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Terminus

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Terminus.

That's where we were heading.

We kept to the train tracks, following the signs that had been left along the way.

None of us knew what to expect, so Rick made the call for us to go through the woods once we were only a mile away. It was our safest option; you never really know how safe a place is, until you're in it and by then, it can be too late.

Woodbury taught me that.

"I want to thank you." I heard Rick speak up, as him and Merle led the way. "We may not be the best of friends- I doubt we ever will be, but I'm grateful for what you did. Not jus' last night, tryin' to save us all, but back at the prison too."

I looked down to my side, taking in the miniature Grimes walking with me, as Daryl and Michonne trailed behind us. Carl was the light in his fathers eyes, the reason he tries so hard, the will in his fight. As he was for all of us.

I mean it when I praise for the quality of life, over the quantity of it, but that doesn't mean I'm not fighting for the future. Because that's what Carl is; he's the future, and I want to make sure he can have the best version of that.

"It was nothin'." Merle replied, after letting a moment of silence pass by.

"No-" Rick said quickly, his tone firm and meaningful. "It was everything."

We soon met a barbed wire fence that surrounded the the large complex. It looked to be a type of abandoned warehouse, similar to the one we found with the claimers, just bigger. The windows were boarded up and painted to spell out the name they had branded their sanctuary as. It looked, normal, if that was the right word for it. Nothing out of the ordinary or to raise suspicion, but maybe that's what they wanted.

Rick made the call for us to wait it out for a while and keep watch on the place. We didn't want to take any chances; not anymore. Not if we could help it.

"How are you doin'?" I asked down to Carl, as we took on a perimeter watch together.

"I'm okay." He said quietly, keeping his eyes glued to the ground.

"You know that's not what I meant." I stated, forcing him to engage in a conversation and one he knew would centre around honesty. "Talk to me."

As we came to a halt, the young Grimes lifted his head to look up at me from underneath his fathers hat. "He told me the other day- said he was proud of me. That I was a good man. But I'm not."

"Carl—"

"I know more now, about what he wanted from me." He continued, as I watched the guilt and sorrow built up within his eyes. "And I tried, but I still have these thoughts-" He paused, as his lips trembled slightly. "I'm not what he thinks I am. I'm just another monster too."

"No-" I hummed softly, crouching down to him and taking his hands in mine. "You're you, Carl. An that alone is beautiful." I smiled up to him. "We all have those flickers, those thoughts- but that's because nobody is all good. It's nothing to be ashamed of- I- I know it's scary, frightful even, but it's a part of us, of everyone. Doesn't make you all bad, it makes you all human."

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