The Walking Dead: Season 4B (wTelltale Characters) Finale
Episode 16- A
Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead television series or Telltale game series. They both belong to their respective owners.
A/N: Please read the note at the end.
Rick, Michonne, Luke, and Carl were in the woods kneeling around a fire. They were heating up a can. "How hungry are you, scale of one to 10?" Rick asked.
"12." Carl said.
"15." Luke said.
Rick smiled and looked at Michonne. "28." She said.
Rick chuckled. "Yeah. Well, it's been a while. I'm gonna go check the snares." He said.
"Can I come with you?" Carl asked.
"Well, how else are you gonna learn?" Rick said. Carl smiled and got up. Rick put out the fire. "Hey, you guys too." Rick said to Luke and Michonne. They all grabbed their things and followed Rick.
"I wouldn't say I need much training on hunting and using snares. I did my fair share of that when I used to get food for my group when we lived in a cabin." Luke said. "And I'm a country boy." He chuckled.
"That's good. You can help out. Now I don't have to do these things myself." Rick said.
"Not so sure about that." Luke said jokingly.
"Lazy Luke being lazy yet again." Michonne joked. Rick smiled and Carl laughed.
"Hey, I'm not that lazy." Luke said.
"We'll stay another day or two. Get some more rest." Rick said.
"Finish healing up?" Michonne asked.
Rick nodded. "I'm almost there."
"We're close now, right?" Carl asked.
"To Terminus?" Rick asked.
"Yeah."
"We are." Rick said.
"When we get there, are we gonna tell them?" Carl asked.
"Tell them what?" Michonne asked.
"Everything that's happened to us. All the stuff we've done. Are we gonna tell them the truth?" He asked.
"We're gonna tell them who we are." Luke said.
"But how do you say that? I mean...who are we?" Carl asked, looking up at Rick.
Before Rick could say anything, a walker that came out from behind some trees caught their attention. Michonne drew her katana and cut it down.
They finally made it to the snare. It managed to catch a rabbit. "There you go. It's a small one. It'll do." Rick said. He started to show Carl and Michonne how snares worked. "So, this is just a simple slipknot. Tie one on both ends, then you tighten one side to a branch. Now, you see how the ground here is sort of like a funnel shape?" He explained.
"It's a trail?" Carl asked.
"That's right." Rick said.
"That's where you want to set the noose." Luke added.
"Right. So you hide it with leaves. Then you put sticks all around it so any animals going by have to run this way, right into the trap." Rick said, demonstrating with his hand.
A loud scream for help came from a distance. The scream was from a man. "Help! Somebody help!" The guy yelled.
Carl started to run towards the man's direction. "Carl. Carl, stop! Carl!" Rick said as he grabbed his stuff to run after him. Luke and Michonne followed after them. Carl made it to the end of a forest where there was a clearing. A man was screaming for help and surrounded by a dozen walkers. Carl raised his pistol to shoot but Rick grabbed him from behind and pulled him behind a tree. "We can't help him." He said. The man was bitten in the eye and the walkers continued to pull him to the ground and devour him.
"We've got to go." Michonne whispered.
The four of them ran away and got back to the train tracks with walkers on their trail. They stopped and took out their weapons when they saw some walkers eating a corpse on the tracks in front of them. Rick ran up to a walker that started walking towards him and hit it with the back of his colt python and did the same with another one. Luke stabbed a walker through the head with his machete and sliced another's head in half. Michonne cut two down with her sword. "Let's go." Rick said as they ran away with a bunch of walkers trailing behind them.
Terminus(Kenny's group)
Kenny, Clementine, Mike, and Sarah arrived at the gates of Terminus. He saw the sign telling them to lower their weapons. "Let's do what they say for now. First impressions are important." Mike said.
"You're probably right. Fine." Kenny said, lowering his AK. Clementine holstered her pistol.
The four of them walked through the gates and after turning a few corners they were greeted by a woman. "Hello. I'm Mary. Welcome." She said.
"Hey. Glad to be here. We've been on the road for a while." Kenny said.
"We're glad to have you all here." Mary said. She saw AJ in Sarah's arms and her eyes lit up in excitement. "Oh, my. You guys have a little one with you. What's this cutie's name?" She asked, touching AJ's cheek.
"His name's AJ. His parents died. We're all he has." Clementine said.
"That's very lovely. He'll fit right in here. Why don't you have a seat somewhere. We'll get you all a plate of food." Mary said.
Two young men walked over the them. "Hey, I'm Gareth and this is my brother Alex. The nice woman you guys just met is our mom. Welcome to Terminus." One of the men said.
"I'm Kenny. This here is Mike, Sarah, Clementine, and AJ." Kenny said.
"It's nice to meet you all." Gareth said.
"Is there anyone named Christa here?" Clementine asked.
"No. I'm afraid not." Alex said.
"Anyone named Luke? Rick? Daryl? Jane?" Clementine asked.
