"I can't believe this shit!" Abraham muttered.
"Who are you telling?" Glenn agreed.
"I'm sorry, did one of you have something to say?" Negan asked, holding his bat as Sasha, now dressed and ready for the day, hurried over to stand with Abraham, Glenn, Rick and the rest of their group. The other residents of Alexandria were going about their daily business.
Rosita answered him.
"We've been pulling our weight around here! Your people don't even know how to fire guns! We've been giving self defense lessons on how to handle one of those things out there, if they come across one!" Rosita yelled.
"Honey," Simon said condescendingly, "why the hell would anyone here ever see one of those things? Huh? This is a gated community. We're here to protect everyone. No one here needs to learn any 'defense'."
"Yeah," Negan agreed as Dwight handed him a clipboard. "Now we have a list of what everyone has been doing here. Let's see...Rick Grimes, could you please step forward."
Rick rolled his eyes and stepped into view. Jessie and Michonne looked fearful.
"Mr. Rick Grimes...now it says here, according to my sister and DEAD brother-in-law, that you used to be some kind of half assed Sheriff back down South. Is that true?"
Rick locked eyes with Negan.
"Is it true that I used to be sheriff or half-assed?"
Negan burst out laughing, then looked around at his men!
"We have a comedian here! You know what 'Rick', you're on tonight! You will entertain us with a stand up routine that rivals no other. Seven tonight sharp. So we now know how you're going to earn your keep around here, Mr. Funnyman!"
Rick looked around at everyone. Was this bastard serious?
"Deanna made me sheriff." he said coolly.
"We don't need a fucking sheriff, Rick! Myself and my men are the law here. Now if you don't want to be the comedy dinner act, every night, then you'd better leave here at once. And I MIGHT let you back in if you bring me something useful to the citizens of Alexandria." Negan said, grinning.
Spencer, who was standing next to Sherry, spoke up.
"Uncle Negan, come on! I mean the man has kids."
Negan looked at Spencer, who shrunk under his gaze. He then turned back to Rick.
"Get the fuck out and bring me something! You won't be allowed back in here until you produce, are we clear, Sheriff?"
Rick turned and looked at Carl, who went in the house to get Judith. Negan interrupted again.
"Uh no, Rick. The kids stay here."
Rick slowly turned around.
"Excuse me?"
"Come on! How are you going to provide for them out in the wild? Hell, we'll look after them until you can prove that you're not dead weight around here." Negan said in a tone that sounded sincere, sort of.
Michonne moved to whisper in Rick's ear.
"We're outnumbered. I will take care of Carl and Judith. Go."
Negan could see that Michonne was talking sense to Rick, or he hoped she was. Rick turned and walked towards the house. Negan coughed loudly!
"Oh Rick? Where are you going? The gate is that way!"
Darryl stepped forward!
"Fuck you! You know he needs supplies to scavenge! I suppose he's supposed to go on foot?"
"What is your fucking name again?" Negan asked, looking him up and down.
"None of your goddamned business!" was Darryl's answer. Aaron tried to calm him down but Heath and Simon, along with two other men, hurried towards Darryl and restrained him!
"Put him in the cells." Negan told them and Darryl was dragged off. He cursed and someone put a bag over his head!
Morgan could see that this shit was getting real and clutched his stick! Negan eyed him.
"Hey Mr. Stick Man! You're the new sheriff." Negan announced and then looked on his clipboard again.
"Glenn Rhee?" he asked and made a show of looking around. Glenn rolled his eyes and stepped forward. Maggie swallowed hard and Carol gripped her arm.
"Now I don't see anything down for you except scavenging... and some bullshit about my boy Nicholas!" Negan called out. Nicholas stepped forward and glared at Glenn!
"What is this shit all about, Nicholas?" Negan asked.
"He's been lying and saying I got one of his people killed. That's not what happened. Glenn took the lead on that scavenge. He acted like such a big shot and he got your nephew killed." Nicholas lied.
"That's a lie." Glenn said calmly. "And you panicked and got Noah killed."
"Alright, alright." Negan sighed. Aiden had always been kind of a prick. Reg had raised the boys to be Ivy League assholes. They couldn't hunt, fish or pull a goat out of their asses. He sort of believed Glenn, actually.
