It had been four months since we had found the settlement. After spending so long scavenging for supplies, fending off walkers, and losing loved ones, we came across other survivors that weren't immediately hostile. Eric, Amy and I had been travelling for god only knew how long, and had almost given up completely when the people of this little community had taken us in. They fed us, gave us new clothes, and had even given us our own bedrooms. It felt surreal.
Ever since the world ended, I didn't take anything for granted. Especially human kindness, which was apparently a dying trait. Most people these days were selfish and greedy; most don't trust anyone that isn't one of their own. So when Philip had given us shelter and opened his doors to my friends and I, I had no idea how to express my gratitude. What do you give for something so priceless in this world of hell–for a chance at survival and to know that your friends weren't in immediate danger?
I was finally embracing our new situation: we were safe. At least… for now.
I sat in his office, in the chair opposite of his desk and the man himself. He was middle aged and the person everyone had chosen to lead the little place known as "Doveport." It was a settlement built inside of an old private high school, with a giant stone wall surrounding the entire school, which keeps the walkers out. Philip's office had formerly been the principal's. He had no hair; his bald head always seemed to shine much like his personality. He was friendly, but strong and capable. I was still young and wasn't so naive to think I couldn't learn from people like Philip–good people. He was proof there was still good in this world. I had almost given up on that.
Philip smiled genuinely at me as he sat down in the swivel chair and began to pour a bottle of whiskey into a glass. He offered it to me, but I put my hand up rejecting the offer silently.
"Not a whiskey girl, huh?" He chuckled and took a swig of the liquid before I could answer. I shrugged and looked at a painting on the wall of his office not really taking it in, lost in thought.
"I guess I don't drink much," I mumbled the words thoughtlessly and then looked back to Philip changing the subject. "Eric said you wanted to talk to me about something."
I was shocked to see Philip's expression turned grim. It wasn't a common sight. Even when giving orders on dispatching the living dead, he was usually jovial. When I had first met him, I had been put off by his laid back and cheerful demeanor. How had someone like him survived this long in a world so unforgiving? I learned fast that Philip's personality did not hinder his ability to take out walkers. His lack of seriousness was strange, but kind of comforting. Now he was frowning at me and it was more than off putting.
"We have a problem, Ellie." Philip looked into my eyes with a strange expression I hadn't seen on him before.
Worry? Fear? I didn't like how it looked on him.
"A really big problem…." He continued, looking away from me and down at the desk in front of him, as if he was defeated in coming up with ideas on solving this unnamed issue. "Amy came back from scavenging. She said she met some people while she was out and they were friendly, but they warned us about a serious threat."
I stayed quiet and listened carefully to Philip, noting my friend was now back home safe. Amy and Eric had been a couple before the outbreak and the two had met me long after the dead were eating the living. The three of us had always stuck together, no matter what.
"There's a group out there harassing survivors. They threaten, hurt and kill anyone that dares to defy them. And by the sounds of it, they are headed in our direction." He was still solemnly looking at the wooden desk in front of him.
"Amy said the people she met were on the run from them. This threat, these Saviors… that's what they call themselves. Can you believe that?" Philip shook his head in disgust and then looked up at me. "I'm not afraid of the undead. I'm afraid of people like that."
I nodded silently, still confused as why Philip was telling me–of all people–this. What could I do?
As if reading my mind, Philip continued to answer my question. "Amy didn't get a lot of information from the people that fled the Saviors. I think we need to be as prepared as possible for if and when they show up. We need to have a plan ready on how we proceed with this new situation. We need to know their numbers…how many are there?" Philip stood up and started pacing about his office, thinking out loud. "I need you to go back to the people Amy met with and learn as much as you can. Are you okay with that?" He turned and looked at me.
"Of course," I answered without hesitation. It was the least I could do after everything he had done for me and my friends. When I had first come to Doveport, I had set out to prove myself to the new community. I had scavenged supplies with Amy and Eric and found plenty of food, water, and other necessities.
Still… I couldn't help but wonder…why me?
Philip smiled softly at me. "I knew I could count on you, kid."
He headed back to the desk, bringing out a map before us and laid it out across the desk. He was showing me where the people Amy had met were located, and he circled the spot with a pen. He then folded up the map, handing it to me.
"Can I bring Amy and Eric with me?" I asked, clutching the map in my hand and looking to Philip for permission. I didn't want to get lost and figured having Amy with would probably be wise.
"That's up to them." He chuckled. Philip was in charge of Doveport, but he mostly let people come and go as they pleased and wasn't as controlling as he could be.
