You crouched down because of fear, though quite far away. It was possible that there were men, guards. Rick threw the bag of weapons to Daryl before explaining the plan. You were excited, hoping to find the rest of the group.

“You and Y/N go and hide the weapons, we check the fence, we’re looking for another entrance.”, Rick told Daryl.

None of you smiled and tried to think objectively about the situation. In fact, you were wrong about yourselves, you just wanted to hide it. Especially, Daryl. You took opposite sides and parted. The archer walked quickly through the bushes. You could barely keep up with him, you were afraid that the nausea would get worse again. After a while Daryl stopped and examined the area. He crouched and began to dig a hole in the ground. You helped him without opening your mouth and in no time the weapons were hidden, invisible to strangers. You pulled out your knife to mark a log but Daryl stopped you.

“Want to show strangers where we hide our weapons?”, he snapped at you.

“Don’t treat me like I’m stupid!”

“It’s what ya’ are.”, he replied, ignoring you.

“I would not have marked the tree with a big X. A small incision on it would be enough, nothing that anyone else would notice.”

“It’s better not to risk anythin’.”

He looked at the building of Terminus and without adding anything, he made his way to the hill. So you just followed him, reminding yourself to be patient. There was no noise coming from this side, but some pots of flowers marked the corners of the buildings and turned out to be a well-kept area. A rustle distracted you from the mission and immediately made you turn in the direction.

“Keep yer eyes open, there’s somethin’.”, Daryl said, aiming his crossbow.

“A walker?”, you asked, hearing the noise.

“No, it ain’t an inconsistent step.”, he had quickly explained to you: “Show yerself! I don’t hesitate to shoot!”

The stranger didn’t move and thought he could easily get away. Daryl, however, didn’t give up the hunt and without patiently minimizing a possible answer, he aimed it at shooting an arrow.

“Stop!”, a male voice shouted. From the sound you realized that he was afraid. The stranger came closer and made room.

“Please don’t shoot!”, he added, still hidden.

Shrubs trembled, but Daryl didn’t lower his crossbow. You had learned not to trust people anymore. These had proved to be more dangerous than the walkers. Finally, a man emerged from the forest and presented himself with his palms turned up as a sign of submission. On his belt hung a rusty machete and a flashlight, which made you realize that there was no firearm. It felt weird…

“Who ’re ya’ ‘nd why ’re ya’ followin’ us?”, Daryl asked.

The man was about 20, slim, and had fair hair. He wore a dark top and bleached pants.

“I will answer all the questions you want to ask, but please lower the weapon…”

Daryl didn’t seem to agree with the proposal at all.

“If ya’ ain’t feelin’ well, just answer!”

“Please, I do not like guns… You …”, he said and made a sign to you: “Please tell your boyfriend to take that thing down…”

The man sighed as he realized that he would never convince you. “My name is Sam… I’m alone…”, he mumbled anxiously: “I didn’t want to follow you… But I wanted to see if you’re good people.”

“Oh yes?”, Daryl asked ironically: “And what ’re we?”

Sam looked at you and hoped that you would intervene, but you let Daryl take over the situation.

“You are good people, I have no doubt!”

Daryl didn’t seem happy, but lowered the weapon anyway. This man did not seem to be dangerous at all. You wondered how he had managed to survive that long. As soon as Daryl hung the weapon over his shoulder, Sam relaxed.

“I have no bad intentions, I swear!”, he added. After saying that, Daryl set off. The problem would have been to convince Rick, but maybe he wouldn’t have problematized it any more than you had imagined. You approached the new member and patted him on the shoulder.

“Sorry, but our leader needs to see you.”

“Do you want to go to Terminus too?”

You followed Daryl while maintaining a certain distance.

“Yes, we hope to find people who were part of our group.”

“I hope it’s a safe place, I’m tired of being out here.”

You heard voices, you were close to the others. Sam looked at you and asked you silently.

“A sheriff, his son, and a woman are with us.”, you told him, trying to reassure him. Rick started updating you all, but once he caught a glimpse of Sam, he stayed calm. Carl looked at you and Daryl and looked for explanations, but the only one who kept talking was Michonne.

