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Authors Note: Thank you for the reviews. I would like to apologize, but I returned from my hunting trip only to find out that I uploaded the incorrect file last time. Here's the proper chapter.

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Chapter 7: Thunder and Lightning

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I heard the thunder and lightning

Struck by your tower today

And though the world wasn't frightened

You sent the whole world away

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And now you cower there alone in your tower of tears

Every step and ever stone filled with millions of fears

Your poison blood and brittle bones

Start to clutter and crack

Beneath your hell of a home

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The aged cabin provided a brief sense of security as Rick neared the wooden doorway. Dean followed behind him and then stood, leaning against the railing, watching as Rick pushed through with a quick sweep of the single-roomed interior before ushering in Carl.

"Thank you." Tom spoke towards the young boy from the other group. "I trust that you will keep tabs on Miss Madi, here."

The sincerity in the elder man's voice as he addressed his son surprised him. This man actually trusted someone he didn't know to keep care of their youngest. The sadness once again passed through him as he thought of how fortunate they must have been to feel so secure in the face of strangers.

It had taken only a few moments for them to briefly introduce themselves, with promises of more details later, then they head off their separate ways. Michonne leaving with Dean, Rick with Tom and Mikey with Alex.

They headed towards the compound in silence, their focus intent on retrieving and returning those trapped within the walls of Terminus to the security of this cabin.

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Cut down by the cruel and the crass fold

Catch hell from the mighty and high

Ain't nothing left for the good to go

No truth in a world full of lies

Our unforgiving fettered foes fumbling stumble around

Gather all their greed to go back to their hold in the ground

To wash their hands of all the blood begged, borrowed and stole

To keep a good man down

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A tall, burly man, dressed in green and beige camouflaged garbs staggered up the tracks towards them. From all the times in the woods with her buddies back home, she would almost assume that he had hit past the golden hour and was well into his sixth or seventh beer. But she knew better now.

His hair was clotted together with the gore that stained it. After a closer glance, she realized that his camouflage was torn around the abdomen and some of the darker colours was actually stained with blood from the gaping bite that had left some of his intestines slipping out and exposed. This was no drunken hunter.

Quickly, she pulled her machete from her belt and before the Dixon's could even train their weapons towards the man she had heaved the blade, with all the force she could muster, through the top of his skull.

The blade remained wedged within the bone and as the man slumped to the ground, she was pulled slightly lower with it, bracing her knees as not to fall completely.

She could hear the elder Dixon's soft chuckle from behind her as she quickly wrenched the blade from his head. After wiping it quickly on the cleaner areas of his camouflaged suit, she slipped the blade back into the sheath and continued walking.

A whistle sounded from behind her, louder as the man neared her. "What the hell did ya do before all this, sugar tits?"

Shooting Merle a sideways grin, she asked. "Does it really matter?"

"No." Daryl answered. "But ya sure got us curious."

"I'll make ya a deal." She said, her grin twisted towards him. "We survive in there, I'll tell ya whatever ya wanna know."

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Shake the hands of holy ghosts

Dance along an ivory coast

Share your flesh with passing shadows

On a bed of broken hopes

Be sure to breath in deeply every bit of sin

That your lungs can hold

Welcome all your bastard actions back home

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Tom waited for a moment until the other man who was walking with him, Rick, could catch up. After taking one quick look at him, the elder man realized that this was a man who had lost everything. A man who was beginning to believe that all the good had died.

He could also see that the younger man was fighting hard, clinging to the belief that some of his family was trapped and that he would be able to help save them. There were no words he could offer the man to begin to restore his faith. The only way to help him would be to help get his family back.

With his job, before the end of the world, he had always relied on words to defuse any situation. This was one of the first times in his life that he was referring to Harper's philosophy of actions speaking louder than words.

Shaking his head, in slight annoyance with himself, for being unable to find the words needed, he continued to push through the branches towards their location. They had a good half hour to go before they reached their position and he was beginning to get worried they wouldn't make it in time.

"They're alive?" Rick questioned, quietly as he walked closely behind him.

"Yeah." Tom bobbed his head as he continued his quick pace. "When we left, they were."

Rick audibly sighed in relief. "You think we can get them out of there alive?"

There was no moment of hesitation, before Tom replied. "Yes. We can and we will."

The younger man nodded and they continued to move towards their destination.

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Why do we cry, cry our eyes out

In them low lowly graves

Mourning all the times

We would've, could've, should've had our way

We were hard hearted heathens

To their soul saving saints

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"So, she took down over sixty?" The man questioned. "On her own."

Michonne's eyes glanced over the woods around them. The man's quiet voice sounding like an explosion that just wouldn't stop. Silently, she nodded as she tightened her grip on the katana she held.

She walked slightly behind Dean, or Aus, as they called him. The man had not shut up since they left the cabin, talking about everything and nothing all at the same time.

"Fuck." He cursed as he pushed his way through another bunch of tight branches.

"You her brother?" Michonne asked, remembering the conversation when they had asked her the three question. She couldn't see the similarities between them, but now-a-days, you could never really tell.

