Chapter 20
Sophia had to pop back up to her room and get a few things ready before heading over to Regina's, that day she was planning on testing her idea to increase their security. But now that she had to handle Alexandria there would have to be more preparations for them and since she was just informed of her duty, she would have to work it on site or spend a good part of the day in the Sanctuary.
Namely, it would have to be some potion making and reviewing their state in regards to food and whatever they produced or worked on. As well as figuring out how she would handle their scavenging trips, something she didn't like one bit. She had no idea how much time her visit to Alexandria would take her, but the work on Regina's shouldn't be that long.
Then, once she was done with them, she would happily visit her mother. Already planning to stay the night there, since it would give her a nice alibi for her night mission at the Kingdom.
That reminds me, I should check I have everything I need for that. She thought as she packed potion ingredients for Alexandria and some supplies for her mother.
Sophia moved over to her desk and started shuffling through some of her expanded drawers for potions and tools.
It'll be a stealth deal, so I shouldn't need much, but what can I take that would give me an edge? She thought, looking at her assorted stock of potions. Then it hit her as she read the labels, a spark of inspiration.
"Yes, this will be great!" She said excitedly, it would be her first time trying the brew and the form of her plan was quickly forming in her head.
Finally, she tried to think of what she could do for her mother to give her a hand while she stayed in that house, all alone. The block headed woman was adamant on that, she had refused all her invitations to Sanctuary and after that, she refused to even join another community like the Kingdom.
Sophia didn't really care at that point if she wanted to stay there or at Hilltop, as long as she wasn't alone. But Carol was as stubborn as her it seemed.
After she was ready and excited for the day ahead, Sophia jumped on her roof and mounted her reliable Cleansweep 14. Then, after checking her mask was in place and adjusting her pointy hat firmly in place, she bolted with a swift kick towards the west at incredible speeds.
The midday sun felt strong on the back of her neck, her body comfortably stretched along the shaft of the broom thanks to the aid of cushion charms, and her feet firmly pushing against the footrest of the broom as she used her whole body and intent to control it. The act of flying on her familiar Cleansweep was so instinctive in her now that sometimes she often forgot she was on a broomstick.
Witches are made for flying. She thought excitedly.
Soon Shephard Office Plaza, Regina's outpost, would come into view as in fast forward mode on a video and surely it did. It was the closest outpost to The Sanctuary, so at such speed, it was a very quick trip.
In theory, she could apparate there immediately, but she never trusted apparition for such distances, the drawbacks of learning by herself, and with no backup. She would rather fly and get there in minutes rather than seconds, instead of losing a piece of herself and having no other healing support than herself. It would be a sorry ending for the Harpy.
Once she arrived there, she flew a lap around the compound to take a good look at the area and managed to startle the two Saviors on machine gun duty atop of the nearby tower. They were in the process of fortifying a water tower with a line of sight of the front of the compound where the big gun had been set.
She waved at them when they greeted her as she flew by again, taking a good look at the progress. It looked like a good position.
The outpost was lively, Regina's was sort of a one the field training phase for new recruits to get some experience, go on a few patrols and learn the ropes. Soon, Amber would be sent there for a tour, to join a squad for a while and work on target practice and weapon maintenance.
That is if Arat lets her out of her sights. She thought. Sophia suspected the young lieutenant would soon start to enjoy the company of Amber, if only for the help with the small tasks.
When she dropped from above in her usual fashion, some Saviors greeted her with cheerful waves and big smiles, while others bowed their heads as many did within the Sanctuary. She tried to answer them in kind, enjoying the warm and safe feeling that their recognition gave her, it was like taking a slight weight from her chest.
"I didn't think you would be by so soon." Said Regina as she slapped a hand on her back amicably and led her inside.
"What do you mean? We were working on the security here, were we not?" She asked, a little confused by the woman's words.
"I thought we were pretty much set with the Big Wand up there on the tower."
Sophia didn't need too much to understand what she was talking about, they had apparently named the Machine gun "Big Wand", a sort of tradition of theirs to code name important and tactical things like that.
