Hellooo there. It only took me half a year to post on here again, lol. I talked about it at the end of Absolution, and I already started posting this fic on AO3, but I figured to have it complete, I should also post the last part of my Arrows and Bullets fic here although my readership dropped significantly on here, not just because of my absence but also because of the shippy.

Anyway.

Here it is. The FINAL part of my Walking Saints series. I've spent three years writing this story, developing the characters and their relationships, and I'm incredibly proud of them. But with all character building and relationship and story development comes an end and I've felt for a while now that this is going to be it, so here we are.

This fic won't be as long as the previous three. I will only cover the first half of season 5. The final arc and ending of this fic is already mapped out and planned ahead. I know what's in the last chapter. So there's that. No maybe writing 5B. No Alexandria in my series. There's your definite no. (Alexandria might be a completely new Walking Saints fic though, lol)

Just like any other time: I will stick to the Walking Dead storyline for the most part, but I will bend it and change it to fit my own established canon. Characters will be replaced, dialogue will be altered, you know the drill. The core of my story is the Connor/Daryl and Connor/Murphy and even the Daryl/Murphy dynamic by now, so excuse my robbing other Walking Dead characters' storylines and badassery and dialogue and actions sometimes, for the sake of Connaryl Connarphy development. I'm just horribly shitty at writing any TWD characters other than Daryl.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of my readers and all those people who have stayed with me during my writing of this series, all of those people who have only just stumbled upon it and read all of it in like less than a week. Thank you SO much for all your support, your reading, your comments, your kuddos, your favouriting and all your incredibly kind words of adoration and excitement for this story, its characters and relationships.

Thank you so much. Here is the final part for you, and I hope you view it as a worthy ending and conclusion. Reviews and feedback are always appreciated.

Contagion

Chapter 1 - Terminus

There was a loud whooshing zap, speeding through the air until it hit the sign right in the middle with a dull BLONG. "Ha. Fuck yeah" Connor said, chuckling to himself a little as he lowered the bow and turned his head a little to give his friend and brother a cocky smirk, making sure everyone took note of his achievement.

"Fuck. Yeah."

"Seriously?" Daryl asked with an annoyed little frown, walking up to the sign with the map that once again read TERMINUS to pull the arrow out and take a look at it. He bent it a little and then turned around to face Connor once his friend had walked up to him, only to give him a gentle but still firm pat to the back of his head. "Stop wastin arrows. Shit like that don't last for too long. And if you keep firing and break them for nothing, ain't gonna have none left in case shit hits the fan. Moron" Daryl lectured his friend about the art of shooting bows and crossbows, only to keep the arrow and start walking down the train tracks again.

"But I still hit it right in the hole. Fuckin A."

"Don't make this a game. Seriously, how old are yah, five? This is stupid" Daryl muttered.

Murphy let out a triumphant little "Ha" in the background. "Now who's the older one 'round here, huh dear brother 'o mine."

"Blow me, yah little shit" Connor muttered and gave his sibling a judging glare, but in the end, it turned into a shared smirk between the both of them. Murphy just shrugged and scratched his upper lip a bit, only to turn his head and resume talking to Samantha instead.

"Yah bro's right. Maybe I should've given this thing t'him. I'm actually startin to like this one more. Less of a drama queen slash freakin child than you are, leprechaun."

Connor huffed.

"Oh right, this is how ye thank me fer saving yer ass yesterday. If it weren't fer me ye'd all be fuckin dead, so who's talkin."

Daryl huffed, too and then snorted.

"I would've managed. Don't need no one t'save my ass."

"Ae, yer certainly saving yer ass fer something fer sure" Connor said but couldn't fight the grin that broke through as he even dared to nudge his friend's ass a little. Although Daryl didn't want to he still laughed and walked a bit faster to get out of his friend's reach.

"Fuck off you faggot."

"And I'm gonna do it alllll without ye if ye keep being that redneck ass taday" Connor crowed and Daryl laughed again. They didn't get to tease each other and call each other names any longer, because then they suddenly heard the dry groaning and moaning sound of one walker at first, then there was the shuffling of leaves, then the noise got louder.

"Shit, tha's gotta be a herd" Connor said and quickly turned around, shooting Murphy and then Samantha and the child a worried look. Murphy had momentarily been laughing and chatting, too, at least until he noticed the vibes his twin was giving off, then he heard him whisper-shout his name, too. "Get off the tracks, quick, into the woods" Connor ordered and pointed towards their right. Murphy immediately grabbed Sam by her arm and dragged her to the side, off the tracks, towards the bushes and hills there.

Daryl did the same a second later to Connor, grabbing him by his arm to yank him off the trail. Mere split seconds later the herd of walkers was already staggering out of the woods to their left, moaning, collectively stumbling towards whatever they had heard to get them going. Connor watched them through the leaves of the bushes while Murphy and Samantha were busy muffling Suzie's babbling and impending crying, trying hard not to get the walkers intention. Daryl watched the three for a moment and then turned his head to look at Connor.

"Kid's gonna draw 'em right towards them. Ain't gonna be no prob for yah two, but us? We gotta do something quick."

