Okay, so yeah, random story idea popped into my head and so this came to be. It's probably not that great I just started writing it while during a writer's block and was trying to just write something just to write~ So if you enjoy this please review!~
Chapter 1: The New World Order
How did it come to this? Melrose Grimes thought, How the fuck...did it come to this? She closed her eyes and lowered her head, breathing in a shaky sigh, as she reluctantly knelt on the graveled ground beneath her. She glanced over to her left to see the forty-year-old Eugene Porter, blubbering like a child as he too knelt on the ground; she felt sorry for him, yes she too was scared but she refused to give the pack of onlooking Saviors the satisfaction of her tears. Melrose moved her eyes to her right, to see her younger half-brother, Carl, following suit, then Aaron, and Sasha, then her father, Rick Grimes, until every member of their group, was kneeling into submission. No, group was the wrong word, they were more than a group, they were a family.
The twenty-three-year-old sighed once again, they were sitting ducks since the Saviors ambushed them and rid them of their guns, knives, and anything that they had that resembled a weapon. They had taken her pistol and her machete, that prick Simon had purposely taken his time patting Melrose, no doubt trying to cop a feel; Mel shook the remembrance of his wandering hands away and lowered her eyes, taking a quick glimpse of her combat-booted feet, in her peripheral vision. Fucking idiot forgot to check my shoes, She thought, feeling her concealed boot knife still hidden away in the safety of her boot. Her nostrils flared in irritation, It's too risky, Melrose thought, she knew that the instant she reached for her knife, the Saviors would open fire and she'd be filled with lead. Dammit. She cursed. She was fucked. They all were fucked and had no choice but to kneel and wait for whatever was to come next...
How did it come to this? She asked again, already knowing the answer. Mel knew the moment that they had blown up those Savior outposts that they were just opening a can of worms, a fucking huge can of worms that now fucked them royally. No one made a sound, not even the Saviors, the atmosphere was thick with intensity and fear, and unknowing, that is what frightened her the most. The unknown.
Even in the cool midnight air, a light sweat perspired on her brow, slowly drizzling down her light olive toned skin until it dripped off her chin. Her clothes began to cling to her body in an uncomfortable manner, and now she was regretting the choice of leaving her long brunette hair unbraided, it now, was an unruly mess, sticking to her forehead and the back of her neck; but, who the hell cared what she looked like? She wasn't expecting...this. The Survivors plan was to get Maggie to the Hilltop to see the doctor, one of them was going to stay there with her until she was well again, while the others traveled back to Alexandria, most likely making it back before daybreak...then, everything went to shit.
That prick Simon, sauntered his way to the front of the pack to face the Survivors, Melrose glanced over to her side once more, noticing that there really was no way for them to escape; the Saviors not only had them outnumbered, but they were blocked in with cars, which still had the headlights on to create a make-shift spotlight, and behind Simon was their very own RV.
"We got lots to talk about,"Simon replied, as he took a few steps backward, towards the RV, he remained facing them the whole time, flashing a toothy grin. "So, let's meet the man."He said, right before giving the door of the RV a good, loud, pat.
At first, nothing happened, everyone and everything seemed to be frozen in time, but suddenly in the quietness, booted foot steps could be heard from inside the RV; Mel swallowed hard, and her heart began to beat rapidly, the anticipation of it all was becoming unbearable, and then the door creaked open—Melrose squinted, trying to make out the figure that came out of the darkeness of the RV, she could tell it was a man, a man wielding what looked to be a baseball bat; he slowly, made his way into the spotlight—he appeared to be about the same age as her father, so near or in his forties, his dark hair was slicked back and reached about the nape of his neck; he was surprisingly well groomed for a man living in an apocalyptic world, the slight stubble that covered his face was a salt and pepper hue, a coprophagous grin curled upon his lips; he wore a black leather jacket with way too many zippers, a maroon colored bandana was tufted up to act as some sort of ascot, his lowered half consisted of charcoal gray jeans and black boots, a black leather glove was donned on his right hand, while his left was bear and that baseball bat in which Mel had detected, was perched over his shoulder, barbed wire was wrapped tightly around the wooden bat and she could've sworn, that she spotted the stains of dried blood, soiling the wood. In another place and time, Mel would have thought that the man that stood before her, was pretty easy on the eyes for an older man, but they were in the here and now, and now, she wanted nothing more than to punched that smug ass grin off his chiseled face.
He swaggered before the Survivors, locking eyes with every single one of them, gripping the handle of his baseball bat tighter. "Pissing our pants yet?"The man asked, smugly, "Boy, do I have the feeling we're getting close. Yep. It's gonna be pee pants city here, reeeeal soon."He taunted, "So, which one of you pricks is the leader? Hm?"
"This one,"Simon informed, pointing right to Rick, "he's the guy."
