At the entrance of Terminus.

The remaining survivors of the community had all packed up what they needed and we’re ready for the road.

Everyone all wore hopeful looks on their faces for a new future.

With a backpack on her back, Mary smiled at Michael. “Thank you again.”

“No problem.” Michael responded with a nod before he took off his Kampilan sword and offered it to her.

“I almost forgot. Take this and show it to them when you get there.”

Mary looked at the sword on Michael’s hand before taking it from him. “I was just about to ask how we’ll prove that you were the one that sent us there.”

Michael chuckled. “It won’t be the same anymore once you get there. Once there, you won’t have the same authority you had before over your group, will you be fine?”

Mary smiled slightly and with a small nod. “We’ll be fine, leading people and being responsible for their lives is too tiring. It’s hard to deal with the feelings of guilt when your people die. This is the opportunity for me to finally step away from any sort of leadership. I’d rather leave it to someone more capable. On the other hand, are you still going to continue on the road?”

“That’s good, that’s good. Don’t worry, my people, they will surely welcome your group with open arms. Though expect some wariness from them since most of them would surely not trust you first, and yes, I still have things to do so I won’t be returning with you.” Michael reminded her what they need to expect when they reach the farm.

“That’s good, at least what happened to us won’t happen again. I just don’t understand how people’s morality would have degenerated this fast and become savages.” Mary clenched her fists in anger, but her anger quickly ceased when she started remembering the faces of everyone that died.

Michael shook his head and responded. “That’s just human nature. There’s just people out there who tend to adapt faster than the rest with the changing times.”

He turned towards her sons and the rest, who were just waiting for Mary to finish things up with him. “Go. Your people look eager to leave. Don’t keep them waiting.”

Mary also turned towards her people. “Yeah. Hopefully, we’ll be seeing each other again over there.”

Michael let out a chuckle. “We will. Take care on the road, and before I forget, I just want to remind you that if you encounter a woman with a butterfly tattoo below her left eye while passing through the city. Do not trust them and I expect you to do what’s right if the situation calls for it.”

“They escaped from you?” After what he did yesterday, Mary was a little surprised to hear that there were actually people who escaped from this guy.

“Tsk! No, I let them get away after killing a couple of their group. I kinda regret letting them escape now after witnessing what happened to your community yesterday. Anyway, just keep an eye on them if you encounter them on the road.” Michael clicked his tongue and once again reminded her.

“Alright. I understand. You be careful out there too.”

Mary smiled and gave him one final nod before joining up with the others. They waved their goodbyes at Michael before making their way up the hill to where they parked their cars.

A short moment later, they finally disappeared from his sights.

MIchael lowered his hand down and muttered. “I hope those people do not cause trouble once they get there. I’d hate to know that they once suffered a beating from Daryl’s hands.”

Remembering Daryl’s ruthlessness to his enemies, Michael let out a chuckle as he too departed from the train station.

*****

Earlier this morning at the farm, while the group is preparing for today with breakfast.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Glenn is contemplating if what he's about to do is right. He looked over to the farmhouse where Maggie is standing on the terrace watching them with her arms crossed, who shook her head at him.

He turned towards Dale, who instead encouraged him with a nod.

Glenn hesitated for a moment before he immediately stood up and slowly made his way in the middle of the camp and stopped beside the big tent with his hands inside his pocket.

“Umm guys, I have something to say.” Glenn addressed them with stiff shoulders out of nervousness.

Most turned towards him while some continued eating while Carol kept cooking.

“So..uhhh..the barn is full of walkers.”

Everyone paused, anyone who was either chewing and drinking stopped and stared at him in shock and disbelief.

Rick’s gaze intensified while Andrea responded with a; “What?”

“I accidentally learned of this a couple of nights ago when I went up the barn to meet with Maggie. I promised to keep it a secret, but the guilt of keeping such a dangerous secret is eating me. I don’t want anything bad to happen first before I come out with this secret.” Glenn explained everything in one go that he ran out of air at the end of it.

Andrea immediately stood up and placed her pistol back in its holster. She hastily made her way to the barn with Rick quickly following after her with Alex and the crew just behind them, and the rest soon quickly followed, a couple of them armed.

