The Walking Dead: I Sell Arms as a Sixth-Rate Seller in the Apocalypse

13:13 p.m.

John's cabin in the southern suburbs of Cedar Hill, Texas.

Rick, Elisa, Joan Dowry, John Dowry, and Charlie, five people gathered in the cramped cabin.

Looking around, Rick recalled John's death at Dakota's hands, and felt a deep sense of regret. Fortunately, he hadn't arrived too late and could eliminate these people before encountering them.

Thinking of this, Rick spoke first.

"Hello, nice to meet you. Let me introduce myself first. My name is Rick, and I am the supreme leader of the Shadow Legion. This lady next to me is my wife, Alyssa."

"Hello, you can call me Elisa."

After listening to the two men's self-introductions, John, Joan, and Charlie each began their own self-introductions.

"John Dory was a police officer before the apocalypse."

“Joan... Laura, you can just call me Laura. I was an ICU nurse before the apocalypse.”

"Charlie, a student."

Rick originally wanted to expose Joan's true identity, but then he realized it wasn't the right time yet, so he decided to change the subject.

However, John suddenly spoke first and asked a question.

“Mr. Rick, I know it’s a bit presumptuous of me to ask this, but my professional duty as a police officer compels me to do so. I hope you can tell us the truth about why you’re here.”

Rick didn't hide anything and went straight to the point.

"I killed Theodore Maddox, the leader of the Doomsday Cult, in Galveston. What are your thoughts on this?"

John was stunned by Rick's words. He never expected that Rick, the man in front of him, would kill the villain that his father had wanted to kill his whole life. This made him admire Rick, this mysterious Chinese man.

“Mr. Rick, on behalf of my father, John Dory the Elder, I thank you for everything you have done. If there is anything I can do to help you, please let me know, and I will do my best to assist you.”

John was a man of such character, forthright and honest. He knew that his father had gone to Houston alone to hunt down the madman Theodore Maddox, leaving him to fend for himself. If it weren't for John's youth and talent, and his father John's prestige, he would have been specially invited by the local police department to become a patrol officer.

He received training at the police station and became an excellent gunman.

On weekends, he works at Humbug's Gulch, a rodeo club where he teaches a few kids freestyle shooting, lassoing, and even puts on a few Wild West shows. He once had an alcoholic colleague who took a fatal bullet for him when John was shot while working with him to arrest a suspect.

John abandoned the pursuit to save his colleague, allowing the suspect to escape. Shortly afterward, the suspect, seeking revenge on John, stole a garbage truck and smashed John's white 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe police SUV.

John witnessed the entire event, which had an indelible impact on his psyche.

One evening, after finishing one of his shows, John witnessed an armed criminal attempting to rob a gas station. John intervened and demanded that the criminal drop his weapon, although the criminal refused.

In an attempt to paralyze him, John took out his father's Colt M1873 single-action revolver and aimed it at the armed criminal. However, an accident occurred, causing him to accidentally pull the trigger. The bullet struck the armed criminal's leg, causing him to bleed to death.

After the incident, John was heavily publicized and commended by the police department, and for a time the people of Cedar Hill regarded John as a 'hero'. However, John felt guilty about his actions.

He abruptly resigned from the Cedar Hill Police Department and moved into a small cabin his father, John Sr., had built in the southern suburbs of Cedar Hill. John vowed never to use a gun again, completely isolating himself from society.

Even when the zombie apocalypse broke out, he was still alone in this small house, spending his days talking to himself. He once thought he had gone mad, and he had considered returning to civilized society many times.

However, as he packed his bags and prepared to head to Cedar Mountain, he encountered a severely injured woman who had drifted ashore on the river.

It was this woman who suddenly appeared that made John, who was preparing to go to Cedar Hill, abandon his plan. He took the stranger back to his cabin and used his medical knowledge to treat her wounds. He let her sleep on his comfortable single bed while he himself lay on the hard old sofa.

He even went so far as to create a small partition between his sofa and single bed to protect the stranger's privacy, and he continued to do so until the stranger woke up.

John prepared special meals for this stranger every day, but she wouldn't even tell him her name. Despite this, John still called her 'Laura' and tirelessly took care of her and tried to cheer her up. To make Laura happy, John even robbed the gas station store and candy machine from before, bringing back all the milk candies to cheer 'Laura' up.

