Chapter Thirteen

Please Please Please

The following week passed in a blur. Training, work, Negan. In that order, every single day. I found myself waiting for the other shoe to drop, for some reason. Everything seemed like it was going too well. Like at any minute, something would happen that would pull me out of my bubble. I tried not to let that thought eat at me too much, but I was still operating on fight or flight most of the time.

I was even making more friends. Aside from my usual group, I'd gotten closer to Ben, Levi, and Dwight. I'd even had a few small conversations with Sherry, much to my surprise, and Fat Joey had started coming around to stand guard in the lab (a decision Negan had made, but I didn't really mind) while we worked, quickly meshing with me and the other three. I had developed a soft spot for the big guy.

I'd become a lot closer to Jolene, Harvey, and James too. They always checked in on me and I'd made it a point to stay invested in their lives, to make sure they didn't need anything. They constantly assured me that because of the amount of points they were earning from working with me, they were practically living like royalty now and wanted for nothing.

Negan and I were… fucking perfect. He had me wrapped around his finger like a damn pretzel and I loved every second of it. It had become easy to just throw myself into him, like a drug that I wasn't sure I wanted to stop using. I slept in his arms every night and woke up to him placing small kisses on my neck every morning. There were a few days I'd started to feel that numbness creeping in and instead of letting it completely incapacitate me, I'd started to talk to Negan, who just listened. I'd actually feel better after every conversation.

But through all of this, I couldn't help but feel like something was coming. I didn't know if it was the impending trip to Purcellville or something different, but even when I was happy around other people, the thought was always at the forefront of my mind.

I had just stepped into the kitchen for lunch six days before we were set to leave to find Simon and Dwight sitting at the island across from Laura, who was shoveling pasta into her face at an alarming pace.

"I'm not sure when everyone decided this was the extra special lunch spot, but Ms. Ellie and myself were just fine before you idiots started showing up," I said playfully as I slid onto the seat beside Laura.

"How else would we get to spend time with The Sanctuary's new queen?" Simon asked, sending me a wink.

Ms. Ellie placed a bowl in front of me and pressed a quick kiss to my forehead before returning to the kitchen sink to finish up the dishes she was doing.

"Oh, the queen, huh? When did I get the honor of receiving such a prestigious title?" I asked, taking a bite of the food.

"When you made it bearable to be around the king," Dwight muttered around the bite in his mouth.

"Facts," Laura chimed in.

I laughed, almost choking on my food.

"You all are so dramatic. He's not that -" I was cut off by a harsh voice.

"Where the fuck is Simon? Come to my office NOW."

Negan's voice. It had sounded from all three of the Saviors radios.

"Well, fuck. It's like he heard us say he was fucking bearable and now has a point to prove," Simon muttered, shoving one more bite in his mouth and chewing frantically.

He stood up quickly, grabbing the small black rectangle at his hip.

"On my way, boss," Simon said into the radio before hooking it back on his belt, "Wish me fucking luck."

"Godspeed, friend," Laura responded, giving Simon a salute on his way out.

I caught Dwight giving Laura a look.

"What's happening?" I asked, glancing between the two of them.

Dwight shook his head like he wasn't going to get involved.

"One of the other Saviors got into a bit of trouble," Laura mumbled, staring into her bowl.

"What kinda trouble?" I continued.

"Uh, he was going to leave. But not just like, leave and be done. He was stockpiling supplies in his room and in a cell. He was going to steal all kinds of shit. Fat Joey caught him overnight trying to get into the armory," she answered.

I heard Simon's voice over the static of Dwight's radio.

"Saviors, round everyone up in the factory floor right fucking now."

Laura and Dwight jumped off their stools, faces set in a grimace.

"Ms. Ellie, please make sure Piper gets to the factory floor," Dwight mumbled, before he and Laura left the room.

I looked at Eleanor, who's face had grown pale.

"Come on, baby. We better get over there," she said, frantically smoothing down her dress.

I stood next to Eleanor, who had my hand locked in hers in a death grip.

Everyone within the walls of the Sanctuary were packed into a large room with high ceilings off of the main dining area. Saviors and workers were packed into the room, shoulder to shoulder. It was silent as we waited. My heart was hammering so loud that I figured everyone could hear it.

