"ALL RIGHT," Daryl peered out the small crack in the door, "we got four of them pricks coming our way."
They stood up, walking to the door.
"All right, you know what to do." Rick wrapped the chain to the pocket watch around both hands, pulling it tightly. "Go for their eyes first."
They had spent hours creating makeshift weapons with whatever they had or could find in the train car. Willow used her shoe strings to grind away at some of the wood on the inside of the car, peeling off a large and sharp enough piece to use.
"Put your backs to the walls on either end of the car now!" A man shouted at them from outside the car.
They stood their ground in front of the door, waiting for it to open. They heard the grinding of metal, but it wasn't the door. They looked up as the train car lit up, a metal hatch being opened above them, an object dropping down into the car.
"Move!" Abraham shouted.
Everyone dove to either end of the car as the metal canister exploded, releasing a horrible gas that burned their eyes and closed their throats.
The train car door opened, a tall figure stepping inside and grabbing a few of them. Willow stumbled against the heavy grip on her arm, her eyes flushed with tears, her vision blurry. She groaned as she was thrown to the ground on the outside of the car, Rick fumbling to the ground beside her. He made an attempt to get up, but the man that had grabbed them kicked him in his face, Rick immediately losing consciousness. She watched as Daryl and Glenn got pulled out too, the men dragging them into a warehouse.
Willow began to stand, but she too began to get dragged along with them. She squeezed her hands shut in attempt to feel around for the wood she had in her hand, but she must have dropped it against the fall. Her boots scuffed against the ground as the man kept her moving, another coming up and tying a cloth around her mouth. She fought against them, but stopped once she got into the warehouse. Her eyes went wide as she looked around, mostly focusing in on a man sawing away at a body on a large metal table. The sound of the electric saw the men were using buzzed in he ear as she continued to be dragged along.
The man threw her onto her knees in front of a metal drainage basin beside three other men she didn't recognize, Glenn, Rick and Daryl joining her shortly after with their wrists tied and cloths in theirs mouths too. Her wrists burned as the man bounded them together with zip ties, tightening them as much as they could.
She watched as two men went to the start of their line, one wielding a metal bat and the other a long, serrated knife. A blonde man was knelt in front of them, his eyes wide with horror. The man with the bat took a solid swing at the back of the blonde's head, knocking him out immediately, the other man jerking his head back and slitting his throat. The blonde's body fell forward, his head dangling into the basin as his blood began to drain.
Before she could even process it, they moved onto the second man, his blood pouring out of the large gash against his throat. Willow looked down, the blood slowly flowing further down the basin and into the drain at the end of it. She shut her eyes, her body shaking as the next man in line took the hit.
"Hey, guys, what were your shot counts." Gareth entered the room with a notepad.
"38." The man with the bat responded, bashing the head of the man next to Willow. She felt the blood splatter on her skin as they slit his throat, throwing his head down into the drain.
She looked at Daryl beside her, waiting for the bat to strike. Their eyes were glazed and hazy, knowing they wouldn't be able to get out of this. She could hear the man wind up, about to swing, but Gareth interrupted.
"Hey, your shot count?"
"Crap, man, I'm sorry." The man with the knife said. "It was my first roundup."
"After you're done here, go back to your point and count the shells. Kaylee won't be gathering them until tomorrow." Gareth looked at Willow. "What the hell is she doing here?"
The men behind her mumbled to each other before one spoke up. "Fuck, I don't know man. They just told us to grab whoever we could."
Gareth strolled up to her, removing the cloth from her mouth. "You got any reason for us to let you go?"
She glared at him, pushing all of her fear to the side. "You let me go, they all go."
He reached forward, twirling her black hair around his finger. "Can't do that. It was a good attempt though."
He went to grab the cloth again, about to put it back to her mouth. "We don't usually do this to women, but I'm a gentleman, not a monster. That being said, I'll let you speak. Got anything you wanna say before this all ends?"
She clenched her jaw, narrowing her eyes at him. "Fuck you."
He jammed the cloth back into her mouth, standing up and moving to Rick. He crouched down in front of him, removing the cloth from his mouth. "Saw you go into the woods with a bag and come out without it. Had to pull my spotters back before we could go look for it. What was in it?"
Rick stared at the man, not showing an ounce of fear.
