[TWD x Resident Evil] — Chapter 778 - A Gift

The convoy rolled into the Industrial District.

This was the Saviors' main base, the Sanctuary.

A survivor settlement sealed tight by barbed wire and abandoned shipping containers.

Once, this place had been Negan's absolute domain.

Here, he had ruled like a warlord, holding the power of life and death over more than a thousand people.

But now, that once-insufferably arrogant warlord was bobbing his head and leading the way out front, clearing out the most luxurious room in the Sanctuary and respectfully inviting Leon to settle in.

After getting Leon situated, Negan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and immediately turned toward another section of the second floor.

His harem.

Negan pushed open a door.

Three women sat inside.

Amber, blonde hair, a smoking-hot figure.

Frankie, hair like fire, skin so fair it was almost blinding.

Tania, dark hair draping her shoulders, carrying the unmistakable air of a mature woman.

All three had been hand-picked by Negan as his wives. Inside the Sanctuary, they didn't have to work. Didn't have to go hungry.

Every day they dressed themselves up, and attended to Negan whenever he was in the mood.

Seeing him walk in, the three women rose to their feet out of habit, moving to greet him.

Negan yanked the door shut behind him. His expression darkened to something frightening.

He didn't pull them close and flirt the way he usually did. He strode straight up to them, dropped his voice, and spoke with a gravity and fear none of them had ever heard from him before.

"Listen up, ladies."

Negan stared hard into their eyes.

"Right now — go take a bath. Immediately."

"Then put on the sexiest thing in your wardrobe, grab a good bottle of wine, and go to the room at the far end of the third-floor hallway."

Amber blinked.

"The far end of the third floor? Isn't that your room?"

"Not anymore!"

Negan's voice shot up, then he caught himself and forced it back down, like a man terrified of being overheard.

"There's a man in there. Someone so terrifying you can't even begin to imagine."

Negan swallowed hard and pointed at all three of them.

"Your job tonight is to go in there and take good care of him."

"Whatever he wants, whatever he asks for — you satisfy him. One hundred percent. No exceptions."

Frankie's brow furrowed. "Negan, what is that supposed to mean? You're handing us off to someone else?"

"Shut your mouth!"

Negan glared at Frankie, eyes full of warning.

"You think I want to do this?"

"I'm telling you — if that man wanted my life, it'd be easier for him than stepping on an ant."

"Today on the highway, I saw it with my own eyes. He took a nine-millimeter round with his bare body. The bullet was flattened into a goddamn disc."

Negan's voice was shaking.

"If you piss him off, it's not just you who dies. I die. Every single person in the Sanctuary gets wiped out clean."

"So put away that pathetic little sense of dignity you're carrying."

"Go make him comfortable. Make him happy."

"That is an order. And it's how we all stay alive. Do you understand?"

All three women went completely still.

They stared at the expression on Negan's face, genuine, undisguised fear, and felt something enormous shifting inside them.

They knew Negan too well.

This man was cruel. Arrogant. Utterly full of himself.

He had never shown this kind of face in front of anyone. Not once.

What kind of monster had moved into that third-floor room to reduce Negan to this?

Whoever it was, the backing had to be terrifying beyond words.

"I understand."

Tania was the first to pull herself together. She gave a nod.

"We'll take care of it."

Negan let out a long, slow breath.

"Go. Don't let me down."

Half an hour later.

The carpeted hallway of the third floor.

3 women came walking forward in high heels, moving with unhurried grace.

They had made themselves up carefully.

Amber wore a black silk slip dress, hem cut extremely short, barely covering her hips, her long legs wrapped in a thin layer of black stockings, radiating pure temptation.

Frankie had changed into a deep-V wine-red robe, her fair skin catching the lamplight in soft, shifting glimpses.

Tania wore a purple lace lingerie set beneath a sheer translucent wrap, her hands carrying a tray with a decanted bottle of red wine and several long-stemmed glasses.

"What do you think he looks like?"

Amber kept her voice low, nerves threaded through her tone.

"If he scared Negan that badly, could he be some creep with a face full of ugly?"

Frankie smoothed back her red hair and bit her lip. "Does it matter."

Tania drew a slow breath. "Like you could refuse even if you wanted to?"

"This is just the life we have."

The 3 arrived at the door at the end of the hallway.

They exchanged a glance. Tania reached out and knocked softly.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

Silence from inside for a few seconds.

Then footsteps.

CLICK!

The door opened from within.

Leon took one look at the 3 women in the doorway and raised an eyebrow.

Unexpected.

These 3, in figure and in looks both, were unquestionably exceptional. And they had clearly gone to great lengths to prepare, the wall of perfume hit him first, the invitation was completely undisguised, one of them hadn't even bothered with a bra. Any idiot could see what they were here for.

