Too Far Gone // D. Dixon

chapter four

The blaze of a fire raged on as Terminus had quickly become overrun with walkers as the newly reunited group ran.

As they ran through the hills of Georgia, Maren's mind circled back to what she had seen at Terminus. The bodies hanging from the ceiling on chains, meat encased in freezers, bones scattered on the floor. The blood...fresh blood seeping to the drain of the steel tub. It all was sick. So sick. Those people were deranged, feasting on seemingly any living soul that reached their supposed 'sanctuary'. No, there was no sanctuary at Terminus.

All of a sudden, the group stopped.

"The hell are we still around here for?" Abraham asked, nervously looking around for signs of trouble. They certainly didn't need any more of that. Maren knew better than to stop when they were still so close to Terminus.

"Guns. Some supplies..." Rick spoke, digging up the bag of guns he had apparantly buried not hours prior, "Go along the fences. Use the rifles. Take out the rest of 'em."

"What?" Glenn asked, shocked at Rick's response. Sure, sometimes people got in the way of their survival and they had to be taken care of. Sometimes people just had to be taken care of. Maren cursed herself for not having the guts to kill all of them, she shivered before returning back to the present.

"They don't get to live." Rick spat. Everyone had seen these people for what they were; cannibals. They attracted people and then slaughtered them for food. It doesn't get much more fucked up than that.

"Rick, we got out. It's over..." Glenn said, watching Rick as he counted the guns. Maren looked at the group and then back at Rick. She exchanged a quick glance with Rick and grabbed one of the rifles and stood alongside him.

"It's not over, not yet," Maren spoke flatly, fixing her gun, "It's not going to be over until they kill us. They're the type to hunt us down and do the worst kinds of shit." Maren spoke bluntly, her words unwavering.

"The hell it isn't! That place is on fire, full of walkers." Rosita fired back, not wanting to risk getting caught with walkers. She knew how dangerous a horde was, and she did not want to be surrounded.

"I'm not dicking around with this crap," Abraham sighed, "We just made it out."

"The fences are down...they'll run or die." Maggie said calmly.

"Trust me when I say that they won't just run away from this, not from us. After what we just did, they'll track us down and they'll fucking kill us! They'll find out where we are and they'll..." Maren stopped herself before she showed any true emotion, "We don't have time for this, let's just go."

She knew she shouldn't reveal much about herself with them, she barely knew them and what they were capable of. It was too risky. The group looked at Maren with unreadable expressions, but didn't say anything further. Instead, the group followed an older woman named Carol.

She had been the one to fire the shots, make the explosions, and save the day. Terminus was gone and over thanks to her. She had saved the group, and from what she had learned, and not for the first time.

Everyone had followed her, all the way to a wooden cabin just atop a hill. The soft sounds of a toddler babbling could be heard, making Rick, Carl and the group all glance at each other in shock. Was it...a baby?

"Judith?"

As the cabin came into view, there she was. A little toddler laying in the arms of Tyreese. As Rick ran, Carl quickly followed suit. The duo engulfed the tiny toddler in their arms and cried. They never thought they'd see her again, not after everything. That was clear from what Maren had seen.

Maren watched the little family from afar, thinking to herself. These people had treated each other like family and hell they even have a baby amidst them all.