Chapter 7: Terminal Endeavor, Part 6: Invasion and Reunion.
As soon as we were all able, we moved on.
Rick, Michonne, and Daryl walked at the head of the group, with Jesus, Jude and Connor in the middle, and Carl and I bringing up the rear. Connor had his weapon at the ready, although he stayed mostly quiet, and Jude stayed right by his side with his sword drawn and at the ready just in case of trouble. Jude conversed quietly with Jesus, who was practically glued to Jude's side. Carl stuck close to my side, my hand clenched securely in his.
We walked for about five hours before Rick decided that we would stop and try to set up a small camp for the rest of the night.
Carl stood leaning against a tree, watching Jude hold Connor close. Since they had left the scene of the incident, Connor had been shaking constantly. He looked exhausted, and I honestly was surprised he was holding it together as well as he was.
"Hey, uh, can I talk to you in private?" I asked.
Carl looked to Rick for permission.
"GO ahead." He said, "Don't go far, and be on your guard."
We nodded in agreement and started walking.
"So… I told your dad." I said quietly, "About… how I feel, about you. I told him right after."
Carl stopped and turned to me, a look of surprise on his face.
"Oh. Um, how did he take it?" Carl asked cautiously.
"He said that he knew I'll keep you safe." I said, repeating what Rick had told me, "He said I've proved that already. He knows I won't hurt you. He thinks I'm good for you. He says you've been acting more like your old self with me around. He said he's glad we've found somebody to be with and love. He's happy for us."
Carl sighed in relief.
"Thank god."
We heard the growling seconds before we saw them.
I turned around just as the walker came out of the shadows.
Before I could reach for my machete, a loud bang echoed through the clearing and the head of the walker exploded, covering me in rotting brain matter.
My eyes immediately sought out the source and upon locating it Carl's eyes widened and he ran forward to embrace the source.
"Brandon!"
Standing there across the clearing was Brandon.
"I'm so glad you guys are alright." Carl said.
"Glad to see you made it out."
"Who else is with you?" Brandon asked.
Then I remembered that Jude, Connor and Jesus were with us.
"We found your brothers a few days back." I told him, "They're all okay."
His shoulders dropped with relief.
"Take me to them."
It took a ten-minute walk through the forest before we reached our makeshift camp. As we approached the camp, I could hear Jude and Connor bickering with Jesus about something. Brandon heard their voices and slammed to a halt.
"Oh, thank god." He stammered as his breathing sped up. He bolted forward into the camp. He slid to a stop as soon as he caught sight of them. He stood there and stared at them in disbelief.
Jude turned around to storm away from the argument, and his eyes locked with Brandon. Jude's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Then Connor and Jesus turned and caught sight of Brandon and their reaction was the exact same. Brandon took a step forward, which broke the spell and a second later, they all collided in the center of the camp.
Carl and I left them to their reunion, and we settled down in the backseat of an abandoned car for some sleep. We all woke up at around noon, and set out around an hour later. We knew what nightfall would bring. Sure enough, just as night had fallen, we arrived.
The Terminus compound loomed before us menacingly as the suns started to set. We stood, waiting for the moment to arrive for our invasion to begin. We knew the plan, and we'd all been over it a billion times and had it memorized front to back. As it turned out, though, somebody else was way ahead of us.
Suddenly, when we were preparing to storm the compound, the giant propane tanks that sat behind the fence exploded, sending a plume of fire and smoke into the air and knocking the fence down.
We shared a look of shock.
"Do you see anything?" Rick asked Carl, who was observing the scene through binoculars.
"…It's Carol." He said in awe, before passing the binoculars to his father
Rick looked for a moment before a predatory look stole his face.
"Good girl." He said, "She's using the gut camouflage trick. Let the hunt begin."
The first thing we did when we got close enough was employ the same trick she was using. We subdued a walker and covered ourselves in its entrails.
We made it through the fence, and entered one of the buildings. It was the memorial room. We made our way through, and eventually we entered a smaller room with a ton of equipment and possessions inside.
"This must be the store room." Connor said, "God, look at all the guns."
"Pick up as much as you can." Rick said.
I heard Jude gasp.
The whole room turned to him. He was staring at a table full to bursting with the personal effects of every single victim of Terminus. Slowly, he stepped forward and came to rest in front of the table. He reached out with a shaking hand and picked up a small object.
He turned to everybody, shaking like a leaf.
In his hand, he held a ring. It was small, platinum with a single diamond, and was clearly made for a woman.
Connor gasped because he recognized it too.
"What is it Jude?" I asked.
Connor turned to me and came close enough to whisper in my ear.
"That's his mom's wedding ring."
"She was here." Jude whimpered, "Momma was here."
Halfway through repeating himself, his whimper turned to a snarl.
"Those motherfuckers!" He screamed and whirled around and stomped towards the exit.
"JUDE!" Brandon and Jesus yelled.
"JUDE, DON'T!" Connor yelled and ran after him.
His plea did little good, because just as he caught up with Jude, he had opened the door and slipped into the crowd of walkers. Connor didn't even hesitate before heading out after him. We stood frozen in shock for a second before we followed. When we stepped outside, they were lost in the crowd of walkers. We followed the flow for a minute before we saw two figures ahead of us open a door and slip inside.
