We’re just glad you trusted us after everything you’ve been through. Trusting people isn’t easy these days, not when anyone might kill you for a plate of food.”

That attitude from Alan’s group spoke volumes. Margaret at least thought they were civilized—something rare in survivor groups she had encountered.

Offering food to someone else wasn’t something common these days. No one felt the need to do it.

“Where are you from?” Riya asked after some time had passed.

“I’ve traveled alone for a long time. I don’t really remember all the places I’ve passed through,” Margaret replied with a friendly smile.

But at that moment, Clementine, who had recognized Lilly, asked, “Do you know what happened to the people who were with Lilly?”

“I found her alone. Why do you ask?”

“She was part of a group. The man who took care of me and I were traveling with them,” said Clementine, breaking into tears at the thought that her mother might have died.

Everyone went silent. Margaret was surprised by the coincidence and held Clementine’s hands, trying to comfort her. “It’s okay. They probably got separated because of a horde of infected.”

“We’ll look for them later. For now, we need to fix our radio,” Alan said, standing up after finishing his meal.

Riya nodded. That was the next thing they needed to do.