Dee, her nose broken and bleeding, glared at the man in full military armor. A large knife gleamed in his hand as he slowly walked toward her. Despite everything, there was no fear on her face.
Instead, she pulled out a small pocketknife and pointed it at him defiantly.
"You'll have to go through my dead body before you touch my daughter."
Seeing the tiny blade, I couldn't help but smile slightly.
"Woman, that was exactly what I was planning to do," Jerry said with a grin. "I'll kill you first… then your daughter."
"AAAH!"
Dee lunged forward, slashing at him. But before her knife could reach its target, Jerry stepped in and kicked her hard in the stomach.
She was sent tumbling across the ground, clutching her abdomen in agony.
"MOM!"
Lydia ran to her mother, trying to help her sit up. But Dee could barely move, her body wracked with pain.
Seeing this, Lydia began to cry loudly.
"AAAARGH!"
"Stop crying," Jerry said impatiently as he walked toward them. "Your mother isn't dead yet… but she's about to be. Just wait."
I observed the situation quietly.
My gaze briefly shifted to Andrea. She was watching everything with a worried expression. A few times, her eyes drifted toward me, silently asking for help.
I ignored her and continued watching.
Jerry raised his knife over Dee, who was still struggling on the ground.
"Please don't hurt my mommy… I'm sorry. I won't take anything ever again… Please don't hurt my mommy," Lydia cried as she clung to her mother.
"Sorry, kid. Don't waste your tears on me," Jerry replied coldly. His feet hesitated for a moment before he added quietly, "If you want to beg, beg my Lord."
With that, his blade came down.
But Dee, who had seemed completely helpless a moment ago, suddenly rolled aside and slashed at Jerry's exposed leg, the only part of him without armor.
"Lydia! Get out of here!" Dee shouted desperately, pushing her daughter away.
Before Lydia could move, Jerry kicked Dee square in the chest, sending her rolling across the ground again.
She stopped only a few feet away. Lydia ran toward her mother, crying.
Before Dee could recover, Jerry stepped on the hand holding her knife, pinning it to the ground.
"Woman, you really fooled me with that helpless act," he said with a smirk. "Nice performance. But now… die."
Dee stared in shock.
The slash she had landed earlier hadn't even cut the fiber.
As Jerry's knife descended toward her neck, Lydia's cries grew even louder as she clung tightly to her mother.
"Stop."
Jerry froze.
The blade halted inches from Dee's throat.
He immediately looked toward me, then stepped back and bowed slightly before moving to stand beside his brother.
I walked toward the mother and daughter.
Andrea's face filled with relief. The priest, on the other hand, continued writing in his notebook with a faint smile.
When I reached them, I sat down on the ground across from them.
Dee and Lydia remained where they were, shaken and exhausted.
"Interesting," I said calmly.
"Before I decide what to do with you, I'll ask a few questions."
I looked directly at them.
"Answer truthfully, and perhaps I'll be more lenient with the two of you."
A faint smile crossed my face.
"How does that sound… Dee and Lydia?"
Both mother and daughter were shocked to hear their names.
"How do you know our names?" Dee asked cautiously.
"Because my Lord is the Death Angel sent by God to save us all from this hell," the priest answered respectfully. "So do not question him. Just answer."
Even while speaking, his other hand continued writing in his notebook.
Mother and daughter looked at me in confusion.
"Basil, go back and continue your writing. Don't disturb us," I said.
With an apologetic expression, he nodded and returned to the Humvee, continuing his writing.
I turned back to them, waiting for their answer.
But Lydia suddenly began crying again.
Dee tried her best to calm her down, but the child couldn't stop. Every passing second seemed to increase her fear and panic.
Eventually, Dee's eyes drifted toward me, silently pleading for patience.
I was surprised.
Not by them...but by myself.
If this had been my old self, I would have knocked the girl out just to silence her. But now, hearing her cry made me strangely uneasy.
That realization intrigued me.
Is it because I'm about to become a father?
The crying of a child is affecting me this much…
Fascinating.
Biology really is a strange thing.
I looked at the small girl.
"Quiet."
She stopped immediately, though soft sobs continued escaping her throat.
I glanced at the priest. He seemed to understand my intention and nodded before reaching into his pocket and handing me a few pieces of candy.
"Here," I said, placing them in Lydia's small hand. "Eat these and stay quiet."
