Sasha stood looking sightlessly out of the window, tears running down her cheeks. She choked back a sob. Tyreese. Bob. Hershel. She liked him. He could make her crazy sometimes, but he didn't deserve what the Governor had done to him. She was happy she'd shot the fucker. She hoped he walked for a long, long time.
That crazy lunatic kid. Asshole. Rick was going to leave. After the Governor turned down his offer of sharing the prison. The little bitch running toward the fences screaming not to hurt the walkers. Bob. She drew in a breath. Nothing was stopping that man from killing them all. The Governor was looking for an excuse. He would have killed Hershel anyway. Just to prove a point. If it had been Michonne, it would have been worse. The only thing that saved them was some of his people stood there in shock when the guy in the tank shot Lizzie. Her, Glenn, Maggie and Bob had opened fire, hitting some of them. The guy in the tank used it, turning the prison into a battlefield. They had split up trying to escape.
She'd spent the first few hours after leaving, running away, killing a few walkers, crying her eyes out. She finally gave out and fell in the woods. She was lucky she hadn't been bitten or scratched when she finally woke up. Not that she cared. After she made it back to the prison and saw the smoldering remains, she started walking. She had no one and nowhere to be. Finding Maggie, Glenn and Beth the next day had been a miracle in itself. They'd been here two days and no one was in any shape to decide what to do. Including herself.
"Are we staying here?" she asked quietly.
"No."
"Where are we goin'?" Maggie asked sadly.
"We'll figure something out, Maggie," Glenn responded.
"Crazy bitch," Beth sat up and shouted. "She was a crazy little bitch. I'm glad she's dead," she screamed.
Maggie got up and walked over to her sister and grabbed her arms. "Beth, you need to be quiet."
Beth glared at Maggie through her tears. "Fuck you, Maggie. Daddy's dead."
Maggie shook her. "I know Daddy's dead. You think I didn't see the Governor shoot him, too? I did. I'm glad the crazy bitch is dead, too. You screamin' about it ain't gonna change it, Beth. We need to deal with it."
Beth collapsed, sobbing, into Maggie's arms. Maggie held her, crooning to her, as she cried, too.
Maggie, with tears in her eyes, sat in the front seat of their car and looked at the prison. It was a crappy place but they were trying to survive there. The asshole Governor.
"I don't think anyone else made it, Maggie," Glenn patted her hand.
"We need to find daddy. Make sure," she gulped.
"I'll do it," Sasha got out of the car before anyone could object. They watched her as she stabbed the walkers that smelled and saw her. Glenn was surprised there weren't more. He looked at the gap in the fencing. They were probably inside. He closed his eyes and hoped someone had gotten Judith out. Beth gasped causing Glenn to look at Sasha. She stabbed a walker and stood over it. Then she walked back to the car. "Let's go," was all she said when she got in.
"Where?" He asked the car.
"Not here, Glenn," Beth whimpered.
"The farm?" Maggie turned and faced Beth.
"You think anythin's left, Maggie?"
"We can look, Beth." Maggie turned to Glenn. "The farm."
They didn't make if very far before they had to start walking. It was almost dark and Glenn knew they'd have to find somewhere to sleep when they crossed some railroad tracks. Glenn didn't know how long they followed them when they found a platform off the ground. "We'll stop here for the night. We need to get to the road. I," he gulped. "I don't know how to get there, Maggie."
"We find a road with a marker, Glenn. I know how to get there. I don't think we're that far." They passed a very uncomfortable night on the platform.
Sasha stared at the sign nailed underneath the railroad platform. "What do you think?" she pointed it out to Glenn.
He looked at the sign that said 'Terminus. Sanctuary For All'. He shrugged. "Don't know."
"Think we should check it out?"
"Where is it?"
"The sign points that way," Sasha pointed down the railroad tracks. "They might have more signs."
"We'll follow. If we see it's too far away we'll go to the farm," Glenn decided. "We'll need food soon."
Sasha tapped the rifle strap on her shoulder. "I can shoot some."
"Better than me," he told her.
It took them a week to reach Terminus.
"Shit," Maggie gaped at the smoke coming from the buildings.
"Walkers," Beth screamed and pulled her knife.
