49. sanctuary for all

MILO

     STANDING WITH HIS BACK AGAINST BOB, SASHA AND MAGGIE he narrowed to try and see through the morning fog. The snarls of the walkers came from all around them but there was no way of telling where exactly they would come from. He held his knife tightly in his left hand and his gun in the other. He didn't want to fire unless absolutely necessary, afraid the sound would draw only more of them near.

Fear clawed around in his stomach and he wished he could just see something. Waiting here in the fog for the walkers to find them was the only option they had and he hated it.

Finally a dark figure came stumbling towards them, coming right at Bob. The man raised his knife, pushing it through the walker its skull before pulling it back out again. Maggie did the same thing to his right while Sasha hit one against the head with a branch she had picked up.

A dark shape came shuffling out of the fog towards him and with a grunt of effort he pushed his knife through the walker's eye, before pushing the limp corpse to the ground.

He noticed Bob fighting three of them off at once. And his eyes widened when a walker came stumbling at the man from behind, biting down his shoulder.

'No!' Milo screamed, pointing his gun at the walker his head and pulling the trigger. The monster fell down, now nothing but an empty corpse and Milo ran forwards, raising his arm and pushing the knife through one of the walkers their skulls.

Turning around he saw the two women had fought of the others and the snarls of the walkers finally faded. Facing Bob again he watched with wide eyes at the man pulled away his shirt but frowned when he saw no blood.

'It's okay,' Bob panted, chuckling to himself, 'he got me right on the bandage.'

A laugh escaped Milo's lips. 'You lucky bastard,' he said, his voice slightly shaking.

A sigh of relief came from Sasha as she pulled Bob into a hug, making the man shout out in pain. Immediately she pulled back, holding her hands in the air.

'Ah, I didn't say stop,' Bob said, smiling, 'I just said ow.'

The four of them burst out in laughter, pure relief of surviving another night washing over them all. Another day had come, another opportunity to search for Glenn. Milo couldn't say exactly why he was so determined to help Maggie, maybe it was just because he had no lead on Quinn and helping Maggie find Glenn would at least mean one reunion.

Maggie was the first one to pull herself together. 'You ready?' She asked.

'We should wait till the fog clears,' Sasha told her.

'We've been waiting a while,' Maggie replied, impatience building in her voice.

'You see all this? We got lucky. We need visibility and we got six bullets left,' the brown woman argued.

'She's right,' Bob added. 'We've been doing good following a plan, there's no need to get sloppy now.'

'Listen,' Milo inquired, taking a step towards Maggie. 'I know you want to find him. But we can't do that without a plan.'

Maggie nodded slowly, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the compass they had used to navigate themselves. She sighed deeply upon looking at it.

'What is it?' Sasha asked, making the woman look up and toss the compass her way.

'It's broken,' Maggie told her.

'We don't need it,' Bob said, 'sun comes up in the east, sets in the west. We'll keep an eye on it in between. We'll be fine.'

Bob, of course, was right. And so they packed up their stuff and waited for the fog to clear. It was around noon that finally happened and they could start moving. They walked through the forest until they broke through the treeline and entered a small clearing, covered in train tracks that disappeared in both directions.

'What's that?' Maggie suddenly asked, making Milo frown and turn to look at her as she headed towards what seemed to be some sort of traffic sign. Once they walked around it, however, it turned out to be a map, leading to some place called Terminus. Above the map was something written:

'Sanctuary for all. Community for all. Those who arrive, survive.'

'When we were out on the run to the veterinary college, we heard a message about this on the radio,' Bob spoke up.

'They were broadcasting?' Maggie asked him, surprise sounding through her voice.

'What did it say?' Sasha asked.

'Couldn't make it out,' Bob responded, still staring at the words. 'I only know because I'm seeing it now.'

Milo turned back to look at the map. The so called Terminus place appeared to be in the spot where a lot of train tracks came together. If this sign was here, chances were it stood in other places too. Suddenly his heart started beating faster. There was a chance Quinn had seen this. And even though her gut would probably tell her not to go, her heart would say that Milo would go. Because he had always been the more trusting one out of the two of them.

