Chains That Hold Me

Sanctuary

Rustling around in a small backpack Negan pulled out a sandwich and a bottle of water. "Here. You need this a shit load more than I do" he said as he held it out to the young woman.

She stared skeptically at the food before looking up at him and narrowing her brown eyes.

"I promise it's not fucking poisoned" he chuckled, yet she still continued to look at him with a deep mistrust. He couldn't blame her. He could only imagine the kind of shit she had been through. "Would it make you feel better if I had some first?" He asked and she shrugged her shoulders and thought for a moment before giving him a small nod. "Alright... here see" Negan said as he unwrapped the sandwich and took a small bite and swallowed it down. He then took a swig of the water and put the cap back on. "See... not poisoned. Here..." he said as he slid the food across the top of a wooden crate towards her.

She eyed it hungrily before slowly shuffling closer, carefully keeping an eye on Negan as she moved. As she inched closer she grabbed the food and water with lightening speed before slinking back into the corner. Looking up at Negan she eyed him warily.

"Go ahead. You need to get your strength up" he encouraged.

Unwrapping the sandwich completely she took a small bite and swallowed it down. Taking a gulp of water she washed it down and looked back to Negan. "Fucking good huh?" He grinned. Without so much as a word or a nod she devoured the sandwich in a matter of seconds before downing the entire bottle of water like she'd spent weeks in the desert and was dying of thirst.

She wrapped herself back up tightly in the blanket and eyed Negan. She still couldn't decide whether he could be trusted. He seemed nice enough, but then again so did the last guys she came across at first. But he took a chance with her, even after she damn near bit his hand off like one of those dead fucks roaming around. So she thought it best to at least give this place he spoke of a chance.

"How long were you there for?" He spoke up.

The young woman shrugged her shoulders in response. Being kept in the dark with no idea of time she had completely lost track of how long she had been in that room. She wasn't sure she even wanted to know. It had felt like a lifetime.

"Lost track huh?" He asked and she nodded. "You got a name?" Again she nodded. "You wanna tell me?" She shook her her in reply.

"Okay that's cool. You don't have to talk until you are ready. Once we get back to the Sanctuary you can get cleaned up. We'll find you some clean clothes and have the doctor check you over" Negan explained.

She shook her head furiously.

"No to which one? The doctor?" He asked, and she nodded. "Look I get that you don't want anyone to touch you, but you have a lot of injuries. You don't wanna go getting a fucking infection or some shit" he said and she shrugged.

"Alright. How about this, you can get cleaned up first and we can give you some time to get settled. Then we will look at visiting Dr Carson okay" Negan reasoned, and once again she nodded in reply before wrapping the blanket tighter around her shoulders as she sunk further down onto the floor. She wanted nothing more than to sleep, but she couldn't let her guard down. Not now. Not ever.

She fought sleep the whole way back and when they arrived at the Sanctuary she had just enough energy to walk, although she was pretty unsteady. Negan led her through a series of corridors and to a fancy looking room with a huge four post bed and leather sofas.

"Welcome to my humble home. This is the safest room in the whole place, and it's yours for as long as you need. I will sleep on the sofa in the room next door okay". She stepped inside the door and slowly walked around, carefully keeping her distance from Negan. Soon after there was a knock at the door, and she hid behind one of the sofas.

"It's okay" Negan said softly. When he opened the door she peered around the sofa and saw a woman in her forties or fifties with a pile of clothing in her arms.

"A selection for the newcomer" she said as she handed Negan the clothes. These too" she added handing him a small plastic bag containing a toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, soap, a hairbrush and a disposable razor.

"Thank you Mary" Negan smiled and the lady left.

Negan set about laying the clothes on the bed for her. "Take your pick" he said as she continued to cower behind the sofa. "It's okay. No one else is coming in here".

She looked cautiously towards the door.

"Would you feel better if I locked it?" He asked and she quickly nodded in reply. "No problem" he smiled as he wandered over and flipped the lock on the large door. "There you go".

Slowly she crept out from her hiding place and shuffled over to the bed. Holding the blanket around her with one arm she gathered up a pair of loose fitting cargo pants, a black guns n roses tee, a teal zip up hoodie, some plain black cotton underwear and a sports bra.

"The bathroom is through there. There's towels on the shelf. Take this with you. Take as long as you need" he said as he handed her the bag of toiletries. She gave him a quick nod and disappeared into the bathroom locking the door behind her.

Negan took a seat on the sofa, Lucille leaning up against his long legs. "Shit" he muttered to himself. He had no idea what he was gonna do with this girl. He hoped like fuck that after some time she would come around and at least start talking to him.

A knock at the door brought him out of his thoughts and he opened the door to find Simon. "Hey boss. Thought you might wanna take a look at this" he said as he handed him a backpack.

"This hers?" He asked his right hand man.

"Maybe? Not too sure" he said.

"Thanks Simon. Make sure all those weapons are accounted for in the inventory".

"Will do boss".

Sitting back down Negan stared at the backpack wondering whether he should look through it. For all he knew it didn't even belong to her. Fuck it... he had to look. Rummaging through he pulled out a couple of shirts and a pair of sweatpants. An mp3 player with the name Harper written on it and a couple of slightly crumpled old photographs. One was of a couple with a small newborn baby girl and a little boy around four or five years old. The second photo was that same family with two men and a baby girl who looked to be around a year and a half. Maybe one of them was her family. He tucked the items back in the bag and sat it on the sofa for her. Was her name Harper? Was she one of the babies in the photo?

He continued to wait for her, but after a while he began to get worried. Looking at the clock she had been in there for almost half an hour. He tried not to get too concerned, she was definitely in need of a good wash, but he couldn't get rid of the worry deep in his gut.

Negan wandered over to the door and knocked. "You okay in there?" He called out, but there was no answer. Of course there was no answer, the girl hadn't said a single word since he found her. "I need to know your okay or I'm gonna have to come in" Negan called. "Just knock twice on the door to tell me you're okay" he called out and sill he received no response.

"Fuck... God damn fucking fuck" he growled as he really started to panic. "Girl you gotta knock and tell me you're alright or I swear to fucking god I will kick this damn door in" he said loudly. Giving it a few moments there was still nothing, not even a hint of movement.

"Shit" Negan hissed.

Lifting his boot up he gave the door a hard kick right by the lock and split the wood around the door frame sending it flying open.

"Oh fuck" Negan gasped, his eyes wide. "No... no no!"

Sorry.... cliffhanger. Coz we all love some tension and suspense.
Thanks for reading guys.
DV xx