Part 50! Holy cow, it's gone so fast. I hope you enjoy the chapter! Please vote/comment. I love to hear from you guys and it really motivates me to get updates out faster.

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Jo

We went over the fence around the back of the train yards. Rick went over first. He landed lightly, and covered us. Carl and Michonne went next as Daryl and I watched our backs. Daryl stood below me while I climbed, and I felt his hand on the small of my back until I was too high for him to reach.

I smiled to myself. He may be in a weird place, but he still cared about me, even if he didn't realize he was showing it. I jumped down, and landed lightly. As soon as I was down I drew my knives. I kept the spines of the blades tight against my forearms and settled into a ready crouch. Daryl landed beside me. Rick motioned and the two of us led, side by side like always.

We found an unlocked back door on one of the low cinder block buildings. Daryl held up a finger and pointed at me and then the knob. He raised his crossbow to his shoulder. I nodded and dropped into a low crouch in front of him so he could fire over my head if necessary. I reached out and turned the knob and flung the door wide open. There was nobody there.

I was starting to get a bad feeling. Either this was a trap, or these people were incompetent with their security. Neither would be good for us. I met Daryl's eyes and he shrugged and continued to lead the way. We crept down a dark hallway when we heard a voice.

"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."

Daryl peered around the next corner. I was right behind him and I saw his shoulders tense. There was someone in there. All I could see was a large open room that was well lit. Daryl turned back to me and I could see the tension in his face. This was it. He glanced once at Rick and then dropped his eyes to me. I could see the indecision written all over his face. He didn't like taking this chance. He moved his eyes from the knives I had gripped in my hands to the holster where my handgun was and I understood instantly. I put my knives away and pulled the gun. It felt weird in my grip, I didn't use it often, if at all, but there must be people in the room, and where they were located it made more sense for me to have a gun.

I nodded to him. I was fine. We were all fine. He nodded back and seemed happy I understood. He stepped out into the room, letting the rest of us follow. It was a large, mostly empty warehouse. There were tables and white boards in it's center, with maps spread over every surface. I could see the woman talking, she was speaking into ancient looking radio equipment. There were eight people in sight, but that didn't mean there weren't more.

The woman had continued speaking the whole time. "Terminus, community for all-"

Rick walked around us and went right up to her. "Hello," he greeted cordially, his gun naked in his hand.

The woman froze, her eyes going wide in surprise. Rick turned back to the rest of the people in the room. "Hello," he said again. The five of us lined up a couple feet apart so they could get a good look at us.

A man in his thirties turned to face us. He didn't look surprised, instead he looked annoyed. "Well, I bet Albert is on perimeter watch." He threw his marker down on top of the map in front of him. He stepped around the tables so he was standing between us and his people. He was thin and wiry and looked very much like someone who worked hard at coming across as non-threatening. I didn't see any visible weapons on him.

Daryl met my eyes briefly, flicking his gaze from me to the man and back again. I narrowed my eyes at him once, letting him see I didn't trust what I was seeing with this guy. Daryl nodded in agreement and both of us turned back to Rick and the man in front of us.

Daryl and I had perfected a long time ago a silent way to communicate about someone. It had saved our lives dozens of times back when we were bringing people in for the prison. Daryl trusted my ability to read body language and I trusted his instincts.

"Are you here to rob us?" the man asked in a calm voice.

"No," Rick said. He stepped forward a few steps, holstering the gun. "We wanted to see you before you saw us."

The man nodded as though he had never considered that. "Makes sense," he said with a smile. Then he started walking towards us. "Usually we do this where the tracks meet," he cleared his throat. "Welcome to Terminus," he greeted dramatically, holding his arms out. "I'm Gareth." He let his eyes drift over each of us. "Looks like you've been on the road for a good bit."

"We have," Rick agreed seriously. "I'm Rick." He jerked his chin towards each of us in turn. "That's Carl, Jo, Daryl, Michonne."

Gareth stood there awkwardly for a minute, eyeing our weapons. "You're nervous, I get it." He said after a beat and I was pretty sure we weren't the ones who seemed nervous. "We were all the same way. We came here for sanctuary." He looked at each and every one of us before he asked his next question. "Is that what you are here for?"

Rick's voice was rough and tired. "Yes."

Gareth nodded and his face moved into something resembling sympathy but it didn't make it. I frowned. I wasn't quite buying it from him.

"Good, you found it. Hey Alex!" He called over his shoulder before turning back to us. "This isn't as pretty as the front. We got nothing to hide, but the welcome wagon is a whole lot nicer," he said with another marginally insincere smile. I glanced at Michonne and Carl. Both of them seemed to believe him. Maybe I was being paranoid. I had been taken by the people of Woodbury and wasn't in a hurry to repeat the experience.

"Alex here will 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 looked down the line at each of us. He paused to lock eyes with us and nodded subtly. It did make sense. It would be stupid to let strangers into your home without checking their weapons. Still, when Rick met my gaze I couldn't help but shake my head once. I didn't want to lay down my weapons and be unarmed around these people I didn't know and didn't trust.

