What's up everyone? Alito here.

And now, here's chapter 2 of 'The Savior'. Not much to say here, but I will say that it's actually taken some time to think about where this story will go. I predict maybe about twelve to thirteen chapters since I don't plan on this series to be super long.

Chapter 2: The Bad Guy

Awoken by the ever-settling breeze of the Sunday afternoon air.

Serine in its magnificence through the filter of a suburban neighborhood with kids playing in the yards and old men washing their grass. The rare car cruises by, while the birds sing their melodies in the trees. The sky shimmered a blue ocean color with clouds drifting on by.

He couldn't remember the last time he saw the sky so clear, so…pure. He thought he had forgotten how blue the sky was. There had been too many years of the same old murky skies, that he hadn't seen how beautiful it really was.

That was when he knew.

He sat back in his garage, sitting in a recliner chair, feet up and a beer in hand. He was in his Sunday best of a T-shirt, baggy sweats, and sandals. His face was clean shaved, and his hair was in better condition than he remembered it to be.

Negan knew exactly where he was. All he could do was let out a deep sigh. "Fuck…"

"Now, what'd I tell you about that swearing, darlin'."

Negan shut his eyes. He even remembered her voice too.

"No…" Negan whispered. "…stop…just stop."

"Stop, what?"

Negan hesitated for a moment. He had to keep himself from losing himself to the memory. He had to collect himself.

Once he had a better grasp, he turned…there she was. Sitting to the right of him, her feet propped up on another recliner chair. Her hair was the same shimmering color that he remembered it to be, while her outfit was just as it was when…when she first collapsed…right on the same yard in front of the him.

That smile—filled with radiance yet an unsettled anger that she refused to want to show. He knew it was his fault.

"What're you doin' here?" Negan asked.

"You tell me." She replied.

Negan didn't need to think about it too much. It annoyed him to have to spill his guts out about it, but he figured it was worth it to at least get it off his chest.

"This boy…he just lost his own mom and doesn't even know it."

"And?"

"And? What'dya mean and?"

"I mean, why're you going so far for a kid?"

Negan was almost appalled. "You think I wouldn't go that far? The boy's alone. Figured I'd get him outta the way and then—"

"—and then what?" She said harshly, sitting up in the hospital bed. "And then you'd just keep on crawling somewhere until you can't crawl no more? Is that really where you want the rest of your life to go?"

Negan simply took in her words and snickered. "Why're you tellin' me this? You're not real anyway. You died a long time ago and this…this ain't even real."

She scratched her shaved head with the finger monitor. "You got me there, honey."

"DON'T call me that." Negan said angrily, pointing at it like a menace. "You are not fuckin' her! You never were! You're just a hunk a goddamn wood with barbed wire wrapped around you! Yeah, I gave you her name, but that was when I was weak! You will never replace her!"

She stared back at him with cold eyes. He turned away to avoid looking into those cold, dark orbs of hers. He just couldn't stomach it anymore.

"Oh, Negan, honey…"

Negan felt cold, sharp hands take hold of his chin and force him to look back at her. His eyes widened in horror. There she was…her entire face and shoulders wrapped in sharp barbed-wire that pierced her skin and made her bleed. Her black eyes had been replaced with two punctured bullets lodged into her eye sockets.

"…I already have."

Negan shot back up again with a startled jolt that practically rocked where he was sitting. It took him a few moments to recall where he was, while catching his breath. He was fortunate to have the relaxing sounds of pelting rain coming down on top of a car roof on a quiet night. Through the raindrops of his window, he could see the hazy street lights create sprites of illumination that slowly dimmed every few seconds.

He looked towards his passenger seat and nearly felt his heart sink. There it was—that damned bat sitting right behind his kicked up, shoeless feet. Seeing it there almost made him want to throw it out the window…but deep down he knew he couldn't.

"You mumble…"

Negan looked on the passenger side of the car, and saw Enzo sitting there; draped in covers with his legs crouched up to his chest.

"What?"

"You mumble…in your sleep." Enzo repeated. "My mom use to say that people who mumble in their sleep…they have things they can't let go."

"Yeah, well your mom was full of a lotta shit." Negan said. "And speakin' of shit, she ended up sticking something in my neck that itches like a motherfucker. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"

The boy looked at Negan with wide eyes. "She…did it to you too?"

Negan sat up in attention. "Whaddya mean 'you too'?"

"Well…before all this, I was sick…like, really, really sick." Enzo said solemnly. "I forgot what it was called, but…it was hurting me really bad…mom cried a lot."

Negan didn't want to hear anymore about sick kids; too sappy for him. He sighed and said, "Just get to the syringe part."

"Oh…anyway, she gave me this medicine by putting a needle into my neck." Enzo rubbed his own neck. "It felt like a bee stung me really hard, but she said it would make me all better."

"And it did?"

"Yeah…actually it did more than that." Enzo explained. "I was…running faster. I could jump out of a tall tree and barely get hurt. My cuts and bruises got better in a few hours. It was actually really cool."