On the other hand, Maggie seeing their following actions got annoyed and walked back inside the house.

“Oh shit, I think there’s several of those things inside.” Looking through the crack in between the walls, Alex swallowed nervously before hastily backing away.

Andrea looked at Rick. “So, should we open it up and kill those things? There’s a lot of us here, I’m sure we won’t have a hard time dealing with those things inside.”

Rick snapped his head towards her. “No, we’re not doing that. We’re guests here. I’m already having a hard time convincing Hershel to let us stay. We should not antagonize him even more by poking our noses into his business.”

“But now that we know, we can’t just act today did not happen. No one would feel safe at night knowing there’s a timebomb beside their bed.” Jill argued with her arms crossed.

“She’s right, man. We either go in there or we pack up and leave this place. The prison is still up for grabs.” Alex suggested while staring intently at the barn.

“Shut up, man.” Daryl glared at him. Though it's clear from his following movements that he’s eager to take out those walkers inside.

Alex remained silent and didn’t say anything. He retreated and stood in between his two friends.

“You really need to shut up sometimes.” Oscar said in an almost whisper.

“Hey, I’m just trying to offer ideas.” Alex argued.

Oscar just shook his head and resumed watching the events unfolding before their eyes in silence.

“Look, I know everyone is uncomfortable right now, but give me the chance to have a word with Hershel, alright? Let me figure this out with him today. We’ll discuss our next course of action early tomorrow.”

Everyone looked at each other before they came to a silent agreement moments later.

“Alright. We’ll leave this to you, Rick.“ Jacqui showed her support.

“As long as the barn is secure, we don’t mind another day.”

Rick looked at everyone and gave them a nod. “Thank you.”

“Just until tomorrow, Rick. I hope Hershel does the right thing.” Andrea also gave him the chance to discuss this through diplomacy.

“If I might add, Hershel sees those things in there as people. Sick people. His wife, his..step-son, and his neighbors.” Dale finally had the chance to butt in and reveal what he learned the other day.

“You knew about this?” Amy stared at him with a tinge of annoyance.

He looked at her with and with a slight shrug. “Yeah, I talked to him yesterday about this. I wanted to tell you guys sooner, but Glenn wanted to be the one to do it.”

“Damn, I think this is more troublesome than we thought.” Alex remarked with his arms crossed.

Everyone turned to look at him, “What? You know I’m right. It’s clear that old man has a few screws loose in his head if he thinks those man-eaters are sick people.”

His words certainly made an impact as the rest also realized the underlying problem in this.

“I’ll take care of this. Everyone should head back and continue our plans for today.”

Everyone slowly left the area under Rick’s orders, while he and Andrea remained standing there.

“You know how dangerous these things are, Rick. I hope you’ll be able to come to an agreement as soon as possible with Hershel before something unfortunate happens.” Andrea reminded him.

Rick sighed while looking at the ground before raising his head to meet her gaze. “I know. Just give me a day, alright?”

Andrea gave him a nod and also left, leaving Rick to gaze at the barn with complicated emotions in his eyes.

Following the events earlier this morning, Glenn was suffering the consequences of his actions from Maggie who smashed an egg on his head.

“Dammit.”

On the other hand, Daryl, Otis, Andrea and a few others are in a pick-up truck they borrowed from the farm and were making their way towards an industrial warehouse that Otis knows.

Daryl looked at Andrea and shook her head at him when she realized that Daryl wanted to ask Otis about the walkers inside the barn.

“Are we really building a wall around the farm?” Otis still couldn’t believe it after hearing their plans today.

“Yeah, to make the farm safer from walkers and possibly from people…with hostile intentions towards us.” Andrea responded while watching the passing scenery through the window.

“Well, if you didn’t know. I’m one of the people who built the fences around here. So, I have some experience in building barriers.” Otis boasted with a smile on his face.

Daryl chuckled. “That’s good to hear, man.”

“I know. Let’s build a sturdy wall and it’s going to be nice since we’d finally free our minds from the worries of the undead, especially at night.”