Solitary: The Walking Dead

Chapter Thirty-four.

How's your face?

The sun sits in the sky above the group peaking through the trees surrounding them, Iris watches Daryl step out of the trees, he walks up to the car nodding at the woman before moving to Rick. Darryl pours some water on a cloth "we should save that to drink'' Rick says "you cant see yourself, he can" Daryl says handing him the wet cloth.

Daryl looks up at iris and nods his head signalling for her to come down, Iris jumps down and stands next to the man, glancing down at rick sat on the floor leaning against the car. Daryl hands the woman a wet cloth as well and she sits next to Rick and Daryl sits down on the other side of him. Rick and Iris start wiping their faces "I didn't know what they were" Daryl says feeling guilty.

"How'd you wind up with them?" Rick asks "I was with beth. We got out together. I was with her for a while." Daryl says "is she dead?" Rick asks "she's just gone... after that, that's when they found me. I mean i knew they were bad but they had a code. It was simple. Stupid, but it was something. It was enough... one night we were walking and something came out of the woods and it was Iris" he explains.

"They said they were looking for some guy. Last night they said they spotted him. We were hanging back. We were gonna leave. But we stayed. That's when I saw it was you three. Right when you saw me... I didn't know what they could do."

"It's not on you, Daryl. Hey. It's not on you. You being back with us here, now, that's everything. You're my brother." Rick says, a blanket of silence falls over the three as they all think about what happened, "how's your face?" Rick asks looking over to Iris, "it's fine" she says fiddling with the cloth in her hands. "It's good to have you back" Rick says, reaching his hand out and pulling her head to him, kissing her on the top of her head. Iris stands up "where are you going?" Rick asks "I'm gonna find some food" she says walking away. Both men watch her as she walks further into the trees.

Iris walks through the woods back towards the road after managing to get some squirrel , she steps onto the road and sees everyone sitting, Carl stands up and makes his way over to the woman hugging her waist. Iris hugs the boy back, kissing him on the top of the head before they walk back over to the others. Rick and Daryl build a small fire while Iris skins the animals.

........

After eating the group started walking again, Michonne and Rick walking together and Daryl, Iris and Carl behind, Carl hadn't moved far from the woman's side since their hug that morning, holding onto her hand tightly. "We're getting close" Daryl says looking down at the Terminus sign on the floor, "be there before sundown" Iris says "now we head through the woods. We dont know who they are." Rick says, "all right" Daryl says walking into the woods, Iris staying close and Carl walking with her.

After a while they make it to a fenced off area, everyone walks closer with their wraps ready, "we all spread out, watch for a while, see what we see, and get ready. We all stay close" Rick says, Iris walk further down the fence and watches the building, "you know he doesnt hate you" Iris says looking at Rick when he starts walking next to her.

"Hes just gone through something traumatic... its gonna take him a minute to feel safe again... i'll talk to him and help him through this" Iris explains, the woman knew exactly how the boy felt and she knows what she wanted when it happened to her. "Thank you" Rick says "he's missed you a lot... we both have" he adds, Iris stops and looks at the man "i'm really sorry Rick" she says, guilt clawing at her gut, Rick looks down at her confused. "I should've kept looking" she adds, Rick quickly pulls her into a hug, holding her tightly "it's not your fault"

Iris and Rick start digging a hole, throwing their bags in "just in case" Rick says looking up at Daryl as they start covering the begs with dirt. Together they all climb over the fence, quietly moving in, they make their way through a door and a woman's voice echoes through the building "those who arrive survive. Follow the tracks to the point" Iris, Daryl and Rick clear the corridor, Carl and Michonne staying behind them.

They come across an entrance, looking through, they spot a lady sitting at a desk talking into a radio mic, they slowly walk in and see more people doing stuff on the other side of the large factory room. Rick walks over the the woman "hello" he says getting everyone's attention "well, i bet albert is on perimeter watch." a man says "you here to rob us?" he asks "no. we wanted to see you before you could see us." Rick explains, "makes sense"

"Usually we do this where the tracks meet. Welcome to terminus" the man says walking closer to the group, "im Gareth. Looks like you've been on the road for a good bit." the man, Gareth, says. "We have... Rick, that's Carl, Iris, Daryl, Michonne" Rick says, Gareth waves at everyone. "You're nervous. I get it. We were all the same way. We came here for sanctuary. That what you're here for?" Gareth asks

"Yes." "Good. You found it. Hey, Alex. This isn't as pretty as the front. We got nothing to hide, but the welcome wagon is a whole lot nicer. Alex will take you, ask you a few questions. Uh, but first, we need to see everyone's weapons. If you could just lay them down in front of you." Gareth asks.