When the train tracks started to merge into a giant cluster of tracks and the trees started to thin out, I saw Sam get more excited than I had ever seen him. "We're nearly there, Terry!" He kept saying. His happiness was contagious and I found myself smiling a lot more than I had been for the last week.

I hadn't been able to stop thinking about the set of footprints I had seen that night in the trailer park. I had confided to Sam that it had been Daryl brand of boots and his foot size. Sam had listened patiently, looking thoughtful the entire time. When I finished talking, he took his time bringing his thoughts together before finally saying anything.

"It might've been him." Sam said slowly, as if he was picking his words very carefully. "But, what if it had just been someone who has the same shoe size and shoe as Daryl? None of those other guys were apart of the prison group. And could you imagine Daryl getting himself involved in a group like that?"

The immediate answer was no. But some twisted part of me was clinging to hope that it had been him. "We didn't get to see them do anything bad though! Maybe, maybe Daryl just joined up with them until he finds someone else from the prison..." I was grasping at dust, and Sam knew it. But he was being too polite to say anything.

Two days later, and we were seeing a sign for Terminus every few miles. We finally made it to the edge of the woods and stepped out into a rather large train yard. And there, towering over the train tracks, was a massive red brick building with the word Terminus painted on the boarded up windows in big black letters. Sam and I gave each other one wild and excited look before speeding up to get there.

The main gate was wide open for new arrivals. There were potted plants blossoming with tiny flowers. The courtyard was wide open and led into a sort of alleyway, where the smell of cooking meat was wafting towards me and Sam. My mouth started watering and my stomach growled furiously at the thought of actual meat. I patted my belly, at the kid inside there.

Sam saw me that time and gave me a smile. "You looked like a mom right there." I blinked at him and smiled back before hurrying to the alleyway. We entered it and were only walking down it for less than a minute before we came into another courtyard. This was had a tent with a grill that had racks of what I assumed was pork on it. Sam swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

"Mary!" A young girl's voice called out. Instinct made me raise my hands in a gesture of surrender. Sam saw what I did and followed my lead, the hunting rifle still strapped to his back. An older woman who looked to be in her forties approached me and Sam with a wide smile on her face.

"Hello, my name is Mary," She said in a sickeningly sweet voice. "What are yours?"

"I'm Terry and this is my friend Sam," I said, lowering my hands. Sam did the same. "We followed your signs."

Mary smiled at us, her teeth very straight. "Welcome to Terminus. Would you like something to eat?"

Words failed me, so I just nodded. Mary gave me another smile and started to lead the way. Sam and I followed immediately. Mary gestured for us to sit down at a picnic table not far away from where we entered. Mary left to go fetch us some plates of food. My legs were shaking with anticipation. After what felt like an agonizingly long time, Mary returned with two plates full of barbecue.

Mary made a move to give the bigger of the plates to Sam, but my friend quickly shook his head and pointed at me. "Terry needs that more than I do."

"Why's that?" Mary asked politely. She still hadn't set down our plates of food.

Sam glanced at me, almost asking permission to tell her. I nodded. Sam turned back to Mary. "Terry's pregnant. And she hasn't had a lot to eat in the past week."

Mary's smile faltered and she turned to me. "You're pregnant?"

I nodded, starting to feel worried now. She was looking at me like she didn't know what to do with me anymore. Was I wrong in the assumption that Terminus would have someone able to help me and the baby? Mary sat the two plates down on the edge of the table and hurried off, looking troubled. Sam and I exchanged a wide eyed look.

"Do they have a problem with pregnant people?" I asked in a hushed voice. Sam shrugged and reached over to slide the two plates over to us. He gave me the bigger of the two plates and then started to dig into his own plate. I looked at the pork, still as hungry as ever, but I couldn't bring myself to dig in yet. Mary's reaction to me being pregnant made me nervous.

