Episode 15- Us
Glenn, LeRoy, Abraham, Rosita, Eugene, Tara, and Wyatt were walking along the train tracks. Eugene was talking with Tara, Wyatt, and LeRoy. "I'm well aware it sounds bananas. But looking at the fossil record, knowing what I know about this infection, you cannot say for certain it isn't what killed off the dinosaurs. Now, do I believe that's what happened? No. But it's enjoyable as hell to think about an undead ankylosaur going after a diplodocus. That there is a video game worth a preorder."
"Sure as hell sounds like it. As long as it's an RPG. Those were my favorite." Wyatt said.
"You're really gonna talk about video games now?" LeRoy asked.
"Of course. I do in fact think talking or thinking about video games clears my mind." Eugene said. Tara spotted a penny on the ground and picked it up. "Oh, hell, yes. Score. A few more of those and some bleach, you got yourself some volts, sister. Homemade battery." He said.
"Here." Tara said, handing it to him.
"For reals? You don't want it?" He asked.
"For reals." She assured.
"Much obliged." Eugene said. "Speaking of video games, what kind of gamer were you? RPGs, smup, sim racing?" Eugene asked LeRoy.
"I wasn't much of a gamer." LeRoy replied.
"I can tell." Eugene said.
LeRoy walked ahead to talk to Abraham. "He's a strange guy, isn't he?" Abraham asked jokingly.
"Yeah. He's a scientist?" LeRoy asked.
"Yep." Abraham said. LeRoy looked back at Eugene suspiciously.
"I take it you'll need a bunch of supplies and weapons for this journey, don't you?" LeRoy asked.
"Yeah we do. And we're running low. Mostly because of Eugene's little incident back at the truck. Why do you ask?" Abraham asked.
"I have a deal I think I can make with you."
Abraham stopped walking. "What deal?"
"You help me find my sister and we'll take you to our headquarters. It's a military base. It has electricity, a whole arsenal of weapons, and a whole storage room full of food and water. Then, we'll go with you to Washington. With our skills in combat, Eugene would be safer than he's ever been." LeRoy said.
"Well, I'll be damned." Abraham said. "That sounds like a damn gold mind."
"It is. But I can only take you there if you help me find my sister." LeRoy said.
"Our mission is very time consuming. It could take days, maybe weeks to find your sister. Then we'll have to find your place and stock up which will take up even more of our precious time. I say we see how things play out with Glenn before even considering doing that." Abraham said.
"Amanda may not have much time left, Abraham. We need to find her soon or the deal is off."
"I get it. But what if she's already dead or dead by the time we find her? Then what? We would've wasted the time we needed to getting to that arsenal and getting Eugene to Washington." Abraham said.
LeRoy sighed. "We'll talk about this later. Let's not tell Glenn, Tara, and Wyatt about this. They might think they'll need me but I have a feeling Glenn is going to forget about finding my sister once he finds his wife."
"Probably. The guy's crazy about finding her." Abraham said.
Later, the group stopped to rest for the night.
The next day, when the group was walking on the tracks, they came across a sign. It was written in blood and signed by Maggie, Sasha, Jane, and Jane. The sign said, 'Glenn, Go to Terminus'. Overwhelmed with excitement, Glenn took off running down the train tracks in the direction of Terminus. The rest of the group just looked at each other and followed him.
(Intro)
Joe's group were sleeping in the woods. Daryl has already woken up and is out hunting. A walker was approaching the group and got caught on the walker trap they set up. The walker's growling woke the group up out of their sleep. "I got it." One guy said. He used the blade part of his rifle to stab the walker in the head.
"Looks like that Robin Hood cat cut out on us after all." Nate said. "I didn't think he had the sack to go out on his own."
"He don't. Dude left his stuff here. Probably just stepped out to drop a morning deuce." Len said.
"Let's go look for him." Nate said, getting up.
Daryl was aiming his crossbow and was about to shoot a rabbit. When he shot, an additional bolt pierced the rabbit along with his own. He turned to see Len standing there aiming his bow and Len was next to him with his rifle.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Daryl asked angrily.
