11:40 PM
Briar Creek Park
Glenn turned off the headlights when they passed the brown wooden sign reading Briar Creek Park in faded yellow letters. He turned the pickup slowly onto the dirt road winding up the hill to the park, and it crunched softly over sticks and pebbles. He stopped about halfway up. The doors creaked open as Maggie spilled out of the passenger's side and Glenn out of the driver's side. Dixon, with his rifle on his shoulder and holding two night vision helmets by their straps, leapt out of the bed. He handed one of the helmets to Glenn.
"We only have two," Glenn told Maggie as he settled one of the helmets atop his head and clipped the strap. "You'll have to use your night vision scope. When we get up top, you cover us while we try to take Molls alive."
"Why alive?" Dixon asked as he clipped the other helmet in place on his head.
"Terminus had seven soldiers there," Glenn answered, "including their leader."
"Terminus?" Dixon asked. "But...they're our allies. Aren't they?"
"We thought so," Glenn replied. "But now we need to find out what Molls knows about that, so we know if we're dealing with another threat or not."
"We need to know if they all agreed to the invasion," Maggie said. "Was it just Mary and a few others gone rogue? Is Terminus going to be gunning for us when they find out we killed their soldiers?"
"Got it." Dixon lowered the night vision binoculars from the helmet down over his eyes.
They walked off the road onto the shoulder so they could duck behind brush if necessary and hiked quietly up the rest of the hill, about half a mile, until they reached the clearing of the campground. Shane's Humvee was there, and the military truck as well as the three motorcycles, and they could see smoke from a fire. They ducked themselves behind the vehicles and peered between them.
Molls stood by the burning campfire, a rifle on one shoulder, smoking a cigarette and intermittently coughing. Eliza and Louis were seated on a sleeping bag, Louis with his head buried against his sister's shoulder and Eliza with an arm protectively around him.
Cigarette in one hand, and radio in the other, Molls pressed the talk button and said, "Shane. Come in! Where the fuck are you? Over."
Glenn gestured to indicate he wanted Dixon to circle right while he circled left. Maggie got in place between the tail of the Humvee and the hood of the military truck and rose just high enough to aim while remaining as well obscured as possible.
The two men rushed around and came at Molls in opposite directions. She saw Dixon coming at her head on, dropped the radio and cigarette, and fumbled for her rifle but was struck by the butt of Glenn's rifle in the back head before she could swing it into her hands. Dixon swept her under the legs and she tumbled to the ground. Glenn snatched up her rifle as, stomach down, she clawed for it in the dirt. Dixon turned his rifle on her and ordered. "Don't move or I blow your head off! Roll over and hands up!"
"Well, which is it, honey?" Molls asked. "Don't move or roll over?"
"Roll over, hands where I can see them."
Molls obeyed.
"Now sit up and sit on your hands," Dixon insisted, and she did, while giving him the stink eye as if he were her disobedient child.
The kids by now had stood from the sleeping back and were backing up cautiously. They screamed when they bumped into Maggie. She put a hand down on Eliza's shoulder. "Don't worry. We're here to help you, not hurt you."
Glenn pushed up his night vision binoculars from his eyes, unclipped the strap, and swept his helmet off to reveal his face in the glow of the fire. "Remember me?"
"Glenn?" asked Eliza, and then she ran to him and hugged him. Louis followed and did the same. Glenn hugged Eliza with this free arm and then shouldered his rifle so he could hug them both.
When Louis pulled back, Glenn noticed the bruise on his left cheek.
Dixon saw it, too. "How'd you get that?" he asked.
Louis glanced at Molls and then sunk against his sister.
Dixon's eyes darkened as he turned them back to Molls.
"Get them in the pick-up truck," Glenn told Maggie. "Watch over them while we…handle this." He crouched down to talk to the kids face to face. "This is my wife, Maggie. She's really nice. She'll help you."
Maggie shouldered her rifle and held out a hand. Louis hesitantly walked over to her and took it. "Are you taking us to our daddy?" he asked.
Maggie swallowed. "We're taking you someplace safe."
Eliza walked over and joined Maggie as she began to lead Louis by the hand back to the pick-up truck in the road. With her free hand, Maggie freed a small flashlight from her belt and clicked it on to light the road.
Glenn walked over to face Molls as Dixon kept his rifle leveled on her. "I'm going to make this quick," Glenn said. "We know you were holding those kids under threat of death to force Morales to trick us into letting your soldiers through our gates."
"I was protecting those kids," Molls insisted. "I was standing guard over them, keeping them safe."