"I may have a test I want to run here that will both shore up your defenses and give me some insight into a future project of mine." Sophia said, trying to sell the woman what she was about to do.
Regina gave her a very skeptic side look. "I'm not sure I like this testing thing, why here? Can't you test it on your own?"
"I did test it on myself… and some birds, and some undead." She said, the last part a little quieter.
But quickly continued. "I just need to try it on a no-maj, that is, a normal living person. Besides, I need to make sure the part that benefits you works."
The older lieutenant exhaled tiredly with a slight grimace at the prospect of using one of her people for testing, but then a smile crossed her face.
"Is it too dangerous?" She asked.
"Nah, I just need a brave soul. it wouldn't even last long." It was a bit of a lie, in truth she couldn't say it would be a hundred percent safe, but it was true that it would be temporary. She was at least confident it wouldn't kill them.
"Well… If you promise it's not too dangerous, I have just the guy." She said finally and took her to her office.
Most of the activity was done outside the outpost, leaving the inside as storage and living space for the Saviors coming and going from the patrol squads. So the inside of Shephard Plaza was mainly occupied by Saviors either eating, resting or getting ready for their shifts.
Regina's office was the biggest one and in there she had maps of all the zones and patrols as well as one of those big and heavy radio communication setups, much like the one at the Sanctuary. She shared it with her assistant, a young boy older than Sophia, yet barely eighteen that helped her coordinate on the radio with the squads as well as taking registry of everything. Sophia failed to remember his name.
When they entered the office, he was hunched near the radio as he scribbled something on a notebook. He barely spared them a look, apparently too concentrated for them.
"Geordi." Regina called, her tone strict yet playful. "Drop that, the Harpy has a job for you."
Sophia had to smile when the boy stood up, the order from his boss startling him.
Geordi was a few years older than her, yet puberty was clearly lingering and it was openly visible on his face. He was taller than her by maybe two heads but it only made him look weaker with his thin frame, a similar one to her own fifteen year old girl frame, and lanky limbs.
"Yes, boss." He said curtly, she almost thought he might be annoyed to be interrupted by Regina.
Geordi gave her a quick, slightly distrustful glance before looking away as he was doing since he stood up, apparently unsure if he should stare.
"The Harpy has been working to make the outpost safer, so be thankful and follow her commands." Regina told him at once, then sat down at her desk looking between the two of them with an amused expression. Sophia wondered if she enjoyed bossing the kid around, but he certainly was safer under her than under some patrol leader.
Geordi nervously walked around her desk from the back of the office and up to Sophia, where he waited. She knew he was probably scared, and now felt a bit sorry for experimenting with the young guy, when she set out to do it she was imagining some brawny Savior.
Feeling the awkwardness of the situation, Sophia took her hat off and started to pull out what she needed to work, all while Geordi stared at her.
"How can I help, Ms. Harpy?" He asked after a few seconds of silence.
"I'm hoping to make it so some of the doors here on the outpost open only to those with a brand. An extra security measure for your armory and this office, which I'm sure you know is a very crucial part of this whole operation." She told the young boy as she took from her hat some black chalk, her notes, and a knife.
"Will it hurt?" He asked. The sight of the sharp and acutely pointed knife sure started to scare him.
"It might just hurt me alone, actually." She commented. "Now stay quiet, Geordi. I'll be with you in a second."
Taking her notes on one hand and one of the black chalks on the other, Sophia moved to the closed door and started carefully and delicately writing her rune arrangement. Something simple that she had improvised in her amateurish handling of the subject.
Their purpose was to make it so the charm she was about to set on the door worked with the brand she was about to draw on the arm of Geordi, and with that intent firmly in her mind, she intoned the incantations, making sure to sound out every part correctly.
Both Geordi and Regina watched her work with interest and when she was done with the modified charm, the door made a familiar suction noise at it sealed by the Colloportus.
"Good, at least that worked." She said with satisfaction, but she mostly knew it would, now came the hard part.
