Keep Close

Never Return: Part 3

Flashback

The three arrived on foot after only an hour's walk. Fawn looked to her left and to her right and saw nothing but trees for about a mile either way. She looked up to see what looked like a big dome. Deb took a couple steps forward before stopping. She sighed, turned back to Fawn and James.

"Here we are," she smiled.

"Ah, home sweet home," James sighed as the three began walking again. "Soon, it'll be yours, too."

Fawn weakly smiled at the thought. Sure, she'd love to have a roof over her head and a warm bed to sleep on at night, but for some reason, this dome seemed ominous. These sudden thoughts raced through her mind, but she tried to shut them out.

"These are good people," she tried to convince herself.

Two burly men with rifles stood between them and the door to get in.

"Nick. Sam," Deb nodded, acknowledging the two guards.

"Who's this?" the one on Fawn's right asked.

"She's with us now," James butted.

A grunt or two was audible, and then they let the trio pass. James walked ahead to open the door. As fawn stepped through, she couldn't help but think of a prison as she looked around. The lights were dim, long hallways led to multitudes of doors, and there were people everywhere–except these people almost seemed to march like soldiers. Fawn closed her eyes and inhaled the damp air. The place seemed clean, just maybe not taken care of as well as other places she'd been. Perhaps cleaning wasn't their top priority.

"Follow me," Deb said, interrupting Fawn's thoughts.

She followed the woman down one hall, then another, and another until at last Deb stopped at a door to her left. A number hung over the doorframe.

316.

Fawn hadn't noticed any numbers on other doors. This place seemed to get stranger by the minute.

"This one's yours," Deb said.

Deb twisted the knob and pushed the door open to reveal a small bedroom. In the far corner lay a twin-sized bed with white sheets, a deflated pillow, and a worn, pale green comforter.

"At least it's better than a seat in a truck."

She took a few steps into her room to examine the other features. A single bulb hung from the ceiling in the center of the room. The walls were brownish with a dirtied border at the bottom. A make shift closet stood at the headboard of the metal frame of the bed where she found two new changes of clothes. On the other side of the room sat a table, presumably a desk.

"I'll let you get settled," Deb eased. "I'll see you in an hour to show you around and introduce you to folks."

She turned slowly, shut the door, and left Fawn to her own thoughts.

"I really hope these are good people," she thought as she made her way to the bed.

It was an old, spring mattress she could tell. But at least it was a real bed that she could sleep on without worry of a next meal. She sighed and decided she should wash up before she met new people. Her older sister had always told her that first impressions are important. Fawn picked up a new plaid, red shirt, some folded blue jeans, off-white socks, new undergarments, and barely worn tennis shoes and tried them on. The jeans and shoes were a bit big, but everything else fit fine. And now what to do for hair? She began searching the room for a ponytail or rubber-band, anything that she could use to put her mangled hair up. She rummaged through the drawers of the "furniture" until she finally found some string. This would be just fine. She picked up a hand mirror that was lying on the table and fixed her hair as best as she could. When she was finished, she sat back down on the bed and stared at the small clock in the corner of the room. She still had a half hour left.

"Guess I'll just wait," she thought.

After some time had passed, a knock on the door aroused Fawn from her daydreaming. Swiftly, she sat up to open the door.

"Hello," Deb greeted. "Ready to meet our leader?"

"Uhm sure," Fawn smiled sheepishly.

"Alright then. Let's go."

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"Here we are," Deb announced after a few minutes of navigating their way to what Fawn thought might be the other end of the big building.

Deb slowly opened the single door that led into a fairly large room. It appeared to be a meeting room of some sort. There were folding chairs lined up in rows in front of a white board. Standing in front of the white board were two men–one in a leather jacket and jeans with grayish hair and the other in a t-shirt with reddish-brown hair.

"Fawn, meet our leader and his right-hand man," Deb said.

The man in leather walked forward to shake Fawn's hand. She obliged nervously.

"Hello, Fawn. I'm Negan, and this is my partner, Ron."

Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to update. So what do you think of this plot twist?!