Sorry for the wait! Today was my official last day of school, so I'll have more time to write! :)
Chapter Fourteen
A large man stepped through the now open door of the shack. Glenn put himself in front of Maggie in case this man was working for the same people Martin had been. "Well, what do we have here?" The man stepped forward and allowed the couple to get a better look at him.
He wore green khaki's stuffed into military boots. On his torso was a white tank top and in his hands a large rifle. His hair was shaved close to his head and red. A handlebar mustache nearly covered his upper lip. "Rosita! Eugene! Looks like we found us some hostages."
Two other people stepped into the room. A Hispanic woman with a cropped top tied above her bellybutton and short shorts (not very ideal clothes to wear in the middle of the apocalypse) and a man that, to Glenn's surprise, supported a dark mullet on his head.
"What did you all do to get tied-up?" The larger man kneeled in front of Glenn.
"Trespassing, apparently." Even bound and on his knees, Glenn still retained some of his sense of humor.
"We've been staking out this place for a few days," he stood. "We're in need of some supplies and a good night's rest. Hoped this was a place for that. But what we found was that people would go in and never come out."
"That's what we saw, too," Maggie spoke up.
The Hispanic woman, Rosita, walked behind them and with her knife, cut them free. Glenn and Maggie rubbed their sore wrists and got to their feet. "What did you do to the guy that came out of here?" Glenn asked.
"He's dead," Abraham answered matter-of-factly. "Ain't no loss, though." Maggie and Glenn nodded their head, agreeing.
"Where are you guys from?" Rosita asked, cocking her hip.
Since they had just saved them and not killed them, Glenn figured they could trust the three of them. "We were scouting the place out to see if it would be a good place for our people."
"The answer to that would be a negative," Eugene answered. Up to that point he had been silent.
"Yeah. We know."
"Well, we aren't going to let them sick bastards alone. We got a truck and a rocket launcher. I say we tear their shit up. If you help us, we'll give you a ride back to your people."
Glenn looked at Maggie and they seemed to speak without actually talking. "All right. Deal," he said and turned back to Abraham. If those people were bad and they had signs telling people to find sanctuary there, they needed to be stopped.
As it grew dark, people started to retire to their rooms. Carl and Noah would be sharing a room with Lori and Rick in the other. Randall would be on the couch. Andrea would get one room, Hershel the other and T-Dog would sleep on the couch. At first, Hershel had wanted his youngest daughter with him, but she had protested and said she would rather share a room with Sophia. In the last apartment, Beth and Sophia slept in one room, Daryl and Carol the other and Merle took the couch.
Carol was getting ready for bed, after saying goodnight to the Beth and Sophia in the other room. Daryl was already lounging on the bed, watching her. "You still mad at me?" He asked.
She looked at him over her shoulder as she peeled off her bra. "What do you think?" She placed the bra on the dresser and slipped on her nightshirt, which hit her mid-thigh. "If I wasn't mad at you, I think I would be facing you as I changed." Next, she slid her pants down her legs and stepped out of them. Daryl didn't get so much as a flash of underwear.
"I only said those things because I didn't want you to go into danger."
"So, then stepping outside is off limits, then?" She walked over to the bed and sat on the edge.
"You know that ain't what I meant," he grumped.
"Listen, Daryl. I'm not delusional enough to think I'm some kind of super bad ass and could survive anything that comes my way, but there are times where I have to take risks and I was willing to take a risk for Lori and Beth. They would have done the same."
"Don't know about that..." Daryl mumbled. Lori was pregnant and Beth was just a kid. Daryl couldn't see anyone of them rushing into some weird hospital to rescue Carol, but he didn't say that aloud.
Carol glared, as if reading his mind. "Look, I know why you didn't want me to go in there. I understand. Just next time, talk calmly with me, not yell in my face and make decisions for me. I've had enough of that for a lifetime."
Daryl looked guilty and he reached her. "Fuck, I'm sorry. I won't do it again."
She smiled weakly. "It's okay. We're in this together, Daryl." She took his hand. "I promise not to run off on another 'fool' mission without letting you know."
"And I promise to be willing to talk things out when you want to do something dangerous." He smirked and tugged her close, knowing that he was forgiven.
Carol pressed a finger to his lips as he leaned down to kiss her. "We have to sleep tonight, Daryl. Rick expects Glenn and Maggie back tomorrow and if they do, we'll have a long day ahead of us."
"But who knows when we'll actually get a real bed again," his voice was borderline a whine. He was actually pouting!
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, all right." She reached for his neck, pulled him close and kissed him hard on the mouth. Truthfully, she hadn't wanted to go to sleep yet either.
Parts of Terminus were ablaze, the fences were down and walkers swarmed the place. Glenn looked on and didn't feel guilty. These people would have killed him and Maggie if given the chance and from the looks of it, they had killed other people, as well.
"Ain't no sanctuary for all, anymore," Abraham smirked. He had been the one to shoot the rocket launcher and looked almost giddy as he did so.
