Too Good to be Bad 2 | Negan |

71 - Shoot on three

'There you are', the Warden says, sounding satisfied. 'Now we can get started.'

He walks over to Kieran first, and looks at him closely.

'Who are you?'

Kieran responds by spitting on the ground in front of him. The Warden looks at him in disgust, then just flicks his hand towards Negan and the others.

'Doesn't matter. Get him in line with the others.'

Then he walks over to me. I try to stand up straight as he approaches me. But I'm terrified. I don't see a way out. Am I losing Negan and Kieran both tonight?

'You almost got away with it', he says softly, only for me to hear when he's standing in front of me. 'Gladly, my assistant was paying attention.'

'Please don't kill them', I beg him softly. 'Please, I'll do anything.'

'Shut up', the Warden says, slapping my face.

'Please!' I beg again, tears streaming down my face. 'Kieran is a father, he has two young children! Negan... I need him.'

'Don't worry about it', the Warden says, harder now so the people around can hear. 'You'll be joining them soon. But first I need to know who gave you that knife. Which one of my soldiers betrayed me?'

'No... nobody', I say weakly. I can't tell him the soldier from the watchtower gave it to me. She didn't want to help me at first. But then she did it anyway. I'm sure her punishment would be horrible.

'Tell me!' the Warden shouts, slapping me again. If it wasn't for the soldier holding me, I would surely fall to the ground. I can hear Negan yell for him to stop but of course he doesn't listen.

'Nobody!' I repeat. 'No soldier! It was Kieran, Kieran gave it to me.'

Kieran is already in trouble, so I might as well say it was him, right?

'No!' the Warden cries, hitting me again. My face is burning with the sting of it. 'That's not possible. You only saw a few soldiers and I know exactly which ones, so if you don't tell me, I will line them up here too and-'

'It was me.'

Though she only spoke to me a little, I recognize her voice. The soldier from the watchtower steps forward, out of the line of other soldiers to reveal herself. The Warden looks at her triumphantly.

'Come here and remove your helmet', he orders her.

The soldier enters the open field between the line-up and the gathered soldiers and prisoners and takes her helmet off. She's quite young, I see. Younger than me I think, in her mid-twenties if I'd guess. She has a kind face, but her brown eyes are full of fear when they flick to me for a moment.

'Thank you for your honesty, Solis', the Warden says. Then, without warning, he raises his gun and shoots her in the head. I'm not the only one that yells out. Even among the soldiers, there is unrest. They must have known her. My stomach twists as I watch her fall to the ground. She just wanted to help me. Now she's dead.

'This is what happens to traitors!' the Warden announces loudly, keeping his gun in the air as he faces the crowd. 'Soldier and prisoner alike. Let tonight be a reminder to all of you about what happens when you cross the Commonwealth.'

The Warden walks up to me and roughly takes my arm from the soldier. I'm still numb from watching that poor woman get shot, but I quickly realise where he's taking me.

'No', I protest futilely.

The Warden drags me to the line-up and stops in front of Negan.

'Take one last look at each other', he says cruelly. 'This is the end for both of you.'