-62-

9.7K 337 43
                                    

terminus

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

terminus

THE WALK TO TERMINUS WAS JUST ANOTHER LONG WALK IN THE HEAT OF SUMMER. Judith stayed on Scarlett's hip as they stayed to the tracks. They passed another sign that said they were almost there. Scarlett was worried about the place, but she was worried more that the others did not see these signs.

Carol and Tyreese believed the others would be at Terminus because they all managed to get to the tracks at some point no matter which way they went. Scarlett tried not to let hope grow.

Judith cooed slightly as Scarlett winced a bit at her ankle. She said nothing as she kept walking. Her stomach rumbled, making Judy laugh at the noise.

"Makin' fun of Mommy? Not fair," Scarlett grumbled. Carol smiled slightly at the pair.

Carol kept her gaze ahead as she noticed the tracks almost ending. "We're close," Carol told them. "I'm gonna get you three there. Make sure you're safe. But I'm not gonna stay."

"Carol, I'm gonna try to forgive you—" She told the woman again, but before she could finish, they heard a slight snarling to their left.

The walker got closer as Carol glanced at Tyreese. He shook his head. "I can't. Not yet."

Carol sighed, getting her knife out. "You're going to have to be able to." She stabbed the walker in the head, falling over with it. She grumbled under her breath before turning her head. With wide eyes, she looked back at Scarlett and Tyreese. "More."

The snarls and groans got louder. "Jesus H. Christ, not again," Scarlett grumbled, letting Tyreese take her hand and lead her on the other side of the tracks. They hid behind a bush with Carol meeting them. Judith cooed in Scarlett's chest, so Scarlett shushed her quietly. "Come on, Judy."

All of a sudden, rapid gunfire was heard in the direction they were going. Judith whimpered slightly, but the sound was muffled by the shots. The walkers all turned in that direction and kept their pace toward Terminus. Scarlett breathed heavily as they waited, feeling her ankle throb and a cramp build in her stomach. It was not her week at all.

When the walkers were a good ways away, they all stood and got back to the tracks. They stared at the walkers' backs as Tyreese said, "Those guns, it could have been from Terminus. Someone was attacking them."

"Or they were attacking someone," Carol murmured. "Do we even want to find out?"

"Yeah," Scarlett told them. "If Rick's there... Carl—"

"There's another track due east," Carol told her, pointing in the direction. "It'll get us there. We'll be real careful. We're gonna get answers."

So, they changed course slightly to get their answers. Carol took point while Scarlett kept Judith wrapped on her body. She had her gun out, ready to fight if necessary as they heard talking up the road a bit. Scarlett rushed ahead of Carol in order to hear better.

"You don't have to tell me. I wipe my own ass. Alex didn't get it. See, I knew the chick with the sword was bad news. Bitch looked like a weapon with a weapon. Yeah, I told Albert I want the kid's hat after they bleed him out."

Scarlett was already moving up at the mention of Michonne, but Carl's mention had her aiming the tip of the gun at the man's head.

"Keep your finger off the button and drop it," she snarled, her voice not her own.

The man dropped the walkie as he rose his hands. "Listen, y'all don't have to do this. Whatever you want, we got a place where everyone's welcome."

"Shut up, man," Tyreese sneered.

"We're friends of the chick with the sword and the kid in the hat," Carol told him.

"That kid in the hat is my fucking kid. What'd you say? Bleed him out? You'll wish that's all I do to you," Scarlett sneered with such malice coming from a pregnant woman with a baby swaddled to her.

The man glanced at her briefly. "They attacked us. We're just holding them."

"I don't believe you," she replied, gesturing for Tyreese to restrain the man. They opened the shack he was nearby, shoving the man into the wall. Scarlett watched his eyes go over her, shock at the baby strapped to her body.

"Who else do you have? Do you know their names?" Scarlett asked as Carol began to get a bag ready to go.

"We just have the boy and the samurai, that's it. We were just protecting ourselves!"

"I don't believe you," she said again.

"There's a bunch of us out there in six different directions. There was a lot of gun shots back home. We need to set off our charges all at the same time to confuse the dead ones away. That's good for you, too," he tried to tell them. Pleading for his life.

"No, it isn't," Carol told him, watching Scarlett take Judith off her body and hand the baby to Tyreese. She kissed Judith's head before turning and grabbing her own bag, filling it with the fireworks the man was using. "There's a herd heading toward Terminus right now. We don't want to confuse them away. We're gonna need their help."

The man stammered out, "It's a compound. They'll see you coming. If you even make it that far with all the cold bodies heading over."

"You should stay," Carol told Scarlett while ignoring the man. "Watch over the babies."

"I can't let you go alone. Not my thing," she told Carol. "Plus, my boy is there. Carl needs me."

"Carol," Tyreese asked as the two women began to leave. "How are y'all gonna do this?"

Carol looked at him sadly. "We're gonna kill people."

Violent Silence • Rick Grimes ✓Where stories live. Discover now