The Day Will Come When You Won't Be

Welcome Home

The van halted to a stop which could only mean one thing: we were at the Sanctuary.

My heartbeat sped up as I heard the engine shut off and then boots hitting gravel making their way towards the back of the van. There were no windows so I was temporarily blinded when the doors opened and the afternoon sun hit my face. I immediately put my right arm up to block the sun and as soon as I did I felt a rough hand grab my arm and throw me out of the van into the gravel below.

"Ngh!" I grunted as I hit the ground, pieces of gravel scraping my arms and hands. I pushed myself up and looked at the man who threw me. He was muscular and tall and had an impressive mustache. "What the hell, asshole! What was that for?!" I yelled at him from the ground. He chuckled and smirked down at me. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I ruffle the baby bird's feathers? I do so humbly apologize." He said with a toothy grin and sarcasm dripping from every word. I glared up at him and he offered me his hand to help me up. I slapped his hand away and pushed myself off the ground so I was standing in front of him. He laughed, "Ohhhh, it's going to be SO fun breaking you." I glared even harder at him and spit on the ground next to his boots.

"Simon!" I heard a booming voice yell from the other side of the entrance and knew immediately who it was. The man I now knew to be Simon and I both whipped our heads around in Negan's direction. "You giving our new guest a warm welcome?" Negan asked striding towards us, Lucille over his shoulder. "Oh, absolutely. I was just about to give her the grand tour." Simon said smiling at me. It was a sinister smile that sent shivers down my spine.

"Allow me the honor, you go give Dwighty Boy a hand with Daryl." Negan said. This caught my attention and I said, "Where is Daryl?! What have you done with him!" I asked. "Whoa ho, ho, ho. Slow down there, sparky. I haven't done anything to him." He said as he started walking towards the building. He craned his head back towards me and said, "Yet." Negan chuckled and continued walking towards the main entrance, I knew he wanted me to follow.

As I followed behind Negan I couldn't help but notice the sounds of walkers, I looked at the fence guarding the Sanctuary and there were walkers chained to fence posts, keeping other walkers from suspecting anything. That was extremely clever. I turned back to following Negan inside. We got inside the building and I see a large room that looked like a furnace. There were people walking around doing some kind of chores. Negan turned to me and said, "Hey, wanna see somethin' cool?" I looked at him confused and he turned back around to look at the crowd of people below him. "Atteeeention!" Negan bellowed and every single person got down on one knee to kneel before him. I knew what he was doing, he was trying to show off his power. Trying to impress me in some sick way.

"We had a wonderful haul on our last run, got a lot of good shit and a lot of good shit done. So I'm in a good mood which means everyone gets vegetables tonight. No extra points needed!" Negan exclaimed. The entire crowd broke out in a cheer and Negan turned to me with a shit eating grin on his smug face. I just looked at him, unimpressed. "Jesus, darlin'. Lighten up." He said, walking past me heading towards another part of the Sanctuary. I unwillingly followed.

Negan showed me the cafeteria, gardens, and the big rooms where multiple people all sleep on cots. I followed Negan down a long hallway and he paused in front of a door. "And here is the grand finale! The best room in the entire damn place." He opened the door and I stood there thoroughly confused. Before me stood a group of women clad in skin tight black dresses. They all looked very well kept. I looked at Negan who was still holding the door open and he grinned at me. I looked back at the women again and then back at Negan as it hit me.

This was his harem.

I walked into the room and Negan followed. "Hello, dear wives." Negan said. "Hello, Negan." They all replied. I couldn't believe this. This was the most ridiculous thing I had ever seen. Before me stood a psychopath with five wives. I had to admit that the room itself was mesmerizing. I'd never see anything so lavish and beautiful in my entire life. If this is how all of his wives lived I wasn't surprised they chose this life. It was very tempting.

"You gals talk amongst yourselves, we're gonna go get to know each other." Negan stated motioning for me to follow him into a room connected to the beautiful one. I obliged and walked into the next room. This room was beautiful also, it was a large bedroom with a bed so huge I wasn't sure how it even fit in the room. It was a beautiful dark oak bed frame with red satin sheets. I wanted nothing more than to curl up and sleep for 3 days on that bed. The walls were lined with book shelves and hundreds of books surrounded the room. Negan made his way over to a desk in the corner and motioned for me to sit down on the black leather couch. He grabbed a bottle of whiskey out of the desk and poured himself a drink, and a second one for me.

He made his way over to the second black leather couch across from me and placed the glass in front of me. I put my hand up and replied, "No thanks, I don't drink." Negan looked at me with an amused expression. "You don't drink? The world's gone to shit and you say you don't drink? What the hell's wrong with you, sweetheart?" He laughed. I glared at him and said, "So what are we doing here? What do you want?" I asked. Negan took a sip of whiskey and looked up at me. "Well for starters I'd like to know your name." He smiled at me.

I looked down and then back up to meet Negan's eyes. "Sawyer." I replied matter-of-factly. Negan's brown orbs bore into mine. "Sawyer. I like that." He stated. "So...Sawyer. I'm going to give you a couple of options that your friend Daryl didn't get." I tensed up at the mention of Daryl. "You see Daryl is going to be spending some time in time out. I can't just bring him in here and treat him like a goddamn king after he showed his ass last night, now can I? But you, you have a couple of options. One, you can live like the others and work for me, working for points. Which isn't fun, it's hard fucking work." He paused to emphasize his point. "Two, you can live here with me, live the life of mother fuckin' Riley. I'll take care of you, keep you safe, you'll get all the best food, clothes, anything your pretty little heart desires." I looked at him and asked, "What's the catch." He smirked at me and said, "Well my dear, all you have to do is..." He paused. "Is what?" I asked with venom dripping from my words. Negan made his way over to me and placed his arm around my shoulders. "Marry me." He said, smiling.

My stomach dropped and I felt sick. I instantly dipped out from under his arm and turned to look at him, "Excuse me? Marry you?! Now I know you're psychotic." I glared at him. "What's option number three?" I asked. Negan's face fell slightly when I didn't immediately accept his offer. "Well, door number three is...you can go spend some time in time out with Daryl in the basement." Negan said. "But you should know, there is no door number four." He said. I backed up from him and shook my head. "So you really won't accept my proposal?" Negan asked, clearly not used to rejection.

"No, I really won't. I'd rather die a thousand deaths than marry you." I said, pointing my finger at him. Negan glared at me and strode up to my small frame, towering over me. "So what's it going to be then, darlin'? Work for points and be miserable? Or sit your happy ass in a cement cell with no windows and nothing to do but sit there with your thoughts?" Negan asked, crossing his arms.

"I'll work for points." I stated, mimicking his movements by crossing my own arms. We just stood there glaring at each other, until finally Negan inhaled sharply, unfolding his arms. "Alright, have it your way baby doll." He smirked and grabbed my arm leading me out of his room.