“Who is this?”

“Sam.”, you answered. “He wants to go to Terminus.”

“I do not want to have any problems, I can even go there by myself!”, Sam suggested, raising his hands up. Rick looked at him intensely and hoped to see something in him. He then went to Daryl and mumbled something.

“Where’s your girlfriend?”, Rick asked shortly. You all looked at the sheriff in surprise, not knowing how he already knew this man.

“Ana is dead…”, Sam answered with his head down. Rick then told you how he knew this man and Sam showed you the clock he got from him back then. He belonged to a larger group and when panic broke out there, he rescued Ana when she was trampled. Since then they have been fighting alone. Rick and Carol had surprised and met them in a secluded area, in one of the houses. But Ana was eaten by walker.

“Let’s go.”, the sheriff ordered: “Follow us and accept our rules, that’s all.”

Michonne and Rick showed you the way, quietly running through nature. Carl turned around occasionally to see if Sam and you were always behind them for fear he might turn out to be a threat. But the situation remained calm. Daryl didn’t go far from you and pretended not to monitor him. He looked at you from the corner of his eye, demonstrating in practice that he controlled it and paid attention to every one of his movements and speeches. Sam realized it and understood that it was useless to argue with the archer, just ignored him and returned to you.

“How can you stay with him?”, he asked in surprise. Although Daryl stopped looking at you, you knew he was listening.

“He’s not my boyfriend!”, you said, laughing. Sam smiled as if glad to hear that. He seemed relieved.

“Oh dear God, thank you! So he will not hurt me just because I’m talking to you.” he said, laughing too. At that moment, Daryl went forward and moved away from you to reach Rick. He was offended…

“Do you think he heard me?”, Sam asked worriedly. You didn’t answer, the positive confirmation was obvious. You crouched down and gestured to Sam to do the same. Rick showed you the entrance. You didn’t see anybody nearby, although you were suspicious. You walked gracefully over the cemented place, trying to dampen the sound of your footsteps. Everything was so damn quiet. It made you believe that it was probably abandoned and thus was a disused home. But you continued the exploration, hoping to find the opposite. Daryl and Rick approached at a door. Voices came to your ears. Then you crossed the threshold, anxious but ready to kill without mercy, at the same time. You walked down an empty corridor until you reached a door. Daryl was the first to hear something.

“Sanctuary for all. Community for all.”, you heard a woman’s voice. When you entered the room, you saw a woman talking in a microphone. She sent messages by radio.

“Those who arrive survive. Terminus: Sanctuary for all. Community for all.”, she said continuously. A few yards away, at the end were desks, a huge map, and men. Rick approached the woman, too busy to notice you.

“Hello.” he said: “Hello!”

On the second greeting, he raised his voice so everyone could hear it. The woman immediately interrupted her task. She looked at you and then at Rick. Everyone looked at you, almost didn’t know how to behave. You align yourselves and formed a horizontal line. This allowed you all to see clearly. A man who spoke passed the tables until he reached you. His footsteps sounded inside the building. Since it was half empty, it was very picturesque.

“Do you want to rob us?”, he asked.

“No.”, the sheriff answered, putting the gun away. He smiled in amusement and looked at you. He had a light beard and wore a jacket over a shirt. The people behind him didn’t speak, leaving the matter to him. He had to be the boss.

“That makes sense.”, he admitted. Then, looking at his companions, he came closer. “Welcome to Terminus! My name is Gareth, it seems you’ve been on the road for a while.”

“It is like it is.”, the sheriff replied: “I’m Rick, Rick Grimes. This is Carl, Daryl, Michonne, Y/N and Sam.”

Gareth waved as if to greet you and smiled slightly. Everything seemed very quiet, maybe too much… It felt weird that they weren’t careful enough. You remained silent, waiting for them to tell you what you should do, or to ask more specific questions.

“You’re nervous, I understand it, so are we.”, Gareth giggled. “We came here to seek protection, and you?”

“Yes.”, Rick answered dryly.

