I don't own Total Drama and The Walking Dead.
Sorry if you find any grammar mistakes. I'm still learning English because it's not my first language.
Brendan: Only Izzy is smoking cigarettes and I'm not planning her to get her own motorcycle. You'll have to wait and what I have planned for season 5 :)
Rick, Carl, Michonne, Chef and Chris were in the camp they had set up in the woods the night before. The group of five was kneeling in front of the camp fire. Rick was holding a stick to which a can of food was tied to above the fire, heating up food.
"How hungry are you, scale from one to ten?" The sheriff deputy asked his group after a moment of silence between the group of five. He took his eyes off the camp fire and shifted his gaze between the members of his group.
"10." Chef replied.
"12." Carl answered right after Chef responded to Rick's question.
"15." Chris followed.
Rick smiled and looked at Michonne who replied with, "28."
"It's been a while." Chef said, getting up from his kneeling position as Rick chuckled at the answers he received from his group, "I'm gonna go check the snares."
Rick set the stick aside and got up as well, "I'll go with you."
Carl looked up at them, "Can I go with you?"
"Well, how else are you gonna learn?" Rick replied as Chef put out the fire. Carl smiled and got up from the group as Rick looked at Michonne and Chris, "Hey, you two, too."
Chris and Michonne nodded in understanding and stood up from the ground. They grabbed their things as Rick and Chef exited their camp after taking everything they needed to check the snares. Carl, Chris and Michonne wasted no time and followed them.
"For how long are we goin to stay here?" Chris asked Rick after a moment of walking in silence.
"We'll stay another day or two." Rick responded, "Get some more rest."
"Finish healing up?" Michonne wanted to know.
Chris pointed at her, "I second that."
Rick nodded, "I'm almost there. "
"Good." Chris smiled at this information to which Michonne nodded in agreement.
"We're close now, right?" Carl questioned, his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.
"To Terminus?" Chef wanted to know if Carl was referring to this place. Carl nodded in confirmation, allowing Chef to answer, "We are. We should reach it soon."
Carl turned his gaze towards his dad, "When we get there, are we gonna tell them?"
"Tell them what?" Rick asked him in return.
"Everything that's happened to us." Carl began, "All the stuff we've done. Are we gonna tell them the truth?"
"We're gonna tell them who we are." Rick explained.
"But how do you say that?" Carl wanted to know, "I mean... who are we?"
Carl's question went without an answer because Rick was cut off by some snarling before he could answer to his son's question. They group looked in the direction of the snarling and was a single walker coming towards them. Michonne unsheathed her katana and made her way to the walker before getting rid it by slicing it's head off.
The group of five had just made their way to the first snare they had set up yesterday after setting up their camp in the woods and all five of them were pleasantly surprised by the view they were greeted with. The snare managed to catch a rabbit. It wasn't much, considering that the rabbit was small and it wouldn't feed them all but it was still better than nothing.
"There you go. It's a small one. It'll do." Rick said as he freed the dead rabbit from the snare and placed it in his bag, "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?" Chef added to Rick's explanation, pointing at one spot on the ground as Carl, Chris and Michonne listened carefully to his and Rick's explanation on how the snares worked, "
Carl set his gaze on the spot that Chef was pointing at before answering, "It's a trail?"
"That's right." Rick nodded, "That's where you want to set the noose. 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."
"Never forget about it." Chef shifted his gaze between Carl, Michonne and Chris, "We wouldn't want to lose an animal that could become our dinner, right?"
It was when a loud scream which belonged to a man came from the distance, "Help! Somebody help!"
Carl immediately reacted to this scream and pushed himself into run towards it, ignoring his dad calling out for him. Rick grabbed his stuff and ran after his son as the unknown was continued to scream for help. Chef, Chris and Michonne quickly followed them. They made their way to the edge of the forest and saw the man who was crying out for help.
He was standing in the middle of the field between the woods, with a huge group of the undead surrounding him. The only weapon that he head to defend himself was some stick which he must have picked up a few seconds ago. Carl aimed his pistol at the walkers, intending to save the man the moment he set his eyes on him, but Rick grabbed him from behind and pulled him behind a tree.
"We can't save him." His dad told him.
The unknown man let out a loud scream of pain as one of the walkers surrounding him grabbed him from behind and bit into his left eye, bitting it out. He continued to scream in pure agony as more walkers bit into his body. The undead ganged up on this poor man and brought him down to the ground, tearing him apart and feasting on his flesh.
"We gotta go." Michonne whispered to her group.
"We can't let them spot us." Chris added.
It wasn't long before the walkers from the field spotted them. The group of five quickly turned away from the gruesome scene as some of the walkers began making their way towards them. They made their way to the nearby train tracks with the walkers on their way. They didn't stop running until they lost that were on their tail. They stumbled upon an abandoned blue car in the middle of the road not long after they lost the undead and decided to stay there for the night.
Duncan, Ezekiel and Daryl were in the camp that Joe's group had set up in the forest once the sun started disappearing from the horizon, making it another night of sleeping in the woods. The group mostly sat in silence, waiting for Tony, Billy and Cyrus to return from the scavenge hunt they had gone on a while ago, with someone from Joe's group occasionally sharing a word or two with someone else from the group.
Ezekiel's mood was much better than it was after he and Duncan started traveling with Joe's group because Daryl had called them earlier that day to go on the hunt with him. Daryl made sure to get them in the safe distance from Joe's group and informed them that they'll be departing from Joe's group in the night because he had spent enough time with them to determine that it was not safe for him and Duncan to be around them. When everyone from Joe's group will be asleep, they'll just grab their stuff and leave, without looking back.
Needless to say, Ezekiel wasn't afraid to show how rejoiced he was by this news. His stay with Joe's group lasted longer than he thought it will, but it didn't matter to him anymore because he'll be finally leaving them with Duncan and Daryl after spending a lot of time trying to convice the Dixon leave. He just wanted to get away from these people. Duncan was happy with this news too, because he wasn't a fan of staying with Joe's group either. The only good things that came out of staying with Joe's group were reuniting with Daryl and the bow that Micah had claimed for him after the former owner of it was beaten to death by him and the rest of Joe's group.
