Sadie's POV
The group that had previously tried to ambush us back at Alexandria collectively brought our little group to their crappy excuse for a campsite.
Upon entering the main part of it, which turned out to be an even bigger scrapyard, they all proceeded to surround us all, once again.
As I turned to look back at Gareth, and then around at our new surroundings, a woman's voice broke through the near total silence as she stepped out from behind most of her people.
"Are you a collective, or does one lead?" She asked.
Before any of us could answer, however, another woman came up from behind us and practically threw me at her.
"This one!"
I jumped at the suddenness of it, scoffing as I made a point of noticeably brushing my shoulder off. "Your hospitality is overwhelming."
The woman, who I presumed to be the leader, just looked over me and snickered softly to herself as I stared back at her.
"It's Sadie." I told her. "...don't wear it out."
She chuckled a little more humorlessly as she continued. "We own your lives. You wanna buy them back? Have anything?"
"Well, you have one of my people." I reminded her, folding my arms across my chest.
"Gabriel. And you're gonna show him to me if you'd like to discuss this any further."
She stared back at me, taken slightly aback by the order, but nodded anyway as she signaled for one of her little minions to go get him.
When they did bring him out, he wore only a white tank top with his pants, as opposed to his fancy shmancy little priest attire he normally dressed himself in.
He half smiled back at me before I returned my stare back onto the woman.
"...The boat things you took got taken, saw them, so we took the rest….then we took him."
"Well, then you know we have nothing to buy back our lives with." I held up air quotes at that last bit. "...as you so claim…...and that's what you'll have soon. Nothing…..Because me and my people already belong to that group who took those supplies from the boat." I shrugged. "...it wasn't my first call, but that's where we're at.
They're called the Saviors. They own our lives, for the time being, so if you kill us, you'll be taking something from them….and they will come looking.
You only have two options when it comes to the Saviors, if you don't have a leader like myself lookin out for you…...either they kill you.." I made a little cutting motion across my neck with an added crrrick for sound effect. "or they own you.
But there is a way out. Join us…..join us in fighting them."
"...No." She sort of scoffed, rather coldly, after she took her sweet time appearing to consider what I'd just told her."
I merely reached to remove my knife from my belt, in an attempt to scare her a bit and maybe shake some sense into her, but it triggered the rest of these fucks to start fighting back with the rest of our group, breaking into an all out fight between us and them until Gabriel leapt back into the mix and grabbed the woman who'd shoved me before and held a knife right up to her throat.
Jesus, talk about a time to finally grow some balls.
I chuckled to myself at the thought of it.
"LET US GO, OR I WIll KILL HER!" He shouted.
The leader just looked thoroughly unamused by this little stunt, appearing more just flat out irritated than anything. "Away from Tamiel now."
Gabriel, ignoring the order, just continued his apparent proposal.
"The Saviors, they- they have other places, other communities. They have things-
food, weapons, vehicles, fuel. Whatever you want, the Saviors have it."
She looked back at him, hesitating only briefly this time, before giving a hand signal for her little minions to back away from us.
"Away from Tamiel." She simply repeated.
I glared back at her, but considered for a moment, before finally nodding at him to just do as she said, for now.
At my instruction, he did so with very little hesitation.
The woman held her stare back at him, apparently suddenly interested in what he had to say, as she urged for him to go on with the rest of his little spiel.
"Your words…" She requested.
Gabriel nodded back to her. "If you join us and we beat them together, you can have
much of what's theirs. Fighting with us, you'll be rewarded, more than you can imagine."
"Want something now." She insisted.
This only appeared to agitate him further. "Sadie...can do anything.
"This group? They found me here, so far from our home. What do you need?
Just tell us, we'll get it for you. We'll show you what we can do."
Alright, easy man, don't be a kiss ass.
I scoffed a little to myself at the thought as the leader was giving another signal to Some more of her little minions.
"Now….." She ordered. "Tamiel, Brion...show Sadie Up Up Up."
Gareth looked somewhat suspiciously at her, as she said that, before looking back to me.
I smiled back at him, briefly taking his hand in mine to reassure him before I went.
"I've got this."
I followed the woman, and the two others she'd signaled, up until we reached the very top of the tallest scrap pile.
She stopped, just ahead of us, as she took a look around the place then looked back at me.
"All of us, here since the change." She explained. "We take, we don't bother…"
"That's up for debate." I scoffed.
She barely humored the remark, however, as she continued. "...Things grow harder.
We open cans, sometimes the inside's rotten. Time's passed. Things are changing again. So maybe we change….maybe. Need to know that you're real with this, that you're worth it."
She started to shove at me before I could say anything else, to which I stopped by grabbing back at her til I slipped and lost my footing anyway, almost taking her down with me as I tumbled down to the bottom of it.
"Shit!" I muttered, brushing myself off as I collected myself enough to stand back on my feet. "...Crazy bitch!"
I would've had some more….choice words for that bitch, had I not then been distracted by the concern in Gareth's voice as he called out to me.
"Sadie?! Sadie!"
I followed it over to near a large metal tube, mixed in amongst the pile, that appeared to be working as a short tunnel for them.
I called back out to him, as I saw him come into view on the other side of said tunnel.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me!" It's that bitch, if anyone, who should be worried.
