I was grateful Amy didn't seem to dwell on the intimate moment I had shared with Negan, but I couldn't stop thinking about it.

I had kissed him.

I still wasn't sure why, and was feeling very conflicted. It had just felt right in the moment, and I had given in. I couldn't stop thinking about that softer side to him—the gentler side that ate dinner with my friends and me—the side that had cleaned the blood off my face after I killed someone—the side that brought us pills in the middle of the night, and Amy pop-tarts.

Maybe that's why I kissed him—because I was fond of that side of him.

But I felt conflicted, because that wasn't the only side to Negan.

He had a mean side—the monster side. The side that shot and killed Seth—the side that egged me on to kill Adam—the side that became aroused at the idea of me shooting one of his men.

Negan was a complicated man, and I hated his brutality—his vulgarness.

But part of me was absolutely fascinated by the man behind the mask.

Over the next week, I couldn't get my mind off him…off that kiss.

I was lounging in bed with a notebook and a pen in hand, making a list of things we needed to do before Negan would be back in a week. We had already gathered more gas, and Vivienne had managed to grow broccoli and cucumbers. We already had supplies to give Negan, but I wondered if he would even expect us to give supplies anymore.

What had that kiss meant for us?

I heard a knock at my door and looked up from my bed to see Eric was standing there. He looked a bit nervous.

"Everything okay?" I asked right away, swinging my legs off the mattress and setting them onto the floor.

"There's a group of men at the gate, and they want to talk to our leader." He fidgeted and had a worried expression on his face.

"Saviors?" I guessed, thinking that Negan's men had come early, and he was probably among them. He had told me he would be back in a week, and I had been anticipating an awkward argument with him. How was I supposed to face him after that kiss?

"I don't think so. They said they need supplies."

I headed into the hallway and towards the front door of the school. I could already see the gate was part way open, and Ryan was standing at it, talking to someone. I stepped across the yard, looking around outside to see it was empty. Everyone was inside, and it probably had to do with it being a bit chilly that day.

As I reached the gate, I saw a man standing on the opposite side, but he was leaning in and talking to Ryan as I approached. He had short brown hair that was pushed up. His lanky body was covered in old raggedy clothing that had crimson stains of blood splattered all over it. As I approached the gate, he smiled warmly at me.

"You must be Elle," he said, sticking his hand out towards me. I took it into mine and shook his firm grasp. "I'm Caleb. Please, you have to help us. We have nowhere else to go."

I glanced behind him to see four men and a woman were standing behind him, and they were all shivering, wearing flimsy coats. Their clothes were stained and dirty, and the woman was cradling a bundle in her arms—a baby, wrapped up in blankets to protect it from the cold. I glanced over at Ryan who tilted his head, but didn't say anything.

"Please," Caleb added. "We haven't had anything to eat for days."

I didn't know what to say to him, and didn't want to be too trusting. Strangers showing up out of the blue and asking to be helped seemed awfully suspicious, but I noted that they didn't appear to have any weapons on them. Plus they had a child with them. I still needed to be sure…

"Are you armed?" I asked, looking them over carefully from where I stood.

"No. We don't have any weapons," Caleb said, holding his arms out to show he was telling the truth. It made me feel slightly better.

"We don't have much, but we can spare some supplies," I assured, turning to Ryan and nodding for him to let them in. I wasn't sure about having them live at Doveport, but we could at least give them some food and clean clothes.

"Thank you, Elle," Caleb replied with a wide smile, and then stepped through the gate into Doveport's yard. His men followed behind him, and Ryan shut the gate once they were inside.

"We'll set you up with some rooms, and you can join us for dinner," I explained, nodding to Caleb. They seemed hopeful now at the mention of food and shelter.

We walked up to the school and entered. A few Doveporters had been watching from the glass windows and stepped out of the way as I led Caleb and his men inside. As we walked in, they all looked around in amazement.