Glenn, weirdly enough, was proud of Beth. She'd really stepped up when it came to killing walkers. It was sad it took Hershel's death to bring it out. They ran. They found a small cabin and ran inside. After locking the door they were quiet. The walkers didn't stay around long, two days. When Glenn thought it was safe he opened the door and peeked out. He only saw a few. He exited the building quickly, shutting the door behind him before he killed them. When no more came from the woods he turned around and saw three very angry faces staring back at him.
"Don't do that again, Glenn. We coulda helped you," Maggie whisper yelled at him.
He gave a weak smile. "Where to?"
"What about King County?" Sasha suggested. "Michonne, Rick and Carl said that Morgan guy had part of the town pretty well protected."
"Yeah. Rick got the spikes idea from Morgan," Glenn echoed.
"Food," Beth reminded them. "Rick didn't say anything about that Morgan guy having a garden or somethin'. With the farm, if we could figure out how to protect it, daddy had food in the ground."
"We don't know, Beth, what it's like," Maggie protested.
Beth drooped.
"Let's check the farm. If it doesn't work out we'll go to King County. I think it's on the other side of Atlanta. The farm's closer than that. Right, Maggie?" Glenn looked at his wife.
"Yeah, it is. We don't know where King County really is. We'll need to find a map or something."
Beth dropped to her knees when she saw her house still standing. She didn't know how long it had been since Terminus. No one was keeping track of the days. "Look, Maggie. It didn't get burnt," she looked up at her sister with tears in her eyes.
Maggie dropped beside her and pulled her into a hug. "It didn't." She pulled away with a slight smile on her face. "Come on. Let's check it out." She stood up and held out her hand. Beth grabbed it and smiled. They ran for the house.
"Someone was here," Sasha pointed at the walker on the porch.
"Someone mighta done it. When we left," Beth dismissed the comment as she knocked on the door. When she didn't hear anything she opened it and walked inside. She felt dizzy for a minute. Looking at everything, it was like she was coming home from school. Except for the dust everywhere. Maggie pushed her way inside and ran up to her room. She thundered up the stairs behind her.
Sasha looked around. "Nice place," she commented as she sat on the sofa. "Fuck. Furniture."
Glenn sat beside her. "Yeah. They have real beds here."
"Shit. We're definitely staying," she let out a little laugh.
"How long were we on the road?" Glenn asked her.
"In total? A month. Give or take." She looked around again. "What do you think? It's kind of open here."
Glenn sighed. "Yeah. Not sure about the water. They had wells. A walker fell in one."
Sasha grimaced. "Great. Don't drink the water until after we boil it."
"Sounds about right."
"You go on up. Be with Maggie. I'll take first," Sasha pointed to the stairs.
Glenn groaned as he got up. "Thanks, Sasha." He paused on the first step. "I'm glad we found you. I don't think I said it before."
Sasha shrugged. "I'm glad you found me. I." She let out a breath. "I don't know what I would have done."
Glenn nodded once and went upstairs. He looked and found Maggie asleep in her bed. He took hers and his shoes off before he climbed in beside her and fell asleep.
When Beth opened her eyes she smiled. Then she saw her wrist and frowned. Shit. She was hoping it had all been a bad dream. She sat up and looked around her room. It didn't look any different. Just dusty. She'd clean it today. She got out of bed and listened. She didn't hear anything and ran downstairs. She let out a deep sigh of relief when she saw Sasha on the sofa. When she walked around she saw the woman was sleeping.
"Sasha," she whispered. Sasha opened her eyes and sat up with her rifle.
Beth took a few steps back and let out a laugh. "It's alright. You fell asleep. Go. Get in my bed. Better than the sofa."
Sasha let out a loud yawn. "You'll be okay? Glenn and Maggie are still here?" she asked.
"Upstairs. I'll be fine. I'll see if I can't find something to eat."
"Good luck," Sasha told her and went up the stairs.
"Second door on the right," Beth called out. Sasha waved her hand in acknowledgment.
Beth giggled again and went into the kitchen. She looked through cupboards. They were full, so she pulled down a couple cans of chicken soup and tried the stove. "Shit," she hissed as it didn't turn on. She found the matches above the stove and lit the pilot light. "Woo," she shouted in joy. She put the soup on to boil and looked through the rest of the cupboards. She found granola bars, flour, sugar, instant coffee, creamer, more soup, spaghetti noodles, spaghetti sauce, chopped walnuts. She checked the soup and found it was done. She poured herself a bowl and dug in, sighing in happiness the entire time. When she was finished she eyed what was left and put the lid back on.
