❝What I once treasured is now a memory, a shadow lingering in the depths of my mind. It's a strange thing to lose something which you once had, like a limb torn from your body without the chance to save it. She was gone, and I was alone.❞
Chapter Thirty,
The Day Will Come When You Won't Be
NEGAN's screams pierced the air as Alli's body tumbled down. His howls weren't directed at Chloe, Logan, or Rick this time; they were for one of his men—the man who fired the fatal bullet.
In that chaotic moment, where no one was able to process what had happened, time seemed to slow down for Chloe. Her mind receded into a stagnant state, finally shutting itself down just as Rick and Maggie reached for her, preventing her body from crashing onto the unforgiving ground.
Red.
For Logan, everything turned red. It was the red of Alli's blood that splattered all over his face. The fury also turned his world red, blurring his vision and sending his brain into overdrive. Memories weighed him down, but instead of breaking, his heart turned ice-cold, and his mind embraced the rage, taking complete control.
"YOU KILLED HER!" An angry punch collided with Negan's face as his men struggled to hold Logan back.
"HOW DARE YOU?" Negan's screams continued, piercing the chaotic scene as he pounded the bat against the floor.
The men mercilessly beat Logan, each blow harder than the last, knocking the air out of his lungs.
"That shit happened because of acts like that! It's time for you people to learn," Negan shouted.
With a motion from his hand, Logan was carried away by two men.
Adam was still in shock. His brain failing to process the loss of his sister as he stared at her limp body. He looked back at Chloe who was unconscious hoping he could walk right to her, and make her feel alright.
"Wake the girl up!" Negan ordered his men who seemed to be in shock too as no one moved.
"SIMON!"
"On it!"
Simon approached Chloe who was held steadily by Rick. He squatted down shaking her up gently at first then more urgently as she failed to wake up.
"Gently!" Negan ordered.
A bucket of cold water was thrown on her forcing her eyes open as she started shivering.
"I want you to know," Negan said. "That wasn't my plan. But shit do happen."
"A lot of shit did happen!" John barked.
"Do we have a problem here? Wasn't all that enough for you?" Negan asked as he towered above him.
"Speak when spoken to!"
"No, we don't," John mumbled.
"I'm gonna kill you," Rick declared, prompting Negan to step closer, his nearness sending a shiver down Chloe's spine.
"What?" Negan inquired, squatting down in front of Rick and Chloe. "I didn't quite catch that. You're gonna have to speak up."
"Not today... not tomorrow... but I'm gonna kill you," Rick reaffirmed.
"Jesus," Negan chuckled. "Simon... what did he have, a knife?"
"Uh, he had a hatchet."
"A hatchet?"
"He had an ax."
"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 spoke bringing Lucille close to Rick's face as he clicked his tongue.
Things were desperate.
Sighing, he continued. "Sure. Yeah. Give me his ax."
Chloe's ears picked up the sound of footsteps as the man approached. She didn't look up and instead kept her blurry eyes locked on the ground below her.
Negan stood up, placing the ax on his belt before lifting Lucille up again. Chloe closed her eyes, bracing for more terror. Instead, she felt Rick being dragged away from her as she finally let go of his hand that she had been holding tightly.
"Get the shivering girl a blanket. I'll be right back. Maybe Rick will be with me. And if not, well, we can just turn these people inside out, won't we? I mean... the ones that are left."
With that said, he disappeared with Rick inside the RV while Simon moved to wrap Chloe's shivering body with a blanket as everyone's eyes were on her and hers on Rick.
She was in a state of shock, staring at the RV for an eternity waiting motionlessly. Her mind dissociated, failing to handle anything. Disconnected.
"Chloe," Daryl whispered trying to catch her attention which was still fixed on the RV that drove away, in it was Rick and the murderer that scared her to death. "Chloe."
"You don't talk to her. Or anyone," Simon said. "None of you."
"JUST LOOK AT HER!" Adam screamed desperately.
"I am," Simon said. "But I'm afraid if you and your people keep acting stupidly, you'll see her right next to her sister real soon."
Chloe's eyes remained fixed on her sister, whose body was being dragged away from the center of the circle. Looking at her was like gazing at her own lifeless form. But for Chloe, it wasn't just the body that felt lifeless—it was the soul. A soul that had become accustomed to being with its twin, synchronizing beat by beat, second by second, minute by minute, heartbeat by heartbeat, now disrupted and hollow.
