Chuck holds back tears as she processes what Aaron just said.
Brendon. Brendon is at Alexandria.
She looks to Negan, who is glaring at Aaron. "Brendon?" she whispers.
Negan lifts his radio to his mouth. "Simon, get three trucks ready with fully armed fuckin' men. We're going to Alexandria right the fuck now."
"Uh, sure, boss. They'll be up and ready to go in thirty."
Chuck looks around the room and sees that the wives all look shocked. Aaron, though, looks very confused.
"What-" Aaron starts, "What is-"
Negan puts his radio away and points in Aaron's face aggressively. "Did Brendon know you guys were coming after me?! Did he know you were going after 'Negan' or 'The Sanctuary'?!"
"Uh," Aaron looks to Chuck, who is now upset. "Chuck, what's going-"
"Fucking answer me, Aaron!" He grabs Aaron by the shirt and turns him to face him. "Does that fucker know I'll be coming for him?!"
"N-No! He wasn't there when we... He left for a few days scouting for lumber. He's not due to be back until some time tomorrow."
Negan lets him go and scrubs his hand down his beard. "You two," he points to Aaron and Chuck. "My office."
They all enter his office and Negan immediately starts to pace.
"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" Aaron asks as he throws his arms up.
"He's a piece of shit!" Negan blurts out.
Aaron looks around confused. "Brendon? You know him? H-He lives with me and Eric. He seems like a good guy."
"Well, you're living with a fucking rapist!"
"What?!" Aaron looks from Negan to Chuck. "Is that-" He stops when he sees Chuck's face.
She tries to hold back, but the tears start to flow as she lets out a sob. She knew that Negan would probably find Brendon at some point, but she still isn't exactly ready for that confrontation just yet.
"No..." Aaron looks to Negan as he pieces things together. "He didn't- Oh no, Chucky."
"He didn't rape me," Chuck blurts out to clarify. She knows what Aaron must be thinking.
"It doesn't matter if he didn't actually do it! He still fuckin' tried to!"
"Oh my god," Aaron says under his breath as he brings his hands up to his mouth. "What did he do, Chucky?"
Negan butts in. "That 'good guy' you live with stripped her naked, beat her, tied her up, strangled her, and left her in a stifling hot trailer for six fucking hours! That's what Brendon did!"
Aaron wipes at his eyes before walking toward Chuck. "I'm sorry," he whispers into her hair as he cradles her head to his chest. "I'm so sorry, sweetie."
"Well, I'm gonna kill that fucker."
"No, Negan!" Chuck pushes away from Aaron and goes to Negan. "I-I don't want that."
"Are you fucking kidding me, Chuck?! He has to die! He could've killed you. He could've killed our baby!"
"I don't want you killing any more people because of me!"
"Goddamnit!" Negan swipes the paperwork off of his desk sending it to the floor. "I've fucking told you before, that shit wasn't on you!"
"I know you've said that, but it doesn't mean that it doesn't still make me feel bad. I hate that you killed people for me."
"It's not your fault, baby girl." He cradles her face in his hands. "You didn't make them do that shit to you. They chose to be fuckin' pieces of shit! They deserved the shit they got."
"I can't make myself not feel bad about it, Negan!"
Negan lets out a huff to steady himself and runs his hands up and down her arms soothingly. "I know, baby girl. But he broke the rules here. I have to punish him." He moves one hand up to cradle the back of their neck.
Aaron speaks softly from beside them. "I think Negan is right, Chucky. A man that would do all that to you..." He shakes his head. "He shouldn't be allowed the freedom to do it again."
"I'm not saying don't punish him. Just..." Chuck wipes her cheeks. "Why does it always have to be killing? Is the punishment for attempted rape execution, too?" She's grasping at straws. She knows that she should want Brendon dead, but she just can't reconcile it with the thoughts that someone's life is going to be cut short. He's still a person, even if he is a bad one.
Negan huffs out a breath. "We've never had one before. Or at least no one's come forward with one. When I first took over, we had a few rapes. And they were clearly rapes."
"Then couldn't the punishment for Brendon be something else."
Negan hangs his head and shakes it. "It's not just about what he fuckin' did, sweetheart. It's about telling everyone else that that shit won't be tolerated. So no one tries something like that on anyone else."
"Okay, Negan," she responds quietly. The fact that letting Brendon off lightly could potentially lead to other people being hurt has Chuck reconsidering her position. She would never want others to suffer the same way she has.
Negan closes his eyes then looks back to her. "I'm gonna head out tonight and surprise that fucker. I don't want to give him a chance to fuckin' run."
