THE GROUP HAD been in the train car for a little over an hour. But they weren't going to accept their fate just yet and used anything on their person or in the space to craft some sort of weapon in case the Termites entered.

As they did, they talked amongst one another, detailing what each of them went through before reuniting.

Abraham explained. "They seemed nice enough, but I was ready to go. We just got here, but, damn, it was time to go. When I told them about DC, a wink and a nod from the head asshole in charge, they pulled their guns and it was right back to our regularly scheduled shitstorm."

"Before they put you in here, you didn't see Tyreese?" Sasha asked.

"No." Michonne replied.

"Good."

"They didn't make it." Y/N told Glenn about Liliana and AJ. "Room where he was was full of blood and she died right in front of me."

"I'm so sorry." He apologized.

Y/N nodded. "Blake was finally dead and I got outta there with Mika. That's all that matters now."

"Black car with a white cross painted on it." Ramon said. "I tried to follow it. I tried."

"But she's alive?" Maggie asked.

"She's alive."

Daryl chimed in. "Once we're outta here, we'll get her back."

They all heard chatting outside the train car. Daryl peeked through a gap in the door and saw some of them coming.

"All right, got four of them pricks coming our way."

Rick walked over toward the door. "Y'all know what to do. Go for their eyes first. Then their throats."

The group gathered in front of the door holding their respective makeshift weapons. Mika had a sharp piece of wood in case she needed to wound someone about to hurt her. Y/N had a belt loop in hand so he can choke one of the Termites.

"Put your backs to the walls on either side of the car now!" A man spoke from outside.

They all just waited for the door to open so they can attack. Suddenly, there were sounds of footsteps coming from the top of the train car. A hatch opened above them and a cylinder object dropped by their feet.

The former army sergeant knew exactly what it was.

"Move!" Abraham shouted.

BOOM!

The smoke grenade exploded and sent most of them back. Y/N coughed and tried to open his eyes but he was still disoriented from the initial flash. Amidst all the chaos, his mind was set on finding Mika.

"Mika!" He exclaimed. "Mika!"

Suddenly, men in gas masks came in. One of them spotted Y/N and punched him in the stomach. They immediately dragged him out and threw him to the floor, where they had also put Rick, Glenn, Daryl, Ramon, and Bob.

The man who assaulted him stood over Y/N. As he took off his mask, the nine-year-old had run out of the smokescreen and stabbed the man in the leg with the wood shard. He groaned in pain before turning around and backhanding the girl, sending her to the floor.

"Get her back inside!" He shouted at another man.

They picked her up and started to put her back into the train car. Y/N witnessed it all happen and grit his teeth.

"You touch her again I'll—"

Y/N was shut up with a kick to the face. Disoriented again, they brought him to his feet and escorted him and the rest toward their warehouse.

His vision was blurry as they brought them inside. The sounds of a buzzing saw filled the room. Y/N was brought before a steel feeding trough and was knelt beside Rick and Daryl. Bob was on the end to Rick's right and Ramon was on Daryl's left. Glenn was between Ramon and another Terminus prisoner.

They all had gags in their mouths. A couple of Termites stood behind them sharpening his blades and one even had a steel bat. Rick knelt there, tilting his head as he tried to process the entire situation.

"All right." One of the Termites spoke.

He followed the one with that bat to the end of the trough, where a blonde-haired man knelt. He panted in fear...but was quickly quieted with a hard hit to the back of the head. It was followed by his throat being slit.

The screams of the other prisoners were muffled by their gags. Blood spilled out of the dead man's neck and went down the feeding trough. Y/N kept looking down...watching the blood go down the drain.

The Termites moved on to the black man who was beside the blonde guy. They hit him with the bat and quickly slit his throat too. They did the same to the next man.

Gareth walked in with a notebook in hand. He looked at the butchers behind the prisoners.

"Hey, guys. What were your shot counts?"

"Thirty-eight." The man replied and hit the other man with the bat, where his throat was also slit.

With the strangers all dead...the next man was going to be Glenn. Gareth wrote the number he said into the book. The man went behind Glenn and was about to swing the bat at him. Glenn gritted his teeth and was ready to accept his fate.

"Hey!" Gareth's shout stopped him. He spoke to the other butcher. "Your shot count?"

"Crap, man. I'm sorry. It was my first roundup."

"After you are done here, go back to your point and count the shells. Kaylee won't be gathering them until tomorrow."

Gareth went back to his book. He heard Bob's muffled shouts toward him.

