FIFTY SEVEN. towing the line

SILENCE was something that usually accompanied a group while traveling. And, it almost definitely followed after a set of tragic events. The death of Joe and his group wasn't tragic per say, it was what happened in between. When Theo closed her eyes, the memories of the previous night flashed within her mind - the crimson that stained her hands not helping with the repetitive hauntings.

They had already packed up and left the abandoned car on the side of the road where it belonged, continuing on their journey to the esteemed sanctuary named Terminus. They traveled on the railroad tracks, dried leaves covering the spaces in between the space. Theo trailed behind in the back, her thoughts preoccupying the ability to speak to anyone - even Carl who walked alongside her.

A fallen sign caught Rick and Michonne's eyes as they led the small group, Daryl lingering awkwardly between the group as they came to a stop. "We're getting close," The redneck spoke, his voice crawling from the depths of his throat - emitting a low and raspy sound. "Be there before sundown." He added, eyes looking back at Theo who nodded her head in silent confirmation.

Rick curled his hand around the strap of a bag tossed over his shoulder, "Now we head through the woods." he said, motioning towards the forest surrounding the railroad tracks they walked within. "We don't know who they are." He added, their recent encounter with the claimers causing their guard to rise to an all time high.

"Alright." Daryl agreed, stepping over the tracks and down the small hill that led them into the forest. Theo trailed after him, her arms crossed over her chest as she gave Michonne a tight lipped smile when passing her. The air was chilly, and the missing presence of her shirt would have caused her to freeze if it hadn't been for the long sleeved one that Carl gave her within his duffle bag.

The group of five silently trekked through the woods until they reached a chain link fence - giving them a birds eye view of Terminus. Theo curled her bloodstained fingers against the chains, attentive eyes scaling the multiple brick buildings. It was where all the tracks met, making a home inside of an abandoned railroad yard. "It's quiet." She stated, squinting her eyes to see clearer.

"She's right." Rick agreed, standing next to her as they looked around the community in search of people. The bold letters of TERMINUS was painted across several windows, the five survivors on the other side of the hidden fence peering into their defenses. "We all spread out, watch for a while, see what we see and get ready."

"We all stay close." The leader instructed lastly, Theo uncurling her fingers from around the chain link fence and moving away from it. Daryl turned to her, his hands tightening around the handle of his crossbow - "You comin' with me?" He asked, the idea of telling the girl he was worried about her running for the hills.

"Sure." Theo agreed, sticking alongside the silent man as they weaved through the tall trees of the forest. The girl expected a conversation to pop up between the two of them, but nothing ever did. Daryl searched his mind for something to say - not knowing how to express the heavy concerns he felt for the eleven year old. Instead, the forest was filled with an awkward silence as they walked.

Every so often her eyes drifted over to the man, catching his attention to be on her before he anxiously pulled his sight away and left them in a silence. Theo caught this several times before finally breaking the air with a sigh, stopping next to a tree and watching as he turned around to look at her with squinted eyes - "See somethin'?"

"No, Daryl, I don't see somethin'." Theo informed, laying on a thick southern accent with the last two words as she attempted to mock his voice but failed horribly. "You can stop worrying about me. I'm fine." She assured, the lies becoming more noticeable as she drifted her eyes away from the redneck and into the depths of the forest.

The man grunted at her words, finding them similar to his own when he was assuring someone that he was okay when in truth, he was far from it. "Alright then." He agreed, knowing nothing he could say would help the kid in any way. "Let's go," Daryl instructed, placing his calloused hand on her shoulder before leading her back to where the others would be.

Approaching the hunched over figures of Rick, Carl, and Michonne - Theo crossed her arms over her chest as she peered over her friends shoulder. "What's that for?" She questioned, eyeing the small hole that had been dug into the forests ground as Rick stuffed a blue duffle bag inside of it. "Oh, that makes sense." She added, realizing he was stashing weapons just incase anything went wrong inside.

Watching as he placed his python inside of the bag, she suddenly remembered the gun that belonged to Adeline inside of her own. "Wait a second." Theo spoke up, her hands pulling the flap of the messenger bag open.

Curling her fingers around the engraved handle of the pistol, she tugged it from the bag - Daryl's attentive eyes catching sight of the familiar weapon, the same question that had been running through his head for days returning.

Where was she?

