The early morning sun warmed everyone's faces once again, and the farm seemed to return to normal, as if nothing had happened the night before.
Stepping out of his tent, Jason stretched his body and yawned. Looking around, he noticed the women were nowhere to be seen. Turning to Glenn, who was tossing firewood onto the ground, Jason asked,"Where is everyone? Where did they go?"
Clapping his hands clean of dust, Glenn replied,"They went to the farm well to fetch water. It's weird, though — they've been gone a long time."
It had already been about half an hour. Fetching water shouldn't have taken that long.
"Let's go check it out. Something might have happened," Jason said thoughtfully.
Grabbing his tools, Jason headed toward the well behind the farm, with Glenn following close behind.
This well had been acquired in a trade for supplies. Without it, they would've had no drinking water — a death sentence in their situation.
From a distance, Jason spotted a group of women gathered around the well, gesturing animatedly as if something had gone wrong.
Jason quickened his pace and waved at them, asking in confusion,"What's going on? Weren't you just getting water? Why are you all standing here?"
Lori looked up, relief flashing across her face when she saw him. She hurriedly explained,"Good thing you're here. There's a zombie in the well. We've been trying to figure out how to get it out, but we don't even know if the water's still safe."
"A zombie in the well? You've gotta be kidding me," Jason muttered, smacking his forehead in disbelief.
Stepping closer, he peered into the well and immediately spotted a bloated, grotesque zombie floating in the water. A sickening thought flashed through his mind, making his stomach churn with disgust.
"Forget about this well," Jason said firmly."The zombie's body is already rotting. Even if you tried to pull it out with a rope, its body would tear apart. The water's contaminated. You can't drink it — not now, not ever."
He didn't want to dwell on the details. It was too early in the morning for him to ruin his appetite.
"But... what do we do without water?" Lori asked, her face full of worry.
It was a serious problem. Water wasn't just for drinking — they needed it for cooking, washing clothes, everything. Without it, survival would become even harder.
Jason scratched his head, exchanged a helpless look with Glenn, and sighed,"We'll have to head into the city and find some. There's no other choice."
The well was the farm's only water source. The wooden house also drew its water from it. Now that it was contaminated, both Jason's group and Hershel's family had no clean water to use.
Since the city was their only option, Jason decided to bring Hershel along.
Though Jason made it sound like a mutual decision, in reality, Hershel didn't have much choice.
Hershel, still shaken by yesterday's events, had no desire to follow Jason anywhere. But he also understood that Jason wasn't asking — he was telling.
Before Jason's group left, Daryl and Morgan approached him, looking grim.
Over the past few days, the two of them had been scouting the area during their hunting trips, expanding their search radius by over ten kilometers each day — all on foot.
Morgan unfolded a rough topographic map they had drawn themselves and pointed to a circled spot."We found a landslide about twenty kilometers out. There were a few dozen zombies gathered around it — probably caused by the heavy rain a few days ago."
"A landslide?" Jason frowned.
Twenty kilometers wasn't exactly nearby, but for zombies, who moved slowly, it would still take them days or even weeks to reach the farm — if they moved this way at all.
Still, it was something they couldn't ignore.
"This is important," Jason said seriously."Make sure everyone knows. Tell them to stay alert."