Reviews:
BabySlothXYaoi- I'm ecstatic that someone is enjoying Rhys's ever-updating wardrobe! There's are so many cool bits of wardrobe which just disappear in the show. Pretty sure the jacket Carl wore in season 3 (Rhys's current jacket) was used for Judith when she was born and then we never saw it again. Yeah, I think Maggie can relate to Rhys's current state of mind after what she went through at Woodbury. Thank you very much for the support! In return, I promise we'll see a return of the poncho! It may take a little bit but I promise it's coming back!
The gates are unlocked when we arrive. Sasha speculates that they're dead, but Glenn points out the healthy crops growing just beyond the fence that surrounds the entire compound.
We enter through the gates with weapons raised. Sunflowers are growing all around us. I ponder on how much I like sunflowers- I remember being little, my parents took me to see a private art exhibit showing the works of famous painters for my birthday. I hated it, found most of it boring. But I thought Van Gough's sunflowers were cool, all one colour, such a happy colour used to make something that looked so sad. I remember the painting leaving me with a feeling of serenity, like there was nothing to worry about.
I try to take the flowers to mean nothing, not wanting to get my hopes up.
We read a sign on a second gate leading further into the complex,
LOWER YOUR WEAPONS,
YOU WILL BE MET,
YOU HAVE ARRIVED AT
TERMINUS.
Glenn, Maggie, and Tara follow the instructions, keeping their weapons down, pointed at the concrete beneath our tired feet. The rest of us keep our guns ready, remaining unconvinced, since friendly signs seem to be all this place is so far.
We step through a tight alley which definitely feels lived in, with washing basins and plant pots bursting with greenery scattered through the claustrophobic area.
Something smells amazing.
Barbeque?
I think we all must catch the scent because we pick up our pace, moving forward as a close-knit group, brick walls and steel pipes all around the industrial camp, until we finally step into an open courtyard. There are tables and chairs all around.
There's a lone woman, her back to us as she tends to cleaning plates, humming a tune to herself.
Glenn clears his throat, causing the lady to spin around and jump before laughing with a wide smile.
"Hi, I'm Mary." Her voice is warm and loving.
I try not to hear Madeleine in my mind. My knuckles turn white as I grip my pistol.
She goes on, "Looks like you've been on the road awhile." She's nodding as she speaks, like she understands. Like she could ever understand.
I notice that except for Rosita and myself, everyone has lowered their guns, along with their guards.
"We have," Maggie answers her.
"Well, let's get you settled, and we'll make you a plate. Welcome to Terminus."
Mary tells us that we're the first people to roll through in a few months. Maggie, Glenn, Sasha, Bob and I somehow manage not to look disappointed at the news. The others are just looking around the area, taking in the supposed sanctuary.
After we introduce ourselves, we're all told to take seats in the courtyard. It feels like being at a restaurant in the old world, sitting with family, waiting to order. It feels wrong, like it shouldn't exist. The courtyard makes me think about the prison's courtyard, how I met Karen there, but this one is different.
I sit down at a table with Bob and Sasha, Rosita joining us while still looking around sceptically. Abraham sits with Eugene and Tara, while Glenn and Maggie find a spot for themselves. Our tables are more spaced out then I feel comfortable with.
Everyone has fully holstered their guns, except for Rosita, who has one of her Glocks sitting on the table before her as she taps her finger anxiously against the grip.
Still uneasy, I keep my Berretta on my lap.
Before long, we are greeted by more people as the courtyard begins to fill up. Every one of them wears smiles and handshakes, but I take notice of their guns, ready and waiting with my own.
A man who introduces himself as Gareth is giving some speech that I don't listen to- something about them not being stupid.
Food arrives simultaneously at our three tables.
Maggie and Glenn thank Mary before continuing their conversation, leaving their food for the time being.
Eugene goes to take a bite of his, but Abraham slaps the meat from his hand, eating it for himself and muttering something about a security procedure.
Bob wastes no time biting into the feast, nodding gratefully. Sasha laughs at his eagerness as she tucks in as well.
I decide that I still don't trust these people, leaving my plate unattended.
Rosita refuses, claiming she's not hungry. I know that she is lying, since she complained only a few hours ago about her stomach rumbling.
Tara notices our hesitation from her seat and follows suit, leaving the meat on her plate as the smell wafts inducement to our noses.