"Hey! Hey, let me talk to you."

The Termite ignored him, walking up and eyeing both the still-living prisoners and the dead ones.

"Six from A and four from D, right?"

"Yeah." The butcher confirmed.

"Hey, let me talk to you for a minute." Bob tried again. "Let me talk to you for a minute."

Gareth rolled his eyes. He removed Bob's gag.

"What?" He asked.

"Don't do this." Bob pleaded. "We can fix this."

"No, you can't."

"You don't have to do this! We told you there's a way out of all this. You just have to take a chance."

Bob wasn't interested in what the man had to say. He kept writing in his book but Bob kept speaking.

"We have a man who knows how to stop it. He has a cure. We just have to get him to Washington. You don't have to do this, man. We can put the world back to how it was."

"Can't go back, Bob."

Gareth reached over and put the gag over his mouth again. Bob kept exclaiming despite his pleads now being muffled.

"We can! You don't have to do this!"

Gareth moved on to Rick. He knelt in front of him across the feeding trough and removed his gag. Rick just stared back at the Termite.

"We saw you go into the woods with a bag and come out without it." Gareth said. "Had to pull my spotters back before we could go look for it. What was in it?"

Rick didn't respond. Beside him, Y/N glared at Gareth and didn't utter a word either. Gareth shrugged.

"You did it, right? In case things went bad? Smart. Still, we'll find it. But it's too dangerous to go out there right now."

Gareth pulled out his knife and grabbed Y/N's head, bringing it down and putting the tip of the blade near his eye. Y/N stayed calmed and composed despite the situation he was put in.

"What was in it?" Gareth asked Rick again. "I'm curious. And it was a big bag."

Rick continued staring daggers at Gareth, still not choosing to answer.

"You really gonna let me do this?"

"Well, let me take you out there." Rick finally spoke. "I'll show you."

"Not gonna happen." Gareth replied and brought the knife closer to Y/N's eye. "This might."

"There's guns in it." Rick relented. "AK-47...44 Magnum. Automatic weapons. Nightscope. There's a compound bow and a machete with a red handle...that's what I'm gonna use to kill you."

Gareth stared back at Rick. In reality, he was taken aback by the man's threat despite being bound and on the brink of death. The Termite chuckled, letting go of Y/N and sheathing his knife. He also put the gag back on Rick.

"Thanks."

Before he can walk away, Y/N tried speaking with his gag on. Gareth looked at him for a moment before taking his off next.

"What do you what?" He asked rather annoyed.

The young man let out an exhale. "Just wanted to say, the next time you touch me...I'll cut that arm off and stick it up your ass."

The Termite simply smiled. Y/N kept speaking.

"All of you...you'll get what's coming to you. That's what happens to people like y'all in the end. Someone out there will take you all out...and that's only if we don't get out of this and do it ourselves."

Gareth was yet again taken aback by the venom in his prisoner's tone. Both Rick and Y/N still believed they could kill him despite being in the position they were in. He brushed off the threat and put the gag back on him.

"Good talk."

He pat Y/N's shoulders and walked away, speaking to the butchers before leaving the room.

"You have two hours to get them on the driers. I'm gonna go back to public face. Now's the time we can get messy, but we need to dial it all in by sundown."

"Got it."

"Yes, sir."

Before Gareth could leave, they heard the faint sound of gunshots outside.

Bang!

Bang!

Gareth took out his radio and spoke into it. "Hey, Chuck?"

The man with the bat was ready to hit Glenn, but another gunshot caught their attention.

Bang!

They all looked around. Suddenly, a large explosion from outside shook the warehouse.

BOOM!

Rick, Daryl, and Ramon fell on their sides while Glenn and Y/N still knelt over the trough. The butchers were on the floor as well as Gareth. A man spoke through his radio.

"Man, what the hell was that? Do you copy?"

Gareth got up and ignored the call. He spoke to the butchers who also got to their feet.

"You stay here."

"Gareth, these guys aren't going anywhere—"

"Stay here until I know what's happening!" He shouted back before leaving the warehouse.

The men looked at each other. Unbeknownst to them, Rick was cutting his binds with a shard of wood he had hidden on his person.

"So we just stay here?"

"We got a job to do."

His colleague could hear the gunshots outside and could smell smoke. He didn't want to stay there and feared for his life.

"The hell we doing here? The whole place could be going up."

"You went on one roundup and you blew protocol. We don't deal with security. That ain't our job."

The man scoffed and walked away. The butcher with the bat kept calling out.

