We heard the RV start and drive away as we traveled through the dark forest. I stabbed a walker in the head that was coming near us, letting it drop to the ground.
"Aaron, please, just let me walk it," mom begged but even her voice sounded weak.
"Relax. Just a few more miles," he reassured her. I stayed in front on the left of Rick, Carl on the right. Will and Matt stayed in the back on either side of Abraham.
"I heard what you told her when we were leaving. We can do anything 'cause we'll do anything we need to do. We have and we will," Carl said, sounding a bit out of breath. "What happened to Denise, I'm not gonna let anybody die like that again."
"Son," Rick trailed off.
"What?" Carl asked, but Rick never got to finish what he was going to say as a loud whistle rang through the air. Everyone stopped moving, looking around.
"Go. Go!" Carl and I lead the group through the tears. Adrenaline and fear coursed through my veins as whistles continued. Then a bright light popped on. We were surrounded by men. There was no escape now. Everybody stayed still, unsure what to do when really, there was nothing we could do at this point. Mom was on a bed dying, Eugene was tied up and on his knees, and well, we were trapped.
"Good. You made it," the leader from the first group stepped into the light. "Welcome to where you're going. We'll take your weapons. Now." He pulled out his gun and pointed it at Eugene's head.
"We can talk about-"
"We're done talking. Time to listen," the guy interrupted. Men came over to us and patted us down, taking all of our weapons. "Let's get her down and get you all on your knees. Lots to cover." Two men came over and went to grab the makeshift bed.
"Hold up," Abraham said, stopping the men's actions. "we got it."
"Sure, sure," the leader said and the two backed off. Aaron and Sasha helped lower Mom to the ground before pulling her out. Their arms supported most of her weight as she gently put her to her knees. Eugene was thrown over on his knees beside Will.
"Gonna need you on your knees," the leader said, getting in Rick's face. Rick didn't move for a moment, looking around, and then he slowly lowered himself to the ground. I, however, didn't.
"Rori, get down," Rick whispered harshly.
"No," I shook my head, staring the leader right in the eyes.
"I said, sit down!" the leader pulled his gun out of his holder, aiming it at my head. I didn't move or show any signs of fear.
"Aurora, sit down," Mom said quietly. I wasn't going to until the leader cocked his gun and aimed it at my head. Then I got on my knees. I was kneeling in between Carl and Matt.
"Let's get the other ones now," the leader said, wiping his nose off again. When nobody moved, he called out, "Dwight!"
"Yeah?" The man I recognized, Dwight, stepped forward.
"Chop-chop." Dwight walked over to the van and opened the back doors.
"Come on. Got people to meet,' Dwight and some other guys pulled out four people. I was shocked to see who it was. Rosita, Daryl, my dad, and Michonne.
"Maggie, Rori?" Dad asked in shock.
"On your knees," Dwight ordered, shoving dad down. The four looked bloody and scared as they were added to the circle.
"All right! We got a full boat. Let's meet the man," the leader said cheerfully, knocking on the RV. Out came a dude with a bat swung over his shoulder.
"Pissing our pants yet?" The man asked with a grin as he walked into the light. It was only then that I realize he had an almost grey beard, a leather jacket, and short hair. I also took note of how the bat had barbed wire wrapped around it. "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?"
"It's this one," the leader from earlier pointed at Rick. "He's the guy." The guy with the bat sighed, coming to stand in front of Rick.
"Hi. 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," the man, Negan, said and god, I hated him already. "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. 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 swung his bat down, aiming it at Rick. He smiled evilly, leaning closer to Rick. "Give me your shit or I will kill you. Today was career day." Negan began to walk around the circle, his bat at his side. "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 than 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.
"That was if we didn't starve to death first," I thought to myself. Although, I doubt that was high on our ways to die list. Instead, I said,"We ain't swallowing nothing unless it's your blood." Negan instantly turned to me.
"Oo, I like this one! She's got some fire in her," Negan laughed.
"Screw. You," I spat.
"Well, sweetheart, 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?" Negan asked Rick. When Rick didn't answer, Negan cuffed a hand around his ear and leaned closer to Rick. "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 your 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."
I wanted to tell Negan, "Not that you ever cared about them" or "I doubt they meant anything to you" but I didn't I stayed quiet as he continued to rant.
"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," Negan said. I tensed, glancing up at him. Negan swung his bat around 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." Negan moved to stand in front of Abraham, who straightened his back out and looked Negan in the eyes. "Huh. ugh, I gotta shave this shit." Negan walked over to stand in front of Carl now, which worried me. "You got one of our guns." He crouched down in front of Carl.
"Not him. Please, god, not him," I chanted in my head.
"Whoa. Yeah. You got a lot of our guns. Shit, kid, lighten up. At least cry a little," Negan said. He looked to the side, chuckling, before standing up and clearing his throat. He moved to stand in front of Mom. "Jesus, you look shitty. I Should just put you out of your misery right now." I sucked in a deep breath, my eyebrows raising as a look of fear crossed my face.
"No! No!" Dad sprung forward before Negan could hit Mom, getting shoved to the ground roughly by the men behind him.
"Stop it!" Mom cried out. Dwight held a crossbow I recognized as Daryls to Dad's face.
"Dad!" I yelled, tears pouring down my face. Dad grunted on the ground and Negan rubbed his chin.
"Nope. Nope, get him back in line," Negan ordered.
"No," Dad exclaimed as he was forced back into the half-circle on his knees. He cried and yelled as Negan grinned. "Don't. Don't!"
"All right, listen. Don't any of you do that again. I will shut that shit down, no exceptions. First one's free. It's an emotional moment, I get it," Negan explained firmly, pointing at dad. Negan turned his head towards Rick. "Sucks, don't it. The moment you realize you don't know shit." His eyes flickered between Rick and Carl. "This is your kid, right? Haha, this is definitely your kid."
"Just stop this!" Rick yelled his eyes on the ground.
"Hey!" Negan snapped. "Do not make me kill the little future serial killer. Don't make it easy on me. I gotta pick somebody. Everybody's at the table waiting for me to order." Negan began to whistle, pacing in front of everyone before he stepped back.
"I simply cannot decide. I got an idea." He pointed his at Rick. "Eenie." Mom. "Meenie." Abraham. "Miney." Michonne. "Mo." Rosita. "Catch." Daryl. "A tiger." Dad. "By his toe." Sasha "If." Aaron. "He hollers. Let him go." Rick. "My" Carl. "Mother." Me. "Told." Matt "Me." Will. "To." Michonne. "Pick." Eugene. "The very best one." Rosita. "And you." Mom. "Are." Abraham. "It. Anybody moves, anybody says anything, cut the boy's other 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." Negan raised his bat, slamming it down on Abraham's head. "Ho! Ho! Look at that! Taking it like a champ!" I cried and whimpered as I watched in horror. Second hit.