Chapter Two
Wildest Dreams
My eyelids fluttered as I slowly woke up. I was still in the same room, the lights dim as I tried to take in my surroundings. I scanned the room. No one was here. Dr. Carson wasn't at his desk and Negan was no longer holding my hand. I sat up on my elbows and yawned.
What time is it? Fuck, what year is it?
The door at the end of the room slowly opened and I watched Negan try to quietly close it behind him without making any noise, not yet noticing that I was no longer asleep.
"You left me," I stated.
Negan's head jerked up and his eyes immediately locked on to mine. His mouth curved into a smile and I swear, for a second, it felt like my heart had skipped a full beat.
"Good morning, doll. I just went to change. I was gone for maybe fifteen fucking minutes, promise. Wouldn't want to deprive you of my presence for too awful long, now would I?" He questioned, striding across the room with a swagger that wasn't something someone could fake.
I couldn't help the small smile I gave him. I couldn't remember this man entirely, but his personality was intoxicating.
He slid into the chair that was still by my bed and pulled it closer to me.
"Did you sleep in the chair? I'm sorry. That has to be uncomfortable. I shouldn't have asked you to stay," I whispered, suddenly embarrassed that I had forced this man in to staying beside me all night.
I dropped back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Negan chuckled, his hand coming to rest on my arm, making my eyes shift to him.
"Wildflower, I would drag my balls across hot fucking coals to be able to sit next to you for an entire night. Don't worry about it. Do you want some water?" He asked, lifting an eyebrow.
A laugh bubbled up in my throat, the feeling foreign, like my body had barely known how to produce such a sound.
"Yes, please. But please try not drag your balls over anything on my account," I responded, smiling up at him.
He chuckled and reached to his left to grab the cup on the nightstand next to the bed. I fully sat myself up and reached for it.
"See, the you three months ago would have been singing a very different fucking tune, doll. You keep being this nice to me and I may start hoping the amnesia sticks around for a bit," he replied, smiling as he watched me gulp down the water.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Cool your jets, turbo. Slow down before you make yourself sick," Negan said, taking the water gently from my hands when he noticed I was slamming it back like a frat boy at a kegger.
"But I'm thirsty," I pouted, not realizing that I probably sounded like a petulant child who just had her favorite toy taken from her. "And did I not like you three months ago?" I asked, watching his face.
"You're real fucking cute when you're trying to get your way, doll. And I wouldn't say you didn't like me. That sounds just a tad harsh. I would say that we had some kickass banter. You and your beach ball sized lady nuts always had something fucking smart to say," he responded, keeping those piercing eyes locked on my face.
I smiled at him, laughing again. Beach ball sized lady nuts? Where did he come up with this shit?
"I sound like a badass, Negan. With having 'beach ball sized lady nuts' and all," I said, keeping my eyes on his.
"Oh, you definitely are, wildflower." He uttered, letting a more genuine smile take over his face and soften his eyes.
I reached back for the glass in his hands and he released it to me. I took slower drinks this time, trying to think of what to ask him. So many questions swam around my mind that I wanted answers to. He seemed to know me, so he would know something. Do you know my name? Do I have family and if so, where are they? Where am I now? How do I know you? What were the walkers that you were talking about yesterday?
"Can I ask you some questions?" I asked, looking back to him.
"Besides the one you just asked? Of course, doll. I'm not sure how helpful I'll be, but I'll sure fucking try," he responded, leaning his elbows to his knees and looking at me with an intense stare.
"Do you know my name?" I asked, starting easy.
"I do. You told me a long time ago that it was Piper. Piper Savannah Black, but I've always called you Wildflower," He said, watching my face carefully.
Piper? Really?
"Do I have a family?" I asked, remembering the blonde lady from the front seat of the car in one of the few memories I could recall.
"You did, yes," he replied, his voice growing quiet and his eyes shifting down.
"Did?"
He sighed.
"Did. Your parents and your brother."
