Chapter 51-Proving it

Negan's P.O.V

Laying back in the bed looking at the ceiling, Negan tried to figure out what to do. The sun had begun to rise in the sky. He looks at Sherry, who is sitting at the table.

"I have a question," Negan says. Sherry sighs as she looks at him.

"What?"

"How the hell did you get me here? You didn't drag me. You couldn't have picked me up by yourself," Negan says, Sherry not being very big.

"Well congratulations. At least your not stupid." Sherry says. "I have someone else with me, a friend. He's also looking for someone."

"Well, where the fuck is he?" Negan asks, looking around the cabin.

"Keeping watch." Sherry growls in annoyance.

"You know, Dwight has been making friends. He and a woman named Amanda are pretty close," Negan poked.

"Do you want me to kill you?" Sherry asks, standing up and pointing warningly at him. "Shut up for more than five seconds for once."

He stared at her for several more moments, then looked away. Ten minutes later, the door opens, and an older man walks in. The man had on a cowboy hat. He was tall with a slim build. He had white hair and a white beard. He had hazel eyes and a revolver on his hip. "Everything is clear. It seems your friend has woken up," He says.

"He's not my friend. Wait till he starts talking. You'll want to shoot him." Sherry mumbles.

"Well howdy partner." Negan said with a faux Cowboy accent, earning an annoyed look from the man "I'm Negan. Who the fuck are you?" He says with a grin.

"John Dorie." He answers. The grin faded from the prisoner's mouth and gave the older man a scrutinizing look.

"Bitch. You aren't John Dorie. John Dorie is probably out there looking for my dumbass with Daryl and Shane."

"Wait, you know a man named John Dorie?" Sherry asks.

"Yeah, tall guy, cowboy hat, has two revolvers on his hip. Gives out candy." Negan says.

"I'm his Dad," Dorie says.

"Oh, the way he talked about you made it sound like you were dead," Negan says.

"He probably thinks I am," Dorie says as he sits down. He sets his hat down. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, got a girlfriend, the fastest shot I have ever seen," Negan says then held his hand up. "Can you take these fucking things off? I can't run." Dorie looks at Sherry, who nods. He walks over to the handcuffs and unlocks them. Negan puts his back against the backboard. "He's leading the labor camp. Building a bridge that allows all the communities we have here to intersect."

Dorie nods. "Let's get this on the road, Sherry. I want to go see my son."

"Wait don't I get a say in this?!" Negan protested.

"No." John looked at him with a hard look "I know damn well who you are, Sherry told me the stories."

Sherry just looks at Negan. She pulls her handgun out and sets it on the table. "This has one bullet in it. You're going to decide if it's the bullet that kills you."

Negan stared back at her, against the wall, holding his side and grimacing.

John's P.O.V

John stood on the hill staring at the river. "You okay?" Shane asks as he walks up to him.

"This is all my fault." John says, rubbing his forehead off with sweat. "I gave them the guns."

"You were trying to keep the peace," Shane reassures him. "We'll find him and find who took him. This isn't your fault, John. Blaming yourself isn't going to help us find Negan."

John nods as he walks back to the fire with Shane. "Okay, if someone took Negan, they would need some kind of shelter to keep him in," Madison says. "What's around here?"

"It was a common hunting spot before." One of the Saviors, one of the older ones named Blake speaks up. "People would rent cabins throughout the area. My Dad took me out here."

"Where would they rent these cabins out at?" Dwight asks.

"There was an office. Um, a few miles from here," He answers.

"Really?" Shane narrowed his eyes skeptically.

"Shane-" Carl tries to assure him.

"It was a damn Savior who shot him, Carl."

Blake looked heated "Hey he took me and my son in the Sanctuary, he helped keep us safe we still remember that. I won't lie."

After a moment, Shane let out a breath, realizing that it was better than nothing. "Okay, John, Dwight, June, and Madison, you'll come with us. You'll show us where this cabin is," Shane says to Blake, who nods.

"Shane, I want to come," Carl says. Shane looks at Carl. "I have to come."

"Okay," Shane says. "Be ready to leave in ten minutes."

Negan's P.O.V

Negan was now sitting in a chair across from Sherry. The gun now laid in the middle of the table. "Why didn't they kill you?"

"Because Rick got talked out of it. They locked me in a cell instead." Negan answers with a puff of breath, not backing down. "Sherry, you have every reason to hate me. But I don't feel like playing your fucking game. So either kill me or let me go to find my damn friends."

"Why didn't Daryl kill you?" Sherry asks, ignoring his request without missing a beat.

"Because Rick stopped him. He left for Texas and came back a few months later. He actually ran into Dwight, there...he left to look for you. Daryl talked him into coming back."

