(Makena's POV)
"We're close" I inform as we come across another sign.
"We'll be there in under an hour" Tyreese says.
A walker snarling grabs our attention and Merle walks over to it, stabbing it with his knife-arm. He looks out into the forest and looks back at us with wide eyes.
"More" he whispers.
We run the other direction into the woods and hide behind some bushes. The big herd walkers stumble onto the track, but are soon drawn by the sound of gunfire close by. When they all disappear in that direction, we get back on the tracks again.
"That gunfire, it could've been from Terminus" Cody said.
"Someone was attacking them?" Natalie asked.
"Or they were attacking someone" Merle mumbled.
"There's another track due east. It'll get us there. We'll be real careful" Ally tells us.
After more walking through the woods to get to the other tracks, we spot a small shack. A car sits by it, along with a man talking to someone through a walkie-talkie. We stay behind him, out of sight.
"Ten-minute count. You screw up, you're on your own, Martin" the woman on the receiver says.
It looks like Martin is setting up some sort of fireworks, "You don't have to tell me. I wipe my own ass. Alex didn't get it. See, I knew that dude with the crossbow was bad news. Bastard looked like a weapon with a weapon"
I can feel Ally stiffen next to me, locking eyes with both Merle and myself. This guy is from Terminus. Our people are in trouble.
"He was always a sloppy-ass mother" the woman says.
"Yeah, I told Albert I want the kid's hat after we bleed him out" Albert trails off as Ally steps forward and cocks her gun, pointing it at his head. We all come out and surround him.
"Keep your finger off the button and drop it" she growls.
He drops the radio and hold his hands up in surrender, "Listen, y'all don't have to do this. Whatever you want, we got a place where everyone's welcome"
"Shut up, man" Merle spits.
"Okay" Martin quickly agrees.
"We're friends of the dude with the crossbow and the kid in the hat" Tyreese says.
Ty and Merle grab each of his arms and drag him into the shack, tying his hands together in front of him. They shove him down to sit with his back against the wall.
"They attacked us. We're just holding them" Martin defends.
"I don't believe you" Ally snaps.
"Who else do you have? Do you know their names?" Ty asks him, trying to get information about Sasha.
"We just have the boy and the archer, that's it. We were just protecting ourselves"
"I don't believe you" Ally says more forcefully.
"There's a bunch of us out there in six different directions. There was a lot of gunfire 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" Martin says, chomping on his gum obnoxiously.
"Not, it isn't" Natalie pipes in, "There's a herd heading toward Terminus right now"
"We don't want to confuse them away. We're gonna need their help" I said.
"It's a compound. They'll see you coming. If you even make it that far with all the cold bodies heading over" Martin says, but we ignore him.
"I'm going to get them" I said while looking through the duffel bag we brought in that he had, to find it full of fireworks.
"Like hell you are" Ally says, walking over to me.
"Ally, we don't have time to argue. They need to get out of there"
"Well, you're not going alone"
"You can't go"
"Why the hell not?" she asked.
"You won't be able to run with you're ankle. And it's too dangerous for a pregnant woman" I tell her and sling the duffel bag strap over my shoulder along with a rifle.
"I'll go" Merle steps forward. We both look at him, and he nods at Ally.
She sighs and leads us outside, "Please be careful"
"We will" I answer.
"I love you guys" she tells us.
"We love you, too" Merle and I say in union.
"Now, kick some ass and get our family back. But, come back in one piece"
"Too late for me, darlin'" Merle smirks and holds up his missing hand that has his knife contraption duct taped around it.
"Oh, you know what I mean"
We chuckle and say our goodbye's once again before walking away, heading towards Terminus.
~~~~
For some reason, there were ponchos in the duffel bag from the shack. Merle got the idea to cover them with walker guts and put them on, disguising us from them. We put dirt on our faces and continue on. We finally come to fences that surround Terminus. There is a huge train car, and people from Terminus have four men on the ground with gags in their mouths, dragging them away. I quickly recognize them as Rick, Daryl, Glenn, and Bob.
"Oh my God..." I whisper.
We move further down the fence to the front of the Terminus building. We each pull our rifles out and look through the scope to get a closer look. I spot a big gasoline tank, along with people stabbing walkers through the fence. They start to shout and run away, pointing towards the herd from the tracks that finally made it.
