This chapter is for the one and only VickiH who is jaded from Season 4 and needs some inspiration. I shall fulfill all her dreams.

Terminus Part I

"Are those people going to hurt my baby?" Carol asked Barbara with a worried expression. Barbara put her hand on Carol's arm in a soothing motion. "No honey, they're never going to get near her. You don't worry about it. They can't get out. You just go ahead and tend those beds, y'hear?" Carol gave Barbara a nervous smile and said, "Thanks. Sorry, I'm just jumpy I guess, it's so hard to believe that my family is finally safe." Barbara smiled at her in a motherly fashion. "Of course honey, everyone's jumpy these days. But you're safe at Terminus."

Carol raised her hand to rest momentarily on Barbara's arm in a gesture of thanks then moved off to the garden bed. It had been three weeks since she, Tyreese and Judith had arrived and as soon as the gates had locked behind them she and Tyreese had known that something wasn't right. Luckily they were able to hold it together until they were given their own living space that first day. They talked softly in case the place was bugged. To survive this they needed to do some serious acting. Carol morphed back into the timid housewife that she had been so long ago and Tyreese put on a tough exterior, including visibly bristling at any man that looked at Carol. They explained to the Terminus people that Judith was a child from their previous group that they were raising together and was considered their natural child.

Neither Carol nor Tyreese were allowed to do guard duty because they were new and untested so Carol volunteered for garden duty and she worked industriously. Luckily she had always loved gardening and the beds were already significantly improved. She made sure to always act submissively and volunteered for extra duties to show them that she was a team player. Tyreese was put on general duties that required strength – digging new beds, moving things around the compound, working in the automobile shop, piling walkers for burning. The day he came from the slaughterhouse he walked calmly to their apartment, shut the door then ran to the bathroom and vomited profusely in the toilet. That was the day they learned that they were living with cannibals.

Carol kept the cowed housewife act going when she brought it up to Barbara. Several members of the Terminus group were called in to educate Tyreese and Carol on how Terminus was fed. Livestock animals were kept for everyday eating, but when 'renegade' humans were available they were considered a delicacy. Carol had cried and Tyreese had fumed and the Terminus group assured them that these were natural reactions that even some of them had had at first. They also assured them that all the meat they'd been served since arriving was from animals. Carol and Tyreese knew if they didn't handle this right that they could end up on the grill, so they gave their word that they would try to open to the idea if the Terminus group could be patient with them. Gareth kindly told them that trying was all he could ask of them and everyone seemingly left the meeting happily. That night Carol and Tyreese skipped dinner, staring morosely at Judith who was happily eating strained peas and decorating the kitchen with them.

The day that Maggie and Glenn's group arrived Carol almost broke their cover. She and Tyreese disappeared into their apartment unseen when the group came through the gate – this was the protocol that had been drilled into them when they were accepted as members. Newcomers entering the compound were not to know how many people lived there, it prevented them from mounting attacks. Carol and Tyreese watched in horror from their window as Maggie and Glenn's group was seized and led out of their sight. It took everything they had to act normally after that and Carol almost referred to Maggie by name in front of Barbara one evening when she was tired and her guard was down. She stammered to cover her mistake and finally said, "Barbara….I can't lie. That young girl, the pretty one. We're not going to eat her are we? She could be my own daughter….she even looks like the daughter I lost. Maggie."

"Oh hush now," soothed Barbara. "The council hasn't decided what they'll do with them but it's likely that we'll keep one or two back for food. The youngest are the best, you'll see. But don't worry honey, the council will handle it and everything's going to be wonderful for us here." Carol felt the mask that she used when Lizzy killed Mika slip over her face. "Yes, you're right. Of course you're right. It just….well, thanks again for being patient." Barbara had smiled widely at her before leaving. That night Carol dissolved on the bed holding Judith close. The younger the better? She looked at the sweet toddler and cried softly.