Mel glanced over to her father, she chewed the inside of her cheek from keeping her from speaking up; she looked back up at the man wielding the barbed wired bat, who slowly made his way towards Rick. This guy, wasn't like the others that they had come across over the years, you could look at him and tell that he wasn't fucking around, the way he carried himself was as if he owned the fucking world, and right now, he fucking did, he was the leader of the Saviors, after all, and they owned pretty much everybody. He was absolutely intimidating.
The man sighed before approaching Rick closer, another grin spread across his face as he stared down at the once small-town sheriff, but that was in another life. "Hi. You're Rick, right?"He asked, "I'm Negan. And I do not appreciate you killing my men. Also, when I sent my people to kill your people, for killing my people, yooou killed more of my people."He snapped, "Not cool. Not fucking cool. You have no fucking idea how not cool that shit is. But, I think you're gonna be up to speed shortly, yeah."Negan spat, his nostrils flared in anger as his dark brown eyes bored into Rick, "You're sooo going to regret crossing me in a few minutes. Yes, you are."
Rick remained silent, they all remained silent, which seemed to please Negan, who continued on ranting, as he walked back and forth before the Survivors. "You see, Rick, whatever you do, no matter what, you don't mess with the new world order. And the new world order is this, and it's really very simple. So, even if you're stupid, which you very may well be, you can understand it. You ready? Here it goes. Pay attention. Give me your shit... or I will kill you."
The way that Negan had uttered those last few words, made a chill slither down Melrose's spine. He's not fucking around..., She thought, her heartbeat was speeding up as fear completely engulfed her. He continued his menacing pacing, "Today was career day. We invested a lot, so you could know who I am and what I can do. You work for me now. You have shit, you give me it to me. That's your job. Now, I know that is a mighty big, nasty pill to swallow, but swallow it you most certainly will."He snapped, his dark brown eyes cut back to Rick, "You ruled the roost. You built something. You thought you were safe. I get it. But...the word is out. You are not safe. Not even fucking close. In fact, you're fucked, more fucked, if you don't do what I want. And what I want...is half your shit. And if that's too much, you can make, find, or steal more, and it'll even out sooner or later. This is your way of life now. The more you fight back, the harder it will be. So, if someone knocks on your door..."Negan paused to chuckle, "...you let us in. We own that fucking door. You try to stop us and we will knock that shit down! You understand?"He inquired, ceasing his pacing as he stopped at Rick once more. Rick just glared up at him, remaining silent once more. "What, no answer?"Negan teased, placing a hand to his ear. He chuckled darkly, "You don't really think that you were gonna get through this without being punished, now, did you? I don't want to kill you, people. I just want to make that clear from the get-go. I want you to work for me and you can't do that, if you're fucking dead, now, can you? But...you killed my people, a whole damn lot of them, more than I'm comfortable with. And for that, well, for that, you're gonna have to fucking pay."Negan hissed, "So now, I'm gonna beat the holy fucking hell outta one of you."
Melrose swallowed hard, her hands were trembling at her sides, fear had driven its fangs into her, but for a brief moment, a wave of relief washed over her. T-Thank God, you're not here with us, Jase. She thought, releasing a quiet sigh of reassurance, knowing that her fiance, Jase Flynnigan, was safe and sound back in Alexandria. He had decided to stay back and watch over, Mel and Carl's younger sister, Judith, while the rest of the Survivors took Maggie to the Hilltop. A single tear ran down her cheek, At least you're safe, Jase.., She thought, as the fear returned to eat her alive.
Negan shifted the wooden baseball bat covered with barbed wire, holding it out before him for the Survivors to get a better look at it, "This—this is Lucille,"He replied, smirking, "and she. Is Awesome." He took his time with each word, referring to his baseball bat in an almost sexual manner as if she were a person. "All of this, all of this, is just so we can pick which one of you gets the honor."His smirked, widened, as he began pacing before the Survivors, once again. Negan strolled past Rick, and Maggie, and paused before Sgt. Abraham Ford, the large red-headed man stared up at the leader of the Saviors, Negan narrowed his eyes at him, he inhaled sharply and a "huh" escaped his lips as he stroked the stubble on his chin and continued walking once again. This time, he stopped before Carl, Mel could hear her heart beating loudly in her ears, she was finding it a struggle to breathe, it felt as if her throat was enclosing, as she shot her eyes up at this terrifying man who now stood before her little brother; her trembling hands, turned into quaking fists.
"Yooou, got one of our guns."Negan said, harshly staring at Carl. Carl Grimes glared up at Negan with his one eye, which caused Negan to smirk; he bent down before the boy, "Whoa. You got a lot of our guns."He stated. Carl remained silent and continued to glower at the man that stood before him, Negan chuckled, "Shit, kid, lighten up, at least cry a little."He replied a smile slithered across his face before he rose to his feet and continued to make his way down the line of Survivors.
Mel glanced over to see that Negan had stopped before Maggie this time, her heart dropped into the deepest pit of her stomach, "Jesssus. You look shitty."Negan taunted. Maggie Greene was unwell and pregnant, this was the whole reason they were taking her to the Hilltop, she had gone pale and had dark circles underneath her eyes, and she was experiencing excruciating abdominal pain; everyone knew, with her experiencing this, this early on in the pregnancy, that something was wrong. Maggie was unsteady on her knees, and each breath came out in labored huffs. "I should just put you out of your misery right now."Negan replied, lifting up Lucille as if he were getting ready to swing.
