Chapter 48 – We're Missing a Psychologist
Sean stood outside Rick's door, raising his hand several times only to lower it again.
Up.
Down.
Up again.
He had been lingering there for quite a while already.
Passing neighbors occasionally glanced at him curiously, forcing him to pretend he was simply waiting for someone.
He was supposed to be at training today.
Earlier that morning, Rick had run over excitedly, slapped him on the shoulder, and grinned like an idiot.
"Brother, I'm gonna be a dad! Lori's pregnant!"
Sean had frozen on the spot.
He vaguely remembered saying congratulations.
Remembered Rick talking excitedly afterward.
Remembered himself asking for the day off.
Rick had simply laughed and told him to rest well and not overwork himself.
And then Sean came here.
Should he have come?
Probably not.
But he couldn't stop himself.
The moment he pressed the doorbell, he almost turned around and walked away.
Then the door opened.
Lori stood there.
The moment she saw him, panic flashed across her face.
Only for an instant.
Brief and fleeting.
But Sean noticed it.
"What do you want?" Lori asked calmly, as if speaking to an ordinary acquaintance.
Sean scratched the back of his head—a habit left over from his days as a police officer.
"I heard you're pregnant," he said quietly.
Lori's face changed instantly.
Not red.
White.
Her body instinctively shrank backward into the doorway as her hand tightened around the doorknob until her knuckles turned pale.
"This is Rick's child," she said in a low voice.
"Mine and Rick's."
"I hope you can forget what happened before."
"You lied to me and said Rick was dead. But now Rick's alive."
"I can't keep making the same mistake."
"Forget everything that happened between us, okay, Sean?"
Sean stared at her silently.
There was pleading in her eyes.
Fear too.
And something else he couldn't fully understand.
But that unfamiliar emotion confirmed one thing for him.
The child was his.
"I really was trying to save Rick that day at the hospital…" Sean said hoarsely.
"The explosion knocked out all the medical equipment. I pressed my ear against his chest to listen for a heartbeat…"
"But I couldn't hear anything."
"So I thought he was dead…"
"But isn't he standing here alive right now?" Lori interrupted sharply.
"Forget about it, Sean."
She began closing the door.
Sean instinctively raised his hand to stop it.
But when he saw the fear in her eyes, his hand froze in midair.
The door slowly shut in front of him.
Then came the click of the lock.
Sean stood there silently.
His fists tightened.
He rubbed his head irritably once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then he finally turned around and left.
Behind the closed door, Lori slowly slid down against the wall until she sat on the floor.
She covered her mouth while tears silently streamed down her face.
Third Floor Office.
Wu Fan leaned back in his chair while watching the surveillance footage displayed on the monitor.
The Red Queen had switched cameras several times, capturing Sean standing outside Rick's house, talking briefly with Lori, and finally walking away with heavy footsteps—as though dragging something invisible behind him.
Sean crossed the residential street and entered the small supermarket.
A few minutes later, he emerged carrying two entire cases of beer.
Then he headed toward the underground park area, found an empty bench, opened a can, and gulped down half of it in one breath.
"This guy's trying to drown himself in alcohol," Wu Fan muttered.
He shifted slightly in his chair and tapped his fingers against the armrest.
He already knew Lori was pregnant.
Inside the Hive, nearly everything was monitored by the Red Queen.
The clinic's medical system automatically reported any unusual medical information.
When Wu Fan first saw the report, he had remained silent for a long time.
Judith Grimes.
The little girl from the original timeline.
The child born into the apocalypse.
The child who never experienced a peaceful world.
Would she still exist in this version of reality?
Only now…
There was a high chance she might not carry the surname Grimes anymore.
Wu Fan switched off the monitor and walked toward the window.
Outside, Rick was currently training a group of recruits on the training field.
His loud commands echoed faintly through the distance.
Rick had absolutely no idea what was waiting for him.
His best friend had slept with his wife.
His wife was pregnant with another man's child.
And meanwhile, he was still proudly telling everyone:
"I'm going to be a father."
Should someone tell Rick the truth?
No.
Absolutely not.
Lori herself hadn't said anything.
If an outsider suddenly approached Rick and said:
"Hey, your wife's carrying Shane's baby."
That wouldn't solve anything.
It would only ignite a bomb.
But if nobody said anything…
Then what about Sean?
Should he simply bottle everything up until he finally exploded himself?
At that point, it wouldn't be a bomb anymore.
It would be a nuclear warhead.
Wu Fan rubbed his temples tiredly.
Sean needed someone to talk to.
Not someone to lecture him.
Not someone to persuade him.
Just someone willing to listen.
Keeping emotions buried forever only led people toward madness.
But who could fill that role?
Rick?
Impossible.
How would Rick react after learning his best friend slept with his wife?
Merle?
Even worse.
That man's mouth was filthier than a sewer.
If Sean talked to Merle, the two of them would probably start fighting within ten minutes.
And with Merle's personality, he'd likely make the situation even worse.
Wu Fan thought quietly about Sean's current mental state.
Jealousy was definitely part of it.
Lori chose Rick.
Not him.
There was also possessiveness.
For a while, Sean had believed Lori and Carl belonged with him.
Then Rick returned and took everything back.
But compared to the original timeline, there was one important difference now.
Sean no longer suffered from survival anxiety.
In the original story, Shane wasn't only dealing with Lori.
He also faced food shortages, constant danger, power struggles, and endless external pressure.
Those combined stresses eventually pushed him into madness.
But things were different now.
Umbrella Corporation existed.
Food was stable.
Security existed.
Nobody worried daily about starving or dying tomorrow.
Sean's world had narrowed down to one single issue:
The child inside Lori's stomach was his.
That was both good and bad.
The good part was that he probably wouldn't completely lose his mind like in the original story.
The bad part was that all his emotions would focus entirely on this one issue.
And the more he focused on it—
The deeper he would sink.
Wu Fan walked back to his desk and pressed the intercom.
"Amy, come in for a second."
Amy entered a moment later carrying a folder.
"What is it?"
"Help me look into someone," Wu Fan said.
"What's Dale Horvath doing these days?"
Amy blinked in surprise before opening the folder.
"Dale… Dale…"
She obviously remembered him, but couldn't immediately recall his assignment.
After flipping through several pages, she frowned.
"Strange. There aren't any work records for him."
"What do you mean there aren't any?"
"I mean…" Amy thought for a moment. "He never applied for any official work."
"Not logistics. Not maintenance. Not security. Not medical."
"The last time I saw him, he was parked near the RV area outside the CDC."
"He cleared out a small patch of land and started growing vegetables."
"He said he wanted to become self-sufficient."
Wu Fan stared blankly for two seconds.
What the hell?
This old man really came here just to retire peacefully and farm vegetables?
No wonder everyone forgot about him.
Dale Horvath.
The old man who acted as the moral compass of Rick's group in the original series.
The one who always said the wisest things at crucial moments.
Yet after arriving at the base, he had practically vanished into the background.
No trouble.
No attention-seeking.
No power struggles.
Every day he simply farmed vegetables, took walks, and chatted with old people around the RV area.
He was so invisible that people unconsciously forgot he existed.
But ironically…
That kind of person was exactly what Sean needed right now.
Not someone who would judge him.
Not someone who would lecture him.
Just someone willing to listen quietly.
An old man who had experienced most of life's hardships often understood human emotions better than anyone else.
And Sean hadn't completely broken yet.
Which meant he might still be willing to listen.
Wu Fan looked toward Amy.
"Go find Dale."
"Tell him to head over to the underground park."
"Have a few drinks with Sean."
Amy nodded immediately.
"Understood."