Sanctuary

Chapter 3

After a shower, some clean clothes, and a good nights sleep. Rachel is able to think a little more clearly. Negan may be crazy, but he's also a man with a lot of people at his disposal. Depending on whether she stayed or not, that made him a threat. She decided the best thing to do was to scope the place out. Fit in for the time being until she figured the place out. That's if she could rely on her mouth to keep her out of trouble. She had a habit of saying exactly what she thought, and it had gotten her into trouble many a time.

She hears a knock at the door. "Who is it?" She shouts, rising out of her chair.

"Erm, Joey. Negan told me to bring you some food."

Rachel opens the door. An overly plump man stands there nervously carrying a tray.

"Hi, i'm Rachel," she smiles.

He blushes a little. "Hi, i'm Joey.."

"Yeah i know. You just said that," she interrupts, jokingly.

"Right, sorry," he says, quietly. She takes the tray from him and places it on the side. Joey looks her over before she turns around. "Do you need any clean clothes?" Joey asks.

"No, i'm good. Someone already took my other clothes to be washed," Rachel replies, looking under the food cover. Jesus Christ! There's eggs! She thinks, salivating a little.

"I just thought, maybe you'd prefer some jeans or something?" Joey interrupts.

Rachel turns to look at him, the food cover in her hand. "Is there something wrong with what i'm wearing?" She frowns.

"No.. of course not. I just thought you might be more comfortable.. th.. that's all," he stutters.

"Relax Joey. Jesus, you look like you're about to cry. I find skirts more practical, believe it or not. Especially out there. Allows for more movement, run faster and all that. Plus, it's more hygienic, but i'll not gross you out talking about feminine hygiene," she says, giggling.

Joey relaxes a little "Right. Thanks for that," he nods. "Seeya," he says, leaving.

Rachel goes over to the tray. She'd never been a huge fan off eggs before, but holy crap! These smell good. Fresh salad as well. She eats like it's her last meal, savouring every piece.

With her stomach full she digs through her backpack in search of a cigarette. She finds one right at the bottom, crumpled to pieces. "Shit!" She curses, tossing it into the bin. She decides now's as good a time as any to explore the sanctuary.

~

Wandering down the halls she gets the sense that this place is pretty gloomy. It's not somewhere she'd choose to live. But then again, she'd lived in worse. And it's not like you could afford to be picky. If somewhere was safe, then that's all that mattered.

Roaming around, talking to others, she learned that there was a points system. Those closest to Negan seemed to take whatever they wanted. Whilst those at the bottom struggled to earn enough points to eat. She didn't like it. She'd lived under a points system before, and it was always the arseholes who fared well.

Rachel takes a breather outside, observing the walkers around the fence.

She hears footsteps behind her. Moustache guy, no, his names Simon, she recalls.

"Hey!" Simon smiles.

"Hi," Rachel says, returning his smile.

"How you settling in?" Simon asks, sitting beside her on the step.

"Good thanks.. i mean, it's weird. Going from, being on your own, to having so many people around you," Rachel replies.

"You can never have too many people. The more the better," Simon states, matter-of-factly.