'We should go,' Maggie said before he could and those words slightly surprised him.

'I thought we were looking for Glenn?' He questioned.

'If he saw one of those he would go looking for me, looking for him,' she explained, making him smile since he had been thinking the same thing only seconds before. 'Look at this map. All these tracks from different directions leading to the same place.'

'It's far,' Sasha interjected. 'And we don't know if there are other signs.'

'You don't think this the only one?' Maggie countered.

'This is the best lead we've head so far,' Bob said. 'It says sanctuary, that's just another reason to try.'

'Agreed,' Milo nodded. 'Others from the prison could be there.' He turned to look at Sasha. 'Your brother could be there.'

She sighed deeply. 'If it sounds too good to be true...Maybe, maybe if Glenn saw one of these, maybe he felt the same way.'

'He wouldn't. He'd believe, I know,' Maggie stated confidently.

'What do you wanna do Sasha?' Bob questioned. 'Keep making these circles from the bus? Or are you talking about us starting to do something else?'

'We're not splitting up,' Milo said, staring at the brown woman, hoping to find something in her eyes that told him she'd come along. 'That can't happen.'

'You wanna take a vote or something?' Bob said when she still didn't respond, stepping back to stand next to Maggie.

Milo suppressed his smile, doing the same as the three of them stared at the stubborn woman.

'We don't need to vote,' she finally sighed and started making her way down the tracks.

Sharing an amused smile with Bob, Milo walked after her, followed by the two others. He felt happy to have a clear goal in mind again, something to work towards. He couldn't supress the glowing feeling of hope in his chest as he thought about running into Quinn along the way.

Shifting his legs to sit somewhat comfortable on the forest floor, he watched as Sasha tried to pry open a can of food. They had set up camp in the forest, surrounding themselves with wires, having things attached to it so it would make noise if a walker came too close.

'Where's Maggie?' Bob asked.

'Getting more firewood,' Milo told him, turning to look at the man to see him having changed his bandage.

'Still bleeding?' Sasha questioned.

'Barely,' he replied, then turned to look at her. 'So tell me...'

'Tell you what?' She immediately countered.

'You think we should stop,' Bob said calmly, making Sasha look up from the can she'd been trying to get open.

'Yeah,' she whispered.

'Tell me why,' Bob pressed.

'To not die. You, Maggie,' she nodded at Milo, 'you and me.'

'Yeah, that's not it,' Milo cut her off, rubbing his hands together to get them warm.

'What?' She said.

He shrugged. 'I don't think you know why you wanna stop.'

'Milo, what happened this morning, we get warnings.'

'We did fine,' he said.

'We get warnings,' she repeated. 'And the next time it's on us. Odds are Glenn is dead. Odds are we will be, too. That's the reality. We got six bullets and you're still bleeding.' She pointed at Bob with her knife and sighed deeply as Bob moved his shirt back in place, covering the bandage. 'Those tracks, they run through towns. The first one we see, we find a building, some higher ground to set up in. All of us. That's what we need to do. That's what we're gonna do. If we can talk her into it.'

Looking back at the can, she finally managed to open it before turning her gaze towards the two men. 'Just think about it, both of you.'

The men didn't have much to say against that and instead lay down to try and get some sleep before resuming to their search.

When he woke the next morning he found Bob staring at something on the ground. Giving Sasha a slight push to wake her up he moved over towards the man.

'Bob?' Sasha questioned as she stood up from where she'd been sleeping. The two looked over his shoulder and Milo inhaled deeply upon seeing the message written in the dirt.

"Don't risk your lives 4 me. Goodluck."

He stared at it for a while, just letting the thought of Maggie being out there alone settle in but as soon as it did he stood up, staring to gather their stuff. 'C'mon,' he said, 'she's got to follow the tracks, we can still catch up to her.'

Bob stood up, starting to help him but Sasha didn't move.

