Thank you for all the favorites, follows and reviews! I have a bunch written for this story and am just weaving different shorts together. The Tv TWD crew will be showing up soon but first there's gotta be some more drama.
A guest reviewer gave some good feedback on my Negan being OOC. I totally understand completly. My Negan is darker and more prone to justifying bad behavior with twisted logic(although he does redeem himself a little in the near future). I tend to make my bad guys, really bad guys. My Gov in Sweet Hereafter is also more twisted. The timeline and plots will also be non canon at times. I hope I don't lose anyone with OOC portrayls.
I don't own the walking dead,its characters or story lines. OC and non canon shit is mine.
Valentine was on her back while a redheaded woman straddled her with a knife poised above her chest. Growling fiercely she struggled to hold the knife away from her chest. The screams of the crowd and jeers from Negan faded away. All Valentine could hear was the thump of her heartbeat pounding in her skull. The buzz of adrenaline making her body vibrate. Arching her pelvis off the floor, she made the woman above loose her leverage. Taking her opening, she flung her body off the ground causing the other woman to roll onto her back. Valentine was holding both of the woman's wrists as the redhead held the knife upwards. She screamed as Valentine started digging her nails into her arms as hard as she could. Valentine felt the skin tearing and blood leaking out. The crowd was pounding their feet and screaming, "Kill Her!"
Valentine's hands slipped on the slick liquid causing her to lose her hold. Flinging herself backwards from the redhead she escaped the sharp edge of the blade. Bouncing on her feet she waited for the other woman to lunge. They circled each other as the metal of the knife glinted off the torches glow. Valentine jumped away from a swipe to her gut. She felt her heart kick up and her lungs seize. She was done with fighting and it was ending now.
Discreetly she unwound some of the cotton wraps on her fists. Valentine had a foot and a half loose when the woman charge again, both her hands gripping the kitchen knife out. Valentine stepped out of the way while wrapping her ties around her attackers fists. The woman kept her grip tight on the hilt and was trying to pull her arms away from Valentine. She yanked hard causing the woman to stumble forward leaving her back vulnerable.
From behind the woman, Valentine pulled both ends of the ties, the woman's arms bent back towards her. With the ties holding her fist closed tightly the redhead couldn't drop the blade and was helpless as Valentine pulled the sharp metal towards her neck. The crowd was screeching but all Valentine heard was the heartbeat thrumming in her skull.
She pulled hard and the knife plunged into the woman's neck, the blade tip coming out the back of her spine. A gurgling choke sprayed blood all over Valentines hands right before the redhead collapsed to her knees. Valentine dropped the ties but they were tangled with her hands.
Reaching down Valentine pulled the knife out and cut the ties away before plunging the blade into the woman head to prevent her turning. The sounds of the room began to return. A whoosh whoosh sound flooded her, then the trickle of shouts and jeers. Negan's of course the clearest of the all, "That's my fucking girl. Such a fuckin' sadistic bitch!"
Valentine's eyes were unfocused as she looked down at her blood covered arms. Her hands were shaking and felt alien to her. Someone touched her shoulder and she struck without looking. Her fist connected to the man's throat with a crunch. He fell to his knees gasping and turning red, his trachea collapsed in on itself. She stumbled back at the sight and then her eyes jumped up to the crowd. It was as if she had just teleported to the place. As if a lapse of time had happened and she just killed a random person.
Negan was laughing hysterically and pointing Lucille at her. "Fucking brutal Angel! God I love that about you!"
She looked at the man who just died at her feet. Valentine's perception was shifting. The floor wobbled and she stumbled to the right. A sharp pain hit her in the stomach and she lifted her shirt. A huge gash was pouring blood down her jeans. She touched it in a confused explorative state.
'How'd this happen?' she asked herself with a furrowed brow, her finger dipping into the flayed tissue.
Her head lolled back and she was looking at the vaulted ceilings. It spun and the torches shadows jumped around the walls. Soon she lay looking up at the dancing flickers of torchlight and then she was being dragged down a long hallway. The buzzing chatter happened around her but she felt her eyes needed a rest. They'd been open for so long. Way too long.
Valentine woke slowly, her eyes drooping under their immense weight.
"And she awakens," Doc quipped from somewhere in the room. She lifted her head with a grunt and looked around. Doc was perched on a stool writing down notes. Valentine looked down at her arms and hands. There were little nicks from either the redhead's nails or the knife. Valentine lifted the sheet and saw the large bandage on her abdomen.
