Sadie's POV
The next time I heard that god forsaken lock click, I grabbed the knife that Negan had left and held it in front.
As the door opened, shortly after, my panic quickly shifted to rage as I saw that the man who was coming through it turned out to be Albert.
He held a pile of supplies in his arms, clearly meant for me, but was very obviously refusing to make direct eye contact with me as I held my glare and with my knife still held firmly in place in front of me.
"Sadie, it's just me!" He panicked.
"I know." I uttered as coldly as I could express it. "I was prepared to give your spineless ass some degree of benefit of the doubt and ask what the hell they'd done to you, but let's face it, I've seen dogs that've just shit on the carpet look less guilty than you do right now."
"Look, I'm just following orders, okay? They're keeping me safe here."
"We kept you safe, Albert." I growled at him. "Gareth...Theresa….myself, everyone around you up until now, but hey! I'm so happy to hear that you're following orders now that said orders revolve around keeping a traumatized woman locked up and not just perimeter watch duties!"
"Sadie, please..."
"Please what, Albert? Hmm? What, is my PTSD interfering with your precious little false sense of security here?"
He sighed but still wouldn't look at me.
"It is." I answered for him. "...it is, because otherwise you'd be able to look me in the damn eye…..but you won't….you and I both know that you remember at least almost as vividly as I do what happened to me the last time I was locked away like this…..the last time we were locked away like this…..Look at me, Albert"
Still nothing.
"Albert!" I watched him jump at my sudden shouting. "...you grow some fucking balls and look at me when I am talking to your pathetic ass!"
He finally did glance, rather cautiously, up over the pile of stuff he was still carrying, then looked away again when the look in my eyes got to be too much for him again.
I nodded, glanced over the pile he was holding, then back up at him.
"You can set the shit down now and leave."
"...I'm sorry, Sadie.."
"No you're fucking not." I scoffed. "...you and I both know that you're no more sorry than Rapey Davey over here, now get before I do that to you!"
He flinched as I jerked the knife toward him, set the pile down, but stopped briefly in the doorway. His voice, considerably more shaky now.
"Y-you know, Negan told me about his offer to you….might do you some good to accept it- "
"...Or maybe you'd rather I scream right now and accuse you of putting your hands on me…...let your precious new leader deal with you."
That did it…..that was what had him scurrying back out, locking the door behind him just before his footsteps could be heard walking just as quickly away.
"Goddamned pussy." I muttered under my breath.
I sighed, drove my knife through Rapey Davey's skull to prevent him from turning, and eventually decided to skim through whatever the hell Negan had ordered his newest little bitch to come bring me.
There was a pillow, a blanket, a change of clothes, an iPod…...which was surprisingly decently charged, a half empty box of smokes, a couple water bottles, and what appeared to be a small bottle containing exactly 3 Xanax…..likely Albert's little genius to make himself look like the good guy in all of this for acknowledging my anxieties.
I finally decided to down one of the pills with a swig from one of the water bottles as I leaned back against the wall and started to mull things over.
Eventually I got to thinking a little deeper on Albert…..his behavior, the way he'd panicked at the thought of Negan….having to deal with him.
I got to thinking about how, while Negan still clearly thought me to be something…...as he'd put it, how he'd also likely seen the fear in my eyes my damned traumatized ass had let slip across after the whole Rapey Davey incident…..and how I could use this little….offer of his to my advantage.
I couldn't help but smirk a little to myself at the thought, as I picked up one of the cigarettes from the box and began to light it.
Later that night, I put my ear up to the door as soon as I heard Negan's loud and boastful voice making some conversation with someone before eventually parting ways with them as he drew closer and closer to said door.
I quickly stood to my feet, moved back just a foot…..knife, still in hand, to make sure I was standing to look him in the eye when he came to open the door.
"...You win." I told him, once he opened the door.
That infamous, shit-eating grin grew on his face. "No…..you win."
I looked at him, just as smugly. "...Well, of course I do. I mean, you didn't actually think this little deal of yours wasn't gonna be on my terms too, did you?"
He chuckled even more proudly. "No, I most certainly did not, in fact that is what I like to hear, that is the display of those beach ball sized lady nuts that impressed the shit out of me."
He glanced back at some guy who had just shown up behind him.
"Get someone in here to clean this mess up." He gestured to Rapey Davey's bleeding corpse on the floor.
The guy nodded as he left. "Yes, sir."
The grin returned to Negan's face as he proceeded to step forward and yank his knife back out of the skull, placing it back onto his own belt as I watched him.
"What?" He chuckled. You didn't actually think I was gonna let you keep this, did you?
You still got a ways to go before I'll believe you're fully on board here. Baby steps.
It is absolutely not personal. If the situation was reversed, you wouldn't believe me, either."
