Till Death Do Us Part

Author's Note:

Hello everyone! I know it's been a while since I have posted anything on here but I've been working on a few different things. This is a one shot, based on the relationship with Sherry and Dwight, prior to the iron scene, and possibly how everything could have gone down between them. I hope you enjoy.

(Sherry POV)

I blinked my eyes open, surprised to see I was met with darkness. The fire that had been set up in front of us had gone out, and its absence was very obvious. I shivered as a chill ran through me and wrapped his shirt that he had given me, tighter around me. He claimed he didn't get cold, but I doubted that, and he was probably just being selfless as always. It was one of the things I loved about him.

I let my head fall onto his shoulder, sighing heavily. I couldn't imagine how he was staying warm with just the thin t-shirt he had on, but he hadn't complained.

I scooted closer to him, trying to take in the warmth radiating off his skin. I considered waking him, to ask him to light the fire again, but I decided against it.

I wrapped my arm around his torso, letting my head fall into his chest. I felt him breathe in and out, his chest rising up and down with each breath. He was so calm, content even. I closed my eyes and tried to match his breathing to my own, but the breath caught in my throat, as an image of Tina ran through my head. Not a good memory, but one from the day before, of a corpse sinking its teeth into her throat.

I choked down a sob that was coming up and swallowed back the tears. How could she be dead? My sister.

I heard a grunt and felt him stir underneath me. I got off of him, and he sat up rather slowly, obviously still half asleep. "Honey, you okay?" He asked softly, shaking a strand of hair out of his face.

I nodded "I'm fine" I lied with a small smile.

His eyes met with mine, with a sharp concern. "I know that's not true." He muttered. "I mean Tina?"

Just hearing him say her name brought the pain back, like a sharp thorn piercing through my heart. "I'm fine" I repeated. My eyes fell on the ground.

He was silent for a few seconds, but I knew him well enough to know that he didn't believe me. That was fine with me.

A rustle in the leaves made me jump up, and I aimed my gun at the source of the noise. He stood up and picked up the weapon he had stolen from the man we had met a day ago and pointed it towards the dead creature stumbling towards us. He focused for a second, and pulled the trigger which sent him immediately to the ground "Shit!" He exclaimed.

I watched the arrow hit a tree near the creature instead of hitting it. I sighed as I pulled the trigger on the pistol, hitting the creature in the forehead.

I tucked the gun away, before I turned to help him off the ground. He chuckled slightly. "I thought you've used one before" I told him smugly, as he set the weapon over his shoulders.

He sighed. "I forgot that I haven't."

Although I knew well he had a horrible memory, I doubted he could forget that something never happened. "Sure you did" I teased, punching him lightly in the arm.

The sun had risen by the time he got a fire going again. We ate something that resembled roadkill, which I tried not to think about. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either.

He was silent the entire time, spare for a few words. I could only imagine what was on his mind, and I knew him talking about it would help.

"You haven't said much" I pointed out.

"Oh well I'm just thinking" he muttered as he put out the last of the flames.

"About?" I pressed.

He hesitated. "I've just been considering something" he admitted.

"And that is?" I uncapped a bottle of water and brought it to my lips, one of the last ones we had.

"What if we go back..."

I didn't know what to say, and for a moment, I said nothing at all. "What? Are you crazy?" I asked.

"It might be better" he continued. "I mean Wade and the others already came after us, what if we just go back now, apologize for it and return everything and-"

"Tina is dead!" I shouted, tears welling up in my eyes. "And she died for this! For a chance for us all to escape! For us to live!"

He bit his lip. "This isn't living" he explained calmly. "This is just surviving until the next day. Eating roadkill, drinking river water, sleeping in dirt next to a fire that goes out in an hour. Is this really what you want for the rest of your life?" His eyes met mine, as I pondered the question.

I shook my head. "No it's not..." But to go back? Was it really that easy? I didn't know much about the saviors and their rules, but I was certain that we wouldn't be let off so easy. There would have to be some form of punishment right? And certainly Tina's death wouldn't count.

"Think about it, it's for the best" he continued in the same tone. He stood up and kicked the pile of sticks, moving them out of place, so it didn't look like anyone had spent the night there, making it harder for the saviors to track us.

