Chapter Thirty-Five
Michonne, Andrea, Daryl and Rick were gathered in Rick's office listening to Carl explain everything that had happened.
"She's alive," Andrea said, wiping tears away.
"And she's okay," Michonne said with a smile.
"How are we going to get her back?" Carl asked, looking at his dad.
"We'll wait for Glenn to get back from seeing Maggie. We'll need his help too," Rick said.
"That could be days," Carl protested. "We could do it at night. They only have three guards on duty, I saw it myself. I know where Negan sleeps and I know where Natasha is. We can do it."
"No," Rick countered. "We wait for Glenn. If we go in, we'll need more than just us to take them all out. We'll need Heath, Tobin, Carol. We'll do it, Carl, just not now. From what you said about Negan we know now that he's not going to hurt Natasha. She's not in immediate danger and as much as I want her home I know we have to take our time with this."
Finally, Carl nodded.
Rick sat back in his chair. "They'll be coming back again for more supplies," he said. "We don't have much left. We're going to have to go out and look for more. I'll take Sasha and we'll leave in a day or so. Daryl, do you think you could try to hunt?"
Daryl nodded. "Yeah, saw some deer tracks a few days ago."
"Thank you," Rick said, nodding. "We can talk to Eugene about the factory, see when he feels comfortable going out there. I don't want the Saviors to know what we're up to out there." He rubbed his face. "Go get some sleep, everybody. We've got a lot of work to do."
A few days later, Rick left with Sasha to look for supplies. As soon as the gate closed behind him, Carl went to look for Sophia.
"I need to talk to you," he said, sitting on the floor in front of her bed.
"What's up?"
"Natasha trained you right?"
"Yeah," Sophia said, skeptically.
"Then you can help me go get her."
"Did you bump your head? That's crazy."
"We can do it," Carl protested. "Ben can help too, Andrea's been training him. It has to be us."
"Why?" she asked.
"I didn't get a chance to look around much when I was there but we can climb their walls, easily. We're all small enough we probably wouldn't even be noticed at first," Carl said.
"Your dad is coming up with a plan to deal with the Saviors," she said, shaking her head.
"My dad is out there right now looking for supplies to give to them!" Carl exclaimed. "We can do it. We can climb the walls; we have silencers for the guns so they wouldn't even hear us. We take extra weapons for Natasha. You know she'll get us out alive."
Sophia thought about it before finally nodding. "My mom is going to kill me."
When it was dark the three children found a dark section of the wall and climbed up and over. Carl shouldered the bag of weapons and led them through the woods until they reached the road.
"Are you three stupid?" a woman's voice stopped them. They turned to see Holly. "What the hell are you doing out here?"
"We're going to kill Negan and bring Natasha home," Carl said firmly. "You're not going to stop us either."
Holly shook her head. "No. I'll go with you."
"You can't," Carl protested. "They'll see you. We're smaller and faster, we can do it," he insisted.
"I'm going or you all are going back inside to your mothers," she told them.
Carl shook his head but led them back through the streets. Holly started checking the cars for one that was able to be driven. She didn't find one so they kept moving.
"Why are you trying so hard to get Natasha back?" Holly asked Carl.
"She protected me before, she saved me so I want to save her," he answered. "My dad loves her. I guess she's like my stepmom. My dad has lost enough and I want him to be happy. He's happy when Natasha is there. He knows that we should go and kill Negan and end all of this, he knows it. But he doesn't want to put Natasha in danger. As long as she's there he won't do it. I know he won't."
Holly just shook her head. "Stop," she whispered.
"We can't stop," Sophia protested.
Holly turned and pushed the kids into an alley then ran down the street.
"What's she doing?" Ben asked, watching her.
Holly's gun went off causing all three kids to jump.
"What's she shooting at?"
A moment later they saw several men exit a store and grab her.
"It's too dark I can't see," Sophia whispered.
"They're Saviors," Carl said.
"Let's go home," Ben said, standing up. They waited for the noise down the street to dissipate before turning and heading back home. They didn't get far before Michonne and Andrea caught them. And Michonne was furious. Andrea had come to her to let her know she had seen the kids sneaking over the wall. When Carl told them Holly had been captured, Michonne saw red.