The girl continued sobbing softly, ignoring the candy.
I stopped paying attention to her and turned my gaze back to Dee.
"Do you think you're a good mother?"
I watched her carefully, observing every small movement in her body language.
"Why… do you want to know that?" she asked hesitantly.
"Just answer," I replied calmly, though my dissatisfaction was obvious.
Seeing it, she quickly lowered her head in fear.
It was somewhat surprising.
But it's also not unexpected.
She hadn't yet become Alpha like in the original show, and she probably never would. The undead in this world were far too intelligent to be fooled by people wearing masks.
Still, I needed to understand something.
Why was she so different from the person I had heard about?
Until now, only the world had changed.
People...their personalities, ambitions, and fears remained mostly the same.
Except for her.
That was why I needed to know.
I didn't know everything about her. I had stopped watching the show after Glenn died in Season 7. But from the few clips I had seen afterward and what I had heard about her character, the woman in front of me was nothing like the monster she was supposed to become.
She was supposed to be ruthless.
A woman who killed both her parents and her husband.
A woman who abused her daughter and allowed others to do the same.
For power, she was even willing to sacrifice Lydia.
So how could this woman be the same person?
Did she become a monster later?
Or had the changes in this world altered her path completely?
Depending on her answer, my plans might change as well.
What if I discovered that Negan...the man I expected to become a tyrant was actually a loyal husband devoted to his wife?
If that happened…
Then all of my knowledge about these characters would become useless.
With a hesitant voice, she answered,
"I am… not a good mother… but I want to be one."
Interesting.
"So, when did you decide you wanted to become a good mother after abusing your daughter?" I asked calmly. "And please don't try to hide anything from me. I know everything...including the fact that you killed your own mother and father when you were young."
She stared at me in pure horror.
Her deepest secret had just been revealed by someone she had never met before.
No one knew that she had killed her parents.
No one except her.
Now she looked truly terrified.
"W-what… what are you?" She asked fearfully.
For someone like her, a sociopath losing control, being exposed, and becoming helpless were the greatest fears imaginable.
And right now, all of those fears were firmly in my hands.
I couldn't allow her to lie to me.
After watching her earlier performance, she pretended to be helpless in front of Jerry. I already understood that this was not a woman I could easily trust.
If I wanted the truth, I needed her to believe that resistance was pointless.
"Forget who I am," I said coldly. "Just answer the question."
Her face was filled with fear now, and her entire body trembled.
She finally understood that she had no control here.
Seeing that realization settle in, I couldn't help but smile.
Unfortunately, that smile only frightened her more.
"Answer," I said again.
Her body flinched at the sound of my voice.
"I… I decided…" she stammered, her voice shaking, "to change when I killed everyone in Salter...the group we were staying with. That incident made me realize my own madness… and my failure as a mother."
I smiled faintly.
Then I grabbed her by the neck and forced her to look directly into my eyes.
"You're not going to mention the husband you killed?"
Her eyes widened instantly.
A tear slipped down her cheek.
"H-how… how did you know?" She whispered. "I killed him in Salter…"
In truth, I didn't know.
But pretending that I did it was far more effective.
At this point, she was completely exposed, desperately trying to understand who or what...I was.
Her mind raced, searching for answers that simply didn't exist.
Her eyes trembled as she slowly tried to crawl away from me, as if she were staring at something monstrous.
"Who… who are you…?"
Her voice broke.
"WHAT ARE YOU?!"
Before I could answer, the priest suddenly shouted.
"He is our Lord! The one sent by God to save us from this hell! Our savior! The one who knows everything! The one who will free us all! He is the Death Angel...our master, OUR LORD!"
I glanced down at the kneeling priest.
Tears streamed down his face as he pressed his forehead to the ground.
When I looked around, I saw that Andrea, Chicken, Jerry, and the others were kneeling as well, their faces filled with awe and admiration.
For a brief moment…
I was genuinely confused.
That idiot priest had misunderstood everything again.
Ignoring them, I looked forward again...
And froze.
Dee was kneeling too, even the little girl.
"I have seen the Lord," she whispered reverently, tears streaming down her face. "The one who will save me."
For a moment, I couldn't move.
The shock alone froze me in place.
Slowly, I turned my head and looked at the priest.
He stared back at me with tears in his eyes.
What exactly am I supposed to do with this idiot?