"I want to go with you," Chuck states. She doesn't know why, but she wants to be there when Negan brings Brendon in.
"Absolutely not." Negan picks Lucille up from his desk chair. "I'm gonna go to Alexandria with my men and we're gonna pick that motherfucker up. Bring him back here. And then I'm gonna kill him."
"I should go with you," Aaron adds. "We'll have to talk this over with Rick first. He'll want to have a say in what happens to one of his people and I think the discussion will go better with me there."
"I don't give a shit what Rick says. Brendon broke my rules. It doesn't fuckin' matter that he ran off to some other damn group." Negan walks back over to Chuck and grasps her face lightly. He puts his forehead on hers and begins to whisper. "Please tell me you understand. I have to do it."
"I understand, Negan," she responds in a whisper. "But I wish it could be different."
Negan lets out a breath. "I'm sorry, baby girl." He kisses her sweetly then leaves the room with Aaron trailing behind him.
— Negan's POV —
"This road here," Aaron, from the back seat, thrusts his hand between the front seats of the car me, him, and Dwight are in to point at a side road in front of us.
Dwight takes the turn and we continue on our way to fuckin' Alexandria.
"How much longer?" I ask. I'm getting fuckin' antsy. I just want to get there and get that fucker Brendon. And fuckin' punish him the way he goddamn deserves.
"Not long," Aaron answers.
It's fuckin' dark, no moon tonight. And it's quiet. Those Alexandria dicks must keep the place clear of dead fuckers well enough. At least they're good at that.
A half hour later, our headlights shine on an ugly ass metal wall and gate. I can see some guys with guns up on the guard towers talking into radios. My eyes flit to movement right in front of us as they open the inside gate up to get a better look at us. Rick's there, of course, hand trained on a big ass gun holstered at his fuckin' hip.
"Let me talk to him," Aaron says.
"I'm coming with," I say as more of a demand than a request.
We get out of the car and go to the gate.
Rick looks us all up and down, then settles on Aaron. "Why are they here?"
"We have a problem, Rick." Aaron tells him.
Rick looks back to me and then to my trucks with a nervous fuckin' look on his face.
"Don't worry, Ricky boy!" I call out. "I'm not here to fuck shit up. Circumstances just made that little sit down between us have to happen a little sooner than I expected. So..." I gesture to the gate. "Why don't we have that sit down?"
"It's late," Rick says after a beat. "Can't this wait until morning?"
"No. It fucking can't." I'm getting pissed.
"Rick," Aaron pleads. "It's important. Is Brendon still gone?"
Rick looks a little confused. "Yeah. He's still out."
Good. If Brendon knows that I know that he's here, he'll fuckin' run. And I'll never get my damn hands on him.
Rick opens the gate and we walk through. My trucks pull in and park off to the side. "Your men stay by the trucks," Rick throws out to me. I guess it makes sense that he's fuckin' suspicious. I'm a pretty big damn threat. But I'm not here for a fight right now. I just want to get on with this shit.
"I need two." I snap my fingers and Dwight and another savior walk to me. I'm not going into a place I don't know without some extra fuckin' protection.
"Fine," Rick turns to lead us to wherever. His house, I'm assuming.
Along the way, Daryl joins our little procession and we walk into a fuckin' house straight from the suburbs of the time before the world went to shit. The place looks nice, but I'm not really paying much attention to that. I'm on a fuckin' mission.
That dredded woman, Michonne, is waiting for us in the living room as soon as we walk in. "What's going on."
Rick puts is hand on her hip as he walks by. She seems outta his league, but, maybe it's slim fuckin' pickins here. "Aaron says we have a problem."
We all sit down in the living room. Rick, Michonne, and Aaron sit on the couch, with Daryl lurking beside them. I sit in an armchair sorta diagonal to them. My men stay out of the way, leaning against the fuckin' wall by the fireplace beside me.
Before we start, a teenage boy in fuckin' pajamas walks through the doorway just off the kitchen and comes closer to us. He has a patch over one eye and really needs a damn haircut. "Dad?"
Rick answers. "Go back upstairs, Carl."
Carl gives a little stink eye look and leaves.
"That your boy?" I say to Rick. The fact that this place has kids is a good fuckin' sign. It means they got roots. "How old?"
"He's 16," Rick answers.
"Shit," I say to myself. "He was young when this shit started. You're lucky to still have him."
"You aren't here to talk about my family," Rick cuts in. "So why are you here?"
"You're right." I sit up straighter. "You have a fuckin' criminal living within your walls. Brendon." I pause as they look to each other. "He broke one of my cardinal rules, so I'm going to be relieving you of him to give him the punishment he deserves back home."