"Well, the bruise on the boy's face and the fear in both their eyes tells a different story," Dixon said. "I'm capable of reading between the lines. So don't bullshit us."
"How old are you, honey?" Molls asked.
"Almost eighteen. But I've lived thirty years in the past nine months. And I'm not your honey."
Molls chuckled. She coughed. "If we're going to chat, can I have a smoke? And maybe a cold compress for the goose egg this Oriental just gave me?"
"He's Korean," Dixon hissed.
"We killed Shane," Glenn told her. "And we killed every one of your fellow Saviors. And we killed the Terminus soldiers. And we'll kill you, too, if you don't answer our questions."
"Honey, I'm already a dead woman walking. I'm not afraid of a death threat. And let me ask you something. Did you kill Morales?" When Glenn didn't answer, she said, "See, I was protecting those kids, while your people were murdering their father."
Dixon glanced at Glenn and the refocused on Molls.
"How are poor little Eliza and Louis going to take that news when you tell them?" Molls raised an eyebrow. "Hmm?"
"Tell us about the Terminus soldiers," Glenn said. "Tell us how you recruited them."
"I'm not going to tell you a goddamn thing."
Dixon swept the aim of his rifle down from the center of her chest over her outstretched leg to her ankle. He pulled the trigger. The Savior's ankle bone shattered and blood spattered up and out, painting her tan pants with a dark, reddish-brown pattern. Molls screamed in pain while Glenn stumbled back in open-mouthed shock.
"You're right," Dixon told her. "You are a dead woman walking. But you can die slowly or you can die quickly. The choice is entirely yours. How did you recruit the Terminus soldiers?"
"Shane recruited them!" Molls screamed, breathing hard and wincing in pain. "He knew them from before, trained them. And Mary was pissed off her sons got killed in Woodbury's war."
"We know all that," Dixon said. "What we want to know is if all of Terminus agreed they wanted Shane to invade us."
"I don't know!"
Dixon swiveled his rifle to point at her other ankle and fired again. Glenn took another step back as Molls screamed and her leg jerked and blood began to seep like a spreading oil stain through her pants. Molls, whimpering, grabbed at her ankle to try to stop the flow of blood.
"What's next?" Dixon asked. "A kneecap, or do I put you out of your misery instead of letting you slowly, painfully bleed to death? Tell us what we want to know!"
"And what do you want to know?" she hissed. "Huh? What do you want to hear?" she asked through her pained panting. "Do you want to hear they all approved of it so you have a reason to kill more people, you bloodthirsty little shit? You're no different from me, you know that? We're all in the same sinking boat, just trying to bail our way out."
"What I want is for no one else to invade my people. I'm sick of it. The Governor. Simon. Shane. I'm sick of it. I can't stop people from trying. But I can stop them from succeeding. What I want from you right now is the truth."
"The truth is Mary hated you people because you recruited both her sons to die in your war, and she just wanted vengeance. As for the soldiers who joined her, they did it for the same reason I did – for the same reason I followed Negan, for the same reason I followed Shane. Because they thought they were backing the winning horse." She coughed and winced and continued, "And when you back the winning horse, you survive. Because that's the world we live in. A world where you pick your side in order to survive and just hope to God you didn't back the losing horse."
"And the rest of Terminus?" Dixon asked.
"Those cowards hedged their bets. They didn't agree to fight for Shane, but they didn't radio to warn you either, did they?" She breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth and moaned in pain. "We gave them half the loot from Woodbury in exchange for keeping quiet."
"Who was left in charge of Terminus when Mary left?" asked Glenn, venturing closer to the scene now.
"A man named Shuford Adams," Molls replied.
"Where did the blood on Morales come from?" Glenn demanded.
"A deer."
"Where's the other half of the loot from the Woodbury storehouse?" Dixon asked.
"In the military truck." She closed her eyes and bobbed her head. "Now let me die, honey. It hurts. Just let me die."
"Chin up," Dixon said.
Weakly, Molls lifted her head, and Dixon pressed the barrel of his rifle against it and pulled the trigger. She slumped and fell over on her left side.
Dixon turned and strutted toward the tree line to jab the bayonet of his rifle through the forehead of an emerging walker. "We better get moving before those gunshots draw more," he told Glenn as he returned to the still flickering campfire and shouldered his rifle. "Get Maggie on the walkie talkie and have her bring the pick-up truck up here so we can put those motorcycles in the bed."