"No! Noooo!" screamed Maggie's husband, Glenn Rhee. He continued shouting his protests, tears streaming down his face as he sprung to his feet, attempting to charge towards Negan, but two Saviors quickly subdued him, tackling him to the ground,
"Stop it!"Maggie cried.
Melrose squeezed her eyes shut, her heart had no climbed into her throat, she slowly shook her head, M-Maybe...this is all a dream..., She hoped, but she knew that she wasn't dreaming, she was awake, and this...this was really happening.
"Nope."Negan snapped, "Nope, get him back in line."He ordered, instantly the two Saviors that had Glenn pinned down, now drug him back into line with the others, Glenn continued to put up a fight yelling and crying the entire time until finally, the Saviors forced him back into line.
"Don't. Please don't."Glenn sobbed.
Negan clenched his jaw, and narrowed his eyes over at Glenn, and laughed darkly, "All right, listen. Don't any of you ever do that again, I WILL shut that shit down, no exceptions!"Negan shouted angrily, "First one's free. It's an emotional moment, I get it."He said, in a more relaxed tone. Negan's dark brown eyes shot back over to Rick, a slight smile formed on his lips, "Sucks, don't it? The moment you realize that you don't know shit."He derided.
His focus then moved over to Melrose, for a moment, their eyes locked, Mel quickly lowered her gaze, Shit..., She cursed. It wasn't just her hands that were trembling now, as Negan approached her, it was her entire body; she bit the inside of her lip and even though fear was coursing through her veins, Mel stood strong.
Negan paused before her and Carl, she could feel his eyes looking her up and down and then, he cocked his head to the side, a smile on his lips as he looked back towards Rick, "Oh shit, these...these are your kids, right?"Negan questioned, to which Rick refused to answer, his smile widened, "Oh, these are most definitely your kids."He said, with a chuckle. Mel kept her eyes focused on Negan's black leather boots but suddenly, his face came into view as he bent down before her. She averted her eyes, abruptly Negan's strong gloved hand grabbed her chin, his grip on her tightened until she finally met his gaze, her ice blue eyes narrowed at him which caused him to smirk. It was true that Melrose and Carl had different mothers, Melrose's mother had been Rick's high school girlfriend, Naomi Smith, who had been a Native American, which made Mel's skin tone an odd light milky olive hue since her father was fair skinned. In that department, Carl and Mel looked completely different, but their bone structure and eye color were all inherited from Rick, Mel's hair color was just a shade darker than Carl's and their father's. "Damn, ***-fucking damn, you...you baby doll, are a pretty little thing. You're, Rick's baby girl, huh?"Negan asked, arching a black bushy brow. Mel did not speak, she let her glare speak for her, which just caused him to squeeze down harder, his fingertips were digging into her jawbone.
"Yes."She spat.
Negan nodded his head and smiled as he freed her from his grasp, "Damn Rick, you did a mighty fine job on these kids here."
"Just stop this!"Rick shouted.
"Hey!"Negan snarled, pointing Lucille at Rick Grimes, "Calm the fuck down, don't make me kill the little future serial killer. Don't make it easy on me."He said, moving Lucille so that the end of the barbed wire bat was inches away from Carl's face. "I gotta pick somebody. Everybody's at the table waiting for me to order."Negan said, sarcasm dripping from his lips. The leader of the Saviors, once again, paced before the Survivors, he began to whistle that ominous three chord tone, the very one that every single Savior whistled when they had ambushed them. Hearing the slow way in which Negan did it, made Mel shiver, suddenly he stopped, "Huh, I simply cannot decide."He admitted. Negan strolled back towards the RV, rubbing his temple in thought until he abruptly spun around, a smile on his face, "I got an idea."Negan said, slowly sauntering back towards the Survivors. "Eenie."He said, pointing Lucille at Rick.
Mel gulped. W-What the fuck..., She thought, trembling in fear.
"Meenie."This time Lucille was facing Maggie,
"Miney." Now she was in Abraham's face,
"Mo."Michonne was next,
"Catch," The bat was now pointed at Daryl Dixon, "a tiger," now it was on Rosita Espinosa, "by" Glenn was next, "it's toe."Eugene Porter was faced with Lucille next, "If it hollers,"Negan pointed the bat at Melrose next, she held her breath which made him smirk, "let him go."Lucille was on Sasha Williams, "My mother," Next was Carl, "told me,"Aaron was now staring down at the bat, this dragged for what seemed like an eternity. That fear of the unknown had turned Mel's stomach into knots, as Negan continued his sick little rhyme until...he was finished. "It."Negan grinned, Lucille had chosen her victim and it...was Abraham.