"You were sliced open pretty good there. Nothing vital just an awfully long cut. 20 damn stitches Valentine." Doc exclaimed and added, "You'll use all my supplies if you keep surviving."
Valentine snorted and looked over at the man's teasing smirk. She laid her head back and shifted her sore body. Groaning out in pain Valentine froze at the shocking stabbing coming from her center.
"Don't move, you'll tear them." Doc exclaimed and rushed over in concern. He peeled the bandage up and then resealed it. "Its ok. Here's some water."
After sipping from the plastic cup Valentine lay back heavily. A knock on the door made Valentine freeze and slam her eyes shut. Doc snickered quietly and then opened the flimsy wood door.
"How's my girl?!" Negan shouted while stomping inside. Valentine made her breathing slow but deep. Her heart calming, as she took measured breathes and listened to the Negan chatter.
"Why's she still sleeping? It's been three fucking hours." He whined while giving the bed frame a kick. The jostling made her stomach clench and her whole body to flash with brilliant pain.
"Sir. Please she needs to rest. I will get you as soon as she's awake." Doc offered with a hopeful tone. Negan huffed out an irritated breath and grumbled, "Fine. Tell Craig to find me when she's awake." The door opened and then slammed shut bringing an eerie silence. Valentine peeked her eyes open and saw Doc smirking at her from his seat.
"Try sleeping some more." He ordered with a raised eyebrow as if waiting for her to argue. Sighing she sipped more water before collapsing against the stiff cotton pillow.
Negan took three men and Valentine on a run to a small town south of the Sanctuary. They were running low on water and from a distance the group had seen a water tower and a water filtration plant. Valentine sat in the large military truck's cab in between Negan and John while the others rode in back. She felt Negan staring at the side of her face and ground her teeth to keep from snapping at him. The man had started bringing her everywhere like some kind of house pet. All she needed was a damn collar and nametag.
"So Angel, how's the stomach wound?" Negan asked in a light tone. Valentine glanced at him and then returned her eyes to the road in front of them.
Negan continued to talk without her input, "Good to hear. I need you in top form on this trip. Dwight scouted it and we may have some people to take care of."
Valentine shivered at the mention of Dwight. The guy had been caught with Negan's wife Sherry who just happened to be Dwight's wife before the turn. She could only assume that they were split up in a similar fashion that Negan had tried with Paul and her. Both were protecting the other by doing the bat wielding maniac's bidding. Dwight killed whomever Negan pointed at and Sherry, well Sherry probably dealt with even worse depravity.
Apparently the two had been secretly seeing each other and were discovered a few nights ago. Valentine could still smell the burning flesh as Negan punished Dwight. The sadist pressed a red hot iron to the side of his lieutenant's face until the skin boiled and his eye bulged. Valentine hadn't seen him since but from what she had seen as they drug him out of the common room was atrocious. She was surprised the guy lived and can only assume it was thanks to the Doc.
They rolled into town towards the plant first, checking for a water tanker to transport it back to Sanctuary. The roads were littered with trash and dead bodies. Valentine started to feel uneasy at the lack of walking corpses. It meant the living were nearby or had been recently. She glanced at Negan who looked back calmly, both silently acknowledging the others observations. It felt wrong to cooperate with the madman but it would keep her alive outside the walls so she accepted the need for him. Even though Negan was a monster, Valentine could see how having him as back up could be beneficial. He knew how to survive.
John drove them through an open gate and they found themselves in the plant loading docks. There was one tanker as well as a few other facility vehicles. The group hopped out the truck bed and cab, moving quietly to the tankard. Negan motioned for them to stay low and keep an eye out. John climbed the truck to see if the tank was full and moments later popped his head over the side smiling.
"Its full," he exclaimed happily moving to climb down. Valentine heard the shot before John's head exploded, blood raining down on the group right before the body joined them.
"Fuck" Negan hissed before looking at Valentine, "Find the shooter."
Valentine lay on the ground, crawling under the truck to scan their surroundings. She could see the sniper hidden amongst the grass in a nearby vacant field. Signaling to Negan of the direction of the threat she watched him send the two remaining men to circle around the shooter. Valentine slid out and crouched by Negan as another shot was fired off, pinging the metal wheel well next to her. She looked at the spot blandly and then at Negan who grinned widely, "Fuckin' fearless bitch huh?"
