Sanctuary

Chapter 17

Rachel rides her motorbike along the road. The wind blowing her ponytail behind her.

She'd been out working with Simon, but they'd finished much earlier than expected. So she'd decided to take the long ride back to the sanctuary, to see what she could see.

She slows her bike to a stop, as she sees the turn off for where her and Negan had gotten stuck in that apartment building. She heads in that direction, wanting to check the place over.

She pulls up at the side of the road, taking her bow from her shoulder. Rachel walks down the street, taking out two walkers. She keeps her ears open, listening out for the telltale sign of a herd. And sure enough, she hears the all too familiar sound of walkers. Maybe not a herd, but a small cluster at the least. She turns to head back to her bike, when she hears a gunshot.

She runs towards the sound, without any thought.

She sees the walkers, heading for an alley. About twelve or so. Then she sees a man, running down the alley, meeting with a dead end. He shoots at one of the walkers, hitting it in the head, then he quickly takes out a second. He aims at a third, but his gun is empty. He pulls out a knife.

Rachel aims her arrow at the walker closest to him, she releases, getting it straight through the eye.

The guy sees the walker drop, a surprised look crossing his face. He glances at her quickly, before turning back to the dead, taking another out with his knife.

Rachel quickly takes out another five, but then she runs out of arrows. Three more walkers remain, so she runs towards the alley, removing her knife from her belt. She drives her knife into the back of one of their skulls, then moves onto the next one, taking it out, as the guy takes the last one.

"You alright?" She asks, trying to get her breath back.

He nods at her. "Thanks to you i am," he smiles.

"Jesus! I thought you were a goner then," she says.

He laughs a little.

"What's so funny?" She asks.

He moves closer to her, holding out his hand. "My name's Paul Rovia, but my friends call me Jesus."

Rachel looks at him, then giggles. "Oh, i see," she smiles, shaking his hand. "I'm Rachel."

"You out here on your own?" He asks.

"Well i was, until i came across you," she smiles.

"Well seriously. I can't thank you enough for what you just did. There's not many people left that would go out of their way to help someone like that," he says.

"Yeah, people can be real arseholes these days," she says, then goes about collecting her arrows.

"You seem like a good person, what with you saving my life just now," he laughs. "I'm part of a community called the hilltop. You're more than welcome to come back with me. We need all the good people we can get."

"Hilltop. Hey, i've heard of hilltop. I think we trade with you," Rachel says.

Jesus looks at her, confused. "Really? I thought you were out here on your own?" He asks.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to mislead you when you asked was i out here alone. I am right now, but i'm part of a much larger group," she answers.

He stares at her, baffled. "That's alright. Our leader Gregory doesn't exactly share everything with me, which group are you with?" He asks.

"The saviors," she says.

His face drops. "You're with the saviors?"

"Yeah," she says. "Wow, your face is saying a lot right now. What is it?" Rachel asks.