For my sister | Negan |

14 - A brand new beginning

Negan has his people get me some fresh clothes and a pair of shoes and leads me to a doctor's office down the hall. He leaves me with a warning not to try anything and before I know it, I'm in a doctor's coat awaiting patients.

And they come. First, a guy that cut his hand in an accident, then a woman who's had a bad cough for a few weeks. Then a father brings in his little boy who has a fever and after that an elderly woman whose mouth hurts, which turns out to be because of a rotten tooth.

I hardly get any time to contemplate my new faith. Which might be a good thing, because if I did stop to think about it, I'd probably lose my mind. I'm in the Sanctuary, working for Negan. I don't think that the people I treat are Saviours, like the ones that came to Alexandria, but it still feels strange to try my best to heal them. After all, they are the enemy.

Even in the rare moments that there aren't any patients, I'm not alone. Negan left one of his men behind to guard me. A burly man with a permanent scowl on his face. His small eyes nearly disappear beneath his bushy eyebrows and the beard on his face looks like it hasn't been trimmed in weeks. He looks like he's in his early forties and he hasn't said a word to me. He does talk to my patients when they enter. He makes them all give him a notebook that he scribbles something into. Not sure what that's about.

I'm not crazy enough to try to get past him. His hands are big enough to snap me in two. Besides, even if I dared, I still don't know where Ella is and I can't leave without her.

The day passes pretty quickly and with all those patients, I'm exhausted by noon. It's never this busy at Alexandria. Having so many people come see me makes me wonder exactly how many people they have here. I do remember that hall they dragged me through. The Sanctuary clearly has us greatly outnumbered.

I'm just done with a patient when a woman comes into the office, carrying a tray with two plates of some sort of stew on it. She's an attractive woman in her thirties, I'd guess. Her impressive bush of thick, black curls is tied back into a large ponytail that accentuates the sharp features of her flawless brown face. For the first time all day, my guard's frown eases up a little bit.

'Some lunch for you, Cal', she says, offering the tray to my guard. Cal, apparently. He hadn't told me his name yet. I hadn't asked either.

'And for the new doc', she adds, regarding me suspiciously for a moment. I give her a weird half- smile and nod that she doesn't respond to, so I just scratch my neck awkwardly and look away.

'Thanks, B', Cal says, taking his plate off the tray before he offers it to me.

'How's your day been?' he asks the woman. 'Got any more shit from those assholes in maintenance?'

'Oh no', B says, 'Not after you talked to them. How 'bout you?'

She steels another glance at me.

'Getting along with our new doctor?'

He looks at me for a moment before he takes another bite of his stew.

'Hasn't said a word to me', he mumbles with his mouth half-full.

'You haven't said a word to me either', I retort, a little offended. Cal shrugs, but B smiles at me a little.

'Must be weird for you to be here,' she says. 'You're from Alexandria, right?'

'Yes', I tell her cautiously. I don't exactly trust these people.

'I'm B', she says, not quite coming over, but giving me a little wave. 'Short for Beatrice. What's your name?'

'Christina', I tell her. She seems nice. I wasn't expecting to find nice people in this place. 'Some people call me Chris.'

'Well, I hope you can find your place here, Chris', she says, turning around to leave. 'And don't worry about Cal, here. He's not as scary as he looks.'