Negan and Rick climb the stairs, Rick relying heavily on his cane.
"Keep the fuck up, Grandpa," Negan says with a smirk.
"Who the hell are you calling Grandpa? I should have you carrying me up these damn stairs." Rick sneers. "Since you fucked up my leg in the first place."
"You want a piggy back? Why don't you hop the fuck on, old man?" Negan chuckles. "I could carry your ass all fucking day."
"Shut up," Rick says. "Lets just check this last floor, see if we can find anything so we can get the hell back to Alexandria."
They didn't find much in the way of supplies, though Alexandria was thriving and produced plenty of crops and grain, so they had no need to find food, not that it would be safe to be eaten after this length of time anyway. Their search was mostly for weapons, batteries, toiletries, or anything from the list that had been given to them.
Negan and Rick head towards the last apartment at the end of the corridor. They try the handle, expecting it to be locked as with most of the others, but it opens with ease.
"Christ, i can't wait to get outta here," Negan says as he wrinkles his nose. "The whole place smells like fucking ass."
"Do you have to be so vulgar?" Rick frowns.
"Yeah, i fucking do, it's part of my charm." Negan smiles.
"Just see what's good for taking. You take the bathroom, i'll take the kitchen."
"Oh, i like your fucking style, leaving me with the shitter," Negan grumbles.
"Just get the hell on with it," Rick says impatiently. As he rummages through the kitchen cupboards, he goes over in his mind what possessed him to bring Negan. He'd hoped Daryl would come, but he was out on a hunt, so he'd been stuck with Negan. Rick could've picked someone else, but Negan had been eager to volunteer, and to be fair, Negan was pretty damn good out here. Rick smiles as he snags a bottle of whiskey from the back of a cupboard. He places it in his backpack, not wanting Negan to set his sights on it.
Meanwhile in the bathroom, Negan finds a box of tampons, half a bottle of shampoo, and a fresh tube of toothpaste. He shoves the latter in his pocket, fully intending on keeping it for himself.
Negan walks out of the bathroom, placing his items down on the kitchen counter. "You find anything?" He asks.
Rick shakes his head. "I'm gonna check here, you go check the bedroom." Rick points to a door in the corner.
Negan looks at the door with a frown. "Door's shut. There could be fucking anything in there."
"You scared?" Rick asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Fuck no! I'm just saying, it's fucking typical of you to have me do all the heavy lifting. Anyone would think that's the only reason you brought me."
"That is the only reason i brought you." Rick smiles.
"Fucker, you don't mean that," Negan says as he opens the door a crack. He peers in, sure there's no dead, so he pushes the door open, stepping inside as he scans the room. Holy shit! Negan stands near the door, his eyes fixated on the moth eaten double bed. He makes his way back into the lounge, appearing almost giddy with excitement. "Rick!" He whispers.
"What?" Rick doesn't look up, too engrossed in his search for supplies. He smiles as he finds half a pack of batteries stuffed deep under the cushion of the sofa.
"There's a girl!" Negan beams.
Rick looks up from where he's crouched in front of the sofa. "What?"
"There's a girl.. come check it out!"
Rick rises to his feet, grabbing his cane from the coffee table.
"See," Negan whispers with a smile as he gazes over at what is definitely a girl sleeping on the bed.
Rick shifts his feet, stepping closer to get a better look. He tilts his head with a frown. "No way."
"What?" Negan asks, not taking his eyes from her.
"I know her. She.. she was part of our group, back at the prison," Rick says. He's sure it's her. She looks a mess, her hair all matted and filthy, and her skin so dark with muck that he wonders if she hasn't seen a bar of soap since he last saw her.
"Really? Well this should make for a nice little reunion. Why don't you wake her the fuck up, so i can introduce myself." Negan smiles as he straightens the collar of his jacket.
Rick throws a scornful look at him, shaking his head. "You stay right there," Rick says as he makes his way over to the side of the bed. He leans over her, the cane taking most of his weight.
Rick doesn't get the chance to wake her. Her eyes flicker open, and they stare up at him with no recollection at all. She grabs her knife from beneath the pillow, jumping up off the bed as quick as a cat, knocking him backwards into the wall.
