I lived in a little settlement built within the courthouse of an abandoned town. I had lost count of how many days had passed since the end of the world started, but I felt safe within our community. We had started to rebuild civilization.

People worked together to survive; they traded food and supplies. Day after day, we continued to get more comfortable. It started to feel like before, when the dead weren't coming back to life.

I walked through the courthouse and past a few people that were arguing over a trade they were trying to make, on my way to the library. The scavengers brought books from some of their runs, and although there weren't many to pick from, I allowed myself to get lost in their fantasy worlds. It was a nice escape from the harsh reality we were all faced with.

The leader of our community, a man named Gavin, smiled at me from across the room, but I ignored him. He was very old fashioned and didn't believe women should be allowed outside of the walls of the courthouse. He said we needed to be protected, because without us, life could not continue on. I always ignored his multiple advances as he tried to flirt with me. I wanted to help fight. I wanted to be more than just someone's wife.

With book in hand, I headed back to the area of the courthouse my father and I shared. It was just the two of us—my mother had died when I was a child, and I had no siblings. My father was one of the scavengers who was tasked with finding supplies to keep our community thriving. He was getting ready to go out on a run, and I wanted to say goodbye to him before he left.

I headed over to the little office where my father's room was located and knocked.

"Come in!" his cheery voice called out, and I entered with a smile. My father was a good man, but the community thought he was strange. In fact, they thought we were both peculiar.

We mostly kept to ourselves, and when he wasn't out looking for loot, my father worked on different projects and inventions. He had a colorful imagination, but he wasn't always able to make his contraptions work. His attempt at building a stove had caused a fire, and after that, he wasn't allowed to use what Gavin considered "dangerous tools". My father didn't let that discourage him, and continued to try and build projects. 'Accidents happen,' he said.

So we were seen as odd. The crazy old man with his contraptions and the girl whose nose was always stuck in a book. I didn't let it bother me.

I sat down in a chair across from the desk where my father was peering at a generator. His hair was starting to turn grey and I noticed the wrinkles in his skin. He was growing old, but that meant he was living. We both were. That's all that mattered anymore.

"How's it coming along?" I asked, setting the book in my lap and examining the tools that were laying on his desk.

"I'll figure it out eventually! If I can get this running, we could build more and eventually power the entire courthouse!" He grinned at me from where he was standing next to the generator.

"When do you leave?" I asked, as he pointed towards a screw driver and I reached across to hand it to him.

"I have to get going soon." My father wiped at his forehead and pulled out one of the screws on the generator. "There was a factory building I noticed out east during my run yesterday. I want to go check it out."

"Just be careful, dad," I warned, watching as he pried one of the pieces off the generator and it fell onto the desk with a soft thud.

"Always am, kiddo." He set down the screwdriver and looked up at me with a warm smile. "I'll see if I can't find you a new book while I'm out there."

I smiled back at him and held up the worn novel up in front of me.

"I don't mind reading these." Most of the books we had were because of my dad. He was still trying to spoil me, even during the end of the world.

"A new adventure couldn't hurt." My father chuckled."I better go before it gets dark. I'll be back soon, okay?"

I nodded at him. Every time he left it made me nervous, but my father knew how to handle himself out there. I tried not to worry for him, but I couldn't help it.

"Okay. Love you." I stood up and hugged him. He left the room and I picked up my book and opened to where I had left off.


The sun set and my father did not return.

I waited by the front doors of the courthouse with my book in my lap trying to focus on the words, but I was too nervous. I had started to pace when Gavin came down the stairs in the main room.

"Everything alright?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"My father was supposed to be back hours ago," I explained in a worried voice as I watched out one of the boarded up windows. "He's never this late, Gavin."

"I'm sure here's fine, darling. No need to worry." He came up behind me and placed an arm around my hip, pulling me towards him. "Why don't you come up to my room and we can wait for him there?"

I stepped out of his grasp and continued trying to look out the window.

"I'm not interested," I grumbled.

"Oh, come on sweetheart. Your old man is probably just gonna spend the night out there. He'll be back by morning." Gavin went to reach for me again, but I swatted his hand away.

"He's never done that before, and you know it." I turned to glare at him.

Gavin huffed at my rejection and headed back to the stairs.

"Suit yourself, woman. You'll be waiting by that window all night."

