I was sitting inside the van in the passenger seat. I sat there with my knees to my chest and my chin on my knee. Michonne was with Carl in the back, he rested his head in her lap. My dad sat outside all night, not getting any sleep at all. Then again, I think the only one that did sleep was Carl. I just laid my head back in the seat, not thinking of anything. Not a damn thing. Just blankly stared out the window.
"Are you all right, Abby?" Michonne whispered to me. I didn't respond. I couldn't.
I saw Daryl hand my dad something outside. "We should save it to drink." My dad said.
"You can't see yourself, they can." Daryl replied.
I absentmindedly listened to their conversation.
"I didn't know what they were." Daryl said.
"How'd you wind up with them?" My dad asked.
"I was with Beth. We got out together. I was with her for a while." Daryl paused.
"Is she dead?" My dad asked.
"She's just gone." He answered sadly. "After that, that's when they found me. I mean, I knew they were bad, but they had a code. It was simple. Stupid, but it was something. It was enough."
"And you were alone." My dad assured him.
"They said they was lookin' for some guy." Daryl continued. "Last night they said they spotted him. I was hangin' back. I was gonna leave. But I stayed. That's when I saw it was you four. Right when you saw me. I didn't know what they could do."
"It's not on you, Daryl." My dad said to him. "Hey. It's not on you. You being back with us here, now, that's everything. You're my brother."
My eyes casted down. There was brief pause.
"Hey, what you did last night…anybody would 'a done that." Daryl said.
"No, not that."
"Somethin' happened. That ain't you."
"Daryl, you saw what I did to Tyreese. It ain't all of it, but that's me. That's why I'm here now. That's why my kids are. I want to keep them safe. That's all that matters."
Hearing those words…something…changed in me. I don't know if it was for the good or bad, but just something was different. I didn't care what my dad did to those guys. They deserved it. But I can't get the thought of almost getting raped out of my mind.
We went on our way to Terminus. Everyone was pretty quiet, especially Carl and I. I'm not so sure about this place anymore. I honestly just don't care.
"We're getting close." My dad informed us. "Be there before sundown. Now we head through the woods. We don't know who they are."
We walked through the woods and up to a fence. Just beyond the train tracks was a long building, it must have been a train station. That's it. That's the place. I zipped my jacket up as far as it could go and put my hood up. Crossing my arms in front of my chest, I felt uneasy.
"We all spread out, watch for a while, see what we see, and get ready. We all stay close." My dad said. "You want to stick with me?" He asked Carl.
"It's all right." Carl said and walked off with Michonne.
I stood there with one hand on the fence just staring at the building. I really couldn't see anything.
"Hey," my dad said to me.
"I don't know about this place anymore."
He gave me a puzzled look.
"It just…I don't know." I looked at him with a blank expression.
"You okay, Abby?" I could see and hear the clear concern from him.
I swallowed hard. "Sure."
"Abigail."
"No." I admitted.
He sighed and crouched down. "I'm sorry you had to see that…again. I—
"Dad, I don't care about that." I snapped. "I know you just want to keep us safe. You told me already." I looked down. "But that guy…his hands were all over me." I started to cry. "I really thought…I really thought…"
"It didn't." My dad said. "Hey, you're okay, now. It didn't happen, okay?"
I nodded but the tears were still falling. "He still touched me."
"Com'ere." He held me tightly while I just cried into his chest. We stayed like that for a long time, until I was calmed down. I let go of him and took a deep breath.
"Are you gonna be all right?"
I nodded and sniffled.
"I love you, sweetie." He wiped my tears away with his thumb.
I gave him a sad smile. "I love you, too." I glanced over and saw Daryl looking at me. I looked away shyly. I feel a little awkward around him now because he probably saw me naked last night. I know he had to have seen my butt, and maybe even my sex.
"You okay?" He asked me.
"Yeah." I looked down. I could feel my face heat up.
"I'm sorry that…happened last night."
