Negan made his way down the line of women, letting his eyes wander their bodies, greedily taking them all in. Every once in a while, he'd see one that he didn't like and call out something along the lines of "How old are you?", "You'd be one hell of a mouth to feed!", or even "Damn girl, looks like a strong gust of wind could just blow you right over!". Charlotte's heartbeat quickened as Negan grew closer and closer to her, his pace measured and slow. She kept her eyes down, not wanting to draw any attention to herself, and watched as his black boots came to stand right in front of her.
"Hi" his gruff voice was low. Charlotte felt a wave of fear and disgust wash over her, enough that she momentarily forgot she was trying to keep attention off of her, and flicked her eyes up to cast a defiant glare directly into the man's dark eyes. The smile on his lips widened and she clenched her fist, pissed that this man was amused at their fear. He held her gaze before breaking it to drag his eyes down the length of her body, making Charlotte grit her teeth in frustration. He looked back to her eyes, winked, and casually strolled on to the next woman, and Charlotte let out a quiet breath of relief. She unclenched her fist and felt her hands begin shaking, casting a glance back to where Rick and Carl stood and managing a small smile.
"Ding ding ding!" she heard Negan yell out a few paces away from her. "I believe we have ourselves a winner!" he was holding the hands of a woman who Charlotte recognized as a young mother named Victoria, whose husband was turned only a few months back. She was quiet as Negan led her into the house, where he had set up what he called his "marriage bed", and as soon as the door had closed behind them Charlotte ran back to Rick and Carl. She threw her arms around Rick and let the tears that had built up behind her eyes to fall, his strong arms wrapping protectively around her. She felt another, softer hand on her shoulder and she broke from Rick to see Carl; his eyes watering and his arms outstretched for her.
A scream rang out from the house. Charlotte whipped around just in time to see the front door fly open and Negan throw Victoria like a ragdoll down the porch steps into the front lawn. The look on his face was deadly and he grabbed Lucille from the guard next to the door, swinging her around dangerously. Victoria lay crumpled on the ground, heavy sobs shaking her shoulders.
"Well, well, well." Negan's voice was deep and dripping with poison, "Maybe our agreement wasn't quite clear, Miss Victoria. When you say you want to be my wife, I should be able to trust you enough to be able to turn my back for five seconds without you trying to kill me!" he was almost screaming now, his face turned a shade of bright red. Without his eyes ever leaving Victoria, he called to Rick, "Hey Rick, I'm real sorry to change the terms of my little reward here, but I just can't have an untrustworthy wife, now can I?"
From behind her, Charlotte could feel Rick tense, and for a moment she wondered if he was even breathing. Negan lowered Lucille to the side of Victoria's head, and the woman had now sat up on her knees and was staring up at Negan with a look of utter hatred in her eyes. He lifted the bat an inch or so as a sort of test swing, then lifted it up behind his head, preparing to swing with all his strength.
"No!" Before she could even think, Charlotte had crossed the clearing and now stood between Negan and Victoria, her hand held up toward the bat. Negan froze, gazing down at Charlotte with a curious look in his eyes.
"Please," Charlotte pleaded, hands shaking from the adrenaline coursing through her, "Don't kill her. She has a son, she- she has a son. A baby boy, he's very young, you- you can't kill her. Just- just take me instead, I'll be your wife, just please don't kill her." The last sentence came out before she could even take a second to think about what she was saying.
Negan lowered Lucille, a small smirk forming on his lips. He cocked his head slightly to the side and began to nod. He motioned to one of the guards surrounding them, who moved closer to them, lowering his weapon.
"Alright, I'll take you on I guess. Just follow my associate her into the house and we'll get things going in just a minute." The guard gripped Charlotte's arm and began to pull her to the house. She turned, wanting to call out to Rick and Carl, but she couldn't seem to find her voice. Their eyes were filled with tears and Carl was screaming, barely being held back by Rick's arms around his chest. She was so focused on them that she didn't even notice another guard raising a gun to Victoria's head. The door of the house was almost closed behind her when she heard a gunshot ring out, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Victoria's body crumple to the ground.
Charlotte screamed and began to fight out of the guard's grip, kicking and swinging her arms, until she was thrown down on a soft bed and the door was locked behind her. She threw her head back on the bed and let the tears fall from her eyes, punching the bed beside her in frustration. She continued this tantrum until she heard the bedroom door unlock. She sat up quickly and pulled her knees to her chest as Negan walked into the room. He closed the door softly behind him and motioned for her to stand up; the look in his eyes telling her that he was not in the mood to have to ask twice. Wiping the tears from her face with a brush of her hand, Charlotte quickly obeyed, her bare feet softly landing on the carpet next to the bed. Negan came around the side of the bed to stand in front of her, brushing her sandy hair from her shoulder which resulted in a shiver from Charlotte.
