Chapter Fifteen

Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?

Negan

I heard a groan from the bed as I slid a tray of eggs, coffee, and toast onto the small table in the corner of our bedroom. Flicking my eyes to the bed, a grin settled on my face as I saw Piper stirring, kicking the blankets off of her.

Fuck, she looked beautiful. Even with a hangover and her hair tangled around her head. She sat up slowly, eyes blinking to clear the sleep from them, and looked around the room until we made eye contact.

"Stop smiling. There's nothing to smile about this early. I'm dying over here," she pouted, flopping back in the bed.

"Couple things," I said, walking towards her, "It's not early, it's already eleven. And you're not dying, you're just really fucking hungover."

She sprang up quickly, getting to her knees, eyes wild.

"Oh my god, I'm fucking late. I have to work. Wait, did you change me? I don't remember changing. Fuck, I'm so fucking late," she babbled, scrambling off the bed and frantically looking around for who knows fucking what.

I couldn't help but laugh as I put my hands on her hips and pulled her to me.

"I already let Jolene know you would be in after lunch sometime, wildflower. Calm down, you got some time," I murmured, pushing my face into her neck.

Fuck. She always smelled so damn good. Even after getting wasted on a rooftop, she smelled like fucking flowers and heaven.

"Come eat. You need to put something on your stomach if you want to function today."

She groaned, but followed me when I started tugging her towards the table. I pulled the chair out and watched as she sat down, legs crossed on the chair and stared at the food with her lip curled.

"I think I really will die if I try to eat that," she mumbled.

"Eat the food, Piper."

She rolled her blue eyes, but picked up the toast and broke a piece off to put in her mouth. I chuckled as I sat across from her.

I tried really fucking hard not to think about what she had said to me last night.

"I love you so much, Negan."

I wasn't even completely sure she remembered that, but I fucking wanted her to.

I shook the thoughts from my head and kept my eyes trained on her.

"I got some new information this morning about Brendan," I started, watching her.

She looked up and moved her hand in a circular motion towards her, signaling for me to continue.

I took a deep breath, quiet for a moment as I collected my thoughts.

"We think Brendan killed everyone in Purcellville. Everyone outside of his fucking soldiers, I'm assuming. The person I have watching said that around one in the morning, there was gunfire and screams, but the gunfire would come in bursts, like maybe they were taking out small groups at a time. Possibly going from home to fucking home? I'm not sure, but they also watched the guards dragging bodies through the gates and throwing them into the back of trucks. A lot of fucking bodies, Piper," I finished, shaking my head.

I glanced up at her. She was frozen as she stared at me, a look of horror on her face.

"Oh my God, Negan. Oh my fucking God," she mumbled, her knees drawing up as she locked her arms around them and hung her head.

I sat there and watched as she cried, unsure of what I could possibly do to ease her pain.

"Why would he fucking do that?" she sobbed.

"I'm not sure, wildflower. Part of me wonders if he's thinking of packing up and leaving, starting over somewhere else. I know that the trade routes he had set up are no longer a thing. Not sure what fucking ruined it, but he's been cut off from every other community. Someone must of got out and warned others not to fuck with him. So, killing all of his workers so he didn't have to deal with them sounds about like something he would do. We both know he wouldn't just let them go," I responded, trying to keep my voice even.

"There were good people there, Negan. Really good fucking people," she cried, her shoulders shaking.

"I know, doll. I know."

I hated fucking seeing her like this. This incredibly strong, smart woman reduced to a crying mess over something I couldn't fucking control for her.

Suddenly, the crying stopped. Her head lifted slowly and I looked into those flaming blue eyes. There was a deep fire there. An anger in them that I could relate to.

"We leave tomorrow morning. If he's leaving, we need to do this now."

"Hold on, wildflower. Let's talk this through," I suggested, watching her.

"Abso-fucking-lutely not. He would be coward enough to leave. They have trucks big enough to take everything we're trying to get for our people. He had fallback plans. He had safe zones ready to go. I was his number one priority if shit went south. He always told me that he wouldn't let anything happen to me because I was too valuable. He never told me where anything was, but he wouldn't, because he wanted to keep me blind," she fumed, "And I'll be damned if he doesn't answer for what he took from me, Negan."

I could do nothing but nod my head as I watched her.

"The only reason this would be happening is if he received a threat from someone that was serious enough for him to try to clear out. He'd said before that he wouldn't take any of 'his people' with him. I thought he meant that he would just let them go, or leave them behind, but it makes sense that he would just take them out. Just in case anyone had any information that would be useful to the threat."

