Red River Blue
Chapter 86
Negan quietly shut the trapdoor behind him, letting out a huge sigh when he found the dilapidated camper void of anyone else he might have to kill. His own relief shook him slightly. It was easy to remember a time when he killed people just for the sheer fun of it, laughing when their friends and family members screamed in terror at the sight of him. He knew he could still be brutal when necessary. What he just did down in the cave was proof of that. But more often than not, he now found himself looking for another way. He wasn't sure if his new outlook on life was a good thing, or if he was worried he might be losing his edge.
Living amongst the skins wasn't what Negan expected. Sure there were a few bad apples in the group, true psychos that were using the absence of law to commit acts of perversion they'd probably only dreamt about before the turn. Just like there were in his old group. But most of the whisperers seemed like regular people that simply found a strange way to survive in this new brutal world. A really fucking strange way.
Negan's thoughts kept drifting back to the woman. Mary. He befriended her simply as a means to an end. He needed information. She had it. He knew he could get it from her. And he did. But suddenly, Negan was finding himself wondering more about the woman than if she could be of further use to him. What was Mary's life like before the turn? What sort of person was she? How did she end up walking the world covered in the flesh of an undead cannibal? He knew he was probably just more hard up for a woman than he wanted to admit, but she was starting to become a mystery he wanted to solve.
Negan took a few more shuffling steps into the woods before he felt himself gripped hard by the back of his shirt. His body went rigid as he felt the hard point of a knife pressing into his lower back just above the waistline of his pants.
"Five went down but only one came up," his attacker hissed. "Better start explainin' yerself."
Negan shook his head, rolling his eyes as he turned and swatted Harley away from him. He rubbed dramatically at the spot where she poked him with her knife, even though they both knew she didn't stick him hard enough to break the skin.
"Kid," he huffed. "You're lucky I didn't have my shittin' pants on."
"Ya sure smell like ya do," Harley quipped. "Everything go okay down there?"
Negan nodded, quietly explaining what happened down in the cavern. Harley knew some of their people got caught down there. She was the one that created a diversion so Negan could slip into the cave and help them. But she didn't know until now that both her mother and sister were involved. For a moment, Negan saw Harley's stoic facade crumble. She glanced back in the direction he just came from with her icy blue eyes full of concern and her bottom lip quivering.
"Hey, don't lose it on me now kid," he said, glancing around before he wrapped his arm around Harley. "They'll be alright, I promise." Negan never really had any physical contact with the young woman before. And the fierce way Harley hugged him before shoving him away as fast as she could made him chuckle. "You gettin' anywhere with your new boyfriend?," Negan asked, deciding it might be best to remind Harley of the reason they were here before she went charging after her mother and blew their whole plan to hell. "I saw you cuddling up with that big freak. Suck his jolly green cock yet?"
"No!," Harley spat, taking a swing at Negan that he leaned back quickly to avoid. "...but he's taking me out ta teach me how to round up the stupid rotters tomorrow. He hasn't said anything yet about what they're planning ta do with the lot of 'em."
"Climb him like a tree and I bet he'll tell ya," Negan teased. He rolled his shoulders, stretching out his back. He was slightly annoyed that little miss resting bitch face was getting somewhere with these masked weirdos while his part in the plan to sabotage them from within seemed to be at a complete standstill. He did manage to find out where the hoard was. But he'd made absolutely no progress with Alpha. He couldn't manipulate her or get her alone to kill her if she wouldn't even speak to him. Negan sighed, his frustration tempered with the knowledge that at least the job was getting done.
"Why dontcha worry about yerself," Harley suggested. "How's it goin' with the queen walker fucker?"
"It's not going anywhere," he admitted. "But don't worry, I got something else cooking…"
Before Negan could tell Harley about the other source of potential sabotage he had, she tossed her blonde hair back and started giggling like he'd just made the worst joke ever. Her laugh was clearly fake, overly flirty and nothing like her real laugh which was always more like an unexpected explosion than a silly tittering. Placing her hand on his chest, Harley began to twirl a long curl of her hair around the finger of her other hand. Negan raised a brow at the girl, wondering why in the hell she'd suddenly decided to do a full on impression of her own mother. He figured out the why a moment later when Beta appeared, pushing between them and shoving his giant bowie knife directly into Negan's face.
"We were just talking motherfucker!," Negan huffed, quickly backing away with his hands up as he wondered to himself just exactly how in the hell that big freak managed to get that close to him without making any noise.
Beta thrust the knife towards him once more before he tucked it away. Lifting his hand, he slammed it against Negan's chest hard enough to make him stumble backwards. Negan landed on his ass in the dirt, looking up as the big man loomed over him.
"Talk to someone else!," Beta growled.
Negan displayed his palms for the man again, trying his absolute best to look serious. This was harder than it would normally be, with Harley peeking around from behind her giant stalker looking like she was ready to start laughing for real this time. She was obviously getting quite a bit of amusement out of Beta's obsession with her. Maybe a little more than she should be. Harley let Beta lean over Negan for another moment before she caught the big man by the hand and tugged him away. By the time the Beta turned around to face her, she'd regained control over her facial expressions and was looking up at him with her usual scowl.