"How did you get out of the cell?"

"A group called the True Saviors showed up, led by Jed. They took one of the guys, Troy, and they needed my help to get him back after Daryl let me stay at their camp."

"No one else tried to kill you?"

"I imagine a few got stopped that I didn't know about." Negan says, getting fed up and losing his temper. "What is the point of this? What's stopping you from killing me?"

"I've been watching you guys for a while. I was waiting for a moment to get my shot in. But every time I got that chance, I saw you talking with someone who wanted you dead. What did you do? What did you say to them?"

"I learned from what I did." Negan answers. He leans forwards, looking into her ablaze eyes with a stern look back. "Here's what is going to happen. You are either going to put a bullet in my head now, or I'm going to walk out because I know they are looking for me, and I am not letting the people I love get hurt because of your vendetta against me. So kill me and dump my body, or I'm leaving," Negan growls. Sherry doesn't say anything, and Negan stands. He turns around. "If I could go back, I would have never sent my men after you three."

"Sit down," Sherry says. "Sit down!" Negan looks at her and sits back down. "Your friends will be here soon enough."

Negan looked confused at her "What the fuck do you mean?"

"Doesn't matter. Do you think you deserve to live?" Sherry asks Negan, raising her gun to between his eyes.

"No," Negan answers, wondering if the blood loss and the exhaustion just made him tired. "I don't want to die but do I deserve to live? No, but in this shit world, the people who are meant to live always die. I am not trying to forget my past. I'm just making up for what I've done, just like Dwight, Daryl, and Shane. I'm a piece of shit, that fucker on the bridge should have gone for the head, but he didn't. I can never make what I did to you or Maggie. I accepted that a long time ago. So once again, if your not fucking shooting me, I'm leaving."

"What happened to Lucille?"

"I don't know," Negan says. "I lost her after Rick slit my throat open. No one has told me where she is. Let's talk about you. Where have you been?

"Texas," Sherry answers. "I tried taking down another group just like the saviors, and we lost. I barely made it out with my life. I couldn't take her down, but I knew I could kill you if you weren't dead. I have a feeling that if I killed you, I'd be dead within a day."

"Dwight won't kill you. Shane might," Negan says. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry for what I did to you, to Frankie, to Amber, to Tanya. I'm sorry."

Sherry stares at Negan for a moment before she grabs the gun and points it at him. She pulls the hammer back.

Hearing all this, John held a hand up "Sherry--"

"Shut up, John," Sherry says, not looking at him.

"If you don't do it, Maggie will. I'm on a clock. It's just slowly ticking down to zero. I know that...so just do what you gotta do." With that Negan just sat back, staring at her.

Sherry stares back at him. She puts her finger on the trigger. Sherry throws the gun after a moment and slams her hands on the table. "I hate you!" She shouts. "Why can't I kill you?!"

Tears start to go down Sherry's face. She walks over to Negan and punches him in the face and he falls out of the chair, gasping as he fell on his wound. Sherry kicked him and grabbed at his head slamming it onto the floor. Running over the elder man shouted "Sherry!" Sherry swings her hand at him, and he grabs it. He pulls her into a hug, and she begins to sob into his chest. Negan pulls himself up, wiping a bit of blood from his mouth..clutching his gunshot wound as he looks at Dorie.

"Go wait outside," Dorie says. Negan nods as he walks towards the door and pushes it open. He walks to the bench and sits down, looking up at the blue sky and let out a sigh, emotionally and physically drained. He sat there for what felt like hours, but he raised his head when he heard a car engine. He looked up as a truck pulled in. Negan pulls himself up as the car stops. He walks down the steps. He looks at the door as it opens, and Shane steps out. Shane walks up to Negan and hugs him, Negan letting out a groan of pain as he hugs Shane.

"You okay?" Shane asks.

"Yeah," Negan says. Shane lets him go and looks him up and down. "I'm fine, really."

Negan looks at Carl and smiles. "Hey kid, sorry went for a damn swim" Carl walks up to him and hugs him. Negan wraps his arms around Carl and nods to Dwight.

"How the fuck did you find me?" Negan asks.

"There was a note at the main office. Telling us to come here." John answers. "Good to see you breathing."

Negan nods as the door opens, and Dorie steps out. John looks at him, eyes wide and his mouth open as if watching a ghost. "Hey, John," Dorie says as he steps down the stairs. "I see you still have my guns."

John stares at his father. "I know I have a lot of explaining to do, and you have every right to be mad at me. I left--" Dorie is cut off by John pulling him into a hug.

"You're right. You do have a lot of explaining to do. For now, just shut up," John says.

