The Wolf You Feed
Chapter 67
Negan took one look at the meager pile of supplies that had been placed near the front gate of Alexandria for him and just shook his head. The fact that these people had arranged a tribute for him was a small step in the right direction. But it was clear they still had no idea who was in charge. If they thought he was just going to take their pathetic offering and piss off they had a rude awakening coming to them.
Deanna watched in horror as Negan's soldiers fanned out and started marching through her town like she owned the place. She was sitting quietly in the grass in front of her house. Reg was next to her. She could see Tobin across the street sitting on his lawn. Slowly the rest of her people were coming out of their homes and following her example. Deanna didn't want anyone else to be killed. She had decided the best course of action was for everyone to appear to be compliant. At least for now.
Two armed men stomped past her and barged into her home. They reemerged a few minutes later dragging the mattress from her master bedroom between them. The men tossed it down from her front porch into the grass. Then each of them took a corner and began dragging the heavy king size pillow top down the street. Her fitted sheet came tearing off and now lay crumpled up in the middle of the street. Deanna and Reg looked at each other in confusion. They had theorized quite extensively about what they guessed the Saviors might want from them. Their beds had not been one of the items they had considered themselves in jeopardy of losing.
Deanna held up her hand and shaded her eyes. Down the street she could see the devil himself walking through her town. Rick and Tony were tailing Negan. Rick was carrying Negan's barbed wire bat like he was the man's personal servant. It was frustrating Deanna that she had to let Rick carry the burden of dealing with this madman alone. But to the best of Negan's knowledge, she wasn't even here. He had 'Deanna' held captive back at his camp. Along with Rowan. Grey Wolf was here. Deanna has seen the Saviors ordering the man around and making him load their trucks. Deanna didn't want to find out what would happen if Negan found out he had been tricked and Carol had been taken instead of her.
"This the one?," Negan asked, pointing at the house in front of him.
He turned to Rick for confirmation. Rick nodded his head and watched Negan saunter up the steps of Daryl's house. Morgan and Lily were locked inside, both barking at the sound of the man's unfamiliar voice. Negan opened the door and stepped back. The large white dog Negan recognized from his previous visit. But the giant brown one was new. Rick and Tony began calling the dogs out of the doorway. The white one gave Negan a low growl before he took off down the stairs. But instead of heading for the familiar men that were calling to it, the animal took off running down the street. The brown dog simply sniffed at Negan's pants before padding over and lying down in a shady spot on the front porch.
The smell of the dogs lingered inside the house but not in an unpleasant way. It mixed with the smell of citrus and something more earthy that Negan couldn't place. Brightly colored curtains framed the windows. Children's toys were spilling out of a basket in the corner. The fireplace was full of half burned candles. The mantle on top of it held a large glass jar full of small oddly colored rocks and bits of quartz. There was a swing chair hanging from the ceiling in the corner near the stairs. A few well worn throw pillows were piled under it. A pad of paper and a few drawing pencils were laying on the large square coffee table.
Negan picked up the drawing pad and flipped through it. The drawings were well done. There were pictures of the dogs. Of horses. There was a detailed drawing of a little boy laughing. A few pictures of a young native american woman holding the little boy. And oddly enough there was a drawing of the older woman Negan had taken prisoner. The one that was the leader of this town. Negan shrugged and tossed the notebook back where he found it. Then he headed up the stairs.
Her room was easy to find. Negan figured it had to be the one with the giant dog bed on the floor at the foot of the bed. The room was decorated similarly to the living room of the house. There were colorful pillows and blankets scattered around. A giant dreamcatcher hung on the wall above the bed. Negan pulled the top dresser drawer open and poked through the items inside. There was some jewelry and a few small bottles of essential oil. Then a small bundle caught his attention. It was a deck of cards wrapped up in a faded scarf. Negan unwrapped them and lifted the top card. From the back of the deck he had already guessed that they were not playing cards but the kind used for fortune telling. This one had a picture of a burning building on it. Lightning was striking the building as it burned and people were leaping out the windows to their deaths.
"Think I'm going to go ahead and put that creepy ass shit right back where I found it," Negan mumbled to himself with a chuckle as he wrapped the cards up and placed them carefully back into the drawer.
Negan opened the next drawer, relieved to see that this one was full of panties instead of a cosmic warning. Negan had a penchant for guessing with underwear women had on. And he had pegged the little kitten as a brightly colored but still practical cotton girl. To his surprise and delight the drawer was full of silky black lace and skimpy lingerie. Negan lifted out a lacy black see through nightie and held it up, picturing what the woman who it belonged to must look like in it. He then put the item back and adjusted the crotch of his jeans.
The next drawer down did not delight him. Negan found himself staring at a drawer full of men's boxer briefs and men's t-shirts. She wasn't single. That shocked Negan a little. No man had stepped forward to try and stop Negan from taking the girl. And even though he had threatened these people within inches of all of their lives, he still wouldn't expect a man to just let his woman be taken without a fight. Especially when she was pregnant. Negan slammed the drawer shut and stomped back down the stairs.