As soon as we stepped inside…
"Rick?"
We all whipped around to see a man of Korean descent staring at us.
"Glenn." Rick said, extreme relief in his voice, "You okay?"
"Yeah."
"Where is everybody else?" Carl asked.
"There locked in a boxcar." Glenn said, "I can lead you there."
"Good." Rick said.
"You guys go ahead." I said, "I need to find Jude and Connor."
"You're not going by yourself." Rick protested.
"Rick… I'm immune, remember?" I told him, "I'll be fine. I can't just leave them out there. Do you have a flare gun?"
"Yeah."
"Once you get out of here, wait twenty minutes and fire the flare." I told him, "If we don't arrive within twenty minutes after that… just move on. Carl…"
He collided with me, engaging me in the filthiest kiss we'd ever shared.
"You better come back safe." He warned.
"I will. I promise." I said.
I didn't give him a chance to say anything else before I was back out the door in the sea of walkers.
If I knew anything at all about Jude and Connor, they'd go after Gareth. This means they were looking for the main building where the radio broadcasts were made from. After about fifteen minutes of wading through the walkers, I caught sight of them coming out of a building. They caught site of me and motioned for me to follow.
"Follow me," I whispered to them, "He'll be in the main building."
I led them to the right building. We entered.
It seemed like nobody was there.
"GARETH!" Jude screamed venomously, "SHOW YOURSELF! WE KNOW YOU'RE HERE!"
"I knew you'd be back."
We whipped around and pointed our guns at the voice.
Gareth stepped out from behind a wall, pulling a smaller figure with a bag over their head.
Jude grabbed Connor's gun and pulled the slide back.
"All three of our escapees." Gareth continued, sounding almost nonchalant, "Come back to us."
"My mother was here." Jude snarled.
"Still is." Gareth said, "She would've been in the next batch for harvest. She wandered in around a week after you left. Had some guy with her."
Jude cocked the gun.
"You're a fucking monster." I snarled.
I noticed that the smaller figure stopped squirming, and its head turned toward my voice. It started shouting, its voice muffled and indecipherable through the gag and bag over its head.
"Who the fuck is that?" I asked finally.
"Huh. Thought you'd never ask." Gareth said, and pulled a knife from his pocket.
He cut the binds and the figures hands, and removed the bag.
I froze in my spot.
It was a young boy. He couldn't be older than seven years old. He had chestnut brown hair, and tear filled blue eyes. He was shaking like a leaf. As soon as his eyes landed on me, he started crying harder.
It was my baby brother, Harry.
"How…?" I croaked, "But I saw…"
"Rubber bullets." Gareth sneered, "Used in riot control before the fucking zombies. Just knocked him out."
"And you kept him alive."
"He wasn't big enough for harvest." Gareth said simply, before pulling Harry close to him and putting his arm around his neck.
That was his last mistake.
Harry bit down on his arm as hard as he possibly could. Gareth gave a yelp and threw him to the ground. He pointed the gun at him, but we were ready.
Two seconds later, Gareth fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, with bullet wounds peppering his chest. Harry crawled backwards, and I rushed forward and wrapped him in my arms, and lifted him up to carry him.
"We need to find Momma." Jude said.
"We'll talk when we get outta here." I promised Harry, and we ran, me carrying Harry in my arms, back outside.
Walkers were everywhere. Against the back fence of the compound are more boxcars and shipping containers. We went to them quickly, and opened them. In the first three, we found only bodies. In the fourth and final one, we found what we were looking for.
As soon as Jude saw here, he dropped to his knees in front of her.
Her hair was curly, and it was matted all to hell.
She also appeared to be sleeping.
"Momma?"
She jerked awake, and so did the other occupant of the container.
"Jude?" Lena whispered, "Honey, is that you?"
"Come on, we need to get out of here." He urged, grabbing her by the arms and pulling her to her feet, "Everybody is waiting."
We all bolted from the car, Jude practically dragging his mother. I observed the container's other occupant. He was tall, muscular, and had short hair. He was also staring at Jude and Connor in utter shock.
Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw a light rising into the sky.
"There's the flare." Jude said.
We fought our way to the fence, and one by one, we hopped over it and headed for the spot from which it had been launched. As soon as we were a safe distance from the fence, the stranger called out.
"Connor!"
Connor froze and turned to the man. He only looked for a second before doing a flying leap into the man's arms.
"DAD!"
Jude turned towards the exclamation, and his eyes widened. Together with Lena, he stepped forward.
"Adam?" He asked in disbelief.
"Jude." Adam said, "You have no idea how happy I am to see you."
Jude lunged forward and joined the embrace.
"Thank you for keeping my mom safe." Jude whimpered.
"Thank you for keeping my boy safe." Adam returned, "I should never have doubted you."
"Guys, as much as I love the reunion, we are on a schedule." I reminded them.
Besides, I knew the reunions weren't over, and sure enough. Moments later, Callie and Mariana collapsed into hysterical tears as the Adams Foster and Stevens families were reunited, and Carl collapsed into tears as he was reunited with his baby sister.