"Not in a million years." I agreed.
This got another chuckle out of him "Still...the way you surrendered to me just now, as much as you did….that is a damn good start…..but we got to work on some things, Sadie. I promise you, though, I will try to make it fun…Cards on the table...a little birdie told me you and the rest of your people have been up to no good, and, well, that needs to change, and you're gonna help me change it. We're gonna find us a win-win."
"Enlighten me then. Tell me how- "
"Hey!" He interrupted. "I'm gonna get you some stuff to make you more comfortable,
let you have a taste of what it is we have to offer. Spend the night enjoying it, 'cause tomorrow….is gonna be a big day!"
I folded my arms across my chest, watching smugly as he went and locked the door behind him.
Sometime after that lovely little exchange with the bastard I must've passed out, because the next thing I knew, I was waking up to the light that shone in from the hall outside into this dark little shithole.
When I had fully come to, I realized that that bastard was standing there in the doorway. That damned smug grin on his face, as he held what appeared to be a covered platter in one hand.
"Morning, Sleeping Beauty." He chuckled heartily, setting the platter down beside me as he kneeled down to my level. "...and welcome to the first day of the rest of your life."
I glared back at him as I sat the rest of the way up.
"I'm not really a morning person."
"I can see that." He chuckled again. "Still, with that being said, you are gonna help get things on track today. You are smart, hot as hell, and you don't suffer a goddamned fool…..no one's gonna wanna see you die, I don't wanna see that…..but someone's gotta. Maybe a couple others, tops, but not you and not most people. We are gonna help solve some shit, tuck in." He removed the top cover from the platter. "...big day."
"What do you need from me?"
He then proceeded to relay this whole, drawn out plan of his to cart me up to the gates of Alexandria in a damned coffin…..something about how he would tell them that I wouldn't have to leave in it, like that was some big and clever joke he should be so damn proud of.
"...That's the plan. That's what I need from you, and when you come out….not a peep. They will stand down, if they haven't already. And then Lucille, once I get her back, she'll have her 3." He chuckled just a little too confidently at that. "Yeah, you didn't actually think I couldn't have taken her back any time I wanted to, did ya?"
"Sure as hell looked like it." I reminded him with a smirk. "...Anyway, I'll do it, but no one has to die."
"You are wrong. Punishment….can't do anything without that. Punishment is how we built everything we have."
"You think I'm just gonna stand by and let you- "
"CAREFUL!" He interrupted. "...you….are not letting me do anything….not anymore."
"No one has to die." I insisted again.
"Okay..how bout this?" He offered, holding his pointer finger up. "...One….just one. I was gonna pull three outta the pool, but fine….just one…..and just for you."
"Fine…...just one person has to die."
He chuckled again as he stood back up to his feet, sighing as he looked back down at me. "...you got me wrapped around your little finger, you know that? And it's not a man/woman thing, I mean if you had a dick, I would still have these feelings."
"How endearing."
He chuckled at that as he turned back around to leave. "We roll out in 45!"
It was Albert and one of Negan's other goons who escorted me out to meet up with Negan outside, where the rest of them were preparing for the big trip.
Albert would glance over at me from time to time along the walk…...which is more than I could say for him before, but he still wouldn't look directly at me.
His goddamned cowardice would never allow that.
"...So, about a couple hours then?" I finally asked him once we were outside, after the overall fairly quiet walk.
"At least….that's what Negan thinks, anyway." He answered. "...with what they're planning, they could be watching the roads."
I scoffed at the phrasing. "You know, with me gone, that leaves Gareth to lead those people. And Alex….my son is there too, so is Theresa...so, once upon a time your they used to be us." I took a final drag off the cigarette I'd been smoking. "...I guess We first always just means shit to you now."
"Sadie…"
But I didn't dignify him with anymore response and instead proceeded to make my way over to Negan.
Negan glanced over at him then looked back to me as he chuckled.
"He a friend of yours?"
I shot a glare back to Albert, figuring he could probably hear from over there.
"No….." I scoffed. "No, not in a million years"
He nodded. "You know, Sadie, there's no reason you gotta make the full trip in this thing."
"Ohh, I'll be fine…." I lied. "..really, I'm probably just gonna try and get some sleep."
"No shit?" He chuckled, clearly amused.
I shook my head then shot him a little smirk. "...I could do with some road booze though."
"Yeah, I'll bet you could." He glanced briefly behind us. "Albert?!"
Albert nodded, quickly ducking out of there. "On it."
Once I had my requested booze, I prepared myself as I climbed into the godforsaken thing and laid down.
That smug, proud look on Negan's face was as prominent as ever as he took one last look at me before shutting the top of it."Damn….you are somethin else."