"No one by those names either. Sorry." Gareth said.
Clementine looked at the ground sadly.
"How many people you guys have here?" Kenny asked.
"We have enough to keep us safe. But not so much that we run out of food quickly. We're building something great here." Gareth said.
"So what do we do?" Mike asked.
"Why don't you guys have a seat somewhere. We'll be bringing your food out soon. I'll be back in a little bit with a couple of my friends. They help me manage the jobs around here. They'll let you know what you'll be doing." Gareth said.
"Okay. Sounds good." Mike said. Gareth and Alex went inside one of the buildings.
Kenny went to sit at one of the tables they had set up. Clementine, Mike, and Sarah sat at the tables with him.
"It's strange that they let us keep our weapons. I was expecting them to be taken away." Clementine said.
"That's what I was thinking too." Mike said.
"So far, these people don't seem like much of a threat. I say we bide our time and watch them carefully. I'm not taking any damn chances." Kenny said.
"There's not many people outside." Clementine noticed.
"Yeah, I noticed that. It's strange. New people just showed up that they don't even know and they act like they don't care." Mike said.
"Whatever the reason is, we'll look into it. Trust me." Kenny assured.
"Mary seems nice. I like her." Sarah said.
"We don't know if she's just putting on an act, Sarah. We don't know anything about these people yet." Kenny said.
"What are we gonna do?" Clementine asked.
Kenny turned to Clem. "We wait for those guys to come back. Then we question them some more." He said.
In the woods(Rick's group)
Rick, Michonne, Luke, and Carl were continuing their walk down the road. "Thought maybe there'd be some houses down this way. Maybe even a store." Michonne said.
"There's gotta be some food around here somewhere." Luke said.
"Hey, look." Carl said, pointing to an abandoned car.
Luke and Rick went to examine the car while Michonne stabbed a walker on the ground that was snarling at her.
Later on at night, Michonne and Rick were sitting at a small fire while Carl slept in the car. Luke was relaxing on the hood of the car and trying to get some rest.
"That was one small rabbit." Rick said.
"It was something." Michonne said. "Gotta hand it to the thing. It traveled well." She added.
Rick chuckled. "Have you noticed that's all we talk about anymore? Food. I forgot what this feels like." He said.
"Me too." Michonne said. "I hope we're able to forget again soon."
"We're close. Just gotta make it through another day." Rick said, putting out the fire and leaving them with only the light of the moon. "If folks there are taking people in, they have to be strong. They have to have a system." He said.
"Makes me hope we're not making a big mistake by going there." Luke said, starting up at the stars.
"Yeah. I wonder if the whole thing's legit." Michonne said.
As soon as Michonne finished her sentence, they heard loud rustling in the woods. The 3 of them looked over to the noise quickly with their hands on their weapons. Rick stood up, listening carefully. He stood there listening for a moment. There was silence. Only the sounds of the crickets chirping. Rick sat back down next to Michonne.
"We let people in." Rick said.
"We did. So did the Governor." Michonne said.
"Carver took people in too. It wasn't always the person's choice. Sometimes it was by force. Like he did to me and my friends. I never completely understood Bill. Maybe he really was just trying to build up his community. But he went at it the wrong way, and it got him killed." Luke said.
"Yeah, it's always the same, isn't it? Don't get to know until we know. Maybe this place isn't even there anymo-" Rick was cut off when a gun was pushed against his head. It was Joe and his crew that came out of the woods.
"Oh, dearie me." Joe said. Michonne tried to grab her sword but it was kicked away by Tony as he pointed a gun to her head. The rest of the Claimers came out of the woods and surrounded them.
"What the hell?!" Luke said as he was grabbed by Nate and pulled to the ground. He pinned Luke to the ground with his boot to his back and pointed his rifle at his head.
"You screwed up, a**hole. You hear me? You screwed up." Joe said, with the barrel of his gun still pressed against Rick's head.
Terminus(Kenny's group)
Clementine and Sarah were eating their food and talking with Mary and her son. Mary seemed to be really enjoying AJ's presence. It is understandable considering it must be extremely rare to see a baby these days. Kenny and Mike were sitting at the table, discussing what they're plan is if the people turned out to be a threat.
"They seem like decent people so far. Maybe if we play our cards right it'll turn out okay." Mike said.
"We don't know anything about them yet. We need to find out exactly who they are and how they do things. I'm not going through another Carver situation." Kenny said.
"I hear you, Kenny. But we still gotta play our cards right. You can't go snooping around. We can't risk getting on their bad side." Mike said.
Kenny looked around. He saw a few men on the rooftops.
"What are you looking for?" Mike asked.
"They have snipers on the rooftops." Kenny said.
"Maybe to keep an eye on newcomers like us. Don't think too much into it, Kenny." Mike said.