"So, Duncan." Joe broke the silence between the group as he looked at the juvie, "What did your parents used to be before this shit started?"
"Does it matter?" Duncan shrugged, not wanting to talk with Joe about his private life, "It's not like those times will return anytime soon."
"It doesn't." Joe replied, "I'm simply trying to start a conversation between us. This silence is killing me."
Duncan exchanged a look with Ezekiel, not wanting to share any personal information with Joe's group but saw the look Ezekiel was giving him. He knew how much the homeschool was afraid of angering Joe's group.
He let out a sigh and answered to the question that Joe asked him earlier. It's not like they'll be staying with his group much longer, "My parents were police officers."
"Your parents were police officers?" Micah wanted to be sure if he didn't misheard it. When Duncan nodded in confirmation, he shook his head with a pitful look on his face, "That's rough. At least I didn't had to worry about my folk jailing me. All I got was a disappointed look on their face after I was sentenced to a few years in prison."
Ezekiel titled his head towards Micah at the information he just received from the man with one blind eye, wanting to know for what he was jailed for safety reasons, "You were in prison, eh?"
"Yes. I was a drug dealer. I got caught because one of my goons was a snitch." Micah nodded his head, "The prison wasn't so bad for the most part. My cellmate was a bit freaky, mostly because he had a hook instead of his hand, but I could have gotten someone worse. There was this one guy who didn't like me very much too. He's the reason why I'm blind to eye one, but you should have seen how what I prepared for him as a payback. I'm pretty sure he spent the last days of his life on a wheelchair."
"I'm still wondering how incompetent the prison guards must have been since they didn't find out you were the one behind it." Joe said.
Micah smiled proudly as if it was something to be proud of, "I had my ways."
The leader of the group then turned his gaze towards Ezekiel, wanting to ask him the same question that he asked Duncan a moment earler, "What about you Zeke? What did your parents used to do?"
"My parents owned a farm, eh." Ezekiel replied. He wasn't comfortable with sharing this information with Joe's group but he didn't want to do anything to anger them, especially now that Daryl decided that they'll be departing from this group in a few hours from now.
"No kidding." Lucas pleasantly surprised, "You're a farm boy? I was born on the farm too. I lived there with my parents back in Louisiana, at least I used to before I moved out because I wanted to do something else than own a farm and they left the farm to my younger sister."
"A farm boy, huh? Looks like Lucas just found his new best friend." Harley stated as Ezekiel smiled internally. If only Harley knew how wrong he was.
"What about the birds and the bees?" Joe asked Duncan and Ezekiel another question, "Does either of you got a girl waiting for you out there somewhere?"
Ezekiel shook his head, "No."
"Had one." Duncan replied, "She died. Didn't even get to say goodbye."
"That's a shame. You have my condolences. Everyone needs a good fuck once in a while." Lucas said as he pointed at Dan while Joe looked at Duncan with the look that could almost be passed as a pitful one, "Dan has a soft spot for the likes of you if you're interested,"
Duncan and Ezekiel turned to look at Dan right after hearing Lucas' words as Dan giggled creepily, giving them the same creepy look he had given them back when they encountered their group for the first time, his gaze was mostly set on Ezekiel. Ezekiel felt chills going down his spine as he moved as far away from Dan as he could, not wanting to be anywhere near him. The homeschool felt sick in his stomach, feeling like he was going to vomit at any second as Duncan glared at Dan, fighting an urge to pull out his knife and cutting Dan's throat open with it.
Joe opened mouth to speak again but was cut off before he could say anything because it was when Tony, Billy and Cyrus came running down the street, all three of them breathing heavily. The bandana wearing man calling out for his leader, 'Joe! Joe!"
Joe looked at him, "What the hell's got you three..."
"It's him..." Tony paused for a second to take a deep breath, "...The one from the house, the one that killed Lou!"
Joe's expression became more serious after hearing this information from Tony, "You're sure?"
"Yes." Tony nodded in confirmation, "I'm fucking sure."
"Where is he?" Joe wanted to know.
Tony pointed at the area from which he came from with Billy and Cyrus, "Just a few minutes that way, sitting in the middle of the road, with some black lady, some bald black dude, some white dude with black hair and a kid in the car."
Rick, Michonne and Chef were sitting in front of the small fire they had started up in front of the blue car that they had came across earlier that day, back when the sun was still shining brightly on the horizon. Chris was sitting in front of the car, leaning against the front of the car, trying to relax as Carl was inside of the car, trying to get some sleep.
"That was one small rabbit." Rick said, his gaze set on the fire in front of him.
"It was something. At least your boy had something to eat." Chef said, "We could have end this day empty handed and on empty stomaches."
"Got to hand it to the thing." Michonne said, "It traveled well."
Chris let out a bittersweet chuckle, earning Rick's, Michonne's and Chef's attention, "Have you noticed? That's all we talk about anymore? Food?"
Rick nodded, "Yeah."
"I forgot what this feels like." Chef admitted, "The last time when I felt like was before we discovered the prison."
"Me, too." Michonne nodded in agreement, "I hope we're able to forget again soon."
"You can say that again." Chris agreed with Michonne, "Now I know why I didn't miss this feeling."
"We're close." Rick said, putting the fire out, "Just got to make it through another day. If folks there are taking people in, they have to be strong. They have to have a system."
"Yeah." Michonne said, "I wonder if the whole thing's legit."
"There's only one way to find out." Chef stated.
Right after those words left Chef's mouth, a snap echoed behind them. They all turned in the direction from which this sound came from, with Rick and Chef holding their hands on their holstered guns. Rick stood up from the ground, ready to pull out his Python out at any moment and listened carefully to his surroundings. He was met with nothing but silence. Thinking it must have been nothing too dangerous, he sat back down on the ground next to Michonne as Chef put his hand away from his holstered handgun.
