The sun horribly heated the cage you were locked in and made you cook slowly. Although you still had a little fever, you felt the heavy and increasingly humid air. You alternately shuddered with drops of sweat on your forehead and forced yourself to cool and cover yourself each time. Abraham told the group his story, his mission. Washington, hope... To be honest, it seemed foolish, the plan was too easy. You were probably not in the mood to believe the news, but it seemed too easy as a definitive solution to the epidemic.

"You are too sure.", you threw in: "Something doesn't convince me."

Eugene looked at you strangely and didn't know how to answer.

"Do you think I would risk my life for a pointless mission?", Abraham muttered.

"I'm just saying you don't tell us everything, so what's the solution?"

The three looked at each other before they looked at you again.

"It's top secret.", Eugene said and you smiled incredulously.

"Bullshit!", Daryl spat out.

Abraham seemed angry, but Rosita held him by the arm. You realized that he was a rabid type, quite vulnerable to anger. You should have been careful for now.

"It's not necessary for him to reveal the mission to you, the question is simple, are you going with us to Washington or not?", he explained.

Rosita tried to challenge you with her eyes, hoping that your curiosity would make you want to support her. The sheriff lowered his head. As the leader of the group, his decision would have affected your fate. But the question was postponed when you heard some men approach the wagon. You hurried to arm yourselves and take a position. The adrenaline was stellar, including unpredictable anxiety.

"You know what to do.", Rick reminded us: "First in the eyes and then the throat."

For a few seconds you held your breath, waiting for the door to open, to be blinded by the light of the day, but what opened wasn't themain door, but a small flap over your heads. A tear gas grenade fell to your feet. Immediately you threw yourselves at the ends of the wagon, but that wasn't enough to avoid it. You started to cough like crazy and so did the others. You buried your face in the hem of the shirt and tried to limit the inhalation of that gas. But it was too late, your eyes burned monstrously. The white smoke spread like a fog bank and made the viewability impossible. The door suddenly opened and someone grabbed you. You tried in vain to escape, but you were thrown to the ground in rage and a second person tied your hands and feet together. You saw, albeit badly, how the ground moved beneath you and a sound like an electric saw filled your ears. When they lifted your head and put it on a tub, like a steel crib, you finally could see who you had by your side. You were the last in line. Next to you was Rick, followed by Daryl and Glenn, and then by some people you didn't know, other people of common destiny. You had to control the situation, you couldn't afford to miss any details, there had to be a way out. In the corner of the building were two men who were dressed as butchers and dismembered a corpse. You looked away immediately. Once the transport workers were released, the two executioners used a baseball bat and a butcher's knife.

"Let's start.", said one.

They positioned themselves at the tub behind their victims. The first hit an unfortunate victim at the back of the head and the second killed him with a precise cut. The blood flowed into the tub... They would slaughter you like pigs. What meaning could it have? You looked again at the split body in parts of this funeral camp. And then you understood... You were the meat, you were their food. The same food they offered you the day before. These actions continued and three others were killed. The next one should be Glenn. There was no time to lose, you had to think. You asked Rick with your eyes and he turned his eyes to his legs. You looked and realized he was trying to pull something out of his shoes. You improvised, something to distract their attention from Glenn. They weren't allowed to notice Rick.

"Hello!", Gareth shouted and came in suddenly. The leader took a few steps forward and approached. You had to distract him at any cost. So you started trying to talk and asked to be heard. Meanwhile, Daryl tried to warn you with his eyes.

"Four of A and some of B?", Gareth asked, ignoring you. After the positive answer, you persisted until he released your lips, now annoyed.

"What?", he asked passively.

"Do not do it!", you said, and said the first things that came to your mind: "We can find a solution!"

"No we can't."

"There is a solution.", you said: "We can stop all this, the whole epidemic will be eradicated, and if you let us go, we'll go to Washington. We have a scientist in our group! Everything will be the same as before."

He chuckled, gave you a bitter smile and put the rag back in your mouth, but freed Rick from it.

"You went through the forest with a bag, what's in there?", Gareth asked.

Rick didn't answer and only stared at him with hatred and contempt. But the bastard pulled out a knife and brought it close to your throat.

"Weapons.", Rick replied instinctively to protect you: "A Magnum, AK-47, several semi-automatic weapons, shotguns... And a machete, which I'll use to kill you."

Gareth shook his head, almost wanting to understand how naive you all were. He was sure that you would die, that you couldn't free yourselves, but fate seemed to help you a second time. The ground vibrated... Several shots echoed in the distance. The leader immediately left the slaughterhouse and went out into the yard. Someone attacked Terminus. It was your chance. The two butchers ran away to watch what was happening from the windows. Rick moved, now freed, slowly, squatting behind them. He stabbed one of the men in his knee, forcing him to fall backward. Shortly thereafter, he pierced his skull. The second man wanted to react, but Rick had already grabbed the victim's weapon and hit him with a precise shot to kill him. Meanwhile, the shots outside increased and Rick took the knife and freed you all. Glenn tried to calm down after being close to death again, murmured something and pointed to the dismembered corpse. Then he turned to you, pale in the face, as if understanding the terrible reality. Then you approached the operating table and stole an axe.

