KEZZ 1: Thank you for your loyal readership and commentation! I truly do appreciate it!
"Boy, do I have a feeling we're getting close," the man with the bat told them as he walked closer and paced in front of them. "It's gonna be pee-pee pants city here real soon. Which one of you pricks is the leader?" he asked, coming to stand next to Ani's stretcher.
"It's this one," the other Savior told him, pointing to Rick. "He's the guy."
"Hi," the man said after walking up to him, careful to step around Ani's feet rather than over them. "You're Rick, right? I'm Negan. And I do not appreciate you killin' my men. Also, when I sent my people to kill your people for killing my people, you killed more of my people. Not cool. Not cool," he said, returning over to next to Ani and kneeling down. "And you kept a daughter from her parents, who were looking everywhere, tryin' to get her back from the piece of shit who stole her from them. And Dwighty-boy tells me she's knocked up by her captor. You have no idea how not cool that shit is. But, I think you're gonna be up to speed in a few minutes. You are so gonna regret crossing me in a few minutes." He stood back up and started pacing in front of Rick like a predator toying with its prey, "You see, Rick, whatever you do, no matter what, you don't mess with the new world order. And the new world order is this, and it's really very simple. So, even if you're stupid, which you very well may be, you can understand it. Here goes. Pay attention," he said as he pointed his bat at Rick's face. "Give me your shit, or I will kill you," he said with a smile, leaning down as if to make a point.
"Today was career day. We invested a lot so you would know who I am and what I can do. You work for me now," he said as he walked back over next to Ani, pointing his bat at Rick. "You have shit, you give it to me. That's your job. Now, I know that is a mighty big, nasty pill to swallow, but swallow it you most certainly will. You ruled the roost. You built something," he told Rick as he stood and walked over to him, kneeling down in front of Rick. "You thought you were safe. I get it. But, the word is out. You are not safe. Not even close," he said as he stood again. "In fact, you are pegged, more pegged if you don't do what I want and what I want," he paused, "is half your shit. And if that's too much, you can make, find, or steal more, and it'll even out sooner or later. This is your way of life now. The more you fight back, the harder it will be. So, if someone knocks on your door, you let us in," he said, stopping in front of Daryl and chuckling. "We own that door. You try to stop us and we will knock it down. You understand?" Leaning towards Rick and cupping his hand over his ear, he said in mock shock, "What, no answer? You don't really think that you were gonna get through this without being punished, did you? I don't want to kill you people, I wanna make that clear from the get-go. I want you to work for me. You can't do that if you're dead, now, can you?"
He moved to stand in front of Daryl again, smiling down on the man's pale face, the blood flowing from his shoulder barely ebbed to a trickle, "But you've killed my people, a whole damn lot of them. More than I'm comfortable with. And for that, for that you're gonna pay." Negan noticed that Daryl's eyes hadn't left Titania's form the entire time he was talked, something he found odd given what he'd been told about the man. "Now, normally, I would beat the holy hell outta one of you. See this," he said holding up his bat. "This is Lucille, and she is awesome. This, all of this, is normally so we can pick out which one of you gets the honor." He started walking in front of everyone, Abraham straightening out as the man stopped in front of him, "Huh. I've gotta shave this shit," Negan said, rubbing his scruff before walking on, stopping in front of Carl and Sophia. "You got one of our guns," he told Carl. "Whoa. Yeah. You got a lot of our guns. Shit, kid, lighten up. At least cry a little. Both of you," he said looking between him and Sophia who just stared right back at him, making him raise his eyebrows and click his tongue before he stood and started walking again. "Jesus," he said, stopping in front of Maggie. "You look shitty," he drew out. I should just put you out of your misery right now."
"No!" Glenn shouted, trying to rush Negan. "No!" he shouted again as two Saviors tackled him and kicked him a few times before pointing Daryl's bow at him.
"Stop it!" Maggie cried as she watched her husband being beat.
"Nope," Negan said, scratching his lip. "Nope, get him back in line." Glenn protested the entire time he was dragged away from Maggie, begging once he was back on his knees beside Michonne. "Alright, listen. Don't any of ya do that again. I will shut that shit down, no exceptions. First one's free. It's an emotional moment, I get it," he said pointing to Glenn. "Sucks don't it?" he asked Rick. "The moment you realize you don't know shit." Negan smiled at the silence that ensued, Rick looking somewhere between rage filled and terrified as Negan walked back over towards Carl, pointing his bat at him. "This is your kid, right?" he chuckled. "He is definitely your kid."
