CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT » US
"They're gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out."

♔

After making last minute checks around the surrounding area, we regrouped and started to make our way towards the back of the building. Strangely, there were no guards around, so the only thing obstructing our way was a fence, which we all scaled over with ease.

Rick took the lead, making his way towards the nearest door, swinging it open with his gun lifted in preparation. Rick let Daryl and Olivia in first, and I followed suit, keeping my weapon raised as I followed them down a dimly lit, narrow hallway.

As we made our way through, a robotic voice sounded overhead.

"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."

I swallowed thickly, realising they were advertising this across radio frequencies. I wondered just how many people had heard; how many people were here.

"Sanctuary for all. Community for all. Those who arrive survive."

Daryl stopped at the end of the hall, peeking his head round the edge of a doorway. I followed his lead, spotting a woman hunched over a desk, speaking into a microphone. A little way past her, many other busy men and women sat by desks.

"Terminus, sanctuary for all. Community for all. Those who–"

"Hello," Rick said, cutting the woman off as he made his way into the centre of the room. I made my way in after Daryl and Olivia, glancing around at my surroundings. Things seemed almost too calm, almost too peaceful. It set me on edge.

The woman who had been speaking into the microphone looked up in surprise before turning to look at the rest of her people. They all stopped what they were doing, eyes falling on us, yet, they didn't even look remotely startled. Even more so, they didn't even reach for weapons. They just stared.

One of the men let out a sigh, as if this had happened before. "Well, I bet Albert is on perimeter watch," he muttered, moving away from his desk. "You here to rob us?"

"No," Rick answered. "We wanted to see you before you saw us."

The man smiled. "Makes sense. Usually we do this where the tracks meet. Ahem," he raised his hands. "Welcome to Terminus. I'm Gareth. Looks like you've been on the road for a good bit."

"We have," Rick answered before clearing his throat. "I'm Rick. That's Carl, Daryl, Michonne, Blaire, Olivia and Jade."

Gareth smiled at us, waving his hand. None of us bothered to return the gesture. "You're nervous. I get it," he started. "We were all the same way. We came here for sanctuary. That what you're here for?"

Rick nodded his head. "Yes."

"Good," Gareth replied. "You found it." He turned his head to look behind him, raising his voice. "Hey, Alex," he called, causing one of the men to lift his head, beginning to make his way over. "This isn't as pretty as the front," he continued. "We got nothing to hide, but welcome wagon is a whole lot nicer."

Gareth placed his hand on Alex's shoulder, as I narrowed my eyes in response to his words. 'We got nothing to hide', what an odd thing to come out with.

"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."

Rick glanced back over at us, but we were all watching him, waiting for his response. I naturally found my hand tense, tightening around my gun. Rick finally nodded, letting out a heavy sigh. "All right."

"I'm sure you understand," Gareth insisted.

Rick bent down first, placing his gun on the floor along with a knife and a clip of ammo. "Yes, I do."

I followed, only hesitating for a moment as I placed my own gun down, along with my two knives. I thought back to the small swick knife I'd clipped to the left side of my bra, just next to the strap. I'd shared the idea with Olivia, who'd had worries about how much of a sanctuary Terminus really was. The two of us had purposely switched shirts, allowing mine to be a lot more loose fitting so I could conceal the weapon. As I rose back to my feet, I caught her eye, giving her a gentle nod.

Gareth and Alex proceeded to come over to us to pat us down. I stiffened slightly, hoping I wasn't about to get caught.

"I'd hate to see the other guy," Alex snickered, looking over Daryl's bruised face.

"You would."

"They deserve it?"

"Yes," Carl answered coldly, causing Alex's smile to falter as he moved on to me.

I took a deep breath, my heart hammering as he began to pat me down. His hands worked their way up my arms, coming very close to the knife I'd concealed, but luckily, as I'd thought, he avoided the area completely. He moved along to Jade without a word, and I let out the breath I'd been holding.

"Nice necklace," I heard Alex comment, causing Jade's hand to immediately snap up to the locket she had around her neck, holding it protectively.

"Thanks," she replied coldly, her eyes narrowing into a glare, causing Alex to shift uncomfortably.

"Just so you know, we aren't those kind of people, but we aren't stupid either," Gareth started, his tone cautioning. "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."

