Chuck sits on the couch staring at the tv screen, her mind miles away as the video game that she was playing is left on the pause screen. Earlier, she thought that the game would get her mind off of what happened last night. And what is going to happen when Negan gets back. But her mind is still preoccupied.
Brendon. Negan is off at Alexandria to pick up Brendon and bring him back here. And he's going to kill him. In front of everyone.
Chuck doesn't like it. She hates that in this new world, killing is so commonplace. That death is something that people should just accept. In her life before the turn, in her small home town, decades passed without a single murder. And there were maybe one or two lives cut short by car accidents or something like that a year. People grew old. People died of the normal things. But now... People are torn apart by the dead. People get killed for food. People murder. And people are executed brutally.
But she knows that it has to happen. Brendon needs to die. For a lot of reasons. As punishment for what he did. To stop him from doing it again. To deter others from committing similar acts. Yes, Brendon needs to be executed. But it's still horrible.
Chuck gives up on her game and leaves to go to the lounge. Maybe the wives can help her make sense of everything. On her way there, she passes Curly the cat leaving their litter box room. About a week ago, Negan moved the cats' litter boxes out of his office and into a small room down the hall, since the cats are getting bigger and "shitting too much," so Negan said. But since the litter boxes are elsewhere, the cats essentially have to have free reign of the entire floor. And the wives don't mind. Everyone keeps their doors open for the cats and enjoys to cuddle with them. And the cats love all the new beds and couches they can sleep on.
Chuck walks into the lounge and gives the women a little wave before she sits down. Tonya is busy in the middle of the room cutting Sherry's hair and Frankie and Kayla are sitting on the couch nearest to them, with Creamsicle sleeping on the arm beside them.
Kayla gets up and comes right over to Chuck. "How are you doing?" she asks sympathetically and sits down beside her. The wives were there when Aaron said that Brendon was at Alexandria. And they also knew that Negan left to bring him back. Chuck figures that they are probably a little worried about the situation and how Chuck is handling it.
Chuck tries to smile genuinely. "I'm fine."
"Negan didn't get back yet?" Sherry asks tentatively.
"Not yet," Chuck answers. "So, um..." Chuck lets out a nervous breath. "So, what do you guys think about, you know, Brendon and all." She wants to get their take on it, feeling that maybe it will help her with her own feelings.
"I'm glad Negan's gonna kill that bastard for what he did," Tonya answers quickly.
"Yeah," Frankie agrees. "He deserves what's coming to him."
"You guys don't feel... bad for thinking that?"
Everyone looks to Chuck with confusion written all over their faces.
Kayla grabs Chuck's hand and holds it tightly. "It's hard to get used to the brutality of this world. But if you really think about all of human history, brutality was the norm for most of it. I mean, I remember learning about the Middle Ages in school!" She chuckles and it lightens the mood a little. "Maybe someday we'll get back to trials and juries and fines, but right now? This is the way things have to be."
Chuck nods. "Yeah. That makes sense."
"You just can't dwell on it," Sherry adds as Tonya finishes up with her hair. "You can't let it eat you up, okay, Chuck? Brendon broke the rules. And he hurt you. His punishment is justified." Sherry gets up and walks over to Chuck. "It's justified, Chuck. Focus on that."
Chuck nods. The wives' words actually do make her feel a little better. "You guys are right. It sucks that it's the way we live now, but... I won't feel guilty over it."
Tonya cleans up her mess and joins the women. "So... Your uncle seems really nice," she changes the subject.
"Oh, yeah! I'm so glad he's here. We were really close before. After my dad died, he really helped me and my mom out. He was kinda 'the man' in our house. Cleaning the gutters, fixing the cabinets... he always did that stuff for us."
"I'm surprised Negan let a man he didn't know in here with us," Kayla says with a chuckle.
"Negan probably didn't see him as a threat or whatever." Tonya replies to Chuck then looks around at the questioning faces of the women. "Because he's gay, right?" she clarifies.
"Uh, yeah," Chuck answers, a little befuddled that Tonya picked up on that. "Aaron is gay."
"Oh!" Kayla answers, surprised at that information.
Tonya laughs. "I have military grade gaydar."
All the women laugh.