"The victims are no food for the walkers. It's their supplies, we are the food. They don't attract the survivors to rob them, but to have a full pantry."

Rick looked around, almost didn't believe that, and approached a door. You left the slaughterhouse and crossed other rooms. Some carcasses have been hung on some chains just as slaughter meat is being dried. Glenn still did not believe it. It was unthinkable to imagine such a place. They fed on people, innocent survivors. There was no difference between walkers and the people of Terminus. They had become cannibals.
Rick watched the whole meat mass and took on a furious expression. His body trembled with the desire to avenge all these people. He would never let any of them survive. Suddenly, screams echoed in the yard... You had to hurry, free your people and flee immediately. Outside the building, you leaned forward to watch the chaos that happened in front of your eyes. The air was hot, full of smoke, so it irritated your throat. Very high flames were released in the sky and a horde of walkers had entered Terminus. The cannibals had armed themselves, spread out into Terminus, hoping to keep the whole attack at bay. A gas tank had exploded and completely destroyed the main fence. As soon as a man appeared in front of you, Daryl hit him in the face before he could even react. The sheriff and the aecher armed themselves with an AK and a pistol. You moved and positioned yourselves. Up ahead were Rick and Daryl, armed with firearms ready to kill each of the cannibals, while Glenn and you took over the walkers that came in your direction. Some of them, though charred, went on burning.

"These bastards never give up!", he said.

"Hey!", you shouted: "Wagon A!"

"Let's move on before the walkers overwhelms us!", Rick advised you.

You ran to the door and broke the big lock. The group went out confused and frightened at the same time. Michonne immediately disappeared into the yard, avoiding asking what was going on, and caring for a few walkers. But Sam looked at you in fear.

"Where are we going?", Rosita asked.

"We need to reach the side entrance so we can find the bag we've hidden. We need the weapons!", you replied.

Abraham nodded and you moved closer together like a real team. Rick and Daryl had considered using the cannibals as bait. To see them still alive worried you a little. Suddenly you were in a red brick structure with an open lock. When you entered these you saw backpacks, bags, clothes, many different things. This mass of seemingly useless things were nothing but the gravestones of lost lives for sheer malice. Then you also recognized your backpack, your weapons and especially the notebook. And Sam understood that because of an uncertain but determined expression when you went on, you had something in mind.

"What are you doing?", he asked breathlessly. You looked at him and told him not to protest.

"I have to go back.", you said: "I'll come to you later, don't wait for me."

Before you could lift your heels, he tore you around. "Are you crazy?", he shouted in panic.

"It's important, I have to do something.", you replied: "Don't tell the others, just tell them you've lost track of me!"

These were your words and so you ran. Not far away you saw the target, but when you thought you were there, something hit you in your shoulder. You immediately threw yourself to the ground and hid behind a stack of wooden pallets. You put your hand on the wound and watched the blood come out with greed. Preventing you to see who shot you, you noticed that Gareth was lying on a roof, clutching a sniper rifle. Then you saw that there was a corpse near you... So you were forced to stretch a little and pull it quickly before Gareth could fire again. The body had a gun with him. But not a very suitable prey, because an assault rifle guaranteed support up to a distance of about a few hundred meters, so it would have been too inaccurate, but it would still be enough to distract him. Your plan was to force him to seek protection and then to move to the other side of the road to reach your destination. As soon as you pulled the trigger, Gareth hid his head and you could run to the storehouse. When you were only a few feet away, you saw a grenade slip to your feet. Instinctively you kicked it away and a short time later it exploded violently and threw yourself to the ground. The earth shook, the scaffolding of the next room fell to the ground, partially covering you. From the pain you felt, you realized that something had pierced through your leg. You got rid of this scrap heap, scratched your arms, and saw a big knife in your thigh. You were bleeding, you were bleeding a lot. The pain was so severe that the burning in the shoulder disappeared. You could only feel this terrible pain, this indescribable torture. It was venous blood, so you weren't in any great danger of seriously bleeding to death, but the fact remained that the wound was quite large. You tried to move your leg, but as soon as you lifted it slightly, a wave of pain came over you. The still mild fever caused a constant dizziness and the explosion had only confused you even more. You were unable to move. But you had to get rid of this scaffolding at any cost. And so you tried again and managed to lift it a little bit, but again you had to give up and bite your teeth together. The blood went on undisturbed and you noticed that you were feeling increasingly sluggish. When you realized that you were about to faint, someone grabbed you from behind, took you under your arms and pulled you backwards into another structure. Your vision was blurry and all you could see was the streak of blood left by your wounds, a few red bricks and a steel tub.

The slaughterhouse...