I woke with a bit of a groan.
It took me a while to finally manage falling asleep with out thinking of him.
But too soon came the sound of someone banging on my door.
"Ya got ten minutes, princess. Then I'm coming back for you" Simon called out.
I sat up, stretching my arms up before I swung my legs over the side of the cot.
I let out a sigh, standing up to stretch further.
I pulled my boots on and smoothed out my black tshirt, trying to make myself look slightly presentable.
My door swung open and Simon stepped in,
"Okay, princess. It's time to go" he dramatically motioned for me to follow.
I rolled my eyes and met him out in the hall.
He began the run down of the rules.
Emphasizing how we are to obey Negan.
He went on some long winded rant about how Negan saved them, built this place for them.
I caught myself actually understanding why they were loyal, but only for a moment.
"You work for points, you work hard and you reap the benefits"
Simon explained as we made our way down the hall and back outside.
He walked out towards the trucks.
But I stayed, looking into the fence.
It was a fence yard full of Walkers. That's what I heard yesterday.
Simon came back over to me, "Ah, don't mind them" he said casually before leading me to the cars.
"Negan wants you on a scavenging team. He feels that your skills will be better served for him instead of stealing from him"
Simons tone was light and playful as he bounced around.
He moved around to the passenger side of the car and opened the door.
He pulled a book bag off the seat and tossed it to me.
"This will be your issued pack. It has the bare essentials that you'll need for our trips."
Simon motioned for me to get in.
I walked around and climbed into the passengers seat just as Simon climbed into the drivers.
"You're gonna be starting off with me, until we knew you understand the rules"
Simon paused to start the car
"But eventually, if you work hard enough, you can go out on your own or will smaller teams"
He looked over to me with a small smile, as if he was excited for me.
We pulled out of the compound, two other cars and a truck following behind us.
I sat in silence, watching out the window as we drove.
I was a prisoner who didn't feel exactly like a prisoner.
Everything had happened to fast.
Yesterday when I woke up, I was laughing with Marcus and Elaina.
God I missed them.
Now I was here, becoming increasingly more aware of my situation.
"Why can't I just go home? I'll get the supplies I stole and bring them back" I offered up to Simon.
But he just laughed at me.
"That's not how things work, princess. You stole from us, from Negan. You are to made an example of, but your skills are too valuable. You're too valuable to just let go." Again, his tone was so casual.
He spoke like that was the way things had always been.
"I don't owe Negan a damn thing"
My tone was harsh, not because he was keeping me locked up, but because he used to be my bestfriend.
Simon just shook his head, "You'll learn that you do owe him"
I let out a groan and crossed my arms, looking out the window once again.
We sat in silence until the car stopped.
I looked around at where we were.
A parking lot of some old store that had been lost to the time.
I noted the broken windows and random things strewn across the parking lot.
"You're wasting time here" I mumbled.
If I was gonna be forced to do this, we were gonna do it right.
Simon looked over at me, "What was that?"
I sat up a bit, "We're wasting time here. You can tell the place has been looted already"
Simon looked around, now realizing that I was right.
"We usually just search any and everything.." he mumbled to himself.
He rolled down his window, calling out to his men that were already starting to get out.
"Hold up, we aren't stopping here." He called to them.
"Where do you suggest we go then, princess?" He questioned as he turned back to me.
"You got a map?" I asked casually, I was now the one in control.
Simon leaned over and pulled a map out of his bag, handing it to me.
I leaned forward, spreading it out on the dash.
"These are heavily populated areas around the highway, when this thing hit, most people fled to the highway"
I paused and ran my finger up it,
"When people got stuck there, they traveled into the populated areas. It made the most sense to them at the time."
I pulled the map in closer, pointing to where we were.
"This area is right off the main highway, this place was probably looted first thing. We need to travel east."
I offered the map to Simon to look over,
"Those rural areas are the best to hit. Mostly everyone evacuated in the beginning, but after no one thought to go back. You're going to have lots of farm houses that were probably well stocked for winters, you'll have family owned pharmacies with lots of medicine and that's a lot of hunting ground, so probably lots of weapons in those areas" I spoke casually, as if it was common knowledge.
"Well hell, Negan was right to put you on this team" he laughed.
Simon looked over the map once more before we headed out.
We drove for a few hours before getting into a more rural area.
The houses started to get further apart.
"We need to split up to cover more ground. This road ends just a mile out. I wager there are about five farm houses to hit" I looked to Simon.
So he pulled off to the side of the road, instructing his men on the plan.
I got out of the car, pulling my bag on.
"And where do you think you're going?" Simon questioned.
"I'm going to check this house out first. It's backed up to this little ridge, that's prime hunting land and the most promising of the bunch"
I started off up the gravel driveway.
"Okay, so let's drive up there" he pressed.
"No, like I said, this house is promising. If anyone is held up in there, they will see us in the car and we lose the element of surprise. We'll use the trees as cover and go in quietly." I was now giving him instructions.
Which he didn't like. But again, he knew I was right.
He grabbed his bag and started to follow me.
We veered off to the left into the trees.
As we walked, I thought about my friends and our scavenging trips together and I got lost in my thoughts.
"Elizabeth, you're a genius!" Elaina cooed as we began loading boxes full of medical supplies into the back of our truck.
"I don't know, I'd argue that maybe she was a thief before" Marcus teased.
I shook my head, smiling at them.