Len shrugged. "Catching me some breakfast."
"Well it's mine." Daryl said, walking over to the rabbit.
"My arrow's the one that hit first. Cottontail belongs to me." Len said.
"I been out here since before the sun came up." Daryl said, pulling the arrows out of the rabbit.
"You see, the rules of the hunt don't mean jack out here. Now that rabbit you're holding is claimed, boy." Nate said.
"That's right. Claimed whether you like it or not. So if I were you I'd hand it over now before you get to wishing you ain't never even got out of bed this morning." Len said.
"It ain't yours." Daryl said, walking over to him.
"You know, I'll bet this b**ch got you all messed up, hmm? Am I right?" Len asked. Daryl just stared at him angrily and started to walk away. "Got you walking around here like a dead man who just lost himself a piece of tail. Must have been a good'un. Tell me something. Was it one of the little'uns?" Len asked. Daryl was getting angrier by the second. He unstrapped the knife on his belt. "Cause they don't last too long out here." He said.
Daryl pulled his knife to stab Len but Joe came up behind him and grabbed his arm to stop him. "Easy, fellas, easy." Joe said. Nate and Len just laughed at Daryl's anger. "Let's just put our weapons down. See if we can't figure out what's really the problem here, huh?" Joe said. "Who claimed it?" He asked, referring to the rabbit.
"I did." Len said.
Joe turned to Nate. "Is that true?" He asked.
"Hell, yeah." Nate answered.
"Well, there you go. That critter belongs to Len." Joe said to Daryl.
"So let's have it." Len gloated. Daryl just stared at him.
"Looks like you may be wanting an explanation. See, going it alone, that ain't an option nowadays. Still, it is survival of the fittest. That's a paradox right there. So I laid out some rules of the road to keep things from going Darwin every couple hours. Keep our merry band together and stress-free. All you gotta do is claim. That's how you mark your territory, your prey, your bed at night. One word, claimed." Joe explained.
"I ain't claiming nothing." Daryl said.
"Let's teach him. We have to, We're gonna teach him, right?" Nate asked. Joe looked at him.
"The rules say we got to teach him." Len said.
Joe turned back to Daryl. "It wouldn't be fair to punish you for violating a rule you never knew existed."
"There ain't no rules no more." Daryl said.
"Oh, there are. You know that. That's why I didn't kill you for the crossbow." Joe said. He took the rabbit from Daryl's hand.
"Hey." Daryl said, holding on to it.
"Easy there, partner." Joe put the rabbit against a tree and cut it in half with his hatchet. He tossed the half with the head to Len. Len walked away frustratingly and Nate followed him. "Claimed. That's all you got to say." Joe said to Daryl. "Hey, ass end is still an end." He added and walked off, leaving Daryl by himself.
Glenn, Abraham, and the others came across a tower. The rest of the group stopped but Glenn kept going. "Hold up!" Abraham shouted for him to stop. "We're stopping here. Tired is slow. Slow is dead." He said.
"It's barely noon." Glenn said.
"I don't give a monkey's left nut. None of us has slept more than a couple hours straight since we went all Casey Jones." Abraham said.
"He's right, Glenn. This place looks safe. We need to rest." LeRoy said.
"I get it. You have to find her. Well, Rosita and me, we have a mission too. It's keeping that man alive, getting him to Washington, and saving the whole damn world! So we're going in that tower and we're going now!" Abraham demanded.
Suddenly, they started hearing growling from a walker in the tower. "Oh, crap." Eugene said. The walker was walking toward the edge and about to fall onto Eugene
"Hey, hey, hey, watch out!" LeRoy exclaimed, running towards Eugene.
"Go! Go! Move!" Abraham pushed Eugene out of the way which also knocked Tara over, who was standing next to him, causing her to sprain her knee. The walker fell off the edge and splattered onto the ground.
"Jesus Christ." Wyatt said.
Rosita went to help up Tara. "Are you okay?" She asked.
"I'm fine." Tara groaned out, holding her knee.