"And she speaks!" He spoke, dramatically. After a moment, he continued. "Nah, mate. Just have a similar bet with her."

"Sixty." He whispered to himself. "Damn."

Then suddenly he stopped, Michonne could see an entire change come over him as he gained a seriousness she hadn't yet seen on the man. His eyes hardening as he watched the surrounding area, his knees bending deeper as he tried to stifle the noise of his movements.

He held an arm behind him and pointed towards a concealed place a few meters away. Michonne nodded her head in understanding and silently followed him towards the spot before hunkering down, staring at the tracks that were now visible before them.

They had arrived.

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Spilling blood in the same God's holy name

We were the heathens to their saints

Spilling blood in the same God's holy name

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Time and laying down punishment. Those two were never a good combination when it came to Harper. She was creative, always believing that the punishment should suit the crime. Hell, he almost enjoyed it when she didn't have time, usually reverting to what he assumed was her military background when she would tell them to drop down and begin push ups. It usually ended up being painful with the amount of them they were convinced to do to return to her good graces, but it did make them stronger.

Fuck, when he thought about it, all her punishments made them stronger. Some of them were just a little more than purely physical. After they had first found Mike and Madi, Mikey had a bad habit of exploring, as he liked to call it. Back then, they had had a larger group too, nearly thirty.

The woman had dragged the two of them back to camp in the middle of dinner and drew a circle in the ground around the tent Alex shared with Mikey and Dean. They were confined there for almost two whole days. He remembered how everyone had watched the prisoners in amusement. They could have just ignored her and stepped over the line, but Alex, who was only seventeen-years-old at the time, had been able to recognize the fear that had crossed over the woman's eyes as she searched for the youngest boy.

The pain.

The emotions that rifled through him where more than enough to keep his 'ass behind the line' as she had called it.

After that night, Mikey and Alex had promised each other, which was more of a silent promise to Harper that they would listen. Each of the kids from their camp had been saved by the woman, been cared for by the woman. They owed it to her.

In the beginning, their only arms were baseball bats or other blunt instruments. She had taught them all, how to shoot a bow, a gun. Even little Madi wasn't spared from the training. When Alex thought about it, he began to think it was because of some other children that the rest of the group had spoken about. Children who weren't with them anymore.

They got good with their weapons, and then were all allowed to carry. Once they were allowed to carry, it became mandatory. No one was to go anywhere without someone else or their weapons.

He shook his head. He had failed her again.

When Madi had bolted from the area around the cabin, he had lost all conscious thought and dropped his bow. The only thing that he could think about was getting the girl back safe. He hadn't heard little Mikey following closely behind him, yelling out for his even younger sister.

So lost in his own thought, Alex barely realized where they were until he felt Mikey tug lightly at the back of his shirt. He turned to look at the ten-year-old boy, a questioning look on his face.

Mikey was looking up at him, confused, which left Alex to look around them and realize just how close to the compound they had come. They were only around a kilometer away and he quickly held his finger up to his lips, attempting to silence the already silent boy.

The boy smirked and nodded. Waving the elder boy on towards their secured position just outside the fences where the hostages were held. They reached their position, crouched down and waited for the signal. Watching over the boxcar to ensure those currently held within it would remain alive.

Alex realized that Harper was trusting them, trusting them with the lives of others. He would not let her down again.

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Shake the hands of holy ghosts

Dance along an ivory coast

Share your flesh with passing shadows

On a bed of broken hopes

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Glancing over to her new group, Harper imagined how hardened they would look to the Terminus crew. She had changed back in to her original wife beater and black pants, and although she had attempted to wash them, the blood and guts from her last close run-in with the herd would forever stain the cloth. The injuries that littered the Dixon's faces looked like they had both taken a train head on.

She briefly wondered how the two brothers were coping with the information they had so recently received. Harper knew that they had been hoping that Terminus would be the sanctuary it described, but she briefly chuckled when she realized not much had changed for them. In this life, as in the life she could tell that they had had before, having the rug pulled out from under you was a regular occurrence.

These two were more ready for it than most.

The sturdy structure of Terminus loomed before them as they walked along the tracks. The group slowed their pace, knowing that they were waiting for the signals before fully entering.

"Tom, Rick. In position." Tom's voice ran quietly through Harper and Daryl's head. From their plan, Harper knew that the two men were situated by the front entrance to the compound. And although she realized they must have just recently passed them for Tom to be voicing his position, she had not been able to spot him amongst the trees surrounding the trail they walked.

Dean's quiet voice followed closely behind, the two hidden at the rear entrance. "Michonne, Dean. Set."

"Mikey. Alex." Came Alex's voice. "At the box and ready to go."

Harper nodded her head silently, hoping to relay the messages to Merle before walking to the broken gate and pushing through.

Merle and Daryl following quickly behind her and as they stood at the first of their inside steps to Terminus, Harper took three deep breaths. She looked towards the two Dixon's beside her, nodded her head and continued down the alley, hoping beyond hope that everything she had heard about the place was incorrect.

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Be sure to breath in deeply every bit of sin

That your lungs can hold

Welcome all your bastard actions back home

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Thunder and Lightening – Brown Bird