"Yeah, but we-" Kenny froze when he saw Gareth and Alex walking towards him with two other men. Two men that Kenny thought were dead. Two men that Kenny detested and hoped to never see again. It was none other than Andy and Danny St. John. Anger filled Kenny's emotions. All the dark memories from that disgusting dinner at that cannibal ranch came flooding back in. He remembered the St. Johns feeding him and his people human meat that they cut from Mark. He remembered how his son ate that human meat. He remembered how the St. Johns locked them in a meat locker. He remembered how Andy held Duck hostage and shot him in the arm when he tried to save him. All Kenny could see is red. All he wanted in that moment was to kill the two of them. He made a beeline straight towards Andy and punched him right in the face, sending him straight to the ground. "You remember me?! Do you?! I'm gonna kill you!" Kenny yelled as he climbed over Andy and started repeatedly punching him.
Gareth, Alex, and Danny tackled Kenny to the ground. Four other Terminus members drew their guns toward Kenny.
Mike ran over to them. "Kenny! What's your problem, man?!"
"GET YOUR F**KING HANDS OFF ME! LET ME AT HIM!" Kenny shouted with his face on the ground.
Andy stood up, holding his jaw. He started to laugh hysterically. "Yeah, I remember you. You had your family on our farm with the rest of those folks. How's your arm?" He asked with a laugh.
"F**K YOU!" Kenny yelled.
"Kenny, you know this guy?" Mike asked.
Clementine just stood there staring at him intensely. "I remember you. Lee should've killed you." She said. "Both of you." She added, looking at Danny. Sarah looked at Clementine confusingly.
"Whoa there, little girl. Let's not get hostile here." Andy said.
"Yeah. We ain't gonna hurt y'all." Danny said.
"Look, I don't know what the deal is with you people and Andy and Danny, but because of Kenny's little emotional outburst, we have to put you guys in holding until we figure out what's going on." Gareth said.
"What?!" Kenny yelled as he stood up. "Are you trying to imprison us?! If you just knew what this guy and his brother had done it'd be a whole 'nother f**king story. You should put THEM in holding! " Kenny said angrily.
"It's just a precaution. You obviously have some bad blood with the St. John brothers here and we can't have you roaming around causing problems." Gareth explained.
"Lets just do what they say, Kenny. We can't risk being kicked out. You've done enough already." Mike said.
"Fine. Just know we're leaving the first time I see something I don't like, especially with those two a**holes walking around." Kenny said.
Sarah was alarmed when she heard they might be going back out there where walkers roam around. "But, Kenny!" She said anxiously.
"I know, Sarah. I'm sorry but if it's not safe here then we'll have to go. I'm just looking out for you, Clem, and AJ." Kenny said.
"Okay." Sarah sighed sadly. "Where are you gonna take us?" She asked Gareth.
"Follow us." Gareth said.
Gareth and Alex led the group to a train car labeled with an 'A'.
"In here." Alex said as he opened the door.
"What about AJ? You can't just leave us in here with a baby and no supplies. He'll need food, some milk if you have it, and fresh clothes." Clementine said.
"We'll bring you guys some things for your baby. Don't worry. Everyone inside." Gareth said. Everyone stepped inside and the door closed behind them and locked.
"It's so dark in here." Sarah said.
"Who's there?" A voice said in the darkness.
Glenn, Maggie, Jane, Amanda, LeRoy, Sasha, Abraham, Eugene, Rosita, Bob, Wyatt, and Tara stepped out of the shadows. "Kenny? Clem?" Glenn said.
"Oh, thank god. You guys are here. I thought we were the only ones." Mike said.
"We were hoping we'd run into you guys." Kenny said.
Clementine hugged Glenn, Maggie and Jane. "Have you guys seen anyone else from our group?" She asked.
"I'm afraid not." Maggie said. Clementine sighed, feeling worried for Carl especially. "We're worried about them too, Clem. Hopefully we run into some of them soon." Maggie added.
"We just met Abraham, Eugene, Rosita, Tara, LeRoy, and Amanda. They're okay people." Jane said, pointing to each.
"Nice to meet you." Tara said.
"I don't like being held in places. How long you guys been in here?" Kenny asked.
"About two hours, I think." Glenn said.
"When do you think they'll be back?" Sarah asked.
Kenny looked through a crack in the train car door. "I don't know, hon." He said.
In the woods(Rick's group)
"Today's the day of reckoning, sir. Restitution. A balancing of the whole damn universe." Joe said with his gun still to Rick's head.
Danny went over to Carl's window and tapped his knife to it while giving Carl perverted looks.
"S**t, and I was thinking of turning in for the night on New Year's Eve." Joe said with a laugh. "Now who's gonna count down the ball dropper with me, huh? Ten Mississippi. Nine Mississippi. Eight Mississippi-"
"Joe!" Daryl shouted as he walked out of the woods, cutting him off. He froze when he saw who it was that they had captive. Rick, Michonne, and Luke's eyes widened when they saw him. Rick and Daryl locked eyes for a moment. "Hold up." Daryl said as he walked closer.