I felt my eyes grow watery. He didn't elaborate, but I assumed they were no longer alive from his tone.
"Oh," I whispered. "What happened to them?"
Negan looked uncomfortable, like he would much rather return to earlier in the conversation when I wasn't making him tell me my own life story.
"Fuck, doll. Listen, I'm going to tell you a lot of shit here that you probably don't want to hear, but you need to. It's going to be real fucking hard, but I need you to pay attention," he sighed and then jumped in to a story out of a horror novel.
The dead were walking and eating people. The world had unraveled and everything had gone to shit. Communities of people had popped up, but there were no longer any laws or even people left to enforce laws that had once been upheld. The government had fallen and there was no military.
My head began to pound painfully. Fucking zombies? Is he fucking with me right now?
"Are you trying to fuck with me?" I asked, looking up at him. "You shouldn't fuck with someone who can't even remember their own name. I can't imagine that's good for their brain."
He chuckled and shook his head.
"I wish I was, doll. I really fucking do."
I stayed silent for a moment. There was no way that was accurate information, right? No possible way. That was some kind of plot line for some post-apocalyptic novel, not the world I was currently living in.
"I'm not sure I completely believe that, Negan."
"Fair. However, you're going to have to at some point, doll. I'll take you outside later. Let you see it for yourself."
I slowly took another drink of water. Something in his tone told me that he wasn't just messing with me, but I needed to get away from the subject before a full-blown panic attack set in.
"You asked me yesterday if I remember Purcellville. What's that?" I asked instead, trying to change the subject.
He sighed again and dropped his head.
"You're really going in here, huh? Purcellville was one of the communities I was telling you about. That's where you lived, where I met you." He said, his mouth quirking up and his eyes going distant.
"How did we meet?"
His eyes focused on mine again.I could see something in his eyes, an emotion that I couldn't place, before a giant, beautiful smile pulled up the corners of his mouth.
"We met in a field of wildflowers, doll," Negan began, before a memory hit me harder than a ton of bricks.
I closed my eyes and let the smell of the wildflowers fill my nose, as I laid in the middle of the field outside of the walls. The freedom of being outside the walls felt good. No one asking what to do, no one looking at me to figure something out.
The sun was warm on my skin, the small sundress I was wearing letting the warmth seep deep into my bones. I hoped my pale skin would tan even just a little bit. I'd been locked in the lab for so long that I was white as paper.
I heard whistling, a tune I didn't know. My eyes sprang open, but I stayed flat. The flowers around me should be tall enough to hide me completely. I didn't recognize the tone of the whistle. It was an outsider. I strained my ears, trying to place how close the footsteps were to me.
"Well, well, well. Who the fuck do we have here? Did you step straight out of my dreams and right into this here field, doll?" A deep voice called, not more than four feet to my left.
I jumped up quick, my hand immediately grasping the machete that had been laying next to me on the ground. I spun until my eyes landed on the asshole that had interrupted the only free time I'd had in weeks.
Well, holy fucking fuck. He was beautiful.
His leather jacket hugged his arms. Jeans slung low on his waist and a white t-shirt peeked out of the top of his jacket. He had a bat covered in barbed wire resting over his shoulder. His dark hair was slicked back, his mouth was tugged into a smile, and his eyes were roaming over my body, stopping for entirely too long at the tops of my thighs, where my dress stopped.
That's what I get for trying to feel normal for five fucking seconds.
"Why the fuck are you wearing leather in the middle of summer? I can't imagine you smell too nice under there," I asked, trying to buy time while I came up with a plan.
I didn't know this man, but I knew enough about the kind of people that were still out in the world to know that I probably couldn't trust him.
His eyebrows shot up in surprise and let out a laugh that sent tingles down my spine.
"Oh, you're fucking sassy, doll. I like that," he stated, taking a step closer to me, "What's your name?"
His question hung between the two of us as his eyes took in my face.
"I'm not sure that's any of your business, hoss. What are you doing out here?" I asked, still glancing around.