As Dixon rummaged through the pockets of Molls and pulled out several sets of keys, Glenn radioed Maggie. Dixon slipped the keys in the pocket of his leather jacket and walked toward the bikes, which were faintly illuminated by the glow of the fire. He straddled one and bounced as though trying to get a feel for it, and he tried a couple of keys in the ignition.
Glenn, after returning his walkie talkie to his belt, strolled over, at which point Dixon was sliding a helmet off the handlebars and trying it on his head. It was too small to fit. "This is great. I need a small helmet for Beth." He slid off the bike and looked the other two motorcycles over. "I think we can only fit two in the bed of the pick-up, but we can come back later for the third. Molls had the keys to everything on her. I guess they left them with her in case she had to move something." He rattled the pocket of his leather jacket, and it clanged.
Dixon strolled over to the military truck now and parted the canopy. "Packed to the gills. There it is. Half the loot from Woodbury. Good thing, too, because we have a lot of people now."
"You just tortured a woman," said Glenn. "That doesn't bother you?"
"Not if I don't pause long enough to let it."
"Dixon, man…" Glenn shook his head.
Dixon turned to him. "Look, that woman held two children at gunpoint so a desperate father would betray his friends to help an army invade our camp. An army full of ruthless men who would gladly have tried to rape your wife or my girlfriend if they'd had the chance. You said we needed to know about Terminus, and now we know about Terminus. I'm not going to let another army invade us if I can help it. What happened to Beth when the Governor's men attacked her farm? It's not happening again."
Maggie pulled the pick-up truck to a stop alongside the other vehicles. Eliza and Louis were in the cab, huddled together.
Dixon let down the tail gate. "Help me gets the bikes up in here," he called to Glenn.
Maggie slid out of the truck to kill two walkers that stumbled into camp while Glenn and Dixon secured the motorcycles to the bed of the pick-up truck with some bungee cord from the Humvee.
When they had the bikes secured to the bed, Dixon said. "I'll drive the military truck." He dug in his pocket, pulled out a ring of keys, and tossed them to Glenn. "You take Shane's Humvee."
"And how do you know these are Shane's keys?" Glenn asked.
"Because I read a lot of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle when I was surviving alone."
"What's that mean?" Glenn asked.
"It means look at the keychain, Sherlock."
Glenn did look at the keychain, which was in the shape of a gold star and contained, in blue lettering, the words "King County Sheriff's Department."
March 26, 1 AM
Fun Kingdom
Carol eased the door to Sophia's room shut with a click and made her way down the ramp to the living room. "The girls are asleep finally," she told Daryl.
So was Andre, in his mother's bed in the room Michonne shared with Beth. He'd woken up finally, not because of the tumult, but because of a nightmare.
"How badly shook up are they?"
"Not as badly as I would have expected, honestly. Sophia stabbed someone, Daryl. No twelve-year-old should have to do that. And I put her in that position."
"Don't do that. Don't do that to yourself."
"Did you get a hold of Bob in the infirmary?" she asked.
"Yeah. Rick heard the gunshots and tried to leave. Bob stopped him 'cause he's contagious and coughin' up blood and not really in any condition to fight. Morgan couldn't even stand up when he heard 'em. The boys are still in bad shape, too. Tom's gotten a little better. Dr. Stevens is getting worse. Talked to Rick." He sighed. "Told him what's goin' on. He's worried 'bout what he's gonna tell Carl. Kid loved Shane."
"So, Carl didn't overhear your conversatoin?"
"I told Rick to step outside 'fore I told him. And Rick said to thank Soph for protectin' Judith."
"And what did he say to tell me for putting her in jeopardy in the first place?"
"Told ya. Don't do that."
"How can I not?"
"Hey," he said softly as he put a hand gently on the side of her shoulder. "You got a good heart, Miss Murphy. Big heart. So damn big it's even got room for a fuck-up like me."
She smiled.
"C'mere." Daryl pulled her close and bent to kiss her.
When he pulled back, she said, "I don't understand why you aren't angrier with me. I put everyone in jeopardy by not thinking it through."
"'Cause you're angry enough with yourself for both of us, that's why. Ain't my job to beat you up. 'S my job to lift you up."
Carol cupped his cheek with her hand. "I love you so much, Daryl."
He kissed her again, but Carol pulled away when T-Dog and Patricia came through the door.
"All the bodies are burned now," T-Dog said. "The soldier Glenn shot turned and wandered off, because he didn't get the head and we forgot to go back and knife it. Patricia found it by the petting zoo."
"Did it get any animals?" Carol asked anxiously.