Valentine rolled a shoulder and peeked her head out to see the other two skirting the edges of the clearing. Just as they approached a spot to fire at the sniper, a shot went off. She watched the guy name Devon fall instantly, a scream ripping from him as he landed.
"Fucking morons." Negan grunted and then snorted as the screams were cut off by the sound of walkers feeding. The second guy was firing off his gun bringing more dead to the area with each loud pop. Valentine sighed and watched the tree line pouring corpses. She ticked her head to the woods and saw Negan take in the approaching herd. They were pinned down and couldn't reach their truck without getting shot.
The sniper would have to move soon though, otherwise they'd risk being eaten. Negan kept his eyes trained on the spot waiting for the person to make a move. "Come on fucker. Run, bitch, run." He joked giving Valentine a cheeky grin. It was getting to be too late to run, the amount of dead flooding the area was going to make it impossible to retreat easily.
"There he goes," Negan stated as they watched a man with a large sniper rifle run from the grassy area towards their truck.
"Fuck no you don't." Negan grunted running from his spot towards the armed man. Valentine followed her blades out taking out biters as they got closer to the herd. She was slicing her way through a decomposing woman when she saw Negan swing Lucille through the man's skull. Blood sprayed across the pavement and onto Valentine's profile. She wrinkled her nose in disgust but followed Negan as they got to the truck. Negan hopped in and came face to face with another armed man. Valentine was still outside the truck fighting undead and getting slightly worried she was going to by biter chow. She glanced up at Negan who was focused on the guy in front of him as he pulled the hammer back on the revolver and drawled, "Back up and out and I won't kill you."
Valentine growled swinging her blade out to take down another rotting body. She was close to running off on her own if Negan didn't move his ass. She wasn't going to get eaten alive for him. The large man put a hand up as if pacifying the guy but struck out, knocking the gun away as it fired off before rushing forward. His large fists started landing hard onto the man's face and torso.
Valentine climbed up on the footstep to get into the cab but was blocked by Negan's huge form. A walker grabbed her leg as she fought with another. She growled kicking the dead man in the face while stabbing another. The sounds behind her were animalistic as Negan lost his shit throttling the guy. Valentine yelped as a walker bit down on her leather boot, the pressure making her heart race. Suddenly she was yanked backwards, Negan's thick arm pulling her into the cab. The biter was still attached to her leg, the rotting body being hauled up with her. Negan shouted a string of cursed words at the sight and began punching the dead man's skull in until it let go. Valentine was gasping as her leg felt like it was on fire.
The door slammed shut and Negan looked at her with wild eyes, his hands reaching for her leg. He yanked at her boot, unlacing the leather frantically while she lay there dumbly. She didn't want to see what was underneath the mangled leather.
Negan let out a dry laugh as the got her shoe and sock off. He leaned back on his heels, raking his hand through his hair and then pointed at her calf. "That asshole had some giant motherfucking chompers." He joked while poking the large bruise blooming on her calf. Valentine looked at it for a moment and then collapsed back letting out a puff off air that could pass as a laugh.
"Come on get your lazy ass out of the way, I gotta drive now that all our red shirts are dead." Negan joked clambering over her prone body. Valentine pushed herself up and started putting her boot back on. The truck turned over with a roar and they headed out of the swarming area. Negan took his time running over as many dead as possible, hooting as the bodies exploded on impact. The windshield was covered in thick black blood and body parts. The wipers were trying to work but it was futile with the gore being so slick.
"Fucking fuck. I can't see shit out these goddamn fuckers." Negan growled making Valentine roll her eyes and hold back a snarky retort. 'No shit Sherlock. That's what happens when you hit a herd on purpose.'
They holed up in a partially burned down factory. They'd been travelling for two days since being attacked at the water plant. The herd had made passage back to the Sanctuary impossible. Negan was close to intolerable now that he wasn't in control. The dead were holding them hostage and Valentine couldn't help but feel a sick sense of justice for it. She felt like a prisoner all day, everyday. It was nice to see Negan get a taste of his own medicine.
