So, I've had this story planned out since December 2016 when I started posting and I'm not changing anything because of canon. There will eventually be people that are dead in the series alive in my story. There are plot elements that weren't part of the show until the finale of the past season, and when I saw it I was so upset because they got to it first. The smut is going to be taking a back burner to actual plot from now on. It'll still be present but no longer a focus now that Sunny is trying to expand her world.
Also, I know it's been 84 years since I've posted. You can follow me on Tumblr to get writing updates and see what's up in my life. I'm really easy to get a hold of over there. Thanks for reading! Leave me some comments! They help motivate me. You can thank this chapter getting done to the couple of people who have asked about this story on this site and another.
Sunny looked down the empty hall and made her way slowly towards the stairwell. She knew their floor was typically empty, only hearing movement in the hall moments before Negan would come home, but she'd only seen it after curfew. Who knew if there were patrols during the day?
Her heart pounded. Her hands were clammy, but excitement was over riding her fear. After all Negan had said, "Stay out of trouble" and everyone knows, you're only in trouble if you get caught. She had no intention of getting caught again.
Dun dun dun da-dun. Dun dun dun da-dun. Do do do. Do do do. Do do do. Do-do. Ok, Mission Impossible, stop thinking about theme songs. Being stealthy does not include a soundtrack. If you get caught you will be chained to the bed forever. And tortured. Deliciously tortured. Don't think about that. That's only going to make you want to get caught.
She opened the door to the stairwell and listened closely. Leaning over the railing, she peered down trying to catch a glimpse of movement, maybe guards, but saw none. Quietly, she stepped down the tiled, winding staircase. Dust muffled her steps some, but she could hear the squeak and creek of the soles of her boots. She was thankful none of the doors to the different floors had windows. She took a deep breath as she reached the first floor. Her hand hovered over the door knob. Her wedding ring sparkled in the florescent light above, and her heart sank.
Is this worth making Negan mad? What would really happen if he got mad at me? Would he send me home? No. He'd be mad for a while, but he would see how useful I could be and how safe I am here. It will all work out. And people. You're going to get to talk to people. No more lonely days.
She took her ring off and pocketed it. This was it. There was no going back. She slipped into the hallway on the first floor, ready to blend in. She kept her head down as she made her way to the laundry room. She knew she would be less likely to be seen tucked in that corner of The Sanctuary.
She tried not to look at the people she passed. Most of the ones she caught a glimpse of looked tired, maybe a little bit dirty. Their clothes were stained and well worn. She'd have to make sure to keep wearing the same clothes. No one greeted each other as they passed. A small group gathered to one side of the hall, speaking in hushed tones. It was eerie and unsettling like walking into the funeral of a person no liked, but everyone felt obligated to attend.
The rumble of machines filled the air as she crossed the threshold of the laundry room. Bags of dirty clothes lined the walls on the left. Machines filled the back wall under frosted windows with two more rows of machines back to back in the center of the room. There were even a few large buckets with honest-to-god old timey scrub boards. Tables were pushed against the right wall with people standing in front of them sorting and folding the clean sheets, towels, and clothing.
"Who are you?" a raspy voice barked behind her.
Sunny jumped and turned to see a man with a clipboard eyeing her warily. "I'm new. I was told to come here today."
"What's your name?" he asked. He was short, maybe average and she was just used to tall now. He wore glasses on the edge of his nose. Dark greasy hair hung over his forehead.
"Jane –"
"You're not on my list," he said curtly as he flipped through his papers and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
She felt her face begin to heat. Don't panic. You can do this. "I just got here today. They told me to come here and then they'd figure out a permanent job for me," she explained.
The man glared at her. "Who sent you?"
"I don't remember." She stared back unblinkingly. If there was anything she had learned from her sister, it was that most men couldn't handle direct eye contact from a woman for sustained periods. They had made a game of making men look away first as they walked by. Nothing was funnier than a man flustered by a woman who didn't shrink away from their open ogling.
His glare intensified for a brief moment before his eyes averted to his clipboard once more. "Tell those assholes that they need to let me know before they send me new people, temporary or not."
"Okay. I will. Where should I go now?" She glanced around the room. There were a few people sitting at the buckets scrubbing stains off shirts. Most people were shuttling clothes to washers and dryers. Several others were folding clean clothes at the tables. The scrubbing and shuttling seemed tiring. At least the people folding didn't look like they were sweating.
"Go over there and fold," he grunted pointing to a table with only 2 women folding.
She walked toward her station, trying to ignore all the glances and glares cast her way. She had never been treated in such a hostile manner before. Never not been trusted. Had she made a mistake? Could she just leave right now without causing a scene or raising suspicion?
Reaching the table she said, "Um, I'm supposed to help over here today."
