Home Sweet Sanctuary

Merle is going to fight the Governor with Michonne as hostage, after talking it over with Rick and realizing it would save his baby brother and the rest of his group from retaliation from the Governor, but surprisingly finds that he's actually wondering what Bree would tell him to do in this situation. Bree, of all people!

"You really want to have the group hate you?" she'd say, probably while looking at a book or off to the side like she didn't really care what she was saying. "Daryl really wants you to be here. If you do something else stupid, that's not gonna happen."

He finally decides to just let Michonne go and take off after the car that Bree had rode off in. "Just far enough to make sure they're heading where they said they're heading. And maybe I'll find more whiskey."

It turns out the couple are actually from good ol' Sanctuary, Bree's old stomping grounds, and they are looking for Bree and other escaped Sanctuary dwellers to bring them back. They aren't really married, and they'll be getting points for every person they're able to find off the list of escapees that Negan and the Saviors drafted up.

Bree gets tipped off that they're liars when she notices the "baby" the woman is carrying is just a couple of balled up T-shirts that never cries, moves, or babbles. She doesn't feed it or change its diaper or anything in the full day they travel together. That night, when they stop to rest, Bree tries to sneak away. The husband is on her quickly, tackling her into the dirt. He laughs as he binds her wrists together.

"Not so fast, Bree. You really should learn not to trust strangers," he cackles.

She's mad that she broke her own rule of staying away from strangers, but she had grown desperate. Bree is taken back to a thriving Sanctuary in a new location and meets Negan again, who is sad to see she cut her hair and how "post-apocalyptic" she looks and dresses now, but sees that she still retains some of her "cuteness". He can still dig it. He intends to marry her and even offers to get her to Florida. No hard feelings about Amber—Bree didn't even know who she was so she couldn't possibly have set up a distraction! He's got a cool head now, maybe he overreacted, and he got worried about her out on her own, but God-.-.-, she's a little kick-a survivor! He didn't think a college girl would be able to survive for this long. He's proud of her and wants her back in camp, teach his people some of her ways. He says the marriage card is still on the table, but it's completely up to her and he's going to look out for her either way. She's one of his people now and he looks out for his people. He says love is probably too strong a strong word, but he does have a place in his heart for her, and he feels responsible for her—actually being serious here, he discerns, when he notices her despondent expression.

She says she's been doing fine without him and she doesn't need his help. She does remember how easy life was for her in his camp and how safe she felt around him, but she sees the ironed faces, the harem, the points system, and a powerful, charismatic but off-his-rocker leader, and is reminded of Woodbury. She knows things will probably end badly here for her again, just as things had went awry in Woodbury. Deciding she still cares about Negan in a way for his help in the beginning, she tells him about Rick and how he's a great leader and how he should model Sanctuary after his camp. This piques his interest. He really wants to meet this Rick fellow, but he lets her know that he isn't interested in running a camp full of wussies.

Negan shows her how Sanctuary has changed and grown, how he's lost a few wives due to "unfortunate circumstances", how they have more supplies now due to conquering other strongholds and have been using their newly conquered camps people to give Sanctuary half of their supplies. She sees her original camp has grown, but the semblance of a normal, happy society has faded and everything seems a bit more dangerous and on edge in the city. She meets up with familiar faces in the city, and she notes how cynical they've become. She also meets Simon, who's replaced Butch, and he looks crazy as hell.

In his office, she catches Negan up on what's happened recently-meeting Merle, the pig farmers, the Governor-and he's like dayum, and really enthralled by the story. She's half-amused, half-annoyed by his excitement because it's the part of him she finds fun, but her story was scary for her. But she remembers nothing really scares this man, so he wouldn't be able to relate.

Negan wants to go check that lunatic Governor out (he's feeling the villainous name), but they're dealing with another uprising of their own, and he can't spare the people. She's disgusted at how easily she finds herself feeling comfortable around him, especially after what he did to Harry, to Amber.

Noticing her clamming up, Negan tells her he didn't think he had gotten so attached to her while she was here, but seeing her now really lights up his day. When Negan starts moving closer while they're talking, she quickly asks, "What did you do to Harry's body? Did you at least give him a funeral?"

"No way," he laughs. He says "he flung that crackhead to the Puppets, but they were growling for more food after five seconds cause he barely had an ounce of meat on him. Like feeding a Happy Meal to a really fat chick."

Disgusted, she asks about Amber, which finally gets him to back off. Flopping back in his chair, he says, "ohhh, she's probably hopping around here somewhere. She won't be winning any hopscotch matches anytime soon, but she's killer at her sleeping bird imitation."

Bree doesn't laugh. Agitated, he tells her she isn't a dang priest, and he's not going to confess his sins to her. It's what had to be done—he's got to instill fear in his camp in order to run it. Bree disagrees and says love trumps fear, every time. He says maybe in a better world or a fairy tale one, but not in the one they live in. He tells her it's getting late and she should get some sleep. As he's leaving, he offers her a word of advice—she's got to move on from her family, or they will be her downfall and cause her to do something not too smart. Like accept a ride from complete strangers. While she's settling in, she thinks on his words and, to her dismay, begins crying. She is determined not to give up on her family, but wonders what her next move should be. She also wonders if Merle is okay...

Merle eventually tracks Bree to Sanctuary. As he's finding a way in, he notices her shimmying out of one of the windows and escaping over the gate on her own. He calls out to her, "Hey, little monkey!"

Recognizing the southern drawl and raspy voice, Bree immediately looks over and sees Merle grinning at her. She beams and runs over to where he is. She throws herself into his arms, surprising them both.

"Dang, girl, it's been all of a day, and you already missed me?"

Bree swipes at her teary eyes. "No, I ... I just didn't think anyone would come out here for me."

"We're kinda the misfits in the group. Figure we gotta look out for each other," he dismisses. "What the hell is this place?"

"Not Florida," Bree mutters up at the gigantic factory.

"Why'd they take you here?" he wonders.

Biting her lip, Bree looks down to her shoes. "I-I don't know."

After giving her a similarwarning about chasing her family down that Ngan gave her, she and Merle take off for the prison.

Negan doesn't find out until the next day, and he's pissed but doesn't feel like pursuing it further right now. Later, he will mention that he doesn't like chasing women, it's not a good look on him. And he's tired of her staring a gift horse in the mouth and kicking it's dang teeth in. But he's not going to give up the chase, because that would make him a loser, and he always, always wins.

End of Episode Song: It Will Come Back by Hozier

Author's Note on Negan and Bree

I think the draw to Bree for Negan is that he respects her compassion and innocence in this messed-up world, it's not something he's used to having directed at him, and he liked the feeling of having someone like her look up to him. He also feels responsible for her since he took her in, and he legitimately thinks he's doing what's best for her, even if she can't see it. Cause she is young. He's also childish and doesn't like to lose his toys.