Small Town

A little after six, someone brought dinner and woke them both, telling them to eat and then go to the meeting.

When Kirk and Little Fatty arrived at the meeting, they found the atmosphere extremely grim. A blood-soaked man stood in the middle of the room. It was Mori's younger brother, the crossbowman Daryl. When Rick saw them arrive, he gestured for Daryl to continue.

"...So we followed the tracks of that vehicle all the way to a wooded valley. Suddenly, we were ambushed. They'd been prepared for us, as if they knew we were coming. Three big trucks surrounded our group. They had far too much firepower—machine guns, automatic rifles, and even sniper rifles. We got scattered. Some people were killed, and most were captured. I hid and watched the convoy drive onto the highway and disappear into the distance."

"You're the only one who made it back?" the doctor asked in a trembling voice. His beloved eldest daughter, Maggie, had been on the scouting team too.

Daryl nodded and pointed at Ma Ruiqi. "The Chinese woman got away too. I don't know how she managed it." Ma Ruiqi stood up and said expressionlessly that she had hidden in a haystack, evaded the search, and escaped.

Kirk and Little Fatty exchanged a glance. The Plot Character team had taken a terrible hit sending people to track down The Governor. Plot Characters Michonne, Green, Maggie, and Andrea had been captured, along with the newcomer Ranmaru and the Korean guy, while two others had been killed. Adding this to their crushing defeat in C Area, the Plot Character team had lost half its combat strength.

"We can't just sit by while The Governor tortures them. We have to rescue them. Now! Immediately!" The doctor grew agitated. Maggie was his daughter. Rick and Daryl both agreed. Ma Ruiqi stepped forward, saying she knew where The Governor's town was and was willing to join the rescue team.

"Why didn't The Governor kill them? Why take them away? He's trying to use them as bait to lure us in. If we go rescue them tonight, we'll be walking right into the enemy's trap! And don't forget, the walkers will undergo their third mutation tonight. Our defenses are nowhere near strong enough," Shane argued vehemently. Mori agreed with him.

However, at Rick's insistence, backed by most of the others, the team passed a resolution and organized a rescue party to save the four Plot Characters and two newcomers that night.

At that moment, the Dimension issued another mission: "[Rescue]. Your four friends have been captured by the evil Governor Philip. You can't stand by while they are tortured and slaughtered. Go rescue them tonight. This is your only chance. For each Plot Character successfully rescued, receive 500 Survival Points, 25 Team Contribution Value, and 0.5% Plot Deviation."

"Plot Deviation? What's that? Sounds valuable," Blondie muttered.

Little Fatty chuckled to himself. How could someone as "impressive" as Blondie still not know what Plot Deviation was? Kirk was already up to 25.6%.

Kirk, however, kept his eyes on Ma Ruiqi. Something about her was too suspicious. She'd clearly been getting close to Rick, yet she hadn't gone with him and had insisted on joining the scouting party. Kirk believed that Plot Characters had Favorability ratings. Ma Ruiqi's attempt to steal Rick away had indeed made him dislike her, but the Dimension wouldn't treat Favorability as a joke. Her relationship with Rick should still have been above average. Why would she give up her advantage and choose the worse option? This time, even the Korean newbie, the fastest and most agile among the newcomers, hadn't escaped The Governor's encirclement and search. How had this woman managed to get back? Her recent behavior had been far too strange. He'd have to keep a close eye on her.

Kirk took Mori aside, and the two of them whispered together for a long time.

The ten-member rescue team crept toward the base of the town's defensive wall. Rick, Daryl, and Mori led the group. Kirk, Little Fatty, Blondie, and Ma Ruiqi were all part of the rescue team.

The defensive wall wasn't very high, only about three meters, probably because walkers had never been good at jumping. It stretched about twenty meters across, blocking one of the main roads into town with tires, boards, and cars. Several people were posted on top, keeping watch with machine guns and searchlights.