I finally looked up at him. "It's okay. It wasn't your fault." I reassured him. "You couldn't have known they were like that." I paused. "I'm just glad…that…it didn't happen."
Daryl nodded at me. He put his hand on my back so I gave him a small smile.
Just then, I realized that my dad had dug a hole by a tree. He put some of our weapons into a duffel bag then put it in the hole. Daryl and I gave him a strange look. "Just in case." He said to our unasked question. He buried the bag. My dad sure is smart.
We hopped the fence and ran across the tracks to the building. My dad suggested we go through the back door, because he's smart, it was safe so far.
There was a woman inside that was speaking into a microphone. "Terminus— those who arrive survive." She said. "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." We walked closer to her and noticed there was other people working, too.
"Terminus, sanctuary for all. Community for all."
"Hello." My dad said to her. She didn't notice us at first.
"Those who s—
"Hello." My dad said again getting everyone's attention.
"Well, I bet Albert is on perimeter watch." One guy said. "You here to rob us?"
"No." My dad answered. "We wanted to see you before you saw us."
"Makes sense." The guy said. "Usually we do this where the tracks meet." He cleared his throat and walked closer to us. "Welcome to Terminus. I'm Gareth. Looks like you've been on the road for a good bit."
"We have." My dad did all the talking for us. "Rick. That's Abby, Carl, Daryl, Michonne."
None of us said anything.
"You're nervous." Gareth said. "I get it. We were all the same way. We came here for sanctuary. That what you're here for?"
"Yes."
"Good. You found it. Hey, Alex." Gareth called another guy over. "This isn't as pretty as the front. We got nothing to hide, but welcome wagon is a whole lot nicer. 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."
We all looked to my dad. He nodded. "All right."
We all began putting our weapons on the floor.
"I'm sure you understand." Gareth said.
"Yes, I do." My dad said.
Gareth and the other guy began patting us down to check for any hidden weapons.
"I'd hate to see the other guy." Alex said when he saw the blood on my dad's clothes.
"You would." My dad said.
"They deserve it?"
"Yes." Carl answered quickly.
When it was my turn, I cringed when Gareth touched me. "Aren't you the pretty one." He winked at me. Normally, I would be flattered but considering I almost got raped last night, it made me feel a little uncomfortable. I didn't miss the look my dad gave me either.
"Just so you know, we aren't those kinds of people, but we aren't stupid either." Gareth said. "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."
No one said anything.
"Okay." Alex said. "Follow me." We all followed him out a door, we were outside but still in the building. I don't know how to explain it.
"So how long's this place been here?" Daryl asked.
"Since almost the start." Alex said. "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 over to a woman that was cooking.
"Hi." She said. "Heard you came in the back door. Smart. You'll fit right in here."
"Hey, Mary, would you fix each of these new folks a plate for me?" Alex said to her. "Why do you do it?" Michonne asked. "Why do you let people in?"
"The more people become a part of us, we get stronger." Alex responded. "That's why we put up the signs, invite people in. It's how we survive."
"Here." The woman handed Carl a plate of meat. It looked kind of gross.
All of a sudden, my dad walked up and knocked the plate out of my brother's hands and grabbed Alex around the neck, putting his gun to his head and pulling something out of the guy's pocket. We all had our weapons up in a second. I was breathing heavily.
"Where the hell did you get this watch?" My dad yelled.
For a second, everything seemed to stop. Everyone looked at us.
"Where the hell did you get this watch?" My dad repeated. That looks like the watch Hershel gave to Glenn.
"You want answers? You want anything else? You get 'em when you put down the gun." Alex yelled.
"I see your man on the roof with a sniper rifle." My dad said. "How good's his aim?" They ignored his question. "Where'd you get the watch? WHERE'D YOU GET THE WATCH?"
"Don't do anything! I have this! You just put it down." Alex yelled. "You put it down! You want to listen to me. There's a lot of us."
"Where did you get the watch?" My dad pressed.
"I got it off of a dead one. I didn't think he'd need it."