I was more than half a mile from the walls and no one watched this side until the sun set. I was completely alone and I had to figure out a way away from this man. While he was handsome, I could feel the danger rolling off him from where I stood.
"I was just taking a leisurely fucking stroll through the flowers. We don't have many pretty things to look at where I'm from," he said, the smile staying on his face as his eyes continued to roam over me. "I feel like we should circle the fuck back to the name thing. I'd really like to know your name, doll."
"I'd really like to get a day off and enjoy being away from people without some bat wielding psycho prancing through my happy place, but here we are," I retorted.
I had flip flops on. There was no fucking way I could make a mad dash through the field without tripping and looking like a whole ass idiot.
He laughed again. God, he had such a pretty face. He took a step closer, causing me to take two quick steps back.
"I'm Negan. I lead the Saviors, this beauty is Lucille," he said, holding up the bat on his shoulder for a second before setting it back down, "and I may be a bat wielding psycho, but I would definitely never harm a hair on that beautiful head."
His wolfish smile could make a nun swoon.
The wind blew his scent directly into my face. Oh, so he was gorgeous and smelled like heaven? Just fucking fabulous.
I didn't let my eyes leave his. He hadn't tried to bludgeon me yet. That was a good sign. And he hadn't attempted to step closer since my steps back.
I mentally laughed. The bar for people was set so low that I was giving props to someone for not stepping into my personal bubble.
"I'm Piper. A machete wielding psycho who would really appreciate it if you could continue on with your stroll and leave me alone," I finally responded.
"Okay, alternate plan. Hear me out. You could lay back down and I could sit six feet away from you and you could tell me about yourself."
"Now why would I agree to that, Negan? I don't know you. I've never seen you inside the walls. Plus, if we're being real honest with each other, I'm not much of a talker and you seem like you prefer to hear your own voice," I responded, arching an eyebrow at him.
He slightly squinted his eyes, his smile growing more amused as I spoke to him.
"I promise, wildflower, you will be seeing me around here a lot more. I just struck up a deal with that leader of yours. Brendan, was it?" He asked, his head tilting to the side as he studied my face.
I stilled and my hands flexed around the machete, giving away more than I wanted to by freezing at the mere mention of Brendan.
The smile dropped from Negan's face.
"Not a huge fan of the man in charge, are you?"
I shuddered. "Not a huge fan" was the understatement of the year.
Negan stepped forward, his eyes never leaving mine, and slowly sank into a sitting position, dropping his bat beside him, crossing his legs, and leaning back on his hands. He looked up at me, the grin returning to his face.
"He does seem like a spineless little fuck. Sit down, Wildflower. Tell me something about you."
I stared at this man. He was making himself vulnerable. He had no fucking clue the damage I could inflict on him. I stood there, trying to decide what to do. Maybe trying to get information out of him about Brendan wouldn't be the worst idea. But he didn't want to talk about the newfound deal about Brendan. He wanted to talk about me. Not there was much to know anymore.
Making a decision that could be my worst one, I slowly sat down where I had previously been laying, making sure the machete stayed in my hands, and my eyes didn't leave his.
We talked in the field for hours, until the sun started to go down and the moon was the only thing lighting his face. The entire conversation was about the most unimportant shit in the world, but it was nice. I knew his favorite color was red and he was on a mission to find the last Rice Krispy Treat in the country. He learned about my deep love of Harry Potter and how I preferred laying in the wildflowers outside the walls alone, reading. He was easy to talk to and so charismatic. It made me want to be close to him. I could see why he was the leader of his little group.
Regardless of the easy conversation and his laugh sending tingles down my spine, I could tell this man was dangerous. He didn't give off the vibe that he took shit from anyone and I couldn't miss the way his eyes took in everything around him when the smallest noise he deemed out of place sounded.
