Newly Revised

Rick's injuries had been delaying their travels to Terminus a lot more than what they had anticipated they would. They'd made a small camp for a couple days in the woods about ten yards from the train tracks with Sophia and Merle setting up snares before they went hunting that night. They had only managed to get a couple squirrel the five split, but it wasn't enough to actually fill their stomachs. There were only a few cans of food left by the time they'd made camp and they heated those as the morning sun rose. Carl and Sophia ate their food with gusto while Rick and Michonne looked on in worry, though Merle was less worried about their stomachs. He was more worried with the fact that they were out in the open with a couple of kids. While there was no doubt in any of their minds that Carl and Sophia could take care of themselves, Merle had seen the kind of men this world made when he was at Woodbury. He wanted to get the kids out of the open and into this safe haven the signs were talking about. It was a good thing the group was planning on heading out again today after they ate with the plan being on getting as far as they could.

"How hungry are you, scale of one to ten?" Rick asked Carl.

"Fifteen," Carl said.

"Twenty eight," Michonne replied.

"Maybe seventeen?" Sophia thought out loud.

"I could travel to the moon and back," Merle joked.

"Yeah," Rick chuckled as they all shared a smile. "Well, it's been a while. Did you guys check the snares?"

"Left it to you, Friendly," Merle said.

"Alright, well, guess I'm gonna go check the snares, then."

"Can I come?" Carl asked.

"Well, how else are you gonna learn?" Rick responded, earning a wide smile from Carl while he was putting the fire out. "Hey, you too," he told Michonne, making her roll her eyes but grab her katana nonetheless. "You two gonna be alright?"

"Hell yeah," Merle told him. "Gonna go out, do some huntin' for more'n a damn squirrel. See what we can find. Maybe see if those bastards are still on our trail."

"Alright, you know that road a few miles up by the tracks? Meet us up there tomorrow. We'll wait by the first car we see," Rick told him when Merle nodded his head.

"Sounds like a plan. Take care, Friendly."

"Yeah, you too. We'll wait until morning. If you aren't there by then, we're movin' on. You know where we're goin'."

"Alright. See you tonight," Merle said before ushering Sophia out into the woods, Carl and Michonne following Rick the other way.

"We're close now, right?" Carl asked as they walked through the woods.

"To Terminus? Yeah, we're close," Rick said.

"When we get there, are we gonna tell them?"

"Tell them what?" Michonne asked.

"Everything that's happened to us. All the stuff we've done. The people we've lost. Are we gonna tell them the truth?"

"We're gonna tell them who we are," Rick said plainly.

"But how do you know that? I mean...who are we?" Carl asked.

Rick didn't answer him right away as he thought about it himself; there were a lot of things that they had become over the months. They had transformed away from the beings they were before the end of the world and closer to those meant for this life. It was difficult to tell who they were anymore with what they had endured. He was a father, a widow, and someone who had lost a child while Carl had lost his mother and sister. Michonne had lost Andrea and whatever else that had made her have such a tough exterior that hid her past. They were nothing like they had been and every second in this world changed who they were. They'd had to become hunters, protectors, guards, pillagers, soldiers, farmers, engineers, doctors, and so much more just to survive in the prison alone. How much more had they changed during the months before they'd found it? In the end, a walker they quickly dispatched put an end to his train of thought before he lead them to the first snare.

"There you go!" Rick said as he spotted the rabbit. "It's a small one, but it'll do. So, this is just a simple slipknot. Tie one on both ends, then you tighten one end to a branch. Now, you see how the ground here is sort of like a funnel shape?"

"It's a trail?" Michonne asked.

"That's right," Rick told her. "Carl, you already know this from Ani and Merle. That's where you want to set the noose. Then you hide it in leaves and put sticks all around it so animals going by have to run this way. Right into the trap."

A cry for help made all three alert and stopped Rick's demonstration of how the trap worked before they all stood up. Carl took off towards where the cries were coming from despite his father's objections and displeasure. What if it was someone from the prison that needed their help? What if it was someone from this Terminus place and saving them could make them more likeable? They had to at least try to help; it was the right thing to do and showed just who they still were. He could tell his dad and Michonne were following him as he made his way to the tree line and saw what was happening. There was a man screaming for help as he was surrounded by walkers with no feasible way out, leaving Carl to line up his shot with the man's head. Before he could squeeze the trigger, though, his dad came up behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist, hauling back to the safety of the trees. Michonne was crouching in the brush watching the situation taking place in the field with her sword at the ready in case any threat came closer. Carl was practically forced to watch as the man was ripped apart before angrily looking at his father.

"We can't help him," Rick told him.

"We could give mercy!" Carl whisper-shouted.

"We have to go," Michonne said as the walkers began to notice their presence.

Rick dragged Carl ahead of him as they fled back to the train tracks so that they could head towards the meeting spot with the others. He wasn't about to let his son sacrifice himself for a man that was already dead and he wasn't about to let his last child get hurt. He took up the rear as they ran, keeping a watch out for walkers coming up both in front of and behind them. They ended up stopping just short of the tracks when they saw another group of walkers were close by eating something. Rick grabbed his gun by the barrel and used it as a bludgeon to break the skulls of the walkers he could reach as Michonne struck down the rest. Carl only had a gun taken from the first house they'd stayed in and let them handle things while keeping an eye on the horde coming up from behind. They couldn't afford to fire off any bullets unless it was absolutely necessary considering that was the only gun with bullets they had. Rick ushered them clear off the tracks since they were close enough to the road they were supposed to meet Merle and Sophia at. They ran through the trees until they reached it, just a few yards from the tracks, Michonne taking over the lead after a short time.

