"We'll take your weapons," the Savior said, pulling a gun from his belt and pointing it at Abraham. "Now."
"We can talk about—" Rick tried.
"We're done talking," the Savior interrupted. "Time to listen."
Men approached them, taking their weapons. Anna held tight to her rifle, glaring at the man in front of her, but reluctantly let go. He slid his hand onto her hip and pulled her knife from its sheath.
"That's yours, right?" The leader said, and Anna turned to see he was speaking with Carl, holding his gun. "Yeah, it's yours," he said, flicking Carl's hat. "Okay. Let's get her down and get you all on your knees," he instructed, stepping back. "Lots to cover."
Some Saviors came to lower Maggie off the stretcher.
"Hold up," Abraham said, stopping them. "We got it."
"Sure, sure," the Leader relented, waving his men off.
Anna joined the others in lowering Maggie to the ground; she took her hand, helping her sit up. Abraham and Rick came on either side of her to guide her off the stretcher and to her knees. Eugene was shoved over to them, trembling, and Rick looked around at them before turning to the Leader.
"Gonna need you on your knees," the Savior said softly.
Rick was shaking. Anna tried to convince herself it was due to the cold, but the look in his eyes told her otherwise. He was scared. There were too many Saviors for them to face, and his son was in the line of fire. He got down on his knees.
Anna clenched her jaw and dropped down as well. There was nothing more they could do.
"Let's get the other ones, right now," the leader said and Anna tensed. "Dwight!"
"Yeah," the blond man said as he pushed through the crowd.
"Chop-chop."
Dwight went to a van with bullet holes riddling the doors he pulled open.
"Come on. You got people to meet," he said, pulling a bloody Daryl from the back of the van.
"Daryl," Anna gasped, rushing to her feet.
A hand coiled around her bicep and yanked her back, shoving her to the ground.
"Don't move," hissed a voice in her ear.
Anna's body went rigid as a tremor went through her bones. Her chest and throat tightened and tears sprang to her eyes as she slowly turned her head to see the man holding her in place.
He smiled back at her, the headlights shining on the freckles spattered across his sculpted nose. His bright hazel eyes crinkled at the corners.
"Good to see you again, Annie," Isaac said. "Been awhile."
"Alright!" Called the balding Savior. "We've got a full boat."
"You're gonna wanna pay attention," Isaac said, grabbing her chin and turning her head back to face forward before she heard him take a few steps back.
"Let's meet the man," the leader said, knocking lightly on the RV door.
It swung open, banging against the RV, and Anna flinched.
"Pissin' your pants yet?" Asked the man who stepped out, clad in a leather jacket and toting a wooden baseball bat. "Boy, do I have a feeling we're gettin' close," he said, walking into the light.
Anna tried to control her breathing, to stop herself from shaking, but she could feel Isaac's stare burning into the back of her skull. Just like that, she could feel his hands on her, the drag of the knife as it tore through her skin.
"Yep, it's gonna be pee-pee pants city here real soon," he said, surveying the group with a grin that, under normal circumstances, Anna would want to smack off his face. But these weren't normal circumstances, and Anna couldn't move. "Which one of you pricks is the leader?"
"It's this one," the balding Savior said, pointing out Rick in the lineup. "He's the guy."
The leather clad man turned to look at Rick and sighed before taking a few steps towards him.
"Hi. You're Rick, right? I'm Negan," he introduced. "And I do not appreciate you killing my men. Also, when I sent my people to kill your people for killing my people, you killed more of my people. Not cool," he said, dragging out the last word. "Not cool. You have no idea how not cool that shit is. But I think you're gonna be up to speed shortly."
Rick looked up at him.
"Yeah," Negan said, "you are so gonna regret crossing me in a few minutes. Yes, you are. You see, Rick, whatever you do, no matter what, you don't mess with the new world order. And the new world order is this, and it's really very simple. So, even if you're stupid, which you very may well be, you can understand it. You ready?" He asked. "Here goes. Pay attention."
He dropped the bat to his side before pointing it at Rick.
"Give me your shit or I will kill you."
Anna clenched her jaw, her hands balled into fists resting on her thighs. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. They were supposed to make it to Hilltop. They were supposed to beat the Saviors. Isaac was supposed to be dead.
Isaac was sprawled out on the ground, the side of his jacket blooming with blood. He lay still, and she couldn't see steam rising from his lips.