And now Rick's group was trapped here….Carol had been in an outbuilding getting tools when she saw them talking to Barbara at the grill, then Rick pulled a gun and all hell broke loose. She heard the gunfire and she watched her friends being herded towards the train tracks. She knew that Tyreese would do his best to find where they were being held. She had to play it cool. When the dust settled she found Barbara and made herself visibly shake in fear. She thought of Lizzie so that tears would gather in her eyes. "Are those people going to hurt my baby?" she started.

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"MotherFUCKERS best not mess with my baby or my wife Gareth. I get all you sayin' about your ALTERNATIVE lifestyle here but nothin' was said about wavin' guns around and shit!" Tyreese's shoulders were bunched and spittle was flying as he pointed in Gareth's face. "We here for PEACE Gareth! We're willin' to have it on your terms but we were promised safety! Them homeboys was meanin' BUSINESS and we don't want that shit no more." Tyreese was playing the upset husband beautifully. Carol dutifully shrank back, holding Judith close. "We're just scared is all," she said meekly. Tyreese turned to her and gave her the domineering husband 'shut the fuck up woman' glare.

"I ain't scared a nothin'," finished Tyreese. "They oughta be scared a ME!" Several men moved to flank Gareth protectively. Gareth waved them off and said soothingly, "I understand Tyreese but we have to remain calm. Sometimes people fail our screening process and we have to deal with them. It really doesn't happen all that often, OK? I did promise you safety and I'm still promising it." Tyreese backed off a bit and humphed. "Be different if you let us have guns," he grumbled. Gareth laughed pleasantly. "You were allowed to keep your knives. If everyone had guns then what happened today would have escalated into a bad situation. Please, trust me on this. We haven't lost a Terminus member yet to any newcomers."

Tyreese nodded and backed up to Carol, putting his arm around her protectively. She smiled up at him then nodded at Gareth. "Thank you," she said. "I feel better now. I have to admit, I've been leaving my knife in the apartment because I've felt so safe. When all that happened today and I was unarmed I guess I panicked. I realized I had forgotten about defending myself." Tyreese pulled her closer and Gareth gently reprimanded her. "Carol, you have your knife for a reason. I need you to carry it, OK?" Carol nodded a little sheepishly through her tears and Tyreese growled at her.

"Speaking of knives," brought up Barb. "We're short in the kitchen this week, Brooke and Sylvia are sick. Carol, we need you to fill in." Carol nodded meekly. Her brain was working furiously. This was her chance to find out just how many people lived at Terminus.

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That night after Judith went down Tyreese and Carol got ready for bed. They had shared a whispered conversation in the bathroom while they flushed the toilet and ran the sink to drown out their voices. Tyreese told her that everyone was being held in a rail car on the tracks inside of the compound within view of the perimeter guards and roof snipers. She whispered to him that it was good that they were all in one place and he quietly agreed. He would check the layout further when he was sent back to that area.

Carol and Tyreese shared a bed for appearances but they couldn't have been farther apart in spirit. This was an intensely personal time of the day for them, the time they looked forward to the most. It was their time to lose themselves in memory. As Tyreese settled back into bed he closed his eyes. Immediately Karen's face was there smiling up at him with the sun shining through her hair. He smiled as he pictured her and remembered even their most random of conversations. He drifted off to sleep with the feel of her lips on his.

Carol stayed up to drink a cup of coffee at the table. The sight of the angel wings on the black vest had shaken her to her core. She was positive that Daryl was in Rick's group even though she had only seen his back. She knew the way he moved, the way his shaggy brown hair fell. He was alive and he was here. The man who commandeered her dreams at night, the only man she had ever truly loved. She was relatively sure that he had felt the same way about her but was too emotionally crippled to act on it. She had loved him all the same. She thought he was gone forever.

She closed her eyes as waves of emotion began to rock her. The honey sound of his grumbly voice, the hardness of his blue eyes when he felt cornered, the easy way he walked and the smile he only gave Judith when he thought no one was looking. Carol's face twisted as the sobs began to rock her. The memories were coming so fast that she couldn't control them, couldn't protect herself from the toll they were taking on her. She clutched her hair with both hands to keep herself from flying apart and she fought to keep her cries soundless while their most precious moments battered her. The night on top of the bus. The runs on the motorcycle. The laughs they shared after he returned with Merle. His grudging acceptance of her giving him a nickname. The nights he let her crawl into his bunk after nightmares had awoken her. Carol scrunched her face as hard as she could to get control. She had to think clearly. She had to save him.

