This discovery instantly eased the oppressive atmosphere on the rooftop significantly.
Glenn let out a long sigh of relief, and T-Dog looked as if he had just returned from hell, some colour returning to his face.
"Listen, you'd better pray nothing happened to him," Daryl said, still not entirely at ease, his tone sharp. "Otherwise, I won't let you off."
Rick ignored his threat. Following the bloodstains and faint tracks on the ground, he made his way to the access door on the other side.
The door was slightly ajar from the inside. Daryl kicked it open while holding his crossbow, and the other three filed in behind him.
On the stairwell landing, several Walker corpses lay scattered, with a few empty cans nearby.
Daryl immediately knelt down to examine the bodies.
He discovered that every single Walker had been killed with a clean, precise strike to the eye socket or the back of the head using an extremely sharp weapon.
"Looks like your brother's savior is quite skilled," Glenn remarked thoughtfully after seeing the wounds.
Rick and Daryl exchanged a look and quickly deduced, "Merle stayed here for a while. The person who saved him must have come up through this door."
"These Walker corpses... they might have been used to mask the scent of living people when they couldn't move around freely."
They continued downstairs in a heavy silence. T-Dog, walking at the back, was alertly scanning his surroundings when something small hanging outside the window caught his eye.
"Hey, wait..." He stopped and pointed at the grimy window. "What's that? Why is there an alarm clock hanging outside the window?"
His words brought the others to a halt.
Rick looked in the direction T-Dog was pointing. When he saw the familiar-looking digital clock suspended in mid-air, his pupils constricted.
He had seen Louis use that exact model of digital clock back in the hospital.
Thinking of this, he stepped forward for a closer look. Once he confirmed he wasn't mistaken, he voiced his deduction with some shock: "I think... I know who saved Merle."
The group looked at him in confusion.
Rick pointed at the dead digital alarm clock outside the window and said with certainty:
"That's Louis's."
Hearing this, Daryl and Glenn rushed to the window almost simultaneously, suspecting it was a method Louis used to leave a message.
They originally wanted to see if there was a note left on the clock, but they were both instantly drawn to the scene below.
Outside, directly beneath the shattered floor-to-ceiling window, the gruesome sight made them both catch their breath.
It was a small mountain of corpses made of dozens of Walkers.
They were smashed to pieces, limbs distorted, severed parts mixed in black blood—it looked like a slaughterhouse built of rotting flesh and despair.
After a moment's thought, the group deduced the purpose of this setup based on the situation.
"Hmph," Daryl let out a grunt that could have been either admiration or sarcasm. "Looks like your son made a fishing trap."
He slowly straightened up and looked back at Rick with a complex expression. "He's got a brain, at least. Unlike some people who only know how to ride a horse into a herd."
Clearly, he had learned about Rick's exploit from the previous day on their way here.
"Uh, don't say that..." Glenn's face was pale from the sight below, but he couldn't help defending Rick. "He did pretty well after getting out of the tank... at least his marksmanship is good."
"Fine... Regardless of Rick, it's good news for us that his son is with Merle."
T-Dog stepped back, wrinkling his nose, not wanting to look at the disgusting scene below anymore. "Now we just need to find them."
Having said that, he shook his head and looked at Rick, unable to contain his curiosity. "Rick, what did your son do before?"
"A kind-hearted student."
Under the group's obviously skeptical gazes, Rick continued calmly, "Believe me, if I had a choice, I'd much rather he be sitting in a classroom studying than doing this."
This successfully diverted everyone's attention.
Hearing this, T-Dog patted Rick on the shoulder. "At least you don't have to worry too much about him now. Merle might be a bastard, but he's capable."
"Your son..." He thought of the Walker corpses on the roof and the device they just saw, and remarked sincerely:
"He's skilled and smarter than Merle. The two of them together will definitely be fine."
"Alright, enough with the sentiment!"
Daryl looked away and urged impatiently, "Don't you still need to get that gun bag of yours? Move it! Let's get the stuff and find them!"
...Five minutes later, in an abandoned laboratory, Glenn was directing the group.
He knelt down, using the dusty floor as a canvas. With his finger, he quickly sketched several intersecting lines, clearly marking the positions of the tank, the department store, and several key streets.