Sasha and Rosita began to cry, while everyone else remained silent in complete shock. "Anybody moves, anybody says anything, cut the boy's other eye out and feed it to his father, then cut the girl's eyes out and feed them to him as well, then we'll start. You can breathe, you can blink, you can cry." Negan snapped, "Hell...you're all gonna be doing that."He said, before raising Lucille into the air and driving the bat down hard onto Abraham's head, causing the big man to plummet to the ground. Sasha and Rosita screamed, Mel squeezed her eyes shut, tears filling her eyes, as she bit her lip to keep herself quiet; Abraham slowly rose up from the ground, blood gushing from his head, he was struggling to breathe, struggling to stay standing, "Oh shit! Look at that! Takin' it like a champ!"Negan jeered,
Abraham glowered up at his assailant, "Suck. My. Nuts."He spat,
Negan's nostrils flared in rage as he drove Lucille back down onto Abraham's skull, knocking him to the ground once again, this time...he didn't come back up. Negan continue to smash his bloodied bat down onto the old sergeant's head over and over and over again until...there was nothing left but bloodied mush and skin. Mel could feel warm bile rising up in the back of her throat, but she swallowed it down, as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Negan staggered backward, out of breath and exhausted, "D-Did you hear that?"He laughed while trying to catch his breath, "He said, suck my nuts."He continued to laugh and then went right back to smashing Lucille into the mess that was once Sgt. Abraham Ford, until the bat was soaked in blood and bits of ribboned flesh.
I-Is he ever going to stop..., Mel wondered, as Negan continued his obsessive assault on what was left of the red-headed man.
Finally, Negan ceased, laughing as he reeled away, "Look at this."He said, slinging the blood covered Lucille, which caused Abraham's blood to splatter across Rick's face. "You guys, look at my dirty girl."He said, smirking as he showing off the dripping barbed wire bat. Negan strolled over to Rosita, shoving the bloodied bat into her face, "Sweetheart...lay your eyes on this."He said. Rosita remained motionless, with tears streaming down her cheeks, her eyes were focused on the distance, Negan sighed heavily, "Oh damn, were you—were you together? That sucks. But if you were, you should know there was a reason for this."He stated, "Red—and hell, he was, is, and will ever be red. He just took one or six or seven for the team! So take...a damn look."He snapped, forcing the bat back into Rosita's face, she still refused to look, "Take a damn look!"Negan roared.
Daryl Dixon grunted in anger, springing to his feet, punching Negan right in the face, immediately, three Saviors grabbed him, forcing him to the ground. Negan swayed backward, brushing a thumb against his wounded cheek, and glared down at Daryl. "No! No!"Negan shouted angrily, as his lackeys pulled Daryl back into line. Negan shook his head laughing, "That. Oh, my! That...is a BIG no-no. The whole thing—not one bit of that shit flies here!"He roared, "Now, I already told you, people, first one's free, then what did I say? I said I would shut that shit down! No exceptions. Now, I don't know what kind of lying assholes you've been dealing with...but, I am a man of my word. First impressions are everything and I need you to know me."Negan said, placing a hand over his heart with his free hand. Negan sighed, a smile on his lips as he tightened his grip on the baseball bat, "So...back to it."He replied, before bringing down Lucille hard and fast into Glenn's head, knocking him to the graveled ground.
Mel gasped, everyone gasped, and Maggie screamed sobbing. Like Abraham, Glenn came back up, his body twitched, he was grunting and sputtering and gasping, as he looked over towards his wife, Mel's eyes widened at the sight of him—Maggie screamed again, Negan's smack to Glenn's head had been so hard, and so powerful, that...his right eye had bulged out of it's socket, blood oozed down his face like a waterfall, and in the center of his head a large, caved in dent from where Negan had cracked his skull. A hard breath caught in Melrose's throat, as she raised a quivering hand to cover her mouth as tears poured down her face. Jesus Christ..., She screamed in her head.
Negan stepped closer to Glenn who continued making sickening gurgling sounds escaped from Glenn's lips as if he were attempting to speak. Negan leaned to the side, placing himself into Glenn's line of view. "Buddy, you still in there?"He asked, softly, as those noises continued to come from his victim, "I just don't know. It seems like you're trying to speak, but you just took one hellll of a hit! I just popped your skull so hard, your eyeball just popped out, and it is gross as shit!"Negan mocked, chuckling.
Glenn grunting and wheezed, "M-Maggie...I-I'll find you..."He struggled to speak but the words...the words were clear. And it broke Melrose's heart as she heard Maggie break down, the Survivors were either crying or just so shocked that they said or did nothing.
