Disclaimer- I don't own any of the Walking Dead characters.

Chapter Thirty- Nine

It was almost a week since I had cut my hand, and thankfully it was healing quickly. Even though I had asked, begged really, to see Daryl, Negan wouldn't allow it. When I saw did happen to see Daryl at the clinic, he looked much better than he did when I saw him in the cell. We only saw one another in passing, I was leaving and he was going in. I assumed this was done purposely; Negan taunting us what we could not have. I could only hope that Daryl was progressively getting better and his gunshot wound was nearly healed. Focusing on that instead of the fact that I could not touch him made being away from him more manageable.

I had been forced to continue my work on the walkers. I supposed I could have refused, but I didn't know how much bull shit I could take from Negan. I was oh too close to my breaking point. So, I spent ten plus hours a day working with Jameson. He didn't understand the science, but rather he was there to make sure I didn't try to escape.

Jameson stood up from his seat as I removed the walker's brain that was on my table. "I'm going to get some water. Do you want any?"

I shook my head.

"Don't take anything. I'm going to shake you down before we go and I know how much shit is in this room."

I nodded, still not believing that he was going to leave me alone. I listened to his footsteps as he walked down the hall. I let out a deep breath; feeling relaxed finally under no one's gaze. The feeling was short lived when I heard footsteps moving quickly towards the lab. I rolled my eyes and walked to the doorway to greet Jameson, if only to let him see how annoyed he was with his fake show of trust.

I leaned against the doorway, my back turned towards the door waiting for Jameson to walk inside.

"Jules," a familiar voice said from behind me.

I turned to see Daryl standing directly in front of me. I pulled him inside the lab and into my arms. "What are you doing?"

"We're getting out of here."

"Now?"

"Now."

I nodded and when he took my hand, we both started running down the hall.

"Do you know where we're going?" I asked.

"No," he answered in a harsh whisper. He looked back at me when we got to a set of stairs. "Do you?"

"I know these lead down to the first floor and outside. But it's fenced and I don't know where they keep the keys."

"It's worth a shot," Daryl said as he grabbed my hand again and started down the stairs.

I followed, my heart racing. "Wait," I said when we reached the bottom of the steps. I could see the sunlight coming through the glass window in the door.

"What?"

I grabbed the sides of his face with my hands and looked at his mouth for a split second before I pressed my lips against his. My hands moved from his face to the back of his neck when I gripped onto his hair. Daryl wrapped his hands around my waist and pulled me into him. Seconds later, he pushed back but still keeping his hands planted firmly on my waist.

"I just wanted to do that," I said quietly.

"That ain't gonna' be the last time," he promised.

I nodded, fully believing him.

He took my hand in his again and pushed the door open. We rushed outside and I looked for people as Daryl surveyed the fences that were lined with barbed wire.

Moments later, a dozen Saviors piled out of one of the buildings, followed by Negan and his barbed wire bat.

"Are we pissing our pants yet?" He asked as he stepped in the center of the circle that the Saviors had made around us. He looked at Daryl. "Who are you?" He asked a man.

"Negan."

"Who are you?"

"Negan," another replied.

"Who are you?"

"Negan," they all replied.

"You see, I'm everywhere."

Daryl's posture stiffened when Negan looked at me. "I asked you once, Juliet. And what did you say?"

I didn't answer.

"Oh come on, it was a real turn on when you said it. Say it again for me."

Still, I remained silent.

Negan chuckled. "No takesy-backsies, Juliet." He stepped closer to us and focused on Daryl. "Dwight gave you some options. I don't know if you get it yet. So I'm going to break it down for you. You can either work for me on the spike as a dead man, or you get out of your cell and work for points, but you're going to wish you were dead. Or you work for me and you get yourself a brand new pair of shoes and you live like a king fucking this hot piece of ass whenever you want. The choice seems pretty obvious. And you should know, there is no door number four. This is the only way."

Daryl didn't respond, which angered Negan.

"Screw it," Negan said as he held his bat up to his head, ready to swing it down.

I grabbed onto Daryl's sweatshirt and closed my eyes.

"Wow," Negan said with a smile. "You don't scare easily," he said to Daryl, who didn't move at all.

I let out a deep breath and let go of Daryl's shirt.