"Just one chicken," Patricia said. "Not the rooster, thankfully. I checked all the other animals. No bites."
"Rosita's on watch at the gate," Daryl told them. "Sasha on the slides."
Through the baby monitor receiver, they could hear Rosita talking to Glenn, Maggie, and Dixon and letting them in through the gate. It sounded like they'd found the kids and killed Molls.
"What do we tell those kids about their father?" T-Dog asked as the voices in the baby monitor receiver died.
Carol glanced at Daryl, who had been the one to kill Morales. "We tell them the Saviors got him," Carol said, "and that he wanted Fun Kingdom to be their home."
9:30 AM
The Sanctuary
Citizens' Pledge
As a citizen of the Sanctuary, I do hereby pledge to -
1. Work diligently and honestly for the good of myself, the community, and my fellow citizens.
2. Settle disputes with my fellow citizens in as peaceful a manner as possible, bringing complaints to the Council only as a last resort when no resolution can be achieved.
3. Pay a regular tax – in an amount of points to be set by the Council - to the welfare fund for the support of those who cannot support themselves.
4. In so far as it depends upon me, to live in peace with the coalition communities.
5. Defend the Sanctuary in whatsoever manner I am able to against walkers and invaders.
6. Report rule violations to the Council.
7. Abide by the rules of the community:
No unnecessary brawling.
No killing except in self-defense or defense of another.
No physical assault except in self-defense or defense of another.
No stealing.
No rape.
No extortion.
No disturbing the peace.
No urination or defecation except in designated areas.
No sexual assault, to include no groping and no lewd conduct.
Abide by the age of sexual consent (17). Romeo and Juliet exceptions apply.
Honor the 10 PM curfew unless work requires me to be outside.
Observe quiet hours from 11 PM to 7 AM.
I understand any violation of these rules will result in a penalty to be determined by the Council, ranging from a fine of points to banishment or, in extreme cases, execution.
As a citizen of the Sanctuary, I hereby lay claim to the following rights –
1. Freedom of speech, assembly, and religion.
2. Freedom to trade with my fellow citizens at a mutually agreed upon price on a secondary market anything that is privately owned or any services for which I am not already being compensated by the Council.
3. Freedom to leave. (There is no guaranteed right of return. If you later return, re-admission to the community is dependent upon ruling of the Council.)
4. The right to present my case before the Council if accused of any violation of the rules.
5. The right to petition the Council or make suggestions to the council. (Petitions and suggestions may be placed in writing in the Council Box.)
6. If age 13 or over, the right to vote for my representatives on Council. (The next Council election will be held on August 1, 2011 and twice yearly every August 1 and January 1 thereafter. Special elections will be held to fill vacancies as they arise.)
7. If age 18 or over, the right to run for Council. (Age 18 and up.)
I, the undersigned, hereby agree to this pledge…
"And once you sign this pledge," Gavin told the crowd as DJ stapled it to the bulletin board on the factory floor, along with a pen swinging from a string, "you will no longer be called workers but citizens of the Sanctuary. When you're done with the pledge, take a look at the job postings. We need to shuffle some jobs around. Even if you want to keep your current job, re-apply for it. Put your applications in writing on a piece of paper and submit them to the application box. All applications are due by 9 AM tomorrow. On your application, include your name, sex, age, weight, height – "
"Why our weight?" a heavy-set man cried from the floor below.
"Because some jobs demand certain physical characteristics. Include your current job or jobs, the position or positions for which you are applying, the total number of hours you are willing to work per week if you want to work more than full-time for extra points, and a list of your skills and experience as they apply to the job. Now have at it!"
Gavin pushed off the railing and turned to Laura. "Have you heard anything from or about Shane?"
Laura shook her head. "I've been trying to reach that woman Carol on the radio on and off, but there's no answer."
"I'm just wondering what he's going to want to do when he gets back. If he gets back. Take leadership of the Hilltop again? Maybe take leadership of the Sanctuary."
Laura smirked. "You wish."
"I'd love to put this weight on someone else's shoulders, but Shane's more erratic and impulsive than Negan. Richard was right. I didn't really know what I was getting into when I got myself in league with him."
"But he succeeded. He trained the soldiers of the coalition army, he organized them, and he overtook the Sanctuary."
"And then just left it in disarray," Gavin muttered.
Laura sighed. "We have to decide what to do with the six surrendered Saviors who haven't been cooperating. Emergency Council meeting at eleven."
"Fine, but I'm going back to sleep until then."
"What about the fence?"
"It'll get done. Eventually," he assured her before he staggered back to his room.