Frankie jumps in. "I bet that doesn't even matter. Negan would do anything Chuck asked him," she teases.
"That's not true!" Chuck tries to deny it, but she kind of agrees with what Frankie's saying. She knows that Negan has always given her everything she's asked for. Not that she tries to get him to do things. Not really, anyway.
"You know it's true!" Tonya exclaims with a laugh.
"Negan told me that he loves me," Chuck blurts out. She doesn't really know why. It just comes out of her mouth without her thinking about it.
The women look around to each other in shock, not saying anything.
After a few moments, Kayla finally finds her voice. "Well? What did you say to him?!"
Chuck giggles a little nervously. "I-I said that I wanted to be with him. More like... a couple."
"Finally!" Tonya cries out.
Kayla laughs. "Negan has been head over heels for you since you first came up here."
"He said that?" Chuck asks.
"Of course he didn't say it!" Sherry answers. "But it was obvious."
Chuck throws her arms up. "God, I'm an idiot! How did I not know?!"
Everyone laughs.
"You know, speaking of relationships..." Kayla clears her throat, "I, uh- I've been spending a lot of time on the fourth floor with Amber. And... there's this guy. He lives next door to her."
The women gasp. They knew what the punishment for cheating on Negan was.
"I mean, we haven't done anything," Kayla explains quickly. "I wouldn't cheat! And he's very respectful of the whole wife rules thing. But he's cute. And nice." She blushes. "And seeing Amber and Mark together... And you and Negan, too..." she gestures to Chuck, "I've just been thinking lately that I want that. I want real love. And maybe even a family."
"That's great Kayla!" Frankie calls out genuinely, but turns almost sad. "But you'll have to move downstairs..."
"I know. That's why I haven't really brought it up. I love you guys, but... I think I just need more from life, you know? We would still be friends! And visit each other!"
"Of course, Kayla." Sherry coos. "I want you to have the life you want. And it's not like we wouldn't all still live in the same building."
"Well, now's not a good time to tell Negan, obviously. Considering everything that's going on. But... This is what I want. I don't want to be a wife anymore. When things settle down, I'll tell him."
Chuck smiles at her warmly. She would miss having Kayla there all the time, but she wants her to find happiness. So if Kayla wants to move downstairs to pursue that, Chuck supports her.
The sound of the stairwell door opening down the hall has Chuck rising to her feet. A few moments later, Negan steps in front of the doorway.
"Come on, baby girl." He holds his hand out to her and she takes it.
Chuck notices the dirty backpack on his shoulder, but doesn't ask about it as they walk to Negan's apartment. Once in the office, Negan takes the backpack off of his shoulder and sets it on his desk.
"Did you get him?" Chuck asks quietly.
Negan nods as he turns back to her. "Yeah. He's in a cell."
"Good."
Negan bends down and nuzzles into Chuck's neck while wrapping his arms around her. "Are you okay?" he whispers.
She nods. "I'm okay." She kisses his temple and he straightens to look at her. "I know what you need to do to Brendon. And I'm okay with it."
He brings his hand up to caress her cheek. "You really mean that?"
She nods and runs her fingertips over his lips gently. "I do."
Negan kisses her fingers and hugs her tightly. "You don't have to see me do it tomorrow. You'll have to be there at the start, but you can leave before I actually fuckin' kill him. We can tell everyone you're pregnant and that you can't see it. Or be upset or what-the-fuck-ever. If you want."
"Yeah," she agrees. "I don't think I really want to see it. And... we should tell everyone about the baby, too."
Negan nods and pushes some of Chuck's hair from her face. He lets out a sigh. "Brendon wrote journals. I read them," he starts quietly. "He's a monster, Chuck. All the shit he did..." He grasps her face gently in both of his hands and places his forehead on hers. "I'm so fuckin' glad he didn't take you from me." He puts his hand on her belly. "Or this."
Chuck touches his cheek and kisses his lips lightly. "Me, too," she whispers.
He moves his hand to her neck and softly rubs his thumb over her jaw. "I would do anything to protect you. You know that?"
She runs her hands up his chest. "I know, Negan."
"I love you so fucking much, Chuck," he says with more emotion than Chuck has ever heard from him before.
She looks him in the eye before whispering, "I love you, too, Negan."
