Too Good to be Bad | Negan |

39 - Fucking bastard

I sit there on the ground until I finally stop crying. Then I crawl to my bed and curl up in it. I don't come out again that night. Or the day after. Somewhere halfway through the morning, someone knocks on my door.

'Lara? You in there?'

It's Alex. I don't respond.

'We didn't see you at breakfast. Kieran neither. You all right?'

I just stay silent. Eventually, he leaves. What am I supposed to say to anyone? I don't want to talk to anybody. Don't want to see anyone. But somewhere in the afternoon, there's knocking on the door again.

'Lara, please open up.' It's Priya this time. And Alex too, again.

'We heard what happened', he says. 'Sort of. People are talking. Just open up and talk to us, please.'

I stay silent again. They beg a little longer, but after a while they give up. They leave me alone for the rest of the afternoon, but just as it's starting to get dark, Alex returns. He knocks on my door more urgently this time.

'Lara, please, you have to come out. Nikolai has been arrested.'

I lift my head from the pillow in surprise. What the hell is he saying?

'Do you hear me?' he says.

I push myself off the bed and walk over to the door. When I open it, Alex immediately enters the room.

'What do you mean?' I ask him.

'We didn't see him at lunch', he says agitatedly. 'But we didn't think anything of it, he could have been working in the back. But then we didn't see him at dinner either, so we went to ask around and then Kenny tells us he's been arrested.'

'Arrested?' I ask confused. 'For what?'

'For stealing! For giving us extra food all those times, I guess. Nobody ever told him off for that before.'

'What are they going to do to him?' I ask concerned.

'You know what the punishment for stealing is', he says, fear in his eyes.

I look at him with wide eyes. They're going to take his finger off. Why would they arrest him now after we've been here for months? Then it clicks. This is Negan's revenge.

'Fucking bastard', I curse. Then I leave the room and run.

'Where are you going?' Alex yells after me. He tries to follow me, but I'm faster. I run through the halls and push people out of the way, ignoring their looks and their whispers as I make my way to Negan's hallway. I burst through the doors at the top of the staircase, ready to run to his room, when someone grabs my arm and holds me back.

'He's told us not to let you through, Lara.'

'Let go off me, Derek!'

'I heard what happened. Everybody's talking about it. There's nothing you can say to him right now that will make anything better', he says, pulling at me.

'I said let go!' I snarl and I kick him in the shin. He grunts and lets me go in surprise, giving me the chance to stalk to Negan's room. Derek catches up to me soon and walks next to me in big strides, but doesn't try to grab me again.

'Don't do this, Lara, you'll only get yourself into trouble.'

'He arrested Nikolai.'

'I know, but there's nothing you can do.'

'Is he in there?' I ask, ignoring what he's saying.

'Y- I'm not telling you', he says.

I roll my eyes and knock on his dour loudly.