Sorry for the late chapter, guys. School has been taking over my life, so I hadn't gotten time to write much. I used a lot of my spare time, however, to get this chapter done. I hope it's decent. :)

Chapter XII: Mizpah

"Tell them," the leader growled.

"The hilltop stands with Negan and the Saviors… if you stand against us now, you will no longer be welcome," the frail old man trembled. Negan had called for his men to bring him upstairs. Rosalie had no idea who this man was, but it was apparent that he meant a lot to both Negan and this Rick guy.

"And?"

"Your families will be thrown out and have to fend for themselves"

"And?"

"Go home now, or you'll have no home to go back to."

Rosalie watched as the leader whispered something inaudible to the old man, who she suspected to be the leader of the Hilltop, before he turned back towards the crowd. "You heard the man! Go home before you have no fucking home!"

She peaked out behind the giant, gazing at the armed mass that surrounded the Sanctuary. These people were by no means peaceful if they were going to hurt a community that helped Mother. She scratched her ear when she heard moaning coming from the room Mother was in. She must have been awake, but was clearly in pain.

"The fuck?" the leader continued. "I count eight guys. Fucking eight!"

"I didn't know…sorry"

"You said it was half their fucking army!" he screamed "You didn't know how many fucking people left your place?! You thought it was more than eight?!"

"I thought it was more."

"Pathetic." The leader scoffed, kicking the old man off he balcony. Rose's instinct was to go see if the man was okay, but was stopped by a stern hand.

"Come with me." It was a man who Rosalie hadn't met yet. A deep burn scar ran across the right side of his face, revealing his open eye. Veiny red burns scraped up his skinless face. She tried not to, but all she could do was stare in awe. Why wasn't her scar that bad ass?

"Cool scar…" she mumbled.

"I'm Dwight," he ignored her comment, seemingly bothered that she noticed. "Come on, we need to prepare the army in case this turns out bad." Turns out bad? She thought. How could it get any worse than this?

"Rosalie," she quickly responded. Dwight nodded in response, a friendly smile formed over his face. He reached into his vest and pulled something Rosalie could not figure out. She watched his heavily tattooed arm move up and down. Why was this man so fucking cool? He had a scar and tattoos? She watched as he squirted eyedrops onto his protruding eye, realising he could only blink on one side. Brutal, she thought, grinning to herself.

"I've considered your kind offer… and I'm thinking of an answer somewhere between no motherfucking way and go fucking fuck yourself."

Dwight tightened his grip on her arm, dragging her out of the room. "We need to go… Now!" He dragged her down to the first floor and told her to wait by the door. That it was too dangerous to leave the building. Her question was answered before she could ask when she heard the cacophony of gunfire. Despite the tone of his voice, he peered down at her with an almost comforting face. She nodded and covered her ears. She gasped in shock when her left ear could hear everything, but there was no time to bother thinking.

Negan was outside instructing the Saviors on what to do. She could only watch so much as her vision was obstructed from this floor.

"Negan," she heard a woman whimper. Rosalie turned around, facing one of his wives. She was very young, probably about Nicholas' age. He was her brother after all they'd been through, yet she still hadn't asked his age. Sixteen? Seventeen? Maybe eighteen? Her long blonde hair, reached past her breasts, making her look more like a mermaid than anything else. Rosalie reckoned the wife didn't even need to wear a shirt and just pretend she was Ariel. That would be the life…Rosalie sighed. I wanna be a mermaid, damn it!

"It's gonna be okay, Candycane," another wife whispered. Candycane? The fuck? She was tall with medium, brown hair. She looked older than Candycane, but was still beautiful. "Negan knows what he's doing." Rosalie watched as the woman held onto the other woman tightly. Candycane buried her face into the other woman's chest, shaking vigorously.

"Th-thanks, Sherry." Rosalie could barely hear the wife whimper into the woman's chest. Sherry patted Candycane on the head lightly.

"Dwight told us to watch over you, so don't stray too far." Another wife with dark skin and a large afro said. Her lips were pursed into an unamused expression. "Candycane's being a little bitch and losing confidence over our Neegy-poo," Neegy-poo? "He's kept us together for this long; I trust he'll deal with it and those motherfuckers will be outta here!"

Rosalie nodded in response.

"Neegy was helping them, you know?" the woman continued.

"He was?" Then why the hell were they acting so hostile towards him?

