"And you…Are…It."
I wrapped my arms around Negan's body and set my head against his shoulder. He was gripping his baseball bat tightly in his hand and scowling down at the redheaded man—a man that would be very sorry he ever crossed us.
They all would be after this.
You can do this, I encouraged, kissing Negan's cheek.
I know he heard me.
"Anybody moves, anybody says anything, cut the boy's other eye out and feed it to his father, and then we'll start."
I glanced over at the the leader. The man looked so utterly defeated as he watched in terror at what my husband was about to do. I slowly turned to look at all their faces; they were all so helpless.
Good.
"You can breathe. You can blink. You can cry. Hell… you're all gonna be doing that."
A sick grin spread across my face as Negan raised the bat up and brought it down onto the red-headed man's head.
The loud crack almost seemed to echo around us, and it sent the poor bastard toppling to the ground. I giggled in delight at the sight and squeezed Negan's shoulders.
We weren't done yet.
Not even close.
"Oh ho, look at that! Takin' it like a CHAMP!" Negan's amused voice boomed and I watched the blood trickle down the red-head's face. He got back up onto his knees and stared defiantly at my husband.
The action made the smile on my face turn sour, and I glared at him as he opened his mouth to speak.
"Suck…my….nuts…"
How dare he!
My anger overflowed and I grasped Negan's arm in a quick motion. He raised the bat again, bringing it back down onto the poor bastard's head. This time he fell down and didn't get back up.
I barely noticed the cries of the other people kneeling around us. The smile returned on my face as Negan brought the bat down over and over again onto the red-headed man's mangled skull.
I hugged my arms around Negan tightly as he swung, humming a tune against the cusp of his ear. I watched the bits of flesh and skull mold together into a soggy mess on the road.
When he finally stopped, I looked down at the mess he had made and snickered.
We got the last laugh.
"Did you hear that?" Negan chuckled and I nodded, eyes wide with pride. "He said, 'suck my nuts'! Phhhhew!"
I cackled along with him and looked at their faces again. I hadn't thought they could look more defeated, but they did. As I viewed each one, I remembered why we were here.
They killed your men… I whispered into Negan's ear, and he turned abruptly and brought the bat down onto the mangled mess once again.
And then again.
And again.
And again.
Negan's grunts and the whimpering sounds of the people kneeling sounded like a broken chorus, and I moved my head to his other shoulder to watch him mutilate the corpse. I stared in awe at the bloody heap as a loud cracking noise rang out as the bat hit bone. Negan began to laugh again. The sound made me smile with glee.
"Oh my GOODNESS! Look at THIS!" He swung the bat around so blood flew towards their leader and sprayed across his face. The sight made me giggle and I nuzzled against Negan's neck.
"You guys, look at my dirty girl!"
I felt butterflies in my stomach at his words.
He was talking about me.
Negan was gasping for breath as he took in their horrified faces. His attention went to one of the women—the pretty one with the plump lips and long brown hair. She wasn't even looking at Negan—her eyes were locked on the space in front of her.
"Sweetheart," he said, bringing the blood soaked bat in front of her face. "Lay your eyes on this."
Her bottom lip trembled, and I sat up a bit to see what she would do. By the looks of it, I would have guessed she was in love with the red-headed man.
As if he read my mind, Negan came to the same conclusion and glanced over at what was left of him.
"Oh damn… Were you…. Were you together? That sucks. But if you were, you should know… there was a reason for all this. Red, and hell, he was, is, and will ever be red…. He just took one, OR SIX OR SEVEN FOR THE TEAM!" Negan stood back and stared down at the woman who was still staring off into nothing. She wouldn't look at the corpse, and that wasn't going to fly. Not for me, and not for Negan.
He raised the bat into her face again.
"So take. A damn. Look."
Her breaths came harder and she trembled. She wouldn't turn her head and continued to defy Negan's order. I scowled down at her and squeezed his shoulder tightly, urging him to push her further.
"TAKE A DAMN LOOK!"
The next seconds happened fast.
The man with the long hair and muscles stood up and lunged at Negan. My eyes went wide with fear, as I watched him punch Negan in the face. He struggled to grab my husband, but was quickly subdued by our men. My eyes went to Negan as I scanned him to make sure he was okay. I cupped his face and felt tears well up in my eyes.
They hurt him.
They hurt my Negan.
He reached up to wipe at his beard, and I let out a sigh of relief.
He was okay.
Then I turned my attention back on the man who had dared to hit him. He was thrashing frantically, trying to get away from the Saviors. I felt my blood boil and growled as I watched them force him back to the ground.
"Daryl!" Their leader yelled, addressing the stupid man that was now being pinned down onto the pavement.
"NO!" Negan roared, bringing the bat up in front of Daryl's face. His anger was soon replaced with his smile. I smiled down too, an evil idea blossoming in my mind.
"Oh no," Negan addressed Daryl as I pressed my mouth against his ear.
Don't kill him…Kill another one…We can hurt him bad without even laying a hand on him.
He started to chuckle again as my words reached him, and then turned to walk away. Daryl probably thought he was going to die.
