A/N: Hello to those who made it this far. Thank you for following along :)
So, I feel like I cheated a bit on this update, as I took a lot from the show. Sorry about that, I hope you still enjoy it. Let me know what you think in the comments, reading them always makes my day :)
Daryl searched the dead bodies, taking all weapons and ammunition before tossing the corpses to the side of the road. The sky had started its shift to brighter shades by the time he returned to find Michonne in the car with Carl and Beth, while Rick remained seated outside, staring at the ground.
"Thank you," Rick said, still facing down, as Daryl joined him.
"What for?"
"Helping us. If you and Michonne hadn't shown up when you did… well, I've been trying not to think about it."
"Ain't no need to thank me. That's what we do, right? Look out for each other."
"Yeah, it is," Rick agreed, feeling comforted by the notion, even though he'd just gone through one of the most difficult situations of his life. "But I'm thanking you just the same," he added, getting a nod from Daryl in response.
They remained silent for some time before Rick continued, "I heard some of what you said to Michonne. I wasn't too sure, but, given the way I'm feeling now, I'm glad she listened to you."
Daryl hesitated, looking up at the car window, before he got to his feet and motioned with his head for Rick to follow him. Rick did so and they went to sit on the log he had occupied the previous night.
"I figure they don't need to be hearin' us talkin' about what happened," Daryl said, indicating the vehicle. "What you did, it ain't the same as what 'Chonne was wantin' to do," Daryl continued as he looked seriously at Rick, trying to make sure his brother was not just hearing him, but also registering his words.
"I killed a guy by biting off a piece of his neck; it doesn't get much more violent than that."
"Yeah, but you didn't have no choice. You didn't have your gun, no knives, not even your hands, so you did what you had to do. Anyone would've done the same."
"No, not anyone," Rick disagreed.
"Well, most of our group would, it's why we're still around. It ain't pretty, but you just gotta know you ain't had no choice," Daryl said. "That other guy, though, you and 'Chonne had him on his knees. And what she was talkin' about doin'? Stickin' her katana up his…" Daryl trailed off as they both winced. "I mean, like I said, he sure as hell deserved it, but how do you not get at least a little messed up after doin' that?"
Rick didn't look entirely convinced that biting someone to death was all that different, but it seemed to Daryl he'd at least given the other man something to think about, so he left it at that for the time being.
"I'm gonna check on the three of them. If they ain't sleepin', maybe we oughta think about leavin'."
Rick nodded and got up to follow Daryl before saying, "yeah, good idea."
They'd been on the road for a few hours, having come across almost no walkers. A good thing, really, since none of them were fully present. Beth seemed not to be present at all, having gone into some sort of catatonic state. Daryl had been the only one able to elicit any kind of response from her, succeeding in getting her to walk with them. But putting one foot in front of the other appeared to be the extent of her capabilities for the moment, so he'd been travelling next to her in silence with Carl on her other side, Michonne and Rick a little behind them.
After a couple more hours, they found a broken Terminus sign.
"We're getting close; be there before sundown," Daryl said.
Michonne looked at the two men and motioned for them to follow her. They moved away from Beth and Carl just enough for the two not to follow the conversation.
"So, how are we gonna do this?" Michonne asked. "We can't take Beth in with us."
"Yeah, that won't work," Daryl agreed.
"Carl'll stay with her. We can get them later if the place checks out," Rick said.
"I don't think that'll be enough. Carl's way ahead of his years, but she's unresponsive. Fighting walkers while trying to get her to move would be next to impossible for us, let alone for him," Michonne said. "If a herd showed up, their chances would be very slim; someone has to stay with them."
"You," Daryl and Rick responded in unison looking at Michonne.
"Me? That doesn't make any sense," she started. "I'll be the least useful if you need rescuing. I can't shoot to save my life – literally."
"Never mind us, you staying is best for Carl and Beth. You're the quickest at killing walkers, we all know it. And you can do it quiet, with the sword," Rick said.
"That's right," Daryl agreed. "And there's what you did before. You're sure to know how to help Beth better than me and Rick."
Michonne looked none too happy but relented, nonetheless. Daryl looked relieved that she was agreeing to stay behind. Rick looked confused; what did Daryl mean by 'what you did before'?
When they got back to the teenagers, Rick said, "now we head through the woods, we don't know who these people are."
Some 45 minutes later they came across a small shack, which took all of 30 seconds to clear.
"OK, this is perfect," Rick said. "We shouldn't be too long," he added, turning to Michonne.
"We'll be here," she responded.
Rick pulled Carl off to the side as Daryl crouched next to Beth, who had sat down with her back against the right wall, staring ahead of her at nothing in particular. She didn't seem to register any of Daryl's words, but he said good-bye just the same.
Once Rick had finished his conversation with Carl, leaving his Colt with his son, he also said good-bye to Beth, before moving towards Michonne.
"Thank you for staying with them," Rick said, looking intently into her eyes.
"There's no need to thank me, just be careful," she responded.
"You too."