Rick looks to Michonne and Aaron, then back to me. "What did he do?"
"He attacked one of my people," I answer vaguely. If I can get get away with not telling these strangers what happened to Chuck, that would be for the fuckin' best. I know Chuck wouldn't want me spouting off that shit unless I have to.
"I can't just let you take one of my people based on that. I want to talk to Brendon first to get his side of the story."
"Oh, now you want to investigate before you act?" I let out a huff.
Aaron jumps in. "It was my niece Chucky. Brendon hurt her."
"You believe them?" Daryl asks and I almost fuckin' lose it.
"What? You need fuckin' evidence? How's this? I personally fuckin' found her naked and hogtied after that fuck kidnapped her, tried to rape her, tried to strangle her to death, and left her! I carried her out of there! I listened to her as she told me what he fuckin' did to her. And I held her when she cried!" I stand up and point my finger right in Daryl's face. "So don't you fuckin' dare tell me that we're lying or that that motherfucker doesn't deserve the shit I'm gonna rain down on him."
"I saw her face when I told them we had Brendon here. He did it. I'm sure of it," Aaron adds.
Michonne holds her hands out at me to calm me back down. "Okay, Negan. We don't want a person that would do that living here with our people. Right?" She looks at Rick.
"What are you planning on doing with him?" Rick asks.
I sit back down, but I'm still fuckin' pissed. "What the fuck do you think?" I hold up Lucille. "I'm gonna introduce him to my girl Lucille here. Nice and fuckin' proper."
Rick looks down and starts to shake his head. "Brendon is building us a greenhouse. We need it to start growing more food. Our crops were destroyed by The Wolves and we haven't recovered yet."
I let out a huff. "I don't give a fuck if he's shitting fucking gold for you! That fucker is gonna die. Period. And I don't need your fucking permission. This little chat is just a fuckin' courtesy to tell you that I am taking that rapist fuck back with me."
Michonne looks to Rick. "We already have the plans and the supplies for the greenhouse. We can get it built by ourselves." Michonne looks to me and then back to Rick. "Brendon broke Negan's rules. I don't think we should stand in the way of that."
"Listen to your woman, Ricky boy. She's speaking sense."
Rick lets out a sigh. "Do you execute a lot of people?" He's acting like he's fuckin' judging me. He is fuckin' judging me!
"Asks the man that was gonna execute all my goddamn men just yesterday." I give a smug little chuckle. "I'm gonna give you a fuckin' tip here. One dead fucker done right can go a long way. You kill one to save a fuck load of others. And that's what this shit is. What that fucker did, attacking an innocent fucking woman, had not happened in my Sanctuary for a long ass time. Because all of the residents there know that if you lay your hands on a woman without her permission, you die. Period. I don't know how you run this place, but the rules fucking matter where I live. If Brendon gets away with that shit, people will think they can get away with that shit. Which would mean more fuckin' attacks on women." I pause. "One life to save others," I reiterate my goddamn point.
Rick wipes his hand down his face. "Okay, Negan. I'm not going to stand in your way. But I want to have a meeting with my people here in the morning to explain it to them."
"Good," I respond. "You just made a step in the right fuckin' direction."
"Brendon'll probably get back in the afternoon," Daryl explains. "He's out with Morgan and Tara. They were gonna hit some overpass filled with cars. See if they could find something good to bring back."
"They got radios?" I ask.
"No. The area they were going through has been pretty clear, so they didn't take the radios," Michonne answers.
"We can set you and your men up is some of our empty houses. I just ask that you stick to yourselves for now." Rick stands from the couch and starts to escort us to his door.
"I'm here for one fuckin' reason only," I respond. "That's all I'm thinking about."
Rick nods. "Will you show them where they're staying, Aaron?"
"Yeah. The houses are this way. Right next door to mine." Aaron leads us to the houses and my men start to get settled.
"I wanna see where that fucker has been living," I say to Aaron. "Dwight. Come with." I'm not really sure why, but I just fuckin' need to see where he's been. What he's been doing.
"Come on." Aaron takes me and Dwight to his house.
As soon as we get to the porch, the door opens and some guy comes out.
"Aaron!" The guy runs out and hugs Aaron. I'm assuming he's the husband. "Rick told me you went to some other settlement to see your niece." He finally looks at me, then back to Aaron. "Who is this? What's going on?"
"Lets talk inside." Aaron gestures to the door and we all enter.
I close the door behind me and look around. There's a couch just to my left and the kitchen off to the right. Fuck, they got a lot of shit in their house. License plates and signs all over the walls. Decorations everywhere. Real homey, like they must've lived here for a long ass time. These lucky fucks got to live in a place like this this whole damn time?