Negan straightened his posture and looked at each one of his prey, his expression softened, "Oh, oh, hell. I...I can see that this is hard for you guys."He replied, almost saddened, as Glenn still continued to gasp and croak, "I am sorry. I truly am, but...I did say it. No exceptions!"Negan smirked, before knocking Glenn in the head once again, he fell to the ground and Negan began his punishment—over and over and over again, he smashed Lucille into what once was Glenn's head, creating a pile of mush; blood and chunks of flesh splattered into the air with each blow. Even though, it was clear that Glenn was...no more...Negan continued smashing his bat into the pile of bloodied gloop and bone. He had become out of breath as he kept on swinging Lucille, "You...bunch of pussies. I'm just getting started."He snapped, "Lucille...is...thirsty."He breathly, before he began to laugh, as he continued to swing his bat, "She is a vampire bat."Negan laughed darkly, as he delivered one final blow to the still twitching bloodied pile that was once was Gleen Rhee. Maggie hunched over sobbing, everyone was crying, though some did not make a sound, the tears were still there, "What? Was the joke that bad?"He asked.
"I-I'm gonna kill you,"Rick said softly, but loud enough that Mel could hear what her father had threatened and from the way Negan glared over at him, he had heard it too. The leader of the Saviors walked over towards Rick and paused before him,
"What?"He snapped, as he squatted down before Rick Grimes, "I didn't quite catch that. You're gonna have to speak up."
Rick clenched his jaw and sniffled before he lifted his eyes back up, staring hard at Negan, "Not today...not tomorrow...but I'm gonna kill you."He spat.
Negan narrowed his eyes at him and smirked, "Jesus."He chuckled softly, "Simon, what did he have, a knife?"Negan inquired, glancing up at his second in command.
"Uh, he had a hatchet."
"A hatchet?"Negan repeated, arching a bushy brow.
"He had an ax."
Negan's focus moved to Rick, he snickered, "Simon's my right-hand man. Having one of those is important, I mean, what do you have left without them? A whole lot of work. Do you have one?"Negan questioned Rick, "Maybe one of these fine people still breathing? Oh...or did I just—"He paused and clicked his tongue as he swatted Lucille playfully in the air. Rick glowered at Negan and he just returned the expression, for a moment the two men said nothing and just exchanged hardened glances, finally, Negan sighed, "Sure. Yeah. Give me his ax."He demanded. Mel watched intently as that dickbag, Simon, obediently handed Negan her father's hatchet, Negan grasped the ax tightly and gave Rick one more dirty look before rising to his feet and placing the handle through his belt, securing it to his side; abruptly he grabbed Rick by the collar of his jacket and yanked him to his feet, "I'll be right back,"Negan snapped, "and maybe, Rick will be with me."
Mel watched as Negan dragged Rick with him towards the RV, Rick struggled and was trying to break away but Negan had a death grip on him; Melrose rose up on her knees, slowly outstretching a hand towards her father who was being taken away right before her eyes, her lips parted, but Rick's ice blue eyes locked onto her and he shook his head, giving her a stern look even though his eyes were full of fear. Mel bit her lip, as tears continued to roll down her cheeks, she knew that look, she had seen it many times in her childhood when she had acted unruly, Rick would flash her that stern look and she would straighten up.
"And maybe not, well, we can just turn these people inside out, won't we?"Negan hissed, as he continued to drag Rick with him, "I mean, the ones that are left."He snapped, hurling Rick into the darkness of the RV, and then he slammed the door shut.
Mel sat there trembling, as she heard the struggling roar of the RV's engine and then watched it as it vanished from view; she glanced over at her brother who was staring at her with a mirrored expression of fear, where was Negan taking their father? And...would he ever come back?
The hours crept by, the sky was slowly getting lighter, signifying that dawn was breaking. Mel was utterly exhausted, they all were, she felt physically drained, she blinked slowly yearning for a moments rest, but...she refused. Negan was still gone with her father, Rick, He better come back with him...Dad has to come back..., She thought, a single tear trickled down her cheek, a faint smile formed on her lips. She had thought she had cried every last tear that she had stored away, but she guessed she was wrong about that.
Melrose's entire body was stiff, every joint in her being ached; her knees were the sorest, staying in this kneeling position, with her knees grinding against the rough gravel beneath her, was taking a toll on her bones. She glanced over, taking in the tired faces of her brother and the rest of the Survivors, she lowered her eyes to the bloodstained ground before her, Are...they ever coming back? She wondered a feeling of emptiness, dread, and complete terror filled her. She didn't know what she'd do if Negan returned without Rick, her hands turned into fists at the very thought, she knew she would retaliate in some way, and she knew if she did, she would end up just like Glenn and Abraham...and yet, she knew that she couldn't. Mel looked over at Carl, whose eye was focused on the horizon, watching for the RV, she sighed, if it did come to that, she knew she couldn't do that. She had to stay alive for Carl. For Jase and for Judith. She had to stay alive for the rest of the Survivors.
Abruptly, the sound of the sputtering engine of the RV could be heard, bringing a sound to the deafening quiet that had surrounded them; Carl rose up onto his knees, and Mel followed suit, as they watched the RV pulling into the spot that it had been parked hours before. The engine was cut off and silence once again invaded the camp, as everyone watched and waited; finally, the door to the RV swung open, creaking, and Negan shoved Rick out of the RV, causing him to stumble to the ground. "D..."Mel began to speak but quickly swallowed her words, as she watched her father crawl onto his knees, with his hatchet returned to his possession. Negan came up behind him, yanking Rick by his jacket and dragged him along at his side, until Negan paused before the Survivors, and tossed Rick down before his own people. Mel's breath came out in hard puffs, as she looked up at her father, she could tell that Rick was tired, much like the rest of them, Abraham's blood was still splattered across his face, but new, fresh, stains of blood now were littered across the jacket he wore.