Going up to the nervous Geordi, Sophia extended her hand as she looked at him in the eyes, expecting.
"Your arm. The left one, please Geordi."
The lanky young man extended his left arm, his hand trembling a little as he closed his eyes.
"Relax." She said.
She breathed in and out slowly, preparing for the next part. When she was ready, she took the knife, and with a quick and sharp motion, she pricked the palm of her hand. A deep but short cut that slowly started to pool blood in the middle of her palm.
She put down the knife, then wet the tip of the black chalk with her blood, and started to copy the second rune arrangement from her notes, which would pair up Geordi with the Colloportus on the door.
If she managed to set a working connection between her charm and a no-maj like Geordi, it would be the basis of a much more complex connection that she had in mind. A brand like her master had given her only less as a cursed, enslaving tool and more of an empowering tool. Something that connected them to her and therefore could benefit them in a thousand ways.
Of course, that is if they agree to take it. She thought, she loved the idea and it was her favorite new project, but she could see how it could give others pause.
Maybe just the lieutenants.
"Ah! It burns!" Cried Geordi.
Sophia knew it would, but kept a watchful eye on him while she healed and cleaned her hand. "Just hang on."
For a second, the skin around his arm got red and swollen. Sophia wondered if it was normal or if she would damage the boy in unforeseen ways, but then seemed to calm and she saw his previously tensed muscles start to relax.
She was almost about to call it a victory when suddenly Geordi started to sweat and panic.
"It's getting hot again, it's… it's starting to burn again!" He screamed scared.
Sophia grabbed his arm and looked closely, Geordi's panic turned into wails as the runes began emitting a dark red smoke.
Sophia sighed.
Whatever was the reaction about, she knew it would keep burning through his arm if she didn't stop it. So, feeling dejected, she used a muttered Scourgify on his arm and magically cleansed the skin from the chalk and blood.
Thank the gods I used something removable. She thought, her mind rushing to understand the unforeseen reaction.
Regina stood up and walked up to Geordi to study his arm, he had a burned patch of skin roughly in the shape of the runes. "Smells terrible, did it work?" She asked, slapping the boy in the back as he silently tried to recover.
"No, I don't know what happened. It should be all in order…" She thought, lost, and went back to her notes. Regina was right though, the room was filled with the smell of sulfur and rust.
"Can I go get the medkit, Boss?" Asked Geordi tiredly.
"I'll heal you, don't worry." Sophia offered, her focus still on the notes.
"Cheer up, Harpy. Next time maybe." Regina said and after excusing herself, she walked out. Sophia barely cared.
It should have worked…
She pulled the burn-healing paste from her pointy hat and spread some of it sparingly over the burn, making a point to ignore Geordi's complaints.
They wouldn't last long, the burn-healing paste was quick to work, at least in calming the pain. The rest would take an hour at most.
"I'm sorry, Geordi. Maybe next time I'll try it on Regina." She said jokingly, the young Savior was not exactly cheered by it.
He offered a weak smile and thanks for healing him then went back to work, he didn't say anything as she left the office, feeling like a failure.
She left the outpost feeling irritated for the setback on her project, whatever had happened with Geordi had to do with her and not with the young no-maj. Definitely something she had failed to predict.
The flight back west and past Sanctuary went by in a blink of an eye as she lost herself in trying to understand her failure and soon, the familiar shape of the large walls of Alexandria came into view. Its clean and well-cared streets and brand new houses painted a bright spot in the middle of urban ruin and invading nature.
Where all around Alexandria, trees and vegetation ruled, abandoned houses slowly fell to pieces and few scattered walkers roamed about. Inside, their people lived easy lives, children played on the streets and some adults seemed to have time to rest on their porch with a cold drink.
Sophia saw all this as in a painting from birds eye view. But not all were idle in the community, she could make out the panicked guards on the gates already pointing at her far above their heads and one of them running off towards the houses.
Sigh.
This place was so lucky to have taken in some actually capable people. She thought, knowing Rick's group had arrived not that long ago and caused all kinds of waves, some that even reached her Saviors.
