The knock made Negan jump.
He let out a sigh, "What?" he snapped.
"We need to talk about Elizabeth.." Simon called out from the other side of the door.
Negan stood and walked over, opening the door.
He could tell something was up by the look on Simon's face.
"What is it?" He asked, crossing his arms.
"She came to me about our run today. She was supposed to be loading up the trucks, but she's gone" Simon shifted where he stood.
"Yeah, I checked with Theo outside her room. Said she didn't wanna do her run today. She's got an attitude, I don't care if she stays in that room." his tone was casual.
"Yeah, but she left this in my truck." Simon said as he lifted up Elizabeth's pack.
"She never leaves it just anywhere.." he looked down, offering the pack to Negan.
His anger grew as he took the pack from Simon.
"Find Dwight, now. I'm gonna have a talk with Theo" he tossed her pack on his bed and grabbed his bat before storming out of his room.
He made good time down to her room.
Theo stood straight as soon as he saw Negan.
"Where is she?" he asked.
Theo looked at him scared, "L-look I'm sorry. D-Dwight gave me his points if I told everyone she was in her room. He said she just wanted to go for a walk.." Theo immediately admitted.
Negan slammed his fist against the wall.
"God damn it!" he yelled.
Simon came down the hall, "Dwight is gone. Plus Chris and Tyler"
Negan shook his head, bringing his fingers to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Negan... she was asking about the dead zone" Simon said a bit sadly.
His head snapped up, "She what?" he snapped.
Dwight kept his eyes held shut, embracing for the pain he thought would follow the crack of the shot. But it never came.
Once the ringing stopped, I could hear Julian still laughing, the foot steps of the men as they began shuffling out.
I looked to Dwight, searching for his wound. But I didn't see anything.
He turned around quickly to look at me.
His face grew pale and his eyes widened.
I tilted my head, not sure of what was going on.
But then I felt it.
At first it was just a tickle going down my shirt.
I lifted my hands to feel and my shirt was wet.
When I looked down, my hands were covered in dark red blood.
I felt sick to my stomach and that's when I became more aware of what was going on.
The pain that started in my stomach was hot and excruciating.
It traveled all the way up to my chest, which now felt tight.
I felt like I couldn't breathe.
My knees began to shake and they buckled under me, causing me to fall to them.
"Elizabeth!" I heard Dwight call out for me, but it sounded so distant.
I looked down to my wound that was now bleeding profusely.
I had braced for Dwight to be shot, but they shot me instead.
With no hesitation at all.
They wanted to send the message and this was it.
They didn't stick around either, most of them were already gone.
I blinked a few times, spots appearing in my vision.
Dwight kneeled beside me, placing his arm around me to hold me up.
"Elizabeth, can you hear me?" he asked, pulling me in closer.
I looked up to him, continuing to try to blink the spots away.
He was blinking back tears, "It's okay. I'm gonna get you back to Carson and he's going to help you. I'm so sorry.." his voice was fading further away.
"Dwight.." I started as I shook my head.
I didn't want him to be so sad, I hated how it felt.
I wanted to protest more, I wanted to assure him I was fine.
But I felt my stomach turn and tighten, my breath catching in my throat.
I had a rusty taste in my mouth for a moment before my body wracked forward and I began coughing up blood.
I whined a little, closing my eyes to try and breathe through the nausea that followed.
Dwight groaned and quickly picked me up.
"Go get the car and bring it close" he spoke as I rested my head on his chest.
I felt the gentle sway of him carrying me and I began to fade in and out.
The car ride was the worst.
Dwight held me in his arms in the back seat, letting the others drive.
He instructed them to go as quickly as they could, but each bump in the road sent a shooting pain all over.
Dwight tried to coo me with his words, but I was still fading in and out.
Negan was waiting for us just inside the gate.
He was angry, ready to chew us all out.
But he had no idea.
We pulled up by the line of trucks and the two guys got out first.
Negan made his way over, but as soon as the guys got out, they fell to their knees in front of him.
Negan knew right away that something was wrong.
"Where is she?!" he snapped.
Dwight pushed the car door open, carefully stepping out, holding me close.
From the ride and my coughing fits, Dwight was already covered in my blood as he held me.
Negan lost his grip on his bat and it hit the ground.
The silence that followed this was also deafening.
"Elizabeth.." I could barely hear him call out my name.
"I am so sorry, I.." Dwight started as he stepped forward.
"Go get Carson, now!" Negan yelled to his men.
I felt Dwight carefully shift me in his arms and a new grip was on me.
Negan was taking me out of Dwights arms.
He held me close.
I breathed in his scent, the familiar warmth of his chest was calming, pushing me closer to unconsciousness.
"It's okay, sweetheart. You're going to be just fine" he whispered to me.
My lips felt cold, I could taste the blood coming from my lips again.
"Negan.." I barely choked out his name before everything went black.
"Why did you take her there?"
"I had no idea!"
"I need more hands in here"
"Do whatever you have to!"
"It doesn't look good.."
"She's lost a lot of blood"
"I think the bullet grazed.."
"We aren't equipped for this"
"I need you to save her"
"Please, I'm so sorry"
"Please, Elizabeth. Hold on"
All the voices sounded sharp but distant, fading into one another.