He smiles and kisses her sweetly. "That's the most beautiful thing I've ever fuckin' heard."
Chuck giggles, but she stops when her stomach growls loudly.
"Shit! I better feed my babies!"
Later that night, Chuck has a hard time sleeping. Negan is snoring away softly beside her, but she can't stop her racing thoughts about Brendon. She suddenly remembers the backpack full of Brendon's journals that is still sitting on Negan's desk and curiosity fills her.
Chuck sneaks out of bed and into Negan's office. As quietly as she can, she pulls out a notebook from the backpack and sits behind the desk. Flicking on the desk lamp, she opens the notebook to a random page and starts to read. The entry starts with Brendon and Drew running across a family of four. It then describes the horrible way that they brutally murdered them, even the children, and ran off with their supplies. Chuck starts to cry upon reading the words.
She reads entry upon entry, each one even worse than the last. But no matter how horrible the words are, she can't stop reading them.
"What are you doing?" Negan's voice calls out gently from the doorway, making Chuck jump.
"I-I couldn't sleep." She wipes her cheeks of tears. "I just... wanted to know." She looks down to the open notebook in front of her.
Negan comes forward and around the desk to stand at her side. He slowly closes the notebook and places it back in the backpack. "I didn't want you to read that." He sits on the edge of the desk and looks down at Chuck. "The only reason I brought them back is because some of them have plans, schematics for shit I can use. The other stuff, the journals, I'm gonna burn that shit. No one should read that."
Chuck nods sadly. "I'm really lucky, aren't I? He could've easily killed me. Or worse. Why didn't he?"
Negan lets out a sigh. "He knew you." He wipes her cheek gently with his thumb. "You made him... feel something, for once. He couldn't be that numb fuckin' monster he's become when he saw you."
Chuck nods as she lets out a tense breath and stands from the chair. She takes Negan's hand in hers. "I'm glad Brendon came here."
Negan looks at her confused. "Baby girl?"
"So we could stop him from ever hurting anyone else."
The next morning, Chuck and Negan wait in his office for everything to get ready in the courtyard. Instead of having Chuck wait downstairs with everyone else, Negan wanted to keep her with him. When they get word that everything is ready, they leave.
Negan grabs Chuck's hand and walks through the hallways of The Sanctuary. "You good, baby girl?" He turns his head to get her response.
"Yeah, Negan. I'm good."
They walk through the doors and out through the now kneeling crowd. Right in the center of everyone, two saviors are holding Brendon, making sure that he doesn't try to do anything.
Negan is still holding Chuck's hand when he starts to speak. "This is a good fuckin' day, people! And I bet y'all can guess why!" He points Lucille at Brendon. "Now, some of you might not remember that motherfucker right there, but he is Brendon, the guy we've been searching for. And we've been searching for him because he broke the rules! Namely, he hurt this sweetheart right here." He lets go of Chuck's hand and puts his arm around her waist. "He kidnapped her, beat her, and tried to rape her! Thankfully, she wasn't permanently fuckin' scarred! But that fucker," he points again, "still broke the rules. And he's in sore need of a fuckin' punishment."
Chuck looks up at Negan and then to the crowd. Her heart pounds in her chest at being talked about in front of all these people. And their eyes on her aren't helping.
Negan leans down to whisper in her ear. "You're doing so good, baby girl."
She gives him a little smile.
"Prior to all that shit he did, I wanted to make this girl my wife! Which I did, while she was recovering! Sadly, because of him, I didn't get to fuckin' show off my baby girl like I usually do with the routine marriage festivities. But here she is. My girl Chuck! And she is very fuckin' special, as some of you eagle eyed people might be able to see.
Chuck instinctively puts her hand on her belly because Negan is talking about the baby.
"That's right, people. Our union was a fruitful one!" Negan's hand joins Chuck's on her stomach. "My girl is pregnant with my first kid!"
Everyone actually claps and seems genuinely happy. It brings a smile to Chuck's face to think that everyone is so supportive.
"Since my girl is pregnant, though, she will have to opt out of the rest of this fuckin' show. I don't want to upset her. But she will rejoin us for the big fuckin' celebration that is going to happen in the caf right after this shit! And everyone gets one free drink! No points needed!"