Eventually he stood up and reached for my hand. I let him help me up, dusting the dirt off of my back and reaching back down for my machete. He threw Lucille over his shoulder and looked back at me, before carefully reaching up to tuck a piece of my blond hair behind my ear. He smiled, softer than before, and nodded toward the walls.
And then the devil walked me back towards my home.
My eyes fluttered as I took in Negan's face. He had a worried look etched into his features as he looked over me.
"Are you okay, doll?" He asked, his hand finding mine and squeezing my fingers.
"Where's Lucille? Shouldn't bat wielding psycho's always be in possession of said bat?" I asked, smiling at him.
His mouth dropped open and his eyes grew wide before he let out a loud laugh.
"You remember?"
"I remember meeting you. In the field. I remember talking to you about your deep love of Rice Krispy Treats. I remember you walking me towards some big walls," I responded, trying to recall all of the memory again.
"Looks like I'm special enough for you to remember, wildflower," he grinned at me.
"TBD if that's good or bad yet, sir," I responded, looking at him.
I could feel my body getting tired. I was excited to remember something, but I still felt a giant hole where all of my other memories should be. I wanted to, but didn't yet know if I could trust this charming man sitting next to me.
Two parts of the memory stuck out to me the most. The first being why I had such a visceral reaction to the name Brendan and the second being why I had been in a lab. Was I some kind of scientist? I didn't feel like a scientist.
Two loud bangs sounded from the door and it was pushed open before I could voice any of these questions to Negan, revealing a man with a thick mustache and salt and pepper colored hair that was neatly combed back. He was tall and looked to be in his early to mid 40's. I could see the muscle that rippled out over his arms, from under his tan, short sleeved button up shirt, which was tucked into deep green military style pants. He had a gun strapped to his hip. Smith and Wesson M&P. Polymer framed, short recoil, locked breech semi automatic. He looks like the kind of man that would pick something a little bigger. Or older.
Where in the fucking fuck did that come from?
"Sorry to bother you, boss man. We have a problem," the man said, his voice dark.
He glanced over at me and his features lit up.
"Piper fucking Black. I didn't know you were up and around, girl! Does this mean you're going to make me the cookies you promised?" He asked, laughing to himself.
"Get the fuck in the hallway, Simon," Negan snarled, standing quickly and ripping his hand from mine. He was blocking my view of Simon, who talked like we were friends. I leaned to look around Negan.
Simon's eyes grew wide in confusion as he looked between Negan and I.
"I'm not sure I can make cookies, but if you could hunt us some down, I'll eat them with you. I'm starving," I said, smiling at him.
A growl fell out of Negan's mouth as he looked down at me.
"Don't move," he said, suddenly very annoyed, "I'll be right back."
He turned and started towards Simon, who's eyes were locked on mine.
"I'll look for those cookies, sugar. I'll even see if I can hunt us down some milk," he said, his eyes seeming sincere and concerned as he looked at me.
Negan reached for Simon's shoulder and spun him around, pushing him toward the door.
"Jesus, you're fucking testy today," I heard Simon mutter.
The door slammed with them on the other side. I could hear them talking as they continued to walk away from me.
I set the cup I was still holding down beside me and laid my head back on my pillow, staring up at the ceiling as I tried to put together the information I knew so far.
My name was Piper. I knew a weird amount about the gun on Simon's hip. Negan was the leader of a group. Simon wanted cookies. The name Brendan sent fear spearing through me. Negan said the dead were no longer just dead, but actively trying to gnaw on every living thing. Dr. Carson seemed afraid of Negan, but still treated him with respect. Simon seemed like a friend. I was from somewhere with huge walls and a bunch of flowers outside of the walls. I had worked in a lab there, but I couldn't figure out why. I apparently knew how to yield a fucking machete. Negan had a soft spot for me, for whatever reason, that he didn't seem to extend to the other people I had seen him interact with.
Was he my boyfriend?
I shook my head. Not important.
I felt my eyes grow heavier. All of the thinking was making me sleepy. As I drifted off, I heard the door to the room push open.