Freedom -Negan-

Chapter 27

I unloaded my bag back in my room before heading to the showers and washing the grim off of my body. I let the water run over my skin, making me forget the memory of the child in the freezer and the adrenaline from escaping near-death this morning. I was all for risky, but reckless and neglect were not my type of rush. Angel's watch let me know that it was almost noon and my stomach made me aware that I was god damn starving, not having eaten since dinner yesterday.

I dried myself off and inspected my pants and top. My green cargo pants had some blood splatter, but you couldn't tell from a distance. The black shirt looked pretty clean. I dressed myself and went back to my room. I picked up my jean jacket and took a close look at the sleeves. The left one had a streak of blood all the way to the elbow, most likely from Matt and the other was speckled with walker blood. I prayed that they would wash out. The jacket had various stains from previous incidents, but minimal enough that it still looked like the jacket I've always worn.

I opened my backpack and began taking out the items I had scavenged from our run. That man, Davey, was probably right about me making sure these got into the inventory, but Negan didn't need to know that. I unpacked the juices and various small items I took. Matt had taken any of the really useful finds, thinking I was going to run off on him with the supplies.

Matt. I should go check on him. I set the paper and pens I had taken on the desk. Some guilt rose up in my gut. I felt bad for not following them to Carson's office, but I felt it wasn't my place. I barely knew those men. Plus, it was his own fault that he ended up like that. Can't be ignorant about anything in your surroundings if you expect to survive.

I debated with myself and the small empathetic part won out this time. I turned off the light and locked my door. I turned and headed down the hall, brushing my wet hair back with my left hand.

I headed down to the second floor and walked slowly as I remembered the way to Carson's office. I turned a corner and saw a small group of people standing outside a door. There it was. I ran over and saw Ryan standing with his back to the wall on the side of the door. He noticed me and I couldn't tell if he was relieved or angry to see me.

"He doing okay in there?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. I looked down at Ryan's hands and saw they were stained with blood.

"Doc said he's lost a good amount of blood. He's on fluids and we donated blood to give him. Got some staples in his head. Waiting for him to wake up now." He smirked. "Passed out with the first staple."

The door to Carson's office opened and Shepherd came out, also covered in his brother's blood. God, head injuries were messy. He scowled at me. "The fuck she doing here?" Everyone turned and looked at me after he yelled.

"Don't be a dick, Shepherd. Just making sure he's still alive. I'll be on my way." I went to turn and he grabbed my shoulder, spinning me towards him. My hand twitched to get my knife from my boot, but I remembered my knife was buried in the skull of a walker in the fucking basement. I clenched my fist and kept my arms crossed.

"If my brother doesn't wake up, that's on you." I looked up at the taller man. I would consider him handsome if he wasn't such an asshole.

"He wouldn't be here to begin with if it wasn't for me, so back off with the threats." I made my voice stern. I couldn't be soft with a guy like this.

"If I was threatening you, I would say that I'll kill you if my brother dies." Ryan put his hand on his brother's shoulder, but he shoved it away.

I chuckled at the threat. "I'd like to see you try. Hope Matt gets better. Too bad he has a douchebag for a brother." Shepherd reached up with his hand and grabbed my face, similar to Negan earlier, but much more aggressive.