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Let me know what you think of the motifs and subtle details throughout the chapter. Please review with which part you like the best! :)
They'd been domed from the start.
It was what she failed to realize at first- but reality had a way of clawing at the pit of her stomach- when they reached the first blockade, then the second...
When they hung a man off the bridge by a chain. She simply swallowed, watching him dangle and kick out fruitlessly, watched the life drain from his eyes. There was nothing she could do.
Nothing except finger her pistol nervously and watch as Rick and Abraham grew more tense, and the routes on the map grew less and less.
They were being backed into a corner, with nothing left.
When Eugene had taken the RV into what was supposed to be a suicide run- when the trees had embraced them, dusk falling rapidly, she'd assumed they'd be safe.
She figured the only threat they'd face then was from the dead. But there were enough of them to carry Maggie's gurney and keep watch around them, and she and Carl rotated on and off in shifts, one carrying the gurney while the other followed behind closely, gun out.
She'd thought they were safe. She was exhausted, her nerves were shot, and she melted into the familiarity of the woods.
And then the whistling started.
It was small at first- one whistle in the darkness. She'd been carrying the gurney with the others, and her head snapped back, breathing ragged. She could've sworn she'd imagined it- except Carl was looking behind them as well, and soon they were speeding up, just short of running...
They were everywhere. She felt panic bubble in her throat as she heard them- like birds of the night, they descended- they were everywhere, they were surrounded. She kept one hand on the gurney, the other going for her gun...
She was ready for a fight.
It was then the flood lights blinded them, and she realized just how many there were. They were fucked.
"Alright. Get her down- on your knees."
She was setting down the gurney heavily, knees in the vegetation and leaves...
Outlines. Outlines were all she could see. Outlines of people- so many of them. Her mouth was sandpaper- she couldn't think, couldn't speak- for once, they were in a situation they couldn't fight their way out of.
The back of a van was thrown open- Glenn, Michonne, and Daryl were hauled out of the van.
Daryl's eyes landed on her for a long moment- he was already pale and clammy looking, sweat beading on his forehead. His eyes widened with.. was that fear? Before she quickly looked away, staring at the carpet of dead leaves before her.
She didn't know whether to be disappointed that she'd let her Dad down- disobeyed him- or afraid, because he was scared- terrified, even. She'd never seen her Dad look like that, and she took a shaky breath, trying to calm her racing heart.
"Well well well. Looky what we have here." the man stepped down from the RV with a thousand watt smile. "Finally, I get to meet you."
Her gaze was resting on the wooden bat in his hand, wrapped in barbed wire.
"I'm Negan. And this is Lucille. And I'm gonna beat the holy hell out of one of you."
His gaze swept over them all, that unnerving smile never dulling.
"So... you're Rick." Negan smiled, crouching in front of their leader. Rick was sweating bullets, mouth twisted into a grimace...
Negan turned, boots crunching on the leaves as he walked over to where Carl knelt next to her.
"And this... this must be your boy." Negan said, smiling down at Carl. He grimaced. "That's rough. Having to get taught this lesson in front of your kid. But you killed a lot of my people- more than I'm comfortable with, frankly."
Negan laughed at Rick's expression, before he turned to look at her. "And who does this little lady belong to?"
Both Rick and Daryl's heads snapped up.
Jamie hadn't moved, continuing to look down at the leaves.
"I asked you a question, darling."
She looked up slowly, green eyes venemous. "Nobody."
Negan's eyes widened. "Really? You made it this far by yourself. That's somethin' to be proud of, kid. But I think you're a liar."
"She's not."
Negan's head snapped up, and he looked at Rick, who was trying to defuse the situation. "She's just some kid we found. outside the walls, alone. She's not one of us."
It hurt to hear him say that. It really did. But at the same time, she knew he was saying it to keep her safe...
"Well then. Didn't anybody ever teach you to watch the company you keep, little lady?" Negan scrutinized her carefully.
She said nothing, eyes falling to the ground.
Negan grinned, and cold metal touched her chin as he used the bat to tilt her jaw upward. "You're gonna look at me when I'm talking, darlin'."
She grit her teeth, hands clenching involuntarily into fists as she jut out her chin, green eyes smoldering. "If you're gonna kill me, then just do it already."
Negan let out a whistle, Lucille falling to his side. "Now I see how you made it this far. You need a wheelbarrow to carry around your massive balls, kid?" he chuckled, pointing Lucille at her. "I like you." he admitted, before he kept walking.
"Still, somebody has to die. Can't bash your head in- you'd be ready for it. Then again, you might be just what I need to make a point..." Negan frowned, eyes falling on Maggie.
"What about you? you look like shit, sweetheart- might as well put you out of your misery..."
"No!" Glenn lunged forward, and instantly, Negan's men were on him.
"Whoa there. Thast is not okay. First one's free- I get it, kid, it's an emotional moment. But I will shut that shit down, you understand me?"
Negan's eyes burned for a moment as her surveyed them, before he smiled. "Now... which one of you gets to meet my gal Lucille? I simply cannot decide..."
