My Safe Space

three

annabelle stared at her blurred reflection in the steam covered mirror of her bathroom. her long wet hair rested on her bare shoulders and over the towel. she didn't even recognize herself. she avoided mirrors since her run in with the saviors months prior. though they didn't get the chance to do anything serious to her, the incident traumatized her. knowing what that man was going to do if she hadn't managed to grab the gun and kill him.

annabelle wasn't as strong as she wished she could be. she didn't have it in her. but she was self sufficient enough to make it this far on her own.

it was now a few days after she'd caught negan dropping off a box of food. she'd just woken and taken a shower, thankfully the cabin had its own water supply from a well in her backyard. she dried off and dressed before she exited the bathroom and walked to the sofa where roman laid. she loved on him for a moment before she heard a door shut. her head quickly snapped to the door as she pulled out her gun and stood back to her feet.

she slowly crept to the door and peaked out the glass that framed the front door. she let a sigh of relief when she saw the familiar tall man exit the truck pulled in her driveway. annabelle opened the front door before holstering her gun again while negan approached. "you really gotta stop scaring me."

"well sorry," he laughed. his barbed wired baseball bat laid over his shoulder per usual.

"what are you doing here, again?" she questioned as she eyed the bat that made her feel so uneasy every time she saw it. it was just an extremely weird weapon choice for the apocalypse.

"can't i just stop by and say hello?" he sarcastically scoffed. annabelle just glared at him. she knew that wasn't why, and she was right. "come to the sanctuary with me, just for the day."

"negan, no." she sighed.

"just for the day and i promise i'll bring you back first thing in the morning," negan insisted. annabelle would, but in all honesty she was scared. her cabin was safe, and she knew that. she couldn't be sure of that anywhere else. negan seemed to pick up on her expression. "i'm not going to let anything happen to you, i promise that."

she felt a flutter of warmth in her stomach in trojans of those comforting words. negan quickly followed up his sweet statement with a light hearted one. "we also have a ton of pickles, all homemade. i see all the empty jars in your kitchen."

annabelle couldn't help but laugh. that was his persuasion? "okay fine, only if i can bring roman."

"we have ourselves a deal." he sheepishly grinned. annabelle packed a small bag and put roman on his leash. negan helped load roman in the back of the truck before the two hopped in. annabelle wasn't going anywhere without roman, not overnight. she wasn't sure if she trusted negan completely, but she felt safe enough to join him. on the way to what he called the 'sanctuary', he spoke about mild things like managing the facility and outposts.

as they neared, the conversation changed. "i'm not going to lie to you, i have strict rules. when people break my rules? it gets ugly. i'm not proud of the things that i do, but they have to be done to keep them in line. this is how we live, it's how we survive."

annabelle didn't know what exactly to make of that but she didn't want to ask any questions, in fear of what the answers may be. instead she left it with a gentle "okay."

just like that they were pulling into the old factory. she watched her surroundings like a hawk, almost counting the amount of men she saw just on the outside. several stood by the gate as two others opened it, another two stood by the doors entrance. many more on look out towers around the place. she felt intimidated.

annabelle felt a weight on her hand. she glanced down to see megan's rested on top of hers before she looked back up at him. "i told you nothing will happened to you, and i'm a man of my word."

annabelle couldn't help but smile a bit before the two hopped out of the truck. annabelle quickly rushed to the back where she immediately helped roman out, holding him by the leash. roman made her feel safe, she loved her dog more than anything. she was at the store when the outbreak happened. she dropped everything and rushed home to roman.

annabelle glanced around at the men that surrounded her. that was when a man stepped from the circle. for a moment, she couldn't look away from the horrific and mangled burn mark that covered the right side of his face. she watched as the man reached out to pet roman but her pit immediately growled, protecting roman. annabelle quickly pet him and assured her dog. "it's okay roman,"

"sorry about him, he's hasn't been around other people since before the outbreak," annabelle apologized to them man.

"it's okay, my dog was the same way before." the man smiled and carefully reached his hand back out, petting roman.

"dwighty here boy is my right hand man, don't be afraid to look at that mangled mess on his face, you can't miss it," negan remarked with a smirk. she watched the man 'dwight' jaw clench. she was taken back by his rude comment. why did he talk to his own men like this? what the hell happened to this dudes face? "come on, let me show you around the place."

annabelle gave a small smile to dwight who nodded back at her before she followed negan into the factory. "here is where the workers sleep, eat and most work. we have a point system in place."

annabelle followed aside him as they walked. "let me show you something badass,"

she followed him up a set of stairs and to a walkway above, stood over top of the whole main floor. in an instant, everyone who was shuffling their way around whether that were eating, working, cleaning. everyone dropped to their knees and stared up at them. "the only way i can manage these fine folks is ensuring i have respect, and clearly i have it. i have strict rules and they know it. most importantly they know what happens when they break it, like dwighty boy outside."

what did that mean? did he.. do that to his face? so many questions ran through her mind as she stared down at the few hundreds below them. "as you all know, we've found many more suppliers. we've brought back yesterday a damn good amount of food. a free side courtesy of yours truly."

many claps and whoops broke out and echoed the large factory. negan looked over to her with the pretty but cocky smile. "see? give a little to get a little."

negan turned back to the crown. "as you were."

just like that, everyone raised from their knees and resumed. annabelle's eyebrows raised and she gave a little nod. "impressive."

"baby you haven't seen anything yet," he winked before walking away. she felt heat raise to her cheeks, luckily she was only following behind him now. she didn't know what to think about this place, about negan. she couldn't help but to feel drawn to him, which scared her the most. she couldn't lie that seeing how much power he possessed only made that attraction grow larger, and hotter.

annabelle was lead to a large door where he entered, revealing almost like a large apartment. i mean this place was decked out. annabelle looked around at the bed, the couch, most importantly the working tv. she glanced back to negan to see a smirk on his face as he watched her look around in awe. "cool, right?"

"is this your room?" she was astonished that he was living like this during the end of the world.

there was then a knock on the door. negan sighed in annoyance and called out. "leave a fucking message the doors closed you idiot."

"i-i'm sorry sir, but we've got an issue in the back." an almost scared voice announced through the door.

negan sighed and stood from his leaned position against his desk. "i'll be right back sweetheart, stay here and make yourself at home."

and just like that, negan walked out of the room. annabelle wasn't comfortable just sitting on the couch and waiting so she walked around the large room, glancing at his movie selection, to the paintings on the wall, to a few papers on his desk. she eventually found herself at the window where she peered out. that was when she saw a beautiful garden outside, one she somehow missed on the way in. she saw a woman outside working on it.

she smiled to herself and walked from the room, making her way downstairs. she knew negan said to stay in the room, but he wouldn't mind if she went out to give a hand to the woman tending to the garden. she had plenty of experience and genuinely enjoyed it. she knew she could help. with that, annabelle made her way down the stairs and slipping outside on her own.