There is no vaccine...
Both in the original story and now, the idea of creating a vaccine is almost impossible—and even if one existed, it would be useless. Not only because of the challenges of mass production, but also due to the consequences such doses would have on the human body.
Such greed was what created the vaccine that gave rise to the red-eyed walkers, making them so much faster. Although they weren't as common in this part of the country, they were truly annoying and difficult to kill.
As expected from the start, Lori couldn't resist the virus inside her body. Even though Candace tried to increase the doses of the vaccine they had, hoping to stop the infection, all they managed to do was delay the inevitable.
That's why cryogenic preservation was approved, but in truth, it was no different from being dead.
Rick, by her side, was devastated after his wife was frozen. Not to mention his position as a leader—everyone would be satisfied if Rick even managed to eat something.
In the original story, Lori's death was caused by several coincidences. The reason was that some prisoners in the prison caused trouble because Rick didn't kill them in the beginning. Those resentful prisoners lured numerous walkers directly to the prison, forcing everyone to scatter to different areas.
Hershel and Carol, who had been preparing for childbirth, were not nearby. Lori, along with Maggie and Carl, were desperate because Lori was about to give birth.
At Lori's pleading, Maggie had no choice but to cut her open and deliver the baby without anesthesia.
Lori lost too much blood, and it was evident she would die. Seeing it all, little Carl gathered his courage and decided to shoot her so she wouldn't turn into a walker.
It's hard to imagine what kind of inner struggle a child so young must have gone through before pulling the trigger on his own mother—and what kind of damage that incident caused him.
However, after his wife's death in that story, Rick became a god of war. He entered the prison alone with an axe, searched every corner, and killed all the walkers that remained inside—a way to vent his fury.
But now… how can Rick release his pain?
Life, however, must go on for everyone. After telling Shane to take care of him, Jason left that place.
Even though everyone was trustworthy, the necessary inspections lasted until the afternoon, and after that, everyone who had completed their checkups gathered in the plaza to wait.
Among them were members from outer bases who had been transferred here to increase manpower, but they simply remained silent.
Though these people stood there waiting, they weren't bored at all. The fascinating details about this base were enough to keep everyone talking for a while—not to mention the number of cultivated fields, or the fish being raised in special ditches.
The inner walls were protected with simple machine guns, but the real firepower was at the shooting points. In addition, there were anti-air defenses aimed at the sky; large ammo boxes and those extremely huge shells could be seen.
"What the hell is that? Are those cannons?"
Negan looked off into the distance and could see several military cannons guarded by some soldiers.
The people from Hilltop looked around the fields, caring only about whether there was enough food to eat.
"What are they protecting themselves from so much?"
But suddenly, a guard among the crowd picked up his radio when it buzzed.
"Zz… Victor and Liam's team are on their way."
At that moment, in the distance, an armored vehicle made its way forward, followed by several long, military-looking trucks. All the vehicles behind it were filled with supplies, but the tarps covering them made it impossible for the others to see what was inside.
Several soldiers in military uniforms jumped down from the trucks and walked straight into a room behind the crowd. After a while, they came back out, and then the convoy entered the courtyard again.
Only the last three vehicles didn't keep pace. They followed the lead convoy inside. The front vehicle stopped directly by the side of the road, and after the people inside got out, they all walked toward the back room along with the others.
The newcomers to this place were surprised that everyone needed to be inspected—even soldiers as important as those—so they respected the rules even more.
Watching all the movement, only the people inside the Humvee in the middle got out, but they didn't move far, and one of them turned out to be Liam.
As was known, the situation had been tense when they left the terminal. No one had thought Lori would wait so long to tell the others that she had been bitten. Those who rushed out of the terminal left many supplies behind, never loading them onto the trucks.
When Glenn cleared the terminal, he found that although there was a food shortage, other supplies were really abundant. After all, it was a train station—and Atlanta was a major rail hub.
Naturally, there would be many supplies in such a place, but they hadn't expected that this abundance was precisely because the survivors living at the terminal were cannibals.
So Liam stayed at the terminal with a group that wasn't too large. Naturally, the purpose was to retrieve a large quantity of medicine, weapons, and other supplies that had been too much to carry the first time.
...
The scene returns to when Liam and the others came back. To speed up their travel, the group passed through safe zones controlled by people in Atlanta, so everything went much more smoothly.
Coincidentally, they ran into a survivor wearing a black suit with a white collar that stood out. His clothes were clean and tidy, and even his shoes were only slightly dusty from walking. Judging by the direction he was headed, he seemed to be moving through the woods toward a certain place.
But as if that weren't impressive enough, someone in the group thought they recognized the man—his name was Gabriel.
"Gabriel?"
Yes, it was him—the "Warrior of God," the priest who had an unexpected evolution in the later parts of the story, one that was well received by everyone.
Gabriel had been a cowardly priest at first. He believed in Christ, but chose to stay locked inside when the believers most needed help. He obviously had plenty of supplies, but he didn't dare open the door because he was afraid of the walkers. The survivors who begged for help at his church door were attacked and killed by the very walkers they were fleeing from.
This matter became the demon in Gabriel's heart, haunting his mind ever since.
However, the more this tormented him, the more he wanted to make up for his sins. So after his supplies ran out, he finally decided to face the world.
He put on his black suit and white collar and stepped out of the church, searching for supplies and checking what the outside world had become.
But he was almost run over by a large truck.
However, when he heard someone shouting his name, he froze, thinking he had run into a former believer. He suddenly looked up and immediately showed an expression of joy.
"Raúl!"
"Haha, Gabriel! I didn't expect to find you here!"
"My God, I thought I'd never see you again in this life."
...
After a few exchanges, both sides understood each other's current situation, and Raúl invited the priest to come with him to the settlement. Gabriel, having finally met someone familiar, agreed. After all, he didn't know how to survive alone in these final days.
"It's a great surprise to see you. The leader of our group is a man who helps everyone—he'll accept you."
"It doesn't matter. Everything is arranged by God. I just need to follow His guidance and keep moving forward."
After Gabriel finished speaking, he closed his eyes devoutly, a trace of relief on his face. In his mind, everything he encountered was arranged by God.
Otherwise, how else could he have met someone he knew right after leaving the church?
If Jason were here, he would have smiled at the sight of his new soldier.