Sanctuary

Chapter 1

She'd been alone for about 3 weeks at a guess. Fighting the dead, hunting for food, and trying to find a safe place to sleep. She had become quite proficient at hunting, and with her bow and arrows she was quiet too, which came in handy with the walkers. She'd been almost useless in the beginning when the dead started to rise, but she'd learned fast. It was either that, or die. Some she'd learned from others, some through trial and error. She tried not to think of the others. They were either dead, or gone, either way it didn't matter she thought, she was probably never going to see them again. And it hurt to think, so she continued to walk through the woods, bow and arrow in hand, focusing on catching her next meal.

Her head shoots to the right as she hears a noise in the distance. Voices.

She moves quickly but cautiously. Well aware that not everyone left was friendly. In fact, she knew that it was most likely the opposite.

As she nears, the voices become clearer. "You fucking, fucks are dead! You have no, fucking, idea, who you're messing with!"

"Gag him up will you. I'm sick of listening to his shit!"

She can see them now, six men in all. Two of them are tied to trees, hands and feet bound with rope.

She stays out of sight, crouching, watching, assessing the situation. She's never turned her back on those in need. But it's hard to tell the good from the bad these days, and being tied to a tree doesn't make you innocent.

Still trying to figure out her next move, one of the men stands and turns in her direction. That's when she sees the W on his forehead. Wolves! She thinks, grimacing.

"I'm gonna step out for a piss," he announces, leaving the group.

He leaves to her left. She follows him silently. He unbuckles his belt and begins to relieve himself. She's behind him, drawing her knife. The wolf doesn't have the chance to finish. She comes up behind him, grabs his hair, and swiftly slits his throat. He makes guttural choking noises as he drops to his knees, uselessly grabbing at his throat. She finishes him with a knife to the side of his head. She checks him over for weapons, hoping to find a gun, but to no avail. She makes her way back to the other wolves.

Two of the wolves are sitting on a log with their backs to her. The other, is standing in front of the two men they'd captured.

She draws her bow, aiming at the wolf closest to her on the log. The arrow goes straight through his head, exiting his eye. He falls onto the man beside him. The wolf turns his head towards his comrade, a look of amusement on his face. His eyes widen and his mouth opens. He doesn't get any words out before an arrow goes through his neck. He falls to the ground with a thud. The other wolf turns and ducks, just in time to avoid an arrow. The arrow hits the tree behind him. She rushes forward, drawing her knife. The wolf runs at her. She's only a tiny thing, the wolf, who has almost a foot in height on her and outweighs her considerably, easily knocks the knife from her hand.

The two captured men look on in awe.

They both go tumbling to the ground. She grabs at him uselessly. But he's on her, his hands around her throat.

The captured men try to free themselves from the rope with no luck. "HEY!Get the fuck off her!" One shouts, angrily, almost growling.

The wolf smiles at her. "Maybe i'll have some fun with you first?" His left hand releases it's grip on her throat, greedily making it's way under her plaid skirt.

The anger builds inside her, and she brings her knee up hard between his legs. He lets out a squeal, instinctively bringing his hands down to his crotch. She doesn't waste the moment, grabbing a knife from her boot, she pushes his head up with her left hand and slices his throat. She turns her face to the left as his blood spews all over her. She rolls him off of her. Knees either side of him, she plunges her knife into his temple.

She looks a sight. Face, hair and chest, covered in blood. She absently wipes her knife on one of her over knee socks as she stands. She stands over the wolf. "What an arsehole!" She says, turning towards the two men. She looks them over from a distance. One has a handlebar moustache, brown hair and eyes. The other, has black, slicked back hair. He's wearing a black, leather jacket, with a red scarf. Which she thinks is strange, considering how warm it is. They're both staring at her in awe. Leather jacket, however, is smiling at her. And she can't deny, it's one of the most beautiful smiles, she's ever seen. She also thinks it looks a little crazed. "You're not gonna make me regret saving you guys are you?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, sweetheart." Leather jacket smiles. She nods, walking towards them.

Moustache guy pipes up. "There's another guy.. he went off to take a piss."

She shakes her head. "I already took care of him."

Once again they stare at her in awe. Leather jacket never takes his eyes off her.

She goes about collecting her arrows, not neglecting to put a knife through wolf number twos head.

She makes her way back to leather jacket, resting on one knee before him. "If i cut you loose, are you gonna be nice?"

He smiles. "Sweetheart. You just saved our fucking asses. And then some. We fucking owe you. And after what we just witnessed. I don't believe we'd want to risk pissing you off. What's your name, beautiful?"

"Rachel," she answers.

"Rachel. I'm Negan. That's Simon," Simon nods. "We have a place. It's safe, secure. We have people. A whole damn, shit load of them. We, are the saviors. And you. Are more than fucking welcome, to come join us. What do you say?" Negan smiles.