[TWD x Resident Evil] — Chapter 780 - Sherry

Amber fished a small square plastic wrapper out of the pocket of her clothes, which lay scattered on the carpet.

Leon raised an eyebrow and watched her tear it open.

This woman came remarkably well-prepared.

Amber noticed his gaze. A faint blush rose to her cheeks, but her hands didn't slow for a single moment.

For her, this wasn't a psychological burden. Not even close to a betrayal.

She had the typical American open-minded attitude about these things.

Physical pleasure and emotional love were two completely separate categories.

The one she still loved was Mark, the man who had fought to protect her with his life in this apocalypse, only to have his face destroyed by Negan's iron brand.

Everything she was doing now was to keep Mark alive. To keep that psychopath Negan from tormenting him any further.

If she couldn't fight back against this godforsaken world, then the best move was to find the thickest leg around and hold on for dear life.

Leon, the man who had made even that tyrant Negan kneel on the ground and grovel like a dog, was without question the thickest leg she'd come across in this apocalypse.

No matter how she ran the numbers, she was the one coming out ahead. She also knew full well what she was. The fact that Leon even looked her way and was willing to spend time with her was already more than enough honor.

Better to serve a real powerhouse than to be ruined by a disgusting old man like Negan.

Amber pressed herself closer.

But even in a moment like this, she hadn't forgotten the sisters trapped in the same hell.

Her thoughts went to Sherry.

That blonde, blue-eyed woman with the iron-stubborn streak, who had willingly let Negan confine her at the Sanctuary for the sake of her husband Dwight.

Amber's breathing had gone a little uneven. She turned her head toward Tania, who stood nearby helping.

"Tania." She dropped her voice low.

"Go get Sherry."

Tania froze. Her hands stopped moving.

Amber bit her lip.

"Negan ate a lot of dirt out on that highway today. He's going to take it out on someone."

"Sherry's got that temper. If Negan goes looking for her tonight, she won't survive it."

"Only Mr. Leon can save her. Can save all of us."

Tania understood immediately, Negan didn't dare touch Leon, so that black rage had to go somewhere else. And Sherry was always mouthing off to Negan under normal circumstances. Tonight she'd be the first name on his list.

Leon leaned back on the sofa and watched these two women scheme openly in front of him. He didn't stop them. He just found it a little amusing.

Good heart on this one. Even now, she was still thinking about the sisters who shared her misfortune.

Smart, too. She knew he was the only one who could actually do anything about it.

Fine. He'd let her handle it. It was nothing to him, easy enough.

Tania grabbed a thin shawl from the carpet, draped it over herself, eased the door open, and slipped out without a sound.

---

At the same time.

Second floor of the Sanctuary.

Negan sat on a wooden crate with a bottle of whiskey and took a long, brutal pull.

The liquor scorched down his throat and blazed into his stomach. It didn't touch the fire in his chest.

Suffocating.

God damn, he was suffocating.

When the hell had Negan ever been made to swallow crap like this?

Before all this, he was the one stomping everyone underfoot for dozens of miles around. He was the one forcing other men's wives to strip naked and dance in front of him. Anyone who dared say no, Lucille caved their skull in.

And today, today he had handpicked 3 of the finest women he had. Washed up, smelling sweet. And he had personally delivered them to someone else's bed.

Just thinking about those 3 women moaning beneath Leon right now made Negan feel the green creeping over his head, the blood vessels at his temples throbbing like they were about to burst.

He'd long since forgotten these women had only ever been taken from others in the first place. All he felt was an unbearable, suffocating sense of being wronged.

SMASH!

Negan hurled the bottle against the wall.

He didn't dare direct his anger at Leon. Didn't even dare say the man's name out loud. That monster who could eat a nine-millimeter round without flinching, who could drop from hundreds of meters in the air on a steel plate, there was no human force that could deal with something like that.

But he needed to vent. Now.

If he didn't find somewhere to put this fire, he was going to lose his mind.

A face surfaced in Negan's thoughts. Stubborn, defiant.

Sherry.

That blonde, blue-eyed woman who looked at him every single time like she wanted to eat him raw.

Negan had had his eye on Sherry for a long time. But Sherry had a temper like a lit fuse. Every time he made a move on her, she'd produce a knife she'd hidden God knows where and jam it hard against her own throat.

Negan had always enjoyed the slow process of taming his prey. He liked watching them submit in despair. So he'd never forced the issue.

But today he had no patience left for any of that.

To hell with dying before yielding. Today he was just going to take her.

He wanted to hear Sherry scream. He wanted the rush of it — that sadistic charge — to claw back whatever was left of his pathetic self-respect.

