The day before the events in Terminus.

Two hours before dusk.

Apart from finding out that his best friend tried to kill him, Rick had also learned of another matter that thoroughly pissed him off.

Rick went somewhere and found Lori doing something along the fences.

“Is..is there something you need to tell me?”

Lori stood up when she spotted Rick and immediately felt that something was about to happen.

She stared for a second before finally opening her mouth. “I’m pregnant.”

“Are you?” Rick felt doubtful while showing her the packs of abortion pills on his hands.

“I threw them up.” Lori didn’t know why, but she was feeling incredibly calm right now.

Rick looked at her then turned around and started pacing back and forth for a moment before turning around to look at his wife.

“You can yell if you want. You can scream if you have to, but please talk to me.” she pleaded.

Rick gritted his teeth and came face to face with her. “How long have you known?”

“Does it matter?”

Rick turned his head away and looked at the ground. “Days? Weeks? And you didn’t even tell me?”

“I’m telling you now.” Lori softly responded.

“No, if it wasn’t for today’s events, then I wouldn’t have known about this.” Rick said through gritted teeth. “And I found these. So Glen must have known it first, right?”

“...”

“So, instead of coming to me, you sent him to get pills?”

Lori frantically started explaining while shaking her head. “I’m sorry. I panicked when you mentioned that we have no walls and no roof–”

“DO NOT..put this on me!” In anger, Rick cut her off and yelled at her. “You tear into me for keeping secrets when you’re holding on to this?”

“Then do you want me to bring a baby into this world?!” Lori also raised her voice. “To live a short, cruel life? Where everyday, is survival? If it wasn’t for Michael, we wouldn’t even have enough food for the coming months! We would’ve had to constantly ration food from the small supplies we gather and from the games Daryl would bring just to get by every day! Then the added responsibilities of having a baby? No.”

With his hand on his temples, Rick looked at her with a wrathful expression. “How can you think like that?!”

Lori suddenly teared up. “We can’t even protect our son we currently have!”

Rick looked at her and showed her the packs of abortion pills she took on her face and threw it onto the ground. “And this is the solution you found? Killing the baby?!”

Then he pointed at her stomach. “And stop bringing up people not related to this! This is our responsibility!”

“Normally, it would have been! But a baby, with today’s circumstances? It would become everyone’s responsibility! Rick..we..we are not fit to have a baby right now, that’s why I contemplated aborting it! Do you think I wanted to do it?!” Lori raised her voice, almost in tears.

“And yes, I’m bringing up Michael into this. Even when no one says it, everyone acknowledges the fact that Michael is currently the most dependable member of the group. That’s why I never went through with it! Now, I’m not even sure since Michael has left and we don’t even know when he’ll come back or we’d still be here when he returns!”

Lori’s reasoning got Rick speechless and he just stared at her.

“I just..I just don’t know how we’d do this.” Lori started sobbing and turned her back from him.

Rick looked down at the ground and wiped the tear that sneakily trickled down his cheek.

Even though he didn’t want to admit it, he also had to acknowledge that she’s indeed right that Michael was the most reliable member of the group right now. Now, he’s regretting not talking him out of leaving.

“We can make it work. We already have enough food stored. We have enough people to help us. I know you want the baby, I know you do. We can make it work, you only need to believe that.” Rick encouraged her and pleaded with her at the same time..

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Lori shook her head. “Not like this. Not giving birth in a ditch. Not when its life is hanging by a thread from the second it's born. Not when every cry will put Carl and everyone we care about into danger. It’s not right, they don’t deserve it.”

Rick pulled his hair in frustration. “But not giving it a chance is not right either. Why are you deciding its fate by yourself when you clearly said earlier that the baby had become everyone’s responsibility at this point?”

Lori looked at Rick and was rendered speechless as she wasn’t expecting that he would use her words against her.

Unfortunately, it seems like Rick still doesn’t know that one of the main reasons that Lori is also reluctant to have the baby is because she knows that it wasn’t Rick’s. She does not want to give birth to someone that was a result of her cheating.

“We can’t live like this anymore, Lori. I can't live like this.” Rick stared at her for a moment before he continued. “Is there..anything else i should know about?”

Lori stared in silence as her heart suddenly started beating rapidly out of nervousness. “Shane and I.”

She didn’t even need to say anything further since Rick had somewhat already expected it. He does not even look shocked, he already had some suspicions before and it became even more apparent because of the things Dale had told him back then.