Connor nodded, all the while watching and counting the herd. There were too many of them for him to kill, no matter how immune he was. He'd just end up drawing their attention to Sam, Daryl and Suzie by the time he'd dropped a couple of bodies and he knew it. There was only one option. He reached for his hip to get his knife.

"Look after 'em stay back here. 'm gonna lure them away and be right back. If I don't show…."

The sound of loud and rattling gunshots interrupted him and made the whole group look up in wonder just like the walkers, who slowly turned their decaying heads to look in the same direction, facing the noise. As if someone had flipped a switch in their decaying brains they almost simultaneously and synchronically turned on their heels on the train tracks and started to stagger towards the noise instead, away from the hiding group in the woods, still moaning and groaning, occasionally bumping into each other. Connor, Daryl, Murphy and Samantha still held their breath and cautiously watched the herd stumble away from them, waited for them to get out of sight and then some, until it was Connor who first spoke up and signaled them that they could get back up.

"Well that was easier than I thought" Murphy said and then made sure his girlfriend was alright.

"Aye, I was gonna lure them away but looks like someone took care of it" Connor agreed and then shrugged, getting back on the train tracks to look in the general direction of where the walkers had headed before they had lost sight of them.

"You think the shots came from Terminus?" Daryl asked and looked at Connor, who scratched the back of his head and then nodded, all the while walking back to look at the map he'd shot moments before.

"Aye. I mean we're pretty close ta that after all now, aren't we then."

"Do you think we should still go there?" Samantha asked, looking at the map, too. Then at Connor, who nodded once again.

"We gotta at least check it out from afar. See how they handle walkers. I mean it's pretty nice, that way we can already check out the way they handle their defenses and what kinda weapons and people they got."

"Aye" Murphy agreed, taking over the Suzie carrying duty because Samantha wanted to check out the map herself. It was a different map this time, one that didn't show half of Georgia but more like their immediate surroundings. "And if they look fine and need help, we could also use this thing ta help them and make them trust us, couldn't we?" the younger MacManus added and Connor nodded, smirking at his sibling.

"Taken right outta my mouth, brother dear."

Daryl nodded, too, maybe once again slightly creeped out by the whole twin telepathy thing that seemed to get stronger between the MacManus brothers each day. He then got his crossbow ready and walked up to Sam, to stand right next to her and read the map with her, pointing at it.

"If we double back a little and then head west, we could use this little hill over there to get a nice overview of their compound. They look like they got nothing surrounding them, giving them clear sight of their surroundings, can't get too close."

"Yeah, and if they don't look friendly we could head further west to hit this little town there to stock up on supplies" Sam said, making Daryl nod. "Hmhm. My thinkin."

"Alright, lets get going people. We don't wanna miss their big walker show do we" Connor said after a short moment of watching them plot, feeling a bit left out and jealous because he wasn't the one to plan everything for once. He nudged Daryl's shoulder a little to make him get away from the map so he could take a look at it on his own, shortly, making the hunter smirk knowingly, because he saw right through his friend.

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" Connor said once more, quickly ducking down when he noticed the man by the car in front of the little hut. He grabbed Murphy by his shirt to yank him down, so they could hide and spy once more, all the while using his other hand to signal Sam that she should stay back and double back a little, just to make sure the child wouldn't interfere. Daryl used the time to sneak his way past the MacManus twins and further to the right, trying to get the angle on the hut and the guy that was crouching in front of it, trying to check if he could see anyone else.

" Yeah, no. Alex didn't get it. I knew the chick with the sword was bad news. Looked like a weapon with a weapon" the man said, still crouching and preparing what Connor thought looked like fireworks. They heard someone answer on the radio, but couldn't quite make out what was being said. "Yeah I told him I want the kid's sheriff hat as soon as they bleed him out. Scruffy papa bear ain't gonna like it" he went on, laughing.

Both Connor and Daryl frowned at the sound of that, connecting all the dots.

Michonne.
Carl.
Rick.

They both even turned their heads to look at each other for a moment, with Daryl nodding to make Connor understand that he thought the same. Connor nodded too and then started giving directions to his group with his left hand. Daryl proceeded to walk further right, still crouched down. Sam, who had put her daughter on the ground and was hovering protectively over her, had grabbed the rifle with the sight they had taken from the claimer gang to position herself and give them cover. Then Connor nudged Murphy a little and the both of them proceeded to walk forward, sneaking up on the guy who was busy putting up a second set of fireworks, still talking to what now sounded like a woman on the walkie-talkie.

At least until he felt the muzzle of Connor's handgun on the back of his head.

"Now isn't that a lovely firework ye got going there, fella. What are ye gonna do with dat, then, celebrate the fourth of july? Maybe have a sweet lil barbeque down here?" Connor asked and smirked a little when he saw the man surrender and put his hands in the air.

"Listen you don't have to do this" the guy said, trying to sneak a peek at Connor.

Murphy used the time his brother was keeping the guy in place to kneel down and start searching their captive for weapons, taking a knife and gun.