The next day in the kitchens she was told to prepare vegetables for 56 people for lunch. She had her answer. She was also told to deliver food to the quarantined sick kitchen workers who she found had the same early symptoms as those that died in the prison from the violent strain of flu. She warned Tyreese and made sure they both had hand sanitizer on them at all times. She pulled Judith out of the communal daycare. She had a plan.

At dinner she pulled out the used tissues she had taken from Brooke and Sylvia's garbage cans. Sylvia's were already bloody and Carol knew that it wouldn't be long before Sylvia died. She soaked them in a bowl of salad dressing and carefully squeezed them out, then used the liquid to dress the salad she prepared for the Terminus group. She tried not to think of the children that could be affected. She had to save her group.

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In three days time over half the Terminus compound was sick with the flu, Gareth and Barbara were among them. Those left on the council were forced to cut the number of people on watch down by over half to pick up operations abandoned by the sick. The next day when people started dying Carol nodded to Tyreese. It was time to act.

She moved under cover of the night, slipping through the shadows of the buildings. Tyreese had disabled just enough lights to keep it dark for her. She made it to the car he described, cracked open the door and whispered Rick's name.

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Daryl pulled off another shirt layer and dropped it in his pile. It was stifling in the boxcar despite the vents being open. Most everyone wore whatever they owned in layers, consequently each person had their own pile of shed clothing in the boxcar. Some of the women were down to their bras. All the men were shirtless save Eugene and Daryl who had their own reasons for covering their bodies. The stench of dirty bodies combined with the latrine bucket was suffocating. At least their captors were providing them with fresh water and emptying the latrine bucket daily. They ate the packaged food that was thrown into the car. Daryl had noticed powdered milk packaging on the ground when he got into the car. He wondered if any of the kids from the prison were here. He wondered about Carol. He missed her more than he'd missed anyone in his life, his mom and Merle included. She was his best friend. His conscious. His only love. He gritted his teeth against the self-loathing thoughts. And what did you ever do about it? Never told her. Never kissed her. You knew she was in love with you and you threw it away, fucking coward.

He sat with his back against the wall, rhythmically bumping his head back into it. Just before the governor struck Rick said that Carol was gone. He looked at Rick who was using his trooper hat to fan Carl. Daryl cleared his throat.

"Why did Carol leave?"

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Rick dropped his head between his knees. Daryl had hit him hard and for the last couple of hours Rick's eye throbbed and his head ached. At least now that the sun was down they'd a cool breeze through the car. A small sliver of light cut through the boxcar and Rick thought his ears were playing tricks on him when he heard his name whispered. Everyone in the car stiffened and waited. Again he heard it, more insistent this time. "Rick! It's Carol." Daryl jumped up from his seated position and Rick moved to the door. He peeked out. "Carol?" he whispered incredulously. He could feel Daryl shuffle behind him. "Now, with me!" she whispered. "Fast!" They piled out and Carol gently fastened the door back into place, then she ushered them to stand in the shadows of the nearest building. When she looked them over she noticed that Rick had a very fresh shiner on one eye. Must have been a disagreement in the car and I can guess who the other party is, she thought.

It took a few minutes for the prisoners' eyes to acclimate to the dim light. When Daryl could focus he saw Carol with her back to the wall, gun in hand, peering around the corner in front of them. She turned and their eyes locked. Her chest was heaving and her eyes were swimming with emotion then her face hardened and she motioned, "Now!" They came across only one guard on their way to the implement shed, and he was quickly dispatched by Abraham with a piece of lumber to the head. Once in the shed Carol told them to stay quietly. She returned fifteen minutes later with dirty plastic parcels. She handed them out and whispered, "Guns. I hid them in the garden beds." She quickly glanced out of the window, the yard was clear. "They won't bargain," she continued. "You'll have to kill them or escape. We'll help you either way."

