Up The Wolves | Negan

Chapter Twenty-Seven: According to Plan

Before the night was over one of Negan's goons had brought me some soup, and by the next morning my fever was completely gone and I was feeling better than ever. So much better, in fact, that I was able to bug Negan into giving me the information that I wanted to know about this outing.

He was going to bring Sasha back to Alexandria. Or so he said, but he did mention there being a little more to it than that, seeing as she 'broke in, killed however many of [his] men, and got away without a scratch'. I couldn't exactly say I blamed him, considering everyone in Alexandria wanted to kill him for the slaughter of Glenn and Abraham, however Sasha and everyone else at Alexandria were my friends.

So, I convinced him to let me attend. With a little bit of "extra bargaining chip" energy, though expressing that I knew full well he wasn't going to let me go, and also so he could keep an eye on me, and he agreed so long as I stayed by his side the entire time. It wasn't my ideal field trip, but any chance to see my friends again and perhaps check up on Echo was a good chance.

God, I hadn't even thought about Echo in so many nights, I'd been wrapped up in my own problems. I hoped he was doing well, and prayed that maybe Carol or somebody else with motherly skills would be looking after him in my absence. I'd almost wanted to ask Negan to take him back with us, but this was no place for him. And if I ever managed to escape again, I knew it'd be way harder than the first time, especially with a toddler.

"How many people are gonna die?" I asked, sitting next to leather clad man in the truck. He'd been hiding the details, some part of me knowing it was to save himself from my arguing, but the thought had been killing me all day. He'd said he wanted to keep Sasha alive, but I knew him. Somebody had to pay for what she did.

"Your friends have been... Making deals with a group of people I happen to have made bigger offers to. They plan to kill us all today; well, specifically me. Whether or not that plan changes, doesn't change the fact that it's not going to happen," he began to explain, "And it also doesn't change the fact that I cannot let this be happening. A planned uprise against me is simply unacceptable," he looked down at me, "I hope you understand."

My heart dropped at the implication.

"But," he continued, "I made a deal with Sasha. Only one person has to die today. Maybe more will, but only one has to. And honey, it ain't gonna be me, and it sure as hell ain't gonna be you."

Even the thought of one of my friends being killed put a kind of weight in my stomach I couldn't release, but knowing that Sasha had just potentially saved the rest of Alexandria's innocents with whatever crazy scheme of a deal Negan had proposed brought some sort of... Light – to my heart.

It wasn't long before we'd be arriving in Alexandria when we came across a fallen tree in the road. It looked almost as if a natural disaster had caused it, but felt all too planned considering what was to be going down today. Negan told me to stay in the truck with one of his men while he, Simon, Dwight, and Eugene looked at the damage, and a few others began tearing down the obstruction. It took maybe an hour or two out of our day, but the job was done quickly. I spent most of the time with Eugene, who now planned to be the foreman to talk to Rick and them when we got there, no matter what I told him about how bad of an idea that seemed to be.

Then we were on our way, me shoulder to shoulder with Negan and Dwight as our truck trailed behind one that Eugene rode on the back of with a megaphone. It wasn't much longer until we arrived, and I could hear Eugene's megaphone through the metallic shell of the truck.

"All points are covered," he began, "Every contingency is already met. I come armed with two barrels of the truth. A test is upon you and I'm giving out the cheat sheet," he expressed as the truck he was riding on parked in front of the gates of Alexandria. I found myself chewing on my own fingernails in anxiety, only when Negan reached over and pulled my hands away from my face, "H-Hello," Eugene greeted. Rick stood at the top of the gate. there were a few people gathered around that I didn't recognize and I could see at least Rosita and-