61. an eye for an eye
MILO
'THEY THINK THEY'RE IN CONTROL,' Rick finished explaining his plan. 'We're in here and they could be anywhere. But we know exactly where they are.'
A short silence fell in which everyone focused on checking their weapons to not face the horrible next hours that were waiting for them.
'Plan's got stones, I'll give you that,' Abraham told him.
'Make our move before they do,' Glenn said, as if having to convince himself it was truly a good idea.
'That's right,' Rick agreed. 'They're not counting on us thinking straight.'
'Are we?' Rosita questioned, making everyone turn to look at her. 'I'm just making sure. It's a big play,' she explained, shrugging.
Rick stood up from his seat. 'Remember what these people are capable of.'
And that reminder seemed to convince everyone that this was indeed the right thing to do. Milo didn't like to admit it, but he was ready to do this, he was ready to kill because he would do anything to protect his family.
'Tyreese?' Rick questioned, turning to look at the man. 'You up for this?'
Before he could respond however, Sasha came walking out of Gabriel's office, her features determined. 'I'm going with you,' she spoke, her voice no longer trembling.
'You should stay with Bob,' Tyreese whispered, looking at his sister as if she could fall apart at any given moment.
'No,' she replied, 'I want to be out there. I want to be a part of this.' Then she turned around to walk inside the office again, probably to get her weapon.
Tyreese stood up from his chair and followed her inside while the others continued loading up on ammo and weapons.
Milo looked checked his gun one last time before placing it in the holster attached to his belt. He had hidden a knife in his boot just in case and held his axe firmly in his hand. A shaky breath left his lips as he stared at the many weapons. Even though he was sure of this, it still felt wrong to agree with it. They were going to kill people, end lives and no matter what horrible things they'd done, it shouldn't be this easy. Yet it was, and that was what scared him.
'Let's go,' Rick spoke, looking around the room to see if everyone was ready. When he realised that was the case he headed towards the door, opening it and disappearing in the darkness of the night.
Taking a deep breath, Milo was the first to follow him and the others came after him. Michonne, Sasha, Glenn, Maggie, Tara, Abraham. Their group. People he was going to kill for.
They headed into the direction Gabriel had pointed out, disappearing in the forest and making sure the darkness had taken them completely out of sight from any point of view from the church. Still Rick had them walking a while longer, in case they were still being watched.
His hands were sweating, making him tighten his grip on his axe. He kept on repeating to himself that this was the only way, the right way but no matter how many times he said it, it still felt like a lie. A lie they were all telling themselves to justify what they were about to do. Killing should never be easy and he was scared for his soul because suddenly it was.
He was pulled out of his whirling thoughts by Rick who came to a halt and gestured for them all to do the same. He pointed back into the direction of the church and the group turned on his orders, ready to carry out the plan.
As quietly as possible they walked back to the wooden building of Father Gabriel. The door was open and he could hear the familiar voice of Gareth from inside the walls. The sound made a deep hatred burn alive within him and adrenaline flew through his veins.
Rick walked up to the door first, taking a stand in the door opening and firing his gun twice. Milo could hear two bodies dropping on the floor and taking that as a sign, the group slowly moved inside, spreading out through the church to keep an eye on the Terminus group from all sides.
'Put your guns on the floor,' Rick growled, hatred burning in his voice.
'Rick,' Gareth spoke quickly, 'we'll fire right into that office, so you lower your gun-' but he would never get a chance to finish because Rick shot his fingers right off his hand, making the man fall whimpering on the ground.
'Put your guns on the floor and kneel,' Rick spoke once again.
The group hesitated, making Gareth speak up, his voice trembling from the pain. 'Do as he says,' he managed to stutter. And then the group finally placed their weapons down. 'Martin, there's no choice here,' Gareth said to the one man that was still standing.
'Yeah there is,' he said, his eyes darting around the room.
Those words made Abraham move forwards and point his Colt M16A1 right at the man his head. 'Wanna bet?'
That made the man finally sit down on the ground, placing his gun down next to him. Which made the rest of them move further inside. With his axe attached to his belt and his gun firmly in his hand, Milo walked towards one of the kneeling Terminus men and pointed his weapon at the back of his head.
Rick made his way towards the squirming Gareth on the ground, Sasha standing behind the man with a vengeful look on her features.
'No point in begging, right?' Gareth mumbled.
Rick stared at him, his gaze as cold as ice. 'No,' was all he said.
'Still, you could have killed us when you came in,' Gareth tried. 'There had to be reason for that.' The words sounded so desperate that they made a small smirk appear on Milo's face.
'We didn't want to waste the bullets,' Rick simply explained.
Gareth's entire body started shaking but Milo couldn't tell if it was from the pain or the fear. 'We used to help people,' the man spoke, 'we saved people. Things changed. They came in and...' He groaned, the pain from his missing fingers taking over his ability to talk.