"We let people in." He said to Michonne, Chris and Chef.
"We did." Michonne nodded, "So did the Governor."
"Yeah." Rick nodded, "It's always the same, isn't it? Don't get to know until we know. Maybe this place isn't even there anymore."
"It's just like Chef said." Chris said, "There's only one way to find out."
Rick nodded in agreement and opened his mouth to answer to Chris' words but his words died in his throat when someone put the barrel of their pistol against his head. He looked over his shoulder and saw a gray haired man in his 50's. It was Joe.
"Oh, dearie me." Joe said as Michonne tried to grab her katana, but it was kicked away by Tony. Her katana went flying away from her as Tony aimed his pistol at her right after, stopping her going after it, "You screwed up, asshole. You hear me? You screwed up."
"What the hell?" Chris asked, clearly taken aback by this ambush as Micah came over to him and grabbed him by his clothes before pulling his towards Chef and Michonne.
Cyrus, Harley and Billy came out of the woods in front of Rick's group, the three men aiming their guns at them as Chef was about to reach for his 9mm handgun, because he didn't have enough time to reach for his M16, but unfortunely for him Lucas pressed the barrel of his Ruger American Ranch rifle against his head, stopping him from doing so.
"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man who had a hood over his head smirked at Chef, as Micah aimed his Striker 12 at Chris, neither of them thinking about lowering their guns down.
"Today is a day of reckoning, sir. Restitution." Joe continued, still pressing the barrel of his pistol against Rick's head who was bitting his lip in anger as Dan made his way to the blue car where Carl was sleeping, "A balancing of the whole damn universe. Shit, and I was thinking of turning in for the night on New Year's Eve."
Dan pressed his hand against the window of the car as Carl who was awakened by all the noise that Joe's group made when they surrounded his group. The fat man pressed his other hand against the window, eyeing Carl with a huge smile on his face, like an animal eyeing it's prey, making the boy in the car uncomfortable.
"Now who's gonna count down the ball dropper with me, huh?" Joe laughed, "Ten Mississippi. Nine Mississippi. Eight Mississippi..."
"Joe!" A familiar voice cut him off. Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw Daryl, Duncan and Ezekiel walking out of the woods. Rick's, Chef's, Chris' and Michonne's eyes widened upon seeing three familiar figures. Daryl locked eyes with Rick for a moment, then with Chef, then with Chris, before speaking up again, "Hold up."
Ezekiel looked to his side when he heard something hit the glass next to him. Carl inched away from the window, away from Dan, pressing himself against the other door of the car and looked over his shoulder at Ezekiel. Ezekiel shared a look with Carl as Lucas' words from earlier flew through his mind.
"Dan has a soft spot for the likes of you."
Joe looked over at Daryl, Duncan and Ezekiel, "You're stopping me on eight, guys."
"Just hold up." Daryl repeated himself.
"This is the guy that killed Lou." Harley said, aiming his M1 Garand at Chef, "So we got nothing to talk about."
"Exactly." Cyrus agreed, aiming his Beretta at Chris, "I thought I made myself pretty clear about what we're going to do to the bastard that killed him."
"The thing about nowadays is we got nothing but time." Joe said, "Say your piece. All three of you."
Ezekiel swallowed his saliva, bracing himself for the way that Joe's group might react to his opinion on the matter. Joe's group had his friends surrounded from all sides. He had to help them, "T-They were trying to survive, eh. I'm sorry about your friend, Joe, I really am, but they're good people, so, please, just let them go."
Duncan nodded his head in agreement, "It's just like you said, they did anything to survive."
"Look." Daryl said as he dropped his crossbow on the ground and held his arms out, "You want blood. I get it. Take it from me, man."
"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 stared at them as if defending Rick, Chef, Chris, Michonne and Carl was the worst crime he has seen anyone commit in a long time, "This man killed our friend. You say he's good people. See, now that right there is a lie. It's a lie!"
Ezekiel's eyes snapped open once he heard Joe's words, knowing what was coming, his expression screaming, "Oh no!"
The homeschool let out a painful gasp, gasping for breath as Billy punched him in the gut, sending him to the ground. Harley slammed his rifle into Daryl's gut, sending the Dixon to the ground as well as Duncan was about to reach for his pistol but Cyrus hit him across his head. He stumbled forward towards the car in front of him, struggling to keep himself on his feet as Cyrus hit him again, this time sending him to the ground.
"No!" Rick yelled as he was forced to watch how Daryl, Duncan and Ezekiel were knocked down to the ground by Harley, Billy and Cyrus who began beating them up right away.
"Teach them, fellas." Joe said to Harley, Billy and Cyrus who proceeded to beat up Daryl, Duncan and Ezekiel, hitting and kicking them all over their bodies, "Teach them all the way."
Dan opened the door to the car and dragged Carl out of it, "Come here, boy."
"No!" Carl shouted as he was pulled out of the car by Dan. He tried to free himself from Dan's grasp but the fat man put his knife against his throat, stopping him from moving any further.
"You leave him be!" Rick shouted as he tried to get up but Joe forced him to stay down.
"Don't you dare touch him!" Chef shouted as he tried to stand up just like Rick did but unfortunely was forced to stay down by Lucas. He glared up at the hoddie wearing man who still had the same smirk on his lips as he had when he came out of the woods.
Chris clenched his hand into a fist in anger as he was powerless to do anything. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a rock laying not too far from him and Micah. He knew he could use it to kill the man aiming his Striker 12 at him, but he knew the man with one blind eye will shoot him the second he'll see him move. Dan began smelling Carl's hair as Michonne was about to jump back to her feet to help Carl but Tony stopped her from doing so.
"You'll get yours." Tony said as Michonne glared up at him, "You just wait your turn."
"Listen." Rick began, "It was me. It was just me."