"Thought maybe there'd be some houses up this way," Michonne commented as they walked further down the road than they'd expected to. "Maybe a store. There's gotta be some food around here somewhere."

"Merle and Sophia will be meeting up with us in the morning. They're bound to have somethin'," Rick offered.

"Hey, look," Carl said, pointing ahead. "First vehicle on the road, right?"

"That's right," Rick agreed. "We'll be safe enough for the night. Head back to the tracks in the morning."

They made sure the vehicles were safe, the three obviously having been in an accident if the walker on the side of the track was anything to go by. Rick left to go get firewood as Carl and Michonne cleaned the cars up and checked if they had anything of use in them. All they had left to eat was the rabbit they'd caught earlier, Carl volunteering to dress it before Michonne roasted it over the small fire. Night fell upon them with no sight of the hunters coming back as Rick told his son to go sleep in the truck. He and Michonne stayed up on watch to make sure the youngster got enough to sleep and would be able to continue the trip in the morning. They didn't need as much sleep as Carl and Sophia did and were able to travel a lot longer on less sleep. Every adult agreed that the children were their first priority when it came to food, water, and rest. That was why Carl had been given the largest part of the rabbit for supper while he and Michonne only shared a small portion.

"That was one small rabbit," he commented while watching the fire.

"It was something," Michonne gave. "Got to hand it to the thing. It travelled well."

"Have you noticed?" he asked. "That's all we talk about anymore, food. I forgot what this feels like."

"Me too," Michonne admitted. "I hope we're able to forget again soon."

"We're close," Rick assured her. "Just gotta make it through another day. If folks there are taking people in, they have to be strong. They have to have a system."

"I wonder if the whole thing is legit," Michonne admitted.

If Rick was going to answer, it was cut off by the sound of breaking branches, putting the two of them on high alert. They stood up and watched the woods for a moment wondering if it was Sophia and Merle only for silence to fall upon them. It could have been anything, from a squirrel to a deer to a walker, but it was pointless wondering what it was. Neither of them were going to go out into the woods in the dark only to get lost or torn apart by walkers. Merle was good enough in the woods at night like Daryl and Ani had been after a while. Sophia would be taken care of as long as the two of them were together and there was no doubt that they would bring something back with them. It wasn't too cold to find a deer or something bigger than a rabbit and hopefully would find some water, too. They were running low on supplies and they weren't sure how long it would take in order to make it to Terminus. As it was, once they got there, how were they sure that the place would have the supplies they would need to to be taking in so many people. When they were at the prison, their supplies had started running low with every person they brought in. Was it actually possible for this place to provide shelter to anyone that made it there?

"We let people in."

"We did," she agreed. "So did the Governor."

"Yeah, it's always the same, isn't it?" Rick admitted. "We don't get to know until we know. Maybe this place isn't even there anymore."

"Oh, dearie me," Joe said, coming out of no where and placing the barrel of his pistol to Rick's head. "You screwed up, asshole. You hear me? You screwed up."

Another man held a pistol to Michonne as seven more emerged from the trees, one leering at the inside of the truck where Carl was sleeping. He was the only one not holding a weapon on Rick and Michonne, much more interested in the boy than he was in the others. Rick couldn't help but look ahead of him hard as he thought about how he was going to get his son and Michonne out of this situation. Merle and Sophia weren't supposed to be showing up in the morning and it would be sheer luck if they show up sometime soon and help to even the odds. They were greatly outnumbered and were unable to even try to draw their weapons. Rick couldn't help but think that they might have had it better if they'd stayed on the tracks until morning, but then the other two wouldn't know where they were. It wasn't until the leader opened his mouth that he realized it was the group that had crashed the house they'd first taken shelter in.

"Today is the day of reckoning, sir. Restitution. A balancing of the whole damn universe," the man behind Rick said with conviction. "Shit, and I was thinking of turning in for the night on New Year's Eve," he chuckled. "Now who's gonna count down the ball dropper with me, huh? Ten Mississippi. Nine Mississippi. Eight Mississippi."

"Joe!" Daryl's voice sounded from the other side of the truck, Rick and Michonne looking at him in shock. "Hold up."

"You're stopping me on eight, Daryl," Joe chastised as Daryl walked closer, trying to figure out how they were going to get out of this mess.

"Just hold up," he said.

"This is the guy that killed Lou, so we got nothin' to talk about," one of the other men said.

"The thing about nowadays is we got nothin' but time," Joe countered. "Say your piece, Daryl."

"These people," he said quietly while staring Joe in the eye. "You're gonna let 'em go. These are good people."

"Now, I think Lou would have to disagree with you on that. I'll, of course, have to speak for him and all that 'cause your friend here strangled him in the bathroom."

"You want blood, I get it," Daryl said as he dropped his bow and bag, offering himself as a substitute. "Take it from me, man. Come on."

"This man killed our friend," Joe said. "You say he's good people. See, now that right there is...is...is a lie! It's a lie!" he yelled, one of the men hitting Daryl in the gut before Joe told the others, "Teach him fellas! Teach him all the way!"