Maggie stepped forward.
"Negan? We met last night at the party. I'm Maggie."
Negan smiled at her.
"Well of course I remember you! How are you doing on this fine day?"
Maggie tried not to look disgusted but she was truly sick of this asshole! And where was Deanna? Where was she?! Why was she allowing her brother to do these things?
"I'd be better if you weren't trying to throw my husband out of here. We're expecting a child."
There were a few gasps from the crowd, those being from people that didn't know about the pregnancy. Simon looked a bit uncomfortable. Damn! She was kind of cute too! He guessed trying to have sex with her was out of the question until after the baby was born.
"You're pregnant?" Negan asked, rolling his eyes. Jesus.
"Yes, I am. Denise confirmed it."
"She's a vet, isn't she?" someone yelled out.
"Now, now. That's almost a doctor and the only one we have around here for now." Negan said. He actually was making plans to kidnap another doctor from one of the neighboring communities. But Denise would do for now.
"Well," Negan continued, "that puts us in a bit of a pickle, doesn't it? I mean Glenn, you can't just sit around here and do nothing. You have a child to provide for. Like Rick has children-plural, to look after. Maggie will be looked after by friends and family while you go and find me something useful for the community. Morgan? Can you show Glenn to the gate?"
Maggie suddenly felt sick and she grabbed Glenn and held him tightly! Rosita had had enough! She was going out with Rick and Glenn and help them find shit so they could get back in here!
"I'm leaving too!" Rosita announced. Negan raised a brow.
"Now why would you be going anywhere, Lovely Rosita? Huh? You just said yourself you were teaching people self defense."
"And you just told me it wasn't needed." was Rosita's snarky reply. Abraham moved towards her.
"No. Stay here and look after Maggie, Carl and Judith." Abraham said in a low tone of voice.
"Which brings us to Abraham Ford! It says here you were in the military. You should be used to following orders then. The same goes for you. Get out there and bring me something we can all use, and I might think about letting you back in." Negan said. Sasha made her presence known by moving up to the front.
"I'm going too. And I'm taking the time to pack some stuff!" she said. Negan looked from her to Abraham.
"What the hell kind of man are you anyway, Red? Seriously, you're going to let your women do the work for you?"
Abraham lunged towards Negan and he was quickly overpowered by some of Negan's men! Negan swung his bat and bent down so he could look in Abraham's face.
"You know what's going to happen now? I'll tell you. I'm going to throw you out of here and it won't matter WHAT you bring back here. You will have to find another home someplace else."
"Fine!" Sasha snapped. "We're going now!"
Negan pretended to look surprised!
"Oh I'm sorry, Sasha honey, I wasn't finished. See Abraham is only going to be able to take one woman with him. Either Rosita or yourself. And I've actually decided that Rosita here, just wouldn't fit in here in Alexandria. So you're staying."
Abraham looked absolutely horrified! Michonne looked at Carol, who looked just as stunned. Glenn was still holding Maggie and Rick and Morgan could hear everything from the gate.
"I'm not staying here." Sasha said coolly. Negan's response to that was to grab Rosita by the hair and shove her down onto her knees!
"I will bash her pretty head in with Lucille here, if I don't get some cooperation around here. " he said in a pleasant sounding tone. "Now I hate to do this kind of shit...you know, threatening women. But I'm doing this for your own good. You are just too damned delicate looking to be out in the wild. So YOU stay, she goes...or else she really goes, if you know what I mean!"
Sasha locked eyes with a terrified Rosita, then looked at Abraham, who was deathly still. She nodded.
"Fine, I'll stay." Sasha said brusquely.
"Good. Now was that so hard? I will even give everyone here time to say goodbye." Negan said, just as Olivia came from around a corner with Ron. They had been grilling hot dogs and hamburgers and the first batch was ready. Ron, seeing what was going on, grinned! He knew Negan would get Rick and those fucks the hell out of here! It was a shame Carl wasn't leaving as well.
Rosita was hugged by both Eugene and Michonne. They then walked over to the gate towards Morgan and Rick.
"What's the plan?" Michonne asked. She did not comment on how deathly quiet Jessie Peterson had been. She had sensed a closeness between her and Rick. The least she could've done is spoken up on Rick's behalf.
