i won't back down --- tom petty
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[POV]
Negan's bat landed on Abraham, choosing him as the night's victim. But he didn't go down easily.
"Oh, look at that! Taking it like a champ!" Negan shouted as Abraham insisted on sitting back up. Blood poured down his forehead, but he managed to choke out, "Suck...my...nuts." Then, he was hit again, and again, and again.
The whole group couldn't bear to watch.
"D'you hear that?" Negan mocked, "He said, suck my nuts." He chuckled as he continued to bash Abraham's skull into the ground. "Oh, my goodness! Look at this! You guys, look at my dirty girl."
Negan waltzed over to Rosita, holding his bat in front of her face, "Sweetheart, lay your eyes on this. Oh, damn. Were you- were you together? That sucks. But if you were, you should know there was a reason for all of this. Red-- and hell, he was, is and will ever be red, he just took one, or seven or eight for the team! So, take...a damn look. Take a damn look!"
As he shouted at Rosita, Daryl decided to lunge and punch Negan in the face. And as Negan's men threw Daryl to the ground, JJ's heart fell to her knees.
"That...oh, my! That... is a no-no. The whole thing- not one bit of that shit flies here."
Dwight pushed one of the men aside, holding Daryl's crossbow to his temple, "Do you want me to do it? Right here."
"No, you don't kill them..." Negan told Dwight, "Not until you try a little."
Dwight then dragged Daryl back into the line as Negan stood up. "Any anyway...that's not how it works. Now, I already told you people, the first one's free, then- what'd I say? I said I would shut that shit down! No exceptions. Now, I don't know what kind of lying assholes you've been dealing with...but I'm a man of my word. First impressions are important."
"I need you to know me. So...back to it." Negan turned around, bashing Glenn twice.
He also managed to somehow sit back up. As Maggie sobbed, JJ turned away, choking back more tears.
"Buddy, you still there? I just don't know. It seems like you're trying to speak, but you just took a hell of a hit. I just popped your skull so hard, your eyeball just pepped out, and it is gross as shit."
"Maggie... I'll find you." Glenn stuttered out his last words.
"Oh, oh, hell. I can see this is hard on you guys. I am sorry. I truly am. But I did say it." Negan grinned, "No exceptions," and took even more hits at Glenn. Until, eventually, there was just the stain of blood splattered across the ground.
"I'm just getting started." Negan stated in between swings. "Lucille is thirsty. She is a vampire bat."
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[JJ]
"What? Was the joke that bad?" Negan smirked.
My brother slowly looked up, sweat soaking his hair. "I'm gonna kill you."
Negan knelt in front of him. "What? I didn't quiet catch that, you're gonna have to speak up."
"Not today...not tomorrow...But I'm gonna kill you."
"Simon...what did he have, a knife?" Negan refused to break eye contact with Rick.
"He had a hatchet."
"A hatchet?"
"He had an ax."
Negan chuckled. "Simon's my right-hand man. Having one of those is important. I mean, what do you have left without them? A whole lot of work. Do you have one? Maybe one of these fine people still breathing? Oh...Or did I..." He mocked. "Sure, yeah. Give me his ax."
Simon handed Negan the ax. The ax that Rick had used to kill so many of his enemies, now belonged to Negan.
"I'll be back." Negan grabbed Rick's collar, dragging him to the RV. "Maybe Rick will be with me. If not, well, we can just turn these people inside out, won't we? I mean, the ones that are left."
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It felt like the RV had been gone forever. When they returned, Rick was dragged to the front of us. I just prayed that Negan was done. That tonight was just some never ending nightmare of horror.
"Let me ask you something, Rick. Do you even know what that little trip was about?" He remained silent. "Speak when you're spoken to."
"Okay, okay." My brother muttered.
"That trip was about the way that you looked at me. I wanted to change that. I wanted you to understand." Negan told him. "But you're still looking at me the same damn way...like I shit in your scrambled eggs, and that's not gonna work. So..." Negan squatted next to Rick, "do I give you another chance?"
"Yeah. Yes. Yes." Rick shakily answered.
"Alright, then here it is, the grand-prize game. What you do next will decide whether your crap day will become everyone's last crap day or just another crap day." He warned. "Get some guns to the back of their heads."