I feel the temptation to eat getting stronger and stronger until I can barely resist. Then Abraham gets up, distracting me.
"We're all truly appreciative for the hospitality," Abraham calls over the crowd.
I can already tell where this is going.
"But my friends and I are lookin' for more than a cookout and some daisies."
Sunflowers.
Everyone is listening to Abraham now, as he continues to speak with his southern gravitas.
"You see, we have got an extremely important mission on our hands, and there's no dandy way of putting it... the world has been kicked, bitten, and spat out six ways from Sunday. And we've been stuck eating shit sandwiches for a while now, without a drop of hope to wash it down with," he grins a wild grin, "But, there's a way out of all this-"
"So, you're not staying?" Gareth cuts Abraham off mid-speech.
"I'm afraid not partner, but-"
"That's a shame," Gareth cuts him off again, "A damn shame."
He raises his hand above his dark head of hair, clenching it into a fist. We all give strange looks until we realise.
But it's too late.
Guns are pointed at us from every direction.
Rosita and I are quick enough to aim back, standing up with our guns darting between targets. But the fight is over before it begins. Everyone else has a gun pressed into the backs of their heads.
"Drop them," Gareth tells us, his voice unwavering, he sounds almost bored.
"What happens then?" Rosita asks back just as calm, her gun not moving from him.
"Let me rephrase that. Drop them, or we kill all of your friends in alphabetical order."
Rosita doesn't move, so I don't either.
Gareth sighs, "Fine, Abe, you're up."
"Wait!" Rosita gives in, dropping her gun to the floor with a clatter.
"You too, kid," Gareth tells me.
I hesitate for a second, then drop my gun to the floor, putting my hands up in defeat.
One of Gareth's men grabs me by the arm, and I almost get shot for how hard I flinch at the stranger's contact.
We're forced to line up in order of height.
The people of Terminus march us through the maze-like complex and towards a train car labelled 'A.' Gareth calls for us to enter one by one as he jots down scratchings in a small black notebook. I'm the last to enter, being told to shut the door behind me. I comply, filling the container with darkness. There's a loud sound of metal grinding against metal, as they lock us inside.
The container door shakes as Abraham throws his weight against it, Glenn trying desperately to talk him down.
"You're going to dislocate your shoulder!"
"I don't give a nickel's worth of shit."
I've found a corner and pulled my knees to my chest tightly, trying not to think about the RV. Maggie tries to calm me, seeing that I'm not handling the situation well. The others discuss our options, which happen to be limited to one.
Wait.
Time slips away inside the train car. Hours and minutes turn to days, while days become seconds, shifting on without assistance. Nothing is certain except for the sun and the darkness, chasing each other through our prison cell. It makes me think of Carl, and the time at the prison where I read him a book about Viking mythology. Two wolves, Skoll and Hati, chasing the sun and moon through the sky, the world would end if they were ever to catch their prey.
I wonder if the universe is trying to tell me something. Maybe I'm destined to be locked up.
A day definitely passes, perhaps two. No one is talking anymore. We instead sit and wait for something to happen, powerless to make it happen ourselves.
We're given food at the least- if it could be called that. Powdered milk. It's difficult to eat it raw, but we've all had worse.
They take our valuables at the same time as feeding us. Maggie has Daryl's poncho snatched from her. Karen's bracelet is yanked from my wrist, at gunpoint when I try to resist. They don't take Tyreese's beanie, so I find myself pulling on it nervously, wondering if I'll ever get the chance to give it back to him. If I'll ever see him again. Sasha mirrors my thoughts as I watch her watching me from across the container.
"Hey, man." Glenn moves across the container to sit down next to me.
I don't say anything. Just nodding, because nodding is easy.
"Listen, Maggie told me what happened. I'm sorry about being an ass the other night."
I still stay quiet.
"We'll get out of this, Rhys. We'll find them. We will all be okay."
I do turn to face him this time.
Glenn looks as if he might say something, but gunshots have us all on our feet in seconds. We all move into one end of the train car, hoping to pose some kind of threat as a united front.
Abraham moves into a stream of light, trickling through the very back of the train car. A gap in the frame allows him to watch the trainyard beyond.
"No sign of life," he reports. His whole body language has changed into a more militaristic stance. Something I imagine he's used to.
He stands behind the rest of us as we watch the door, waiting for bullets and knives to tear us apart.
