Negan groaned as he awoke. Those bitches really did a number on him, he thought as he started to lean up, taking in his surroundings. His blood boiled as he thought of how the strangers slaughtered his unconscious and heavily injured men. At least I gave people a choice to calmly join me. Negan thought to himself. Sure he killed at least one person with every group, but survival requires a sacrificial lamb. People needed to know not to fuck with him.
Scanning the room, Negan began to search for a way out. In front of him, a door with a faded "NOT AN ADA EXIT NO RE-ENTRY" sign plastered on it, next to the door was a black board with wood trimming. The chalk on it now faded and illegible. Taking note that he had been laying in the middle of a walk way, he noticed rows of chairs on either side of him. One set was next to a wall, the other was next to windows. Groaning, the leader limped over to the windows to take a look out.
Men and women worked in small scale fields as they weeded and plucked vegetation that was ready to eat. The building behind the field had people going in and out with baskets filled with clothes. Negan noticed very much homemade clotheslines that looped out, around, and back into the window of the top floor in the other building. Negan immediately knew that it was laid out that way so the water from the clothes would drip down and water their crops.
Negan chuckled. "Smart. Wish we had done that."
"You really should be laying down."
Snapping his head up, Negan noticed a woman in the back corner of the room. She was a small thing, her hair chopped short, her clothes worn and dirty as well as her skin. Storming forward, he threw his forearm into her throat and lifted her up and against the wall. The girl gasped and coughed at the sudden loss of air.
"Where the fuck am I?"
"Georgetown University." She choked out.
Negan released her, causing the woman to cough as she started take in gulps of air. The angry man began to pace and run a hand through his hair.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"Soren."
"Fuck kinda name is Soren?"
"Fuck kinda name is Negan?"
"How the fuckety fuck do you know my name?"
"The people who brought you in, they mentioned it. I don't know anything else. They don't want me to know about their affairs."
Negan huffed. "You make it sound like they aren't your people."
"Because I'm not. They needed a doctor, I'm the closest thing they have to one. I don't leave, that would be too risky."
Negan slid down the wall as he breathed in. Soren went back to her station and finished cleaning her items and began to put things away.
"Any clue what they're gonna do to me?"
Soren paused. "They may ask you if you have a larger group. Where the group is. How many you have. Weapons you have." Soren stopped what she was doing, a look of regret crossing her face before she went back to work. "Or at least, that is what they did with me."
"Never tried to break out?"
"I did. Made it all the way to the wall before they caught me. Was shackled to the wall for a year for that stunt."
They stayed silent as Soren continued to scrub her materials and the cart down before rolling it into the corner next to the door. Negan sat there and studied her as she went about her routine. She was a small thing, going only to his shoulder. Her light brown hair was cut short, reaching only her jaw. Her skin was slightly tanned, which made him question about weather her story was true or not. She could have been naturally that tan, but he still would keep an eye on her.
"It's rude to stare." It was then he noticed a slight accent. He wondered if she had a speech impediment at first, but he knew then that it was an accent.
"You're not from here are you?"
"No," she replied. "I'm from Norway. I moved to the states to study medicine ten years ago. Then the dead came back and I was no longer able to go home."
"Explains the weird ass name."
She smirked at him. "What about your name, Negan?"
"Mom was weird. Found an old book with Negan in it and decided she liked it. Told me it was a strong name for a strong boy like me."
She took a seat across from him, resting her arm on the empty chair to her right, the windows illuminating her as they shone above her, "Let us hope that is true. I don't think the Commander will be gentle on you."
"What is he like? This Commander?"
"I don't know, really. I only saw him once, and even then it was just for him to say that I would be useful for them."
Negan sat forward a little bit. "We could get outta here."
Before Soren could speak, the door busted open. Negan stood up, looking as intimidating as he could, meanwhile Soren tucked her chin to her knees, trying to be as small as possible.
A man, about thirty years old, stormed into the room with two other guards right behind him. The man was rather large in stature, his muscles rippled as he moved forward., a wild animal ready to attack his prey.
"You are the one they call Negan?"
"You are the one acting as though you are some fucking commander?"
The Commander chuckled. "At least I don't pretend to be a savior."
Negan's smirk fell slightly, before he put on a new smile and took a seat on one of the chairs. "So, Commander, what can I do for you?"
"Where are your people? And how many are there?"
"Hmm, they are at, Up Yours, and we have about this many." Negan threw up his middle finger with the biggest smile he had ever shown.
The Commander strode forward, grabbing Negan by the throat and slammed him into the wall. "I will be back, rethink your answers." Throwing him to the ground, the Commander marched out of the room, his dark animal coat whipping behind him as a guard shut the door and locked it behind him.
Soren sighed as she stood back up. "You should not upset the Commander. The people here have slaughtered many without batting an eye."
"Yeah, well, these people have no idea what I am capable of."
"Which is?"
Negan rubbed the back of his neck and he slowly sat up. "I'm not proud of what I have done, but I know it needed to happen. Messages had to be sent, lines had to be drawn."
"That does not make me want to go with you, Negan."
He pauses for a moment, pondering if he wants to confess what he has done, or not scare away a rare doctor. "I have beaten people to death with a baseball bat. I have strangled my own men with my bare hands. I left someone I love to slowly rot because I couldn't put her down. But my system works. My people are alive and well, because of what I do."
Soren gives him a shocked expression. "If we escape, how do we do it?"
Negan gives her an infamous grin. "Don't you worry a pretty viking hair on your head. I have a plan."