"What about the riot gear? The poncho?" My dad pointed at people wearing that stuff. My eyes widened. That riot gear came from the prison! Does that mean our people are here?
"Got the riot gear off a dead cop." Gareth said. "Found the poncho on a clothesline."
"Gareth, we can wait." Alex said.
"Shut up, Alex."
"You talk to me." My dad said.
"What's there left to say? You don't trust us anymore."
"Gareth." Alex cried.
"Shut up." Gareth snapped at Alex.
"Gareth, please."
"It's okay. It's okay." Gareth put his hand up. "Rick, what do you want?"
"Where are our people?"
"You didn't answer the question." Gareth made a gesture with his hand.
My dad spun just in time for Alex to get shot instead of him. They started shooting at us.
"Go, go!" He yelled. "Abby! Carl! Get down, now!" He pulled both of us to him. "Go!" He yelled to us. We began running.
"Come on! Come on! Here!" My dad said. "Come on, this way!"
We ran around a corner.
"Help! Help!" We heard people yelling from inside a train car. "Let us out!"
"What the hell?" Daryl looked at us.
"Keep going!" My dad yelled.
We ran around until we got to a door. We went inside and there was this creepy room completely lit by candle light and there was writings everywhere with random items on the floor.
"What the hell is this place?" I asked in a panic.
"These people, I don't think they're trying to kill us." Michonne said.
"No, they were aiming at our feet." My dad stated.
"There." Michonne pointed to a door. As soon as we got close enough to it, it was slammed shut and locked.
Shit! I looked around. There was another door. "There!" I pointed.
We ran to it and went out, we were back outside. Suddenly, we were surrounded. There were so many people! They all had their guns up! We all stopped in kind of a circle.
"Drop your weapons! Now!" Gareth yelled to us.
We knew we were screwed and didn't have a choice. We reluctantly threw down our weapons. I tired to be slick and hide my knife up my sleeve.
"I saw that, sweetheart, drop it!" He said. I turned and looked at him. "Yeah, I was talking to you!"
I glared at him and took the knife out of my sleeve dropping it to the ground.
"Now! Ringleader, go to your left." Gareth said. "The train car, go."
My dad didn't budge.
"You do what we say, your kids go with you. Anything else, they die and you end up in there anyway."
My dad looked at us then slowly made his way to the train car. He kept glancing back at us.
"Now the archer." Gareth said referring to Daryl.
Daryl shot him a glare before walking in the same direction as my dad.
"Now the samurai." Gareth said referring to Michonne.
Michonne repeated Daryl's reaction and movements.
"All right." Gareth said. "The sly one. The girl, go ahead next."
I took a deep breath before slowly making my way over to the others.
"Stand at the door, ringleader, archer, samurai, sly girl in that order." Gareth commanded. I finally caught up and stood behind Michonne. I looked back and saw Carl standing there. Why didn't he call my brother yet?
"My son!" My dad yelled.
"Go, kid." Gareth finally said to Carl. Carl very slowly walked over to us.
"Ringleader, open the door and go in."
"I'll go in with him."
"Don't make us kill him now."
My dad took a second but then did what Gareth said. We all took turns walking in. My dad put his arm out for me once I was inside, he did the same to Carl. He embraced us quickly.
"Rick?" A voice said. We all turned to see Glenn! And Maggie was there, too! Along with Sasha and Bob!
A wide grin spread across my face. I couldn't believe it! I was a little disappointed that Tyreese wasn't there.
"You're here." My dad said. "You're here."
I just now noticed the other people in there. There was a tall red headed guy, a weird looking dude with a mullet and two other girls.
"They're our friends." Maggie said. "They helped save us."
"Yeah." Daryl said. "Now they're friends of ours."
"For however long that'll be." The red headed man said.
"No." My dad said making everyone look at him. "They're gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out."
"Find out what?" The red headed man said again.
We all waited to hear what my dad was going to say. Finally, he got an angry look on his face and said, "They're fucking with the wrong people."