No Sanctuary

Chapter 38 No Sanctuary

POV Justin

After my fantastic flying experience and almost crashing into a skyscraper the helicopters landed in a clear area not far from the train tracks which would take us directly to Terminus.

The plan will be to take Terminus as quickly as possible without causing too much damage to the structure. Once the attack begins, the helicopters will support from the air, eliminating any enemy that is on the roofs while the rest of my troops are in charge of eliminating the people inside.

Fast, easy, and efficient.

I plan to turn Terminus into an Empire checkpoint, and those train tracks will be a great asset to us in the future. According to the timeline, Rick's group should currently be in the prison plot as long as they haven't died on the road due to the butterfly effect caused by me.

My minions are all gathered in front of me waiting for my orders. "Within those walls, there are no people…there are monsters…cannibals, we must eliminate all threats against our people. Give your hearts to the Empire!" I exclaim with a clenched fist around my heart where the Empire logo is located. I am an excellent actor.

"No Sanctuary!" I exclaim, extending my hand theatrically toward my subordinates.

"Yes, Your Highness!" My subordinates exclaim in unison placing their fist around his heart while having a determined look on his face. However, Jadis and Arat remain neutral as they nod their heads. I guess they have some common sense and don't follow me blindly, but as long as they protect me and don't betray me, I don't care.

"Start the assault." I say as my subordinates start to split up in different directions in order to surround the compound while Arat and Jadis stay close to me.

"Why don't you let us handle this and wait here?" Arat asks me, standing in front of me.

"You worry about me? That's quite adorable of you." I said tilting my head with a smile as I walk past her.

"You know very well that's not what I meant." She says gritting her teeth. She knows very well that if anything happens to me Negan will have her head. That's a good motivator for her to protect me as her life depends on it hehe.

"You just have to humor me and everything will be fine." I say waving my hand dismissively as I walk along the train tracks with my hands behind my head casually.

Soon after, we found ourselves entering Terminus through one of the back doors of the complex where Rick and his crew entered on the TV show. In that, we arrive at a room where there are several people gathered together with an old woman with a radio transmitting.

"Sanctuary for all..." Says an old woman while using an old radio.

"Good Morning!" I exclaim drawing the attention of those present while Arat and Jadis tense up.

At that moment, one of the people in the room approaches us with his hands up and a fake smile on his face, he is Gareth, the leader of these cannibals. You won't be able to fool me, friend!

"Did they come to rob us?" Gareth asks. Is this some kind of already established script? How many people were fooled in this way? If they weren't cannibals they would be a valuable resource for my Empire, however, the easiest thing for me is to eliminate the problem at the root and that is precisely what I will do.

"What?" I ask pointing to myself. "I'm just a normal boy accompanied by two normal women." I say innocently as Arat and Jadis stand behind me at the ready with their fingers on the triggers of their guns.

"Albert should have seen them arrive… I guess he fell asleep at his post again. I am Gareth." He says looking at us carefully as he greets us.

"Hello! I am Justin." I say introducing myself and then pointing my hand at both women behind me. "She is Arat and she is Jadis." I say with a smile on my face.

Gareth nods his head. "Welcome to Terminus." He says letting his guard down along with the rest of his men. "The clothes they are wearing are quite peculiar, do they come from any community?" He asks us with interest and a fake smile on his face.

Arat and Jadis have the standard Imperial tactical outfit along with the logo, which was not lost on Gareth. Then one of the radios started broadcasting. "Has anyone seen Albert and Greg? They're not in their…" The transmission abruptly cuts off. This causes Gareth to tense up and look me square in the eye.

I then winked with a smile on my face. "You already noticed, right?" That's all I say placing my hands on my waist as Jadis and Arat open fire on all of them who were taken by surprise.

In slow motion like a movie, I watch in fascination as Gareth and his men are riddled with gunfire.

At that moment, I listen as numerous clashes begin to occur throughout the complex along with the screams of the residents of Terminus.

"Gareth we need help." I hear a woman on Gareth's radio

"They are attacking us from different directions." I hear a man on the radio with the sound of gunshots in the background.

I listen as the last shell casing falls to the ground as Jadis and Arat begin to reload their weapons. On the ground is Gareth covered in blood gasping for breath as he continues to stare at me with disbelief in his eyes. "Why?" He asks coughing up some blood and trying to reach for his gun.

I quickly kick the gun out of Gareth's hands as Jadis points her gun in the direction of the door taking down anyone who enters. In that, Arat is in charge of finishing off with a shot in the head of the rest of the people who were shot down to prevent them from becoming walkers.

So I stand on tiptoe in front of Gareth as his men frantically call for help over the radio. "Don't think this is some kind of divine punishment, I don't care if you are cannibals, I'm not an avenger and I don't want to be. However, this place will become a nice lookout post for the Empire." I whisper

"Have... mercy on my people, we did it... to survive." Gareth whispers. At that, I unholster my pistol and point it directly at Gareth's head.