"That's a neat gate you got," Caleb remarked, walking next to me. He was incredibly close, and I noted my ruger was still in my hip holster if I needed it.

"Yeah, the school works great. It's nice to have the wall." My attempt at making small talk seemed awkward, but Caleb didn't seem to mind. He continued to smile and look inside of the classrooms as we passed by them. Eric and Amy were standing near the end of the hallway, and were watching us nervously.

"This is Caleb," I introduced him, and he grinned at them. "He and his people are gonna have dinner with us."

"Hello," Amy greeted them with a small smile. She seemed uneasy, but I couldn't blame her. Caleb's eyes went to Amy's stomach immediately.

"You're having a baby?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Amy nodded. She looked over to where the woman was cradling hers and smiled a bit at her. The woman smiled back.

"Yeah. We're not sure when it's due, but I'm very excited to meet him or her."

"Oh, I bet," Caleb replied.

I don't know what it was about the way he was looking at Amy, but it made me feel uneasy. It was like a red flag shot up at the realization Caleb was smiling so much, and perhaps my assessment that they didn't have any weapons wasn't enough reason to be so trusting. I figured maybe if we gave them some food, they would leave, and we would be okay.

"Eric, why don't you go get Caleb and his friends some food?" I suggested, nodding at him in the direction of the kitchen. He furrowed his brow at me, and then nodded in understanding. He hurried off, leaving Amy and me alone with Caleb and his men—who had started going into rooms and looking around, studying the school. I watched them closely, and glanced over at Amy who was doing the same. Something wasn't right.

"I thought you said we were all gonna have dinner…" Caleb pointed out, tilting his head at me. He continued to grin, and I forced a smile back at him.

"We don't really have the room for more people right now, but we would be happy to help you guys out as best we can," I said. I could hear the nervousness in my voice.

"It's a nice, big place, Elle. I think you can share." Caleb leaned close to me, and I swallowed hard. He noticed my reaction and chuckled.

"You seem uneasy, Elle. No reason to be scared." He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to him. My eyes went to Amy, who was watching us with an uneasy look.

Eric was back fast with a box filled with canned food. He held it out towards Caleb who gestured for one of his men to take it. He continued to drape his arm over me, and my skin felt like ice as he touched me. I glanced up to see his men going in and out of the rooms, and alarms started going off in my head.

We were in trouble.

"So how about that dinner?" Caleb asked, squeezing my shoulder tightly.

Too tight.

I clenched my jaw and pulled away from his grasp.

"I think you should leave now," I said sternly, turning to look at Caleb. He continued to grin wide, and didn't even seemed fazed at my words. He furrowed his brow dramatically and then chuckled.

"Well aren't you cocky?"

The next moments felt like a blur. Before I had time to react, Caleb balled his fist and punched me in my face. I felt the top of his knuckles connect with my eye socket. Everything went black for a few moments as I stumbled onto the ground. He leaned over me and took the ruger from my holster, and then my knife. I reached up to grab my throbbing face, and watched him study the knife in his hands.

"Elle!" Amy cried out, but one of Caleb's men grabbed her arms and pulled them behind her back. Eric turned to help, but the woman who had been holding the bundle revealed she hadn't been holding a baby—she had been holding a gun, wrapped up within the blankets. She pointed the gun at the back of Eric's head, making him freeze and put his hands up.

My heart sank as each man pulled out a gun that they had been hiding under their coats. My head lolled as I struggled to sit up, and I continued to feel dizzy. Caleb leaned down so his face was close to mine.

"This school now belongs to us. You're going to do everything I say, or I'm gonna kill all your little friends. Got it?" One of his men approached from the side, and Caleb handed my ruger to the man. He slid the knife into his belt.

I glared up at him and struggled to open my throbbing eye. I was mentally cursing myself for letting him inside our walls. Not liking the way I was looking at him, Caleb grabbed my arm and twisted it sharply. I screamed out in pain, and my body writhed on the floor as he bent it.

