The Walking Dead: Starting as a Cowboy

Chapter 185 "The Murderer"

"The murderer?"

The governor paused slightly, looking at Andrea in front of him.

Milton, who was standing nearby, was also very surprised. He quickly went to Andrea's side and asked, "The murderer who killed someone in Woodbury?"

Andrea was somewhat speechless, and pursed her lips. "Are there any other killers at Woodbury?"

"Where is that person? Who is he?"

Although the governor had previously assumed that the murderer would not be found, now that he had been found, he naturally had to investigate him thoroughly.

"Come in."

Andrea opened the door and spoke to the armed men outside.

The bound man was carried into the laboratory by his former comrades.

After setting it down, the governor scanned the entire area with his sharp eyes. None of the armed personnel dared to look him in the eye; they could only lower their heads.

The governor fixed his gaze on the man on the ground. "How did you determine he was the murderer?"

Andrea quickly explained, "Just two things: the murder weapon, a sickle, was found in his house, and there was still blood of the victim on it."

"And when he committed the crime, the victim tore off a button. That button was custom-made and only he had it."

""

After a barrage of accusations, the man opened his mouth, wanting to defend himself, but found himself unable to say anything.

The button had indeed disappeared at some point, and he couldn't explain why it was at the murder scene.

He had been sleeping all night and hadn't touched the sickle at all. He never expected that the sickle would be stained with blood as soon as the other party arrived.

A glint of survival flashed in the man's eyes. He struggled to twist his body a couple of times, moving closer to the governor, and hurriedly said, "Governor, I'm not the murderer."

"The murderer is someone else. Someone definitely framed me, stole my button, killed someone with my sickle, and then put it back."

"I didn't do any of this. Yes, the murderers have been killing armed personnel. By framing someone, they can also get rid of an armed personnel at the same time. They are vicious, Governor."

The more the man talked, the more reasonable it seemed.

Of course, Andrea thought so too, but she didn't expect the other party to piece together the truth of the matter so quickly.

Unfortunately, words alone are not enough.

Sure enough, the governor gave a strange smile. "Do you have any evidence?"

That question left the man speechless.

"I, I————"

The governor raised his hand to interrupt the man's speech, saying impatiently, "Hang him up so the residents can all see, and explain the whole story to them."

No one objected to the governor's order; they stepped forward, gagged the man, and dragged him away.

Only the governor, Andrea, and Milton remained in the laboratory.

"Is there anything else?" the governor asked, looking at Andrea who hadn't left.

Andrea nodded and said seriously, "Before, when the armed personnel lived together, some of them suddenly turned into zombies. I suspect that the culprit behind that incident was someone else."

She still couldn't forget the incident where the core members suddenly turned into zombies. If there really was an enemy, she needed to notify Caesar and prepare for it.

"Oh, that matter," the governor said knowingly, glancing at Milton. "You explain it to her."

Andrea was taken aback. How could this be as if they already knew what was going on?

She hasn't even done any investigation yet.

Milton adjusted his glasses, adopting a scholarly posture. "That incident could be considered an accident."

"An accident?" Andrea's eyes widened.

"Yes, it was an accident." Milton nodded noncommittally. "I examined their corpses and found no obvious wounds on their bodies, so they were definitely not directly infected by the walkers."

"Based on other people's descriptions, I found that they all had a high fever before they died, and the fever lasted for at least a few days, although the symptoms varied in severity."

"A persistent high fever, coupled with a mutation into a zombie—sound familiar?"

Milton spoke with great professionalism, completely unlike his usual bookish self.

Upon hearing this, Andrea thought for a moment, a strong sense of familiarity washing over her. She frowned, then relaxed. "At the very beginning of the apocalypse?"

“That’s right.” Milton nodded affirmatively. “They were infected with the zombie virus, but not much of it. Their immune systems fought it off for a while before they developed a high fever.”

"According to the investigation, I found that they had all been attacked by the murky water in the fish tank during the previous raid."

At this point, Milton glanced at the governor, who seemed not to have heard him and was still reading his book, though his long, slender fingers clenched tightly.

"The liquid from which the heads of zombies are soaked can infect people and turn them into zombies," Milton stated his conclusion.

Andrea pursed her lips, never expecting that something she had been agonizing over for so long would ultimately be done by one of her own people.

That's really unexpected.

The laboratory was quiet for a while.

The governor's voice reached my ears, "We are desperately short-handed. We must mobilize the residents of Woodbury to contribute."

Upon hearing this, Andrea's heart skipped a beat, and she replied, "Yes, Governor."

"I will draw up a set of rules, but—what should the general standards be?"

"Hmm~" The governor did not hesitate, "Everyone over the age of thirteen must participate."

"What?"

Milton could barely contain his emotions, looking at the governor in shock, "Even those teenagers are going to be trained?"

"certainly."

The governor didn't think there was anything wrong with what he did. "They're all teenagers now, of course they should contribute to Woodbury."

There is a severe shortage of manpower, and the governor no longer cares about the quality of the recruits.

"Whether they are disabled or have underlying medical conditions, they should all be recruited. We have enough guns to arm them."

The governor continued to escalate the situation.

Milton was furious. He stared at the governor, wanting to say something foul, but couldn't get the words out.

"You...you mean you're recruiting a bunch of...spearmen?"

"Back in ancient times, they were already able to start families. What's wrong with them just taking up arms and surrounding Woodbury?"

The governor retorted matter-of-factly, "Woodbury has sheltered them for so long, can't they make some contribution?"

The two got into an argument, and Milton, furious, pushed open the door and stormed out.

The governor, who remained where he was, looked at his book as if nothing had happened.

"It's alright. Milton's mind is still like a child's. He'll understand why I did this in the future."

Before Andrea could say anything, the governor spoke first.

Andrea nodded and said goodbye, "Then I'll be going now."

Driven by their own lives, the armed men quickly hoisted the "murderer" up, blood dripping from him.

The surrounding residents glared at the "murderer" with hatred, cursing him under their breath and venting all the anxiety they had been feeling during this time.