Carl was watching everything happening from the inside of the truck with a disgusting man leering at him through the window, a knife in his hand. He was scared when the man yanked the door open and pulled him out while his dad was kept on his knees. Rick begged the man to let Carl go as he started touching the boy and Carl started protesting. They were all helpless at the hands of these deranged nutjobs and there was nothing Rick could do to protect his son. Carl was begging for his help and Rick could only watch as the man pawed at his son. All he was left with was begging the men himself in an attempt to save his boy and make them leave him alone.

"It was me!" he cried. "It was just me!"

"See, now, that's rights. That's not some damn lie," Joe told him. "We can settle this, we're reasonable men. First, we're going to beat Daryl to death. Then we'll have the girl. Then the boy. Then I'm gonna shoot you and then we'll be square."

Carl was terrified when the man crawled on top of him, fighting against him with all his might as he tried to get a hand down his pants. He was so sure that he was going to die after whatever this man was going to do that he wasn't even sure what happened. All of a sudden the man reared back screaming, an arrow embedded in his shoulder right before two of the men beating Daryl were shot. Rick used the distraction to his advantage and managed to get a strong headbutt to their leader's face, causing him to fire his gun. His ears were ringing horribly as the rage inside him boiled over as another man fell when another shot rang out. Michonne was quick to swipe the knees out from under the man holding her at gunpoint and managed to get to her sword. She decapitated him while Rick was turning around to take care of their leader and Daryl punched one of the remaining men beating him. Rick watched the arrow that came out of the woods as it pierced through Joe's eye before he fell to the ground hard. One last shot rang out as Merle and Sophia emerged from the woods, all but one of their attackers dead. The man who had previously been attacking Carl begged and pleaded for his life after threatening to kill Carl if they didn't let him leave. That didn't deter Rick as he marched up to the terrified man who let go of Carl and attempted to hold his hands up in surrender. Rick wasn't entirely in his right mind and he knew it as he took his knife and ripped the man's stomach open, stabbing over and over again until he was covered in the man's blood.

~x~

"Come on, girly, let's go," Merle said, handing the girl her bow as he picked up his rifle. "Let's see how stiff that shoulder still is. Healin' up well, but gotta get back to usin' your bow sooner rather than later."

"Right!" Sophia said with conviction as she followed him into the woods. "I don't want to be rusty when we get Ani back."

"Damn straight, girl."

"Do you think we'll find her?"

"Didn't you just say 'when we get her back?'" he deadpanned, turning to the girl.

"No, I meant, we, you and me. Us. Do you think we'll be the ones to find her?"

"Who knows, girly? Who knows?" he said, turning back around and looking at the forest floor. "Let's go. See if we can't find us a trail."

They walked in silence, passing up a few squirrels along the way while looking for a decent trail to follow, Merle leading the way. It was peaceful for both of them and reminded them of when they'd go hunting at the prison together. Sophia would forage and teach him about the things that were edible more than the bit he already knew and how to use them for medicine. Merle would teach her how to do different knots and how to read a trail and set different kinds of snares. Every once in a while, the two of them would go out with Ani and Daryl and the little girl felt like she was a part of a family. Not one like she'd had before with her mom and dad, but one that actually cared about her and her needs, not just how to make someone else happy. She was able to learn and grow and be a strong person instead of the terrified little kid that ran from two walkers. Things had changed for her, between learning how to fight from Ani, how to hunt from Merle and how to shoot a gun from Daryl. She only wished her mom would see it like that and be proud of her instead of constantly pushing her away. She was lost in though when she stumbled, finding a trail and whistling to Merle.

"Good spot, girly. Little small, but that's definitely a deer!" Merle said excitedly, ruffling her hair, making Sophia smile wide and feel proud. "It'll feed us a couple days, anyway."

They followed the tracks for about an hour before they simultaneously halted, Sophia dropping down to one knee as Merle slightly hid behind a tree. There was a small doe munching on whatever the forest had to offer maybe ten yards away and they had a clear shot from their hiding spot. Nudging her with his stump, Merle gave the go ahead for Sophia to take the shot, not wanting to draw any attention using his rifle. Adjusting her aim and lining up the sight with the doe, Sophia let her arrow fly, her shoulder a little tight on the drawback but otherwise barely feeling any strain or pain. She was thankful she hadn't given herself another black eye by having her grip wrong and hitting herself in the face with the bow limb. She'd already done that twice and Merle hadn't let her live it down until she'd made up for it by training for a week from sun up to sun down. They walked up to the deer with Merle whistling out at the impressive shot she had made.

"Damn, girly! When did you become a sharpshooter?" he asked Sophia as she removed the arrow from the thing's eyes.

"I have you to thank, Pops! You're the one who taught me. And the one who made me practice all the time. Why didn't Ani teach me, though?"

"Honestly?" Merle asked as he mused it over himself. "She only knows the crossbow and figured we needed somethin' to do. Prolly to keep both of us out of trouble. Knew I had a soft spot for kids and taught Daryl most everythin' he knows. Knew you needed somethin' to do with your ma always bein' on the fritz. What's that about anyways? You know?"

