CHAPTER FIFTY » UNKNOWN
"You ready for this?"

♔

The group trudged silently through the forest after Rick.

Once we had made it a fair distance away from Terminus, he came to a stop, moving a few feet away to bring out a small shovel that had been cleverly concealed by brambles and leaves.

He dug down into a mount of dirt nearby, eventually revealing the blue bag of weapons we'd left behind.

"The hell are we still around here for?" Abraham questioned harshly, his eyes narrowing as he watched Rick pull the bag out from the ground.

"Guns, some supplies," Rick responded. "Go along the fences. Use the rifles. Take out the rest of 'em."

"Wait," I snapped my head in his direction. "What?"

"They don't get to live," he bit back, his stare hardening.

"Rick, we got out," Glenn argued. "It's over."

"It's not over until they're all dead," Rick countered sternly, roughly pulling out his revolver to check it over.

"The hell it isn't," Rosita snapped back. "That place is on fire. Full of walkers."

Abraham nodded in agreement. "I'm not dicking around with this crap. We just made it out."

"The fences are down," Maggie added, calmly. "They'll run or die."

Rick remained quiet as he appeared to deliberate over his choices. Whilst waiting, I took the opportunity to bend down beside the bag of weapons. I reached inside, rifling through until, I found the two knives I'd left in there, along with a clip of ammo.

I brushed the dirt from my knees as I straightened up again, noticing Glenn watching me with raised eyebrows.

I shrugged. "Girl's gotta be prepared."

An amused smile tugged at the corner's of his mouth, only it faltered moments later. His eyes darkened, wandering over my shoulder and into the distance. Beside me, my mom and Olivia both stiffened. I began to turn around, my heart leaping in surprise as I watched a dark figure, completely covered in blood and dirt, emerge from behind Daryl.

"Carol?"

Daryl's eyes widened with surprise as he quickly whipped his head around, coming face to face with her. I froze, swallowing thickly as he lurched forwards, throwing himself into her arms and hugging her tightly.

Rick let out a somewhat relieved laugh, moving towards them both. Daryl soon stepped back, his bright eyes turning back to look at the group. Our eyes met for the briefest instance, and his gaze soon faltered as he seemed to remember what happened back at the prison.

I swallowed thickly as I watched Carol warmly embrace Rick. Glenn soon reached for my hand, squeezing it tightly. I lifted my head up to face him, giving him a small nod of assurance.

I wasn't angry at Carol, and, for the most part, I didn't intend to be hostile. I knew I wasn't supposed to take what she did personally – Rick had repeatedly told me that she wasn't in the right place, the right state of mind. But that didn't mean it never happened. And it didn't mean I could just forget that it did so easily.

"Did you do that?" Rick asked, referring to the devastation back in terminus. Carol smiled up at him, letting out a small laugh in response, until, all of a sudden, her eyes suddenly widened with urgency.

"You have to come with me," she told Rick eagerly. His eyebrows drew together in confusion for a moment, but he didn't waste any more time before following.

The rest of the group began to follow their lead without hesitation, everyone walking in silence as we headed deeper through the forest.

Carol seemed eager to reach the destination, and the look on her face seemed to reassure that this was going to be something good. But, somehow, my heart still continued to race in anxious anticipation.

We soon reached the top of a steep hill, where a log cabin stood in the distance. As we moved closer, the door carefully began to open and a tall, strongly built man stepped out, gently cradling something in his arms.

The group began to slow to a stop, collectively coming to our own realisations. It was Tyreese and Judith.

All of a sudden, Rick let out a choked breath, dropping the bag and his weapons to the ground. He began rushing towards the cabin, Carl following after him almost immediately.

I took another step forwards, tears beginning to brim in my eyes as I watched the Grimes family reunite. Rick and Carl took Judith into their arms, their faces brightening with joy.

A gentle hand wrapped around my waist, bringing my body closer to theirs. I looked up at Glenn with a warm smile.

Rick's eyes wandered back to the group, where he met my gaze for a moment. I nodded, and he smiled back for a brief instance, before turning his attention back to Judith.

I leaned in closer to Glenn, my attention remaining on the beautiful scene in front of me for a moment longer.

Once the rest of us had began to make our way down the hill, Rick met us in the middle, his face completely washed away of the emotion we'd just witnessed. "I don't know if the fire's still burning."

"It is," Carol replied, directing her attention to the black cloud of smoke billowing out from terminus.

Rick passed Judith over to Carl, instead reaching down to the bag of weapons. "We need to go."

"Yeah, but where?" Daryl questioned.

"Somewhere far away from here," Rick decided, his eyes briefly flitting over the whole group, who seemed to nod in shared agreement.

Even the newcomers had seemed set on staying with us, which I was mostly glad for. We would be stronger in a larger group, and they'd sure proved their worth. They were one of us now.

On Rick's order, the group soon began to set off, a few already disappearing into the trees again. Glenn had only made it a few steps ahead of me before he glanced back, realising I was slowing to a stop.

"What's up?"

I glanced back over my shoulder, aware that Rick hadn't moved either. Glenn followed my eyes, nodding in understanding.

"I'll catch up," I told him.

I began to make my way back to Rick, weaving through the rest of the group as they continued to head past me.

He stood stoically, staring down at a Terminus sign with cold eyes. As I stopped beside him he bent down, scooping up some mud from the ground and adding it to the sign.

I watched silently until he stepped back, the two of us pausing to examine what he'd written.

NO SANCTUARY

Nonchalantly, Rick brushed the mud from his hands, turning his head to watch after the group. "We haven't done this for a while."

I looked up at him. "Just like old times."

Rick let out a heavy sigh. "You think we can do this again?"

I shook my head. "No," I smiled. "I know we can."

Rick remained silent, and slightly unconvinced. I lifted my hand, squeezing his forearm reassuringly, prompting his eyes to shift to mine. A weak smile tugged on his lips.

"You know, we've been to hell and back," I reminded him. "This? This is nothing compared to what our group has faced. It doesn't matter how we do it. It doesn't matter – as long as we do it together. Rick we're a family, we're a team. Nobody can take that away from us, okay? Nobody."

Rick watched me with a smile, his eyes seeming to dance with some sense of pride as he clasped a hand on my shoulder.

I directed my eyes down to the Terminus sign once last time, the place already beginning to feel like it was a distant memory.

"You ready for this?"

I looked back up at Rick, nodding my head in response. "Always."

There was no plan this time, no set up. It was just all of us stumbling into the unknown together, not knowing where we'd end up, or what we'd be doing, who we'd become. But it didn't matter, nothing mattered as long as we were surviving; surviving together.

Because no matter where we were, no matter what we were doing, our group was still home.

TO BE CONTINUED

❃

(IMPORTANT A/N BELOW)

Words: 1386
Published: 10th March 2018

After two years, Abnormality has come to a close.

Honestly, looking back I cringe at a lot of the early chapters I wrote. And I'm sure in a few months time I'll look back on this final chapter and cringe too.

But, somehow, despite my sometimes horrific writing, I've still had amazing people reading, voting and commenting on the story. And that means a hell of a lot to me – especially to those who have stuck with this story since the very first chapter was posted.

I am so proud of Blaire and her journey, and I can't wait to continue on developing her character and her relationships even further.

Because this is 100% not the end. Glenn and Blaire have further to go.

So if you wanna stick with them, then their story will continue through book  two CALAMITY – https://my.w.tt/gU7s5B6p9K

I hope to see all of you there.

Thank you.

If you enjoyed this story and would like to support me, my ko-fi is mollywrites: https://ko-fi.com/mollywrites
(It's also in my bio for anyone who wants the direct link!)

- Molly