"Saviours at the gate!"

The crowd around the gate visibly tensed. Time seemed to stand still, everyone holding their breath as they willed themselves against running away. No one moved for a second, until Jesus started speaking in a harsh whisper.

"Nobody panic! Just do what we're told and say nothing unless you're spoken too." He started directing people as the gate started to creak open. In a low voice Jesus tried to reassure his fellow residents, whispering comforting words to them as he passed. Riley and the others stood off to the side of the commotion in a stunned silence. What kind of person would command this type of submission? Jesus passed by them, but not before putting a hand on Riley's arm. "I'm sorry, they weren't supposed to come for another month." Riley could see the flickers of fear in the man's eyes as he held her gaze. The brunette nodded before Jesus hurried off to another group of people.

A large truck and a van pulled through the now open gate. They were relativity clean, having probably driven from the other compound straight to the Hiltop. The bed of the truck was empty, clearly here to be filled with the fruits of the residents labours. The vehicles parked near the gate as it closed and engines were cut. Two men armed with guns climb ed out of the truck. Their faces were pulled into frowns and their eyes darted around to try and spot any threats. The men walked over the to front of the group of Hilltop residents with their guns raised. People took small steps closer to their neighbors in evident fear. Two men then climbed out of the van. One had stringy blonde hair and what looked like a bad burn on the side of his face, while the other had a dark mustache and eyes that had an unsavory twinkle to them. The blonde man looked rather uncomfortable in the situation but the other man seemed to be enjoying the sick display of power. They walked over to the others but kept their guns resting on their shoulders. An eerie silence filled the Hilltop as a door of the van swung open and the driver got out of the second vehicle.

Riley could feel the tension thicken in the air as heavy boots crunch on the ground. A tall man walked around the door of the van, denim-clad legs taking long strides towards the other men. The sleeves of his leather jacket pull at his muscular arms as they swayed at his side. Riley's brown eyes widened at the barbed wire bar that hung from one of the man's gloved hands. Power seemed to ooze from him, but his presence created fear instead of respect. It was apparent he was the leader of this horrible group, the one Jesus called Negan. He had dark hair brushed back and a salt and pepper beard. A large smile pulled at his full lips as he stood between his men and the people of Hilltop, but the friendliness was overshadowed by the malice in his eyes. He swung his arms out at his sides as he shouted.

"You all know the fucking drill! The King has arrived!"

Slowly, each member of Hilltop that was before him lowered themselves to a kneeling position. Riley's eyes darted around in confusion. This couldn't be real. While she hadn't been at the compound for long, the inhabitants had seemed like nice normal people. Who was this man that could make these people kneel before him like servants? Suddenly she felt a warm hand wrap around her wrist. She looked down to see Ryan's hand on her arm. She went to meet his gaze but his pale eyes were staring straight ahead. He gave a small shake of his head without looking at her and began lowering himself to the ground. With his hand still gripping her wrist, Riley followed suit. She glanced to her left to see Jeremy and Kyle already down with their eyes locked onto the men before them.

"Now, doesn't that feel better?" Negan laughed. "This is how it's supposed to fucking work. So what do you fuckers have for us this time? Hopefully more than last fucking time." His amber eyes scanned the crowd. "Now, where the fuck is my good old friend Gregory? Don't be shy Greggy, come out and say hell-fucking-o!"

As if on cue, huffing and hurried footfalls were heard from behind. Gregory came racing over from the building where his office was. He came to a halt in front of his people and doubled over. After a moment of catching his breath he straightened and offered a tight grimace to the leader of the Saviors. "A-ah, N-negan. I, uhm, we weren't ex-pecting you so soon. Let's go to my office to-" Gregory's stammering came to an abrupt stop as a barbed wire bat came to rest on his left shoulder. Negan's smile dropped and a hard frown settled on his face. Amber eyes flickered angrily as they stared into Gregory's before darting to the ground between them then back up. It took a moment for the older man to understand but he slowly lowered himself to one knee.

"Atta fucking boy" Negan hissed.

Riley let out a quiet breath she didn't know she was holding. For a moment she thought the man was going to bludgeon Gregory with the bat. It was apparent that violence like that was probably right up this man's alley and she hoped she would never have to witness that. If they could just get through this visit then they could go back to the Firehouse. Maybe offering Jesus their help was a mistake. What could her group do to help anyone against a group like this?

Negan raised his voice to a commanding shout as he addressed the residents of the Hilltop before him. "It seems like you all have fucking forgotten how this shit works! I OWN you fuckers. This whole fucking place belongs to me. When I say jump you say how mother fucking high! When I arrive, you get on your fucking knees. I call the fucking shots. I decide when we come and what we fucking take. I offer you all protection from the living fucking dead and this is the thanks I get? Fucking attitude about when we come, killing fucking walkers on our way I may fucking add. I. Run. This. Shit. Is that fucking clear?." The crowd of Hilltop residents were practically shaking in fear by the end. Riley could only imagine how terrified they were that these people would murder another one of their own. No one said anything, silence filling the air. Riley hoped the Saviors would take what they wanted and go without anymore trouble. Negan started to pace across the crowd. He turned his broad back towards where Riley and her group were kneeling and took long strides in front of the scared faces.

"Isn't this easier?" she heard him say. The barbed wire bat was settled on the man's leather clad shoulder as his walked. No one answered. "Good."

He continued to pace in silence for a couple seconds before speaking again. "Now, it would seem we've made some new friends."

