Fire With Fire // D. Dixon

chapter nine

"So how long's this place been here?" Daryl asked, following behind Alex as he led them around Terminus.

"Since almost the start. When all the camps got overrun, people started finding this place. I think it was instinct, you know? Follow a path." Alex explained as they went through buildings, hallways, alleyways and finally the outside.

The group simply nodded along to his backstory, seeing as that was the only option.

"Some folks were heading to the coast, others out west or up north, but they all wound up here." Alex finished, just as they had arrived in front of a woman. The woman smiled, as she worked on the food.

"Hi," she spoke, looking back at the grill for a moment, "Heard you came in the back door...smart. You'll fit right in here."

"Mary, would you fix each of these new folks a plate for me?" Alex asked, and Mary nodded. Chloe was hesitant, a feeling in the pit of her stomach alerted her. Something felt off. She looked at her father, who seemed to be fixated on everyone but the group.

"Why do you do it? Why do you let people in?" Michonne inquires, her stance firm. Chloe appreciated Michonne for not buying into this so quickly, she feared a recurrence of the past would ensue, and Chloe didn't know if she could take that again. Especially with what came after.

"The more people become a part of us, we get stronger. That's why we put up the signs, invite people in. It's how we survive." Alex said, handing out plates filled with freshly cooked meat. Carl was eager to grab a plate, his stomach grumbling loudly with hunger.

Rick began trudging forward to Alex, slapping the plate from the man's hands and holding a gun to his head. In Rick's hand was a watch. Not just any watch, Glenn's watch. The one Hershel had given him.

Chloe's heart dropped into the pit of her stomach, something really bad had happened.

"Where the hell did you get this watch?" Rick asked him, his gun unwavering. Chloe held her knife out in front of her, looking around. Everyone in the area had their guns out, pointed at their group. Shit.

"You want answers? You want anything else? You get 'em when you put down the gun." Alex beckoned, as he fought against Rick.

"I see your man on the roof with a sniper rifle. How good's his aim?" Rick threatened, "Where'd you get the watch?"

"You want to listen to me. There's a lot of us-" Alex spoke, desperate to get out of Rick's grip. Rick was not too eager to do so, not until he had answers.

"WHERE DID YOU GET THE WATCH?" Rick shouted in his ear, making Alex shut his eyes.

"I got it off of a dead one. I didn't think he'd need it." Alex explained. Chloe didn't want to believe that. Glenn couldn't be dead, no, they would have stumbled across him on the way here.

"What about the riot gear? The poncho?" Rick knew. He knew that all of this was from other members. Glenn. Maggie. Sasha. It didn't matter what lies these people told, he wouldn't believe the bullshit that came out regardless.

"What's there left to say? You don't trust us anymore." Gareth spoke again, "Rick, what do you want?"

"Where are our people?" Rick urged, moving Alex around painfully.

"You didn't answer the question-" Gareth spat, just as gunfire broke out. Chloe knew then, it was time to run. But, they were surrounded before they knew it.

"Drop your weapons! Now!" Gareth shouted, from somewhere above the ground.

The group was surrounded, with guns pointed at them from every possible angle. The gig was up. The chance to run was now gone. Dropping their weapons in defeat, they listened.

"Ringleader, go to your left. The train car, go." Gareth ordered Rick, but he didn't move, "You do what we say, they go with you. All of you. Anything else, him and your daughter die and you end up in there anyway."

The scowl on Rick's face was evident, and Chloe sent him a knowing look. They'd have to get out of this. Somehow.

"Now the archer." Gareth spoke, looking at Daryl. Daryl followed behind Rick, not risking getting killed by this asshole. Daryl sent Chloe a look, as if to tell her that they'd make it out of whatever the hell this was.

"Now the samurai." Gareth urged Michonne, and she sighed as she followed in behind Daryl. Gareth waited a second, a smile flashing across his face.

"Stand at the door, in that order." There was a silence that followed, making Chloe shake. She was surrounded by many people with guns. She had made a mental note that 90% of them were men. That fact made her heart race with fear, her body shake with anxiety, and her palms sweat with nervous anticipation.

"My children!" Rick shouted angrily, beckoning for his two kids to join them. He watched his daughter closely, seeing that she was visibly shaking. He wanted to hold her in his arms, tell her that everything would be alright. Even if that was not the case, he felt it was his fatherly duty to protect her. Something he had failed to do, not even three nights before, something he'd hate himself for not doing always.

"Go," Gareth spoke, slightly less loud than before, "open the door and go in."

Unwillingly, Rick opens the door to the train car. The pitch black darkness welcomes his eyes as he steps inside carefully. The group of five stand together, facing the darkness of the train car as the door is promptly closed behind them.

They were locked in there. Stuck.

"Rick?" A voice came from the opposite side of the train car. An oddly familiar one. Stepping forward, it was clear. It was Glenn, Maggie, Sasha, Bob, and four others that they didn't know.

"You're here..." Rick spoke, looking at everyone. If the situation wasn't so dire, he probably would have celebrated the fact that they'd finally found each other.

"These people...they're our friends. They helped save us." Maggie explained, introducing Tara, Eugene, Abraham and Rosita. Chloe was glad to see more female people, especially after being so terrified of the sheer number of men that Terminus had.

"Now they're friends of ours." Daryl spoke, smirking at the group he'd missed. Chloe looked at Daryl, seeing him smile again for the first time in a while was refreshing. Even if they were in quite the predicament.

"For however long that'll be." Abraham spoke, glancing at the new group with pessimistic eyes before turning away. Chloe couldn't blame him, this was bad. This was very, very bad.

"No, they're gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out." Rick spoke, looking through the cracks in the train car.

"Find out what?" Abraham asked, watching the ex-police officer with seriousness. The whole group watched Rick, waiting to hear what he was thinking. Maybe he already had a plan to get them out of there. Chloe could only hope so.

Rick smirked, "They're fucking with the wrong people."