"We gotta stay here. Who's gonna help me carry her up?" Rosita asked as he shelped Tara to her feet.
"You okay? You wanna stop or you wanna keep going?" Glenn asked.
"No, keep going. I'm good." Tara answered.
"You sure?" Wyatt asked.
"Yeah. Yeah."
Glenn turned to the rest of the group. "Look, if she can keep going, we can all keep going." He said. "Or you guys can stay here. Tara, LeRoy, and Wyatt can come with me. You don't need us, we don't need you."
"Wow, you're an a**. She will do whatever you say because she thinks she owes you. Man up. Stay here for a few hours." Rosita said.
"You just care about keeping Eugene safe, right? It's the only reason you want to stop?" Glenn asked Abraham. "We go until sundown, I give Eugene my riot gear right here, right now. Everybody wins." He said.
"Except her." Rosita said, pointing to Tara.
"You're not her mama." Abraham said. He hesitated for a moment. "She says she can walk, she can walk. You got yourself a deal." Abraham said to Glenn.
"Okay." Glenn said. Abraham looked at LeRoy who was scowling at him.
Joe's group was walking down the tracks. Joe was walking in the back with Daryl. "So what's the plan, Daryl?" Joe asked.
"How so?"
"You're with us now, but you ain't soon?" He asked.
"Yep."
"So what's the plan?"
"Just looking for the right place is all." Daryl answered.
"Oh, we ain't good enough for you, huh?" Joe asked.
"Some of you ain't exactly friendly." Daryl said.
"You ain't exactly friendly yourself. You know you need a group out here." Joe said.
"Maybe I don't."
"No, you do. You should be with us. People don't gotta be friendly. We don't have to be nice. We don't have to be brothers in arms." Joe said. There was a walker coming towards the group and three of them nonchalantly and playfully took the walker out using teamwork. One guy used his M16 to push the walker towards another guy who held it back by it's arms while the third guy stabbed it in the head. "We just got to follow the rules. You claim. If you steal, keel. I know that sounds a little funny, but nobody laughs when something goes missing. And you don't lie. 'Cause that's a slippery slope indeed."
"What happens if you break 'em?" Daryl asked.
"Oh, you catch a beatin'. The severity of which depends upon the offense and the general attitude of the day. It happened to our friend, Danny, over there." Joe said, gesturing towards Danny.
"What'd he do?" Daryl asked.
"He stole a whole sack full of supplies. It got me thinking, maybe he was trying to leave. He's free to do so but he'll die out there by himself and with no supplies cause he ain't taking our stuff with him. I think that's what he was trying to do. So he got beat bad." Joe said.
"I don't blame him." Daryl said to himself.
"But that don't happen much 'cause when men like us follow rules and cooperate a little bit, well, the world becomes ours." Joe said. The group was walking by a garage-like building and Joe whistled for them to stop. "Right there. It's our abode for the evening."
"Hey." Daryl said, getting Joe's attention. "There ain't no 'us'." He said.
"You leaving right now?" Joe asked. Daryl didn't answer. "No? Then it sure seems like there's an us." Joe said and started walking ahead. "You a cat person, Daryl?" He asked turning around. "I am. Loved 'em since I was three years old. Vicious creatures. Anyway, I'll tell you, and this is true, ain't nothing sadder than an outdoor cat that thinks he's an indoor cat." Joe said and walked off towards the building.
The group was walking along the tracks. Eugene was now wearing Glenn's riot gear. There was a dark tunnel that the tracks run right through. There was another sign from Maggie and the others written on the wall. Glenn ran to it. "We're gaining on them. It's still wet." Glenn said.
"We sure as Shinola can't go up and over." Abraham said.
"How about around?" LeRoy asked.
"No. That'll take a day, maybe more. If Maggie went through, I'm going through. We're close." Glenn said.