"Whatever it is that you want, we got a place where everyone is welcome" the man went on, making Connor huff. The Irishman looked up for a moment when he saw Daryl approach them from the other side, giving the Irishmen a nod, letting them know that the place was clear and that the stranger had been all on his own. While the twins were still busy with their captive Daryl used the time to check the hut and then whistled when this one was clear, too, letting Sam know that she could come out with her daughter.

"Wow, a place where everyone's welcome, now that's interesting. Is that Terminus yer talking about?" Connor said, pressing the gun to the back of the man's head a little more, to remind him who was in charge.

"Ah, geez, yes. Yes. You saw the signs, huh? Cool. Listen man, I know the protocol. But you can relax. You came and you found us so…"

"Aye, it sure sounds like we came and found ye just like the chick with te sword and the kid with te sheriff's hat. See, they're our friends. I'm pretty sure yer talking about a woman called Michonne and a boy named Carl. Know anything about them? What about the other people they were with, were they welcome, too?"

"No…no. It's just the two of them. They asked us the same…they're back at Terminus waiting for your people, you can wait there, too if you…" he was interrupted when the grip of Connor's gun suddenly hit him very hard in the back of his head, making him fall forward with a painfilled grunt.

"See, there's one thing I don't fuckin like…" Connor said, grabbing the man by the back of his shirt to pull him back up, burying the fingers along with the tattooed one that spelled out 'VERITAS' in the fabric.

"It's liars."

"They attacked us, we're just holding them. we just have the boy and the samurai that's all. We were just protecting ourselves" the man who was named Martin tried to explain, sitting on the ground all tied up and facing Connor, who was crouching opposite him, staring him down. Connor, fed up with the talk, proceeded to grab the man by his throat and started strangling him, getting closer to his face, his face nothing but a dead serious half-whisper.

"Don't fuckin pretend we didn't fuckin hear ye talk about bleeding people out fer the sake of taking their shit. I said I hate fuckin liars" he snarled, squeezing even tighter to a point where he actually considered just crushing the guy's windpipe for the sake of it, but he could feel Daryl, Murphy and Sam watch him with those looks on their faces, so he eventually let go.

Martin coughed and struggled for a moment but then suddenly actually chuckled.

"There's a bunch of us out there. In six different directions. There's a lot of gunfire back home."

Connor, who stared creepily at the guy for a little too long, finally smirked.

"Well, I got a lot of gunfire, too. Trust me, pally. We're experts at crushing parties just like that."

Martin, slowly understanding that he couldn't exactly scare the Irishman or get to his head, turned his head a little to look at Samantha instead.

"We need to set off our charges all at the same time to confuse the dead ones away. That's good for you, too!"

Samantha just stared at the man for a moment, coldly, still shaken and hardened from the claimer attack.
As soon as she had heard about the bleeding out as well as the fact that there was a boy caught in this mess she had lost any sort of empathy. Not anymore.

"Well it ain't" Daryl said and walked over to the crate filled with fireworks, the ones Martin had brought along with him.

"Aye. There's a herd heading toward Terminus, right now. Don't ye like that Martin, boy?" Connor asked, slapping the man almost tenderly to make him look at him again. "We don't wanna confuse them away. We wanna use them as little welcome gift. I mean ye said so yerself, yer welcoming everyone, right."

Martin, annoyed by Connor's behavior, just snorted and gave the Irishman an unconcerned look.

"It's a compound. They'll see you coming. If you even make it that far with all the cold bodies heading over."

"Oh trust me, they're the least of our problems . Now before we leave, do tell me, how many of ye are there exactly?"

Martin just looked right back at Connor, now openly grinning.

"Too many for you to handle."

Connor turned his head for a moment to look at the others, sighing.

"Always with the cocky ones. If I got a dollar everytime I hear that one…" he said and then looked right back at Martin.

"We'll see about that. Thanks fer yer cooperation, though. That was fun" Connor said and then grabbed his knife, reading to kill their hostage, at least until Daryl spoke up to stop him. He'd watched the whole scenario for a while, getting more and more worried about the way Connor seemed to enjoy it, the way his eyes looked and the way his body count just seemed to rise these days, so he called out, right before the stab, to stop his friend.

"We should keep 'im" he said, shooting Murphy a little look and then stepping forward.

"As leverage and backup plan. In case shit goes haywire. Maybe we could use 'im. For an exchange."

Connor looked back at Daryl, a little annoyed and impatient about the fact that he was getting interrupted, that someone wanted to stop him from having his way, but then he took a little breath and considered it. Murphy, who was partially on the same page as Connor with their shared saint mentally and wouldn't mind seeing this murderous scumbag die, in the end, decided to speak up too. Because he was still equally creeped out by the way Connor was still throwing himself at the whole killing people thing these days.

"Aye. I think so, too, Conn" he said, making Daryl look at him for a moment, almost thankfully.

All three of them knew that Murphy was the soft spot, that whenever he said something, in the end, Connor wouldn't be able to say no.

Martin, once again, only huffed and made fun of them.

"Man, if you believe that they're gonna trade me for shit, it's definitely gonna be you who's gonna die today."

