Man with the Bat || a Negan novel

Chapter 2: Guns, Guns & more Guns

Phil had a ruthless grip on my arm as he yanked me to the house next door. It was definitely where the gun shot had come from, though a part of my heart stopped when I realized it was Rick, Carl and Judith's house. There was shouting coming from within, so clearly something had to have gone down. 

Phil pushed the door open to their quaint dwelling, pulling me in after him. Boy, what a scene we walked in on. Two of Negan's men were standing in the midst of their living room, holding boxes full of various items. The window behind one of the men had a hole in it from the impact of the bullet on the glass and small pieces of it were scattered on the floor. There stood Carl, gun up and not a single ounce of fear in his eye as he attempted to scare them.

"Put some back or the next one goes in you" Carl threatens the life of one of Negan's men, aiming the gun straight at his head.

This was one of the many reasons why I loved Carl. This kid was a complete and total bad ass. He lived after being shot in the abdomen, he had one eye, he had witnessed the death of his mother firsthand: most kids his age would be so traumatically damaged they wouldn't be able to leave their bed. Yet here he stood with a pistol in his hand, unfazed and determined as ever. I gave him serious respect for that, but I wouldn't be able to live knowing Carl was killed for making a stupid ass decision.

"Carl, put it down" I tell him, hoping he'd listen to me. Carl and I were pretty close for him being 17, but that didn't always mean he'd listen to me. 

"No." 

He doesn't even hesitate, he says it with such angst in his tone, I almost shied away from him.

"He's taking all of our medicine, Mia. They said only half our stuff."

Sure enough, my eyes fell onto the brown box in the gruff looking mans hands. It was chock full of pill bottles, vials, gauze, everything we needed in case of emergencies and more. If he took all of that and something happened to someone, I couldn't imagine what we would be going through.

Big picture Mia, bigger picture. We're trying to save Carl's life here.

"Carl, I know this sucks, but we have no control over what they take" I attempt to calm him, but he just shot me a side eye. Probably guilting me for not backing him up on this, little did he know I was helping to save his life.

"Carl, put the gun down" I hear the raspy, panicked voice of Rick come from behind me as he and that evil bastard entered the scene.

I had hoped to resolve this before they arrived, but I guess my luck just ran out.

"Of course," Negan chuckles, taking in the broken window, to his men, to Carl, "Really kid?"

"You should go, before you find out how dangerous we all are" Carl snaps at Negan. My blood ran cold, Carl stop being a fucking idiot!

Negan's amusement was still evident, but now he appeared also a bit agitated. He probably wasn't use to disrespect. 

"Well, pardon me, young man. Excuse the shit out of my goddamn French, but did you just threaten me?" Negan questions him, a tang of hostility dripping off his words, "Look, I get threatening Davey here, but I can't have it."

My heart was hammering in my chest now, I knew what Negan was capable of. He killed Abe and Glenn without hardly blinking, I knew he would do it to another if so given the chance. And if he even tried to pull a hair out of Carl's head I wasn't going to waste any time whipping out the revolver in my waistband and giving him hell.

"Carl, just put it down" Rick's panicked voice wavered, fearing Negan might harm Carl if he saw fit.

"Don't be rude Rick, we are having a conversation here," Negan warns him, "Now where were we, oh yeah - your giant man sized balls," Negan turns and nears Carl, "No threatening us. Listen, I like you, so I don't want to go hard proving a point here. You don't want that. I said half your shit, and half is what I say it is. I'm serious, do you want me to prove how serious? Again?" Negan sighs and exhales sharply, his eyes shifting from Carl to Rick. Then a smile began to grow.