Negan sniffed an old spray bottle of Febreeze, before using it on an old couch he had had in his room. The more he cleaned, the more he felt at home. He glanced over at Michonne. He knew she didn't quite feel that way. She had just finished cleaning out the nasty fridge. The cleaning supplies they used had already been in the room, waiting for them.
Michonne sat down in a chair and tried to gather her thoughts. She had nothing to say to Negan and he knew why.
"You don't like my plan, huh?" he said, opening up the conversation.
"Your plan is for me to go along with what they believe. That we're married and have a child together. No, I don't like it. I also don't like sitting around and not trying to escape. I say we break that window there, jump out…"
"Jump out to where, Michonne? You see the drop would kill us. You also see there are guards ready to shoot us if we even try."
Michonne said nothing. Negan set down his Febreeze spray and leaned against a table.
"Nothing is going to happen to us. Or the kids. Or anyone. Hell, Michonne, Dwight and Sherry are weak! They always have been! They're offering us a place to sleep and live, before they throw us out of Alexandria! You can't one up people acting nice like that! We'll be home in no time! But right now, they have all the cards. So we just stay put until we see a chance to kill them."
Michonne still said nothing.
"To pass the time, why don't you tell me about all of that Rick shit, Heath was talking about? He actually killed a man so he could get with his wife?"
"No." Michonne said firmly. "Pete beat Jessie and Rick was sick of him."
"You saw this Pete hit her?"
"No. But if Rick said it was happening, then I'm sure it was." Michonne sighed. There was an old magazine on a table and she picked it up and began to page through it.
"But Heath doesn't see it that way. That's what counts here. What your people could never see about me, was that there are two sides to every story. Your people fucked with their shit when you came to Alexandria. Now they want their shit back." Negan told her. Michonne threw down the magazine and stood up!
"When we came here, we could see the weaknesses. Not weaknesses we wanted to exploit but more like cracks that needed to be fixed. None of them knew how to fire a gun or had even faced a walker one on one. We liked it there and we thought…I guess Rick thought that forcing them to see reality outside of the gate, was a good thing." Michonne explained.
"But it sounds like they didn't want to see it. And yet Grimes forced it down their throats." Negan replied, now understanding somewhat.
"Everything just went wrong. Rick tried to be proactive but everything went wrong. Just when there was a little daylight, something else would happen. And then there was that night with you. I know Heath has a side but it's just too damned late to still be mad about it! And he isn't getting Alexandria!"
"Good! I'm glad you feel that way." Negan told her. "Because I need to know that you're willing to do whatever it takes to save it."
Suddenly, Michonne brought up something else!
"It was one of them back at the cabin. When Beta threw me down the stairs. We both heard someone come in through that front door." she said, now rubbing the back of her neck.
"Maybe. Then they had to know Beta was there." Negan replied. "They could be working with him and if they have him on their side, then this isn't so simple."
"If he's on their side, then why isn't he here with them?" Michonne asked.
"You've never actually talked to that crazy fuck, have you? He's damned near feral. He couldn't live inside four walls. You know…like Darryl."
Michonne gave Negan a dirty look!
"Darryl is not 'feral'."
"He's also not your type. Just remember that before you let him put his lips on you again." Negan snorted.
"Okay, I don't want to talk about this anymore. I'm going to call for help and say you're sick. One of the guards will come in and see you lying on the floor. I will bash him on the back of his head with a chair and then we get out of here. You used to live here, so I know you know how to get out of here without getting caught." Michonne said, giving him a hard look.
"Or we could act like a loving couple and get them to take us in at Alexandria." Negan said quietly.
"What? Why would they do that? Dwight and Sherry hate your guts. Heath hates everyone that had anything to do with Rick. That's not going to work and what about everyone else? We're just supposed to leave Darryl, Maggie and everyone else here in this crappy place?" Michonne argued.
"They're showing us mercy, Mrs. Negan Smith. And it's their mercy that's going to kill them. The only way I was able to kill Alpha was to get close to her. We need to be in their inner circle. You're going to admit that the shit Rick did was wrong, I'm going to swear I'm a changed man with a family. We help them throw everyone out…then when they trust us, WE take care of them."
Michonne said nothing and looked away. She didn't like his plan. And he knew why.