"Alright, listen," Glenn's voice drew everyone's attention. "The tank is parked on the main road, where the Walkers are most concentrated. We can't just barge in."
"So, here's the plan: I'll use my speed to dash out from here and grab the gun bag."
Pointing at the lines on the ground, he explained, "Daryl, you need to stay in this alley and cover me from the flank with your crossbow..."
He explained his plan methodically and patiently answered his companions' questions.
"If I can't come back the same way, I'll run to the 90-degree alley corner two blocks away. Rick and T-Dog will be there to back me up..."
"Once it's done, we'll meet here."
Hearing his orderly and logical plan, Daryl raised an eyebrow in surprise.
He sized up the Asian kid who looked like a college student and couldn't help asking, "What did you do before all this?"
Glenn didn't understand why he was asking. He tilted his head in confusion.
"I was a pizza delivery boy. Why?"
"..."
Now even pizza delivery boys have to learn route planning and command? Big city life is tough. Daryl grumbled silently in his head.
But thinking of Rick's son, Daryl felt that maybe this was just the apocalypse—danger stimulates people's potential... The plan was quickly put into action.
Rick and T-Dog set off for the intersection first. Daryl took his position at the mouth of the alley, calmly raising his crossbow.
Glenn took a deep breath and did some final warm-ups at the door.
"Be careful," Daryl cautioned.
"Don't worry."
As soon as he spoke, Glenn shot out like an arrow from a bow, bursting through the alley's wire gate and racing toward the Walker-infested street of death!
Glenn's movement was as light as a cat's. He nimbly wove and leaped between abandoned vehicles, making almost no noise and attracting very little attention from the Walkers.
From the shadows of the alley, Daryl kept his crossbow raised, keeping watch for Glenn, but he never found a target that needed shooting.
Soon, Glenn succeeded!
He grabbed the heavy gun bag, and while he was at it, picked up the sheriff's hat Rick had dropped during his flight, then turned and began sprinting back.
However, accidents always happen when they're least expected.
While Daryl was fully focused on covering Glenn, a thin figure stumbled in from the other end of the alley.
Daryl's nerves tightened instantly. He whipped his crossbow around, the sharp bolt pointing directly at the intruder!
"Halt! Don't move!"
It was a blonde teenager who looked to be in his mid-teens. Seeing Daryl suddenly appear in the alley with a lethal crossbow, he was scared out of his wits, his face turning deathly pale.
"Who are you?!" Daryl hissed, his eyes sharp as a hawk's. "Speak!"
"I... I'm just passing through... I didn't see anything!"
The boy was clearly terrified and incoherent. In his extreme panic, he actually started screaming at the top of his lungs, "Help me! Help!"
"Shut up! Do you want to draw every Walker here?!" Daryl was alarmed and hurried forward to cover the boy's mouth.
But it was too late.
From the other end of the alley, a man with a shaved head and fierce eyes heard the cries for help and immediately charged in with another companion.
Seeing Daryl "holding" their companion, they didn't say a word and rushed forward with a heavy punch!
Daryl was caught off guard and knocked to the ground. The bald man immediately straddled him and rained down punches!
Just then, Glenn, who had just retrieved the gun bag, burst into the alley and stumbled right into the scene.
"Hey! Stop it!"
Seeing the gun bag in Glenn's hands, the two men's eyes lit up.
The bald man and his companion immediately stopped beating Daryl and turned to charge at Glenn, clearly intending to seize the weapons.
"Fuck!"
Daryl scrambled up from the ground, raised his crossbow without hesitation, and fired a bolt right into the bald man's backside!
"Ow—!"
The man let out a scream, staggering a few steps and nearly collapsing on the spot.
Seeing that seizing the guns was hopeless, the other companion made a split-second decision. He grabbed Glenn, who hadn't reacted yet, used him as a shield, and helped his partner into a nearby car!
"Glenn!"
Daryl tried to give chase but was blocked by several Walkers drawn by the noise.
Two blocks away, Rick and T-Dog sensed something was wrong and immediately ran over with their guns.
At the same time, a crude curse echoed from the other end of the street, getting louder as it approached.
"Fuck! You child-stealing bastards! Get back here!"