I don't sleep at all, and Vin is tossing and turning constantly on my couch. "Foot rub?"
"No."
Well, fuck. Ok then. I have a seat as she sits up. "Please, don't shut me out." The look on her face is mental. Like mine when I killed that group of rapist fucks. I'm scared to leave this woman alone because I fear she'll run back to stop Alder and then I'll have lost everything.
"If we run, it doesn't put a stop to them, but if we stay, it's absolute suicide."
Oh, thank fuck. That logical side is still in there. "I don't want to run either, but they're a goddamn army compared to us. We have, what, maybe six guns, and not even enough ammunition to fill them all."
Her eyes brim over with tears. "All the people they're hurting."
"I know," I frown, taking her hand.
We're both on edge when my camper door opens but in steps Dwight. "You're going to want to see this, Negan."
I don't know just how much more I want to see. Once I step outside, it's some fucking lanky mustache motherfucker. "Who the fuck are you?"
"My name is Simon," he starts. "I'm from Salvation Sixty Six."
Our guns are put in his face.
"Please. Listen to what I have to say. Salvation Sixty Six is coming for you at dusk. I've seen it. They kill the men and children, then take the women when a group poses a problem. You need to gather what you have right now and you need to leave. The threats they made are nothing compared to what they are capable of and your women will be the ones to pay for it."
This group made a mockery out of Vin and now this fuck is trying to bargain with me? "Why the fuck shouldn't I just put a bullet right into your skull?"
"Go ahead." Simon puts his arms out. "Because it's a better option than going back."
"Negan," Dwight says, pointing by the one entrance into our camp.
Simon isn't alone. There are five women with him in horrible condition. "I took Alder's wives, and he's not going to be happy. You don't have to trust me, but take them. Look, I've been waiting for months to find a group that I think could stand a chance against Salvation Sixty Six and I know that's yours. Maybe not now, but eventually you will be. I can help you get away. Give you a fighting chance." Simon shows me the map he's made up. "I have supply caches for food and gasoline." He points at the truck he came in. "That's Connor in the driver seat. His wife was… well… she didn't make it no thanks to that group. Anyway, you can trust that what I'm saying is true, or we'll be on our way, but you don't have but thirty minutes before your window closes."
"You have no idea what I'm capable of if you cross me, Simon. Tell your man to help us start loading things up." My only concern right now is getting Vin the fuck outta dodge.
It's foolish to think that'd we'd survive in this camp for the rest of our lives, but as we pull away from it, I feel this dread like it's the best I'll ever do for my men.
Simon was truthful about his supply caches.
The gasoline I was most grateful for because it allowed us to put hundreds of miles between us and Salvation Sixty Six. One day, I will come back for that motherfucker. You can certainly count on that.
We're about fifty miles west of Washington DC when we stop for the night. Most people huddle in the trailers.
Simon sleeps sprawled out in the back of the Van.
Vin stays in the supply truck.
"You can't sleep in here, Vin." I sigh when she won't move. "Give me some blankets," I tell Dwight. I insulate the cab as best I can for Vin, then close the door. What I said still goes. I'm not leaving her side. So it looks like I'm not getting any sleep sitting in the driver's seat like this. An hour of complete silence passes. I know I need to say something. "This is just temporary. All this. The dead. People acting the way they are. Man always finds a way. Maybe not for years, decades, but we will. And you can know that you had a part in that. You're always trying to save the world, Vin. This is the way you're supposed to do it."
She turns towards me and smiles. "Thank you, Negan."
"I'm sorry for the humiliation he put you through." Forced sexual violence is unseemly, but nothing prepares you when it happens to someone you love. Someone who is forced in front of you. "I need to take a piss." I get out from the truck and far enough away so I can let go of emotion. Which I don't have the right. I'm not the one who went through what she did in front of a hundred men. Fuck, I'm out here for twenty minutes almost. I don't expect her to still be awake. "Christ, it's freezing in here, Vin. Come warm up in the camper, at least."
"I want to be alone."
"Ok," I frown.
"No, I mean away from everyone. You can stay."
I close the door back, rubbing my hands together.
"Newspaper," Vin says, holding some out. Then she shows me how she stuffs it in her clothes as insulation. "And you should get a hat."
"I have a scarf."
"A hat would work better."
When I show her the scarf, she understands the reference. "I haven't been wearing it because it smells like you."
"I stink that bad?"
"You know what I mean. It's the only thing of you that I can call mine. I just want to preserve it as long as I'm able."
The crinkling of the paper gives her away before I notice her scooting over. "I'm still being cautious though, Negan."
I'm thankful for fucking anything at this point, but don't expect her to move against me. My arms swallow this woman. "I'll find you a home. I promise you that, Vin."
I just don't realize how hard that is.
You can make anything livable for a few nights, but we need a place where we can flourish. Finding a place started to seem impossible. Every new possibility had some major defect.
Walls are compromised.
The area is surrounded by undead.
No resources close by.
I have to walk away from the group one night because it's one of those times when everyone has a fucking opinion and I ain't in the fucking mood. After several minutes of walking, I come to a dirt road. There's a beat to hell sign, but I can't read it. There are down trees everywhere which will make for easy firewood. At least something is going my- I walk out of the brush as I tilt my head up.
Higher.
Higher.
Higher.
My god, it's a… it's… an eight-story factory surrounded by chain link.
The walls are perfectly intact.
There isn't a undead in sight.
Several resources are close by.
This is it. This is what we've been seeking...
Home.