Gavin disappeared up the stairs, and I waited a little while longer. After a few minutes passed with no sign of my father's car, I glanced back over to the stairs to make sure Gavin was gone. I headed over to the inventory room and took one of the keyrings from a hook on the wall. We had a few cars, and I was determined to go find my father.

I unlocked the front doors and rushed out into the night, sprinting over to one of the cars before I could be caught. Once inside the vehicle, I started the engine and flipped on the headlights. I wasn't sure if anyone saw me or not—I was speeding away from the courthouse and down the road within seconds. I passed by a few walkers as I headed east, keeping my eyes peeled for a factory building.

A thunderstorm rolled overhead and lightning lit up the sky as I drove down the highway. I scanned the road for my father's car, but saw no sign of him. I felt tears well up in my eyes, but fought them. I refused to accept the possibility he was gone.

And then I saw it.

Off in the distance and lit up by the moon was a huge factory towering into the sky. I stepped on the gas and headed straight for the large building. He had to be there.

I reached it within a few minutes and parked the vehicle in front of the large building. My eyes grew wide as I saw a bunch of walkers beyond a large fence that was damaged. It looked like someone had crashed into it. I could see my father's car was parked inside the grounds of the factory; the front of it was bent.

He had crashed into the fence.

I got out of the car and headed up to a gate as the rain drenched my clothes. I went to try and open it when a bright light flooded my vision.

"STOP!" A commanding voice made me freeze and I held my hand up in front of my face, trying to shield my eyes from the light. After a few seconds, the light was pointed in a different direction, and I looked up to see there was a man standing on a walkway, pointing a gun at me with a flashlight attached to it.

"Please!" I called out. "I'm looking for my father!"

I glanced around to realize we weren't alone. There were multiple men guarding the fence from within the walls, and they were all aiming their guns at me.

The gate opened and there was a man on the other side, regarding me sternly. I held my hands up.

"I'm not armed," I explained, hoping my honesty would grant me access. "That's my father's car!" I pointed at the vehicle that was parked within eyesight. The man glanced over at it, and then back to me.

I gasped as he grabbed me and pulled me past the gate without saying anything. I stumbled as he forced me to walk forward. I looked up at the large building just as the thunder roared.

I wondered if I had just made a huge mistake.

He led me through the front doors of the building. We rounded a few halls and went up a flight of stairs before coming to a stop in front of a door that was locked from the outside. I watched as he unlocked it and then shoved me inside the room. The light from the hall lit it up just enough so that I could see my father.

He was sitting on the floor with his back to the wall when he looked up to see me. The door slammed shut and I could hear it being locked as we were suddenly engulfed in darkness.

"What are you doing here?!" he demanded. I could hear him start to get to his feet and I reached out in the darkness, trying to find his hands.

"You didn't come home. I was so worried!" My hands found his and he squeezed tightly.

"You shouldn't have come here, honey. You shouldn't be here…" The sound of his voice made me feel sick to my stomach.

"What did they do to you?" I asked, letting go of his hands to sit down on the ground. "What happened?"

He sat next to me and I heard him let out a long sigh.

"They haven't hurt me… yet. I accidentally crashed into their fence, and I got dragged inside. This community… I think I met their leader. He told me that the car was now his. I tried to explain to him that I needed it to get back to you, but he didn't care. He said if I didn't cooperate, I would live to regret it. If I lived at all."

"I'm so sorry." I felt a shudder spread throughout my body as I realized we were both probably going to die. At least I was with my father.

Time passed slowly as we waited to learn our fate. Eventually the door opened and the same guard bent down to grab my arm.

"Wait!" My father begged. He reached out to me, but I was dragged out into the hall and the door was slammed in his face.

"I'll be okay!" I called out to him as I was led out of the hallway and up some more stairs. I could feel myself shaking, but I tried my best to be brave.

I was led up onto some sort of metal platform and then the guard let me go. There was a man standing across the way by a metal rail. I stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say. The guard left, and then I was alone with the strange man. What was I supposed to say? I glanced down at the ground underneath the metal and shivered. I didn't like heights.

"Impressive, huh?" the man asked in a gravelly voice. I didn't respond and stared at his back. He was tall and lean, with a black, leather jacket and black boots. He had a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire sitting over his shoulder—its tip was pointed at me.

