Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead, and have no affiliation to AMC. I have full rights over my original characters.

Chapter Five : Morbid Manhunt

"I'm willing to do anything for them. But this," I winced just thinking about it," this is above my abilities. I'd rather die than give myself to you, Negan." I stood up from the bed, thankfully still entirely clothed. "Mark my words." I slid into my shoes and promptly left the room, grabbing a remaining loaf of bread on the table.

"I just did." He laughed in my back.

What happened that day remained a secret between me and our leader, even when everyone who had seen me come out of his quarters questioned me about it, or when my brothers tried to learn the complete story of my misadventure. Thankfully, after I had made it clear that nothing had happened and that our conversation would not leave the walls of the room, the curiosity and interest in my whereabouts dropped and we went on with our daily lives. Julian and I remained in the basement, where we scraped the floor and walls every day, our will to feed our brother overcoming our constant exhaustion and hunger.

A few days went by before I saw Negan again, as he had been very absent since our meeting, and he didn't even greet me when he passed me by as I kneeled. Just as I was getting up to join the basement, his voice rose behind me.

"The gardens are the other way, Violet. You wouldn't want to miss your first day on the job, would you?" I turned back to face him, questioning him with my eyes. "Well, don't fucking stand here like a damn potted plant, go to the gardens." He huffed in an annoyed manner, but I could see a hint of mischief in the way his eyes rolled and his cheeks twitched. He turned and left before I could decipher him more, and I dropped my bucket and rag in a corner before heading to the crops. The people working there raised their heads curiously at the sound of my arrival, and I recognized Leah waving at me enthusiastically so I joined her side.

"Violet, you got a promotion?" She excitedly asked me.

"As a matter of fact, I think I did, yeah!" I smugly answered, brushing it off like it was nothing.

"I always knew you'd be able to get a better job with time," she assured me. "It's good, it means our leaders trust you. I'm happy for you, Violet!" She tentatively half-hugged me, and I patted her on the shoulder. She released me when a supervisor approached us and told us to get back to work, throwing me a pair of gardening gloves. The warm November sun was blinding me, I was being watched at all times by a rude man and my back hurt from bending so much, yet I couldn't help but smile on the inside: I had gotten a promotion from my grimy basement, which meant I would get more points and I would be able to give more food to my brothers! The perspective filled me with joy, and suddenly all the little things that made this situation bad weren't so awful after all.

At lunch, I met up with Julian and Ben, and explained the whole situation to them when the older boy asked where I had been all morning. They were both thrilled to hear about my upgrade, and I saw them smile genuinely for the first time in what seemed like forever. We all went back to work with an almost empty stomach but with an equally light heart, and I didn't even see the day go by. We were finally settling into a nicer routine of being tired and hungry almost all the time, and we were happier than we'd had been ever since we had joined the Sanctuary. It's when I reflected on how life was finally treating us better that I should've understood that something awful would soon tear it down.

One morning, Julian didn't meet us for breakfast. Thinking he was probably still asleep, I sent Ben to get him, to no avail as the little one came back alone and confused. Seeing no sign of him around made me grow worried, and I forgot all about breakfast to go search the camp before my work hours. I tried to question every guard I met, but they all brushed me off as the passed me by, apparently in a hurry. Something weird was definitely going on around the Sanctuary, and I hoped to God that Julian had nothing to do with the frenzy.

I arrived on the main street of the place, looking around while pulling at the roots of my hair, trying not to lose it to my anxiety screaming inside me that my brother was lost forever. A burst of shouting caught my attention, and I saw that a guard was brutally shouting insults at a child while the mother was watching from the side, not daring to say anything against the man bearing a gun.

"Hey!" I called, and he turned his focus to me while the child ran away to his mother. "Leave him alone."

"Who do you think you are, girl, Wonder fucking Woman?" he spat at me, walking menacingly closer. "Fair advice, mind your own fucking business. Pretty faces like yours don't last long around here unless they stand where they belong, under us." He poked me with his finger repetitively and quite hard each time, but I didn't look anywhere but his eyes. "So lay low."

"Tony," chanted a voice behind him. Should I have been deaf, I would've known who it was from the way my oppressor's face fell and how quickly he stepped away from me. We both kneeled, and got back up to stare into an apparently friendly and open face. "Why are you annoying this lady?"

"She was looking for trouble, and-"

"Really? Is it a family thing to trouble the order in my place, or is it just a personal impression? Because between your brother and you, I got some fucking extra work to do, Violet!"