"You're stopping me on eight, Daryl." Joe said.
"Just hold up." Daryl said again.
"This is the guy that killed Lou, so we got nothing to talk about." Nate said.
"The thing about nowadays is we got nothing but time. Say your piece, Daryl." Joe said.
"These people, you're gonna let 'em go. These are good people." Daryl said.
"Now, I think Lou would disagree with you on that. I'll, of course, have to speak for him and all 'cause your friend here strangled him in a bathroom." Joe said.
"You want blood, I get it." Daryl said, tossing his crossbow on the ground. "Take it from me, man. Come on." He said with his hands up.
"This man killed our friend. You say he's good people. See, now that right there is a lie. It's a lie!" Joe shouted, which signalled for the others to attack Daryl.
Nate jabbed Daryl in the stomach with the back of his rifle and two more came from behind and threw him on the ground. They then proceeded to repeatedly punch and kick Daryl.
"NO!" Rick shouted.
"Teach him, fellas. Teach him all the way." Joe ordered. They proceeded to beat up Daryl.
"GET OFF OF ME!" Luke yelled, wanting to get up and help Daryl but couldn't because Nate still had a boot to his back and a rifle to his head.
"Shut the hell up, boy." Nate said, pressing the rifle to his head harder.
Carl was witnessing Daryl getting beaten right in front of him on the car hood. Suddenly, Daniel opened the door and dragged Carl out. "Come here, boy." He said as Carl cried for help.
"YOU LEAVE HIM BE!" Rick yelled and tried to get up but Joe forced him back down.
Danny started creepily smelling Carl's hair while holding on to him as he was crying. Michonne was anxious to move and angrily looked up at Tony who was still holding a gun to her. "You'll get yours. You just wait your turn." Tony said.
"Listen, it was me. It was just me." Rick said frantically.
"See, now that's right. That's not some damn lie. Look, we can settle this. We're reasonable men." Joe said, with his gun still against Rick's head. Rick watched helplessly as Daryl was getting punched and thrown around and Carl getting harrassed by Danny. "First, we're gonna beat Daryl to death. Then we'll gut your friend on the ground, here. Then we'll have the girl. Then the boy. Then I'm gonna shoot you and then we'll be square." Joe said with a sinister laugh.
Danny threw Carl to the ground and got on top of him. Carl was trying his hardest fight back. "Stop your squirming, boy." Danny said with a creepy smile.
"Let him go." Rick said. He was getting angrier by the second because of Danny's evil laugh as he was on top of his son. "Let him go." He said again, more angrily. He then headbutted Joe from behind, causing the gun to go off in his ear as Joe shouted in pain.
Disoriented from the loud gunshot, Rick stood up and punched Joe in the face. Joe immediately punched Rick back, sending him to the ground again. "I got him. Oh it's gonna be SO much worse now!" Joe said, kicking Rick in the stomach.
Carl tried to grab a knife on the ground next to him but Danny forced his arms down. Michonne slapped Tony's gun away from her face, causing it to go off but she was immediately smacked to the ground.
"I'm gonna kill all of you!" Luke yelled with his face on the ground.
"Or how about I just beat you to a bloody pulp?!" Nate said, snatching Luke up and punching him in the face, sending him crashing back to the ground. "Who the f**k do you think you're talking to?!" He yelled, kicking Luke in the back, causing him to scream in pain.
"Come on, get up!" Joe said. Rick was still disoriented and was struggling to stand up. "Come on. Let's see what you got." Joe added.
Danny put Carl on his stomach and started to unbuckle his belt.
Rick finally got a footing and started to stand. "Get away from him before I-"
"You'll what? Huh? Right over here." Joe said, gripping Rick into a bearhug. "What the hell are you gonna do now, sport?" Joe asked in a cocky tone.
Rick then bit down on Joe's neck as hard as he could and ripped out a large chunk of his jugular and spit it onto the ground, causing blood to pour and spew out of his neck. Joe, choking on his own blood, collapsed to the ground.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and were staring in shock.
Michonne took the opportunity to turn Tony's own gun towards himself and made him shoot himself in the face.
Luke grabbed Nate's knife from his belt and stabbed him in the neck.
Daryl punched one of the guys beating him up, sending him to the ground. He then proceeded to stomp his head into the ground. The other guy tried to grab a gun but was shot down by Michonne.
Danny put Carl in a headlock and a knife to his neck. "I'll kill him. I'll— I'll kill him!" Danny shouted nervously.
"Let the boy go." Michonne demanded.
Rick unsheathed a knife from Joe's jacket. "He's mine." Rick said with every intent of murder in his eyes. He started to walk towards Danny.
Danny tried to plead for his life but before he could get out a full word, Rick stabbed him in the stomach. He started cutting all the way up his body to his chest. He then continued to stab Danny over and over again.