"You can't just pull this kind of shit, Carl," she told him. "You might have just gotten her killed."
"Negan doesn't kill women," he tried to protest.
"But his men do!" she scolded. "That was the stupidest thing you've ever done. Any one of you could have been killed."
"We had to try," Carl said.
"No, you didn't," Andrea said. "Rick has a plan for Negan. That's not for you to worry about anyway. He's going to be furious when he gets back and finds out what you did."
The children looked at their feet.
"Ben, let's go," she said, walking toward the door.
"I'll be talking to Lori and Carol tomorrow," Michonne warned the other two. They slunk outside.
"What the hell were you doing?" Natasha asked Glenn, sitting next to him in the dining hall.
"Trying to get back to Maggie," he said, not looking up from his food. "Why haven't you tried to get out yet?"
"Haven't had the chance," she replied, picking at her own food. "The boss doesn't stick around here much. I thought about sneaking out before he found Alexandria but I heard they did."
"What did you hear?"
"Just that they had found a group," she started. "Apparently they visited because Carl snuck back with them. I didn't get a chance to talk to him, though."
"Yeah, I know. He told us he saw you," Glenn said. He looked down then sideways at her. "Pete killed Rosita. He was trying to shoot Rick but got her instead." He inclined his head slightly. "That guy with the crossbow over there? He killed Eric. Negan killed Abraham. Beat him to death with that damn bat."
Natasha sat in shock. That was not what she had been expecting. "Is everyone else okay? Andrea? Michonne? Rick?"
"They're okay. Just terrified. Rick doesn't know what to do."
Natasha shook her head, blinking away tears. "We have to get out of here."
"No kidding. How?"
"I'll think of something. They don't let you wander around much here but I've been trying."
Glenn nodded. "Try not to get killed."
"That's the idea," she said, standing up. She at least managed to make it back to her bedroom before the tears fell.
Michonne's heart sank to her stomach when she saw Negan's truck arriving at the gates.
"They're early," Andrea said.
"Rick isn't even back yet," Michonne said, climbing down to meet them.
"Good morning, assholes," Negan said, climbing out of his truck. "Where's the boss man?"
"He's on a supply run," Olivia was there to inform him. "We're running low, we're all practically starving."
Negan looked her up and down. "If by practically you mean 'not fucking really'."
Olivia burst into tears.
"You might have been too hard on her," one of the Saviors mentioned.
"Sorry for being rude," Negan said. "I can have sex with you if it'll make you feel better."
Olivia's reply was a smack across the face. Two Saviors immediately restrained her. "Ah, let her go," Negan said. "She only made herself more interesting to me."
He spotted Carl coming out of his mother's house. "There's my future serial killer. I've got my eye on you this time, asshole." Negan laughed and turned back to Olivia. "Now, why don't you show me to the finest vacant house here. We might need to settle in for the night." He pointed at one of his men. "Go watch that kid and make sure he doesn't come up here and kill us." He laughed again.
Olivia led the Saviors to a house and promptly left them. Negan sat on the steps to watch the Alexandrians.
Spencer walked up the sidewalk toward the house. "My name is Spencer, I'd like to talk to Negan," he said to the man blocking his way. "Please?"
"Jesus, Seth, don't be such a fucking asshole, let the man pass," Negan said coming out of the house. He leaned Lucille against the rail and sat down on the porch swing. "Forgive the man He's a bit wound tight." He took a sip from a glass and shook his head. "I can't fucking believe that you still have running water here. That's out-fucking-rageous. I mean, how the fuck is that even possible?"
"This place was built for politicians," Spencer said. "So they could still run the government after a catastrophe. The systems won't last forever but it's nice while it lasts."
"Then it's settled," Negan said. "This is my fucking vacation home. I've done a shit ton of shit and I deserve a vacation. This is the best mother fucking place around. Is there a pool table? You guys have the cue sticks and everything? I used to fucking love pool!" Negan leaned forward excitedly.
"Yeah, I have one in my house actually."
"Then guess who the fuck just became my best friend," Negan said with a grin. "I'm sure you know the answer. What's my best friend's name?"