Without an answer, Theo kneeled down next to Rick and carefully placed the pistol inside of the duffle bag. "Don't want it to get lost or something like that." She informed, feeling the eyes of the brother and archer on her as she delicately let go of the handle and stood back to her feet.

Rick sighed softly at the girls words, his hand falling down to the red handle of his sisters machete. With no words, he slid the weapon from his belt loop and placed it into the bag alongside the pistol. He grabbed the small hand held shovel inside before zipping up the bag and covering it with dirt as the group watched silently.

After finishing, the eldest Grimes led them back to the chain link fence - climbing over it with ease. Carl and Michonne followed behind him, Theo curling her hands around the metal and attempting to pull herself up. A sudden ache of pain pinched her side, a muffled grunt filling her mouth as her feet returned to the ground.

Cupping the side of her stomach, Theo turned to look at Daryl with apologetic eyes. "This is embarrassing." She whispered, hearing the man sigh - helping her up and over the fence before climbing it himself. After finding themselves back with the three, it wasn't long until they quietly began making their way over to the back doors of one of the several buildings, Theo unsheathing her knife.

The door they had chosen was cracked open slightly, the echoed sound of an almost robotic like voice heard from within. "Terminus - those who arrive survive. Follow the tracks to the point where all lines intersect." The voice grew closer as they entered the building, weapons at the ready.

Their shoes scraped against the long concrete floor of a hallway, another entrance lingering at the end to the left. Theo remained silent alongside Carl, the two of them stuck protectively between the adults of their group. The voice continued growing louder as they rounded the entrance, eyes fixated upon a woman sitting at a table.

She was older, grey hair framed neatly around her face alongside a pair of headphones. She spoke into what looked like a microphone, finger pressed against a button. Theo guessed she was broadcasting the automated message, which in her opinion seemed very dangerous.

They entered further into the large and barren room, several people gathered around the other side. They stood next to a few tables, paintbrushes and pencils in hand as they decorated signs identical to the ones the group had been following for the past few days. Filtering into the room, confusion began to approach them at the people that were painfully oblivious to their looming presence.

Rick decided to take action, walking towards the woman with his hand resting against the hilt of the pistol he had in the place of his python. "Hello." He spoke, officially announcing their presence as the woman stopped talking into the microphone and looked over to them with wide eyes full of shock. She hastily removed the headphones over her ears, eyeing the group that had entered.

"Hello." Rick repeated, raising his voice to reach the people at the end of the room. Their heads simultaneously turned, abruptly stopping their movements as a heavy silence filtered through the air. One in particular rolled his eyes, laying down a paintbrush as he looked to the group.

"Well, I bet Albert is on perimeter watch." He broke the silence, moving away from the table and began to approach the five figures. "You here to rob us?" He questioned, careful eyes catching sight of Theo's bloodstained fingers tightening around her knife.

"Would've been easy if we were." The eleven year old whispered underneath her breath, receiving a quick shush from Michonne who stood next to her. Theo awkwardly adverted her eyes to the ground and swallowed her words before turning her eyes back to the man coming closer.

Rick pulled his attention away from the eleven year old and placed it back onto the stranger, "No. We wanted to see you before you saw us." He informed, walking a few feet forward. He holstered his pistol, clicking the safety on and eyeing the man who chuckled softly at his words.

"Makes sense." He agreed, fastening his pace slightly to become closer to the group. "We usually do this where the tracks meet." He informed, clearing his throat and raising his hands towards the room - "Welcome to Terminus. I'm Gareth. Looks like you've been on the road for a good bit." He speculated, inspecting the group of five.

The leader nodded in confirmation, "We have." Rick informed, keeping his guard up. "I'm Rick. That's Carl, Michonne, Theo, and Daryl." He introduced, naming his family down the line as the kid waved awkwardly towards the people with her knife in her hand.

Gareth waved back with a tight lipped smile, the heavy silence of the group weighing awkwardly on his shoulders as he turned back to Rick. "You're nervous! I get it. We were all the same way." He spoke, gesturing towards the people that stood behind him. "We came here for sanctuary. That what you're here for?" He inquired, moving to stand a few feet away from the groups leader.

"Yes." Rick answered, keeping his words short.

Gareth nodded, "Good. You found it." He informed, pulling his eyes away from the bearded man and to a younger looking guy in the back. "Hey, Alex." He motioned for the boy to come forward before looking back at the group - "This isn't as pretty as the front."