"Just stop this!" Rick shouted.
"Hey!" Negan cut him off. "Do not make me kill the future little serial killer, or his little future serial killer girlfriend. Don't make it easy on me. Everybody's at the table waiting for me to order, and here I am ready to take my order to go! I'd hate to have to kill more people than I have to. Again, you can't work for me if you're dead. Now, I'm takin' Titania back to her parents. She deserves that peace of mind rather than being beat on by a sorry excuse for a man," He began whistling as he paced between the survivors again, moving to stop in front of Daryl again, "So, you're Daryl. The piece of shit who got a fourteen year old girl to run away from home and raped her."
"The fuck you talkin' about?"
"Oh-ho-ho, you're gonna deny it. See, I got it right from her parents' mouths. Carved her up, now you've knocked her up. But don't worry, we can correct that."
Daryl saw red at his insinuation and attacked. He got two good punches in before he was laid into by four different Saviors as Negan recovered from being knocked to the ground. Negan looked at Daryl who was being pinned to the ground forcefully by all four men as if he was stupid before spitting on the ground. He had literally just warned them he would shut that shit down with brutal force only for the man to immediately attack him for suggesting the girl get rid of the pregnancy. Hell, the man had forced himself on the girl the first time, sending the girl running back to her parents, scared and scarred all to hell. And then the man had gotten a hold of her all over again when the world ended, having the audacity to call her his wife. Yet, the man's eyes had only left her sleeping form when he himself had started talking about taking her and removing the kid from her womb. Negan might be a thug at the best of times, but he wasn't stupid. Something didn't quite add up with what he'd been told and what he could see for himself, but it didn't matter as he swung around.
With a chuckle, he walked in a circle, wiping the blood of his lip before pointing his bat at Daryl, "Oh, my. That! That is a no-no. The whole thing—not one bit of that shit flies here."
"You want me to do it?" Dwight asked as he came up with the bow at the ready. "Right here, right now?"
"You leave Ania and our baby alone!" Daryl yelled, still trying to get free, the only one keeping Merle from attacking being Abraham as he held the man's arm, both of them looking completely constipated at the lack of options to retaliate. They didn't have the numbers, let alone the firepower.
Negan chuckled and grabbed a fistful of Daryl's hair as he told Dwight, "No, no, you don't kill that, not until you try a little. Leave Ania alone?" he said with a chuckle. "Seems like I need some more information," he said quiet enough for Daryl to hear before turning to look at Dwight, letting go of Daryl and motioning for the Saviors to put him back in line. "Anyway, that's not how it works. First one's free, then—what'd I say? I said I would shut that shit down. No exceptions. Now, I don't know what kind of lying assholes you've been dealing with, but I'm a man of my word. First impressions are important. I need you to know me. So, anybody moves, anybody says anything, cut the boy's other eye out and feed it to his little girlfriend there, then cut her eye out and feed it to his father! And then we can really start. You can breathe. You can blink. You can cry. Hell, you're all gonna be doin' that," he said before he turned around and bashed his bat over Glenn's head seemingly without even choosing beforehand who he was going to hit. He repeated twice more before stopping, looking at his handiwork as Glenn's eyeball was popped out of his skull, the man trying to say something. Negan bent down and asked, "Buddy, you still there? I just don't know. It seems like you're trying to speak, but you just took a hell of a hit. I just popped your skull so hard, your eyeball just popped out! And it is gross as shit!"
"Maggie—Maggie I'll find you," Glenn got out, Negan turning around to see the sickly woman sobbing and realizing that the two of them were together.
"Oh hell," he said, turning to her. "I can see this is hard on you guys. I am sorry. I truly am. But I did say it. No exceptions!" he said before he turned around and started bashing over and over again, Maggie sobbing while Merle watched Daryl flinch at every hit of the bat to Glenn's head, even after it was pulverized. "You bunch of pussies. I'm just getting started." Daryl couldn't look away as Maggie screamed and sobbed, Negan laughing as he swung his bat around, leaving a trail of blood across Rick's face and Ani's blankets. "Oh, you guys! Look at this! Look at my dirty girl!" he said as he held up the bat. "Lucille was thirsty! She is a vampire bat! What?" he asked as the group had no reaction to his words. "Was the joke that bad?"
"I'm gonna kill you," Rick said.
"What?" Negan asked as he bent down in front of Rick. "I didn't quite catch that. You're gonna have to speak up."