"So, you took in that stuff in the syringe and basically became a fuckin' super kid." Negan figured. A small grin formed on his face as excitement entered his tone. "That mean I got the same shit in me now?"

"I-I guess…"

Negan smirked with a small chuckle. "Well shit. That explains why I felt so alive after bashin' those Walker's heads in back there."

The boy looked at Negan in confusion. "Walkers?"

The grin slowly faded off of Negan's face. He didn't feel like explaining that whole thing again. Plus, he didn't want to be reminded of the literal mother of all lies he had fed to the poor motherless boy.

"Y'know what, forget it." He said as he got more comfortable in his position. He looked up at the pair of street lights through the overhead roof. "Just go to sleep, kid. We got ourselves a long day ahead of us."

Enzo looked out his window. "I-I…I can't."

"Why?" Negan grumbled.

"Because…t-they're watching us."

Negan looked out his window and saw them. The car sat in a small space of surrounding gates with the only way out chained and locked by Negan himself. Surrounding them were a gaggle of dripping wet Walkers who growled and reached out with their boney hands through the openings of the gate. The gate had been nothing but deteriorating hands trying to get through.

"Ah, quit yer belly-achin'. They're not gonna get you." Negan said.

"Y-You promise…?"

"Nope. I can't promise shit. Only thing that's promised these days is the sun risin' every morning, and death. The latter being a promise that could come over and fuck you silly when you least expect it."

The boy's brows furrowed. "You swear a lot."

"Fuckin' so?"

"So…stop it."

Negan looked at the boy as if he were asking him to recite the entire alphabet in Latin. "Oh, I'm fuckin' sorry. Is my goddamn swearin' becomin' a fuckin' problem for you?"

"N-No…sort of." He confessed.

"Well, deal with it, fuckstick. 'Cause you're gonna be hearin' my dirty ass mouth for a while."

"What do you mean a while?"

"What do I—Jesus, kid, how long do you think it'll be before we get to San Francisco from Beverly Hills? That's probably six or seven hours of driving we gotta do. And that's if we don't run outta gas and can't find dick for it. It's not gonna be a happy ass picnic, so yeah, you better get motherfuckin' use to me real damn soon."

Enzo said nothing in response. Instead he turned away from Negan and rolled over towards the car seat with the covers over his head. Negan could barely see him in the dark, but he could see the cowering that he was doing his best to suppress.

Negan felt like hitting himself. He quickly forgot just how young the poor kid was. He wasn't built to face the apocalypse like Negan was. Hell, Negan recalled Rick's kid, Carl being a better child survivor then Enzo. Of course, Negan figured it would only take time before he became a young psycho killer as well.

Negan didn't bother to let himself feel too bad about it, and decided to get more comfortable in his seat, and slowly drift back to sleep. He only hoped that he didn't have to speak to that thing that pretended to be her wife again.

In fact, he sat up, and put the baseball bat into the back of the car, and away from him. He needed a good night's sleep for once.

The early morning had been ruined by the left-over pelting rain from last night. The long six-hour drive through the back-country roads proved to be more of a drag for Negan then he anticipated. He always hated driving through the rain even back then. Usually Lucille would do the driving in the rain for him, but now he got to experience why she couldn't stand doing it.

Negan looked into his rear-view mirror to see the boy still asleep in the same position he saw him last night. He figured it had been such a long day for the poor lad that he needed to sleep it off a little more. Negan could understand wanting to sleep all the emotions away just to get away from it all. He remembered the days just after the end began that he'd take long naps just to get away from it all when he was hunkered down in one place by himself.

Of course, all those naps allowed him to also realize that everything has changed. The people walking around were people he didn't know, people he could care less about; dead. That mindset was what pushed him towards being able to survive.

Nothing wrong with a good nap, however Negan needed the boy up and aware for the journey ahead.

"Hey." Negan called while shaking the boy up with one arm. "Hey!"

Enzo's body shook as he moved the covers from his head. He looked groggy with his shaggy hair practically covering his eyes.

"What…?" He said groggily. "Where…where are we?"

"On the back roads of California, kiddo." Negan said, "A map I read told me the way."

"So…why wake me up?"

"Because sleepin' all day ain't gonna do me any damn good. I need you to be my eyes n' ears for anything strange out there. Also, you really need to shave some of that hair off anyway. Gets in your eyes."

Enzo pulled at the bangs of his hair. "I guess so…since there's zombies walking—"

"Would you stop fuckin' callin' 'em that?" Negan complained.

"W-What else am I supposed to call them?" Enzo protested.

"Call 'em what they are; Walkers!"

"They don't always walk. So why call them Walkers?"

"Because they—"

Negan cut himself off to massage the bridge of his nose. He almost had the urge to throw the kid out the window and let him rustle it on his own, but that wouldn't do him any good on many levels; emotional mostly due to his undesired request.