When he finally faced me, I was met with a wide grin.

"Don't you like it?" He gestured to the large room we were standing in. Again, I didn't speak. I wasn't sure if he was referring to the room itself, or the entire complex. I was too terrified to ask. There was something about this man that made me very nervous.

He brought a hand to his face and rubbed his beard, letting out a long sigh.

"I am being mighty fuckin' rude right now. Sorry about that darlin'. I'm Negan." I would have thought it would be impossible, but his smile grew even wider.

"Please don't hurt my father," I said in a quiet voice. I sounded just as scared as I felt.

"Your father is my prisoner. You guys don't fuckin' get how things work around here, but you'll figure it out soon enough." A sinister expression played out on his features and I gulped. I could see the look in his eye—he was planning on hurting my father.

This man was evil.

"Please. Just let us go," I pleaded. "He's a good man. He didn't mean any harm coming here. Crashing into your fence was an accident."

"You don't get it, kid." Negan took a few steps towards me.

"I'm not a kid!" I raised my voice at him and then closed my mouth, regretting the tone of voice immediately. I was so sick of everyone thinking I was just a little girl. Between Gavin keeping me locked up inside the courthouse and this man treating me like a child, I was frustrated. But now was not the time to be argumentative.

My outburst had taken him off guard, but it wasn't long before the smile returned to Negan's face as he regarded me. He almost seemed intrigued.

"Accident or not, that fence will need to be repaired. He's gonna pay for it. One way, or another."

My mind raced. I knew my father wouldn't be able to mend the fence. He was good with gadgets and contraptions, but he had never been good with carpentry. Once Negan realized he couldn't fix it, he would probably hurt him. I couldn't have that. I couldn't lose the only person I cared about.

"Take me instead." The words were out before I had the time to process them.

It became eerily quiet as Negan continued to stare at me. I felt like a trapped animal.

"And why would I do that?" he asked in a low voice.

"I'm young. I'll work twice as hard as him."

Negan let out a laugh and then leaned back and stretched.

"Gosh doll, if your father is so worthless, I'll just get rid of him." He said it so nonchalantly, as if he hadn't just mentioned killing someone.

"No!" I half-shouted, surprising both myself and Negan. "You can keep the cars and me, but please let my father go."

"And who's gonna fix my damn fence?"

I paused, trying to come up with an answer. I didn't know the first thing about repairing fences, but Negan wasn't saying no. He was considering my offer, so I tried to sweeten the deal.

"I'll do whatever you want. Please just let him go."

I wasn't entirely sure why I chose those words. Telling him I would do anything was a big statement, but I remembered the sinister expression I had seen on his face only moments before. It was my father or me., and I would do anything to save my dad.

Negan didn't speak and just stared into my eyes for a long time. I felt like he was looking into my soul and I gulped, but held his gaze. I wasn't lying. If he let my father go, I'd cooperate. I willed my eyes to tell him that.

Finally he answered me.

"You've got yourself a deal."

I let out a breath and felt relief. My father was going to be okay.

With that, he approached me and grabbed my arm. His grip was strong, but he wasn't hurting me as he led me off the metal platform and back into the halls. We went back to the cells and Negan opened the door to the room with my father. Once he saw me, my father stood up from the floor. I walked into the little room and hugged him.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking down at me as if he was looking for any injuries.

"Yes, dad. I'm okay. It's gonna be okay. I promise. I-"

"Take him." Negan's voice cut me off, and I looked over my shoulder to see a few guards were entering into the little room. They grabbed my father roughly by his arms and pulled him out of the cell.

"Wait!" I cried out. I went to go to him, but I felt a hand wrap around my wrist. I glanced over my shoulder to see Negan was holding me back.

"Dad!" I yelled. I felt my legs buckle, and I fell onto the ground as the only person I loved disappeared beyond the door. I felt tears roll down my cheeks, but I didn't care how pathetic I looked. I felt terrified and helpless.

"Get off the ground," Negan ordered in a deep voice. I didn't move at first and tried to stop crying. How could he be so cold? He didn't seem to care that he had just split up a family.

I sniffled and slowly picked myself up.

"You didn't let me say goodbye," I whispered.

Negan didn't say anything and headed back down the hallway. I wiped my face with the back of my hand and watched as he gestured for me to follow him.

I was trapped with the beast.