And now I find myself here, having to handle this mess.
They would have died without Rick, Carl and their group, being placed west of the Sanctuary, the community was not in their sights until they decided to introduce themselves by massacring an outpost overnight.
Sophia took out her wand and, holding her hat on her head with her right hand, jumped off the broom feet first. She casted a cushioning charm on her boots and landed firmly with her two feet on the ground, slightly slumping forwards then straightening up, right in front of their gate.
"Greetings!" She shouted from outside, trying to sound friendly. She knew there was someone standing on the other side of the gate, yet no one answered, she waited anyways in case they wanted to call Rick or Michone first.
Looking around, she noticed that they placed cars near their door to hinder visitors, dead or living. All around her the consistent cacophony of insects screaming desperately, overgrown wild grass and vegetation, and a couple of walkers pathetically pushing against one of the steel slabs that formed their wall.
She ignored them but made sure to check her back in case some other sneaky undead wanted to surprise her.
"I know you are there, I'm trying to be polite here...Hello?" She shouted, giving the iron bars of the door a few knocks with her metallic fingers.
Finally, the gates began to slide open as she observed the two walkers slowly begin to shamble her way. It was a woman who opened, and it didn't take Sophia long to recognize her, hard to miss the effect of her curse on the woman's face.
"Rosita, right?" She asked, pointing at her with her silvery finger. The woman had her usual pissed face that seemed to scream get out of here puta with her eyes, behind her a steeled faced Eric stood guard. He had some kind of rough looking short sword in his hand, probably made from scraps.
"And, Eric. You are doing guard duty these days?" She asked, mostly being polite.
"What do you want?" Asked Rosita with no humor to play around. She was standing at the gate's threshold, her arms akimbo and a hand resting over the handle of a big knife.
"I want to get in, talk to Rick maybe." She replied while keeping an eye on the two corpses moving towards her.
Seeing that they would be a nuisance, she then took out her wand, which made the Alexandrians take a step back but she ignored them, and instead she pointed at one of the undead.
"Expulso." She said loudly and clearly, immediately a strong and vibrating concentration of blue force raced from the tip of her wand at great speed, exploding with a muffled sound as soon as it came in contact with the head of the walking corpse and blowing it backward. The force of the spell turned its head into a blast of brain, hair, and bones for a few feets behind, and its body fell after a last headless step.
After taking care of the two walkers she looked back at them "Well? Can I get in already?" She asked them, wand in hand.
"No." Rosita said and moved to close the gate, it was mildly humoring to Sophia, that she was willing to antagonize her like that.
" Yes." Corrected Eric, trying to keep a friendly face and hide his preoccupation. "And I'm not going outside the walls these days but there is always a need for working hands."
Sophia took the invitation without hesitation and quickly walked past the seething woman. Inside Alexandria the place looked a bit deserted, the only people visible outside were looking at her with shock on their faces, some walked back inside their homes immediately.
"Lovely." She stated, then turned around, facing the man and the woman. "Yes I noticed that you may have a problem when it comes to organized work" She continued, looking at the people running back to their houses.
"Is Rick around? I need to talk with whoever is in charge." She informed them.
At the man's silent urge, the pissy woman ignored her and turned to close the gate, leaving the interaction to him.
"Most of them are outside getting ready for the next offering." He told her. "Rosita and I are in charge for now."
"Ok, well I'll just be brief. As of today, it falls to me to supervise you all. I'll be making sure everything here is in order, that the quotas are met, and help you get your asses in gear so you can start producing some shit." She told them, trying her best to sound like it was par for the course.
The two leaders were left a bit confused, so she let them process it quietly as they looked at each other.
"Supervise us." Stated Rosita sourly, crossing her arms over her chest and striking a guarded pose.
"Yup. I think I'll even take residence here, why not? I bet that guy's home is free, what's his name?" She asked, thinking. "The fuckboy...Spencer!" She finally remembered.
"You'll be living here?" Asked Eric, shocked.