Only a second later, there was a harsh, unforgiving fist in his face, knocking him right out. Connor shook his hand after the punch with a little hiss and looked at his unconscious captive. "Shut te fuck up. Geez" he said angrily and then got up, still massaging his hand. He'd taken it a little too personal, the way the guy had said just this to Murphy.

"Alright. If ye wanna keep 'im, keep 'im. But watch fuckin over him, alright" Connor said, walking up to Daryl to grab some of the fireworks. He looked at Samantha in the meantime.

"Ye stay back here with te kid. Daryl's gonna look after ye and…"

"I don't need anyone to look after me" Sam reminded him angrily, and Connor just kept talking.

"Yeah and I sure as hell ain't no babysitter. Rick'n Carl are family, too. They'd be pissed if I didn't come looking for them. 'm gonna come with you" Daryl spoke up, too, because there was no way in hell he was going to let the two of them check out the new location without him.

"Daryl.." Connor said but then Murphy spoke up, too.

"And I'm not gonna leave her and the baby alone with 'im here" he said, nodding at unconscious Martin.

Then it was Sam who spoke up angrily.

"No. You three should go. Suzie and I can look after us just fine. We managed before we met you. You should take as much man power with you as you can" Sam said, making Murphy turn around to look at her.

"Then there's no way we're keeping him alive with you and te kid here" Connor said in the meantime, already on his way to walk back to unconscious Martin, but Murphy stepped up once more.

"No, fuckin wait. We said we'd keep him captive and think this fuckin through! What if they ask about him if shit goes wrong and they're keeping our people captive. We're not gonna make it look any good if we kill their man! How about this, ye and Daryl, you go out there scout the place out, come up with a plan. If we hear more gunshots we know it's on and I kill 'im and come right after ye. If it's not, ye come back and we can use 'im. I mean have ye even thought this through yet? All we know is that Rick'n the others are there and that these people are shady as fuck but other than that?"

He then looked at Daryl.

"Besides, no offense but I don't fuckin trust him ta look after Sam and the baby anyway" he said, not really meaning it. After their talk by the plane wreck two days ago, he sure as hell trusted Daryl and considered him family.

And Daryl knew that, too, but right now he wanted to use it as well to play Connor, to keep him from gutting yet another guy without any real reason anyway.

"Let him stay here then if he gotta. Ain't nothing we can't handle ourselves."

Connor pressed his lips together, seeing right through this whole thing almost immediately, how he was being played by his friend and brother. In the end he gave in, no matter how much he disliked it. It wasn't like he didn't enjoy working with Daryl. It was just that during a gig like this, he'd rather have worked with his brother instead, as the old Boston saints.

"Fuckin fine" Connor muttered and then grabbed the fireworks and some of the heavier guns, only to turn around to look at Murphy. "If ye hear shit go down you fuckin come running and help us, alright?" he said to him, pressing his lips together a little more. "I fuckin need ye on this."

Murphy nodded, reaching out a little to reassure Connor.

"I'll be there" he said, then gave Daryl a little nod.

"Let's fuckin go! The herd should be there, soon" Connor then said and walked outside.

"Watch your ass, emo kid" Daryl said to Murphy a short moment later, when it was just the two of them, acknowledging their little mind play. The younger MacManus smirked and shoved the hunter a little.

"I'd say don't get eaten out there, but it's not like anyone'd ever eat yer filthy redneck ass anyway" Murphy teased a little but then chuckled. "No, ye too. We got it covered."

"Look after the kid. Got a habit of bein a freakin magnet t'trouble" Daryl then said to Samantha, who smirked and gave him a nod, too.

"Wait" Connor said, placing a firm hand on Daryl's chest to make him stop walking. The hunter frowned a little and had a look around to check why his friend had stopped in his tracks, only to get even more confused when he saw the cause. A single walker was shuffling through the woods. No herd. No other trouble.

"It's just the one" the hunter mumbled and Connor buried his fingers a little in his friend's shirt.

"Aye" he muttered. "I got an idea" he then said and started walking, heading for the walker, whistling when he was close enough. The walker turned around with a snarl and looked at Connor for a moment, only to eventually look past him and get fixated on Daryl instead, who was still standing where his friend had made him stop. He let out a furious growl and tried to shuffle towards the hunter, but then Connor already tackled him down and then stabbed his head, silencing the undead at last.

Daryl, still confused by this whole thing because he knew they needed to keep going, approached his friend after a moment when he saw Connor stab the walker's guts and then proceeded to open his belly.

"You…..seriously need t'get yah head checked man" Daryl eventually said, worry now truly showing in his voice because he didn't quite get it.

"Shut up and kneel down" Connor said with a little strained huff, then grabbed the clothes of the walker to get rid of his long coat. Then he grabbed the old bloody and dirty shirt to cut it up, to use the cloth as some sort of makeshift gloves. He then threw the coat at his friend.

"Put it on, zip it up."

Daryl caught it with a huff and then snorted, looking at the coat.

"The hell 'm gonna do. What yah wanna do? If it's some of yah weirdo saints crap and yah wanna go in there Men in Black style I ain't gonna.."

"Would ye fuckin shut up and put it on?! Geez. It's like 'm talking ta a fuckin mule."

