21

Amon's head finally lifted only a few inches, his face wasn't looking though. My tears fell and they were hot and they burned as he finally lifted his head to look up at me. Scars whipped his face and even the familiar scars hurt me to see.

"Hey dark meat." he said in a rasp. I shook a bit in utter awe and slowly removed my blanket and it dropped to the dirty ground. This is the one moment I didn't care about being covered. He's here. He's alive. I slowly walked inside.

"Helena don't." Negan protested, but his words fell on deaf ears as I moved inside the room. There were carcasses off to the side of the room and Amon just slowly stood up, his chains rattling slowly. I just wrapped my arms around him quickly and I buried my face into his sweater crying hard.

"You're alive!" I bawled. I feel his cheek rubbing into the top of my head. I sniffled as my nose was stopping up a bit.

"I wouldn't call this alive, but I am overjoyed that you are alive and well." he said lowly. The few times I met up with Amon he was always quiet, merely listening to Aiden's plans and putting in a few comments whenever he saw fit.

"You're not my friend so don't act like you care about what'll happen to me if we actually win." I remember him saying a day or two before we rebelled.

"As long as they keep putting you in that jacket, I won't stop fighting for you." I replied. I looked up at his dirty face and looked him over a bit. He had gained muscle and I just couldn't help but smile some.

"You've been eating a lot of protein." I managed to tease and his pale lips curved into a smile.

"You could say that." he said and I just raised my hands to just touch his face for a moment before just leaning in and letting my face mush his and he accepted this. I inhaled his scent and felt more of my tears sliding onto his face.

"Would you be offended if I kissed you right now out of sheer happiness?" I joked and he laughed.

"You did have delicious tasting lips the last time I saw you." he responded.

"Helena!" Negan barked violently, and I looked back at him now remembering where we were. I looked back at Amon and he just glared over my shoulder.

"You need to get out of here, dark meat. If you thought the hospital was hell, you'll be falling right back into it." he said loudly for everyone to hear and my body tensed at his words. Negan stepped in and grabbed my forearm pulling me back.

"You should be happy I let you saw a visitor, Stitches, because my face will be the last thing you see before all of this is over." he threatened and pulled us both from the cell. I grabbed the blanket and watched the door close before me.

"No wait!" I called moving back to the door, only to be restrained. My brain was racked with numerous thoughts. Was anyone else from the hospital here? Was Aiden here somehow was he alive? Negan pulled me into him staring at me aggressively.

"I did what you asked. Now you owe me." he said dragging me back down the hall. I struggled against him for a moment, the blanket in my other hand. He frowned and ripped it from my hands and threw it to the dirt once we were outside.

"No!" I yelled reaching for it only to hear loud bangs as he shot into it. My eyes widened as I recoiled back and looked at Negan to see him holding his gun up.

"You won't need that much longer." he said pulling me back up the stairs we had come from. I yelled and struggled against him.

"How could you do that to Amon!" I snapped as he ripped open a door and pulled me inside.

"So that's his name huh. Damn, I like Stitches better." he said with bitterness in his tone. We made it back to his room and he pushed me inside. I stumbled inside and my instinct was to grab my hatchets. That's when I finally noticed my bag was gone with all my stuff. I looked around furiously.

"Where is my stuff?" I asked.

"You forget where you're at. This here is my kingdom and mine alone. Your stuff is mine!" he snapped angrily and I huffed pacing around. I wasn't a fool, I knew where this sudden rage came from.

"You're just mad there is someone here I care for more than you." I snapped and his eyes flexed.

"Oh I would have been flattered you cared had you not said that first part. Maybe I should feed him to Lucille, she's been rather thirsty and drinking the blood of a live cannibal would just make her wet." he snapped and I whipped my head at him in shock.

"You can't!" I replied and he laughed evilly.

"My kingdom." he reminded and I just shook my head turning away from him and shaking my head. Now what was I to do? With Amon here, he's as good as dead. He can defend himself, but not chained up like a dog.

"He is my friend." I replied and he scoffed.

"I'm pretty sure I just heard him refer to you as meat- dark meat to be specific." he said and I just chuckled myself.

"Yes. That's what he called me in the hospital." I replied moving toward the window and just staring out it at the chained up dead people. There was a silence now and I didn't care if he replied or not.

"So you two were imprisoned together." Negan replied now softly and I closed my eyes hearing him approach me. I slowly turned and faced him and he was so close to me.

"Yes. Things were getting worse and a lot of us were dying due to the experiments or we were just discarded because we were of no more use. Amon and his family were new additions and… I managed to get his help in escaping. A lot of the others stood by him and followed him along with the others who stood by Aiden and I." I replied. He knew all about Aiden, he knew everything. Negan watched with soft and maybe understanding eyes. I sighed and looked away placing my forehead into the glass.

"Amon wanted me to come with him and his sisters, but I still feared him because of what they were. So I stayed behind to look for Aiden." I replied my eyes just staring out into space. "My past is more than a blanket and I know I cannot outrun it fully. So yeah, I do care about Amon because we suffered together before all of this happened."

More tears fell and I just didn't care. I then felt Negan's head resting on my shoulder. I glanced back at him and he just leaned his body into me some.

"I'm sorry, Helena. If I could take it all back I would. If I could have saved you from the hell you went through then I would." he said. I sighed gently knowing now things have changed. I couldn't think about myself, I had to get Amon out too when I decided to escape.

"Amon is not like you. He doesn't care about survival or being a part of a team. Locking him up is nothing new to him either. He won't fight for you and he will not call himself Negan. He's not afraid of dying." I admitted. Negan let out a loud exhale.

"So what should I do with him? If what you say is true then I can't use him, plus I don't think he'd give up his choice of food anytime soon either." he said. I leaned back and pressed my back to the glass trying to apply some pressure to it.

"Let me talk to him? Since I have to be here indefinitely then maybe seeing a friend will make him open up or something." I said. Negan watched me for a moment and he crossed his arms.

"I don't know, Helena. I'm not too keen on the thought of sharing your attention with another man." he said. I shook my head.

"I won't let him die here." I responded and he just looked down to the ground.

"I'm doing a lot of favors for you. What do I get in return?" he asked. I looked around for a moment before shrugging.

"You have everything of mine. I don't plan to be leaving anytime soon, so you got what you wanted." I replied and now he gave a dry laugh.

"No. No I have not. There's still one thing you have, that I have yet to experience," he said slowly moving over to me and looming over me. I was growing nervous at his words trying to block out the obvious of what he was implying. His hand gently took hold of my face and he made sure our eyes could not leave each other's. "You give me that sweet maidenhood of yours and I'll give your boy freedom."