"Got it?!" he demanded louder. I desperately tried to pull my arm away from him. When he finally loosened his grip, I yanked my sore arm back towards my body and scowled at him.

"Like hell I will," I growled.

Caleb's hand shot out and grabbed the top of my head. His fingers laced into my hair, and he pulled me up in one fast motion, making me cry out in pain. He used his other hand to grab me and press me into him, rubbing his face against the side of mine and inhaled loudly.

"You need to behave yourself Elle, or I'm gonna have to hurt you even worse."

I wanted to kill him.

I wanted to take my knife from his pants and slit his throat as he grinned down at me, but I was completely defenseless. I could barely stand on my feet as I struggled to focus on Caleb standing before me. I couldn't see very well through my swelling eye, and I felt my legs buckle a bit. He held me up, moving his harsh grip from my hair and taking hold of my waist.

"I'm sorry, honey. Did I hit you too hard?" he asked, propping me up against him better as I struggled to pull away from him. "I won't have to hit you if you are a good girl. You're gonna be a good girl for me, aren't you Elle?"

I closed my eyes and tried to think of a way out of this. Negan wasn't due to come for another week. We would just have to survive until then.

I looked up to see Amy was silently sobbing, and Eric was being forced onto the ground. They both had guns pointed at them. The sight made my stomach churn, and I knew there was no getting out of this in that moment. One week. We just had to wait one week.

"Okay," I whispered in defeat, turning to look up at Caleb. His grin grew impossibly wider, and he nodded at me.

Caleb brought me, Amy, and Eric into the cafeteria. Vivienne had been preparing dinner and they hadn't found her yet, but I knew it was only a matter of time before she was discovered. They confiscated all of our weapons, and the other Doveporters were quickly rounded up and brought into one of the makeshift bedrooms. Two of Caleb's men guarded the door of the classroom they were locked into. Amy was clinging to Eric now, as we stood in the middle of the room with guns pointed at us. Caleb approached her and looked down at her swollen belly.

"It's a shame you're already pregnant. We'd make such pretty babies." Caleb reached out to cup Amy's cheek, but Eric moved in his way, blocking his wife. In one swift motion, Caleb shoved Eric onto the ground, and two of Caleb's men surrounded Eric. Amy and I were restrained once again, and we watched in horror as the men began kicking Eric, over and over again, without mercy. Amy sobbed, begging them to stop, but her cries only seemed to make them kick Eric even harder.

They kicked for what seemed like forever. Eric eventually stopped wincing, and I watched helplessly as one of Caleb's men held me back from going to help him. He passed out, and still they kicked him. I heard a loud crack, and Amy wailed as her husband was beaten before our eyes.

Amy reached out to Eric, and sobbed as she tried to go to him. Caleb approached her as she cried. He reached up and brushed the tears away from her face.

"Don't cry, angel," he said to her in a mock sympathetic voice. I felt bile rise in my throat at what I had just witnessed. Amy's sobs stopped, but her body continued to shake, and she looked disgusted as he continued to caress her face.

My arms were held tightly behind my back by one of Caleb's men. I tried to pull away with all my strength, but he was huge, and held me back without even having to try. I wanted to get to Eric, who I wasn't even sure was still alive. He was unmoving on the ground, and after a long time, they finally stopped kicking him.

Amy let out a wail—the sound echoed throughout the whole school. I closed my eyes, hoping we hadn't just watched Eric die.

"There's another one!" the man holding my arms called out, turning his attention to the kitchen door. Vivienne had come out to see what was happening, and had started to go back into the kitchen, but the men that had been kicking Eric went after her.

"Who's this ugly, old bitch?" one of Caleb's men asked, as Vivienne was led over to us. Her eyes were locked onto Eric's motionless body, and then she looked at me with frightened eyes. She noticed my eye and gasped, just as one of the men grabbed her arms to restrain her in his grasp.