"Shut up a second. You hear that?" Abraham asked. The sounds of walkers growling echoed from the tunnel. "That there is a long, dark tunnel full of reanimated corpses. I don't have full-on certainty that I can get Eugene through there alive. My recommendation would be take the day, make the detour and play it safe, but I know you're not gonna do that. So this is where we've got to part ways. I'm sorry." Abraham said. He put his bag on the ground to get some supplies out for Glenn. "You're on your own." He said.
"No, you're not." Tara assured Glenn.
"Right. You know I'm with you, Glenn." Wyatt said. Glenn gave him and Tara a thankful nod.
Abraham handed Glenn a few cans from his bag. "No, no, no. Those are yours. You guys will need them for your trip." Glenn said.
"You will, too." Abraham reassured.
"Thank you." Glenn said. Abraham handed him a flashlight. "Sorry, I...hit you in the face." Glenn added.
"I'm not. I like to fight." Abraham chuckled. He walked over to LeRoy. "That deal is still on the table if you're interested. Only we go to the arsenal first." He said. LeRoy nodded.
Rosita came over to say goodbye. "Good luck." She said, hugging him. "Try not to be an a**." She joked. She then hugged Tara and Wyatt.
LeRoy walked over to shake Glenn's hand. "You're not coming?" Glenn asked.
"No, I'm sorry." LeRoy said.
"But what about your sister?" Glenn asked.
"I'll find her. I think I know where to look."
"Okay." Glenn nodded. He shook his hand. LeRoy then shook Wyatt and Tara's hands.
"I hope you find your wife." He said and walked back towards Abraham, Eugene, and Rosita.
Glenn nodded. "I hope you find your sister." He said. LeRoy nodded as well.
"You're both good people. I have to say that you are seriously hot, Tara." Eugene said.
"Yeah, I like girls." Tara said.
"I'm well aware of that." He replied. Tara laughed.
"Say you get into trouble in there. You turn around. We're doubling back to the first road we crossed. Maybe you can find us before we find the right ride." Abraham said.
"Thanks." Glenn said. Abraham nodded and they all walked off down the tracks, back the way they came.
"Hey. I know what you're going through." Glenn said. Tara looked at him and started walking into the tunnel. Glenn and Wyatt followed. "After this all started, after I realized I'd never see my family, my friends again, I was numb. All day long, just numb. I'm just saying I get it." Glenn said.
"When Brian told us he wanted to take over the prison, I knew it sounded bad. When I found my girlfriend, she was dead. My niece, my sister, she was surrounded, pounced on. I saw it happen. But still, it wasn't as bad as seeing what he did to Maggie's father." Tara said. Glenn stopped and looked at her. "Because that's when I knew. That second the sword...I wanted to scream 'no', but it just happened. Brian said we might have to kill people. I was the first to jump in. I was just hanging on the 'might'."
"The guy I used to work for, Bill Carver, made us kill people too. I'm ashamed to say I actually did. He was in this war with the Governor, or Brian." Wyatt said.
"Really?" Tara asked.
"Yeah. It was so bad. So many people died. Almost all of my friends were killed." He said.
"I'm sorry." Tara said.
"We contributed to that, Wyatt. We share some of the blame." Glenn said.
Wyatt looked at the ground. "I had to get out of there. I couldn't take it anymore. I was so happy when I found you guys, Glenn. Luke, Mike, Rebecca, Bonnie. All of my old friends. My real friends." Wyatt said.
"You did the right thing, Wyatt. I just wish I did the same thing sooner." Tara said, looking down.
Joe's group entered the garage with their guns drawn as they looked around the place. "They ain't here. Nobody's been here for a while. Whoever was, they got all the gas." Nate said.
"That don't matter. We're getting closer. I can feel it." Joe said.
The group members started claiming spots to sleep. Nate and Len kept claiming things just so Daryl couldn't have it. Daryl finally found a spot to sleep and laid down to get some rest.
Abraham, LeRoy, Rosita, and Eugene were on a road with three cars, checking to see if they worked. LeRoy was sitting in one of them drawing a map to the Night Raiders base. Abraham walked over to a minivan in the road that had a walker trapped inside, pounding at the glass. He looked back at Rosita and LeRoy. "You got him?" He asked, referring to Eugene. "I got her." He said as he took out his knife. He opened the sliding door slightly to let the walker out halfway. He then pinned it in with the door and stabbed it through the neck. He dragged the walker out then got in the car and turned on the engine, which worked. "Gonna need to air this baby out."