Sophia got really quiet and looked down on the floor as Merle hefted the deer up on his shoulder and they started walking through the woods. She wasn't sure she really wanted to tell him what she'd heard Rick telling Hershel. Being at home was like living in a nightmare and her dad didn't just physically harm her mother. He would tell Sophia things that broke her down for the longest time and made her feel like she was nothing. It had taken the Dixons building her back up to make her think he wasn't be truthful with what he told her. But now her mom was acting like her dad used to tell her she would as soon as something better came around. She never understood what he'd meant by that, but sure enough, after Lizzie and Mika and some of the other kids had come in, her mom had left her on her own. If it hadn't have been for Carl and the Dixons, she wouldn't have had anyone looking out for her. It made her think that her dad was right about what he'd said about her, about her mother, and how she'd end up alone.

"Pops?"

"Yeah?"

"Your dad was mean, right? He beat on you and Daryl? Did he beat on your mom too?"

"That he did," Merle admitted. "Used to pound on her all the time. She fought back, though. I mighta said a lot of really stupid shit when I was younger, before I came to know Ani's past. Never thought much about women 'cause of how my daddy treated my mom and she just stayed. But that is one thing I will never do. Hit a woman. Aside from once with Ani, and damn if I don't gotta apologize to her for that yet. Deserved that beatin' she gave me for doin' that. Now, where's this comin' from?"

"Were you wanted?"

"Come again?"

"Did both your parents want you? As in, you know, have you, when you were a baby?"

"As far as I know."

"I don't think I was," Sophia admitted quietly as they walked through the woods, back towards their camp.

"Now why in the world would you say somethin' like that?" Merle asked, shocked at the little girl's line of thinking.

"Because dad always told me mom never wanted me, that she'd grow to resent me for even being born someday. And now, I mean, she doesn't want me now that she has Mika and Lizzie, so he was right, wasn't he?"

"Now you listen to me, Phia," Merle told her in a stern voice, stopping them both and making her look at him. "You don't listen to a word the past tells you. You don't even look back at it. Only ahead. Whatever happened in the past happened. You can't change it, you can't stop it. Somethin' Ani helped me see. But you look ahead? Hell, possibilities 'round every corner. So don't you give a damn 'bout what anyone said. You know damn well it don't matter 'bout your momma. You'll always have your Pops. Now, let's get goin'. We got mouths to feed."

It was already nearing night by the time they found the road. Merle urged Sophia on, finding a number of non-walker tracks in the woods leading to the roads, and they weren't Rick's or Michonne's. They heard the commotion long before seeing it, Merle motioning with his hand as he left the deer in a tree hopefully just out of walker reach if they even noticed it. Splitting up, Sophia took the left side of the road while Merle took the right. Sophia held her bow at the ready while Merle held his rifle.

Even as they lost sight of one another, they counted in their heads to sixty, something Merle had trained Sophia in as a military tactic for just such a situation. At one, she took aim at the man that was on top of Carl and fired. At the same time, on the opposite side of the road, Merle took aim and consecutively fired on two of the men in a group beating a man against the truck. Firing again, he killed the man beside Michonne and one of the others as he watch Rick headbutt the man behind him, a gunshot ringing out and making Merle worry whether one of theirs had been wounded. Sophia took Rick's headbutt distraction as a means to take aim and fire once again. The ensuing chaos Rick and Michonne left in their wake was worthy of everything they'd been through.

"Well I'll be damned!" Merle said as he emerged from the woods behind Daryl, Sophia from near Carl.

"Are you okay?" Sophia asked Carl as she helped him up and hugged him, Michonne coming over to hug the children too.

Carl said nothing, just stared at the body of the man that had been trying to grope him, horrified and traumatized by what had transpired and what he'd seen his father do. Merle walked up to Daryl and checked on him, making sure he was alright before clapping the boy on the shoulder only for Daryl to lean back against a car. Daryl slid down the side of the car as the shock of everything that had happened fully hit him. He had been ready to die for his friends, ready to sacrifice his life and any chance to see Ani and Merle again. For the first time ever, when Daryl needed his brother, Merle had actually showed up and had saved his life. He tried not to break down, but the weight of everything had tears leaking from his eyes whether he liked it or not.

"Calm down there, Darylina. You're alright," Merle goaded, trying to get his own mind off what had almost happened. "Let me go get the deer little miss hunter brought down and we can get outta here. Pretty sure these are the last of those pricks."

"They are," Daryl said while pulling out the dagger as Michonne ushered the kids inside the truck, Carl clutching tightly to Sophia's hand. "Ania, she, they said she might've been with y'all. Have you...have..."

"Sorry, little brother. We ain't seen her since she told me to get Phia outta there back at the prison. Phia got hit and Ani wanted her out. Far as I know, little hell cat was fine when we skedaddled out of dodge," he said handing Rick some water and a rag. "Clean yourself up a bit 'fore you scare the kids."

"She was headin' this way, they thought, until last night. Those two," Daryl said, pointing at the corpses of Jacob and Elliot, "they chased her a different direction. I didn't know what they were, not really. Not 'til last night. Wasn't sure when to lit out."

"How'd you wind up with them?" Rick asked from beside him as Merle walked down the road to retrieve their hunt.

"I was with Beth. We got out together. I was with her for a while," Daryl said while folding his hands together and looking down

"Is she dead?"

"She was just gone," he admitted, a pained expression on his face. "After that, that's when they found me. I mean, I knew they were bad, but they had a code, and they were chasin' some wild child. Thought it might be Ania, thought I might be able to find her. Then found out they were chasin' a guy with a couple of kids when one'd already said somethin' about little ones and I had to make a choice. Last night, they said they spotted him. I was hangin' back, gonna leave to look for Ania. But I stayed. That's when I saw it was you three. Right when you saw me. I thought I knew what they could do, but I didn't think..."