Opening the refrigerator she was hit with a wall of stink and shut it again. "Nothin' good in there." She looked up at the knocking and saw a walker. Looking around she only saw the one. She opened the door, stabbed it in the head and shut the door again. "Asshole," she hissed at it and went back to inventorying the cabinets. Cake mix, brownie mix, spices, oil, powdered drink mix. They had enough to survive here for a while. She wanted to go out and check the fields. She knew what few head of cattle they had were probably dead. The chickens, too. If not from the walkers then from not eating or drinking anything. She wrinkled her nose. She forgot the walker in the well. "Well hell," she sighed.
"Beth," Maggie yelled for her.
She came out of the kitchen. "Hey, Maggie. I heated up some soup."
"How?" Maggie wrinkled her brows.
Beth shrugged. "Don't know. The gas worked."
Maggie hummed and followed Beth back into the kitchen. She got a bowl down, blew in it and got some soup. "Mmm. So good."
"I know," Beth gave her sister a small smile. "Do you think we can stay here?"
Maggie shrugged as she ate. "Don't know, Beth. It's open here."
"Yeah," Beth frowned. "I already killed a walker this mornin'."
"By yourself?" Maggie shrieked.
"Yeah. It was only one. I checked first, Maggie," Beth snapped at her.
"Dangerous, Beth," Maggie grumbled.
"I did it. I can kill them, too, you know," Beth growled at her.
Maggie glared at her as she finished her bowl. "We'll wait until Glenn and Sasha get up to talk about stayin' here. We'd need to put up fencing, like at the prison."
Beth drooped. Even she knew it would be next to impossible with just the four of them. "Asshole," Beth whispered.
Maggie looked up from her bowl. "The Governor," Beth explained.
Maggie snorted. "Yeah. He was an asshole." She put her empty bowl on the table. "We'll stay here a few days. Sleep in real beds. Daddy's got some maps in his office or somewhere around here. We'll find King County. Try and find a car that works. Maybe check town. The garage may have something that works."
"Won't the battery be dead?"
"Maybe. I think Dennis had that jumper kit. We'll siphon some gas, go to King County. Morgan might still be there."
Beth put her head on the table. "Shit." She felt Maggie pat her arm.
"We'll think of somethin', Beth." Then Maggie gripped her arm. "Nothing's going to happen to you. I promise."
Beth looked up with tears in her eyes. "I hope not, Maggie, but you can't guarantee."
Glenn cleared his throat from the doorway. "Hi," he said shyly.
"Hi," Maggie turned to him with a smile. "Beth heated up some soup."
"Wow. How?" he looked at Beth.
She shrugged. "Don't know. Lit the pilot light."
"Cool." Glenn smiled at her. "Can I come in? Or is this sister bonding time?"
"Eat, Glenn," Maggie pointed to the stove.
Glenn walked further inside and headed for the stove. "Bowls?"
"The cabinet over," Maggie pointed to it before she got out of her chair and gave him a quick kiss. "Thanks for taking my shoes off."
"I slept there, too. I didn't want you giving me bruises."
"Shut up," she laughed. "I don't kick you in my sleep."
"Where's Sasha?"
"I sent her up to bed," Beth told him.
Glenn sat down and took a bite of the first solid cooked, not burnt to a crisp or raw food and groaned.
"I know. No offence to any of us, but we're not Daryl," Maggie said.
"I know. I wish I would have spent more time with him," Glenn nodded before he slurped another spoonful. "Shit. This is good."
"Thank you."
After a few minutes he was finished and he eyed the pot. "No. It's for Sasha," Beth scolded.
"Shit. How long have you been up?"
"Long enough for her to kill a walker," Maggie sighed.
"Shit. How many?" Glenn sat up straighter.
"Only one, Glenn. I checked before I opened the door. I'm not stupid," Beth glared at him.
"They can come out of anywhere, Beth. We know you're not stupid and we know you can kill walkers," Glenn soothed her.
"Huh. Maybe you should talk to Maggie," Beth grumbled.
"We can't stay here," Glenn interjected quickly. "It's too open. The problem the first time."
"Yeah," Maggie sat back against the chair.
"Do you think Michonne and Daryl are alive?" Beth asked quietly.
Glenn stared off and fiddled with his spoon. "I think so. If anyone could make it, it would be those two."
"You think they went back?"
"I'm sure they did. When they saw it? Who the hell knows where they disappeared too."