'Sasha,' Bob spoke harshly, 'we can still catch up to her.'

That somehow seemed to shake her awake as she knelt down and started helping them pack their stuff. After breaking up camp as fast as they could they headed towards the tracks, starting to make their way after Maggie.

'You have been grinning since we left the prison in one piece,' Sasha suddenly broke the silence, looking over at Bob. 'If you're so happy to be alive then why are we walking into the heart of darkness?'

'It's not about me being alive,' Bob told her, making Milo frown.

'Do you even know why you're smiling?' He questioned the man.

'Oh yeah,' this one replied, 'I'm not alone. That's how it happened when I lost my first group. And my second group. I broke that streak. You'd be smiling too. You know, self-awareness is a beautiful thing. You should try it sometime.'

He looked over at Sasha who was staring straight ahead. 'Oh, you not gonna take the bait?' He teased.

'Nope,' she replied making Milo chuckle.

'You're just as bullheaded as she is sometimes,' Bob said. 'You know that?'

Suddenly Sasha headed off the tracks, towards another sign that led to Terminus on the side of the road, attached to a little house. But that wasn't what made Sasha turn it. It were the red letters, written in blood, next to the sign, that read: "Glenn go to Terminus, Maggie."

'Yeah,' Sasha sighed.

'Let's go,' Milo said, unable to hide the lingering smile on his face.

The sounds of a walker snarling in the distance kept him from falling asleep. And by the way Bob kept turning around next to him, he was probably having the same problem. Sighing deeply Milo sat up straight on the blanket they had spread out on the ground.

'I'm awake,' he said, looking at Sasha who was on guard duty.

'So am I,' she responded, her way of telling him there was no way she was going to sleep.

Next to them, Bob sat up as well, leaning on his elbows as he stared into the darkness. They had chosen an abandoned barn as their shelter for the night. And aside from the snarling sounds of the walker, his mind kept going back to Maggie. She was out there alone. And even though he knew she could handle herself, he was still worried.

'Can you see it?' Bob asked, referring to the walker that kept on bothering them with its sounds.

'No,' Sasha replied. 'Been that way for an hour, might be stuck on something.'

Bob nodded, then sighed. 'There's a lot of noise at night. Cicadas, owls. I think sometimes they go in circles. Still, when I was out here by myself I didn't sleep much.'

'You're not sleeping much now,' Milo commented, raising his eyebrows.

'You gotta heal, you need to sleep,' Sasha added, her gaze focused on their surroundings and her gun tightly in her hand.

'I can try,' Bob sighed, lying back down.

Milo didn't bother trying, he knew it was useless anyway. Instead he kept sitting up, staring into the darkness, just like Sasha. A small frown appeared on his face when he noticed Bob sitting up again.

'I tried,' the man said, making Milo smile slightly and shake his head.

'What the hell are we doing out here guys,' Sasha mumbled suddenly.

Milo looked at Bob, not sure what to say. He watched as the brown man took a deep breath and then said: 'Why do you think Tyreese is dead?'

'What?' Sasha whispered.

'If Tyreese were alive, he'd go for Terminus,' Bob told her, 'I know you know that. So why do you think he's dead? Or are you just too afraid to find out if he is or not?'

She didn't reply, instead kept on sitting still as a statue, staring ahead of her. Which was enough of answer.

'Up until now, I thought you were the toughest person I ever met,' Bob said, 'which is kinda weird 'cause you were the sweetest, too. Just saying.'

Milo looked away from the two, trying to ignore the awkward silence that had settled between them. He watched as Bob sighed and lay back down again, letting Sasha stay on watch while his words were probably replaying themselves in her mind.

It took way too long for morning to come and when it did he felt exhausted, not having slept even one second. Though, knowing that none of them had made him feel slightly better.

The three of them broke up camp and started down the endless road of the train tracks again. For the longest moment they walked in silence, each of them struggling with their thoughts when suddenly Sasha came to a stop.

Milo frowned, following her gaze and seeing another message Maggie had written for Glenn on a wall.

