Disclaimer: The Walking Dead does not belong to me.
They made love twice more before morning came – once languorous and thorough, once hungry and wild – and in between, they slept tangled together, taking comfort in each other's touch. Just after dawn broke, the group had gathered in the motel's lobby to have a breakfast of Cheetos, Twizzlers, and Dr. Pepper. Abraham, Rosita, and Eugene had gone down the street to a gas station they'd passed on the way in to find a map of the area. The group pored over it as they ate, arguing over how their recon of Terminus should play out. The basic idea was for the scouting group to make their approach, split up, and observe the place for the rest of the day. The groups would reunite at dusk at a rendezvous point already chosen on the map to discuss and plan the next step, whether it be making contact or making an escape. The problem came in when Carol said she intended to stay behind at the motel with Mika.
"No!" Daryl dug in his heels. He knew he wasn't being entirely reasonable, but this was bullshit.
"We can't take Mika so close to Terminus until we know what's there! I don't want her in any more danger than necessary. We're reasonably safe here – she and I will be here when you get back," Carol explained again, her patience finally beginning to fray.
"I ain't leavin' you behind. The more we split up, the weaker we get," growled Daryl.
"Yes, you said that, and you're right. But Mika can't go, and I'm not leaving Mika. I know you don't want us separated, but they need you out there scouting! Mika and I are fine."
"The little lady's right. We need you up there if you're half as good as Glenn here tells me you are. If all you need is somebody to hold your hand, I'm sure he wouldn't mind," Abraham added.
"Ain't no way in hell I'm leavin' them here by themselves!" Daryl snapped.
Tara stepped up then. "I can stay, too. If you want someone else here to help look out for them, I can do that. I'm probably better at that than sneaking around in the woods."
Daryl hesitated, realizing he wasn't going to win this fight. If he had to be separated from Carol, at least she should have another pair of eyes with her.
"You can trust her. She protected me from walkers when I was unconscious on the road, and she didn't even know me then. She'll help keep Carol and Mika safe," Glenn reassured him.
His faith in her was enough to let Daryl accept the shitty deal he was being offered. Scowling, he shifted from foot to foot, not quite able to contain his urge to pace. Eye twitching, he grumbled at Tara, "Fine. But it's your ass, you let anything happen to either one of them!"
"Daryl," cautioned Carol.
He glanced over to her stern face and backed down out of Tara's, but continued to give her the stink eye.
"Well, now we got this little tea party organized, can we get the hell out of here?" Assault rifle in hand, Abraham spread his arms wide to punctuate his question.
As everyone dispersed to gather what they needed for the walk to Terminus, Daryl stepped over and knelt next to Mika. "Yer gonna be fine here with Carol and Tara. Behave yourself until I get back?"
She nodded, her new French braid bobbing behind her. "Of course. Hey, if you're leaving, shouldn't you do an idiot check before you go?"
They pointed at each other and announced in unison, "Found one!"
Mika's grin lit up the room. He gave her arm a squeeze.
He stood then, and crossed over to Carol, who waited with her arms folded in front of her. Putting a hand to her elbow, he mumbled, "Sorry I was bein' an ass. I know you can take care of yourself, but I really fuckin' hate leavin' you behind. There's too damn many things can happen to keep us from findin' each other again."
Her face softened as she looked up at him. "That can happen even when we stay together." She put a hand on his chest and leaned up to kiss his cheek. "We all know the plan, we know the rendezvous point, we have the motel. Just be careful out there, and everything will be fine. Stay safe."
Daryl glanced over at the others, still jamming things in backpacks and fitting weapons onto belts. He pulled her close, slipping his arms around her waist, and pressing his lips to hers in a firm kiss. When he eased back, her cheeks were pinker than they had been, and she was smiling.
"Ew!" Mika's face made it clear she was thoroughly grossed out.
"Hush, you." Daryl let half a smile out.
By roughly midday they had reached their meetup point, a large landscaping supply place that was easy to find, but offered lots of places to keep out of sight. After a brief break to eat and rehydrate, the group split up and circled around in opposite directions to sneak a look at Terminus. Abraham, Rosita, and Eugene went west, while Daryl and Glenn went east. They would return to the landscape yard at dusk.
Daryl led the way, with Glenn cutting a noisy path behind him. The train yard was just outside of town, surrounded by lightly forested areas between the many tracks that converged here. They worked their way closer to the fences as they went, keeping a sharp eye out for walkers and humans alike. Eventually, Daryl indicated they should stop on a slight rise that had plenty of cover between the trees and underbrush while still allowing them a reasonably close view of the train yard. Getting comfortable, they settled in to watch from behind the fences.