“Fine.”, Gareth replied: “You found it. Alex!” A man with brown and wavy hair broke away from the silence and approached.

“This isn’t as inviting as the entrance.”, the boss said: “There’s nothing to hide here, but the welcome committee is nicer. Alex will ask you some questions now, but first we need to see your weapons.”

You didn’t answer immediately and spoke first with your eyes. Rick asked for your approval. Then he took out his weapon. You imitated him.

“I’m sure you’ll understand.”, Gareth said, attentive to the rituals.

“Yeah, sure.”, Rick calmed down, though he showed a small difference of opinion. Sam couldn’t quite hide the tension. You raised your arms and Gareth and the other man searched for other weapons.

“We’re not that kind of people.”, Gareth said: “But of course we’re not stupid, and you shouldn’t try to do stupid things. So long as that’s clear, we’ll have no problems, just solutions.”

After Alex checked us, he took the weapons one by one and gave them back with a friendly gesture. You left the room and went outside again, curious about the organization.

“How long ’s this place been?”, Daryl asked.

“Practically from the beginning, when the camps were overwhelmed, everyone came here, maybe instinctively, they followed a path, some went to the coast, others to the west or north, but we landed here.”

Suddenly you were standing in front of a kind of open space. In the middle there was a lush vegetable garden, on the sides of other buildings. On the left side were many chairs. In front of you you found a barbecue, on which a woman took care of. She had hazel hair. The smell of grilled meat had soaked the air.

“Welcome.”, she greeted: “You came in from the back, that’s smart.”

“Mary, can you prepare a dish for the newcomers?”, Alex asked kindly. At the tables some enjoyed fresh meat. To deny that you were hungry would be stupid, but right now you all didn’t really wanted to eat. But Rick noticed something in the distance and you followed his gaze.

“Why are you doing this, why are you welcoming everyone?”, Michonne asked.

“The more people are here, the stronger we are, that’s why we send messages, we invite people in. That’s how we survive.”

Alex handed Carl and Michonne a plate, but your eyes were on something else. Beside a parasol a woman carried Daryl’s poncho, which Maggie had taken, and the clock that belonged to Glenn was in the hands of Axel. For a moment you really believed that things were going right but the next moment you pulled out a gun and aimed it at the woman’s head while Rick caught Alex behind him and put the barrel of the gun to his temple. The others armed themselves, including Sam, who emulated you without really understanding why.

“Tell me where you got the clock from!”

The people suddenly stopped and were ready to shoot too. Daryl kept an eye on them, along with Carl, while Michonne looked at the rooftops.

“Want answers? You’ll get them if you’ve lowered your weapons.”

A sniper aimed at the sheriff.

“I see this man with a sniper rifle on the roof, how good can he shoot?”, Rick asked ironically. “Where did you get the clock from?”

The last question was screamed and Alex was startled. He told the sniper not to shoot. The woman stared at you in a strange way. She knew what would happen soon, it was quiet. Alex still didn’t answer the question until, after other threats, he decided to fulfill the sheriff’s demands. He invented a completely plausible nonsense. And also Gareth was suddenly behind you. Nobody would have believed that.

“I took it from a dead man. I thought he didn’t need it anymore!”, Alex said and other men approached with semi-automatic rifles. There were too many, it would have been impossible to escape and survive. Gareth wasn’t worried, but his face had changed. Terminus was a trap. Daryl was right.

“Where are our friends?”, you asked furiously and Gareth smiled. At the end of your question the shooters fired shots. Alex was hit and died instantly. You fired a few shots too, but you were more interested in getting away unscathed. Alarm broke out and a flood of men aimed from the rooftops. You gathered together and quickly analyzed the possible ways out. You walked from one side to the other, but as soon as you hit a street, they blocked your escape and fired a lot to your feet. You quickly understood that they lead you. You were trapped in shit, you couldn’t help but follow their directions and pretend you were escaping. Being optimistic didn’t lead anywhere. You were wrong. Maybe in this case you all would have been pessimistic and cynical like Daryl. But now you all were only allowed to think about survival…