She Has Fire

Chapter 13

Negan had barely left my side for weeks. He had been particularly protective. He would bring me meals and chastise me when I'd leave the room. It was nice, but I was ready to be useful again. I needed to do something. I was going to go crazy sitting in that room for much longer.
"Not sure your stance on pickles, but I brought you some today anyway." Negan walked through the door, tray in hand. I sat on the couch reading, I set my book down and smiled up at him.
"Love pickles. You can never have enough pickles." I chuckled as he handed me the tray.
"Good. That's a deal breaker right there, cause I love them too." He snatched one from my tray and I playfully smacked his arm. I set the tray down on the coffee table.
"Listen, I wanted to talk..." I sighed. Negan raised his eyebrows.
"Sure. About what?" He asked.
"I think I'm ready to work again. Carson says I'm healing up. I just can't stay in the room anymore." I told him ready for an argument. He sighed and ran a hand over his face.
"I know I can't cage you and all that bullshit. I saw how well that went with Rick. But It seems too soon for runs," He said.
"I can handle it! I can do it! I've been practicing lifting boxes and moving stuff. I can do it." I said.
"I fucking knew shit had moved! Made me think I'm going crazy!" He chuckled.
"Negan...please. I have to do this." I said.
"I can't let you go out there yet. You're a danger to yourself and not to mention everyone else on those runs." He said shaking his head.
"So you expect me to sit here and what? Clean up, cook for you, be some nice little housewife for you!? Sit around waiting for you to come home and fuck me!? That's not going to fly!" I barked.
"Fuck woman! No! I don't expect that shit from you! If you would let me finish a damn thought! I'll put you in charge of the training. We have a few new recruits and their hand to hand is shit." He said leaning back in his chair.
"Oh...well...good." I cleared my throat.
"Listen sugar, I don't want you to be unhappy here. But I will keep you safe. Give it another two weeks and you can start going on runs with me and Simon." He told me.
"That's fair, I suppose." I sighed.
"You're the most stubborn woman I have ever met. Give Lucille a run for her money." He smiled and shook his head.
"Who was she?" I asked, I knew it would be a touchy subject.
"Not yet, sugar. We got a good thing going. Not yet." He said and got up.
"You start training today. Eat up and get your fine ass down to the sparing room." He said and left. I quickly ate and got dressed for the day. I ran down to the bottom floor and to the sparing room. It was a room they had covered in matts, the floor, the walls, all of it. It was a nice size room, it might have been a conference room at one point. I walked in and there were three people standing in a huddle talking to each other and Arat leaning on a wall.
"Boss just wants basic fighting skills. Nothing fancy. Make sure they can take a punch mainly." Arat shrugged.
"Alright everyone, I'm Mary." I smiled as the three turned to look at me. Two women and one man.
"Why don't we start with your names." I said.
"Jack." The man sighed, he either thought he didn't need to be here or didn't want to be here.
"I'm Lizzy." A girl with dark hair and tan skin said.
"Ally." Said a nervous looking girl, her dirty blonde hair in her face.
"Okay good. Now that's out of the way we can start. It's all about your core. The stronger your core is the better you can fight. Arm muscle counts for some, but if you don't know how to throw a punch, it won't be as powerful." I said.
"Where did you learn?" Jack asked.
"Well, my dad taught me some stuff. A lot of it I've picked up over the years." I told him.
"What the hell did your dad do?" He sniffed.
"He was a sheriff." I said.
"So you aren't trained and the only place you did learn anything from was your cop dad. Great, I feel real prepared." He rolled his eyes.
"Watch your mouth recruit." Arat growled.
"I can already tell I'm better than you so just learn." I said.
"Why the hell should I listen to you!?" He yelled. I walked up to him and punched him in the nose.
"Because I could kill you with my bare hands. Now shut the hell up and listen." I snapped. The two girls smiled to themselves. He got up and stormed out of the room. Arat growled and went after him.
"Lesson one, surprise." I smiled. The girls laughed.
"How could you tell you could take him?" Lizzy asked.
"You never underestimate your opponent. Always assume they can kick your ass, it keeps you more alert and thinking." I told them.
"Alright let's start for real this time." I clapped my hands.