"We should get going." You say throwing your katana across your shoulder. Daryl looks up at you from his seat on the floor, shielding his eyes against the sun with his hands. You hold out your hand to him and he takes it. You pull him up and watch him wince in pain "Sorry." You mumble offering him a sympathetic smile. He forces a smile and then grabs his crossbow. "Are we still heading to Terminus?" You ask Michonne.
She looks to Rick and then back to you. "I guess so; as I said, some people in our group heard the radio transmission it's our best chance of finding others."
"Alright, y' know the way?" Daryl says grabbing his bag.
"Yeah, we had a map but when we got separated... Let's just say I lost it. I think we just follow the railroad tracks." You look to Michonne for confirmation.
"Yeah." Michonne smiles.
You quickly find your way to the railroad tracks and begin your journey. Michonne, Rick and Carl walk ahead leaving you and Daryl to take up the rear.
"How you feeling?" You ask kicking a rock as you walk.
"Been better," Daryl admits. "been worse too though."
"I hope this place has ice, you're going to need some for that." You point at his black eye with a smirk.
"Is it that bad?" Daryl laughs. You polish off some of the blood on your katana using your sleeve and hand it to him. He angles the blade so he can see his reflection. He laughs and prods his eye gently. "Damn," He hands the katana back to you. "looks as bad as it feels." You smile and intertwine your fingers with his. He lightly brushes his rough thumb over your soft knuckles and smiles softly to himself. "Y'know, maybe this place will be good for us." Daryl mumbles, his features becoming more serious. His eyes meet your's. "We can work through what happened back at that garage... try and put it behind us."
Your face goes visibly pale at the memories. "I don't think I can ever forget what happened Daryl..." You whisper. Daryl squeezes your hand gently.
"I know you can't forget, just, know that I ain't letting you work through it on your own." Daryl looks at Rick, Carl and Michonne in the distance. "You wanna tell them what happened?"
"No," You whisper looking at the ground. "It's not fair to make it their burden..." Daryl nods and removes his hand from your's. He quickly wraps his arm around your shoulders as he walks, pulling you closer to him. You lean into him and lay the side of your head against his chest as you continue to walk. Daryl presses his lips to your hair and mumbles something you can't make out.
"What did you say?" You laugh halfheartedly. Daryl lifts his head and smirks.
"I said, I hope there's some food at this place. I'm starvin'"
"Aren't we all?" You laugh looking up at him. He smiles down at you warmly. His thumb draws light circles on your shoulder as you keep walking. The action is soothing and you hum contently.
"Y' like that sweetheart?" He smirks. You laugh in response and place a light kiss to his cheek. "Take that as a yes..."
"You think this place is as good as it sounds? I'm not as trusting as I used to be."
"Gotta hope, right?" Daryl says after a moment of thought. "I mean, if it is... we can start over y'know? If not then we find somewhere else."
"I always fancied living in a small cottage," you admit. You look to Daryl with a smile. "With roses and those green vines that climb up the walls." Daryl looks back down at you and laughs giving you one of his adorable lopsided smiles. "A cottage with one of those cute little brick fireplaces and hanging baskets. Y'know the ones?"
"Yeah," He laughs. "I'll tell y' what, if this place ain't legit I'll find us a cottage, hangin' baskets and everythin'. How does that sound?"
"Deal" You hold out your hand to him. He shakes it with a smile.
"If y're lucky I might find y' some of those plastic garden gnomes, the ones with the fishin' lines; maybe a few of them small plastic windmill things." You laugh at the image and bite your lip.
"I can just see it now," you smile. "We'll have to find one of those small mail boxes and write our names on it."
"What kind of mail are you expecting?" He smirks.
"Well, my subscription to Walker's Weekly magazine of course. I'm their biggest fan!" You joke. Daryl lets out a bark of laughter at your crappy joke. Rick and Michonne turn at the sound of Daryl, it was rare they even saw him smile let alone cry with laughter.
"You crack me up woman." He smirks when he finally composes himself. "Damn end of the world and y' can still crack jokes, even if they are shitty." You raise an eyebrow and chuckle.
When you finally reach the end of the tracks Rick pulls you all aside.
"We aren't going through the front entrance. We hide some of our weapons and we go around the back." He points to the fence with his finger. "That way we see them before they see us."
You nod in agreement and look to Daryl. He grunts and looks at Rick through his curtain of hair. "An advantage, good idea." You say looking at your feet and then back up to Rick.
"We all spread out, watch for a while."
