Terminus

City of Atlanta. 

"These people acted against the organization, deliberately wanting to steal food and weapons in a plan to escape! Their crimes are irreparable, therefore their sentence has been decided!" 

At this time, there were many people gathered in an open place. They all looked with resentful expressions at those people kneeling on the ground, who were currently trembling with fear. Their bodies were slightly beaten, and many of them were begging for their lives. 

This kind of scene appears from time to time, and mostly with survivors who try something funny when they first enter the S.C.T. There is a lot of understanding with new survivors, but it is made clear to them their possibilities before they enter any shelter under the protection of the organization. 

The thousands of people living in S.C.T.-protected shelters know that no one must break the rules or they will be punished. During this time, there were internal guards who could be considered police officers in an urban society. But these soldiers now work together with a clear operating system, preventing survivors from doing anything foolish. 

These internal guards have a special costume, which associates them with their job and duties. Now that there were thousands of people of which must be guarded and cared for, there were hundreds of internal policemen who worked day by day to maintain law and order. 

This saves the soldiers from being kept inside secure areas and with this they end up taking advantage of their strength in border areas or forward points. Internal infections were stopped, due to the vaccine that was being produced and which everyone has received without fail. Therefore, in this aspect it was much calmer. 

But that does not separate them from the people who break the rules, for the sentences are many. But the biggest is the vaccine, which contains infected blood that would turn the survivor into a living dead depending on the resistance of his body. 

When criminals of the highest level are sentenced to this sentence, everyone must know why it was decided. And now, they were about to witness a punishment of that level again. 

"This is Captain Dawn Lerner, at this time you are sentencing five criminals for attempted robbery, murder, carrying a bladed weapon and attempted breach of rank two security." 

When Dawn said this, everyone felt furious. How could anyone even think of stealing anything from everyone? No one is short of food, everyone is protected, so they didn't understand why there were such stupid people. 

"They know that when our food is stolen, they take away our time, work, sweat, blood, lives and most of all our future. We are a united society, we work to rebuild all that was taken from us, dozens of soldiers die day in and day out protecting this safe place and I'm sure you all understand that." 

"We understand!" 

"They must die!" 

"They don't deserve to belong here!" 

Dawn looked at all the people who were furious, so after a few more words she said, "Thanks to you these criminals were caught, so we are all thankful that you take care of what little we have." 

"Begin!" 

After saying this, several people came up with large injections with a crimson liquid and were placed in these people. 

"No, please!" 

"Nooo!" 

"We don't want to die!" 

Regardless of the pleas, after the injection entered the bloodstream of these people, it was a matter of time before they would die under the effect of the Wildfire virus. Therefore, after this they were sent to an unprotected area to eventually die. 

... 

On the outskirts of a town. 

After two days, Rick and his group finally arrived in the vicinity of the Terminus. They didn't know if they had taken the nearby fuel or what, but they couldn't find a car they could start. Rick wondered if he had gotten so used to everything going his way that he couldn't believe that so far nothing had turned out the way he wanted it to. 

Silently thinking about these things, they also approached the periphery of the terminal. 

Standing on high ground, they all looked at the place called the terminal below, this should be the train station before the end of the world. Atlanta's rail network is highly developed. After transporting a large amount of materials to the port, they will be shipped to various places in Atlanta through the rail network that was now controlled by their organization. 

And this is one of the ones that have been worked on, the station occupies a large area and is divided into several yards, all of which are filled with a large number of containers. 

Looking around, the originally spacious yard is divided into several smaller yards by wooden boxes, and these yards are connected by some narrow passages and even by a certain special door. 

After watching the side of the station for a long time, everyone finally hid in a bush under the protection of the forest, and several people gathered to discuss what they should do next. 

Abraham didn't understand why Rick was so cautious, in his opinion, it was a waste of time. 

"Can't we just go in and ask, why bother with these things?" 

Shaking his head to deny Abraham's thoughts, two days of contact made Rick understand this strong man a little. He's not stupid, but he's very lucky. He has never met really bad people, so he still has to patiently explain to him. 

"Of course we should go straight to ask, but we can't go there altogether. We do not know the number of these people and we do not know their attitudes towards strangers. What will we do if they are hostile against us? Not only will your protégé be in danger, but we ourselves will not be able to do anything."

The most direct way to deal with this strong man is to find a way to connect this matter with Eugene, and then everyone will know that it is extremely simple to persuade Abraham. 

The most direct experience after contacting the other party is that Abraham really cares a lot about Eugene, and this care even surprisingly surpasses his own life. 