"Of course not, but I want to have a house cleared for myself or Negan in case we come here, I'll do that later though. Would you kindly get all the people at the church for me, Eric?" She asked sweetly.
Eric hesitated for a second, sharing a look with Rosita, who didn't look at all pleased with her news. "Erh… Sure." He said, and walked off towards the homes and left her alone with the scowling woman.
"I don't dislike you, Rosita. We should get along." She gave the seething woman a couple of friendly taps on her arm, she who was shooting her murdering eyes. "Show me around while they gather." She ordered, not showing any sign of being bothered by the woman's attitude.
Rosita spat, annoyed by her lack of care, and merely walked away. "Show yourself outside, puta." She said and left, flipping her the finger as she walked away.
"What? Don't you want to get that eye back?" Sophia teased loudly, the question had the woman stop on her tracks and turn towards her again. Her right eye was milky white and surrounded by the small marks her curse had left on her face.
"That's right." Sophia continued. "Maybe if you get on my good side, I'll give it back. Now show me to your infirmary." A lie, she had no way of ensuring that. The kind of curse like the one she placed on the woman was very much a wild piece of magic, nothing structured like a real spell. Therefore, unpredictable.
Rosita reluctantly and without giving her a single look or a word, walked her towards one of the doors from the biggest building in Alexandria. It was the biggest triplex Sophia might have even seen, each house bigger than her childhood home and with two levels.
She crudely gestured to the door and Sophia took the hint, walking inside confidently, the brim of her big pointy hat brushing the woman's breasts as she went by her. Something that must have made the woman furious, judging by the way she reacted.
The improvised infirmary was a small room with signs of little recent use.
"Where's your doc? I was hoping to get some attention here." Sophia turned to the woman who was leaning against the doorframe with her arms folded on her chest. An insanely fed up glare set on her face.
"You killed her." She just said with a dead tone.
"I killed her!? When? Where?" Sophia got caught off guard by the news, she had a certain respect for doctors and their value in the new world.
"Outside while scavenging, before you dipshits took over. Before your daddy killed Abraham and you kidnapped Glenn, or whatever you did to him."
Sophia lifted her finger to make a point. "One, not my daddy." She said, ignoring the smirk on Rosita's face then lifted another. "Two, I fucking saved Glenn's life and three, what the fuck was your doc doing outside? For fucks sakes, don't you have people for that?"
Rosita merely shrugged her comments while looking away, pissed, so Sophia turned around and started rummaging through the cabinets and drawers. It had been some time since she took care of her burned arm, so she had hoped to get their doc to clean it up and redress it.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Rosita took a step towards her and unsheathed her knife, making her stop and turn towards her.
"Really? Didn't you get your friend the creepy priest killed the last time you pulled some shit like this?" Sophia asked unfazed by the threat of the woman, looking to provoke her more and it worked, as Rosita very obviously readied herself to take a jab at her.
Sophia stood there calm and collected behind the scowling Harpy mask and with her head held high, clearly showing an opening in her neck. She knew full well that the woman wouldn't go through with it, and was immediately proved right, when the knife halted right before touching her throat.
With a hidden cocky grin, she grabbed the woman's wrist with her hard metallic hand and pressed tightly, enjoying the pained look on her face. "You know how I knew you wouldn't do it?" She asked as she unsheathed the long wand from her chest holster with her left hand, taking care to do it slowly so the woman could see.
"Evanesco." She whispered, with a soft motion of her wrist and a gentle tap on the big knife, letting out a soft metallic tune. But there was no sound when it slowly disintegrated and spread into nothingness right in front of Rosita's eyes. "You would have died on the spot if you really were trying to kill me."
The woman was more than a head taller than she and Sophia had to look up at her eyes, but Sophia didn't care, she might as well have been a child to her.
She moved her wand hand slowly and in a sinister way up and closer to Rosita's face, who was struggling with the hard grip of her silver hand and slowly caressed the cursed right side of the woman's face. Feeling the faint hint of the worded curse she had placed on her.
