Didn't See That Coming | The Walking Dead(1)

Part 83 (Service)

The Sanctuary...

CJ was huddled in the corner of her cell, hugging her knees against her chest and hiding her face. Her eyes were closed, but she wasn't asleep. The couple of times someone had come to take her to the Doctor or brought her food were the only moments that confirmed that time was still moving forwards. There was no concept of day and night, and whilst this is what she signed up for by defying Negan, that in no way meant she was having fun.

Doctor Carson had told her that her wound was healing as it should, and she was finding it a lot easier to move without being in pain. Not that she had moved much besides going in from lying down to sitting up. It was exhausting being in that small space, having no idea how long she'd been there, or what was happing outside. Most would assume that being locked up in such a small space for days would be boring. But CJ didn't even have the luxury of feeling safe enough to be bored.

The dreary silence of the concrete box was drowned out by the thoughts and fears racing through her mind. The main one being that Daryl was somewhere in the Sanctuary, probably being treated worse than she was, believing she was gone. It terrified her thinking about how he would be feeling or reacting. She knew he wasn't stupid; she knew he wouldn't kneel to the Saviors. At least, she hoped he wouldn't.

The fact that the last memory he had of her was holding her in his arms as she bled out was one of the worst parts. She thought back to the argument they had before he drove away to find Dwight; how she turned his back on him, how he walked out without another word. In the few hours of sleep she did manage to get, she tossed and turned on the solid, cold floor as images of him crying over her flashed in her head.

It broke her heart to think of him feeling that devastated. She hadn't ever seen him cry that much. Not even when Merle died. It took everything in her to not pound her fists against the door and scream to see him, but she knew it would be a lost cause and besides, she was too exhausted to move.

She was so lost in her own thoughts, she barely heard the click of the door being unlocked and opened. She was momentarily blinded by the sudden light; once her eyes adjusted, she saw Negan stood in the door way with Josh and Dwight stood behind him.

"Good morning," Negan grinned. "I trust you're enjoying your stay. Just stopped by to let you know that I am about to pay a visit to your buddies back home."

CJ furrowed her eyebrows and her voice was raspy and broken. "You said they had a week."

"I did indeed," Negan nodded. "It's a surprise! And I'm taking your boyfriend with me, so don't think that just because I'm not here, you're gonna get to see him. I would have loved to bring you too, but you know how it is. It's kinda like when your a kid and your mom tells ya' you can only bring one toy with you to the store," he smirked. "Josh is stayin' here to check on you, and one of my wives is gonna be down here later."

"Why?" CJ asked quietly.

"Try and talk some sense into ya," Negan replied before turning to Dwight. "Go get him, take him to the van. Do not bring him down this way," he instructed and looked at Josh. "You, go get her some water."

"Yes boss," The two men agreed. Dwight walked off right away, but as Josh turned to walk away, there was a hint of a smirk on his face as he glanced at CJ; an action that she didn't see.

When Josh and Dwight were both gone, Negan looked back down at CJ and sighed. He put down his bat, balancing it against the wall and stepped into the cell, kneeling down beside her. She stared straight ahead, refusing to look at him.

"CJ," he said softly, his tone completely changed from just moments ago. "I hope you know that I don't take pleasure in keeping any woman in here. Now, there is still time for you to change things for yourself. Your life would be so much easier if you just-"