I felt warm and my body felt heavy.
I wanted to open my eyes, I wanted to move, but it was so hard.
I was so tired.
I blinked a few times, the bright light of the infirmary blinding me a bit as I squinted.
"Elizabeth?" the familair voice was right by my ear.
I worked hard to turn my head to look at Negan.
His eyes were red.
Was he crying?
He lifted his hand to gently brush my hair back off my forehead as he looked me over.
"Hold on, everything is going to be okay." his voice was soft.
I could still hear others talking, but they seemed so quiet and far.
I opened my mouth to speak, but only mumbles came out.
I closed my eyes, fading slightly.
"Please.." Negan whispered as he brushed his lips across my forehead.
"Come back to me. Come back to me, Sweetheart" his voice was pleading.
"I'm so tired.." I managed to whimper.
I looked up at him again and he tried to force a smile.
"You rest and don't worry. Everything will be fine.." his voice faded off as I relaxed into the darkness once again.
"I don't care what you have to do. I don't care how many supplies you use. Just save her!" Negan snapped at Carson.
But Carson just shook his head.
"Sir I'm sorry. We just aren't equipped for this. Negan, I don't think she's going to make it.." his tone was sad but serious.
"I will try all that I can with what I have.." he turned and left Negan in the hall.
He paced back and forth for a while, before his anger caught up with him.
He stormed down the hall and out the door to where we had arrived back in the car.
Dwight was standing out there.
Negan saw him, still covered in her blood. That sent him into a fury.
He picked up where he dropped his bat and walked over to Dwight.
He pressed the bat so hard against his chest, that the sharp barb wire was digging into his skin.
"What the hell were you thinking taking her out there!" He yelled right in his face.
Dwight stumbled a bit, shaking his head.
"I'm so sorry. I had no idea. Simon never told me anything about it!" he tried to protest.
"I set rules for her! For you! I will not be disobeyed!" he swung the bat around a few times.
"Look, I don't care what you do to me. I tried to protect her! I'm in love with her too!" he blurted out.
Negan took a step back, as if his words had actually struck him.
Negan knew the feelings he had for Elizabeth, but he couldn't admit them. He feared they would make him appear weak.
But hearing Dwight say it out loud and admit he shared the feelings made Negan jealous.
"You son of a bitch!" Negan yelled, hauling off and punching Dwight.
He barely gave Dwight time to react before he grabbed his shirt, pulling him up for another few good hits.
Dwight stumbled back on the ground.
Negan stepped up to hit him again, but Simon interrupted them.
"We need to talk" He said quickly as he made his way down the steps.
Negan spun around, "Is she.." he started.
Simon shook his head, "Carson is doing a good job. We need to talk about that group"
Dwight groaned as he tried to stand, "They knew too much. What the hell is with them?" he asked.
Negan rubbed at his beard, groaning. "We ran into them before. Weren't really worth the time trying to fight. Not even worth making a deal with them. They are weirdos anyway. We agreed to leave their land alone, that's why we call it the dead zone" Negan explained.
"They shot Elizabeth to warn us to back off. But they knew too much about her.." Dwight spoke up again.
Simon nodded, "Yeah, I talked to Tyler and Chris about what happened. Seems we have a spy here that's feeding them information. We need to get a handle on this.." Simon looked over Negan as he spoke.
But Negan shook his head.
"If we have a spy.." he started, shaking his head.
"She isn't safe here" Dwight finished for him.
Simon looked between them.
"She's supposed to be dead. These freaks mean business. If the spy finds out she's here alive, they will try to kill her again." Negan explained.
Simon pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a sigh.
"Where can we take her? The out post won't be safe either if we have a spy among us" Simon shook his head as he spoke.
Negan looked down, a terribly pained look growing on his face, "I know exactly where to take her. I'm not going to like it, but she will be safe.."
Simon and Dwight both looked up at Negan, the look on his face telling exactly what he had planned.
The hours passed by in what felt like long, agonizing seconds.
I drifted in and out of consciousness as Carson kept checking on me.
I had no idea what all was going on, how long it had been, all I felt was exhaustion and pain.
I could barely open my eyes, but I knew we were moving.
They were being careful with me.
Soon, familiar sounds became clear.
The truck door closing, the truck starting, Carson instructing me to stay still.
"Are you sure you wanna go alone?" I heard Simon ask.
"Yeah, I need to do this on my own." That was Negan.
I heard the gravel under the truck as we began to drive.
Most of the drive I was out of it.
We came to a bit of a hard stop which pulled me back into my daze.
I heard Carson barely mumble as I was pulled from the truck.
I felt the warmth of Negan as he held me in his arms, I buried my face in his neck.
"It's okay, Elizabeth. You're going to be just fine." He whispered.
I heard a loud thud of a gate opening.
I barely tilted my head and squinted my eyes open.
I could see walls and a gate opening to what looked like a neighborhood.
A man stepped forward.
I looked up to Negan, who looked down at me with a defeated smile.
"What's goin' on?" The man asked.
Negan looked up to the man.
I felt dizzy, the darkness closing in again.
"Rick, I need your help.." I heard Negan ask just before everything went dark.
R & R is always appreciated! I was so happy to write this chapter haha