"Good, it'll give us some time to figure out how to get back on track." Rosita said.
LeRoy handed Rosita the map to the Night Raiders base. "Not bad. It's not too far." Rosita said.
"Only one problem. The place was overrun by walkers the last time I was there." LeRoy said.
Rosita gave him an irritated look. "You didn't think to tell us that before?" She asked with an attitude.
"It was a while ago. The place probably cleared out by now. Probably not completely but we can handle however many is left there." LeRoy said.
Rosita rolled her eyes. "Fine." She said. Eugene tried to take the map from her. "Yo, no, no." She said.
"I'm the navigator." Eugene said.
"Then learn to navigate. Remember Thompson?" Rosita asked.
"I'm formally requesting a straight up do-over on that one." Eugene said. Rosita put her hands on her hips. "I guided us here from Houston to northern Georgia without incident." He said.
"I wouldn't say without incident." Abraham said.
"Minimal incident. Navigation-wise at least." Eugene corrected himself. Rosita just looked at him. "Please?" Eugene asked. "I cannot abide a reality where you were the chosen navigator over a son of the South who has successfully negotiated the travails and vagaries of journeys both real and virtual."
"All right." Rosita sighed and gave him the map. "We're going north. Got it?" She said and walked away.
Later, the 4 of them were in the car and Rosita was driving. Abraham was asleep. "Turn left up here." Eugene said, looking at the map.
"This is the third left turn you've made me make in the last five minutes. You're lost." Rosita said.
"I'm not. Turn left." He said. Rosita turned left onto the next road.
"Let me see the map." LeRoy said. Eugene handed it to him. "Nowhere on this map requires you to take three left turns to get to the base. You sure you know where you're going?" LeRoy asked.
"If you're lost, please just tell me. The gas in this tank is worth more than your ego." Rosita said.
"If you want to talk fuel efficiency, we could talk-" Eugene was cut off.
"We are not rolling up the windows! It smells like a d**n carcass in here." Rosita said.
"Stop the van." Eugene demanded. Rosita stopped on the tracks.
"Why are we stopping?" LeRoy asked. Eugene didn't answer.
"Eugene." Rosita said. She sighed and shook her head. "Mentirosa." She said to herself as she looked out the window. "Ugh, liar!" She exclaimed.
"Nope." Eugene said.
"This wasn't your plan? Why you insisted on navigating? Why you told him to go to sleep?" She asked, pointing to Abraham.
"Nope. I never claimed otherwise. Now how about you apologize for the slander and we call it square?" Eugene asked.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Rosita asked.
"If Glenn, Tara, and Wyatt were still alive and there were no significant delays and they continued traveling at approximately three miles per hour and I timed it correctly in my head, they might be somewhere around here." Eugene said.
"They are not the priority. The only priorities are getting to that base, finding my sister, and getting you to Washington." LeRoy said.
"After I save the world, I still have to live with myself. I'm not leaving them behind." Eugene said.
He let his seat back and it hit Abraham in the face, waking him up. "Oh! Son of a b**ch!" He exclaimed. He sat up and looked around. "Why the hell are we stopped?" He asked.
"If they made it out of that tunnel, they'd be somewhere around here." Eugene said.
"You're kidding me, right?" Abraham asked. "What's your problem?" He asked Rosita angrily.
"My problem?" She asked with an attitude.
"You're the one in the driver's seat! You're the one who put your damn foot on the brake!" Abraham said.
"He told me to stop!" Rosita said angrily.
"You don't stop! You never stop!" Abraham yelled.
"I know the rules."
"If you know the rules, the rule is you never stop!"
"Abraham, calm the hell down!" LeRoy intervened.
"You too! You made the damn map! You know we don't stop here!" Abraham argued.
"Oh, so now you're turning this on me?!" LeRoy said angrily.