"Look, y'know what? Call 'em whatever the fuck you want…" Negan waved off. "I only gotta worry about keepin' you and me breathin' till our feet touch San Francisco soil. Now if we're lucky, that'll only have to be a good five or six hours."

"A-And if we're not?"

Negan didn't respond right away. He thought about it himself and didn't have a clear-cut answer for the boy. The best he could think of was: "You…just sit your ass down and let me do the thinkin'."

Negan continued driving down the backwoods, as the sun peeked through the clouds to wash away the rain. The grass and trees were lush with sprites of raindrops trickling off their leaves. The sky was a cloudy blue morning that made the birds sing and the critters run out from trees to scavenge for food. And lastly, the sun's rays beat down on the forest to signal a gorgeous morning drive for Negan and Enzo. However, the good times didn't last long once he finally came up to what appeared to be a tree that had fallen onto the road ahead.

"Fuck!" Negan hissed.

He put his foot down hard on the brakes, as the entire car jerked forward. Negan and Enzo braced themselves as the car finally came to an abrupt halt seconds before it had the chance to careen into the giant tree. Both of them looked closer and saw that the tree had been larger than they at first anticipated. Far too large to simply lift out of the way or to cut through. Negan looked onto the side of the road, only to find more trees and shrubs blocking their way to drive through.

"Goddamn nature n' it's fuckin' tree-fallin' bullshit!" Negan said bitterly. "Looks like we're gonna have to hoof it for a while."

"Guess so." Enzo agreed.

Negan stepped out of the truck and went straight towards the roots of the tree to examine it. He could see that at least the tree wasn't cut down on purpose for an ambush. He speculated it to be lightning from the storm that rolled on by last night. There was no other way to get through other then to go around on foot. It was a shame since Negan could've used the truck for a little while longer. He considered finding another way but knew the gas they had wouldn't be enough to afford the trip.

"Alright, Enzo. Let's get ourselves tooled up."

Negan went in back of the truck and lifted the top. Inside, he saw only about four guns at first glance—three handguns, and one rifle. Negan assumed that the rest of the guns were buried in Walkers along with the hillbillies back at the college. Enzo came around to join Negan and saw the supply of guns.

"That's all we got?"

"Looks like it." Negan said. "Dumb inbred fucks didn't think it smart enough to keep some of their supplies on standby. Better than nothin'."

Negan reached in and pulled out one of the smaller handguns; a Smith & Wesson Model 64 revolver. He opened it up and counted about six shots; perfect amount in his opinion. He closed it back up and presented it to the kid.

"Here ya go." He said.

Enzo looked at the gun in confusion, then back at Negan. "This is it?"

Negan raised a brow. "What?"

"I mean…can't I get something a little…cooler?"

"Boy, you're fuckin' lucky to even get any-fuckin'-thing at all." Negan said harshly. "Now, this bad boy is a Smith & Wesson; four-inch barrel, six shots, single action. Know what single action means?"

"Yeah, I do." Enzo said snidely. "I've…seen guns before."

"Really? Ever held a huntin' rifle before?"

"Well…no."

Negan sighed. "Damn. And you were just startin' to impress me. Fuckin' disappointing." Negan commented.

This certainly earned a scowl from the boy.

"Just use this for now." Negan said, handing him the gun.

Enzo took it in his hands, and immediately noticed just how heavy it actually was. Negan could tell the boy never held a real-life gun in his life. Whatever his father taught him surely didn't involve the boy actually holding a firearm.

Negan begrudgingly got on one knee and took the boy's hands to make him hold the gun with his finger on the trigger.

"To shoot, you pull the trigger. To reload, you pull this here lever back." Negan explained. "You only got six shots. Make 'em count."

Negan left Enzo to stare at the gun in his hand. There was a glimmer in his eyes that Negan knew all too well. It was the feeling of holding something that could kill people in an instant with the right shot. He remembered the feeling when he first held one. There was nothing quite like it for him. And now he got to see that same spark in Enzo. He only worried that the boy would have a hair-trigger finger.

Negan reached back into the truck and pulled out the rifle—a Remington Model 750 sniper with a scope attached and a silencer. He slipped it into a long carrying bag attached to the side of his backpack.

Inside the bag, he filled it with boxes of bullets for each gun, along with one of the handguns—a Desert Eagle. The latter, a Beretta 92F, was held in a gun holster that was sitting in the back seat of the truck. He remembered the Beretta as the same gun used to shoot Lucille by that one girl back at Alexandria. He found it humorous that out of all the oldest memories of the past, he chose to remember that.

"Alright. You got a job to do, Enzo." Negan stated.

"I-I do?"

"But, of course." Negan explained. "See, I need to be as mobile as I can to be able to protect the both of us. But I can't very well do that if I got all that shit with a heavy fuckin' bag on my back. It'd be like me holdin' a fat fuckin' baby that's so fat, that I'd just fall right on it and crush it's tiny lil head."

