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GREY KINGSTON
my breath is labored, so is everyone else's, as we stare through the holes of the rusted gate. we made it to the end of the railroad tracks and cut through the woods to where we are now—the gates lining the outskirts of terminus.
each time we exhale into the cold air around us, our breath is visible as a soft, gray smoke.
"it's quiet." i state as my eyes travel along the letters on the brick building that spell terminus.
you can't hear anything from inside the walls—no sounds of guns or walkers, no screams. there's also no sound of talking, or laughter, or life.
"we all spread out," rick whispers. "watch for a while, see what we see, and get ready. we all stay close."
daryl's the first to agree, adjusting his grip on his bow and then heading off alone.
"you wanna stick with me?" rick asks carl.
"it's all right." carl answers without looking at his father and heads off with michonne instead.
rick and i stay at the gate, watching the three of them wander off with dead leaves crunching beneath their feet.
"hey," i place my hand on rick's arm. "he'll be fine. it's just a lot to process, all of it, you know?"
rick nods his head as he watches carl walk off in the distance of the baring trees.
"what if it's a dead zone?" i ask, peeking through the holes of the gate once more. "what if those signs were old, and everyone here is now dead?"
"guess we'll find out." rick drops the weapon bag to the ground and begins taking off his coat. "here," he holds it up for me to put my arms through.
"you're giving me your murder coat?"
his eyes shoot up to meet mine.
i smile as i turn around, allowing him to help me get it on.
"my murder coat?" he questions once i have it on.
"yeah," i say as he admires me in his article of clothing. "how much blood you think is in the collar of this thing, and from how many different people?"
"i've never wanted to do laundry more than right now." he scrunches his face in disgust and i laugh.
"come on," he motions for me to follow him away from the gate. "we're gonna hide our guns, keep 'em safe out here incase somethin' goes wrong in there."
i kneel to the ground as he does, leaning over a small ditch that just needs to be dug out a little more.
daryl slowly approaches rick and i as rick drives a shovel through the dirt.