"She can make us dinner!" Caleb announced, smiling warmly at Vivienne. "You know how to cook, right?"

Vivienne nodded obediently; her eyes had drifted downwards, and her head was hung low. She looked defeated now, just like us.

"Excellent! Better make something good, or we'll beat this poor bastard until it is." He gestured down to Eric. He still wasn't moving.

Vivienne was led back to the kitchen by two of Caleb's men. The man that had been holding my arms finally let go, and Amy was also freed. She fell onto the floor and quickly crawled over to Eric. I went to go to her, when Caleb grabbed my arm and started pulling me towards the hall.

"You're gonna keep giving me that tour, Elle."

Caleb's men completely took over Doveport. The others were still locked up in a classroom, and I wasn't sure if there had been any casualties. I had heard sobbing coming from their direction, but I couldn't help them. Caleb forced me to show him the different rooms and the supplies we had stocked up. He held onto my arm tight as we walked throughout the hallway. I glared at him, but complied with any request and answered any question he had. I wanted to try and get everyone out of this alive… those of us who still were.

When we entered back into the cafeteria, I saw Eric was still on the floor. Amy was already seated at the long table with one of Caleb's men seated next to her. Caleb pulled me over to the table, and forced me to sit across from Amy. We both looked up at one another, and she seemed to be focused on my left eye—the one Caleb had punched that was swollen, and I could barely see out of. I wondered how bad it was. Her bottom lip quivered and tears streamed down her face.

"He's not dead," she whispered so low, I almost didn't hear her. She was talking about Eric, and I glanced over at him laying on the cold floor. We had to do something, or he would be.

"Hey Pete," Caleb said, addressing the large man sitting next to Amy. "I didn't know you had a thing for pregnant women."

Pete chuckled darkly and put his arm around Amy. She winced as he touched her and he went to press his face into her hair when the kitchen door opened. Vivienne came out carrying a large metal pot as one of the men followed closely behind, aiming his gun at her. She carried the pot over to the table and set it down. The dinner plates had already been set out. Caleb was still standing, and he leaned over to look inside the pot.

"Well would you look at that! The old hag isn't useless! And here I thought we were gonna have to put a bullet in between her eyes."

Vivienne didn't react, and Caleb put a hand up in the air.

"You're dismissed. She can join the others."

I watched as Vivienne was led off at gunpoint, down the hall to join the other captured Doveporters.

That left Amy and me alone with Pete and Caleb.

The two men loaded up their plates with fettuccine. Vivienne had added broccoli from her garden, and we had all been looking forward to sitting down and eating this meal before all hell broke loose. Caleb dished up my plate and Amy's, and then started to eat. Amy and I both didn't move. I was desperately trying to find a way out of this. I glanced down at the silverware and wished I had a knife.

Caleb moved so his leg was touching mine and I flinched. He was chewing his food and dramatically savouring it, when his hand reached across and grabbed my thigh and squeezed. He leaned over so his breath hit the side of my face.

"Are you turned on yet?" He rubbed my leg with his hand. I remained completely still and continued to stare at Amy. She looked so helpless. I wanted to reassure her that everything was going to be okay, but that would be a lie. I was terrified out of my mind.

"Aren't you ladies gonna eat?" Caleb asked, gesturing to our plates. Amy and I continued to be frozen in place, and then Caleb bellowed, "EAT!"

We both flinched as he screamed, and then grabbed our forks. Amy's hand was shaking so badly, she could barely hold the utensil. We both took a bite, doing as he said.

We ate slowly, but my stomach was in knots. I forced each bite, and tried to think of a way to kill these men. I had to protect my people. They had trusted me to keep them safe, and I had let these brutes into our haven.

After what felt like an eternity, Caleb dropped his fork onto his empty plate.

"That was AMAZING!" he declared, and stood up from the table. "Now we can finally start making ourselves comfortable."