The three of them were arguing while Eugene was trying to get their attention because he sees something. "Guys. Guys!"
"What?!" The three of them yelled together.
They looked out of the passenger side window to see Maggie, Jane, Sasha, Bob, and Amanda walking on the tracks. LeRoy jumped out of the van and ran towards them. "Who's this?" Sasha asked, raising her pistol.
"Oh my god! It's my brother!" She exclaimed and ran towards him. They both hugged each other.
"Amanda. I'm so glad you're okay." LeRoy said, still hugging her and stroking her hair.
"Me too. I was worried after you left to find Troy." Amanda said.
Abraham, Eugene, and Rosita walked up to them and so did Maggie, Jane, Sasha, and Bob. "This is Abraham, Eugene, and Rosita. I met them a couple days ago." LeRoy said.
"Hey. Nice to meet you. This is Maggie, Jane, Sasha, and Bob. They're nice people. I helped them escape the prison." Amanda said.
"Obliged." Abraham said.
"Wait, Maggie? You're Glenn's wife, right?" LeRoy asked Maggie.
"You know Glenn?" Maggie asked surprisingly.
"Yeah. I met him at the prison. We separated just about an hour or so ago." LeRoy said. Maggie started to smile in excitement.
"This is good news. We know Glenn is still alive." Jane said.
"Where is he?" Maggie asked.
"He went into a tunnel with a couple friends back there. We were coming by to see if they made it out." LeRoy said.
"We just came from that tunnel. We blocked it off. There are dozens of walkers in there." Sasha said.
"We can go back. See if they're okay." Eugene said.
"No. I'm afraid we have a mission to attend to. Come on. You still coming with us, LeRoy." Abraham asked.
LeRoy hesitated. "We have to go back for Glenn." He said.
"We don't have time for this." Abraham said.
"Come on, Abraham. We have to. Glenn is a friend of ours." Rosita said.
Abraham hesitated. "Fine." He said.
Back at the garage...
"You've got to be kidding me. Christ." Len said. He walked towards Daryl who was lying on the floor. "Give it here." He said, holding his hand out.
"You step back." Daryl said.
"My half was in the bag. Now it's gone. Now, ain't nobody around here interested in no half a damn cottontail except you. Ain't that right?" Len said. Joe and Nate walked over to them.
"You're the only one still thinking about that crap." Daryl said.
"Cut it out, Len. Guy's done nothing to you." Danny said. Daryl looked at him.
"This is none of your damn business, Danny." Len said.
"Empty your bag." Nate said, trying to grab Daryl's bag but Daryl snatched it away from him.
"I said step back." Daryl said. Joe then snatched the bag from Daryl.
"Did you take his rabbit, Daryl? Just tell me the truth." Joe said.
"I didn't take nothing." Daryl said, staring angrily at Len.
"What do we got here? Come on." Joel said, emptying Daryl's bag. He shook the bag one last time and Len's half of the rabbit fell out. "Well, look at that." Joe said.
"You put that there, didn't you?" Dary said to Len. "When I went out to take a piss?! Didn't you?!" Daryl asked angrily, pushing him.
"You lied. You stole. You know what we do to liars and thieves." Nate said.
"We gonna teach this fool or what, Joe?" Len asked.
"Whoa, whoa. Now, Daryl says he didn't take your half of the rabbit. So we got a little conundrum here. Either he's lying, which is an actionable offense, or…(laughs) or you didn't plant it on him like some pussy, punk-a**, cheating, coward cop, did you? 'Cause while that wouldn't be specifically breaking the rules, it'd be disappointing." Joe said.
"It would. I didn't." Len said.
"Good. Well…" Joe turned to say something to Daryl but turned back around and punched Len in the face, knocking him to the ground, which shocked Nate. "Teach him a lesson, gents. He's a lying sack of s**t. I'm sick of it. Teach him all the way." Joe said. The rest of the group started kicking and beating Len. Danny reluctantly joined in. Nate just stared at Daryl angrily and walked away. "I saw him do it." Joe said to Daryl.