"You just have to be smart about it, think tactically" I returned.
"Well, I tactically think you're a genius" Elaina laughed as she placed the last box in the truck.
Marcus walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her cheek, "Thief" he repeated as he kissed her again.
That was Marcus, always having the last say.
"We should get back, it will be dark soon" I warned, feeling guilty for breaking up their little moment.
Those intimate moments were rare now a days.
Even if it made my heart ache at watching Marcus with Elaina, I still wanted her to be happy.
"I got shot gun!" Elaina laughed as she pulled away from Marcus, moving around to get in the truck.
Marcus shook his head and looked to me.
"Nope, I'm driving. I'm the only one who knows the way back" I smirked.
Marcus rolled his eyes and climbed into the bed of the truck.
I slid into the drivers seat and started the truck, taking us back to camp.
"What now?" Simon's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
We were close to the house now.
I looked around, looking for any signs of life.
"The gravel is even, means if anyone is here, they don't have a vehicle"
I noted and kept looking.
"None of the windows are boarded up, no crops growing, the front door looks cracked. I'd say either it's empty or the person living here is incredibly stupid. Either way, it's probably safe for us" I looked to Simon who just simply nodded.
I let out a sigh, "What, now you're letting me do all the work?" I asked.
He smirked, "I'm amazed by you, I'll admit. You keeping working this hard and you'll be Negans right hand lady"
Simon laughed before continuing, "but not under me of course"
I rolled my eyes again, "You take the back, I'll take the front. Since we know it's clear of the living, we make some noise outside to draw out any walkers. We don't wanna be surprised by them inside" I instructed before heading around the front of the house.
I knocked on the windows as I walked around.
Banging my boots against the steps of the porch to make extra noise.
I waited, but heard nothing. "We're all clear!" I called out to Simon.
I swung my bag around and pulled my knife from it, just in case.
I pushed the front door open and looked around one more time, just to be safe.
First I took a look downstairs, rummaging in closets for anything useful.
Simon was stepping so heavy footed, "I'm glad we're not trying to be sneaky. I can hear you all the way back at the road"
I called out to him.
He just laughed in return.
I made my way upstairs to check the bedrooms. We found a few small things that could be used, but nothing excited.
We met back up downstairs.
"Well, seems your skills aren't that great, princess" Simon smirked.
"We aren't done yet" I pointed out as I motioned to the back door.
I let him follow me out into the back yard.
Up near the house was a pair of wooden doors that led to down to a tornado shelter.
The doors were locked with a padlock, so it had obviously been untouched.
"Can you take care of that?" I asked, looking to Simon who seemed annoyed.
After a few minutes, he had the lock broken.
He pulled the doors open and we climbed down.
Simon pulled a flashlight from his bag and turned it on.
The small shelter was stocked with boxes of food and water.
"Impressive I suppose.." he started.
I rolled my eyes and pulled the flashlight out of his hand.
I stepped further into the little shelter and shined the light on the back wall that was stocked full of different guns and ammo.
I looked to Simon, "Impressive I know" I teased.
He nodded, "Yeah I'll get the car"
It took us about an hour to get things packed into the truck.
We had filled our car up fairly quickly, so we brought the truck out for the rest.
The other men had pretty nice hauls as well.
I walked over to the truck, "I'm riding here. You can get us back, right?" I asked.
Now Simon was the one to roll his eyes at me, "Yeah. I can"
I climbed into the back of the truck, settling down next to the huge stock of guns we found.
The sun was starting to go down when we got back.
We were pulling into the compound, the truck I was in was in the back of the line.
Negan was standing there, waiting for us. A man with messy blonde hair and a scarred face was standing beside him.
We pulled up in a line and Negan went to the first car, to talk to Simon.
The other man walked to the back of the line.
As he walked around, he looked up at me, giving me a sympathetic look.
He started to speak to me, but was distracted by the bed full of guns.
His eyes widened a bit and he stepped back.
"You're gonna wanna see this..." He called out to Negan.
Negan swung the bat over his shoulder and walked over.
"Well, hot diggity dog! This is the kind of thing that tickles my balls" He laughed, leaning back.
He looked up to me, tilting his head.
"You know, Simon said you did good. But I gotta be honest, I underestimated you, kid" he smirked.
I hated how he talked to me, but I kept my mouth shut.
I carefully climbed out of the truck, walking over to him.
"How many points does this earn me?" I mocked.
He grinned down at me and I felt all of my attitude melt away.
He had a genuine smile
And God he was handsome.
I took a step back.
"We'll talk about your points later, doll. For now, help the rest of them unload the trucks"
He turned away from me and went back to Simon.
I shook off the thoughts I had and went to help Simon and the team unload.
"You're Elizabeth?" The blonde guy from before asked, walking up to me after we had finished unloading everything.
I looked him over, "Yeah. I am"
"I'm Dwight, just wanted to introduce myself. That's all.." He trailed off, holding out his hand.
I looked at him confused for a moment, but took his hand and shook it.
He left a small note in my hand and walked away.
I watched curiously as he walked away.
I turned away and unfolded the note.
"I'm sorry you're here. I saw your friends, they are safe. Be careful" was scribbled on the note.
I quickly tucked the note deep into my pocket and turned around, but he was gone.
Elaina and Marcus were safe and that's all that mattered to me in the moment.
Even if it meant I was a prisoner here.
R & R is always appreciated! I hope that you are all enjoying this story! :)