What if he was right? What if it was for the best?

It sure didn't seem that way now. We had gone back like he had suggested and we were actually let in. Dwight had returned the medicine and gun to some smug savior, who had then also taken the bike and the crossbow that we had stolen from him.

Only moments later, we were tossed into a room, and the door was locked. No one had said anything about why, but all I knew was that we were both weaponless and this was not going to be good.

He was quiet, his skin had turned pale, and I knew well he was scared. So was I. I had no clue what they were going to do to us, or if they were going to do anything at all.

"D" I muttered, trying to get his attention. He lifted his head up and glanced at me. "It's going to be okay" I encouraged, my hand moving to grab his own. "We'll be fine"

He didn't look so sure but he nodded slowly "yeah" he muttered before he let his head fall again. I could see his teeth were clenched together, as if he were in pain, and emotionally it seemed he was.

"D" I started again, before I was interrupted by the door slamming open. Someone walked in that I didn't recognize, but felt like I should've. He was wearing a smug smile across his face, and across his shoulders he had some kind of weapon which I couldn't distinguish.

"Well look at you two sorry shits" he stated as he closed the door, and took a step towards us. I swallowed a painful lump that had formed in my throat.

The man sighed and rubbed his beard for a second. "Where's my maybe new wife?" He asked

Then it hit me. This was Negan, the leader of this group and the one who everyone basically worshipped. Tina had told me about him, about how he was an arrogant prick (in nicer words of course, my sister never really had a bad mouth) and how she did not want to marry him. That was when D had come up with the plan to get us out of there.

"She's dead" Dwight muttered under his breath.

Negan sighed and shook his head. "That's a shame" he commented, sounding genuine enough. "She seemed like a nice girl, of course she was super hot as well, I was really looking forward to screwing around with her a bit but..." He paused "it's really a tragic loss."

"She wasn't going to marry you" I couldn't help myself from blurting out. "That's why we took it, that's why we ran."

Negan looked away from Dwight and in my direction. He took a few steps towards me and crouched down so he was at my level. "And what's your name darlin'?" He asked in a low voice.

"Sherry..." I told him nervously, his proximity to me making me nervous.

"Well Sherry" he started. "She was your sister right?" I nodded "I must say that you too are super hot"

"Get away from her!" Dwight shouted.

He looked back at him and straightened up again. "Well I see that someone here doesn't know who the fuck he's talking to" he chuckled as he went back over towards Dwight. He pointed the weapon at him, which I could now see was some kind of baseball bat. "On your knees" he told him.

I glanced over at Dwight to see he had done just that. "I'm sorry..." He muttered.

"We both are" I chimed in. "We made a mistake, and we learned our lesson"

"All we ask is your forgiveness" he added, glancing up at him, looking him straight in the eyes.

This would work. It had to work. We both would say whatever we needed to and this would all be over. We'd both go back to working for points and that'd be the end of it.

"Huh" Negan muttered. He looked at Dwight then back at me, then back at Dwight again. "Well that is some noble shit right there. Coming in here, admitting you were wrong, telling me you are sorry, and then on top, asking for my forgiveness!" He paused, as a grin spread across his face. "That is exactly what I like to see!" He pointed the bat at Dwight again. "What's your name"

"Dwight" he responded.

"Well Dwighty, I must say I am thoroughly impressed with what you and your little friend here have done" He continued.

"She's my wife" Dwight muttered.

"Well that makes plenty of fucking sense!" His smile vanished suddenly and it caused a chill to run through me. "But you both did break the rules, no matter how sorry you are" he continued in a darker tone. "There has to be a punishment."

I glanced over at Dwight and could see he was just as nervous as I was. We had to have known this wouldn't go well, but somehow I had fooled myself into believing we were going to be fine.

"W-what kind of p-punishment?" Dwight asked, his voice obviously shaking.

"One of you has to die" Negan stated.

"I-it should be me" Dwight muttered. "It was my idea, Sherry had nothing to do with it!"

"She's my sister!" I blurted out. "You did it for me, you don't have to die for it!"

