The Sanctuary

Parker was left alone after receiving the 'grand tour' from Negan, but she also was aware of the guard stationed outside her door who she had discovered during her attempt to leave the room she had been told was now hers. The windows didn't open, and even if they did, it was a fifty-foot drop to the ground and she knew she wouldn't survive a fall like that. And there was no chance she was going to attempt to climb down the building. She spent the first twenty minutes of being locked in her room pacing around, looking for something. Anything that she could use as a weapon, but found absolutely nothing. There were no broken boards on the bed, no loose screws that she could use. Nothing. It was as if they had anticipated her arrival and knew the first thing she'd do was find a weapon. 

There was no way to escape, but she still had the small knife in her boot that Daryl had told her to keep. She sat on the bed and took off her boot, searching for the knife. It was a small pocket knife that had the initials 'DD' etched into the metal, and as Parker ran her thumb over the carved initials, she felt a surge of anger at the thought of Daryl being treated like a prisoner. She stood up and walked into the bathroom, staring at herself in the mirror. All that looked back at her was anger swirling in her eyes. The majority of it being from the night before and how she wasn't able to do anything but watch. Watch as a man taunted them, mocked Abraham, tormented Glenn, and hurt her brother.

Parker's eyes trailed down to her tangled mess of hair. Which, even in knots went down past the middle of her back. Her hand tightened around the pocket knife before flipping it open and grabbing a fistful of her hair. Maybe Maggie was right. Having long hair was nothing more than a problem. It had been a problem back on her run in Atlanta, with her encounters with Harley- the Claimers in general were terrible- and now last night. Maybe even other times she couldn't remember. It took a few passes over each patch of hair to actually manage to get the knife through but it worked. But by the time she'd stopped trying to remember, her hair was just barely long enough to touch her shoulders. 

Taking the knife with her, she walked back into the bedroom, closing the bathroom door behind her. She'd gone back to square one in trying to find a way out of the place. After realizing that escaping was futile, she let anger and sadness overwhelm her and consequently destroyed the room. She figured if she couldn't take her anger out on someone who deserved it, she'd take it out on everything else. She threw the pocket knife as hard as she could and watched as it embedded itself into the wall in front of her, nothing but the handle showing. She screamed angrily, hitting the wall, blood dripping from the newly formed crack. She flipped over the desk, threw the picture frames at the opposing wall, and threw the sheets off the bed before ending up lying on the floor in the middle of the room, surrounded by the mess she'd made. Her knuckles bled slightly from hitting the wall in her fit of rage. 

She was so angry because Negan had made everyone watch while he murdered two of her own, and Parker never got the chance to say goodbye to Glenn. She never had the chance to thank Abraham for everything he had done for her. Of all the people they had lost since the beginning, this was probably the hardest thing to deal with. She didn't know how long she had been there, but there was a knock on the door and a woman entered. She was pretty, she had brown hair and kind eyes, a black dress that hugged her figure as she cautiously entered the room, surveying the aftermath of Parker's breakdown that covered the floor before her eyes landed on Parker in the center of it all.

"Hello," The woman greeted kindly. "They sent me to check on you. My name is Sherry." Parker looked up, examining the woman.

"What the hell do you want?" Parker asked angrily, her eyes dropping back down to her knuckles as she flexed her hand, wincing. "Why are you here? I don't need a damn babysitter."

"Negan sent me," Sherry responded quietly, her eyes still slowly looking around. "Are you okay? You're bleeding." Her eyes were wide with worry as she gestured towards Parker's hand.

"It's nothing I can't handle," Parker muttered, ignoring Sherry's concern as she wiped her bloody knuckles on her pants. "So, you're one of his wives?" She quirked an eyebrow, eyeing the outfit she wore. It was obvious that she was different from the rest of the Saviors just based on what she was wearing. Sherry nodded and closed the door behind her as if afraid that someone might overhear.

"Yes, unfortunately."

"What did you do to suffer that fate?" Parker asked, genuinely curious to know.

"I tried to escape," Sherry answered sadly, her eyes brimming with tears. "My ex-husband and I tried to leave but they caught us. The only way to stop Negan from killing Dwight was to 'marry' him." Parker sighed frustratedly at the name. She remembered it from when Daryl had told her about the people in the burnt woods.