"Hey, look at me."

The man turned around. "What?"

At that moment, the man with the bat was quickly attacked by Rick.

SULK!

He stabbed him in the neck with the wooden shard and let his body fall to the floor. The other butcher was shocked and put his hands up.

"No, no, no, no!"

Rick went up to him and stabbed him in the throat despite his pleas. He moved to his stomach and stabbed him there too.

SULK!

SULK!

"Rick!" Y/N called out through his gag.

He went to his friend and cut Y/N's binds first before moving on to the rest.

"If they got problems, we got a chance." Rick told them.

"It sounded like a bomb." Glenn said.

"Sounds like a damn war." Daryl chimed in.

Ramon got up and saw blades on the table near them. "Got something right here."

Y/N went up and immediately grabbed a machete. Bob got up and removed his gag.

"What the hell are these people?" He asked.

"They're not people." Y/N replied. "And they shouldn't be treated as 'em."

Ramon was about to stab one of the dead butchers in the head with a knife, but Rick stopped him.

"Don't. Let him turn."

They moved out of the room and down a hallway trying to find an exit. The men entered another room, where they saw dozens of sharp tools and metal tables. What caught their eyes were what looked like skinned torsos on meat hooks. Y/N immediately knew what kind of folk they were.

"Fucking cannibals." He muttered.

"Cross any of these people, you kill them." Rick said. "Don't hesitate. They won't."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Ramon replied as he picked up a sickle.

Glenn, Bob, and Daryl got a weapon themselves. They all then made it to a doorway and peeked out, seeing a few walkers at a shipping container. They can hear shouts from someone inside.

"If we run, we can get by them." Rick said. "They're distracted."

Glenn kept his eyes on the container. "We got to let those people out."

Y/N disagreed since his sole focus was getting back to their group and leaving.

"We have to take this chance, Glenn."

"We can't just leave them here. We can still help." He butted. "That's still who we are. It's gotta be."

Y/N glanced at Rick, who ultimately had nothing for a rebuttal. The young man decided to do the good thing and help the prisoners like Glenn proposed.

They ran out and got the attention of the walkers. The experienced survivors took them all out with ease and precision.

WHACK!

SULK!

SLASH!

Glenn quickly went over and pried the shipping container door open. A dirtied and scruffy-haired man immediately ran out and grabbed Glenn, yelling hysterically.

"We're the same! We're them!"

Y/N pulled the man off of Glenn. He quickly grabbed Y/N next.

"We're the same..." He laughed.

"Get off!" Y/N exclaimed and shoved him away.

The man kept laughing as he stumbled back, but a walker came in and took him down before quickly devouring him. Glenn put the walker down afterward and Daryl pulled him back, taking cover behind the container. Several walkers were in the area going toward the sound of gunfire.

"We gotta double back." Bob recommended.

"A is that way." Rick replied. "We go back, we don't know where we are."

"We don't really have a choice, do we?" Daryl asked.

There was a flurry of gunfire as the walkers ahead were quickly dispatched.

BRAKAKAKA!

BRAKA! BRAKA!

BRAKAKAKAKA!

Y/N glanced at the rest before he started to walk away. "Wait here."

"Y/N?" Ramon called out. "The fuck?"

The young man quickly went behind a car, looking at the detached side mirror that was on the floor. He can see several armed Termites coming and firing at the walkers. He waited for them to pass by.

Suddenly, a walker came behind Y/N and was about to attack, but Daryl arrived and took it down with the sharpened pipe he had. The two shared a nod before Y/N looked back at the scene ahead.

Five Termites passed by, firing at the incoming walkers. He saw one alone and lagging behind, and that's who he knew he had to take down. The young man looked down, seeing a rock on the ground. He held it for a moment before getting out of cover.

Using his pitching arm, he launched the rock straight at the man's temple. He didn't even see it coming and was quickly knocked out. Y/N then ran over and picked up the man's AK-47, where he then fired at the several Termites in front of him.

With them all down, Y/N bent down and picked up the unconscious man's handgun. He got up and checked the ammo. As he was doing so, the man was starting to wake up. He groaned as he started opening his eyes.

BANG!

Y/N immediately put a bullet between his eyes and walked away, with Daryl joining him as they ran back to the group. The screams of the Termites Y/N shot down could be heard as the injured people were being devoured by the walkers.

Now they know what it's like to be eaten...

The men made it back to the train car. Y/N, Daryl, Ramon, Glenn and Bob covered Rick while he went to free the group. He opened the doors and they were all waiting.

