"Daryl, you want me to take her?" I asked. He had been carrying Faith since we left the car.
He shook his head. "No, I ain't seen her in weeks. I'm sure you were carrying her this whole time. You could use a break."
We came across another sign, which was laying on the ground. Rick brushed some leaves off it with his foot. "We're getting close. Be there before sundown."
Rick nodded. "Now we head through the woods. We don't know who they are." We all nodded in agreement and went into the woods.
~*~
Daryl gave Faith to me when we reached the fence surrounding Terminus. Rick buried our bag of guns as a precaution. When we climbed over the fence, I had to hand Faith to Daryl first. When I got over the fence, I put her in the wrap, put my knife in it's sheathe and hid it in the wrap with her. Just in case.
We found an open door on one of the buildings and Rick opened it, letting Daryl go in first. The first voice I heard was a woman's. "Terminus, 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. Sanctuary for all. Community for all. Those who arrive survive. Terminus, sanctuary for all. Community for all. Those who-"
Rick walked in briskly. "Hello. Hello."
The people in the room appeared to be painting more of the signs we've seen. One man sighed, dropping a paint brush. "Well, I bet Albert is on perimeter watch. You here to rob us?" He asked, walking closer. I furrowed my brow. Would a robber say hello?
"No. We wanted to see you before you saw us." Rick holstered his gun.
The man nodded. "Makes sense. Usually we do this where the tracks meet." He cleared his throat, raising his arms. "Welcome to Terminus. I'm Gareth. Looks like you've been on the road for a good bit."
"We have." Rick nodded. "Rick, that's Carl, Daryl, Michonne, Charlotte, and Faith."
Gareth gave a small wave. "You're nervous. I get it. We were all the same way. We came here for sanctuary. That what you're here for?"
Rick nodded. "Yes."
Gareth smiled. "Good. You found it. Hey, Alex. This isn't as pretty as the front. We got nothing to hide, but the welcome wagon is a whole lot nicer."
He turned to look at the man walking up. "Alex will take you, ask you a few questions. Uh, but first, we need to see everyone's weapons. If you could just lay them down in front of you."
We all exchanged looks with Rick, who eventually nodded. He unholstered his guns, setting them on the ground. "I'm sure you understand."
"Yes I do."
We all dropped our weapons. Daryl chuckled as I unholstered all three of my guns, my machete and one of my three knives, having hid the other two. We held our arms out so they could pat us down.
When Alex moved from Michonne to me and he finished with my arms, he went to feel around Faith. "Don't touch her." I grimaced.
He smiled. "I understand, but I have to-"
"Don't. Touch. Her." I repeated, my gaze hard.
He put his hands up in defense and crouched down, patting down my legs, thankfully not feeling the knife in my boot. "I'd hate to see the other guy." Alex said to Daryl.
"You would." Rick said.
"Did he deserve it?" He asked Carl.
"Yes." Carl answered without missing a beat.
"Just so you know, we aren't those kind of people, but we aren't stupid either. And you shouldn't be stupid enough to try anything stupid. As long as everyone's clear on that, we shouldn't have any problems. Just solutions."
Rick nodded. "Okay." Gareth smiled.
Alex started picking up our weapons and handing them to us. Daryl picked up his crossbow on his own, then he picked up my guns, knife and machete. Alex handed Carl his gun and then Rick.
He smiled. "Follow me."
We followed him outside and into a courtyard. "So, how long's this place been here?" Daryl asked.
"Since almost the start."
I scoffed. "You're kidding, right? You've lasted this long?"
He nodded. "Yeah, no joke, when all the camps got overrun, people started finding this place. I think it was instinct, you know? Follow a path. Some folks were heading to the coast, others out west, or up north, but they all wound up here."
"Hi." A woman greeted us when we approached a grill, whatever she had cooking smelled amazing. "Heard you came in the back door. Smart. You'll fit right in here."
"Hey, Mary, would you fix each of these new folks a plate for me?"
"Why do you do it?" Michonne asked. "Why do you let people in?"
Alex walked over to the grill. "The more people become a part of us, we get stronger." He took a plate from Mary. "That's why we put up the signs. Invite people in. It's how we survive. Here." He handed Carl a plate with a chunk of meat on it, then to Michonne. Rick walked up as Alex was about to hand me a plate and knocked it out of his hand, reaching into his pocket to pull something out and and held his gun to his temple.
We all drew our guns, aiming them at the others in the courtyard. "Where the hell did you get this watch?" I realized it was Glenn's pocket watch that Rick pulled from Alex's pocket. The one that Hershel gave him.
