Don't Fear The Reaper (R. Grimes & D. Dixon)

87

A manic laugh reached Negan's ears as Beta was bringing him back to camp with the Pig he killed with the small switchblade he was given. He and Beta both ran towards the noise. Negan was only slightly surprised at the sight of Kit holding herself up with her bound hands on a tree branch choking the hell out of Alpha with her legs. Alpha's words got lost in a strangled gurgle.

"What's wrong, cat got your tongue?" Kit growled, tightening her legs, as Alpha tried and failed to pry her legs off.  Beta ran forward easily, prying Alpha free before slamming Kit into the tree, his forearm pressing into her neck; Kit only gave him a bloody tooth grin laughing as if she was possessed before Beta pulled her back, slamming her into the tree again, knocking her out.

"What happened" Beta growled as he cut her binds from the tree and carefully lowered her to the ground. Negan's eyes bounced all around, trying to get a feel of the situation. "I was late." someone stepped forward, kneeling to the Alpha holding a syringe out to her; Negan's eyebrows shot up, hoping that was not what he thought was going on. "Bring her," Alpha said, taking the syringe. "We're getting close," she whimsically grinned, walking to her make-shift hut, beta following with Kit cradled in his arms; the sight made Negan's stomach churn something awful.

~Kit~

Kit sat leaning against a tree next to Alpha in another daze. This time she saw Theodore and Shane everywhere she looked, she tried talking to them, but they only stared. She could hear Jody calling for her but couldn't find him. And the leaves above looked like they were ablaze, even if it was just the sun shining through them. Her attention was then brought to Beta as he stormed up to Alpha, his body twisting in odd shapes in Kit's eyes.

"He was weak," he told Alpha.

"I expected more." she sighed, looking down at Kit, disappointed in her choice of men.

"He will serve us better as one of the dead." Beta said satisfied

"I'm ready for my goddamn skin suit. You best bring that extra-long tape measure on account of my humongous balls." Negan sassed the whisperers stepping aside to let him pass by to the Alpha, a big branch laying on his shoulder bloody and gunky. Alpha turned to face Negan, Kit's head turned to look towards him, but her hyper-focused mind was more interested in the blood on his shirt rather than the person wearing it. "Hi. I'm Negan." Negan addressed alpha first, then looked to Kit, who was obviously not all there. "Hey, wild cat, got the whole blood look going on again, I see." Kit's eyes shifted towards Negan's face, but in her eyes, there wasn't one; there was just a talking skull covered in blood.

Negan then turned back to Alpha. "We haven't formally met, but I sure as hell know who you are. And whether my reputation precedes me or not-" he lowered himself to kneel on one knee "-I'm all in. whatever you want, whatever I got, it's yours."

Alpha bent over, getting a closer look at Negan's face. "I know of you," she whispered but didn't elaborate as she stood to her full height. 

Meanwhile, back in Sanctuary, a minor sickness spread while Siddiq battled his own PTSD, which only worsened with the weight of it all being on him with Kit still missing. But he had soon figured it out it was Dante, one of the assistant doctors. Dante tried to kill him once he had figured out he was a whisperer, and he would have succeeded had carl not walked in, Rosita following a few moments later. Gabriel later killed Dante while in lockup in sheer anger before he could be publicly executed like they do all other wrongdoers. 

~Negan~

Two weeks had passed, and now Negan sat not far watching as Kit sat motionless, looking up at the sky as it rained; now that it was day, he could see bruising of the needle tracks on the inside of her elbows and the slash marks along her arms. He didn't know how he would get her out when Alpha or Beta was always nearby, and then there were the drugs they were pumping into her like clockwork. He had heard whispers around camp about the impact Rick was making against them; he had even heard they were closing in and getting close to finding a horde Alpha had stashed away. He had been slowly working at Alpha when he could, trying to get her trust. He watched gamma approach them with Kit's next dose handing it to Alpha. She took it as gamma tied the band on Kits' arm, Alpha's eyes catching him watching. She raised an expectant brow out to him, holding the syringe flat in his palm; Negan got up and approached her, their eyes not leaving each other. "Go on," she ordered