"What the hell?!" Rick yells, struggling to grab the knife from her hand. He manages to push her back on the bed, but his leg stiffens, making him wince. She slashes at his arm, Rick crying out as blood splatters over her face. She rolls him over, raising the knife as he grabs at his arm. Suddenly she slumps down, her head falling against his chest.
"You're fucking welcome," Negan says, holding a knife in his hand.
"Jesus Christ! Did you stab her?!" Rick frowns as he rolls her off him.
"What the fuck?! Hell no! I just clocked her in the temple. What kinda person do you think i fucking am?"
"Alright, i'm sorry," Rick says as he raises a hand. "You can't blame me for jumping to that conclusion, i mean.. it is you."
"The fuck it's me. I never went round killing women thank you very fucking much," Negan says in offence.
"Look, can you just find something for my arm?"
Negan takes the scarf from around his neck, tying it around Rick's arm. "Doesn't look too deep, you'll be fine. The hell is wrong with her anyway? Thought you said you knew her?"
Rick rises to his feet, looking down at her. "I did. I don't know what that was." He shakes his head.
"What's her name?"
"Eve," Rick answers.
"She must've been through some shit then. I mean, look at her, she's a damn mess. Still cute though." Negan smiles. "So what are we doing? We taking her with us?"
Rick nods. "Yeah. I can't just leave her here. She was one of us once. I might have to put her in a cell though, won't be safe to have her wandering inside the walls."
"Gee, you think?" Negan says sarcastically.
Negan carries her in his arms to the truck, Rick stumbling beside him as he struggles with his cane.
"You alright?" Negan frowns.
"I'm fine."
"Well you don't fucking look it. I would've carried you too," he says with a smirk.
Rick stares at him, his jaw clenched, but there's a hint of a smile beneath. "Just get her in the truck."
Negan sits her in the middle between them. They'd gone to the trouble of tying her hands, in case she should wake up.
Negan sits beside her, his nose wrinkling. "Christ she stinks!"
Rick smiles. "I thought you said she was cute?"
"She is. But that doesn't mean she couldn't do with a bath," he says as he winds down the window. "What are we gonna do if she wakes up half way to Alexandria?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
Eve doesn't wake on the journey there. In fact, Rick begins to worry that maybe Negan hit her too hard. That is until they go about the business of carrying her down the steps towards the cells.
Eugene and Heath had been tasked with carrying her, one grabbing her legs and the other her shoulders.
"She seems harmless enough," Eugene says as he holds her legs.
"Don't be fooled, Eugene." Negan smiles as he follows behind them. "She's a wild one."
And as if on command, she opens her eyes, staring either side of herself as she comes to, confused by her new surroundings and by the men that carry her. Eve kicks out, Eugene struggling to keep a grip on her.
Negan watches her with a smile. "You gotta be fucking quicker than that, boys."
She bares her teeth as she attempts to wriggle free from their grasp, but they both hold strong, in spite of Eugene's heart pounding against his chest. "Get off me!" She screams.
Negan is surprised to hear her talk, he thought maybe whatever had happened to her out there had left her mute, since she hadn't uttered a word when attacking Rick. But she's vocal enough, and her language is as foul as his.
"Get the fuck off me you cock suckers!" She yells, baring her teeth like an animal. "You try putting anything in me and i'll fucking tear it off! You hear me?! I'll fucking kill you!"
Rick follows Negan, his face dropping at the words coming out of her mouth.
Eugene and Heath struggle with her inside the cell. Every time they set her down, she runs after them, preventing them from leaving. They finally resort to swinging her and literally throwing her on the cot.
Negan grimaces upon hearing her back cracking as it hits the corner of the bed, but she gets back up seemingly unharmed, running towards the cell door but not before they manage to close it.
She grabs the bars, her eyes wild with fury as she shakes the door, or rather herself as the door refuses to budge.
Rick stands in from of her, holding up a hand. "Eve.. i don't know what happened to you, but you're safe here. I'm locking you up for your own safety, and the safety of my people. No one's gonna hurt you," he assures her.
She answers with a growl, banging her arms against the cell door. Negan watches her in awe, his eyes practically lit up. He hadn't really had much of a thought as to why she was this way, most of his thoughts being of the dirty kind. Negan looks at her as if she were a wild animal which he'd take great pleasure in taming.