"All right," Rick agreed, ignoring me. He turned back to Gareth and pulled his gun out of it's holster, laying it on the ground.

"I'm sure you understand," Gareth said a little awkwardly.

Maybe my feelings were wrong. Maybe Gareth just wasn't used to interacting with the new people. He seemed nice enough, but he also seemed like he was more involved in the behind the scenes running than anything else.

We all followed Rick's lead. I dropped my handgun and Carl threw his down beside mine. I heard Daryl set down his crossbow and drop his knife with a clatter. Gareth stepped up to Rick and motioned for him to hold his arms out to the side so he could search him.

I sighed, if they were going to pat us down I had no choice. I reached for the zipped of my jacket and slowly slid it down. Both Gareth and Alex turned to me curiously but I ignored their gazes and started pulling knives. Everyone else had already set down all their stuff while I continued dropping them onto the cement where they clattered loudly. The other people of Terminus turned their amusement filled eyes to me.

I lay down my kukri and Daryl's hunting knife. I pulled my other three throwing knives and two steak knives I had kept. I bent over and pulled the knife out of the sheath that ran up the outside of my boot dropping that and the small fold up blade that nestled inside my boot next to my calf.

When I straightened I saw Gareth had stopped what he was doing and was watching me with keen interest. I heard Daryl draw in a quiet breath beside me and I glanced at him. His eyes were on Gareth who was still watching me.

Alex stepped up to Daryl first. "I hate to see the other guy," he said with a forced nervous laugh.

I glared at him. "You really would," I said, letting them hear the venom in my voice.

Alex stepped over to me next. I tensed as he started to pat me down. I wasn't like Daryl, I didn't hate being touched by people, but being touched by strangers was something I had never been a fan of and I was still sore from my run in with Billy. Daryl was watching Alex intently and he tensed beside me when Alex slid his hands beneath my jacket. Alex moved with quick, efficiency, not lingering anywhere inappropriately. If he had, he may have found my last fold up knife I had found in one of the packs from this morning that I slid beneath my bra strap. But he was a perfect gentleman, so he missed it.

"Did they deserve it?" Alex asked, glancing down at the pile of knives at my feet and his eyes hovered over the side of my face that was still tender to the touch.

"Yes they did," Carl growled from beside me.

Gareth stepped forward. "Just so you know, we aren't those kind of people,but we aren't stupid either." He said in what I think was supposed to be a reassuring voice. "And you shouldn't be stupid enough to try anything stupid. As long as everyone is clear on that we shouldn't have any problems," he said with a grim smile. "Just solutions. Okay." He said turning away from us.

Alex, who was standing near Michonne, bent down and picked up her katana and held it out to her. She stared at him, not sure if she should take it or not. He nodded reassuringly and so she did, though she frowned after him. He stooped to hand Daryl's crossbow back to him, but Daryl grabbed it before the other man could touch it. I bit back an inappropriate smile as Daryl glared at the other man for daring to touch his baby. Alex frowned down at my pile of knives and reached out and stopped then looked back at me. I understood it was supposed to be some kind of symbolic gesture for them to hand back our weapons, but who had that kind of time. I jerked my head towards Carl, telling him to move on. I sank down to a knee and quickly replaced all my knives. By the time he had handed Rick his gun back I was sliding my Kukri away.

"Follow me," Alex said with a smile.

I glanced towards Gareth and shifted uncomfortably as I rose to my feet. He had been watching me the whole time. Daryl stepped up, and I could feel his warmth at my back. It made me feel better, more secure. I turned away from Gareth's gaze and trailed after Carl and Rick.

Alex led us down a hall and out the front door. Daryl stepped up so he was standing beside the man, his crossbow still gripped in his fist.

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

Alex smiled at the question. "Since almost the start," he responded eagerly. He reminded me of an excited puppy. "When all the camps got over run, people started finding this place. I think it was instinct you know? Follow a path. Some folks were headed to the coast, others out west or up north but they all wound up here."

Rick and I hung back from the others, keeping our eyes on the place. I was trying to find all the possible exits. It took me exactly thirty seconds to realize I couldn't find one other than the way we had just come through the building. We were completely enclosed by buildings. It was cheery looking, with potted plants and laundry hanging out to dry. Alex led us into a larger area that had several picnic tables under umbrellas and a large grill.

A matronly woman who reminded me of Gareth somehow greeted us. "Hi," she said with a smile that didn't quite convince me. It wasn't so much in her looks as her mannerisms. Daryl was in front of me, so I couldn't meet his eyes and see if he was seeing the same things I was. I was tired and had been through a lot in the last few days, maybe I was being paranoid. I didn't want to screw this up for everyone because I couldn't get over the bullshit from my past.

"Heard you came in the backdoor," she said, as she tended the grill. It reminded me of another grill where I stood with another woman and talked. I hadn't heard yet what happened to Carol and it made me sad. If no one had mentioned her I had to assume the worse. "That's smart," she said with a warn smile. "You'll fit right in here."

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Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Thanks for reading! Please comment/ vote. I know it seems like it is taking a long time for them to get together but I'm doing my best to stay true to the characters.