Mary returned, followed by a tall and dark man, who I could only assume was the leader here at Terminus. Sam, who had slowed down his eating after seeing that I wasn't eating stopped altogether when the man and Mary stopped right in front of us.

The man gave us a smile that set me on the edge of my seat. He looked between me and Sam and pointed a long finger right at Sam. "You're the father?"

Sam blinked and turned red. "Um, no. I'm just the friend traveling with the mother."

"I got separated from my, um, boyfriend about a week ago." I explained. "I came here because I thought you guys would have a doctor or something. And maybe-"

"Your boyfriend would be here too," He finished for me. I nodded. He looked down to my untouched plate. "You're not eating? You're eating for two now. That baby is gonna need some protein."

"My stomach is tied in knots," I said honestly. "What's your name?"

"Gareth," He said automatically. "Do you happen to know how far along you are?"

I frowned to myself, trying to figure it out. I looked back to Gareth and Mary. "I'm not entirely sure. Maybe a month, maybe two."

Gareth nodded, almost to himself. He glanced down to my full plate of pork. "Perhaps you'll like something else to eat. Come with me, Terry." I gave Sam a glance and stood up to follow Gareth. Gareth led me into the building, and right before I left with him inside, I turned back around and gave Sam what I hoped was an assuring smile. Sam locked eyes with me and tried to do the same, but his smile came across and forced and a little scared.

I turned away from Sam and entered the building after Gareth.

Gareth led me through countless hallways and several closed doors that must've once been office spaces. Who knows what the were now? I had the random thought of bedrooms made from the train station offices, and the thought of a bedroom made me smile slightly. Gareth walked to the end of the hallway and opened a door to the right. He gave me a smile before gesturing for me to enter.

A stab of nervousness hit me as I entered the room. It was bare on the walls, and there was a thin cot pushed to the side. So I had been right about using old office space as rooms. There was a small, square window at the top of the wall, and it looked like there was also a wire mesh built inside of the glass. I turned back to Gareth, who was leaning against the door frame.

Unease was prickling across my skin. Something was very wrong here...

"Did you know what kind of meat we used back there?" Gareth asked unexpectedly.

I blinked. "I kind of assumed that it was pork."

"And yet we have no pig pens."

"It's a big station," I said uneasily. There was a lump in my throat now. Gareth was watching me close with his dark eyes, so he wasn't exactly helping me feel more comfortable.

Gareth smirked. "I can see why you thought it was pork. Pig meat and our meat looks and smells very similar. The skin from both parties are so similar, when weapons experts tested out their weapons, they'd use pig carcasses."

I felt cold and my stomach gave a lurch. "Our meat?" I repeated.

"The 'pork' out there was made from some troublesome survivors." Gareth said matter-of-factually. My stomach gave another lurch and I felt like I was going to throw up. Gareth shrugged at my reaction and continued. "When a constant flow of people walk through those gates every day, you run out of actual food fast. But then we got to thinking, and soon we figured that those who caused, those who didn't fit in with the rest of us...well, they ended up being more helpful to us dead than alive."

"That's sick." I said when I was finally able to talk again. I had had to keep my mouth closed to avoid vomiting all over the small room. "You're sick."

Gareth snorted. "I get that a lot." He cut himself and frowned. "There is a problem with you being pregnant though. You see, you've already made your feelings about what we eat here very clear. Usually this would mean that you would go to the storage for later." He stopped talking and let that phrase sink in. I shuddered horribly. "None of us, however, are interested in accidentally eating an unborn baby. So what we've decided to do is let you stay here until the baby is born, and then we'll put you in storage."

"You're not going lay a finger on my baby!" I said fiercely, walking towards him. I wanted to claw the smug and sick look off his face. Gareth smirked again and let out a laugh.

"How wrong you are, Terry." Gareth said. "We'll bring you dinner in a few hours." Before I could think about rushing the door, Gareth slid out of the doorway and slammed the door shut. I rushed over and tried to yank the doorknob open, but then I heard the final sound of Gareth locking the door.