My eyes lit up at the mention of Julian. "Do you know where he is?"

"At the moment of speaking, nope. But I know two guys who might have seen him last." He walked past me, brushing against my shoulder as he did, and turned to face us. "You coming or what? And Tony… get the fuck out of here." I didn't get to see my bully whimper away like an injured dog, as I followed the leader up to the doors of the camp.

"If you don't mind me asking, why is everyone on the nerves today?" I asked, slightly jogging to follow Negan's quick stride. He looked at me, all trace of his previous smile gone, and a chill ran down my spine at his stone cold look.

"You'll see soon enough, darling."

As we got closer to the doors, I first noticed a mass of people standing in a circle, then I saw that a whole fleet of cars and bikes were started and ready to hit the road. Both curious and frightened, I followed the man with the bat to the mass, where he greeted the men while I stayed a bit setback.

"Violet, come take a look." He gestured with his index for me to approach, and the circle of men opened for me, revealing two mangled bodies lying in pools of their own blood. I opened wide eyes at the sight of the corpses, but thankfully noticed that none of them was Julian.

"Now you must be wondering, "Why the fuck did he make me see that?"; well Violet it's fucking simple. The goddamn animal who did this to my men is your goddamn brother you've been moving Heaven and Earth for all fucking morning."

I covered my mouth in shock; there was no way my brother could've done this… or was it? He wasn't exactly the killing type, but I knew the Sanctuary made him go insane with its strict rules and diktat. "He left this night by the front door, killing two men and stealing a lot of shit. Fucker didn't even leave a thank you note for everything he had here. Can you fucking believe that?"

In any other case, I wouldn't have believed it. Julian wasn't that selfish, and there was no way he would've left without even telling us about it beforehand. And should he have told us, we would've all left together last night. But this, escaping behind our backs… that didn't sound like him. And yet…

"But no worries. I'll help you find him. Hell, I'm gonna send all my fucking escadron to bring him right back to us. Because we might be nice and helpful, but nobody fucks us in the ass like that little shit did without consequences." His men loudly approved of his words, then climbed into their vehicles and made the machines roar in a thundering concerto which made my heart pound. Negan swung his bat onto his shoulder and headed to one of the trucks, and before he could slam the door I rushed by his side:

"Please don't hurt him, please..."

All I got was a contemptuous smirk and a matching eye roll: "Sorry sweet cheeks, no can do. Your brother has it coming, and he's in for a rough time for sure." I could feel tears rushing up to my eyes at his menacing tone and words. Julian would never return from his escape if I didn't stop the search party here and now.

"Let me come with you. I'm begging you, please let me help you find him." Negan looked curiously into my eyes for a few seconds, then threw his free hand in the air.

"Fucking hell, Violet, I can't resist them doe eyes," he sighed, sliding on the seat to open the passenger door. I rushed in, climbing next to him. "Just this once, doll."

"Thank you so much-"

"Yeah, don't get used to it," he grumbled, revving the engine up the driveway and through the doors of the Sanctuary. "That's a one time thing. I don't usually do it, and I'm only doing it because you're a fucking beautiful girl and I don't get those in my truck often." He smirked to himself, seemingly proud to have made me shift uncomfortably in my seat. The upside of the situation was that my brother had better chances of survival should we find him today, but I hadn't thought the downsides through, which was that until we had a lead, I would be sitting next to Negan in silence. Or worse, I would have to talk to him.

We didn't speak for 20 solid minutes, the only sounds filling the void being the noise walkers' body made when we ran them over, splashing the windshield with blood and guts.

"So..." I finally said, getting his attention. "What's your story?"

"What is this, Alcoholics fucking Anonymous?" He sneered. "I don't talk about that, doll. And you shouldn't, either. Who we were before shit hit the fan doesn't matter anymore. What does matter is who we are now, who we've become and who we continue to be as we wake up everyday. That's what you should focus the fuck on."

I reflected for a few seconds on what he had said, and I was actually dumbfounded to find such logic and depth in his philosophy. "I never expected you out of all people to be so poetic and philosophical," was all I could find to say that was witty enough.

"Bite me," he spat, but with a little smile. "Ain't nothing poetic about surviving like I do." His radio creaked and he asked what was going on into the receiver.

"We found the car, boss. It's parked right by the lake. Over." All my blood dropped to my feet as I suddenly remembered the gravity of the situation.