"Easy easy, you don't have to fight with each other over it!" Negan exclaimed. "Just one of you has to die"

"Just don't kill Sherry" Dwight muttered. "Please don't kill her." He glanced up at Negan once again. "please I beg you, you can kill me just not her"

"Hmmmm" Negan muttered. "You beg me huh?" He paused. "I have to say that's pretty cute" he rubbed his chin once again. "Tell you what Dwighty, I'll leave her alone but then it's going to be you"

My heart skipped a few beats as I glanced frantically over at Dwight. "No..." I muttered.

His eyes fell on mine, as if he wanted me to stay quiet, but he didn't say so. "Just do it" he mumbled, looking back at Negan, "I'm ready".

"Alright then Dwighty" Negan raised the bat up. "Alright" he brought it down.

"NO!" I shouted. He stopped the bat in mid air. "Please don't" I could feel tears were now running down my cheeks.

"I told you, there has to-" he started.

"I'll marry you!" I blurted out. I could feel two pairs of eyes on me and I knew one was horrified by my decision and the other was probably very happy about it. Maybe enough that he wouldn't have to kill either of us.

"What did you say Sherry?" Negan lowered the bat.

"I-I said I'll marry you" I started trying to stop my voice from shaking. "Just please don't kill Dwight" I begged. "Please"

"What Sherry no!" I heard Dwight cry, but my eyes were locked on Negan's. He had to agree to it. He had to! I couldn't let Dwight die!

"So you're saying if I let Dwighty boy live, you will marry me and become one of my wives?" Negan asked with a grin.

I swallowed again and nodded. "Yes that's what I'm saying" I told him without looking away from his eyes that seemed to be burning into mine.

"Well you've got yourself a deal" Negan chuckled. "I mean damn, how can I possibly pass that up? You are really fucking hot."

"Sherry, you can't! You just can't" Dwight protested.

"Hush hush Dwighty boy, the lady has made her decision." Negan glanced over at him with a smile, and it sickened me. "And that's that" he took a step away from us, and towards the door. "You two just hang tight for a second. Be back in a few" and then he opened the door and was gone.

Dwight glanced over at me, and I could see the pain and betrayal in his eyes.

"I'm sorry..." I whispered in a tone that was breathless and shaky.

He looked down, and a single tear ran down his cheek. "You promised..."

"I'm sorry..." I repeated.

"What is this?" My hand was in his and he was holding onto it loosely, but tight enough for me to know he didn't want to let go.

"It's just something I came up with, figured a normal picnic would be a waste since we just ate." He told me with a smile.

It was my sister's birthday today, and she had held a sort of barbecue in celebration. It had to end early unfortunately, since she also had to work. D had taken that as an opportunity for our sixth date.

In front of us was one of those checkered blankets and on top of it was a six pack of beer and a large bag filled with pretzels.

"It's perfect" I told him, placing a kiss on his cheek, "thank you"

His smile widened "anything for you"

I giggled and sat down in the grass, smoothing out the sun dress I had on. He sat down next to me and grabbed one of the bottles and popped one open. "Here"

I took it from him as he opened the bag and poured some of the pretzels on each of the plates. He then took another bottle and opened it. "To us" he outstretched the bottle towards me.

"To us" I repeated as I clinked the bottle against his and brought it to my lips.

As I put it down, I grabbed one of the pretzels. And then something hit me. Tina had a second bag of pretzels that had disappeared. "Did you take these from the party?" I asked with a giggle.

"Uhhhh yeah..." He admitted. "I sort of forgot to buy some" he chuckled nervously.

"Of course you did" I teased, as I ate the pretzel.

"Well I have a shitty memory" he sighed.

"Yes you've told me"

"I did?"

"Three times already"

"Oh I forgot" a light pink colored his cheeks as he looked at the ground, obviously flustered.

He was quiet for a second. "Sherry?" He asked slowly.

"Yeah?" I glanced over at him pushing a strand of hair away from my face.

He hesitated before speaking again. "It's just I've been thinking" he paused. "It's just you're so beautiful and well I'm a dork who'd forget his own head if it wasn't attached to me." He chuckled again. "What I'm trying to say is that you're too good for me and I just don't want to lose you..." His eyes met mine, and I could see obvious concern in them.

"You're not going to lose me" I told him, not looking away from him. I reached my hand out and rested it over his. "Ever"

"You seem confident" he chuckled "after only our fourth date"

"Sixth" I corrected with a grin.