Riley felt her breath hitch in her throat as Negan's amber eyes turned to her group. Her heart beat in rhythm with each of his slow footfalls towards them. He stopped in front of Ryan. "So, new friends, where are you all from?"

"A firehouse about two days travel from here." Ryan's voice was steady when he spoke.

Negan nodded, his smile never faltering. "And how do we fucking know the people of Hilltop?"

Riley started speaking before her brain could tell her what a bad idea it was. "They shot one of our own by accident. Their camp was closer so we came here to patch her up."

Negan turned his amber eyes to the brunette. "Well ain't that fucking nice of them." His eyes darted to Kyle beside her before back to her. "Jesus fucking Christ, you two look fucking similar. It's weirding me the fuck out."

"We're twins" Kyle said in a dry tone, "obviously."

Negan laughed as he waved the bat in front of Kyle's nose. "Easy on the attitude, buddy. Don't want me to make your sister's skull into a puddle do ya? I do hate killing the pretty ones too."

The woman's nose involuntarily scrunched in disgust and her brown eyes narrowed. With so much adrenaline flowing in her and nowhere to run her body started going into 'fight' mode. She stayed planted on her knee though, hands curling into fists at her sides. Amber eyes held her gaze for a moment before Negan tilted his body back a let out a loud laugh. He placed the bat back on his shoulder and started to walk around the small group. "Since we're all friends now, let me en-fucking-lighten you to how this friendship works. We are the Saviours, pretty bad ass right? We own your asses now. You and everyone else at you little fucking camp work for me. You'll farm, hunt, scavange, whatever the fuck you need to to make sure when we come a-fucking-knockin' you have something to share with your dear friends. Fuck up, and I'll beat one of you into the ground with Lucille." He paused, having completed a full circle around them and stopping back in front. "Oh how fucking rude of me! This beauty is Lucille." The bat waved in the air an inch away from Jeremy's face. "She vicious, loves to teach fuckers a lesson in respect. So don't piss her off."

Negan continued on his track around them again. "Now to make sure you guys don't try anything while we're gone, two of you are going to come live and work with us in the Sanctuary." The four newcomers tensed. Dealing with this group from the Firehouse was going to be bad enough, let alone having two of their own at these peoples mercy in their compound.

"I'll go." Ryan's voice was strong but Riley could tell his was shaken by this situation. The brunette saw his eyes widen a fraction when Negan make a disapproving clicking sound from behind him.

"Well ain't that a nice offer. I do like go-getters, but I'm afraid I'm the one who calls the fucking shot here." Out of the corner of her eyes, Riley saw the bat launch into the back of Ryan's head. He fell forward, face planting into the ground. "Let that just be a fucking taste of how the rules work around here. Now get up, it's rude to lay around at a party!" Negan let out a low laugh as Ryan slowly pushed himself back to his knees. A small cut started to bleed at the back of the older man's head but he ignored it. "I can tell you got some sense to you, so I'm assuming you're the fucking ringleader of your little circus. I can't take the ringleader away can I? Who's going to make sure all the fucking animals are ready to dance when we come on by?" Negan paused. Ryan slowly nodded his head without looking to the man behind him. "Perfect" Negan said in an almost growl. Silence filled the air... until Negan suddenly let out a low whistle. "Would ya look at fucking that boys? You gonna do something with the knife, doll?"

All eyes turned to Riley. On instinct she had grabbed the knife from her boot when Ryan was hit. Her arm now hung limply at her side grasping the weapon. Riley felt hot breath hit her neck and she heard a low chuckle. He was kneeling behind her, full lips inches from her ear. "You have spunk kid" he said, "I like that. I've always been a sucker for a woman with a knife." Negan stood to his full height and walked around to stand in front of her. "You're behaving just enough to not get fucking beaten into the ground by Lucille, yet your're not just going to roll over like old Gregory did when we first came. You're not kneeling because you fucking want to, you're kneeling because you know you fucking have to." A malicious grin spread across his face. "Every fiber of you fucking body wants to just drive that knife right into my damn face, eh sweetheart? I see that fight in your eyes, dollface. I like it, and I wanna break it." Negan turned to his men, who had been watching silently throughout the whole thing. "Dwight, grab the girl. Simon, grab the one on the right." He turned to Kyle. "Sorry brother, but having you two together is too fucking creepy for me."

Riley wanted to run. She wanted to fight them off. She wanted to do anything but just sit there as the blonde haired man walked over to her, but she didn't. She just stayed rooted in place until he grabbed her arm and pulled her to standing. Her brown eyes stared ahead as her and Jeremy were pulled towards the van. No one in the open yard made a sound as Negan ordered the two other henchman to grab what the wanted from the compound before heading back. Riley looked back at Ryan and Kyle before she climbed into the truck. Kyle just stared helplessly back, but Ryan's blue eyes were hard and he gave her a nod. She felt a small amount of comfort in that, but it was better than nothing. As she waited for the truck to pull out of the Hilltop her eyes met the blue one of Jesus. He stared at her with a pleading look in his eyes, an apology. He had never meant for this to happened. She gave him a nod before turning her head to stare straight, trying to prepare for what awaited her at The Sanctuary.

First off let me apologize for the delay. January was way busier than I expected, plus I really wanted this chapter to turn out well as it's our first time meeting Negan and his Saviours. Please let me know what your think of this chapter, Negan's portrayal, and the story so far! Thank you all in advance xoxox