The night had been quiet as the two sat in a dirty warehouse manager's office. Neither had slept and the last food they ate was a day and a half ago. Their truck was also out of gasoline and in the morning they would need to find new transportation or a shit ton of gas for the large vehicle. Valentine felt hollow from the lack of food and knew if they didn't find anything by the next afternoon, she would start to get too exhausted to fight or travel by foot. She must have dozed off at some point because suddenly the office door crashed open loudly, two men coming in with guns raised. Negan tried to stand but the guy with a shotgun ordered, "Uh uh uh. On your knees big boy."
Valentine stood up slowly, her hands loose at her sides. The second man point his handgun at her and drawled, "Stay there sweet girl."
She wrinkled her nose at the sleazy tone and rolled her shoulder, loosening it up to fight. Negan laughed lowly as he watched her irritation with the men. He glanced at the two guys and stated, "You two inbred chucklefucks picked the wrong fucking people to jump."
"Oh yeah?" drawled the shot gun wielding slimball, his eyes glued to Valentine's tits. "Whys that?"
Negan rolled his eyes and kept quiet, apparently waiting for Valentine to do something. The man with the handgun started pacing, his gun waving around as he talked about what was going to happen.
"See we just needed us some supplies but now... Now we see ya got some pussy with ya." He rasped adding, "And Jessup here says to me, he says, Man I ain't seen me some pussy in weeks, So I says..."
Valentine tunes him out, her eyes following the man in front of her wave his handgun around, his grip lose and overly confident. The guy with the shotgun was too busy staring at her tits to pay much attention. Valentine cut her eyes to Negan hoping he knew she was about to turn shit around. With amused eyes he shrugged a shoulder. She almost laughed at his blasé attitude about her possibly getting them killed.
The man threw his head back laughing at some joke he told when Valentine yanked the gun out of his hand, turning it on them instantly. In a splint second she pulled the trigger on the guy with the shotgun, dropping him to the floor. She aimed it at the other man's head and watched as Negan climbed to his feet.
"Didn't fucking see that coming huh? Valentine here is not just a pretty face." Negan joked picking up the dead man's shotgun before reaching out to taking the gun in her hands. He was still weary of allowing Valentine to carry anything but her blades. She figured he knew she would gun him down if given the chance.
She watched him circle his prey, Lucille spinning as he rotated his wrist, warming up to swing. Valentine backed away slightly seeing Negan in control and grabbed her bag. She scavenged the men's stuff pulling together a giant duffle bag full of weapons and food. The man's screams echoed in the room but she blocked it out. Keeping her eyes away from what was probably a huge bloody mess Valentine waited for Negan to finish up. When he strolled towards Valentine she watched him wiping his face off with a bandana. His leather gloves were coated in crimson and Lucille was dripping on his shoulder.
"Find anything good?" He asked happily, the glow of violence still lighting up his eyes. Valentine gave him a dip of the chin and then ticked her head to the door.
"Alright alright. Quiet the fuck down. We'll go already." He teased with a toothy grin, his arm gesturing for her to go first. Valentine peered outside, her chocolate eyes scanning the surrounding neighborhood seeing it was just approaching dawn. There were a few dead moaning somewhere but nothing else seemed out of place. They headed out moving down the street towards the vehicle the men had arrived in. Negan had a bounce in his step that Valentine had noticed previously when he did something especially gruesome or cruel. Occasions like the punishments he doled out to her or the times he killed other survivors for supplies.
"You did good back there. Where'd you learn to disarm a man?" He asked conversationally. Valentine felt her chest burn at the question. Negan murdered the man that taught her self-defense. She had been married to a man in the military. Paul was an all American boy next door and army ranger, an all around great guy. He spent time teaching her so she would be safe while he was overseas.
Valentine's eyes slid to Negan's, the sharpness cutting him deep. She watched as he realized who it was and something flashed across his face, something remarkably like guilt but it was gone in seconds. Lazily rolling his shoulder Negan conceded, "Guess he wasn't that shit of a husband after all."
Valentine swallowed thickly as the words sliced down the center of her chest. The thick sternum bone feeling as if it were cracked open and pried apart. She looked away as her traitorous eyes prickled and burned. Valentine hated everything about the man next to her and everything about the world she lived in.
'Fuck it all.' She thought angrily.
The pair climbed into the pick up and headed out for Sanctuary. They'd been gone two days longer than planned and Valentine wondered what kind of chaos they would come back to. She secretly hoped someone grew big enough balls to overthrown the place.
