Chapter Nineteen
In The End
The sun hit my face and I leaned my head back on the camping chair, making sure I soaked in all of the heat. Today was shaping up to be gorgeous. Thankfully, because it was the day of the barbecue Simon and I had discussed all of those months ago.
Two months had passed since the funeral and everything had fallen back into routine. Gym, work, Negan, repeat.
I had started training the other Saviors and it was actually going really well. They were getting better and better with every morning we spent in the gym. Charles and DJ were becoming pretty proficient with the machete. Gary's hand to hand was unmatched. Negan even came down some days, leaning against the wall by the door and watching with a smirk on his face.
Me and my group of weirdos in the lab were producing daily. We had made enough ammo to last over a year.
Livie had started tagging along with Harvey and paid close attention to everything I taught her. She could clean and safely disassemble/reassemble a gun now. The kid was amazing.
Negan was nothing but fucking perfect. Since we'd been back from Purcellville, everything with him was more "what do you think about this" and less "just fucking listen to me". Behind closed doors, of course. In front of his people, he was still a hard ass, but it didn't bother me.
He actually listened to my suggestions, and that was what mattered. He promised me that Ms. Ellie, and all of the other elderly workers, no longer had to kneel and Dwight would no longer be handling the iron, though he hadn't used it since Owen. We were still working on everything having to be a production in front of everyone, but we would get there.
"It's fucking gorgeous out today," Emily said as she stood beside me, waiting for James to lay out a blanket.
Her hands rested on her belly, which was about to pop any day now. She had taken to wearing long dresses because she couldn't stand the feeling of fabric around her stomach. She'd actually demanded Negan have a run made to a maternity store for appropriate "fat lady dresses". He obliged, but only because she'd made him laugh.
"Baby, you just complained the entire way over here about how much you were already sweating," James reminded gently, grabbing her hand to help her to the ground.
Arat and Laura started laughing hysterically, causing me to join in. They were sitting in their own camping chairs next to me, a bottle of beer in their hands.
"I will kill all of you," Emily muttered darkly.
We sat there talking, eventually being joined by Harvey, Jolene, Fat Joey, Dwight and Sherry.
My eyes scanned the field around us. Negan and Simon were standing in front of few grills, laughing. Ms. Ellie was talking with Ivy from laundry at the large table she'd made Harvey and Dwight drag outside earlier. She had deemed herself "Guardian of the Goods", and was doing a damn fine job of slapping hands away from the deviled eggs.
The rest of the Sanctuary was scattered around the space in groups, talking and laughing. Kids were running around playing. It was so fucking normal that my brain was having a hard time wrapping around it.
"Wait, you haven't told us what you're naming the baby yet!" Laura declared loudly, glaring at Emily.
James smiled widely and raised his eyebrows at Emily, who grinned back.
"Well, we were thinking for a boy…" James started, glancing at everyone before his eyes landed on mine.
"Benjamin James. Benny or BJ for short," Emily finished, looking up at me.
"Oh, guys," I started, a warmth spreading in my chest, "That's perfect."
"We thought you might like it. But for a girl, we want to name her Savannah Alice. Sav or Savvy as a nickname," James announced, a soft smile playing on his lips.
"Oh, Savannah is my middle name!" I said, excitement coloring my voice.
"We know," the couple stated at the same time.
I looked at both of them for a second, trying to comprehend what they had just said.
"What?" I questioned stupidly.
"Jolene yells 'Piper Savannah' at least three times a day. Emily has always liked the name Savannah and I want her to have a name connected to someone that she can look up to one day," James said, placing his hand on Emily's belly and grinning at me.
"But that's not all," Emily said, her own smile turning to a full blown grin.
"We want to know if you'll be the baby's godmother. Take them if, god forbid, something ever happens to us," James said, his expression turning solemn as he looked at me.
"You fucking assholes," I sniffled, wiping the tears that had started down my cheek.
The group around us snickered at my comment.
"Are you guys sure you want that?" I asked, feeling emotion clog my throat.
