Quinn, Negan, Maggie, and Alden, Abandoned Church
Maggie helped Alden inside and we sat down to take a breath. Negan was pacing for a little while like he was unable to stop. Maggie said we take a break then we keep going, still sticking to the plan. Alden and Maggie started to have a heart-to-heart about Alden slowing us down. Negan walked in front of me and glanced outside through the window. I softly touched his hand. He glanced at me and flashed such a slight smile like his mouth didn't even move, he was only smiling with his eyes. I smiled at him too. I saw he was eavesdropping on Maggie and Alden, so I didn't start a conversation. I just sat there, breathing gently, holding on to Negan's two fingers. Alden suddenly started talking about why he left Negan and joined Maggie back then. I could see how much Negan was concentrating on listening to them, he was tense, not moving, just staring at the window. Alden and Maggie kept on arguing about how bad Negan was (back then), and a couple of minutes later Alden was trying to convince her to leave him here. Negan sat next to me and leaned ahead, resting his elbows on his knees, still listening. Then he said that Maggie has to decide. She of course went all out on Negan, for being reckless and deciding about who lives or dies. Then she came to the conclusion that Negan destroyed everything we had.
"Hilltop was destroyed by the new group, the whisperers, which you didn't give a goddamn shit about," I started calmly. "We would be all dead if Negan didn't murder their leader, risking his life for Alexandria, for people who hate him," I stated. I was talking gently, but seriously. "Alexandria was ruined by the horde that the whisperers led there. You can ask Daryl or anybody about this if you don't believe me. Negan was helping us during these times."
Negan stayed quiet for a while and then said that Maggie has to decide what to do now. She was crying because of frustration. She already decided, I knew it. She just didn't dare to say it yet.
When she finally gathered herself, she handed Alden all of her food, then stepped to Negan to get his knife. Negan got it out of his shoe and handed it to Maggie, who handed it to Alden. Negan was left completely unarmed, except for the crowbar. Negan then stood up and pushed some seats in front of the door, so Alden can block it and be safe while we were gone. Negan stepped outside without saying a word. I followed him. Maggie said goodbye to Alden. The sun was going down as we walked away from the church. Negan took out a walker with the crowbar, Maggie staring at his back. Now she was left outnumbered. After he finished off the walker, Negan turned around and locked eyes with Maggie. The way they looked at each other was so intense like Maggie would kill him at any minute. I didn't even know what to do. I have never experienced anything like this before. Maggie walked past Negan and led the way. I stepped next to Negan. We exchanged glances and followed Maggie.
"I don't like this at all," I said quietly to Negan, but Maggie stopped in an instant and turned to face me.
"Do not whisper behind my back," she said irritatedly.
"Alright. I said that I don't like this at all," I said as I stood her gaze.
"You don't like it? You can leave," she replied.
"I'm not leaving because there are kids in Alexandria I care about and I want to get food for them," I stated patiently.
Maggie was still staring at me and I was still standing my ground.
"How can you be so blind, Quinn?" she asked quietly, pausing for a second. "I thought you were okay, but... It's scary how easily he fooled you," she said now through gritted teeth.
"He didn't fool me. He didn't do anything. Oh, wait that's not true. He was there for me and helped me when I didn't have anyone else," I said.
"Those were all lies so he could get out of jail," she said pretty convincingly.
"I did not get him out of jail. He earned his freedom, he proved himself to Michonne and Daryl when I wasn't even there," I stated still patiently. Negan was listening without saying anything. Maggie was trying to get in my head.
"You know what I see every time I look at him?" she asked slowly, still staring at me. "I see him standing above Glenn, holding that wired bat, soaked in Glenn's blood. And he was smiling widely. Gloating so much..." she couldn't continue as her tears started to fall. She looked away, took a deep breath, then looked at me again.
"I know, Maggie," I said calmly. "I know. But he had his reasons. As I already said, you don't know anything about him. You don't know him. You don't know what he has gone through and what he has seen. Michonne and Daryl were there with you. They saw what you saw. They felt what you felt. Michonne and Daryl still despise Negan and they still hate him, but they trust him. They tolerate his presence. He is useful and he wants to help. And now, we have to work together to get that food and supplies," I tried to speak as calmly and as convincingly as I could. I think I was able to plant the thought inside her head, but she didn't say anything. She just shook her head, turned her back on me, wiped her eyes and nose quickly, and walked past Negan to lead the way once again. Finally, my eyes met with Negan's.
"I did not lie to you about anything," started Negan quietly, slowly. "Except when I tried to scare you away so I wouldn't get you into trouble..."
"I know," I interrupted him, then I smiled at him slightly. At least I was hoping what he felt was genuine. Maggie kind of got in my head when she said Negan lied to me all along. But no, I know this wasn't true. Or was it? Of course not. I looked Negan in the eye again. He gently took my hand and squeezed a little. His hand was warm this time and the jolts of his touch sprang right up my arm, warming my heart. Of course, he wouldn't lie to me. How could I doubt him even for a second?
"Are you coming or not?" asked Maggie grumpily. The magic was broken. We followed her, but Negan didn't let go of my hand. It felt so good. I wanted to kiss him so badly, but we didn't have time for that. And Maggie would be even more pissed off. So we kept quiet and followed her.
...
