"My hand hurts," Rachel says, wincing.
"It's supposed to. Now quit whingin like a little girl, an draw the damn bow!" He orders.
She draws the bow, fingers hurting. Her arm begins to shake. "You're holdin it too long. Ya need ta release it quicker," he advises.
"But how am i supposed to aim right?" She asks.
"Don't draw until you're ready ta shoot. Your arms are weak, girl. Ya won't be able ta hold a draw, until ya work on those damn arms!" He scolds.
She draws the bow then releases, missing the target. "Come on, girl! Ya can do better than that!" He taunts.
"I'm tired," she says, turning to him.
"Oh, i'm sorry. Would ya like to go take a siesta? Want me ta go get ya a nice stool so ya can put your feet up?" He asks sarcastically.
"Merle i-,"
"No no," he cuts in, waving his hand, moving closer to her. "If this is all gettin too much for ya, go take a rest, Shortie," Rachel looks at the ground. "Ya think the biters give two shits if you're tired? Now.. you practically begged me, ta teach ya what i know, an i've been out here doing just that, cuttin into ma own, damn, personal time, i thought ya might have some potential, but maybe i was wrong? Maybe you're just another sorry sack of shit? Ya wanna keep being a victim? That's fine by me, jus don't waste ma damn time!" He shouts, walking off.
Rachel remains still, tears beginning to fill her eyes. Don't be such a pussy! She thinks, wiping her eyes. She continues to throw her arrows.
Merle comes back an hour later. He watches her practicing and smiles when he sees her hit the target more times than she misses. "Alright that's enough now. Ya done good today," he says. "Here, i got somethin for ya. Should help ya a little."
He hands her a pair of black leather, fingerless glove. "Thanks Merle. These are great!" She smiles.
"Yeah yeah, come on, let's get ya somethin ta eat, shortie," he says.
She turns her head to the left. "You hear that?" She asks.
"Hear what?" Merle says.
"Whistling, you can't hear it?" She frowns.
"I can't hear shit, shortie, i'm dead."
She turns to Merle, only it isn't Merle anymore, but a rotten corpse that resembles him. He grabs at her and she stumbles backwards to the ground. She attempts to scream, but nothing comes out...
Rachel wakes, sweat covering her brow. Her head hurts, and her mouth feels like sandpaper. She can hear whistling coming from a door to her left, and running water. Oh shit! She thinks, as last night comes back to her. The door to her left opens. Negan strolls out, freshly shaved in his white shirt and dark jeans, his hair is still wet from his shower. "Hey, beautiful!" He smiles.
"Hmm," she murmurs, pulling the blanket over her head, wishing the ground would swallow her up.
Negan grins from ear to ear, "Come on, baby, there's no need to be embarrassed," he smiles, sitting beside her on the bed.
"I'm not embarrassed! Why would i be embarrassed?" She says from under the blanket, her voice muffled.
"Well let's fucking see shall we?" He begins, putting his feet up on the bed, sitting up against his pillows. "There was you climbing over my bar, fuck i wish i'd seen that! I bet i would've got a fucking awesome view of your panties!" Rachel kicks him from under the blanket. "I'm just kidding.. the fuck i am, that was a lie," he laughs. "Any-fucking-hoo, what else was there? Oh yeah.. you tried to kiss me!" He smiles.
"I was drunk," she says.
"And you tried to grab my dick!" He grins.
Rachel pulls the blanket from her face, sitting. "I did not!" She argues.
"The fuck you didn't! You're lucky i'm a fucking gent!" He smiles.
Rachel stares at him, not quite sure what to say. She leans up against the pillows. "Could you get me some water.. please?"
"Sure, seeing as you asked so nicely," he smiles, leaving the bed. He grabs a bottle of water, handing it to her as he sits down on the bed beside her.
Rachel drinks slowly, holding her stomach as she feels it begin to cramp a little. "My mouth is so dry, it feels like an ashtray," she moans, rubbing her temples.
"Tasted like one too!" Negan smiles, licking his lips.
She throws him a sarcastic look. "Ha ha," she says, sarcastically. "I take little responsibilty for kissing you, i was wasted. There's no way that would have happened otherwise."
Negan pouts childishly. "Don't say that, sweetheart. You're breaking my fucking heart!" He grins.
She lies back on the pillows, holding her head. "I need to get up, i can't lie here all day. It'll just make me feel worse."
"You can use my shower if you want? Get yourself all refreshed and shit," Negan offers with a smile.
"Oh yeah, you'd like that wouldn't you," she says.
"Fuck yeah i would!" He grins. "Seriously though, i got shit to do, so i wouldn't even be here."
