Author's Notes: Fair warning, this is like... the ultimate of all the chapters I've written. My personal favourite. If this doesn't strike up heaps of reviews, nothing will... Review!

Chapter 21:

Marvelous

I just kept blinking, not knowing what to say. So I went for the highly impressive and logical "...What?"

'Terminus. C'mon. Let's go." He said then when I said nothing back he cocked a brow. He almost looked bored.

My eyes narrowed on him in confusion and I folded my arms across my sweaty chest. The fact that I was wearing a white shirt did not help matters because now my lacy black bra was visible. "Okay, I know you're making a point," I told him with an expressive hand gesture, "I just have no idea what that point is..."

Dad took a step closer, closing the wide gap between us sightly. "I am not making a point, Judith."

"Good..." I said unsurely, so it sounded like more of a question.

"Alright, look," Dad's eyes narrowed down on me even more. "I cannot stop you from doing radical shit like taking down a horde of walkers on your own or going to Terminus," he said calmly, then his voice became darker and more aggressive to make his point clear, "But do not expect me to sit by and watch it happen," he hissed, looking directly into my eyes.

I looked at him in silence for a moment. Then I folded my arms over my chest and leaned against the tree, bending my leg. "Hm," I said pressing my lips tightly together in thought. "So you accept my plan, then. Meaning I am in charge. I tell you to run and you run. I jump into some line of fire, and you don't say anything," I tested him, curious for his reaction, which I did not get.

He sighed, and pushed me forward in front of him by my arm. "Just go."

I yanked my arm away and looked at him before walking, then bowed slightly and said "Marvelous..."

When Dad said we were only four miles away from the tracks, he meant we were four miles away from the tracks next to the tunnel and our cars. I strode towards the truck with our other shit boxed up and pulled off the covering as well as the camouflaging branches. He reached for the emergency water bottles and watched curiously as I reached for the duffel bag full of weapons.

I unzipped it and pulled out the spare bow and quiver full of arrows, then extended it to Dad. He raised a brow, mid-sip. "Thought you said there were good people."

I rolled my eyes. "And there are, but best be protected and those measly machetes of yours aren't real great for anything other than walkers." I took his hand and slapped the wooden bow into his hand with a momentary glare. "Shit hits, I'm gonna need you there for back up."

I looked back down into the bag, prospecting other weapons, but decided I didn't need much else than a bow and arrows, and an emergency knife, (and of course the throwing knives holstered around my leg.) I'd left my machete at the prison.

Poor Dally...

Even so, I still rummaged a bit through the bag like an old lady with her purse, and my hands curled around the least valuable thing. Dad's gun. Well, actually it's my gun now since he gave it to me, but I didn't carry it. The weapon was once useful, but now it was just a waste of space, but I still kept it because Dad gave it to me.

He gave it to me because he said he was proud of me; because I was ready for this world. That was the day I started doing stupid shit, because I believed what he told me.

Proud of me... What bullshit.

"Somethin' the matter?" Dad asked sceptically as he waited. He didn't see the gun or the fact that I was holding it. All he saw was me looking weirdly into a bag while I went through my tedious emotional thought process.

I let go of the gun, zipped up the bag and shoved it aside. "Nope. Let's just cover the car and move."

I was prepared for awkward. I was surprised about the whole bonding thing. And now it seemed like things were back to normal. I was pissed and avoiding tripping on the pole permanently shoved up his ass.

We'd been walking about another hour, and the sun was slowly falling, but still remained high above which didn't improve the sweat coming from both me and Dad. So it was about three in the afternoon and if things went okay, we'd be back at the prison right before sunset, or directly after. Good enough. Daryl and Carl wouldn't be truly worried until about an hour after that.

Dad didn't exactly lead the way seeing we were simply following the tracks until he said we should cut through the woods. "...Unless of course, you'd like to go for a different plan," he suggested with a cold stare.

I forced a smile upon my face. "No, Rick, we'll go with your plans." I walked away from the tracks past him before adding rather bitchily and ever so sarcastically, "We all know how well those work out." Actually, I always had complete faith in his plans, but I was still irked.

"The fences to Terminus are somewhere around here, so keep quiet and have an eye out," he warned me and I just nodded along. I could focus on the fact that he was giving me orders again and be annoyed, or I could accept it and pay attention to not dying in Terminus. We kept walking through the woods, and I noticed something strange.

"No walkers," I whispered to him, and he looked at me once again broodingly.

'Yeah, I noticed that, too," Dad whispered back.

I itched my nose in thought. "Could mean there's no one in Terminus for walkers to kill." Then I reconsidered. "Or that all the walkers were killed by Terminus."

