Up The Wolves | Negan

Prologue: Ghosts

Please, let us go.

The words bore into my mind as I carried baby Echo through the trees, knife in one hand and him in the other. I lost track of how long we'd been out here if it was a few days or a couple of months--I couldn't tell. All I knew was that we were free.

At the sound of snarling, I turned, pressing Echo close to me so that his little baby grunts wouldn't be heard by any passing walker. I had to suppress a gasp at the sight of what looked like a hundred of walkers moving through the trees just feet away from me. I quickly shut my mouth, looking down at Echo who was pressed gently against me.

That was when I felt a hand grip my wrist, turning me to see the face of the man I was least expecting.

"Well, well, well," He smirked, and I went to put a hand over his mouth to shut him up, turning back toward the walkers, only now there were none as far as the eye could see. Turning back to Negan, I noticed that his features had aged. It surely hadn't been that long since I'd last seen him, but his beard was much bigger and bushier, and his hair had begun greying, "After all this time."

"Lou!" I heard, turning to see a younger version of Negan running through the woods toward me, "Get out of the way!" He shouted and I turned back around. Older Negan had turned into a walker with a harsh grip on my arm, hissing and snapping at me to take a bite. I let out a sharp scream, trying to pull away as new Negan closed in, smashing the walker's head in with his iconic barb-wired baseball bat.

"Negan..." I breathed out.

"So much for wanting to be let go, isn't that right?" he said with a sneer at me, almost as if he were disgusted to see me.

"Please-"

"You have something that belongs to me, Lou, and I want it back," he barked, his sneer turning into that malicious grin. Instinctively, I tightened my grip on Echo.

"W-What is it?" I asked and he lifted his leather-gloved hand, booping me directly on the nose.

"You," with that, he leaned in, so close I could feel his nose touching my hair and his warm breath on my ear, "I'll never let you go, Lou."

There's bound to be a ghost at the back of your closet

No matter where you live