Freedom -Negan-

Chapter 9

I walked back underneath the shelter. Carla, Jane, and Heather had Jimmy tied to a chair they had grabbed from near the fire, which was just glowing embers at this point. The 4 other women that we saved came out from the other side of the building and made their way over the us.

Jimmy was slumped over in the chair. A bleeding wound from the left side of his head let me know that one of them must have hit him in the head to shut him up. I stood in front of him and everyone surrounded me, looking at me with earnest.

"We don't have much time, Jesse. What's your plan with him?" Carla sounded nervous. She kept glancing over to the side if the building I had taken Will, they would have heard the gunshot so there was no need for any explanation.

"Can I have that machete for a second, Heather?" I held my right hand out and grabbed the weapon from her. "Gonna need him awake for this. Grab something to shove in his mouth to quiet him." Jane cut a large piece of shirt fabric from one of the dead men on the ground and stuffed it into the leader's mouth, but he was still unconscious.

I lifted my foot and smashed my naked heel down onto his left foot. The man's eyes opened, and he screamed against the gag in his mouth. His eyes began searching around for his nephew and landed back on me. Tears began streaming down his face and he screamed at me. I stared back, allowing no emotion to be shown on my face.

I slowly turned and walked over to the fire pit that held the red-hot coals. I felt everyone's eyes watching me as I crouched down and stuck the blade of the machete in the coals until it was glowing orange. The man's eyes were glued onto the machete in my hand as I walked back to stand in front of him.

"Take off his pants, quickly." The girls looked at me and hesitated before Heather and Carla did what I asked. Jimmy fought against them, but wasn't able to keep them from undoing his belt and pulling his pants down to around his ankles, exposing himself to us, just as he had forced every one of us to do.

"I'm going to cut your dick off, now." I said, smiling at him. His eyes widened and he started shaking his head, trying to beg for his manhood.

"Why don't we just kill him and leave?" Jane asked from beside her sister.

"I want them to know what happened here and why." I looked at the women's faces standing around me. Some looked horrified while others stared intently while nodding their heads. "Whoever doesn't want to take part can leave now so that you're safe. Take what you need and go."

A few women hurried away, Carla's sister, Jane among them. Heather, Carla, and the brunette woman I had seen from earlier were the ones who remained.

I nodded and had Carla and Heather hold Jimmy's knees open. He was screaming, but the cloth in is mouth muffed him well. I grabbed his penis with my left hand to stretch it out from his body. I raised the machete in my right hand and brought it down in one swift motion as close to the base as I could.

The screams that came from the man were ones of agony. I had felt sympathy for the young boy I had killed, but this man deserved no such thing. A deep part of me enjoyed seeing him writhing in pain after all he had dealt to me and the others. The hot machete cauterized the wound, causing smoke to ride into the air. The man's screams died out and he was left slumped over from shock.

It would have been kinder to kill him, but I needed the rest of his group to see the man as he was and hear the words from his mouth. And I was feeling anything but kind at this point. Carla and Heather let go of his knees and stood straight.

"God damn that was brutal." Heather whispered under her breath. "Bastard deserved it, though." I handed her back her machete and she just stared at it for a second before she met my eyes again.

"You guys need to go before the rest of the group gets here. Who knows what they're capable of." I said, my eyes never leaving the slumped man in the chair.

"Yeah, you can come with us, and we'll take you- "Carla started her offer, but I cut her off before she could finish.

"No, they'll be looking for someone to blame and I'm better on my own anyways. " I met her eyes and smiled at her. "Thank you for sticking by my side. All of you." I turned to Heather and Carla and pulled them in for a hug. I called the Burnette girl over.

"Take these and be safe. Remember you are strong, and these men have taken nothing from you." I handed her the gun and the knife from Big Ben. I felt I had to give her some comforting words before sending her into the undead world. She nodded and gave me a tight hug.

"Thank you." She said into my ear. She turned and ran to find the other group of girls.

"You can't stay here." Heather grabbed my right upper arm, her eyes pleading with me.

"I can't have them looking for you guys. I can handle it. I'll use my words." I tried to get her to laugh, but she just looked at me with sad eyes. She pulled me in for one last hug and walked away, not taking another look back at me. Carla nodded my way and we wished each other luck before she left to go find her sister.

I stood in front of the embers of the fire and looked at the aftermath. Dead mean laying where they slept, and Jimmy still slumped over in the chair. I checked his breathing every now and again to make sure he was still with us. Then I walked around and marked all the dead one with numbers before grabbing a chair and sitting by the fire.

Nothing to do but wait for the other group now.