Rick looked down and sniffled before looking Negan in the eye, "Not today, not tomorrow, but I'm gonna kill you. Or Ani will. Whichever one of us gets to you first."
"Jesus," Negan said, turning to look at the unconscious amber-head before looking back at Rick. "That little thing there killing me? I've been told all about her, how her mind is broken. How your man used that to his advantage. And you think one of you are gonna kill me? Huh," he said with a chuckle. "Simon, what'd he have, a knife?"
"Uh, he had a hatchet," Simon, the main guy until Negan had arrived, told him.
"A hatchet?" Negan asked, amused at the choice of words.
"He had an ax," Simon rephrased.
Negan chuckled before telling Rick, "Simon's my right hand man. Having one of those is important. I mean, what do you have left without them? A whole lot of work. You have one? Maybe one of these fine people still breathing? Oh, or did I..." he clicked with his tongue a couple times to indicate what he'd just done to Glenn. "Sure. Yeah. Give me his ax," Negan told Simon, who handed it over. Negan stared at Rick in the eye for a moment before standing and putting the ax through his belt loop and grabbing his shoulder. "I'll be right back. Maybe Rick will be with me. And if not, well, we can just turn these people inside out, now can't we? I mean, the ones that are left," he said, all but throwing Rick into the RV before entering it himself.
It was long after the sun rose before Negan came back in the RV and threw Rick out. "And here we are," he said as he came out. "Tell me Rick. Do you even know what that little trip was about?" When Rick didn't answer, Negan told him, "Speak when you're spoken to."
"Okay," Rick said quietly. "Okay."
"That trip was about the way you looked at me," Negan told him. "I wanted to change that. I wanted you to understand. But you're still looking at me the same damn way. Like I shit in your scrambled eggs and that's not gonna work! So, do I give you another chance?"
He knelt down as Rick bowed his head, still talking in a quiet voice as he simply said, "Yes."
Negan patted Rick on the back as he stood back up and said, "Okay! Alright. And here it is—the grand-prize game. What you do next will decide whether your crap day becomes everyone's last crap day, aside from Titania, of course. Get some guns to the back of their heads." Negan waited until there was a gun pointed at everyone's heads before saying, "Good. Now, level with their noses so if you have to fire," imitating an explosion sound and mimicking it with his hands, he finished with, "it'll be a real mess. Make sure it doesn't get on Titania. I'd hate to have her puke when she wakes up and I accidentally already got some on her earlier. My bad. Now, kid, well, one-eye kid; here, now," he said, pointing to the ground beside him. "Now, or it will be the girl beside you." Carl stood and moved to where Negan was standing while the man took off his belt asking, "Are you a Southpaw?"
"Am I a what?" he asked, staring at the man, the anger he felt obvious on his face.
"You a lefty?" Negan rephrased.
"No," Carl said flatly.
"Good," Negan said after raising his eyebrows at Carl's blatant attitude towards him, getting to work rolling the boy's sleeve up and tightening his belt around his arm. "That hurt?"
"No."
"Should," Negan said as he finished up. "It's supposed to. Get down on the ground, kid, next to Daddy. Spread them wings," he finished as he flung Carl's hat behind him. He helped Carl lower himself all the way to the ground before turning to Simon and beseeching, "Simon, you got a pen?"
"Yeah," Simon said, reaching into his pocket and producing a Sharpie.
"Sorry kid, this gonna be as cold as a warlock's ballsack," he told Carl as he knelt down, biting the cap off and marking a line on Carl's forearm. "Just like he was hanging his ballsack above ya and just dragged his ballsack right across your forearm. Give you a little leverage."
"Please, please don't," Rick begged. "Please don't."
"Me?" Negan chuckled. "I ain't doin' shit. Ahh, Rick, I want you to take your ax and cut your son's left arm off, right on that line," he said with a sigh. "Now I know. I know. You have to process that for a second. That makes sense. Still, though, I'm gonna need you to do it, or all these people are gonna die. Then Carl dies. Then the people back home die. And then you, eventually. Of course, Titania and Daryl, they're not included in the slaughter, seeing as Daryl's not mine to kill and Titania's not yours to keep. But the rest of these fine people? Well, I'll keep you breathin' for a few years just so you can stew on it."
"You don't have to do this," Michonne reasoned as Sophia began silently crying, the tears running down her face as she stared at Carl. "We understand! We understand..."
