The Wolf You Feed
Chapter 59
Deanna wasn't sure how this disaster happened. The day had started out like any other day. Reg was working on one of his projects. Her kitchen had been taken over by a small group that was busy sorting out the picnic leftovers. So Deanna sipped her coffee from a travel mug while she checked in on a few things she had on her to do list. She collected some eggs from Alexandria's new flock of chickens and carried them with her in a small woven basket as she walked towards the front gate.
Suddenly chaos erupted all around her. Carl was seriously hurt. Deanna wasn't sure how but she guessed from the look of the boy that it was some sort of freak accident. Rick left with a small group of people to try and take his son to Hilltop for medical attention. Deanna wasn't sure if letting them leave had been the smart call but it felt right to her in the moment. Rosita and Tony had been on guard duty and they both left with Rick. So Deanna set off to find replacements for them, her small basket of eggs forgotten on the street to one side of the gate.
Deanna didn't have to go far. The noise and chaos had brought most people in earshot out of their homes. Abraham and Sasha were already on their way to the armory for proper weapons so they could take up the posts that had been abandoned. The next thing Deanna knew, her son had her by the arm and was dragging her out of the street. They were being attacked. Men with guns were everywhere. Several large armored trucks came barrelling in through the open front gate. There were so many men leading the attack. Deanna couldn't even begin to guess how many. Maybe close to a hundred. Probably even more.
Anyone that even looked like they were thinking about trying to resist the armed men was dealt with using immediate violent force. The residents of her town were herded together like sheep until they formed a rough circle near the front gates. They were ordered to kneel down. Deanna knelt. The mother and wife in her compelled her to look for her own family first. Reg was next to her. Spencer was on the other side of the circle, next to Rosie. He had Rosie's daughter in his arms. Rosie was holding Judith in hers. Both little girls were crying.
Deanna felt the urge to do something. She needed to do something. She was the leader of this town. These were her people. Her responsibility. But there were so many men. Rick was gone. Tony was gone. Grey Wolf had taken off to investigate the area where he believed Carl had been attacked. Deanna didn't know when he would be back or how far away he was. Her people were horribly outmanned and outgunned. Their guns had already been taken away. Deanna had no idea what these people were about to do to them. She was paralyzed with terror.
"Just wait. Let's see what they want," Carol hissed. Deanna nodded. She hadn't even realized the woman was next to her. Carol was strong and brave. She was still in control of her fear even though her face was still a colorful map of bruises from her last encounter with these people. Having her close gave Deanna some small measure of comfort.
A tall man wearing a leather jacket and a red scarf swung himself down from one of the larger trucks and walked out into the center of their roughly shaped circle. If Deanna had seen him walking around before the turn she might have thought him to be handsome. Now he was a terrible sight. The man took his time looking at the group of survivors in front of him before he spoke. There was a baseball bat in his hand, the end of it wrapped in twisted barbed wire.
"Well hello Alexandrians!," the man hollered. From the tone in his voice, one would assume he was doing the introduction on a game show rather than addressing a group of people that had made war against his group. Deanna knew as soon as he spoke. All the other saviors and outpost leaders and fighters they had encountered were nothing. This was their real leader. Before he even announced it, Deanna knew who he was. This had to be Negan.
Negan cursed and yelled at the group for killing so many of his men in their attack on his outpost. For a moment, Deanna was sure that he was going to gun them all down. But then he explained what he intended to do with them. He expected her people to work for him.
"You work for me now. You have shit, you give it to me," Negan announced as he rested his bat on his shoulder, giving everyone a clear view of the weapon. Rosie must have been staring a little too hard because he leaned down and swung the weapon around near her face.
"This is Lucille and she is awesome," he hollered. Rosie clutched Judith, cringing back away from the bat wielding madman. The little girl whimpered and buried her face in Rosie's shirt.
Deanna allowed a small glimmer of hope to start blooming inside her. Perhaps this man only meant to terrorize them. He said he was going to make them work for him. Maybe this wouldn't be the last day on earth for any of her people. But Deanna's hope was very short-lived. As soon as he got done showing off his bat to the terrified children in the crowd, Negan told them that someone was going to have to die in order to pay for what they did to his group. Deanna's stomach lurched when Reg immediately started pulling himself into a standing position next to her.
"I volunteer," Reg announced. Several audible gasps issued from the small crowd of people on their knees. "Just leave everyone else here alone," Reg added.
