Fire With Fire // D. Dixon [Book One]

chapter thirty-three

Chloe Grimes looked out the window on the way there.

The girl wondered why they hadn't blindfolded her or stowed her away. Instead, they had just let her sit in the front seat...right next to Negan.

She was dangerously close to him. Her mind wandered to all of the different ways she could kill him. Maybe she could grab the steering wheel and wreck the truck. Maybe she'd search the glove box and hope to find a gun and end the son of a bitch right now. None of her ideas were solid, so she decided to wait.

Chloe didn't understand him, she was glad that Carl was okay and not injured. That was the whole point, making sure that nothing happened to Carl. It was the one thing she could still do for him these days.

"You are one brave woman, Chloe. I will give you that." Negan chuckled as he drove, occasionally stealing glances of the pregnant Grimes girl. She did her best to remain stoic, just like her father had always done in situations like this. She knew it was best to not give the enemy a glance into her true feelings. He'd only use it against her later.

"Why'd you do it?" Chloe asked him, catching him off guard for a moment. He looked at her, sensing that she was calm, something that had shocked him. He had just killed two of her people and he had taken her with him...shouldn't she be panicked? Crying?

"Kill them?" Negan inquired, but she simply shook her head.

"No..." Chloe looked back at the road, "I know why you did that. I meant, a bad guy would have made my Dad kill Carl and taken me anyway. Why didn't you?"

"Because, Chloe, I'm not a bad guy," Negan chucked, "I took you for a reason. I've seen how you carry yourself...There's a resilience in you, you've got this fire in your eyes, this strength that not everyone possesses. I wanted to see if there's more to you than meets the eye."

"You think that you're good?" Chloe sighed as Negan chuckled, "Killing people is not exactly 'good-guy' behavior, even when you try to justify it with one reason or another."

"I never said I was perfect, but I'm not a bad guy...I just have to do things to protect my people. I'm sure you can understand that, can't you?"

"I do...more than you know." Chloe spoke, mostly to herself. Negan had heard her, and he wondered what she had meant. Maybe it had something to do with her baby daddy? Either way, he'd have to ask her about that later.

After all, they were almost back at the Sanctuary.

-X-

When they had pulled up to the Sanctuary, Chloe was anxious.

The place had fences, almost identical to the ones at the prison, and was made nearly entirely out of concrete and metal. There were dozens of walkers strung up against the front fences behind defensive stick formations, obviously used for security purposes. They also had ten or more people running surveillance of the place, armed with weapons and aimed at anyone who dared to move their way. Chloe noted their positions from the outside.

The place looked 'safe', but she knew it wouldn't be. Not for her, anyway.

Negan was quick to leave his seat, getting out to open Chloe's door, "I want to give you the grand tour."

"Where's Daryl?" Chloe asked, uninterested in anything but his safety. Negan watched the girl, seeing that she was not one for wasting time. It was what he had liked most about her, seeing her not quiver and shake around him but rather seeking an opportunity to work things out.

"You're direct...not one for pleasantries I take it?" Chloe didn't budge, crossing her arms in front of her chest, "Alright, I'll get straight to the fucking point then. I'm taking you inside, but one thing needs to be made clear right now. You cause any sort of trouble in here and I take you back to your family and I will become the bad guy."