"Nope." The shadows from the fire flickered over Glenn's face and he turned to the large man at his side. "Are you ready to take us back to our people now?" He was anxious to get back before they came looking for them. Just because Terminus was ablaze, didn't mean that there were no survivors.
"You bet. But first, I got a question to ask you, kid." Glenn narrowed his eyes at being called a kid, but didn't say anything. "You see, before things got bad, we were on a mission to get to DC. Eugene here," Abraham wrapped an around around the man with the mullet's shoulders. "Has himself the cure."
Glenn and Maggie's eyes opened wide in shock. "He has the cure...for the ap-?"
"He can stop all this mess," Abraham interrupted. "As long as we get him to D.C. We'll take you to your people and if they can give us some supplies, we'll be mighty obliged. Hell, if you want, you can join us."
Glenn looked at Maggie. If Eugene had the cure and was able to put an end to all of this, maybe he could start a family with the woman he loved. Being on the run and fighting for survival weren't good conditions for a baby and they didn't know how Lori would do it, but they wanted a world that was safe for a child of theirs to grow up in.
"I'll talk to Rick about it," Glenn finally said, shaking himself from his dream. "Since Terminus wasn't what we hoped, so the chances of him taking your offer into consideration are high." He smiled.
"Great!" Abraham slapped Glenn hard on the shoulder, causing the younger man to wince and stumble forward a step. "The more the merrier."
Everyone in the apartment building was jolted awake when the sound of a large vehicle could be heard coming down the street. Daryl, still half-naked, jumped from the bed and went for his crossbow. Carol was on his heels with a gun. Beth and Sophia stood in the doorway of their bedroom, eyes round with fear. The last time unknown vehicles came around, two of their own had been kidnapped.
Rick was already in the hallway, hair disheveled and gun in hand. "Daryl, cover me," he ordered and Daryl followed the man down the stairs. Carol, Andrea and T-Dog weren't far behind.
The door swung open before Rick could reach the bottom of the stairs and if Glenn hadn't announced that it was him, he would have been shot. Maggie followed slowly after and looked up in shock to see most of her group aiming weapons at them.
"Uh, hey guys." Glenn waved awkwardly. "Um. Could you put all of your guns down? They're making me kind of nervous."
"I got half a mind to shoot an arrow in your ass," Daryl growled and was the last to put down his crossbow. He had almost thought it was the Grady people coming to attack, though he hadn't know how they would have found them.
"Sorry!" Glenn apologized again, Then, he turned to the open door and made a 'come here' motion with his hand. Three more people joined them in the already cramped stairwell. "This is Abraham," he pointed to the large man with red hair. "Rosita and Eugene. They're good people. They saved Maggie and my life."
Rick ran a hand down his face, looking utterly exhausted now that there wasn't a threat. "Can we talk about this in the morning?" He asked, sounding like a tired parent talking to their child.
"Uh." Glenn looked back at the three newcomers. "Sure. Do we have room for them?"
"We have extra pillows and blankets, but they'll have to sleep on the floors," Lori answered, looking just as tired as Rick.
"That'll be better than what we've been sleeping on ma'am," Abraham spoke for the first time since walking in the door.
"Follow me, then, and I'll get you settled." Lori motioned for them to come up the stairs and that was everyone's cue to disburse back to their bedrooms.
Carol checked on the girls, ensuring them that everything was okay, before heading back to the room she shared with Daryl. Daryl spoke briefly with Merle, who hadn't even roused when they rushed through the apartment. What woke him was when Carol and Daryl had walked into the apartment.
Daryl fell face first back into the bed and buried his head in his pillow. "I can sleep for another twelve hours," he said, voice muffled. "I'm fuckin' exhausted."
"Well, hadn't gotten much sleep before Glenn showed up." Carol smirked and kissed his cheek as she curled into his side. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. They were asleep in seconds.
The next morning, everyone gathered in the hallway like they had before Glenn and Maggie had left them. Carol and Lori cooked the breakfast and were surprised when Rosita offered to help. With everyone fed, Rick decided it was time to have a group meeting. It seemed that overnight, there group had doubled.
"We're eighteen strong now," Rick announced. Before they had found the farm, there had only been ten of them. "With that many people, staying here is not an option. Glenn and Maggie have told me about Terminus and we will not being going there."
"Can I say something?" Abraham stepped forward and asked.
"Sure." Rick shrugged.
"Eugene here, has the cure for this whole mess. Our mission is to get to D.C and I suggest that you all come with. Strength in numbers and we need all the people to keep Eugene here safe."
Murmurs went throughout the group, some excited and some...skeptic. But Rick was the one to speak. "Well, i wanted to bring Noah to his family in Virginia. We can all accompany him there and then, go on to D.C."
"My family may even want to come with," Noah spoke up.
"Then, it's decided," Rick said. "We'll go to Virginia and then, go with Abraham and his group to D.C." The decision had been quick, but if Eugene really knew the cure, then they all wanted to stick by him.
At the back of the group, Daryl leaned close to Carol and whispered, "Do you believe the guy with the mullet really has the cure?" He had been one of the skeptic.
"I...don't know," Carol answered honestly. "It seems too good to be true."
Thanks for reading!