"See, now that's right. That's not some damn lie. Look, we can settle this. We're reasonable men." Joe said as he leaned down towards Rick. He patted him on his shoulder as Rick was forced how Duncan, Daryl and Ezekiel were getting punched and thrown around and how Carl was getting harrased by Dan, "First we're gonna beat Daryl, Duncan and Zeke to death, then we'll deal with those two guys over there, then with the girl, then the boy. Then I'm gonna shoot you and then we'll be square."
Joe let out a sinister laugh as Rick watched how Dan threw Carl on the ground. Chef once again attempted to make his way towards Carl and Dan, with the intention of getting Carl as far away from Dan as he could but once again the barrel of Lucas' rifle pressed against the back of his head stopped him from doing anything.
Carl tried his best to fight back against Dan but it was no use. The fat man easily overpowered him, laughing creepily as he did so, "Stop your squirming."
"Let him go." Rick said to Joe in a more of a demanding manner, his gaze set on his son. His entire body was shaking at this point. Shaking in nothing but pure anger and rage, "Let him go."
He headbutted Joe from behind, making him fire his pistol. Joe stumbled backwards in pain as Rick, who was disoriented from the gunshot slowly stood up from the ground and punched Joe in the face. Joe immediately responded to it by punching Rick in the face, sending him to the ground again.
"I got him." He said as he kicked Rick in the stomach, "Oh, it's gonna be so much worse now."
Carl tried to reach for the knife laying next to him but it was no use as Dan forced his arms down. Michonne slapped Tony's gun away from her face, causing it to fire as Tony slapped her in the face, sending her to the ground before aiming his pistol at her again. Chris tried to reach for the rock next to him, knowing that he was running out of time to do anything but Micah stopped him from doing so by grabbing him by his clothes and dragging him to his place next to Chef.
"Come on! Get up!" Joe shouted to Rick who was struggling to stand up, "Let's see what you got."
Carl was put on the ground by Dan, his face facing the ground. Dan pressed his hand against Carl's head, making sure he was going to stay on the ground as he used his other hand to unbuckle his belt. Chef glared at Dan, with murderous intentions in his eyes, as Lucas continued to smirk at Chef, enjoying watching how this man was desperate to move and help this boy, but couldn't do anything, because of the gun pressed against his head.
Rick got himself back on his feet and was about to move to help his son, "Get away from him before I..."
"Huh? Right over here." Joe cut Rick off. He grabbed him , pinning his arms, and holding him still, "What the hell are you gonna do now, sport?"
Rick growled and seeing no other option right now, quickly leaned his head towards Joe's neck, not even giving Joe a chance to react to it. He bit into Joe's neck, tearing a chunk of skin from it. Rick pulled away from Joe's neck, spitting out the piece of Joe's skin onto the ground as Joe began choking on own blood as he slowly collapsed on the ground, where he slowly bleed out to death.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at what just happened in shock, the members of Joe's group completely forgetting about their targets as they watched how their leader was just killed by the man they were chasing, completely stunned by what just happened to their leader.
Michonne quickly used this situation to her advantage and grabbed Tony's pistol. She turned Tony's gun against him and shoot the bandana wearing man in the head before he could react to her grabbing his gun, killing him. Daryl used this opportunity to fight back as well and turned his gaze away from Rick and turned it towards Harley. He punched him in the face, making him fall on the ground. He brought his boot on top of his head, stomping his head into the ground and didn't stop bringing his boot down until Harley was dead.
Ezekiel used the chance to fight back that was just given to him as well as he took Billy's hatchet from his belt, with Billy not noticing it until it was too late to do anything. The homeschool stabbed Billy in the leg with it. Billy screamed in pain as his own hatchet collided with his leg and fell down on his knees. The homeschool quickly pulled Billy's hatchet away from the leg of it's owner and got up from the ground. He raised Billy's hatchet in the air and brought it down one last time, hitting Billy in the head with it, ending his life.
Duncan clenched his teeth as he rolled out of Cyrus' way and quickly brought himself back on his feet. He wasted no time and punched Cyrus straight in the face, sending the sunglasses man to the ground, his beloved Beretta sliding across the ground away from him. Duncan brought his boot down on Cyrus' face, breaking his sunglasses and began stomping his head into the ground, killing him the same way Daryl killed Harley.
Chris quickly grabbed the rock laying next to him and jumped at Micah, bringing him down to the ground. Micah's Striker 12 went sliding across the ground as Chris began bringing the rock down on Micah's head. He didn't stop bringing the rock down until Micah stopped moving which meant his death. Lucas aimed his Ruger American Ranch rifle at Chris was about to take the shot but Chef quickly jumped to his feet and wrapped his arms around Lucas's head. A loud snap echoed across the entire area as Chef broke Lucas' neck, killing him.
Dan picked Carl up from the groun as he was the only one from his group left alive at this point. He put him in a headlock, pressing his knife against his neck, "I'll kill him! I-I'll kill him!"
"Let the boy go." Michonne demanded, aiming Tony's pistol at Dan, not afraid to pull the trigger. Chris and Chef joined Michonne's side and aimed guns at him too, the former aiming Micah's Striker 12 and the latter aiming Lucas' Ruger American Ranch rifle.
"Don't make your situation worse than it already is." Chef glared at Dan with murderous intention in his eyes, ready to pull the trigger of Lucas' rifle to which Chris nodded in agreement. He and Chris wanted Dan to die. They wanted to see him suffer. They wanted to see him die a long painful death for he was planning to do to Carl.
Rick usheathed Joe's knife from his jacket and got up from the ground, "He's mine."
He began making his way towards Dan, with murderous intention in his eyes as he walked past Michonne, Chris and Chef. Dan freed Carl from his grasp and raised his hands in the air, beginning to plead for his life but Rick didn't care about the single word that left his mouth. He just wanted to make this bastard suffer for what he was planning to do to his son and nothing was going to stop him.
Rick stabbed Dan in the stomach as the fat man grunted as he fell to his knees. He started stabbing Dan all over his torso, cutting him all the way up to his chest as Dan screamed out in pure agony, while the rest of Rick's group watched him brutally stab Dan to death from where they were standing, not even bothering to pity him, knowing that he was getting exactly what he deserved.