'She's keeping to the tracks,' Bob stated. 'If we pick up the pace, we'll catch her."

'Then what are we waiting for,' Milo said and started walking again.

The sun had risen highly in the sky when they reached something that looked like it had been a village once. High buildings with good oversight on the surroundings and so Milo braced himself for whatever Sasha was going to say.

'Guys,' she started, 'right there.' She pointed to one of the buildings. 'Secure and high up. See if we can set up something to catch the rain. See if we could move from the rooftops to look for food. Maybe even try to grow some up there.'

'Sasha, I'm not stopping,' Bob said.

'Neither am I,' Milo stated firmly.

She sighed. 'We are.'

'No, I'm not,' Milo told her again and he stood still, making both Sasha and Bob turn to hhim. 'Look, my sister is out there somewhere and I have no way of finding her. I don't even know if she's still alive.' He took a deep breath. 'Maggie has found a way to find Glenn, so I'm gonna help at least one of us be reunited with their loved ones.'

'She didn't want us to come,' Sasha protested. 'She made her choice for her.'

'I don't care,' Bob spoke up too, 'she's alone. When I got to the prison, I thought to myself. "How long? The clock's ticking. How long until everybody else is dead and I'm on my own?" Bad things happened 'cause I was scared. They didn't need to. I didn't need to be afraid.'

He sighed, looking up at Sasha. 'Now we get to Terminus and Tyreese isn't there, it doesn't mean he's dead. You don't need to be afraid.'

'I'm not afraid,' she snapped, making a silence fall between the three of them.

'So,' Milo finally whispered, 'this is it?'

'It doesn't have to be,' Sasha replied.

'That's right,' Bob said, then he suffled on his feet before turning to look at Sasha. 'I'm gonna try something here.' And slowly leaned forwards, making Milo turn to look at the forest around them as Bob carefully placed his lips on Sasha's.

Taking a deep breath Milo kept looking the other way until Bob pulled away.

'Well, okay,' the man said.

'You don't have to do it,' Sasha told him, then turned to look at Milo. 'Neither of you have to do it.'

'No,' Milo said with a slight shake of his head. 'We have to.' Then he stepped forwards and pulled Sasha into a hug. Before letting go and walking forwards along the tracks again. Bob followed him, but not before throwing one last look over his shoulder.

'You got guts,' Milo told him, smiling, once Sasha was out of hearing distance.

'Just wanted to do it before you would,' Bob replied with a small smirk lingering on his lips.

A laugh escaped Milo before he could stop it. 'If that what was the reason, don't worry. I prefer guys, way less drama, you know?'

Bob laughed along with him. 'Sorry, man, I didn't know.'

Milo shook his head. 'No that's okay.' Taking a deep breath he let his eyes wonder around their surroundings. 'It's just...I watched my last boyfriend die right in front of me. And then I went to prison and well...' he chuckled dryly, 'the world ended. And I just never thought about the possibility of connecting with someone again. Not like that.'

Silence lingered between the two of them when Bob suddenly reached out and placed his hand on Milo's shoulder, smiling at him. 'I'm sure that whenever you're ready, there will be someone out there for you.'

Milo felt himself smiling back at the man, the words warming his heart. He opened his mouth to thank him when a familiar voice called out their names.

The two of them turned around, surprise on their faces as both Sasha and Maggie came walking towards them. Upon reaching each other Milo wrapped his arms around Maggie, so incredibly relieved she was okay. When he let her go he smiled at Sasha, nodding at her. He was happy she had decided to come with them and so they continued their path, all four of them.

A U T H O R 'S  N O T E

So I was just curious who do you guys want Milo to end up with, because I've got a few candidates in mind ;)

Also, I really love writing the dynamic between Bob and Milo, who are both optimistic and hopeful, and Sasha who is a realist. Sasha has become one of my favorite characters and I'm so happy I can finally bring her and Milo closer to each other. As well as Sasha and Milo. I just love writing friendships.

As always leave a vote or a comment and stay tuned for the next chapter!

xXx

UYM