Freedom -Negan-

Chapter 24

I hadn't even seen or heard him come through the side door. "I much as I want to see the lady drop you on your ass, we can't waste good resources on another broken nose." Negan's voice was deep and slick with sleep, but still commanded order. Scott immediately turned towards him and dropped to one knee. I looked at the man confused and back to Negan. He swaggered over to us, his bat, Lucille, over his right shoulder. He kept eye contact with me the whole time until he stopped in front of the kneeling man and slowly focused on him.

"Scotty, what the shit was that about locking our new friend in a cell and stringing her up?" He dropped Lucille to his side and let it scrape in the gravel.

Scott shook his head. "N-nothing sir. I just said it because she was mouthing off to me, sir." The man never lifted his head when he spoke.

Negan's tongue poked out to wet his bottom lip. His eyes glanced over to me and I thought I saw the slightest smile on his face. "What'd my Pistol say?" He looked back down at the man. I could see the man visibly shaking. I saw his eyes darting back and forth, trying to decide what to saw next. "What did she say, Scotty?" He dragged Lucille closer to the man's hand that was resting on the ground.

"She called me a fucking idiot." It was low enough that I could barely hear him.

Negan raised his left hand and stroked his beard. After a moment he laughed in a very over-dramatic way. "Why would she call you that, Scotty?" The man looked my way and I glared back at him.

He pressed his lips together. "Because I made a comment about Jimmy while she was standing nearby." I raised my eyebrow at him and he looked away. Negan questioned what exactly the comment was and Scott bumbled away, trying to diminish what he said.

"He was saying to me that it was very unfair for poor Jimmy to not only lose his dick, but then he had to die as well." I jumped in when I got tired of listening to the excuses. Scott shook his head and protested.

"No, no, that's not what I said at all, sir. I was just making a comment about -"Negan interrupted the man by slamming Lucille on the ground.

"Scott. Scotty. You know I have a low tolerance for liars around here. Now, unless you want to see how unfair I can be, I suggest you get your ass up and find something to do that keeps you out of my damn sight." Scott nodded at everything Negan said and continued nodding after he was done talking. "Now." The man scrambled and got up, giving me one last nasty look before running off towards the front doors.

I crossed my arms over my chest, suddenly feeling cold, and brought my attention back to the leather-clad man. He watched Scott until he disappeared around the corner and turned his head towards me. He brought Lucille back onto his right shoulder and gave me a very large smile.

"You're up early, Pistol. Don't have to be out here for another hour." He walked towards me and stopped himself a few feet from my spot, blocking the spotlight from shining in my eyes.

"Wanted to get a gold star for being early." He laughed at my sarcasm. He walked over to my right side and we both turned to the fence. He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times. "Why are you up so early?"

He looked over to me and raised his eyebrows. "One of my guards woke me. Told me he saw your ass out of bed, with a backpack by the fence. Thought you were trying to run for it."

"I'd be a bit more discreet if I was trying to make a run for it, but glad to know that you're the only one I'd have to worry about trying to catch me." Another smile crept onto his face.

"I knew better than that, Pistol. You're only out here because you can't sleep." I opened my mouth to protest but closed it. "I told you to go to Carson if you couldn't get to sleep."