"Yeah, I think I know you and your asshole of a husband." Parker spat, glaring at her, inhaling deeply through her nose to keep herself from ripping the knife from the wall and stabbing it through Sherry's heart. "So what? Do you hate him? Negan?"

"Yes," Sherry nodded, looking up so that she didn't cry.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Parker asked curiously. "You don't even know me and yet you're answering my questions like we're best friends." She dropped her head when she heard the words she'd said and realized she'd never get to see hers again. 

"I'm telling you this because I want you to know that you can trust me," Sherry explained to Parker. "There were rumors that a girl from another community was brought here, and apparently they were true. You're pregnant, right?" Parker glanced up at her, picking at the scar on her lip with her teeth.

"That'd sure be my guess."

"Congratulations," Sherry said cheerfully. To cheerfully for her liking. She sat on the floor in front of Parker, in the middle of the broken glass. "Uh... is the father still around?" Parker's face fell, and Sherry covered her mouth as she gasped. "I'm so sorry, that must have been hard..."

"He's not dead," Parker whispered, anger seeping into her voice. "He's not dead. He's here. Somewhere in this building, but I don't know where. But when I find him, we're leaving."

"He's probably in the cells," Sherry replied. "But it's hard to get there without getting caught. I'm sorry, but at least he's alive." Parker hated how Sherry saw the positive side of things at a moment like this. In a place like this.

"Yeah," Parker agreed, wiping away a tear. "At least he's alive."

"So, uh... I came to help you get changed," Sherry changed the subject nervously. "Negan wants you to have dinner with him tonight.." Parker scoffed, leaning her head back.

"No way." She laughed since she didn't actually know how to react. Sherry looked at her with worried eyes.

"He won't take no for an answer."

"Why are you so afraid of him?" Parker asked, not understanding why anyone would want to stay under his control. "He's just one person."

"He does things to people who confront him," Sherry told her, her voice wavering. "Please, you seem like a good person. Don't do something you'll regret."

"I know very well what he's capable of," Parker stated monotonously. "He murdered my best friend right in front of me and he killed another man right beside me. I know exactly what he's capable of, but I'm not afraid of him."

"You should be," Sherry warned her, looking back at the door.

"Well, I'm not afraid of him," Parker shrugged. "I'm going to this stupid dinner because I don't want you to get in trouble." A relieved smile washed over Sherry's face.

"Thank you," Parker offered her a brief smile that didn't really reach her eyes.

"I'm not a bad person. He can do whatever he wants to me, but I won't let anyone get hurt because of me...not again." Sherry didn't press for answers but instead tried to change the subject and have a normal conversation. They talked about what they did before the end of the world, and Parker's eyes lit up as she talked about being a teacher while Sherry helped her with her hair. Even after showering, Parker rarely took her hair out of its ponytail, so having it so short to the point of it not being able to hold a ponytail was different. But it made for less trouble. She told her to change out of her jeans and shirt, a fact that didn't excite her too much, especially when Sherry pulled out the dress. Parker laughed in disbelief, shook her head, and instantly gave up on trying to be helpful. "Nope. No way. Absolutely not. I am not going to wear that. I mean seriously, is that a dress or a bib?"

"Come on, it's not that bad," Sherry tried to convince her but Parker absolutely refused to put it on.

"I already showered for this piece of shit, I'm not wearing some short-ass cocktail dress." She tossed it aside, not even bothering to look at where it landed.

"But you've got blood and dirt on your clothes." She pointed out and Parker looked down at what she was wearing.

"Yeah? Guess that's the consequence of being sat between the people he killed. If he doesn't like how I'm dressed he should have thought about it beforehand." Sherry sighed but ultimately ended up just giving up on trying to get her to wear it.

"Okay, if you won't wear the dress. You have to wear these." She pulled out a pair of heels and Parker shook her head again.