"My men's orders are simple…" I say with a cruel smile spreading across my face. "No Sanctuary." That is all I say as Gareth's eyes fill with despair, then I pull the trigger.

I can already imagine the people in Washington "Your Highness kills cannibals and saves hundreds of lives" this will certainly increase the number of people who enlist in my army to protect the Empire. Ball of assholes.

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POV Third Person

"They attack us!" one of the residents of Terminus yells before being shot in the head by the Empire men who rush into the facility without mercy.

Several defenders take up positions on the roofs to gain an advantage from an elevated position, this works momentarily as they manage to cause a couple of kills. However, the sound of approaching helicopters is unmistakable which makes these people panic and start shooting at the helicopters.

"Majesty 03 starting combat." The pilot of Majesty 03 says over the radio while his gunner fires a heavy machine gun at the enemy positions on the roof of the complex, riddling them all. "Clear ceilings." Reports the pilot of Majesty 03.

"Copied, Majesty 02 deploying reinforcements." Says the pilot of Majesty 02, positioning himself on top of one of the roofs while several men in tactical suits begin to descend using a rope.

"Did you see that guy's face when my ax slammed into his entire chest?" Justin says, walking with a gun in his left hand and an ax in his right hand followed by Arat and Jadis who have blood on their clothes. "All this gives me experience for the future, Mike has been training me a little." Justin boasts with a smile on his face. "You can keep up with me, right?" he asks cheekily running in the direction of a door.

Meanwhile, Arat and Jadis try their best not to shoot Justin in the back.

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POV Jadis

Justin quickly kicked the door open, then entered a completely dark room. He then quickly ducks as a bat hits the wall just above his head.

"They will pay for what they…!" A person in a blood-stained butcher's apron attacks Justin. I quickly point my gun at this person, however, a volley of gunfire lights up the room before I can fire causing the person to fall to the ground with several bullet holes.

"It's the second time someone wants to hit my head using a bat hehe." Justin says holding his smoking gun to then shoot the body in the head.

After securing the complex and taking care of the walkers that were attracted by the gunfire we freed the people who remained captive inside the train cars who were very grateful to us except for one delusional person.

"We are the same, we are the same, we are…!" A shot to the head knocks the delusional subject down as I watch as Justin puts his gun away.

"What do we do with the people we rescue?" I ask as the armed men begin to surround the civilians as they all wait for Justin's orders.

"They can come to the Empire if they want or do whatever they want, I don't care." He says waving his hand dismissively. "If they don't want to come to Impero they must leave this place in less than 30 minutes, if they don't, shoot them." He says.

"I'll leave most of the men here guarding this facility with enough supplies, they can use the people we rescued as labor to repair the place. I will take the helicopters back to Washington, in a few days reinforcements will come to support this place and take the civilians to the capital." Justin says quickly. At this, I nod along with the rest of the people.

Minutes later.

"Don't you want me to stay and supervise the place?" I ask raising an eyebrow in Justin's direction, the most logical thing would be for me to stay and manage this place momentarily.

"I already left someone in charge of this dump." Justin says with a smile on his face. "Pilot let's go!" he exclaims.

"At your orders, Your Highness." Says the pilot as we begin to rise.

"Another one bites the dust." Justin whispers with a strange twinkle in his eyes as large flags bearing the Empire logo flutter from the rooftops of Terminus behind us.

*

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"Did you see? Everything worked out in the end and best of all, it was quite easy and fun." Justin says animatedly taking a seat in the co-pilot's seat.

"Do you even know how many times we saved your life?!" Arat exclaims in frustration as she clenches her fists. "If anything happens to you, Negan is going to…" Arat says, however, she is interrupted by Justin.

"3 times." Justin says seriously sighing a little. "And it is precisely for that reason that you are by my side, I trusted you enough to keep me safe and not shoot me in the back." He says quickly.

"That's your way of saying 'Thanks for saving my ass?' You should try harder." Says Arat making fun of Justin.

"Don't push your luck." Justin growls.

"That's the most you'll get from him." I say as a smile touches the curve of my lips. This kid is quite a walking puzzle.

After several minutes, we find ourselves flying over the city of Charleston again, however, something is different.

"Where are the walkers of this city? I'm sure there were hundreds in the streets when we passed hours ago." Justin says from the co-pilot seat looking out at the streets. He is right. Where have so many walkers gone?

At that moment, a loud explosion is heard and I watch in disbelief as the helicopter hovering in front of us begins to collapse.

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"What the fuck was that?!" Exclaims Arat.

"Wow!" exclaims Justin.

"Hold on tight, we're under attack!" The pilot exclaims starting to take evasive actions.

"Mayday, mayday, mayday." I listen through the radio as I hold on tight and watch as the helicopter that was hit earlier by the blast crashes into a building.

"The Majesty 03 has fallen." The pilot of Majesty 02 reports on the radio. Then I start to hear the sound of bullets ricocheting off our helicopter.

It was a mistake to come. A big mistake.