"Ugh, did you have to be gross about it?" Enzo gagged.

"Don't gotta be if I don't hold onto the bag." Negan said with a coy smirk. "But I know someone who can~"

Negan presented the bag to Enzo, who immediately put the pieces together and realized what the older man was getting him to do. Seeing as Enzo didn't have much of a choice in the matter, he simply accepted his role as a pack mule with an annoyed sigh and grabbed the bag.

"There we go. Alright, let's get a move on, bushy boy." Negan said, "We should probably find ourselves some shelter further ahead."

Negan walked on ahead with Enzo following behind him. He looked up at the towering trees and felt the breeze of fresh air. Having been so use to the woods for the last few weeks or months, it was good to be out of that confined car, and back to what he was familiar with. Negan had just about stepped onto grassy plain when Enzo called him.

"Wait!"

"What now?" Negan said.

"You…forgot something." Enzo pointed at the truck; specifically, through the window.

Negan had realized his absence of the special lady in his life. Then again, it was no longer a lady to him anymore. Now, it was nothing more then a tool used to fight. Nothing but a hunk of wood that was wrapped in barbed wire. He didn't need it to define him anymore.

He went back to the truck and reached into the passenger seat. Rather then grab for the bat, he instead snatched up the fire axe from the college. He whipped it around a bit before, he closed the door. It wasn't the same as the bat, but it would have to do. It needed to.

"Thanks." Negan nodded. "Let's go."

Negan continued on towards the forest. Every step he took, made him feel as though he were leaving someone important behind. Every bone in his body told him to go back and get his love. He desperately fought the urge to go back for Lucille. Each time it appeared in his mind, he gripped the axe tighter; reminding himself that he had a new weapon to rely on. It was sharper, stronger, and wouldn't break so easily on him. It was better. It was for the best, he kept telling himself.

Negan looked over his shoulder and saw the boy running to catch up with him, before he joined in walking along side him through the thick forests.

"Do you know where we're going?" Enzo asked.

"On the map it said we head up this way Northeast." Negan answered. "There's a small town nearby a quarter mile. Hopefully we'll find some supplies there."

"And maybe some people to help us?"

"Ha! Kid, you're either fuckin' stupid, or way too fuckin' naïve." Negan berated. "When the world ends, its every sorry asshole for themselves. Don't nobody care about helpin' each other like it's Mr. Rogers neighborhood."

"But I'm sure that—"

"Okay, y'know what, let's get one thing straight here, 'cause you haven't gotten your Walker-killing foreskin cut yet; I get it." Negan said. "But you better wise your ass up to a few things. First and foremost; don't trust nobody out here."

"Psh. Even you?" Enzo sassed.

The boy continued on walking through the grass, before he quickly realized he only heard his own footsteps trudging on. He turned around, just about ready to call to the old man, when all of a sudden, he stared right into the dark barrel of a gun pointed right at his head. In a panic, Enzo screamed and fell flat on his butt.

"What're you doing?-!" Enzo exclaimed. He scrambled to crawl back away from Negan, who simply followed him with the gun pointed right at his head with those cold, deadly eyes burning holes into his own.

"W-Wait! Please, stop! What're you doing?-!" Enzo cried out with tears welling up. "T-This isn't funny! Please, please don't shoot me! I-I don't wanna die! Please!"

Enzo had crawled back until he hit a tree. He shook like a leaf as he closed his eyes and covered his head. The poor boy began to sob to himself, while repeating for Negan to not kill him. Negan looked down at the boy, not disgusted or disappointed in his cowardice. Instead, he felt bad for Enzo. Negan saw he wasn't ready to face the inevitable dangers that would wait for them. It also meant he would be useless to Negan if the situation came to them being separated. He couldn't afford that.

Negan sighed, and holstered his gun. He looked down at the poor cowering child—wanting to punch himself in the dick for scaring a child so awfully. As much as he wanted to comfort him and tell him it was alright, he also knew that was no longer a convenience for the two of them.

"Get up." Negan said harshly.

The boy shakily looked up at the old man with his hand blocking the sun above. Negan saw the tears stream down his cheeks and the quivering of his bottom lip. Negan did his best to hold it together; no coddling in the apocalypse was his new motto for the two of them.

"Get. The fuck. Up." He growled.

That made Enzo rush back to his trembling feet, as he wiped the tears from his eyes. Negan flipped the axe in his hand so that the butt of the wooden stick faced Enzo.

"Look at me." Negan demanded as he threateningly leaned in close. Enzo did just that and did not dare to break eye contact.

"Here's how this shit's gonna go down." He explained while poking Enzo in the chest. "You do what I say, when I say it. If I tell you to jump, you say how fuckin' high. If I tell you to fight, you get those baby dick fingers dirty and fight your ass off. Do I make myself clear?"

Enzo sniffed while wiping off the last of his tears. He looked down to his feet and nodded. "Okay."