"Michonne, this is a plot. Not a plan. Plans can be over in minutes. You see Dwight, Sherry, Heath and the traitors at Alexandria have been plotting against us for months. There are people there that knew when we left there today, that we wouldn't be coming back. It's going to take awhile." Negan informed her.
"I know…" Michonne hesitated. "But I don't like it."
"Why? Because you have to pretend to like me?"
"Let's just smash the window and take our chances, okay?" Michonne suggested.
"How does that plan work? You have managed to cover up your injury but you're starting to limp again. How far do you get before your captured or even killed? Let's say that you being you, you do get away. With your injury and no weapons, you get away from a walker, how? But again, let's say you get back to Alexandria…we don't know how many people have been plotting against us, so you won't be able to bring back help. Not really." Negan told her.
Michonne put her head in her hands. He was right. Negan was goddamned right!
Negan slowly sat down in a chair. He could see he was wearing her down.
"Someone will be coming in soon to check on our progress. You follow my lead, okay?"
Michonne nodded.
"We can't leave Judith and RJ at Alexandria, unprotected. We have no guarantees that they will bring them to us. You get that, right?" Negan asked her.
Michonne nodded again.
The door to the room began to unlock and Negan and Michonne stood up to face Sherry, who had a tray of food for them. She looked around.
"It doesn't look like much was done." Sherry noted, setting the tray on a table. A guard came in with her, pointing a gun at them.
"Look, Sherry, could you cut Michonne some slack? She hurt her leg and…well…she's pregnant again. All of this cleaning is taking a lot out of her." Negan smiled, then put an arm around Michonne and pulled her close to him.
It was all Michonne could do, to keep a neutral expression! Sherry looked revolted!
"You are having another kid by him? I actually believed you when you said you weren't married to him!"
Michonne focused on Judith and RJ and backed Negan up.
"It happened after Rick died."
"You said he disappeared." Sherry said, moving closer to them. Michonne was a bit slow to refute Sherry's accusation. At least Negan thought she was slow. He dropped his arm from around her shoulder and secured it around her waist.
"It's hard for Michonne to admit that he's actually dead. He was in an explosion and there wasn't much to find after that. Michonne here got it in her head that Rick was still alive. But she understands that he's not. Don't you, honey?"
Michonne nodded.
"I do. It's just hard to say at times. Out loud. Anyway, I went to Negan here, the night of Rick's death and one thing lead to another. The next thing I knew, I was pregnant. Negan insisted on marrying me…and now I find myself in the family way again." Michonne said, hoping that hellacious lie sounded convincing.
It did not. Sherry tilted her head.
"You sound ashamed." she noted.
"I'm not ashamed of my baby or Negan, it's just that this place is not where I want to raise my children. Sherry, I know Heath had his problems with all of us, but it would mean a lot if you could talk him in to letting Negan and I live in Alexandria with our children. Please?" Michonne sniffed and emitted a tear.
Negan refrained from grinning! Michonne was laying it on thick! And the tears were a nice touch.
Before Sherry could think to respond, one of the other guards called out that Dwight was back. Sherry and the guard in the room, left suddenly and closed the door. It was relocked loudly. Negan reluctantly let go of Michonne and hurried to the window!
"Shit!" he yelled. Michonne ran over to see what he was looking at.
An unconscious Maggie was being carried in! Negan looked from the view to Michonne.
"This shit has just went to the next level. They have three of us. Gabriel, Rosita…others, will go and look for all of us at the camp. That's where they'll be taken from." he said grimly.
Michonne turned away from the window.
"She didn't believe me. I didn't sell it well."
"You cried. I was proud." Negan smiled. Michonne rolled her eyes but could not help but smile back.
"Okay, so now what?"
"All we can do is wait. Sherry will relay our wishes to Dwight and Heath. Then we'll see what our next move is." Negan said.
Michonne frowned.
"What if they ask Maggie about what we said?"
"Shit! I didn't think that. I didn't think Maggie would get caught either. Jesus, what happened at that camp anyway?" Negan asked, shaking his head.
Maggie awoke tied to a chair. She blinked several times before focusing on three people.
Two of them she knew.
One she did not. A woman.
"Heath?" Maggie whispered. "Where am I? What is this? Where have you been?"
Heath looked at Dwight, who began speaking.
"You remember me, right?"
"Dwight. You helped us defeat Negan." she rasped. Maggie then coughed and Sherry got her some water. She also helped her sip it briefly, before taking the cup away.
