"That's right."
Shane reacted as well. He looked at the corpse on the ground and nodded thoughtfully. "That guy burned too fast, it was almost like..."
"Like he was soaked in gasoline."
Before Louis could explain, Daryl, who had been silently observing, walked over.
He glanced at the body on the ground and explained in a low voice, "When that out-of-control pickup hit the pillar earlier, and that leader and his men tumbled together, they happened to get splashed with leaking gasoline."
"In that situation, forget a flame; even if you just threw a cigarette butt over, he'd be dead for sure."
Rick watched this scene from the side, finally unable to help but shake his head, a helpless smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
He knew it was something like that.
He had heard Carl mysteriously mention that Louis was tinkering with a 'toy wand' before, and he had even helped collect some of the electronic components for it.
So, he wasn't surprised by the truth.
"Tsk."
Daryl glanced at Merle and the others, who hadn't recovered yet and had constipated expressions on their faces, and let out a merciless sneer.
"Magic, my foot..."
He mocked with a look of disdain, "Only idiots with water in their brains like you would believe such nonsense."
Although his hand holding the crossbow had also trembled for a moment when he saw the fire spray out, that didn't stop him from laughing at others now.
"Alright, enough standing around!"
Rick interrupted the group's banter, his expression turning serious again.
"The gunshots and firelight have already spread. Although there aren't many Walkers nearby, we've made too much noise. We must leave as soon as possible."
The group quickly pulled themselves away from the shock and jokes, diving into the intense post-battle cleanup work.
Because the battle ended quickly enough and the auto repair shop was surrounded by walls, although nearby Walkers were attracted, they hadn't formed a perimeter yet. They still had plenty of time to harvest the spoils of war.
Louis naturally didn't forget the 'excuse' he used to follow them. Carrying his medical kit, he ran quickly toward the several rescued companions.
The situation wasn't great. There were originally five people, but now only three were still breathing.
"Is it just you guys?" Louis asked while quickly checking their injuries.
"One of us had his throat slit on the spot when we were first captured because he wouldn't follow orders. Another... was bitten by a Walker earlier, and we had to leave him there."
Louis sighed and didn't ask further.
Among these three, the most heavily injured was the man wearing glasses. Because he was too close to the leader, he was caught in that burst of fierce flames.
"Don't move, the skin is burned."
Louis skillfully cut away the charred sleeve on the man's arm and applied medicine to him. "Fortunately, it's just a surface burn. It didn't reach the bone or muscle. You'll be fine after resting for a while."
The cool ointment relieved the stinging pain. The man wearing glasses hissed in pain, but looking at Louis's young yet steady face, his eyes were filled with the gratitude of a survivor.
"Thank you... thank you, child. If it weren't for you all..."
"Rick."
Just then, a somewhat heavy voice interrupted the warm moment.
Andrea walked over, her expression complicated. "It seems like there are still people in the workshop at the back."
"Who are they? An ambush?" Shane, who was on guard, immediately turned his gun.
"No..." the man wearing glasses shook his head weakly, "It's the families of those thugs. Mostly women and children, and some elderly people who didn't want to fight."
The air went silent instantly.
Everyone's eyes turned toward that door. Through the crack in the door, they could faintly hear suppressed crying and terrified whispers coming from inside.
The plan for handling this group of people immediately gave everyone present a headache.
"Should we take them with us?" Daryl frowned and looked at Rick. "If we leave them here, without the protection of those men, they won't survive long."
"Take them?" Merle sneered, looking annoyed. "You want to support the wives and children of those murderers?"
"Don't be stupid. They're probably thinking about how to avenge their men right now."
"Then what? Take them out?" T-Dog hesitated. "There are children in there."
Rick remained silent, his gaze shifting between the door and his teammates.
Killing a group of defenseless women and children crossed his line, but bringing along the families of these enemies posed a huge risk.
"Let them stay."
Rick finally made a decision. "We won't kill them, but we're definitely not taking them with us."
"But..." Shane still felt it wasn't right. He lowered his voice and said, "This is still a hidden danger. They've seen us. If in the future..."
"They haven't seen us."
Louis suddenly interjected.
After wrapping the last round of bandages for the man wearing glasses, he stood up and looked at everyone calmly. "From beginning to end, we never showed our faces behind that door."
"They were hiding inside and could only hear the gunshots and shouting outside."
"And," Louis pointed at Rick, "don't forget that wonderful 'judgment' performance just now."
"In their ears, the ones who attacked this place tonight were that group of crazy 'The Believers'."
Shane froze for a moment, then reacted, his eyes lighting up. "You mean..."
"Exactly." Louis nodded. "Let them think it was done by the remnants of The Believers. They had a grudge before anyway."
"As for our companions," Louis pointed to the man wearing glasses and the others, "they were captured by The Believers and then rescued by us during the chaos. Isn't that perfectly reasonable?"
Hearing Louis's analysis, everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
This was indeed the best solution. No need to bear the psychological burden of massacring women and children, and no need to worry about subsequent retaliation.
Rick looked at Louis, a flash of realization in his eyes.
He finally understood why, during the confrontation just now, Louis had specifically imitated The Shepherd's religious tone, saying things like 'representing God' and 'the final judgment.'
"Is this something you thought of long ago?"
"No, I thought of it on the fly after watching your performances."
Rick was momentarily speechless.
"Since that leader could mention The Believers, it means there might still be rumors of those lunatics around here."
Louis pretended not to see the embarrassment on his face and said as a matter of course, "In that case, we might as well muddy the waters."
"In case some remnants of The Believers really aren't all dead, it'll just find them some trouble and let them fight each other."
Rick took a deep breath and nodded. "Good, let's do that. Everyone, move fast! Only take the most valuable things!"
Half an hour later, the convoy started up again.
The harvest this time was truly bountiful.
They not only found a large amount of much-needed repair tools and spare parts, but more importantly—there was a lot of fuel stored here!
For the farm, which was currently worried about a lack of fuel, this was truly a timely help.
In addition, they also requisitioned a military truck and a modified pickup from the thugs, stuffing them full of supplies.
Just as everyone was preparing to board the vehicles for the return trip, Daryl pulled back a dusty tarpaulin behind a pile of discarded parts.
Whoosh!
A wildly styled, meticulously modified black Harley motorcycle revealed its true form.
Daryl straddled it and tried to kick the starter.
Vroom—!
The engine started up at once, emitting a deep, powerful vibration. It sounded like it was in excellent condition.
Daryl stroked the handlebars, a rare, irrepressible curve appearing at the corners of his mouth.
This noise made Merle, in the truck ahead, poke his head out. He blew a loud whistle at his brother and then excitedly slapped the steering wheel.
"We're rich! We're fucking rich this time!"
Although being played by Louis's inexplicable 'Magic' earlier had made him very unhappy, this truckload of supplies was enough to mend his wounded soul.
"Let's go! Home!"