All Nightmare Long

Chapter 542

Author's Note: Hopefully I can get Carl on his way to Alexandria, then get Tara and Quinn, and check in on Hilltop and Daryl finally out of the Sanctuary. Probably not all in this chapter but hopefully it'll all head that way. Not a whole lot of original content but Negan talks. A lot. Review please.

Carl POV:

Negan bent down putting his fingers on his face and laughed. "I…ah…I can't do it. It's like talking to a birthday present. You have to take that crap off your face, I want to see what gramma got me," he told Carl.

Sylvie glanced at Carl then at Negan, shaking her head.

"No," Carl told him.

"Two men! Two men," Negan growled. "Punishment. You really want to piss me off? If you were anyone else, you think you'd be alive right now? You think that I wouldn't have let D shoot you right on sight? Then I'd be sending Syl here back to Alexandria with your body and a piece of your buddy Daryl, and tell them what a shit ass job your parents did raising you. Now don't make me ask you again," he warned as he held up a hand to keep Sylvie quiet.

Carl took off his hat and started to take off his bandage.

"Da da da….almost there," Negan said. "Isn't this exciting Syl?"

Sylvie looked at him and shook her head, not saying a word. She knew it could be a lot worse for the boy.

"Get that hair out of your face," Negan ordered. "Let me see."

Sylvie sighed as Carl did as he was told and felt bad for him as she saw how embarrassed and scared he was.

"Christ! That is disgusting! No wonder you cover that up. Have you seen it? I mean have you looked in the mirror? That is gross as hell. I can see your socket," Negan said as he laughed. "I want to touch it. Oh come on can I touch it?" he asked.

"That can't be sanitary…neither can the bandage being off," Sylvie said gently as she noticed Carl getting upset.

Negan sighed as he put his head down momentarily. "Damn," he said as he looked at Sylvie then at Carl. "Holy hell kid. Look…I..it's easy to forget that you're just a kid. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything. I was just screwing around," he told Carl.

"Forget it," Carl said near tears.

"Hey, no let him keep graveling, he hardly ever admits when he's an asshole, except on the rare occasion to me. Take pride in it. I ready once, before all this went down, that scars are a sign of strength, of survival and of power. Kid, you got nothing to be ashamed of. And don't let…" Sylvie said stopping herself.

"Assholes, you can say it Syl, I was an asshole," Negan admitted.

"And don't let assholes, like him tell you any different," Sylvie said. "See that's why he keeps me around to remind him that he is human. Just don't tell anyone," she teased.

Negan sighed as a knock came on the door. "Come in."

"Sorry to interrupt sir," Fat Joey said. "But you left Lucille out by the truck."

"Seriously?" Negan asked. "I never do that. I guess a kid firing a machine gun is a little bit of a distraction," he told him. "All jokes aside, you look rad as hell. I wouldn't cover that shit up. It may not be a hit with the ladies, but I swear to you that no one is going to screw with you looking like that. No sir," he said as he looked at him. "And like Syl said, it shows you survived."

"And that you have strength and power," Sylvie added.

"Yeah that too," Negan said. "Fat Joseph, did you carry her all the way up here for me?"

Fat Joey nodded and smiled a little. "Yes sir."

Negan motioned with his gloved hand and took it. "Were you gentle? Were you kind?"

Fat Joey looked at him. "Uh…" he stumbled as he swallowed.

"Did you treat her like a lady?" Negan asked.

"Um…Yes yes sir," Fat Joey answered.

"Did you pet her little pussy like a lady?" Negan asked, as he ignored the look Sylvie was giving him. Negan started laughing at Fat Joey's face. "I'm just screwing around man. A baseball bat doesn't have a pussy!" Him and Fat Joey both started to laugh.

"Glad to know you know the difference," Sylvie mumbled.

"Get the hell out," Negan told Fat Joey who did what he was told. "Now you see, that's what I'm talking about, men breaking each other balls. This is the shit that your dad is supposed to be teaching you," he said with a sigh. "What do you like to do for fun?"

"He means besides surviving," Sylvie said with a grin toward Carl.

"That's not fun, that's surviving," Negan said. "So what do you like kid? You like music?" he asked as he waited. "I want you to sing me a song."

