The guards looked to each other, then toward the platform. The factory had descended into silence.
On the platform, the leader finally moved.
Rick watched him descend the steps. The man showed no anger at the chaos. He raised one hand, and every guard in the factory froze.
The leader walked across the factory floor and stopped at a distance from Merle. Then he started clapping.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
"My children, look at what has happened here tonight."
The believers slowly raised their heads. Some wept openly. Others looked angry. A few appeared lost, like children witnessing something they could not understand.
"You are wondering something, are you not? You are asking yourselves how a man burdened with such terrible sins could possibly pass the Judgment. You wonder whether everything you believed was a lie."
He smiled then, and it was warm. "But I tell you this is not a failure. This is a gift."
The leader turned and pointed at the dead walker.
"The Lord left a flaw in our ritual. Do you think this was an accident? Do you think the Almighty makes mistakes?"
Silence.
"No!" The leader's voice rang out. "This was a test! Not for the sinner but for us! The Lord was asking: are you mindless executors of cold ritual, or can you see the mercy hidden within His will?"
He gestured toward Merle without looking at him.
"This man seized the one chance the Lord offered him. He fought for his life and moved the heart of the Lost One herself! Even someone drowning in sin, the Lord grants the possibility of redemption! This is the ultimate mercy! This is divine love!"
"A miracle!" someone shouted.
"The Lord is merciful!"
"The Shepherd understands! He sees the truth!"
The believers were not just convinced. They were ecstatic, high on faith.
Rick felt his last hope die.
This Shepherd believed his own bullshit, which made him more dangerous.
There was no reasoning with someone like that.
They were fucked.
The Shepherd raised his hand again, and the cheering stopped instantly.
"Take them," he said quietly. "The Lord is merciful, but judgment continues. They will wash away their sins through labor and service. Perhaps, in time, they too will understand His grace."
"Yes!"
The guards surged forward. They grabbed Rick and the others, yanking them to their feet. Whatever fear they had felt during Merle's display was gone now.
"Don't touch him!"
One of the guards reached for Carl, trying to rip him from Lori's arms.
"Get your fucking hands off him!" Rick twisted, driving his shoulder into the guard's ribs. The man stumbled back with a grunt.
For a moment, Rick thought he might create an opening. Then someone's fist connected with his face.
The impact exploded across his cheekbone, sending stars across his vision. Before he could recover, a boot slammed into his side, driving the air from his lungs and sending him crashing to the concrete.
"Dad!" Carl screamed.
"Rick!" Shane tried to reach him, but three guards had him pinned. Daryl was cursing, thrashing against his own restraints.
Rick tried to push himself up. Another kick caught him in the ribs, and he went down again.
"Stop!"
Maggie walked into the light. She swept her gaze across the guards, and something in her look made them take a step back.
"The Shepherd said take them for labor. He did not say beat them into uselessness. Unless you want to explain to him why his workforce is crippled?"
The guards exchanged looks. The one who had been about to kick Rick again lowered his boot slowly.
Maggie's eyes dropped to Rick, still on his hands and knees, blood dripping from his split lip.
"Get up," she said. "Do not resist. Come with me."
Rick spat blood and forced himself to his feet. His ribs screamed where he had been kicked, and his face felt like it was on fire. Around him, the guards were roughly hauling the others upright. Shane was cursing under his breath. Daryl looked ready to bite someone's throat out. T-Dog's face was swelling from earlier blows.
"Move!" a guard shouted as he shoved Rick forward.
Rick stumbled but managed to stay on his feet. He turned his head and saw Lori and Carl being dragged in another direction. Morales and his family were forced toward a separate exit.
"You cannot do this!" Lori cried as she struggled against the guards holding her. Carl was crying too, reaching for Rick with both arms.
Rick tried to fight his way toward them, but there were too many hands holding him back.
"Lori! Carl!" he shouted.
A door opened behind him. He was forced through it before he could resist further.
The last thing he saw was his family being pulled away.