"Fuck it! I'll take you up on that," she replies. "I'll need to go get myself some clean clothes though, these smell like vomit!" She laughs.
"I already got you some clean clothes," Negan says, pointing to the sofa.
"Well that's thoughtful.. hey wait! Did you go through my things?" She asks, frowning.
"Fuck yeah i did! You know, you have a lot of little black cotton panties. You should branch out, wear something lacy," he smiles.
"I have no use for stuff like that," Rachel says, resting the back of her hand against her forehead.
"There's always a use for shit like that," Negan replies, biting his lip.
"Well if you like shit like that so much, you wear it," Rachel mocks.
"Hey, baby, i am fucking down, with the kinky shit. I'll do whatever fucking kinky shit you want. I don't have any limits. I'd wear whatever the fuck you wanted, if it meant i got to screw your brains out," he says, grinning from ear to ear.
Rachel stares at him, her face half frowning, half smiling. "You know, sometimes, i'd really appreciate it, if you didn't share so much. Maybe try and keep some thoughts in your head, i know it might be difficult, but you'd really do yourself a favour," she advises.
Negan smiles his trademark smile. "I'll fucking try, just for you. Can't promise anything though," he says, getting up from the bed. "I gotta go, sweetheart, help yourself to whatever the fuck you want, i'll see you the fuck later," he smiles, grabbing Lucille.
Rachel get's out of the shower, feeling much better for it. She dresses in her usual skirt, socks and vest combo, then heads to the main floor of the sanctuary. She sees Gareth, looking a little worse for wear. "Hey, Gareth," she says.
"Hey!" He smiles, clearly pleased to see her. "I'm surprised to see you up and about, from what i heard, you carried on drinking well after i passed out."
"I did yeah, felt like shit this morning, don't feel too bad now though," she replies.
"The others are all still in bed," he laughs.
"Can't hack it like we can," she jokes. "You know where i can get any good books from? I'm bored, and i've read all the books in my room, the decent ones anyway."
"Erm, yeah, you're in luck actually, we got a shit load the other day, they're in the storage room near the infirmary, you want me to show you?" He asks.
"I'm good thanks, think i can manage, seeya later," she waves absently, heading off.
"Yeah, seeya!" Gareth shouts after her, a look of disappointment crossing his face.
Rachel flicks on the light in the storage room and heads straight towards a shelf filled with books. She takes two, Misery and The Invisible Man. In all honesty, she doesn't feel much like reading any more. Her head has begun to throb. Rachel rubs her temples with her thumb and fingers, and heads for the medical storage room in search of painkillers.
Rachel opens the door of the storage room, startling someone inside.
"Shit i'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you," she apologizes.
"That's okay," he says, picking up the items he'd dropped.
Rachel had seen him around the sanctuary, he wasn't one of Negans soldiers, he worked for points. He was about 5ft 10, kinda scrawny looking, with strawberry blonde hair.
He heads for the door, leaving the items he dropped behind. "Hey, you're forgetting what you came in for," she laughs, walking over to the shelf.
He looks at her nervously. "I didn't come in for anything.. i was just checking.. you know.. making sure we weren't getting low on anything."
"I thought Janet was in charge of med inventory?" She asks, curiously.
He stares at her, his hands in his back pockets. "Look.. i didn't take anything.. please don't tell anyone. I know you're tight with Negan, just.. forget i was here.. please?" He pleads.
"I won't say anything," she promises, her face grave. "What were y-," she starts.
"Seriously, just forget i was here," he interrupts, then leaves.
Rachel remains still for a few moments, confused. She walks over to the shelf and looks at the items he'd dropped. "Insulin?" She says to herself. She frowns, heading for the door.
She catches up to him in the corridor. "Hey! Wait up!" She shouts. He turns to her. "You must need this? Why else would you be in there?" She says, holding out the insulin.
He looks down at his feet. "I can't take that," he says, shaking his head. "I don't have enough points."
"But surely if you need it, points shouldn't matter?" She says.
He looks at her, astonished. "You can't be serious?"
"Look, just take it," she says, holding it out to him. "It's on me."
He looks at her mistrustfully, then takes the insulin. "Thanks."
"What's your name? I've seen you around plenty, never caught your name," she says.
"Dwight. You don't need to tell me yours, i know all about you. You're not like the others. You should leave while you still can. Before this place changes you," he advises. "Thanks for this," he adds, walking away.
Rachel watches him leave with mixed emotions. She's well aware of the points system, but would they really expect people to earn points for insulin? Don't be stupid, you know that's exactly what they'd do, she thinks.