Rick turned to Daryl, who had regarded the whole exchange with apprehension, and said they should go, but Michonne stopped him with a light touch and said, "wait, Rick. Would you mind keeping an eye on them while Daryl and I step outside for a couple of minutes?"
"No, of course," he answered, doing his best to conceal his surprise.
She beckoned to Daryl and he followed her. When they were a few yards out, she brushed his hair away from his eyes and they just looked at each other for a little while. She then brought her lips to his in a kiss that soon deepened, not from sexual desire, but rather from an overwhelming need to be as close to each other as possible.
When they pulled apart, she said, "be careful."
"You too," he responded. After seeming to gather some courage, he turned pink and added, "I need you here when I come back."
"Don't worry about me. Just make sure you do come back," she said. Not wanting him to leave on such a somber note, though, she gave him a mischievous smile before adding, "in one piece, mind you, so we can finish what we started."
He went from pink to red.
After sneaking in and surprising the people of Terminus, Daryl and Rick found themselves being offered plates of barbecued meat by a guy named Alex, who was giving them a tour of the place. Rick, however, was busy noticing several things he recognized as belonging to his people – an orange backpack, riot gear, a poncho, and, finally, a pocket watch. He knocked the food out of Alex's hands, grabbed the last item from the man's pocket, put a gun to his head, and asked, "where the hell did you get this watch?" Daryl immediately pointed his crossbow at the woman behind the grill.
Getting no response, Rick repeated, "where the hell did you get this watch?"
"You want answers? You want anything else?" Alex asked. "You get 'em when you put down the gun."
"I see your man on the roof with the sniper riffle; how good's his aim?" Rick asked. "Where dja get the watch?"
Nothing.
"Where didja get the watch?!" Rick yelled.
"Don't do anything! I have this! You just put it down! You put it down!" Alex yelled at the sniper, who hesitated briefly, but lowered his weapon. "You wanna listen to me," he was now speaking to Rick. "There are a lot of us."
"Where did you get the watch?"
"I got it off of a dead one, didn't think he'd need it," Alex finally responded.
Rick turned the man toward different people as he asked, "what about the riot gear? The poncho?"
"Got the riot gear off a dead cop," Gareth, who had served as spokesperson when they'd first arrived, responded from behind Rick, causing him to turn around. "Found the poncho on a clothesline." The man was standing there with his hands opened by his sides, unarmed.
There was a moment of silence as everyone looked at each other tensely.
"Gareth, we can wait," Alex pleaded.
"Shut up, Alex," Gareth said.
"You talk to me," Rick ordered Gareth.
"What's there left to say? You don't trust us anymore," Gareth pointed out calmly.
"Gareth," Alex continued to plead.
"Shut up," Gareth responded once again, raising one open hand to illustrate his instruction.
"Gareth, please."
"It's OK. It's OK," Gareth said, inching forward with his hand still raised. "Rick, what do you want?"
"Where are our people?"
"You didn't answer the question," Gareth said before closing his hand. Rick turned just in time for Alex to serve as a shield against the shot that was fired by someone behind him.
Bullets started raining all around Daryl and Rick as people ran left and right from the courtyard. The two of them also started running but were getting cut off every so often by shots fired at their feet, which had them constantly changing directions. It quickly became evident that they were being shepherded, one of the shooters even yelling "Get them off B!" at some point. They ran past a pile of bloody human skeletons and yells of 'help' before ending up in a warehouse-type space that looked like some kind of shrine, with names written on the floor next to personal objects and candles everywhere.
"What the hell is this place?" Daryl asked.
Rick looked around and saw 'Never again. Never trust. We first, always.' Written on the walls. He spotted a door and said, "there," making for it with Daryl on his heels. The door was shut before they could reach it, so they went for the next one. Unfortunately, when they got outside, they realized their attempts to escape were futile; they were surrounded.
"Drop your weapons! Now!" Gareth yelled from the top of one of the warehouses.
Daryl and Rick looked around and then at each other but didn't comply.
"Now!" Gareth yelled louder.
They more or less tossed everything on the floor, wearing scowls that would have made Michonne proud.
"Go to your left. Train car, go!" Gareth directed.
They didn't move.
"You do what we say, we don't hurt you. Anything else, we start shooting at limbs and you end up in there anyway," Gareth said, following with a few shots next to their feet to drive the point home.
They walked slowly until they were facing a few wooden steps leading up to the side door of a train car, Rick in front of Daryl.
"Open the door and go in," Gareth continued issuing orders.
They did so and the door was locked behind them. Their eyes had barely began adjusting to the lack of light when they heard, "Rick?"
It was Glenn's voice.
A/N: When I decided to go beyond the first chapter, I had no idea what the story would be like, but I planned to end it just after Terminus, which should take me another two or three updates.
I've since had an idea that would take it beyond that (not sure by how much), but it would include OCs and deviate from the show entirely, most likely for the remainder of the fic. Would anyone be interested in the longer version, or would it be better to wrap it up while I'm still in the general vicinity of the show? Thank you!