Beth squeezed Daryl's hand as they kept running, led by Bruce. She could hear Sasha and Mary behind them, both breathing heavily as they sprinted to keep up. Beth wasn't sure where they were going but it didn't matter, anywhere but Terminus. She looked back to see that Sasha and Mary had stopped. She pulled back on Daryl's hand to get him to stop and he turned to see what was wrong.

Sasha was hunched over, holding her stomach. Mary had her arm over her shoulders and was saying something to her. Sasha stood up straight and Beth saw the problem. On her lower stomach a large red splotch of blood had appeared. Mary looked up at them and said

"She was shot by one of the guards while we were closing the gate." Beth felt sick as Daryl said

"I can carry her the rest of the way."

"No," said Sasha, putting her arms out in protest. "I can keep going."

"Don't be ridiculous," said Beth, "You can't keep running." She didn't refuse as Daryl picked her up and they started running again.

The town of Terminus was in shock. Both their leader and second in command were dead. They still had a large hunting group out and the only people left were ten or so guards and the women and children. They had been told there had been an attack and while they managed to kill the invaders, Gareth, Alex and the town doctor Mary had not made it.

Everyone was on edge but the general consensus was that their head hunter, Ben would take things over. He was brave, confident and a natural leader. The community would be rebuilt.

Archie was still sitting in the back of the van dozing off when he heard someone say

"There's the gates!" He woke up immediately and looked over the seats. They were quickly approaching the wooden gates. The man working it saw them and opened it up right away. Archie looked down at Ben who was just barely clinging to life. Even if they got him to Mary now it was too late. He was surprised to see what seemed like everyone in town crowded in the main town square. Thinking it was a town meeting, he looked for his father or Gareth standing at the raised podium in the center but it was empty. As they came out of the car they were approached by one of the guards. He looked deeply worried and Archie felt a twinge of concern.

"Where's Ben?"

"He's lying down in the back," said one of the men, "Got bit bad by a snake, he's nearly dead. We need Mary to look at him." The guard's face paled instantly and he said

"Follow me." Confused the man turned to a few of the men and said

"Get Ben out on a stretcher for Mary, we'll be back to help." Archie managed to go unnoticed and followed the group into one of the empty, unused store fronts. The guard turned back to them and said

"Mary's gone." There was a ringing silence. "So are Gareth and Alex." Archie's heart did an excited flip at the idea of his father being gone.

"What do you mean?"

"The three prisoners tried to escape a few nights ago," said the guard, "Alex managed to catch them but the man that escaped when we captured them weeks ago came and broke in. They all got out except the man who we cut up and put in the freezer. Mary went with them; she must have been the one helping them escape the first time."

"What about Gareth and Alex?"

"They were killed during the prisoners escape. Alex got an arrow to the head and Gareth was bitten. We buried their bodies earlier." Archie smirked, imagining his father getting an arrow pierced through his thick skull. The hunting group looked deeply disturbed and someone said

"So there's no hope for Ben?" The guard frowned and said

"How bad is he?"

"Very."

"We were thinking of putting him in command now, he was always the head hunter. But if he's dying who will take over?" They were silent and the guard spoke again and said "We told everyone that we were attacked by an outside force and we managed to kill them. Archie was the one to speak next.

"So you lied to the town?" Everyone turned to look at him.

"It was for their own good," said the guard, "We don't need anyone thinking we can't keep the town safe from our own prisoners." Archie nodded his head but was already formulating a plan.

Daryl ran through the woods with Sasha in his arms, following Bruce. They ran for a long time, not slowing down until they turned off the road. Daryl recognized the driveway that led to Bruce's home. When the house came into sight he could see the dim light of a candle burning in the living room. Bruce pushed the door open. Sitting on the couch was Dale and John. When they saw them burst in they jumped to their feet. They instantly sensed something wrong and John said

"What happened?"

"We got them out," said Bruce, "But one of them's injured bad." Daryl gently laid an unconscious Sasha down on the couch. Beth clung to his arm, digging her nails into his flesh as she saw that the blood stain had gotten larger. Mary instantly got to work without being asked. She pushed up Sasha's shirt to reveal her stomach. A small bullet hole in her lower abdomen gushed with fresh blood. Mary turned to Dale and said

"I need bandages, tweezers, and disinfectant!" Dale went off to do as he was told. Mary nervously bit her lower lip and said "Are any of you related to her?" They shoke their heads and Mary said "It would be great if we could do a blood transfusion, but since none of you are related to her I can't know for sure that you're the same blood type. If we try and put a different blood type in her it could be fatal." Daryl wished Tyreese was still alive, and then maybe he could save his sister as Rick had saved Carl so long ago when he'd been shot. Dale returned with what Mary had requested and the group cleared the room, giving her space to work. As Bruce explained what had happened back at Terminus Daryl held Beth in his arms. She seemed to be in her own world, staring off into space as he rubbed her back comfortingly. If Sasha died they'd lose the group that they'd been trying to piece back together again.

Archie watched as they peeled the bandages away from Ben's rotted flesh. There was a sound of disgust that filled the room when the bandage fell from his leg. His entire lower leg was now rotted and affected by gangrene. It gave off a nasty odor and was seeping bodily fluids all over the stretcher. They then took the bandage off of his hand. It wasn't as extensive as the leg damage but his hand was rotted and would no doubt have to come off. His breathing was very shallow and they knew he was going to die, there was nothing anyone could do.