I smiled back at him and turned to leave his office, thoughts of my new mission flooding my head when Philip interrupted my racing mind.
"Be careful, Ellie."
I turned to look back at him and the serious look was back. In only four months, Philip and I had formed a close friendship, so of course he was worried for me. Doveport had skated by in the last year; the community knew how to handle walkers, but they had never faced danger quite like this.
"Always." I grinned at him, trying to be as reassuring as possible. He smiled back, but the worry never left his eyes.
It was mid day as I marched through the woods, Amy and Eric close on my heels. I wasn't surprised when they had agreed to travel with me. My friends always had my back when it came to anything. The three of us hadn't really spoke much on the way, trying to stay focused in case any walkers happened to be nearby. Even though it was silent, just having my friends close was a sort of comfort.
I had always been the leader of our little group, but it wasn't by choice. Amy was a feisty one. She was short and had long red hair she always kept back in a tight ponytail. Her small size wasn't to be taken for granted, as I had watched her kill plenty of walkers; but Amy hated fighting. Before the outbreak, she had worked in a salon and was the typical "girly girl," spending most of her paychecks on designer bags and pedicures, but had completely adapted to the new world. Amy would still scavenge for an occasional bottle of nail polish and even the large bag she carried with her was some expensive pink shoulder bag she had found in a house months back. I admired her for still staying true to herself, even if it seemed silly given our circumstances.
Eric was like a young Philip–kindhearted, but still strong enough to deal with the undead. He had brown hair that Amy helped him cut and keep short. He wasn't big; his body was more on the thin side, but his muscles could always be seen through his shirt. Eric didn't talk much about life before, but occasionally told stories about college. He had been going to school to be a teacher, and Amy had teased him about living at Doveport, a former school of all places. They had met through a mutual friend.–someone they had lost long before they met me. They both didn't like to talk about it.
I had never considered myself a leader, but I was definitely more outspoken than the two of them. Before the walkers, I had been a clerk at a grocery store. I had hated my job and used to spend most of my work time day-dreaming. I remembered how bad my feet used to hurt and how the long hours had felt like torture. Now I'd give anything to go back to those simple times.
I wasn't really sure what had happened, but somewhere along the way something changed in me. I had never been shy or quiet, but I decided in order to survive I wasn't willing to accept defeat or put up with bullshit. That mentality–that fake confidence had carried me this far. Amy and Eric respected me for it and really thought I was the badass I pretended to be. In reality, I knew I was still that silly cashier girl fantasizing about a better life.
"It's just up here," Amy said, taking the lead and surprising me. It wasn't like Amy to take charge, but the situation was also new. We hadn't had to deal with the threat of people in a long time. And incredibly, we'd never had to kill anyone.
The thick trees thinned out to expose a small valley.
"Oh my god!" Amy exclaimed freezing in her tracks. I approached the spot where Amy was standing and looked across the way. A large house sat alone in the field and it was on fire. The flames crackled fast and bright. It appeared the fire had just started.
"That's where they were staying!" Amy's voice was frantic and she went to head towards the house but Eric grabbed her arm.
"Look!" He said, pointing towards the house. A group of men with guns stood outside the house, aiming at the front doors as if waiting for people to come out. We watched in horror as a man came running out of the burning house only to be gunned down. His lifeless body fell forwards down the front steps.
Amy gasped and I grabbed her arm, pulling her back into the trees. Eric followed suit and we huddled down in the forest, watching the horror show before us.
A woman exited the house with her hands above her head as if in surrender. I held my breath waiting for the sound of gunfire to echo out.
It didn't. One of the men grabbed the woman by the arm and threw her on the ground in front of him. She stayed down in a kneeling position and didn't move.
"What do we do?" Eric's voice startled me. I could hear the fear in his voice.
"I don't know," I said. The men were still watching the front doors closely.
A twig snapped next to us and all three of us jumped. Quick as a flash, I pulled out my knife and Eric aimed his gun, twisting towards the forest behind us expecting to see a walker sneaking up. Instead, a skinny blonde haired teenager poked his head out from behind a tree. His eyes were wide with fear and he clutched the tree he stood behind like his life depended on it.
"You-you're not with th-them…." His voice was shaky and he spoke slow, and remained still. I shook my head in response and took a step towards the boy, doing my best not to appear as a threat.
"No. We're not," I said and slowly sheathed the knife. I carefully watched him, unsure if he was dangerous or not.
His eyes flickered over our faces and landed on Amy's. She seemed to do the same and before I could react, he came out from behind the tree.
"Amy…" He said her name hesitantly. She nodded and looked at me. "It's okay. I know him. His name is Danny. He was with the group that escaped."