Later, John encountered a lost little girl named Charlie. As a police officer, he took Charlie back to his cabin. He even risked his life to get a single children's bed from a nearby furniture store, while he himself remained curled up on the sofa.

Days passed by, and with John's daily companionship, the stranger let go of her resentment and tacitly accepted John calling her 'Laura'.

John found himself falling in love with the stranger, even though he knew her name wasn't 'Laura' at all. He thought it would be nice if things could continue like this, but he felt disappointed when Laura said she was leaving to continue her journey.

Just that morning, while John was still feeling sorry for Laura's departure, the roar of a helicopter circling low over the cabin suddenly filled the entire cabin.

He, Laura, and Charlie went outside to investigate and saw the enormous machine parked in front of his cabin. When he saw two strangers in black combat uniforms appear, he, Laura, and Charlie took their old friend, the milky-white M1873 single-action revolver with engraved patterns, and went outside with Laura and Charlie.

At first, he thought the two thugs had ulterior motives and were there to rob him. But when he saw Rick's fearless demeanor and his keen intuition as a police officer, he guessed that the man might really be there to talk. When he tried to give Rick one of the last two milk candies as a gesture of goodwill, he didn't expect the man to accept it without hesitation and even return a large jar of milk candies that tasted several times better than before.

This convinced John of his guess. Moreover, someone who could casually produce such milk candy must be no ordinary person in this zombie-infested post-apocalyptic environment. John intended to get to know him; perhaps he could help his beloved Laura.

(Author's note: John's flashback ends here; the story of this chapter will now continue.)

After thanking Rick, John continued to add.

"Mr. Rick, could you do me a favor?"

Rick could guess what John was referring to even with his toes, but he didn't stop him and instead smiled and spoke.

“Yes, Sheriff John, please speak.”

John took a deep breath, glanced at Laura and Charlie sitting next to him on the sofa, and said.

"Mr. Rick, may I ask you to take Charlie and Laura to where they are going?"

Upon hearing John's words, Joan and Charlie looked at him in disbelief. They had never imagined that John had asked Rick for their sake.

Joan spoke up.

“John........”

John waved his hand and explained to 'Laura'.

“Laura, I know you want to leave here. I don’t mean to force you to stay. I know you and Charlie both want to leave, but I’ve been trying to fix my old, beat-up car for ages and I still can’t. Luckily, Mr. Rick’s helicopter is here. Where do you want to go? I’ll beg him to take you wherever you want to go. That’s much better than you two going on your own.”

Upon hearing this, Joan's heart began to change slightly. She recalled all the ways John had taken care of her, from making her laugh to risking his life to find candy for her in order to cheer her up, and preparing different delicious meals for her every day.

Charlie, on the other hand, fell silent, making it difficult to discern anything from her freckled face.

Rick's face darkened, and he answered slowly.

“Sheriff John, aviation fuel is in short supply right now. I can promise to take Charlie and Laura wherever they want to go, but what about the aviation fuel? What can you offer to pay for it?”

Upon hearing Rick's words, John answered without hesitation.

"Please name your price, I'm willing to pay any cost."

“Okay, I want you to join my Shadow Legion and become one of my people. As long as you agree, I will immediately start the helicopter and fly Laura and Charlie to their desired destination.”

Upon hearing this, Joan immediately objected.

"No! I disagree! How can I let you join some unknown force for my and Charlie's sake? What if this so-called Shadow Legion turns out to be a trap? Then Charlie and I will be the sinners who pushed you into that trap!"

Charlie remained seated silently on the stool. Rick glanced at Charlie's face and noticed that she was also struggling internally.

Rick, who was familiar with the plot, knew that Charlie and June belonged to a raider gang called the "Vultures." Charlie, in particular, was rescued by the Vultures' leaders, the brothers Myers and Ennis. The two taught Charlie how to disguise himself. To repay their life-saving grace, Charlie pretended to be a survivor and sought refuge at Dale Diamond Baseball Stadium, where Madison was located, with the intention of taking over the stadium from the inside. However, for some reason, Charlie did not appear at Dale Diamond Baseball Stadium. Instead, he lived with June at John's place.

However, Rick wasn't worried about that. On the contrary, he hoped to find the Vulture organization as soon as possible. For Rick now, he needed his own henchmen, and what Rick needed was a group of survivors who traveled around in convoys to find supplies. The Vulture organization just met his requirements.

Having figured this out, Rick calmly said to Charlie.

"Charlie, could you call Melvin and Ennis out? I'd like to speak with them."