Everyone cheers again. Alcohol is pretty expensive normally, so most people don't get to indulge too often.
Negan gives Chuck a little kiss on the cheek and a long look. "I'll see you in a bit," he whispers.
She smiles at him for a moment until he gently pushes her forward from the small of her back.
"Simon? Would you please escort my wife inside?"
"Sure thing, boss." Simon comes forward and leads Chuck back through the doors. They start to ascend the stairs, headed for the fifth floor, but Chuck pauses at the second floor door.
Simon is halfway up the stairs before he notices. "Chuck? What are you-"
She opens to door and starts to rush down the hallway.
"Where are you going?" Simon catches up to her quickly.
"I have to see." She enters the rec room and heads to one of the windows that overlooks the courtyard.
"Chuck, I don't think this is good for you," Simon pleads from behind her.
"I have to see, Simon."
Her eyes are glued on the figures below. Negan, without Lucille, is standing directly in front of Brendon, who already has blood all over his face.
Then, there's movement. Negan grabs Brendon's face with one hand and then swipes something over it with the other, but Chuck really can't see. It does look like Brendon is in pain, though, from the way he is moving.
The saviors on either side of Brendon pick up his arms and hold them out. Negan walks over to Fat Joey, who is holding Lucille, and takes her from his hands, then walks back to Brendon. After saying something, Negan hits Brendon twice on his arms...? Or maybe shoulders. Negan himself is somewhat blocking the view for Chuck.
Negan knocks Brendon down by hitting his lower body with Lucille and then gets on top of him. Chuck can't see much now, only Negan's back and Brendon's flailing legs. She assumes Negan is strangling him. It takes a few minutes, but Brendon stops moving and Chuck knows he's dead.
She lets out a sigh and wipes a tear from her eye. She's surprised to find that she actually feels relieved. She thought she'd be sad, or guilty. But she isn't. She's almost glad that the world is rid of him.
"You okay?" Simon asks from beside her.
"Yeah. I'm fine."
"You shouldn't've seen all that."
"I wanted to. I wanted to make sure it was done. And I wanted to see it for all of his victims that couldn't."
Chuck sees Negan walk toward the door and knows he'll head for his room. "We should get upstairs before he does."
Simon lets out an almost tense breath. "Yeah. We probably should."
— Negan's POV —
I watch as Chuck and Simon leave. I don't want her to see the shit I'm gonna do to Brendon, so I make sure they're good and gone before I start.
"She was already pregnant, wasn't she?" Brendon fuckin' laughs.
"Shut up!" One of the guys holding him slaps him in the back of the head.
"Shit, if I would've know that..." Brendon continues, "I would've taken her and left. Let her get big and fat with your baby. Then I would've cut it out of her."
I hold my hand up to my savior when he makes a move to shut him up again. I'm gonna let him fuckin' speak. Let him get me more riled the fuck up. But he's not gonna get me outta control. Which is what he's trying to do. No. I've had enough time to think about this shit. I'm fuckin' ready.
"Or maybe," Brendon chuckles, "I would've forced her to raise it with me. Called it Junior. Maybe make her have some of my babies, too."
I can hear the the crowd gasp and murmur in disgust behind me. I put a smile on my face and gesture to Brendon as I look back at the crowd. "See how fuckin' horrible this motherfucker is?! How the fuck did he hide all that crazy while he was here?!" I call out. "And by the way," I look back to Brendon, "I read all those journals you kept. I know just what a sick fuck you are." I turn to the crowd. "Families. Women. Children! He's slaughtered almost everyone he's come in contact with! So there is absolutely no question that this fuck needs to die."
I walk over to Fat Joey and hold my hand out. "Give me your switchblade."
He roots around in this pocket and sets the knife in my hand. "Th-There you go, sir"
I hold Lucille out to him. "Take my girl. But be gentle."
He grabs ahold of her lightly. "Yes, sir."
I turn back to Brendon and stand close to him. "Grab his arms and hold his head back," I say to the saviors on either side of Brendon and they obey. One of them grabs Brendon's hair and tilts his head back. "Good." I flick the blade out right beside Brendon's face. "Fast or slow, people?" I call out to the crowd. They have no idea what I'm gonna do, but I want to drag it out a little for Brendon. Make sure he's got every fuckin' thing I could possibly do to him rattling around in his head.
