INTO THE SHADOWS. Negan

ONE

Tessa Grimes had survived more than most people ever should. A miscarriage. A divorce. The dead rising and walking the earth. Even the unbearable belief that her brother Rick had died. Fear and grief had long been familiar companions, but nothing—not even the end of the world—could have prepared her for what was about to happen.

Kneeling on the cold pavement with everyone else, Tessa's gaze kept drifting back to Rick. It always did. He was the one with the answers, the one who found a way forward when everything fell apart. She trusted him to say something—to do something. To fix this.

She sat wedged between Abraham and Michonne, her hands trembling despite her efforts to stay still. Anxiety had plagued her since childhood, tightening its grip whenever danger closed in, and this moment was suffocating. The silence stretched, heavy and unbearable.

She glanced toward her nephew. Carl looked oddly calm, almost unreadable. When he caught her eye, he offered a small, reassuring smile. She returned it, grateful for even the smallest comfort.

Then footsteps.

After several long seconds, the man they had encountered earlier stepped toward the RV.

"Alright! It's a full boat, let's meet the man!"

The door swung open.

The air shifted instantly.

Tessa felt it before she fully understood it—the weight of authority rolling off the man who emerged. Her eyes locked onto the object resting casually on his shoulder. A baseball bat. Wrapped in barbed wire.

Her stomach dropped.

"Pissing our pants yet? Boy, do I have a feeling we're getting close. Yup it's gonna be pee-pee pants city here real soon."

She couldn't tear her eyes away from the bat. It was grotesque. Intimate. Designed for suffering. When she realized the sound she was hearing was his boots moving closer, she quickly dropped her gaze to the ground.

Beside her, Abraham reached for her hand.

She clung to it.

From the moment they met, something had clicked between them. Not romantic—never that—but solid. Steady. He had become her person, just as she had become his. A second brother in a world that had taken too much already.

"Which one of you pricks is the leader?"

"This one, he's the guy"

"Hi, your 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 just 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 real shortly. Yup, you are so gonna regret crossing me in a few minutes. Yes, you are."

Negan.

The name hit her like a punch to the chest.

He was supposed to be dead.

Not long ago, Rick had made a deal—to eliminate the threat that had been terrorizing communities and stealing their supplies. The Saviors. From the beginning, Tessa had opposed it. She had begged him not to go through with it, unwilling to be responsible for more bloodshed. But Rick had gone anyway, leaving her behind in Alexandria with a gnawing sense of dread.

Now she understood why.

"You see Rick whatever you do, no matter what, you don't mess with the new world order and 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 it goes pay attention. Give me your shit or I will kill you."

The words echoed in her head.

I will kill you.

A chill raced through her body, settling deep in her bones. This man didn't just want revenge—he wanted to make an example. And standing there on her knees, fear tightening her chest, Tessa knew this was exactly what she had been afraid of.

She had warned Rick.

And now, the cost of that decision was standing right in front of them.