"Why didn't you try to stop him?" Daryl asked.
"He wanted to play that out. I let him. You told the truth. He lied. You understand the rules. He doesn't." Joe said. He picked up the other half of the rabbit and tossed it to him. "Looks like you get the head, too." He said, walking away towards the rest of the group, who were still beating up Len.
The group arrived at the tunnel in the minivan. "This is where they were. They should've been out by now." LeRoy said. Suddenly, they heard commotion going on inside and shouting.
"Let's go." Abraham said as they all got back in the car.
They drove into the tunnel and saw Glenn, Tara, and Wyatt being closed in on by walkers. They all jumped out of the van as Abraham shouted, "Get down!". Abraham, LeRoy, Rosita, Maggie, Sasha, Jane, Amanda, and Bob started mowing the walkers down with their guns while Glenn, Tara, and Wyatt ducked and covered on the ground.
Once all the walkers were dead, Glenn looked up and saw that Maggie was there. She ran to him and they hugged and embraced lovingly. Glenn comforted her as she cried of joy.
A little later, Maggie, Glenn, and LeRoy were piling up the walker bodies. Rosita, Jane, and Tara came back from checking the tunnel for walkers. "How'd it go?" Glenn asked.
"End of the tunnel's secure." Rosita said.
"If anything tries to come in, we'll hear in plenty of time." Jane said.
"We didn't get to officially meet." Maggie said to Tara.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Tara, this is Maggie. Maggie, Tara." Glenn said.
"Hi." Tara said, shaking her hand. She appeared to be nervous.
"Hi." Maggie said back.
Tara looked at Glenn and then back to Maggie. "He's a big fan of yours." Tara said awkwardly. Glenn and Maggie laughed.
"Me, Wyatt, and LeRoy met Tara on the road. Couldn't have made it here without her." Glenn said.
Maggie hugged Tara, catching her off guard. "Thank you." Maggie said.
"When she heard what I was doing, she said she had to help me. She's just that kind of person." Glenn said. Tara smiled and walked back over to the rest of the group. Glenn took Maggie's hand and went too.
When they got over to the campfire, Sasha, Jane, Bob, and Amanda were exchanging looks of surprise and then looked at Glenn when he walked up with Maggie. "What's up?" Glenn asked with a look of concern.
"He just said that he knows what caused the outbreak." Sasha said, pointing at Eugene.
"Yeah. He does." Glenn said. "Let me guess. He asked you to go to DC with him?" He asked.
"I'm downright tickled y'all found each other. Should spend the rest of the night celebrating. Because tomorrow there's absolutely no reason why the 12 of us don't stuff ourselves in that van and head up to Washington." Abraham said.
"He's right. We should go, Amanda." LeRoy said.
"I'm gonna go too." Tara said.
"No, he's wrong. We're 55% of the way from Houston to Washington. Up until now, we've had an armored military vehicle for transport and we lost eight people." Eugene said.
"That wasn't our fault." Rosita said.
"They're gone." Abraham said.
"I can't imagine we'd have better luck with that grocery grabber we picked up. We're a day's walk from Terminus. Who knows what they got there?" Eugene said.
"Look, it couldn't hurt to check. Load up on supplies, maybe even some will come with." Amanda suggested.
"I'll go with you guys, but after. I have to see Terminus. Our friends could be there." Jane said.
"Me too. My brother could be there. I got to know." Sasha said.
"Me, three. On all counts." Bob said.
"He tells me I'm wrong...I listen." Abraham said, looking at Eugene then back to the group. "Tomorrow we go to the end of the line. Then Washington." Abraham said.
Joe's group were getting ready to leave the garage they were staying in. The clang of one of the garage doors opening woke Daryl up. He sat up and turned to see a lot of blood in the spot where Len was being beat up.
The group exited the building with Daryl being one of the last out. He looked on the ground to see Len's lifeless body with a crossbow bolt through his eye. Danny walked up from behind Daryl. "I can tell you don't want to be here with us. Trust me, I don't either." Danny said.
