Running From You I Negan x Maggie (ENGLISH VERSION)

Chapter 4: The Leech

Maggie felt her feet lift off the ground amidst all that chaos around her. Agatha was still screaming, or maybe it was her own scream echoing in her ears. Maggie was being dragged away from the mess. Strong, long arms wrapped around her waist, preventing her from trying to help Agatha, even though it was a lost fight.

"Agatha, no!" Maggie cried and shouted at the same time, but the arms around her body didn't falter, not even when she struggled to break free. "No! Let me go, we have to help!" she demanded while unsuccessfully trying to wriggle out of his embrace.

"No, no, no!" Maggie's eyes widened as she saw her friend being torn apart by the dead as if she were nothing, as if in a matter of seconds she ceased to be someone, to be just a piece of meat, the larger lament stuck in her throat.

She cried and curled up as they moved away, Maggie put her hands to her face and sobbed, it had been a long time since she had cried like that, too long. The arms that were around her waist had now pulled her into a hug. She rested her head on the chest where she could feel the deep breath, one of the hands stroked Maggie's hair in an attempt to console her.

For a moment Maggie felt protected and embraced in that hug, it was warm and good. But it lasted only as long as Maggie sighed deeply before remembering whose arms she was in, his. Negan.

She pushed him away, looking him in the eyes, seeing deep black depths staring back at her. Negan bit his lip with a resentful look, as if holding back from saying anything. Maggie wanted to punch him. Punch him for not letting her help Agatha, punch him for daring to try to console her for the death of a friend, but mainly she wanted to punch him because he kept looking at her like that, and Maggie hated it.

She didn't say a word to Negan, she didn't need to, her eyes said it all. Maggie kept walking through the forest until they found Alden leaning against a tree, he was not doing well. Maggie quickly went to him to help him keep walking.

"Let's get out of here," she said without caring if Negan agreed or not, anyway he just followed her out of the forest.

The small group walked a few kilometers ahead when they found the road again. With each passing moment, Maggie grew angrier with Negan. She was trying hard to help Alden hold on, while he seemed to simply not care, not even helping to carry him.

He was walking ahead, a few meters in front of the two behind.

"Damn, what a mess," Negan grumbled, he was eating some crap and spat it out. Alden paid attention to him and Negan remembered that they were there, Maggie rolled her eyes pretending not to notice him. "What? Never eaten expired carbs?" The older man pretended to offer what was in his hand to Alden before throwing it away.

"We better go back to the woods," Negan warned this time directly to her.

"The road is faster," she retorted without needing to look at him.

"He's right. The forest provides cover, it's safer," Alden looked around fearfully. Just like Negan did.

"Let's go there," Maggie saw a small cabin among the trees, it wasn't ideal, but it was their only option now, Alden could hardly stand on his own anymore.

"No, we need to keep moving," Alden disagreed.

"No. We need a break," she insisted gently, leading him to that cabin.

Negan entered first, with the crowbar in hand. There was no one, neither dead nor alive. It was an abandoned church.

"We'll rest here for a while. Then we'll leave, okay?" Maggie helped Alden sit on one of the church benches. She could see Negan's look and what he wanted to say, even without speaking the words. Lately, she actually had this ability to read him.