Michonne held Carl in her arms as they all watched as Rick ruthlessly stab Danny to death.
Later that morning, the sun was out. Rick was sitting against the car, shaken over what happened earlier. His hands and mouth were covered in blood. His beard was stained red from Joe's blood. Michone was sitting in the car with Carl, holding him close on her lap. Luke was sitting in the driver's seat staring into the distance and playing with his knife. Daryl walked over to Rick with a cloth and a water bottle. He started pouring the water on the cloth.
"We should save it to drink." Rick said.
"You can't see yourself, he can." Daryl referenced to Carl as he handed the wet cloth to Rick. He sat down next to him. "I didn't know what they were."
"How'd you wind up with them?" Rick asked.
"I was with Beth. We got out together. I was with her for a while. We met this cop. He took us into his chapel, fed us. I thought he was a good guy, but all I know is she disappeared right after he did. " Daryl said, looking sadly towards the ground.
"Is she dead?" Rick asked.
"She's just gone." Daryl said. "After that, that's when they found me. I mean, I knew they were bad, but they had a code. It was simple. Stupid, but it was enough. It was something."
"And you were alone." Rick said.
"They said they were looking for some guy. Last night they said they spotted him. I was hanging back, I was gonna leave but I stayed. That's when I saw it was you guys. Right when you saw me." Daryl paused for a moment. "I didn't know...what they could do." He said sadly.
"It's not on you, Daryl." Rick said. "Hey. It's not on you." He reassured. Daryl nodded. "You being back with us here, now, that's everything. You're my brother." Rick said.
Daryl looked up at Rick as he didn't expect him to say that. Many different emotions rushed in at once but he knew that he appreciated Rick calling him his brother and that deep down, Rick is like the brother he always wanted.
"Hey, what you did last night…anybody would have done that." Daryl said.
"No, not that." Rick said.
"Something happened. That ain't you." Daryl said.
"Daryl, you saw what I did to Tyreese. It ain't all of it, but that's me. That's why I'm here now. That's why Carl is. I want to keep him safe. That's all that matters." Rick said.
While Michonne was sitting with Carl in the back seat, she noticed Luke looking sad. She remembered how Luke cared enough to check on her when she was feeling down and felt that she should do the same.
"Are you okay, Luke?" Michonne asked.
Luke sighed. "I just can't stop thinking about Nick. All the things I should've said. All the things we should've done and talked about. We'll never get the chance." He said.
"You two were like brothers. I could tell you cared for each other despite your constant arguing. You don't have to worry about what you should have said, he cared for you either way and he knew you cared for him." Michonne said.
Luke just looked towards the ground. "How do you deal with losing people?" He asked.
"You just keep going. You keep living and keep surviving...for them. They would want you to survive...so do that." Michonne said.
"When I look at Carl, all I can think about is Sarah and Clem. Poor Sarah lost her dad right in front of her. God, I hope they all made it out." Luke said.
"Daryl found us. Maybe they can too. Maybe we could find them. Maybe they could be at Terminus." Michonne said.
"All we can do is hope." Luke said, looking into the distance.
Later that day…
Rick, Daryl, Michonne, Carl, and Luke were walking along the tracks in the direction of Terminus. Rick and Michonne were walking next to each other.
"You okay?" Rick asked.
"Yeah." Michonne replied.
"I'm okay." Rick said.
"I know." Michonne said.
"How?" Rick asked.
"'Cause I'm okay too." Michonne assured.
Luke nudged Carl on the shoulder. "You okay, bud?" He asked.
"I'm okay." Carl said.
"If this place turns out to be legit, you're safe. As safe as you can be these days. Try not to worry too much about what happens out here. You'll be safe soon." Luke said.
"What if it's not safe?" Carl asked.
"Your dad is a great leader. If it's not safe he'll get us out of there safely. But try to be optimistic, it can go a long way when you're dealing with this new world. And, hey, maybe Clementine will be there. I know you'd be happy to see her." Luke teased with a nudge and a smile. Carl just smiled towards the ground.
The group came across a broken down Terminus sign next to the tracks.
"We're getting close. We'll be there before sundown." Daryl said.
"Now we head through the woods. We don't know who they are." Rick said. The five of them went off the tracks and into the woods.
The group got to the fence that overlooks Terminus and they all watched the building from a distance. It was an industrial building surrounded by fences and large industrial objects. The word "TERMINUS" was spelled out letter by letter on the windows of the building.
"We all spread out, watch for a while, see what we see, and get ready. We all stay close." Rick said. The others started to spread out but Rick stopped Carl before he could go. "You want to stick with me?" He asked.
"It's all right." Carl said and then walked away. Rick just watched him leave and let out a slight sigh.
Carl caught up to Michonne.
"Why didn't you go with your dad?" Michonne asked. Carl didn't give her an answer but just looked down. "When I told you about my son, Andre, you never asked how he died." She said.
"I knew why." Carl said.