"You have my mark on you, Rosita. It will always be there, when you smile, when you talk, you will feel it in the eyes of the people who look at you." Sophia said, using her fingers to trace the scars paths around the milky eye.
"It will always remind you of your mistake, of how you failed them, and how they paid for your weakness."
Rosita's brow furrowed in confusion at her words but recovered quickly. "Talking from experience?" She asked, trying to put a smug face.
Tsk. Sophia let go of her hand, ignoring her rebuttal and turned to continue exploring their infirmary stock.
After that, Rosita went back to sulking near the door as she watched her work on her burn wound. It wasn't looking bad, there was a little swelling and it only pulsed with heat in the mornings, she knew her magic was responsible for the comfort. It kept it from infecting or hurting too much, something she discovered that happened with long term pains, and making it heal faster
"What happened?" Asked Rosita with a certain curiosity, surely about the clear and defined shape of the burn.
"Funnily enough, I took this burn to protect our own doc." She said looking back at her. "Because, you know, docs are worth their weight in gold for communities."
Rosita looked to be ready to retort, but just then Carl came up to the door, giving her a cautious yet curious look. "Everybody is waiting at the chapel." He just said, pointing someplace behind him with his thumb. "Hey."
"Hi, Carl!" Sophia greeted him happily, her tone completely different from the recent conversation with Rosita, who huffed annoyed when she heard it and chose to leave without adding anything else.
"Did something happen?" He asked awkwardly.
Sophia sighed in content and with a twirl of her wand, the new bandage moved on its own and wrapped itself over her wound. "Of course not! Rosita is just sore about what happened."
"Sure…" Carl gave her a dubious look, his face guarded as if he didn't know what to expect from her. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to whip you all into shape, make sure we get the best out of you. You know, because we care." She said happily, the boy moved aside as she walked out, scoffing when the soft tip of her hat hit his face.
"Just try not to make trouble, people will start leaving if you guys keep coming here to kill one of us at a time."
She turned around and walked back up to him, trying to show honesty in her eyes. "I promise, no trouble." She said and placed her silvery metallic hand on his shoulder, making it sag a little. "Only if you promise to bring me Judith before I go."
Carl didn't seem to be bothered by her hand, she noticed he tried to focus on her eyes when they talked. "I don't think she wants to see you."
She had to suppress a sigh, when he said that, she really had liked the little girl. It was either that or she felt guilty about having scared her. But she wouldn't let it show.
"Whatever, she'll come looking for candies one day." She teased, giving him a wink and starting again on her way to the meeting. "Are you not coming?" She asked, when the boy stood in place.
"No, I have to watch Judith and some kids while everyone is at the meeting." He explained.
"Oh, ok… come by Spencer's old house, I'll be there for the rest of the day after talking with everyone." She informed him, but all he did in response was give her a short nod and walked off.
The Alexandria church building was right outside of the north wall, she had noticed before they had been working on a wall extension to cover it and by the look of it, the construction moved slowly but it was already close enough to being finished that they could seal the remaining open wall and use it in relative safety. The building was barely a church, it had just two rows of benches and no big expensive altar, only a fancy wooden lectern stood in front of everyone. It was definitely a beautiful building with big and tall windows by its side that allowed the sunlight to wash over everyone.
Sophia stood in front of everyone in silence, her hands clasped behind her back as she scrutinized everyone from behind the glaring mask of the Harpy. By her estimate, there were a little under fifty people crammed in the church, all waiting and talking in hushed voices. She noticed a good amount of them were either old or soft-looking enough for her to guess they were not really fighters or even hard workers like her people back at the Sanctuary.
"You already know me, I'm the Harpy. I work with Negan in our mission to bring the east coast communities under one rule so that we can all prosper." She started, talking loud and making sure her tone betrayed none of her nerves.
Someone stood up to talk but Sophia held her hand up to stop him. "I was hoping to talk to Rick about this first, but since he thinks it's alright to leave his people and go out on joyrides with his friends, you will have to be briefed by me and follow my orders directly."