"You hid it, right? In case things went bad? Smart. Still, we'll find it. But it's too dangerous to go out there right now." Gareth grabbed Glenn by the back of his neck from beside Rick, jerking him forward, holding a knife only a few inches from his eye. "What was in it? I'm curious. And, it was a big bag."
Rick still didn't budge.
"You really gonna let me do this?" Gareth nodded to Glenn and the blade.
"Well, let me take you out there." Rick finally said. "I'll show you."
"Not gonna happen. This might." He moved the knife closer to his eye, Glenn's breathing picking up pace.
They all stared at Glenn and the dangerously close knife. His body trembled, sweat dripping profusely from his forehead and through his hair.
"There's guns in it." Rick said quick. "AK-47, .44 Magnum. Automatic weapons, nightscope. There's a compound bow, and a machete with a red handle." Rick leaned in. "That's what I'm gonna use to kill you."
Gareth laughed as he put the knife back in its sheath, sticking the cloth back into Rick's mouth. "Thanks." He stood up, turning his attention back to the men behind them. "You've got 2 hours to get them on the driers. I'm gonna go back to public face. Now's the time we can get messy, but we need to dial it all in by sundown."
"Got it."
"Yes, sir."
Gareth turned to leave, but stopped when gunshots were heard outside. He pulled out a radio, speaking into it. "Hey, Chuck?"
Another gunshot rang out followed by an explosion that had the entire warehouse shaking. Gareth and his men stumbled against the vibration of the ground, those who knelt fell against the basin.
Gareth ran out of the warehouse towards the gunfire, the men with the weapons standing down.
"You there, Gareth?" One of the men said through the radio. "Gareth?!"
He didn't answer.
"Man, what the hell are we doing here. This whole place could be going down out there."
"You went on one roundup and you blew protocol. We don't deal with security, that ain't our job."
The two men continued to fight.
Willow saw Rick's hands moving quick, her eyes trailing down to them. He sawed at the ties around his wrists with a large wooden stake he kept on him from the train car. Once his hands were free, he snuck behind one of the men as they were distracted with their bickering. In the blink of an eye, Rick drove the wooden spike through the mans neck. He jerked it out and went for the next, jabbing it through his neck and then his torso, immediately dying under impact.
Rick rushed over to the rest of them, sawing the ties and freeing their hands too. "If they got problems, we got a chance." He broke off the last ties on Daryl.
Glenn tugged at the cloth around his neck. "It sounded like a bomb."
"Sounds like a damn war." Daryl said, running to one of the tables.
They looked at the metal table, numerous different blades spread across it, each of them taking a few. They ran through an open doorway into another room, taken aback by what laid inside of it. More bloodied tools sat on tables, skinned torsos hanging from the ceiling on meat hooks.
"You cross any of these people, you kill them. Don't hesitate. They won't." Rick said as he looked at the hanging bodies in disgust and fury.
They walked to the door of the room, looking out the window of it. A couple of walkers were outside, pounding on one of the storage containers.
"If we run, we can get by them. They're distracted." Willow told them, stepping to the side to let everyone see.
"We've got to let those people out." Glenn said, staring at the container. "That's still who we are. It's got to be."
Rick thought about it for a moment, eventually nodding, opening the door and running out first. They followed immediately behind him, swinging at the walkers, taking the few of them down. Glenn ran to the entrance of the container, tugging at the metal pipe that locked the doors in place. Once they opened, a man came sprinting out, screaming.
"We're the same!" The man grabbed Glenn by his shirt for a moment, then running to Willow and Rick. "We're the same!"
Willow stepped back, staring at the man. His eyes were crazy and the skin on his face was inked. The man was kept in there for so long, he went mad.
"Back off!" Rick shoved the man back. He stumbled back a few feet, smiling a wicked smile, falling to the ground as a walker took him down.
Glenn hesitated for a moment before swinging at the walker a few times.
"Come on!" Rick grabbed Glenn, stopping him from taking another swing at the walker that was already feasting on the man. They dove behind the storage container as more walkers walked across the alley ahead of them. A couple of the walkers dropped as closer gunfire was heard from further down the alley.
"Wait here." Rick rounder the container, pushing forward.
"What the hell is he doing?" Willow peered around the corner, watching him closely.
He ducked behind a car a few feet out, watching as Gareth's crew worked their way down the alley, firing their guns at anything that came into sight.
