A/N: I've only got 30 minutes to proof read and get this chapter posted today, so I'm just going to give a combined shout out to all of my awesome reviewers for the last 2 chapters! If you're reading it and loving it, please follow, favorite, and review (review every chapter if you want, I love to hear from my readers!). For everyone waiting for Daryl, he's coming, I promise. This chapter, as will the next few, really tie in with season 6. Crimson and Negan have a little more time together before everyone's favorite redneck makes his entrance. Sweetlilac, Manic-Mamma, Sexy Vampire Girl, Lalilou10, aishiteru naru, teapup, CLTex, Bamby0304, KEZZ 1, WickedlyMinx, Meeps, OfLoveAndLust, elljayde, Dixon-Vixen13, and Batmanfan22, you guys are amazing, thank you for supporting this story! If any of you are HP fans as well, I have 2 HP stories I'm working on as well. My creative writer's brain is working at 1000% right now.
Crimson laid down for a quick nap before she headed down to the cafeteria for dinner. She rubbed the cloud of sleep from her eyes before she sat up. It took a second for her to realize where she was, back in her own room. She'd probably spent more time in Negan's quarters than she had in her own room since she arrived at Sanctuary. Was it really only a few weeks ago that he'd found her? It felt like a lifetime ago now. So much had happened. The last year of her life, wandering around as a nomad, had been the same, day in and day out. Wake up, eat breakfast, drink a bottle of water, go to the bathroom, gather food, search empty houses and buildings when she came across them, boil water to refill her bottles, kill dead heads she came across, avoid herds, find a place to sleep, eat dinner, drink another water bottle, sleep, repeat. On a rare day, she'd come across a group of living people. She tried her best to avoid them though, it usually didn't end well for them.
Sanctuary always quieted down around dinner time. Electricity wasn't to be wasted, so work in the old factory stopped when the sun began to set. What she didn't expect to find on her way down to the cafeteria was all hell breaking loose. Simon, Bud, and Wade were standing outside the cafeteria. The men were keeping their distance from Negan as he was barking orders at them. Something was seriously wrong.
"What happened?" she rushed over. She may have been angry with Negan, but that wouldn't interfere with her work.
"Dwight, that stupid prick," Negan was on a rant, Lucille was swinging wildly at his side, "decided to take Sherry and Tina and run. And the son of a bitch busted into your clinic and took the entire fucking supply of insulin. Now I gotta send out search parties in the middle of the god damn night!" Negan was fuming mad. She'd never seen him so off of his game. "We got an 8 year old girl here who needs her fucking shot in the morning!"
"I'll help," Crimson offered.
"The fuck you will! It's dark, sun ain't rising for another 8 or 9 hours. If they haven't been found by then, Simon will take a few more men out." Crimson didn't argue with him. She was smarter than that. "Need you to check out Amelia in the morning if dipshit Dwight ain't back with the insulin by then."
"I'll take Tim and some of the other guys out on the bikes," Bud said. "We can make good time with them, don't have to stop and move cars out of the way. We'll try and circle around a head of them, push 'em back towards Sanctuary."
"I'll take my guys straight out into the woods," Wade spoke up. "They'll have left a trail, we take a couple trucks and we'll catch up to them soon. They've only been gone a few hours at most. If Bud cuts 'em off, we'll have 'em in a day or two."
"I don't want to see any of your fucking faces back here until you have them!" Negan gave his final command and stormed back towards the elevator.
"Make sure you all bring plenty of water and food," Crimson looked at all of them. "You might be out there for a couple of days. You won't be any good if you get dehydrated and hungry."
"Yes ma'am," Bud smiled at her. "I bet we'll all be back by tomorrow afternoon. Don't you worry your pretty little head Doc. You're gonna be busy with Dwight when the Boss is done with him. If you're really that worried, grab a radio, channel 27, we'll all be on it."
Crimson gave Bud a tight hug. "It's dark out and you're going to be riding around in a group of obnoxiously loud motorcycles, which provide no protection from a hoard of dead heads. Of course I'm going to worry." She released him, and pointed towards the front of the building. "Even I didn't roam around after dark out there. Go on, but be careful!"
