control . negan

24; miss you

After Winona got ready for the day, dressing into her joggers and T-shirt, she sat down and took a moment to breathe. It was going to be a long day ahead of her.

A knock sounded. She prayed it wasn't Negan.

She almost considered not answering at the possibility that it might be, but after another couple of knocks and a feminine "hello?" she opened the door.

Sherry stood behind the threshold, nearly as rough looking as her. Winona ushered her in and shut the door.

"I just wanted to bring you some things. I know they'd be on your ass if you bought any of these." In Sherry's hands were a crowbar, a few bottles of insulin, a map, and a handgun. "The gun I've been hiding for a while now. I knew I wouldn't be able to handle this place much longer. It just tears you down."

The disheartening expression that flashed across her face made Winona frown. She hated seeing Sherry so defeated, and it seemed to come from thin air. As if Winona making her escape had pulled something from deep inside her: a complete detest for Negan she'd been keeping in for so long.

Winona took the supplies from Sherry's hands and threw them into the bag she would be carrying with her for the escape. She turned to Sherry with soft eyes.

"Are you okay?"

Sherry shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes. "I just can't do this anymore, Winona. I can't pretend that everything is okay when it's not. He's a monster."

Winona nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder. She understood the dread she felt not being with Dwight. She knew all too well the importance of being around the ones you love. Negan had ripped them both away from the people they wanted to be with the most, for his selfish reasons.

She hated to admit that it took Negan lying about knowing who killed the outpost to demolish the warmed-up feeling she had toward him. She wanted to deny even calling the feelings warm. But she had been beginning to like him, a feeling that made her sick with nerves. Those feelings were gone, over with, and never to be talked about again.

She'd always known about Stockholm syndrome but never understood quite how it worked. She still didn't. All she did know, what that it was as real as the dead walking.

"We'll be out of here by tomorrow." Winona embraced her friend in a bone-crushing hug. "No more Negan."

"No more Negan," Sherry repeated in a softer tone.

Sherry's emotions settled and the two girls sat on the bed. Winona was deep in her thoughts and plans, trying to figure out the smartest route in her head to go about not getting caught. She'd have to do a lot more planning on her way out than she did on her way in.

"I'm not gonna lie to you, I don't have a plan," Winona said.

"We'll figure it out. As long as we leave tonight. I can't stand waiting anymore, and I've already told Dwight what I'm doing."

"Oh don't worry," Winona emphasized, "we are getting the fuck out of this place."

Sherry fumbled around in the bag they were taking with them and pulled out the map. "Let's figure this out."

The two girls looked over the map for five minutes, flipping it and dragging their fingers along the best possible routes. It was difficult, as Negan had a lot of saviours which meant a lot of people to cover day and night shifts on the watch posts. He'd also occasionally have saviours walking the fences and even down the main roads near the Sanctuary.

Dwight informed Sherry of the in and outs of the saviours to avoid getting caught. They concluded that the best route for escape was to go in the dead of the night and escape through the fence near where she'd come in initially. It wasn't close to anything important. Negan had his guards crawling around the front entrance and the crops, to avoid people stealing free food in the night.