"No I could swear it's the fourth"

"Ah yes because you have the sharpest memory on the planet" I teased.

He chuckled again. "So you promise not to leave me?" He asked.

"As long as you don't do anything stupid."

"Oh I think it's too late for that" he commented.

I giggled before I regained my composure. "I love you Dwight. And I promise not to leave you" I paused.

He nodded "okay"

A sickening feeling spread in my chest, as I forced myself to look away from him, squeezing my eyes shut to keep the tears in.

We sat like that for probably a few minutes, but it felt longer, much longer. And then the door slammed open which made me jump. Three men came in and practically lunged at Dwight, yanking him off the ground roughly. I heard him cry out once but before I could say or do anything they had taken him out the door, and I truly didn't want to know where.

Negan stepped into the room again, that same grin on his face. "What just happened?" I demanded.

He offered me his hand, which I took as he helped me off the ground. "What just happened..." He started. "Was that I've decided is that just you marrying me is not enough to make up for the shit you two pulled" he told me. "So I've decided to do something else, so that it will be enough"

A lump formed in my throat and I struggled to swallow. "What will be enough?" I asked hesitantly, very afraid of the answer.

He just smiled. "Well I can't ruin the surprise now can I?" He asked with a chuckle. He put his arm around my shoulders "come on. I believe it's ready"

"W-what's ready?" I asked.

He didn't answer me and just started whistling as we walked. With every step we took, I could feel my heartbeat picking up speed. My mouth was dry, and I could feel that my knees were trembling so much that I was afraid I'd fall down.

We entered the main floor, and there was a huge group of people gathered around, and I wouldn't have been surprised if I was told the entirety of the saviors were there, workers, soldiers, even a couple of prisoners. They were all standing in a circle, facing the upper balcony.

A bead of sweat rolled down my forehead, and I was suddenly aware it was hot. Hotter than usual at least. It's safe to say it was always hot in the sanctuary. As I looked around, I discovered the source of the heat. The furnace, that was usually never on, had been turned up all the way so that it created a heatwave throughout the entire room, probably the entire building. There was a shape, among the crackling flames that I couldn't quite make out.

As we walked closer, the group parted so we could walk through and everyone fell to their knees. Negan whistled as he walked us through, heading towards the center of the circle. He let go of my shoulders, and gestured for me to stand at the side. He didn't have to tell me twice, as I calmly walked away from him, every nerve in my body screaming at me to get away as quickly as possible.

I grit my teeth as I turned around, trying to appear as content as possible. I wrapped my fingers around my wrist, gripping tight enough that I could feel my fingernails in my skin.

That was the first time I saw him. I gasped and cried out at the same time. Closer to the furnace, was a single chair, and sitting in it was Dwight. His hair hung in his face but he lifted his head, and it fell away. I could see a thick purple bruise stretched across his skin that had not been there before he had been dragged out of the room. A small trickle of blood flowed from his lip, which was busted open.

His hands were tied behind his back, and he was looking around wildly, a completely panicked and absolutely terrified look in his eyes. More than anything I wanted to go to him, tell him it was okay, but I knew I couldn't. I shut my eyes as I felt a tear roll down my face.

"Well fuck" Negan started, addressing the whole room. "What's about to happen is going to be difficult to watch" he paused. "I wish I didn't have to do it. But there have to be consequences. Punishment for those who break the rules." His eyes moved around the entire room.

"This place, was built to help people survive. What we have here I would like to stay around for a long long time. We help people survive and we make each other stronger. That's what we do." He glanced over at Dwight. "But nobody gets a free pass. We have rules and everybody needs to follow them." He turned to the entire group "why?"

"The rules keep us alive" came a chorus of voices all around me. I swallowed again.

Negan looked pleased. "Fuck yes they do. Rules make this all work. And anybody who thinks that they don't apply to them" He looked back over at Dwight and I felt a chill run up my spine. "Well they'll just have to learn the hard way." He chuckled.

A savior that was standing close to the furnace, reached in with a sort of hook tool and pulled something out. I could see the steam rising off of it and once it cleared I could see what it was, a solid metal iron that looked red hot. The surface was practically glowing with a vibrant orange color.

