You were given a front row seat to watch the event to be taking place, though you managed to weasel your way back into the crowd a little bit. All the residents who arrived within the last few weeks didn't get that option. Negan wanted the new residents to be as close to the action as possible, making sure they explicitly understand what it means to break the rules.

Taking center stage was the man himself, rambling on about said rules, repeating the mantra of how "the rules keep us alive". Though, everything out of Negan's mouth at this point was just white noise to your ears as your eyes refused to stray from who you've now learnt is called Roy. Likewise, Roy kept his sight on you, only looking away whenever Negan turned his way.

You refused to let the man intimidate you. It was by his own doing that he was in this position now and you were not going to feel guilty over it.

Well, that was easier said than done.

As much as you wanted to look away from the brutality in front of you, you owed it to yourself to keep watching. Whatever the circumstances, you are the reason why this is taking place today and it would be an insult to yourself and Negan to turn away, no matter how callous or painful it may be.

You didn't look away when Negan took Lucille and brought her down on Roy's left forearm, mirroring where you were now bruised.

You didn't shield your ears as Roy's groans of pain turned into screams of pure agony and anguish.

The sound of your own heartbeat beating in your ears was almost enough to drown out his cries as he tried to crawl away from Negan's relentless attack on his arm. Almost.

You watched on as Roy made a pathetic attempt at shielding his arm as he shuffled backwards on his arse away from Negan, only to be kicked back into the proverbial lion's den by Dwight, allowing Negan to continue his assault.

Once he was satisfied Lucille had done her job, she was handed over to Simon so that his fists could have their turn, this time aiming for Roy's face.

Roy looked so fucking helpless as the powerful being that is Negan battered his face to the point where he became unrecognisable, before finally ceasing his attack. Once Negan stood to his full height, breath heavy, he gave one last kick to balls for good measure before turning to address the crowd again.

And, again, it was all just white noise to your ears as you took in the damage done to Roy.

His arm was a mangled mess, bleeding in places where Lucille's barbs had ripped his skin right off. You also realise, from the unnatural swaying of the limb, that at one point his shoulder had dislocated from the force of the blows. Already, his face was starting to swell in places, but there was too much blood rushing from his nose and a cut on his eyebrow to see much else.

When Fat Joey and Dwight grabbed Roy off of the ground and dragged his, surprisingly, still conscious body out of the hall, it suddenly registers that everyone had been dismissed and were slowly making their way back to whatever it was they were doing before they were summoned to watch the punishment.

Curious, you turned towards the newest residents, wanting to see their reactions since, like you, they had not had the pleasure of witnessing such scenes before. Surprisingly, though most didn't know each other as they had arrived separately, they were all bearing expressions of utter contempt as they exchanged looks between each other, before schooling their features and going their separate ways. A few briefly glanced your way, making you wonder if they knew you were the reason for Roy's beatdown.

You don't get to ponder that thought for long as your view is suddenly obstructed by a wide chest.

"You okay?" At first glance, Negan looked as though he wasn't all that bothered about whether you were doing alright, considering the events, but his furrowed brow and slightly narrowed eyes gave away his concern.

You stare back, slightly confused, until you take note of your heavy breathing. Glancing down, you see that your hands are shaking quite aggressively, causing you to clench them at your sides in an attempt to calm yourself.

How long had that been happening?

You can only muster up a shaky nod, making Negan let out a frustrated sigh as he turns away.

"C'mon. We've still got work to do."

Wishing for this day to just be fucking over, you grudgingly follow Negan out of the hall and up to the office.

Negan had you spend the evening going over more inventory lists, these ones belonging to his different outposts, before joining you on the floor at your little table to make a masterlist of all of his supplies. You ended up having dinner together in the office as you sat side by side to work on how to distribute the supplies between the posts so that each group had enough to last them through winter, taking emergencies and outside factors into consideration. As you weren't very knowledgeable with weapons, Negan would go over those with Simon.

You were completely wiped out by the time you were finished. The notes and outlines you'd made would need some fine tuning, but for now you were done. So done, in fact, that while Negan did one final readthrough for the night, you ended up nodding off on his shoulder, practically dead to the world.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!?"

