One

Picking up where Season 4 left off. The gang is still in the box car of Terminus. This chapter is more of an introduction. The next chapters will be longer, I promise.

It felt like it had been days since they'd last seen sunlight. The feeling of hunger had overcome them, and fear had faded. No one had opened the door since it had been closed. They'd heard faint voices in the distance, but that was it as far as contact with the outside. Thankfully, the flashlight that Abraham had been carrying was lasting quite a long time. Without it, the group would surely be spending their time in the pitch blackness of the small boxcar. The first few hours of their stay had consisted of Daryl and Michonne pounding on every surface of the car, trying to find any weak points that could possibly free them. They'd given up after the sun went down and darkness consumed the box. Now, they were sitting, waiting for the inevitable to happen. Rick had encouraged the group to not give up hope yet. After all they had been through; the group agreed that there was no way in hell they were going to die this way. They weren't sure what Terminus had in store for them, but Daryl had a hunch after what they'd seen as they'd run through the camp. Slowly, everyone was awakening from their deep slumber, hearing the sound of boots drawing closer and closer to the car. None of them bothered to stand up. They had no weapons, and from what they'd witnessed the last time they'd come in contact with the people of Terminus, this person wasn't unarmed. They shouldn't waste their strength. The box car shook a bit as the person pushed the keys into the lock and opened the box car's door. Light poured onto the group, causing them all to look away as the sun burned their eyes. Daryl squinted as the figure pointed a gun in his direction. For a moment, he couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman, as the figure's hair was cut quite short, but soon the sun mellowed and the small frame became clearer. Though he wasn't able to make out her face, he could feel her eyes on him. She was balancing a large tray in her left arm as she carried a bucket in her hand, the gun steady in her right. Slowly, she lowered the items onto the floor and quickly stood back up. He couldn't really tell, but Daryl thought he could see the gun shaking ever so slightly in her hands. The woman backed out of the car and closed the door behind her.

Carl was the first to examine the tray and bucket. "It's just a bunch of crackers and water."

He grabbed the tray and passed it towards Rick, who grabbed a few of the crackers, and continued to pass it to Michonne.

"So this is it, huh?" Everyone looked up at Abraham as he spoke gruffly. "They just gonna feed us water and some goddamn crackers and expect us not to go nuts in this box? It's been days."

Michonne stood up. "What do you expect us to do?" She inched closer to the red headed man and glared at him. "Daryl and I've already done all we can to get out. There's nothing more we can do for right now. We have to wait."

"Well I'm getting sick and tired of all this sittin' around and waitin'. We have to get Eugene to Washington. He's going to-"

Suddenly, Michonne put a hand over Abraham's mouth, motioning for him to be quiet. Everyone looked at her, a bit confused, but then heard the voices.

"What do you think you're doing?" Rick recognized the forceful voice of Gareth, the man who seemed to be the leader of Terminus.

"I was just uh-…" They heard a woman's voice, presumably the woman who'd just delivered them food and water.

"Did you just open that car? Without a guard with you?" Gareth's voice was becoming angrier.

There was silence for a while before the woman spoke again. "We can just leave them to starve. I was just givin' them water and the crackers. I was just tryin' to help-"

"You KNOW you're not supposed to open that door without a guard with you, June. How many times have I told you that?" At this point, Gareth was sounded less concerned about the woman named June's safety and more angry at her. The group continued to stay silent.

June cleared her throat. "I can handle myself, you know. I'm not some stupid little girl who-"

The tension was broken by what sounded like a hard slap. They heard someone fall to the dirt ground and whimper. The woman cried out in pain. "You are some stupid little girl. You could have been killed. Those people could have escaped. Terminus could have been history. And it would have been all your fault. Is that what you want?"

June cried out again and whispered, "N-no…"

"No. That's right. But sadly, I need to make sure that you understand that. I'm sorry June, but I need to teach you another lesson."

The woman's voice became more frantic as she cried out, "No! Please! I'll be good. I know the rules. I'm sorry, Gareth."

"Let's go, June."

The group listened as June began to scream, begging Gareth to stop, and heard her being dragged away towards the center of Terminus. The sound of a heavy metal door muffled the screams, but they could still be heard.

Michonne slowly took her hand off Abraham's mouth and looked around at the group. All had horrified faces. She nodded, glancing back up at the man in front of her. "We need to get out of here. If not for us, then for that poor girl and whoever else they've got locked up in this hell hole."

Abraham smirked. "Now that's what I'm talkin' about."