"We'll do an election," said one of the men, "What do you think?" There was looks of approval from all of the men gathered in the room and one said

"Tonight, we can have people write down who they want on a piece of paper and then count up the votes." It was a nice idea but it would never come to fruition.

They're worst fear came true when Mary came out of the living room door a half an hour later. Her arms and hands were covered in Sasha's blood and she looked saddened. It was clear what had happened and Beth broke down in his arms. He buried his face into her hair, feeling tears come to his own eyes. He couldn't help but feel slightly guilty. All three of the only survivors they'd managed to find from the prison were dead. If he'd done things different, if he had stayed home that night instead of gone out searching for more turkeys then he could have saved everyone from this mess in the first place.

"She's still in there," said Mary, "I already made the incision in her head if you wanna go see her." To his surprise, Beth broke away from him and went into the room. Daryl followed after her and watched as she knelt down next to the couch. Sasha looked peaceful. If it wasn't for the blood she could be sleeping. Her sobs seemed to subside and instead she held Sasha's hand in her own, tears streaming down her face.

"She's in a better place now," said Daryl, "She's with Bob, Tyreese, her parents, far away from this ugly world." Beth was silent for a moment and then, in a cold voice so unfamiliar she said

"What are we doing?" He was confused by the question and he said

"Whadya mean?"

"Did we really think it was ok to bring a baby into this world?" She turned to look at him, her face streaked and red with tears. "We're fools. Everyone knows it but us." Before he could say anything she got up and rushed into the other room and slammed the door. He knocked and said

"Come on out sweetheart please." He got no response. Dale, Bruce, Mary and John walked into the living room. "We can bury her now."

Archie moved through the crowd. People were lined up to cast their vote. An advantage of being uncared about was being able to go undetected. Nobody looked his way as he walked towards the podium. He hid two pistols and a machine gun underneath his coat. He'd never felt so alive and free. His father was no longer there to yell at him, he was alone and he liked it.

It felt like he was moving in slow motion as he climbed the stairs, his heavy combat boots stomping against the wooden slabs. As he turned to look at the crowd below him only a few people had now noticed him, looking up confused. Without waiting another moment he took out the large machine gun and fired it into the air. People immediately scattered and yelled, thinking that he was firing into the crowd.

"People of Terminus! You have been lied too!" Everyone looked up at him in shock. "The attack last night was not actually an attack but the prisoners we've held here breaking out. They were assisted by our faithful town doctor Mary. She left with them to go God knows where. They aren't dead like everyone would have you believe." People were murmuring now and the guards were clearly angry. As they were about to draw their guns on him the town wall behind them started to shake. He could hear the walkers he'd drawn in on the other side banging and clawing to get in. As the fence started to sway the guards shifted their focus onto that rather than him. "If you follow me I promise I will be a faithful leader, I won't be a liar or a cheater. We can leave here and find a place to live where we don't need to eat our own kind. It will be a rough journey but for those who come out on the other side, I promise great rewards." Everyone looked apprehensive and finally the first man stepped forward and said

"I'll join you." It seemed to break the ice as more people stepped out. The wall was close to collapsing and the guards were struggling to keep it up.

"We leave now." He stepped from the podium and led the group towards the open gates. As they walked out the wall collapsed, crushing several guards and sending walkers onto the rest. Archie and another man pushed the gates shut to prevent any walkers from following them out, not that they had noticed them. The guards were a big enough feast to keep them distracted for awhile. As they walked down the road Archie turned to them and said "We'll find some place to stay by nightfall. Shouldn't be too hard." The group was smaller then he'd originally thought even though they'd all agreed to join him. He heard someone say

"What's your name?" Of course no one knew him. He thought about telling them his real name but he bit his tongue. His name didn't make him sound serious, he'd always hated it. He thought for a moment and decided he'd use his middle name. He'd almost forgotten about it over the years.

"My name's Vince."

Beth sat in the corner of the room, her knees pulled to her stomach and her head in her hands. She couldn't comprehend what had happened. They had been so stupid to think that they could survive in this world happily, find their prison family and have their baby. It was too much to think about. She stood up and moved to the bed where she got in and laid on her side, crying herself to sleep.

Daryl stood at Sasha's grave long after they'd buried her and gone inside. The tears streamed down his face but he made no sound. He cried not for just Sasha's death but for everyone they'd lost. He was almost certain Tyreese, Sasha and Bob had been the only survivors along with them and now they were lost. He cried because of the look of pain and hopelessness in Beth's eyes when she ran out of the room. Finally he turned away and went inside. Everyone had gone to bed and he went back to the room Beth had shut herself in. The door was open now and he could see her small form lying in the bed. He stripped his dirty clothes off and got in next to her. She was asleep and he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. He placed a hand on her stomach and felt their child stir inside of her. He wasn't going to let her give up. She'd brought him out of the dark and he'd help her out.

Thanks DarylDixon'sLover and K. Lynn Perks for commenting :) Everyone else feel free to leave feedback, constructive criticism, etc.

Thanks for reading,

Wanderlustt