“I know. Of course I know. I already had suspicions before.” Though he was already expecting it, her betrayal still pained him since he was just gone for a month at most, but she already tried to move on.

Rick just looked at the ground in daze while Lori watched him.

“I understand. The world went to shit and you thought I was dead. Right?”

They stared at each other for a moment before her expression crumbled when she saw Rick’s expression.

“Ye..yeah.”

*****

Present day.

While eating a sausage for breakfast, the people from Terminus suddenly came over to see him early in the morning.

“Have you guys decided?” Michael looked at them while taking a bite out from the sausage on his hand.

Gareth and Mary looked at the sausage in Michael’s hand and couldn’t help but swallow.

“So?” Michael once again called out.

Mary finally snapped out of it and turned her eyes to Michael. “Yes. We have come to a decision and we want to join your group.”

Michael stared for a moment as he wasn’t expecting those words from her. “What?”

“We..we want to join. Your proposal was good and we would have agreed if you came a couple of days earlier, but those bastards not only tried to make slaves out of us, they also destroyed our garden. It was our main source of food.” Gareth let out a stutter at the start before finally getting his bearings right.

“Container garden to be exact.” Mary added. She looked calmly at Michael while her son fidgeted around with his hands behind his back.

‘Hmm? They’re not planning on doing something stupid right?’ Michael became suspicious.

“Isn’t it better to start over again rather than join another group?”

Gareth was quick to pick up the suspicion on his voice and immediately responded with honesty. “We already can’t protect ourselves. Even if we tried to start over again, the same thing would happen again since we had pretty much advertised this place around the surrounding area for several miles. What happened yesterday, our people wouldn’t be able to take it if it happens to us again. They’d despair and we wouldn’t be able to save ourselves for the second time.”

‘Hmmm. Well, their goal for this place was well meaning to begin with, and I was also able to save them in the nick of time.’ Michael pondered.

Watching Michael deep in thoughts, Mary tried to act calm, but her eyes and the sweat forming on her forehead betrayed her emotions, while Gareth swallowed and hoped that Michael would agree.

Michael moved his eyes towards Gareth. “How many survivors did you people have before?”

“We almost had thirty people before. Now, there’s only ten of us.” Gareth respectfully answered and also saddened when he remembered the faces of those who departed first.

‘Does that mean that they actually killed all the people who managed to find Terminus during the series?’ Michael couldn’t help being surprised.

‘So that’s why they all looked healthy and well fed then. They have never really trusted anyone since the start.’

“...”

Michael stared at the mother and son, and the silence started suffocating them. Especially Gareth, who started sweating buckets.

“Alright, give me a map and I’ll show you where my group is at.” After weighing the pros and cons, Michael came to the conclusion that the Terminus people still had well meaning hearts and hadn't gotten corrupted at this point due to his timely arrival.

Gareth and Mary looked at each other with relieved smiles on their faces.

Mary turned to Michael and smiled widely. “Thank you, we’ll do our best and won’t be a burden once we’re there.”

Michael chuckled and warned them. “I hope you do that. We have one crazy person over there and would not hesitate to rid anyone who’d jeopardize everyone’s safety.”

He wasn’t lying. Daryl would indeed not hesitate to kill them if someone endangers the group.

He’s just a notch down in terms of craziness compared to Shane.

“Alright, move along and get me a map. We don’t have all day.” Michael shooed them away.

“Okay.” Gareth smiled in excitement and responded.

Soon, the mother and son were gone and Michael was by himself again.

After that, Michael returned to his breakfast and waited for them.

A couple of minutes later, Gareth returned with a map, and accompanying him was his brother Alex this time.

“Bring it here.” Michael gestured and took the pen from Gareth.

“I’m not exactly sure of the location, but it’s around here.” Michael encircled a rough location of the farm around Interstate 85.

“Just travel through this interstate until you encounter a gridlock, or if you have very sharp eyes. Then you won’t need to go all the way there and just keep an eye out for the mailbox for the Greene Family. It’s a farm.” Since Michael only knows the way and not the exact address. He could only share how they managed to reach the farm.

Gareth and Alex looked at each other, and Michael saw that. “What?”

“We know that place.”

“You do?”

“Yeah.”

Alex responded with a nod towards Michael’s doubtful gaze.

“That old man there is a famous horse doctor.”

Michael raised an eyebrow. “You mean a veterinarian, right?”

Alex's expression brightened up and pointed at Michael. “Yeah, that one!”

Gareth sighed and shook his head at his brother’s actions.