"It's not on you, Daryl," Rick told him. "Hey," he said when Daryl refused to look at him. "It's not on you. You bein' back with us here, now, that's everythin'. You're my brother," he said when Daryl still refused to speak.

Daryl looked at him then, shocked at the revelation, especially after last night, when he was the one that had been with those men.

"Hey, what you did last night..." he paused, "anybody would have done that."

"No, not that," Rick denied.

"Somethin' happened. That ain't you."

"Daryl, you saw what I did to Tyreese. It ain't all of it, but that's me. Ani saw it, that's why she stepped up as leader and forced me to step down. That's why I'm here now, that's why Carl is. I want to keep him safe. That's all that matters."

"You know, Ania wasn't too nice in what she did either. She, uh, left 'em to change, cut off their dicks and stuffed 'em in their mouths. What you did? You lost control. I don't think she did. She knew what she was doin' when she did it," Daryl told him.

"That's..." Rick started, his face going pale. "That's pretty twisted. Not sure I want to get on her bad side. Ever. What did they do to her?"

"They claimed her," Daryl said. "Sick bastards tried to claim 'er, wanted to pass her 'round like some sorta lot lizard. Didn't work, and a bunch of 'em got killed. Caught up with her the night before last. She's down to a dagger, Rick. Maybe less. I should've gone lookin' for 'er. I should've listened to Beth and went lookin' right away. 'Stead I sat and threw a pity party and needed a seventeen year old girl to put me in my place," he said as he began breaking down. "I abandoned her."

"I don't think Ani will see it that way," Rick said. "You really think she hasn't been tryin' to find you? And she will, somehow. We'll find her. If she's out there, she won't stop until she finds us. Might be with one of the others right now. Heck, maybe even heading to this Terminus place."

"Only hope we got," Merle said as he walked up with a field dressed deer. "We'll do this up in the mornin' and then head out. Right now, the two of ya need some shut eye. I'll take first watch."

The night was uneventful after that, Merle taking first watch before waking Michonne from the truck, leaving the children to sleep. Each of the adults took turns on watch and let the kids get as much rest as they could while they held hands and slept close together. Daryl and Merle were handling the deer when the kids woke up and practically jumped out of opposite ends of the truck. Merle teased them for a while. Making their already red faces turn even darker with every remark. He ended with both kids pinning him down while the trio laughed, momentarily forgetting the events of the night. They gathered all of their things and whatever was useful from the Claimers after a hardy breakfast before heading back out on the tracks.

"You did the right thing," Merle told Daryl as they hung back with the kids.

"What?"

"You did the right thing, hangin' back, comin' out when you did. Saved Rick's life doin' that," Merle said.

"I gave up findin' Ania to 'hang back'," Daryl spat at his brother. "No tellin' where she is now."

"Well, we know where we're goin'. Could always leave her a sign," Merle suggested as the two in front of them stopped, Rick bending down to wipe a sign off.

"With what?" Daryl asked, Merle smiling brightly and producing a Sharpie from his back pocket.

"Found it on one of them assholes along with a pack of smokes. Leave a note on the sign. If she's as close as they said she was, might make it back here."

"And if she don't?"

"Better to leave a love note than nothin'," Merle replied with a shrug of his shoulders, Daryl huffing before walking over to the sign.

"We're gettin' close. Be there before sundown," he said as he looked at the sign and map, writing Ani a simple note telling her to meet him at Terminus.

"Should head through the woods," Merle suggested. "Get a look at 'em 'fore they see us."

"Just what I was thinkin'," Rick agreed. "We don't know who they are."

"Alright," Daryl said, he and Merle leading them through the woods.

Rick dropped the bag he was carrying as soon as they got to the fence line, all of them becoming overly alert at the sight of the safe haven in the distance. There was a large building with the name Terminus painted on it looming so large that they could see it plainly even from the distance they were at. It wasn't like the farmhouse that became smaller and smaller with every yard; it was massive and would take a mile at least to make it seem small. The building had obviously once been a rather large train yard with several sets of tracks meeting on opposite sides of the building. They could see several train cars alongside of it and several stacked storage containers in various areas of the lot. It had raised beds being used for farming and fences around the entire perimeter that were covered in vines and shrubbery. From the outside looking in, it was easy enough to tell how they'd managed to keep walkers out; they'd camouflaged their entire boundary.

"We'll all spread out," Rick told them after a few minutes of observation. "Watch for a while and see what we see. Get ready. We all stay close. You wanna stick with me?" he asked Carl as the others began walking off in different directions.

"It's alright," Carl told him, unable to look his father in the eye.