"Hey fuck you, who died and made you boss, asswipe" Daryl snarled back angrily but eventually obeyed, still confused by the whole thing. But only a second later did it already make sense, because the moment he put the coat on, Connor had already soaked his gloved hands in walker blood and guts, all dripping and stinking, and then turned around to press his hands to the hunter's chest, starting to what felt like feel him up.

Rubbing the guts and blood in.

Right…. Daryl thought as he finally got it. But it was still disgusting.

"Jesus" he grunted and turned his head away a little, moaning and holding his breath because it stank like hell. Connor, who had been pissy just a second later, almost immediately started grinning at him, drenching the gloves with guts and blood a little more, proceeding to cover his friend with it.

"Can't smell a difference" Connor teased and Daryl huffed angrily, but he eventually smirked a little, too, despite the smell, because he actually liked the thing that accompanied the whole process, like the way Connor's hands were all over him. "I hate you" Daryl said but endured, making Connor laugh once more, until the Irishman leaned forward to steal a kiss, now that it was just the two of them, and now that he kind of enjoyed the whole touching thing as well.

"I know, I know" Connor said and then immediately stopped, turning away, coughing but at the same time laughing.

"Jesus fuckin Christ this does smell awful. Fuck" he laughed, burying his mouth and nose in the crook of his arm for a moment.

"I'm so not gonna get close ta you or so not gonna fuck ye fer like a week now" Connor said, once again coughing and concentrating hard, battling the urge to throw up as he dug his hands into the walker's cut up belly once more.

"Don't matter, considering I do all the fuckin" Daryl growled right back but still smirked, making Connor snort and laugh once more.

"Talk all high and mighty again when yer not covered in walker shit and when he don't have a nice intestine fuckin necklace" the Irishman countered and then made Daryl turn around to cover his back with guts and blood, too.

"Geez, thank fuckin god I got that immunity thing going. There's no fucking way I'd do that."

"Yeah, don't want yah high heels all spoiled and dirty, right" Daryl teased and Connor used the rubbing motion to punch him a little.

"All right, I think this is it…." Connor then said, letting go. "I'm Connor MacManus and this is pimp my style" he said when Daryl turned around to face him, making the Irishman laugh at his own joke.

"I hate to say it, but ye definitely look more dashing than ever, Darylena" he went on, teasing some more.

Daryl got annoyed and angry at first, but then decided to strike back with the same weapons.

"Yeah? Wanna give me a hug?" he said a little angrily and proceeded to approach the Irishman, all slimy and stinking with walker guts.

"Jesus fuck, no, fuck off" Connor laughed and jogged away a little, laughing, until he was finally done playing, got rid of his makeshift gloves and threw them as far away as possible.

"No fer real though. I think this way, ye should be clear from walkers. Yer gonna need it. I got an idea."

"She got a name? She your daughter or something?" Martin, who'd finally woken up again, asked Samantha who was sitting by the window, cradling Suzie, feeding her. Sam just shot him a look but wouldn't answer. Murphy did the same, for a moment, then subconsciously got closer to her, growing protective as he watched the man cautiously.

"What about that guy…got one hell of a right hook" Martin went on, trying to readjust his jaw a little. "He your boss?" he asked, talking about Connor.

Once again, nothing but silence. Murphy kept watching him cautiously, trying to make sense of the guy, considering what to do with him. He kind of wanted to kill him too because he was annoying and a douchebag, but then again, Connor had told him about the plan and he liked to follow instructions and listen to plans and people with plans.

"Friend? I don't have any friends. I mean I know people. They're just assholes I stay alive with…." Martin rambled, now looking more and more at Samantha, as if he was trying to get to her head.

"I mean I used to have 'em. We used to watch football on Sundays…." Martin said and Murphy finally moved, walking over to the back of the hut to try and maybe find something he could use to gag the guy just so he would shut the hell up. Martin noticed the tattoo on Murphy's neck as well as the rosary when the younger MacManus passed him, using it as another hook to bait him.

"I went to church back in the day" he said, laughing a little after a moment, making Murphy look at him. "I know I did. But I can't picture it anymore. It's funny how you don't even notice the time go by. Horrible shit just stacks up day after day. You get used to it. But still….church… you're religious aren't you?"

Murphy stared at him a little while longer, then turned his head again to proceed looking for something to gag the guy with, growling an annoyed little "Shut up." Sam, who had successfully fed Suzie and lulled her to sleep with her rocking, got up, too, to put her on the old shabby couch on the other end of the hut, far opposite Martin.

"Got your kid, your friends and everythiingg, with boss taking the reigns, telling you what to do. You and your twin bro are the good kinda guys, huh. Believing in god and how he probably fixes everything. I mean, you two stepped up when he wanted to kill me. You just gotta be one of the good guys. Huh…"

Murphy cursed a little when he couldn't find anything, already felt his blood beginning to boil with his temper and sheer annoyance over how the guy just wouldn't shut up.

"Shame there ain't no god in this world. And shame good guys don't last here. Same goes for kids like her over there. She ain't gonna make it past the day."

"Shut up!" Murphy shouted angrily and finally lost it, approaching the guy, ready to punch him, but Martin almost immediately raised both his hands in the air.

