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Roxanne slowly woke up. However, she wasn't where she was last. Now, in a much more comfortable bed, she laid in a new place. Her brain still pounded against her skull. She looked around and noticed she was tied down to the bed. "Not again." She groaned. It was quite odd that she always seemed to end up in such situations, but it wasn't like she could help it. Those situations just... occurred.
It only took about ten minutes before someone entered the room to greet her. It was a tall, blue eyed, unfamiliar man. He greeted her with a warm smile and held a tray of food, in which he placed on her stomach. "Good morning, Roxanne." The man's soothing voice rung out into the small, vacant room.
Roxanne narrowed her eyes instantly. 'He must be a savior. I must be in one of their secret compounds.' Roxanne thought to herself.
She jerked upward, but was yanked back down by the tightly knotted ropes around her body. "Where the fuck is Negan?!" She screamed.
The man's face contorted into a confused and concerned stare. "Who?" He inquired.
"Don't play with me, Savior. I know he must've sent you to fetch me." She growled.
The man took a step away from her, clearly feeling uneasy with her presence. "I'm sorry. Um— I was in the road, my group and I had just stopped nearby— here, actually— and I saw your car crash. One of my people said they knew you, but he's currently on bed rest. He was shot." The man explained.
Roxanne gulped. "Oh..." She trailed off, realizing how insane she must've sounded for yelling at him.
"Michael." The man finally introduced himself.
Roxanne paused. "...you already know my name." She spoke.
"Yes. And I think..," he began unraveling the ropes that restrained her, "you should join us, tonight. We don't have much food, but we had a lot of booze." He admitted as she complete freed her.
Roxanne shook her head. "I have to get back. We're in this... war?" She scavenged her mind for the proper term of this battle between the communities.
"I can tell. You look a bit roughed up... why don't you just stay for one night? Maybe you can rest up then go back to it. Your old friend, who recognized you, wants to see you. He'll be at dinner tonight." Michael suggested while shrugging his shoulders.
Roxanne contemplated whether to join the group of strangers or not. In that moment of weakness, she agreed. The sound of resting for one night and unwinding a bit with alcohol. "Why not?" She chuckled.
* * *
Later that night, Roxanne was led my Michael to a common area outside. There, she saw many faces of different women, men and children. Michael pointed her in the direction to the food and beverage table, then, she bolted over there. At the table, a man stood and handed her a small plate of food and an entire bottle of vodka. Roxanne looked up at the man with a dubious look. "It's all we got. The vodka will get you through the night without the stomach pains." The man shrugged and shooed her off.
Roxanne didn't question the food portion and ate it without further thoughts. Afterward, she gulped down the vodka and began roaming the common area. The camp appeared to be temporary, and the common area was surrounded by RVs, one of which Roxanne was resting in earlier. It looked a mess, but it was peaceful.
As Roxanne analyzed her surrounding, a man approached her from behind and placed a soft hand on her shoulder. Roxanne quickly turned around to face the stranger, then jumped up when she recognized the familiar face. "Niklaus?" She asked as she searched his cool blue eyes.
Niklaus smiled small at her and engulfed her in a tight hug. "It's been so long. I thought you were dead." Roxanne breathed out as she caressed the back of his blond head.
"I know," he barely whispered out, "where's Adri?" He inquired. Roxanne's heart dropped. Niklaus didn't know about the death of their daughter.
Roxanne squeezed her eyes shut and squeezed him tighter. "She's gone." Roxanne's voice cracked.
Niklaus had already grieved enough for his two girls, nevertheless, this piece of information hurt as much as the first time he realized he had lost them. "I'm sorry. The lieutenant wouldn't let us go home. Then we got lost. And when I finally got home, the whole city was a ghost town and you and Adriana were gone." Niklaus let a regretful tear slip past his eye.
Roxanne pulled away from him to make eye contact with him. "We did the best we could. She wasn't fit for this world." Roxanne stated firmly as she wiped his tear away. Niklaus nodded in agreement and pulled Roxanne back into his chest to bask in her warm embrace.
