For The Ones I Love | Negan #Wattys2017

Part 1

I was nearly out of breath as the cool breeze stung at my skin; my body drenched in sweat and my limbs aching for a break, but that wasn't a possibility.
My group and I only had one goal in mind and we were determined to not let anything get in our way.

As we continued to make our way through the trees, carrying Maggie on a stretcher, an eerie whistle creeped it's way into the thick nighttime air, sending shivers down my spine.

As the whistling got louder, it became clear that we weren't safe.. and we weren't alone.

"Run!" Rick yelled, causing us to start sprinting through the trees, fear filling our minds until we were abruptly stopped dead in our tracks, in an open clearing, by multiple vehicle lights being switched on.

The silence was daunting and all I could hear was my heart beating in my ears, even though it felt like it fell straight out of my ass.
They caught us.

I squinted at the large group of men that was now surrounding us, my eyes still adjusting to the bright lights.

"Welcome to where you're going!" One man exclaimed.

I began looking around at my group; their faces covered in sweat and fear, but you could see the gears in each one of their heads turning. We've been in situations like this before and we were already trying to find our way out of this one.

I was then quickly snapped out of my thoughts as a voice instructed us to get on our knees.
We gently set Maggie down, helping her up, and reluctantly did what we were told.

Rick tried his first tactic: negotiation.

"We're done talking, time to listen." A man said, cutting Rick off.

I knelt down between Carl and Rick, the nature beneath my knees surely leaving marks on my skin. I sighed as I looked to either side of me; these people are my family. They helped me when I needed it the most and when they didn't need another person to take care of.. they risked their lives and opened their hearts for me. To see the fear in their eyes.. it killed me.

Suddenly, my heart broke even more than I thought it could as I looked up to see more people from our group being roughly dragged over to us and forced onto their knees as well.

I audibly gasped when I saw the condition that Daryl was in. He was drenched in blood and sweat with a dirty blanket wrapped around his shoulders.
As our eyes met, I could instantly feel tears beginning to burn at mine; a strong, fearless man, now looked exhausted and weak.

I cared for Daryl and I know the feeling was mutual, it just wasn't always expressed, not in front of people anyway. We weren't together; he thought getting too close to someone in this world was pointless, which my mind agreed with, even though my heart didn't.

One of the strange men who's face looked severely damaged saw my reaction and instantly chucked, "Oh hun, don't start crying now, it's about to get much worse."
I quickly wiped my eyes at his words, not wanting to show weakness, even though that's all I was feeling at this point.

"Hey," Carl whispered, nudging me, "We're gonna be ok.. We always are."

"Alright, looks like we got a full boat, let's meet the man!" A man said as he pounded on the RV that was once ours.

Out stepped a tall, intimidating man, fit with a leather jacket and a baseball bat.
The fear I'd been trying to hide all came at me at once as he began to speak, "We pissin' our pants yet?"

Silence.

"Boy, do I feel like we're getting close," he laughed, "Which one of you pricks is the leader?"

"This one," one of the men pointed, "He's the guy."

The tall man then began walking in our direction until he was right in front of Rick.
As he knelt down, my mouth instantly felt dry; fear coursing through my body.

"Hi, you're Rick, right?" He smiled, "I'm Negan."