Beauty and Her Beast (Daryl Dixon Fanfic)

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"Daryl, you want me to take her?" I asked. He had been carrying Faith since we left the car.

He shook his head. "No, I ain't seen her in weeks. I'm sure you were carrying her this whole time. You could use a break."

We came across another sign, which was laying on the ground. Rick brushed some leaves off it with his foot. "We're getting close. Be there before sundown."

Rick nodded. "Now we head through the woods. We don't know who they are." We all nodded in agreement and went into the woods.

~*~

Daryl gave Faith to me when we reached the fence surrounding Terminus. Rick buried our bag of guns as a precaution. When we climbed over the fence, I had to hand Faith to Daryl first. When I got over the fence, I put her in the wrap, put my knife in it's sheathe and hid it in the wrap with her. Just in case.

We found an open door on one of the buildings and Rick opened it, letting Daryl go in first. The first voice I heard was a woman's. "Terminus, those who arrive, survive. Follow the tracks to the point where all lines intersect. There are maps at the crossings to help guide you with your journey. Sanctuary for all. Community for all. Those who arrive survive. Terminus, sanctuary for all. Community for all. Those who-"

Rick walked in briskly. "Hello. Hello."

The people in the room appeared to be painting more of the signs we've seen. One man sighed, dropping a paint brush. "Well, I bet Albert is on perimeter watch. You here to rob us?" He asked, walking closer. I furrowed my brow. Would a robber say hello?

"No. We wanted to see you before you saw us." Rick holstered his gun.

The man nodded. "Makes sense. Usually we do this where the tracks meet." He cleared his throat, raising his arms. "Welcome to Terminus. I'm Gareth. Looks like you've been on the road for a good bit."

"We have." Rick nodded. "Rick, that's Carl, Daryl, Michonne, Charlotte, and Faith."

Gareth gave a small wave. "You're nervous. I get it. We were all the same way. We came here for sanctuary. That what you're here for?"

Rick nodded. "Yes."

Gareth smiled. "Good. You found it. Hey, Alex. This isn't as pretty as the front. We got nothing to hide, but the welcome wagon is a whole lot nicer."

He turned to look at the man walking up. "Alex will 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."

We all exchanged looks with Rick, who eventually nodded. He unholstered his guns, setting them on the ground. "I'm sure you understand."

"Yes I do."

We all dropped our weapons. Daryl chuckled as I unholstered all three of my guns, my machete and one of my three knives, having hid the other two. We held our arms out so they could pat us down.

When Alex moved from Michonne to me and he finished with my arms, he went to feel around Faith. "Don't touch her." I grimaced.

He smiled. "I understand, but I have to-"

"Don't. Touch. Her." I repeated, my gaze hard.

He put his hands up in defense and crouched down, patting down my legs, thankfully not feeling the knife in my boot. "I'd hate to see the other guy." Alex said to Daryl.

"You would." Rick said.

"Did he deserve it?" He asked Carl.

"Yes." Carl answered without missing a beat.