AN: Here we go, another chapter here.
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
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"If she ain't knocked up then I don't know what the hell to do," Merle declared.
Alice guessed it was best that he was behind Sadie so that the woman was entirely unaware of his frustrations over her less-than-fruitful uterus. Without responding to him, Alice finished up and packed up the blood sample that she'd carry back to the clinic with her. It was only when that was out of the way that she took the time to address any of their concerns about their situation.
The guard who had escorted Alice to their home had removed the heavy metal collars that they were both wearing. The collars, Alice learned, were a method of controlling prisoners in the maximum security prisons. According to Sadie and Merle both, who had no reason to lie about the things that they'd seen and experienced, many of the rooms in the prisons had hooks that were spaced out and lined the walls. The guards would push prisoners against the walls, looping their collars over those hooks, and would hold them in place like that as a form of punishment or control. If a prisoner was the correct height for the hook, it could be unpleasant. However, in the case of someone—for instance, Sadie, who would have been considered "short" in almost any group—who wasn't the right height, the hooks could be dangerous.
But nobody cared what happened to prisoners in maximum security, and the fewer they had to deal with, the better off society was as a whole. At least, that's the way that Alice had heard it.
The marks on the backs of their necks, though, were consistent with the story told by both Merle and Sadie. They were clearly the kinds of marks that could have been caused by a hook making more contact with skin than with collar. They were jagged scars and they'd be with the both of them for the rest of their lives. Alice hadn't been able to remove the collars from any of the other maximum security prisoners, since none seemed entirely keen on cooperating with her or anyone else, but she assumed that each of them would carry the same kinds of scars.
It was, perhaps, a true mark of their particular level of wildness.
There were bruises, too, where the heavy collars had uncomfortably pressed here or there due to regular movements and actions. Those bruises, however, would heal with time.
Those weren't the bruises that concerned Alice at the moment.
Even though Alice was done with drawing Sadie's blood, the woman remained seated at the table across from Alice. She looked, at best, bored with the situation. There wasn't much there, though, to keep her from being bored. Being such dangerous individuals meant that she and Merle weren't allowed the luxuries of other citizens, and they had very little to keep them entertained other than the sexual activity that, according to Merle, was even starting to grow tedious.
Alice reached across the table and caught Sadie's chin, gently turning her face to examine her. She tipped the woman's face back in her direction to hold eye contact with her once more.
"Did he hit you?" Alice asked.
Sadie stared at her so Alice repeated her question. This time she was sure not to slow down her words—as she knew she had a habit of doing—because, contrary to what sometimes seemed reasonable, Sadie could understand her better if she simply spoke to her normally.
"He?" Sadie asked.
"Merle," Alice said. "Did he hit you?"
Sadie turned her head and looked at Merle who walked around her to make himself more present in the conversation.
"Hold up!" Merle said. "I ain't hit her!"
"Did he hit you?" Alice repeated, getting Sadie's attention. "You can be honest with me. There's nothing he can do to you. I promise you that. You'll leave with me right now if you want to. I can take you back to your old house."
Sadie shook her head adamantly.
"No," Sadie said. "No. He didn't hit me. Merle didn't hit me."
"Then where the hell did these bruises come from?" Alice asked, this time directing her question to both of them. "And don't give me some bullshit about falling or boxes or whatever. I want the truth."
"You act like we told you anything but the damn truth since we got here," Merle grumbled. He leaned on the table next to Sadie and Alice watched them. Sadie didn't seem afraid of him. She did seem unsure of something, but it didn't appear to be Merle that she was unsure of. She seemed perfectly comfortable with him.
"What happened, then?" Alice pressed.
"Damn guard," Merle said quickly. "Damn guard hit her, OK? Weren't a damn thing I could do. He was all over her ass before I even knowed what he was gonna do and I figured he'd shoot both or one of us if I done anything." Merle looked almost pained at what he clearly considered a confession. "I shoulda done something, but I didn't."
Alice looked to Sadie. Her brow was furrowed, so it was clear that she hadn't gotten everything that Merle had said, even if she'd understood the gist of it.
"Is it true?" Alice asked. "A guard hit you?"
Sadie nodded her head.
"Yeah," she offered. "A guard hit me."
"Why?" Alice asked, directing her question at neither of them in particular. "When?"
"Couple days ago," Merle offered. "That's the when, at least. The fuckin' why we don't know. Come in here on one of them things they call a routine check. Walk through the whole damn house. Tear the whole thing apart. But when he come in the door he smacked the livin' shit outta her. I was in the bedroom. Didn't hear nothin' go on other than him sayin' he was comin' in the door. He said he told her to do something. Said she didn't do it. Or she did something else. I don't fuckin' know. He coulda told her all kinda shit. Hell—she can't hear a damn thing 'less she's lookin' right at'cha."
"They aren't supposed to do that," Alice said. "They aren't supposed to touch a citizen here unless they're actually threatened."
Merle laughed. He seemed to find a great deal of humor in what Alice had said.
"You ask him," Merle said. "You just ask his ass. I bet'cha he tells you he was damn near fearin' for his life. Scared to death that Sadie here—prob'ly standin' with her hands out—was gonna kick his ass. These guards? I ain't never seen one of 'em shit themselves, but to hear 'em talk? They always afraid 'cause we're always threatening them."
Alice sucked in a breath to calm her own nerves and let it out slowly.
"I know," Alice said. "I know. That's the worst part of this whole project. I know. But it's not going to get any better until it does."
"And when the hell is that, Doc?" Merle asked. "Not like we pushin' or nothing, but...exactly when the hell does it get better?"
