The Woman at The End of The World. (Daryl Dixon)

fortysix.

A tall man stalks out; he is sporting a leather jacket and a red scarf. His dark hair is cut close to his scalp. In his hand, he holds a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. "Pissing our pants yet? Boy, do I have a feeling we're getting close. Yep. It's gonna be pee-pee pants city here real soon. Which one of you pricks is the leader?"

I straighten up my torso, glaring at the unwelcome visitor, observing under my anger. My arms lay at my sides. This man cannot scare me; the only man who can is lurking a few feet behind me. Even The Governor couldn't elicit this type of reaction out of me.

The same savior from before singles out Rick. "It's this one. He's the guy."

The newcomer bends down, face a few inches from Rick. "Hi. You're Rick, right? I'm Negan." Oh shit. Boogeyman is here. "And I do not appreciate you killing my men. Also, when I sent my people to kill your people for killing my people, you kill more of my people. Not cool. Not cool. You have no idea how not cool that shit is. But I think you're gonna be up to speed shortly. Yeah. You are so gonna regret crossing me in a few minutes. Yes, you are. You see, Rick, whatever you do, no matter what, you don't mess with the new world order. And the new world order is this, and it's really very simple. So, even if you're stupid, which you very may well be, you can understand it. You ready? Here goes. Pay attention." He sets his barbed wire bat on Ricks shoulder, threateningly. Rick cocks his head, glowering. "Give me your shit, or I will kill you." He straightens up, facing all of us, spreading his arms. "Today was career day. We invested a lot so you would know who I am and what I can do. You work for me now. You have shit, you give it to me. That's your job. Now, I know that is a mighty big, nasty pill to swallow, but swallow it you most certainly will. You ruled the roost. You built something. You thought you were safe. I get it. But the word is out. You are not safe. Not even close. In fact, you are pegged, more pegged if you don't do what I want. And what I want is half your shit. And if that's too much, you can make, find, or steal more, and it'll even out sooner or later. This is your way of life now. The more you fight back, the harder it will be. So, if someone knocks on your door, you let us in. We own that door. You try to stop us and we will knock it down. You understand? What, no answer? You don't really think that you were gonna get through this without being punished, now, did you? I don't want to kill you people. Just want to make that clear from the get-go. I want you to work for me. You can't do that if you're dead, now, can you? I'm not growing a garden. But you killed my people, a whole damn lot of them. More than I'm comfortable with. And for that, for that you're gonna pay. So, now, I'm gonna beat the holy hell outta one of you." He gestures to the weapon in his hand. "This-- this is Lucille, and she is awesome. All this, all this is just so we can pick out which one of you gets the honor." The crazy lunatic stops in front of Abraham, eyes searching his face. I watch as his hands find his beard. "Huh. Ugh, I gotta shave this shit." Negan continues, stalking around in front of us. I straighten up further when he crouches in front of Carl. "You got one of our guns. Whoa. Yeah. You got a lot of our guns." Negan's face cracks into a gin, "shit, kid, lighten up. At least cry a little." He stands, up, eyes searching each of our faces. My hands ball into fists, nails cutting into my skin, as he approaches Maggie. "Jesus. You look shitty. I should just put you out of your misery right now." Negan positions himself as if he's going to swing the bat.

No!

Seemingly to be reading my mind, "no! no!" Glenn pleads for his wife's safety. He jumps, running to protect her. I flinch watching several of Negan's men tackle him to the ground, hitting him over and over, hot tears fall from behind my eyes.

"Stop it!" Maggie shrieks.

Negan scowls, bellowing, "nope. Nope, get him back in line."

Glenn whines, "no. No. Don't. Don't."