"Yeah, they provided us with shit in exchange for their protection. We Saviors are the strongest out there- well, I guess not us wives, but the ones our muffin sends out are the cream of the crop. Scary fuckers, I don't suggest you mess with them. Dwight- the guy with the fucked up face who brought you here- is one of Neegy-poo's top men… just don't mention him in front of Sherry."

Sherry gave the woman a dirty look. "Shut up, Shawna! Who knows what this bitch knows…"

This bitch? "Well you can fuck off!" Rosalie blurted out. She quickly took back her words, unsure of what came over her. She prayed it wouldn't cause her repercussions.

Sherry just erupted into a throaty laugh. "I like this one. Who are you?"

"Rosalie, my mother's the woman upstairs," she smirked cockily at Sherry's change in tone.

"O-oh, then I'm sorry for calling you a bitch, I thought you were a new wife…we can get kind of jealous…"

She heard Shawna kiss her teeth in response. "Oh heeeeelll no! You are a lying little tramp!" Shawna yelled. "You think this child is one of us? Do you think so little of Negan, you think he'd be fucking a twelve year old? Disgusting!"

"I'm thirteen, though…" Rosalie mumbled as if it would make a difference. Teen was in her age, so she definitely was no child.

Sherry rolled her eyes and retuned to soothing Candycane.

"Why's her name Candycane? That's a weird ass name," Rose asked Shawna.

"'Cause she used to be a stripper."

"W-what?"

"Yeeeup! Sophisticated ladies like me and unfortunately Sherry were housewives, but most of Neegy's wives are ex-strippers." Rosalie smirked in amusement. This place was wild- Rose would have fun here.

"So about Dwight's scar-"

Their conversation was interrupted by the noise of a car zooming through the Sanctuary gates, which were holding the undead thingies.

"Fucking shit!" was all she heard before Shawna dragged her deeper into the factory, out of the way of the men who burst through the front door in piles. She was surprised at how fast the wives could run in heels.

"The fastest way to a man's heart is through his vagina." Negan stated, staring down at a short haired blonde woman. He had called everyone to the cafeteria to meet his hostage. Rosalie decided to drown out the long, boring speech the leader was making and instead looked around at her surroundings. Man did this Negan guy talk a lot- he was worse than her!

The wives sat at one of the cafeteria tables while the rest of the Saviors stood around Negan. Candycane was now on her own, looking relieved to see the leader alive. Several of the Saviors had run into the room with weapons, ready to fight. Dwight stood at a table just behind Negan, leaning back. She stared at his muscular arms, taking in the images of his tattoos. Her eyes drifted up to his face, to look at his scar once more. This man was such a fucking badass. She wasn't sure if she wanted him or to be him… I wouldn't mind both… She was lost in a trance, taking in every detail of his handsome face. She gave no bother to any age gap- he was candy to her eyes. Besides, she was a teen, after all. She caught herself smirking, feeling flustered all over. Rose was sure her pale face was flushed tomato red. She never felt such a feeling before. Boys were gross! What was wrong with her?

"You." The sudden voice erased all thoughts from her mind, grabbing Rosalie's attention. She turned around to see John staring down at her.

"Yeah?" She asked, annoyed he had taken her out of her happy place. What a dick…

"Don't fucking yeah me. That's rude as fuck!" he scoffed. Rosalie stood there, wishing he would stop wasting her time. "You know how to kill a meat-puppet?"

"Meat-puppet?" The hell was he talking about?

"Walker, biter, undead- whatever you want to call it! Can you do it or not?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed without a second thought. This was her new home now and no matter how weird this Negan guy was, he was helping Mother stay alive. She owed him her life.

"Clear out!" the leader exclaimed. "The faster we do this, the faster we can get to planning our next move!"

She followed the Saviors out and was immediately met with the undead. It was very loud, a cacophony of moans and groans escaped from the frightening monsters. The leader was calling out orders, but she couldn't even make out the gist of it. She held onto her knife as she stabbed the undead as they drew towards her. She dug her knife in and out of skulls, drenching her body with the unruly scent that lingered. Feeling confident in herself, she began diving deeper and deeper into the herd, stabbing the monsters one by one as they grabbed and bit at her. Realising the stupidity of her actions, she quickly turned to move back to the factory, but was stopped by the herd that had gathered around her.

There-There's too many! It was her last thought before her mind went blank.

