First Contact

Just as Airon led everyone to the base, Merle and his group soon arrived at the Virginia border. 

The place was no different from others, there were walkers and everything was deserted. Even those pirates that they used to find in other places had disappeared, so it was a much longer time than complicated.

It took a long time to drive straight to the target, and originally a trip that would take one day took four days to reach the place. 

The main reason is that Airon warned them before leaving, not to go directly to the target, try to survive outside for a few days and pay attention to every little detail, an important point is that the car in which they move must be dirty enough to demonstrate their long journeys, the whole group must be fatigued to really show that they have been wandering for a long time before finding the Commonwealth. 

So, Merle seized the moment to teach the pair of elders how to kill walkers, Alicia for her part took the opportunity to train herself, but when Deanna or Monroe were in danger, she took it upon herself to help them. 

If a young girl can do that, the old pair no longer doubters and vows to learn how to take out walkers with cold weapons.

Jon for his part is in charge of looking around, with his large rifle he has a very long range that can observe the terrain at great distances and alert the group if there is trouble approaching. 

In this way, it took Merle's group four days to get close to the destination without stopping. 

Under Merle's training, the elderly couple has gradually adapted to eliminating walkers in close combat, they have not had the conditions as before and a bath that was continuous became impossible, and their bodies are camouflaged with the blood of walkers and the surrounding dust, making them have a peculiar smell.

"You all smell like shit..." 

"Well, I think you're the biggest shit of the bunch..." Alicia said as she looked at that very peculiar man Airon sent on this mission. 

"Hahaha." Merle looked at Alicia and scoffed, at least the elders experienced survival, after that they all started to travel on their objective. 

"Okay, we've arrived. Let's find a house near this place and temporarily set up a shelter. If we want those people in Star Wars costumes to trust us completely, we must behave as naturally as possible. It doesn't matter if those people are now looking at us, we must always behave like real, ordinary survivors." 

The group soon found a nearby residential house, carefully searched it and moved supplies into the house, and Merle decided that the group should live here temporarily. 

After cleaning up, I carried the corpses of two walkers out of the house, it must be said that very few walkers are found in this place, which may mean that those federal soldiers are continually out to clean up the area. 

The purpose of the group is to attract the attention of the Commonwealth, so there was no need to hide their tracks or whereabouts, they simply set up and then left the house again. 

"Let's go over there and get supplies, watch your feet and remember we are survivors, we come here looking for supplies." Merle was the one tidying everything up, Jon on his side oversaw the safety of the elderly couple. 

CRACK! 

When Merle opened the door, the glass was shattered into several pieces and they fell to the ground. 

The group didn't mind this, and they all found their way cautiously into the store. This is a small bar, the inside area is completely dark and you can't see inside clearly.     

Bam! Bam! Bam! 

Merle banged on the door with the pistol grip and the sound not only entered the house, but also spread through the surrounding streets into the distance, echoing off into the distance. 

"Okay ladies, we need to take a look." 

After searching for a while, nothing was found, only Merle found a bottle of wine in a hidden compartment under the bar. 

"Look no more, this beauty is what we found in a dingy place like this." 

The rest of the group looked up, but saw Merle shaking the bottle in his hand with a smile on his face, and then people saw it was a bottle of whiskey. 

Deanna threw the machete on the bar, pulled a chair out of the side and sat down, breathed a sigh of relief and then said to Merle, "Come on, give me a drink, this is exactly what I need right now." 

The rest of the people looked at each other and all smiled and sat down in front of the bar.

"Welcome to my huge banana, this is old Merle's tavern and I'm about to invite you to sample the delicacies of my most prized possession." 

Merle took some upside down wine glasses from the wine cabinet and poured a glass for each of them. 

"Cheers!"  

Just as several people's wine glasses clinked, the bar door suddenly opened by a great force. 

 Boom! 

A group of strangers wearing white bulletproof vests suddenly entered the room, each of them carrying a weapon, the armor on their bodies covered them from top to bottom, even their faces were protected by masks, only a pair of eyes were exposed, and as Merle put it, this costume was as sci-fi inspired as possible. 

Deanna was taken aback by this sudden change, but Merle and Alicia were not idle and instantly raised their guns, aiming at these armored warriors. 

"Put the gun down! Put your hands on your head!" 

Shouted the armored soldier in front of the group, and then the people behind him quickly moved forward to check on some people, but stopped midway due to the threat of a reaction from Merle's group. 

"Who are you and why are you here?" The group of Commonwealth soldiers seemed to hesitate, but one of them suddenly said, "You had better put down your weapons. We have no malicious intentions. This matter may be a good thing for your group." 

Merle who heard his words, did not lower the gun in his hands and instead held a bottle of wine with his other hand. 

"Would you like a drink?" 

The few people who were talking nonstop were startled for a moment, only to see the wine bottle suddenly tossed into the air, and their eyes couldn't help but follow the trajectory of the wine bottle lightly. . 

 CRACK! Boom! 

The shot rang out, and the wine bottle shattered in response, and the liquid in the bottle shot out, and soon the room was filled with a strong smell of wine. 

The soldiers were obviously startled and all looked around, trying to figure out where the sniper was. 

Merle signaled Deanna and the others without changing his face, and they quickly took the opportunity to run to the back of the bar, and then he spoke in a hoarse voice. 

"Unfortunately for you, we have other companions. If you don't want to cause trouble, you'd better tell us why you want us to lower our weapons." 

The soldiers looked at each other in dismay. They never expected a mere group of survivors to leave one hiding in the distance, and it was even a sniper. 

Desperate, the soldier in the white armor could only speak: "We don't want any of what they have, this is our protocol, we need them not to be a threat to continue."

"Protocol, it's been a long time since I've heard something like that coming from people and from what I see you are not. Listen, my name is Deanna Monroe, member of congress in Ohio. With me is my husband, my secretary, and several soldiers who have volunteered to protect me. We pass through this place from time to time, but we don't know why they are acting this way against us." 

The lead soldier gave Deanna a somewhat hesitant look and asked after a while, "Do you have any documents that can prove your identity?" 

Deanna smiled modestly, then pulled her black wallet out of her coat, she was about to turn herself in when Merle approached. He motioned for her to toss her wallet on the bar and instructed the other person to take it alone.  

"I really didn't expect that something that was only kept as a souvenir could ever be taken out again..." 

Merle stood back to her side and let out a laugh, looking at the wallet, "You really still carry something like that, lady?"