For my sister | Negan |

49 - The devil

A fucking explosion. I scream, but the sound of it gets drowned out by everything else. Pieces of burning metal fly through the air, there's fire all around me. Walkers too, their rotting bodies burning.

I don't remember starting to cry, but tears are running down my face. I can't die here, Ella needs me. I need to get back to the Sanctuary.

Suddenly, I realize that the shooting has stopped. I crawl to the side of the car and dare to take a careful look around it. They're leaving. The armored vehicles are driving away one by one, to get away from the disaster they've created. The fence is torn down. And to my horror, hundreds of walkers are bursting through and coming this way.

I look back to the Sanctuary to see if there's any way to get back in. But the stairs to the platform are blocked now by a huge piece of burning debris. I don't see Negan anymore. He was standing right there, but he's either blocked by the debris or he's gotten away.

I can't worry about him right now. I need to get inside and get to Ella. Holding my dislocated arm to brace myself against the pain, I push myself up from the ground and start to run. I make my way to the wall and run along it, looking for a way in. I try to ignore the sounds of walkers all around me, but I can feel myself starting to panic.

I remember the screams of my mother when she got torn apart in that supermarket. I remembered bloody pieces of her being discarded by the mindless monsters that were devouring her. Dad got us away as quickly as he could, but even in those few short moments, I saw so much that I'll never be able to forget. I can't die like that. I can't. I can't.

My breathing is going too fast. I try to focus on it, to prevent myself from hyperventilating, but when I finally reach a door, only to find it locked, I can barely contain the panic. Against better judgement, I take a look back.

They are coming for me. Countless walkers, half of them on fire, are making their way straight toward me. Going back to my previous hiding place is no longer an option, because they're blocking the way. And I can't go further either, because they're blocking that way too. I don't know how to fight a walker, I've never done it. And even if I did, there are too many of them.

Still, I run along the wall, because there's nothing else to do. They haven't reached it yet, but they'll close in to me soon. There has to be a door... Something, anything.

WHACK

I stop and turn around when I hear the sound of wood making hard contact with flesh behind me. Somehow, Negan has made his way through the sea of walkers. He's taking them out with his bat left and right, creating somewhat of a path.

'Come', he calls out, holding out his hand. I don't hesitate. I run straight to him, dodging the walkers that have now reached us. Once I get to him, he takes my hand firmly and starts to drag me with him without further comment.

He slashes them away without even pausing for a moment. My dislocated arm dangles behind me, but right now I can hardly feel it. Because I feel their hands brushing over me. I can hear their jaws snapping. The only reason I'm not dead, is that Negan makes his way through the crowd of dead bodies fast enough so they can't get a hold of us. Though soon there will be too many of them and we can't keep this up forever.

He stops so suddenly that I bump into his back. When I look up, I see that we've reached some sort of trailer. It only takes Negan a second to open the door and pull me inside. Inside, I lose my balance and fall to my knees while Negan rushes back to smack away a walker trying to come inside and forcefully closes the door after that. The sound of growling and snarling is muffled now that the trailer is closed. We're safe. For now.

'Jesus fucking Christ!' Negan curses, bending over to catch his breath. 'Fucking asshole piece of shit, that Rick fucking Grimes.'

I let myself drop onto the ground completely and roll onto my back, panting heavier than I ever remember doing. Though we currently seem to be safe, my mind can still feel the walkers brushing up against my body and hear the bullets flying past my ears.