"You understand," Negan stated. "Yeah. I'm not sure that Rick does. I'm gonna need a clean cut, right there on that line. Now, I know that this is a screwed up thing to ask, but it's gonna have to be like a salami slice—nothing messy, clean, forty-five degrees, something to fold over. We've got a great doctor. Both the kid and Titania will be fine. Probably," Negan said before squatting next to Rick and telling him, "Rick, this needs to happen now. Chop, chop, or I will crush the little fella's head in myself."
"No!" Sophia cried, unable to keep her voice back anymore, Carl looking over to her.
"It-it can be me. It can be me," Rick told Negan, who was giving Sophia a contemplative stare, trying desperately to find a way out of this situation where no one else died but he didn't have to cut his son's arm off. "W-w-y-you can do it to me. I c-I can go w-with you."
"No," Negan told him before standing up. "This is the only way. Rick, pick up the ax. Not making a decision is a big decision. Do you really wanna see all these people die? You will. You will see every ugly thing. Oh, my god. Are you gonna make me count? Okay, Rick, you win. I am counting. Three!"
"Please!" Rick cried. "Please! It can be me! Please!" he sobbed.
"Two!" Negan said as he knelt down beside Rick.
"Please! Don't do-" whatever he was going to say next was cut off by Negan's slap to the face as Rick sobbed and begged.
Grabbing Rick's face by the chin, Negan told him, "This is it. One!"
Through his sobs, Rick grabbed Carl's hand and the ax as Carl told him, "Dad. Just do it. Just do it."
Sobbing with a battle yell, he raised the ax above his head, ready to lower it when Negan squatted again and said, "Rick." Looking at the man with the ax raised, sobbing at the thought of hurting his son. "You answer to me. You provide for me. You belong to me. Right?" When Rick simply kept panting and sobbing, Negan grabbed his chin again and yelled in his face, "Speak when you're spoken to! You answer to me. You provide for me. You belong to me. Right?!"
"Right!" Rick answered, his terror obvious on his face.
"Right," Negan said with a smile. "There! That is the look I wanted to see!"
Ani could hear the sobbing as the dark numb that had control of her began to subside. Her whole body felt like it was on fire and she couldn't help but try to move her hand to her belly. She knew she'd been shot in the shoulder, but the fire was consuming her entire body. What if something was wrong with the baby? Why was the air so cold on her flesh? Her hand felt so sluggish trying to move it, but she knew there was nothing holding onto it. Who was talking? Why were people crying? Was that Rick that was begging? Was someone threatening them? She needed to move, needed to get to safety, to Daryl, but her body just wouldn't cooperate. Starting to get frightened by the darkness that enveloped her eyes, Ani did her best to fight to open them. When she did, the bright lights had her blinking and groaning as she turned her head away.
"Ania?" she heard Daryl's voice before feeling his hand on one of hers, his other hand going to her face, both seemingly shaky and cool to the touch; was he shaking or was she? "Baby girl?"
"I-is-is the baby-," she started before swallowing thickly. "Is the baby okay?"
Daryl chocked a sob back as her eyes opened for the first time in days, Dwight and Negan watching the interaction closely as Daryl said, "He's fine, he's fine."
"Get him away from her," Negan said in a tiresome tone as he motioned for the Saviors to come up and drag Daryl back, slightly shocked at the fact that she would ask about the baby she really should want to get rid of which was the only reason he'd allowed the interaction to continue in the first place.
"Nah! Nah!" Ani said weakly, trying and failing once again to move her arms more than just a little, though she did manage to get one hand on her belly, feeling the little bubble of movement inside.
"Hey, hey now, it's okay, you're gonna be just fine," Negan said as he knelt down by her. "We're getting you back to your parents, where you belong. You don't have to worry about that prick."
"Wh-what? Nah, I can'-I can' go back ta them!" she said with labored breath before the world started turning black again. "I can'...me baby...can'..."
"Ania!" Daryl cried as he fought the holds to get to her side again.
Negan chuckled at Daryl's actions before telling him, "Well, you really are some kind of stupid. Definitely got a lot of fight in you," he said before standing up. "Well, we did it. All of us, together. Even the dead guy on the ground. Hell, he gets the spirit award for sure! Today was a productive damn day!" Negan sighed, "Now I hope for all your sake, that you get it now. That you understand how things work. Things have changed," he said after a pause. "Whatever you had going for you, that is over now," he chuckled before sighing. "Dwight, load up Titania. Daryl too, let 'em have one last little ride together. See what you see, hear what you hear. Somethin' stinks worse than rotters in the sun, and I wanna know what," he told him quietly as the man stood next to him. Walking back over to Rick as Daryl was put back in the truck he'd been taken from, Ani being loaded in on her stretcher afterwards the only reason he didn't fight, Negan bent low and told Rick loud enough for Merle to hear, "He's got guts, not a little bitch like someone I know. I like him. Once I figure out what's actually goin' on with the girl, well, I'll decide whether I'm gonna let Tom and Ellie kill him or if I'm just gonna keep him!" he said in excitement.