A fire was burning in a large furnace, with Dwight standing next to it, staring into the heat. I could see the iron in the flame. The longer I looked at it, the more nauseous I became. There was a man in his early twenties tied to a chair near the furnace and the crowd had formed a circle around the space.

A loud banging filled the room and my eyes flew up to the metal walkway along the top of the room. Negan walked in a slow cadence, with his zipped up leather jacket and dark jeans on. Simon followed close behind him as Negan banged Lucille every few steps on the railing. Simon looked tense and Negan kept his eyes focused on the flooring in front of him.

The whole room began to drop into a kneel, even Ms. Ellie. I held onto her hand and helped her to her knee. My nervousness at the situation evaporated and irate anger replaced it. Why the fuck were the elderly have to kneel? Especially fucking Ms. Ellie.

I turned a glare to Negan. I wasn't going to fucking kneel. There was no way in hell I would take a knee for this shit.

Negan continued walking and banging that fucking bat, each sound hitting a nerve in my head. He stopped when he got closer to the steps leading down to the floor we were all on, and turned to hand Lucille to Simon.

He turned and grabbed the railing, looking out at the factory floor. My Negan wasn't present. I could see it in the hard set of his eyes and the way his shoulders were squared. The smirk that was sitting on his face was not his playful smirk, or even the smirk that fell on his mouth when he was picking on me. No, this smirk was borderline fucking sadistic.

Ms. Ellie tugged on my hand, "Kneel," she whispered.

I shook my head and looked back to Negan, who was now staring at me, the smirk gone. His lips were set in a hard line and anger colored his features. I returned his glare, a fire burning in the pit of my stomach.

He looked away from me and started addressing the crowd.

"You know the deal," he began, the smirk returning, "What's about to happen is going to be hard to watch. I don't wanna do it. I wish I could just ignore the rules and let it slide, but I can't."

His voice raised with every word he spoke as he scanned the room. He sounded almost mocking.

"Why?" He asked the crowd, walking to the steps.

"Rules keep us alive," the entire crowd chanted back to him.

This really is a fucking cult.

He started descending the steps, only to stop at a landing halfway down.

"That. Is. Right! We survive. We provide security to others. We bring civilization back to this world. We are the Saviors. But we can't do that without rules. Rules are what make it all work. I know it's not easy, but there's always work. There is always a cost," his eyes scanned the room, focusing on every face but mine, as his voice continued to rise until he was just full on yelling, "Here, if you try to skirt it, if you try to cut that corner, then it is the iron for you!"

He let out an ominous chuckle and the hair on the back of my neck stood up.

"On your feet."

He continued down the rest of the stairs as everyone started to rise. I grabbed Ms. Ellie's hand and helped her to her feet.

"You shouldn't have done that. You should not have done that, PIper," she whisper-yelled in my ear, sounding genuinely scared for me.

"I can handle him, Ms. Ellie. It's okay," I soothed the woman, keeping my eyes on Negan's movements.

I was furious. I wasn't fucking scared of Negan, though. No, we were beyond that point. I wanted to hit him in his fucking big ass head and ask what was fucking wrong with him. I knew Negan was a hard and stern leader. I knew he was different around me. Fuck, I even knew about the iron, but something about what was currently playing out in front of me did not sit right on my stomach. I didn't know he made a public skeptical out of this shit, although I should have when Emily told me it was hard to watch.

Negan made his way to Dwight, a swagger in his walk that only furthered my fury.

"D," he said with a chuckle.

Dwight turned to the furnace and pulled a steel rod with a hook on the end out of it. The iron was hanging from the hook and glowed from the heat. Negan pulled on a fire proof glove and turned towards Dwight. He picked the iron up off the hook and spun around, walking towards who I assumed was Owen.

"Owen, I'm sorry," he said, not sounding even remotely sorry, "but it is what it is."

Negan smirked, actually fucking smirked, and then pressed the iron to the side of Owen's face. A loud yell filled the room, along with the sound of sizzling skin, causing me to flinch as I watched. Ms. Ellie gasped and I saw her head drop in my peripheral vision.

The scream went on for what felt like forever. And Negan just left it there, letting the male scream until he passed out. He pulled the iron from the man's face and bile rose in my throat as skin peeled off Owen's face.

