Chapter 118: Children Are Hope
"Rick, what can I do for you?"
Caesar was somewhat surprised, not knowing why Rick came to find him.
Rick embarrassedly rubbed his palm with his fingers and glanced at Amy beside him. "...It's like this."
"My wife Lori is pregnant!"
Caesar immediately frowned.
Lori's pregnancy could be said to be a factor leading to team instability. The camp conditions couldn't meet the standards for bearing a child. There weren't sufficient medications for delivery, nor was it suitable for a child's growth.
Plus Rick was somewhat emotional because of Shane's matter, and Lori stirred up trouble between Rick and Shane.
When Shane learned of Lori's pregnancy, his emotions surged, giving rise to the intention to kill Rick.
Combined with the Randall incident at the time, everything piled together, causing the entire team to be disunited then.
But now it didn't exist. The town could satisfy a newborn's birth conditions and had certain medication reserves.
Shane, this unstable factor, had also disappeared, and Lori couldn't cause much trouble.
Caesar raised his eyebrows, indicating for Rick to continue.
"I want to ask... does the town have an obstetrician now? Can they deliver babies? For example, caesarean section!"
Rick asked.
Lori's body was very weak, her figure lean. When giving birth to the first child Carl, it was very difficult. She relied on caesarean section to barely give birth to Carl.
If the town's medical level couldn't satisfy caesarean section, when giving birth to the second child, Lori might not survive.
Caesar looked at Amy. "Go call Hershel over."
"Oh, okay." Amy ran out quickly.
Caesar pointed at the chair in front of him. "Sit first. We'll know the specific situation when Hershel comes."
Watching Rick sit down, his face much more weathered than when first meeting, or rather, much more mature.
"Rick, when did your wife get pregnant?"
Caesar asked as expected.
He was genuinely curious whose child Judith was.
Hearing this, Rick's face showed embarrassment. "My wife probably got pregnant in those few days after reuniting with me."
Caesar looked at Rick's expression and naturally knew he didn't want him to ask more.
So Caesar changed the topic and chatted idly for a while.
Outside, the rain drizzled continuously. Wind howled and blew, blowing away summer's sweltering heat, bringing autumn's coolness.
Hershel walked into Caesar's office.
Hershel now concurrently managed both the planting and medical departments. The medical department originally had four doctors, all quite capable.
Two were "veterinarians," two were doctors from hospitals.
The two sides looked down on each other. The veterinarians felt hospital doctors had difficulty diagnosing accurately without instruments. In fact, the veterinarians were right.
The doctors felt veterinarians treated illness roughly, often causing patient dissatisfaction, lacking humanistic care.
Choosing either one as supervisor would strike a blow to the other side. They might even do things harmful to others and themselves to those besides themselves on their own side.
Just doing things to make others' lives difficult within their minimal scope of authority to the maximum extent.
Hershel was different. He belonged to a third-party force. His medical skills weren't the strongest, but he couldn't be fooled either. His character was trustworthy.
Caesar stood up to welcome this pillar minister of the town. "You've been working hard lately."
Hershel looked at Caesar without humor. "If you hadn't arranged so much work for me, I wouldn't be this hard-working."
Just taking over the hospital side, drug storage and previous treatment records—Hershel had to go through everything. Although very hard-working, upholding a responsible attitude, he completed it seriously.
Caesar smiled awkwardly and turned to introduce. "This is Rick, a member of Glenn's squad."
Rick smiled and nodded at Hershel.
Hershel looked at Rick and said, "I remember you. You helped at my farm before. Thank you!"
The three exchanged a few words and sat in the office's reception area—a coffee table with sofas on three sides.
Caesar spoke first. "Simply put, Rick's wife is pregnant."
"She's worried about the town's situation, anxious whether the child can be born and grow up healthily."
Hershel frowned and asked Rick about some of Lori's previous conditions.
"In a modern regular hospital with caesarean section, general anesthesia plus blood transfusion plus antibiotics—the mother's mortality rate is only a few tenths of a percent."
"If under external conditions, without anesthesia, without blood transfusion, without antibiotics, even without professional doctors, the survival rate is almost equal to zero."
Hershel lifted his head to look at Rick, his eyes showing a doctor's confidence.
"Relying on the town's medical conditions, anesthesia is satisfied, blood transfusion is satisfied. We also have antibiotics and professional doctors."
"Trust me, I can let this child be born normally."
Hershel's words carried a thick sense of security, involuntarily making Rick's face show a smile.
Yes, this child might not be his, but what if it was?
Moreover, Rick still had some feelings for Lori. After all, married for so many years, just having children meant the two couldn't be completely separated.
If she died from giving birth, Rick felt he would most likely be tortured by guilt and self-blame until he was neither human nor ghost.
"Thank you, Hershel." Rick said solemnly, then also thanked Caesar.
Caesar waved his hand. "The reason I had Hershel come is to discuss the situation of female pregnancies in town. Not just your case."
During these days in town, most families had nothing to do at night. In the pitch dark, naturally they'd do things lovers do. Plus there weren't many condoms, so the probability of pregnancies greatly increased.
For example, during the mask incident, many couples conceived children.
Caesar suspected many women in town now had children, with only a small portion going to the hospital.
"Right, this probability is very high." After Caesar finished expressing his concerns, Hershel couldn't help but nod, confirming Caesar's guess.
"Since that's the case, do we need to provide guidance on this situation?" Hershel looked at Caesar.
Hershel didn't know whether Caesar wanted the town's population to increase, and the increase would be children who couldn't produce labor for at least ten-plus years. Children born in this situation would lead to increased material consumption.
Whether to guide everyone to reduce births, lower risks, even perform abortions, or guide everyone to have more children—it depended on Caesar's choice.
Caesar lifted his eyes. "Of course give birth."
"We have the conditions—why not have children!" Caesar straightened his back, looking at Hershel righteously.
"When families have children, parents—not to mention anything else—they themselves will work hard, speed up efficiency. And I believe we can survive very well in the apocalypse."
"Since we don't need to worry about wandering, don't need to worry about living, we must give birth."
"With children, when people join us later they can see hope. In the apocalypse, children are hope. Children mean this force has the courage to confront the apocalypse."
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