Rivers & Roads || The Walking Dead Fanfiction

6. 10 times better.

Chapter 6
3,657 Words
——————————————————————————

          It's been a week since I first came to the sanctuary. Things are okay, I guess. My ankle is doing much better, and I got assigned a job in the armory. I thought it was odd that Negan would allow someone so new to work so closely with weapons, but the only people actually allowed to check them out are saviors, so I guess it doesn't really matter.

Speaking of Negan, I haven't talked to him since that night he asked me to be one of his wives, but I'm not really complaining. The way he looks at me, like he's always staring into my soul, it gives me the creeps. I still plan to escape this place, but I haven't found a way out yet. The walls and fences are all on constant watch, and even if they weren't, guards patrol the halls at night, if anyone is found out after curfew without a good reason, they are escorted back to their rooms. Although, I'm hoping with my job in the armory I can find a way to snag some kind of weapon for myself, but I have to build more trust with people first. This place is crawling with guards and Mason told me Negan has eyes everywhere.

I have been seeing a lot of Mason lately. He was the one Negan sent to get me set up with a job, even joins me at breakfast most days and got me to open up to him a bit. I told him how I got separated from my last group, and how I was making my way up north to see the rest of the country when Negan and his men found me. Mason and I have actually grown sort of close and he told me a lot about the things that go on around here and how to fit in. He also told me more about negan and the things he's done, some of the stories shocking me. Masons definitely my closest friend here so far, not that I really talk to many people.

He's also started visiting me on his breaks, he's one of the saviors typically assigned to guard duty on the wall. The past few nights, I've caught him hanging around after my shift just for an excuse to walk me to my room. I think he likes me, but I'm really not ready for anything like that, not with how things ended with Daryl. I can't say I'm not attracted to him though, he's definitely easy on the eyes.

The only other people I regularly talk to is the people that work with me in the armory. There's only a few of us, since it's not exactly a job that requires a lot of hands. There's is only 2 other ladies I ever work with here, the other workers assigned here working evenings. Michelle and Kelly. They're both older ladies with Michelle being in her 50s and Kelly in her late 30s, and both have been at the sanctuary a long time. Michelle lost her husband but lives here with her son James, who is a savior. And Kelly's boyfriend was also a savior, he was stationed at an outpost about 10 miles away but word just came back a day or two ago that he died in some sort of fight. The saviors who told her were very vague about it, I got the impression that Negan doesn't like workers to know what goes on outside of this place.

I feel awful for Kelly, she is now all alone here with a 3 month old son. Michelle and I have been covering a lot of shifts for her trying to give her some time to greave, but she needs points to feed her baby, so she's back at work today when I enter the armory to start my shift.

"Hey ladies." I say as I approach the door to get behind the counter of the armory. Michelle walks over to unlock it for me.

"Hi honey. Sleep well last night?" Michelle asks. She knows I have a lot of trouble sleeping here. I find myself confiding in her, I think it's because she reminds me of my mom. I shrug my shoulders as I enter the closed off area behind the counter.

"Best I could." I say as I shut and lock the door behind me. One of the rules of the job is to always keep the door locked, Negan doesn't want any of the workers being armed inside the compound. Michelle frowns.

"Hey Jen." I hear Kelly's tired voice say from around the corner. She stands there with a clipboard, quietly taking inventory of the handguns. I turn to her with a smile.