Daryl rushed forward as a walker snuck up behind Rick, driving a metal pipe through its head.
She watched Rick sneak out from the car once the last man got ahead of them. He took the man out, grabbing his gun and mowing down the others ahead, stopping when everyone and everything was dead. Him and Daryl ran back to the container after picking up their guns, handing one each to Willow and Glenn.
"We're gonna have to double back." Rick said, looking back around the crate before leading them again.
They ran through the alleys and warehouse, ducking for cover if needed from the gunfire. Walkers swarmed the inside of Terminus, hundred if not thousands of them crowding most of the alley's. They quickened their pace once the train car came into view, firing at some walkers on the outside of it.
Willow helped Rick slide the door open, yelling at their people to get out.
"Come on! Fight to the fence!" Rick yelled, the five of them firing their guns at more walkers that began to surround the car.
Their group filed out of the car, slashing and stabbing the walkers with whatever tool they had made. They fought their way through the herd as they made their way to the fence, throwing themselves over it, and helping the others from the other side. Rick stood his ground when he saw Gareth on a rooftop. He sprayed the bullets at Gareth, only a few hitting, but Gareth still ran away.
"Rick, come on!" Willow yelled for him. She stood on the other side of the fence with their people, shooting at the walkers to make a better path for Rick.
He slung his gun across his back, running to the fence and grabbing Abraham's hand. In a solid pull, Abraham pulled him up and over the fence.
Daryl led them into the woods, following the trees until they recognized the spot. "It's right here." He pointed to the ground beneath them. With a few kicks of leaves and dirt, he picked up the shovel and tossed it to Rick.
"The hell are we still around here for?" Abraham asked Rick as he began to dig for the gun bag.
"Guns, some supplies." Rick responded, tossing dirt to the side. "Go along the fences, use the rifles. Take out the rest of 'em."
"What?" Willow stepped forward, making sure she heard him right.
He glanced up at her. "They don't get to live."
"Rick, we got out. It's over." She watched as he continued to dig furiously. "There's no point in risking our lives trying to finish them off. The walkers will do that for us."
"It's not over 'til they're all dead." He unzipped the bag, pulling out his Colt Python, checking the chamber of it.
"The hell it isn't." Rosita stepped up, repeating Willow's point. "That place is on fire. Full of walkers."
"I'm not dicking around with this crap. We just made it out." Abraham said, watching Rick carefully.
"The fences are down. They'll run or die." Maggie backed them all up.
They stayed silent for a moment, listening to soft, approaching footsteps. Looking past Rick, Carol stood ahead of them, staring back. She carried a few large rifles along with their own weapons that Gareth had taken off of them. Daryl sprinted to her the second he saw her, pulling her into a hug that lifted her off the ground. The rest that knew her stepped forward, smiles plastered on their faces, a hint of shock amongst each of them.
"Did you do that?" Rick asked her softly.
She let go of Daryl, looking at Rick through soft, teary eyes, giving him a simple nod. Rick hugged her tightly, whispering 'thank you's' to her.
"You have to come with me." She pulled away. "All of you."
Carol led them down a narrow road for a few miles in silence. She slowed down once they were nearing an old, wooden shack off the side of the road. They watched cautiously as the door opened, Tyreese walking out slowly.
Willow's heart stopped, and so did she for a moment until her legs moved faster than her mind could keep up with.
Tyreese held Sienna and Judith in his arms, handing them over immediately as Willow and Rick collided into him.
"Oh my God-" She cried against her daughter's head, her legs folding in and bringing her to the ground. Her body engulfed her, every fiber of her being telling her it was real. She held her high, looking at the sweet face she thought she'd never see again. Her cheeks were rosy and full of life, her eyes wide as she stared down at her mother. "My baby." She wrapped her in her arms again, rocking her. She couldn't believe any of it, and she felt like she had been dreaming. She waited for the moment she'd wake up, holding her tight until she did, but it never came.
It was real.
Daryl sat down on the ground beside her, looking at Sienna, he couldn't believe it either.
Willow held her out again, smiling through tears at her little one back in her hands.
"She's okay." She sobbed, leaning into Daryl.
He laid his hand on her shoulder, leaning in and kissing Sienna's forehead, the both of them reveling in it all.
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