Location from The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman (comics), Frank Darabont (TV), Telltale Games
A train depot with signs promising sanctuary — a trap that lured survivors with hope and fed them to the residents, because Terminus answered 'how do you survive?' with the most horrifying answer possible.
Terminus is the show's purest horror. The signs on the railroad tracks promise community and safety, and they deliver — for the residents. The survivors who follow the signs become the food supply. The people of Terminus were originally victims themselves — their sanctuary was overrun by raiders who brutalized them, and their response was to become the apex predators. 'You're either the butcher or the cattle' is Terminus's philosophy, delivered without irony by Gareth, its leader. The show never lets you forget that these were once good people who chose this. Carol destroys Terminus with a propane tank and a bottle rocket, and it remains the show's most satisfying act of violence.
A railroad terminal complex surrounded by chain-link fencing with hand-painted signs reading 'SANCTUARY FOR ALL, COMMUNITY FOR ALL, THOSE WHO ARRIVE SURVIVE.' Flower beds and lit candles at the entrance create a welcoming facade. Behind it: a slaughterhouse. A concrete room with stainless steel troughs where people are butchered over a drain. A shipping container where prisoners wait in the dark. Bones piled in corners. The barbecue grill out front serves meat that nobody asks about.
Also known as: Terminus, The Sanctuary