Chapter 12 Will the Real Negan Please Stand up

"Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it together," she kept chanting to herself as she ran down the stairs and out of the building Eugene had taken her too.

She stopped for a moment and grabbed her back pack from behind the water barrel where she had left it earlier. She slung it over her shoulders and kept moving towards the front gate of the compound. "Lu… Lucy," she heard Thomas call, but she ignored him. "Lu… Lucy!"

She kept walking. Picking up speed she was almost sprinting now. She had to leave. "Keep it together," she said again.

The gate was closed, she couldn't have been lucky enough for it to be open when she approached. "Where the fuck do you think you're going princess?" Arrat said from her perch atop a set of stairs.

"Leaving."

Arrat started laughing. "Nobody leaves princess. Nobody."

Lucy stood still for a moment. She flashed back through the year she had spent alone and what she had done to survive. She had let that Lucy slip away when she was with him. She had become the sweet, naive girl she had been before all this shit started. She couldn't' do that anymore though. She had to be the Lucy that survived. The Lucy that lived by the rules.

When she made eye contact with Arrat the woman took a step back from her. Lucy's eyes had deadened and what had been labored breathing before had now become calm and even. "Open the fucking gates," she said quietly.

Arrat stared at her. "No," she said crossing her arms over her chest.

Their standoff had drawn the attention of two other guards who were approaching the women from either side. Lucy never took her eyes off of Arrat, but she counted their paces to determine who close they were to the women. "Open the fucking gate now and no one has to die."

Arrat laughed again. "The only one dying today is you… princess. He got tired of you faster than I thought."

"Everything ok Arrat?" one of the other guards asked. He was now standing two steps away from the women.

"This bitch thinks she's leaving. I was just explaining to her that no one leaves."

"And I was trying to keep everyone alive. One more chance, open the gate and let me go and no one has to die today."

Arrat smiled. "No."

"Wrong answer," Lucy said.

She was fast and it worked to her advantage that they underestimated her and her abilities. She hadn't survived all that time alone because she wasn't skilled though. Before any of the three could move she had pulled one of the male guard's guns and popped the other in the center of his forehead just before ramming her machete through the chin of the other. She cut the strap of the gun as the guard next to her fell and kept her eyes on Arrat.

"Open the fucking gate," she growled.

Arrat kept her hands in the air and moved slowly back towards the pulley system that would open the front gate to the compound. "Bad ass bitch," she muttered under her breath.

"Well fuck me sideways!" a voice said from behind her. "I knew it. I knew that you were special Lucy. I just didn't realize that you were talented with more than your mouth and your pussy."

She turned slightly to face Negan but kept Arrat in her line of sight as well. "You fucked this guy up baby! I mean look at him! You cut his fucking head in half! I have to say I'm impressed. Even more reason for me to keep you."

"I'm leaving."

"I don't think so."

"You gave your word."

"No… no… see Eugene back here, who is kind of ticked at you for cutting into his creamy skin like you did, he gave his word since he was pretending to be me. You don't have any kind of promise Lucy baby. Only the promise that I'll take care of you."

She smirked at him. "But you gave me your word remember? You gave me your safety guarantee. If I came back with you and gave this place… gave Negan," she spat out, "a chance. Then if I changed my mind I could walk away."

He frowned at her. "You going back on your promise Negan? On your… honor? I thought that was one of those standards that you should live by right? Always keep your honor."

He glared at her. "You aren't leaving Lucy. It's for your own good."

"Fuck you Negan. You want me for your good. It has nothing to do with protecting me or… loving me. You proved that."

He watched her carefully and she glared at him. He didn't think she had noticed Arrat moving towards her slowly until she whirled around and put a bullet in the woman's left knee. "Damn," he said in appreciation. "You didn't even aim."

"Talented. Special." She spat at him. "Now open the gates and let me walk."

Negan's voice was barely a whisper when he spoke next. "What if I don't want you to go?"

She laughed. She laughed a deep guttural laugh that made him frown deeper. "You can want in one hand and shit in the other and see which one weighs more," she said with a grin. "Now open the fucking gates."

Negan glared at her. "Fine!" he shouted. "Fine! Fine! Fine! That is just fucking fine! You can take your old wrinkled ass out of here! I enjoyed your mouth that night in the dark when I couldn't see who was sucking my dick, but I had to imagine some incredible things to get off when I was fucking you Lucy!"

She wavered for a moment as his words stung at her insecurities. He saw the waver and went in for the kill. "You were so cock hungry, so lonely, that you didn't really care who I thought of when I fucked you? Did you Lucy? Why would I want to fuck some saggy tit chick when I have prime, grade A ass upstairs that will do whatever I want? That's why you want to leave isn't it bitch? You saw me fucking Ginger and you figured out that I never really wanted you!"

He laughed, but it sounded hollow. "Come on Lucy baby. Stay. I'll keep pretending your someone else but I'll make you feel good when I fuck you."

She snorted. "Pretend it wasn't real Negan. Pretend you don't have feelings, but I know better. Now open the fucking gate!"

He sighed and pursed his lips. "Open the gate Dwight."

Dwight didn't question. He moved quickly to the pulley system and opened the gate just enough that Lucy could squeeze through. "Hey Lucy!" Negan shouted at her as she sprinted away from the compound. "I hope you turn!"

"Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it together," she chanted to herself as she raced away from the compound.