Carl walked away with Michonne even though he knew his father was following a short distance behind them. He was having a hard time processing the events of last night and everything that had happened, all of it playing over and over in his head. First, he was almost raped by a fat dude who made it to where he could barely fight back. Then he was saved by Sophia of all people, marking the third or fourth time she'd covered his butt, which was a whole other can of worms. He was fine not knowing how to hunt, but he was supposed to be the one to protect the girl, not the girl protecting the boy. He was thankful that she had saved him, but it made him feel ashamed of himself that he couldn't get himself out of that situation. Carl was happy Sophia and Michonne had stayed by his side last night; he had fallen asleep in Michonne's lap and his nightmares would have been worse if it weren't for Sophia. He kept seeing what his dad had done over and over in his sleep until it was him holding the knife and doing so much worse. In his dreams, he had gutted the man himself and just let him turn in one, in another he'd thrown him to a pack of walkers and watched as he was torn apart. Carl was having a hard time looking his dad in the eye because he couldn't bring himself to admit that they were the same. Ani was right that it runs in families, he though ruefully to himself, looking down at the forest as he walked beside Michonne.

"Why didn't you go with your dad?" she asked him, only getting a shrug in response. "When I told you about Andre, you never asked how he died," she mused.

"I knew why."

"Yeah, but the how is important," she insisted. "We went to a refugee camp. Andre and my boyfriend, Mike, Andre's father, and our friend Terry. At the camp, it just got worse and worse. People were leaving. People were giving up. But I didn't. I was coming back from a run," she said as she broke down. "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 bitten," she said, a hard look on her face as she reminisced those moments when her world fell apart, the shock on Carl's face clear. "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 I'd always know. I found out that they kept me safe." She scoffed as she told him what happened. "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," she emphasized. "But then Andrea brought me back. Your dad and Ani brought me back. You did. I see how you've been looking at your dad," she said as she watched Carl look down, seemingly in shame. "You don't have to be afraid of me or him."

"He told me the other day that he was proud of me," Carl said quietly after looking up at Michonne's face and then back down in shame. "That I was a good man," he whispered. "I'm not."

"Carl," Michonne tried to interject.

"I know more now," he whispered. "About what he wanted from me. And I tried, but...I still have these thoughts. Ani said it runs in families. That there's a genetic factor in it. I see it now. I'm not what he thinks I am. I'm just another monster too."

Michonne didn't know what to think about that and just brought the boy into a tight hug, while remembering what she and Ani had talked about. They had been talking about the different ways grief changed people and Rick had come up during the conversation. Ani had told her about the different kinds of psychotic breaks that could happen when it came to loss. She'd told Michonne that she, herself, had gone through a kind of psychotic break after the loss of her child and boyfriend. She had believed that she deserved what had happened and had disassociated from the world at large because of it. It was a response that was actually typical for grieving parents; blaming themselves for what happened or feeling like they deserved it somehow, that they could have stopped it. Michonne had already come to know on her own that she wasn't to blame and that she couldn't have done anything to stop what happened. It helped to know that she wasn't the only one that was grieving nor was she alone in her mental breakdown. She had come back from it and became a valuable member of their group and that was all that really mattered.

Rick, on the other hand, suffered from Blind Rage Syndrome brought on by a severe psychotic break upon losing his wife. It wasn't really a proven thing, but it was something that had been in the process of being studied and Rick had all the symptoms of it. He tended to overreact to insult, especially physical, and had the amnesia-like process of remembering as if it had been someone else doing it. He was abnormally strong during those bouts and only attacked the being that enraged him. It was hard to get him to stop attacking but that was the only way to pull him out of the insanity. Michonne had to admit that she could see those qualities in Rick, but according to Ani it didn't start until his wife's death. It wasn't so much that she died as it was that they had been having problems all throughout the winter and he hadn't gotten a chance to fix it. That was what had made his mind break; he truly loved her and wanted to keep her safe only for her to die during childbirth. He hadn't been able to resolve anything with her and she was gone right when he started feeling like he could. Apparently Ani had had the foresight to warn Carl about what was happening to his dad.

"What did Ani say to you?"

Looking at the woman in the eye, Carl tried to recall what all Ani had said over the months at the prison, "She said that mom's death changed dad. That I might change one day too. Said that even if I do, it doesn't have to be a bad thing. It's only bad if I look at it bad."

"She's right about that. You're a good person, Carl. Don't ever doubt that," Michonne said as they made their way back to Rick and the others. "Even Ani saw it, which is why she told you that. Sophia sees it. I see it. Look at the Dixons. They've all had a bad hand given to them. Yet they all are good people. You are too."

"I miss them. And Beth. Maggie. Glenn. I hope we find them all at this place," he admitted.

"We all do."

Rick and Daryl made sure to hide the better part of their weapons in a hole between the trees just in case they had to flee. They needed to make sure the better part of their defenses were kept under wraps in case they lost whatever they took in with him. Merl, Daryl and Sophia made their way back to them as he replaced the gun he'd taken out and thought of taking with him. He wanted to make sure they were defended on the inside, but the fact of the matter was that they couldn't risk it. They didn't know these people let alone what they were capable of or if they'd even let the group stay. It was better to be safe than sorry, especially with what had almost happened to Carl. Daryl put in Ani's dagger just in case while Merle handed over his rifle and Sophia her bow. Carl and Rick kept their guns and Michonne kept her sword, all of them carrying their knives as Rick zipped the bag up and buried it in the dirt.

"Just in case," he told them.