She jumped up and started pacing, her face set in a scowl as she walked back and forth across the room.

"And don't you think it's a little fucking weird that this is happening less than a week before we leave? Because it fucking is. He either knows we're coming or someone else found out what a piece of shit he is and is coming for him, too." She mumbled, concentrating on whatever was running through that beautiful brain.

She whirled on me suddenly and squared her shoulders.

"New plan. Can you get the Saviors to the conference room?" She asked, eyebrow raised.

"Sure fucking can, doll. But I'm gonna need two things from you first. One being you sit down and eat your goddamn food. Second, we talk about this shit first. How's that sound?" I countered, looking at her.

She immediately went to sit, shoving food into her mouth at a high rate of speed. Apparently the hangover had taken a backseat to her rage. She downed the coffee and I just watched her, knowing damn well that cup was hot as fuck.

"Scrap the entire original fucking suggestion. After what he did to those people, we're going full fucking scorched earth," she said, her voice unwavering.

And then she launched into her new plan, detailing all of it. Her voice stayed steady while her face held the rage that she had been trying to contain. I nodded my head as she talked.

"And you think you can get explosives made before morning, doll? That sounds like it would be a lot of work."

"Don't underestimate me, Negan," she bit out.

"Wouldn't fucking dream of it, wildflower," I said truthfully, smiling at her, "It's as good of an idea as any. But we're not telling anyone else what the actual plan is. Not a single fucking person. I'm going to send out an announcement for Saviors to be ready at two in the morning. We'll tell everyone what's happening at the trucks. If there is a fucking rat, I don't want them to have the time to report back to Brendan."

She nodded her head quickly.

"Yeah, that's good," she said, standing up, "I'm going to take a shower and get dressed. I have to get to the lab. Like, right now."

"Go ahead. I'll bring you some clothes," I responded, standing up and kissing her forehead.

Her hands came up and grabbed my cheeks, forcing me to look down at her.

"Thank you for trusting me, Negan. Really. I meant what I said last night," she murmured, stretching up on her tiptoes and pressing her lips to mine before turning and marching to the bathroom.

I shook my head and smiled to myself, more than a little fucking shocked. Goddamn. That woman had me wrapped around her finger.


All day had been spent making sure the Saviors knew to meet by the gates and ensuring that every vehicle we were taking was ready to go. Which is where I was when Simon found me.

"Hey, boss. I, uh, need to talk to you," the man started as I looked at him.

"Better be fucking good. I'm busy."

"Bud's group was found a few miles south of here," he said, looking down.

"Good. Tell him to get his ass back here. Dumb fuck. Did he say why he thought it was acceptable to just go MIA for four fucking days?"

"Well, no. He didn't. Because Bud's dead."

What the fuck. Bud and his group of assholes were fucking awful, but they were good for sending out to make sure no one was sneaking down backroads to attack us. They were rough as fuck, but tough as nails.

"Walkers?" I asked, my eyebrows pulling together.

"Negative. Someone blew them up. All of them. Like actually blew them the fuck up. Pieces of their bikes scattered, small chunks of body parts. It's fucking bad, boss," Simon said, his face contorted in disgust.

"What the fuck? Who fucking blew them up, Simon?" I gritted out, feeling my blood start to boil.

"We have no idea. There was nothing left to give us any idea. It was likely an RPG or something military grade," he responded, shaking his head.

"God mother fucking damn it. God damn it!"

"We can deal with this later. It wouldn't do any good to send anyone out now. It's been over four days, boss. Lets handle this after whatever the fuck you have planned for tomorrow," Simon suggested.

"Yeah, fucking fine. Tell their families and put some extra points on their books," I said, looking up at Simon, "Don't tell Piper about this. I'll talk to her about it at some point."

Simon nodded his head slowly and I turned away, marching myself back inside.

Couldn't just be one thing at a goddamn time.


Piper

Negan shook me awake at one thirty in the morning after a full two and a half hours of sleep. He placed a kiss on my head and disappeared, saying he'd meet me outside. I laid there for a moment, staring at the ceiling.

Today was the day. I would get what I had wanted for months, what I'd been working towards. A small dose of fear took root in my brain for a moment. What if it all went to shit? What if he killed someone else I loved? Negan, Laura, Arat, Simon, or any of the others that were following me into that place. Fuck, even Dwight being hurt would fuck me up. I wouldn't cope well if something happened to anyone. I wasn't coping well now and we hadn't even left yet.

I pushed that fear away though. Now was not the time to be afraid. I grasped at the anger that had taken up residence in my body that day on the roof when Brendan had killed my family, and let it seep into every part of me.