"Uh, Spencer," he said awkwardly. "Come over anytime."
"I will. Now where the hell did my manners go? What the fuck did you want, Spencer?"
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about Rick."
"What about him?" Negan asked, taking another sip of water.
"I understand what you're trying to do here," Spencer started. "I can't say I agree with all your methods but I get it. You're building a network and you're making people work together, contribute to a greater good. It all makes sense. Rick Grimes is not someone who works well with others, I'm just warning you."
"Rick wasn't the original leader of this group, my father was," Spencer went on. "We were all holed up in some government facility for a while. My father was set to be the leader when we came here but he got killed. When we got here, Rick's group came along and took over. He's done nothing but wreck everything. He's a maniac, that's the best way to put it. He may even want to work with you but I'm telling you this guy can't not be the boss. He's gotta be in charge or his ego drives him nuts."
"Is that so? Well, what do you propose?" Negan asked.
"I think I can be the leader this place needs," Spencer told him. "I think that's what you need too."
"So what? I'll kill him, put you in charge? That what you're saying?" Negan was leaning forward with his hands together.
"We'd be much better off," Spencer said, nodding.
"You've given me a lot to think about. Walk with me, Spencer." He stood and went down the steps.
"I'm thinking, and I think about how Rick threatened to kill me. Now he clearly hates my fucking guts," Negan said. "But he's out there right now like a busy fucking bee gathering shit to give to me so I don't hurt and of the nice folks living here. He's swallowing that hatred to get shit done. That takes guts."
"Then I think about you," Negan went on. "The guy who waited until Rick was gone to sneak over here and talk to me, to get me to do his dirty work so that he could take Rick's place. You wanted to take over why not just kill Rick and take the fuck over? You know why?"
"I don't…" Spencer trailed off, loss for words.
"Because you got no guts," Negan snapped. He pulled his knife and slashed Spencer's stomach. His entrails spilled out as he fell to the ground. "Oh how embarrassing! There they are! They were inside you the whole time. You did have guts. I've never been so wrong before in my life!"
He turned around and faced Seth. "Clean this up before a kid sees it. And find out where this asshole lived. I want to play some pool."
"Oh my God. Spencer!"
Negan turned to find Olivia kneeling down next to Spencer. "Oh Jesus, oh God," she whimpered.
"I can assure you, ma'am, he's dead as fuck," Negan said. "I mean, you see his guts are hanging out and shit, right? Could you be a dear and tell me what house this sorry fuck lived in? I heard a nasty rumor that he has a pool table."
-line break-
"Gate's not opening," Rick said. "I don't see anyone." He banged on the gate. "Heath? Olivia? Andrea?" A few walkers came out of the woods at the noise. Sasha got out of the car and started to pick them off. Finally Andrea was there, opening the gate.
"What the hell was that?" Rick snapped at her. "Were you on watch?" Andrea looked down. "What's wrong?" he asked her.
"He's here." She wiped at her eyes. "Spencer's dead. Negan gutted him."
"Where is he now?"
"Spencer's."
Rick went down the street. Negan was seated on the front porch with a glass of water in hand. "I thought we had an agreement!"
"Oh, Rick, so fucking good to see you, my friend. I'd stand up and shake your hand but I've been playing pool for the last three hours and my shoulder is absolutely killing me. I'm a bit out of practice." He held up his glass. "Ice water?"
"You killed one of my people," Rick said, ignoring him. "What the fuck happened?"
"One moment, please." He stood and picked up Lucille. "I'm going to refrain from profanity momentarily to illustrate how serious I am. I will not say another word to you until you say 'Thank you, Negan.'"
"Explain yourself, now. Or you don't leave this place alive," he threatened.
Negan laughed and held Lucille up to his face. "Lucille, give me strength." He looked back at Rick but didn't lower the bat. "I understand our relationship started with me beating the holy fucking fuck out of your friend's head. The gravity of that event is not lost on me. Let me assure you of that. I do not believe we will ever share a meal together and tell each other our deepest fucking secrets. That said, goddamn it, I do feel like I've bent over backwards in my attempts to show you just how reasonable I can be."
