A/N A huge thanks to all my followers, new and old. it makes me so happy to see that number going up.

Thanks to all who have reviewed

MonkeysGoBoo - Sorry for the scares, now getting worried for the rest of the story. Glad you are still enjoying it.

sillygabby - Thanks for the kind comment. I thought about a long winded gun battle etc for Terminus, but decided I wanted to get on with the rest of the story.

loveorpain - Thank you, hope you continue to enjoy.

I'm not totally happy with this chapter but it was needed, gets better after this - promise.

Chapter 27

The Terminus captives were taken to the boxcar they had held their own prisoners in and were locked in. Bob had checked Daryl over and said as far as he could tell it was just severe bruising and possibly a cracked rib or two. The best thing to do was just take it easy. Once he was free from Bob, Daryl walked over and put a possessive arm around Eleanor's waist, keeping her close.

"Aint letting you go again, not sure how many lives you got left" he murmured into her hair, ignoring the soppy smile and "Ahhh" from Maggie as she watched them. Sasha and the young woman, whose name was Tara arrived as did Abraham and his group. They had all split up in the search for Daryl and were now finally reunited. It was decided that they would get some rest until it was light and then look for the rest of the Terminus people; they still hadn't found Gareth, the apparent leader. They would also find and free any other captives.

"How did you end up in a cage with a load of walkers?" Glenn asked Daryl "Is that that they want with all the captives, some kind of entertainment?"

Daryl thought before replying, deciding to go with the truth.

"They was planning to string me up and gut me like a fish, turn me into steaks" he told them slowly, watching the looks of disgust cross their faces.

"I weren't havin' it, and once they'd taken some off to the infirmary and bought in reinforcements, they figured it was more fun to get me to fight walkers. I figured I'd rather go out that way than the other." Eleanor reached for his hand and held it.

"That's twice we've run into cannibals, what the hell's wrong with these people?" she leant against his side. "What sort of world is it when the walkers are the least of our problems?"

Michonne and Rick slipped out through the fence and retrieved the food that Eleanor had hidden earlier. Glenn, Maggie and the others had been locked away for two days without food or drink and Rick and his group hadn't eaten for 24 hours. There was barely enough to go round and Eleanor refused any, saying she'd had some earlier, before she'd come in to rescue them. She wouldn't meet Daryl's eye, he knew she was lying.

"You gotta eat too" he tried to get her to share his, but she refused.

"I'll get something tomorrow, there's bound to be more around" She turned away from him to talk to Abraham and Rosita, wanting to know more about them. They told her they were planning to go to Washington DC with Eugene. He was a scientist and claimed he knew what caused the outbreak but couldn't tell anyone as it was classified information. He might have been able to save the world but Eleanor found him a bit odd. He seemed to spend a lot of his time staring at the women in the group, especially Rosita. He'd stared at her a lot as well until Daryl had stepped in front of her and stared him down. She found she really liked Abraham; he was rough round the edges but had a great sense of humour and was always up for a fight. Rosita was feisty and spoke her mind and was clearly very in love with Abraham. The young woman, Tara seemed friendly enough, but a bit quiet and unsure around the prison group. Glenn had explained he'd found her on the road and she had helped him find Maggie, Bob and Sasha. Eleanor felt a little uneasy about her and knew Daryl felt the same; there was something off about her that they couldn't place.

They managed to get some sleep, taking turns to keep watch. They knew they hadn't found all the Terminus people yet, Gareth, the leader was still missing, as was the woman Mary, who had met some of them at the gates, cooking on a huge barbeque in the yard. They were all glad they hadn't eaten any of the meat she had offered when they first arrived. Finding them would be one of the first things they did in the morning.

Eleanor had managed to get Daryl to lie down and sleep, his head resting in her lap, his hand tight in hers. She had pulled a childish face at Michonne's knowing smirk, causing the usually stern woman to laugh out loud at her.

In the morning they set out to find and free the other survivors. They checked every container they found. Most were empty but one contained several walkers, which were quickly taken down. When the group came to two side by side they could hear crying and calls for help from one of them. Rick approached and opened the door carefully, the others were waiting, weapons raised. Several people stumbled out, eyes squinting against the sudden light. They hesitated when they got to the door and saw the raised weapons.

Rick stepped forward "It's okay, you're safe now, we won't hurt you." Suddenly two of the figures detached themselves from the huddled group and ran to Eleanor. Before anyone could react they almost knocked her to the ground as they both hugged her, calling her name. She freed herself enough to look at them and her face lit up.

"Mitchell, Jamie!" she exclaimed "How'd you get here? Thought you were on the bus."

Mitchell grinned at her, "We got couldn't get to the bus in time. We got out in the truck" He looked over his shoulder with a wide smile and held out his hand. A small figure limped forward slowly, a look of disbelief on her face.

"Beth!" screamed Maggie as she rushed forward and embraced her sister "What happened?" Beth clung to Maggie, tears streaming down her face.

"When the tank shot out the prison wall I got half buried under the rubble. Mitchell and Jamie found me and got me out in the truck. We drove 'till we ran out of fuel, then saw the signs for this place. We thought it would be safe. We've been locked up in there for the best part of a week" she stepped back from Maggie and hugged various other members of the group. Eleanor noticed that Mitchell's eyes never left the pretty, young blonde and smiled to herself.

"Good things can still happen" she nudged Daryl, but he'd already noticed.

"Wouldn't of happened if you hadn't got us away from that place" he reminded her.

A young woman approached Rick, grabbing his arm frantically.

"My daughter" she sobbed "have you found my daughter?"

Gently Rick took her arm, and clasped her hand.

"We're still looking for survivors" he explained, indicating the unopened container.

"Let's get this one open"

Abraham unlatched the door and pulled it open. No one came out but they could hear muffled sobs. Eleanor stepped closer and peered into the darkness inside. She darted inside before anyone could stop her. Daryl instantly followed. She was squatting down in the furthest corner. He could see small shapes huddled in front of her, one holding its arms to the sides as if trying to protect those behind it. He could hear Eleanor's voice gently reassuring and slowly the arms were lowered. She reached out and the figure slumped forward into her outstretched arms. She looked over to him, anger in her eyes.

"They took the kids away from their parents, kept them separate. These are all that's left. Three have been taken in the last few days" Her voice was low, she was holding her anger back. When he glanced in the corner he saw six pairs of frightened eyes gazing back at him. He stepped towards them and held out his hand, trying not to look scary.

A little girl of about 6 years old slowly stepped forward.

"Will you find my mama?" she asked him, taking his hand

"We'll try our best." He promised her. Between them they took the children outside. There were several cries of joy as families were reunited, and screams of despair as parents realised their children were still missing. The little boy Eleanor had hugged stood beside her, eyes wide as he looked around him.

"I can't see my Dad" he told her, trying not to cry. She held him tight, her heart breaking for him. He was 10 years old and had been trying to protect the rest of the children, thinking she was there to take another one.

"We'll keep lookin', honey" she kissed the top of his head, "and if we can't find him, then we'll take care of you, you don't have to be scared anymore"

Those with weapons surrounded those without and escorted them to the room they had spent the previous night in. It was safe there and easy to defend.

"We need to find food and water, these people are starving" Rick had called most of the prison group together.

"Me 'n Ellie will go huntin'" Daryl instantly volunteered .

Eleanor started to protest, knew it would be a waste of time and gave up. They collected their weapons and set off into the forest.