Rick looked at her intently. "We?" he asked. Carol swallowed. "Me and Tyreese," she said softly and Bob quickly shushed Sasha when she cried out in surprise. Carol bent to take Carl's face in her hands. "And Judith," she said, looking into his eyes with a smile. Rick staggered. "Alive?" he asked hoarsely with his eyes full of tears. Carol's eyes filled too and she nodded. "But we can't discuss this now, we have to decide. Stay or go," she whispered urgently. "I infected them with the flu, half of them are down, some are already dead. Rick you have to decide."

The group was silent as Rick surveyed them. He stepped into the arc of light that came in through the window and his eyes were steely. "Stay," he said grimly.

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Maggie and Glenn kept track of the body count and Carol checked it against the number of sick and dead in the infirmary. Before morning broke they had control of the compound. They found themselves standing in the courtyard as the sun rose. Sasha was being crushed by Tyreese who was unabashedly crying. "He was always the sensitive one," she laughed over his shoulder to Bob. Rick and Carl held Judith who happily clapped her hands on their faces. Rick was looking at her like he was seeing a living ghost. Carl was grinning from ear to ear, as was Michonne who had a hand on each one of their shoulders. Abraham's group stood slightly to the side and Glenn and Maggie hung on each other tiredly but with big smiles as they looked at their reunited group.

Carol felt his eyes on her and she momentarily faltered. What if he's changed? She slowly turned her head to Daryl who was by himself on the fringe of the group. He was staring at her intently, unblinking. She felt herself beginning to crumble and she slapped her hand over her mouth to contain the sob as he strode purposefully toward her. "Is it really you?" she choked. "Didn't think I was gonna see you again," he rumbled from his chest and before she could react his mouth was on hers. He was squeezing the breath out of her and she gripped him just as hard. He roughly pushed his tongue into her mouth and she wrapped her fingers in his hair. Everything she needed was right here.

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Daryl was insistent on taking a shower because he 'smelled like fuckin' ass' so Carol showed him into her apartment. She giggled when he let her grab his hand to pull him up the stairs. When she got him upstairs he asked ruefully, "So I guess you ain't with Tyreese?" She turned with sparkling eyes and a wide smile and pressed herself into his chest. "No," she said simply. "Shower's there," she said. "I'll get you a clean toothbrush. There should be a razor in there already." He smirked at her and put his weapons in the corner of the room then entered the bathroom and shut the door.

He quickly shed his clothes and stood in the steaming water. Weeks of life on the road rose off of him in clouds and he looked for the soap. "The fuck is this?" he said to himself, picking up a plastic bottle. Men's body wash. He popped the lid and sniffed it. He was pretty sure no Dixon in history had ever smelled that good. Fuck it. It's the end of the world, he though as he lathered up. When he was done he pulled the shower curtain aside to find that his clothes were missing and there was a new toothbrush still in the package on the sink. Woman moves like a ninja he smiled to himself. He wrapped the towel around his waist and studied his reflection. He looked like a wookie. Sighing he opened the medicine cabinet to find scissors and a razor with shaving cream and he set to cleaning up his face. As he scraped there was a gentle knock at the door and it cracked open. "Clean clothes," said Carol as she passed in a pair of Tyreese's flannel shorts and a T-shirt. "Nosy," he grumbled as he snatched them from her hand. He heard her laugh as the door slammed shut.

When he was cleaned up he gave himself a hard look. He was sure a lot less dirty. Needed a haircut maybe. Otherwise he looked….like him. Hard to see what Carol saw, the way her eyes lit up whenever she saw him. He thought about the long kiss they shared in the courtyard. There were no doubts now. Only one thing left to do. His cock hardened as he thought about the feel of her against him and he removed the towel from his waist. "Hey," he called. "Need some help in here."

So I want to know VickiH - how bad do you want Part II?