I scoffed to myself at the thought, just as my train of thought was being interrupted by the snarls of a dead one that was apparently right behind me.
I spun around to find that this fucker was none like I'd ever seen before..
A set of, presumably, spike covered steel armor protected much of the body that was deteriorating underneath it while a similarly spiked out helmet protected much of the bastard's head and face…..as if this was some kind of fucked up pet of hers.
You've GOTTA be shitting me
Gareth still hadn't moved away from the other side of the tunnel, presumably watching in horror as I wrestled and fought with this God-forsaken thing, shouting as I injured my hand in the process.
I struggled to stay on my feet as I knocked the steel covered bastard off of its own, scrambling for something to aid me til it hit me to just start pulling shit off of the surrounding walls till it was all but suffocated beneath them.
Once it was, I took the knife off my belt and started stabbing through it repeatedly until it appeared to be subdued enough.
I stood there, taking one last look at the bastard, as I returned the knife to my belt and tried to catch my breath.
Once I had, I turned to glare back up to the woman who appeared to be staring back, considerably smugly, down at the ordeal.
"You believe us now?!" I panted. "Just tell us what you assholes want and we'll get it!"
She said nothing else yet, just tossed a rope down toward me, as I was already starting my way up towards her.
I held my glare at her as she watched me, just as smugly, before she finally spoke again.
"Guns…." She said. "A lot…...a lot….and then we fight your fight."
I stared back at her, carefully considering but not yet saying anything.
"You think we'll win?" She asked.
"No…." I scoffed. "...I know we will."
She nodded. After, we get half of what's won."
"No, you'll get a third." I corrected. "...and you're lucky to still be getting that after the little stunt you just pulled…...and we'll also be taking back what you just stole from us."
"Half." She repeated.
"A third."
"Half."
"...you'll take a third." I insisted a little more firmly as I shrugged my shoulders. "...or we could go at this all night…..your choice."
"...Fine….." She finally agreed. "...A third, but we keep what we stole…..half of the jars, the ones we took. One time, this time….Say yes."
"...Yes." I scoffed.
"And the guns."
"….And the guns." I repeated back, chuckling somewhat humorlessly.
"Waited by the boat….long time. Want something for it." She continued. So it's this.
Jars and guns, guns and jars."
"You waited for someone to get the supplies off that boat for you?" I scoffed
"Long time." She reiterated."...We take, we don't bother."
"You had that...that thing down there for someone to prove themselves?" I scoffed again.
"No." She answered. "His name was Winslow."
"Winslow…" I scoffed under my breath. "...Alright…...and what were you gonna do
with Gabriel?"
"...Go." She replied instead, ignoring the question as she started to walk away. "Deal expires…..soon."
"At least give me your name then!" I called back to her.
She turned around, stopping only briefly to humor me. "...Jadis."
I nodded, then proceeded to return to fill in the rest of the group
Once I had, still limping slightly, as I stepped away from the pile and approached the group.
"We have a deal." I announced.
Looks of satisfaction and considerable relief soon spread throughout the group at the news….and particularly on Gareth's face as he practically raced towards me, gently grabbing me as I let myself fall into his arms.
"You still have such a bad habit of underestimating me." I laughed, holding him tighter.
"Yeah, well I think your habit of constantly amazing me evens it out enough." He chuckled back.
"...alright, maybe a little." I admitted, kissing him before totally leaning on him for support to head out with the others.
I decided to hang back with Gareth, rest for at least a little bit, as we watched the others pack up as they prepared to go.
"So we go back, get you stitched up, then go right back out and find the guns?"
Gareth repeated back to me.
"That's the plan." I confirmed.
He nodded, chuckling slightly at his next thought. "...So, should I assume the entirely wild idea of you taking it easy, at least for a little while didn't even occur?"
I rolled my eyes. "I have to say, Gar, your little underestimation habit is beginning to wear my patience just a little too thin."
"Just a suggestion." He tried to defend.
"And I'm just calling it as I see it." I reminded him with a smirk.
"What else is new?" He chuckled.
I took the cloth that I'd been previously considering for wrapping up my hand wound and playfully smacked him with it.
"Asshole!" I laughed.
"Bitch." He teased back.
I just chuckled at that, catching sight of Gabriel in the near distance again, before I could tease him any further.
Instead, I just patted his shoulder slightly before I took off. "Be right back."
Once I'd managed to catch back up with Gabriel, I had him fill me in on the rest of the situation. How he ended up here, and all.
"I heard something when I was on watch, from inside the wall." He explained.
"I went into the pantry, one of them jumped me. She was angry because she didn't get the supplies from the boat after all the waiting, so they made me pack up everything else…..But she said they were at the boat, so I hoped…"
"No." I replied. "You didn't just hope. You got us here."
He nodded "I was beginning to lose faith…...But then I saw you…..and you nodded at me. I mean, just the fact that you knew I didn't leave, that you searched and found me, that you, seeing these numbers, you seemed so...glad...we will set things right.
But things are gonna get very hard before that time."
"What else is new." I sort of scoffed.
He just smiled as he continued. "We have to hold on."
I nodded anyway "I will….Thanks.
He started to chuckle a little at his next realization. "What made you smile? ….What made you so...confident?"
I smiled back at him, genuinely this time. "...because someone once showed me that even the worst of enemies can become friends."