Negan gestured to one of his men. Reg was grabbed and roughly forced back down to his knees. Negan approached him, pointing at him with his bat Lucille. Deanna could barely see what was happening. Tears were filling her eyes and streaming down her cheeks.
"You don't get to decide," Negan screamed at him, "I decide who lives and who dies. Back in line grandpa!" Deanna grabbed for Reg's hand, a half choked sob bubbling up out of her throat.
"ANYONE ELSE TRIES THAT SHIT and I WILL PLUCK OUT YOUR EYE AND MAKE YOU EAT IT," Negan added.
Negan told them no one was allowed to move or say anything else. Then he began walking the circle, pointing his bat at each one of them in turn as he called out the words to the children's rhyme eeny meeny miny moe. When he got to the word IT, Negan's bat was pointed at Carol. Deanna sucked in her breath. Carol sat perfectly still, staring up at the deranged man without even flinching.
"You can breathe. You can blink. You can cry," Negan told them as he raised his bat, "Hell, you're all going to be doing that."
With those words, Negan brought his bat down. But not on Carol's head. Abraham was next to her. Negan aimed for him instead. A sickening wet thud brought the large man down onto his palms. Abraham managed to pull himself up from the first hit. But after the second he was facedown on the pavement. Blood was spilling from the gaping hole in his head. He was already dead. But the bat kept coming down. Over and over and over again until Deanna didn't even know if there would be enough left of the man for them to bury. Eugene was screaming. Olivia took one look at the bloody mess. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped to the ground next to Abraham's body.
Deanna tried to maintain some control over herself. If she lost it, everyone would lose it worse than they already were. She wiped the water from her eyes and the snot from her face. Her shirt was splattered with Abraham's blood but she tried not to think about that. She was hoping the worst of this situation was over now that the leader of this group had gotten the pound of flesh he had demanded.
Movement in her peripheral vision caught Deanna's attention. Her eyes widened. Abraham's death must have created the distraction the man was waiting for because suddenly Grey Wolf was slicing down savior soldiers with a large hunting knife.
He was shirtless and his face was smeared with mud. His hair was loose and fell down his back in a sheet of ebony streaked with white. He wasn't riding a white horse. But the sight of him coming to their rescue was still a truly majestic sight. It was a vision Deanna would remember until the day she died.
Grey Wolf sliced one man's throat, dropping him instantly. The soldier next to that one, he stabbed through the eye. His knife stuck in the socket and pulled loose from his grip as the man's body fell. Grey Wolf had his bow on his back but didn't reach for it. Instead he charged at Negan, prepared to attack and kill the man with only his bare hands.
"What the shit?," Negan exclaimed. His bat was in his hands but he didn't have time to swing it before he was tackled roughly to the ground. He took the brunt of the fall with his ass but the back of his head took a hard slap to the pavement. Negan had the height and weight advantage. But Grey Wolf was fueled by the intense psychotic rage that he was usually able to keep deeply buried under his calm exterior.
Grey Wolf got two hard punches in. One to the body and one to the face before Negan's soldiers grabbed him and began dragging the man back and away from their leader. Once the men had their hands on him, Rowan's father went completely feral. He roared as he thrashed and fought like a caged animal. Two more men had to jump in to keep him from tearing their companions apart. One man stepped forward with a handgun, aiming it at Grey Wolf's head. Deanna sucked in her breath. She wanted to close her eyes but found she was unable. Negan had already struggled to his feet. He slapped the gun from the man's hand.
"Look at that," Negan told his men as he pointed at the man still thrashing to escape their grasp, "You don't kill that. Put him in a truck." Then Negan turned and addressed the group.
"That is a no-no," he hollered, pointing the end of his bloody bat at Rowan's father as his soldiers dragged the man away, "...Not one bit of that shit flies here." Negan paused and looked around at the group of people on their knees. Disaster averted. It could have been worse. Some of them could have gotten up and started fighting. They didn't. But quite a few of them still had some resistance in their eyes. He needed that gone now. "I need you to know me," Negan told them before adding, "BACK AT IT."
This time there was no warning. Deanna wasn't sure how the man picked his victims. Maybe he had a certain algorithm that only he knew. Or maybe it was as simple as him not liking the color of their hair. But before anyone could react, Negan brought his bat down on Eric's head and caved in the top of the man's skull.
Aaron began to scream. It was a horrible primal noise. And if that wasn't bad enough, Negan didn't hit the man again right away. He let Eric sit there. His eye was hanging from his socket and there was blood running down his face. He turned to Aaron and tried to speak through the convulsions of his slowly dying body.