After an hour or so, Glenn leaned closer to whisper, "We've hardly seen anyone at all. If this place is really a sanctuary and they have all those signs up along the tracks...shouldn't there be more people here?"
Daryl nodded grimly. He'd been thinking the same thing. They had only seen a few folks moving around the place, though it was hard to judge since there were several buildings that could be concealing a much larger population.
A few hours later, he sat up straight and nudged Glenn's leg, pointing toward one of the boxcars sitting near the buildings. Two men were approaching the car, one carrying a rifle, the other carrying a water jug and some sort of packages. The openly armed man slid open the car door while the other stepped inside. A few minutes later, he emerged without the packages, shoving another man in front of him. After locking the sliding door, the two men led the third, hands raised out to the sides, into one of the buildings.
"What the hell was that?" Glenn asked.
Daryl chewed the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. "Looked to me like they're keepin' people prisoner in those damn boxcars. Why the hell would they be keepin' people like that? What're they doin' with 'em?"
They watched for another couple of hours, but didn't see much of interest. There were armed patrols, but they seemed to be few and far between, and the guards didn't seem overly attentive. As it neared dusk, they decided to pack it in and head back to the landscaping yard to find out what the others had seen.
As they approached, Daryl could see them already there and waiting for them. Rosita was pacing back and forth and Abraham sat on a short stone wall, one knee bouncing rapidly in his impatience. Eugene just stood there.
"What'd you see?" asked Daryl when they were close enough not to have to shout.
Eugene answered. "We saw what appeared to be boxcars full of human livestock. They were being fed and watered. I am 99% certain at least one of the cars contains a baby as there were diapers delivered along with the food."
"The hell?" Daryl scowled. "A baby? If our other group made it here, that could be Asskicker in there!"
"Why did you say livestock?" demanded Glenn, eyes narrowed at Eugene.
"The bones," replied Abraham. "There's a pile of bones in there, and it sure as hell ain't cow parts."
Daryl blinked at him as the information processed. "Are you shittin' me? You sayin' those sick fuckers are eating people in there?"
Rosita nodded, looking decidedly ill. "We can't be totally sure, but that's what it looks like."
"Fuck me," Daryl breathed. He didn't know whether he was more nauseated or pissed off.
"We gotta get in there!" Glenn implored them. "We can't leave people in a place like that! Especially if there's a baby. Whether it's Judith or not, we can not let that happen." He pulled his weapon and turned to storm back toward Terminus.
Abraham held up a hand, stepping into Glenn's path. "Woah! Gear down there, big rig! We definitely aren't gonna let that stand, but we can't go in there without a plan, else we might as well just lock our own damn selves into those cars and save them the trouble." After making sure Glenn settled down, he continued. "What did you all see?"
Daryl shrugged. "Same thing with the boxcars. They took water and maybe food in. Took a man out at gunpoint and led him away. Not much else. A few perimeter sweeps, but no posted guards, no snipers or booby traps, either, that I could see.. Hardly saw any people at all. Not enough for this to be any kinda sanctuary, leastwise."
"We're going to need to get their attention focused away from the boxcars. I can stir up some noise on the far side while you folks clear out the prisoners-" Abraham was cut off by a voice screaming hoarsely in the looming dark.
Grabbing their weapons, they turned toward the sound, rushing forward to meet the threat. But as the source of the voice got closer, they could hear the words.
"Daryl! Are you here? Daryl!" Carol's voice was coming from across the yard. There was just enough light left in the day to see her her and Tara hauling Mika bodily along with them. They were haggard and clearly exhausted – must've been half running the whole way here.
"Carol? What the fuck you doin' here?" Daryl demanded. He and the others ran toward the newcomers. Catching Carol by the shoulders, he asked again, "Why ain't you back at the motel?"
"We have to go! It's walkers, and they're headed this way!" She was shaking in his hands.
Abraham stepped forward, slinging his rifle over his shoulder. "All right, come on! The office for this place is just over there. We can hole up until the herd passes." He leaned down to pick up a whimpering Mika whose face was pale and tear-stained.
Wide-eyed, Tara grabbed his arm and pulled, forcing him to pay attention. "You don't understand! This isn't just a herd. There's hundreds of them. Thousands! It's a fucking ocean of death out there! We only got away because we saw them before they saw us."
Carol put a hand to Daryl's cheek, forcing him to meet her eyes. The fear in them turned his stomach cold. "They're moving this way - fast. If we stay here, we all die."