I forced myself upright and found that Negan had set clothes on the end of the bed for me, which, despite everything I was feeling, made me smile a little. As I pulled the ripped black jeans and white t-shirt on, a soft gasp left my throat.

There was a black leather jacket on the bed, similar to Negan's, just a lot smaller. I picked it up and looked at it with wide eyes. He wanted me to wear this? Where did he even get it?

I tugged it on and made my way to the bathroom mirror. Fuck, it looked good. It fit perfectly, stopping an inch or so above my pants and fitting tight to my body.

Shaking myself, I ran a brush through my hair quickly and slid a hair tie on my wrist for later. I returned to the bedroom and strapped my knife holster on my left leg and gun holster on my right, before shoving the weapons into them. I sat on the bed and laced up my black combat boots and grabbed the machete I had set on the dining table the night before.

Taking a deep breath, I made my way through the Sanctuary, sending a silent prayer that I would see the inside of these walls again. That we all would.

When I stepped outside, into the night, a chill ran through me. This was all very fucking real now. And it was absolutely happening.

The trucks were lined up at the gate and everyone was crowded around them, a low murmur sweeping through the group. I stopped just outside the doors to take it all in. There were well over forty men and women outside the trucks and the group looked confused.

I heard a whistle and everyone's heads, including mine, snapped to where Negan was standing on the steps to one of the moving trucks. His eyes were focused on mine and there was a large grin pulling up his lips.

"Alright, everyone. We're moving out in ten. Plans changed. We're heading to Purcellville now," he boomed.

Shock flowed through the crowd. Simon, who was standing beside Negan on the ground raised an eyebrow and looked up at the man.

"Piper," Negan bellowed, motioning for me to come closer.

I slowly walked to him as everyone stared at me, keeping my head high.

"Piper's going to lay everything out for you fucks, so pay fucking attention," he said, jumping off the step and turning to me.

"Are you nervous?" He asked with a smile.

"Never."

"That's my girl," he laughed, as his hands clasped my waist and lifted me up to stand where he'd previously been.

I looked out at the crowd, my face hard.

"We'll reach Purcellville by 4:30. We're going to stop on the other side of the woods to the west of the town. There's going to be six separate groups who are going to be in charge of a highly fucking dangerous explosive. Myself, Negan, Simon, Laura, Dwight, and Arat will be leading the groups. Each explosive needs to be placed at the base of each of the six guard towers around the compound and then lit when it's time. The leader of your group will know exactly where to go. It's about a half mile trek, so I hope you brought your hiking boots," I said, scanning the crowd.

"How do we know who's group we're in?" Ben asked from the crowd.

"We'll sort everyone out once we get there. As soon as those walls come down and the smoke clears, we go in. Shoot anything that goddamn moves. No one is safe. Except for Brendan. That motherfucker is mine and no one touches a hair on that mans fucking head. You'll know him when you see him. He'll be the one hiding behind everyone else."

I could feel the air changing. There was almost an excitement weaving through the soldiers in front of me.

"You had previously told us that civilians are not to be touched. Has that changed?" Laura called.

"It has. We think Brendan killed everyone in Purcellville who was not part of his guard. So everyone dies tonight," I responded.

Shock sprang to most of the faces in front of me.

"This shit is going to be loud and it's going to be bloody. Do not get yourselves killed. Brendan shouldn't have very much ammo left, especially since he used it to take out his people, but there will still be enough to at least cause a little damage. Look out for each other. Listen to what the leader of your group says. Everyone comes home tonight alive with a metric fuck ton of supplies. Are we clear?" I yelled.

"Clear!" The Saviors yelled back.

"Good. Now get ready to leave. And please, be fucking safe."

I jumped off the step, landing in the dirt below, before straightening and turning to Negan, who was watching me with an unmistakable lust on his face.

"I didn't think it was possible to be more attracted to you. I have never been more fucking wrong," he murmured into my ear, his hand coming to rest on my lower back.

"Was it the speech?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"The speech, the jacket, those fucking holsters on your legs, the machete, the respect these fucks just showed you," he chuckled into my ear.

"Save that energy for when we get home, big guy. We're going to battle," I said, slapping his chest twice, flashing a smile at him, and walking away.

I spotted Simon, Arat, Laura, and Dwight standing close and walked over to them.

"Are you guys ready for this?" I asked them.

"I was born ready, princess," Simon responded, flashing me a bright smile.

"We're ready," Arat nodded.