"What's your name?"
"Charlotte."
A smirk began to find its way back to Negan's lips. "Now, Charlotte, as my wife you're going to have to know a few things, okay?" She nodded shortly. "First thing's first: I will never touch you unless you are one-hundred percent consenting. Number two: No one else is allowed to touch you. No one. Someone so much as looks at you the wrong way, and they deal with me. Understood?" She nodded again. "Good. Now, in order to make things official here, you know, in the eyes of the law" his eyes were mocking and full of mischief, "we here have to consummate our marriage, if you catch my drift." He winked at her and she felt her blood run cold. She understood exactly what he meant. She turned her back to him, looking over her shoulder at him.
"M-my zipper." Was all she could manage to say.
He smiled and moved closer to her, and as he reached her he gently pushed her so she leaned against the wall in front of her. His calloused hands rubbed her shoulders and one made its way to the zipper on her back, unzipping it painfully slowly. The other hand pulled the straps off of her shoulders and let the dress fall to the floor, exposing her bare back to him and causing her to shudder as the cold air hit her body.
"Turn around." He commanded, and she hesitantly obeyed. His eyes raked her body, taking in everything from her large hips to her round breasts. He reached out a hand and placed it on her hip, rubbing his thumb over the soft skin there before turning her back around to face the wall. He pressed his face into the crook of her neck and let his hands roam her body.
"You ever been with a man before?" his voice was muffled as he nipped down on her neck.
"No." she answered honestly.
"Well then, I'll be sure to be extra gentle."
Morning came, and Charlotte woke to the sound of Negan entering the room. Her heart stopped when she saw what he was holding.
"I figured, since I kind of killed his mother, that you could fill in as a surrogate. We have formula and everything back at the Sanctuary, so you don't have to worry about all the technical bits." He gestured to his chest before asking, "Does he have a name?"
Charlotte nodded, "Gabriel, and I'm not sure I know how to take care of a baby."
Negan threw a hand up, brushing off her comment. "Don't worry, baby, I'm sure some of my other wives can show you how it's done. For now, though, we need to head back to my place, got a lot a shit to do." He moved to the door and gestured for her to follow, so she quickly pulled on her dress from the night before and hurried out the door behind him. They exited the house to find Rick standing in front of the porch.
"Rick!" Negan called. "Just the man I wanted to see."
"You're taking the baby?" Rick asked, incredulous.
"Well I figured, since I did kill his mother, I kinda owe him something. And look at that, that's yet another less mouth to feed for you, Rick! I guess I'm just in a giving mood lately!"
Rick gritted his teeth. "Can I see Charlotte alone for a minute please? I'd like to say a proper goodbye."
Negan sighed and rolled his eyes. "I suppose, but don't you go getting any ideas now." He pulled her close and placed a firm arm around her waist. "She's mine now. Ain't nothing can be done about it."
Rick nodded and Negan entered the house once more. Rick took the porch steps two at a time and hugged her as tightly as possible, muttering into her ear. "You be safe, okay? Just cooperate with him and he won't hurt you. We'll find a way to save you one day, I promise. I love you."
"I love you too, Rick. Where's Carl?"
"Negan only called for me, said I was the only one allowed to come. He would be here if he could, you know that."
Charlotte nodded, sniffling slightly. "Yeah, I know. Tell him I love him too, okay?"
"Of course." Rick pulled out of the embrace and kissed her forehead. "Be strong."
The ride back to the Sanctuary was silent except for the small gurgles that Gabriel would make from time to time. Negan's hand rested on Charlotte's leg as he drove, and at times he would glance over at her and smirk, as if he was proud of his new possession. They arrived to the Sanctuary around noon and were greeted by ten men, who whispered lowly with Negan before disappearing inside the building. Negan looked back at Charlotte and motioned with his hand for her to follow him inside as well. He led her through twisting hallways until they came to a large room full of many women. Charlotte saw single beds lined up in the room, and the one closest to the door had a crib next to it.
"Charlotte, this is going to be your bedroom. You have to share it with the other wives, but they'll be nice to you, won't you ladies?"
A mutter ran through the women in the room as they turned to look at her, obvious disdain in their eyes. Negan dropped a bag of clothes and baby supplies next to the bed, shot a mischievous smile to the women in the room, winked at Charlotte, then left. She set the baby down in the crib and sat on her bed, beginning to unpack her things when she heard the other women whispering behind her. She didn't turn to look at them, but she knew exactly what they were thinking. She bit her lip, grabbed the baby out of the crib, and lay down, shutting her eyes and hoping that sleep would come quickly for her.