"Today was career day," Negan announced as he paced down the line. "We invested a lot so you would know who I am and what I can do." He paused and looked back at Rick. "You work for me now. You have shit, you give it to me. That's your job. Now, I know that is a mighty big, nasty pill to swallow, but swallow it you most certainly will." He walked back to Rick. "You ruled the roost. You built something. You thought you were safe. I get it.
"But the word is out. You are not safe. Not even close," Negan said. "In fact, you are pegged. More pegged if you don't do what I want. And what I want is half your shit. And if that's too much, you can make, find, or steal more, and it'll even out sooner or later." He took a step back and held his arms out, as if displaying himself to them. "This is your way of life now. The more you fight back, the harder it will be."
"Don't fight, Annie. You'll just make it harder on yourself."
"So, if someone knocks on your door, you let us in," Negan said, walking up and down the line. "We own that door. You try to stop us and we will knock it down. You understand?" He asked, stopping in front of Rick again.
Rick said nothing, and Negan put his hand to his ear, leaning in.
"What, no answer?" Negan straightened. "You don't really think that you were gonna get through this without being punished, now, did you?"
Anna tensed.
"Good girls get rewarded. And bad girls? Bad girls get punished."
"I don't want to kill you people. Just want to make that clear from the get-go. I want you to work for me. You can't do that if you're dead, now, can you?" Negan asked. "I'm not growin' a garden. But," he sighed, "you killed my people. A whole damn lot of them. More than I'm comfortable with. And for that—for that you're gonna pay. So, now…" he looked down the line and then again at Rick. "I'm gonna beat the holy hell outta one of you."
Negan twirled his bat and held it out for them to see clearly.
"This—this is Lucille, and she is awesome," he said, stepping back. He gestured around at his men. "All this—all this is just so we can pick out which one of you gets the honor."
Negan began down the line again, looking each of them over in turn. He stopped at Abraham, who straightened and stoically stared back. Negan ran his hand over his mouth and hummed.
"I gotta shave this shit," he said before starting back in the other direction and stopping in front of Carl.
"You got one of our guns," he commented. "Whoa," he said, squatting. "Yeah, you got a lot of our guns." Carl glared back. "Shit, kid, lighten up. At least cry a little."
He chuckled and cleared his throat as he stood, starting again down the line up where he stopped at Maggie.
"Jes-us. You look shitty. I should just put you out of your misery right now," he suggested, raising his bat.
"No!" Glenn shouted, scrambling to his feet and running for Negan. "No!"
Dwight rushed forward and grabbed Glenn, slamming him to the ground. Anna winced and stared helplessly as Dwight aimed Daryl's crossbow at Glenn's head.
"Stop it!" Maggie cried.
"Nope. Nope, get him back in line," Negan ordered.
Dwight dragged Glenn back to his original position, Glenn begging for him not to touch Maggie. Anna's nails dug into her palms as she stared in front of her. She couldn't move.
"Alright, listen," Negan said. "Don't any of you do that again. I will shut that shit down, no exceptions. First one's free. It's an emotional moment, I get it," he said, pointing at Glenn. "Sucks, don't it? The moment you realize you don't know shit," he said, looking to Rick. Then he looked back at Carl. "This is your kid, right?" He laughed, walking toward Carl. "This is definitely your kid."
"Just stop this," Rick shouted.
"Hey!" Negan snapped. "Do not make me kill the little future serial killer. Don't make it easy on me." Negan said. "I gotta pick somebody. Everybody's at the table waiting for me to order."
He whistled, the high note then the low, as he languidly strolled down the line.
"I simply cannot decide," he chuckled as he turned away for a moment. "I got an idea," he grinned, turning back.
He walked forward and pointed his bat at Rick. "Eenie."
He pointed at Maggie. "Meenie."
Abraham. "Miney."
Anna. "Mo."
Michonne. "Catch."
Rosita. "A."
Daryl. "Tiger."
Glenn. "By."
Sasha. "His toe."
Jessie. "If."
Carl. "He hollers."
Eugene. "Let him go."
He continued back and forth down the line, pointing his bat at each of them in turn.
"My mother told me to pick the very best one and you—are—it." He raised his bat. "Anybody moves, anybody says anything, cut the boy's other eye out and feed it to his father and then we'll start. You can breathe. You can blink, you can cry. Hell," he laughed. "You're all gonna be doing that."
The crack of the bat echoed in Anna's ears as she watched Abraham fall forward under the force of the hit. But he pushed himself back up.