---
The storage room they called a dungeon was exactly what Rick had expected. It was dark, damp, and suffocating.
It had been a loading bay once, judging by the concrete floor and industrial shelving. Now heavy chain-link fencing had been installed, creating cages within the larger space.
The guards forced Rick, Shane, Daryl, and T-Dog into the largest one. It measured roughly fifteen feet by twenty, with a low ceiling and no windows. The fencing rattled violently as they stumbled inside.
"Welcome home, hero," one of the guards sneered, giving Rick a final shove.
Rick lost his footing and hit the ground.
Nearby, Merle was being dragged toward a smaller cage. He would be kept alone, separated from the others.
The cage door slammed shut. A moment later, heavy padlocks snapped into place.
"Sleep tight," a guard called as they walked away.
Their footsteps faded into the distance.
Rick pushed himself up. His ribs were definitely bruised, maybe cracked. His face felt like someone had used it as a punching bag.
"You alright?" Shane was beside him.
"Been better," Rick managed.
"No shit."
Across the cage, Daryl was already testing the chain link fencing.
"Bastards welded this good. Ain't getting through without tools."
T-Dog sat heavily against the far wall, pressing his shirt against his bleeding lip. He did not say anything.
Shane noticed and glanced at him. "Something you want to say?"
T-Dog shook his head slightly. "Nah. I was just thinking about how we ended up here."
Maggie had already begun to walk away when Rick stepped forward and grabbed the chain-link fence. He pressed himself against it and called after her.
"Wait!"
She stopped, but she did not turn around.
"Why are you helping us?"
She stood there in silence for several seconds before finally turning just enough for him to see her profile.
"I am not helping you. I am helping myself."
Then she continued down the corridor without looking back.
Rick remained where he was as he watched her disappear into the darkness. Around him, the others slowly settled in, tending to their injuries and searching for whatever comfort they could find in the miserable enclosure.
Only after Maggie turned the corner did her composure finally break.
She stopped in the middle of the dark corridor and clenched her fists. Her breathing came faster.
In her mind, she saw her father's face. He had been forced to watch as everything they built was taken from them, and there had been nothing he could do to stop it.
She did not have much time. The leader's patience had limits, and she knew exactly what happened to women who refused him. She had seen their fate. She had helped bury one of them.
Facing the cult alone would be suicide. Even with her brother's help, assuming she could make him see the truth, they would never be enough. The cult was too large.
But perhaps there was another way.
She looked back toward the locked door of the dungeon.
This group had killed Martin without hesitation. They had stood before the leader without submitting, even when death had been a real possibility.
They might be enough.
She would use them. And when it was over, if they survived, she would accept whatever consequences followed.
She took a slow breath and continued walking.
---
Dawn had not quite broken when a stolen car rolled to a quiet stop on a side street near the nursing home.
Glenn shut off the engine but did not move immediately. He remained in the driver's seat. Lucien sat beside him in silence.
"Something is wrong," Glenn said quietly.
Lucien had already noticed. The nursing home's front gate was firmly closed, which was not unusual. What troubled him were the raised voices coming from inside.
The two exchanged a glance. Whatever was happening in there, walking through the front door was a good way to get shot.
"Around the side?" Lucien suggested.
Glenn nodded. "There is a gap in the fence. I saw it last time. We can get in without being seen."
They left the car where it was, using abandoned vehicles as cover as they approached the building. The early morning mist had not fully burned off yet, which helped hide their approach but also made it harder to see what they were walking into.
The fence gap was where Glenn remembered. They went through one at a time, Lucien going first while Glenn kept watch.
Once inside the fence line, they pressed against the building's wall, using the shadows and angles to stay hidden.
The voices were clearer now.
Lucien risked a look around the corner.
Guillermo and his people were kneeling on the ground. Five or six men in matching tactical gear stood over them.
Their leader stood directly in front of Guillermo. He held a pistol loosely in his hand, the barrel angled toward the ground near Guillermo's head.
"The Shepherd's patience has limits. I will ask you one last time. Where is the offering?"