"See ya soon," he said. She'd never been more worried watching someone walk away from her.
When she looked back at the cafeteria, she had lost her desire to eat. Sending men out in the middle of the night… it was reckless. Dwight was probably hoping no one would notice their absence until morning, or if they did, Negan would wait until daybreak to send the search parties out. No, he wouldn't wait, he wouldn't risk letting the three of them gain enough distance that they might actually escape.
Two men were making their way towards Sanctuary's main doors and she saw a radio hanging from each of their belts.
"Hey!" she called to them. They both stopped and turned to face her. "I need one of your radios."
"Sorry ma'am, but we ain't supposed to give them up," one answered.
"You're fence security patrol, right?" They nodded. "And you stay together, right?" Again, they nodded. "Well then, you only need one radio." She plucked the radio off of the belt of the dirty blonde. She thought he looked too confused to stop her, and she was right. She immediately switched it to channel 27 and felt better. She wasn't out there with them, but at least she could listen in and know what was going on.
With no desire to eat, she headed towards her clinic to see the damage that had been done. The insulin was kept in the locked medical refrigerator, the one that, to her knowledge, only she and Negan had a key too. All of the lieutenants had keys to the clinic itself, but not to the medical cabinet. There would be a mess to clean up, and she needed to secure the rest of the medications before the refrigerated narcotics disappeared. Or went bad because no one closed the fridge...
The halls to the clinic were empty. It was getting late and word spread fast of an angry Negan. First Amber and Mark, now Sherry ran off with Dwight and Tina. Crimson wasn't really sure who Tina was, other than what she'd overheard about her being Sherry's sister earlier. She wasn't anyone important. But losing a wife, even if he was already planning to get rid of her, and a lieutenant, it didn't look good for Negan. He was a micro-managing totalitarian. No did anything without his say so. When he caught them, and she knew he would, the punishment would be swift and it would be harsh. Dwight just watched Mark get half of his face burned off, what did he think Negan would do to him for stealing medication and running off with a wife and her sister?
The clinic door was locked, luckily someone had secured it. She pulled out her keys and let herself in. Luckily for her, Nancy had already escorted Mark back to his rooms before Dwight broke in. The room wasn't too bad, the only things amiss were a couple of open drawers with some basic first aid supplies missing and the fridge. It was closed, mostly. The middle, where the lock was, had been bent and the lock snapped. It looked like the work of a crowbar. There was a large gap where the fridge couldn't seal shut. She carefully ran a finger over the seal, which wasn't damaged directly.
There was a small tool box with all of the basics in one of the lower cabinets. She grabbed a hammer and used it to smash the bend in the door until it was mostly flat. It was warped and slightly wavy, but the door sealed enough that the non-narcotics would stay cold until they could go out and get a replacement. She put the hammer back and hunted down a small box. All of the narcotics, and anything else a lieutenant might be tempted to steal for recreational use would have to stay locked in the fridge her in room until then.
The radio cracked, Simon's voice coming through. She froze, listening. "Picked up a trail, headed right where we thought they would. Everyone stick to the plan."
"You got it," Bud's voice shouted over the wind. She let out the breath she didn't even know she'd been holding. They'd been gone… she glanced at the clock… almost 2 hours. Hopefully they'd catch up to them in the morning and have everyone home before nightfall tomorrow.
She took the box back to her room and carefully arranged the medications in her fridge. It would be a pain in the ass to walk back and forth for the medications, especially when Nancy was running the clinic, but she'd have a new one in the clinic soon. If Dwight survived, she was going to make him carry the damned thing into Sanctuary by himself.
The rest of the night crawled by, it felt like an eternity had passed but every time she looked at the clock, it was merely minutes. 15 minutes, 28 minutes, 19 minutes. She just wanted the sun to rise. It was 10 times more dangerous for the men to be out searching in the dark.