The savior moved it over to Negan, who had pulled on some sort of glove. He took it and took another step towards Dwight. That's when I realized what was going to happen. "NO!" I cried out, but found that I was unable to move. My legs felt like they were frozen, but they still trembled.

Negan turned around "no?" He asked. "Sherry you don't get to say no. This is what's going to happen." He turned back towards Dwight. "It has to..." He added darkly.

I felt another tear roll down my face, as I met eyes with Dwight. I don't think I had ever seen him more afraid in his entire life. I could see multiple beads of sweat rolling down his cheeks and his entire body was shaking. His lips were parted and trembling violently, his eyes locked on the metal just inches from his face.

I squeezed my eyes shut, holding back a cry. This wasn't happening? It couldn't be! Why was I letting this happen? I needed to do something, anything! But I couldn't move a muscle. All the strength in my body was being drained just to keep standing.

I opened my eyes again, glancing from my husband to Negan, and back to Dwight. I could see his mouth was moving but couldn't hear what he was saying. His breaths picked up until he was gasping for air, his chest rising and falling rapidly with each breath. "P-p-please don't... P-please..." He whimpered, attempting to move his head away from it.

"I have to, and I'm sorry" he sighed. "But you both broke the rules" he paused. "So..." Negan started. "Let's just get this over with." And just like that he pressed the metal against Dwight's face and a scream forced its way from his body. It was the most awful sound I had ever heard and I wanted it to stop. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to pretend this wasn't happening in front of me or at least those weren't the screams of my husband. It was some other man, not the one I had grown to love.

"Why are we here again?" I looked up from the menu in my hands, and at my husband.

"Really?" I asked with a chuckle of disbelief. "You have no idea?"

"Nope, not a clue" he chuckled nervously, his fingers tapping on the table.

I sighed, a small smile forcing its way to my lips. "You don't remember what today is?..."

He thought for a second. "Yeah no..." He admitted. "Should I?"

I decided against answering his question. "Our anniversary"

His face turned pale. "Right, that?..." He glanced down at the table. "I completely forgot..."

I giggled. I had planned on this. This was classic Dwight, and it was adorable to me, probably infuriating to anyone else. "I know you did" I teased. "It's okay"

"How many years is this, two or three?" He asked.

"Four" I told him with a smirk.

"Right, that's what I meant" he chuckled.

I rolled my eyes. "No it's not. You truly have no clue"

"Four years is a lot to remember" he defended. "It's a long time, like..." He paused. "Like really long"

I giggled again. "You're such a goofball"

"I guess I am" he sighed. "But you love me anyways?"

"You know I do" I leaned over and placed a kiss on his lips.

"Good, I don't know what I'd do if you ever left me" he confessed as I pulled away.

"Probably forget all about me" I joked.

His eyes turned serious. "I could never forget about you" he admitted. "I'd probably die without you"

I rested my hand over his "D, I'm not going anywhere. I love you, and the only thing that would be able to keep me from you, is if I were dead." I paused as I looked into his eyes. "I mean it"

He smirked "then you'll just have to put up with me and my wonderful memory" he teased "till death do us part"

I smiled. "I think I can live with that" I leaned over to kiss him again.

The screaming filled the entire room, and I could hear the complete agony in the sound. I wanted to cover my ears and block it, but I couldn't move. Every muscle in my body had turned to ice. I needed that sound to stop. I needed him to stop screaming like that.

But it didn't stop. It dragged on, for it seemed like hours, although I knew well that it wasn't. I made the mistake of opening my eyes and immediately cried out. His mouth was thrown open in a permanent shriek, the eye that wasn't under the surface of the iron was squeezed shut, but I could see a steady stream of tears running down his cheek. His entire body was frozen in pain. His shoulders were thrown back, the only thing stopping them from fall back, was the back of the chair.

Negan had a sort of sneer on his face, and I found it impossible to believe that he had really not wanted to do that as he had claimed before. He was pressing down on the iron, hard, searing it deeper into Dwight's skin.

And then he stepped away, pulling the iron off of his face, a difficult task since it had seemed to have attached itself with it. I held back a gag as a piece of his skin came with it. The screaming subsided, and it fell eerily quiet.

