John held Katie in his arms. "This is all your fault, Negan."
"Excuse fucking me," Negan places a hand against his chest, resting his barbwire bat against his shoulder. "How the fuck is this my fault?"
"Coming out of nowhere, scaring her like that!" John frowns.
"Yeah. Because i knew i was gonna bump into my brother's girl in the woods," he says sarcastically. "Nice work by the way, she's hot!"
"Shut up," John scowls.
Katie comes to in his arms. "John," she almost whispers.
"Hey, baby. I'm here. You okay?"
"Yeah," she nods, sitting up. She glances over at Negan. "You never told me you had a brother, a twin brother at that."
"Wow, i gotta say, i'm hurt, John. You never told her about me?" Negan says dramatically.
"It's not like we've swapped fucking life stories," he sneers at Negan.
"But you know everything about me," Katie says.
"You here that?" Negan says in mock surprise. "She says you know everything about her. You stand fucking corrected, brother."
"I'm okay now," Katie gets back on her feet. "It was just.. a bit of a surprise."
"I'll bet it was, sweetheart," Negan smiles.
John wraps an arm protectively round her waist.
Negan strokes his beard. "I normally shave this shit. Today's as good a fucking day as any. Don't want you getting confused between the two of us."
"It'd be hard with that stupid hair," John smiles.
"Fuck you just say?" Negan frowns. "It's slick as fuck!" He smooths a hand over his hair.
"Who's your friend?" Katie nods towards the man standing silently beside him.
"How fucking rude am i? This is Simon. Simon, this is John and.. what did you say your name was, sweetheart?"
"Katie," she smiles.
"Katie," Negan grins.
Simon waves a hand. "Hey."
"So do you guys have a place? Or are you just roaming like us?" Katie asks.
"We have a place. Got a lot of people too, you should-," Negan starts.
"We're good," John interrupts.
Katie turns to him. "Are you serious?"
John takes her arm and walks a good distance from Negan and Simon. "Fuck yeah i'm serious. We can find our own place."
"You got a problem with him or something?" She frowns.
"Yeah, he's a fucking asshole!"
"Are you talking about me over there?" Negan smiles. "Because that's just fucking rude."
"Shut up," John says before turning back to her.
"What do you have against him?" Katie asks.
John looks at his feet. "It doesn't matter."
"Course it matters! If it's big enough to turn your nose up at a safe place, then it matters," she reasons.
John sighs. "I just.. i don't trust him."
"You think he'll hurt us or something?"
"No."
"Then what's the big deal?"
"Come on, John," Negan says making his way towards them. "Don't you think it's time we let bygones be bygones? Water under the metaphorical bridge and all that."
John stares at him. "Where is this place?"
"Not far, we can get there on foot," Negan says.
"And it's secure?" John asks.
"Fuck yeah it is. I got men armed to the damn teeth on those walls," he smiles.
"You their leader?" Katie asks.
"Yeah, i'm in charge. We have rules though. You gotta have rules, keep people in line."
"We're alright with that," Katie assures him.
"What fucking rules?" John asks.
"Everyone earns their place, one way or another," he says without a trace of his previous humour. "You take something that you haven't earned, you pay the price."
"What the fuck does that mean?" John frowns.
"Don't matter. Long as you don't break the rules," Negan smiles. "And i know you. You were always a damn stickler for the rules, you'll fit right in."
"People change," John says.
"They most certainly motherfucking do," Negan grins. "You fucking coming with us or what? Because i'm not standing out here all day."
John looks over at Katie. He wants more than anything to keep her safe, even if it means putting up with his brother. John nods. "Alright."
They'd been walking for about half an hour. John had barely spoken at all, giving the occasional glance towards his brother. Katie on the other hand couldn't take her eyes off him, and it hadn't gone unnoticed by John.
"I thought you said it wasn't far," John frowns.
"It isn't, we'll be there in about five," Negan assures him. "Anyway, what's the fucking rush? You got somewhere else you gotta be?"
"What were you even doing out this far?" John questions.
"Scouting. You know, fucking looking for people. The more people you have, the stronger you are," Negan answers.
"So you were out, just the two of you, with no vehicle?" John frowns.
"Christ, John," Negan rolls his eyes. "When did you get so fucking paranoid?"
"Since the world turned to shit and every fucker wants what you have," he says.
"See that," Negan points his bat up the road. "That's home."
Katie and John look at the building ahead of them.
"Is that a school?" Katie asks.
"It is, sweetheart. Perfect place to hold up. Gates were already up, fucking perfect for keeping the dead fucks out. Been there for two months. Had to clear it out of course, but it wasn't too hard," Negan smiles proudly.
The four of them stand in front of the primary school. Two men armed with rifles open the gates.
"You weren't fucking kidding," John says, eyeing their weapons.
Negan smiles. "No, i fucking wasn't."
Negan's men stare at the pair of them in confusion. Side by side, they're pretty much identical. The only difference being their clothes and hair. Were John's hair is scraggly, Negan's is slicked back. In fact, Negan is much more put together than John, with his leather jacket, dark jeans and red scarf. Were John wears jeans that may have once been a light blue, and a dirty plaid shirt.
"Simon, go get everyone together in the main hall. I'll be there in five," Negan orders.
Simon nods and heads through the double doors.
Negan walks into the hall, John and Katie right behind him. The hall is filled with about fifty people, all of whom become silent at the sight of him.
John frowns, as every single one of them begins to kneel. What the fuck?
"I can tell by the look on your faces that you all think you're seeing fucking double," Negan smiles. "Well you're not. This handsome fucker at my side is my brother, John. Granted, he's not as good looking as me, but we can't have it fucking all," he chuckles. "He's gonna be staying with us. Now, i don't normally make a big fucking deal every time we bring in new people. But these are unusual circumstances. I want you to keep in mind, that nothing changes here. I'm still the guy in charge. The only fucking thing me and this scraggly looking fucker share, is our handsome good looks. And maybe a womb, once upon a fucking time. He'll be working his ass off, just like the rest of you, earning his place," Negan rests his bat over his shoulder. "As you were."
And with that, they all rise to their feet once again. John feels uncomfortable as all eyes focus on him.
"Come on," Negan heads back through the doors. "I'll show you to your room."
