When the dead roam - (Daryl Dixon)

Chapter 84 - You got no guts

They exchanged harmful, interrogating glances - at least, on her half of the silent conversation. Fists clenched and unclenched at her side and she was surprised nobody else could hear the raging beat of her heart.

Louise glared at him, eyes dark and narrow and he returned the stance, only his was sided by the smallest - yet noticeable - amount of fear. Shaun was standing beside Arat, watching patiently as Negan hit his pool ball carefully. The leader had dragged the table out of a nearby garage and placed it lazily in the middle of the road, giving everyone of Alexandria full view of just how arrogant he really was. From a distance, he wiggled his eyebrows at Lou, taunting her playfully. She rolled her eyes in response and crossed her arms over her chest, returning to her consistent staring match with her brother.

"You okay?" Carl said softly, switching the hip that he carried Judith on and moving across the porch towards her.

She nodded before taking off down the steps. "Fine. Stay here"

The young archer walked slowly towards Eric, who stood with the group of onlookers that had gathered around the game and listened intently to the conversation at hand. Spencer had been continuously tearing down everything Rick had built for the last thirty minutes, trying everything in his power to take back leadership of the town his parents once ran.

"I don't like this" Eric whispered, nodding towards Spencer as he hit his ball and stood back up straight. "Something isn't right"

"Yeah..." she agreed. "He's gonna get himself killed"

They watched as Negan smirked at his opponent, took a sip of the glass of scotch that balanced on the edge of the table and nodded. "So, you think I should put you in charge? Is that what you're saying to me?"

Spencer raised his eyebrows. "We'd be much better off"

"Y'know, I'm thinking Spencer. I'm thinkin' how Rick threatened to kill me, how he clearly hates my guts but he is out there, right now, gathering shit for me to make sure I don't hurt any of the fine people that live here. He is swallowing his hate and gettin' shit done. That takes guts" Negan said, almost proud of Rick's devotion to his people. He bent down, aimed his que and hit the white ball directly down the middle, potting his desired ball and standing back up. "And then there's you. The guy who waited for Rick to be gone so that he could sneak over and ask me to do his dirty work, so I gotta ask. If you wanna take over, why not kill Rick yourself and just take over?"

"What? No. I didn't-I don't-" Spencer tried to protest but Negan saw through his lies like a mime in a glass box. He smiled widely at the young adult, stopped in front of him and looked him up and down.

"Y'know what I'm thinkin? Cause I have a guess" he said, barely above a whisper. "It's because...you got. No. Guts"

Nobody moved. They didn't have the chance to move. It happened too quick for even Lou to realise and the second her brain caught up, she had the fight the urge to throw up. Negan pushed the knife into Spencer's stomach at an alarmingly fast pace and he tore sideways through his skin even quicker - all with that unsettling smile on his face. Spencer gasped and reached for his stomach, hoping to at least slow the bleed but his intestines had already fallen from his body. He dropped to his knees, choking on the blood that pooled in his mouth and spitting it out onto the concrete. Not a few seconds later, he dropped to his stomach and exhaled.

"How embarrassing" Negan sighed, standing over his almost-dead form. "There they are. There we're inside of you the entire time, you did have guts! I've never been so wrong in my whole life!"

His voice raised towards the end of his sentence and he laughed loudly as he looking around at the faces watching him. Negan's eyes locked onto Lou's, not a hint of remorse could be found inside them and she grimaced at the thought of him enjoying what he did.