Chapter 43-His Hold Home
Maggie's P.O.V
Maggie rides into Hilltop. Carl, Enid, Kenneth, Marco, Cyndie, and Marco followed her. She climbs off her horse. The others follow her as Tammy, Beth, Tara, Al, Lilly, and Earl come up to them. "Where are the others?" Beth questions.
"They went to the Sanctuary. The bridge was out," Maggie answers as she climbs off his horse. Tammy goes up to Kenneth as Earl hugs Carl.
"What happened?" Tammy asks Kenneth as she looks at Kenneth's torn sleeve and the red mark on his arm.
"A walker grabbed me. It would have bitten me if it wasn't for Negan," Kenneth explains.
"Negan?" Tammy asks Kenneth, who nods. "We'll have to thank him when he comes back."
"Everybody get some sleep," Maggie just says as she walks away from the group. Beth watches her sister, worried.
Negan's P.O.V.
Negan climbs off his horse inside the gates of Sanctuary and looks around...the place is ominous and drab "I never thought I would be back here," Negan says as he looks around. "It looks worse than when I lived here." Nobody says anything as they climb off their horses. They look at the door as it opens, and Reilly walks out with Arat behind him. They both stop when they see Negan.
"What is he doing here?" Reilly asks, anger in his voice.
"We went on a run. The bridge is out. We had to come here for the night," Rick explains to Reilly. "It won't be a problem, right?" Rick asks, his voice being firm and steady as he speaks.
"It might be." Arat tells him.
"Why?" Negan asks.
"Since the crops have been dying, there has been writing on the walls. Saviors save us. We are still Negan," Reilly tells him. Negan could see the hurt on his face.
"Then we should fix that." Negan says as he walks forward.
"What are you doing?" Michonne hisses, hand twitching as if restraining herself reaching for her blade.
"Fixing the problem," Negan says. "I'm not their leader. I'm done with the saviors. I'm done with this place. I'm done with them," Negan growls. "They should know that."
Michonne looks to Rick for support. The leader of Alexandria shakes his head as he looks down. "It might work, and they need to know that Reilly is their leader." Rick reasons. Michonne looks at everybody else. She looks at Arat and Reilly...then Reilly spread his arms in defeat
"We're out of ideas. What the hell," Reilly says as he steps out of Negan's way. Negan walks into the Sanctuary.
"You are one sorry bunch." Negan announces as he walks into the Sanctuary. Everybody stops what they are doing and looks at their former leader, who stood on up on one of the tables where the man sitting down sat up in shock.
"Negan." Justin stutters in shock as he stands.
"The one and only." Negan says with a grin as he looks around. He saw different reactions from everybody. He saw some who were angry to see the former leader. Some who were happy and some he couldn't read at all. "A year ago, I led you bunch into a war with that prick back there," Negan says as he motions back to Rick, who chuckles. "We lost and lost a lot of people because of Eugene, and I got my throat split open like a ziplock baggie. I was thrown in a cell, and you guys were put back here with no guns and put under the supervision of someone Rick trusted. I was in a cell for four months, and then Jed decided to be an idiot, and I killed him," Negan tells them.
"You killed Jed?" Justin asks.
"I shoved my knife through his stomach," Negan admits, the grin still on his face. "Now it has been ten months since all of that, and look at me now. I have a crowbar on my back, a bed to sleep in, a wall around me, showers, friends, and so much more. I would rather be thrown back in that cell than come back here," Negan says. "There are no saviors, and I am Negan, just me. Me getting my throat slit was the best thing to ever happen to the saviors. To me and all of you, we were fools. Now I may know Reilly that well, but I know Arat, and she is a good leader. So if I hear about any of you causing any problems, I am going to come here myself and beat the ever-loving shit out of you. I am not your leader, and I am not saving you," Negan says. His voice was firm and lower and filled with anger. The Sanctuary was silent as the saviors stared at their former leader. Even the people behind him were shocked.
"Only if Maggie was here to hear that," Shane mutters to Rick, who nods, somewhat dazed. Reilly walks past Negan.
"Rick has brought us enough supplies until we can get to our new camp," Reilly informs the saviors, who slowly nod even though they are still in shock.
"We'll get you all rooms to sleep in," Reilly tells them.
"I'll be outside," Negan says as he walks past them and goes outside.
"Outsi- Where the heck are you going?" Shane calls out.
"Visiting an old friend." Negan soon left the factory...
The rest stared after him, then Morgan raised an eyebrow "Old friend?"
Outside
Negan walks through the gravel and walks up to where the garden was made. He bends down with a frown on his face. "Sorry it has taken me a while to visit."
Soon after the takeover of the Sanctuary, Franklin was buried under one of the gardens...Laura insisted, with 'death comes new life' or...some crap like that.
Negan says to the man he had buried under the garden. "I should have come a long time ago. Laura is okay. Hell, she may have a boyfriend. Don't worry. I'll give him the talk for you," Negan says.
He stared at the garden a few more moments...laying his head down "I'm sorry I couldn't save you...I'm sorry I...led Laura to do things...at the time I really did think we needed to to survive. To Live. If you saw me then, you'd be disgusted with me. Hell you were always the first one to try to help others...you helped me with no questions asked...well after Laura smacked me in the head first." He stopped to chuckle.
Staring at it for a few more moments, he said "Well they're gonna be leaving soon...the whole place...I don't know when I'll be back here...but I promise...I'll make you proud...and I know Laura will too. I promised you I'd keep her safe and that's what I'll do."