The next day, when the sun appeared on the horizon, Rick was sitting against the blue car, still shake after what happened last night. His hands and mouth were covered in blood. His beard and jacket were bloody too. Michonne was sitting in the car with Carl, with his head laying on her lap as Duncan and Ezekiel were sitting in the front seats. Duncan played with his knife as Ezekiel still held Billy's bloody hatchet in his hands, shaken over what happened yesterday. Daryl, Chris and Chef walked over to Rick, the Dixon holding a cloth and a water bottle. He poured the water over the cloth and held it out to Rick, wanting him to clean his face.
Rick looked up at them, "We should save it to drink."
"No." Chef shook his head as he sat down next to him, "You should wash your face, Rick."
Chris pointed at the car with Carl inside as he sat down next to Chef, "You can't see yourself, he can."
Rick took the cloth from Daryl and began washing his face with it as the Dixon sat down next to him, looking guilty over what happened last night "I didn't know what they were. At least for most of the time that I spent with them. I, Duncan and Zeke were planning to leave them last night, but then, you know happened."
"How'd you wind up with them?" Rick asked, cleaning his face with the cloth.
"I was with Beth." Daryl replied, "We got out together. I was with her for a while."
"Is she dead?" Chris wanted to know.
"She's just gone." Daryl answered to which Chris nodded in understanding, "After that, that's when they found me. We came across Duncan and Zeke the same day and stick with them. I mean, I knew they were bad, but they had a code. It was simple. Stupid, but it was something. It was enough. I wanted to leave them because I knew it wasn't safe for Duncan and Ezekiel to be around them. Zeke was terrified of them the moment he set his eyes on them. I should have listened to him when he was trying to convince me to leave them sooner, I really should have."
"Don't blame yourself for what happened, soldier." Chef said, noticing Daryl's guilty expression, "You stayed with them because you were doing what you thought was the best for Duncan and Ezekiel.
""He's right, Daryl." Chris nodded in agreement, "You couldn't have predicted what would happen."
"It's not on you." Rick said, agreeing with what Chef just said to Daryl, "You being back with us here, now, that's everything." Daryl nodded his head, staying silent as Rick shifted his gaze between him, Chef and Chris, "You're my brother, all three of you."
Dary looked at Rick, clearly shocked by his words, not knowing what to say to him as many different emotions rushed through his body. He knew one thing, though. He knew that he appreciated Rick calling him his brother. Chef nodded his head at Rick' words, appreciating that he saw him as his brother, making him feel as if he was in the army again and Chris smiled at Rick, happy that he thought so highly of him to think of him as his brother.
"Hey, what you did last night... " Daryl spoke up after a moment of staying silent, "Anybody would have done that."
Rick shook his head, "No, not that."
"Something happened." Chef said, "We know you, Rick and that ain't you."
"You were trying to protect your son." Chris added, "Many people would do the same if they found themselves in your position."
"Daryl, Chef, you two saw what I did to Tyreese." Rick once again shook his head, "It ain't all of it,but that's 's why I'm here 's why Carl is. I want to keep him safe. That's all that matters."
Rick, Daryl, Carl, Michonne, Chef, Chris, Duncan and Ezekiel had left the place where they stayed for the night and were now walking down the train tracks, towards Terminus.
"Zeke." Daryl called out for Ezekiel, knowing that there was something he had to say to him.
Ezekiel turned to look at him, "What is it, Daryl?"
"I just want to say that I'm sorry." Daryl said, "We should have left their group as soon as we could, not after we spent sometime traveling with them. We should have left right after I found you two."
"You didn't know what was going to happen. Nobody would have predicted it." Ezekiel replied to Daryl's words, "You were just trying to keep us alive, eh."
"Ezekiel." Chef called out for Ezekiel as Daryl nodded his head at Ezekiel's words, "I'm sorry you had to kill someone, soldier. I know it's hard killing someone for the first time. If you will ever need someone to talk to, then I want you to know that I'm here."
"He wasn't my first one." Ezekiel answered. When he noticed the looks Chef, Chris, Rick, Carl and Michonne gave him, he explained what happened back at the prison between him and Trevor, "Back in the prison, a member of the Governor's and Jose's army followed me into the cellblock. I tried to stop him. I tried to talk him out of this he just wouldn't listen. Believe me. I really did. But he just wouldn't listen."
"We believe you." Carl replied, offering the homeschool an assuring nod of his head, "We know you're a good person, Zeke. The only reason why you would kill the other person was when you'd be left with no other choice. We know you would have try to stop them from making you do this for as long as you could."
Ezekiel smiled at Carl, grateful for what he just said to him, "Thank you, Carl."
"Guys." Duncan's voice rang through everyone's ears. Everyone turned to the source of his voice and saw him standing over the broken sign with the map to Terminus, "Looks like we're getting close. We should there before sundown."
"Now we head through the woods." Rick said, "We don't know who they are."
Daryl nodded, "All right."
"Got it." Duncan nodded in understanding, turning towards the woods on his left.
The group of eight had just reached the fence after walking through the forest after they entered it after spotting the broken sign next to the train tracks a while ago. They walked over to the fence that just appeared in their view and looked through it, giving themselves a quick peek at how Terminus looked like. They noticed a large industrial building surrounded by fences that had "TERMINUS" spelled out letter by letter on the windows of the building.
Rick turned away from the fence and faced his group, ""We all spread out, watch for a while, see what we see, and get ready. We all stay close." The others nodded and started to spread out, but Rick stopped Carl before he could do, "You want to stick with me?"
"It's all right." Carl offered his dad an assuring nod in response. He turned away from him and walked away. Rick watched him leave and sighed.
Michonne catched up to Carl a moment later, "Why didn't you go with your dad?" Carl remained silent, just looked down, "...When I told you about Andre, you never asked how he died."
"I knew why." Carl replied.