"Where is he?," Negan hollered.
Rick raised his eyebrows and glanced at Tony, trying to see if the other man had any more idea of what Negan was talking about than he did. Because Rick had no clue who Negan was talking about. Grey Wolf was already his captive and the man was loading trucks near the entrance of town.
"Her boyfriend, husband, fuck buddy, whoever's shit is up there in Pocohontas's room," Negan elaborated, "WHERE… IS… HE?"
Rick stuttered and stammered, his mouth hanging partly open. He knew Daryl was gone. Trying to infiltrate Negan's ranks to get Rowan back. But it had only been a day or two. Rick didn't think there was any possible way Negan could know about that. Not yet. He would have had to catch Daryl the moment he left town. Daryl was too smart and resourceful for that. And if Negan had caught Daryl he wouldn't be asking Rick where the man was.
"He's dead," Tony announced. Negan raised his eyebrows and took a step closer. "Her husband's name was Derek. He was from our reservation. He died during a conflict with another group. I can take you to his grave if you would like to pay your respects."
Before Negan could ask them any more questions, his attention was diverted by the sound of gunfire from down the street. All three men started moving quickly in the direction of the noise. Negan was cursing and making threats as they walked. Rick was looking at Tony with a new appreciation. The man had been quick on his feet, telling Negan the truth but still managing not to reveal any important information at the same time.
The gunfire had come from inside the medical center. When Negan barged in, a pretty native american girl was holding one of his soldiers at gunpoint. A black woman with a sword was backing her up. A younger girl was backed up into the corner of the room with several small children hiding behind her. Negan shook his head. Every time there was a problem in this town, one of these crazy Indians was the cause of it. He was going to end up having to kill one of them to get his point across. And he really didn't want to because aside from causing problems they were also his main source of entertainment at the moment.
"I am not going to stand for one single bit of this SHIT," he hollered, "none of it!"
"They are taking everything!," Nokake hollered back at him. Her husband was just as crazy as this greedy white man and twice as loud. Nokake wasn't scared. Even if he was looking at her like he was ready to kill her on the spot. She lowered her gun but not her voice. "You said half! WENDIGO!" Nokake pointed at the soldier she had been pointing her gun at. "He's taking all our medicinal herbs. We need those to make our mother's tea for breastfeeding."
"I DECIDE WHAT HALF OF EVERYTHING MEANS, NOT YOU!," Negan screamed.
Nokake narrowed her eyes and raised her gun again. This time she pointed it at Negan.
"LET MY HUSBAND GO RIGHT NOW," she screamed.
Negan laughed and walked slowly towards her. The woman was putting on a brave front but he could see her hands were already starting to shake. Negan took a few more deliberate steps towards her. He stopped once the muzzle of her gun was pressed against his chest.
"Are you ready to risk your life for a man that started putting the wood to another woman the moment he got to my camp?," Negan asked her with an evil smirk.
"You're lying," Nokake spit back, "Rowan's his daughter." Tears were already forming in her eyes, threatening to spill over.
"He wasn't fucking his daughter sweetie, he was fucking the old bag with the grey hair," Negan told her as he leaned further into Nokake's personal space and pulled the gun out of her hands. Her lip was quivering and tears were streaming down her face. "Maybe little girls like you just don't do it for him."
Michonne stepped forward and put her arm around Nokake's shoulders. She pulled the smaller woman into her embrace and away from Negan, placing her body part of the way between them.
"That's enough," Michonne told him. Her voice was low and gentle. She wasn't prepared for him to scream his response back into her face.
"I'LL DECIDE WHEN IT'S ENOUGH!," he screamed.
Michonne jumped, her eyes darting for Rick. She was torn between being afraid he was going to do something to make the situation worse and wanting to see him beat Negan's ass in the most epic way possible. Thankfully Negan backed up and waved the woman away like they were suddenly boring him.
"Take your saggy titty tea and piss the hell off out of here," Negan told them.
Michonne didn't wait for him to change his mind. She grabbed the jar in question. Then she grabbed Nokake and started dragging her towards the back door. Rosie was already outside with the kids. At some point during the confrontation over the tea she had taken the kids and bolted.
Negan watched the two women retreat to the rear of the building. Once they were out of sight he turned back to Rick. The man's face was red and his body was tense. From his response, Negan knew that the dark skinned woman must be the mother of Rick's youngest child. Negan ignored the man for the time being. He instructed his men to continue on packing up everything in the medical bay for the trip back to the Sanctuary. Once he was finished, then he turned to Rick and held up the gun in his hands that he had taken from Nokake.
"This brings me to my next point. You have guns. A shit ton of guns. And I'm going to need all of them."
