𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍, rick grimes (ON HOLD)

EIGHTY-FIVE

NEGAN'S BAT LANDED ON ABRAHAM AND JOSIE HAD TO HOLD BACK a sob. When Abraham realized that he was chosen by Negan, he sat up straighter, he wasn't going to give Negan the satisfaction of knowing that he was scared.

Negan smiled. "Anybody moves, anybody says anything, cut the other boy's eye out and feed it to his father and then we'll start. You can breathe, you can blink, you can cry. Hell, you're all gonna be doing that."

He raised Lucille up and brought it back down on Abraham's head, the crack of the bat echoing through the woods. Josie held back a sob, glancing over as Abraham pushed himself back up. Blood was running down his face, into his eyes and matting his hair.

"Oh!" Negan exclaimed. "Look at that! Taking it like a champ!"

"Suck... my... nuts..." Abraham growled.

Negan groaned and hit him again, but this time he didn't get back up. Josie closed her eyes tightly, flinching every time she heard the bat hit. The brunette couldn't bring herself to watch. Who could? Abraham was her friend, a damn good friend at that. He didn't deserve this at all.

When Negan was satisfied enough, he swung Lucille over his back, blood dripping down from it. "Did you hear that? He said, 'suck my nuts!' Phew," he laughed and backed away. "Oh, my goodness! Look at this," he swung Lucille, blood splattering across Rick and Josie's cheeks.

"You guys, look at my dirty girl!" Negan exclaimed, approaching Rosita, who was struggling to keep it together. "Sweetheart, lay your eyes on this," she didn't look up and Negan gasped, gesturing between her and Abraham. "Oh, damn. Were you... were you together? That sucks. But if you were, you should know, there was a reason for all this. Red and hell, he was, is and will ever be red, he just took one or six or seven for the team. So take... a damn... look," then he shouted. "Take a damn look!"

All of a sudden, Daryl stood up and lunged at Negan, punching him square in the jaw. Josie gasped, watching as Alex pinned Daryl to the ground before Dwight came forward, pointing Daryl's crossbow at him.

"That?" Negan laughed. "Oh, my! That is a no-no! The whole thing. Not one bit of that shit flies here!"

"You want me to?" Dwight asked, his finger hovering over the trigger.

Negan gripped Daryl's hair and pulled his head back. "No. No, you don't kill that. Not until you try a little."

Josie watched as Dwight and Alex dragged Daryl back into line. The brunette swallowed the lump in her throat, another bad feeling returning.

Negan stood back up. "And anyways, that's not how it works. Now, I already told you people, first one's free. Then what'd I say? I said I would shut that shit down! No exceptions. Now, I don't know what kind of lying assholes you've been dealing with... but I'm a man of my word. First impressions are important. I need you to know me..." then there was a pause. "So... back to it."

At that, Negan spun around and brought the bat down on Glenn's head.

Josie choked on her breath as Glenn went down. Negan hit him once more and Josie heard Maggie's cries, along with Parker's sobs. Abraham's was bad, but seeing her best friend get a baseball bat to the head was worse. It was something she wasn't expecting. Josie tried to let out a breath, but only a sob came out, tears beginning to stream down her face.

Glenn pushed himself up and Josie whimpered at the sight of him. He was covered in blood, part of his head was caved in, and his eyeball was popped out.

Glenn groaned. "M..."

"Buddy, you still there?" Negan asked. "I just don't know. It seems like you're trying to speak, but you just took a hell of a hit! I just popped your skull so hard, your eyeball just popped out and it is gross as shit!"

"No, Glenn..." Josie sobbed quietly.

"Maggie, I... I'll find you," that was the only thing Glenn managed to get out as Maggie sobbed.

"Oh," Negan said quietly, surveying the group and seeing everyone struggling and crying. "Oh, hell. I can see this is hard on you guys. I am sorry. I truly am. But I did say it... No exceptions!"

Negan swung the bat again, but this time, Glenn didn't get back up. Josie never looked away, she needed to remember what Negan did to her and her group. She swore to herself right then and there that she would kill Negan, whatever it took.

Glenn was her best friend, he was there for her before Rick, and pretty much before everything else. They shared secrets, he made her laugh even in the dark situations and he took care of Parker when she couldn't. Glenn was a light in this world and never imagined a life without him.

Josie continued to watch Negan beat him to death, her sobs mixing in with the others. She was breathing heavily, her chest heaving up and down as she watched Negan finish bashing his head in.

Glenn was gone, he was gone and he would never be able to hug her again or reassure her that everything was going to be okay. Nothing would be okay anymore.

"You bunch of pussies," Negan said. "I'm just getting started," Josie saw Glenn's body twitching before falling still as Negan stepped away. "Lucille is thirsty! She is a vampire bat!" the brunette doubled over, shaking her head. "What? Was the joke that bad?"

"I'm gonna kill you," Josie heard Rick's voice.

Josie's heart skipped a beat, she couldn't bear to lose someone else. "No..."

Negan knelt down in front of Rick. "What? I didn't quite catch that. You're gonna have to speak up."

Rick sniffled as he fixed a glare on Negan. "Not today, not tomorrow... but I'm gonna kill you."

Negan inhaled sharply. "Jesus. Simon, what'd he have, a knife?"

"Uh, he had a hatchet," Simon replied.

"A hatchet?" Negan asked.

"He had an ax," Simon corrected himself.

Negan chuckled. "Simon's my right-hand man. Having one of those is important. I mean, what do you have left without 'em? A whole lot of work. Do you have one? Maybe one of these fine people still breathing? Oh, or did I...?" he made a clicking noise with his tongue as Rick continued to glare at him. "Sure, yeah, gimme his ax."

Simon handed over Rick's weapon to Negan and he took it, tucking it into his belt before he grabbed Rick by the collar of his jacket.

"No!" Josie shouted, trying to get to her feet.

A Savior grabbed her by her hair and pulled her back, she groaned in pain as she was forced back to her knees before tears began to form in her eyes again.

"I'll be right back," Negan said. "Maybe Rick will be with me. If not, well, we can just turn these people inside out, won't we? I mean, the ones that are left."

Negan looked at the group and smirked, closing the RV door behind him.

eden speaks!

sigh.