"I like that," Negan said with a massive grin. "Bring her with me," he said as he looked at one of the men behind Daryl. Negan took several stops

forward before the man grabbed me.

"Don't touch her," Daryl growled as he removed the man's hands from my body.

Two men jumped on Daryl, followed by a third.

I shoved the third off of Daryl and threw my elbow into the man's nose who was grabbing at me. He yelled and wrapped his arms around my waist from behind me and picked me off the ground. I screamed, thrashing around in his grip. Daryl tried to shove his way to me, but with five men mercilessly attacking him, he hit the ground hard moments later. I yelled his name over and over again through the sounds of flesh hitting flesh, but I had lost a visual of him.

The man didn't put me down until we were inside, secured behind a set of locked doors. I pulled my shirt down, that had nearly ridden over my chest, and turned to try to open the door.

"Tsk, tsk," Negan cooed from the end of the hallway.

I turned to face him.

"Well my dear, you have lost your privileges."

I clenched my jaw and watched as he stepped closer to me.

"Just do it," I said.

He grinned. "Do what?"

"Kill me."

He leaned against the wall and looked at his baseball bat. "Nah. You're much too valuable."

"I'm done with your research."

"That is only half your worth."

"Daryl isn't going to break," I said, knowing where he was going with that.

Negan shrugged. "Maybe, but maybe he will with the right motivation." He looked at the man who had brought me inside. "Take her to a cell."

I remained silent was I followed the man who was leading me down a familiar path. I recognized the cracks along the floor and the scuff marks along the walls, some of which were from me. I remembered kicking and screaming as I was carried down this same hallway.

"Wait here," the man said as we stopped in front of a cell.

I leaned against the door of what I assumed was to be my cell and thought of Daryl. Based on what Negan had said, I was convinced Daryl was still alive. I waited impatiently as the minutes passed slowly. Finally, the side door swung open, revealing three men leading Daryl into the open bay. His face was swollen and dried blood clung to his nostrils and lips.

I made a step towards him by instinct, to which I was yelled at not to move by one of the men leading Daryl to his cell, which was across from the one I was standing in front of.

"Daryl, my man, " Negan said as he entered the open area. "Have you thought about my offer?"

Daryl, as strong as ever, remained completely silent.

Negan grinned. "That's what I thought." He walked closer to us with his bat over his shoulder. "Do you know how I broke your girl here?"

I watched as Daryl's jaws clenched and unclenched, but still he said nothing.

"You see, she was rotting away in that cell for, what was it, Juliet? Wasn't it seventy days?"

I stared at Negan, but I could feel Daryl's eyes on me.

"It was, wasn't?" He asked. When I didn't respond, he yelled, "Jules! Wasn't it?"

I nodded.

He looked back at Daryl. "So, like I was saying. I broke her by taking everything away and then giving a little back to her. She was allowed

outside. She could have a book to read. And then I took it all away again." He paused. "Or it could have been the cold as shit water. Which was

it?" Negan asked.

The memories of being held down into water flooded through me.

"That was a little extreme, I have to admit. You see, I really wanted that brain of hers to get to working for me." He looked me. "Beauty and brains, that's my favorite combination."

"So what? Yew gonna' drown me?" Daryl asked suddenly.

Negan grinned. "Not exactly." He paused. "See, I pride myself on breaking people. Most are easy enough to break. Food and shelter does it for most. Love and well… sex are also big contributors." He stepped closer to Daryl. "When is the last time you fucked that, Daryl?" He asked as he pointed his bat at me. "The night before we took you hostage or the morning of?" He paused. "I know if that was my piece of ass, I would have fucked it that morning." Negan chuckled under his breath. "Good pussy is hard to find these days. If I gave you a pass to the pussy buffet, with Juliet here being the dish, would you fuck her? Right now?"

Daryl didn't break eye contact with Negan, but I could tell he didn't like this conversation.

Negan looked at me. "Take off your clothes."

Daryl lunged towards Negan. Two of the men grabbed Daryl and pushed him down to his knees. "Yew son of a bitch," Daryl growled.

"Juliet, you know my rules, right? No sex unless it's consensual. So, take off your clothes."

"No," I said sternly.