Aaron points to a doorway kinda in front of me. I can see a staircase just beyond it. "First door on the right up the stairs. That's Brendon's room. I'll stay down here and fill Eric in on everything."
I nod and head on up the stairs with Dwight. I tell him to wait outside the room for me and I go in. It's nothing special, like every other random ass guest room I've seen.
I start to go through his shit, but I don't find anything that jumps the fuck out. But then I look under the bed. There's a fuckin' backpack, worn and dirty, sitting against the wall. I almost missed it. I pull it out and shove my hands into it as I sit on the bed. Notebooks. That's all that's fuckin' in there.
I them out and start to read that shit. Some of them are plans for shit he can make. Small things like utensils, stools, tables. And there are plans for houses, boats, shit like that, too. Even instructions on all that old timey construction shit that he said he could do. Like how to put shit together without nails and making planks from trees with just an axe. All meticulous and exact. And useful as fuck.
I will be relieving Rick of this shit, too.
But some of the notebooks are like journals. And that shit is batshit crazy. The exact opposite of the other notebooks. There's a lot of fuckin' rambling about shit he misses. Music, food, women. Then he talks about the shit he and Drew did together. And it's fucked up.
I should've killed fuckin' Drew Hanson when I had the chance.
Drew was like the fuckin' leader in his little partnership with Brendon. Urging him to do fucked up shit. They would lure people into traps to steal their food and weapons. Then just leave them to die in fucked up ways. And of course when they found women... The shit he describes... God, I'm so fuckin' glad he didn't do that shit to Chuck.
At first, Brendon talks about all that shit like it was only Drew that did it. But then Brendon joined in, too. He did some sick shit all on his own. And he liked it. He was happy that he was "making Drew proud." How the fuck did he hide this crazy shit from my men at the outpost for a whole month? And he hid it from Rick and co., too! Brendon must be some sorta fuckin' psychopath!
Fuck, I wish I hadn't read all this. But then again, he made it that much easier for me to bash his fuckin' brains in.
I shove the notebooks back into the fuckin' bag and throw it over my shoulder. I leave Aaron's house with Dwight following without even really saying a word to anyone.
That night, I don't sleep a fuckin' wink.
The next morning, Rick tells me that everyone is meeting in the church. This place has an actual fuckin' church. And an actual fuckin' priest to go along with it. Goddamn, I coulda married Chuck all official like.
All eyes are on my as I stride the fuck up the aisle to where Rick is standing at the front of the room. The pews are filled with all the Alexandrians and my men, waiting for this shit to start.
"Well, Rick," I gesture out to everyone else. "Say what you gotta say."
Rick explains to his people who I am (the guy they all agreed to kill on false pretenses) and who Brendon is (the fucking rapist that has been living with them for weeks). Everyone looks a little fuckin' shocked, as they fuckin' should. When Rick explains that I'm gonna be taking Brendon back with me, some of the people make a goddamn fuss.
"You're just going to let this guy come in and take one of us?" some guy stands up and asks Rick.
"He's not letting me do shit!" I call out to that fucker. "Brendon broke my goddamn rules! Rules that, by the way, should be the lay of the land fuckin' everywhere. If you're telling me that your group is o-fuckin'-kay with men raping women, then I am not o-fuckin'-kay with letting you guys walk around free to do that shit! And my men will make sure that you are not free to do that shit."
"Everyone. Tobin." Rick looks from me to the guy still fuckin' standing. "Lets all just stay calm. Brendon broke another group's rules while he was living there and we shouldn't get in the way of that group carrying out their punishment. Besides, if Brendon would have done here what he did there, we would be punishing him just like Negan is going to."
"And were just supposed to believe them that Brendon did this?" Tobin calls out. "The last group that came to us lied to try to get us to do something. They could be lying, too."
Aaron jumps in, "They aren't. I went to their home; my niece lives there. And she is the one that Brendon hurt. She wasn't lying. And think about it. Why would they lie? They're not getting anything out of this."
Tobin looks to Aaron with a sad fuckin' look of his face, then nods and sits back down.
Rick continues, "I know that we've never really dealt with anything like this, so it's a lot to swallow. But letting Negan take Brendon is the right thing to do. We don't want a man like Brendon living here."
No one else speaks up. They all look on board with it. A little hesitant, but on board all the fuckin' same.