The older of the two looked down at Sunny assessing her. She had short blonde hair with a fair amount of grey creeping in along her darker roots. Her dingy denim shirt hung loosely over her khaki cargo pants. "Well," she said, "don't just stand there. Start folding. Names or numbers are marked or sewn on the inside of the clothing for identification. Same number they use to keep track of your points. Fold and stack according to those id's. Easy enough. Take extra care of those with names. They belong to the Saviors and you do not want to be on their radar if something goes missing or gets ruined."
"Okay." Sunny started folding some ratty t-shirts speckled with rusty-brown spots that were probably blood. She moved on to jeans, socks, underwear all belonging to number 87. She wondered who they belonged to. Was the blood theirs, a walker's, or did it belong to someone they lost? She glanced sideways at the two women next to her. Neither one seemed concerned nor curious about the state the clothes were in.
"I'm Jane by the way," Sunny said hopefully.
"Karen," replied the older woman. "And this is Sarah."
"It's nice to meet you," Sunny said with a smile.
The two women exchanged a dubious glance then smirked. They turned back towards their work, apparently happy to leave their conversation at that.
"So….how long have y'all been here?" Sunny asked.
"Look, we have a lot of work to do. We're not here to make friends or be besties. We're here to work. To earn points. We have to get all these folded and ready to go before the dryers stop," Karen countered.
Sunny turned back to her pile of clothes. "Oh. Sorry. I've just been alone a long time."
Karen shook out a shirt, laying it out on the table. She let out an exasperated sigh. "I've been here about 6 months. Sarah's been here about 3."
"Do you like it here?" Sunny balled some socks together that were badly in need of some darning. Stacked them on top of number 87's pile.
Sarah finally spoke, "It's safer than out there." She shrugged and opened a clean pillow case and put clothes inside.
Sunny searched for a pillowcase labeled for number 87 and found it in her basket of clean clothes. Apparently, that's how people turned in their clothes. Slipping the stack inside the pillow case as Sarah had done, she continued her questioning. "What did you do before you came here?"
Karen seemed to perk up a little. "I was a PHD in literature. I was a published author and had finally made tenure at the university I taught at." She gave a little laugh. "Seems like all those years of academia were wasted. Not much use for Shakespeare nowadays."
"Oh, but now is the perfect time for Shakespeare. Who doesn't need an escape from reality?"
Karen looked at Sunny curiously, her brows knitted as she studied her. She seemed to be in her late forties maybe early fifties. She definitely had an air about her that made her seem more refined than her current outward appearance let on.
"At least you don't have to worry about student loans anymore?" quipped Sunny.
Karen laughed. "I would have been paying on those for another 5 years. It just seems so insane now. All that money for a piece of paper to tell me I'm smart." She shook her head as a rueful grin stretched across her face.
Sunny turned towards Sarah waiting expectantly for her answer. When none seemed forth coming she gently prompted. "Sarah? What did you do?"
Sarah looked to be about 10 years older than Sunny. Long dark hair was swept back in a ponytail. Her brown eyes avoided Sunny's but she said, "I was a stay at home mom. I can't believe I ever complained about doing 2 loads of laundry a day."
"Are your kids here too?" Sunny immediately regretted asking as she watch Sarah's eyes fill with tears. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Sarah."
Sarah nodded as tears fell down her cheeks and she concentrated on her task at hand. "I had 2 kids. A boy and a girl. We were camping outside of town in the woods, trying to get away from the city. There were so many walkers there. We thought we would be safer in the wilderness. A herd came through and massacred our campsite. I barely made it out. None of my family made it. The few of us that survived were picked up by Saviors a few months later and brought here."
The women worked in silence for a while. Sunny couldn't imagine the horrors of seeing your family ripped apart. The anguish of not being able to do anything in that moment. She tried to focus on her job, but the awkwardness that had fallen between the three women was too much for her to take.
"So was all this here before? Or did the Saviors bring in all the machines?" she asked looking at all the washers and dryers. "They had to have been here before because all the washers had water connections."
"The factory used to wash uniforms to prevent contamination of whatever dangerous particles from getting spread around," Karen confirmed.
"Well that was lucky for us. So what do you guys do for fun?" she blurted out, smiling at them. She knew instantly that she had said the wrong thing again.
"Fun?" Karen looked aghast at the notion. "Look, Pollyanna. We're points workers. We don't have fun. We do our jobs, follow the rules, rinse, and repeat. We're all just trying to survive. How can you be so cheerful?"
Sunny shrugged. "I'm just thankful to be around people. I've been alone this whole time."
"Where's your family?" Sarah asked.
"I don't really know. I, mean, I know that my family is gone. But since I didn't see it happen…I can—I can pretend they're still out there surviving too. I guess there is still some part of me that has hope."
Sarah looked pityingly at Sunny. "There's not a lot of room for hope here, Jane. The best you can do is accept that this is as good as it's going to get and make the best of it. Keep your head down and don't attract attention to yourself."