"No?" Negan repeated, shock evident in his voice. "That wasn't a question. I can let you take off your clothes or I'll get a few of my girls in her to

remove them off of you."

I bit my lower lip and contemplated the options, which were absolute shit. I shook my head, letting out a scuff as I kicked off my boots. I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it on the floor next to Negan. My jeans followed, leaving me in a pair of panties and a sports bra.

Negan didn't even look at me. He was focused solely on Daryl. "Say it, Daryl, and all of this can be over."

Daryl looked at me sympathetically.

"It's okay," I said softly to him.

Negan nodded. "Alright… So you want to fuck her? You'd fuck your old lady in front of me and my men?" He stepped closer to Daryl. "How does her pussy taste?" Negan was grinning from ear to ear.

Daryl was looking straight ahead, at me. I could tell it was taking everything in Daryl not to kill Negan with his bare hands. He knew that if he tried, the two of us would be killed easily.

I tucked my hair to one side and approached Daryl, who was still on his knees. I knelt down in front of him and put my hands on his knees. I looked into his eyes and saw a wild animal. He had been locked up, beaten, and now he was being forced to let me stand in front of a room of men nearly naked.

"Hey," I said softly as I leaned closer to him.

Daryl looked from my bare legs to my face. His bangs partially covered his eyes, but I could see that he was looking into mine. "Jules," he said.

Then, he did something that I didn't expect; Daryl took off his sweatshirt, exposing his naked chest to everyone in the room.

"Here we go, boys," Negan said with a clap of his hands.

Daryl ignored Negan and touched my arms. "Yew're cold."

I nodded, trying not to let my teeth shiver.

Daryl wrapped his sweatshirt around my arms and then pulled me into his chest. "I am so sorry," he said.

I kissed his cheek. "This isn't on you."

Daryl pulled me even closer to his chest, trying to keep my exposed body to a minimum.

Negan laughed. "Don't worry, I'm not going to let you."

Dwight stepped forward. "You got your friend killed," he said to Daryl, referring to Glenn. "Do you want to get your girl killed too? Because she is next." He paused. "You should be dead. But you're lucky, don't forget it.

"Get her up," Negan said to Jameson. "Let the men talk."

I was pulled out of Daryl's arms and pushed the man who had grabbed me.

"Hey," Negan warned. "Don't get handsy with her."

Jameson stepped in and handed me my pants, boots, and shirt. I was escorted to the corner of the room where I dressed.

"Dwight, here, hustles," Negan was telling Daryl. "I like that." He paused. "But believe it or not, things were always cool between us." He waited until Daryl got to his feet. "D worked for points with his super hot wife and his super hot sister," he looked over at me and then back at Daryl. "You both really hit the jackpot with these super hot ladies."

Negan walked around Darly. "Listen, I am a stand up guy." He ruffled Dwight's hair. "You know D's super hot wife and super hot sister? Well the three of them took off with some meds for sis. D saw the light and asked for my forgiveness after they had been gone for a while. You see, I looked for them and never could find them. So when he asked for forgiveness, it made me take notice." He waved his bat in Daryl's face. "But Lucille is a stickler for the rules. So Dwight begged me not to kill his wife, which I thought was kind of cute, so I was just going to kill him until his super hot wife said she would marry me if I let D live. Anyway, it was a start, but it wasn't enough. So Dwight, he got the iron. And then I married his super hot wife. After all that, he still got on board. And now he's one of my top point being, I think you could be that guy."

He circled Daryl again. "Ask Jules want kind of accommodations she had upstairs? A room with a kitchen, bed, bathroom. It could be a little house for you two love birds. All you have to do is answer one simple question." He paused.

"Who are you?" When Daryl didn't reply, Negan looked flustered. "I am going to ask you one more time… Who are you?" Negan's face was inches from Daryl's as he waited for a response.

"Daryl," he finally said.

Negan stepped back. "He made his choice. Ain't my problem if he made a dumb ass choice." He looked at me. "Sorry, sweetheart. Looks like you're back in a cell."

A man I didn't recognize grabbed my arms and led me to a cell several feet away. He kept my head facing forward so that I couldn't look back at Daryl. I was thrown inside and heard the door lock behind me. I slid down the wall and brought my knees to my chest, waiting, but I didn't know exactly what I was waiting to happen.