She tried to read a book, but when she was still on the same page after 20 minutes, she gave up. She turned on her TV and popped in the first DVD she found. It was Serenity. As much as she loved the movie, she just couldn't pay attention to it. She shut it off, no need to waste the electricity. At 1am, after setting the radio on the nightstand next to her head, she turned off the lights and attempted to sleep. She turned over to her side, but couldn't get comfortable. No, on her back wasn't any better. Neither was on her stomach, the pillow was suffocating her. She cracked open an eye and looked at the clock, 1:12am. It was going to be a long night.
And it was. At some point, Crimson managed to sleep, but it was a uneasy, broken sleep full of tossing and turning. The sunlight filtering through her window woke her up at 7. She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Her arms felt heavy with sleep, or lack thereof. Her entire body felt like she hadn't slept at all. At least it passed some time.
She grabbed clean cloths, her usual jeans and a t-shirt, and headed for the bathroom to shower. She fully intended to set out today and help with the search. It didn't take her long to wash up and shave. She dropped off her dirty clothes in her room, grabbed her gun and knife, and clipped the radio onto her belt before stopping into the cafeteria for a quick breakfast. The cafeteria was unusually empty, but it wasn't surprising considering Negan sent out at least 25 guys last night. There were a few people in line, she smiled politely as she skipped them to the front. They all returned her smile.
"Morin' Doc," cook said brightly. He was definitely a morning person. "What can I get ya?"
"Whatever you can make fast that will fill me up," she answered. "I missed dinner last night."
"Got just the thing for ya! Take a seat and I'll bring it out."
Her usual table was empty, but she sat down at it anyway. She was drumming her fingers on the table when Negan's voice cracked over the radio. She snatched it off her belt and held it up to her ear.
"It's morning roll call assholes," he said, "Where the fuck are all of you?"
"We're about 40 miles out," Bud's voice lifted a heaviness she hadn't even known had settled into her chest. "Parked the bikes this morning and are heading into the woods, pushing back towards Wade and his crew. No sign that they made it to the roads, none of the cars are missing."
"We still got a fresh trail," Wade said next. "Looks like they kept moving all night, but we're gaining on them. They're headed straight for the other guys."
"Keep me fucking posted," Negan demanded.
"Yeah Boss," Bud answered first, follow by Wade's, "Yes, Negan."
She smelled the eggs before the cook set her plate on the table. Steam was still coming off of the mushroom and cheese omelet next to two slices of freshly buttered toast. The orange juice was ice cold.
"That'll fill ya up!" the cook said before he ran back to his station. She was only three bites in when someone plopped themselves down beside her.
"That smells damn amazing!" Jason exclaimed. Jason waived at the cook then pointed to her plate. Cook gave him a thumbs up and disappeared into the kitchen. "None of the cooks make me omelets."
"Everyone loves me, so I'm spoiled," she grinned at him. "I'm surprised you're here, figured you'd be out with Wade."
"Nah, I'm heading out with Simon and some of the guys this afternoon. We're gonna push into the woods from the side, hopefully run into the Dwight and the girls. Negan is pissed, it'll be better for everyone if we find them today."
"Has anyone ever run off on him before?" she casually inquired.
"No, not since I've been here. I heard when he first got this place up and running, a family ran off and they found them 2 days later, turned into walkers but didn't have enough flesh left to move, so they were just stuck to the ground. Probably ran into a herd."
"So Negan doesn't let people leave?"
"I guess they could leave if they want to, but they can't take more than they've earned. And why would they want to?"
"Life for the workers isn't easy," she stated. She was surprised Jason, who she considered one of the more intelligent and observant soldiers, couldn't see why someone would want to get the hell out of sanctuary. "Unless you're a solider, doctor, wife, or worked your way up to a leadership position as a worker, things are rough for them. I ran the numbers on how much work they have to do just to earn enough points for a bed and 2 meals, they works all day and just barely make enough for that, so they work 7 days a week and have nothing to show for it."
"They got plenty to show for it, they're alive, aren't they? Most of these people wouldn't survive on their own. They aren't like you and me, Crimson. The fences and soldiers keep them alive and breathing."