"We've got movement," Abraham tells us, head pressed to the gap. The anticipation killing me.
"What do you see," Glenn asks him, Rosita shushing him.
"We got four more unlucky sons of bitches caught in the gauntlet," Abraham mutters.
"What?"
"Who's out there?"
"Are they captured?"
A voice comes from outside, hard to hear over the questions being hurtled towards an unresponsive Abraham.
"Drop _ weapons!"
"What did he say?" Sasha asks.
Bob responds, "Drop your weapons, I think."
"NOW!" The words erupt from beyond our jail, no one mishearing this time, Gareth's voice booming.
"Ringleader! Go to you're left. The train car. Go."
They comin' here?" Maggie asks.
No one answers her. Everyone watching Abraham.
"You do what we say, the boy goes with you. Anything else, he dies and you-"
The rest is unintelligible when talk explodes inside the train car again.
"The boy?"
"They got a kid out there?"
"How many are there?"
Footsteps approach the door. Everyone prepares for the worst.
Another set of feet approach the door. We must have missed Gareth's instructions. We all fall silent.
"Now, the Samurai."
The Samurai? My mind flashes with questions and dread. Did Michonne fall for this too?
As if on cue, harsh whispers from Glenn, Maggie, Bob, and Sasha fill the train car. Rosita, telling everyone to shut up.
Gareth's voice rings out again, although no words can be heard over the commotion from the group.
"MY SON!"
We all fall silent.
Recognising the new voice as it bellows over the rest.
And what he said.
I refuse to think about it.
Refusing to get my expectations beyond doubtful.
"Ringleader, open the door and go in," Gareth orders.
"I'll go in with him," the voice of Rick Grimes comes from outside the door, making Gareth's threats seem small.
Who? Go in with who? Could it be him?
"Don't make us kill him now," Gareth yells.
I hold my head in my dirty palms, covering my face. I feel like I'm trapped under the ocean current. I try to breathe, but water fills my lungs, each breath choking me. A wave crashes down on me in the form of Maggie. Her hand on my shoulder as she soothes the saltwater away from my face.
The door slides open and three shadowed figures enter, Maggie's hand slips away in the current, fresh air filling the stale container. I can't see faces, the light that spills in with the door opening blinds all of us as we hug the back wall.
I feel a stone in my throat, making breathing difficult. I'm at the back, and I can't see anything. I hate myself for being the shortest.
Through breaks in shoulders and tilted heads, I can see one more enter the container, something gold on their head catching the light.
The door slides shut again. Silence returning, the darkness with it.
I know what I saw. If only briefly. I could never mistake it.
I find my feet moving backwards. Away from what I'd done. Away from the guilt.
Brushing past Abraham, I bump the back of the container with a clang. I hear feet at the other end shuffling.
Glenn's voice breaks the only chance I have.
"Rick?"
Glenn steps forward, others following, leaving me behind as I shrink into the wall. Sliding down it until I'm sitting on the floor, trying to escape through the cracks.
"You're here."
I can hear Rick's heavy breaths as he speaks.
Rosita, Eugene, and Abraham are standing behind the others, everyone in front of me.
"You're here," Rick repeats. My chest aches as I duck under his words.
I see his eyes lock onto Tara through cracks in the group. I know he sees what I saw the moment I laid eyes on her. The thing I was too scared to question, the girl with the ponytail.
Maggie notices his eyes wondering as well, albeit for different reasons.
"They're our friends," she tells him, "They helped save us."
"Yeah," the voice of Daryl Dixon carries through the crowd, "Now they're friends of ours."
"For however long that'll be." Abraham stands tall behind his group. Unknowingly letting me hide behind his form.
"No," Rick tells him, barely a whisper, yet it's distinction lingers above our heads.
He steps into the light of the door, his face revealed to me through gaps in the crowd. His eyes are fierce and cold, bloodstains on his unrestrained beard.
"They're gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out."
I pull my eyes to the floor, scared of what he might find out.
Abraham pushes through the crowd, breathing down Tara's neck, "Find out what?"
The train car holds it's breath. I close my eyes. Listening to the ringleader's words.
"They're fucking with the wrong people."
A/N
You know I had to use the uncensored ending!
Sorry this chapter took way too long to proof read.
Reviews and Feedback are always welcome!
:)