Time seemed to pass agonizingly slowly as they all sat there, motionless, their eyes fixed on the blood-soaked ground. Every attempt to speak was met with Simon's menacing threats.
Chloe's legs began to cramp from crouching for so long, but she dared not move, even to alleviate the pain. The RV had been parked in its place again, and they were trapped.
"Here we are," Negan said, dragging Rick out and tossing him into the center of the circle they'd formed. Chloe had never seen Rick in such a state before; he was utterly broken.
"Let me ask you something, Rick," Negan taunted. "Do you even know what that little trip was about?"
As Rick knelt there, he kept an eye on Chloe, ensuring she was okay before glancing at the others.
"Speak when you're spoken to!" Negan barked.
"Okay, okay," Rick muttered.
"That trip was about the way you looked at me. I wanted to change that. I wanted you to understand. But you're still looking at me the same damn way. You and somebody else... like I shit in your scrambled eggs, and that's not gonna work. So... do I give you another chance?"
"Yeah. Yes. Yes."
That was not the Rick they knew.
"Okay. All right. And here it is—the grand-prize game. What you do next will decide whether your crap day becomes everyone's last crap day or just another crap day. Get some guns to the back of their heads," he ordered.
"Get some guns to the back of their heads."
Chloe sensed the ominous click of a gun behind her, making her freeze. She knew this signaled impending danger.
"Good. Now... level with their noses, so if you have to fire," he said, mimicking an explosion. "It'll be a real mess."
His gaze fell on her, causing her heart to skip a beat before he looked away.
"Kid. Right here," he told Carl.
"Kid...now," he spoke again more firmly causing Carl to finally stand up and walk towards him.
"Sweetheart, join us," he said as his eyes landed back on her. "Or are you still in panic mode?"
Chloe sat there motionless again staring right into his eyes searching for a hint of mercy.
"Help her up."
wo men hoisted Chloe off the ground and pushed her forward, causing her to stumble briefly but preventing her from falling back to the ground.
"Come on. You see my men can be a little bit tough, so you better walk on your own, or..."
With hesitant steps, she walked closer to him and Carl.
"You a southpaw?" he asked as he removed his belt.
"Am I a what?" Carl asked.
"You a lefty?"
"No."
"What about you doll?" he said turning to Chloe.
Shaking her head wasn't enough for him as he spoke again. "I wanna hear your voice."
"N-No," she barely whispered.
"Good."
He seized her arm, securing the belt firmly around it, while she weakly attempted to pull back, her gaze fixed on the bat.
"Did that hurt?"
It did, albeit only slightly, but she replied defiantly, "N-No."
"Should. It's supposed to."
"All right. Now Simon, offer us your belt for our little man over here."
The same was done to Carl's arm before Negan spoke again. "Get down on the ground, kid, next to Daddy." He threw his hat to the ground saying, "Spread them wings."
"Let me guess you're her brother," he told Adam who was challenging him with his eyes.
"I fucking asked you a question!" he shouted.
"Yes, I am her brother!"
"Attitude! Attitude," he said before whispering for Chloe. "What's his name doll?"
"A-Adam," she stuttered.
"Okay Adam, join us."
The moment Adam attempted to reach her, she was forcibly pulled away from him.
"No, no. Not yet," Negan stated. "Now I know I've exhausted the shit out of you, sweetheart-"
"Stop calling her that!" Adam shouted.
"YOU NEVER CUT ME OFF!" Negan bellowed.
"Get down next to Carl, sweetheart."
He gently pushed her to her knees, then urged her forward next to Carl so she was lying face down on the ground.
"Simon... you got a pen?" Negan asked.
"Yeah."
She knew what he was planning, but her mind seemed to shut everything out, unable to process anything anymore.
He squatted between her and Carl, drawing on his exposed arm. "Sorry, kid. This is gonna be as cold as a warlock's ballsack, just like he was hanging his ballsack above you and dragging it right across the forearm. There you go. Gives you a little leverage."
He reached for her sleeve, lifting it up, before bringing the pen to her skin. She tried to wriggle her arm away, but he held it still, speaking up again. "Don't be terrified, doll. The pain will eventually go away."
"Please. Please. Please don't. Please don't." Rick's whispers were audible.
"Me? I ain't doing shit."