"Guess so..." Dad sighed, then he didn't say anything else, because we saw a fence hidden by trees and moss in the short distance. I got real quiet to the point where I couldn't hear my own footsteps, but Dad's were obnoxiously loud resulting in me giving him a well deserved glare.

As we came closer to the fence, Dad and I exchanged a look, then crouched to the floor and spoke, barely even audible.

"Now," Dad began. Even at a time like this he'll still have some speech prepared. "We're just scouting, so keep clear of anything dangerous."

I nodded. "Keep your weapon raised, and always stay behind me," I ordered, then he shook his head.

"You got the better shot," he said.

I know.

"You'll cover me if I get into something I can't get out of." He was right, so I gave him my nod of agreement and we went back to total silence. Then Dad went right up to the fence with me behind him and peeked through the gates which were covered in moss, almost invisible – especially to walkers. Clever...

He looked at me over his shoulder and shook his head, so I went up next to him to peak through. Our sights were blocked by rigid metal walls with a rusted colour to it. The kind of metal you see for shipping containers.

I saw the darkness in his eyes and I knew memories were flowing through. I could tell he was going to coward out.

I understood it, but I did not accept it, so I kept on walking along the fence waiting to find a gap, and I came across one. I looked through and saw nothing. No people, just a large pavement courtyard with a building far across. It seemed secure and I gave Dad the nod. I could see him forcing himself to be brave and ignore the pain in his heart as he reached up to climb over the fence, but I grabbed his arm.

"Wait," I said, then looked to my feet for a rock. I found one the size of my fist, which was a tad larger than I'd hoped, and threw it over the fence, then looked for movement or responses. There was none, and Dad started to climb with the spare bow and quiver slung over his cotton padded shoulder. I heard his feet land firmly on the ground, then I went next, and we were in Terminus.

I looked to my side and saw that I was right about them being shipping containers blocking our view, and so did Dad, because I heard his heavy breathing, and I looked to him. I worried he might pass out, and I knew he'd be a total liability.

I looked at him blankly with my weapon raised and nodded towards the side of the brick building. We travelled along side of it, keeping as quiet as we could, and keeping our eyes out.

I noticed the thin tracks along the pavement and the fact that it was so clean. Dad kept walking along the wall with me behind him, then stopped and pushed me back, his arm pressed across me. "Get back, get back," he hissed and I did, then he looked at me, and all I could see was the obvious panic in his eyes. Suddenly they seemed a vulnerable baby blue and not the cool icy cold they were before. Like the picture.

"Go!" He hissed and we started sprinting quietly back the way we came, until I saw the ladder on the side of the building. Without looking to him for confirmation, I climbed it until I found myself on the flat roof. I helped my sweaty Dad up then looked to him.

I crouched behind a large ventilation thing with him, and cocked a brow. "What did you see?" I asked him.

"People," he breathed, "More than we could handle, with weapons at the ready." He stared at me darkly. "I told you, Judith. Nothing here has changed and we need to go."

I shook my head. "We are also people with weapons at the ready, dumbass," I said calmly. "I'm not leaving until I make sure this place is unsafe," I told him with a growl to my voice, then looked around me. All I could see from here was where we'd come from and the ground. If I were to go to the edge, I'd see everything. Better yet, there was a rooftop window that meant I could see what Dad had seen.

"Judith," Dad said with a warning tone, "This is the kind of stupid shit I was talking about."

I nodded. "I know. And I also know there is a chance I could get hurt or even die, but I also know that if there are good people here, then we're safe, and if I'm wrong and they're still eating people and keeping them in shipping containers, then I'm going to do whatever I can to save them," I said, still calmly. It was strange; intense situations like these tended to bring out the calm, serious side of me. I pointed an accusing finger at him. "You would do the same thing if you weren't so jaded."

Dad gave me a look, and I didn't know how to interpret it. Could've been hurt, anger or even shame.

Then Dad smacked his hand on my wrist and gripped so tightly it hurt. "We're leaving," he growled. "Now."

I paused as I contemplated my options, then I eventually nodded my head. "Fine," I said still calmly, then raised my chin. "Let's go."

"Okay," Dad said, then pushed me towards the ladder. I stopped and shoved him past me. "You go first," I told him, "Like you said; I have better aim. I'll cover you till you're over the fence, then you cover me," I said and I could see him weighing his options, before nodding slowly. Sweat dripped from his nose.

Dad started climbing back down the rusted fence, and before his head disappeared out of my sight, I saw the way he looked at me. There was that vulnerability again, but it was for my sake. Not mine.