"I want all of you safe. No matter what. Please make sure you come home," I told them seriously, looking at all of their faces.

"You got it, boss lady," Dwight responded, shooting me a rare smile.

I patted his shoulder and headed back to Negan, who was standing in front of a military style truck in the front of the line up.

"You ready?" Negan asked.

I nodded my head.

"Load up, motherfuckers! It's time to go." Negan bellowed and the crowd immediately started dispersing.

"You're with me, babe," Negan murmured, placing his hand on my back and leading me to the passenger side of the truck.

It took only a couple minutes for everyone to be situated and radio calls to confirm all trucks were good to go. Simon was behind the driver's seat and I was on Negan's lap, his arms wrapped around me. Dwight, Ben, and a very large Savior named Charles were sitting behind us in the backseat.

The gates opened and I looked up to see Fat Joey waving at us as we pulled out, causing a smile to pull at my lips.

"Here we fucking go, kids," Simon murmured as we hit the black asphalt and started accelerating.

Everyone was silent as we made our way, not even the radio playing. Negan's fingers were rubbing my thighs absentmindedly.

"I need you to make sure you come home with me tonight," Negan whispered into my ear.

I lifted my head from where it was laying on his shoulder and looked at his eyes.

"I will," I said quietly, nodding my head.

"I'm serious, Piper. I know what this means to you, but I need you to be safe. Promise me," Negan said, his eyes looking a little wild.

"I promise, but you don't have to worry about me out there." I said quietly.

"Hey, where did you learn to make bullets and bombs and shit?" Charles asked suddenly from the back.

I glanced back at the man. I'd never met him before, but he had kind eyes. He was probably the biggest man I'd ever seen, even taller than Negan and looked like he bench pressed school buses in his spare time. He was shaved bald, with dark eyes, and deeply tanned skin. I didn't know why, but I felt comfortable with him.

"Bullet making started with my grandpa when I was little. But then I started working for the CIA and just got real fucking good at it," I responded, giving him a small smile.

"Wait, you made this shit for the CIA?" Charles asked incredulously.

I couldn't help but laugh at his facial expression.

"No, I was a Science, Technology, and Weapons Analyst. Which is just a really cool way to say I studied foreign weapons threats. I had to know what went into the shit I was looking at, you know? So I learned," I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"You say that so casually like it isn't the most badass job ever," Charles said, laughing.

"I wouldn't say the most badass, but it was pretty fucking cool."

"No, it actually just makes you a certified badass," Ben chimed in.

"You hear that? Certified badass over here," I said to Negan, laughing a little.

"Like I didn't already fucking know," he responded, smirking at me.

"If you think that's badass, you should see her fucking fight. I walked in on a few of her trainings with Laura and Arat and all I'm saying is I wouldn't fucking fight her," Dwight said to Ben and Charles.

Negan and Simon barked out a laugh.

"You scared of little old me, Dwight?" I asked, peering over Negan's shoulder at the man with a smile.

"Have you fucking met you? Of course I'm scared of you. You literally told me you fight men for fun once. Hard pass on all of that," he responded seriously, before sending a grin my way.

The cab of the truck broke out into laughter again.

"You fucking said that to him?" Simon asked.

My cheeks turned red.

"I did, but he was giving me a dirty look!" I defended myself.

"Then it was well deserved," Negan chuckled.

"You make explosives, you fight, you can deal with Negan, and you can plan kickass battle strategies? I feel like that means everyone should be scared of you," Charles laughed.

I smiled at the man.

"This is the confidence boost I needed this morning."

"What's that supposed to mean? 'You can deal with Negan'? I'm a fucking delight," Negan grumbled.

"You keep telling yourself that, boss," Simon piped up.

The conversation continued as we drove. It kept my mind off the impending bullshit, to the point that I didn't even realize when we had arrived at the stopping point.

Silence filled the space as Simon put the truck in park and turned off the headlights. We all sat there for a second, gathering our wits.

"I'll see you all back in this same truck in a few hours, right everyone?" I asked.

"We'll be here, boss lady," Dwight responded, followed by nods of agreement from the other two in the backseat.

"Good answer," I smiled, kicking the door open and sliding from Negans lap to the ground below.

I looked down the side of the truck to see bodies jumping from vehicles and walking towards me. I grabbed my machete from under Negan's feet as I stood by, waiting for him to retrieve Lucille and hop down next to me.

"You ready for war, wildflower?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Always am," I said, winking at him. I turned towards the large group that had gathered around us.

"Alright, you eight closest to me right now," I said, pointing with my machete to my left, "Are mine."