Alice shrugged her shoulders.
"We'll know when we know," Alice said.
The headache that had been plaguing her, on and off, for about three days was returning. There was a thumping feeling at her temples that she knew was coming from stress. She didn't have to sit and wonder what was causing the stress, either.
"Well that ain't exactly no real answer," Merle said.
"Well it's all the answer I've got right now," Alice snapped back. She hadn't meant to be as harsh as she was, but Merle actually backed up a step to indicate that she'd surprised him.
"Take it easy, Doc," Merle said. "Just—you said we was gettin' our asses outta here. Said we was gonna be real damn people in this place. All we had to do was fuck to expand the damn population. Now I've fucked her every damn way but standin' on her head. And she's damn near worn my dick out. But if we don't got no kid? What the hell else we gotta do? There some alternative damn route? We gotta fuck in public to show we're trying?"
"You want to get out of here," Alice said.
"Yes!" Sadie said quickly and enthusiastically. Evidently she'd missed some of their earlier exchange, but she'd followed Alice on the one part that was closest to aligning with her deepest wants and desires.
"I want you to get out of here," Alice said.
"When?" Sadie asked. "When do we leave?"
Merle bumped her shoulder and Sadie turned her attention to him.
"When you get knocked up," Merle said.
"I'm trying!" Sadie declared, frustration showing on her features. "It's not a fucking choice, Merle!"
Alice waved her hand to get the attention of both of them again. Then she held her hands up to them to request calm from the both of them.
"Listen—there will be a baby," Alice said. "If there isn't right now? There will be a baby. Merle—there's nothing wrong with you. Sadie? There's nothing wrong with you. You're both capable of having children."
"I've had five!" Sadie said with some exasperation.
"And there ain't no damn tellin' how many I've had that I don't even know about," Merle said.
Alice nodded her head slowly.
"I understand," Alice said. "And I understand it's frustrating. But you're doing all you can do. And babies aren't instant. They aren't a guaranteed thing. It's not like making a cake. Just because you've got all the ingredients and the oven is warmed up, it doesn't mean you're going to pull out a kid when the timer goes off. Sometimes? It takes a while. But—I think if it doesn't happen? I can stack the odds in your favor."
"Whatever," Sadie said. "Whatever you can do. Whatever we can do."
"But if it don't work?" Merle asked. "We just stay our asses here 'cause we ain't damn coordinated enough to make a fuckin' kid?"
Alice shook her head.
"I'm getting you out of here, OK?" Alice said. "I'm getting you out of here. As soon as possible. I'll go—I'll go today. I'll talk to—everyone who might be able to help. I don't know yet if that's Milton or it's...I don't know who I have to talk to, but I'll figure it out and I'll talk to them. I'll tell them that Sadie's—that she's stressed. That there's a lot to deal with here. You're stressed. It's lessening your chances of a successful pregnancy."
"Is that true?" Sadie asked.
Alice laughed to herself.
"I've seen as many things that suggested it could be true as things that suggested it could be false," Alice said. "But they don't have to know that. For now? It's true for you two. I'll tell them that if your stress level is reduced—which can be easily done by moving you to a more pleasant and safe location in Woodbury, you'll thrive. And not only will you two thrive, but you'll be much more likely to produce a child. And that's what they want to hear."
"And they gonna go for it?" Merle asked.
"They should," Alice said. "I'm the only doctor that'll touch any of you with a ten foot pole. Especially you two—since you're both documented killers in their eyes. I may not be the best doctor around, but I'm the best they've got."
Alice watched Merle and Sadie exchange looks with each other. She didn't want to try to interpret what they were thinking, but she at least had to note that neither of them looked entirely displeased. They were both slightly smiling when they looked back at her.
"What do we do?" Sadie asked.
"You keep doing what you're doing," Alice said. "And you do whatever you have to do to keep them from even having a fake reason to say you're causing trouble. When I move you out of here? You'll be moving into the main part of Woodbury. In a few days? They're talking about trying to give citizens some free hours during the day. Time they'll be able to be out and about on their own. Socialization is a big thing that we're working up to. I don't know if they'll open that to you two right away or not. If they do? I want you both on your absolute best behavior. You never knew how to not get along with someone in your life. You understand?"
They both nodded at her.
"We get it," Merle said. "Don't pick no fights with people. Keep a damn smile on your face and keep your head down. Same damn thing we been trying."
Alice nodded her agreement.
"I'll figure out how to get you out of here," Alice said. "And I'll figure out how to increase your chances of a baby. Right now? They should go for it because you two are the only two cooperative citizens that we have from the max security prisons. The rest is up to you. You decide, just like everybody else, if you end up getting thrown out of here or if you get to actually stay and survive." Alice stood up from her seat at the table and gathered up her collection bag. Sadie caught her by the arm, rising with her, and pointed to the bag.
"How long?" Sadie asked. "Until we know?"
"About if you're pregnant?" Alice asked.
Sadie nodded her head.
"I'll let you know in a few hours," Alice said. "The rest? I'll do my best."
Sadie offered Alice a thanks before Merle caught her arm and nodded his head at her.
"Thanks, Doc," Merle said, sincerely and calmly. "For—gettin' the choke collars off. For—everything."
Alice nodded at him, too, and offered the best smile she could, despite her throbbing headache.
"It's what I do," Alice said. "And Merle?" She raised her eyebrows at him and he hummed at her in question. "While I'm gone? If she's not opposed to it? You two try fucking while she's on her head—every little bit of effort counts."
