We arrive at Sanctuary and are separated immediately. I guess they're afraid we'll team up. I'm escorted down the familiar hallways to Negan's meeting room. They take my restraints off and shove me inside, to await Negan's return.
I sit down in one of the chairs to my right. I put my head in my hands ashamed of myself. I vowed to protect these people and I've failed them. Now two of their people are dead because I couldn't protect them. It's basically like I've killed them myself.
The door behind me opens and the man himself walks in.
"Sam! Just the person I wanted to see." he says.
he walks over to me and sits across from me. I glare at him the entire time.
"Now there she is! the badass that I've always known. I've domed two peoples heads in and still isn't afraid to give me that look." he says.
"Funny, you didn't tell Rick that." I say with venom in my speech.
"Oh come on now, that was just business. You and me go way back. I know you." he says.
"Sure." I says.
"Now, speaking of business, what was that shit earlier that you pulled?" he asks.
"oh? you mean the part where I busted you in the mouth?" I ask him being smug.
"Yea, that one." he says not looking amused, "you've seen the order I keep this place in. And now, you've completely fucked that up. How uncool is that shit? especially coming from you." he says.
"ha. I dunno, I thought it was pretty funny." I tell him.
"DO NOT give me that shit!" he says standing up and pointing his bat at me.
I push his bat out of my face gently, "Come on man, didn't your parents teach you that pointing is rude." I say with a smirk.
"oh, you think you're tough shit now huh?" He asks, "Archer!" He yells.
Almost immediately, Archer enters the room. He looks terrible. His face isn't as badly burned as Dwight's, you can see that once it fully heals, then it will almost be barely noticeable. However, my heart still breaks at the thought of him working for Negan now.
"Take this fine young lady to the cells." He says.
Archer nods reluctantly and grabs my arm and takes me to the cells.
He throws me in one of the rooms and locks me in.
VVVVVVVVVVVVV
I don't know how long I've been here for. I'm stripped naked and have been loosing weight exponentially. All they feed us is dog food. They won't even let us use a proper bathroom. Instead, they make us use it in our cells and pick cold days to hose us off.
I hear the lock to my door shift and the door open. Someone throws clothes inside, "put these on, Negan wants to see you." The man says.
I look down and see a dirty torn up outfit with an S spray painted on the front. I hurriedly put them on thankful to see and wear clothes again.
Once I put my clothes on, I'm escorted to Negan's room, which will be the first time in weeks that we have seen each other.
I am shoved into the room and the doors close behind me, leaving just me and Negan.
Perfect I think to myself.
"Damn, look at how you've changed." He says, "and definitely not for the better." he says with a chuckle.
Before he can say another word however, I lunge for him, punching him in the face again. Luckily, this time, we are alone so it takes a minute before anyone can get in here.
I punch him over and over until a group of men barge in and throw me off of him and into the wall. They proceed to beat me until I am close to death.
By the end of it, I am bloody and battered, aching with every movement. They make me stand and face Negan, but continue to restrain me.
"How many damn times do I got to tell you no?!" He yells before throwing a punch into my already bruised gut.
I buckle in the arms of the men but they continue to hold me up.
Negan's face is bloody from the broken nose I must have given him. I smile triumphantly.
"Boys, I don't thinks she gets this. Take this dog to her kennel until I figure out what to do with her." He says.
They yank my bloody body back to my room and roughly throw me inside.
I sit in here, bloody and battered, hurting all over. I can barely move without pain coursing through my body. Even breathing is hard to do. Somehow though, I manage to sit myself up and inspect my wounds.
They aren't too bad. They are just minor cuts, but major bruising. I think about tearing off a piece of my shirt to wipe away the blood, but I tear my mind away from that idea knowing that it isn't the cleanest thing in the world, and more than likely will do more harm than good.
Finally, after an hour of painfully sitting in my cell, Negan comes to my cell and opens that door.
