Coby had missed Negan's visit by an hour, and she was fuming to say the least, considering her dad had been in Alexandria and she'd missed the chance to see him.
Rick had told her as little as possible, with the intention of sparing her feelings. So she'd gone to Carl, and he'd done no such thing, only fueling the fire.
Coby sat on her sofa, picking at what little fingernails she had left.
"We should take them out ourselves," Carl said as he sat across from her.
"An' how are we gonna do that? Your dad just let those assholes take all our damn weapons."
"We can take out him."
Coby shook her head. "Don't matter if we just take Negan out, there's probably an even bigger aashole just waitin' ta take his place. Doin' that just gets more of our own killed."
"Don't you want your dad back?" He frowned.
Coby threw him a cold stare. "Don't even ask me that. Your dad got him taken in the first place."
Carl looked down at his hands. "Sorry. I didn't mean it."
"No, an' that's your problem, Carl. Ya' just don't think. Ain't just about killin' Negan."
"If it got your dad back you would."
"That's different."
"How is it different?"
"'Cause it's my dad!" She snapped, getting up from the sofa.
"Glenn and Abraham were family."
"Yeah, they were. But they're gone now. Ain't no bringin' 'em back. I won't have ya' doin' somethin' stupid an' gettin' my dad killed."
"Negan needs to die."
Coby shook her head. "Ya' know what, Carl. Just do whatever ya' gotta do. But if my dad gets hurt in the process, i ain't ever gonna forgive ya'."
"I'm not the only one who wants Negan dead."
"Of course you're not. I'm pretty sure everyone does. Ya' know what, you're pissin' me off. Get the fuck outta here." Coby nodded towards the door.
Coby watched him leave, rubbing at her temples as he slammed the door behind him. She was angry. Angry at Carl for being so stupid, angry at Rick for letting Negan take her dad, but most of all, she was angry that she'd missed the perfect opportunity to follow Negan back to wherever he was keeping her dad.
She sighed, leaning back on the sofa. She'd barely slept the last few days, and it showed, dark circles beneath her eyes ageing her much more than her nineteen years. It didn't help that when she had slept, she'd been plagued with bad dreams, mostly where her dad didn't come home. There had only been one where he'd come home, but he'd been a Walker. Coby had woken up in a cold sweat, her eyes searching the room as if he might be lurking in the shadows.
Coby wondered whether she should travel to Hilltop, partly because she can't stand to be around Rick, but also to pay her respects to Abe and Glenn. Losing Abe had hit her the hardest, even though she'd known Glenn much longer. Abe had had one hell of a sense of humour, and there wasn't enough of that around. Her dad was too serious for making dick jokes, so Coby had more than appreciated Abe's ability to make her laugh till tears had fallen down her cheeks. She loved anyone who made her laugh so hard that her stomach hurt.
Almost another week had gone by, and Coby had spent most of it out hunting with nothing more than the ability to set snares, and her trusty knife. Her dad had taught her how to use a crossbow, and she used it well. However, she'd lost her crossbow the week before, Rick insisting she had to hand it over. Since the Saviors had taken their guns, they probably wouldn't appreciate her having a crossbow either.
Coby sat on a fallen tree, picking dirt from her nails with a knife. The snares had caught nothing, and it was almost impossible to catch anything with just a knife. Rick had left Alexandria to find supplies for the Saviors, since they were due for pick up, and she'd been less than impressed to say the least.
Surely they had to fight? It would only be a matter of time before what they had to offer the Saviors fell short, and someone would pay the price, maybe even her dad.
She stabbed her knife into the ground, her heart aching something fierce.
Coby held her breath for a moment at the sound of voices. She squinted her eyes, looking out at the road through the trees.
Her eyes widened as she watched two men sat on the back of a pickup truck.
Was she close to wherever they'd taken her dad? She wasn't sure. But what she was sure of, was one of the men had her dad's crossbow, and even worse, his leather vest.
Dwight wiped crumbs from his beard, washing his sandwich down with a swig of water. He hopped down from the truck. "Gonna step out for a piss," he said, heading into the woods.
He didn't get the chance to unzip, feeling cold metal against his throat. Dwight froze on the spot, holding out his hands as an arm curled round his neck.
"Keep your hand off the radio, asshole."
He swallowed thickly, the knife nicking his throat. "My hands are right here. I wouldn't do anything stupid if i were you."
"Well, thankfully, you're not me." Coby dropped her arm from his neck, taking the gun from his hip. She replaced the knife with the gun, and took a step back. "Turn around."
Dwight turned to face her, raising an eyebrow. "You're just a kid."
"An' yet i just disarmed ya'. An' i'm not a kid." She frowned a little. "The fuck happened to your face?"
"What do you want?"
"I want that crossbow for a start, it ain't yours.. an' the vest."
"You're not gonna shoot that."
"Fuckin' try me asshole."