"Oh!" Negan hollered. "Look at that! Taking it like a champ!"
"Suck… my… nuts," Abraham ground out, blood gushing down his forehead.
Another blow to the head had him back on the ground. Negan didn't give him a chance to get back up this time, bringing the bat down on his head over and over again. Anna could feel hot blood spatter across her face, but she didn't look away.
"Did you hear that?" Negan barked. "He said, "Suck my nuts,'" he laughed. "Oh, my goodness! Look at this!" He said, swinging his bat and the bits of brain still dangling off it. "You guys, look at my dirty girl! Sweetheart," he said, turning to Rosita and holding the end of the bat in her face. "Lay your eyes on this."
Rosita averted her eyes.
"Oh, damn," Negan said, looking between Rosita and what was left of Abraham. "Were you—were you together?" He asked. "That sucks. But if you were, you should know—there was a reason for all this. Red—and hell, he was, is, and will ever be red. He just took one or six or seven for the team! So, take a damn look," Negan ordered. She did not comply. "Take a damn look!"
Daryl jumped to his feet and swung, his fist landing square against Negan's jaw.
"Daryl!" Anna cried as two men swarmed him. She frantically tried to rise to her feet as they threw him to the ground.
"No!" Negan yelled, pointing his bloody bat at Anna as Isaac wrapped his arms around her, dragging her back to the lineup and on her knees. "Oh, no," he said calmer.
"That?" Negan said, turning his attention back to Daryl. "Oh, my! That is a no-no. The whole thing—not one bit of that shit flies here."
"Do you want me to do it? Right here?" Dwight asked as he aimed Daryl's crossbow.
"No," Negan said, grabbing a fistful of Daryl's hair and lifting his head. Daryl grunted and struggled against the man holding him, his eyes landing on Anna. "No, you don't kill that—not until you try a little."
Dwight lowered the crossbow and helped drag Daryl back to the lineup.
"And, anyway—that's not how it works. Now, I already told you people—first one's free, then—what'd I say?" Negan asked, standing. "I said I would shut that shit down. No exceptions." He gripped his bat.
"Please," Anna breathed shakily. "Don't. Please," she sobbed.
"Sh," Isaac said, holding her still and angling her towards Daryl.
"Now, I don't know what kind of lying assholes you've been dealing with, but I'm a man of my word," Negan explained. "First impressions are important. I need you to know me. So," he said, looking at his bat for a moment, "back to it."
Negan whirled around and brought his bat down hard on Glenn's head.
"No!" Maggie screamed as Glenn fell to the ground.
"Is Glenn worth that to you?" Anderson asked.
"He is to me," Anna scoffed.
An unintelligible cry ripped from Anna's throat.
Glenn pushed himself up, unsteady as he looked to Maggie. Anna felt her stomach turn at the sight of his left eye popped out of its socket.
"It's okay?"
"No, I was supposed to protect you," she insisted.
"Buddy, you still there? I just don't know," Negan said as Glenn groaned and sputtered. "It seems like you're tryin' to speak, but you just took a hell of a hit. I just popped your skull so hard, your eyeball just popped out, and it is gross as shit!"
Glenn's hand tightened around Anna's until her fingers started to tingle.
"Maggie," Glenn gurgled, blood pouring down his face. "I'll—I'll find you."
"Oh," Negan sighed, pausing to look around at them. "Oh, hell. I can see this is hard on you guys."
Glenn whimpered as he struggled to stay upright.
"Don't do anything stupid," Anna said, hugging Glenn to her.
"No promises," he replied with an easy grin as they pulled away.
"I am sorry," Negan said. "I truly am. But I did say it. No exceptions!"
He turned back around and swung, the bat connecting with Glenn's jaw. Anna dry heaved as Glenn toppled over, the sound of crushing bone—crying—
"You bunch of pussies," Negan taunted. "I'm just getting started."
Anna's body convulsed in Isaac's grasp as the bat rose and fell, blood spurting. Through the haze, she wondered if it would ever stop. She just wanted it to stop.
Anna's body went limp as Negan finally stepped back, letting the bat dangle at his side. "Lucille is thirsty. She is a vampire bat."
She was vaguely aware of him walking back to Rick, but Anna didn't take her eyes off the bloody heap that was Glenn Rhee.
"What? Was the joke that bad?"
"I don't think I ever had a real friend," Glenn said. "Not 'til you—and everyone here. You guys are my family."
The story continues in... Anchors