"Yeah, but the how is important." Michonne pointed out, "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..." She paused for a moment, starting to cry, "...I was coming back from a run. 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 have 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 out 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. But then Andrea and Courtney brought me back. Your dad brought me back. You did."
The black skinned woman offered Carl a smile as Carl remained silent. She put her hand on his shoulder, knowing that there was something troubling him, "I see how you've been looking at your dad. You don't have to be afraid of me or him."
"He told me the other day that he was proud of me." Carl began, "That I was a good man. I'm not."
"Carl." Michonne tried to say something but Carl continued.
"I know more now." Carl looked up at Michonne and she noticed that he was crying, "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."
Michonne stayed silent and embraced Carl, offering him a comforting hug as Carl wasted no time and hugged her back.
The group of eight was gathered around the group they had dug out in the forest. Rick threw the bag with all of their stuff into the hole and unzipped it, seeing all the supplies his group had, most of them being the stuff they had taken away from Joe's group after killing them. He pulled out a single pistol from the bag and eyed it carefully, before looking around his group.
He noticed Chef throwing his M16 into the bag, Chris throwing his rifle into the bag, and Duncan throwing his new bow which he had taken away from Joe's group and his Colt Model 933 into the bag. He reached for his holster and pulled out his Colt Python. He threw it into the bag and zipped it. He holstered the pistol from the bag and stood up.
He looked at his group as he started shoveling the dirt onto the bag, "Just in case."
"Hopefully we won't have to use them." Chris said, looking down at the bag which was starting to disappear from his and everyone's else view because of the dirt that Rick shoveled onto it.
It wasn't long before Rick finished burying the bag. The group of eight knew it was their time to move. They made their way to the fence and climbed over it onto Terminus' territory. It was quite easy and it made Chef wonder why the fence there wasn't barbed wire. They carefully started making their way towards the back exit, making sure to keep their guns raised in the ready, in ready for everything that might happen.
Chef slowly opened the back door and the entire group could hear a woman say, "...Follow the tracks to the point where all lines intersect. There are maps at the crossings to help guide youwith your for for all. Those who arrive survive."
Duncan's eyes widened a bit as he recognized this voice. It was the same voice that he heard along with Alejandro, Trent and Eva just seconds before they drove into a huge herd of walkers back when they were on their mission to get the medication for the sick people. Chef walked through the opened entrance, holding his 9mm handgun in front of him and everyone else followed him, with Daryl being the last one to enter the building.
The group slowly made their way into a large room, a woman speaking to the microphone being the first person they saw as they walked through the opened entrance to it. The group eyed the rest of the room once they stepped into the room, seeing a lot of people working on the maps, simply doing their job and enjoying their day. The residents of Terminus didn't even look at Rick's group as they seemed to be too busy to noticed their presence in the room.
"Hello." Rick said, interrupting the woman speaking to the microphone, making her put her equipment down, "Hello."
It was when everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and looked at him and his group. The group of eight stood in a line, waiting for someone from Terminus to speak up to them.
"Well." A man with light brown hair broke silence that formed in the room, tossing his marker to the side as he looked at the ginger haired man who was wearing a white shirt who was standing next to him, "I bet Albert and Alan are on perimeter watch."
The ginger haired man next to him shook his head, letting out a sigh, "Looks like I'll have to talk to these two again about this."
The brown haired man shifted his gaze from the ginger haired man at Rick's group as he stepped towards them, his friend following him, "You here to rob us?"
"No." Rick responded, holstering his pistol, "We wanted to see you before you saw us."
The brown haired man exchanged a look with his friend before nodding his head, "Makes sense."
"You're just being cautious, I get that." The ginger haired man said, "Many people are cautious these days."
"Usually we do where the tracks meet." The brown haired man cleared his throat, "Welcome to Terminus."
"I hope that our community will live up to you expectations." The ginger haired man added.
"I'm Gareth." Gareth introduced himself to Rick's group as he pointed at the ginger haired young man next to him, "This is Scott. He's a good friend of mine and my second in command."
"Hi there." Scott smiled at them, offering them a friendly welcoming wave, "It's a pleasure to meet you all. Looks like you've been on the road for a while."
"We have. I'm Rick." Rick introduced himself and pointed at his group, "That's Carl, Michonne, Daryl, Chef, Chris, Duncan and Ezekiel."
"You're nervous. I get it." Gareth smiled as Rick's group stared daggers at him and Scott, "We were all the same way."
"You'd be suprised how many newcomers in our little community were nervous when they arrived at this place." Scott smiled, "They all came here for sanctuary. That what you're here for?"
Rick nodded, "Yes."
"You found it." Gareth nodded in return as he turned around to look at his people, "Hey, Alex, Rachel." The two people he had just called out for stepped forward. The first one was a man with brown hair, just like Gareth's and the second was a woman with long red hair, "This isn't as pretty as the front. We got nothing to hide, but welcome wagon is a whole lot nicer. My brother, Alex and Scott's girlfriend, Rachel will take you, ask you a few questions."
"We need to see everyone's weapons before you leave, though." Scott added as Rachel stopped by his side, offering Rick's group a friendly smile, "If you could just lay them down in front of you. Hope this doesn't make you angry. We're just being cautious, just like you did."
Rick exchanged a look with each member of his group before unholstering his pistol and laying it down in front of him, "All right."
His group followed his example as Scott turned around to look at his people, "Norm! Could you check their guns?"
It was when a man who the group assumed to be Norm stepped forward. He was clean shaved head and had a moustace. He came over to Scott, offering him a nod of his shead, "Sure thing."
Rick's group laid all of their weapons on the floor as Norm walked over to Daryl and began checking if he didn't had any hidden weapons, with Rachel and Alex following his example as they began to search through Daryl's friends
Norm looked up at Daryl and noticed the bruises on his face, "I'd hate to see the other guy."
"You would." Duncan said as Rachel was searching through him for the hidden weapons, finding none.
"They deserve it?" Norm questioned as he moved away from Daryl towards Ezekiel and began searching through him.