"Here we are."Negan grinned. Rick slowly rose to his knees once more, "Let me ask you something, Rick—do you even know what that little trip was about?"He asked, Rick, did not answer, which pissed Negan off, "Speak when you're spoken to!"He roared,
Rick flinched, "Okay, okay."He said softly, breathing heavily.
Mel looked at her father with worry written on her face, Jesus, Dad, w-what did he do to? She asked.
"That trip was about the way you looked at me. I wanted to change that. I wanted you to understand. But you're still looking at me the same damn way! Like I shit in your scrambled eggs, and that shit isn't gonna work."Negan barked, "So...do I give you another chance?"He asked, bending down beside him, Lucille still in his grasp.
He placed the bat close to Rick's face, slowly twirling it a bit, Rick's head was lowered, but his fear filled eyes cut over to Lucille, "Yeah. Yes. Yeah."Rick chanted over and over again, in a breathy voice.
Negan chuckled, "Okay."He said, patting Rick on the back before rising to his feet. "Well all right. And here it is—the grand prize game, what you do next will decide whether your crap day becomes everyone's last crap day, or just another crap day."He replied, his dark brown eyes cut up to the dozens of Saviors that were lined behind the Survivors, "Get some guns to the back of their heads."He ordered.
Instantly the Saviors obeyed, there was a deafening cock of multiple guns and then Mel felt the barrel of a gun being placed at the back of her head. Her body immediately tensed, she swallowed hard and closed her eyes trying to remain calm. But how could anyone remain calm in this fucking situation?
"Good."Negan smirked, "Now...level it with their noses, so if you have to fire—"He paused, as he imitated an explosion, "it'll be a realll mess."He grinned, darkly. His eyes suddenly locked onto Carl and Melrose's heart ceased beating, "Kid."Negan stated, beckoning for Carl to "come here" with his index finger, "Right here."He demanded.
Carl remained kneeling at Mel's side for a moment, she pursed her lips as she glanced over at her brother, Fuck, Carl...just do it. She thought, her heartbeat hammering in her chest.
"Kid...now."Negan snapped.
Carl huffed a sigh, he glanced over at his sister, who nodded her head, and then he slowly rose to his feet, shuffling his way over towards Negan. Mel released a brief sigh of relief and locked her eyes on to her brother and the leader of the Saviors. Negan began to unfasten the belt that was secured around his waist and pulled it through the belt loops of his pants, "You a southpaw?"Negan inquired, his dark eyes boring into Carl.
"Am I a what?"Carl asked,
Mel's eyes were focused on Negan and the belt in his hands, her heart still hammered within her, and her hands began to tremble as she continued to watch. "You a lefty?"Negan asked.
"No." Carl spat.
"Good."Negan smirked, inching closer towards Carl, he placed his belt around Carl's left arm and began wrapping it around and around, pulling it tighter and tighter. "That hurt?"Negan questioned.
"No." Carl spat again,
Negan's smirk widened, "Should."He said, "It's supposed to."
Mel's eyes rounded in fright as she realized what Negan's plan was, she began to breathe hard as her chest heaved up and down, as complete and utter fear rattled her to her core. "No..."She muttered.
"All right,"Negan said, satisfied with his work, "Get on the ground, kid, right next to Daddy. Spread them wings."He jeered, flicking Carl's cowboy hat off his head. Carl hesitantly obeyed and knelt on the ground beside Rick, outstretching his arms.
"Simon,"Negan called, "do you have a pen?"
Negan's right-hand man, smirked that toothy grin, "Yeah."He replied, pulling a black permanent marker from the pocket of his pants. He tossed it into Negan's direction in which the leader of the Saviors caught it.
Negan lifted the pen to his lips and yanked the cap off in between his teeth, he sqauted down at Carl's side, rolling up the sleeve of Carl's shirt and began to draw a black line across Carl's pale skin. "Sorry kid."He grunted, "This is gonna be cold as a warlock's ballsack, just like he was hanging his ballsack above ya and just dragggging it right across the forearm."
Mel was struggling to breath, her shaking hands turned into fists, her eyes were rounded in fear and tears stung the backs of her eyes. She shook her head back and forth until she couldn't take anymore, "Wait, please!"She spoke up, rising her trembling hands in a signal of surrender.
Negan looked up over at her and slowly rose to his feet, his eyes shot back to the Savior who was holding the gun to the back of her head, with a single motion of his gloved hand, the Savior lowered his gun. Melrose slowly rose to her feet, "I-It doesn't have to be, Carl."She replied, "You can take my arm, fuck, I'll even start it for you."Mel said, her trembling hands fought to unclasp the belt that was buckled around her waist, she quickly yanked it from the belt loops and began to secure it around her left arm, tighter and tighter, until numbness began to kick in.
