Sanctuary - Conclusion

A/N: For those who are confused, this story is intended to introduce readers to the Sanctuary. It's meant to lay groundwork to explain exactly what the Sanctuaries are when they're mentioned in smaller, standalone fics like Their Home, and Hunger. This is the end of this particular story, but I will continue writing in the world of the three sanctuaries following Rick and Michonne, Beth and Daryl (Richonne/Bethyl) as they live and operate inside the walls of these safe zones that the group has settled into. This is my spin on a safe community like Alexandria. 

*****

The next morning Rick, Daryl, and Glenn set out with Will and Nate. The Walkers that had gathered during the night had dispersed for the most part, leaving only two for them to deal with when they left the old department store they’d taken up residence in. Daryl and Glenn handled them quietly, with knives, and then they climbed into the modified cart Will and Nate had brought with them as transportation.

The cart had seating for six passengers, and bars with wire mesh had been welded to the sides to make it an enclosed vehicle. When they took off Rick was pleased with how quietly the cart ran.

“Battery powered,” Rick mentioned.

Nate smiled back at him from the driver’s seat. “Yep. Nice and quiet, but safe from walkers at the same time.”

They took pretty much a straight shot down the street until they reached a pile up of old cars. Nate took a right turn down an alley which also appeared blocked by a traffic snarl. He stopped the cart at the entrance to a garage and banged on the door three times, hitting it hard, before climbing back into the cart.

The garage door clattered noisily as it was raised by someone inside. They smiled and waved at them. “Come on in, Nate! Hey, Will.”

“Hey there, Jesse.”

“Got new recruits, I see.”

“Possible new recruits. They want to check us out first,” said Will.

Jesse nodded at Rick and the others. “Jesse Boyd. Nice to meet you.”

“Rick Grimes.”

“Hope to see you at the bonfire tonight, Jesse,” said Nate.

“Will do. Terrie has made a pineapple upside down cake just for you guys. She wants to thank you for watching the kids while she birthed little Evan.”

“It was our pleasure,” Nate answered.

They nodded and drove through a warehouse that was well stocked with canned goods and other materials. The door clattered shut behind them.

“The pleasure will be that cake,” Nate said. He was the opposite to his husband in stature. He was as thin as Will was round, but his mouth watered at the idea of the cake. “God, that woman can cook.”

“Don’t get me started on her prime ribs.”

“You eat prime rib?”

“Chicken and fish are the main meat in all the sanctuaries,” Will explained. “But a few times a year, if you’ve rationed right, you can save up for red meat. This past Christmas Terrie invited us over. She’d made a dinner we damn near ate ourselves sick on. Eatin’ is good here.”

Will rubbed his round belly for good measure and shared a laugh with Nate.

“Housing doesn’t come as quickly. We’re going to let you tour the Intake Center when we get into town,” Nate said. “It’s nice and safe, and it gives both parties a chance to see if we can play well with each other. Tell me, Rick, what did you do before the Turn?”

“Sheriff of a town outside Atlanta.”

“No kidding!” Will said excitedly. “We have scientists and engineers but we don’t have anyone with a history in law enforcement. We’ve been training from manuals found in the local library. We wanted Sanctuary 3 to train a police force and security for when we do expansion. How about you, Daryl? What did you do?”

“I was a jack of all trades. I’m good with cars and motorcycles.”

“Mechanics are always needed,” Nate said, approvingly. “How about you, Glenn?”

“I delivered pizzas,” he said, looking mildly embarrassed.

“Would you consider taking a job with our fledgling postal service? God knows we could use help there, too.”

It looked like there could be a job for all of them, if the place turned out to be legit. Daryl exchanged glances with both Rick and Glenn, but then froze when they turned down a street and came to a high wall. It was over twenty feet high, and was made of railroad ties cemented with concrete. It spanned the width of the alley so completely that the concrete edges had been poured right up against the brick walls of the buildings there. Two armed men stood atop it, patrolling a platform that was on either side of the two narrow, high doors in the center.

“Nate and Will returning!”

“Morning! We’re opening the door now.”

It took a few moments. Rick heard the sound of a pulley system and then one of the doors swung open. It had to be three feet thick and weighed half a ton, at least. The wall would keep not only walkers out, but living invaders as well.

