Nora was sitting down against the tunnel wall, rubbing at her ankle to regain feeling. When is started to go from completely numb to a vague sting in her bones, she tried standing up. She started to stumble and tried to lean her hand against the wall before she fell, but Glenn caught her arm and helped her regain her step. She smiled in appreciation and looked up at his wife who was standing a few feet away.
Once Nora was standing right, Maggie approached her, "we didn't get to officially meet," she smiled.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Nora, this is Maggie," Glenn gestured.
Nora and Maggie shook hands, "he's uh," Nora started, "he's a big fan of yours," she gave a tired laugh.
Glenn smiled, "I met Nora on the road. She helped me get away from the prison, and saved me when I passed out from that disease that was spreading in the cell block. I couldn't have made it here without her."
Maggie surged forward and pulled Nora into a tight hug, whispering, "thank you," in her ear. Nora was frozen for a second before wrapping her arms around the girl and exhaling in surprise.
Glenn continued, "she could have just left me after the prison, but when she heard what I was doing, she said she had to help me. She's just that kind of person."
Nora smiled at them and then started walking along the wall with one hand on it keeping her steady. She walking over to Abraham and his group, and Sasha and Bob, figuring that the reunited couple would want some alone time.
However, Glenn and Maggie followed her over, hand in hand. When Sasha heard the crunch of their approach she turned her shocked gaze to the couple, "He," she pointed at Eugene, "he just said he knows what caused the outbreak."
Glenn sighed, "yeah, he does. Let me guess, Abraham asked you to go to D.C with him."
Abraham stood up, "alright I'm glad you found each other. Now there's no reason that the eight of us aren't on our way to D.C tomorrow morning."
"No," Eugene spoke up for the first time, "up until now we had an armored military vehicle, and we still lost people. We're a day's walk from Terminus, and only 55% of the way to Washington."
Rosita put her hands on her hips, "it couldn't hurt to check. They could have supplies, we could even try recruiting more people. Let's go for at least a day or two, restock, and then we can be back on the road the Washington."
"I'll go with you guys to D.C," Sasha said to Abraham, "but I have to go to Terminus. My brother could be there."
"Fine," Abraham sighed, "if Eugene says I'm wrong, I'll listen. But tomorrow we go to the end of the line, and then Washington. No exceptions"
The building wasn't exactly hidden. It was exactly like their signs they made drawing people there, they were smart, made it so you couldn't pass it by accident. It was an old two story brick building, stretching out across the land it occupied itself on, surrounded by forest. Black letters were written as big as they could make them on the second story, spelling out Terminus in rich contrast against the faded red bricks, now so old they appeared a dull orange.
A fence surrounded the building, weeds tangling themselves in each crevice and making it's way to the barbed wire at the top. What struck Nora as weird was that the fence gate was fully open, open to letting anyone at all in. She thought that in times like this someone would take up extra precautions.
Abraham walked to the front of the group and held his gun at his side, "you ready?"
Rosita started walking past him towards the gate and they all followed in silent agreement that it was time to see what this place held for them. There could be useful supplies, Sasha could even be reunited with her family. So they went through the gate.
It was silent. At first they all thought it was abandoned. It just looked like an old building, until they rounded the corner of it, and Nora's eyes widened. There were plants everywhere, lovely living plants that was so uncommon now that every time she saw one she just had to admire it, and chastise herself for never appreciating them before. Two older woman were taking clothes off a clothesline, laughing over a joke. Nora looked over at what looked like a large grill, with large chunks of meat sizzling on it, and her mouth started watering.
Abraham cleared his throat and the old lady's heads shot up. One set the shirt she was holding on a nearby table and walked up to the group.
"Hello, how can I help you?" she smiled, the light not quite reaching her eyes.
"I'm sergeant Abraham Ford. We came here to see if you had any supplies to help us on our trip to Washington."
"And see if my brother's here," Sasha interjected.
Maggie cut in, "and to see if this place is livable. The place where our group was staying is destroyed, and we need somewhere safe."
The old woman kept her smile, almost as if it was a permanent feature on her face. Like she had been doing it so long that there wasn't any emotion behind it, like it was nuisance to her but she couldn't stop. "Well you've found the right place. We have plenty of supplies for you," she looked at Abraham, "and for you, dear," she looked to Sasha, "we have had many new people show up in the past few weeks. Perhaps your brother is one of them."
The woman started walking off, "if you would follow me, I can show you to the people in charge and they can give you supplies, or, if you choose to stay, direct you to a room here. I've been here for a few months and haven't thought of leaving yet, it's a wonderful place. I almost forget what it feels like to be hungry."
The group followed her through the doors at the side of the building, leading them into a huge room that was nearly bare but for a few tables set up in the middle where people were now sitting.
"Terminus- sanctuary for all, community for all. Those who arrive survive," a woman kept repeating into a microphone as if she was a broken record.
The men at the other table stood up with smiles plastered on their faces, "Hello."
Abraham grunted as a sign of his own greeting.