Negan drove and occasionally Valentine felt his eyes drilling holes into her cheek. She was refusing to look at him or allow him to see her emotional state after the conversation about her husband. The ache was back with a vengeance and it took everything in her power to hold herself in check.
Negan broke the silence in the cab, "If I could go back... I wouldn't kill him." Valentine's eyes cut to his sharply, her mind reeling at the statement. He smiled crookedly and added, "If I'd know he was army I would've kept him for the muscle. Such a waste."
Her jaw snapped shut so hard she almost bit her tongue off. Hatred boiled in her chest and she seethed. The man was evil. There wasn't a heart inside his chest, there was an empty cavern. Nothing inside him was redeemable.
"Now now. I was just kidding. Can you image though, what kinda fights we could've had with both of you? Jesus that would've been fan-fucking-tastic."
The truck moved along the dirt road quickly, Negan apparently eager to get back. Soon they started seeing more biters and less road.
"Fucking fuckers." Negan growled as they saw the herd beyond them again. It had to be hundreds of dead men and women wandering the hills. He turned the wheel sharply, moving them back the way they came. They would need to backtrack or find shelter for yet another night. The detour had them curving around the area they needed to go and facing the backside of Sanctuary. The sun began to set and Negan whined, "Gonna need to hole up again goddamnit."
Valentine leaned forward her eyes scanning the passing woods. A flash of something silver had her point at an upcoming drive way. Negan slowed and turned the truck up the narrow tracks to a cabin. The overgrown foliage scraped along the paint and bumper mowed down the tall weeds between the worn dirt tire tracks. The tiny cabin came into view. The sturdy log cabin had shuttered windows and tiny picket fencing. The truck pulled to a stop and the pair climbed out to clear the home. Valentine stood still in the driveway and listened to the surrounding dark forest. The echoes of moaning and snarling walkers hit their ears now with the truck turned off.
"Damn biters." Negan grunted as they got the door open and the tiny building cleared.
Valentine and Negan were trapped inside the small log cabin as the herd passed by outside. She peeked out the tiny window in the bathroom as the corpses trampled past. Her mind struggling to think of an escape route for them. The herd could bust into the cabin at any moment but there didn't seem to be any options. She wished she was stuck with anyone other than Negan but there they were. Exiting the bathroom she found him lounging on the sofa as if they weren't in grave danger.
Seeing her, Negan grinned and stood up sauntering towards her. She shoved down the urge to back away from him and prayed her face showed no fear. He bent down, his mouth grazing Valentine's ear as he whispered, "Gonna have to be real fucking quiet until they pass. No way to get outta here."
She nodded and side stepped him moving into the kitchen to look through cabinets. Finding nothing of use she sighed and sat down. Her teeth grinding angrily.
'Fucking bullshit,' she thought to herself 'When am I going to catch a fucking break?"
Negan sat down next her, his leg touching hers as he crossed his arms and leaned his head against the wall. She kept her eyes forward and listened to him breath slowly, as if falling asleep. Valentine was unable to sit still, especially so close to the monster she hated. Standing up she paced a few times, her eyes constantly moving to the door. She peeked through the kitchen window and saw them still moving past. She wanted to scream and hit something. Turning around to pace some more she almost ran into Negan's broad chest. He grabbed her biceps and dipped his head to catch her eyes, "Calm your fucking tits. We're stuck here, sit down and shut up."
Negan smirked at the ironic statement and held back a laugh at her glare. "Seriously it could be worse. You could be stuck here with some asshole."
Valentine tried to yank her arms out of his grip but he held her still. She was moments from screaming at him when his grip loosened his fingertips trailing across her skin. Growling at him she watched his eyes darken. Yanking away from Negan, she got enough distance to try to shake off the creepy sensation. She wiped her arms down as if she had been touched by something revolting. Negan glared at her and walked close to her and pinned her against the wall whispering harshly, "Don't act like you don't like me touching you. I know you do."
She scowled at him and bit her tongue to keep from screaming.
Negan smirked and whispered, "You don't even have to talk, you're eyes do all the work. Like right now they're telling me to fuck off." He placed both his hands by her head, trapping her against the wall. "You wanna watch me 'fuck off'? I can show you how good I am with my hands."
Valentine growled, her hand resting on her machete blade. Negan was moments from getting a blade in his groin when he laughed quietly, backing away from her. "Maybe later huh?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow, flopping down heavily onto the sofa.