I heard the click of a gun and the barrel pressed against the back of my head.
"Good, now, level with their noses, so if you have to fire..." Negan imitated an explosion, "it'll be a real mess."
Negan eyed Carl, "Kid...right here. Kid. Now."
My heart sped up and my breathing became shallow as Carl slowly walked next to Negan.
"You a southpaw?"
"Am I a what?"
"You a lefty?"
"No."
"Good." Negan smiled, looping his belt around Carl's arm. "That hurt?"
"No."
"Should. It's supposed to. All right. Get down on the ground, kid, next to daddy. Spread them wings. Simon...you got a pen?"
Simon tossed a black sharpie over to Negan. "Sorry, kid. This is gonna be as cold as a warlock's ballsack. There you go. Gives you a little leverage."
Rick began to beg Negan.
"Rick, I want you to take your ax...cut your son's left arm off, right on that line. Now, I know- I know. You're gonna have to process that for a second, makes sense. Still though, I'm gonna need you to do it, or all these people are gonna die. Then Carl dies, then the people back home die...and then you, eventually. I'm gonna keep you breathing for a few years just so you can stew on it."
Before I realized what I was doing, I spoke up, pleading with Negan myself. "You...you don't have to do this. We understand. We understand."
"You understand, yeah. I'm not sure that Rick does." Negan snapped, "I'm gonna need a clean cut right there on that line. Now, I know this is a screwed-up thing to ask, but it's gonna have to be like a salami slice- nothing messy, clean, 45 degrees - give us something to fold over. We've got a great doctor. The kid will be fine. Probably."
"Rick..." Negan lowered his voice. "This needs to happen now. Chop, chop, or I will crush the little fella's skull myself."
"It can- it can - it can be me. It can be me. Y-you can do it to me. I ca-can go with- with you." Rick stuttered.
"No, this is the only way. Rick...pick up the ax. Not making a decision is a big decision. You really want to see all these people die. You will. You will see every ugly thing. Oh, my- Are you gonna make me count? Okay, Rick, you win. I am counting. 3!"
"Please! Please, it can be me!" Rick begged through his sobs. "Please!"
"2!"
"Please- don't, please-" He continued to cry.
Negan slapped him across his face, taking hold of his chin, "this is it."
Just as Rick was about to lower the ax onto Carl's arm, Negan stopped him. "Rick, you answer to me. You provide for me. You belong to me. Right?" Rick looked down, processing what was happening. "Speak when you're spoken to! You answer to me. You provide for me."
"Provide for you." Rick repeated.
"You belong to me, right?!"
"Right."
"Right. That...is the look I wanted to see." Negan picked up the ax and walked towards the rest of us, "We did it...all of us, together. Even the dead guys on the ground. Hell, they get the spirit award, for sure. Today was a productive damn day! Now, I hope, for all your sake...that you get it now. That you understand how things work. Things have changed. Whatever you had going for you...that is over now."
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[POV]
"Dwight...load him up." Negan motioned to Daryl with the end of his bat.
Before she could think, JJ gasped loudly, "No."
Negan snickered, "And to think, I almost forgot about you." He strolled over to her, squatting in front of her, "Simon...load her up too, will you? There is no way I'm leaving that behind."
"No, please." Rick quietly pleaded.
Negan turned, confused, "What did you just say? Oh, I get it...you're either screwing, or you're family, which one is it?" Rick and JJ made eye contact, neither wanting to answer. "Come on, Rick. We just went over this. Answer when spoken to."
"She's my sister- she's my little sister. Just- don't-"
"Oh...well, in that case, I will make sure to take the very best care of her." Negan smirked, deviously. "But you still wanna try something, 'not today, not tomorrow', I will cut pieces off of...hell's his name?'
"Daryl."
"Wow. That actually sounds right. I will cut pieces off of Daryl and- well, your sweet, insanely hot, little sister and put them on your doorstep. Or, better yet, I will bring them to you and have you do it for me."
"Welcome to a brand-new beginning, you sorry shits. I'm gonna leave you a truck. Keep it. Use it to cart all the crap you're gonna find me. We'll be back for our first offering in one week. Until then...ta-ta."
a/n: 🫢 rip the two goats