The boy approached us, and I could smell the smoke before he was even close.
"The Saviors found you guys?" Amy asked, looking at him concerned.
"Yeah," He whispered watching the burning house. "I snuck out the back. My friends…" He trailed off and just stared at the flames that continued to rise. I looked over too to see that three more people had exited the house and were now kneeling on the ground along with the woman.
"I'm so sorry, Danny." Amy's voice brought me back to the situation in front of me and I turned to look at the young man. "These are my friends, Eric and Elle." He nodded as Amy introduced us.
"You should head home. They're gonna find you guys soon. Maybe you can get out of here before they hurt you too."
Amy walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder, rubbing it as if she was trying to comfort him.
"Come back with us. We'll keep you safe."
Danny looked at her as if he was unsure, and then back to the scene outside of the house. The Saviors were now loading up the four survivors into their trucks, still holding them at gunpoint.
"Okay," he said simply and looked at the ground. He looked defeated. I felt bad for the kid.
The fire was huge as its flames licked out into sky. I knew the bright heat would start attracting walkers soon. We didn't stick around to see them show up and instead started making our way back to Doveport.
We were fortunate not to run into any of the dead on our way back. Usually that would have meant we had a successful mission, but I couldn't help but feel sick to my stomach. Those Saviors had gunned down that man like he was nothing. If these people showed up on our doorstep, we would be in trouble.
I was relieved when we returned to find they hadn't found Doveport yet. A man named Seth guarded the front gate during the day and greeted us with a smile. He rose an eyebrow at Danny, but didn't say anything. Philip was outside helping a woman named Vivienne when we drove up and parked in what had previously been the faculty parking lot. I got out of the car and headed over to the large vegetable garden that provided food to members of our community. Vivienne was kneeling on the soil and had seeds laid out before her. She had created this impressive bounty in only a few months and had kept people from starving. She smiled at me as I approached the small mesh wire around her plants.
"Hello, Elle," she greeted me with a kind smile and continued to work from her spot on the ground. Vivienne was in her mid to late 40's and had long brown, greying hair that she always kept in a braid. She was a heavier woman, but she still looked so incredibly beautiful even in the apocalypse. She had always been kind to me and the community loved her.
"Hey Viv," I smiled back at her and then looked over to Philip who had been digging spots in the soil for the seeds to be placed.
"I need to talk to you, Philip," I said, trying my best to sound nonchalant. "Whenever you have some time," I added, hoping not to sound desperate or rude.
"I'll meet you in my office in five minutes. Just gonna finish helping out Vivienne here." He grinned at me and I nodded in response, turning from the garden. Something I loved about Doveport was the teamwork. We all worked hard to keep things running smoothly and it paid off. We had a lot of food because of Vivienne's hard work in the garden. We all had helped her at some point, but really it was her expertise that had guaranteed we wouldn't sleep with empty stomachs.
I headed inside and Eric was standing with Danny in the main entrance. I realized I hadn't really done what Philip had asked me to do, but I could still talk to Danny and maybe get some answers about The Saviors.
"Hey Danny, can I ask you some questions?" I headed over to where they were standing. I felt perhaps I was being too direct and not empathetic enough seeing as he had just watched one of his friends die.
"About what?"
"What can you tell me about The Saviors?" I felt bad for rushing him into this interrogation but part of me was hoping he could give us some information that could help keep us safe. I figured I could just bring him into the meeting with Philip too.
He sighed and looked at the ground. I looked over at Eric who pursed his lips to the side and slightly shrugged.
"I used to live at their place. The Sanctuary." He looked up at me with a stone serious look etched on his face. "Their leader is a man named Negan."
"Negan?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "What kind of name is Negan?"
"He's in charge of all of them. And there's a lot. Probably hundreds. I don't know."
Danny looked up at me with wide eyes as if he was remembering something.
"He's horrible," he whispered and I saw him clench his fists. "He beats people to death. He burns people's faces if they break rules. He's a monster."
Danny sniffled and I realized he was trying not to cry.
"He likes women, though," he said and I furrowed my brow at him.
"Women?" I asked, confused.
"Yeah. He doesn't like killing girls. He's done it but he mostly just kills men. He has a bunch of wives and they don't have to work like everyone else."
"Wives?!" Eric scoffed. I looked up to see him shaking his head in disbelief.
"Yeah," Danny confirmed. "And then there's Lucille."
I was just about to ask who Lucille was when Philip came through the doors in a rush. We turned to greet him and I felt my heart skip when I saw the look on his face. He was pale white.
"They're here."