"See, if anything, that little exchange along with the fact he barely took his eyes off her and she clearly doesn't want to go back to her parents, well, I must say it's got my balls in all kinds of a knot right now. I know the look of true fear. It wasn't me that girl was afraid of, let alone Daryl. So I'm gonna get to the bottom of this and teach whoever's in the wrong a little lesson," he said with a smile, knocking and gesturing with Lucille. "See? I can be reasonable. But they're mine now, both of 'em. And if you want to try something, not today, not tomorrow. 'Not today, not tomorrow,'" he imitated Rick's voice as he moved his body dramatically back and forth. "I will cut off pieces of both of them and put them on your doorstep. Or better yet, I will bring them to you and have you do it for me. Ah, welcome to a brand new beginning you sorry shits! I'll leave you a truck, you can keep it. Use it to cart all the crap you're gonna find me. We'll be back for our first offering in one week. Until then, ta-ta," he finished before the doors were closed and the Saviors left the group kneeling and shaken on the ground.
Daryl knelt next to Ani as she began to stir again as they traveled, the bumps in the road making the fire ignite all over her body every time they were hit. "Baby girl? Baby girl, you with me?" he asked, hoping to give her some warning before she was thrown head first into her parents' clutches.
"D-Daryl?" she said. "Where? Where are we?"
"I don't know," Daryl told her, leaning down and kissing her forehead, feeling how hot she was. "But you're gonna be gettin' some help. You-you've got an infection, you're burnin' up, and they've got a doctor. They-they're takin' you to them bastards, baby girl. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he cried as he knelt over her, clutching one of her hands in his, the other on her face once again.
Ani's breathing came out a bit labored as she grabbed at his hand and stuttered, "T-them? T-t'ey're takin' us ta t'em?!"
"I'm gonna get you out, baby girl," Daryl promised, not knowing the two in front could hear everything they were saying, let alone the fact that there was a baby monitor showing Dwight everything they were doing. "You and Little D. I'm gonna get you out, gonna keep you safe, I promise."
"Ya can', ya can' give inta t'em, not'in' t'ey say, not'in' t'ey do. Ya can' give in, D, ya jus' can'."
"I won't. You just get better. When you're better, we'll get out. I promise you, I ain't lettin' you stay a second longer than you gotta, baby girl. I promise, it's gonna be okay."
"Gods, D, I'm scared."
"I know, baby girl, I know. You gotta be strong, gotta be brave, for him," Daryl told her, putting his hand on her stomach.
Ani had tears leaking from her eyes as she pressed the hand on her stomach a little harder into the small bump there, asking Daryl, "Can ya feel 'im?"
Daryl choked out a sob and bent down, giving her a kiss as the truck slowed, "I feel 'im. I feel 'im," he repeated, putting just a little more pressure onto her belly, feeling the little flutters under his palm. "I love you, Ania. Don't forget that. I love you."
"I l-love ya, too, D," she told him, knowing they were about to be separated again, whether by others or by the darkness that had consumed her, her vision starting to fade again, her breathing becoming heavy as she tried to fight it. "I love ya, D. Don'...Don' let 'em...Don' let 'em change ya."
"I won't, baby girl," he told her, kissing her forehead, his tears falling freely onto her face as the truck stopped completely, watching as her eyes fluttered closed again. "You sleep now. I'll get you out. No matter what, you ain't goin' to 'em."
"Tom, Ellie," he could hear Negan say, movement outside the doors having Daryl take a defensive position as best he could in front of Ania. "I got somethin' for you. You're gonna love this."
The doors opened and the first face Daryl saw was Tom's. The rage in him grew as Tom smiled viciously, though his eyes weren't on Daryl, it was on the sleeping form behind him. If Negan, who was leaning against the inside of the door watching the two of them, Dwight speaking in his ear, couldn't see what Daryl saw, it meant he simply didn't want to. Daryl didn't even waste any time, launching himself at Tom even though he knew it would be a losing fight. If he could at least take one of those assholes out with him, she'd stand a fighting chance even if he wasn't there. She was smart enough she could probably turn a bunch of the Saviors against Negan; he'd seen her do it with the Woodbury people and the Alexandrians. His Ania was capable of anything she put her mind to, so she could raise the baby and get out of here without him if she had to. But he'd be damned if he didn't put up a fight to keep her from this man, the woman behind him sneering just as sinisterly as Ania had once upon a time towards Merle. For the first time, he could see where she got her darker side from, not just in reactions, but in action too.