"Come in."

Leon stepped aside and cleared a path.

All 3 women felt their hearts ease at the same moment.

The instant they'd gotten a clear look at Leon's face, each of them had been struck by it.

Tall. Handsome. The kind of pull that was lethal to women.

This was so much better than attending to that old lecher Negan.

Tania walked in first, tray in hand.

Amber and Frankie followed close behind.

But the moment they stepped through the doorway, gazes moving past Leon's broad shoulders to the large, luxurious bed,

All 3 of them stopped dead at the exact same moment.

On the bed, leaning back, was a woman.

Alice wore a black silk nightgown, her short golden hair resting loosely against her fair collarbones. She had a worn old book in her hands, pulled from who-knows-where, and at the sound of their entrance she lifted her head slightly, sweeping them with a calm, unhurried look.

All 3 women felt their breath catch at once. Tania's hands jolted on the tray. The wine glasses nearly went over.

It was over.

There was already a woman in this room.

And not just any woman. One who looked absolutely impossible to provoke.

That bastard Negan hadn't said a single word about this.

Amber went pale with fright and instinctively stepped back half a step.

In a world without law, jealousy between women was the most dangerous thing there was. And when the woman in question was someone like this, clearly powerful, clearly dangerous, there were no rules protecting anyone.

If this blonde killed them in a fit of rage, Negan wouldn't dare make a sound about it. They would just die for nothing.

"Um... did we... wander into the wrong room?"

Frankie's voice came out stuttering, barely holding together.

All she wanted right now was to bolt for the door and get out of this nightmare.

Just as they were about to retreat,

Alice closed the book.

She tossed it casually onto the nightstand and looked at the 3 trembling women. A meaningful smile curved at the corner of her mouth.

"Wrong room? No. This is exactly where you were headed, isn't it? I get it."

Alice climbed off the bed. Those long, straight legs stepped down onto the soft carpet.

The 3 women watched her, rigid, not daring to breathe.

But Alice had no intention of losing her temper.

She walked to the coat rack, picked up her jacket, and draped it over her shoulders.

"Relax."

A cool, passing glance.

"It doesn't matter to me."

"He has plenty of women already. The 3 of you showing up together is nothing out of the ordinary."

All 3 women went blank.

Doesn't matter?

What did that mean?

Alice didn't bother with their shock. She walked straight to the door.

As she passed Leon, she stopped.

She reached out and gently straightened his collar. Then she tilted her head up, and a flicker of amusement passed through those bright blue eyes.

"You can get started."

A light laugh.

"Looks like it's your lucky day — 3 freebies just dropped into your lap. Enjoy."

With that, Alice turned without hesitation and, with a characteristically considerate touch, pulled the door shut behind her for them.

She went directly to the empty room next door to sleep.

The room held only Leon and the 3 carefully dressed women.

A brief, strange silence settled over everything.

The 3 looked at each other, unsure whether to set down the wine or keep holding it.

What had just happened had hit them like a physical blow.

That blonde hadn't gotten angry. She'd actually cleared the space for them herself.

Leon exhaled, crossed to the leather sofa at the center of the room, and sat down.

He took the bottle of red wine from Tania's tray and poured himself half a glass.

The deep red swirled slowly inside the glass.

Leon raised his eyes, his gaze moving over the 3 women.

That look, penetrating, unhurried, made them feel as though the thin fabric on their bodies simply didn't exist.

"Tell me."

Leon took a sip, voice flat.

"Whose idea was this?"

Tania drew a slow breath. She knew that lying in front of a man like this was the most foolish thing she could do.

"Negan."

Her voice was tight. "He told us to clean ourselves up, put on our best, and come here to attend to you."

Leon heard that and let out a short, quiet laugh.

That dog Negan. He certainly had the art of pleasing a master down to a science, rushing to send his own women over the moment Leon was settled, loyalty offering delivered without delay.

"He has a talent for it."

Leon set his glass on the coffee table.

"Put the wine down."

Tania stepped forward, set the tray down carefully, then stepped back and lined up alongside Amber and Frankie.

3 women standing there like merchandise awaiting inspection, watching Leon with a mixture of nerves and anticipation.

Leon's gaze settled on Amber's long legs wrapped in their thin black stockings, then drifted to the snow-white skin straining at the edges of Frankie's deep-V robe.

"Since he sent you here, no need to keep standing."

Leon gestured to the carpet in front of him.

"Come here."

Amber bit her red lip. She moved first, those long black-stocking-clad legs stepping forward as she compliantly knelt beside Leon's knee.

Frankie and Tania followed right behind, and gently nudged a wine glass toward his hand.

➤ Next: Only Today Will Know