Escaping Sanctuary
Bree fights against Dwight as he pulls her back to the wives' area. She puts up such a fight that he finally slams her against the wall and forces her to look at him.
"You're a fool!" he hisses in her face.
She looks taken aback by Dwight's anger. He notices her surprise and tones it down a bit.
"You had a chance to kill him, and you didn't take it. Now you're stuck here like the rest of us. For better or for worse," he whispers, sending a furtive glance towards the security camera hidden in a corner of the ceiling. "And why in the world would you trust Lydi? That girl is a certified lunatic. She's crazy over Negan, and she preys on the new wives."
Bree swallows back her anger and whispers, "Even if I killed him, it wouldn't have made a difference. Someone else would have stepped up, and I'd never leave this place."
Dwight sighs. "What's your plan then? You have something better than the last one you screwed up?"
She regards him with distrust. He grunts and slams her against the wall again, but not hard enough to hurt her. She notices him glancing at the camera again.
"Look, I have done a lot of horrible things for that man, and I'm sick of it. He took Sherry away from me. I feel like I'm nothing here. I'd rather be starving out there with her than to have to listen to him putting his hands on her one more night. So if you have a good plan on how to get out of here, then you let me in on it. Sherry and I are coming with you."
She studies his deformed face, unreadable and mutilated on one side, but the other side was set in determination.
"Tonight," she says breathlessly. "Tell Negan I want to apologize to him. Act like you're taking me there. I'll get Sherry. I know a way out."
He searches her face for any signs of deceit. Satisfied, he pulls her roughly from the wall and marches her back to the wives' area. He opens the door and shoves her inside. She stumbles but catches herself before she could fall. After rubbing her sore wrists, she casts a look over her shoulder at Dwight, who nods at her, and then shuts the door.
There's a cough behind her. She looks over to find the wives watching her. Their expressions range from angry to disappointed. They go back to what they were doing. She puts on a stiff face and walks over to the kitchen where Lydi is cooking. She smiles at Bree as she approaches, only for Bree to punch her in the face a moment later. She screams and drops her pan on the ground, dropping her veggies everywhere as Bree goes over to a room and shuts the door.
"You stuck-up … stupid child!" Lydi stammers from the kitchen, face red. "You have it so good! It's the end of the world, he's providing us with everything we need, and you think you're too good for him?! Have you looked at yourself?! And maybe the rest of us like being taken care of!"
Bree ignores her and pops her earphones in as she pulls her map out of the couch cushion and starts plotting her way out. She rubs the back of her hand against her mouth harshly and eventually covers her face and rests her hands on her knees.
"Why am I so weak?" she mumbles. Her sense of what was right and wrong felt so polluted in this place; she didn't know how to feel about Negan anymore. She just knew she had to get away again.
Bree looks up quickly at the sound of the door creaking open. To her surprise, it's Sherry. Bree stares guiltily at the spot where her right leg should have been; there's a shabby, homemade prosthetic there now.
(I decided to make Sherry a forced amputee in this fic)
"You alright?" she wonders. She seems bored but Bree has learned she's just dulled herself to make her life more bearable.
"I'm fine," she lies, hiding the plans she'd placed near her feet and wiping her eyes. Sherry already saw them, and she gives Bree a look.
"Are you leaving tonight?" she whispers softly.
Bree nods, almost afraid to say anything. For the first time since they met, Sherry smiles.
"I'm comin' with you."
That night, Bree sits on the couch, anxiously awaiting Dwight to come and get her. Sherry is leaning against the kitchen counter, nervously tapping the counter.
Suddenly the door opens and in strides Negan. Sherry and Bree exchange a look of "oh crap" before turning their attention back to Negan, who is being greeted by the rest of his wives with much more excitement.
"You're early tonight," Charlene points out with a put-on sultry smile meant to please Negan. "I'm not complaining. You should do it more often."
The other women laugh and voice their agreement, besides Sherry and Bree. Now that Lydi is done pretending to be Bree's friend, she's resumed her flirtatious behavior towards him.
Bree is panicking. Had Dwight told him of their plans?