I kept on my knees in a crouched formation, raised my leg and used it as balance as I raised my bow and looked down. I pulled my arm back ready to shoot and kept it aimed near Dad. At first, I couldn't see anything while he stayed hidden in the shadows from the building, then saw him sprinting quietly towards the fence we came from, and for a brief second I relaxed my arm and arrow when I thought he was in the clear.

"HEY!"

Shit.

I aimed my bow towards the noise and had a scrawny teenager in a tight black shirt and jeans holding up a bow of his own in my target point, and I was ready to shoot.

"Hey, you!" He shouted again, "Stop!"

I pulled back my arm quickly and found myself completely ready to kill him, but didn't, because I saw the look in his eyes. He had his bow raised, but with no intention of shooting my Dad.

Dad.

I whipped my head back to see him sprinting as fast as he could towards the fence, but he made the mistake of stopping to look up at me. He no longer seemed like the logical guy who did whatever it took to keep alive. Now he looked like the idiot who cared more about his daughter's safety than his own. Even if it meant being shot.

Then I heard the crowd of footsteps running from inside the building towards him. I wanted to shout to him to get the hell out of here and jump the fence, but I couldn't risk being seen, so I did what I could and aimed my arrow towards the crowd.

Then I heard a sound I hadn't heard in a very long time: bullets. They were spitting at my Dad, but only by his feet.

The crowd was large: ten people, half of them covered head to toe in armor. I couldn't shoot without blowing my cover, but Dad still wouldn't move because he was staring up at me. Shit, what the hell, Dad?"

Then I gritted my teeth, choosing the truly stupid path by pulling my arm back again and shooting at the head of one person with a gun. "RUN!" I yelled angrily to Dad – my cover was already blown when I shot that arrow, and Dad finally listened.

The crowd looked up to me and I saw Dad jump over the fence, but not before I saw the crowd raise their guns on me.

"Shit," I muttered, then lunged to the floor, protected by the small edging of the roof. Bullets whizzed by my head and I let go of my bow to cover my head with my arms.

"Should we go after him?!" Some girl yelled, but her voice was muffled by her helmet.

"No!" Someone else yelled back, and I just knew he was one of the people shooting at me.

My senses kicked in and I reached for my bow, then started crawling towards the large ventilation cylinder thing for protection.

I raised myself to my knees behind the thing, then looked for an escape. Behind me was the fence Dad jumped over as well as people with guns, and in front of me I saw another building. When the people paused their firing for a single moment, I ran over the edge and fell onto the lower roof of the building attached to it, then kept running while the sound of bullets stopped.

Orders were shouted as they ran around the building to catch up with me, but there were benefits to roof jumping – it was quicker.

Beneath me was a courtyard with umbrella tables and a garden section. Looked just like a community should.

I kept running across the building, then jumped onto the next one, about a meter down. I tripped a little, and the ankle I'd injured then began to throb with pain, but, shocker, I ignored it, and jumped off. I neglected the fact that the ground was about four meters beneath me, and I crumpled to the floor, and just got up and kept sprinting.

"OVER HERE!" I heard that same teenager shout as he appeared from behind a corner, then raised his bow on me, and I did the same. I looked ahead and saw another edging of the fence, and if I could make it I was in the clear.

But this asshole with a bow was in my way and I had about twenty seconds before the crowd with even better weapons came and killed me.

Optimistic faith had absolutely no existence for me at this point.

"STOP!" The kid shouted at me, and I did, then aimed my bow. "LOWER YOUR WEAPON!" He ordered me.

I snorted. "Say please."

"If you don't, they'll kill you!" He warned me, and it was then that I was certain he wouldn't kill me. He didn't shoot Dad and he was trying to save me now.

I grinned and lowered my weapon to aim at his feet. "But you won't," I said, then started running for the fence.

"STOP!" He shouted then jumped in front of my path, raising his weapon to my head. "I will shoot you!" He walked closer to me, and now he was only an arm length away. His raised bow filled the gap.

His people would be here any second, and I was gonna die.

I didn't know what to do, so I just did whatever came to mind, and dropped my bow to the pavement and I saw his shoulders relax and the most relieved of smiles come across his face.

Then I smirked. "Thank you, Abraham," I muttered before smacking his bow out of the way and smashing my fist into his nose. He was so pathetic at fighting that he fell on his ass and cupped his nose, which was streaming with blood. Then I ran for the fence, and with every step I got closer to it, the smile on my face grew.

Hope.

Dad.

It was waiting for me, and all I had to do was jump over it. But then I felt an arrow go through my thigh, and I fell against the fence. My fingers curled around the metal and when my head smacked into it, I could see someone in the distance.

Dad's figure became smaller and smaller as he ran further away, and I smiled.

Good. Because at least he was safe.