𝙴𝙿𝙸𝚂𝙾𝙳𝙴 𝚂𝙴𝚅𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚈-𝙵𝙸𝚅𝙴 - 𝙽𝙴𝙶𝙰𝙽
"Hi." Negan said to Rick. "You're Rick, right? I'm Negan and I do not appreciate you killing my men. Also, when I sent my people to kill your people for killing my people, you killed 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."
Madelyn looked at Rick and could see him shaking. Rick really was scared. That meant there was no getting out of this. "Yeah, you are so gonna regret crossing me in a few minutes." Negan said, making Madelyn's heart sink. What did that mean? What would Negan do? "You see, Rick, whatever you do, no matter what, you don't mess with the new world order. 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."
Negan pulled his bat down and pointed it at Rick. "Give me your shit or I will kill you." Negan said before walking by the whole group. "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 of your shit. And if that's too much, you can make, find or steal more, and it'll even out sooner or later."
Madelyn knew Negan was asking for a lot. Loosing half of their supplies would make Alexandria weak. They would be hanging by a thread if that happened. Madelyn kept pinching her hand, hoping she was stuck in a bad dream but sadly, this was reality.
"This is your way of life now. The more you fight back, the harder it will be." Negan said. "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?"
Rick said nothing. He was overwhelmed with shock and confusion and fear. Negan was asking for a lot. He was bleeding Alexandria dry. But Rick didn't understand. He thought he killed Negan. So, how was this happening?
"What, no answer?" Negan asked. "You don't really think that you were gonna get through this without being punished, now did you? I don't wanna 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?"
Madelyn looked at Daryl who looked back. Daryl was worried for Madelyn. He hoped Negan would do nothing to her but if he did, he would kill Negan himself, even if that got himself killed. "I'm not growing a garden." Negan said. "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."
Madelyn felt her heart sink to the bottom of her stomach. Negan was going to kill someone from the group. Someone was going to die. This was the scariest situation the group had ever been in. In every situation, Rick always found them a way out but this, there was no getting out of this.
Negan swung his bat around in front of Rick. "This is Lucille and she is awesome. All this, all this is just so we can pick out which one of you gets the honour."
Negan looked around at everyone in the group, his eyes landing on Abraham. He looked at his beard. "I gotta shave this shit." Negan said before moving onto Madelyn. Daryl felt his heart pound heavily. He was ready to pounce if Negan moved another muscle. "I'm not that cruel. You're bringing a new life into this dead world. Lord knows, we need more people and I always say...people are a resource." Negan said. He looked at Daryl, knowing that they were together and smirked at him before moving on, making Madelyn and Daryl both sigh in relief. Negan then went to Carl.
"You got one of our guns." Negan said to Carl. "You got a lot of our guns." Carl just glared at him. "Shit, kid, lighten up. At least cry a little." Negan then looked at the rest of group, deciding on who to kill. His eyes landed on Maggie.
"Jesus, you look shitty." Negan said to her. Glenn was helpless to do anything. "I should just put you out of your misery right now."
"No! No!" Glenn yelled, going to stop Negan when Dwight caught him. Dwight was holding Daryl's crossbow. Madelyn felt a tear fall as Dwight pulled Glenn back in line.
"Alright, listen. Don't any of you do that again." Negan said to the group. "I will shut that shit down, no exceptions. First one's free. It's an emotional moment. I get it." Negan then looked at Rick. "Sucks, don't it? The moment you realise you don't know shit."
Negan then looked at Carl and realised. "That's your kid, right?" He asked, going over to Carl before laughing. "This is definitely your kid."
"Just stop it!" Rick yelled.
"Hey! Do not make me kill the little future serial killer." Negan said. "Don't make it easy on me. I gotta pick somebody. Everybody's at the table waiting for me to order."
Negan whistled as he stalked the group. Madelyn looked at Daryl who mouthed, 'I love you' to her. She mouthed it back as Negan looked around.
"I simply cannot decide. I got an idea." Negan said before pointing his bat at everyone. "Eenie." He said, pointing at Rick. "Meenie." He said, pointing at Maggie. "Minie." He said, pointing at Abraham. "Mo." He said, pointing at Michonne.
"Catch a tiger." He said, pointing at Daryl. "No." Madelyn sobbed under her breath. "By his toe." He said, pointing to Miles, making Madelyn's heart pound out of her chest. "If." He said, pointing to Sasha. "He hollers." He said, pointing to Aaron. "Let him go." Negan said, finally picking his victim. "My mother told me to pick the very best one and you are it."
Madelyn felt her heart sink. She fought hard to keep her tears in. "Anybody moves, anybody tries anything, cut the boy's eye out and feed it to his father and then we'll start. You can breathe, you can blink, you can cry. Hell, you're all gonna be doing that."