The dim lights of the movie theatre stung her eyes as the movie had come to an abrupt stop Mother had dragged her to an annoying period film and the girl couldn't help but dose off. Who cares about those long-dead men? Rosalie was woken up by the cries of terror. She jumped up, quickly looking around, squinting to watch as the movie-goers fled from the theatre, as others were being devoured by some kind of monster! She blinked her eyes and rubbed them with both hands.

"Mother?" she called when she looked over to where Mother was supposed to be sitting. She felt her heart stop and become swallowed into her stomach. No… this can't be happening! Out of instinct she fell to the ground, covering her head in hopes she would not be seen. The girl pulled the hood of her hoodie up and over her head and curled into the smallest ball she possibly could on the sticky theatre floor. She trembled, unable to keep still as tears streaked down her cheeks. All that was heard were the screams of the innocent and growls of these…cannibals?

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep the sounds out. She grabbed onto the cross Father had given her before he left for the war and pressed it to her forehead.

"It will give you strength," he said. She knew this was bullshit now, but for that single moment in the movie theatre, this was her last reliance before being taken over by death. Tears continued to stream out of her eyes that she was trying so hard to squeeze closed. Rosalie knew all was over when she felt a hand graze over her back. She refused to move, hoping if she pretended to be dead, it would go away. Instead of grabbing her, the hand tapped her back again. Hesitantly, she drew her head up slowly to see the face of a freckled-faced teenage boy. His green eyes were deep with concern as he held his hand open for her to get up.

"It's okay," he whispered, "I'm not one of them. We need to get out of here. You can trust me." The look in his eyes was so genuine that on instinct she grabbed onto him as he pulled her out of the theatre, avoiding the monsters on the way out.

The lobby was full of even more of the monsters! From floor to ceiling, all was painted in fresh blood and guts that made the girl feel sick. She managed to stop crying as nausea took her over. She slowed herself down, knowing she wouldn't be able to make it until…blegh! She threw up on the floor beside her, feeling snot and tears flow along with it. Her head ached. The boy pat her on the back before quickly pulling her to the emergency exit. He pressed the heavy door, almost struggling with his frail body. His eyes were blood-shot red and she could swear he was one of them- yet he was still helping her.

The bright light of the fall afternoon blinded her for a moment. She gazed around the parking lot that was surprisingly pretty empty. Her eyes locked on a familiar face.

"Mother!" she cried, letting go of the boy's hand. She jumped into her startled mother's arms, almost knocking the poor woman down. All sense of nausea was lifted instantly.

"Yes, Flower, it's me. I'm fine, calm down. I'm glad you were able to find your way out to me!" Her mother was never affectionate, but Rose knew her words were full of love. "Who's that?" Rosalie looked behind her, totally forgetting about the boy who saved her.

She ran towards him and grabbed his arm. He bashfully scratched his orange head, meekly grinning at the woman. "Nick." He stated. He held out his hand, which Mother ignored.

"Yuri," her mother introduced herself. "You saved my daughter, Rosalie. I'm grateful."

He continued grinning, stepping around on his feet as if he was waiting for something.

"You want to come with us? We need a strong boy to protect us girls-"

"Mother, really?!" Rosalie interjected, surprised by her actions. The girl became giddy with thinking of all the things she could do with her saviour. They could stay up late playing cards, gossip, he could sneak her chips, they could play basketball… he'd be like her brother! Rosalie had never had siblings before!

"Yes, Flower," Mother replied with a look that told her to calm down. She cleared her throat. "Nicholas, was it? What do you say?"

"Sounds dope," he replied, lighting up a gross smelling cigarette.

Rosalie's eyes shot open as she took in her new surroundings. What happened out there? She was lying down on one of the picnic tables in the cafeteria, dumbfounded by how she got there.

"Oh, you're awake."

The sudden voice startled her, causing her to abruptly jump onto the ground. She immediately regretted it as she felt the sting run from her feet to her thighs. Wait, was that Dwight?

"I knew you weren't hurt too bad, but you have got to stop being stupid, okay? How do you expect to survive if you're just going to walk into a herd!" he yelled. Rosalie cringed backwards, slowly sitting onto the bench. She didn't respond. She couldn't even look the man in the eyes. "You almost got me killed! Yourself killed! You should know better than anyone else what those meat-puppets can do!" She nodded her head. So, it wasn't the undead that scarred him?

"Did you save me?"