"It could definitely use some... paintings." Theo replied, a red flush surrounding her cheeks as she hastily shook her head in embarrassment. Whether the two men would admit it or not, the girl was definitely a breath of fresh air from the stoic faces they were usually greeted with at the entrance of Terminus.

Gareth chuckled, "Well, we got nothing to hide but the welcome wagon is a whole lot nicer." He informed as the man, Alex, finally reached his side. "Alex here 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." He instructed the roughened up group.

A silent pause wavered in the air before Rick nodded in confirmation, looking to his family as he unholstered his pistol once again. "Alright." He agreed, laying the weapon against the concrete before grabbing his knife and placing it alongside it. "I'm sure you understand." Gareth assured, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes I do." Rick knowingly responded to his words.

Theo sighed softly before bending down, careful to avoid the sore spot on the side of her stomach. Uncurling her fingers from around the handle of her knife, she placed it against the concrete. Realizing she had no more weapons, seeing as she had abandoned her rifle back at the house they had camped in and stuffed Adelines pistol into the duffle bag outside - the eleven year old stood to her feet.

Watching as the rest of the group reluctantly sat their weapons against the concrete and raised their arms to be patted down; she followed order. The side of her stomach ached with a sore pain, breathing deeply as she shifted awkwardly on her feet. Gareth moved to stand in front of her, the same tight smile as before curled around his lips.

Eyeing the rather large bruise that formed around the left side of her face - the smile disappeared as his eyes softened slightly at the sight. "Hate to see the other guy." He announced, his hands carefully patting the girl down. As they made contact with the soreness of her side, Theo felt her stance falter and body flinch in pain, a small whimper of pain escaping from the barrens of her throat.

Daryl stepped forward, a protective look held in his eyes as he stared the man in front of her down with a sharp look. Rick looked at the two, carefully keeping his sight on Gareth. "You would." He replied to the man's previous comment, hands lowering back to his side as he spoke.

Alex began patting down the younger boy, "They deserve it?" he questioned before moving away from the boy and taking a few steps back. "Yes." Carl answered, his voice filled with annoyance as Rick looked to his son with bothered eyes. Gareth looked at the group as he stepped away from Theo, picking her knife up from the ground and handing it to her with a soft smile.

"Just so you know," He started while moving away from her. "We aren't those kinds of people, but we aren't stupid either. And you shouldn't be stupid enough to try anything stupid." He advised, glancing at the girl as she carefully slid the hunting knife back into its sheath on her side. "As long as everyone's clear on that, we shouldn't have any problems." Gareth added, looking at the group.

Theo nodded - "Crystal." she spoke quietly, Rick glancing at her with squinted eyes. Adverting her sight from him, she tapped her feet awkwardly and looked up at tall ceiling of the building. Gareth took one more look at the group before walking off, leaving Alex to take over.

"Okay." Alex spoke, patting his sides as the group picked up their weapons off of the ground. "Follow me," He instructed with a friendly smile, leading the reluctant group out of the building - the sunlight greeting their faces as they stepped outside. Theo walked alongside Daryl, her curious eyes looking around the buildings.

"So how long's this place been here?" Daryl questioned, his rough voice causing Alex to look back at his figure behind of him. "Since almost the start. When all the camps got overrun, people started finding this place. I think it was instinct, you know? Follow a path." He continued, leading them into an open courtyard.

The area reminded Theo of the prison, various square shaped garden like areas lingering above the pavement. There were multiple circular tables, a shading umbrella hovering above them with chairs seated around them. A few people lingered in the courtyard, eyes catching sight of the group entering as they approached a woman behind a grill - cooking a variety of meats on the surface.

"Some folks were heading to the coast, others out west or up north, but they all wound up here." Alex informed, stopping in his step in front of the grill as he gestured towards the place around them. Theo looked around, her eyes squinted due to the sun, but catching the familiar sight of a poncho that Adeline used to wear.

Furrowing her brows, Theo completely blocked out the conversation happening around her - attention focused solely on the piece of clothing. She shifted on her feet, eyes turning to Rick who had the same look as her worn on his face. "Do you..." She started, words disappearing from her throat as she shook her head in confusion.