Sasha moaned in enjoyment as she ate the cold soup. She didn't give a shit it was cold. It was cooked all the way through. "Yeah, they're alive. Where the hell would they have gone?" she answered Beth's question later. They were all sitting around the table and had been, Sasha understood, until she got up. She looked out the window and saw it was getting dark. "I'll take night again. Hell, I don't think I'd be able to go back to sleep."
"I'll do it," Maggie volunteered. "It's not fair to you, Sasha."
Sasha shrugged. "Okay. If I were to channel my inner Daryl Dixon where would I go?" she asked rhetorically as Maggie and Glenn laughed. Beth gave a grin.
"It's a tough one. They were all over looking for the asshole," Glenn noted.
"We can't stay here. Too open," Sasha stated.
"Yeah," Beth groaned sadly.
"Sorry, Beth. It's a nice house, though," Sasha gave her a little smile.
"I'll make a list. We'll need a map, a car, gas and food."
"Found some, Maggie. Yeah, we'll have to take pans and cook over an open fire. At least isn't not squirrel," Beth gave a quick look at Sasha.
"I hate squirrel, too, Beth. I'm almost out of ammo anyway."
"Also not good," Glenn said.
"Yeah. Daddy didn't have any guns here. The garage might," Maggie mused.
"We can search a few houses in town," Beth suggested.
"Yeah. Good idea," Glenn responded.
"I hate to burst our bubble, but what are we going to do if Rick's not in King County?" Sasha asked them.
"Yeah. We need a backup plan," Maggie sighed.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Rick may be in King County. Let's start with that," Glenn said. "Where the hell else would he go? The prison's fucked. Judith." Glenn cleared his throat. "If he or Carl found Judith they'd go home."
Sasha finished her soup in silence.
Maggie yawned, looked around her living room and started crying. Damn daddy. He should have never kept those walkers in the barn. He should have put up fencing. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the sofa. Her daddy was a good man and didn't deserve what the Governor had done to him. He was an asshole. She held up a candle and walked around looking at the pictures on the walls. She smiled to herself as she remembered Shawn and Annette and Otis. Shane Walsh. Another asshole. Otis didn't deserve to have been left behind at the high school. She found one of her momma and pulled it off the wall.
She made her way back to the sofa and curled up with it. "Hey, Momma. I hope heaven's better than what you and daddy told me it would be. I miss you. Still. Now more than ever, Momma. What are we gonna do, Momma?" She put the candle out and looked the windows. It was still so dark around here at night. She shuddered as she remembered the last day they'd been here. They lost Andrea here. Maggie didn't think it was that big of a loss. The bitch ended up sleeping with the Governor. She didn't deserve to go out the way Rick said she had, sleeping with the Governor or not.
She let out a breath and started to make a list. She really didn't know where they'd go if Rick wasn't in King County. The mountains? An island? Someplace where there were no people. She didn't know where any were. She'd have to remember to get the maps from daddy's office. If King County was as fortified as Rick made it sound they could work with it. Spikes all over the street. Spikes under welcome mats. Smart. Morgan may still be there. Rick said he was crazy, but they were out of options.
Maggie didn't realize it was light out, she'd been so in her head with plans, talking to her momma, until Glenn came down the stairs.
"Hey," he greeted and sat on the sofa next to her.
"Hey," she kissed him. "We need to boil some water and take baths."
"We'll do it. The fire place work?" He pointed at it.
"Yeah. There might be wood down in the cellar."
"We'll check it out." He pulled her to him and kissed the top of her head. "We can take one together. You know. Save on water for Beth and Sasha."
Maggie laughed. "Right. It'll be fun." She didn't kiss him again. "Like to boil some water and brush my teeth."
"No shit. Even that cold crappy water at the prison was something."
"Yeah. We have some toothbrushes around here. We'll take those."
"Good idea."
Maggie sighed and sunk into Glenn. "Wouldn't it be nice if Daryl and Michonne were at the prison? Or left us a note?"
"It would be nice. We need to be realistic, Maggie."
"I know, Glenn." She looked at him. "What're we gonna do if Rick isn't in King County?"
"I don't know, Maggie. We have to find a place."
"I was thinkin' the mountains or an island," she sat up.
"What?"
"An island. Shit. Beth," she yelled up the stairs.
"Maggie? What the hell?" Glenn asked her.
"He's right, Maggie. What the hell?" her sister stomped down the stairs.