Negan sighs as he stands up and walks back towards the Sanctuary.
Beth's P.O.V
Beth walks into Maggie's office and sees Maggie sitting on the couch. "Where are Al and Hershel?" Beth questions her sister.
"Sleeping," Maggie answers as she stares at the wall. Beth walks over to her and sits down.
"You've been quiet since you've come back," Beth says. She was worried about her sister. She has barely spoken since they came back from the run. Maggie looks at Beth.
"Negan saved Kenneth," Maggie says.
"That's a good thing...right?" Beth says, her brow furrowed
"He would have died if Negan wasn't there. We all just stood there. Negan saved one of my people, and I hate it because the Negan that we put in that cell would have never put his life on the line for Kenneth," Maggie explains. "And even after, I still want to kill him. The man that killed Glenn is still in there. This one is just playing an act."
"He sounded like he was concerned about Alicia back at the campgrounds." Beth offered. As time went on, she grew more and more worried that Maggie would try and attack Negan and break the alliance.
"Doesn't matter," Maggie says. Maggie stands up and starts to leave the room. She turns around and faces her sister. "He hasn't changed. I know he hasn't," With those words, Maggie left the office.
Rick's P.O.V
Rick knocked on the door to Reilly's room. The door opened, and Reilly looked at him. "Can we talk?" Rick asks Reilly, who nods as he lets Rick into the room. Reilly's room was small. Reilly's room has a bed pressed against the wall, a desk, a dresser, and a closet, and then a door that leads to a bathroom. "I'm surprised you didn't take Negan's old room," Rick comments as he walks in.
"The couples needed them more," Reilly says as he sits down. "So, what's up?"
"The bridge is out, and that hurts all the communities. I know you guys are struggling. I know it, and I hate to ask this. I do, but the Sanctuary has a lot of men. A lot of people who could help," Rick says as diplomatically as he could, seeing Reilly's growing frown
"We need to move, Rick. We can't stay here, and we are low on food," Reilly tells him.
"Daryl has been bringing in a lot of supplies that Morgan and Rosita have been doing. Plenty to help the saviors. If he agrees to give you some, we will help you move after all this. Will you help us?" Rick questions Reilly. The man stares at him for a moment as he thinks.
"Okay." Reilly agrees.
"Thank you." Rick says as he turns to leave.
"Negan, do you trust him?"
Rick turns and looks at Reilly. He didn't know the answer to that question. He knew the man had changed, but he didn't know if he trusted him. "No...I don't...but...Shane does, Morgan does, I think Daryl does. That's enough for me," Rick says before he leaves.
Negan's P.O.V
Negan sat in his room and stared at the ceiling. "You fucking pussy." Negan gets up, staring wide eyed at who said that and looks to the door where he saw himself. The person terrorized the region. He was cradling Lucille in hand, leaning against the doorway...staring at the man on the bed with a look of disgust
"You think you've changed? You think these pricks think you changed? You know damn well those people will only see you as the big bad wolf. The man who killed their friends. Their families...their...Husbands..." He purred the last word out, seeing the man on the bed look away, trying to ignore him "Come on I know you can hear me bud...but you need to face the truth..."
"You'll never change. Sure the guys at the camp like you...but Hilltop? Kingdom? Oceanside? They only gonna see the Big. Bad. Wolf."
"You're not a wolf. I was never a wolf. We were clowns. I got people now. I got friends. I got a family!" Negan shouts as he stands. "I'll die for every one of them," Negan says.
"He he..." The figure in the door looked amused then turned "well if you ever need me...I'll be around. All you have to do Little Pig...is..."
Negan gasped as the Savior leader turned his head DRENCHED in blood, his eye hanging out, but the voice unchanged.
"Is FIND ME."
Shooting up, Negan gasped...clutching his head...seeing the room was completely empty.
He didn't sleep any more that night, the sooner they got out of this place the better.
The next morning
Negan walks outside of the Sanctuary. It was still early in the morning, and everybody else was asleep. Or at least he thought they were. He turns and looks at Arat. She gives him a gentle smile as she stands by him. "I never thought I would see you out of that cell," Arat says to Negan, who smiles.
"Neither did I," Negan admits. He looks at her. Arat was always someone Negan could trust and talk to if he ever needed to out of all the saviors. He cared about the woman. "I do care about them. Shane, Alicia, Daryl, I fought him in a war, and I would happily take a bullet for him,"
"I think you were right. Rick slitting your throat was the best thing to happen to you," Arat tells Negan. She was happy for the man. He seemed happy. "I talked to Reilly before I came out. It sounds like the saviors are going to help build the bridge."
"I imagine I'll be on that crew as well," Negan says.
"You aren't worried about the other communities?" Arat questions concerned.
"I'll deal with it. I'm a grown ass man."
"I know," Arat says. Negan nods as the door opens. Rick walks out and looks at him.
"We gotta get to Hilltop," Rick says. Negan nods as the others come out. Negan pats Arat's shoulder before he follows the others to the horses. He climbed on his horse, and they left, heading for Hilltop.
Thanks for reading. This chapter was very Negan focused, and I think that it needed to be. This is where it all began for him in Twd, and I wanted to kind of end this part of his story here. Admitting what he did and saying that the campgrounds are his home was a big step for him and opened up more stories. I will be honest. This part of the story is going to focus a lot on Negan and Maggie as well as some others. As I said last chapter, Daryl and Alicia are going to have a little bit of a smaller story in this saga. They will show up again in the next chapter. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.