You split off with Rick and watch quietly through the fence. There was no sign of anyone and it unnerved you. "Surely there should be people? Lots of them..."
"Yeah. It seems untouched."
"I don't like this," you admit "there's something off with this place, I can feel it."
He nods and look down at the bag of guns. He starts digging a hole in the ground and places the bag in it. As Daryl starts walking back he give him a confused look.
"Just incase." Rick says simply.
You all approach the gate cautiously. You quickly climb over and head stealthily to the fire exit door located at the back of the compound. Rick nods to you and you open the doors quietly.
The sound of a woman echoes around the room and you watch from the shadows as people paint signs and hover around tables.
"Those who arrive survive. Follow the tracks to the point where all lines intersect. There are maps at the crossings to help guide you with your journey." An older woman sits at a table talking into a microphone. "Sanctuary for all. Community for all. Those who arrive survive. Terminus, sanctuary for all, community for al-"
"Hello." Rick cuts her off walking quickly across the room. "Hello."
You all follow him into the light and stand there awkwardly.
From across the room a man throws a paint brush down against a table. "Well," He mutters. "I bet Albert is on perimeter watch." He walks slowly towards you all. "You here to rob us?"
"No." Rick says confidently. "We wanted to see you before you saw us."
"Makes sense..." The man smirks. He look around the room at the others before walking closer to you. "Usually we do this where the tracks meet." He coughs and clears his throat. "Welcome to Terminus; I'm Gareth. Looks like you've been on the road for a good bit..."
"We have." Rick nods. He looks at all of you and lists your names. "Rick, Carl, Daryl, Michonne and (F/n)"
Gareth waves. There's an long awkward pause before he speaks again. " You're nervous I get it we were all the same way. We came here for sanctuary. Is that what you're here for?"
"Yes." Rick replies.
"Good." Gareth smiles. "You found it." He looks over to a man standing at one of the tables. "Hey Alex!" He shouts. Alex comes running over with a goofy smile on his face. "This isn't as pretty as the front. We've got nothing to hide but the welcome waggon is a whole lot nicer. Alex will take you, ask you a few questions umm but first... we need to see everyone's weapons." His face takes on a more serious look. "If you could just lay them down in front of you..."
Rick slowly turns his head to face the rest of you. You widen your eyes to him willing him to say no. He looks back at Gareth and let's out a sigh. "Alright." You grit your teeth at his words.
"I'm sure you understand." Gareth states.
"Yes I do." Rick answers.
Slowly everyone places their weapons on the floor. You look at the katana in your hands and then at Daryl. He nods and with a grunt of anger you throw it down. Alex and Gareth then approach you all to check if you have any more weapons. "I'd hate to see the other guy." Alex jokes while looking at Daryl's black eye. Daryl looks at him unamused. You snigger to yourself under your breath. Gareth approaches you and signals for you to lift your arms. You do so and he starts patting down your body. Your mind flashes back to Larry and you feel your breathing become uneven. You close your eyes willing the memories to dissappear. Gareth backs away and smiles at you all.
"Just so you know we aren't those kinds of people but we aren't stupid either, and you shouldn't be stupid enough to try anything stupid. As long as that's clear we shouldn't have any problems, just solutions."
You hesitantly pick up your katana and follow them to the courtyard.
You all make your way to a woman stood by a grill. "I heard you went around the back, smart. You'll fit right in here." She says handing Carl a plate of meat. You glance around and see a woman sitting at a table. You'd recognise that poncho anywhere. That was Daryl poncho! You then see another one of the Terminus group wearing riot gear... just like the ones in the prison. Everything becomes a blur. Rick follows your gaze and goes pale. He then notices a silver pocket watch hanging out of Alex's pants pocket. Rick knocks the food out of Carl's hands and grabs Alex by the throat while holding a gun to his head. "Where did you get this watch?!" You raise you katana along with Michonne. Daryl raises his crossbow and Carl follows suit with his gun. "Where did you get the watch and the riot gear and the poncho?!"
"I got the watch of a dead one!" Alex shouts.
"And the riot gear off a dead cop, the poncho off a clothes line." Gareth appears out of nowhere.
"Start talking!" Rick commands
"What's there left to say? You don't trust us anymore."
"Gareth-" Alex sobs.
"Shut up!"
"Gareth please"
"It's okay, it's okay. Rick what do you want?" Gareth raises his hands and opens his finger.
"Where are our people?"
"You didn't answer the question." He closes his hand and the echo of guns can be heard around Terminus. You cower and try to avoid the gunfire.