Karen quickly added, "Especially when the Saviors are around."
Back in her room, Sunny stripped her clothes from her body. Her body was tacky from the humidity coming from the dryers. Her feet ached from standing all day. She folded the clothes and hid them under her bed. She would blend in better the dirtier they got. She decided to jump in the shower, wash away the evidence that she did anything other than lounge naked in bed.
Scrubbing her body with her sugar scrub, her stomach twisted with guilt knowing Karen and Sarah were struggling to even buy a regular bar of soap. They had taught her ways to survive and how to save points. Most people only showered a day or two a week. They used wash clothes to clean themselves everyday sometimes twice if they didn't have deodorant…'hobo baths' they called it. Shaving was no longer a thing. Razors were too expensive. Tampons and pads were getting harder to come by so women were starting to buy rags and safety pins like their grandmothers had done decades ago. Everything Sunny had taken for granted was now a luxury. These people had lost so much and would continue to lose if things weren't changed.
She dried her hair and hung up her towels, crossing the room naked since Negan had not left out an outfit this morning which, now, seemed a lifetime ago. She crawled in bed, pulling the sheets over her body. She needed to see him. To feel him. Hold him. Touch him. She needed to feel wanted. She'd never felt lonelier than in a room full of people with no hope, no happiness, and no chance of making their lives better.
Sunny heard the office door open and close followed by his bathroom door. He'd shower and change then go their dinners. But she couldn't wait. Throwing off the covers, she quickly crossed the room and peeked into the office. She saw Lucille leaning against the desk and his leather jacket laying across the top.
She heard the water turn off. She grabbed the jacket and slid her arms through the sleeves, pulling the leather against her body. She hopped up on his desk, crossed her legs, leaned back on her hands behind her, arching her back, and waited, a small smirk tugging at her lips.
Negan wrapped a towel around his waist. He needed some food and a good fuck. He walked into the office and stopped. Perched on his desk like a playboy bunny was Sunny.
"How was your day, dear?" she asked.
"Fan-fucking-tastic now, sugar." He stood in front of her, crossing his arms. "What are you doing, Sunny?"
Sunny sat up, uncrossing her legs. She leaned forward, spreading her legs as she as she gripped the edge of the desk. "Nothing."
He groaned as her pussy spread in front of him. His dick throbbing as blood rushed to it. She reached out and tugged his towel off his waist. Her hands gripped his hardening length, massaging his shaft with her soft hands. His eyes closed, letting her explore, stepping between her legs. She kissed his chest and pulled his head down towards her, sucking on his neck. His hand ran up her thigh, but she stopped its progressed and whispered, "No."
"No? What has gotten into you?" he asked as she lined the head of his cock with her pussy, rubbing it along her slit.
"Hopefully you." She nipped at his ear lobe.
Negan gripped her thighs, pulling them wider. He pushed into her entrance. It was tight, not nearly ready or wet enough for this. But she didn't seem to mind. He worked his way into her pussy, her moans encouraging him, until his thrusts met with no resistance.
Sunny tugged the leather jacket off and laid back. Her hands ran up her body squeezing her breasts that rocked with the force of his thrusts.
"Harder," she moaned.
He pulled her hips off the edge of the desk, extending his range of motion. The desk creaked and shook with the power of his movements. He reached out, placing a hand on her neck. Her body immediately tensed as she came around his dick. "Fuck," he growled. He threw her legs over his shoulders as he leaned forward, pounding in to her. Her pants and moans grew louder. Once last deep thrust and he spent himself in her quivering cunt.
"What the fuck was that?" he asked as he regained the power of speech and pushed up from the desk.
"I wanted you. Is that so wrong?" She wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning her head against his chest listening to the cadence of his heart slow.
"No, but now my jacket is going to smell like a sex, and I'm going to be fucking walking around like a god damn teen with a hard on all time."
"I'm sorry. How is that different from any other day?" She hopped up and walked away from him, receiving a resounding slap on the ass as she walked by causing her to yelp. She rubbed her pink cheek and pouted.
"You wanna keep being cheeky? Because I would love to spank the other side." He raised his eyebrows when she walked back and bent over the desk.
"Then do it." She looked back over her shoulder and grinned adding, "Daddy." She spread her legs giving him a good look at the mess he just made.
"Holy fuck. If I hadn't just blown my fucking load, I would be busting a nut right now. God damn, princess. Are you trying to fucking kill me?" He pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her. "If you still want to play later, you fucking say the word, and I will spank that ass raw then beat off all over your red cheeks. But right now, I'm fucking hungry. I'm going to go get our dinner. Go put some pj's on."
Sunny sat across the table from Negan watching him tear a piece of bread as she poked at a green bean. "So," she paused not wanting to sound overly knowledgeable, "the Saviors have that rec room where they can have fun and blow off some steam…what do the rest of the people have?"