He was interrupted by his own streaming omelet being dropped onto the table by a line cook. His had sausage instead of mushrooms. She wrinkled her nose at the smell of it. He was too busy forking a huge bite into his handsome mouth to notice. She finished up her last piece of toast, washed it down with her orange juice and climbed off of the bench.
"I'm going over the clinic to get some stuff. I want to head out with you and Simon today." He nodded, his mouth too full for a verbal response. She rolled her eyes and laughed at him.
The hallways to the clinic were busy, as usual during the day. She wasn't even halfway there when her arm was tired of waving. Her face was going to hurt from smiling by the time she got there. Everyone she passed said a friendly "hello" and waived. Every single person. She'd never been so popular in her life before.
When she got to the clinic, there was a woman a few years older than herself with a little blond girl waiting outside the locked door.
"Can I help you?" Crimson asked.
"Hi Doctor!" the woman greeted her. "My daughter Amelia is here for her insulin shot."
Of course, Crimson groaned internally. She remembered Negan saying something about a little girl who also needed insulin. The insulin that Dwight had so kindly taken all of. She didn't want to alarm the poor mother, so she welcomed them both and ushered them in after she unlocked the door.
"Alright Amelia, my name is Crimson. I need you to hop up on the exam table so I can take a look at you."
The girl gave her a big, toothy smile and jumped up on the table, swinging her legs as they dangled over the edge. She found her medical chart, they were in alphabetical order based on first names, last names didn't matter much in the apocalypse. She was supposed to be on 4 units of long acting insulin twice a week. Crimson took her vitals, all came back within normal range. She was digging through the medicine bottles, hoping to find an oral alternative, when the clinic door slammed open. She only knew one person that made an entrance like that.
"Negan!" the girl cried, obviously excited to see him.
When Crimson turned around, he was halfway across the room, ruffling the child's hair on his way over to Crimson. He thrust a small bottle towards her.
"This should be what she needs." As soon as Crimson took the cold vial from his hand, he was gone, the door slamming shut behind him. She pinched it between her fingers to read the label. A genic brand long acting insulin. She would ask him where the hell he got it from later. She wasn't about to go chasing him down the hall, accusing him of hiding medications from the only qualified doctor around.
Crimson drew up the 4 units with a fresh syringe, cleaned off her arm, gave her the injection, and sent the ladies on their way. She locked the door behind them so she could pull off her shirt. She'd removed the bandage on her shoulder before she showered. The stitches weren't quite ready to come out yet, they probably needed at least another week, but they limited her mobility and that wouldn't do when she was outside the fences. Keeping them in and ripping them would do more damage than removing them early.
There was only a little blood after she clipped and pulled the remaining stitches out. She slapped on a few butterfly bandages to keep the skin together and covered the whole wound with a thick bandage before she slipped her shirt back over her head.
She cleaned up the mess and noted Amelia's vitals and medication before she left. She debated returning to her own rooms, or going to Negan to find out what was going on. She'd punched the button for the 10th floor, sealing her decision. A very smug looking Valerie was leaving Negan's office when she arrived.
Crimson pushed open the door to find an exhausted looking Negan pouring over an open map on his desk.
"What the fuck do…" he yelled as he looked up at her. "Oh, it's you," his voice lowered. "What the fuck do you want?"
"Where'd it come from?" she demanded, her arms crossed across her chest, signaling her displeasure with him.
"What in the fuck is wrong with all of you women today? Pussy isn't supposed to be such a pain in my ass. Where the fuck did what come from?"
"The insulin, you know, the stuff that Dwight took all of so we shouldn't have had any."
"One of the communities we pick up from has a doctor, we let them keep some of their meds. I sent Simon over to get it in case we didn't catch the dipshits in time. Looks like I made the right fucking call too. That bottle should last her a while, right?"
"Yes, a couple of months at least. Plenty of time to scavenge more for Amelia if the ones they took get lost or broken. Why does she get the insulin? Her parents aren't anyone important and an 8 year old girl can hardly work hard enough to earn the points needed for it. I didn't even see a point tally for the insulin she's used in her chart."