They cautiously made their way to the fence, Rick jumping over first to double check the perimeter as Michonne hopped down. Daryl and Merle helped Carl up onto the fence and he waited for them to heft Sophia up before helping her over and jumping down himself. Daryl and Merle hopped down next before they started heading towards one of the buildings with Daryl in the lead. Rick and Michonne followed close behind him while Merle was bringing up the rear to keep the kids protected. They entered the first building they came to and quietly made their way inside, still walking in formation and being as quiet as they could be. They could hear someone talking about maps at the crossroads and that Terminus was a place for all and a place to survive. Daryl was the first to enter through the door quietly as several people inside bustled around. Everyone managed to make it into the room unnoticed, going so far as to walk right into the middle without anyone caring. It wasn't until Rick stepped up and spoke that some of the people stopped moving, having to repeat himself louder in order to get attention.

"Well, I bet Albert is on perimeter watch," the man who seemed to be in charge said, putting a clipboard down and taking a few steps towards them. "Are you here to rob us?"

"No," Rick answered before taking a few steps forward. "We wanted to see you before you saw us."

"Makes sense," the man said with a nod of his head before he walked even closer. "Usually we do this where the tracks meet," he said, clearing his throat and opening his arms wide. "Welcome to Terminus. I'm Gareth. Looks like you've been on the road for a good bit."

"We have," Rick said quietly. "I'm Rick. That's Carl, Sophia, Merle, Daryl, and Michonne."

"You're nervous!" he said with a shrug. "I get it. We were all the same way. We came here for sanctuary. That what you're here for?"

"Yes," Rick nodded.

"You found it. Hey, Alex," he called over to a young man. "This isn't as pretty as the front. We got nothing to hide, but the welcome wagon is a whole lot nicer. Alex is going to ask you a few questions," he said as the man walked up to them. "Uh, but first, we need to see everyone's weapons. If you could just lay 'em down in front of you."

Everyone looked to Rick, Merle, Daryl, and Sophia feeling uncomfortable at parting with their weapons. However, Rick slowly looked over to them and nodded, kneeling down and beginning to take out his weapons. The rest followed suit, Daryl thankful he'd left Ani's dagger wrapped in his rag out in the bag. He wasn't sure what all these people would want to take and so had hung on a string he was wearing around his neck. If Ani was here and it was a good place, he'd put it back on; if not and they took all their weapons he'd still have her dagger. All of their weapons were on the floor before any of the people got closer, starting to pat them down one by one.

"I'm sure you understand," Gareth told them.

"Yes, I do."

"I'd hate to see the other guy," he said, taking in Daryl's battered face and black eye; it was all he could do not to deck the man.

"You would," Rick said lowly as Alex moved on to Merle.

When one of the guys approached Sophia, Merle stepped in between them and all but demanded, "I don't mind the menfolk touchin' the menfolk, but you find a girl to check our girls. I ain't lettin' no man check my kid."

"I can understand that," Gareth answered. "Cinthy, will you do the honor?"

"Sure," a sweet looking younger woman said, coming up and patting Michonne, then Sophia, down.

"The people who did this to you," Alex asked as he moved on to Carl. "They deserve what they got?"

"Yes," the boy responded resolutely, remembering the way the fat man's hands had felt trying to rub at him.

"Just so you know," Gareth said. "We aren't those kind of people. But we ain't stupid either. And you shouldn't be stupid enough to try anything stupid," he warned. "As long as everyone's clear on that, we shouldn't have any problems. Just solutions. Okay?"

Alex bent down to pick everyone's weapons up, Daryl snatching up his bow having had enough of people touching it, before he shrugged and said, "Well, follow me."

He lead them back outside and to a more welcoming area, Daryl asking as he looked around, "So how long's this place been here?"

"Since almost the start," he answered. "When the camps got overrun, people started finding this place. I think it was instinct, you know? Follow a path. Some folks were headed for the coast, others out west or up north, but they all wound up here."

"Hi," a woman said as Alex lead them to a wide open area. "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 asked.

"Why do you do it?" Michonne asked. "Why do you let people in?"

"The more people become a part of us, we get stronger. That's why we put up the signs, invite people in. It's how we survive. Here," he said, handing Carl a plate of food.

They were looking around after Daryl had stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of a woman wearing his poncho. Ani had to be here if they had it, and they had to have taken it from her if someone else was wearing it. If they were outside and Daryl wasn't wearing it, she would have it on and during the winter, they slept under it most nights. She had laughed the first time he'd pulled it out but ended up loving it; she would never part with it of her own volition. Rick and Merle had noticed it as well and were taking a closer look at the people walking around the courtyard. There was someone in riot gear from the prison, another woman wearing a band shirt they all recognized as Ani's, a bag hanging off a chair that had been Glenn's. As Alex went to hand Michonne a plate of food, Rick stormed up to him and grabbed the gun he had in his cargo pants and held it to his head. Everyone was on high alert as Merle, Daryl, and Sophia raised their weapons to keep the other people at bay. Michonne had her sword and Carl had dropped the plate of food he was given in order to pull his gun as well. They all chanced a glance back at Rick who had pulled out a familiar watch along with the gun, all of them becoming angry at the reminder of Hershel's death.

"Where did you get this watch? Where the hell did you get this watch?" he asked roughly as he held it up to the terrified man.

"You want answers? You want anything else? 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? Where'd you get the watch?" Rick whispered, Carl and Sophia standing back to back while the man remained silent. "Where did you get the watch?!"

"Don't do anything! I have this!" Alex yelled to the man on the roof. "You just put it down. You put it down! You're going to listen to me," he told Rick. "There's a lot of us."

"Where did you get the watch?" Rick repeated after sighing.

"I got it off of a dead one. I didn't think he'd need it!" Alex answered.