Negan snatched Lucille from against the wall and stormed out.

He moved down the corridor with furious momentum, all the way to the far end of the second floor.

He reached Sherry's door and didn't even knock. He just raised his foot and slammed it into the door with everything he had.

BANG!

The wooden door shuddered violently. The latch snapped clean off. The door swung open.

"Sherry! Tonight you're ending up in that bed even if it kills you!"

Negan stormed in, bat in hand, a savage grin splitting his face.

The room was deathly quiet.

Curtains drawn tight. Dim light. The narrow single bed, empty.

The grin froze on his face.

He crossed to the bed in 3 strides and ripped the covers off.

Nothing.

He pressed a rough hand flat against the sheet.

Still warm.

Sherry had only just left. 5 minutes, maybe less.

"She ran?"

His eyes went to slits.

In this heavily guarded Sanctuary, where exactly was a woman going to run? His people were everywhere. There was no way out.

Someone had helped her.

The fury inside him boiled over in an instant.

He'd just had his face ground into the pavement on that highway today, playing the obedient lapdog all day long. And now he couldn't even have his way with one woman.

Was he, the leader of the Saviors, just a goddamn figurehead?

And whoever helped Sherry out of that room, was it Dwight?

Bold of him. He was going to have to die for this.

"Anyone out there? Get some people over here!"

Several Saviors who'd been patrolling the corridor heard the noise and came sprinting over in a panic, rifles up.

"Boss, what's wrong?"

Negan grabbed one of them by the collar.

"Where's Sherry! Who's seen her!"

The man shook like a leaf.

"B-Boss, I haven't seen her. We've been in the corridor the whole time. Nobody came out..."

"Bullshit!"

Negan shoved him to the floor and drove a kick into him.

"A living person just vanishes into thin air?"

"Search! Tear this entire Sanctuary apart and find that bitch!"

Negan gripped Lucille with both hands. The veins on the backs of his hands stood out like cords.

"Find her. I'm going to make her pay tonight."

"And pull up the security footage. I want to know exactly who had the nerve. I made it clear — Sherry doesn't leave that room. Not one step."

---

Around the corner of the third-floor corridor.

Tania had hold of Sherry, who was trembling all over. They were both pressed flat against the wall, listening to the roaring rising from the floor below.

Sherry wore a thin white blouse. Her face was drained of color.

"Tania, where are you taking me?" Her voice was low, but the terror was all over it. "Negan's lost it. If he can't find me, he'll kill Dwight. I know he will."

"I have to go back down."

Tania's grip on Sherry's wrist didn't loosen.

"Sherry. Listen to me."

"Negan ran into a real hard man today. Spent the whole time licking his boots. Then handed the 3 of us over to that man."

Sherry stiffened. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Amber sent me to find you." Tania's words came fast. "This is your only chance, Sherry. If you can get on the good side of the man called Leon — just one word from him, and Negan won't dare make a sound. Not only will you survive. Dwight will survive too."

Sherry went still.

Dwight's face surfaced in her mind. Half of it destroyed by a burning iron. The image of him on his knees at Negan's feet, begging.

To keep Dwight alive, she had already endured Negan's harassment and threats more times than she could count. She'd been living in fear every single day.

And now, all she had to do was step through the door ahead of her.

And she could be free from Negan. For good.

Sherry bit her lip.

She had no other choice.

"Okay."

She took a deep breath.

"I'll go with you."

Tania exhaled.

She led Sherry through the corridors, slipping around the patrol routes, and brought her quietly to the room at the far end of the third-floor hallway.

She pushed the door open.

The air inside was noticeably warmer than the corridor.

Sherry stepped in.

The first thing she saw was Leon on the leather sofa, and Amber curled up against him like a contented cat.

Leon glanced up at her.

Blonde. Tall. She was only wearing a plain white blouse and jeans, but there was something about her, that stubborn edge with just a thread of vulnerability running underneath it, that genuinely caught the eye.

No wonder Negan couldn't get her out of his head.

"So this is the Sherry you mentioned?"

Amber tilted her head up and gave Leon a coy look.

"Yes, sir." Her voice went soft. "She's had it rough. Negan's been trying to claim her for himself this whole time. Had her husband's face burned with an iron."

She turned and looked at Sherry, who was standing uncertainly in the doorway.

"Sherry, what are you standing there for? Mr. Leon is a good man. He can help us."

Sherry shifted her weight, not quite processing it.

What are you standing there for?

What exactly did that mean?

➤ Next: A Man and a Woman Alone — You're Telling Me It Was Just a Massage?