"From now on, I'll be handling Alexandria, Rick will be answering to me and of course to Negan when he sees fit to get involved. So here comes the hard part." She said, leaning against the lectern.
"I think you people have been lackluster and lazy, you barely have a garden or crops to produce food, some of you might have had it easy since the world ended, but scavenging is not going to keep you fed and supplied forever and it's certainly not the kind of work I want from you for future offerings." She continued, her lecture keeping everyone's attention.
"So today every one of you who can work and has the time to, provided you don't have a crucial job already, will start working on the biggest piece of soil within the walls to be readied for farming. After that gets going, you will extend that to the outside, undead fuckers don't care about crops and the area will be relatively safe from big groups thanks to the Saviors… In time there will be no need to go out to scavenge, you will work here on producing and making Alexandria a better place."
She tried to keep it concise and had to keep some of her harsher critics to herself, when she was done, a few people stood up and started talking over each other. All of them seemed bothered by her speech.
"You have no right to tell us how to live!" An old lady shouted, she was about her mother's age and looked more like a housewife than any other.
"How about those of us who can't do heavy work because of health issues." She heard someone say, it was an older woman than the previous one but looked healthy enough to Sophia.
"The idea is that you will have to add something to the community, if you can't do hard work, you can find something else to help those who can." Sophia told her kindly, her comment only bringing more exasperated voices in complaint but she ignored them and tried to talk above them.
"That goes to any of you who have a trade, a skill, anything that can be produced is of value to us and can be of worth for the offerings. But everyone has to keep themselves busy all day, even the children, if they can do work they will do work."
"Ms. Harpy." A tall broad man stood and his voice boomed over all the others. "I lead a construction crew for the wall extension. Would that have to be stopped?" He asked.
Sophia recognized the man, this was Tobin, her mother's last fling in Alexandria. She had half a mind to have him strip the extension and take the iron slabs used for the walls to the Sanctuary, after all, they had no use for more houses with the rate they had been losing people recently. But it was definitely a space the community would need in the future.
"Finish it, and do it well, no half measures. From what I've seen its moving slow for the amount of work it should be." She criticized.
Tobin nodded in understanding.
At least he is polite. She thought.
"It is going slow, but the noise from the construction attracts walkers and we often have to stop to deal with them. We might look rough, Ms Harpy, but we are not that comfortable dealing with them." He explained.
"Fine, stay safe for now, but when the people scavenging outside come back you will have them cover your backs and work full time. It shouldn't be that many anyway, Negan's Saviors lead the bigger hordes away from our territory."
The man nodded and went to sit, but she continued, in a flash of inspiration.
"Once you finish with the walls, you will dismantle this church and take care to re-purpose its materials. When that is done, this plot will be used for farming as well and I may be able to get you some livestock too."
Now that part brought up the most outrage, it looked like the Alexandrians were looking up to having the beautiful church building within their walls propper.
"You cannot make that choice." Shouted a man in the back.
"This is our community!"
"How dare you stand in the house of the Lord!" Sophia saw that this was an old woman, older than her mother and was surprisingly wearing makeup. She had to hold a chuckle when she saw her.
"Devil!" Screamed another woman nearby.
Sophia stood there, arms folded, and waited for a few minutes and patiently received all the shouts and insults. The Harpy mask always showing the same glaring face. Then, with a quick motion, she took out her wand and made a sharp hooking gesture then all the shutters along with the big double door from the church shut closed with loud bangs. The booming sound shutting up the few who were still screaming at her.
Suddenly the room was enveloped in darkness, and all that could be heard was the fearful whisper of the people. She let them stew for a few seconds, then conjured a couple of blue flame bells in front of her.
"You will all do as Negan orders and if I find any of you not cooperating, I will compel you to walk out of Alexandria and never stop until you find your death. If any of you try something funny, the rest of you will pay, remember that." She tried to put all her seriousness into the threat, the dramatics had definitely caught their attention.
"You are welcome to live under Negan's care and the protection of my wings, but if you can't join the new order of things, then we have no use for you."