Those words made my veins feel like ice. They had already made themselves comfortable. I closed my eyes as he turned to me with a sick smile.

"I wanna see your room, Elle."

Fuck.

I was sure I knew where this was going. I opened my eyes to see Amy had started to sob again.

"Please don't hurt her! PLEASE!" she wailed, covering her face and trembling.

"Pete, I think the pregnant lady is becoming hysterical. Lock her up."

"NO! ELLE!" Amy sobbed, reaching out to me, but Pete pulled her up forcefully from the table. I took a deep breath and tried to smile reassuringly at her. I figured the classroom might be safer for her than being Pete's toy, the way I was about to become Caleb's.

Amy was dragged down the hall, and I was left alone with Caleb. I looked down at the table and tried to calm my breathing. I had never felt so utterly defeated.

In an instant, Caleb was yanking me up from the table, and he grabbed my head to look at him. He leaned close, so his face was inches from mine.

"You belong to me now."

I didn't fight him as he pulled me down the hall, towards the bedrooms.

"Which one is yours?" he demanded to know, and I nodded at my room. I wasn't going to lie to him, and I was eager to get him alone. Maybe I could gain an upperhand on him—I had been here before, and I hoped it would have the same outcome.

Caleb shoved me into my room, and I stumbled in and towards the bed.

"Home sweet home," he said, entering inside and pulling the door closed behind him. He walked past me and sat down on top of my mattress, and then patted the spot next to him.

"Now Elle, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way…"

I felt transported back to that bedroom at the Sanctuary where I had been forced down onto a bed and almost violated. I wished this time was like that time.

I wished I had my knife.

I wished this bastard would bleed out, just like A.J.

I knew I couldn't run, but I wasn't going to do this willingly. As I stood firmly in place, and refused to obey, Caleb's amused expression turned sour. He moved fast, standing back up and grabbed my hair again. He dragged me over to the spot, and my arms shot up to try and claw at his hands, but his fingers were laced together in a vice grip. He continued to hold me, as my body fell against the bed, and then leaned over me.

"You're finally gonna have a place in this world, Elle." My heart was beating loud in my ears as I watched him remove my knife from his belt. "If you behave yourself, I won't have to scar that pretty face of yours."

My eyes narrowed at him.

"Is your dick that tiny that you have to force girls to take it?" I spat.

He chuckled and placed the blade against the skin of my neck. I winced as I felt the sharp sting as it dug into my flesh.

"That's not what I'm gonna use you for."

The slice was shallow, but I could feel a line of blood start to roll down to my chest. Caleb's grip on my hair tightened, and he yanked my head to the side to expose the cut more. My skin pulled and the cut stung, making me whimper out. I watched with horrified eyes as Caleb lowered his mouth to the wound and he sucked against the open skin.

I did my best to try and jerk away, but he pushed me so I was laying flat against the mattress. My arms flailed, trying to grab something to get him off me—anything—but my fingers only found sheets. I looked up in horror as he climbed on top of me, locking me down with his knees, and then brought his mouth back to my bleeding skin.

I was absolutely mortified.

As he ran his tongue across the tender flesh, I felt tears well up in my eyes. This man was sick, and I felt so completely trapped. He let out a groan as his lips pressed roughly against the cut, and then he sat up and prepared the knife again right above my breast.

A knock at the door made him stop, and I gasped for breath, as he rolled off me. I closed my eyes tight, hoping for a miracle to be behind that door.

"What!?" Caleb demanded as Pete entered. He didn't even look surprised at what Caleb was doing to me. Instead, he took a step into the room and looked a little anxious.

"What the hell is your problem, man? Can't you see I'm busy?" He gestured down at me where I was still laying.

"Sorry, Caleb. But there's some people outside," he gestured with his thumb over his shoulder. "There's a couple trucks, and a man with a baseball bat."

"Who?" Caleb furrowed his brows, and then looked down at me. A sinister expression spread across my face as I answered him.

"Negan."