"Where the hell did you get this watch?" He repeated.
"You want answers? You want anything else? You get 'em when you put down the gun."
"I see your man on the roof with the sniper rifle. How good's his aim? Where'd you get the watch?" Alex didn't respond. "Where'd you get the watch?!"
"Don't do anything! I have this! You just put it down! Put it down!" The man on the roof lowered his rifle. "You wanna listen to me. There's a lot of us."
"Where did you get the watch?"
"I got it off a dead one. I didn't think he'd need it." Lie.
"What about the riot gear? The poncho?"
"Got the riot gear off a dead cop." I turned quickly to see Gareth standing there. "Found the poncho on a clothes line."
"Gareth, we can wait."
"Shut up, Alex."
"You talk to me." Rick growled.
"What's there left to say?" Gareth was too calm for my liking. "You don't trust us anymore."
"Gareth."
"Shut. Up." Gareth raised his hand, keeping it in the air.
"Gareth, please."
"It's okay. It's okay."
"Rick, what do you want?" He asked.
"Where are our people?"
"You didn't answer the question." Gareth closed his hand and Rick spun around, just in time for a wave of bullets to pelt Alex.
We started running, but the man on the roof shot at the ground, sending us in the other direction. Daryl kept his hand on my arm. I guarded a crying Faith. We were cut off again by the bullets, and we ran into a garage. We ran for an open door, but someone closed it. Daryl pulled at the bars blocking another doorway, but it wouldn't budge.
We were forced to go through another door with the letter A painted next to it. They kept shooting at our feet, like they were guiding us somewhere. They shot in front of us again, sending us in another direction. We ran past a fenced in area filled with human remains. Then we ran past shipping containers which seemed to hold more people. They were banging on the sides and calling for help, but we had to run.
We ran through a sliding door, once again with the letter A painted next to it. We got inside a room filled with candles and personal belongings, words and names written on the walls and floor. "What the hell is this place?" Daryl asked.
"Guys, I don't think they're trying to kill us." I said, looking around the room and trying to soothe Faith.
"Charlotte's right, what are they doing?"
"They were aiming at our feet. They're trying to herd us somewhere." Rick pointed to a door. "There." Suddenly it was closed by someone outside.
"There." Daryl pointed to another door, one with an A next to it like the others. We ran back outside, once again being herded by their bullets, right next to a train car with a big A painted on the side. Shit.
"Drop your weapons! Now!" Gareth yelled from the roof. None of us moved. We were surrounded, I'm sure Rick was trying as hard as he could to figure a way out of this. I shook my head when he looked at me. "Now!"
Reluctantly, we dropped our weapons. "Ringleader, go to your left! The train car, go!" Rick didn't move. "You do what we say, the boy goes with you! Anything else, he dies and you end up in there anyway.
Rick hesitated, but walked over to the train car. "Now the archer." Daryl looked around and nodded to me in reassurance, following Rick. "Now the samurai." Michonne glared at Gareth, but walked after Daryl. "Now the gunslinger."
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, following after Michonne and trying not to look scared, quietly shushing Faith. "Stand at the door, ringleader, archer, samurai, gunslinger, in that order."
We did as we were told, all of us staring at Carl, who looked terrified, staring at his father. I looked down at Faith, who smiled brightly when she saw me. If only she knew. "My son!" Rick yelled.
"Go, kid." Carl started walking over. "Ringleader, open the door and go in."
"I'll go in with him."
"Don't make us kill him now!"
Reluctantly, Rick walked up the steps and opened the sliding door. We walked inside and went to one side of the train car. Carl followed shortly after. The train car was closed, and we were submerged in darkness. I jumped when I felt a pair of hands on me, sighing when I realized it was Daryl. Suddenly there was a thud from the other side of the train car.
My eyes adjusted and someone walked closer. "Rick?" I smiled. It was Glenn, Sasha, Bob, Maggie, Luke, Elizabeth and a few others I didn't recognize.
"You're here." Rick looked relieved. "You're here."
Rick looked at the group of people behind them. "They're our friends." Maggie said. "They helped save us."
"Yeah." Daryl nodded. "Now they're our friends."
"For however long that'll be." A red haired man spoke, turning around.
"No," Rick shook his head. I smirked. The man turned back around. "They're gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out." Rick nodded, walking over to the door and looking through the crack.
"Find out what?" The man asked. Rick was quiet for a moment, the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
"They're screwing with the wrong people."