Relying on years of police intuition, Rick can sense that this seemingly uncouth man definitely has a story, maybe it's the loss of a loved one, maybe it's something else, otherwise who could have all his hopes in saving the world? Anyone who does that wants to escape reality after experiencing an empty feeling, and tries to use that excuse to motivate themselves to keep living. 

Even if Rick has seen many things, there is no need to say this kind of thing openly, for now he should concentrate on solving the immediate problem right now. 

Frowning, Rick thought about how to contact the people at the station, and spoke after a while. 

"For security reasons, we can't all go in. Let's go in with Morgan and Abraham to make contact. The others should wait here, if we don't come out after a while it means there's a problem. As long as the strangers aren't stupid, they won't be our enemies." 

"What are you afraid of? You are all survivors, why do you keep thinking such dark things?" 

Seeing Rick's reaction, Rosita couldn't help but say. 

A pair of black and white eyes rested on the girl's face, and Morgan also spoke at this moment, the expression on his face made the rest of the people realize something, and they all turned their eyes towards him. 

"You think things are too simple. The world has changed. We've encountered bad guys more than once or twice, cannibals and all the worst you can imagine. You think our bases are standing because we have guns and food? If we are so cautious, why are we still accepting outsiders? Have you thought about those questions?" 

Rosita was surprised by Morgan's question and understood more or less what the other party was thinking, but still said a bit skeptically. "Maybe they have a lot of concern, or are strong enough to deal with these minor problems." 

"That's why we decided to get in touch with these people." 

Rick suddenly said something, and now Rosita had nothing to say. She looked at Abraham next to her and found that the other party had no intention of speaking, so she could only give in. 

"Whatever, you decide, we'll wait for them here." 

A group of three walked through the forest and slowly made their way towards the main entrance. There was a reaction from inside the gate. A guard with a gun poked his head through the fence in the wall and looked at the three of them with a smile on his face. 

"Are you here seeking asylum?" 

Seeing that the other party didn't draw his gun, Rick also put Colt in his holster and said with a friendly face.

"Excuse me, we are survivors from other campsites. We ran into walkers when we went out for supplies a few days ago. Now our car broke down. I want to borrow some fuel from you and we'll pay you for everything."

The guard showed a surprised expression upon hearing Rick's words, nodded a little confused, then held up the radio in his hand, indicating to wait a moment, then backed up a few steps, as if he was contacting someone. 

He soon returned with a smile on his face again. 

"Wait a moment, our leader will be here soon." 

"That's okay, sorry for the inconvenience." 

They waited about ten minutes before they saw a tall, thin man coming out of a house in the distance, followed by several people walking this way. 

As the other party approached, Rick clearly saw the person's appearance. He had his hair combed in a parting and looked quite good. He was apparently in his early thirties. Behind him were several men and women, who looked very ordinary, all of them with friendly faces. 

Rick was very wary of this situation, if the other party is armed it is something he can understand, as the signs indicate, they are a group of people who openly accept survivalists, but now that they see strangers on their doorstep they have no caution whatsoever? 

"There's a problem in this place!" Rick thought wordlessly. 

With this in mind, the other party also walked towards the door, and the leader directly opened the door and walked out with two people. 

For some reason, the smile on the man's face made Rick feel a little uncomfortable, with a sense of deja vu, and at that moment the man's words interrupted his thoughts. 

"Is it that you need fuel?" 

"Yes." 

"First of all, welcome the three of you to the terminal. This is a settlement we built with our own hands. I am the leader of this place, you may call me Gareth. I don't know how to address you three..." 

"Rick, this is Morgan and Abraham." 

The man called Gareth smiled slightly at the words and held out his hands in a gesture of welcome. 

"We are willing to make friends with anyone. Gasoline will be delivered to them. As for compensation, we need nothing from you." 

Gareth finished speaking and looked at the other man behind him, who approached with a smile on his face, stretched out his hands slowly and explained. 

"Give me an empty gallon and I'll fill it with gas for you." 

"This is my younger brother Alex, due to the fact that we don't know each other, I can't invite you in directly, how about it?" 

Seeing Rick's head nod discreetly, Morgan handed him the empty gallon of gas in his hand. 

Then Gareth began casually chatting about a few topics, and time passed slowly. About ten minutes later, Rick looked at his watch and it had been almost twenty-five minutes since they arrived. 

"Why isn't he back yet?" 

A strange smile appeared on Gareth's face, and he suddenly asked. "Are you afraid that your waiting companions will get anxious?