But then again, there was a part of Michonne that couldn't blame her. Look at what happened the last time she defended Rick publicly.
"The plan is that Carol, Darryl and myself, buried some guns nearby, in case of trouble. We dig them up and for now, look for things that this piece of shit might like." Rick huffed.
"That's it!" Glenn hissed. "We just give in?"
"I have a plan," Morgan said, "why don't we just take things from the supply tent, give them to you and make it appear as if you've 'found' them somewhere. Negan and his men weren't here when they were brought in."
"Yes, but others were." Rick said. "But if things get desperate, do it. I think we can find enough to get back in here. But if we do, we have to kill Negan. There is no other way."
Rosita, who had walked away briefly, made her way over to them.
"Carol is being allowed to fix us sandwiches. Nothing to drink." she said in a surly manner.
Denise and Tara took Maggie to the infirmary to make sure that she was alright after the shock. That left Abraham and Sasha alone.
"I'll be back before nightfall." Abraham said, kissing her hands.
"Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself." Sasha assured him.
Abraham nodded but didn't want to let go of her hands, or her. He didn't know what he would find when he returned here...IF he returned here. He honestly didn't believe anything they found would be good enough for Negan. Because his reasons for throwing them out were bullshit!
"Hey," Sasha said, trying to cheer him up, "we're not going to let him win. I will leave this place in the middle of the night, if that's what it takes for us to be together."
Abraham nodded but he was stunned and pissed off. They had not been prepared for Negan or his people. They had not been prepared for the people already here, to just go along with what he said. He had expected some support from them.
"Where the hell is Deanna?" Abraham growled as they turned to walk towards the gate. His arm quickly enclosed around Sasha's waist as they neared Rick and the others.
"We'll get to her and let her know what her brother is doing. She's feeling low because of Reg and Aiden. She's not herself. We'll get her back on her feet and get you all back in here."
"He needs to die, you know that, don't you? We can't stay here with him." Abraham said. Sasha nodded.
"I have no problem with that." she answered, as Morgan opened the gate reluctantly. Abraham's lips met hers and Sasha returned his kisses eagerly, before they were stopped! Simon shoved Abraham away from Sasha and out of the gate!
"Get going, Red! All of you, the quicker you find something, the sooner you can prove you're not lazy asses!" he yelled. Morgan held his temper before closing the gate behind Rick, Glenn, Rosita and Abraham. Once that was done, Simon walked up to Morgan.
"You make sure that your buddy Darryl, only gets the end butt of a loaf of bread for dinner. And water, are we clear?"
Morgan did not answer him and no one was going to make him. Simon, sensing his slight insanity, subtly backed off, winked at Sasha and then returned to doing the nothing he did around there. Sasha mouthed 'I love you' to Abraham, before watching Rosita grab his arm and walk off.
She walked over to Michonne.
"What now?" she asked.
"Do as Rick says. Stay calm. For now this place is not in our control."
"I get that but we need to get to Deanna." Sasha whispered. Michonne looked around.
"I don't see Spencer anywhere. Maybe he's inside with her?
Meanwhile, Negan picked up his bat and whistled his way into his sister's house and closed the door. He quickly looked out of the window, before heading to the basement. Then, he began a trek down the basement steps, turning right to approach a bar, with three barstools in front of it.
Negan sat on one and pressed a button underneath it. It slowly descended into the floor until he disappeared. The barstool soon returned to the basement empty. Once he was at his destination, 'Negan's' demeanor changed drastically. He handed his bat to Beth Greene, who was dressed in a dark blue skirt suit! Her long blonde hair was pinned up in a severe bun.
"How is it going Special Agent Negan?" Beth asked. She wanted to ask about her sister, whom she could see on the monitor, had not taken Glenn's exit well.
"About as well as can be expected, Miss Greene." Special Agent Negan replied, before he walked through three rooms to a situation conference room. This apocalypse was about to come to an end. But whether or not everyone still living, could re-inter grate back into society, would be a different story altogether.
Negan sat down at the head of the table and nodded to someone that a few members of Rick's group, would be very surprised to see indeed. His name was Dr. Edwin Jenner...