The Wolf You Feed
Chapter 93
Rick watched Negan as he strolled casually out the door and onto the platform in front of them. His lieutenants filled out, lining up behind the taller man. The Saviors may be many things, Rick thought, but they weren't cowards. He and Negan went back and forth a little before Negan finally asked him what he wanted. RIck addressed each of Negan's lieutenants by name. Dwight. Simon. Gavin. There was a woman he hadn't seen before. She said her name was Regina.
"I'm Katie," Katie hollered down at him with a wicked smirk.
"I know who you are," Rick told her, the anger he felt towards the woman clear in his voice. "And we know who Eugene is."
Rick didn't speak to Negan, he addressed the people standing behind the man. He offered them a truce. He didn't expect any of them to take it. Not now. He just wanted to put the offer out there. He knew there were cracks in Negan's chain of command. Dwight was an obvious one. But there had to be more. No one could be happy living under the rule of an egomaniac like Negan.
"I've got someone else here you know," Negan hollered back with a laugh. He turned towards the open door, motioning to someone inside. "Come on out here princess, don't be shy."
Rick felt a collective gasp when Rowan came out onto the platform and took up position next to Negan. She was dressed in a pair of pink hospital scrubs. And her hair was styled differently. But there was no denying who she was. Negan wrapped his arm around her, pulling Rowan against him and pressing his mouth down on hers. If she objected to the intimate contact, she made no outward show of it. Tank padded out behind her, taking up a defensive position in front of the couple.
Rowan could tell Negan was pleased with the crowd's reaction to her. A few people in the crowd below even called out her name. She felt the tears welling up. Rowan knew what she was supposed to do. She knew what she was supposed to say. Negan wanted her to make these people go home. So he could deal with them later. But she didn't want to do it. Even if it meant saving lives. They had to make this stand. And Rowan was afraid if she spoke up, people would listen to her and leave. She stepped forward. But she hesitated before she spoke, unsure of what she wanted to say.
"HEKAZA!," Tony called out.. He climbed on top of a car, putting them eye level with each other. Such a short physical distance separated them but in Rowan's heart it felt like the width of an ocean. Tony placed his hand over the scar on his forehead. "Thiataya owihaĊke wanica," he said. Rowan rushed to the bars of the platform railing, climbing up and standing on the lowest bar. She put her hand on her head and repeated the words she knew meant family forever. Before she could say anything else, Tony began the warriors chant. But by the second line, Rowan and most of the people that had come with the caravan of armored cars were reciting it along with him.
"When I run, let me run like a deer. When I hide, let me hide like a fox. When I strike, let me strike like a rattlesnake. And when we fight let us fight together as wolves."
Rowan threw back her head and howled. Her voice blended with the mournful howls of the large black beast at her side and the voices of her people. She knew by now that the people behind her must be growing concerned with the questionable sanity of the group that was opposing them. Gavin was the first to speak up.
"Maybe we better just take a timeout here," he suggested. Rowan turned and pointed her finger at him.
"No!"
Rowan knew that if she wanted to address the people below she needed to do it quickly. Negan wasn't dragging her back inside yet. But he was going to. And soon. Probably the moment she opened her mouth again. She spoke in Sioux, hoping that might add to the man's confusion and buy her an extra minute.
"I am Hekaza of the wolves! Daughter of Grey Wolf!" Rowan raised her closed fist in the air. "And I say ALL WENDIGO MUST DIE!"
Tony mirrored her gesture, putting his fist into the air. But when he spoke, he spoke in English to make sure everyone could understand him.
"KILL THE WENDIGO!"
Tony leaped to the ground and gripped his gun. But Rick was already firing. He couldn't fire at Negan without risking hitting Rowan, so he fired at the windows above them. Rowan felt Negan's arms lock around her, dragging her down off the railing and pulling her towards the door. Rowan! What the shit was that? She spun in his arms, the fingers of one hand digging into his arm while she lifted her other hand. She scratched Negan as hard as she could, dragging her nails down his face. Blood immediately welled up and started running down into his eye. Have you lost you're fucking mind, they're shooting at us! Negan released his grip on her. Rowan's body was twisted at an awkward angle and she was pulling against his grip on her. When he let go she stumbled and almost fell. Dwight caught her and jerked her towards the door.
Glass was raining down on them from the broken windows above. Rowan couldn't hear anything over the sound of gunfire. Dwight pulled her inside the doorway, intending to close the door behind them. But Rowan saw Negan using the railing to pull himself to his feet as he attempted to wipe the blood out of eyes with the other hand. She darted back out onto the platform. Using all her weight she slammed into the man, pushing hard against his torso. He flipped over the railing, catching the bars with his hands and hanging from them. From there he dropped to the ground and ran for cover. Rowan felt hands on her again. This time it was Eugene. He grabbed her hand and pulled her as fast as he could towards the door, slamming it and locking it behind them.
"Where's Tank?," Rowan screamed, "Where's my dog?" Rowan grabbed the doorknob, fully intending to run back outside and look for the animal. But this time Eugene and Dwight blocked her path. She tried pushing them out of her way but they weren't moving. Rowan felt her tears rushing down her face before she even realized she was crying.
"You can't go back out there," Eugene said, hugging Rowan against him and letting her cry into the front of his shirt.
"What the hell were you doing running back out there," Regina asked.
"She was trying to help Negan but he jumped the railing," Dwight told the woman. Regina looked like she wasn't sure she believed him after Rowan's crazy performance out on the platform. But she didn't argue. Instead she stepped forward and started picking the broken glass out of Rowan's hair.