"No," She refused, grabbing her boots from beside the bed. "I'll keep my boots. I've never gotten dressed up before, sure as shit ain't doing it now." She put on her boots, struggling a little to reach the laces due to her belly, but once she was done, she was forced to wait for further instructions. When one of Negan's men knocked on the door he looked Parker up and down disapprovingly as he left the room, she followed him through the maze of hallways to where Negan's room was. The man knocked on the door, waited for the unmistakable voice of his leader to say 'Come in' and then opened the door nervously

"Boss? I have the girl with me."

"Let her in," Negan's voice responded. Parker prepared herself before entering the room and found a table in the middle of it with two place settings. Negan was by the window, his back to her, but when he heard Parker's footsteps, he turned. "Hello there Mrs. Pain in my ass," Negan greeted.

"What are you doing?" Parker asked unamused. "Why are you doing this?"

"Sit down, Parker," Negan said, pointing to the seat at the table. When she didn't move, he laughed. "Don't worry, I'm not going to bite, and it's probably a good idea to sit down, you know. I don't want your back to hurt." She glared at him from where she stood before deciding to sit down. Looking at Negan across the table, she waited for him to answer the question she had asked before.

"Are you going to answer my question or...?"

"You asked why I'm doing this," Negan repeated her question. "Well, the answer is because I want to show you that I'm a reasonable guy. I want you to be afraid of me, and not because I popped your people's heads open." Parker shuddered at the flashes of Abraham and Glenn that instantly flooded her head. "But I don't want you to hate me."

"A little late for that," Parker murmured. "Don't you think?'

"I'm not unreasonable," Negan continued. "Two of your men compared to how many of my men your people killed in their sleep? I'd say it's a fair trade for you. I mean if you look at it from the way I see it, I got the shit side of the stick."

"I'm not afraid of you," Parker told him, crossing her arms over her chest. "I've dealt with people like you before, even before the world went to shit. You don't scare me."

"And why is that?" Negan asked, a grin on his face as he leaned forward in his seat.

"I was a teacher," Parker replied. "Before all this. I faced bullying every day, and I felt sorry for the kids who bullied. I felt bad for them because I knew what their home life was like. I knew they didn't get the love.. or the treatment they deserved. They bullied others because it made them feel good, but in reality, they were trying to get rid of the pain they felt inside." Negan nodded along as Parker spoke.

"Well, that is fascinating. Look, I feel like I know you better now." He leaned back in his chair, the stupid grin never leaving his face. Parker scoffed, growing angrier by the second. His stupid witty remarks pissed her off. 

"You do, do you? Try again."

"Why don't we get to know each other?" Negan offered up the idea as if this was supposed to be fun. "Tell me about yourself, how you found yourself where you are now, and then I'll tell you about myself." Parker clenched her jaw as she looked at Negan.

"Guess you're gonna have to fill in the blanks yourself."

"Come on," Negan laughed, taking a drink from his glass. "I'm intrigued. How did you meet Daryl? You and your brother, were you always the way you are now? What about the rest of your group? How did you meet them?"

"It's none of your business," Parker answered, lazily shrugging a shoulder.

"I'm just trying to make this easier for you," Negan dropped back with an exaggerated sigh. Parker stood up and slammed her hand on the table.

"Easier for me? That's a lie! You kidnapped me, took me away from my friends and family, murdered our friends in front of us, destroyed my brother, and almost made him cut my nephew's arm off! What's worse is that you are keeping my husband as one of your prisoners." Negan stood up and compared to Parker's look, his held more amusement than anger. He pointed his finger at Parker as she continued breathing heavily from the opposite end of the table.

"I like you. Normally I wouldn't let anyone talk to me like that, but I like your bravery."

"Are you going to break me the same way you broke my brother?" Parker asked, leaning forward across the table. "I don't break easily, and considering you murdered my best friend in front of me, try your worst. I hope you know you're going to die. Not today, hell, maybe not tomorrow, but you will." Negan's expression flickered momentarily as Parker mirrored Rick's words from the night before, but he said nothing as she continued. "No one messes with our group and lives. Ever heard of the Claimers? Maybe the Governor?" Negan remained silent. "No? That's because they're all dead. You may have broken Rick, but he'll come back. He's come back from worse things, and when he does, you're gonna die. I don't know who it will be, but whoever it is, I hope they cut your damn head off." 

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top