"OR…you could get into that car outside, take your girlfriend and baby, drive away, and keep on being lucky. Let me free, win-win. For all three of us."

Murphy stilled mid-motion, only a split-second away from punching the guy for being so annoying, just standing there, staring.

"I mean you guys kinda looked scared of big boss, like you want out. So….why not take your chances while you can?"

Murphy looked at him a moment longer, until he huffed and snorted.

"Suure. Scared of dying, aren'tche. Don't worry. Ye got what's coming fer ye, asshole. Now do us all a favour…and shut te fuck up. Heard this shit before. 'm not fuckin stupid."

"Why didn't you let him killed me? How does having me alive help you? If you're not stupid, you know damn well that there's never gonna be any trade, why the hell are you even talking to me? Take her, take the car, and go. I don't wanna do this today."

"Do what?" Murphy interrupted him and then knelt down in front of Martin, too, just like Connor had done it before, looking him right in the ye.

"Kill a baby taday? Kill me or Sam today, kill people today? What about the days before that, hm? Didn't sound like ye didn't wanna bleed a little boy out. Or steal a sword from a woman. Or laugh about a Dad being worried about his son. Yeah, I'm a good guy. I believe in god. And I believe in what god told me about killing every last evil motherfucker like ye. So no…no I don't think I'll be taking that car. I'm gonna wait fer my brother, wait for the whole story ta develop…and then we're gonna put two bullets through yer head and send ye on yer way. Someone's dying taday. And it sure as hell ain't gonna be me. Or this baby. Or anyone else but the right people who deserve it."

He didn't get to do or say anything else, because then they them heard again, outside, the collective growling and sad moaning of countless undead that were walking up to their hideout.

"See that? I think it's that one" Connor said, as soon as they had successfully made it out of the woods, walking up to an old chain-link fence. They tried had to stay low now that the cover of the surrounding trees was gone, only a bunch of bushes by the street and fence where there to keep them hidden. Both Connor and Daryl crouched down by the fence, taking a closer look at the large building down the small hill, not too far away from them out in the open.

"Well…the letters kinda give it away captain obvious" Daryl muttered and pointed at the large brick building that spelled out "TERMINUS" on its wall. Connor huffed a little and nudged his friend, only to grab the rifle they had brought to use it as sight to check the place out.

"Looks like it was a former train station…there's people down there…they got people on watch on the roofs and by the fences….gotta be at least 20 people. Maybe even more inside" Connor observed and but then Daryl snatched the rifle away from him to take a look at the compound himself. He scanned the whole area until he suddenly froze, widening his eyes.

"Rick..!" he suddenly said, sounding all nervous and slightly panicked.

Connor, who had been watching his friend check the place out through the sight, snatched it away again when for a split second, it looked like Daryl was about to fire it.

"Gimme" he said angrily and then took a look himself, aiming it in the general direction he had seen Daryl point the gun at, until he widened his eyes as well. He could see them. Rick. Glenn. Bob. Another bunch of people he didn't know. All tied up, gagged, lying on the ground until they were grabbed by the people from Terminus, people who were heavily armed and guiding them towards the brick building. He couldn't help but remember what the Martin guy had said on the walkie about bleeding Carl out and taking Michonne's knife, and he knew what it meant.

"Shit I think they're gonna execute them" Connor hissed and stopped looking through the rifle to get a general view of the compound.

"We gotta go get Murph. Maybe even fuckin Sam. Take the guy and blackmail them. There's too many people down there and we…."

"We ain't got no time to go back, man, they're almost in there, they're gonna gut 'em , you heard the guy talk.."

"It was yer fuckin idea ta keep him alive!"

"It don't matter right now, they're gonna kill them!" Daryl shouted angrily and already wanted to get going, trying to get the rifle back, but Connor grabbed him to almost wrestle him back down, wincing and pulling a face when he grabbed the walker guts on Daryl's clothes in the process.

"Wait!" he whisper-shouted, his mind racing already.

"Let's think this through fer a fucking second, if we run in there head over heels no one's gonna fucking survive this, let's be fuckin smart about this" Connor said angrily and Daryl shot him a look, only to look back and forth between his friend and Terminus, where he saw them bring Rick and the others inside. He didn't want to lose Rick. Didn't want to lose anyone. Not under any circumstances.

"Yah always bragged about doing nothing else back in the day when you killed mobsters, you prick! So go on, do it!"

"We always did it because we had the element of surprise and a shitload of fucking bullets, man!" Connor said and then quickly grabbed the rifle again to have another look. He could catch the last glimpse of Rick getting shoved inside and then the door closing. He could already feel the sweat build and run down the back of his neck as he took a deep breath and then forced himself to stay calm, quickly scanning the property once more to come up with a plan.

He kind of hated this whole thing right now. Yes, he was the guy with the plans, but he usually had enough time to plot and think it through until the very last detail, not like this in a hurry, when he had no time to think, Murphy was the gut instinct kinda guy, not him.