"Come on! Fight to the fence!" Rick exclaimed as he fired the assault rifle Y/N gave him.

Y/N had picked up another rifle and took a couple of walkers down with it. Daryl ushered the group out of the train car. Y/N turned and saw Mika come out and she quickly went up to him.

"Mika!"

He held her head. They only shared a nod before Y/N called out to the rest of the group.

"Let's go! Come on!"

They all ran toward the fence. Abraham decapitated a walker with his makeshift weapon. Maggie ran close behind and stabbed one with a wooden shard. Tara took one down with her weapon.

SLASH!

SULK!

WHACK!

Daryl ran ahead and dispatched two walkers with the pipe he had. Rosita killed one with her makeshift claws she crafted in the train car.

SULK!

WHACK!

SLASH!

Sasha picked up a pistol and shot a walker about to attack Eugene. Rick and Y/N kept firing at the horde behind them.

GRATATATA!

BRAKAKAKA!

GRATA! GRATA!

Rosita made it to the fence and took another walker down. She looked up and saw the barbed wire on the top.

"Shit." She exhaled, before quickly taking off her jacket and draping it over the wire. She called out to the rest. "Hop over!"

"Move! Move!" Abraham shouted.

As they all started going over the fence, Y/N and Rick fired at the walkers. Suddenly, Gareth and a couple of other Termites ran onto the rooftop and spotted the group. Rick quickly shot at them, hitting Gareth in the shoulder and forcing the rest to flee.

BRAKAKA!

"Let's go!" Abraham called out to them.

Rick and Y/N joined the group. Daryl hopped over the fence and then Rick did so. Abraham waited for Y/N to go but the young was waiting for him to go first.

"Go!" Y/N exclaimed.

"You go!" Abraham retorted.

"Now's not the time to be a gentleman! Move your ass!"

The redhead grumbled and did as told. Y/N quickly followed, hopping over and landing on his side. Abraham was there and offered his hand.

"Guess it's in my nature."

Y/N chuckled and allowed himself to be helped up. Before Y/N followed Abe, he looked back and saw the jacket. Knowing it belonged to one of the new group members, he took it down from the fence. He then followed Abraham and ran into the woods.

The group followed Rick through the woods. Y/N still held the jacket he had taken from the fence. Upon looking at the people, he noticed one of the women only wearing a tank top. It was Rosita, and he remembered her having the jacket he currently had in his possession.

He went up to her with Mika following. Y/N held out the jacket.

"Thought you'd miss this."

She glanced at it before letting out a stifled laugh. Rosita took it from him.

"With how cold it sometimes gets, I would've." She replied. "Thanks."

"Nice thinking with that though. Saved a lot of us from being cut up on that barbed wire."

Rosita simply nodded. She then looked down at Mika, only having seen her for a brief time during their time in the train car, and smiled. The blonde girl smiled back.

"Y/N!" Rick called out from the front.

The young man jogged to their leader. Recognizing the area, he knew that Rick wanted to know where they buried the bag of weapons. Y/N examined the dirt and saw the marked spot.

"Here."

Y/N moved some dirt aside and took out the hidden shovel. He tossed it to Rick and he immediately began to dig.

"The hell we still around here for?" Abraham asked.

"Guns, some supplies." Rick replied. "Go along the fences. Use the rifles. Take out the rest of 'em."

"What?" Bob questioned.

Y/N agreed with Rick's plan. He looked at the confused Bob and spoke.

"Like I said, they're not people. They don't get to live."

"Look, we got out. It's over." Glenn told them.

Rick grabbed his revolver from the bag and checked the cylinder. He grabbed another pistol and handed it to Y/N before turning to Glenn.

"It's not over till they're all dead."

"The hell it isn't." Rosita butted. "That place is on fire. Full of walkers."

"I'm not dickin' around with this crap. We just made it out." Abraham said.

Maggie also disagreed with Rick and Y/N's plan. "We just made it out. They'll run or die."

Y/N stepped forward. "We cannot take that chance. They run? Sure. Only for them to regroup and run into us again."

"That's a big if." Bob said. "And we can't just keep fighting because of an if—"

"We can't keep them out there!" Y/N shot back, his shout surprising the group. "I can't give them that chance! Not anymore!"

There was a brief quiet after his exclamation. Rick, Daryl, Ramon, Michonne, Mika, and Carl were the only ones that understood why he was so adamant about taking out the Termites since their experience with the Claimers was so recent.