Nate drove through and into what looked like the gateway to another world. With the armed wall behind them they were now on a street that looked a lot like life before the Turn. The men and women who walked the streets went about errands and business, unarmed and without fear of attack from the things outside. There weren’t many of the electric carts in use, but there were horses or mules pulling small wagons, or saddled for riding. Those without an animal or cart simply made their way on foot.

An older woman in a wheel chair waved at Nate and Will as they passed by.

“That’s Nadine Lucas,” Nate said, waving. “She’s nice enough but watch what you say around her. She’s a notorious gossip.”

“So is her best friend, Lois Welch.”

“Oh, God. Lois is even worse. Nadine repeats what she hears verbatim. Lois likes to embellish,” Nate said, with a shake of his head.

If only we’d found a place like this before we lost Lori and Hershel, Rick thought.

Well, there was nothing to be done about that now. If this place turned out to be legitimate, and judging by the amount of food and supplies they had he believed it was, then they’d found it just in time for the people they still had, chief among them being Carl and Judy.

They took a few more streets and then Nate pulled up in front of a two storey brick building. A sign above the door read Swanson Intake Center. Sanctuary One.

“Here we are. The center is empty as of now so there’s plenty of room. This where Nate and I work. We bring in new people, evaluate them, and if we feel they’re a fit for the community, we place them in jobs in the sanctuaries. Sanctuary One is nearly at capacity, and help is badly needed in sanctuaries two and three. Come in. I’ll show you around.”

*****

“What’s the verdict?”

Michonne wasn’t the only one looking to Rick for the answer to that question. He nodded, unable to keep the smile from his face.

“We toured the place. We think it’s legitimate,” he said. “We could have a shot at a real life there. They have safety, food, housing, jobs…It’s the seed of new civilization and if we live there, I think we could have a real chance to help grow the place. I want to go.”

Daryl and Glenn were nodding in agreement. Beth came to stand beside Daryl. He wrapped  his arm around her. “You with me?”

Beth smiled up at him. “I’m always with you.”

Maggie looked at Glenn. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Glenn said, nodding.

“Then I say we pack up and get going,” said Abraham.

“Actually, we won’t need any of this stuff,” said Rick. “They have an intake center where they give new arrivals clothes, toiletries, that sort of thing, until we get a chance to decide if we want to stay.”

Abraham immediately tensed. “They don’t want us to bring our weapons?”

“Would you?” asked Rick. “If this was our place, would you let armed strangers in? I know what you’re thinking. You don’t want to relinquish your weapons, but we don’t have a choice. We’ve got to give this place a shot. We got out of Terminus. We can get out of here if it goes bad, which I don’t think it will. I really don’t.”

Michonne cradled Judith and looked down at Carl. She saw the fear and the longing in the eyes of every man and woman in the group. For some reason those eyes had now turned to her. She felt the trusted weight of her Katana resting on her back. She didn’t want to yield the security she felt having it strapped to her back any more than their group wanted to have to give up their weapons, but what choice did they have? As Rick had said, they had to give the place a shot. The world had been depleted of every resource and they would eventually either starve to death, be eaten by walkers, or die at the hands of some other desperate group struggling to survive.

“I’m with you,” Michonne said, looking into Rick’s eyes. He smiled and she saw him visibly sag with relief. He looked as weary as she felt.

“We brought enough transport for all of us. We’re not far from Sanctuary One. Come on,” said Rick.

Michonne took her place beside Rick, and together they led the others out of the old store they’d taken shelter in, leaving behind every worldly possession they had, meager as it was. They would surrender their weapons at the gate, except for the few pistols they managed to smuggle in, just in case, until they for certain Sanctuary One was all it claimed to be.

On the way out, Rick put his arm around Michonne. He couldn’t wait to see her face when she saw the intake center, saw the room she’d have, saw the high walls that would keep out an army of both walkers and men. He couldn’t wait until he knew she was sleeping in a bed, safe from the monsters that fed on living flesh. She would eventually sleep deep, peacefully, warm and safe and content. Someday he would have a house of his own to call home, and he wanted to share that home with her, just as Daryl would share a home with Beth, Glenn would share a home with Maggie, and so on. They would be neighbors, not survivors in a small group risking life and limb just to scrounge up enough food to stay alive.

They reached the tall gate, and Michonne’s eyes stared up at it with the same kind of wariness and hope that he saw in the faces of the others.

“It’s going to be okay,” Rick said. “We’ve finally found something good. We’ll share it together.”

She squeezed his hand smiled as they drove through the gate, ready to start a new life.