Negan's obnoxious shouting managed to rouse you from what was probably the deepest sleep you'd had since arriving at the Sanctuary, disorienting you slightly.

Turns out, Negan's couch is a hell of a lot more comfier than your sorry excuse of a bed.

Sitting up, you rub the sleep from your eyes as you watch Negan pace in front of you, startling him when he turns to suddenly find you awake. That gets a laugh out of you, and Negan does his best to glare at you but you see the corner of his lips lift the slightest, taking the fire out of his stare.

"Sorry, boss, but one of them has a baby." your eyes widen as you register what the unknown Savior on the other end of the walkie has just divulged, lifting your gaze back to Negan who clenches the walkie in a white-knuckle grip.

"Fuck!" heaving a heavy sigh, Negan snaps at the poor Savior, "send 'em up with Simon and Dwight."

Negan doesn't even wait for a reply before tossing the walkie in the drawer of his desk and dropping heavily into his chair.

You wait a few moments before tentatively asking, "more survivors?"

"Yep."

"Is there room for more people?"

"What sort of grade-A asshole does it make me if I turn away a baby 'cause there's no room?"

"True."

You didn't have to wait long before Dwight led five prospective residents into the office, with Simon bringing up the rear.

Like some of the newbies before them, this lot were in pretty good shape, with the three men packing bulging muscles on their tall frames and the two women, while lean, had hard, toned bodies from fighting to survive all these years. And, sure enough, in the arms of the blonde woman was a bundled up baby.

At probably no more than eight months old, the little boy was the cutest little shit you'd seen in a very long time. His large, brown eyes were taking in everything, his little head bobbing all around as he kept finding something new to set his sights on. While he may have been cute, the little guy was loud as he continued to cry out for who the hell knows what. The woman was trying her best to shush the boy as he continued to cry crocodile tears and take in his new environment at the same time.

She didn't look like she had a maternal bone in her body as she awkwardly held onto the boy while kneeling with the rest of the group in front of Negan. To your surprise, rather than bark at the woman to shut the child up, Negan proceeded to lift the baby into his arms and pace around the group while giving his usual speech, albeit a little louder to be heard over the shrieking.

When that still didn't work and you were sure your eardrums were just about ready to shatter, Negan surprised you even further by offering the boy to you.

You tried to contain the glee as you eagerly took the baby in your arms, walking around the office and cooing gently. You listened halfheartedly as Negan questioned the group about the baby.

"His mom was part of our group, as were some others, but when our camp got overrun, she was one of the people that didn't make it."

"We managed to save Lucas before a shambler got him."

"That was about a month ago."

"We've just been looking for somewhere he'll be safe at, so he can get to be a kid."

"Least he deserves with how things are now."

You managed to calm Lucas down by softly singing him a lullaby, though that adorable little pout remained as he looked up at you with watery eyes, pulling at your heartstrings.

You always did love kids. Growing up in a big family meant there were constantly babies running around, you'd even lost count of how many cousins you had. It had been so long since you'd seen something as innocent and pure as a baby in this world where death and destruction was around every corner that you suddenly felt a lump at your throat and found yourself forcing yourself not to cry. It all became increasingly overwhelming, and so you turned back to the conversation in an attempt to distract yourself.

Turning, you find that the group had risen to their feet, watching you curiously. Realising they were waiting on you to hand the baby back, you blushed and looked anywhere but the many eyes on you as you placed Lucas back in the blonde woman's arms.

Once the group had followed Dwight out, you could hear Lucas begin to act out again, his cries carrying through the corridor and Negan's office door. Turning back to Negan, you find that he's already watching you with a strange look on his face. You look away and fiddle with your fingers, slightly embarrassed, though you're not too sure why, before looking back again when he addresses you.

"Take an hour, sweetheart. Got some things to discuss with Simon."

Wasting no time, you nod your understanding before quickly making your way out of the office, intent on using your hour to shower and get some breakfast in you.

Though, you can't help but wonder what exactly Negan and Simon need to discuss seemingly so urgently.