"Bring me another ax," he said.
"We've got a machete," Simon said.
"Will do."
"Rick, I want you to take your ax... cut your son's left arm off, right on that line. Adam, you do the same to your little sister. Here you go," he told them as he handed Adam a machete. "Now I know the machete isn't as good as the ax, but you gotta make it work Adam, for the sake of your sister."
"It doesn't have to be them," Adam said.
"Now, I know -- I know. You're gonna have to process that for a second. That makes sense. Still, though, I'm gonna need you to do it, or all these people are gonna die. Then Chloe and Carl die, then the people back home die... and then you both, eventually. I'm gonna keep you breathing for a few years, just so you can stew on it."
"You -- You don't have to do this. We understand. We understand," Michonne said.
"You understand. Yeah. I'm not sure that Rick and Adam do."
"We do," Adam spoke with a breaking voice.
"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 got a great doctor. They'll be fine. Probably."
"Rick... this needs to happen now -- chop, chop -- or I will crush their little skulls myself."
"It can -- It can -- It can be me. It can be me. W-W--" Rick said. "Y-You can do it to me. I c-- I can go with -- with you."
"No. This is the only way. 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."
"P-Please, she's suffered enough." Adam was all a mess, but compared to Rick he still had it under control while Rick started sobbing and screaming.
Chloe couldn't help but start sobbing too at the thought of what he was doing to them.
"We'll be okay," Carl whispered as he squeezed her hand.
"Oh, my God. Are you gonna make me count? Okay, you win. I am counting. 3!"
"Please. Please," Rick cried and gasped. "It can be me. Please!"
"2!"
"Please, don't do -- "
"Just... we can work it out," Adam pleaded.
"This is it," Negan said.
"Aaah!"
Rick's screams accompanied by Chloe's sobs and Adam's hard breaths were what composed the scene adding more to the crime scene that covered the ground.
"1."
"Adam... do it," she whispered for her brother looking him right in the eye.
The moment he picked up the machete she closed her eyes, shutting them tight wishing she could shut down the voices the same way she was able to shut down the whole scene out.
"Stop," a word from Negan stopped the chaos, as both Rick and Adam lowered the weapons that were only seconds away from cutting into the flesh of their loved ones.
"You answer to me. You provide for me. You belong to me. Right?"
"Speak when you're spoken to! You answer to me. You provide for me."
"Provide for you," Adam and Rick both repeated after him.
"You belong to me, right?!"
"Right."
"Right. That... is the look I wanted to see."
Chloe still had her eyes shut, trying to process what happened. Adam's hand rubbed her shoulder gently relieving the pains she felt, the pains that coursed through her whole body. It wasn't that physical pain, it was the psychological and emotional type.
"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."
"Dwight... load him up," his voice caused her eyes to open instantly looking up to find Daryl being carried away, Merle being held down by two guys.
"N-no," she barely whispered trying to lift herself up.
"He's got guts -- not a little bitch like someone I know."
"I like him. He's mine now. But you still want to try something? 'Not today, not tomorrow.' 'Not today, not tomorrow'? I will cut pieces off of..."
"Hell's his name?"
"Daryl," Simon told him.
"Wow. That actually sounds right. I will cut pieces off of Daryl and put them on your doorstep -- or, better yet, I will bring him to you and have you do it for me."
She was pulled from the ground and away from Adam as Negan forced her to stand on her shaky legs. "I will be taking her too," he said.
"No. Please!" Adam said, trying his best to maintain the right attitude, while his sister clutched onto his shirt for dear life. "Please take me instead."
"We have things to discuss. Me and her."
"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," he said as he walked away, pulling Chloe away from Adam.
"P-please, p-please!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, but her voice barely reached a high enough pitch.
Her teary eyes scanned what was left of her people one last time before she was thrown into the arms of two other men.
"Gently," he told them while they struggled to get her into the truck where Daryl was placed, failing as she resisted.
"Please, not her!" Rick shouted.
"You can take me!" Adam pleaded.
"Stop it," Dwight hissed into her ear as the two of them pushed her against the hard metal in their attempt to lift her.
"Dwighty boy, I said gently."
They finally managed to push her in as she lost the fight that was left in her.
"Bet you thought you were all gonna grow old together, sitting around the table at Sunday dinner and living happily ever after. No. Doesn't work like that, Rick. Not anymore."
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