"That… Oh my! That… is a no-no." He crouched down next to where his men were holding down Daryl against the road, who was breathing heavy. "The whole thing… not one bit of that shit flies here."
Daryl had given up fighting. He knew he had fucked up, but had no idea what we had in store for him. For all of them.
We would make him pay for that little stunt.
Dwight brought up a crossbow and aimed it at Daryl. I frowned as he brought it right up against Daryl's head. I shook my head.
That was too easy.
"You want me to do it? Right here?" Dwight aimed the bow and I rolled my eyes. He was trying to suck up to Negan, but we had other plans.
Negan gripped Daryl's hair and pulled it back to look at his face. Daryl snarled and breathed heavy as Negan studied him. I glared down at him, but I could tell Negan had been impressed by him.
"No," my husband said, looking up at Dwight. "No you don't kill that. Not until you try a little."
I knew it. He wanted this man on his side. He respected men like this.
I curled my lip. I thought he was just stupid.
Dwight stared in disbelief at Negan, and then helped pull Daryl back into the lineup. Negan stood up and I scanned the faces, looking for our next victim.
"Anyway…" he trailed off and waited—waited for me to whisper to him which one I had picked.
I couldn't decide.
"Now, I already told you people. First one's free, then… what'd I say? I said I WOULD SHUT THAT SHIT DOWN!" He was walking in front of them, stalling so he could hear who I had chosen. I couldn't pick between the leader, or the man with the mullet. A smile spread on Negan's face. "No exceptions."
He licked his lips and continued.
"Now, I don't know what kind of lying assholes you've been dealing with… but I'm a man of my word. First impressions are important. I need you to know me."
My focus went to the asian man kneeling at the end of the lineup—who's eyes had been trained on the sick woman all night long. The woman who was hunched over and looked pale white. I could see it in his eyes—the way he was looking at her, I knew they were together. Their bond was almost tangible and I felt envy as I looked between the two.
That one.
I pointed at the asian man and hugged Negan's shoulder tightly.
It wasn't fucking fair.
I couldn't hold him the same way, couldn't kiss him the way I used to. I had flat-lined in a hospital room while the world went to shit and had turned into one of those brainless corpses.
But we would always be together.
Even in death, I was still at his side.
The world was ours for the taking…
They didn't deserve to have what we couldn't.
Negan smirked.
"So… back to it."
He brought the barbed-wire bat down on the asian's head with a loud grunt, but I didn't watch him. My eyes were trained on the sick woman who let out a whimpered sob and watched in horror as her lover's body fell forward. Negan hit him a second time and she wailed and gasped as her lover tried to sit back up.
I glanced over to him; he had blood running down his entire face and was gasping, as if he was trying to speak. His eye was protruding out, and he was barely able to stay sitting up. He was trying to look at the woman, whose mouth was open in horror.
A wicked smile spread on my lips.
I had made the right choice.
Negan held the bat behind his back and leaned in close to our current victim's face.
"Buddy, you still there?"
The man sputtered. I tilted my head to the side in fascination.
How was he still alive?
I squinted down at him, and then smiled again as my husband's voice filled my ears.
"I just don't know. It seems like you're trying to speak, but you just took a hell of a hit. I just popped your skull so hard, your eyeball just popped out, and it is gross as shit!"
"Maggie," the bleeding man said, addressing the sobbing woman. "I'll find you."
The grin on my face disappeared at his words.
Find her?
Like I had found Negan?
When I had died, it had been so lonely. I had spent weeks searching for Negan before I finally found him, and I had been with him ever since.
Did he know about the other side?
Was this cusp of life he was on give him a window into what happened after death?
The cries of the lineup snapped me out of my thoughts, and I scanned their faces, same as Negan.
"Oh… Oh hell….I can see this is hard on you guys." His entire theatrical demeanor had changed into a sympathetic one, but I knew better.
We both had no sympathy left.
He was toying with them, and I waited impatiently for him to get back to it.
"I am sorry. I truly am. But I did say it. No exceptions!" We both smiled as he turned to finish the job, swinging the bat into the asian man's head and knocking him to the ground.
We all watched him beat the man to death. They looked on in horror, whereas I almost felt alive again. I clung to his back and watched in fascination; the impacts made a squishing noise that made me giggle in delight. It mingled well with the sounds of their sobs.
"You bunch of pussies…" Negan brought the bat down hard, spraying blood all around us. "I'm just gettin' started."
He continued to bash the dead man's skull, and I looked around at what we had done today with pride.
They would never mess with us again.
Not after this.
I watched the bat—the bat he had named after me, get coated in crimson blood and let my lips trail over to his ear.
I'm thirsty.
I wanted more, and my husband had never been one to disappoint. He smiled as my words reached him. The asian man's body was still twitching on the ground beneath us.
"Lucille is thirsty!" he announced. The sound of my name on his lips made me hug him even tighter. "She is a vampire bat!"
I giggled at the joke.
No one else thought it was clever…
But I did.
My Negan always had such a great sense of humor…