"Let's go," he barked.
Harley shrugged, letting Beta wrap his arm around her shoulders and lead her away. She glanced back once, with a sly little smirk on her face, before she wrapped her arm around Beta's waist and tucked herself into his side. Negan shook his head, watching them until they disappeared around a thick crop of bushes. Pushing himself back onto his feet, he brushed the dirt off his ass and went in search of the woman he'd been pondering about before Harley showed up.
"Got something I wanna show you," Negan coaxed, reaching for the woman's hand. Mary followed him willingly until they reached the border of Alpha's territory. While some of the whisperers took great joy in sneaking across the border and causing trouble, it clearly wasn't a pastime she enjoyed. She stayed rooted in place for another long moment, not moving across the invisible barrier even though Negan was tugging on her hand.
"We don't have permission from Alpha to cross," she whispered.
"What she don't know won't hurt her," Negan coaxed. Mary cast a nervous glance behind them before she took a few shuffling steps forward. She remained quiet as they walked, glancing around them with her eyes wide and alert. And Negan fought the urge to fill the awkward silence as he pondered the idea that this woman was more scared of a reprisal from her own leader than she was of being shot or attacked by the people this territory belonged to. He did notice that when he took his mask off and tucked it away, Mary did the same without question or complaint. She wasn't stupid. They shot walkers on this side of the dividing line.
Since he knew the guard rotation and where they were stationed, it was easy for Negan to creep past Alexandria's defenses. And when the tall metal walls became visible, Mary finally started looking curious about where their little excursion was going to lead. She leaned close to the wall as he climbed up it, peeking in between the panels. Negan didn't climb all the way up and over the barrier. He only went high enough to allow himself a good view of the other side, smiling when he realized that his estimate of where they were was on point. He had a good view of River's backyard. The small chicken coop her son tended was off to the left. And on the far side of her personal herb garden was the hammock Merle and Daryl hung up for Lydia.
From what Negan had observed, the girl seemed to enjoy her new life. But she still preferred to be outside whenever possible. And today was no exception. She was bundled in a knit cap and wrapped in a quilt, one leg dangling down from her hammock and pushing lazily at the ground. Negan ducked down slightly as he heard the backdoor of the house swing open. Hiding behind the fence, Negan listened as Merle called over to the girl with a hint of concern in his voice as the man checked to make sure she wasn't getting too cold. It was obvious that Merle wanted her to come in. But Lydia was able to negotiate a little more time in the late winter sunshine by accepting a mug of hot tea from him. When the back door clapped shut again, Negan peeked back over the wall. Lydia was still in her hammock, resting the warm mug on the rounded swell of her stomach between sips.
"Climb up and take a look," Negan instructed, hopping down as he gestured for Mary to take his place. Mary nodded, carefully scaling the wall.
"I've been inside this place before," she whispered. "When I delivered a message for Alpha. I already know what it looks like in there."
Despite her objection, Mary did as Negan asked and peeked over the edge of the wall. She didn't seem overly interested at first. But suddenly her body went tense. Negan knew at that moment, Mary must have realized it was Lydia relaxing in that hammock. And that the girl was pregnant. And that she was living her best life away from her mother and the rest of the woman's pet rapist freaks. Mary began to scramble back down the wall. She missed one of the footholds and would have gone flying if Negan hadn't caught her and set her carefully back onto her feet.
"It can't be," Mary gasped, her eyes flicking back towards the wall as she tried to make sense of what she saw on the other side. "Lydia's dead. Alpha killed her. For us." Negan shook his head, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Alpha lied. The boy Lydia ran off with, his family took her in. She's been living here since last summer." Mary shook her head, her eyes widening as she tried to make some sense of what she'd just seen with her own eyes. She turned, shaking his hand off her shoulder before she charged off into the woods. Negan supposed she meant to head for the border. But in her distress, she was running parallel to it instead. It didn't really matter. Because before she got too far, Mary sunk down into a decaying pile of leaves. She jerked her mask down over her head and hugged her knees as she began to recite the mantra Negan was already familiar with from just his short time with the group.
…We walk in darkness. We are free. We bathe in blood. We are free. We love nothing. We are free. We fear nothing. We are free. We need no words. We are free. We embrace all death. We are free. This is the end of the world. Now is the end of the world. We are the end of the world…
"Hey," he soothed. "It's okay. It's gonna be okay."
Negan knelt down, rubbing his hand over her back in small slow circles. He found he was actually feeling slightly guilty about causing the woman so much distress. He only wanted to show her that Alpha was a liar. Turn her to his side. He never meant to push her over the edge into a full mental breakdown. Negan scooted forward, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her thin body against his chest. Eager for comfort, Mary turned and wrapped her arms around his neck. Having her return his hug was expected. These people had lived void of any human compassion for so long they must all be starved for any hint of it. He wasn't surprised by her actions until she kissed him.