"Yeah, but the how is important." Michonne said. "We went to a refugee camp. Andre and my boyfriend Mike, that was Andre's father, and our friend Terry. At the camp, it just got worse and worse. People were leaving. People giving up. But I didn't. I was coming back from a run." Michonne started to choke up as she was talking. "I saw the fences were down. I heard the moans. It was over. And Mike and Terry, they were high when it happened. They were bit. Could've stopped it. Could have killed them. But I let them turn. I made it so they couldn't bite, couldn't scratch. I tied chains around their necks. It was insane. It was sick. It felt like what I deserved, dragging them around so that I would always know. I found our that they kept me safe. They hid me. The walkers didn't see me anymore. I was just another monster. And I was. Me. I was gone for a long time." Michonne said. "But then Andrea brought me back. Your dad brought me back. You did." She said with a slight smile. Michonne could see that Carl still had something that was troubling him. She put her hand on his shoulder. "I see how you've been looking at your dad. You don't have to be afraid of me or him." She said.
"He told me the other day that he was proud of me. That I was a good man. I'm not." Carl said.
"Carl." Michonne tried to stop him but he continued.
"I know more now. About what he wanted from me. And I tried, but...I still have these thoughts. I'm not what he thinks I am. I'm just another monster, too." Carl said tearfully. Michonne just hugged Carl closely.
After digging a hole, Rick put all but one of his weapons in the bag full of guns, including his colt python, and placed it in the hole as the rest of the group walked up.
"Just in case." Rick said as he started shoveling dirt onto the bag.
"Hopefully, we won't need them." Luke said.
The group climbed the fence onto the Terminus property. They were at the rear side of the building. They carefully made their way to the back door with their weapons drawn. Rick opened the door and they all quickly filed in. They could hear a female voice from inside saying "Terminus-those who arrive survive. Follow the tracks to the point where all lines intersect. There are maps at the crossings to help guide you with your journey. Sanctuary for all. Community for all. Those who arrive survive."
The group slowly entered the large room where the woman was speaking into the microphone. There were multiple people, including Gareth, Andy and Danny St. John, looking at some papers at the tables. No one noticed the group so Rick spoke up to make themselves known.
"Hello." Rick said, interrupting the woman speaking. "Hello." He said again, louder this time to get everyone's attention.
"Well, I bet Albert is on perimeter watch." Gareth said sarcastically. "You here to rob us?" He asked Rick.
"No. We wanted to see you before you saw us." Rick said, holstering his pistol.
"Makes sense. Usually we do this where the tracks meet. (clears throat) Welcome to Terminus." Gareth said with his arms outstretched. "I'm Gareth. Looks like you've been on the road for a good bit."
"We have." Rick said. "I'm Rick. That's Carl, Daryl, Luke, and Michonne." He said.
Gareth did an awkward wave as the group just stared daggers at him.
"You're nervous. I get it. We were all the same way. We came here for sanctuary. That what you here for?" Gareth asked.
"Yes." Rick said.
"Good. You found it." Gareth said. "Hey, Alex. Andy." He called them over to him. "This isn't as pretty as the front. We got nothing to hide, but the welcome wagon is a whole lot nicer. Alex and Andy will take ya, ask ya a few questions. Uh, but first, we need to see everyone's weapons. If you could just lay them down in front of you." Gareth said.
The group all looked at each other. Rick nodded to let them know it's okay. "All right." He said, unholstering his pistol and placing it on the ground. Carl put down his pistol, Daryl put down his crossbow, Luke put down his machete, and Michonne put down her katana.
"I'm sure you understand." Gareth added.
"Yes, I do." Rick said.
They all put their arms out to be frisked. Andy frisked Rick and Carl while Alex frisked Daryl and Michonne.
"I'd hate to see the other guy." Alex said to Daryl as he frisked him, referring to the bruises on his face from the fight with Joe's men.
"You would." Rick said.
"They deserve it?" Andy asked.
"Yes." Carl said confidently. Rick looked down at Carl.
"Just so you know, we aren't those kind of people, but we aren't stupid either. And you shouldn't be stupid enough to try anything stupid. As long as everyone's clear on that we shouldn't have any problems. Just solutions." Gareth said.
Alex and Andy handed everyone their weapons back, which was slightly surprising to the group.
"Follow us." Andy said.
They led the group outside to the courtyard where people sit and eat.
"So how long's this place been here?" Luke asked.
"Since almost the start. When all the camps got overrun, people started finding this place." Alex said.
"I reckon it had to be instinct. Follow a path. Some folks were heading to the coast, others out west or up north, but they all wound up here." Andy said.
Alex and Andy brought the group to Mary, the woman cooking meat on a grill.
"Hi. Heard you came in the back door. Smart. You'll fit right in here." Mary said.
"Hey, Mary, would you fix each of these folks a plate for me?" Alex asked.