That wasn't good enough for Negan. "Look me in my damn eyes when I'm talkin' to you." He said harshly. Enzo quickly looked back into those cold, bitter eyes like a deer in headlights.

"Repeat it." He demanded through gritted teeth.

"I-I do w-what you say…w-w-when you s-say it…"

"If I say jump…"

"I-I say how high…!"

"When I say fight…"

Enzo hesitated for a moment, before he quickly nodded and said "I-I…I fight."

"Good." Negan said. He finally backed away from Enzo, who breathed a big sigh of relief while holding his chest. "Now, let's keep movin'. Town's only a mile from here. Best get there before any more Walkers show up."

Negan walked on ahead and left Enzo to himself. He figured the kid needed it for a minute. He couldn't stop for him though. At best he'd cover some ground and wait until the kid was ready and raring to go. In his experience with kids Enzo's age, Negan felt it best to just leave them alone for a while and see what they do. He figured the boy would sit there and have a good cry, or he'd stay there in a fetal position.

Instead, there was a third option that surprised even Negan. Enzo came running to Negan's side to keep up with him, facing forward with intense puffy red eyes. He wanted to cry, that much Negan could tell, but he held it all in to put on a strong face. Negan couldn't help but snicker to himself—the boy had some guts after all. He wanted to see how long that'll last once he experienced his first kill.

The two of them continued to work their way through bushes and branches; narrowly avoiding spiderwebs and looking out for any wild animals. Their travels took them deeper into the woods until they finally found a carved-out trail that was draped in dead leaves and brimming with sunlight peeking through the trees. The trail lead to a clearing up ahead. There didn't seem to be any sign of tire tracks or recent footprints.

Negan decided to travel down the path with Enzo following beside him. They walk was quiet with the only sounds being their own footsteps, accompanied by the birds chirping and the light breeze brushing through the forest's branches.

The awkward silence between the two was more deafening then anything to Negan. He'd preferred to talk to a kid that wasn't too fond of him, then have absolute quiet between them. They'd have to talk at some point, so it was better to try and break the ice now.

"So…" Enzo suddenly started. "…I know you kill zom—I mean Walkers…but have you ever…killed people?"

Negan wasn't too surprised to hear such a question from the bushy-haired boy. It was bound to find its way into a conversation sooner or later. "Yeah, I've killed a few. But trust me, they deserved it."

"Really? What did they do?"

"Oh, y'know; killed other people, killed people I cared about, raped women—"

"Rape? What's that mean?"

"Oh, kiddo, it's the worst fuckin' thing any goddamn man could ever do to a woman." Negan spat. "That's all you gotta know."

"So…am I gonna have to kill people too?"

Negan heard the fearful tremble in his voice. He couldn't see that desire for survival in the boy like he saw in himself just yet. Negan didn't want to sugarcoat the truth either.

"Yep. You're gonna have to pull some weight too."

That didn't sit right with Enzo as his face clearly showed it. "Okay, but…how do I…get used to it?"

"You keep on doin' it. Repetition is key. And trust me, you'll get a shit fuckin' load of repetition real soon. But the most important thing is to look at it from a different perspective."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, killin' Walkers ain't a big deal. They're already dead, so you're not killin' a person. Instead you're killin' a…a monster! Yeah, that's it. A big ol' ugly fuckin' monster."

"And people?"

Negan tried to think of the best way to put it. For him, killing people was all about killing the right people at the right time for greater results. But for the boy, he needed to rethink that approach.

"People…Well, that's a lil different. See, what I do is that I look at it from my own perspective: They attack you, you go for the motherfuckin' jugular. Close yourself to their bullshit groveling. All that beggin' for their life shit don't mean nothin' if they attacked you first. Don't feel for them. Because they damn sure won't feel for you."

"Oh…" Enzo said.

"But that doesn't mean you go killin' whoever you want just because you can." Negan added. "You only kill the ones that try to kill you. No one else."

"I know that…" Enzo said.

"Good."

Both Negan and Enzo continued through the trail and reached the end of the forest. The emerged onto a hill that overlooked the place they were hoping to find. Down the hill they saw an entire small community town that covered a good acre of land.

"This is it." Enzo said. "Maybe some people will help us out."

"Doubt it." Negan said. He took a knee and looked out towards the small town more thoroughly. "Hear that?"

Enzo tried to hear anything from the hilltop but could only hear the sounds of nature and silence. "I don't hear anything."

"Exactly." Negan explained. "See, most towns would be teeming with civilian chatter, kids laughing, dogs barkin'; the usual shit. But now…"

"…it's…super quiet." Enzo realized.

"Yep. But it doesn't look like it went to hell yet. Either some people are boarded up in those buildings, or it's been recently abandoned. Notice how there's no smoke from a chimney."

"So, do we go there?"

"Hell yeah, we fuckin' go. We very well can't keep on goin' without findin' some grub."

Negan stood up and began to make his way down the steep hill. Enzo reluctantly followed behind.