"Love… You… Always," he choked out.
Negan flicked some of the blood on his bat at Aaron.
"Oh," he chuckled, "Were you two a couple? Isn't that cute?" Negan turned back towards Eric and made some disgusting comments about his appearance. Deanna could feel the bile rising in her throat. It was one thing for this group to attack them because they had been attacked. But this was just disgusting and cruel behavior. Some small part of her was relieved when Negan brought his bat down again and again until Eric was dead. He didn't deserve to die but at least his suffering was over. Aaron was overcome with grief and the horror of watching his husband murdered in front of him. His screaming had ceased and he was now staring straight ahead with vacant eyes.
Deanna looked around at her people, willing them with everything inside her not to move or speak. Not to do anything else that would bring more punishment down on them from this crazed tyrant. To her absolute horror, her son cleared his throat.
"We understand," Spencer said, "We get it. Please. No more." Negan strolled over, surprised that anyone had the balls to even speak to him after what they had just seen him do.
"Hand that baby over and stand up," he ordered. Spencer handed Rosie her daughter and got to his feet, trying not to look as terrified as he felt. He should have just kept his mouth shut.
"I SAY WHEN IT STOPS," Negan hollered directly into Spencer's face. Spencer nodded. Deanna hoped Negan would just make her son get back on his knees. But instead he kicked him in the back of the knee and knocked him to the ground. Negan circled Spencer like a shark, slinging his bat around like he was trying to figure out what to do. Spencer hadn't been disrespectful. But he had spoken up after Negan had already told all of them to keep their mouths shut.
Instead of bringing his bat down on the man, Negan kicked him again. This time in the gut. That shit had to hurt. He was trying to decide if he ought to kick him again or make him sit up and then punch him in the face. The punching would give a more dramatic effect. But the kicking would hurt more. It was a hard decision.
Before Negan could even speak he was nearly castrated and decapitated simultaneously. A giant black horse was rearing up in front of him as the woman riding it swung herself down off the animal's back.
She didn't have a gun or even a knife. The woman was holding a long well worn wooden pole and seemed ready to defend both herself and the man on the ground with it. Negan noticed she had the same high cheekbones and long dark hair as the man that had jumped him earlier. He stared at her, wondering just exactly how many crazy Indians lived in this goddamn town. This one really looked next level batshit too. She was wearing a rainbow tye dye sundress and seemed prepared to fight his entire army with only the stick she was holding.
"Take one step closer and I'll rearrange your face," the woman warned, stabbing her stick in Negan's direction. She had a hint of an accent but not one that he could place. The woman wasn't what Negan would consider to be traditionally attractive. She was a little on the thin side and covered head to toe in freckles. But Negan found her gorgeous in her bravery. This little slip of a girl probably had more balls than half his men put together. He decided at that moment that he simply had to have her. His dick was already punching at the zipper of his jeans despite the throbbing pain in the back of his head.
"Kitten's got claws," Negan announced with a smile as he gestured towards the woman.
Just when Negan thought he had already seen the most exciting thing he was going to see that day, two giant dogs came tearing in out of nowhere. One was black and one was pure white. They took up defenses on either side of the woman like matching salt and pepper shakers. Both animals were baring their teeth, their short coarse hair standing on end in mohawks down their backs.
Negan was truly impressed. He already wanted the woman. But now he wanted her dogs too. He was already imagining himself climbing out of one of his giant trucks, the giant black beast of a creature by his side. Or maybe the white one. He wasn't picky. They were both equally badass.
Negan held up his hand, a signal his men knew meant they better not do shit unless he did it first.
"Nice pupper," Negan offered, sticking his hand as close to the black dog as he dared. The animal growled and snapped at him, then issued a series of ferocious warning barks. "Motherfucker," Negan cursed with a laugh as he danced back to keep from losing any fingers.
"Take your people and get the fuck out," the woman ordered. She paused a moment before adding, "Or I'll sick my dog on you and he goes for the balls first." She jabbed her stick in the direction of Negan's crotch to make her point.
Rowan was standing with her feet planted on either side of Spencer's body. He was trying to keep as still as possible to avoid accidentally being bitten. Once Tank was in attack mode he was liable to bite anyone that made a move towards Rowan.
"The balls first huh?," Negan repeated. "I can think of better things you could do with my balls," he teased.