"I'm Andy St. John, by the way. It's always better to introduce yourself one on one." Andy said, holding out his hand to Rick.
Rick reluctantly shook his hand. "Rick." He said as he read Andy's facial expressions to detect any deception. Andy noticed his intense staring and awkwardly backed away.
Andy's brother, Danny walked over to the group. "These new people?" He asked.
"Yeah, they are. This is my brother Danny." Andy said.
Daryl turned towards them the second he heard the name in confusion considering he just saw Rick kill Danny last night. Coincidentally, he is meeting another Danny the day after.
"Danny, this is Rick, Carl, Daryl, Luke, and, uh...Micone." Andy said.
"It's Michonne." Michonne said irritatingly.
"Right, sorry." Andy said.
"Howdy. Glad to meet you all. You'll fit in just right here." Danny said with a grin.
"We're really excited to get started here. I'm just glad this place actually exists. We were starting to doubt if it was even real at all." Luke said.
"Oh, we're real, all right. No need to worry about that. We're glad you guys showed up, actually. We haven't had any new members in a while." Andy said.
Hearing that they haven't had new members in a long time noticeably saddened the group as it lets them know that no one from the prison was at Terminus with them.
"Yeah and we've been running low on food too recently so five new people coming in is a blessing for us. It means more people to hunt. More people to go out scavenging. So once y'all get to work, we'll be fit as a fiddle." Danny said. "I see two men here that might do just fine hunting. I know a southern huntin' boy when I see 'em." He said, referring to Daryl and Luke. Daryl just stared at him.
"Well, I'm glad we could help you all out." Luke said.
"Why do you do it? Why do you let people in?" Michonne asked.
"The more people become a part of us, we get stronger. That's why we put up the signs, invite people in. It's how we survive." Alex said as he put food on the plate.
"We all need each other. People are a resource nowadays. You're valuable." Danny said.
"Definitely more valuable than you think, I assure you." Andy said.
As they were talking, Rick was looking at their surroundings and all the people in the area. He noticed something strange. A guy with the big orange backpack used by the group on many runs, a guy wearing Glenn's riot gear from the prison, a girl wearing Daryl's old poncho, and finally, he noticed Hershel's watch that was given to Glenn in Alex's pocket.
Alex handed Carl, Michonne, and Luke a plate of food. Right as Alex was about to hand Rick his food, Rick smacked the plate down and put Alex in a chokehold/human shield position and put his pistol to his head. The rest of the group aimed their weapons in each direction with Daryl and Luke pointing their weapons at Andy and Danny, who just put their hands up. Other members of Terminus aimed their guns at Rick in response. Rick pulled the watch out of Alex's pocket and put it up to his face to see it.
"Where the hell did you get this watch?" Rick asked angrily. Rick looked around to see multiple people pointing guns at him. Alex was trembling nervously with his hands up but didn't give an answer so Rick asked again. "Where the hell did you get this watch?"
"You want answers? You want anything else? You get 'em when you put down the gun." Alex said.
"We can talk about this, Rick. You don't know what you're doing." Andy said with his hands still up.
Rick looked up to the roof of one of the buildings. "I see your man on the roof with a sniper rifle. How good's his aim? Where'd you get the watch? Where'd you get the watch?!" Rick yelled.
"Don't do anything! We have this! You just put it down. You put it down!" Alex shouted up at the sniper, who proceeded to put down the rifle. "You want to listen to me. There's a lot of us." Alex said.
Rick was starting to lose his patience. "Where did you get the watch?" He asked a bit more calmly but with the gun still to Alex's head.
"I got it off of a dead one. I didn't think he'd need it." Alex said.
Rick forced Alex's body in another direction to show him everything else he recognized. "What about the riot gear? The poncho?" Rick asked.
"Got the riot gear off a dead cop." Gareth said from behind, which caused Rick to quickly turn around to face him. "Found the poncho on a clothesline." He added.
"Gareth, we can wait." Alex said nervously, still in Rick's hold with a gun to his head.
"Shut up, Alex." Gareth said.
"You talk to me." Rick said.
"What's there left to say? You don't trust us anymore." Gareth said.
"Gareth." Alex said nervously.
"Shut. Up." Gareth said.
"Gareth, please." Alex pleaded.
"It's okay. It's okay." Gareth said, putting his right hand up. "Rick, what do you want?" He asked with his hand still up.
"Where are our people?" Rick asked.
"You didn't answer the question." Gareth said and then closed his palm, which signaled for the above sniper to shoot.
Rick expected it and quickly turned Alex's body around to use as a human shield. Alex was shot and fell to the ground. Andy and Danny took off as fast as possible. Daryl shot a crossbow bolt at Danny but missed. Rick and Luke started shooting at the other people pointing guns at them. The rest of the Terminus gunners started opening fire at the group but was shooting at their feet. Rick told everyone to run and Daryl led the way.
They tried to run back the way they came in from but was blocked off by gunfire from the shooters above. They were forced to go in another direction.