My eyes followed him as he bent down to pick up Olivia's gun, handing it back to her. She watched him for a few long, intense moments, before roughly taking it from him. Daryl and Rick began to pick up their own weapons and I did the same, whilst Alex gave Jade, Carl and Michonne theirs back.

"Okay," Alex beckoned. "Follow me."

I exchanged a glance with Rick, who began to follow him, Daryl and I close behind. Alex led us through the warehouse and outside, to the front of the building. There were a few people loitering about, but they mostly just kept to themselves.

"So how long's this place been here?" Daryl questioned.

"Since almost the start," Alex replied. "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."

He led us down a small pathway before we came into a more open area, with lots of tables set out. To the side there appeared to be a few stalls. Alex made his way over to a grill with an old lady stood behind it.

"Hi," she greeted with a smile. "Heard you came in the back door. Smart. You'll fit right in here."

My eyes wandered from the woman, as I began to take in my surroundings. I felt uncomfortable, which, I guessed seemed natural in a new place. But the thing bothering me most was how open the space was that we were in.

With a sigh, I lifted my head slightly, trying to keep the action natural. I paused, watching from the corner of my eye as I noticed a figure on top of the building.

"Hey, Mary, would you fix each of these new folks a plate for me?" Alex asked, Mary nodding in compliance.

As she began to dish up a few plates, I moved closer to Rick, bumping his shoulder and leaning into him. "Sniper," I whispered quietly, subtly motioning my head in the direction. I stepped back again, and Rick remained still for a few moments, waiting until Alex was distracted again before looking over.

"Why do you do it?" Michonne questioned, seeming oblivious to the danger. "Why do you let people in?"

"The more people become a part of us, we get stronger," Alex explained, taking a plate form Mary and handing it to Carl. "That's why we put up the signs, invite people in. It's how we survive."

I began to scan the area again, suddenly noticing the amount of people who couldn't keep their eyes off us. One of the onlookers, a woman with blonde hair, particularly caught my attention as I realised what she was wearing. It was Maggie's red poncho from the prison.

"Here," Alex said, the word pulling me away from the woman. He held out a plate towards me. I hesitated, shifting my gaze back to the woman with the poncho, before looking back to Alex.

"No," I snapped, lifting my hand to shove the plate out of his hand, letting it fall to the ground with a smash.

Within seconds Rick had reacted, whipping his gun out and storming over to Alex, placing him in a headlock. I began to raise my own gun, only halting when Rick pulled something from Alex's pocket. A pocket watch. Glenn's pocket watch.

I stormed forwards, snatching the watch from Rick and running it over in my hands. It was his. It was Glenn's.

"Where the hell did you get this watch?" Rick demanded, as I cast my eyes back up to Alex, who kept his mouth shut.

"Answer him," I snapped, immediately raising my gun, pressing it against his temple. Alex didn't respond, instead turning to the other surrounding people in the area, who had risen to their feet, pulling out their own weapons. I swallowed thickly, ignoring the fact that we were surrounded. All I cared about right now was Glenn. "You need me to repeat myself? Where the fuck did you get the watch?"

"You want answers?" He asked, his voice strained as he struggled against Rick's grip. "You want anything else? You get 'em when you put down the gun."

"Like hell," I growled.

"I see your man on the roof with a sniper rifle," Rick snapped back, jerking his head to the side. "How good's his aim?"

"Where'd you get the watch?" I ground out, as Rick continued to tighten his grip on Alex. "Where'd you get the damn watch?!"

"Don't do anything!" He called out to the rest of the people around, who'd drawn closer, their weapons still on us. "I have this!" He glanced up at the sniper on the roof. "You just put it down. You put it down!" The man reluctantly did as ordered, and Alex turned his attention back to us. "You want to listen to me. There's a lot of us."

"And there's a lot of us too," I hissed, my patience growing thin. "So answer our fucking question."

"Where did you get the watch?" Rick finished. My finger hovered over the trigger of the gun.

"I got it off of a dead one," he explained, the response unnerving me at first slightly, but I knew it couldn't have been the truth. There was no way. I could tell by his body language. "I didn't think he'd need it."

Rick scoffed, clearly unable to believe him too. "What about the riot gear? The poncho?"

"Got the riot gear off a dead cop. Found the poncho on a clothesline," another voice responded, and I took a quick glance back to see Gareth stepping towards us, his hands slightly raised with caution.

"You're full of shit," I snapped, my voice wavering slightly as I turned back to Alex, my grip tightening on the gun. "You are so full of shit."