"I ain't lettin' you hurt 'er again!" he roared as he landed a solid haymaker against the man's jaw.
As much as he wanted to kill Tom, he was only able to get that one punch in before he was being held back completely by two men holding each arm. That didn't stop him from struggling and threatening both Tom and Ellie if anything happened to Ania. He did his best not to mention the baby until Ellie said they'd get rid of his 'little accident,' making him break the hold on him and charge at her. He was stopped before he even got to her, more threats and curses coming out of his mouth as he fought and struggled against those holding him back, trying to kick out at the people who dared to even call themselves Ania's family, her parents, before Negan stepped in.
"Get him out of here!" the man said, Dwight and three other Saviors pulling and shoving Daryl as he fought against them to get back to Ania. "Get Carson to look at him. As for you two, don't be too happy yet. I might have got her, I never said you could have her. See, she wants that baby, and who am I to deny an expectant mother?"
"She doesn't know what she wants! Her mind's unstable!" Ellie insisted.
"Oh, I think she does," Negan said in a sing-songy voice. "See, according to my man Dwight, your daughter is as sound of mind as a person with a serious infection and fighting for their baby could be. And I trust my man Dwight. I trust my eyes and ears too, and trust me when I say, you so much as lay a hand on her until I figure out what's goin' on here, well, I'll demote you all the way down to fence duty, if I don't just make you part of the landscape."
"She's our daughter!" Tom told him sternly, making Negan stare at him hard.
"Yeah, she sure as shit is! Right down to the amber hair that neither of you have and the oh so tall stature," Negan chuckled, thinking about what Dwight had said, how the two had literally just encouraged each other and told them they loved each other, both worried about the baby in her belly.
There had been no threats, nothing to indicate that any kind of abuse was going on to make the girl stay with the man, unlike what the two in front of him had said. As far as Negan could tell, the girl wanted the pregnancy her parents had only just found out about, a pregnancy they swore up and down had to be the byproduct of rape. He'd been absolutely willing to help them get their daughter back since it was right along the lines of what they were doing anyway, so it wasn't like they wasted resources looking for the girl. They knew where to find her and how to get her, so he had agreed to helping. After all, both Tom and Ellie had become valuable soldiers over the last few months, finding another outpost and rummaging up two large semi trailers full of food and personal utilities. Until he'd seen their transaction, until he heard Dwight's recollection of the ride to Sanctuary and how the two had been in the back of the truck, he'd fully believed the lies the two of them had told him.
They'd said she was an unstable child that had suffered from multiple mental health illnesses. It made her confused, it made her vulnerable to the lies of others. Daryl had once been a friend of the family until he convinced Titania to run away with him to Georgia when she was fourteen. Apparently, the sick fuck had been bedding her since before then, at least according to Tom and Ellie. They'd tried to get her back, but the man had been beating her until the point that she was too scared to leave, confusing her with confessions and acts of love and kindness and caring to the point she believed he loved her. She'd escaped about a year before everything went to hell, running back to her parents, to a life of real love and happiness. Once the world ended, the first group they'd encountered had Daryl in it, and when they'd been forced to run, he'd pulled her from Ellie's arms and damn near killed Tom, the bullet hole in his shoulder obvious. But what from Negan had seen, well, loving parents didn't look at their children like playthings. On top of that, he knew the difference between a man looking at a woman in love and in lust, and Lucille as his witness, Daryl wasn't lusting after the hot little thing still resting in the truck.
Looking back and forth between Tom, Ellie, and Titania, Negan laughed and said, "I mean, I just don't see it! Look at you! Look at her! How can you ugly as fuck trolls really claim to have made that beautiful little leprechaun? Seriously? Well, even if you are her parents, she told me herself she didn't want to come back to you. She might be confused, as you say. She might not be. I'll take it from the source when she wakes up." Turning to Simon. Negan told him, "Get her set up in a room and get Carson to look at her ASAP. I want her on the mend so I can find out just who Lucille gets to hit on next. She is one thirsty girl, and I gotta let her have her fill," he said with a charming smile thrown towards Titania's parents.