She finished her speech a little annoyed, so when she opened back the shutters, one of them might have been damaged but she didn't care. With another wave of her wand, the double doors opened and people started pushing to get out as fast as they could.
"Rosita, stay back." Rosita had been leaning against a wall near the back of the church and gave her a nasty sneer when she heard her.
People evacuated quickly, outside she could hear a lot of stress talking about what they were going to do. She didn't care, they would have to learn to obey one way or another.
If Rick was here, I wouldn't have to be the one to make them. She took off her hat and stuck her arm in, searching for something inside.
Rosita came up to her, observing with a raised eyebrow how her whole right arm disappeared inside the pointy hat.
"I want you to organize them into work-groups and get them going, with a little bit of my magic we can have Alexandria producing enough for you fucks to live without scavenging in a matter of months." Sophia pulled her arm from the hat, and the hole strained a little bit as she took a big sack she had taken from her preserved stocks and handed it to her. The weight of the sack pulling down on Rosita.
"The hell is this?" She asked, dropping the sack on the floor.
"All kinds of seeds and some other stuff that will set Alexandria for years. That shit's really valuable and I'm personally giving it to Alexandria to use for this job. It's something I've been storing thanks to the cooperation of Hilltop and the Kingdom so, maybe if you know just how much that that is worth for your community, you will realize why working with us is for your benefit… I bet Rick will."
It was a big gift, she had been storing supplies like that since they had started receiving offerings from the communities. The Sanctuary doesn't exactly need them, but the surplus of all kinds of things are great for their system of points and still, some stuff ends up just stored, waiting to be ruined by time. So Sophia took it upon herself to slowly add to her stock for emergencies, food, supplies, essential goods like this.
Only Negan and some lieutenants knew that she did that, but it was easy to figure out when looking at all the offerings they got from the other communities. It amounted to a lot even for their over two hundred inhabitants in the Sanctuary, since they grew their own food anyways.
It's worth it if it will make my work here easier. The real issue with Alexandria, according to her, was the fact that they had so many people out scavenging without supervision.
For example, she had no idea where Rick and Michone were at the moment, and no way to find out. Rosita and others from Alexandria could easily excuse not knowing their location or the time of their arrival.
This is where Legilimency would be a big help for me. She lamented.
"What are you so quiet about, your mother did the same shit. Getting all dark and silent. It's creepier with that mask." It was Rosita who had brought her out of her mind, the woman was still there holding the sack and examining her with an skeptic eye.
Sophia looked up at her quietly. "So everybody knows now, huh?"
Rosita ignored her question with a cocky smile on her face. "So… What did she think of your handiwork on the Hilltop leader? Gregory. Can't say I would be too proud."
"We didn't exactly talk about it… " Sophia looked away from Rosita, it wasn't clear for her if her mother knew about that, but it was clear that she would find out someday.
It's not like I feel bad about it, but I really don't want to make things with mom more difficult. She thought.
"You have to tell me when she finds out." Said the woman, her smile wide and plastic. She was mocking her.
"I might, I might also tell you what she thinks of you when she finds out you took a shot at me." Sophia retorted, bringing back her cheerful tone. The comeback made the woman's fake smile drop a little, then with a tsk, she walked away.
"What kind of witch getup is that supposed to be anyway…" Sophia heard her say as she walked out of the church.
She had to reluctantly let out a chuckle when she thought of the woman, she sort of liked Rosita and all her bullshit. But the woman cared little of her life, she had demonstrated it before.
And now she is just obeying my orders. She said to herself, it was a little suspicious.
Maybe Rick put the foot down…
Sophia let out a sigh while she looked up and around her, studying for the first time in detail the building that she had just ordered to eventually dismantle. But found herself checking again if she was alone, when the sudden appearance of a face came into view behind her and had her do an embarrassing little jump from the surprise.
It was a big crucifix planted against the wall, much bigger than her and made out of wood and there on the cross hung the emaciated body of a dying Jesus.
His bloody face, that of a broken man.