Negan smirked and spat the top of the marker out of his mouth, his dark brown eyes looked Mel up and down as he swaggered over to her; Mel was terrified but she stood strong, and stared up at him with her hardened ice blue eyes, her nostrils flaring. His smirk widened, "***-Damn, look at yooou, sticking up for your little brother. Yooou, are a badass!"Negan chuckled, but abruptly that smirk vanished, "But ya see, baby doll. It's got to be little Carl here, because...I got something completely different planned for you, sweetheart."
Mel's brow furrowed, her eyes searched his for answers, "W-what...?"She mumbled,
"Get her back in line, and cut that shit off her arm."Negan snapped.
Before Melrose had time to react, two Saviors grabbed her by her arms and pulled her back into line, one of them pulled out a pocket knife and sliced her leather belt off her arm, slowly feeling came back to her limb, but the rest of her felt frozen and helpless, and empty. What...what the shit does he mean something different planned for me? She wondered, feeling defeated, as she felt that barrel of the gun returning to its place, at the back of her head.
Negan inhaled deeply as he strolled back over towards Rick and Carl, he bent back down to Carl and continued drawing the line onto his flesh; Rick stared up at Negan, tears burning his eyes, "Please. Please, please, don't."Rick begged, his voice quivering.
The leader of the Saviors looked over to Rick, a sick smile on his lips, "Me?"Negan furrowed his brow, offended, a dark laugh escaped his lips. "I ain't doing shiiiit."He replied, before rising to his feet, "Ahhhh," He breathed in deeply, "Rick, I want you to take your ax...cut your son's left arm off, right on that line. Now, I know—I know. You're gonna have to process that for a second. And that makes sense. Still, though, I'm gonna need you to do it, or alllll these people are gonna die. Then Carl dies, then the people back at home die...and then, you die, eventually. I'm gonna keep you breathing for a few years, just so you can stew on it."
Mel squeezed her eyes shut as the tears rolled down her face, she began to sob, shaking her head, as if that would change any of this. Rick sat frozen, his breath came out in labored pants, rocking back and forth on his knees, in a frantic motion.
"Y-You don't have to do this."Michonne replied, on the brink of crying, "We understand. We understand. We—"
"You understand."Negan snapped, "Yeah. I'm not sure that Rick does. I'm gonna need a clean cut right there on that black line. Now, I know, it's a screwed up thing to ask, but it's gonna have to be like a salami slice—nothing messy, clean, 45 degrees—give us something to fold over. We got a great doctor. The kid will be fine."Negan vowed, "Probably."He smirked, grimly, "Rick, this needs to happen now—chop, chop—or I will crush the little fella's skull myself."He snapped, inching Lucille close to Carl's head.
Rick began to cry, which caused Melrose to sob more, "It...it can be me! It can be me. You can do it to me. I can go with you. You can do it to me."Rick sniffled, breaking down before the leader of the Saviors.
Negan glared down at him and grabbed Rick by his dark long curls, yanking his head backward, "No! Didn't you hear what I told your baby girl, it's got to be, him, because I want it to be him. There is no other way! Now fucking do it!"He screamed, shoving Rick's head down as he freed him from his grasp. "Pick up the ax, Rick!"He hollared, Rick trembled and grunted and cried, "Not making a decision...iiisss a BIG decision! You really want these people to die? You will! You will see. Every. Ugly. Thing."Negan snapped, watching as Rick continue to break in front of him, "Oh. My. God."He groaned, "Are you gonna make me fucking count? Okay, Rick. You win. I am counting. THREE!"
"Please!"Rick begged, "Please, it can be me!"He gasped, crying.
"TWO!"
"Pleeeeassse!"Rick sobbed, "Please...don't do..."
"This is it!"Negan warned,
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"Rick screamed, sobbing uncontrollably,
"ONE!"
Rick continued to cry, Melrose was crying just as hard, at the sounds of her father in distress, her breathing came out in ragged huffs, "Dad...just do it."Carl said softly. At those words...Melrose's heart broke into pieces; through tearstained eyes, she watched as her father, picked up his ax, he held onto Carl's hand tenderly as he raised the hatchet into the air, tears streaming down his face.
"Rick."Negan said, quickly grabbing Rick's arm before he could deliver the blow, Rick looked over at him, breathing heavily as tears washed down his face. "You answer for me. You provide for me. You belong to me. Right?"He asked, Rick quickly nodded his head over and over in a panic, "Speak when you're spoke to!"Negan yelled, grabbing Rick by the face. "You answer to me. You provide for me."
"I provide for you."Rick repeated, in obedience.