I saw them nod and I continued through the group, sectioning out eight for every leader.

"Everyone clear on assignments?" I asked, scanning the group.

Heads nodded in my direction.

"Gold stars for everyone," I said, earning a snort from Negan, "One from every group needs to get in the truck behind me and grab one of the tubs with the explosives. Doesn't matter which one, they're all the same. The others from the group need to start grabbing weapons. Congregate with your group by the treeline while I explain where to go to the leaders."

With clear directions, everyone fanned out, doing as they were told. I turned to the five people behind me and started dishing out directions to the towers, ending with Negan, who listened intently as I explained where his group needed to go.

"Everyone good with that?" I asked, looking at all of them.

"We are," Arat responded.

It was silent as we stood there looking at each other.

"I know I've said this already and at the risk of sounding like a giant pussy, I need you five to be especially safe. Please," I pleaded to them.

Arms latched around my neck as Arat and Laura launched themselves at me. I dropped the machete in my hand to make sure I didn't stab either of them and hugged them both back.

"I'll be fine, but you two be careful. Emily did say she would riot if any of us got blown to shit, so let's make sure we get back to her in one piece," Laura laughed into my shoulder.

"Agreed. We can't have a pregnant woman tearing down the Sanctuary brick by brick," Arat said, her hold tightening on both of us for a second.

"Tequila on the roof when this is over?" I asked, trying to keep a hold on my emotions.

"Absolutely fucking yes," Laura laughed.

We pulled apart and looked at each other for a moment.

"Wait, do we get to have tequila on the roof too?" Simon asked, scowling at us.

"This one time. But after that it's going back to girls only," Arat responded over her shoulder.

"Am I invited too?" Dwight asked.

"Of course, D," I replied.

"Am I?" Negan questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Depends. Are you going up there as boss Negan or fun Negan?" Laura queried, raising an eyebrow of her own.

A grin pulled at Negan's lips.

"Are those different people?"

"Are you kidding?" Arat asked, wrinkling her nose at him.

"Fun Negan it is, then," Negan chuckled.

"Alright. It's settled. All of us live and we have plans with a bottle of tequila and the roof," Arat declared.

Both women touched my shoulder and made their way around the truck, whispering back and forth.

Dwight stepped forward and gave me a quick hug, which honestly surprised me a bit, though I did hug him back just as tight. Simon was there as soon as Dwight pulled away, wrapping me in his arms.

"You better be back and conscious when this is over," he said into my hair as he squeezed me.

"Same goes for you, old man," I laughed.

"I'll outlive the cockroaches, sugar," he chuckled, pressing a kiss to my forehead and following Dwight to the groups.

I looked at Negan, who was watching me with a softness on his face. He propped Lucille up against the truck.

"They care about you, you know? And they respect the fuck out of you. They'll listen to anything you say," he said, stepping up to me.

"That's just because I'm boning the big boss."

"That and you're a natural fucking leader. You're good at this shit," he murmured, his hands coming to rest on my cheeks.

"We make a terrifying duo then, don't we?" I asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

"The fucking scariest," he smiled as his lips met with mine.

I put my hand on the back of his head and pulled him to me harder for a second before pulling back and looking up at him.

"You ready to go blow some shit up?"

"Of course," he chuckled, grabbing Lucille and my machete, handing it to me.

I propped the machete on my shoulder and followed Negan around the truck. He pressed a quick kiss to my cheek and mumbled, "see you on the other side" before heading to his group. I jogged up to mine and looked at the eight faces.

"Ben, Levi, Charles," I said pointing to each of the men, "What are everyone else's names?"

Jed, Justin, DJ, Gary, and Isabelle named themselves quickly.

"You all ready for this?" I asked, glancing around and a sea of nods met me.

"Perfect. Stay by me, be quiet, listen, and be safe, yeah?" I said to them.

"Aye aye, captain. Real fucking glad I'm with you, by the way," Ben responded, winking at me.

I smiled at the man and then grabbed the radio from my belt loop.

"Group One, ready," I said as I pushed down the button.

I listened as the other five groups sounded off down the treeline.

I squinted into the dark to find Negan, who was about twenty feet from me with his people. He was looking back at me with a hard expression on his face. He nodded his head once and looked away. I turned back to my group.

"Alright. Let's do this shit," I said, walking into the dense trees.

"Here we fucking go," I heard Charles whisper.

I grabbed onto the anger again, pulling it to the forefront and making my concern for my people take a backseat for now. This was going to end today.

The trees swallowed us up as we made our way to Purcellville.