Carl nodded as Alex was searching through him, "Yes."
"Just so you know, we aren't those kind of people, but we aren't stupid either." Gareth said as Norm, Alex and Rachel continued to search through Rick's group, "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."
Norm, Alex and Rachel handed everyone their weapon back after they finished searching through them, which was slightly suprising to the group, but they weren't showing it.
Rachel waved her hand at them, "Follow me and Alex."
Rick's group did exactly as they were told. They followed Alex and Rachel through the warehouse as they led them to the courtyard where people were sitting and eating, simply enjoying their day.
"So how long's this place been here?" Daryl asked as Rachel and Alex led him and his group through the courtyard.
"Since almost the start." Alex replied, "When all the camps got overrun, people started finding this place."
"I and Scott like to think it was instinct, you know?" Rachel added, "Follow a path. Some folks wereheading to the coast,others out west or up north, but they all wound up here."
The group made their way to the grill, passing by the garden which had fresh tomatoes, grapes and even a watermelon growing in a dirt patch. where Mary was busy cooking meals for her people.
"You mind if I take a smoke?" Rachel asked, turning to look at Chris who was standing next to her as they stopped in front of the grill, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from one of her pockets.
"No." Chris shook his head, "Go ahead if you want to."
"Thanks." Rachel smiled and nodded her head. She pulled out one cigarette from her pack and placed it between her teeth. She put the pack back in her pocket before pulling out her lighter from the other pocket which she used to lit up her cigarette.
"Hi." Mary offered Rick's group a friendly welcoming smile as she eyed them carefully, "Heard you came in the back door. Smart. You'll fit right in here."
"Hey, Mary, would you fix each of these new folks a plate for me?" Alex questioned Mary.
"Of course." Mary responded with a nod of her head. She looked at Rachel who was playing with her lighter, "What did I told you, Rachel? No smoking near the grill."
Rachel nodded her head and took a few steps away from the grill, "Excuse me. I'll be right back."
"Why do you do it?" Michonne asked Alex, "Why do you let people in?"
"The more people become a part of us, we get stronger." Alex replied, "That's why we put up the signs,invite people in. It's how we survive."
As they continued talking, Rick looked around his surroundings and noticed something strange about the people around him. He noticed a guy with the big orange backpack which was used by his group many time whenever they were heading out to go on the supply runs, two guys wearing Glenn's and Harold's riot gears, a woman wearing Daryl's poncho, Duncan's lighter which Rachel was playing with at this very moment behind him and his group, and Hershel's watch that was given to Glenn in Alex's pocket.
Alex handed out meals to Ezekiel, Michonne and Carl and was about to give one to Duncan but never had the chance to do as Rick walked over to him and smacked the plate down. He grabbed Alex and put him in a chokehold, using him as a human shield. He put his pistol to his head as his group quickly reacted to him doing this and raised their weapons in each direction.
"Where the hell did you get this watch?" Rick demanded to know from Alex as he reached into his pocket with his free hand and pulled out Hershel's watch. Alex nervously raised his hands in the air as his people aimed their guns at Rick's group, "Where'd you get the watch?!"
"You want answers? You want anything else?" Alex replied nervously, "You get 'em when you put down the gun."
"I see your man on the roof with a sniper rifle. How good's his aim?" Rick asked as he looked up at the sniper on the roof that was aiming his gun at him, "Where'd you get the watch? Where'd you get the watch?!"
"Don't do anything! I have this! You just put it down. You put it down!" Alex shouted as he looked up at the sniper, "You want to listen to me. There's a lot of us."
"Where'd you get the watch?!" Rick repeated his question, starting to lose his patience as he still had his pistol aimed right at Alex's head.
"I got it off of a dead one." Alex replied, "I didn't think he'd need it."
"What about the riot gear?" Rick asked Alex another question, shifting his gaze between everything he recognized, "The poncho? Rachel's lighter?"
Duncan turned to look at Rachel the moment he heard Rick mention her lighter. He narrowed his eyes when he noticed something familiar about Rachel's lighter. His eyes widened. It was his lighter. This woman was holding his lighter. He thought it was lost back in the prison. Where did she get it from? He glared at her, knowing that there only way she could get his lighter.
"Got the riot gear off a dead cop." Gareth replied from behind Rick. He turned around to look at him and saw him walking towards him with Scott, both of them stopping by Rachel's side, "Found the poncho on a clothesline."
"Rachel found her lighter in an abandoned store. I don't know why you think my girlfriend's lighter was yours." Scott added, standing between Gareth and Rachel, "A lot of lighters are similiar, you know?"
"Guys, we can wait." Alex said nervosly as Rick still had his pistol aimed right at his head.
"Shut up, Alex." Gareth told his brother to shush.
"You two talk to me." Rick ordered Gareth and Scott, his gaze set on both of them.
"What's there left to say?" Scott looked at him as if he was stupid, "You don't trust us anymore."
"Guys." Alex was practically begging Gareth and Scott at this point, "Please."
"It's okay. It's okay." Gareth put his right hand in the air, "Rick, what do you want?"
"Where are our people?" Rick demanded to know.
"You didn't answer the question." Gareth replied and closed his palm, signalling the sniper above them to open fire.
Rick screamed as he tossed Alex to the side. The sniper above them opened fire and hit Alex in the head, killing him. The people around them opened fire at them as Rick's group wasted no time and returned fire. The group of eight quickly turned away from the gunfire and began running towards the gate behind him but unfortunely they never made it there because people started firing at them from above, spraying the ground with bullets.
The group quickly changed directions and began running towards the building a few meters on the right. They rushed into it and saw the gate lowering itself down, but unfortunely for them, the gate was shut down, before they could reach it, trapping them in the building. The group began searching for another exit and it wasn't long before Daryl called out for his group. They all turned to him and saw him standing in front of the barred door. They quickly made their way to it and tried to open it, but unfortunely for them, it was locked.
