Long after I've stopped singing, we're still walking.

Suddenly, Rick holds up a hand. We look around, seeing nothing but trees and railroad tracks all around us.

"We're close. We'll reach it by sundown," Daryl says.

"We shouldn't go in the front door," Rick decides. "We don't know what these people are like. We'll go through the woods."

None of us argue, trusting his judgement. We leave the tracks and head into the trees, weaving among the trunks easily. No conversations happen, every one of us anxious for what lays ahead.

We get to a fence covered in vines and other shrubbery. Looking through the chain link fence, we see a large building with TERMINUS written in big letters in eight of the windows.

"Scout around for watch people. Then, we'll go over and we'll be in," Rick says.

Carl and Michonne split off one way, and Daryl and I go off another. Rick stays by the fence.

We scout, finding no people of any kind on watch inside the fence. I look through the trees at Carl and Michonne, who look like they're having a heart to heart. Michonne hugs him, and he returns it. I smile lightly, looking back at Daryl as he scans the surrounding area.

When we loop back, Rick is burying his bag of guns.

"Just in case," he says, finishing.

He climbs the fence, jumping down into Terminus' property. We follow, and pull out our weapons. We creep inside, and see light coming from a door down the long stone hallway. We walk into the room.

A woman sits at a table, headphones on, speaking into a mic. "There are maps along the way to aid you in your journey. Sanctuary for all, community for all. Those who arrive survive. Terminus."

Other people work at desks, putting together the Terminus signs we saw along the way.

"Hello," Rick says. No one answers. "Hello!" he repeats, louder.

Everyone looks up and stares at us. We must look quite strange, the five of us.

"Well, Albert must be on perimeter watch," a man says, putting down a marker he's holding. "You here to rob us?"

"No. We wanted to see you before you saw us," Rick explains.

"Makes sense," the man says. "Well, usually we do this where the tracks meet." He moves towards us, and gestures with both arms in the air. "Welcome to Terminus! I'm Gareth. Looks like you've been on the road for some bit."

He's handsome, I will admit. He has brown hair, and light stubble lining his chin. He has the same poise and confidence to him as the Governor once did, the same charm. I'm not sure I trust him.

"We have," Rick says. "I'm Rick, that's Carl, Daryl, Hope, and Michonne."

Gareth waves, and we don't say anything.

"You're nervous! I get it, we were all the same way. We came here for sanctuary. Is that what you're here for?"

"Yes."

"Good. You found it." Gareth pauses, looking behind him. "Alex! Guys, this is Alex, he's in charge of welcoming newcomers. We could just ignore it, but the welcome wagon is a whole lot nicer. He'll ask you a few questions and...yeah. But, first, we'll need to see everybody's weapons. If you could just lay them in front of you."

Rick looks at all of us before taking his own gun out of its holster. "Alright."

"I'm sure you understand."

"Yes, I do."

I pull out my knife and pistol, placing them on the ground at my feet. We hold our arms up, and Alex and Gareth move to us, patting us down. I stare straight ahead when Gareth gets to me, patting me down quickly. He smiles, but I don't return it.

"Just so you know, we aren't those kinds of people, but we aren't stupid. And you shouldn't be stupid enough to try anything stupid. Once everyone's clear on that, we shouldn't have any problems, just solutions." He turns and leaves.

"Follow me," Alex says cheerfully as we pick up our weapons again.

We walk outside, where we see a nice set up of picnic tables and umbrellas, as well as a barbecue with a woman cooking meat on it.

"How long has this been here?" Daryl asks.

"Since the beginning. All the camps got overrun, and people started finding this place. Instinct I guess, to follow a path," Alex answers. He gestures to the woman at the grill. "This is Mary."

"Hi. Heard you came in the back door," she says. "Smart. You'll fit right in here."

I eye her skeptically. This whole place is giving me an unsettling feeling in my stomach.

"Mary, can you fix these new folks a plate?" Alex asks, and she nods.

"Why do you do it? Let people in?" Michonne asks.

"The more people come in, the stronger we are," Alex says. "Here."

He hands Carl a plate of meat. He grabs another and hands it to Michonne. As he grabs the third plate, Rick smacks it out of his hand and grabs him, pulling something from his pocket and pressing his gun to his head. By instinct, I grab my knife and hold it up.

"Where the hell did you get this watch?" he demands.

I look at his hand. Inside is Glenn's watch, the one Hershel gave him way back at the farm.

The people sitting around on the tables are all on their feet, ready for anything. I look around at them, and start noticing things. One man is wearing Glenn's riot gear, a woman is wearing Daryl's poncho that Maggie had with her, and another man has an orange backpack that Rick picked up on a run back at the prison.

"Where the hell did you get this watch?" Rick demands again.

"You want answers? You'll get them when you put down the gun!" Alex says, his voice shaking.

"I see your man up there with a sniper rifle. How good is his aim?" Rick asks, and I look to the roof. Sure enough, there's a man with a gun, waiting. "Now I will ask you again. Where'd you get it?"

"Don't do anything! I've got this! Put it down!" Alex yells to the sniper. The man listens. "Don't try anything. There's a lot of us."

"Where'd you get it?"

"I took it off a dead one. Didn't think he'd need it," Alex says.

I look at Alex. Took it off a dead one?

Glenn?