We were marching right after Maggie for hours. We took one break to drink a little and go to pee, then we continued our journey. We didn't speak at all, but it was still so intense. I didn't know what to expect from Maggie. I was just hoping she leaves us alone because she needs our help. Maggie checked the map to see where we were going. I still didn't like this, but what else could we do? Leave and go back to Alexandria? Leave and never come back? I would terribly miss Carol, Daryl, Henry, Judith, RJ, Jesus, and Eugene. What should I do? I had no idea. So I followed Maggie even though I was scared we won't make it out alive. We took out some walkers without saying anything the entire time. Every time we finished off walkers, right after it Negan stepped next to me and took my hand again, wouldn't let go ever since Maggie said that he was lying to me. Holding his hand I felt somewhat safer because I knew I wasn't alone. Hours passed without any words spoken. We were following Maggie and occasionally took out walkers. In the middle of the night, I was barely able to see anything anymore. The moon was in crescent form, so it didn't provide any light. I quietly cleared my throat.
"Should we use flashlights?" I asked. Maggie stopped suddenly and I bumped into her. "Sorry," I mumbled. She shot a killer glance at me and said:
"Do not even think about using a flashlight, they will find us in an instant," she said.
"But if we trip and fall in the dark they will find us anyway due to the noise we make," I said quietly.
"Then look where you're going," stated Maggie grumpily and continued her way.
"That's what I'm talking about, I don't see anything," I said, but Maggie didn't give a shit.
"Let her be," said Negan gently, whispering to me. I got chills in a good sense when his breath tickled the side of my neck. I still felt that burning desire to kiss him, but I couldn't. It was torture. We continued walking in silence. Maggie tried to plant that idea in my head that Negan was or is lying to me and I couldn't really shake it. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought about how I got to know him. I remembered everything. Especially the night of the storm, when he first hugged me. Our first kiss. When years passed and after that, we found each other again. I could just see his face in my head when he saw me after he thought for years that I was dead. The way he kissed me back then... There is no way he was acting, pretending that. There is no way he lied about anything. Suddenly, I remembered the first time we slept together, not sleeping much... And all the other times when we were talking about ourselves, our lives before the apocalypse, our thoughts. There is no way he made any of that up. So instead of Maggie planting her idea in my head, she made me feel stronger for Negan. Not to mention this idiot was jealous of Daryl just yesterday. Who would be jealous if they are not in love? I smiled to myself at this thought. The first rays of the sun started to appear behind the trees.
Negan was still slightly limping beside me as we were walking.
"How's your leg?" I asked.
"Fine. Hurts, but I survived worse," he said. I nodded understandingly. Maggie glanced at us above her shoulder, didn't say anything. My leg was numb from walking for 24 hours straight. My feet hurt even though I had comfortable shoes. I can imagine how much Negan was hurting, he walked the same amount, and on top of that, his thigh was shot with an arrow. We took out a couple of walkers again as the sun was coming up.
"Maggie, we should sleep a little when we can, because we won't be able to defend ourselves if we are deadly tired," I said cautiously.
"I'm not going to sleep," she stated.
"You think we would murder you in your sleep?" asked Negan. He was so sharp, he knew immediately what Maggie was thinking. She stopped to face us.
"I do not trust either of you," she stated. We took out a couple more walkers.
Maggie said we should hurry because the others might already be at the outpost. Negan said or just us. We still didn't know what happened to the others. The thought suddenly punched me in the stomach. Daryl... Jesus... I hope they are okay...
Negan continued after a couple of minutes saying that we can only carry out our mission if Maggie trusts us, but of course, she said again that she won't. And of course, Negan asked her again why she didn't kill him yet.
"Negan, please," I said scoldingly. Suddenly without answering Maggie threw a knife at Negan, he ducked and the knife went right into the head of a walker which was coming behind us. I gasped for air, it all happened in a blink of an eye. Maggie wanted to scare Negan to shut him up. My heart skipped a beat I was sure of it.
"Maggie!" I gasped.
"I ask myself that question every day," she answered Negan as she walked past us, leading the way once again. I turned to Negan.
"Are you okay?" I asked. He nodded.
"She was aiming for the walker," he said grumpily. Clearly, it worked, he got scared for a moment. This time I took Negan's hand and wouldn't let go for the rest of the journey.
Soon we left the wilderness and found a neighborhood. Maggie started hurrying towards one of the houses. We followed her quickly, glancing around nervously. Maggie got the door open and hurried inside, locking the door behind us. She started checking the supplies immediately. Negan pointed out that no one was there and Maggie said then we wait for the others. They started arguing, I was watching without saying anything. I was ready to jump in front of Negan if Maggie wants to throw knives again or shoot him, as she was tinkering with a pistol at that moment. It was tense for a while but then Maggie agreed to wait till sundown for anyone else to show up. I let out a sigh. Maggie continued searching through the supplies.
"How about Negan goes to sleep first and then we take turns?" I asked gently. "No one's gonna kill you in your sleep Maggie. We're all tired and we need our strength," I said. Maggie glanced at me, thought about it for a second. Glanced at Negan then nodded.
"Alright," she said. "But I'm not going to sleep," she stated.
I let out a sigh again. I grabbed Negan's arm and helped him upstairs to find a bed. He groaned as he lay down.
"Let me see it," I asked him gently. He pulled the bandage away and I checked his wound. It was not that bad. I put back the bandage over it, he painfully groaned slightly again, then he let out a sigh.
"I'll be right downstairs, you can sleep a little, okay?" I said.
"Yeah, but this should be the other way around," he said.
"No, I want to talk to Maggie. I want to make sure she doesn't kill you while I'm asleep."
"Be careful," said Negan and he already drifted off. We were so tired from marching for so long. I took a deep breath and headed downstairs.
...
Author's notes: Listen to the "Wicked Game" cover by Violet Orlandi.
Damn Negan for making Quinn fall for him once again. :D
Thank You for reading! ❤