"Eenie. Meanie. Miney. Mo." the bat landed on her. She never once took her eyes off Negan, who grinned. "Gutsy kid."
"Catch. A tiger. By. The toe..."
She'd unvoluntarily tensed up, her heart in her throat.
"If. he hollers. Let 'em go."
The tension in the air could be cut with a knife.
"My. Mother. told me. to pick. The very. Best. one."
"And. You. Are. It."
Abraham.
"Damn." Negan's smile never left his face. "That really sucks. Anybody moves, anybody say anything, cut the boy's other eye out and feed it to his father. And then we start. You can breathe. You can blink. You can cry. Hell, they're all gonna be doing that."
Negan never let that cheshire grin slip from his face as he brought the bat down on Abraham's head.
A moment later, Abraham was looking up, brown eyes smoldering.
"Oh, taking it like a champ!" Negan grinned. "You're a fighter, I'll give you that..."
"Suck... my nuts..."
Negan's eyes sparked for a brief minute, before he was bringing down the bat again and again- the blunt sound of the bad striking flesh, the sickening squelching of skin parting and bone cracking, and the smell of blood and brains being exposed to the air...
For a moment there was only the sound of Negan's grunts and heavy breathing as the bat hit Abraham again... and again. Long after Abraham's fingers had stopped twitching, Negan leaded back on his bat, grinning.
"Wow." he exhaled. "Did you hear that? 'Suck my nuts.'. Those were his last words. Pretty fucking legendary."
In the moment there was lame silence, where only Sasha and Rositsa's sobs could be heard, Negan grinned slightly, hand in his pocket, shuffling over to Jamie, one hand in his pocket.
Jamie was breathing raggedly, dead leaves clenched in either fist as tears escaped intermittently, and she tried to pull herself together.
Negan extended Lucille downward so the bloody end of the bat was dangling in front of her face. "See this. You really wanna be with these people, kid?"
The only sound was her painfully hitching breath, and Negan sighed. "I don't think you get it, kid."
Her breathing shuddered painfully, and she still didn't look up.
Negan's gaze hardened, though his smile never left her face. "Lick it."
She looked up, eyes wide and wet, blinking dumbly.
"You heard me. Lick it." Negan said the last part through grit teeth, though he never stopped smiling. His fiery eyes sparkled as she looked at the bloodied wood, horrified.
"Say hello to the ginger, kid. Unless you wanna join him."
She stiffened slightly, leaning forward painfully.
Negan grinned, and Carl looked over at her, his expression a mixture of disgust and horror at what she was being forced to do...
Daryl's fist collided with Negan's cheek, catching the man off guard and knocking him off his feet.
In an instant Daryl was pinned, grunting and shouting obscenities as three men held him down.
Negan wiped hi face on his sleeve, glowering at them all dangerously as he got to his feet. "That was a mistake."
Daryl grunted, straining and fighting against the men who held them down to the ground.
Negan sighed. "There only had to be one. I get it, you're upset, I killed your friend. But things just got a lot worse."
Negan sighed, cocking his head at Glenn before he was swinging, bringing the bat down on his head.
Glenn gasped painfully, head bobbing back up to his kneeling position. A good portion of his skull had caved in, blood was pouring down his face, and he gasped painfully.
Maggie was silently sobbing.
"M-m-m-ma... mmmm-m-ma-ma..." Glenn was stuttering painfully, strugling to form coherent words as his body failed him.
"Wow. You okay there son? Cause you just took a major blow to the head, and you're still talking. Now that's determination. Wow." Negan was grinning, looking amazed as he leaned on Lucille.
"Ma-ma-mammmmaggie..."
Magie was hyperventilating around her tears, chest heaving as she watched the man she loved begin to fade away, the lkfe in his eyes growing duller as the amoutn of blod soaking his head grew.
"I-I'll ffffind... you again..." Glenn gurgled out, brown eyes full of emotion despite the fact he was fading away.
Maggie's mouth had opened in a silent scream, though only sobs came out.
"How sweet." Negan smiled, eye sparkling with glee as he brought the bat down again, finishing the job. Even though Glenn was no longer moving, he took the liberty of swinging a dozen more times until Glenn's head was gone. Maggie sobbed hysterically as she watched Glenn's hands spasm wildly in the leaves before they were still.
The crying had only gotten louder.
Jamie found herself sobbing, now, disbelief was written all over Rick's features. Blood was spattered on nearby group members, brain matter and bone fragments scattered in the leaves.
Negan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "you can thank Daryl for that." he said calmly, before he strode back over to Jamie.
"Now, where were we, sweetheart? Right- lick it." Negan smiled, putting the doubly bloody bat in front of Jamie.
She blinked heavily, lowering her head and flicking her tongue out to taste the still warm fluid on the bat.
It tasted like iron- as soon as it made contact with her tongue she gagged, turning her head and vomiting into the leaves beside her, doubled over and shaking.
"Oh." Negan grimaced. "Doesn't taste too good, does it?"
She retched, bloody saliva hanging from her lips in a long strand as she cried quietly.