"What are you even doing here if you don't want to be here?" Daryl asked.
"I was with a group before them. I left though because I knew I wouldn't fit in...because of my past. These guys found me. They took me in 'cause they said I'm like them. And I am, unfortunately. I really had no other choice. I wasn't gonna keep surviving on my own, I'd eventually die on my own. I needed people to be with." Danny said.
"But you tried to leave, didn't you?" Daryl asked.
"Yeah, it was stupid. I wanted to leave because these guys are just awful but at the same time, I knew I needed them." He said.
"You don't need them." Daryl said.
"We all need people, Daryl. We need each other. I can tell you're searching for something while being with us at the same time. Is it your people who you're looking for? Did you used to have a group? " Danny asked. Daryl just looked at the ground. "Come on. Let's catch up with the others." Danny said as he walked away. Daryl reluctantly followed.
Daryl and Joe were trailing in the far back of the group as always. Joe took a sip of alcohol and offered it to Daryl, who accepted the offer. "White Lightning. Easiest thing to make with the least amount of supplies. I'd start slow if I were you. Your stomach's probably emptier than you think." Joe said as Daryl drank.
"I ain't been lit at dawn since before everything fell apart." Daryl said.
"Fell apart. I never looked at it like that. Seems to me like things are finally starting to fall together. At least for guys like us. Living like this, surviving. We've been doing this from the start, right?" Joe said.
The group came across a Terminus sign. "Getting closer." Nate said. Daryl got a closer look at the sign.
""You seen this before?" Daryl asked Joe.
"Oh, yeah. I'll tell you what it is. It's a lie. Ain't no sanctuary for all. Ain't gonna welcome guys like you and me with open arms." Joe said, walking away. Daryl followed.
"So is that where we're headed?" Daryl asked.
"So now you're asking?" Joe asked.
"That's right." Daryl answered.
"We were in a house minding our own business and this walking piece of fecal matter was hiding in the home. Strangled our colleague, Lou, and left him to turn. Lou came at all of us. He lit out. We tracked him to these tracks, one of those signs, and thus we've got a destination in mind." Joe said.
"You see his face?" Daryl asked.
"Only Danny. That's enough for a reckoning." He answered.
"Lou was my friend. The only guy I liked here other than Joe who was in the same boat as me. That piece of s**t is gonna pay." Danny said.
Daryl, Danny, Nate, and Tony spotted a root with vegetables on the ground next to the tracks. "Claimed." Daryl said. He picked it up and put it in his bag. Another thing caught his attention on the tracks. A candy bar wrapper.
Glenn, Maggie, Abraham, LeRoy, Tara, Sasha, Jane, Amanda, Rosita, Eugene, Wyatt, and Bob finally arrived at Terminus. It was a factory with multiple buildings. It had 'Terminus' written in large black letters on the side of the building. They all walked up to the gate and it was surprisingly unlocked. Glenn and LeRoy pushed the gate open. The group walked cautiously in with their guns drawn. Jane was starting to notice how quiet it was. They came to a gate that led to the main square area. There was a sign on it that said 'LOWER YOUR WEAPONS. YOU WILL BE MET. YOU HAVE ARRIVED AT TERMINUS'. The group lowered their weapons and went through the gate. When they turned the corner to one of the buildings, they saw that there was fresh fruits and vegetables growing as well as flowers. There was also cleaning materials on tables and clothes in baskets. There was an older woman cooking meat on a grill. When she noticed the group approaching, she came over to greet them.
"Hi. I'm Mary. Looks like you've been on the road a while." She said.
"We have." Maggie said.
"Let's get you settled and we'll make you a plate. Welcome to Terminus."
(Outro)
Hey guys! Sorry these are coming out slowly but my school year is almost over! Episodes/Chapters should be coming out faster than usual once my summer break starts. I've decided to finish up this season before I continue The Walking Dead: Star Wars Edition so the next chapter for that will come some time after the season 4 finale. Remember to share your thoughts with a REVIEW and also remember to FAVORITE and FOLLOW! :)
-twd2010