"Of course. You're strong, smart, and capable. If anyone can provide for our baby in the event that we cannot, it's you," Emily said, reaching out and clasping her hand around mine, giving it a small squeeze.
"I fucking hate you guys," I said, actually crying now, "But of course, absolutely. Just please stay alive."
James laughed, while Emily giggled beside him rubbing her belly.
"Are those happy tears or do I need to fuck someone up?" I heard a deep voice say to my right, before lips landed on my cheek.
I looked up to see Negan peering down at me with a small smile on his face, his dimples popping out and making my heart stutter.
"No fucking up required, boss. They're happy tears. I think. I don't know, she did say she hated us, so maybe not real happy," James laughed.
"But she did smile at some point, so definitely happy," Emily offered.
"They asked me to be the baby's godmother," I said, still looking up at Negan.
His face morphed to one of pure terror as he looked at Emily and James.
"You know that I'm going to be around too, right?" Negan stammered.
Everyone, including myself, barked out a laugh.
Emily was the first to catch her breath, "Yeah, we're aware, Negan. We were kinda planning on it."
"You two act like we're just handing over the baby as soon as they pop out," James laughed, "You'll only have to worry about it if something happens to us."
"Remind me later to station a fucking guard on both of them until the kid is eighteen," Negan said, sending a wink in their direction, before kissing me on the top of the head and heading back to Simon.
I watched him go, smiling the whole time.
"You two are literally the cutest," Emily breathed, earning a glare from James.
"I thought we were the cutest," he mumbled.
"Oh baby, we are. I meant cutest after us," she cooed, glancing at me and wrinkling her nose a little.
"Food's done!" Simon and Negan bellowed from the grills in unison.
A flurry of movement spanned across the small space as over a hundred bodies got in line. I watched Ms. Ellie and Ivy start handing out food to everyone with large smiles on their faces the entire time.
The rest of the evening passed quickly, nothing but smiles and laughter from everyone outside. No one talked about work or runs or anything that could possibly bring the mood down. It was perfect.
Negan stuck to our group and kept me on his lap in the lawn chair. He had grown more comfortable around them around our tequila-on-the-roof night last month where he'd kept his promise and showed up as Fun Negan.
I'd never seen him genuinely smile so much around other people and I couldn't keep my eyes off of him.
The next morning, I was in the lab when Negan stepped in.
"Hey, wildflower. I need to send some ammo to an outpost. Having one of the Saviors run it over. You think you can sort some out for me?" He asked, wrapping his arms around my waist.
"Yes, sir," I responded, squinting my eyes at the scale in front of me, trying not to be distracted by his hands, "Something specific or do they need a little bit of everything?"
"Everything," he murmured into my ear.
"Ew, pull it together you two. Or I'll file an HR complaint immediately," Jolene called to us from across the room.
Negan let out a loud laugh and pulled back from me.
"Hey, did you say there was someone going to an outpost?" Harvey asked, striding up to Negan.
"I did," Negan responded, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Can I go? I've done all my work today and I've never seen the outposts. I can help them unload," he asked, excitement coloring his face.
"No," I said, turning to face Harvey immediately.
"Why not?" He asked, his dark eyes deepening in disappointment.
"It's dangerous out there and I need you here," I said sternly.
"I just want to get out for a bit. I'll be back by morning. Right, Negan?"
Negan put his hands up and stepped back, a grin settling on his face.
"I think it's best I stay out of this, kid."
"I'm a man. Please, Piper. I'll check in when I get back. I finished everything you asked me to do. Livie is staying with Rory and her dad in their room tonight. I can handle this. It's just a quick trip. The Saviors do it all the time and come back alive," Harvey begged, bouncing up and down on his toes.
I looked at his excited face. He was right, but still the thought of him leaving didn't sit well with me.
"Fine. But you come see me the moment you get back, Harvey. I mean it. I don't care what time it is," I relented.