The two of them made their way past an opening to a gate that lead to the back of one of the old buildings. They were on a leveled ground that had a small flight of stairs that lead to the lower level of the town. It wasn't long before both Negan and Enzo heard the sounds of guttered gagging and otherworldly growls. Judging by the numbers, Negan could've made out three of them gathered together.

"Alright, boy. Here's your shot." Negan whispered, pulling the backpack off of Enzo.

"Huh?" Enzo said in confusion.

"You heard me; this is your shot—your jerkin', splooshin' cumshot into that walking saggy, decaying—"

"Okay, okay! I get it, jeez…" Enzo hissed.

"That's the spirit." Negan smirked. He reached into his back pants pocket and pulled out his hunting knife. He flipped the blade to where the handle was facing Enzo. "Take it."

"What? Y-You want me to…?"

"Ay, we all gotta do it at some point. You n' me are gonna be doin' it for a long fuckin' time."

"Well, why can't I use my gun?"

"You shittin' me? It's too damn loud. More Walkers would come here." Negan said, "Now stop bein' a fuckin' pussy and get goin'."

Enzo could tell Negan wasn't going to take no for an answer. He could either continue to fight him on it, or face whatever he would do if he didn't take the knife. Enzo just wanted to get it over with at that point.

He took the knife from Negan and slowly made his way towards the small flight of stairs.

"I'll sneak attack the other two. You take out the first one you see." Negan said.

That didn't make the situation any easier for Enzo. The young boy was still frightened of the decaying creatures and their horrifying appearance. And their bites; they were the worst of his fears. Stepping onto the stairs made him realize just how frightening it would be if he had got bitten. He'd seen one of the adults that went into the shelter at the Beverly Hills College get bitten; he had a fever, and then died slowly before becoming one of them. He didn't want that to happen to him.

By the time he reached the end of the stairs, Enzo had arrived just in time to see Negan appear behind one of the Walkers to sink his spare knife into one of the Walker's heads, before ripping it out to stab the other Walker into the back of its skull. All that was left was one last growling grotesque creature of the undead.

It slowly turned its entire body towards Enzo; its lifeless red eyes made Enzo stop in his tracks. He looked at the Walker with a horrified expression that made his want to back away for a moment. However, one look at Negan's disapproving face was enough to force his feet to stand still.

Just then, the Walker came running at Enzo, who almost cried out fearfully while his hands around the knife began to shake.

"Enzo, stab it!" Negan called.

Enzo reacted by doing what came to mind. His foot rammed straight into the Walker's crotch with a hard kick that made even Negan wince a bit. However, the horror only got worse as his foot was stuck in the skin n' bones; or in his rotting crotch so to speak. Enzo kicked the Walker off of him, as it tricked over itself and ended up snapping one of its legs.

Enzo watched as this mindless, growling creature slowly rose back up and dragged its dangling leg across the ground, with its wrinkly old hands reached out for the boy. Enzo shakily rose his knife up towards it. The creature's hungry, gurgling screech grew closer, and closer until its hands were only inches away from touching him.

Enzo finally gathered his right mind and made the first move his body could muster. His hand moved on its own as it clutched the knife and practically slammed it right up the Walker's chin. The sound of his blade sinking deep into the Walker's head was disgusting to Enzo. The sound of blood and brain marrow ripped into wasn't the sound he wanted to hear at his young age, but in the new world, Enzo had no other choice.

Enzo pulled the knife out of the bottom of its chin and watched it fall to its knees. He took a moment to catch his breath before he rose the knife into the air, and finally sunk it right into the Walker's cranium. Blood flew everywhere; on the ground, on the rest of the Walker's head, and even on Enzo himself. He could smell the rotting stench all over himself. It burned his throat like sour milk mixed with roach spray and garbage.

Enzo had to step back from it and try to keep his stomach from heaving up whatever was there. Naturally he failed and ended up throwing up most of the snacks he had last night.

"Aw, geez." Negan sighed as he walked towards Enzo. He placed a hand on the boys back as a small form of comfort. "Welp might as well get it all out now. That smell; it's gonna stick with you for the rest of your pube-growin' life."

"Ugh…Oh god, I…" Enzo tried to say. "I-I think…I think I'm okay…" He took a deep breath and tried to calm his beating heart. Despite the taste of puke in his mouth, he felt he could go on. "Yeah…yeah, I'm okay now."

"Well, good. 'Cause that little chunk blowin' you just did is gonna attract a crowd with its scent alone." Negan said, "We better find what we can here and skedaddle the hell outta here."

Enzo nodded. "Okay…let's go."

Negan handed Enzo the backpack, and the two continued on through.

They both came out of the alleyway and were now on the sidewalk of the small town. The area itself was old; cobble and bricks to keep it all together. There were shops on every corner for all types of things like music shops, clothing stores, salons, and other places of the like. However, they were all broken into with glass windows shattered and doors missing. There still didn't seem to be any sounds of life within the town.

