Chapter 7 : DogGone It
A few days after the incident, Lilly found herself getting ready with a bunch of Negans officers to clear out a small herd of Walkers that threatened the area. Max was with her, on guard, ready to help his 'mama'. A couple other non-officers were there, hoping to earn more shares. Negan came around the corner, with his bat over his shoulder, doing his usual cock-of-the walk step.
"Who's ready to bash some heads?!" he called out to his men.
Everyone cheered but Lilly, she was inspected her weapon.
He pointed his bat to her, "newbie, with me," he said.
Lilly frowned and shook her head lightly, getting into the jeep Simon was driving him in. To avoid conversation and get a bit pumped up, she put her head phones in, her CD player in a pocket she made on the inside of the flannel shirt she wore. They drove along quietly for a bit, her eyes closed as Max sat panting between her legs on the floor of the jeep. Negan noticed her suddenly playing what looked to be bass on her kneecap. He pulled an earbud from her ear, getting her attention.
"Whatcha gettin pumped to?" he asked.
"Daft Punk, Burnin'," she informed him.
"Not bad, at least its older Daft Punk, you need some hard rock tho."
"I listen to plenty of hard rock, thanks," she said and put the earbud back in to end their conversation.
After another 15 minutes of driving they stopped. There was no herd in sight but Max jumped out and did the 'pointer' stance to the direction they were in. Lilly left her CD player in the jeep and exited out of the jeep.
"Helluva nose on the pup," Negan said stepping out and gave the dog a pet on his head which he actually gave Negan a quick lick for.
"So why am I tagging along with you? You do know I survived for years without anyone else," she told him.
"True, but you should learn to count on others, work as a team," he told her.
She nodded, he actually made sense. Following Max's lead they headed towards the area the smart dog pointed out and soon found a small herd thru a thicket of trees...the walkers themselves in a clearing.
"Tell Max to fall back, we'll take care of them ourselves," he whispered to her.
Lilly nodded and made a simple hand motion, Max followed and moved back behind them, at ease for now.
"Lets pick off the ones on the outside then regroup here," he told her.
"There's only like ten of them, we could..."
"Listen to me for once?" he asked tho in a serious tone.
Lilly nodded. After giving a count, they both ran to the sides of the herd, slicing and clobbering the stragglers on the outside then running back to their meeting point.
"Now, they know we're here and are following us, lets finish them off," he told her.
She agreed, this time they just walked out and started to move into the crowd, picking off those nearest to them. Lilly's astute eyes notice they were trying to circle around them.
"Back to back! Now!" she yelled to Negan who followed suite and pressed his back against hers. The two fought pretty damn well together, clearing the herd without much fuss. When they were done they took a moment to catch their breath.
"Not bad girlie, I may have to make you a part-time officer," he smirked, pulling her in for a hug rather she liked it or not.
She did like it, she wasn't proud...but after years of no human contact..this felt nice. So she hugged him back lightly then pulled away.
"You're not to bad yourself," she told him.
Just as they were finished celebrating, Max came running over to them, he whimpered loudly and pointed to their East. Lilly and Negan got quiet. They heard footsteps, human footsteps.
"Shit, there's a group in this area...come on," he said, grabbing her hand as he started to run into an abandoned home with Max. They hid in a small pantry but Max wouldn't come in, he had to protect.
"Max, come in, now," she scolded him. Max nosed their door shut and Negan had to hold her back so she wouldn't chase him.
They continued to hear the footsteps get closer. It came into the house, searched around then left. Figuring they were in the clear, Negan went to open the door when they both heard a gunshot. Lilly's eyes went big and she let out a gasp, to which Negan covered her mouth...stroking her hair as they both realized what most likely just got shot. He looked almost lovingly into her eyes as her tears started to fall over his hand.
Once the sounds went away, Negan gripped her hand and they left the room, heading outside right away.
Lilly's eyes went big again and all the blood drained from her face as she saw Max laying there, a bullet wound in his gut. She rushed over to him and immediately pulled the dying pup into her lap.
"Max, no, no buddy, you're okay, it's okay..." she whimpered, petting him.
Negan came over and looked at the situation. He noticed mixed with Max's blood was other bodily fluids...stomach contents and liver bile.