"Go! Run!" Rick shouts. Daryl leads the way followed by you, Rick Michonne and Carl.
You come to a corner and bullets hit the floor by your feet. "Why aren't they hitting us?!" You shout over the firing. "They've have us in a corner why haven't they shot us yet?!"
"It don't matter now jus' move!" Daryl shouts pulling you into a room. At the far end of the room a door is pulled shut by one of the group members. Daryl pushes desperately at one of the doors to no avail.
"They aren't shooting at us. Why aren't they shooting at us?" Daryl spins around and looks at you.
"Why does it matter? Y' want them to shoot at us?"
"Obviously not but think about it. They are practical guiding us through this place like fucking cattle. I told you there was something wrong here Rick! Why don't you listen to me?!"
"There's no time for this we gotta get out of here!" Rick replies. He pushes a door make with a black 'A' on it and rushes through it. You all follow and are met by more gun shots. Again they miss you completely. You continue to run down an alleyway. You notice loads of bones and blood in a fenced of area but ignore it. More gunfire echoes in your ears. To your right bullets hit the ground. Rick turns and shoots. One of his bullets punctures the arm of one of the gunmen and he fires rapidly out of control. You feel a sharp pain in your leg and look down to see blood. You had been caught by a bullet. You leg crumples beneath you and you fall to the ground. Daryl pulls you back up and practically drags you with one hand. You limp quickly gritting you teeth against the pain.
"Help! Help!" You hear screams coming from a train car.
"What the fuck?!" Daryl shouts.
"Just keep moving!" Rick shouts.
You follow him into a second room. This room is filled with candles and the floor is covered with names written in chalk. "What kind of place is this?" Daryl grunts holding you close to him.
"I don't think they are trying to kill us." Michonne says looking around the room.
"They aren't. Like (F/n) said, they're aiming for our feet, come on." Rick sees an open door at the far end of the room and bolts for it. You find yourselves face to face with rifles.
"Oh for fuck sake!" You spit bitterly. The throbbing in you leg growing worse. You throw your katana down and surrender, let's face it, there's nothing else you can do. Everyone follows your lead and casts aside their weapons. Gareth appears on the roof of the Terminus building, a look of anger on his face.
"Ringleader! Go to your left, the train car, go!"
Rick looks to his left and sees a train car marked with an 'A'.
"If you do anything the boy dies and you end up in there anyway!" Rick walks towards the cart. "Now the archer!" You look up at Daryl. He still has you pulled close to his side, making sure you could stay standing up right.
"One of y' men caught her in the leg, she can't walk on her own!" Daryl shouts up to Gareth.
"Archer! Train car now!"
"Just go Daryl, I'll be fine." You whisper squeezing his arm gently.
Daryl helps you over to Michonne and leaves without a word.
"Now the samurai!" Michonne looks at you.
"Just go." You whisper again.
Carl steps forward and allows you to balance yourself on him. Michonne turns and walks towards the train car. Theses a silence as you and Carl look over at the rest of your group.
"Stand at the door! Ringleader, archer, samurai in that order!" Gareth orders.
"My son!" Rick shouts back
"(F/n)!" Daryl grunts loudly, there was no way he was going in there without you.
Gareth looks down at you and Carl.
"Go kid, and take her with you!" You look up at him briefly before Carl helps you towards the train car. "Ringleader, open the door and go in!"
"I'll go in with him!" Rick states as he watches you and Carl slowly make your way closer.
"Don't make us kill him now!" Gareth threatens.
Rick angrily opens the door and marches up the steps. When you and Carl finally make it towards the train car Daryl is there to help you in. Once inside the doors are locked and you find yourself in almost complete darkness. Daryl clutches to you as if he might lose you again.
The eerie silence is soon filled by a familiar voice. "Rick?" A man walks out of the shadows and you recognize him immediately.
"Glenn?" You smile. Slowly others approach you. "Maggie? Bob? Sasha? Oh my lord you're all alive!" Then you were met by some not so familiar face.
"You're here." Rick mutters.
"These are our friends..." Maggie confirms looking at the people behind her. "Abraham, Eugene, Rosita and Tara. They helped save us."
"Yeah, now they're friends of ours..." Daryl grunts softly.
"For however long that will be..." A tall ginger man mumbles.
"No." Rick says simply. "They're gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out."
"Find out what?" The ginger haired man replies.
"They're fucking with the wrong people."
"You're damn right!" You say placing your hand over the wound in your leg. "They'll pay for this; they'll pay greatly."