"well, all the little promises, they don't mean much." - arctic monkeys

the group is led out of the building, walking along the main streets of terminus. salem takes in the scene around her, watching the residents busy themselves with various tasks—cooking over open fires, sewing clothes, trading goods. it almost seems normal, but nothing feels normal anymore.

"hi," a woman says as the group approaches what looks like the town square. "heard you came in the back door. smart." she adds, turning over some type of meat on the grill. the smell fills the air, but instead of making salem hungry, it only makes her stomach churn.

"hey, mary, would you fix each of these folks a plate?" alex calls over to her, and mary smiles, wide and unsettling. salem and carl exchange a glance, both sensing something off. jack stays close beside salem, his eyes never leaving mary's hands as she cooks.

"why do you do it? why do you let people in?" michonne asks alex, her tone curious but cautious. salem notices rick's eyes scanning the area, as if looking for something—or someone. she follows his gaze and sees it—her uncle's orange bag. the same one glenn carried at the prison. her heart skips a beat, and she lightly tugs on jack's shirt. he looks over, his face hardening as he notices it too.

"the more people become a part of us, the stronger we get. that's why we put up those signs." alex explains, casually taking a plate of the mystery meat for himself. but salem and jack aren't listening. they're scanning the crowd, picking out more familiar items—the prison's riot gear on one person, maggie's poncho on another. things that should have been lost with the prison's fall, not here, not on strangers.

"here." alex says, handing carl a plate. salem's eyes narrow as she studies alex, noticing a small pocket watch hanging from his pocket—the same watch that hershel always carried. the image of hershel's last moments flashes through her mind, the way the watch had dangled from his pocket as his head rolled from his shoulders. that watch had found its way to glenn, and now here it was, hanging from alex's pocket like it meant nothing.

carl picks up a piece of the meat, but salem slaps it out of his hand, rick then pulls out his gun shoving it into alex's face. everything else happens in a blur as the others follow suit, drawing their weapons. "where the hell did you get this?" rick demands, pulling the watch from alex's pocket and pressing his gun to the man's head. the tension in the air is palpable, and salem's pulse races as she realizes the gravity of what she's just set in motion. around them, more guns are drawn, all aimed at her and her group.

"you want answers? you want anything else? you get 'em when you put the gun down." alex says, his voice shaking. "i see your man on the roof with the sniper. how good is his aim? where'd you get the watch?" rick repeats, his voice hard as steel. alex squirms in rick's grip, clearly out of his depth. these people aren't used to confrontation, but they want something, and salem has a sinking feeling they've walked right into a trap.

"don't do anything! i have this! put it down!" alex shouts up to the sniper, and the man on the roof lowers his gun, but it doesn't make salem feel any safer. "you want to listen to me. there are a lot of us." alex trembles, trying to regain control of the situation. "where did you get the watch?" rick demands again, his patience wearing thin. "i got it off a dead one. i didn't think he'd need it." alex replies, his voice barely above a whisper. salem's mind races—glenn could have died wearing that watch, and she might have just thrown away their one chance at a safe place because of it. "what about the riot gear, the poncho?" rick presses.

"got the riot gear off a dead cop. found the poncho on the clothesline." another voice chimes in, and gareth steps out of the shadows, his presence sending a chill down salem's spine. she turns her gun on him, her hands trembling slightly. "gareth, we can wait." alex mutters, his fear palpable. "shut up, alex." gareth replies, his voice cold, calculated. "you talk to me." rick says, shifting his focus to gareth. "what's there left to say? you don't trust us anymore." gareth says, his hands folded in front of him as if this is just another day.

alex cries out for gareth's help as rick tightens his grip, the gun pressed harder against alex's temple. "rick, what do you want?" gareth asks, almost calmly, like he's in control now. "where are our people?" rick asks, the realization hitting him and salem at the same time. "you didn't answer the question." gareth says, but rick isn't backing down. he turns, dragging alex with him, and that's when it happens—gunfire erupts, the sound deafening as people start running in every direction.

"salem!" jack shouts, and she follows him, her gun ready as they move together, instinctively falling back into survival mode. everything around her is chaos, bullets flying, people screaming, but for a moment, it's just her and jack, moving as one. suddenly, carl appears at her side, firing at a man who was rushing toward her, and salem barely has time to process it. they huddle together, the group forming a tight circle, moving as a single unit toward an alley. more gunshots ring out, but the bullets hit the ground in front of them, not at them. salem's mind races—do these people have terrible aim, or is something else going on?

as they run, salem can't shake the growing unease in her chest. everything about this place is wrong, and she's terrified that her instincts are right—that terminus isn't a refuge but a trap. she's scared, but more than anything, she's tired. tired of running, tired of fighting, tired of never knowing if they'll see another sunrise.

daryl shouts, leading the group in a different direction. salem sticks close behind jack, running as fast as her legs can carry her. the bullets cut them off again, kicking up dust that stings salem's eyes and fills her lungs. they follow rick into a nearby building, but the man inside quickly tries to shut the garage door, trapping them inside as it slams shut behind them.