Milo knew it was useless anyway, their fate had already been decided.
'After that,' Gareth said but fell silent, everyone knew what he meant anyway. After what happened to them, they decided to eat people and no excuse would ever make that okay. 'I know that you've been out there, but I can see it. You don't know what it is to be hungry.'
The smallest of smiles appeared on Rick's face, filled with contempt.
'You don't have to do this,' Gareth pleaded. 'We can walk away. And we will never cross paths again. I promise you.'
'But you'll cross someone's path,' Rick replied. 'You'd do this to anyone, right?' He took a step towards him and Milo noticed Rick's hand going to the machete with the red handle and knowning his plan he reached for his axe. 'Besides,' Rick started, 'I already made you a promise.'
And before Gareth could say another word, Rick pulled his weapon free and struck the cannibal down with the machete, making the entire room come to life. Everyone pulled their weapons free and bashed in the heads of the people of Terminus.
Milo took his axe in his hand, bringing the weapon down in the skull of the man kneeled before him. Blood splattered on his arm but he ignored it, pulled the axe free and brought it down once again and again and again. A scream left his lips as he finally stopped hitting the man, who was now nothing but a bloody mess on the floor.
Breathing heavily he stared at the body, taking a moment to see the damage he had done and he felt nothing but disgust. He hated these people with every fiber of his being but a part of him hated himself even more for becoming what he was now.
'It could have been us,' Rick spoke up, making Milo look up from the body before him, only to see blood everywhere. It was covering the floor, the walls, his friends...
'Yeah,' Sasha whispered softly as if that justified everything that had happened here tonight.
'I'm gonna miss you bud,' Milo said, looking down on a tired and sweaty Bob.
Even though he must've felt horrible, a smile appeared on the man his features. 'It was good knowing you,' Bob replied, placing his hand on Milo's arm.
Milo felt himself smiling back at his friend, squeezing his hand before giving a short nod as goodbye and stepping aside so Maggie could say her piece.
Morning had come and it was time to leave for D.C. It wasn't something he looked forward to, or even wanted but what kind of person would he be if he wouldn't even keep his word. Even if that meant leaving his sister behind...
'You'll always be with us,' Maggie told Bob, her voice breaking. 'Part of us.' Then she pressed a kiss on his hand and stood up, making her way to the door, followed by Glenn and Tara.
Milo threw one last glare over his shoulder at Bob, who offered him another broken smile. Then he turned around and followed the others outside.
His heart felt wrong in his chest, as if it was too heavy and could fall out of his chest any minute. He took a deep breath to try and get rid of the feeling but he was afraid it wouldn't leave for another few days and maybe not even then. Part of him would always feel the loss of his friend.
'This is our route to D.C,' Abraham's voice came from behind him and he turned around to see the soldier hand Rick a map. 'We'll stick to it as long as we're able. If not, well, you got our destination.'
Rick took the map, nodding at him.
'Once Eugene gets to the big brains left up there,' Abraham continued, 'things are gonna bounce back. This group should be there for it.' He let a silence fall, taking a deep breath before adding: 'You should be there for it.'
'They will be,' Maggie spoke up when Rick stayed silent.
'Yeah, we will,' Michonne confirmed.
Rick turned to look at them, nodding with a determined look on his face. 'We will.'
A small smile appeared on Abraham's features and then he swiftly turned around, heading towards the bus. 'Let's go,' he shouted.
Glenn, Maggie and Tara headed after him but Milo took a moment to talk to Rick, putting his hand on his shoulder to get his attention. Their leader turned to him and Milo offered him a small smile. 'Please find her,' he mumbled, afraid that if he spoke too loud his voice would break.
Rick nodded curtly. 'I'll make sure she's okay,' he reassured him and Milo believed him.
He doubted for a second, choosing his next words carefully but amusement sounded through his tone. 'I'm sorry my boyfriend shot you.'
The former cop narrowed at him before a small smile appeared beneath his beard. 'Maybe it was for the best,' he said, 'I keep thinking that I probably never would've gotten this far if things didn't happen the way they did.'
Milo squeezed his shoulder. 'You would've, only you could, Rick Grimes.'
Forcing himself to feel okay he let go of the man his shoulder. He headed after the others and climbed into the bus. He knew Quinn would be furious when she found out he left her behind but he hoped she understood why he had to. If there was even the slightest chance he could make this world safer for her and for all his friends, he'd be a fool not to take it.
The engine started, taking him out of his thoughts. He turned to window, giving a small salute to the people he was leaving behind. He kept looking over his shoulder until the road took them out of sight. Only then he turned in his seat, taking a shaky breath, knowing this was the right thing to do. He wanted himself to believe it, but knew it was going to take a while.