Shooting any of them with the rifle would be useless. It would buy them a little time perhaps, but certainly not enough. And it would blow their cover and screw them all over. And it certainly wouldn't stop them from killing Rick and the others. Terminus certainly had the advantage right now. They knew their places in and out, probably knew their surroundings, too. Back in the day this would have been the time to say that they should retreat, think this through, come up with a plan and right kind of materials and weapons to use to pull it through and kill every last one of them. The way they had done it back at the Roman's place.

But it didn't work like that anymore because they didn't have enough time, didn't have a backup team or plan and they sure as hell didn't have enough weapons. Just a bunch of knifes, some guns, a rifle and a package deal of fucking fireworks. And using the fireworks as distraction would be equally useless and stupid. It would get Murphy over here, yeah, but the others too and how much use was that, really.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Connor momentarily stilled when he caught glimpse of old gas tanks by the train tracks, a bit rusty and intact, spelling out "ARNETT, propane, NO SMOKING".

Fireworks. Fireworks. Noise. Distraction.
Propane.

And he got an idea. He already wanted to say something, wanted to explain his possible plan to Daryl, when he suddenly noticed the people by the tank who'd been taking watch widen their eyes and start yelling, pointing somewhere, and for a moment, Connor already thought he'd been spotted.

"Do something!" Daryl pressed once more and then simply got up, ready to make his way down there, when he saw them, too.

The herd had made it towards Terminus. Countless undead, who were walking directly towards the compound. En masse. Terrifying, a wall of death. Connor, who had pointed his rifle at them for a moment, turned it around once more to take aim at the propane tank.

"Get yer ass back here and get te fireworks ready" he ordered and took a deep breath, trying to concentrate.

"What?!" Daryl asked, confused, making Connor even angrier.

"Get back on yer fuckin ass and get ready ta aim this thing at the tank over there!" he snapped and then aimed once more, waiting for the walkers to get close enough.

"What for?"

"I'm gonna go Streets of Fire on these motherfuckers" Connor said and then fired two shots until he saw a massive cloud of gas escape the perforated tank, hissing, deadly. Then he quickly threw the rifle away and grabbed his own lighter, positioning the fireworks, looking back and forth between them and the tank he'd shot.

"Don't tell me it's another one of your movie plans, shit like that don't ever work, we're talking about Rick, here, man! Don't' play on…" Daryl said angrily, but Connor kept going.

"It worked in this movie. I saw it, it worked like a charm! Guy wanted ta get his chick out of this biker club, started shooting their tanks up and they blew up with a fucking BANG. He blew the whole gang up, man, trust me, we need distraction, I got one" the Irishman said and then ignited the positioned rocket, quickly ducking down in case something went wrong.

"We blow this thing up, it goes boom and the wal…" Connor tried to explain his plan but was interrupted by a surprisingly huge explosion down at the train station, with a blast wave they could even feel up there on their hill. The earth shook, then it was awkwardly quiet for a moment, until both Daryl and Connor looked up again, to face the mess the Irishman had created.

The explosion had been huge. The tank was nowhere in sight, parts of the surrounding buildings were burning or catching fire already, half the herd of walkers and all of Terminus residents were lying on the ground, confused, some burning, some dead from the blast.

"Wohoo, holy shit" Connor laughed, in disbelief, until he quickly got up.

"Jesus" Daryl gasped, looking at the mess for a second. He could see that the brick building had also been damaged by the explosion, starting to develop smoke. There was no way in hell for those people in there to NOT have heard that, or worse. Maybe it wasn't too late yet.

"Can't believe that worked" the humbled, a little confused and surprised by his friend, who just laughed some more and grabbed him by his shoulder to get him back up.

"It's all in the execution…now hurry. We gotta use te herd as cover ta enter their place, with these undead fucks infiltrating their place, gutting Rick and the others will be the least of their problems…Speaking of cover" Connor said after a second and then pressed a hand to Daryl's chest once more, to get it dirty, and then used it to start covering his face a little with it, groaning a bit because it still smelled awful.

Then he cleaned his hand on his jeans and shirt, trying to dirty them up a little as well but only subtly.

"Come on" he then said and nudged Daryl once more, quickly grabbing the rifle to get going.

"Shit" Murphy said and sprinted towards the window to see and check what the hell was going on.

He widened his eyes a little when he saw them, a whole bunch of walkers that were right in front of their hut, until one of them caught glimpse of him and started staggering in their direction.

"Fuck! Sam, ye gotta…"Murphy said and startled a little when she was suddenly there, too, curious and worried about the noise.

"Oh god" she said as Murphy placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You wait in here, keep an eye on Suzie and this fucker, while I…"

The loud cry of the baby suddenly startled the both of them, making them turn around only to widen their eyes in horror. Martin had used the moment they had been busy looking outside to cross the room and grab Suzie, despite his restraints, holding her in an awkward angle, arm wrapped around her tiny neck, half choke-holding her already as he backed off a little.

"DON'T" Martin shouted when he saw Sam lose it and try to run towards them in horror, yelling at him, telling him to let the fuck go of her daughter.

"BACK OFF OR I OFF THE BABY!"