He flung his arms around my shoulders and squeezed me tight, causing a small huff to fall from my lips. He was only seventeen, but the kid was built like a damn ox.
"You're the best, Piper. I promise I'll be safe and I'll make it home. I'll check in when I'm back," he said, like I'd just told him we were going to Disney Land.
"Make sure it's okay with Negan," I grumbled, into his shoulder.
"Negan?"
"Fine by me, man. Pack up what Piper says and meet with old Buck out front in twenty," Negan said, grinning at the him.
"You guys are the best!" Harvey all but screeched, racing towards the armory to grab the boxes of ammo.
"Be fucking safe!" I barked after the kid.
"He'll be fine, wildflower. Buck will keep the kid safe," Negan said softly.
"You better be fucking right."
Loud banging sounded on our bedroom door before I heard it swing open loudly, causing me to sit straight up.
Instinct kicked in and I grabbed the handgun I kept by the bedside table as Negan vaulted himself out of the bed, looking around frantically.
"We have a goddamn problem," Simon barked.
I looked up at the man. His face held a mixture of pain and anger.
"Someone better be goddamn dead for you to be marching into our fucking room at this time," Negan boomed, glaring at his second in command.
"They are. All of them," Simon said, shaking his head as a look of grief pulled down his face.
"Simon?" I said quietly, sitting my gun back down, "What happened?"
"One of our outposts have been attacked. I got a call from one of the long distance radios, but I couldn't tell who it was. They just kept saying, 'The outpost has been hit, the outpost has been hit. Everyone is dead, they're all dead. ETA thirty minutes.' He repeated it like six times."
I jumped up out of bed, my heart pounding and my thoughts racing, not even thinking about the fact that all I had on was one of Negan's shirts.
"What fucking outpost, Simon? Which fucking one?!" I screamed, my hands reaching up to grasp my hair.
I couldn't do this again. I couldn't. Not with Harvey.
Simon's eyes lifted to mine, before looking at Negan.
"Three. The one that had the delivery for ammunition scheduled today," he said quietly.
All of the fear left my body and an angry numbness swept in to replace it.
"When did the call come through?" Negan asked, running his hands through his hair.
"Maybe fifteen minutes ago."
I took off towards the dresser, ripping some leggings from it and tugging them on.
"How many people were there?" Negan asked quietly as I heard him pulling his own clothes on.
"At least thirty," Simon replied.
I grabbed my handgun from the nightstand and tucked into the waistband of my leggings as I made my way to the door, not pausing to wait. Quickly sliding my feet into some flip flops, I took off out the door.
I prayed as I stormed through the Sanctuary, hearing Negan and Simon's footsteps not far behind me. I didn't even really know who I was praying to, because I wasn't really religious, but I hoped someone, anyone heard me and that Harvey was the one that pulled through the gates.
When I made it outside, I couldn't stand still. The sun was just beginning to light the sky as I paced, not hearing anything Simon and Negan were talking about. Nothing was filtering through. I needed to know where Harvey was.
Eventually, headlights hit me as a truck rolled towards the gate.
"Fucking open this shit!" I yelled at the guard.
The gates groaned as they opened and I was through them in the blink of an eye, ignoring Negan's demands that I wait. The truck came to a stop a few feet away and the driver door slowly opened.
A boot appeared on the ground. The person rounded the open door.
I squinted my eyes, trying to get them to focus.
"Piper…" A pained groan sounded.
And I was running. I came up on Harvey a moment before he collapsed. It took every bit of strength in my body to keep him from hitting the dirt.
Negan and Simon were on us quickly, helping me lower him down.
I scanned Harvey's body. He was clutching a wound on his side, his blue shirt dark red with blood. His left eye was swollen and his breathing was coming out in pants.
"Someone go wake the fucking doctor!" I screamed at the guard on the gate, who scrambled for his radio.
"Lift him up. Get him inside right now," I demanded.
"Piper…" Harvey groaned, his eyes blinking rapidly as he looked up at me, "I'm so sorry."
And then he passed out.