"You belong to me! Right?"Negan shouted, angrily, tightening his grip on Rick,
"Right."Rick said, softly,
"Right."Negan smiled, at the fear filled looked that was written on Rick's face, "That. That is the look I wanted to see."He grinned, rising to his feet. "We did it...all of us, together...even the dead guys on the ground. Hell, they get the spirit award, for sure!"He said, "Today, was a productive damn day!"Negan replied, as he sauntered about in front of the Survivors, a dark, serious look formed on his face, "Now, I hope, for all your sake...that you get it now...that you understand how things work."He said, in a grim tone. "Things have changed. Whatever you had going for you...that is,"He paused, to let out a menacing chuckle, "over now."His lips curled up into crooked smile. Negan dark brown eyes shoot over to Daryl, he lifted Lucille put so that she was pointing right at him, "Dwight, load him up."Negan commanded.
Instantly, the Savior named Dwight, with the burned face, harshly grabbed Daryl by his arm and dragged him towards a black van that had it's back doors open, Daryl turned to free himself from Dwight's grasp but that just caused Dwight to yank Daryl to his feet, he grabbed him underneath his arms and hurled him into the back of the van. Mel watched on in disbelief, Daryl attempted to move and Dwight quickly brought up a crossbow, pointing it right at his captor, a hitched breath caught in Mel's throat as she realized, that Dwight was holding Daryl's own crossbow.
Negan grinned, "I like him, he's got guts—not like some little bitch, I know."He snapped, shooting a dirty look down at Rick, "He's mine now."He stated, "But you still want to try something? "Not today. Not tomorrow. Not today. Not tomorrow."? I will cut pieces off..."He paused, looking over at Daryl, "What the hell's his name?"Negan demanded.
"Daryl."Simon informed,
He smiled, "Wow, that...that actually sounds right."Negan teased, "I will cut pieces off of Daryl, here, and put them on your doorstep—or, better yet, I will bring him to you and have you do it for me."Negan warned, glowering down at Rick, who just nodded in understandment.
Negan smiled and glanced up and his eyes locked onto Melrose, he cleared his throat, "Also, I'm taking your daughter with me."
At those words, Mel completely froze, had she...heard him right? She looked up, ignoring Negan entirely and focused on her father and brother, whose faces bore the same expression as hers—fear—suddenly, two Saviors grabbed her by her arms, forcing her to her feet, their grips were like iron but she still attempted to free herself. "No! Let go of me! Get the fuck off me!"She screamed,
Negan smiled and laughed, "She is a little pistol, damn, I love it."He grinned, "I like her, Rick, I like her a lot."
Melrose began pulling in the opposite direction that her captors were dragging her in. Her heart hammered in her chest, so hard, that for a moment she thought that it might explode, her breathing was labored as she screamed and protested. Her eyes full of tears and frantic, locked onto Rick, "Dad! Dad!"She screamed, sobbing, as they tossed her into the back of another black van. She rolled up onto her knees, inching towards the opened doors, gazing out, her eyes still focused on her father, who was breaking down crying.
"Mel! No! Please..."Rick begged, attempting to stand but Negan shoved him back down, hard onto the ground.
"Tsk. Tsk."Negan snapped, wagging a finger in Rick's face, "No. No, Rick. She belongs to me now. I like her, and don't worry, I'm going to take real, good, care of her. I'm only taking her as extra leverage, now ya see, I have no problem with whacking pieces off of Daryl, there, but her, now, I would hate to have to do that to her. It would be a real shame, because let's be real, your daughter, is hot as helll."Negan smirked, but a darkness covered his face, "But, if you continue on with that fucking attitude, I will do it, just to get my point across to you. I'd hate to do it. I really would...so don't make me, Rick."Negan said, giving him a hard pat on the shoulder.
Mel was struggling to breathe, she couldn't believe what was happening. Negan swaggered before the remaining Surviors, that coprophagous grin formed on his lips. "Ahhh!"He inhaled deeply, "Welcome to a brand new beginning, you sorry shits!"Negan yelled, "I'm gonna leave you a truck. Keep it. Use it to cart all the crap you're gonna find me. We'll be back for our first offering in one week. Until then ta-ta."He said, with a singal of his gloved hand, the van doors closed. Sealing Melrose inside, in complete and utter darkness.
She scurried towards the metal doors, pounding on them, "No! No! Let me out!"She screamed, trembling, on the brink of hyperventilating. Mel looked about the van, trying to find some form of light, but failed, her breathing became harder, as her now sore fists slide down the doors. Darkness. Melrose was terrified of the dark, she always had been ever since she was a little girl; she raised a shaky hand to her neck, until she found the golden 'M' charm of her necklace, giving it a little rub, in an attempt to soothe her. The van suddenly jerked to life and sent it Mel, bouncing along as they began to drive away; away from her father, away from her brother, away from everything she knew and everything she loved. Jase..., She cried in her mind, she would never see him again, never feel his embrace, never kiss him again, her heart ached at the thought. Tears streamed down her cheeks, her hands suddenly turned into fists as glared up into the darkness, her nostrils flared; frantically she retreieved the knife that was hidden in her boot and gripped it in her hand. She did not know how long they had to travel, but she did know one thing—that when those doors opened—she was putting up a hell of a fight.