"over there!" michonne points to a gate on the far side of the room. the group sprints to it, but when they rattle the bars, they realize it's nailed to the wall, an impossible escape route. jack spots another opening across the room, a door marked with a giant 'a'. without hesitation, they rush through it, finding themselves back outside, scanning the lot for any sign of their pursuers.

gunfire still echoes behind them as they weave through the maze of storage containers. salem's ears pick up the sound of shouting in the distance, a girl's voice crying out for help. more voices join in, accompanied by banging from inside one of the containers. the pleas for help tug at salem's heart, but they don't stop running, leaving the desperate voices behind as they push forward.

they burst into another building, and michonne throws open a door, revealing a strange room filled with candles. "what the fuck is this place?" jack grunts, his voice low and tense. "these people... i don't think they're trying to kill us." michonne says, her brow furrowed in thought. "no, they were aiming at our feet," rick responds, the pieces of the puzzle starting to come together in his mind. he points to an open door. "there."

they start to walk toward it, but before they can reach the exit, the door slams shut. another door stays open as they rush through, bringing them back outside into the chaos of gunfire. they reach a dead end, face-to-face with a line of armed men. the group stops running, and the bullets cease as they all catch their breath, staring across the line of hostile faces. "drop your weapons!" a man shouts, his voice commanding. salem glances around, realizing all the guns are now pointed directly at her.

"don't make me kill her!" another man yells, his tone menacing. reluctantly, the group begins to set their weapons down. salem drops her gun to the ground but takes solace in the knife hidden in her shoe. "ringleader, go to your left. the train car, go," gareth's voice booms from atop a nearby roof. "you do what we say, the kids go with you. anything else, they die, and you go in there anyway."

rick looks over at salem and carl, the protective instinct in his eyes are unmistakable. jack hovers over them, his stance shielding them from any potential threat. with a nod from jack, rick gives in, walking toward the train car. "now the archer." gareth instructs, and daryl glares up at him, his expression seething with defiance before he follows rick. "now the big brother." gareth orders, and salem's heart skips a beat as she looks up at jack. he meets her gaze for a moment before turning to follow daryl.

"samauri, go." gareth adds, and michonne hesitates, glancing back at salem and carl before moving toward the others. "stand at the door. ringleader, archer, big brother, samurai, in that order." gareth instructs as the group lines up, their eyes locked on salem and carl. they stare back, the fear in their eyes barely masked by the determination to survive. "my kids!" rick shouts, his voice filled with desperation. "go, twerps." gareth sneers, and salem and carl quickly hurry toward the rest of the group. "ringleader, open the door and go in." gareth commands.

"i'll go in with them." rick retorts, but gareth's voice rises in anger. "don't make us kill them now." rick scoffs, then looks over at salem and carl one last time before opening the door and stepping inside. daryl, jack, and michonne follow, with salem and carl bringing up the rear. they slowly creep up the steps into the dark train car, and as soon as they're inside, the door slams shut behind them, plunging them into darkness.

a heavy thud echoes through the train car, causing everyone to tense up. salem squints, trying to make out shapes in the dim light. she finally sees figures moving at the back of the car, and as her eyes adjust, she recognizes glenn stepping forward, followed by maggie, sasha, bob, and a few others she doesn't recognize. "rick?" glenn's voice is full of disbelief. "you're here." "you're here." rick replies, his voice tight with relief and anger. salem smiles, grateful that she trusted her instincts.

rick's eyes scan the group, noticing the unfamiliar faces. "they're our friends. they helped save us." maggie explains. "yeah. now they're friends of ours." daryl grumbles. "for however long that'll be." a man says from the back, his bright red hair and thick mustache standing out in the dim light. "no. they're gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out." rick says, his voice filled with quiet confidence as he turns to peer through a crack in the door. "find out what?" the redhead asks, curiosity piqued.

"they're fucking with the wrong people." rick replies, turning to face the group, his expression hard and resolute. the defiance in his eyes gives salem a glimmer of hope, even in the darkness of the train car.