"I'm Sherry, Dwight's wife. I was a former 'Negan Wife'."
Maggie gave her a look of pity.
"I'm sorry." she said softly. Heath cleared his throat.
"I'm not going to bullshit around with you. You were one of Rick Grimes's people. You all came to Alexandria and fucked things up for all of our people. Pete, Reg, Deanna, Spencer…Olivia…Olivia and I were close. I didn't appreciate what you damned Grimes people did to our community. I want you all gone from there—what's left of you. I heard about Glenn. That was more of Rick's fuckery."
Maggie suddenly became very alert!
"You want us all gone so your people can move into Alexandria? Dwight, I know Darryl told you to never come back around here after what you did to Denise. If Denise had still been alive, we would have never had to venture out to find medical help! I almost lost Herschel!" Maggie snapped.
"You could still lose him if you keep going how you're going." Sherry took over. "How in the hell did you allow Negan to live? We've heard about Rick honoring his dead son's wishes but…really?"
Maggie looked her dead in the eye.
"That was more Rick Grimes Fuckery." she said coolly. Heath and Dwight looked at one another. Sherry nodded. She sensed that Maggie could be more of an ally than an enemy.
"Here's the deal," Heath said, "We have Negan and Michonne locked away upstairs. Negan said that he and Michonne are married with a son."
"Michonne just told me she's pregnant." Sherry said, ignoring Heath and Dwight's look of surprise. "Is any of that true."
Maggie realized this was a way of ending the hell that was Negan.
"No. If Michonne said it, it was under duress. Negan has been threatening her."
"What do you mean?" Dwight asked.
"He spread some story around about his being her son's father. That she came to him in his cell all doped up and out of it and that on that night, the night of Rick's death, they conceived a child. It's crap but Michonne doesn't remember anything and she's starting to fall for it." Maggie told them.
"Wow. Our contacts didn't tell us all of that." Heath noted.
"Contacts?" Maggie said.
"There are people within Alexandria that want Negan gone. That want your original group gone as well, for their own reasons. And one of those people, is your son, Herschel." Heath said, taking in the look of shock on Maggie's face.
Beta managed to escape his watery grave and came up for air, violently!
He could see no one in the area. Maggie was gone and so were the people that she had aligned herself with. And yet seeing her again, connected her to him.
Beta could feel that she was in trouble. And then there was Alpha's voice. Her words were telling him that Maggie was the way to start over. That Maggie was the way to avenge Alpha.
Beta made his way to land and saw his Whisperer mask lying in a heap on the ground. He slowly reached down to pick it up, but Alpha was telling him he didn't need it any longer. He left it on the ground and pulled himself up to full height.
Beta then began walking. Walking and walking until it began to rain. The rain began to make him feel like his old self. Before the madness, before Alpha…before the Whisperers. And yet none of that could be forgotten. Not really.
He came upon the one called Darryl, fighting a black man with gray dreadlocks. He watched as Darryl put the gray dreadlocked man in a headlock, depriving him of air. They did not notice him and Beta looked around for the other two and Maggie.
They were not there.
Meanwhile, Darryl let Ezekiel's body drop, unable to believe he had had to kill him! What the living hell?
Zeke had been with some other men, men that Darryl had not recognized. Men that overpowered Aaron and Eugene and taken them away in trucks. There was no gas around here that he could find, so who were these people and how did they have vehicles to drive? What did they want and how did Zeke know them?
Ezekiel had blocked their way as they left the camp. Men appeared behind him and before Darryl knew it, he was facing off with just Ezekiel in the rain. Darryl's mind raced as he thought of Maggie. Maggie had to have been taken!
And Michonne and Negan never appeared at the camp! Christ!
Darryl could see that Ezekiel was still alive and whispering. Darryl leaned down.
"Why?! What have you done?! Who are these people?!" he shouted over the rain.
"Take care of Carol…" Ezekiel gasped before dying. Darryl rose up and looked around in all directions until he caught sight of a familiar figure.
Beta. Beta without a mask.
Beta stared at him before turning and walking off. Darryl could not help but feel that if he followed after the stealth like giant, he would find the others. For all he knew, Beta was working with this newest threat to their safety.
Darryl watched Beta walk away and then after a few moments, Darryl began to follow him, staying back a good, discreet distance. He'd told himself that everyone could take care of themselves, especially Michonne.