"She's a god damn kid," Negan slammed his fist into the desk. "What do you think I am, a fucking monster? I ain't charging her points for something she'd die without. When she's old enough, she'll have to earn it, till then, just give her what she needs."
"You don't need to speak to me like that," Crimson stormed over to his desk and slammed her open palms into his desk, leaning towards him. If he wasn't so tall, she'd have been towered over him. Instead, she came eye to eye with him. "I just asked you a question. I get that you have a lot of bad shit happening all at once, but don't take that out on me. Get yourself together before people start to see you coming unraveled. You told me to look strong in front of them, maybe you should take your own advice."
Negan sighed, resting his hand into his hands. "Just get out of here."
"Fine, I will. I'm going out with Simon's crew," she informed him.
"You know what, I don't have the damned energy to fight you. Don't get yourself killed." Crimson had already slammed his office door before the last word was out of his mouth.
Crimson sat in the front passenger seat of the second truck, bobbing her head to the music. Jason was driving, there were two other guys in the back. Ryan was a big guy, the kind that spent all of his time bulking up at the gym, like muscle mass would make up for his missing IQ points. At least he was quiet. Craig, on the other hand, was a talker. So much so, that no one else got in a word. He was a little pudgy, which was surprising since his mouth never shut. How he hadn't talked all of his weight off, she didn't know. But she understood why he didn't ride in Simon's truck. Simon would have put a bullet in his skull 10 minutes ago. Crimson just turned up the music loud enough that the only person that could hear him was himself. Much better.
It was late afternoon when Simon signaled the stop. They were halfway between Bud's men pushing in from the South and Wade's pushing in from the North. They would be pushing East. Negan had ordered them to return to Sanctuary before dark, so they had two hours to move in on foot, two hours to get back to the trucks, and an hour drive back.
She'd grabbed a machete and a backpack for a couple bottles of water, a day's worth of food, and a first aid kit before they left. Negan still wouldn't return her precious bow. Maybe he thought she'd come back as long as he kept it locked up? She left her normal pack in favor of a single strap one that wouldn't touch her bad shoulder. She slung it over her good shoulder as she exited the truck. Everyone gathered around Simon for instructions. It was simple, fan out, keep ten feet from each other, watch where you were going, and kill any dead guys you come across.
It was nice to stretch her legs again, and tune her brain back into working survival mode. She listened for every snapping branch, every rustle of leaves, for the telltale gurgling moan of a dead head. A pair of finches zoomed away above her head, always a good sign that no herd was in the area. She really hated being cooped up inside the Sanctuary fences. She needed this, being out where should could put her survival skills to use. She spent three years honing them to perfection, too much time to let them waste away inside the perceived safety of the fences.
Two hours and 9 now really dead dead heads later, they'd found nothing. No signs of Dwight, Sherry, or Tina anywhere. The only fun to be had was the contest she and Jason, who was to her right, had started. She was up by 1, 9 dead heads fell to her machete versus 8 to his buck knife. Simon signaled everyone back to the trucks. With the path clear, they made it back to the trucks in an hour and a half.
Crimson cranked up the music before Craig could get a signal word in. She was not pleased that the other groups, Bud included, would be out another night. Both groups were checking in every two hours. The trucks were rumbling down the road when she picked up her radio, turned down the music, and punched the talk button.
"Hey Simon," she called out over the radio.
"Yes Ma'am," she heard him answer.
"I want to head out earlier tomorrow. I'd like to get those three asshole caught so all of our boys can come home. Can we be on the road by 9?"
"Aw, Doc, you worried about us?" Bud's laughter carried through the crackling speaker.
"Of course I am," she state. "The longer you boys are out there, the more scratches and poison Ivy I have to patch up. So it's really my own self-serving interests I'm looking out for."
"Whatever you say Doc," Simon finally responded.
Tomorrow night. By tomorrow night, Bud, Wade, and the rest of the men would be back home, safely. 24 more hours is all they needed to last.