A familiar truck is cruising along a familiar highway, and with a constant thumping sound coming from the back of the trailer.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"How dare you leave me inside here?!"
Inside the truck cabin, Natasha looked worried and carefully asked. "Is it really okay to leave him inside there by himself? It's cold."
"It should be fine since he looked fine for someone wearing an armor in this kind of weather. He must have really thick skin." Nolan answered her while looking out the window and beside her is the little girl who's with Natasha and busy munching on something in her hands.
"What will we do with that guy once we're back?" While driving, Daryl asked Michael.
"We'll lock him up in one of the cells for now. That guy is too dangerous to be left on his own devices." Michael replied, seemingly deep in thoughts.
"Are you okay?" Daryl took a quick glance at him then asked, looking concerned.
"I'm not," Michael answered and gave the people behind them a glance from his shoulder before he added. "But let's talk about it later when it's just us."
Daryl took another quick glance at him and nodded his head. "Alright. When we're back then."
Meanwhile, inside the trailer.
The man had already ceased his struggle and had instead closed his eyes and seemed to be meditating to calm himself.
'Those fools, do they think just because I'm wearing a suit of armor means I'm resilient to cold? I regret not being able to kill them.' The man thought while slightly shivering.
'But that person called Michael, he's not normal at all. How can someone still be fine after getting rammed by a charging horse? I admit it wasn't a full charge, but to remain fine and only feel sore? He's definitely not normal.' The man thought, curious about the origins of Michael.
'What an interesting specimen I encountered tonight.' He thought with a curious grin, and added. 'It's unfortunate that my steed died, but I'm hopeful this encounter tonight would not make his death in vain.'
He ended his thoughts there and offered a silent prayer for his late steed.
According to Daryl's watch, it was already way past nine o'clock when they returned.
A heavy silence had settled over the camp by the time they returned. Aside from the sentries walking their rounds, everyone had turned in for the night. Torches spaced along the inner perimeter provided just enough light to see the grounds. They did not place any torches along the ramparts since the light would just invite trouble towards them at night.
Michael and others got out of the truck while Daryl parked the vehicle between the fence wall and the log wall.
"We were worried you guys got into trouble again." Rick walked over to them with T-Dog following behind him before turning his attention towards the new faces. "But it seems our worries weren't unfounded, who are they?"
"We encountered them in the city. There's also another one inside the trailer." Michael replied while gesturing with his chin towards the truck.
Rick raised his eyebrows and was a little surprised. "Inside the trailer? Sounds like someone dangerous, is it a good idea to bring someone like that in here?"
"It's fine. We'll get him into a cell away from the rest of the residents." Michael responded before walking towards the truck after Daryl was done parking it.
"Then we'll also have people keep an eye on whoever this is you captured." Rick added, and followed after him while the others stayed behind and chatted..
Dylan appeared from the side of the truck and looked at the two men. "You think he's still alive?"
"I hope so since he had no problem being in a suit of armor. I doubt this level of cold would kill him." Michael replied and worked on opening the trailer.
Thud-klang!
As the doors slowly opened, the very first thing that got everyone's attention was the man sitting in a meditative position just a couple of feet from the door and facing towards their direction.
"Whoa, he's really wearing armor huh." Rick couldn't hide his surprise when the light from their torches illuminated the inside of the trailer.
Rick turned towards Michael and asked. "Do we know his name?"
"Baldwin XXXV." Michael replied with an amused smirk on his face, and the same goes for Daryl as they still couldn't believe that someone out here is carrying that name.
Rick quickly turned towards Baldwin in surprise. "You're kidding."
Baldwin's eyes suddenly snapped open and looked straight towards Rick. "I do not joke with my name. I am Baldwin d'Anjou XXXV, and I already know what you're going to ask next. Yes, King Baldwin IV is my ancestor."
Rick did not say anything and just tilted his head to the side in bewilderment and confusion. Baldwin slowly stretched his legs to get the blood flowing to his legs before getting up and disembarking from the trailer.
Getting down, the first thing he quickly noticed were the fences and the watch towers. "A prison? You turned a prison into your home? Not a bad idea."
Michael smiled at him and grabbed the man's shoulder. "Yeah, and you're staying in one of the cells inside until we're sure that you're not a danger to anyone here."
Baldwin chuckled. "If it's to assure you, I've never killed anyone who's not innocent."
Michael just scoffed as they started walking towards the gates. "That's what I'm worried about, I don't know what innocent is in your eyes."
His words made Baldwin ponder for a moment before having an understanding that Michael was right. "Makes sense, but for how long are you gonna keep me here? I need to be back on the road as soon as possible."
"I'm thinking when, or maybe in a couple of days after you help us destroy a group that has been bothering us lately." Michael replied.
"What sins have they committed?" Baldwin asked as they walked past the outer fence gate.
"Well, for one, killing people for resources. Hmm..that's probably just it, but we can't really blame them since everyone is doing it too. We could have lived peacefully if we just minded our own business though, but they just had to come here and threaten my people. Now, we have no choice but to get rid of them since they already know where we are." Michael didn't bother painting themselves as the innocent group here since in his eyes, there's no such thing as innocence in this world they're living anymore.
"I understand. In the eyes of God, everyone is equal, but for us here, it's all about our perspective on the things we're facing. So, I won't blame you because true peace can only be achieved through bloodshed. Showing mercy to your enemies only brings harm to yourself." Baldwin smiled and showed understanding.
"For someone claiming to be a Knight, should you even be saying something like that?"
Baldwin just scoffed. "Being a Knight means having basic common sense. Mercy to enemies is a misplaced mercy."
Michael looked at him, or precisely the back of his head and smiled, followed by a silent scoff.
The following day.
A group of kids are surrounding the cell where Baldwin was thrown in last night.
"Hey mister, why are you in there? Are you one of our enemies?" Carl asked out of curiosity.
On the other hand, Sophia's priorities seem to be slightly skewed. "He's handsome and he looks bigger than Michael. But it's clear that you're weaker than him if you're in there."
"Why is he shirtless? Could he be a pervert?" Jose whispered to his sister Athena, who also came here with the kids to see the recent addition to their number.
While meditating, Baldwin tried to ignore their noisy chatter but it seems like the kids might have said something that annoyed him and his eyes snapped open as he glared at them.
"What? What are you looking at? Want me to poke your eyes out?" Athena glared back, and this surprised Baldwin since he wasn't expecting those words from such a young child. Though it seems like the others were already used to it.
'What in god's name are they teaching the children here?'