I shake my head, refusing to believe it. He has to be lying.

"What about the riot gear? And the poncho?" Rick demands.

"Took the riot gear off a dead cop," Gareth says. We all spin to see him, where he seems to have appeared out of nowhere. "Took the poncho off a clothesline."

Lies. Lies everywhere. He's spewing bullshit now.

"Gareth, we can wait," Alex trembles.

"Shut up, Alex."

"You talk to me," Rick says.

"What's there left to say? You don't trust us anymore," Gareth says.

"Gareth-" Alex says.

"Shut...up." He holds up his hand.

"Gareth please..."

"Wait. Just, wait." Gareth keeps his hand raised. "What do you want, Rick?"

"Where are our people?" Rick asks angrily.

"You didn't answer the question." He closes his fist, and gunfire erupts from all sides.

Alex is caught in the crossfire and falls to the ground, dead. Rick fires into the air and we break into a sprint, dodging bullets.

Good thing the snipers can't shoot worth a damn.

I dodge a man's attack, swinging my knife at him. He shouts in pain as I slice him across the arm. I keep running after the others, my heart pounding. We get into a garage, stopping for barely a second to figure out an escape route.

Daryl points to one door, and we head for it. It closes, immediately prompting us to run through another door. A white "A" is painted on the wall beside it.

We emerge into an alleyway, and the gunfire continues, missing us entirely. We keep running, and I shoot my pistol, hitting a sniper. Gunshots hit the ground on the path in front of us, and we turn down a different way into a smaller alley. We run past a blue tarp, where bloodied bones and flesh scattered on it sit in the sun.

We run past two train cars, where we hear banging and cries for help.

"What the hell?" Daryl asks.

"Keep moving!" Rick yells.

We run into another building, with another white "A" on the wall.

Michonne opens a door and we dash in. We stop, taking in the bizarre scene before us. Candles are lit everywhere, and words are written in a circle on the floor and on the walls. It's like a cult.

"NEVER AGAIN, NEVER TRUST, WE FIRST, ALWAYS" the words on the walls read in big black letters.

"What the hell is this?" I ask.

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

"No. They're doing something else," Rick says. "There!"

He points to another door, and we sprint towards it. It closes, and we look for another one.

"Here!" Daryl points.

"Go!"

We pass through the door, and I notice yet another white "A".

We get outside, and gunshots hit the ground ahead of us, and we turn, sprinting towards the fence. We skid to a stop just as snipers pop up along the fence and along the roofs of the buildings around us.

Realization dawns on all of us at once.

"They were herding us," I spit, feeling completely infuriated.

My knuckles tighten around my knife, turning them white. Daryl grabs my hand.

"Drop your weapons! Now!" Gareth yells from a balcony.

I drop my knife on the ground, and take out my pistol, dropping it too. Daryl, Rick, Michonne, and Carl follow.

"Ringleader! Go to your left! The train car!" Gareth orders. I look to the car, where yet another white "A" is painted on the side. "Go! You go in there, the boy goes with you, or we kill him, and you go in anyways."

I growl under my breath. Another governor.

Rick looks up at him before looking at Carl. He turns and walks slowly towards the train car.

"Now the archer!" Gareth yells.

Daryl looks at me and squeezes my hand before releasing it and walking towards the car.

"Now the girl."

Michonne and I look at each other, then up at him. We're both girls, although something tells me he means me. I can see him roll his eyes as he answers our silent question.

"The white girl."

Michonne and I both grimace in disgust before I move my feet forwards, one painful step at a time.

"Now the samurai."

Michonne starts walking, leaving Carl alone. He stares after us, and we get to the steps leading up to the car. Daryl doesn't dare look behind him, but his hand reaches out behind him. I grab it, trying not to shake.

"Stand in order! Ringleader, archer, girl, samurai," Gareth yells.

"My son!" Rick yells back.

"Go kid."

Carl moves, and we watch him.

"Ringleader! Go up the steps and open the door!"

"I'll go in with him."

"Don't make us kill him now."

Rick walks up the steps, opening the train car door with a loud metallic sound. He steps in, and we follow him. The car is dark, except for the little bit of light that still gets through the door.

As soon as Carl is in, the door is slammed shut, and we are alone in the dark. Daryl keeps him arms around me, holding me in place against his chest, where I can hear his rapid heartbeat. His gaze switches between the door and me, and I hug him tighter.

We hear a rustling noise at the other end of the car, and a figure comes into view.

"Rick?"

Glenn stands in front of us, and behind him, Maggie, Sasha, Bob, and four other people I've never seen before; two women and two men.

"You're here," Rick says, sounding relieved. "You're here." He repeats, sounding more assuring.

They look at us all, and notices our looks to the four other people.

"They're our friends. They saved us," Maggie says.

"Now they're friends of ours," Daryl says, keeping me close.

"For however long that'll be," one of the men says. He has a ginger coloured crew cut and moustache.

"No," Rick says, and we all stare at him. There's a long pause, and he looks to the door, and the little bit of light that gets through illuminates his face. "They're gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out."

"Find out what?" I ask.

He looks up, his face determined. "They're screwing with the wrong people."

Daryl's eyes flash, his expression hardening as he nods. His arm tightens around me subconsciously and I can't help but smirk just a tiny bit.

Terminus won't know what hit them.

End of Book One