"I see it." He responded, eyes turning back to Alex who started to hand the young girl a plate of cooked meat. Rick caught sight of the chain hanging from his pants, hastily stepping forward and smacking the plate of food out of the guys hand. In one swift movement, Alex's gun clattered out of his holster - Theo hurriedly grabbing it and raising it as the rest of the group did the same.

Rick jerked the familiar pocket watch out of Alex's jeans, holding it to his face as he unholstered his own gun and pressed the barrel to the side of the boys face. Panic ensued in Terminus, people standing from their seats and raising their guns as Theo flicked the safety off of hers. Daryl raised his crossbow as Carl copied the girls actions and Michonne unsheathed her sword, holding it out.

"Where'd you get this watch?" Rick seethed, fixing his grip on his gun as he curled his arm around Alex's neck. With no answer, the eldest Grimes tightened his grip around the man's neck - "Where the hell did you get this watch?" He repeated, his voice full of anger and fury.

"You want answers? You want anything else? You get 'em when you put down the gun!" Alex yelled, a tinge of fear held in his tone as Theo kept her gun pointed at one of the men standing in the courtyard with his own raised.

"I see your man on the roof," Rick informed while pushing them closer to the sniper. "How good's his aim? Where'd you get the watch?" He questioned again, the man in his hold remaining silent. "Where'd you get the watch?!" He roared, pushing the barrel into Alex's skin.

The man shook with fear, "Don't do anything! I have this! You just put it down," He instructed to the sniper on the roof - Theo's eyes momentarily shifting over to the man on the top of the building next to her. "Put it down!" Alex repeated, watching as the man above lowered the gun.

"You want to listen to me. There's a lot of us."

"Where... did you get... the watch?" Rick repeated, shoving his pistol further into the side of his head. "I got it off of a dead one. I didn't think he'd need it." Alex whimpered, his voice cracking with fear. Rick scoffed, "What about the poncho? The riot gear?" He inquired.

"Got the riot gear off a dead cop." The calm voice of Gareth was heard from behind Theo, her body hastily twisting around and raising the gun to aim towards him as she backed up slightly, her hands trembling against the gun. "Found the poncho on a clothesline."

"You're lying." The eleven year old spoke, her voice shaking with both anger and nervousness.

"Gareth, we can wait." Alex pleaded, only for the man to cut him off. "Shut up, Alex." He spoke calmly. Rick eyed the two, "You talk to me." The leader instructed angrily.

"What's there left to say?" Gareth questioned, furrowing his brows as he spoke. "You don't trust us anymore. Rick, what do you want?" He inquired curiously, taking a small step forward.

Rick squinted his eyes, "Where are our people?"

"You didn't answer the question." Gareth retorted, holding his hand and quickly enclosing it into a fist.

A series of gunfire broke through the air, anger roaring through Rick as he quickly guarded himself with Alex's body - a bullet embedding itself into the defenseless man's head. Theo flinched, guarding herself from the incoming bullets as Rick yelled for them to run. In the blink of an eye, the group of five took off in a sprint towards the building they had come in from.

Bullets poured into the concrete in front of them, keeping them from going inside. Feeling a hand curl against her arm, Theo quickly registered it as Daryl as he pulled her alongside him - rushing through the courtyard. Gunfire echoed around them, a repeating loop happening to them as they found themselves being blocked off by a series of bullets embedded into the pavement.

They rushed past stacked train cars, yells and bangs of Help! coming from inside them as they continued going. They snuck through a building, a door shut off as they entered and only leaving them with one exit. "Guys they suck at aiming," Theo informed, ragged breaths breaking from her as she kept the gun by her side.

"They're aiming at our feet." Rick corrected her, a look of understanding flowering against her expression as she nodded. "Okay, yeah. Cool." Theo whispered, wiping the sweat from her brow as the leader lead them through the only open door and into another courtyard.

Their journey was quickly pulled to an abrupt stop, Theo's sneakers skimming against the concrete as she slowed her footfall. Eight people stood behind the fence before them, rifles placed between the chain links and pointed directly at them. "Really?" She heaved, pressing her hands to her knees as she took a deep breath in - the pain on her side causing her to wince in her spot.

Feeling defeat weasel their way into their bodies, Theo allowed the pistol to clatter to the concrete as she turned around to look up at the familiar figure of Gareth who stood on top of the roof with a cocky smirk - the rest of the group keeping their weapons at hand. "Drop your weapons!" He yelled into the open air, voice sharp.