"You calling us liars?" He shot back, as I turned my head towards him again, arching an eyebrow.

"Is water wet?"

Gareth let out a laugh, a devilish smile on his face as he raised his eyebrows. "We got a smart mouth here."

My jaw clenched as I watched him, my stare hardening. I suddenly hated this man, hated this place. I was right to have been wary of it.

"Gareth, we can wait," Alex choked out, his eyes round and pleading. I turned my attention back to him.

"Shut up, Alex," Gareth shot back.

"You talk to me," Rick demanded, looking over at Gareth, who crossed his arms over his chest.

"What's there left to say? You don't trust us anymore."

"Gareth–"

"Shut up," he spat towards Alex, holding his hand up.

"Gareth, please," Alex pleaded.

"It's okay. It's okay," he said softly, his hard eyes not once leaving Rick. "What do you want?"

"Where are our people?"

Gareth let out a dark chuckle, one that set me completely on edge. "You didn't answer the question."

As he suddenly snapped shut his raised hand, gunfire began to open. People started to rush back down the alley, Gareth also vanishing from sight as the bullets came from the snipers above.

I gritted my teeth, pulling the gun back from Alex's head and instead firing towards the nearest roof.

"Go, go!" Rick screamed over to us, his voice rising above the noise of the gunfire. The seven of us began sprinting to the nearest alley, coming to a halt as a shower of bullets began to rain down on us. I lifted my arm to shield myself before quickly turning back, following after Rick as we raced through the courtyard.

Rick turned sharply into a garage, and I skidded to a stop, following him as he broke out into a sprint to beat the shutter doors, which were coming to a fast close. I had almost caught up to him when they slammed down, trapping us inside for good.

Rick cursed as I glanced around the room for another quick exit, my eyes falling on a black door in the corner. "This way!"

I took off towards the door, reaching it first and flinging it open, leading us into another alley filled with boxes, which all seemed to be indented with bullet holes. I breathed out heavily, glancing around for a moment until the gunfire sounded overhead again.

I dropped my head down, trying to cover myself again as I sprinted down the pathway, my eyes darting around wildly, constantly trying to search for an exit.

"Help! Help!"

I whipped my head around, slowing down at the sound of voices banging against something.

"What the hell?"

"Let us out! Help!"

I glanced around again, trying to pinpoint the sound until my attention landed on two sets of train carts. Before I could even think any further, someone had grabbed my arm, pulling me along with them. "Keep going!"

I was tugged into another building, and Michonne crossed in front of me, flinging opening the nearest door. I dashed inside after her, only to come to a surprised stop once I entered.

The whole room had been lit up by the eerie glow of candles; hundreds and hundreds of candles. I took a step forwards, careful not to tread on any of them as we all found ourselves in the centre of the room.

I glanced around, my breathing heavy as my eyes fell down to the floor, where several names had been written. Shaking away the awful feeling the place gave me, I looked up again, spotting several words on the wall, all painted in black.

Never trust. We first. Always.

"What the hell is this place?" Olivia breathed out heavily, turning around with fearful eye to get a better look.

"These people," Michonne started. "I don't think they're trying to kill us."

"No, they were aiming at our feet," Rick agreed, starting to head towards another door, however it closed shut, locking before he could reach it.

I quickly glanced around for another exit, until Daryl pointed one out. "There!"

He pushed the door open within seconds, the rest of flying through after him. We sprinted down the hall, only slowing as Michonne opened another door, the rest of us following as she ran through it to an escape.

We found ourselves outside again, the gunfire resuming as we all glanced around frantically for another way out. Olivia raised her gun up high, beginning to shoot up at something.

Suddenly, my eyes caught sight of dozens of people behind a fence, their weapons all raised. I turned around, slowing to a stop as I noticed the amount of snipers on the roof.

We were trapped.

"Drop your weapons!" Gareth ordered, appearing from beside the snipers. None of us moved. I tightened the grip on my gun. "Now!"

Daryl was the first to react, flinging down a bunch of arrows, proceeding to place his crossbow down beside them. Jade followed suit, and I watched as Carl Rick and Michonne did the same. Reluctantly, I placed my own gun down before letting my knives clatter to the ground. Olivia kept her gun raised at the snipers, her eyes heavily trained on them.

"Liv," I hissed, leaning closer. "Drop it."