Negan grins at his wives. "Thought I'd come and have a little fun with my ladies! It's been a darn good day, and I would very much like to celebrate with you fine ladies." He gives Bree a look, which she returns with a glare before looking away.
"Celebrating is what we do best!" one of the wives giggles as the room erupts in cheering. The wives scurry for champagne.
Lydi taps Negan on the shoulder once the other wives have gone into the room, making sure to push her hair aside fervently so Negan can see her swollen cheek.
"Dang! Did you get stung by a swarm of bees? Your face looks like crap!" Negan says, no filter as usual.
Lydi blushes and says, "This is courtesy of Bree. I don't feel safe around her, hubby." She uses a completely different voice with him, one that's much higher-pitched, making Bree cringe.
Negan makes a couple of tsking noises with his mouth. "Gotta admit, that is an impressive shiner, Baby. But that just won't do. I will not tolerate any kind of discord between my wives. I'll have to make sure someone is punished for this."
He looks at Bree, and she gives him a smirk and a salute. He returns her smirk before pulling himself back to Lydi. "Now you just go put some makeup on and come celebrate with Daddy Negan when you can. Sherry, you joining us?"
Amber gives a tight smile. "Tonight's not a good night," she says, and Bree is impressed at how smooth she is at lying. "I'm not feeling too well."
Negan looks concerned but tells her to get some rest.
"Probably don't need to say this, but you are not invited to tonight's festivities, Baby. Don't feel like getting stabbed tonight."
"My heart... is shattered," she retorts quietly, pulling her knees to her chest.
Negan chuckles. "Takes a licking, keeps on kicking! Keep that spunk, Baby. You'll need it for tomorrow. Time to make you into one of those point-makers I was talking about."
He goes into the room, shutting the door behind him. Moving quickly, Bree moves over to the front door and opens it, revealing a worried Dwight.
"Why is he here?" she wonders.
"He was adamant about it," Dwight says. "He's probably going to do this for a while to make sure you don't run off." He looks behind her and notices Sherry. Bree sees a softness settle over his mangled features like she'd never witnessed before. "Hi..." he says quietly.
Sherry smiles back at him, the same warmth in her eyes. "Hi yourself."
Bree shuts her eyes, trying to think.
Sherry comes over to them. "Are we still going to do this?" she whispers.
"No! It would be stupid to do that," Dwight says. "We just have to wait a few weeks."
"Is that really the only alternative…?"
"A lot can change in a few weeks," Bree suddenly cuts in. She gives them both a serious look. "He's already said he's going to do something to me tomorrow, and who knows how hard it will be to escape after that. I've got a plan to get us out of here tonight with no one noticing, but you have to trust me."
Sherry and Dwight exchange worried looks, knowing the gravity of what they were abou to do, but nod at the younger woman. Bree goes over to Sherry's room and grabs their packed bags from out of the closet. Each bag is stuffed with clothes, water, and as much canned food as they can fit without being too heavy for either of them to carry. Bree pulls one bag over her shoulder while Dwight takes the other. Then, Bree stuffs blankets under the comforter, making it seem like two people were asleep in the bed. She turns off the lights and shuts the door silently.
She turns around to find Sherry and Dwight giving her incredulous looks.
"That's your big plan?" Dwight deadpans. "Lumps under the covers?
"What? It works!" She argues back defensively, cheeks growing warm.
"Maybe in the Home Alone movies! What happens if he comes looking for me, and I'm gone?"
"It'll be a while," Sherry chimes in. "I took the liberty of adding some crushed sleeping pills to the champagne. They'll be out well into the morning. Maybe even longer. And they'll feel like absolute crap."
Bree rubs her nose and smiles sheepishly. "Okay … That's a much better plan," she admits with a defeated shrug, making the other two smile and laugh quietly. Sobering up, the trio sneaks out of the room with Bree at the helm. She's got her eyes glued on her map as the edge along the halls, sticking to the shadows.