"LET HER FUCKING GO OR I DROP YE RIGHT FUCKING NOW!" Murphy yelled right back, gun drawn, ready to shoot the guy who clung even more to the little girl, making Sam sob and reach out.

"YOU FUCKING MONSTER! SHE'S JUST A BABY! LET HER GO!"

Attracted by their yelling, all the walkers from outside were already starting to pile up on the windows, the door, everywhere, scratching at the walls, making everybody panic even more.

"I WILL! If you play nice, huh, huh, yeah you'll play nice" Martin said, still holding the baby captive, looking half panicked but also looking like he enjoyed having control over her life.

"Now you, put the weapon on the ground, move it over. As soon as I got it, chick over there will approach me nice and slow. Gun for the kid. When you're done, you go outside, kill these walkers and I make my way out back."

"DON'T YOU FUCKING…" Sam spat once more, furious, still trying to approach the guy who once again tightened his grip around her daughter's neck, making her cry even more, only that the cries were getting muffled and choked from his grip.

"ONE TWIST, MAN!" he shouted and Murphy finally reacted.

"ALRIGHT ALRIGHT, FINE! Just let te fuckin kid go, ye piece of shit!" he shouted only to slowly crouch down, staring at Martin, making it look like he was listening and putting it to the ground. It was almost on the ground when Murphy suddenly pulled the trigger, hitting Martin in his shin, making him yelp in pain and drop Suzie in reflex so he could hold his leg with the broken bone in utter shock and horror.

"GRAB HER AND GET TE FUCK OUTTA HERE!" Murphy shouted and then launched himself at Martin, while Sam quickly ran for her screaming daughter, picked her up and then ran for the back of the hut, the windows there, smashing one of those and then climbing outside the back so she wouldn't have to run into the mob of walkers that was piling up on the front of the building.

But it didn't exactly help her much because the noise attracted them to the back. Murphy could hear the moaning and shuffling by the side of the hut, could hear Suzie's cries get quieter outside as Sam tried to run away from the building and the herd, but the Irishman couldn't help her, because now that he had tackled Martin to the ground to keep him from getting to Sam and the child, the guy was now clinging to him, trying to keep him in place with him while some of the walkers already climbed and stumbled through the smashed window, attracted by Martin's yelling.

"I TOLD YOU YOU'RE GONNA DIE! I TOLD YOU…" he screamed, obviously thinking that he could kill Murphy along with him by keeping him here and making the walkers attack him, but the Irishman managed to free himself, stumbling back a little with his chest heaving, staring down at laughing but at the same time half screaming Martin, who now got back to holding his shot leg.

"Too late. We're surrounded, buddy" Martin laughed at him, grinning, despite his obvious fear of dying. "Good guys who save babies and chicks always die first in this world…they're gonna eat me…and they're gonna eat you. Should've taken the car when you had the chance."

Murphy just looked at the guy, his chest heaving, and for a moment he actually considered proofing him wrong. He wanted to be evil and smug about it, wanted to open the door, let all the walkers in, let the guy see that the walkers weren't going to do shit to him with his immunity and then watch them eat the fucker alive. For a moment he was so furious about the fact that Martin had seriously tried to threaten and kill a BABY that he actually really wanted to pull this through, but in the end, he decided against it.

Because no. He wasn't like that. These days, he was constantly worried about Connor slipping, Connor being too far gone with his vengeance and wrath and killings after what had happened at Woodbury. It would make him a hypocrite if he went down the same path now. No. It was wrong. They were still human beings. Killing evil scumbags was right, but just like back in the old days, doing it as twisted as them was not. Back then they had shot people up and that quickly, trying to kill them as efficiently and quickly as possible, giving them pennies to send them on their way.

And he was going to keep doing that. No matter how fucked up the world was, no matter how easy and satisfying it could be.

So he picked up his gun, raised it once more and then aimed it at the guy's head.

"NO" Martin said, but Murphy ignored him

"Shut up!" he said and then pulled the trigger, sending a bullet right through Martin's head, killing him. Murphy then tugged the gun away, looking at the dead body once more, until he quickly ran for the door, opened it, and pressed his back to the wall right next to it, letting the walkers who had piled up on the door enter.

The first one to stumble inside quickly turned around and staggered in his direction for a moment, snarling, looking terrifying, and even now, Murphy couldn't help but flinch and tense up, pulling a face because of the smell of rotten flesh and decaying bodies. The walker stared at him for a moment, came closer, snarled once more, almost sniffing a bit and then finally turned away, with the others doing the same because then they smelled it, the fresh blood, the body on the floor.

They collectively staggered towards Martin's body and then fell to their knees, already tearing at the flesh, biting it and chewing on it with disgusting smacking sounds, sounds that made Murphy want to vomit as he waited for the last bunch of walkers to enter the building. As soon as he spotted a gap he was out and running, running towards the outer back of the hut, eager to find Sam and her child, calling out for her, but she was nowhere in sight. Only in the far distance did he believe to see that last bunch of shuffling corpses, members of the herd that had split up in order to pursue the woman and her baby.

"SAM!" Murphy shouted once more and started running, hoping to catch up to her, hoping to get to her before the walkers did, so he could protect them and kill the undead before they managed to surround her.