A harsh burn spread across half of his face, and his skin had molted in several areas, leaving behind a sickening orange color. In a few spots, the skin was gone completely and in its place were deep red blisters. Smoke was still coming off the burn.

His head fell back and his eyes closed, and I knew he must've passed out. It was a relief, since at least I knew he was no longer in pain. I could feel myself trembling and I struggled to take in complete breaths.

Negan sighed. "Come on, now that wasn't so bad" he commented. He turned towards a man I recognized as the savior's doctor "Carson, fix up Dwighty boy here, best you can" he instructed him.

He turned towards the rest of the group, passing the iron back to the other savior. "Now let this be a lesson to everyone, because I do not want to have to ever do that again"

He walked over to me and grabbed onto my arm. "C'mon Sherry, let's have you meet all the other ladies" he put his arm around me as he walked us away from the center of the circle, and where Dwight was still sitting.

I brought my hand to wipe away the last bit of tears, my lip still trembling. I glanced over my shoulder to see the doctor had moved over to Dwight and was helping him up. He looked dazed as if he wasn't sure what was happening. And then he eyes fell on me, and I saw a look of sadness pass through them. He struggled against the doctor's grip, obviously trying desperately to get to me. "Sherry! Sherry!" He called out in a voice that was raspy from screaming.

Negan smirked and turned around. "She's mine now Dwighty" he sneered. He motioned for two of the saviors to come towards him and yank Dwight from Carson's care, and bring him towards where we were standing. When he was close enough, the grin on Negan's face darkened "and so are you" he added, with a small chuckle looking straight into his eyes. "Take him to number two" he instructed the two saviors.

Dwight struggled against their grip, but they successfully moved him away from us, and out of the main floor, and I heard his cries fade away. "Sherry! No! Help me! Sherry!" I felt another tear roll down my cheek as I forced my worry of my old husband away, and looked towards my new one.

He was still smirking as he wrapped his arm around my waist. "Come on my beautiful wife" he almost whispered which caused a chill to run through me. He walked me to the stairs and I was actually shocked that we went up them. I had never been upstairs before, none of the workers had. It was one of the rules.

He was silent the entire time, but I could see he was proud of what had just happened back there. I didn't even want to know where Dwight was, and what was happening to him now, but my thoughts betrayed me as I considered the different grim possibilities.

He brought me to a room, which was not at all what I expected. It was the grandest thing I had ever seen in the entire building. I knew this was Negan's room. It had to be. There were several other women there, each one dressed in black dresses.

"Wives" Negan started obviously addressing them. They each turned their head to look at him. "This here is Sherry. She will be joining us for now on."

They didn't really say anything, but one of them flashed a quick smile at me. It was odd to say the least.

Negan moved over to one of the beds, sitting down on the edge. "C'mere" he gestured towards me. I swallowed and I walked across the floor towards him and sat down.

"Look at me" he spoke in a gentle tone, in sharp contrast to the one he had been using earlier. I forced myself to turn, another tear running down my face.

"Aww darlin'" he started, moving his hand to wipe away the tear. "You have to understand why I did that, why I had to"

I nodded, although I couldn't possibly understand. A deep sigh escaped his lips. "Hey..." he moved a strand on my hair out of my face and tucked it behind my ear. "I hope you're not mad at me..."

I forced a smile to my face. "No of course not" I murmured in a tone that was obviously fake.

He nodded. "Okay..." he stood up. "Okay..." he repeated. "You just get some rest"

I nodded, sniffling a bit. I couldn't imagine how I was going to sleep. He walked away and towards one of the other women. "Frankie, your turn tonight" he told her as he grabbed onto her hand and walked her to another room, and closed the door.

One of the other wives was staring at me, and I acknowledged her with the best smile I could manage as I laid back on the bed. My eyes rested on the two rings on my finger, the only thing I had left of him, except for memories. I couldn't keep them.

I pulled the first ring off, feeling another tear run down my face. I held it in my palm, before taking the second one. I had to put them somewhere, somewhere safe.

I remembered something. I still had my sister's locket box with me. I had buried the locket with her, so it was empty. I took it out of my pocket, and opened it, placing the two rings inside. I closed it gently, and held it out in front of me, my fingers tracing the edges. "My love" I whispered. My true love, my only love. "Don't forget..."