"Wendigo," Rowan spit back. She stepped carefully over Spencer and advanced on the man, holding her stick in a good position for an offensive attack.
Negan wasn't sure what the word meant but from the woman's tone he was sure it was an insult of some sort. This day was turning out to be even more fun than he had imagined. Not only was this little spitfire of a woman not running away from him in terror. She was hurling insults and advancing like she really intended to have a go at him. He could only imagine how wild she would be in bed.
"Well come on then kitten," Negan suggested, "Show me what you've got!" He gestured for the woman to come forward. What she didn't know was he had also caught the eye of one of his men and was gesturing for him to come forward as well. The easiest way to grab this woman without hurting her was from behind while her attention was focused on him.
Rowan swung her stick. Instead of hitting the man that was taunting her, it slapped against the hard wood of the bat he was holding and bounced back. Before she could take another swing her head exploded in pain. Someone had grabbed her by the hair and was dragging her backwards. Her hair was ripping from her scalp. She tried to swing her stick at the man but it was quickly snatched roughly from her grasp. Her hands shot up, clawing at the man's hand that was locked into her hair.
Just as suddenly as she had been grabbed, she was released. Rowan fell forward onto the pavement, ripping the hem of her dress and bruising her knees and palms. She was grabbed again, but this time more gently. Someone lifted her to her feet. From how carefully it was done, she turned assuming it was one of her people. But a stranger's face was staring back at her. Maybe not a total stranger. The man looked vaguely familiar. He had long scraggly hair and his face was covered in old acne scars. Somewhere from the deep recesses of her mind, Rowan remembered where she had seen the man before. He was one of the bikers that they had a confrontation with on the way back from her home.
"I made you tea once," she told the man.
"You did," the man confirmed. He stood Rowan next to him, keeping only a loose grip on her upper arm. "Call your dogs off before they get shot," the man suggested. Rowan could tell by his tone that the man was sincere. He didn't want her or the animals to be hurt.
"TANK! MORGAN!," Rowan screamed, patting her thigh. At the sound of their names both dogs immediately stopped their attacks on the soldiers and hurried back to her side. "SIT," she ordered. Tank sat. Morgan gave one more vicious bark, then turned on his heel and ran away down the street like a fire had been lit under his ass. Rowan shook her head at the animal. He sure picked a fine time not to mind her.
"Holy fuck Dave! That's not her is it?," Negan asked.
This day was just getting better and better. He had brought the saviors here for a few reasons. First, they had to teach these people a lesson. Second, they wanted half their shit. And third, David had insisted that these people had a genuine earth goddess living among them who had cleared up his pneumonia with nothing more than a bag of dried herbs. Negan was planning to snatch her up and take her back to the Sanctuary to be his new doctor. And now lo and behold she turned out to be the very same goddess Negan was planning to snatch up anyway. That was a divine coincidence if he ever heard one.
"This is her," David confirmed. Negan nodded his approval.
"Which one of you is Deanna?," Negan hollered, turning back to the rest of the group. Deanna cleared her throat. But before she could speak, Carol was already getting to her feet beside her.
"I'm Deanna," Carol announced.
Negan gestured with his bat, telling her to head over and stand next to Pocohontas, which she assumed meant Rowan. When she got there, Carol could hear Rowan grumbling under her breath about Pocohontas being Powhatan and not Sioux. Luckily she didn't get too loud about it. They already had enough problems without her mouthing off to this madman any more than she already had. Although the way Negan was looking Rowan's body up and down, it seemed he had enjoyed his interaction with her. Maybe a little too much.
"Now I already said there was going to be NO MORE of this shit today," Negan hollered as he pointed at Rowan. "I will shut that shit down! Again!" Negan gestured towards the dead bodies on the ground. "I'm going to give you ladies a choice. Both of you are coming with me. No matter what. But if you come willingly then I won't kill anyone else."
Rowan looked around her. She had heard screaming and seen the tall man kicking Spencer when she arrived. But she hadn't realized exactly what had happened before she rode in on her horse. Abraham was dead. Rowan tried not to look at his body for long. It was making her sick. On the other side of the clearing she saw another dead body. The head was nothing more than a pile of bloody pulp. It took Rowan a moment before she realized who it was. Then she saw the expression on Aaron's face and the grey tones of the aura around him. Eric was dead. He was the first kind person she had met in this strange new world. He was generous. And funny. He was her friend. And now he was dead. Rowan could feel the tears welling up in her eyes.
"Ok," she agreed, "I'll go with you.