With a reluctant pause, the group threw their weapons onto the ground- Theo unsheathing her knife and tossing it to the concrete as she breathed heavily. Pulling the strap of her bag over her head, she slyly grabbed the pencil that was hanging from the side and tucked it into her sleeve before carefully lowering the bag to the ground.

"Ringleader, go to your left." Gareth instructed, causing Rick to look to him with squinted eyes. "The train car, go." He added, Theo turning her head to take notice of the rather large red train car that sat to the left of her. A white A was painted against the surface, naming their prison.

Rick stood still, eyes shifting to the train car and turning back to the man on the roof unfazed. "You do what we say, the boy and girl goes with you. Anything else, they die and you end up in there anyway." Gareth informed, his words causing Theo's heart to quicken irregularly.

With a reluctant stare, the eldest Grimes pulled away from the group and began walking towards the train car. "Now the Archer." Gareth listed, Daryl keeping his eyes trained on the man before glancing at Theo and following after Rick. "The Samurai." He continued from above, a look of anger wavering in Michonnes features as she walked off.

Without instructing Theo and Carl to go, Gareth yelled for Rick to open the door of the train car. "Stand at the door, Ringleader, Archer, Samurai- in that order." He spoke, watching as Rick straightened his back and turned to look at the two kids standing together in the courtyard. "Open the door and step in!" Gareth yelled, his voice straining.

"Not without them!" Rick screamed, a protective look gleaming over his features as he glared at the man above.

"Go, Jester." Gareth named, his eyes focused on the small body of Theo as she looked to him with furrowed brows. Pulling her eyes away, she turned to Carl and back to the once friendly man - "Can I walk with him?" She questioned, motioning towards her best friend.

"Fine. Go!" Gareth yelled, relief wavering through her features as she stepped towards Carl and wrapped her hand around his own. He nodded at her, trailing behind her with his hand encased in hers. Their shoes scraped against the concrete, instructions shouted from above as Rick heaved the door to the train car open.

They reached the wooden steps leading to the car, hands clasped together. With the word to go in, Rick stepped foot inside of the train car with Daryl and Michonne following behind him. Theo stepped up next, keeping her careful grip on Carl's hand as they walked up the stairs.

Entering the train car, it was rolled shut behind them - little light leaking through as the girl shifted on her feet and squeezed her best-friends hand to make sure he was still there. It was silent, the muffled sounds of footsteps echoing from the other side of the train car while Theo moved closer to the figures she knew as her family.

"Rick?" A familiar voice whispered from the opposite side as them, relief tearing through the group as Glenn Rhee stepped into the small amount of light that seeped through the cracks of the door. Maggie trailed behind him, making herself known as several other figures appeared behind them - some familiar to the eyes of Theo and some not.

"You're here." Rick spoke, relief covering his voice. He took a step forward, eyes searching the group for the face of his sister but it was nowhere to be found. The same worry for the woman crawled its way into the veins of the family - the hope of finding the one person they had always cherished slowly losing its grip on their hearts.

Theo trailed her eyes over the group, squinting them slightly at the nameless figures behind her family. Rick noticed them too, stepping back with a curious face as Maggie looked in between them - "They're our friends. They helped save us." She informed, motioning towards Sasha and Bob who stood next to the married couple.

"Yeah..." Daryl spoke, nodding his head. "Now they're friends of ours." He informed, a small look of unspoken gratitude sinking in his eyes as he looked to the strangers.

"For however long that'll be." A taller man spoke up from behind Maggie and a girl with low pigtails, a red mustache sitting proudly above his lip, turning down towards his chin as he curiously eyed the group.

"No." Rick was quick to speak, stepping towards the door as the group kept their eyes on him. "They're gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out." He stated, Theo furrowing her brows as a small manner of confusion.

"Find out what?" The red headed man from before spoke.

Rick peeked through the crack of the door, the light from outside peering in and casting uneven shadows against his dirtied skin. "They're fucking with the wrong people."

━━━━━ AUTHORS NOTE.

AHGSHEHD?!?!? AHHH!!!?! omg
end of SEASON 4?!! IM SO EXCITED
TO WRITE SEASON 5 YALL OMG
also double update for my babes that
have been waiting for a reunion! it's
right under act two :)

what are your guys expectations for adeline & theo
in season 5? please lmk i love to hear y'all's thoughts

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