No Sanctuary For Old Men [18+] |Negan| ✔️ Complete

VIII • Tryst

Daphne strode the perimeter of the compound, enjoying a cigarette before heading off to bed. The sky was clear, stars twinkling overhead, and she let herself bask in the sight. She'd spent a long time not appreciating things like the beauty of the night sky, even before the apocalypse.

The sound of hushed voices broke her out of her reverie, and she instinctively pressed herself back against the concrete wall in the shadows.

"It's better than being dead." The husky male voice sounded familiar.

Daphne inched closer to the corner of the wall and peeked slightly around it.

"Is it?" A female in a black dress stood next to a dumpster, with puffy red eyes. "It doesn't feel like it."

"Then what do you suggest we do, Sherry?" the man hissed, and Daphne's eyes widened when she realized it was Scarface. "We can't just leave."

"Yes we can!" Sherry grasped his shirt in her fists. "We can."

"He'll follow us," Dwight replied, but he sounded weak and defeated.

"I have a plan, you just need to help me," the dark haired woman pleaded. "I've written letters implicating some people that will account for my absence, and then Negan will send you out after me. By the time he starts to wonder if you're dead we'll be far enough away."

"Implicating who?"

Sherry shook her head. "It doesn't matter." She reached into the bodice of her dress and Daphne absently wondered if she was wearing the lingerie she'd made her first day.

"What is this?" Dwight unfolded the piece of paper she'd produced.

"It's a map, with a safe route north," she explained, "and if we follow it we can get far enough away he won't be able to find us."

"Why now?" He stared at the map, eyes glossing over. "Why not when we were already out?"

"I was afraid," Sherry admitted, eyes downcast. "My sister had just died and I thought this was the only safe place. And maybe it is. But it's hell for me. I can't keep pretending I'm okay with being without you. Looking at your face, the pain you had to deal with because you tried to save my sister." She grasped his shirt again, voice cracking. "I miss my husband. My real husband."

Dwight let out a ragged breath. "I... Sherry..." he stammered, and she cut him off with her lips.

It was a hungry, desperate kiss, full of longing and wishes.

He reluctantly pushed her away, and shoved the map in his pocket. "Give me a few days to think," he said, wiping at his eyes.

She nodded. "Okay. But I'm going with or without you. When I disappear, you have to make your choice."

"You should get back." Dwight's voice was low, almost a whisper.

Sherry hesitated, and half reached out to touch him again. She hesitated, and turned, heading back towards the nearby door.

As soon as it closed behind her, Dwight kicked the dumpster with a yell and collapsed to his knees, breathing hard.

Daphne crept back the way she had come, as silently as possible. She'd stumbled across the best information she could have hoped for.