Gareth looked down at the gun Abraham had, "oh, we're going to have to ask you to hand over your weapons. See, this is a peaceful place, it's a requirement for newcomers."
Glenn and Maggie shared a look, and Nora started to get uneasy. She knew that she only had a small knife for protection, but it was still a safety net for her, and to give that away was frightening. If it came to hand to hand combat, she only knew a few moves from the only time her dad ever helped her out, when she was fourteen and he taught her the basic self defense moves one fall afternoon.
Gareth observed their disinclination, "don't worry, we've never had to use weapons here. This system has worked for us since we built this refuge. Once you hand them over, I'll answer any question you have."
Sasha marched up and handed her gun and knife to him unwillingly, but thinking of her brother.
Eugene, Rosita, and Bob were next. Then Glenn and Maggie. Nora inspected her knife, turning it over in her hands. Her footfalls occupied the room and she held the end of the knife out towards Gareth. Abraham was behind her, the last to give up his weapon.
"Thank you for your compliance."
After Gareth set their weapons on the table, the old woman who had greeted them spoke, "Now if you would, please wait outside in the courtyard. We're going to move your weapons and then I'll show you a tour of the area. It won't take any longer than a minute or two."
"Hey!"
She turned back around when Abraham shouted.
"I'm not staying. We agreed on more supplies, and then we're leaving."
She beamed, "don't worry. This is our normal procedure. If you still want to leave by the end of the tour, we'll be happy to give you your weapons back along with more supplies. I'm just asking you to give this place a chance."
Abraham didn't sit well with any of it, but he said nothing else, and marched out the door back to where they had entered, the savory smell of the meat hitting them. Nora debated asking someone who worked there if she could have a bite.
"What do we think?" Glenn asked them.
"It seems nice. It's obviously well run if they're this successful after all this time," Maggie said.
Nora looked up, "yeah, but so did Woodbury, and that was run by an insane man, he just hid it well."
Glenn and Maggie shared a look, both jumping to their past experiences in Woodbury. Maggie being degraded and Glenn being nearly killed. They both tried to forget about it, but knew it was a futile attempt to keep the demons at bay. So they kept going, and got past it for the most part, but sometimes they would be evoked.
Abraham nodded slowly at her statement, caught deeply in thought about the possibility she was exactly right, "yeah, well-" he froze and looked up, "get down!"
Nora wheeled around and her eyes shot up to the roof of the building, her mind quickly registering the man with the gun right before he started shooting, gravel coming out in chunks near her feet. She heard Glenn yell, "go, go, go!" and she erupted into action. Rosita grabbed the sleeve of Nora's shirt to get her moving quicker. Glenn shoved Maggie in front of him so he was closer to where the man was shooting, and Abraham went to reach for his gun, then when he remembered it wasn't there, he tried shielding Eugene with his body as they ran. Nora stayed as close to the group as she could, nearly smashing into Glenn's back when they all went around the corner where they had arrived, trying to get back to the entrance of the gate.
Her feet were still being shot at, and the shocks of the gravel hitting her legs got her adrenaline going, a sensation she hadn't had often, a foreign energy coursing through her and only focused on the sole purpose of surviving. So she bolted and ran faster than she ever had, passing by until she was with Abraham in the front, and the gate was so so close. There was a second where she thought they were gonna make it out, the gate was right there, right in front of them, not even ten steps away. The chain link fence with the weeds crawling through the spaces reaching out to them, crying for them to take those last steps.
And then the gate slammed shut in an instant, and people emerged from behind those weeds with guns aiming right at them. Nora halted and looked back at the group in fear. A silent, "what do we do now?" passed between them all, and Abraham yelled, "come on!"
They followed him into one of the rooms of the building, a pitch black area with only a candle in the corner and the light from the open door to guide them. Abraham made a signal with his hand indicating for them to stay silent. Nora feared that her heartbeat would somehow give them away. She knew that logically, it wouldn't happen, but the irrational fear stayed.
Nora didn't know who's arm she gripped, but she held onto it tightly so she wouldn't be alone.
Distract yourself, she thought. So she counted her breathes to keep them steady.
She felt someone behind her grip her arm as well, most likely for the same reason she was. Nora didn't think anything of it past that, but then she felt someones breath against her ear.
"Found you," it whispered.
Before she could make a move, Gareth pulled her roughly away from the arm she held and she shrieked.
"Nora!" Glenn yelled.
Sporadic sounds of humming and clicks made Nora look at the ceiling where all the lights were turning on. In the light, the large cult like room appeared, and so did the people.
The two old women were in the group that surrounded them, and Nora could now twist her head enough to see that the man holding her was the same man who took away their weapons. She threw her head back and heard the crack when her head connected with his. Gareth's arms slacked and she ran out of his hold, right into her group. Glenn put a hand on her back and Nora looked at the old woman who had promised them a tour.
"Now?" she asked, looking to Gareth.
He took his hand away from his throbbing forehead, setting a glare on the group, "now."
And everything went black.