Too Good to be Bad | Negan |

45 - We got the whole gang together

The next day, I can't get the looks of disappointment on the faces of Tina, Sherry and Dwight out of my mind when I told them my talk with Negan led to nothing. When I left them, they still had no idea what to do. I wonder what they'll decide. Really, there's only one thing they can choose.

I can hardly focus on the laundry and I definitely don't notice Kenny in the doorway until he calls out to me.

'Pierce, you're coming with me.'

I look up in surprise to see him staring at me with a stern look on his face.

'Why?'

'No questions, Pierce.'

I look over at Pamela questioningly, but she only shrugs. She has no idea what this is about either.

'Come on', Kenny urges.

I put down the laundry I'm working on and follow him into the hallway. He barely acknowledges me and stares straight ahead as we walk. For a Savior, Kenny isn't usually too bad. I don't know him well, but we get along fine. His stand-offish behaviour freaks me out.

'What's so urgent?' I ask, trying him again.

'Didn't I just say no questions?'

'Come on, you owe me.'

He looks at me for a second, raising his eyebrow.

'Excuse me?'

'When I showed around Dwight, Sherry and Tina, remember? You said you'd owe me one.'

He looks at me a second longer, a rather pitiful expression in his eyes, before he looks away from me again.

'Funny you should mention that. Look, if you really have no idea what this is about, that's a good thing. You just have to convince him of that.'

'Convince who?'

'Pierce', Kenny says warningly. We walk the rest of the way in silence. I start to get nervous as we make our way to Negan's hallway. But he doesn't take me to his room. Instead, he takes me to the war room Negan showed me when I just got here. To my surprise, my friends are sitting around the large metal table. Alex, Max, Kat, Nikolai, Jody and Derek. And then there's a few people I only know by face. Nobody's talking and everyone is staring straight ahead. Alex turns to look at me while I stand uncertainly in the doorway. He looks scared.

Suddenly a man steps out from the corner of the room, clapping his hands together.

'Good, we got the whole gang together.' He grins as he approaches me and my eyes turn wide when I recognize his cold eyes and crazy moustache.

'Take a seat, my dear, we've been waiting for you.'

Nervously, I take the last empty seat at the corner of the table while Simon grabs the door and swings it shut dramatically. I catch Katarina's gaze on the other side of the table and I can tell she's as clueless as to why we're here as I am. Very softly she whispers: 'We stay in line.'

'Everyone comfortable?' Simon asks as he slowly starts to pace towards the head of the table on the other side. 'Can I get you anything? Snacks, something to drink?'

Nobody answers. I can hear the woman next to me taking deep breaths, trying to steady her nerves.

'No?' he asks while he places his hands on the table and bends forward. 'Good. Now before we get started, does anyone have any idea why we're here?'

Again, the room remains silent. I watch Simon from the corner of my eye, avoiding direct eye contact. He's scanning the faces around the table with a grin on his face. Of course the bastard is enjoying this.