"What?" Carl asked confused.

"Yeah, you mowed down two of my men with a machine gun, and I want something in return for that. Sing me a song," Negan repeated.

"I…I can't think of any," Carl stumbled.

"Bullshit! What did your mom used to sing to you? Your birth mom, not Jewel," Negan told him. "What did your dad play in the car?" he asked as he stood up with the bat pointing it at him. "Start singing."

"Ok, ok," Carl answered. He stumbled a little bit before singing You Are My Sunshine.

"Go on," Negan told him.

Sylvie looked at Carl as he continued singing and Negan walked around. Carl jumped as Negan swung Lucille.

"Do not let me distract you young man," Negan told him as he took another swing and Carl started singing obviously being scared.

Negan came back and sat down. "That's pretty good, don't you think Syl?"

"Yeah, it was," Sylvie answered.

"Lucille loves being sung to. It's about the only thing she loves more than bashing in brains. Weird huh? Your mother sing that to you? Where is she now?" He waited and saw that Carl was crying a little. "Damn. Dead huh? Did you see it happen?"

"I shot her, before she could," Carl answered.

"That's the way I want to go out, someone kill me before I turn into one of the biters," Sylvie answered.

"Damn, no wonder you're a little serial killer in the making," Negan told him. "That was an example of breaking balls, by the way. So Jewel came in before or after this shit?"

Carl looked at him. "She knew my mom, we all started out at the same camp….she's my mom, just like my mom was. Dad is Summer's dad, just like he is mine."

Sylvie smirked. "I told him crap like that didn't matter."

"Yeah, yeah she did. She's pretty smart at stuff like that. Come on kid, get up," Negan instructed. "It should be ready."

"What should be ready?" Carl asked.

"The iron," Negan answered.

"You're going to make him watch that?" Sylvie asked.

"Sure am, show him what I could have done to him instead of just making him sing a song," Negan answered as he opened the door. "Come on, let's go watch the fun," he said as he walked to the floor banging Lucille down as he walked, causing everyone on the floor to go to their knees, including Daryl who was beside a man in tied in a chair. Negan turned and looked at Carl. "Hold that for me," he said as he held out Lucille. Once Carl took it, Negan walked to the railings, putting his hands on it. "You know the deal. What's about to happen is going to be hard to watch. I don't want to do it, I wish I could just ignore the rules and let it slide, but I can't. Why?" he asked as he started walking.

"The rules keep us alive," the group said.

"That…is…right," Negan answered as he walked down the steps. "We survive, we provide security to others, cause we bring civilization back to this world. We are the Saviors," he said as he looked down at the crowd. "But we can't do that without rules. Rules are what make it all work. I know it's not easy, but there's always work, there's always a cost," he told them as he raised his voice. "Here if you try to skirt it, if you try to cut that corner," he cut himself off with a laugh, "then it is the iron for you. On your feet."

Sylvie walked down with him, joining Sampson who was on the other side of Mark's chair. "You ok?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I'm Ok," Sylvie answered. "Kid's OK," she told him.

Negan walked past Mark and patted him on the shoulder. "D," he said as he walked over to Dwight who got the iron out and turned it toward him. He put on a glove and took the handle. "Mark, I'm sorry, but it is what it is," he said.

Sylvie moved herself over to Amber, hugging one side of her while Sherry did the same. Sylvie closed her eyes when Mark started to scream in pain. "Don't look," she told Amber. "Just don't look," she instructed as the screaming finally stopped, meaning that he passed out.

"Now that wasn't too bad was it?" Negan asked.

Carl and Daryl exchanged looks.

"Jesus, he pissed himself," Negan said as he walked over to Daryl. "Clean that up," he told him. "Doc, I'm all done, do your thing," he instructed. "Well the pussy passed out, but it's settled, we're square. Everything is cool. Let's Mark's face be a daily reminder to him and everyone else that the rules matter. I hope that we all learned something today, because I never want to have to do that again," he said as he walked over to Carl. "Some crazy shit huh? You probably think I'm a lunatic. Come on let's go figure out what to do with you. Syl, come on," he instructed.

Sylvie squeezed Amber's shoulder before going with Carl and Negan, following them back to Negan's room.