"That was some stupid shit you pulled attacking me like that." He says with Lucille over his shoulder.
I take a painful breath before answering, "never...regretted it." I say in between breaths.
He chuckles, "well, I got to say I like the giant sized woman balls you got on you. In fact, if you had a dick, I would still be attracted to you like I am now." He says with a purr in his voice.
"Go to hell prick." I say.
He chuckles, "well, I'm sorry but I can't exactly do that right now because we have a little get together to get to." He says with a smirk.
"We?" I ask confused.
"Yup. So come on you sorry sack of shit!" He says grabbing my by the collar and dragging me to the main floor where the kiln is.
He throws me on the ground.
I look around and I see that the kiln is fired up and Dwight is babysitting the iron in the fire. Then, I see him.
Archer.
"Archer my boy! Come on down!" He booms like a game show host.
Archer timidly walks toward the center and immediately locks eyes with me. A tear escapes from his surprised and remorseful expression as he stares at me.
"Now! Let's get started!" He says. "Archer! Tie her up to the chair." He says.
Archer walks over to me and gently helps me up and into the chair before tying me to it.
"Now Sam. I'm very disappointed in your behavior lately. Associating with the pricks down the road, lying to me about them, killing Paula and her gang. And don't think I don't know about that." He says pointing his finger at me.
Then, he swings lucille at my face but stops just short of it connecting with my jaw. I, however, don't flinch. I know what's coming to me, there's no use in being a coward now, not when i'm neck deep in shit creek already.
He chuckles though, "God I love you. In fact, I love you so much, that I'm sad that I've lost you! And I want you back. But that's hard when after everything I've done for and to you, fails to work. So now, i'm down to the last straw. I'm sorry, I really am, but it wouldn't have gone down this way if you would have just listened." He says.
"So, with that being said," he says before he turns to Dwight at the kiln heating up the iron, "Dwight! Bring me the iron." He says.
Negan puts on a leather glove and is handed the iron on the metal rod. He slowly walks toward me but all I can do is sit and watch. I knew this would happen one day, so I face my reality with what little dignity that I have left.
The iron still hangs on the rod as he brings it inches from my face. I can feel the scorching heat radiating off of it and to my face. I look at Archer and he looks at me with pity and has tears rolling down his face. I nod at him silently telling him that i'll be okay, just as he did for me just weeks ago.
Negan hesitates, and I wait for him to put the iron to my face, however I did not expect what came next.
He drops the iron to the floor, allowing it to hit with a metallic clank. I look at him confused before he turns with the rod and inserts it into archers chest right above his heart, slowly.
Archer screams in pain and agony and falls to his knees. Tears burst out of his eyes like a dam and the smell of burning flesh fills the room along with his screams.
I scream in terror and fight the restraints of my chair to save my husband, but there is no give to them. All I can do is watch.
"Sam!" He yells desperately.
"I love you!!" He yells in between screams and then, after a few minutes of Negan burning through his chest, Archer falls to the ground and Negan lets go allowing the rod to stick out of his chest.
Archer is dead.
"No! You fucking bastard!" I yell in tears as I fight my restraints, "i'll kill you!" I yell.
He chuckles and turns back to Archers body and smiles before taking lucille and bashing his head in.
All that is left is an unidentifiable body of the man that I love.
He walks over to me slowly, and bends down so we are at eye level.
"So, you belong to me now. You have no other attachments, nothing holding you down from the work that needs to be done. You should thank me for that." He says with a smile, "In fact, I think I deserve a damn cake!" He yells.
I stop fighting the restraints and finally break down. The only thing that I loved was just tortured to death right in front of my eyes. I have no fight left in me. I slump down in my chair and mourn.
"Take her back." Negan orders.
I feel unfamiliar arms snake around me and undo my restraints before hauling me back to my cell.
I'm thrown in my room, still bloody, still battered, but the difference now is that this isn't me. I am weak, and have no desire to live.
The difference, is that I just died in that room.