When Rick is done saying his piece, the Alexandrians all leave to do whatever the fuck it is that they do all day, and I bum around their town. I'm not gonna tell Rick this, but this is one of the nicest places I've seen in a long ass time. Everything's clean. They got electricity and water. A little fuckin' lake in the center of town. And all the houses are goddamn perfect. With nice ass yards just right for barbecues. And playing catch with the kids... If you forget about the ugly ass metal wall, it almost looks like the apocalypse never even fuckin' happened. If I could guarantee a safe fuckin' journey, I'd bring Chuck here for a little vacay.
Me and my men wander around, just waiting for the main event to show. The Alexandrians are all giving us the stink eye for some reason, until Glenn starts talking with me and some of my men. He's a nice guy and apparently holds fuckin' sway with the others. They see that he's being decent to us, so everyone else sorta falls in fuckin' line. He tells me his wife's pregnant and I can't help but smile at that. Fuck, Chuck's turning me into such a pussy. But I wouldn't have it any other way.
We get word that Brendon and the others are approaching. I instruct my men to hang out at the gate. If that fuck tries to run, I want my men on him quick. Me? I wait off to the side so I can make a grand fuckin' entrance. Really surprise that fucker.
Rosita opens the gate and a man with one of those karate sticks walks through. Then a woman with black hair. Then fuckin' Brendon. They all look around, fuckin' confused at the new people standing all around them.
I walk forward and Brendon trains his eyes on me, no emotion on his face.
"That's right, motherfucker. We're gonna have a nice long chat."
Brendon looks around and says, "Alright." Like it's nothing. That fucker is cold as ice.
Me, him, my two bodyguards, Rick, Daryl, Michonne, and Aaron all pile into Rick's living room. It's one of those open plan deals with the dining room and kitchen, so there's enough room for all of us.
I pull out one of the dining room chairs and gesture to it. "Why don't you sit the fuck down, Brendon."
He does and we all stand around him.
"Negan told us what happened at The Sanctuary," Rick starts. "Why don't you tell me your side?"
Brendon looks around with a smug expression on his fuckin' face. "I'm sure what he said was the truth." He lets out a breath. "I didn't really plan it all out. I knew I was going to do it at some point... But then everything was just so perfect." He points to me. "You were gone. And Chuck went into that trailer. No one would hear. No one would come looking. I really couldn't have planned it any better than that." He chuckled.
I let out a growl. "You fuckin' dick."
He shrugs. Then he starts to rattle off what the fuck he did like it was a damn grocery list, gesturing from side to side fuckin' casually. "I told her to take her clothes off. She tried to run. I stopped her. I tied her up. I left." He suddenly looks right at me. "How's Chuck doing?" Brendon asks and I see red.
"Don't you fuckin' say her name!" I punch him in the fuckin' face and he falls out of his chair. I lift Lucille over my head to fuckin' kill him, but I regain my composure. I'm not killing this fuck right here. I'm not killing him fuckin' quick.
"Why did you hurt her? Why Chuck?" Aaron blurts out.
Brendon starts to fuckin' laugh as he stands up, spitting blood out of his mouth as he does. "I wanted to punish him. I wanted to take away something that he loves." He clears his throat and stands up straighter. "I'm guessing Negan didn't tell you guys the whole story. He used to be my teacher. Chuck's, too. And he ruined my life because he had a relationship with her." He turns to Rick. "Tell me, Rick, you were a cop. What do you think about a teacher that fucks a student?"
Everyone looks at me.
"I never fuckin' touched her back then!" It's getting real fuckin' hard for me not to kill this fucker right here, right now, but I keep it together.
"But you sure touch her now," Brendon gets in before I can shut him up.
"You piece of shit! You're one to fuckin' talk! I found your notebooks. I read what you did to all those people! Those women!" I look to Rick and point to Brendon. "You've been living with a real fuckin' psychopath in your town, you know."
"Why didn't you kill her?" Aaron asks in confusion.
Brendon shrugs all cockily. "I really don't know. I wanted to. She just looked so much like she did in high school. And, I guess that woke up that old part of me. The man that I used to be before Drew showed me the way." He laughs. "But that part of me is dead now. And given another chance, I'd kill that cunt. Right after I tear her pussy-"
I don't get the fuckin' chance to bash that fucker's head in because Aaron comes flying out of nowhere and punches that fucker in the face, knocking him out cold.
Aaron turns to me as he shakes his hand out. "Take him away."
My men come in and load Brendon up.
But before I leave, Rick stops me. "Why didn't you tell me she was your-"
I interrupt him. "Doesn't matter."
Rick shakes his head. "What we do... What we have to do to keep the ones we love safe..."
I stare at him as he trails off. I know what he's saying. That he actually gets it. Gets why I need this fucker dead so bad.
I nod my head slowly and leave. And I got the whole fuckin' ride home to plan out what I'm gonna do to fuckin' Brendon.