Dwight sighed, sitting beside her. "Yes. I'm sorry for being harsh, Rose, but I was so damned worried about you. If I hadn't done anything, imagine how Negan would have reacted?" She inched closer to the man, having the sudden feeling to touch him. She grew close enough to wrap her arms around his broad stomach.

"Thank you," she whispered. The man was tense, but quickly relaxed, placing his hand on top of her hair. He slowly brushed it, setting Rose's face on fire. She kept her head buried into his chest so he wouldn't see. She had no idea how long they had sat there for, but Dwight needed to leave for a meeting. She was sent into the pantry to take stock of inventory, instructed that Negan wanted her to hand out half-portions of rice.

Rations duty was extremely slow and boring. Rosalie was excited to join a new group, hoping to meet girls her own age so they could talk about makeup and boys…not that Mother ever let her wear makeup, but the thought was nice. Instead, she was alone and she eventually found herself reading more often than not. Since the war had started, she was pretty much always alone, save for the wives who occasionally went downstairs to keep her company. There were numerous books in the pantry, two points to rent them out for a week. She took her time sifting through the shelf until the pile was almost empty. She was particularly interested in a book about this sparkling vampire. She felt the same way the main character felt when she was able to catch quick glances over at Dwight as he was leaving with Negan's men. She wondered if he also sparkled in the sunlight and could jump from tree to tree. Dwight was really cool, so Rosalie was sure he could if he tried. She caught herself drooling over the imaginary personality she had given to him as she only spoke to him directly like twice or something. It killed time, so she wasn't complaining. She had even told Shawna about her fantasies, receiving a hyena-like laugh and was advised to keep it to herself. Shawna quickly became one of Rose's favourite people to talk to. She didn't treat her like a kid and was the closest to a friend she'd had in a long time.

At night, she found herself lying in bed, waiting until Nick came back. When he returned from training with the Saviors, they would enjoy each other's company into the wee hours of the morning. The quiet air of the factory brought an uncomfortable ambiance, leaving even Sleeping Beauty with insomnia. Nicholas kept her occupied with tales from his adventures outside of the factory.

"And what about Dwight?" she quickly asked one day. A little too quickly and eagerly.

"Rose, stop it. That's weird," Nicholas' tone turned stern.

"The fuck, Nick?"

"Don't get involved with him, it's creepy. You're like half his age. Keep your mind occupied on something else." Well, fuck you, too, she thought.

"Like drugs, Nick? Should I spend all my time thinking about smoking it up with the fellas? Getting sooo fucking high, bro?" she blurted out. She didn't know how to keep her damn thoughts to herself.

Nicholas shook his head and smiled lightly. "You're too naïve, Rose." With that he pulled the covers over his head and slump into a deep sleep.

Nicholas' words stuck in Rosalie's mind for a few weeks as she worked in the pantry. Fuck him. He didn't know what he was talking about. She heard the Saviors were going out the next morning and decided she'd join them and show Nick who the naïve one was. He wasn't going on this trip, either, so it was the perfect timing.

She quickly sneaked outside the factory and hid behind some boxes, watching the Saviors load up on the trucks. She ran as fast as she could when she saw the opportunity and hid inside one of the trucks, hoping it was one of the right ones. She silently cheered when the engine of the truck roared. She sat back and relaxed until they reached a stop.

"Rick! Come out, come out, wherever the fuck you are! Don't piss your panties yet. Lucky for you…right now, I just want to talk. I hope that got your attention. There's plenty fucking more where that came from," she heard the leader yell. A group of men had already opened the back of the truck to retrieve their weapons, so she was all ears. Rosalie peaked over at the leader, who cockily stood in front of the gates of what she assumed was Rick's community. Rick, the violent man who started war when her leader didn't even want it. She growled lowly, watching Rick's men open the gates to let in a masked person. Screams of horror shot from the community. "Attack!" the leader screamed before the Saviors open-fired.

She looked around to find Dwight, he was the reason she was there, after all. The sun didn't sparkle on his skin, but that was a-okay. He ran pretty fucking fast, so that was there. Dwight was running towards the wall, guiding a group of men. Rosalie felt her heart beating fast. He was so cool. "Like Negan said, spread out- but throw them over the walls. Hurry before they can organize a counterattack!" she heard him announce. It took everything out of her to not jump out of the truck and give herself to him.