"Painful, isn't it?" Negan crouched in front of her, arm resting on his knee. "You should think about who you set yourself up with, kid. Now- just one more lesson before I leave you be."
She looked up at him, face messy and eyes confused. What more could he possibly want from all of them? What worse could he do to her?
Negan reeled back and swung, the bat tearing into her arm a moment later. She was knocked sideways, skin torn open by barbed wire. Negan reeled up and brought the bat down ninety degrees, and she screamed, whiting out as she feltthe bone of her upper arm snap.
Daryl stared, eyes wide, as he watched his daughter writhe, clutching her upper arm as blood seeped between her fingers.
Negan sighed. "I didn't wanna have to do that, either. Rick- with me. We have some things to discuss."
Rick stared for a moment, blinking. Negan stopped, not turning around. "Don't make me ask again."
Rick scrambled into the RV behind Negan.
The group was left in silence, save for the quiet, shocked sobbing of the women and the ragged breathing of the males.
Jamie was lying disturbingly still, and Carl looked over at her, eyes wide, anxious.
Her breathing had evened out, and her hair was a mess, obscuring her face, but he was pretty sure she was only passed out...
Daryl said nothing, staring at her slumped form with a mixture of anxiety and despair.
No one spoke- no one moved- dead silence perpetrated the area save for the stirring of the leaves as Negan's people watched them with predatory eyes.
It seemed like an eternity, but really it couldn't have been more than 45 minutes before the RV pulled back up, Negan stumbling out with Rick meekly behind.
Negan grinned as Rick stumbled back to his place, kneeling in the leaves. "Well would ya look at that. Dawn's breaking. Think about what I said, Rick. We'll be in touch."
Negan pulled Daryl up from where he laid in the leaves, nodding to him. "If you listen to me, you'll be alright. If not... I'll send Daryl home, one piece at a time."
Negan flashed that gruesome smile, pulling Daryl to his feet and shoving him back into the van.
She was cold. So cold.
That was all she could think of as she laid in the leaves, clutching her upper arm and feeling the amount of blood seeping out slow and dry.
She felt like she had dirt in her lungs- her chest was made of tissue paper, each breath felt like it would break her.
It hurt- the white-out burn had dulled to a constant, excruciating throb that threatened to drive her insane. She tried to shift her position slightly, moving her shoulder slightly and trying to move her arm- she was stopped when a fresh spike of pain shot up her arm like it was white-hot metal, an icepick slamming into her skull...
She managed to catch ehr breath, and the wind blew, moving her hair away from her face and stirring the leaves beside her.
So cold.
Was she going to die here, laying on the leaves?
She was so thirsty- her throat was like sand paper, and she blinked. Her eyes were sandy- she was tired, so tired.
But she ahd to stay awake. Where was she again? What'd happened?
She remembered blood- tasting it, disgust. Pain. She could see Daryl- he was just laying there, looking at her. Her vision blurred, then refocused in on him. Why was he just laying there? Why wouldn't he help her?
She wanted to call out to him- but her mouth was too dry to form the words, and she knew that she shouldn't- for some reason, she knew it'd only make things worse.
She let out a nasal sigh, her eyes falling closed for a brief second. When she opened them, familiar green orbs and round cheeks were staring at her.
Her eyes widened, breath catching in her throat. Lily.
Her little sister giggled, looking at her happily.
"You finally came to see me!"
She'd wanted to see Lily for so long. She'd tried to forget, she really had, but she still thought of her sister sometimes, on birthdays, holidays... Lily would've been 10 this year. She hadn't aged a day past six, though, and she giggled and grinned with gap-toothed innocence that even her horrific death hadn't managed to tear away from her.
Was she even still alive?
Behind Lily was a tree, and Ryder leaned up against it, his shaggy brown hair falling on his shoulders, wearing his denim jacket like it hadn't been torn into a million pieces, and she didn't keep the only scrap of it she had left in her pocket.
He smiled at her, arms crossed.
"Mom and Dad are waiting, you know. I couldn't protect you from assholes like this. It hurts- it looks like it hurts."Ryder said, looking at her and wincing. He'd walked over to her , crouching in front of her and holding out a hand. "C'mon. They're waiting for us. You had a good run- you did good, Jamie. But it's time to come home."
She didn't want to go. But she was to tempted to reach out and take his hand- she was so tired. She'd spent so long running, fighting, just trying to stay alive- that she'd forgotten what she'd left behind, what they missed...
Lily was peering out from behind Ryder, wide green eyes staring at her. Ryder's mouth formed a firm line.
"Jamie. C'mon."
She wanted to take his hand. She wanted to tell him she loved him, to hug him, to apologize for letting him down...
She was so tired. Her eyes fell closed, and when they opened, Ryder was gone, and the RV was back.
Boots were in front of her face- Negan was saying something- she could've sworn it'd gotten ten degrees colder in the room.
Daryl was on his feet, being dragged into the van, away from her. Negan's people were mobilizing- Daryl was thrown into the back of the van. He turned to look at her- her bloodied hand reached out towards him.
Dad. was her last cohesive thought, before another wind blew and the van door slammed, and she let her eyes fall closed.