"Is it empty?" Enzo asked.

"Most likely." Negan said, "Guess these fine people got the heads up on the infection. Alright, let's see if we can't find another car 'round here." Negan said as he surveyed the area. "You go look in those other places for some supplies."

"What exactly should I be looking out for?" Enzo asked.

"Uuuh…anythin' you think we could use; food, bandages, magazines—dirty or otherwise. But mostly food. It could be cans, or some snacks. Anything can work."

"Alright…" Enzo nodded.

Enzo was about to go but was stopped by Negan grabbing him by the shoulder.

"One last thing…" Negan warned. "…before you go in, knock first. Trust me."

Enzo was confused by this, but nodded in agreement, nonetheless. He ran off towards the stores, while Negan continued onward through the town itself. He figured the boy would do alright by himself for a while; get him use to the wilderness and the off chance that he'd have to be on his own for a short time.

Enzo's first stop was a small store on his left that had its windows broken into, and the door broken down. Enzo feared walking into the dark store for fear that something would've been waiting inside for him. He made sure to grab his knife and hold it close to him. He made small strikes towards the store with that knife clutched tight in his little hands. He could barely keep his stomach from twisting into knots again, as he edged closer and closer towards the entrance to the store.

Once he took his first step onto hard wooden floorboards, he saw the place wasn't as bad of a wreck as he assumed. Some of the isles were still up with rows of snacks, candys, and other confectioneries that hadn't gone bad yet. On the sides of the walls were cans of food like vegetables, canned meat, fruits, and spices. At the back of the place were drinks ranging from beers to water bottles.

Enzo was overcome with a smile on his face. He had hit the jackpot, he thought. There was plenty to take with them to last the both of them for a long time. He probably didn't have enough to fit into the one bag. He placed said bag to the side and walked right into the store with a grocery basket in hand.

First, Enzo went for the cans of food: the fruits were mostly pears and peaches but there was no reason to complain; Food was food. Then the vegetables and canned meats went in next. He looked inside and saw about seven to eight cans of food there. He went back to the front and placed that basket near the bag and rifle to get another basket for the rest of the stuff.

What went in next were snacks like chips, cookies, candy, and most of the smaller things that he had a feeling they'd need. That basket went to the front as well.

The next basket, Enzo grabbed toothbrushes, toothpaste, and small things that would do some good for their hygiene…or just Enzo's in his opinion.

The final basket involved Enzo to step into the back of the store, where he opened the freezer to place bottles of water into it. He grabbed a few other drinks like sodas and juices. The beers were at random as he had no idea which ones Negan would prefer.

Enzo was about to walk back to the front. Then, he heard something.

It was the sound of glass that fell onto the ground. It sounded like it came from just beyond the freezer. Whatever it was, Enzo heard it shuffle around the back, knocking things over as it did. Enzo slowly walked back with his knife out and ready. His eyes didn't leave the dark back room just to the side of the freezer section. If anything was there, Enzo wanted to be ready for it.

Then just as suddenly as it appeared, the sounds ceased. It had become completely silent. Enzo took that opportunity to get out of there.

He turned on the heel and was about to head to the door, when suddenly he ran right into someone's chest.

"C'mere!" Said a ruff voice.

Enzo was grabbed by his arms as he yelled and struggled to break free from the stranger's grasp, yet he had been easily pulled up off the ground and carried outside of the store. Enzo was finally let go—thrown to the ground hard. He felt the pain of his body hitting the sandy concrete of the sidewalk.

Enzo attempted to get back up but was quickly kicked on his side with enough force to almost break his ribs. He cried out a painful yelp while he held onto his side tight.

He heard a man's laughter at the expense of Enzo's pain. He looked over and saw a single man standing over him, looking down at Enzo with piercing red, puffy eyes. He had thin threads of hair on his balding head, with a thick beard filled with dandruff. He an old tattered shirt and ripped up jeans with boots. Across his arms were infectious blisters that almost matched the ones across his face. He looked old from his wrinkles and incredibly thin body.

"Oh, well look at that." He said with a wicked grin that showed off his rotting teeth. "I dun found me a sweet 'ol boy out here."

Enzo, through the pain of his sides, tried to get himself back up onto a knee, but was immediately kicked back down by the old man—this time on his shoulder, forcing his back to the ground.

"Augh…! P-Please…! I-I'm sorry…!" Enzo begged. "I-I didn't mean to take your stuff! J-Just please don't hurt me!"

The man seemed to take a sick pleasure in hearing Enzo's pleas. There was a satisfied euphoria on his face that resembled the satisfaction of a sensual experience.

"Oh, yeah…yeah, you keep on beggin' boy…" The old man groaned. "I wanna keep on hearin' ya beg for it!"

The old man made another attempt to kick at Enzo, but he able to roll out of its path. However, that didn't stop the man from once again grabbing Enzo and wrapping him in his arms. Enzo fought hard to try and break free but the hold on his was too tight for the boy. Despite his malnourished appearance, the old man had plenty of strength to spare.