Before she could bring her head back, an enormous explosion shook the Saviors, sending several of them struggling on the ground, and many more dead. She was dizzy from the hit, but was able to watch Dwight quickly take out his gun and shoot a Savior in the head. What the hell? That was not friendly fire! Rosalie still tried to convince her otherwise, Dwight was cool, he was perfection…but she couldn't when Dwight continued shooting his own men. He then turned to speak to the long haired hippy-dude who was standing at the gates. She couldn't believe it. Nicholas was right! She wasn't going to let him know that, of course.

She watched the hellstorm brew as bullets and grenades sprang everywhere. Dark smoke loomed over the community, indicating it was on fire. More and more flashes of grenades and bullets filled her vision. Rosalie was sure she'd lose her sense of hearing at this point. The fight went on for maybe half an hour and she breathed a sigh of relief when it all died down. She was still pissed off about Dwight and needed to get back home so she could bitch about it to Shawna or Nicholas.

"Retreat?! How fucking stupid are you? This isn't a fucking retreat! Look back at the fucking sky, dick hole. You see that fucking smoke? What the fuck do you think that means?! You aware of a fucking fire station nearby? Hear the sirens of a fire-fucking-truck approaching? Because otherwise… that means we just fucking won." The leader yelled.

We won? Oh my God we won! They could finally go back home and she could bitch and moan and Nicholas wouldn't be out of the Sanctuary so often anymore! Rosalie smiled in glee. She was no longer bothered by Dwight- hell, she reckoned she forgot all about him. All she was feeling was the feeling of sweet victory and she owed it all to their leader, Negan. He truly was her Savior.

They took a detour when Negan ordered his men to get out of the truck once again. This time, he was sending the undead to attack a warehouse, telling his men to wait. When the door burst open, he ordered his men to kill all of the undead and he began yelling at something that fell out of the building. Rosalie's questions were answered when she saw the leader pick up an overweight man by the ponytail and instruct his men to beat him unconscious. With that, they were on their way back to the Sanctuary.

She was still elated at the Saviors' victory against that stupid-head Mick…. Or was it Rick… Dick….Nick? Nick? She almost smacked right into Nicholas when she was lost in her thoughts. She hadn't managed to get caught, so her confidence was high. "Hey, Nick!" she exclaimed, smiling at him. "Did you hear the news?!" Something was wrong. She could tell by the silence that emitted from the boy and the sad look he gave her. Rosalie's face dropped. What happened? "Nick…" she whispered.

He stepped forward, clasping his hands around her back and pulling her tightly into his chest. He was a lot taller, so he rested his chin on her head. "Rose… something bad happened and I don't think it's what you're happy about…"

"Bad…" she whispered.

"I-it's terrible," she heard him whimper. "Y-your mother-" his breath hitched in his throat, unable to end the sentence, but Rosalie knew all too well what he meant.

"That's not funny, Nick. You shouldn't joke about that!" she scolded him. She tried to pry his hands off her, but he didn't budge.

"Rose, I'm serious…she's-" Before he could end his thought, she was finally able to wiggle out of his arms and run towards Negan's room. She would prove him wrong! How dare he joke about her mother! Maybe Nick wasn't really her brother at all!

She burst through the doors, much to the wives' surprise and ripped open the door to Mother's room. It was empty. Her stomach was empty. Her heart was empty. All that was in that room was emptiness. She felt tears well up and didn't even try to stop them. Her heart was broken. Why? What the fuck, God? She screamed internally, realising there was nobody above her protecting her. There was no good left in this world. The only sliver of hope still remained in Nicholas, the only one who could protect her. She wasn't sure if that was even true. Was she reminding herself or just convincing herself? Mother was hard on her, but she kept her out of trouble. Rosalie knew her place. She almost ripped the elastics out of her hair, letting her long locks fall over her face. Hair sticking to her tears, hand grabbing clumps of hair- hand? She looked down irritated at her stump. No. Everything is wrong. This is just shit! Her heart was filled with sorrow as she felt like giving up just there. Papa is probably dead, too! And who knows, that Rick the dick dude could kill Nicholas! She made her vow at that moment, refusing to let God protect her for he was dead, too. The girl ripped off her necklace and threw it across the room. She really considered taking her own life this time- what could she do? Rosalie was a useless, orphaned child who couldn't even fight! Her tears of sorrow changed to tears of agony- unbearable pain she had never felt before. She hid her face in her knees, not looking up, even when she felt Nicholas touching her shoulder in comfort. She didn't dare look up that night, even when Shawna brought her food and a covered her in a blanket.