After a few moments she complied, angrily placing her weapons on the ground. Gareth had a cruel smile on his face as he looked over to address Rick.

"Ringleader, go to your left," he ordered. "The train car, go." I glanced over at where he was motioning to, spotting a rusty train car with a large A painted on the side. 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 glanced over at Carl, eventually letting out a sigh. He turned from us, taking a step towards the cart.

"Now the archer." Daryl met my gaze as he passed me, his face hardening. "Now the smart mouth." I clenched my jaw, my stomach twisting at the name.

I kept my eyes set straight ahead as I made my way over to Rick and Daryl, the walk seeming further than it probably was due to being wary of the amount of eyes on me.

"Now the samurai." Michonne reluctantly began to walk over. I kept my eyes firmly focused on the others, beginning to grow nervous about Carl. "Necklace girl, you're up." Jade hesitated for a moment, exchanging a look with Olivia before making her way over. "Now the shooter," Olivia looked up at him, raising her middle finger as she headed over to us, her eyes burning with hatred. "Stand at the door, ringleader, archer, smart mouth, samurai, necklace, shooter. In that order."

I turned, standing behind Daryl, my fists clenched as I kept my eyes solely focused on Carl.

"My son!" Rick called out firmly.

A moment of silence passed before Gareth finally nodded. "Go, kid." I let out a breath of relief. "Ringleader, open the door and go in."

"I'll go in with him," Rick stated.

"Don't make us kill him now."

Rick looked over at Carl once more before giving in with another sigh, beginning to climb the small steps. He pulled open the door to the train car, disappearing into the darkness inside. Daryl began to follow and I swallowed thickly, climbing the steps after him. I reached the top, moving into the darkness, watching as everybody else made their way inside. The door was shut behind us with a bang, the last of the light disappearing.

The seven of stood in silence, as my mind instantly began working in overdrive, trying to come up with something, anything. But all I could think about was how angry I was, how stupid I felt for believing this could have worked. How delusional I must have been to think I'd see Glenn and my mom again.

A thud brought me out of my reeling mind, causing my body to tense as I slowly turned towards the other end of the train cart.

What, or who, the hell was in here with us?

My breath caught in my throat as a figure began to emerge from the shadows. "Blaire?"

I let out a choked sigh as they eventually moved into the light, allowing me to see clearly. "Glenn?"

A strong sense of relief washed over me as I rushed over, crashing into him without a care in the world. He wrapped his arms tight around my back, attempting to steady me as we stumbled backwards slightly.

"You're here," I breathed out in disbelief, pulling back, cupping his face with my hands as Glenn's own hands moved to my hips. His face was stained with dirt and grime, and he looked tired, as if he'd been through a lot. But still, his eyes remained as bright and homely as ever.

I noticed movement behind him, casting my eyes over as more figures began to step into the light. My mom. Maggie. Sasha. Bob. And two men and two women that I didn't recognise. I stiffened slightly, unsure of what to make of the new people in here with us.

"They're our friends," Maggie spoke up. "They helped save us."

Daryl nodded his head in approval. "Now they're friends of ours."

"For however long that'll be," one of the newcomers added. He was a tall, strongly built man, who appeared to be wearing the remnants of a military uniform. He could be useful.

"No," Rick declared, turning away and crossing over to the cart door, peering through one of the cracks. "They're gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out."

"Find out what?" The military man questioned, stepping forwards.

I watched Rick curiously, my heart pounding heavily in my chest. I could feel something building in the air, something that spurred me on, something that made me want to live, to fight for me, and to fight for my family. Rick nodded, turning back towards us, a determined look in his eye that caused a grin to begin growing on my lips.

"They're fucking with the wrong people."

❃

Words: 3640
Published: 11th January 2018

(Publishing again as it doesn't appear to be working for some of you guys.)

I C O N I C
Man, I fucking love that line.

Sorry for the lack of updates, but here's to my first chapter of 2018! (Happy New Year!)

This story, believe it or not, has been going for just over two years now. I've pretty much almost come to a decision that there's gonna be a cut off point for chapters in this book, as I don't want there too be so many of them that it becomes unappealing to read.

I love Blaire and I love writing her story, so I want to continue on with a sequel. So I'm considering the cut off point being maybe 50 chapters, and then moving on to the next book.

But I would really like to get your opinions on it, as obviously you are the ones reading so you know what you'd prefer.