"Yeah, you just keep on!" He growled in a low ruff voice in Enzo's ear. "But fightin' it only makes it harder on you! Heh heh heh heh!"

Enzo desperately tried to break free, but the result was still the same. He tried to yell, but his mouth had been covered by his sweaty palm, while the other wrapped tightly around his stomach. The old man cackled like a hyena as he led the boy back into the darkness of the store. Enzo fought the best he could, but he was trapped in this insidious bear hug, forced back into the store for God knows what.

He began to tear up; not for what could happen to him at the hands of the old man, but at his own weakness.

He realized just how scary people truly were compared to the zombies.

In that moment, Enzo remembered what Negan had told him. It was astounding how clearly he remembered each and every word that he was told. Enzo felt attacked—his live was about to end. He wanted to live. He wanted to see his mother again. And there was only one way to do it.

"j…"

"What's that ya said?" The old man questioned.

"jug…ular…"

"Boy, if ya keep on whisperin' like that, it's only gonna make this more fun for—"

The old man's words were suddenly cut short. Something had silenced him from speaking. He didn't realize it until he could taste metal in his mouth. The metal was liquid that dripped down his chin. The old man looked down to see that Enzo had stabbed him right in the jugular with the combat knife Negan gave him.

Enzo ripped the knife out and continued to blindly stab at the old man like a mad man. It frightened him, it made him almost tear up at how much blood he could smell and feel on the back of his head. Despite that, he didn't care. He just continued to stab at the old man until he could no longer hear his gurgling.

Finally, the old man let Enzo go, and the boy went a step further and jumped onto the old man. The weight pushed them both down with Enzo on top of him. To the young boy's horror, he saw the old man's bloody corpse and bug-eyed expression set a strange animalistic fear into him.

"T-Th…that's…that's what you…get…" He panted. "That's what you get…that's what you get. That's what…that's what you get!"

Enzo plunged his knife into the old man's skull.

"That's what you get!"

He then ripped it out to stab at him again.

"That's what you get! THAT'S WHAT YOU GET!"

Enzo finally went on a craze of stabbing the dead old man multiple times with the knife. Blood flew in all directions as Enzo couldn't stop himself. He cried, he felt his stomach turn to the smell, and even almost threw up a few times, but his arm just couldn't stop. The tremor with every stabbing motion that went into the bloody mess of brain and wet chunks were just too…invigorating. Something in him didn't let him stop. So, he continued to unload those feelings into the dead body's face.

After a while, Enzo realized all he was doing was slashing into nothing but red mush on the street like a wild animal. He also realized he had been covered in the dead man's blood, so he stopped. He breathed fast and hard. He took a good long look at his mess; bearing witness to what he had done…what he was capable of. It was gruesome and terrifying to see such carnage up close. It was like one of those horror movies with the dead bodies, only real. What would his mother think? To see her son doing this to another human being? The thought was too heartbreaking to think about.

However, he didn't look away. He continued to stare at it in an almost mesmerizing fashion. He felt…comfortable with it. He couldn't figure out why, but…he continued to look at the bloody mess in silence.

"There it is."

Enzo was startled into holding his knife and prepared to pounce on whomever frightened him. However, he lowered his guard once he saw that it was Negan; standing there over the boy with a stern expression on his face.

"That's What I wanted to see." Negan said.

Enzo looked up at Negan, then back at the corpse. He realized what he had done and the life he took, and yet…he felt an uncontrollable sensation within him. Whatever it was, it hurt. It hurt him to the brink of tears. Enzo did everything in his power to hold himself from crying, trying his hardest to not let it break him as bad as it was on the inside.

Negan could see it becoming an issue for the poor boy. Killing a Walker was one thing, but to kill a human was a different feeling all together. Negan could attest to that all too well. But now it was a young boy no older then ten-years-old, forced to take the life of a man in cold blood. He truly felt for the kid and figured now would be best to try and comfort him.

Negan took a knee down next to Enzo, who looked at him with those hopeless eyes of his. Negan found something so innocent in the way Enzo looked at him for an answer—like a cry for help.

"Remember what I told you, boy." Negan said.

He then took the boy by the back of his head and lightly placed it onto his own.

"don't you even think about feelin' for him." Negan said in a low voice. "He deserved it. You're not the fuckin' monster here, that piece a shit is."

Enzo took a moment to calm himself down. Somehow those words gave him some form of comfort. It didn't wipe his hands clean of what he did, but it gave him closure to know he killed someone for his own protection, and nothing else. Negan was right; he did deserve it. Anyone who attacked him deserves it.

"He…" Enzo tried to say. "He was…a bad guy."

Negan removed his forehead from Enzo's and looked him in the eyes. Those once innocent orbs were replaced with such dark emptiness, that it almost scared Negan himself.

"Yeah, kid." Negan said, "Fuckin' bad guys."