I was leaning against a tree. Shaking, I was cold. I, was going to die. Today was going to be my last day on earth. The warm blood slowly ran down my face, I tried to focus on saving myself but I was disoriented. I every time I tried to move the earth felt like it was falling from beneath me. I tried to crawl, my hand covered in dirt as I pushed my body through the broken branches and leaves.
"There!" I heard a man's voice. I cringed. They were coming back for me.
I tried to get to my feet, struggled as my body worked against me. I needed to run. I needed to survive. I pushed myself to my feet and with one step I found myself back on the ground. I began to cry. I never cried. I couldn't remember the last time I had food, the last time I had a taste of water. I wanted to give in. I wanted it all to end. The world had collapsed. What was the point of surviving?
"Please, do- don't hurt me. Just leave, I have nothing else to give you." I covered my face in fear. I felt like a coward. This wasn't what I was taught. I wasn't supposed to run away. I was supposed to stand and fight. Tough.
"It's okay."
He touched me and I yelled, flinching away in fear.
I screamed, fighting back tears I choked on my hair. "Don't. Don't hurt me." I struggled to breath as I was consumed by panic and fear.
"Look, I won't hurt you."
I cried. The tears wouldn't stop. I was exhausted.
"It's okay." His voice was calm. I reached out trying to get myself off of the ground. That was the first time I had ever felt his warm hand on me. He picked me up. Everything was blurry, nothing seemed to make sense anymore. "I'm going take care of you."
"Ugh!" The soft moan escaped my lips as I woke up. I felt like I was spinning around, I reached for a wall.. Nothing. Emptiness.
"We don't know her!" I could hear the unfamiliar voice, a female, a very angry woman. Where was I? How did I get here? Nothing seemed to click for me. The last thing I could remember was being in the woods against a tree, dying.
I turned to my side, the room was pitch black I couldn't see a thing. Instinctively I brought my hand to my head, it had been bandaged up in gauze and medical tape. "She's a harmless girl. She was almost dead when we found her, I don't think she's a threat."
I swallowed. I was in hostile territory.
The light crept into the room as the door slowly opened "Where am I?" I could hardly hear myself speak my head was pounding. I wanted to throw up.
"You are going to be okay." It was his voice again, the voice of the man who saved me.
"Who are you?"
"Negan."
Negan. Great.
Why did you save me?
"Ar - Are you" I stuttered, I couldn't figure out what I wanted to say. I knew I wanted to talk but the words weren't coming out of my mouth. "You won't hurt me?" I asked as my hands played with the blanket I was wrapped in. The room was still pitch black and I struggled to see anything.
I flinched as I felt his hand graze against my head. "I'm not going to hurt you."
I believed him.
"I'm going to light this candle okay?"
I couldn't string together a sentence. I wanted to nod my head, knowledge him in some way but all I could do was let out a soft mhm. I heard the sound of the match as it lit and for the first time I laid eyes on the man who saved me.