"Ye thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" Merle asked, motioning to the gas tank.
I grin, "Hell yeah"
I pull out a firecracker and insert it into one of the shooters inside the bag. I prop it up against the fence, pointing in the direction of the tank. I grab my rifle again and shoot holes in the tank so steam comes out of it.
I use one of the matches and light up the firework, plugging my ears and bending down. I feel Merle's body come over top of mine to shield me as the explosion erupts, causing the ground to shake and a burst of heat.
We leave the duffel bag and hide our rifles under the ponchos, setting off to get down to Terminus. We slowly walk amongst the walkers, blending in as much as possible. Smoke clouds my vision as we continue on, audible screams of people all around. We reach inside the gates and people from Terminus start shooting at the walkers in front of us. Merle grabs my wrist and pulls me off to the side, out of the way of their line of fire.
Merle quickly takes down a sniper on the roof and another guy ahead. Walkers notice that we broke disguise and come towards us, but we enter the building and shut the door so they can't get in. We walk through the building, guns ready. We enter a room with tables full of people's belongings. Amongst them, I spot Rick's large watch he always wear. I put it in my pocket. I see Merle grab Daryl's crossbow and sling it over his shoulder, motioning for me to follow him.
~~~~
Another room in the same building is full of lit candles, along with a name of someone painted by each of them. I walk through them, looking at all of them in confusion.
"What in the Sam hell?" Merle mutters from beside me.
A gun clicks from behind us and we halt, a woman says, "Drop your weapons and turn around. I want to see your faces. Now!"
We drop our weapons, our backs still facing her. Merle glances at me before grabbing his gun again and swinging around, shooting at the same time. The woman falls on the ground, dropping her gun in the process. She stands up and goes to grab it but Merle runs over and kicks it away. We each have our guns pointed at her as she breaths heavily.
"The signs...they were real. It was a sanctuary. People came and took this place" the woman said.
"Just tell us where--"
"And they raped and they killed and they laughed over weeks" she cuts me off, "But we got out and we fought and we got it back. And we heard the message. You're the butcher...or you're the cattle"
"The men they pulled from that train car, where are they?" I ask.
She does answer, only stares at us. Merle points his gun at her leg and shoots, she screams in pain and falls to the ground.
"Where are they?!" Merle yells.
"Now...point it at my head" she said, they laughs to herself, "You could have been one of us. You could have listened to what the world is telling you"
"You lead people here and you take what they have and you kill them? Is that what this place is?" I ask.
"No, not at first. It's what it had to be. And we're still here"
I lower my gun, and Merle follows in suit. I pick up my other weapons on the ground and turn back around to her, "You're not here. Neither are we"
Merle grabs the crossbow and follows after me as I open the door, multiple walkers flooding into the room. All I hear is her screams in protest as we walk away. I should feel guilty for killing a person, but I don't.
And that scares me.
We reach the train car the group was, and see them climbing over the fence and going into the woods. There are too many walkers to follow them. We need to go out the way we came in.
"We need to go" Merle said, reading my thoughts.
We run into a different building, making our way back to where the group is.
~~~~
We wiped our faces clean of mud and got rid of the ponchos with blood. We navigated to where the group should be. As we got closer, it was like I could feel them. Like I knew they were just a few footsteps away. And I was right.
They come into view, huddled up and discussing something. We slowly near them, not wanting to startle them after what they just went through. A branch snaps under my foot, causing heads to whip in our direction. All their faces soften, relief evident in their eyes.
Carl is the only one that has my attention. He rushes forward and engulfs me in a tight hug. I'm caught off guard for a second, but quickly recover and wrap my arms tightly around his neck causing him to tighten his grip on me.
He breathes heavily with relief and my body shakes vigorously from fear and relief mixed. He pulls away and kisses my cheek quickly, causing my face to catch fire. We smile at each other shyly.
Daryl and Merle embrace quickly. Daryl comes to me and wraps his arms around my neck, pulling into him. I wrap my arms tightly around his middle.
Rick steps forward to us, "Did you do that?"
I smile and nod a little. He lets out a breath of relief and hugs me, thanking me. Rick moves to Merle and they shake hands and nod at each other.
I remember the shack and my eyes widen in excitement. I look at Daryl and Rick, "You have to come with us"