"Fuck! Fucking fuckers!" he shouted, swinging his bat at no one.
Lilly picked Max up, "We have to get him, I'm sure Carson can help him," she told Negan importantly.
Max lifted his head to his owner, blood coming out of his nose, and licked her chin...his tail wagging slowly...until it suddenly stopped.
"Max, come on baby boy, please," she said and when he didn't move...she started to sob, holding his lifeless body to hers..his blood smearing along her clothes.
Negan said nothing, put an arm around her shoulders as they headed back to the jeep. Simon was there and saw them...and Max...and he frowned, shaking his head. They all got back to the jeep and headed back to Sanctuary where they met the other officers.
The others, seeing Lilly carrying a lifeless Max all reacted. Some bowed their heads, some let a few tears dropped, some just shook their heads. They all knew Max, they all had given him scraps of food, they all had petted him and played with him out back. They knew Lilly too, the one who took in all their problems...the one who knew more dirty jokes than most of the men. All their hearts broke.
She just held him against her chest as Simon grabbed someone and started to dig a hole.
Negan moved in front of his men, he spoke loudly. "We lost an officer today. Max was nothing less than that so we will treat his death like the death of one of our own!" he told them in a serious tone to which they agreeably nodded. "This smart little pup was one of the bravest men to have ever grace Sanctuary," he concluded.
Simon had found a potato sack that with Lilly's help, they put Max into. The crowd walked over to the grave, silent as Lilly laid him in there as Simon grabbed the shovel, but Lilly stopped him. She took the shovel and filled in the hole herself, her face blank, her movements on auto. Once it was done, she dropped the shovel, said nothing and walked to her room.
"Let her grieve. Max was like...no, he was her child, and her grief shouldn't be treated as anything less. Go on now," he told them.
Everyone left and Negan ran his fingers thru hair with a deep angry frown, Simon stood next to him.
"Find the son of a bitch that did this. There was no reason to do this, the dog didn't deserve this..at all," he growled. Simon merely nodded and quickly got into a jeep.
Negan took a breath then headed to Lily's room, he just walked in and closed the door behind her. She was sitting on the edge of her bed, looking to Max's blood that was still on her hands. He walked over to her, his hands grabbing her wrists softly and pulled her to stand.
"Come on Girlie, lets wash you off," he said taking her to the kitchen sink and pretty much washed her hands off for her. Lilly was quiet, her face still blank, and no responses from her. He moved her to sit back down on the edge of her bed. "I'm gonna help you change your shirt okay?" he told her seeing that it was covered in his blood tho her jeans were clean. Negan found one of her tee-shirts and without one grope or comment, took off the bloodied on and put the clean one on.
He maneuvered them so he was sitting against the wall her bed was against and pulled her to sit between his legs, her body leaning back against his. He ran his fingers thru her hair.
"You ain't gotta say nothing girlie ya feel me? You just sit there as long as you like...I'll be right here," he told her in a soft voice.
For some reason, his concern and caring nature got to her. Her face scrunched up and she started to sob, her face turning to bury itself in his chest.
"It hurts..." she managed to squeak out.
Negan nodded, "Yeah, its gonna. Lost is inevitable in our world...even before the Walkers came," he sighed. "You know, I lost my wife...Lucille...to cancer before all this shit started. I thank whomever is listening for not allowing her to come back as one of those 'things'. She didn't deserve that...any of it,"he admitted to her.
Sniffling, Lilly looked up to him, "Is that why you have multiple wives now? To fill that emptiness?" she asked.
"Even when you're grieving your shrink brain goes to work," he looked down to her with a smirk.
She couldn't help but let out a sad laugh. "I'm sorry," she frowned and rested her head back on his chest...finding comfort there.
"Nah, its okay, Im sure you know that a person in your position will find some way for their brain to escape," he said quite smartly.
She nodded and got quiet for awhile, he just held her and ran his fingers thru her hair, letting her lay there as long as she needed. After an hour he realized she was asleep, a smile coming over his face as he kissed the top of her head. Being as slick as he could, he escaped from under her and covered her up with the blanket on her bed.
Looking around, he got an idea and moved to her kitchen, he started to get pots and pans out.