"What?" Negan asked with a cheek full of food.
"Well I'm just wondering what the workers do for fun?" She took a bit of food and waited for his response as he finished chewing.
He took a swing of coke. "Fuck if I know."
"Well aren't you concerned?" she asked.
"Fucking concerned about what exactly?" He leaned back in his chair, his elbows resting on the arms as his fingertips steepled under his chin.
"Didn't you ever see A Bug's Life?"
Negan's eyebrows nearly met as he said, "What in the fuck are you taking about?"
She rolled her eyes, "It's a Disney movie."
"No, I haven't seen a fucking kid's movie."
"Well it's based on Aesop's fable The Ant and the Grasshopper. Those were popular when you were a young, right?"
Negan's laugh filled the room. "Watch it, brat."
"Oh no…" She held up her hands in mock surrender. "What are you going to do? Spank me? I think we've already established that not a punishment today. Basically, the ants do all the grunt work and the grasshoppers get all the reward."
"My Saviors do a lot of fucking work. Who do you think is out there facing fucking walkers?" he snapped.
"No, need to yell at me. I know y'all are out there fighting fights. But you did tell me you had groups that scavenge for you in exchange for the Savior's protection….and that's kinda like the movie."
"What is your fucking point, Sunny?"
"Well, it just that you should start thinking about moving past survival and start thinking about actually living again. Your workers outnumber the saviors, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Well, it would be in your best interest to keep them not only safe but happy. If they begin to feel like they are being treated unfairly, they'll realize they have the numbers and can and will have a coup to raise their standard of living. They keep this place running. Keep the Saviors comfortable with cooked food and clean clothes. Once scavenging stops being the main means of survival, the workers are going to be the ones providing, and they aren't going to see the Saviors as necessary."
Negan's eyebrows raised. "And what the hell do you suggest?"
She watched his features shift from annoyed to blank. She couldn't gage his feelings as she continued. "Well, it wouldn't hurt to let people enjoy themselves. You could get a movie screen and projector and have movie nights that didn't require points to view, people could bring their own snacks or if you wanted to be really awesome you would make popcorn or candy. You could have a family matinee followed by a more grown up comedy or something…probably not horror. It could be set up outside so people could have a picnic and kids can run around and play…is there a playground here? That's another thing you should think about if you don't already have one."
"Seriously. What the fuck has gotten into you today?" He glanced suspiciously at her. "All this talk about workers. Why do you care?"
"I have a lot of free time to think." She shrugged. "I worry about you. You've worked so hard to protect these people. Someone has to try to protect you."
He reached across the table and held her hand. "Well don't you fucking worry your pretty little head about those ants. I think if anyone needs to relax it's you. You've gotten yourself all worried over nothing. C'mon."
"Where are we going?" She stood and followed him.
"To the parlor. You need some fun and distraction so we're having a game night. But no fucking monopoly."
Sunny swayed slightly as she took yet another drink. "This game is stupid. You can't have any strategy with War."
"Exactly." Negan smiled. "Fucking win-win for me. You have a horrible tolerance for booze so it'll take me twice along to get drunk even when I do lose."
"Why not play quarters or something?" she slurred.
"The fucking fact that you know what quarters is let's me know that I never want to play with you." He laughed as she glared at him.
Whispering as loud as possible, she leaned forward and said, "I'm ssssuper good at quartersss. My sister taught me." Sunny sat back up and shuffled the deck before dealing new cards between them. "So what's our last name again?"
"What's your first name?"
"What do you want it to be?" Her mouth opened as she clumsily winked at him.
"Did you just Pretty Woman me?" he asked amused.
"Did you just recognize a chick flick reference? The room is spinning. Why is it spinning?"
"Oh shit. Damn, princess you really are a light weight. You've only had like 3 drinks. C'mon before you puke on my nice rug."
Negan led Sunny back to their rooms detouring to the bathroom. He held her hair as she wretched in the toilet. Tucked her in bed and placed a cool cloth on her forehead.
He sat in bed thinking about what she said. He hated to admit it, but she had a point. Scavenging for necessities was going to become harder. The groups he was in charge of would come back with less and less. Maybe it was time to start planning for the future rather than living in the present. How the fuck was he supposed to make that kind of transition? From yielding a blood soaked bat to tilling a garden? Hosting ice cream fucking socials and movie nights? He'd be fucking laughed out on his ass by the Saviors. God damnit. Like he needed one more thing to worry about. Why was she even worried about it? Because she was fucking raised to worry about survivalist shit like this. Why couldn't she just let him handle things? Every other woman in this place would love to pampered. How had he managed to find the one, that would be ready and willing to build a new world? How could he keep her safe if she was front and center in the creation of a new era? One that the strongest would want to reject? The answer was: he couldn't.