Too Far Gone // D. Dixon

chapter forty-eight

Negan had brought Maren and Carl back to Alexandria.

Maren hated that her father had made her leave Daryl behind, but maybe he was safer that way. She prayed that was the case.

She felt her heart beat quickly in her chest as they arrived at Alexandria's gates. She was worried about being back, despite the fact that this was what she had wanted, to be where she belonged. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that everyone wouldn't want her there now that they knew who she was related to.

Maren feared that they all hated her, hated her because of her father, Negan. Maren wasn't sure of Negan's reasoning as to why, but she was glad to be back. Though Negan did not let neither Carl or Maren out of his sight, she was glad to see that her friends, other than Glenn and Abraham, were still alive. But she felt a lingering ache, she missed having Daryl by her side.

From the second they'd entered the gates, her thoughts lingered solely on Daryl. Her thoughts never strayed too far from him, wondering what he was doing and worrying about whether or not he was okay back at the Sanctuary. She missed him far more now that she was back here, spending all of her time imagining what their future would look like, no matter how grim it may be with the Saviors in the picture, but as long as they were together, she knew they could be happy, that she'd be safe with Daryl.

Negan was aggressive with his knocking, as he slammed his fist against Olivia's yellow door. Maren crossed her arms as she sent a frustrated glance in Negan's direction.

"Could you at least try to be a little more fucking gentle?" Maren scoffed at her father, "You're going to break the damn door down." Negan turned around, his face unamused. But before he could say anything else, Olivia had opened the door. She was stunned by the sight; not only was Negan knocking at her door, but Carl and Maren were too.

And more scarily, Negan did not look happy.

"Where's Rick?" Negan spoke, as he paced around both angrily and anxiously. When Olivia struggled to answer, he only sighed, "Don't care...Where's Rick?"

"Out, scavenging for you..." Olivia gathered herself enough to reply. She had hoped that she wouldn't have to reveal anything else, she was too busy focusing on steadying her breathing and stopping the shake in her hands from being obvious.

"Cool, I'll wait."

With that, Negan had forced Olivia to make them all lemonade, make her cook them dinner--spaghetti to be exact--as he toured their houses, and ruminated throughout the neighborhood of Alexandria. Everyone was skeptical, watching him and Maren with weary eyes. They were waiting. Waiting for him to snap, waiting for him to get triggered by something and kill someone.

It had been nearly thirty minutes now, but Maren still had yet to see Rick. Maybe he was out on a run? She wondered when he'd be back, and by Negan's increased eagerness, she had hoped he'd be back sooner rather than later.  

Maren watched from the inside, looking out the windows as the Alexandrians eyed them with a certain level of distrust and unease. She had met their weary gazes, sensing their nervousness and unease at both her father's and her presence. She knew by the looks on their faces that they had a sense of distrust, in her and her father. She longed to find a way to regain their trust, knowing this was her home. She looked away, trying to come up with a way to make them trust her again.

After a while, Negan had stepped outside to play pool with Spencer. Maren had stood and watched from a distance, not close to enough to be involved in their conversation, but far enough away to derive the real intentions behind it. Maren saw an opportunity to reason with him.

Deciding to no longer be silent, Maren stepped forward, placing a careful hand on her father's arm, "Dad, we need to talk."

"This had better be good, Maren. You just interrupted a very serious fucking game of pool." Negan chuckled, but was a little frustrated. Spencer had been chatting away at him, incessantly talking when he was saying a whole lot of nothing. He was brown-nosing their deal for sure, while also talking some hefty shit on Rick.