Y/N looked at each person, ultimately landing on Mika. Behind her was another person, and he quickly realized it was his father, who was smirking back at him with his arms crossed. Y/N let out an exhale and rubbed his face, where his father vanished after reopening his eyes.

"Sorry...sorry." Y/N began, regretting his outburst. "I just..."

There were footsteps behind him. Rick and Daryl also heard them and turned around. They saw a familiar face...wearing dirtied and stained clothes with a rifle and crossbow by her hip. It was Carol...and Daryl immediately ran up to embrace his friend.

Everyone else was shocked at her arrival. Daryl embraced Carol for a while before the woman parted, still smiling at the redneck. Mika then immediately ran to Carol, also in tears that one of her mother figures from back at the prison were still alive.

"Oh, my God." Carol was taken aback by the sight of Mika and hugged her. "Honey."

The blonde girl didn't say a word and kept hugging her tightly. Carol rubbed Mika's back. After what had happened with Lizzie a couple of days ago, she was happy to see that her sister was still around.

Rick went up to Carol, the woman he exiled a mere week ago, and could barely muster words. Carol and Mika parted and Rick finally spoke.

"Did—Did you do that?" He asked about the explosion and walker attack on Terminus.

Carol didn't even nod, but her expression said it all. Rick immediately embraced the woman, grateful that her actions allowed his family to live another day.

She broke away and spoke to Rick. "You have to come with me."

Carol lead them to a shack in the middle of the woods. As they walked down the path, they could see Tyreese come out with Judith in his arms. Rick and Carl immediately dropped their things and ran toward him. Sasha did as well, wanting to reunite with her brother.

Y/N stood there, softly smiling at the sight of the reunited families. Michonne and Mika were beside the young man, also with a grin on their faces. Mika, knowing that he was probably remembering AJ, got close and hugged Y/N. The young man appreciated the act and rubbed her shoulder.

After a moment, Y/N went up to Tyreese. He clasped his hand and shared a nod, glad to see his close friend alive and well. Before Y/N could walk back, Carl spoke.

"Y/N."

He turned to him. The boy looked at his father and then his sister.

"She'd like to see you."

Y/N was taken aback by his statement. He stood there for a moment before putting down his gun and going up to them, albeit rather slowly. Rick, with reddened eyes from his crying before, carefully handed the baby to Y/N.

He held Judith, who was calm and cool. Y/N smiled at the baby, and with each passing second, would remember the times with his own infant. He kept smiling as tears started welling in his eyes and hugged Judith.

The rest of the group looked on, with Rosita also softly smiling at the sight of Y/N holding the baby. Carl and Rick watched too as he held Judith. Carl, understanding that Y/N was a father too, wanted him to have a moment with his baby sister.

Their shared experience on the road post-prison brought them closer. With Liliana and AJ gone, Y/N was ready to run with Rick, Carl, Mika, Michonne, Daryl, and Ramon from then on. They would be his family, and with Rick and Carl giving Y/N that moment with Judith...it served as reassurance that they were exactly that.

They decided to move as far away from the burning Terminus as possible. Rick's bloodlust had dampened upon reuniting with Judith and prioritized her safety over trying to finish off the Termites. Y/N on the other hand still wanted to take them all out.

They were at the tail end of the group as they walked down the tracks. Rick and Y/N spoke about their plan from before.

"We gotta go back, Rick."

"Fire's still burning."

"That doesn't make a difference."

Rick huffed. Y/N continued.

"You said so, Rick. These people don't deserve to be alive. We have to act before they can."

"They're beat. And we have the numbers now if a couple of stragglers run into us. Besides, we're moving north...away from that damn place. They won't know where we are."

Y/N let out an exhale as he kept looking at Rick. The former sheriff's deputy spoke again.

"Trust me, Y/N. Do you trust me, brother?"

After a second, Y/N nodded. Like he said back at the prison before the Governor's first attack, there was no other person he'd follow than Rick Grimes.

"Yeah. Of course, man." Y/N replied.

He thought about it for a moment, about how he wanted to take out the Terminus members. His bloodlust was dictating his thought process and wanted to act on his wrath. Those were things his father would've wanted him to do right then and there...to go back and kill them all before they can hurt him and his friends.

Y/N snapped out of it after Rick pat his shoulder. The young man nodded again and walked off, leaving Rick by the Terminus sign. He took out a rag and covered it in mud, then smeared it over the words on the sign as well as putting his own writing.

Rick looked at it before following his group into the woods.