"I'm glad to hear that, Dwight. Fucker can't be near, now. I'll be here in a few; over and out." He dropped the radio back in its place and winked at me. "Buckle up, sweetheart." And with no further warning he made a U-turn towards the location Dwight had indicated. While we jumped and bumped into each hole in the road at inconsiderate speed, my mind was racing even faster to find ideas to save my brother. In this game of hide and seek, I would have to be much faster than the Saviors if I wanted to find Julian in one piece. Due to how fast we were going, we soon arrived at our destination, and I jumped out of the truck before I could be locked in.

"Alright, boys," vociferated Negan to his men, "let's hunt the fucking traitor. If you find him… kill him."

I gasped loudly before I could hold myself back, and Negan roared with laughter. "Just kidding, relax! Just shoot him in the legs if he runs. Let's avoid any useless trip to the doctor's if we can help it. I don't have all damn day, so get moving!" The Saviors scattered into the forest, their guns and diverse weapons in hand, ready to fire at will. I didn't trust any of these men to let my brother live, so I caught Negan by the arm before he could leave into the forest too.

"Don't kill him. It's the only thing I will ask from you, please. Judge him if you really need to make an example, but let him live and atone for what he's done." I was fighting real hard against the mist threatening to cover my eyes, fighting to show that I didn't fear him and that I was brave enough to stand up for my ideas and desires. I had grown to understand if there was anything Negan understood and quite respected, it was determination and great courage; two things he didn't encounter much at the Sanctuary and in the people who lived there in fear of him.

"Violet, Violet… you're really bold, you know?" He smiled, but it was a bone-chilling smile. "I like that! But the rules I make, well… they're the rules. And if anyone breaks them, they all get the same punishment. But I'm gonna be a nice fucking guy, and be fair-play about this: have you ever played capture the flag, Violet?" My eyes grew wide in understanding: I was going to play solo against all the Saviors into this wide-scale, morbid manhunt for my own brother. "Rules are simple: you find your brother first, we get him back to the Sanctuary and decide later what happens. My team finds him first..." He hissed and raised his eyebrows as a sign of the bad things to come.

"Say no more." I heard myself say. "I will find him first."

"May the best win, then..."

And in the blink of an eye, I was already deep into the woods, trying to think as quickly as I moved. They had guns, but I had the slight advantage of knowing my brother better than anyone else, so it was easier for me to think like him and trace his mental scheme into my own head. It wasn't long after that I stumbled upon tracks that indicated a recent passage: fresh prints in the mud, broken branches and crunched leaves.

My siblings and I had never been hunting, but sometimes it was hard to tell since we had learned a few tricks from our Texan uncle Ted, who had hunted all his life and demanded nothing else but to pass on his knowledge. Of course our mom was fundamentally against the idea of ever seeing us carry weapons to shoot animals or even just to try and wield them, and technical details were all we could get from Ted when he visited us for the holidays. In the beginning of the Apocalypse, I would always wonder how he was doing, and always silently thank him for teaching us the things he knew, as it was probably because of his legacy that we had lasted this long. And today's manhunt was just another occasion to praise him, because I didn't need any proof to be sure that Julian's trails led nowhere. He had probably made them and walked in the other direction, which was exactly what I was going to do. And I knew that he would be right where I expected him to be. The only thing I hoped for was that the Saviors would be thick enough to follow the trails and fall for his trick.

As I walked the opposite way, I spotted very discreet tracks in which I made sure to step in order to cover them, and I clapped my hands in a distinct tone we had agreed to use when we needed to find each other. I soon heard an echo of my claps, and my heart leaped in my chest as I hurried towards the sound.

"Julian?" I kept asking around every bush. "Where are you?"

"Up here," said a voice from a few meters away. I looked up to spot my brother perched on a tree, in a precarious balance.

I sighed in relief, and wondered how to greet him: all my emotions and thoughts were tumbling in my mind, and I didn't know whether to hug him or hit him for his stupidity and selfishness. "What were you thinking?" I hissed. "Get down now!"

Before he could answer, a single shot pierced the silence. Julian dropped like a stone before I could do anything, and behind us a laugh roared.

"Did you fucking see that?" laughed Negan. "Talk about a lucky fucking shot! Pack him up, I'm framing him on my wall tonight!" He cocked his gun, letting the empty round fall out. As he walked pass me, he smirked and leaned closer. "Looks like I won..."

A/N: thank you for your support! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you look forward to reading more! Special thanks to Volleyball2016 and to the kind Guest who took some time to leave a comment. Be sure to look out for my next update!

Yours faithfully,

~SB