This was The Governor's town from the story, a typical, quiet American town. The bright moon had risen, its light as white as snow. A gentle night breeze stirred beneath the brilliant stars and the Milky Way, while the clear, cloudless sky was intoxicating. The town was full of palm trees, their shadows swaying in the breeze and adding to its charm. Many houses still had their lights on. They had electricity and hot water, and people could take showers. The air was filled with the aroma of bread, steak, coffee, and cheese. Compared with the hell outside, where walkers roamed everywhere, rotting corpses filled the ditches, and people lived from one day to the next, hungry and exposed to the elements, this quiet, safe, warm place was paradise on earth. In the story, The Governor had used this haven to deceive many people. He put on the appearance of an open-minded, democratic, civilized leader, promising them safety, freedom, and a life of their own, while committing one heinous atrocity after another behind the scenes. He was a devil in human skin, as evil as they came.

"Let's sneak in." Daryl signaled.

The guards here weren't necessarily bad people. Most of them were ordinary civilians who didn't know what was going on. But to rescue Green and the others, they had to get past this wall.

A sense of foreboding welled up in Kirk. This seemingly peaceful, beautiful town was like a monster lurking in the dark, waiting to devour them.

What if Ma Ruiqi really had surrendered to The Governor, and they'd set an ambush inside? What if she really was a traitor who had tipped The Governor off? Their chances of surviving this mission would be slim.

Before the operation, he had told Mori his suspicions. Mori hadn't said a word; he'd only drawn a finger across his own throat.

Anyone who endangered the team had to be killed without mercy!

The only thing to worry about was Rick's attitude. Would he let the woman go for old times' sake?

Just then, Ma Ruiqi suddenly stood up. "Over there!" She pointed to a faint hole near the corner of the wall. The woman had sharp eyes.

"We can crawl through and sneak into town to rescue them." Ma Ruiqi immediately headed for the hole, but Rick grabbed her and stopped her.

"Rick, what are you doing?" Ma Ruiqi cried.

"You're usually timid. Why are you suddenly rushing to the front this time?" Rick asked with a smile. "What's on the other side of the wall?"

"I... I'm just desperate to save them. Our people are on the other side." Ma Ruiqi froze for a moment, then forced a smile.

"The Governor's people, you mean," Mori said. "How did you get away today?"

"I got away because I was quick-witted, all right? Why aren't you suspicious of Daryl?" Ma Ruiqi snapped angrily.

(Kirk thought: Come on, lady, don't be an idiot. Daryl had been a battle-tested internationalist in the story, and he'd never betrayed anyone. His tracking skill was level six, and he was famous for surviving a hundred brushes with death and making it to the very end.)

Mori grabbed Ma Ruiqi. "Listen, lady, who do you think you're fooling with that acting? Do you think you're from Hollywood? Now tell me, what did The Governor say to you?" His blade slid back and forth across her face. "You don't want me ruining that pretty face with my terrible drawing skills, do you?"

Ma Ruiqi screamed, "Rick, save me!"

Rick yanked Ma Ruiqi to her feet. "How did my wife, Laurie, die? We were all outside fighting off the walkers. Why did you stay inside? Carl said that when the walkers broke in, you were the only one who stayed by Laurie's side. When I examined her body, I found a bullet hole in her leg! Did you do it?"

Ma Ruiqi screamed, "It wasn't me! It wasn't me! None of it was me!" She struggled desperately.

Her screams drew the searchlights above, sweeping over them. A moment later, the machine guns opened fire.

The rescue team scattered at once. Taking advantage of the confusion, Ma Ruiqi shoved Rick's hand away, shot the group a venomous look, and darted through the hole.

Voices came from the other side. Sure enough, The Governor had known the rescue team was coming and had set an ambush beyond the hole. Fortunately, Rick and the others had seen through Ma Ruiqi's plan in time and hadn't fallen into the trap.

"I'd already told Rick what you said, and he agreed with me. Actually, we let Ma Ruiqi escape on purpose, to lull The Governor into a false sense of security. Our real rescue operation will begin in earnest in the second half of the night. In Chinese, you'd call it doubling back for a surprise attack," Mori told Kirk, chewing gum.

Kirk was impressed. Who said Plot Characters were stupid? They were sharp. The moment Ma Ruiqi showed her true colors, they'd caught her red-handed. Everyone except Ma Ruiqi herself had realized something was wrong with her.

As for doubling back for a surprise attack later, Kirk thought that was a clever move. Two shells wouldn't land in the same crater, but doing the opposite was a blind spot in people's thinking. The Governor had prepared an ambush to welcome them in the first half of the night, so they'd go back and probe the tiger's den in the second half.