He was slumped in the chair, completely unconscious, but I could see the horrifying burn mark. I couldn't take my eyes off of it.

Negan chuckled and stomped his foot.

"Ahhhh, that wasn't so bad now was it?" He said, smiling down at Owen before turning back to Dwight and hanging the iron on the hook. He turned back to Owen, "Jesus. He pissed himself."

He took in the crowd around him again, pausing on my face for a moment.

He located a worker with a mop bucket standing behind Owen and walked toward the man.

"Clean that up," he said, his tone condescending as he looked up again, locating who he was looking for, "Doc, come up and do your thing."

Dr. Carson made his way to the man, staring at Negan as he walked.

"Well, the pussy passed out," Negan chuckled again, looking around the room, "But it's settled. We're square. Everything is cool. Let Owen's face be a daily reminder to him and to everyone else that the rules matter. I hope that we all learned something today, because I don't ever wanna have to do that again."

That stupid grin stayed on his face as his eyes zeroed in on me. He grabbed Lucille from Simon and walked across the circle to where I stood with Ellie, leaning close to my ear.

I stood straight, not looking at him. My eyes connected with Simon's, who had a look of concern on his face.

"That's some crazy shit, huh? You probably think I'm a lunatic. Come on. Let's go figure out what to do with you, since you're too good to kneel with everyone else and all," he laughed, but the laugh wasn't one of actual humor.

No, this laugh was bone chilling. It sent a small spear of fear down my spine.

I finally broke my eyes away from Simon and looked at Negan, who was watching my face. My lip curled in disgust, but he just chuckled again and threw his arm around the back of my neck, forcing me to walk with him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him swing Lucille up and prop her on the shoulder opposite me.

The crowd parted as he made his way through the doors that led to the main dining area. I kept my face hard and tried to sort out my emotions as he continued to force me forward.

He didn't say anything as we walked and neither did I.

I didn't think he would actually hurt me. Negan had said a hundred times that he would never actually harm me, and maybe it was naive of me to think so, but I believed him. If anyone should be worried about getting fucked up, it was probably him.

I shrugged his heavy arm off me when we came to the first set up stairs and hurried up them, paying no attention to how close he was to me. With some distance between us, I felt my anger skyrocket to all new heights.

I stormed up the steps and down the halls that led to Negan's rooms, until I slammed open the door to the office and whirled on him when he followed behind. He shut the door and set Lucille down next to it, before finally locking his eyes on mine.

Typically, when we were behind that door, he was back to my Negan. This time, leader Negan still seemed to linger on his face and that only pissed me off more.

"What in the actual fucking fuck is wrong with you?" I hissed, stomping my foot, but making no move to get closer to him.

He had the audacity to laugh, literally fucking laugh, in my face.

"When it comes to that shit, doll, you don't get to ask me questions," he responded, his grin only growing.

He leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms.

Oh, this motherfucker is really trying me right now.

"Fuck you, Negan," I spat, stepping closer to him, "That bullshit was completely fucking uncalled for. You burning that man's face in front of the people you protect to what? Prove a fucking point? Be so fucking serious right now."

His eyes flared and he was advancing on me. Instead of making a rational, smart decision and backing away, I stayed exactly where I was planted.

"Baby, I am very fucking serious," he started, his voice elevated but not yelling, "I run this shit. I. Call. The. Shots. And you are supposed to fucking listen! And fucking kneel when everyone fucking else does!"

"Pardon the fuck out of me, you unbearable asshole!" I pushed my body closer to his, our chests bumping, "I don't fucking kneel for no one, nor will I fucking ever, Negan Smith. So you can take that idea and shove it directly up your ass!"

Anger still colored his features but another smile pulled at his lips as he leaned forward slightly.

"I do faintly remember you on your knees for me last night and you didn't seem to mind too fucking much then."

My mouth fell open. Did he really fucking say that to me?

"You know what, you can suck your own dick, Negan! You're such a fucking asshole!" I yelled, storming around him.

"Where the fuck are you going?" He yelled as I made my way to the door.

"To my own fucking room! Where I will be indefinitely!"

"Why can't you just fucking listen?"

"Because you haven't said shit worth listening to the whole time we've been in this fucking room!" I yelled, jerking the door open and storming through it.

I slammed it with all of the strength in my body, hoping that it made fucking Lucille topple over.