They ran to another door and luckilly, this time they were unlocked. Chris pushed the door open and everyone followed him. They rushed outside into an alley between the building and the people on the roof opened fire at them again. The group ran past the busted up cars, and broken crates as they proceeded to make their way to safety through this alley.
They ran past by the fence which was separating the courtyard filled with bones and guts from the rest of the alley and ran over to the shipping containers. They heard some people crying, who were locked inside the containers, crying out for their help, but the group of eight had no other choice but to ignored their cries as they began making their way to the building behind the containers.
The group ran into the building and entered a large room, lit up by dozens or maybe even hundreds of candles that were put in one giant circle, with many names written in chalk under them.
"What the hell is this place?" Daryl asked.
"I don't know, eh." Ezekiel replied as he let out a deep breath to catch his breath, looking down on the names written on the floor, "Maybe some kind of memorial, I'm not sure."
"These people, I don't think they're trying to kill us." Michonne stated.
"It's because they're not." Chef said, "They could have killed us plenty of time if they wanted to, considering they had easily outnumbered, but they didn't. They just kept shooting at the ground."
"It's almost like as if they were leading us here." Duncan stated.
Chris stayed silent as he looked around the room. He looked at the wall in front of him and saw something written on it, in black, bold, bold letters.
NEVER AGAIN. NEVER TRUST. WE FIRST, ALWAYS
Rick pointed at the door in the back of the room, "There."
They went over to the door and were about to the exit this building, but someone locked it from the other side the moment they reached it which stopped them from leaving the building. Chef quickly spotted another exit from the building and they all ran towards it, luckilly for them, this time, there wasn't anyone on the other side to lock it.
The group of eight was greeted by gunfire the moment they exited the building. The gunfire made them turn towards the fence on their left and the group had no other choice but, to run towards it. They stopped in front of the fence the moment at least a dozen of people aimed their guns at them from the other side of it. The entire group turned around and realized only one thing. People were everywhere. They were surrounded, brought to a corner and the worst of all, were left with no way to escape.
"Drop your weapons! Now!" Gareth shouted from the top of the rooftop, Scott and Rachel standing by his side. When Rick's group didn't comply, he repeated himself, this time sounding more demanding, "Now!"
"You don't to know what will happen if you don't!" Scott added.
The group of eight had no other choice, but to listen to Gareth and Scott. They dropped their weapons on the ground, knowing that there was nothing they could do to escape this situation.
"Ringleader, go to your left. The train car, go." Gareth ordered as Rick titled his head to the left, noticing a red train car.
"You do what we say, no harm will come to you." Scott added when Rick didn't even move an, "Just like I said, you don't want to know what will happen to you if you don't comply!"
Rick looked at Carl and nodded his head at him. Carl nodded his head in return as Rick relucantly complied to Gareth's and Scott's demands and started to walk towards the train car.
"Now the archer." Gareth said, referring to Daryl who did as he was told, "Now the samurai." Michonne looked down in anger and followed Daryl, "Now the bald guy." Chef sighed as he followed Daryl and Michonne, "Now the one with black hair." Chris did as instructed, "Now the mohawk." So did Duncan, "Now the hat." And Ezekiel, "Stand at the door, ringleader, archer, samurai, bald guy, black hair, mohawk, and hat, in that order."
The group did as they were told. They stopped in front of the door to the train car, standing in the order that Gareth arranged wanted. Rick looked at his son who was still standing out in the open, all by himself.
"My son!" He screamed to Gareth and Scott.
"Go, kid." Scott said as he set his gaze on Carl who had his eyes glued to the ground, "Don't make your old man wait."
Carl started walking towards the train car as Gareth called out for kid, "Ringleader, open the door and go in."
"I'll go in with him." Rick replied, reffering to his son.
"Should I repeat myself for the third time?" Scott replied, "Or do you really want to know what will happen to you, or should I say, your son if you won't listen to my friend here?"
Rick sighed as he walked up the stairs to the train car. He slid the door open and entered it, with his group following him into the train car, Carl being the last one to enter it. The door was closed and locked from behind them. The group was forced to adjust to the darkness, because the insides of the train car were dark, with the only source of light coming from the tiny cracks in it.
The group of eight heard a noise on the other side of the train car and turned to the source of it. They quickly got their response to what was responsible for making the noise. Glenn, Maggie, Trent, Gwen, Izzy, Noah, Geoff, Alejandro, Bob, Sasha, Leshawna, Harold, Tara, Abraham, Rosita and Eugene all came out from the shadows.
"Rick?" Glenn called out for him, walking towards him.
"Is that you, dudes?" Geoff asked, wanting to be sure if his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.
"You're here." Rick said, "You're here."
He set his gaze on the new faces of the people who weren't from his group. He recognized one of them. Tara being the one he recognized. He remembered her as the girl that stood next to the Governor and Jose when they killed Hershel and DJ. He also noticed some people that he didn't recognize, those people being Abraham, Eugene and Rosita.
"They're our friends." Maggie said, "They helped save us."
"They were with us when they caught us and put us in this place." Trent added.
"Yeah." Daryl replied, "Now they're friends of ours."
"For however long that'll be." Abraham stated.
"No." Rick whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear. He watched his group for a moment before looking out the door next to him, "They're gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out."
"Find out what?" Abraham questioned.
Rick shifted his gaze from the door at his group, "They're fucking with the wrong people."
We're finally done with season 4! Only 7 more seasons left to go! I'm looking forward to write season 5. I'm especially looking forward to the parts with Gareth's group and the parts Alexandria.
Scott officially became the first Revenge of the Island character to make an appearance in this story and you can except more of them (along with the characters from the future generations) to appear in the future chapters of this story.
At the end of this chapter, I would like to ask you two questions.
First question is: Who do you think is going to die from Total Drama in season 5?
Since I've already mentioned a few times that seveal characters from future TD generations will appear in season 5, my second question is: Who do you think is going to appear from Total Drama in season 5?
Hope it wasn't that bad. See you in another chapter.