They ran inside one of the buildings and was running towards the garage exit but the door was shut by Danny. They tried another exit that wasn't locked and ran outside where they were immediately met with gunfire again.
Daryl spotted a fence that leads to the woods and attempted to lead them that way but was again stopped by gunfire. "Get them off B!" Gareth shouted from above. The shooter above shot around them to force them in the direction they wanted them to go.
As they were running, they passed by a train car where they could hear people screaming for help from the inside. "Help! Let us out!" The voices screamed from inside. "What the hell?" Luke said.
"Keep going!" Rick said still running as he looked back at the train car.
The group entered the building again and barged into a large room. It was dimly lit by what seems like hundreds of candles. There were a series of names spelled out on the floor in a large circle, some names occupied with candles. Rick looked at the walls that had written in large letters, 'NEVER AGAIN', 'NEVER TRUST', and 'WE FIRST, ALWAYS'.
"What the hell is this place?" Daryl asked.
"These people, I don't think they're trying to kill us." Michonne said.
"No, they were aiming at our feet." RIck said. "There." He said, pointing to the exit.
The group ran up to the exit but it was quickly shut by Andy on the other side. Daryl spotted another exit and they all ran for it and ran out of the building.
The gunfire continued to lead them into the right spot-a large opening surrounded by a fence and the main building. There was a train car with the letter 'A' on it. Terminus gunners aimed their weapons from the fence in front of them and more aimed at them from the rooftop behind them. They were completely surrounded.
The group saw that they were surrounded and all shared a look of worry between each other. Rick and Carl looked at each other with a worried expression.
Gareth appeared on the roof.
"Drop your weapons! Now!" Gareth shouted from up top. "Now!" He shouted again when they did not comply.
The group reluctantly dropped all of their weapons.
"Ringleader, go to your left. The train car, go." Gareth said. "You do what we say, the boy goes with you. Anything else, he dies and you end up in there anyway."
Rick reluctantly complied and started to walk towards the train car.
"Now the archer." Gareth said, referring to Daryl, who did as instructed. "Now, the machete man." He said, referring to Luke. "Now, the samurai." He said. Michonne looked up at him angrily but did as instructed. "Stand at the door, ringleader, archer, machete man, samurai— in that order." Gareth said.
Rick watched Carl, who was still left standing out in the open alone. "My son!" Rick shouted.
"Go, kid." Gareth said. Carl started walking towards the train car. "Ringleader, open the door and go in."
"I'll go in with him." Rick said.
"Don't make us kill him now." Gareth said.
Rick walked up the steps to the train car and slid the door open and they all went inside with Carl walking in last. The door was closed and locked behind them. The train car was very dark. The only light source came from the tiny cracks in the walls. The five of them heard a sound from the other side of the tain car and turned around.
Out of the shadows came Glenn, followed by Maggie, Kenny, Clementine, Sarah, Baby AJ, Sasha, Bob, Mike, Jane, Amanda, LeRoy, Abraham, Eugene, Rosita, Tara, and Wyatt.
"Rick?" Glenn said.
"You're here. You're here." Rick said.
Clementine ran up to Carl and gave him a big hug. Sarah also hugged Carl. Clementine then gave Luke a big hug. "I missed you." She said.
"Missed you too, kiddo." Luke said.
Rick noticed Tara, who he recognized as the girl he appealed to when the Governor arrived at the gates of the prison. He also noticed the faces he didn't recognize, such as Abraham, Eugene, Rosita, LeRoy, and Amanda.
"They're our friends. They helped save us. They helped us find each other." Maggie said.
"Yeah. Now they're friends of ours." Daryl said.
"For however long that'll be." Abraham said.
"No." Rick said confidently. He walked to the train car door to peak outside. "They're gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out." He said.
"Find out what?" Abraham asked.
"They're f**king with the wrong people."
3 years…3 YEARS. This chapter has been long overdue and I'm sorry it took so long. The only excuse I have is that I was busy with school which I was for the most part but that doesn't excuse me from not posting during the 3 summers we've had since my last chapter. Another cause, though, may be because of the fact that I was in highschool at the time stressing over other things so I couldn't really focus as much on the story and ideas didn't flow smoothly enough for me. I also just got burnt out and didn't really know how to write in a convincing way. But the main thing was likely procrastination. I still love the television series so hopefully I'll eventually get to season 9-10 which I think could be really cool with Telltale characters incorporated! We've also had season 3 and the final season of the Telltale series since my last chapter. Season 3 was meh but the final season was great. AJ and Clem's relationship was my favorite part about it. Just my quick thoughts on that. Again, sorry for the very long wait. Many of you probably thought I was completely done but I definitely never forgot about this story and I always see when I get a new review or follow/favorite. Hopefully people are still interested in this story and hopefully I will still get reviews which I value the most. If you enjoyed, please leave a review and follow!