"Do it slow, sir!" Someone yells out. "Make the bastard suffer!"
I nod animatedly as I chuckle. "Hold him still," I direct at my men.
Brendon's smile doesn't drop a bit. Goddamn, he's cold as ice. His smile doesn't even fall when I start to put the blade up his left nostril carefully. But I can see that he's breathing harder.
"Did you know that noses have a shit ton of blood vessels?" I start to taunt. "That's why if you get a nosebleed," I start to pivot the blade outward in his nose so it starts to cut into his nostril from the inside, nice and slow, "it bleeds like a motherfucker!"
He has his lips set in a tight fuckin' frown now as I start to see the tip of the knife come out of his skin. He's trying hard as fuck not to scream, but that won't be the case much longer, I bet. I finally flick the knife all the way out, completely spitting open his nose and causing blood to gush out of it almost immediately. He still doesn't scream, but lets out a loud growl as he tries to squirm as much as he can.
I have the biggest fuckin' grin on my face.
But then that fucker starts to laugh. "That all you got, Coach?" He gives me a huge smile back, his teeth covered with the blood pouring out of his nose.
I sneer for a moment before I shrug nonchalantly. "Look at that fuckin' smile! How long you think you'll have that smile for?" I look out to the crowd. "Any bets? One minute? Two minutes? Fifteen seconds?"
"You don't scare me. I'll be smiling this whole fucking time," he growls at me cockily.
I suddenly grab his jaw and wrench it down, opening his mouth since my guy still has a good hold on Brendon's hair. I take the switchblade and slice it right through both of his cheeks. Good ole Glasgow smile.
"Shit! You were right!" I laugh when he makes this weird surprised whining noise. "You're gonna have that fuckin' smile the rest of your life! Though that's not gonna be that fuckin' long!"
He still doesn't scream. But he's growling and grunting. And he's starting to shake. His fuckin' body is going into shock.
"Hold that fucker's arms out nice and wide." My men obey.
I go over to Fat Joey and exchange his switchblade for Lucille. "You know, the collarbones are the most easily broken bone? It really doesn't take much." I get in front of Brendon. "And when you do break them, your arms are fucking useless! Like limp ass noodles just dangling from your shoulders!" I bring Lucille down hard on his right shoulder, then his left immediately after before he can react.
He finally does let out a scream, but he tries to reel it in right after. Fucker's still trying to act like he doesn't give a shit about all this. "You... ffffuck!"
I cup my hand to my ear. "What was that?" I taunt with a laugh. "Let him go," I say to my men. "He can't do shit now."
I expect that fucker to drop to the ground when my men let go, but he doesn't. He stumbles a bit, but doesn't go down. I guess I'll have to help him. I swing Lucille down low and up in between his spread legs as hard as I fuckin' can. Pretty sure I broke something because he lets out a high pitched wail and falls to the ground in the fetal position.
I kick him once so he turns into his back. "How did that fuckin' feel, you sick fuck! Why don't fuckin' compare it to all the shit you made innocent people go through!" I straddle his legs and set Lucille down beside me. I wrap my hands around his throat and squeeze. I admit that, now, I'm losing a little control. Now that I actually have my fuckin' hands on him. "I'm gonna watch the life fuckin' drain from your eyes, motherfucker!" I growl. "Keep your eyes open! I want to be the last thing you'll ever fuckin' see."
He's trying to fight back but his arms are fucking useless. He kicks his legs but he's getting weak from blood loss and lack of oxygen. I push down harder on his throat and his eyes bulge out. I start to growl as I shake him.
"She was never yours!" I hiss. His face is bright red now. "This is what happens when you touch. what's. mine!" I punctuate my words by slamming his head to the ground with each one. "It's time for you to die, you fucking piece of shit!" I lean all of my weight on his neck and squeeze as hard as I can until I feel his windpipe collapse. But I don't stop. I stay just like that for a couple more minutes until I'm sure that fucker is dead.
I lean back and catch my breath before I take out my own big ass knife and cut open his shirt. I carve "rapist" into his chest and stab that fucker right in the dick just to hit my point home. I get up, put my knife away, and pick up Lucille.
"Someone put this fuck on the fence when he turns."