rag doll | TWD

[65] of the rest of your life

castle --- halsey

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[POV]

Sasha's undead attack on Negan had been like the shot heard round the world. One of the other saviors ended up sacrificing his life to save Negan's, allowing Negan to barely escape her teeth.

Carl took the first shot after that, and the others were quick to follow suit. Jadis still had Rick cornered with her gun at the top of the lookout tower. She wasn't letting up despite the chaos that surrounded them. 

"Down. Now." She lightly spoke. 

Rick huffed, "we can make another deal." She didn't hesitate shooting him in the side and kicking him to the hard ground below the tower. 

"I said down." She peered over. 

Once Jadis had climbed down the tower and had Rick up and moving, she led him to Negan and the saviors, who already had Carl on his knees in front. 

"Hello again." Negan smirked, holding Lucille loosely over his shoulder. 

Jadis took Rick next to Carl, "Down. Or again." She gripped his shoulder as he dropped on his knees next to his son. 

"Well, shit, Rick. You just couldn't stick with us, huh. You had to go with these filthy garbage people?" Jadis glared at Negan. "No offense."

She ignored his comment, "Deal is for 12, yes?" 

"10. People are a resource."

"12."

Negan wasn't letting up. He held eye contact with Jadis until she agreed, lowering her head with a nod, "10." He grinned, turning his attention back to Rick. "Oh, Rick. This is just gonna make you sad. Broken. You're gonna wish you were dead."

Negan paced to where he stood behind the two Grimes. "I like having fun. I do. But maybe you think that the guy that did what he did to your friends wasn't me, like that was some sort of a put-on. Like I'm not the guy with the bat, I'm just the guy who makes your kid spaghetti!"

Rick looked up to Negan as he continued with his tangent. "Oh, oh, shit. Maybe this is on me. Maybe this is all on me. I gotta make it right. I guess I gotta start all over again." He eyed Carl. "I gotta tell you, Rick, if I had a kid, I'd want him to be just like your kid, which makes this so much harder."

"You're not gonna win." Carl spat. 

"Carl. It is over. Why don't you point your one ball up the street there and take it all in?" 

The street was lined with Alexandrians on their knees with guns to their heads. Rick looked around in defeat. 

As he did, an agonizing scream was heard throughout the community. It had come from the bell tower where Michonne had been stationed.

Rick knew, Carl did too. 

"Oh. Oh." Once Negan realized, he used it to make their situation that much worse. He squatted in front of Rick, lowering his voice to a whisper, "Wow, you just lost somebody important to you right now- like, just now. Damn, that is timing. Well, Rick, you chose this. I truly don't know what more I could've done to warn you. And this isn't a warning...this is punishment."

"I'm gonna kill Carl now. I'm gonna make it one nice, hard swing, try to do it in one because I like him. I just want you to put that in your brain and roll it around for a minute. I'm gonna kill Carl and then Lucille here, she's gonna take your hands."

Rick narrowed his eyes, "you can do it right in front of me. You can take my hands. I told you already- I'm gonna kill you. All of you. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow... but nothing is gonna change that, nothing. You're all already dead."