"What about the riot gear? The poncho?"

"Got the riot gear off a dead cop," Gareth said, coming out to try to handle the situation. "Found the poncho on a clothes line," he deadpanned.

"Bullshit," Daryl shot back, knowing damn well they wouldn't find it on a clothesline when it'd been at the prison.

"Gareth, we can wait," Alex tried to reason.

"Shut up, Alex."

"You, talk to me," Rick said.

"What's there left to say?" he asked. "You don't trust us anymore."

"Gareth," Alex tried.

"Shut up," he was told forcefully as Gareth raised his hand.

"Gareth, please."

"It's okay," he said gently. "It's okay. Rick, what do you want?"

"Where are our people?"

"You didn't answer the question."

One minute, they were talking somewhat civilly and then Gareth raised his hand in just a way that Rick could tell he was signaling something. Rick whip around right as Mary pulled the trigger on her gun, making Alex take the bullet for him. He dropped like a sack of bricks with his blood splattering all over the place, that single shot starting a full on assault from Terminus. Even as the gunfire began, the group was cut off by shots to their feet, forcing them to go the direction they wanted to. They were able to take shelter in a large building momentarily, but only one exit was open. Rick lead them out of it only to be met with more gunfire as soon as they exited, Merle yelling about them being herded. It was a trap laid by Terminus to lure people in, but for what reason they didn't know yet. They could hear the sound of people yelling for help as they ran past the storage cars, Daryl to momentarily pausing to think about letting them out. Merle forced him to move with his stump to the man's shoulder to push him after the others as they reached an old gymnasium and quickly ran into it. They all stopped short at looking around the place, candles lit everywhere as names were written in chalk on the floor. It was eerie how the place was dimly lit and the various monoliths and offerings in the circles made of the names.

"What the hell is this place?" Daryl asked as they looked around.

"These people, I don't think they're trying to kill us," Michonne said.

"Gee, ya think?" Merle said sarcastically. "Firin' only at our feet, shoutin' out, keepin' us goin' this way or outta that. Did you see that area we passed? The one with all the guts and bones? Them weren't animal bones. The ribs were all the wrong shape."

"What are you saying?" Rick asked.

"I'm sayin', it's a good thing we didn't eat the barbecue," he said with a sense of finality.

"Come on, there," Rick said as he paled.

Right before they made it to the door he'd pointed to, it was slammed shut and locked, forcing them to find another exit. Daryl ran ahead and barged through the door only for more gunfire to ring out. They were once again forced to go in another direction before they were cornered in. They were outnumbered and out gunned and there was no way for them to fight back with the number of people holding them in their sights. They were right where these people wanted them to be; out by a lone train car right along the tracks. There was no where to run without being out in the open and getting shot by any number of those with rifles. If they tried to retaliate, they would also be fired upon and lose any chance they would ever get to get away. There was nothing that they could do except give into whatever demands Terminus made.

"Drop your weapons! Now! Now!" Gareth yelled, all of them slowly lowering their weapons and putting them on the ground. "Ringleader, go to your left! The train car, go. You do what we say, the boy goes with you. Anything else, he dies and you end up in there anyway. Now the archer," Gareth told Rick, who walked to the car before Daryl. "Now the old guy. Now the samurai," Gareth called. Michonne gave him a cold glare as she left Carl and Sophia standing. "Now, little girl. Stand at the door, ringleader, archer, old guy, samurai, little girl, in that order!" he demanded, all of them looking at Carl in worry until something else caught Merle's eye.

"My son!" Rick yelled.

"Go, kid," Gareth said, letting Carl start his own trek over to the train car. "Ringleader, open the door and go in."

"I'll go in with him," he called back.

"Don't make us kill him now!" Gareth threatened.

Rick gave a dirty look but climbed the steps anyway, opening the door and slowly climbing in with the others following after him. Carl came in not too long afterwards, Rick and Sophia both rushing to him to make sure he was fine. Merle immediately went over to a hole in the car's walls to make sure he hadn't seen things. He was going to have to ask her how the hell she managed to get that far and that high without anyone noticing when they got out. She must have already scouted the area and figured out what was happening if she was already primed to attack. It looked like she was if the glint he saw was from a gun, hanging up there like some kind of lumberjack. He once again made sure he wasn't seeing anything, that red color still swaying in the breeze. Merle pulled Daryl over to the hole and showed him what he'd seen as the door was closed from the outside. Daryl couldn't believe what he was seeing before a thud from the opposite end of the train car alerted them that they weren't alone.

"Rick?" Glenn's voice rang out, the man stepping into what little light there was in the car.

"You're here," Rick said in disbelief. "You're here. Where's Ani?"

"Outside," Merle told them.

"What?" he asked, going over to the hole himself and looking out.

"That fuckin' wild child is up on their power pole, hidin' in plain sight!" Merle laughed right as new faces stepped into the light along with Bob and Sasha.

Maggie popped up, "They're our friends. They helped save us."

"Yeah?" Daryl asked, checking to make sure it was Ani once more before pacing over to the others. "Well, now they're friends of ours."

"For however long that will be," the big redhead said.

"No," Rick countered, smiling at the fact that they had more people to help them get out and a person that might as well be a damn soldier on the outside. "They're gonna feel really stupid when they find out."

"Find out what?" the big redhead asked.

"That they're screwin' with the wrong people," Rick said.