Dwight took the crossbow from his shoulder and placed it on the ground. Coby gestured with the gun, Dwight taking off the vest and placing it on top of the crossbow.
"Good. Now ya' can take me to wherever it is you're keepin' my.. Daryl."
Dwight laughed, shaking his head. "You won't get within a hundred feet of the Sanctuary without someone taking a shot at you. Even with me as a hostage."
Her face fell a little. She was as good as her dad at reading people, and he sounded like he was being honest. "Don't care. Take me there, or i blow your damn head off."
Her gun went off, missing Dwight by a few inches as she dropped to the ground.
He looked over at the other Savior. "That almost got me!" Dwight yelled.
"Relax. It was nowhere near you," he laughed, looking down at the girl he'd just clocked in the head with his rifle. "What we doing with her?"
"We take her back with us. I think she's from Alexandria, she knows who Daryl is anyway, she recognised the crossbow and vest."
"You think she's his woman?"
"I guess we'll find out."
Her eyes flickered open, her cheek cold as she lay on the floor. Coby sat up, rubbing at the back of her head. She felt sickly, but otherwise she was fine. Rising to her feet, she glanced at her surroundings. It was dark, the only light coming from beneath the door in front of her. She tried the handle, but it wouldn't budge.
"Shit!" She whispered.
Coby ran to the corner at the sound of footsteps. She glanced down at her waist, but not only had they taken her weapons, they'd also taken her belt and shoes. Coby shielded her eyes as the door opened, her stomach beginning to cramp a little as the blonde guy from the road stood in the doorway.
"You're awake."
"Give the man a medal."
"Watch your mouth."
Coby looked up at him, noticing that he was once again wearing her dad's vest. "That ain't yours."
Dwight kneeled down, looking at her curiously. "You his woman? Is that why you came for him?"
She turned her mouth up as if she'd sucked on a lemon. "Nah. I ain't his woman."
He tilted his head. "He must mean something to you. People don't normally risk their lives for just anybody."
"Well, i ain't people."
"No. What you are is stupid. What did you think was gonna happen? That you'd just stroll right in he-"
She leaned on all fours and vomited, little specks bouncing off the cell floor and splashing against his pants.
"Shit!" Dwight stood up so fast his knees popped. He looked down at her with a grimace, unsure what to do. He stepped out, closing the door behind him.
After he'd changed, and once he was sure she was done being sick, he dragged her to another cell, throwing her a bottle of water.
"Don't gulp, just sip."
Coby unscrewed the lid. "Yeah, i don't need no damn tutorial on how ta drink water."
"Consider yourself lucky you're getting any."
"Why am i gettin' any? I'm surprised ya' didn't just leave me in that cell."
"Because Negan's gonna want to talk with you once he's back."
Her eyes widened. "Where am i?"
"Sanctuary."
"No, seriously?" She asked, glancing around the cell.
Dwight shook his head. "Sip don't gulp," he reminded her before heading off, leaving her in darkness once again.
Negan drove his truck through the gates. It had been a shitty fucking day. First Rick's one-eyed offspring had killed two of his men, not to mention he'd ruined his plan to spend the day doing nothing other than screw his wives senseless. Then that stupid fuck at Alexandria had pissed him off, which meant he'd ruined a perfectly good t-shirt after he'd gutted him. Then there was his beautiful Lucille. Negan glanced over at her lovingly, clenching his jaw as he eyed the bullet she'd saved him from.
Negan smiled. "You should get fucking wife of the goddamn year, baby. In fact, i might just fucking make you a trophy myself, you damn well deserve it."
The only upside, was that he now had a bullet maker, and that was one hell of an upside.
The cherry on top, or rather the shit on top of the turd sandwich as Negan thought of it, had come over the radio. Daryl was gone, and he'd killed fat Joey in the process.
As soon as he stepped out of the truck, Dwight made his way over.
"You'd better have some good fucking news for me, Dwight."
Dwight stared at him, glancing at Negan's blood covered t-shirt. "I.. there's no news on Daryl."
"Fuck!"
"We.. we might have something."
Negan raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"I found a girl while i was out on the road with Brian."
"Well that's very fucking good, Dwight, but how the fuck is you possibly getting your dick wet something?"
"I.. that's not.." Dwight shook his head. "She attacked us."
"Alright, you got my attention. The fuck did she attack you for?"
"She recognised the vest and crossbow, she knows Daryl, and not just that, but she was being pretty damn careless about finding him."
Negan grinned from ear to ear. "Wait.. are you saying she's his woman?"
"She says she isn't, but, i don't believe her."
Negan slapped Dwight's shoulder playfully. "Now that, is something." He gestured to the passenger seat of his truck. "Have Lucille cleaned for me. I'm gonna get myself cleaned up and go talk to our little jailbird." Negan stopped in his tracks, turning to Dwight. "Is she hot?"
"I.. i didn't take much notice. What difference does it make?"
"It makes it much more interesting." Negan smiled.