❝ You're caught in my crosshairs again. ❞
In which a Navy SEAL,
a doomsday prepper,
and an extroverted
12-year-old find life in the
apocalypse alongside a
group of...
𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐒. chapter forty-two; Train Car Reunion " I was coming back. "
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RICK BURIED A bag of weapons just outside the fence line. Zeppelin followed their lead, jumping the fence and approaching the back of the building with their weapons raised.
She was behind Daryl, who was the first to enter.
A woman sat at a microphone, with headphones over her ears, reading out a script, while others worked on signs and maps on the far side of the room.
She didn't care if these people were good or bad or somewhere in between. All Zeppelin cared about was finding her mom.
"Hello."
"Well, I bet Albert is on perimeter watch," A man sighed, approaching the group, "Are you here to rob us?"
"No," Rick said, holstering his pistol, "We wanted to see you before you saw us."
"Makes sense," The man noted, "Usually we do this where the tracks meet. Ahem. . . welcome to Terminus. I'm Gareth. Looks like you've been on the road for a good bit."
"We have," Rick confirmed. "Rick. That's Carl, Daryl, Zeppelin, Michonne."
Gareth raised a hand in a wave, before speaking, "You're nervous, I get it. We were all the same way. We came here for sanctuary. That what you here for?"
"Yes."
"Good. You found it," Gareth said, "Hey Alex! This isn't as pretty as the front; we got nothing to hide, but the welcome wagon is a whole lot nicer. Alex'll take you, ask you a few questions, uh, but first. . . we need to see everyone's weapons. If you could just lay them down in front of you."
The group faltered, but after Rick agreed, everyone followed suit.
Zeppelin carefully set a her bow at her feet, along with her knife, looking to Daryl who nodded softly. The girl raised her hands to match his stance, chewing the inside of her cheek as Alex approached them.
"Hate to see the other guy," He noted Daryl's bruised eye and swollen lip, patting the man down.
"You would," Rick agreed.
"They deserve it?" Alex asked Carl as he patted him down.
"Yes."
Alex said nothing, moving to Zeppelin who was clearly uncomfortable.
She let out a breath as he finished patting her down and stepped back.
"Just so you know, we aren't those kinds of people," Gareth said, "But we aren't stupid, either. And you shouldn't be stupid enough to try anything stupid. As long as we're clear on that, we shouldn't have any problems. Just solutions."