"Is this a fucking joke?" Rick hissed.
"Oh, how soon they forget," Negan said with a sigh, shaking his head. "Answer me this, after your son his in one of my trucks and machine gunned a few of my men to dead, what did I do? Did I gut that boy? Or let a few of my men run a train on him? As an aside I'll reveal that was always an empty threat. As much as I love violence, I fucking hate sexual violence. It's unseemly.
"No," Negan continued. "I let your son go. I even brought him back to you safe and absofuckinglutely sound. Like some kind of apocalyptic Santa Claus. Ho fucking ho. Let me put it to you this way Rick the Prick, who will never give me the benefit of the doubt because I had to kill one measly friend to get him in line, the next time someone asks me to kill you and put them in charge I might take them up on it. Now, show me what you got."
Rick opened the doors to the van he and Sasha had used. Negan looked over the few boxes of what they had gathered. "This'll do," he said. "We'll take it. Load it up, boys."
"You mean load up half," Rick corrected.
"You know what, keep all of it. Consider it payment for the traitor. I didn't realize it would ruffle your feathers so goddamn much."
"No, you take half," Rick insisted. "A deal is a deal."
"Fine by me," Negan agreed. "You heard the man. Load up half."
"You say you're a reasonable man?" Rick asked suddenly.
"I'd like to fucking think so." The other man shrugged.
"Maybe you can be reasonable and do one thing for me."
Negan laughed. "I killed your traitor, that wasn't enough?"
"You have a woman in your camp," Rick said impulsively. "Your men took her. I'd appreciate it if you let her come back."
"What's so special about her?" The other man asked, staring him down.
"She's my wife," Rick said simply.
"Come to think of it we do have a few new women in camp. And what's the name of your lovely wife?"
Rick bit his tongue, hoping he wasn't about to make the biggest mistake of his life. "Natasha. Her name is Natasha."
"Natasha? Is she a redhead with big tits?"
Rick grimaced. "She's curvy, yeah."
Negan laughed. "You got good taste, my friend. Now about your request to return her." He put a hand on his chin. "If she's your wife then that means she lied to me about who she was and where she came from. I don't like that. You were up front about asking for her return. I do like that. Interesting. I'll think about it."
Rick bit his tongue. He may have just put Natasha's life in danger for even bringing her up.
When Negan's men were done loading up they started through the gates. The gunfire started a moment later.
"No!" Rick shouted, running toward the tower.
It was Andrea firing on Negan's men. "Stop! Andrea! Stop!"
Negan's men got out of the truck and started shooting back at her. Rick ran toward the gate waving his arms. "Stop! Stop!"
Negan got out of the truck and was barreling toward Rick a second later. "What the fuck is that? I thought we were getting along?"
"I didn't know she was going to do that," Rick insisted. "She was Spencer's girlfriend."
"She killed two of my men. Killing my men puts me in a very unreasonable mood," he warned.
"I'm sorry," Rick said.
Negan looked up at the tower then at his men. They loaded up without a word. Heath closed the gate behind them.
"What the fuck were you thinking?" Rick yelled when Andrea exited the tower.
"He killed Spencer," she defended.
"Because Spencer wanted him to kill me! And make him the leader!"
"And you believe that because that's what he said?" she snapped.
Michonne appeared between them. "Let's all just calm down."
"No!" Rick exclaimed pushing her hand away. He took a deep breath and looked at Andrea. "I asked him to let Natasha go."
"You told him about her?" Michonne snapped.
"I did. I don't know why; it just came out. He brought Carl back unharmed so I asked him to do the same with Natasha," he said, looking between the women. "He was considering it. Until you started shooting at him. Now she's as good as dead."
"So the only one who matters around here is your love? Not mine?" Andrea shot back.
"Spencer wanted me dead so he could lead this place himself. Why would Negan lie about that?"
She shook her head. "I don't know why. But that's not how Spencer was."
"I guess we'll never know," Rick said. "You put this whole place in danger when you did that." He pointed down the street. "There were children playing out here. You would have gotten all of them killed just now because you can't control yourself. There's more at stake here than your revenge." Without waiting for a reply he turned and walked away from both of them.