"How long have you been working on this?" Sherry asks, peering at the neatly drawn map from over the girl's shoulder
"Ever since I was brought back here," Bree says. "We need to get down to the basement area, and into the sewer tunnels, avoiding the hallway nearest the front gate."
"We can cut through the guard dormitory. Everyone's at dinner right now or standing watch at the front gate," Dwight offers.
The wind down the dimly lit halls, hiding around corners at the sounds of footsteps. Finally, they make it down to the sewer area. Bree uses her Bobby pin to unlock the gate and then they go into the darkness. She sticks her skinny arms back through the gate once they're on the other side and snaps the padlock back in place.
The sewers are pitch black and all they can hear is sloshing water and the squealing of hundreds of rats and other creatures.
"What if we run into any Puppets?" Sherry whispers worriedly.
"It sounds gross but jump into the sewage. Your scent will be covered, and they won't be able to see much in this darkness. Also, our smell is probably covered by the stench down here anyway."
"Smart thinking," Dwight tosses in. "You learn this at school?"
"Ha," she laughs sarcastically. "Merle taught me about hunting and staying hidden."
"Well, if we survive this, I want to thank him personally."
They stick to the walkways, cast in utter darkness. Dwight keeps a hold of Sherry's waist as they stumble forward to keep her from slipping on the slick cement. As they continue on, they become aware of the sound of dozens of growls. They turn a corner and finally see light. A cluster of soggy-skinned zombies are stand in the stagnant water, clustered around a ladder that leads up and out.
"Not good," Sherry whispers. "How do we get past them?"
"Let me think a second..." Dwight growls.
Bree reaches into her bag and pulls out an empty champagne bottle she pilfered out of the trash.
"Good. I need a drink right about now," Dwight says snarkily.
Bree raises the bottle and throws it with all her might at the tunnel opposite from them. The zombies raise their heads, cracked, rotting lips gasping for a taste of flesh, and stumble over each other to get to the place where the sound originated.
Bree urges her group towards the ladder, and they step down into the water to get to it. Unfortunately, Dwight splashes too a bit much in his descent into the murk. The Walkers notice, and it isn't long before they're shambling back towards them.
"Go!" Bree shouts. Sherry climbs up first, then Dwight, with Bree bringing up the rear. The Walkers gasp excitedly beneath them, hands eagerly outstretched towards them in the hopes of a meal.
As Bree climbs up the ladder, she feels her foot being grabbed. She kicks wildly free herself, but the zombie is stronger than she is. She fumbles around in her bag, finally finding the kitchen knife she stowed, and slashes away at the Walker hands latching onto her ankle. Once she's chopped it enough to weaken its hold, she hurriedly continues climbing.
Dwight pulls her up the last rungs and then pushes the grate back over the tunnel. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief, taking in the fresh smell of the outdoors. They look to their left and see the gates of Sanctuary yards away from them. To their right lies the wilderness.
"Now where to?" Sherry asks.
Bree, unaccustomed to being relied on so completely, shifts around a bit before looking up to the stars like Merle taught her.
"That's the North Star," she explains. "The last place my camp was located is west. So we head this way, and fast."
They head off, sticking to the dense forestry to avoid being tracked, with Bree mussing their trail up by dragging her feet over their footprints and moving leaves over them. After a few hours of traveling, the triad of escapees decide to set up camp. Dwight and Sherry go to get firewood while Bree does her best to gather leaves for bedding.
She goes back to their site and sees that neither of them are back. Worried, she goes to look for them. She finds them near a small stream, wrapped in the other's arms. Wearing the biggest smile Bree'd ever witnessed her wear, Sherry flings off the wedding ring Negan gives to each of his wives before kissing her true husband. They don't notice Bree, for which she is grateful because she didn't want to ruin their moment together. It was touching.
She walks back towards the campsite, holding her own band up to the moon so that it encompasses the soft white orb. She thinks about it for a moment, face lost in thought, before she reaches down and buries the ring beneath the shade of an oak tree, covering the spot with dry leaves. She heads back to their camp, hands in her pockets, eyes on the night sky.
End of Episode Song – Love and Mercy by Gazelle Twin