"Wanna stay here tonight? You can sleep on the couch, sweetie. Neggy and the girls all sleep on one bed, so it's no biggie-" She heard a sigh before hearing the woman gently placing the plate on the floor in front of her. "I'm not sure what to say to you, but-" Rosalie heard her sigh again before feeling two arms wrap around her and pull her closer to the body. She rest her head on Shawna's large boobs, refusing to look up. They would stay there the entire night, falling asleep on the cold factory floor together until morning.

"Thanks, Shawna." Her throat was dry, hardly able to let out a whisper.

"It's okay, honey, Neggy-poo sent me here. He might not look like it, but he was worried. He's just a dragon fruit- spikey on the outside and sweet on the inside. Ya just gotta look past it."

"Hmm, Negan?" she mumbled. She wasn't ready to get up yet, so she brought Shawna into another hug. "Thanks for staying, though."

Shawna smiled down at the girl and ran her fingers through her hair. "Your hair's a mess. Want me to braid them for you?" Braid them? Rosalie's face grew white. Nobody had braided her hair except her mother. She struggled keeping tears from forming. Rosalie snapped her head up, almost hitting the other woman.

"No!" Seeing the surprised expression on the woman's face, she lowered her tone. "I mean, maybe just a ribbon so I can tie it up in a ponytail. You don't need to help me." Her words were strong, but she wasn't. She kept her smile as she felt tears fall down her cheeks. The woman nodded kindly in response and stood up to get her a ribbon.

"Maybe it can also help make those loose-fitting clothes fit you," she heard Shawna murmur.

Rosalie was unable to work for a couple of weeks afterwards. Every time she went to stand up, her body just slumped back onto her bed. There were no more tears left to cry. Nicholas was hit hard, too, but he was strong enough to go back to work the next day. She could still sense his pain, however, by the fact he was coming home higher every night.

On her day back to work, she was alone. The person who had been taking her place was nowhere in sight so she couldn't even properly thank them. Rosalie just focused on making the rations list up to date. She was baffled at the decrease in stock- the war really did hit them hard. The once stocked shelves looked almost empty in comparison to when she first arrived. How many Saviors were there? One hundred? Two hundred? She never bothered to count.

The leader burst through the doors and began rummaging through the supplies, his swearing getting louder by the second. "Motherfucking fuck Dorothy on top of the fucking rainbow!" he blared. Rosalie stayed in her spot, pretending to be busy keeping track of rations.

"No motherfucking rations, Tara?! What the fucking fuck?" he began seething. She could swear he was foaming from the mouth.

The woman beside him, Tara, stood uncomfortably at the door.

The leader squeezed his nose between his fingers, calming down, before turning his head towards Rosalie. "We're cutting the fucking rations by 70%! Can you do math? You look like you can do some fraction shit, right?" Rosalie just starred at him. Negan must have taken it as a yes because he turned around to leave.

"Sir," she called, kneeling on the ground before him.

"Get the fuck up here when you speak to me! It looks like you're waiting to suck my rod and that's creepy. Kids like you should be sucking fucking lollipops, not long, veiny, hard cocks!"

She stammered, quickly standing up. "Uh, I just wanted to say thanks for sending Shawna to comfort me and stuff…"

"Thanks? Fucking thanks? Show me that you're thankful by not fighting out there! There is no mother-titty-fucking way I am losing more of my people! And don't think I didn't notice you sneaking onto my truck! I've got eyes fucking everywhere! Don't fuck with me." He seemed angry, by the way he stormed out, slamming the pantry door, but Rosalie knew his intensions were good.

She sighed and sat down on the floor. More work to do, great. She rubbed her face with her hand, becoming irritated that all she could feel was her goddamn stump against her cheek. The quiet sound of rummaging came from the side of the room where the rice was. Rosalie looked up. "Hmm who are you?" she whispered to the tiny grey mouse who had made its way into the room. "You don't have a name, do you?" The mouse squeaked. "Alright, Imma call you Astrid- you don't have a dick, right?" She gently picked up the mouse and inspected its genitals. "Astrid it is, then," she confirmed. She held her new best friend in her hand, stroking her head with her stump. Astrid sure was cute.

"Who's that?" Mother asked, taking a seat next to her.

"Astrid. She's my best friend! Pretty, ain't she?" she smiled and held the rodent out so Mother could get a better look.

"I see."

Aaaand we're done with Rosalie's POV! Now we can go back to Carl and progress this story!