"He pulled you from the river?" Dwight asks.

"No," Negan says as the door opens again. "She did." Dwight looks at the porch as Shery shuts the door.

"Hey, D," Sherry says. Dwight walks up to the porch and lays his hands on Sherry's cheeks. Sherry smiles as he kisses her.

"Glad everybody got their reunion," Negan says almost with a whine, rubbing his chest. "Can we go now? I would be okay if I never had to come here again." The others nod, a few rolling their eyes at the moment being ruined. Shane helps Negan into the truck. Dwight, Dorie, Sherry, and Blake get into Sherry's truck. Shane starts to drive. "What happened to Luke? I'm already wanting to drown his ass."

"He shot himself in the head," John answers. Negan frowned at that info, but turned he looks out the window.

The ride was silent, but Negan raised his head when they pulled into the bridge camp. Negan pushed the door open and climbed out, stumbling somewhat. Negan looked at Laura who was one of the front of the gathered crowd, who let out a small sob when she saw him. She ran up to him and hugged him, sobbing into his shirt. Negan ignored the pain and kissed her head.

Daryl's P.O.V

Daryl stood on Maggie's balcony, watching the people of Hilltop. "Daryl," Alicia says from behind him. Daryl turns his head and looks at her. "They found him. He's alive, apparently pretty badly hurt but alive." Daryl snorted but nodded, knowing that the asshole had nine lives it sounded like. "Al and Tammy said they'd watch the babies again if we want to go see him,"

"Ok. Come on, let's hope he's not bitching too much from getting shot." Daryl says as Alicia just grinned...the pair he walks down towards his bike. Maggie's door was shut, and he heard a crash in the room as he went out to his bike.

Stopping for a moment, Daryl looked at it, brow furrowed. He thought about going in for a moment, but Alicia's hand tugging him forced him to move on.

But he gave the closed door one last concerned look.

He had to talk to Rick.

Bridge camp

Daryl stopped the bike and put the kickstand up. He climbs off and helps Alicia off. He looks at Morgan as he walks up to him. "Where is he?"

"Shane's tent," Morgan answers. Daryl nods as he begins to walk towards the tent. Alicia follows him into the tent, looking inside to find Negan laid on the bed, eyes closed with a light snore. He awoke and looked up with a grin.

"Good to see you, boss," Negan says cheerfully.

"You're an asshole." Daryl says flatly.

"You know you sound like My Mother in Law when you say that" Negan says. Ignoring Daryl's annoyed look, he then looks at Alicia. "Either of you going to hug me, or are you just going to stare?" Alicia smiles as she hugs him, ignoring his wince of pain.

"I ain't touching you." Daryl says as he sits.

"Good," Negan says with a grin. Alicia lets him go and looks between the two.

"I'll be back. You should have something to drink in here," She says before she leaves.

"Shane told me how you broke a wall over me," Negan says.

"Shut up," Daryl says with a small smile. "You're an asshole but you grow on people."

"What can I say, I'm charming."

"I say grow on people like a damn fungus."

Negan chuckled then winced "Ow ow, don't make me laugh."

Alicia comes back in and sets down a glass of water.

"Watch him," Daryl says. Alicia nods as he leaves the tent. Daryl walks outside the tent and looks for Shane.

"Daryl," He turns his head and looks at Sherry, stopping in his tracks, a rare moment the redneck was shocked silent.

"Sherry?" Daryl says, not sure if he was seeing it right.

"Hi," She says. "You look good, better than the last time I saw you." Daryl walks up to Sherry and hugs her.

"Thank you." Daryl says.

"Are you thanking me for saving Negan or letting you out?" Sherry asks, not resisting.

"Both," Daryl says. He lets her go.

"You staying?" Sherry asks, as he lets go, rubbing her arms looking away.

"Nah, I gotta get home to my kids," Daryl says.

"You have kids?" Sherry asks, looking back with bewilderment.

"Yeah, newborns. Merle and Ofelia," Daryl says.

"Good for you," Sherry says. "I wanted to kill him."

"Why didn't you?" Daryl asks.

"Because he wasn't the Negan I wanted to kill," Sherry says. "I'll see you later."

Daryl nods as she walks away. He stands there and begins to look for Shane.

Thanks for reading. The next chapter will pick up right after this scene. There is still a lot I want to do, and I can't do it all in this chapter. Now I want to talk about that Sherry scene. Sherry wanted to kill Negan. She was asking the questions because she wanted to show herself that the Negan she was talking to was still the same man, and when she realized he wasn't, she got mad because she knew she couldn't kill him. I hope that makes sense. It makes more sense in my head. John Dorie SR is here, and I am excited about the stories I have for both of them. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.