Matthew 7:3
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"
♔
We're all sinners. This world is corrupt and not a single one of us is pure of anything anymore, much less of heart.
To say that Negan's wives hated you, would be an understatement. They heard that you turned down Negan's offer of living in the lap of luxury and how you wanted to 'help people'. Something about that information made them all tick; not like a bomb, but like a clock.
Time was always running through us. Taking our thoughts, our memories. They wanted to get rid of you. That much was clear. As was the smeared marking of lipstick outside your new bedroom door that read:
WHORE
Very subtle, you thought. It was written in a candy apple red and somehow that made it worse. Such a waste of a good shade.
"What in the name of fuck...?" You heard Negan's voice before you saw him and turned to watch as he approached the door that you also observed.
"In a way, it's art I guess." You stated, seemingly not fazed by this act of vandalism to your name and property, but inside burning with rage.
Women were cunning. They always had something up their sleeve and if you were going to handle this mess with Negan's wives, you couldn't involve him. You tried to convince Negan that it was not worth a meeting in the commissary, but you had no such luck, for he was in charge.
The meeting was abrupt and didn't last long. It contained every member of the compound, forcing them to smush together in the confined space. Negan stood upon a platform and his voice resonated throughout the room. You stood beside him.
"Well," he paused to address all of the members in the room and took note that one of his wives was missing.
"It has been brought to my greatest fucking attention, that someone has already disgraced this young woman's name. All because she declined my proposal to be my wife." Your eyes snapped to lock onto Negan's face. You had no idea he knew what it was about but, then again he does run an entire compound and probably has to stay attuned to each little detail about this place.
"I want the culprit to come forward immediately. I don't want to conduct a stupid fucking investigation over such a simple fix. However, if someone does not accept some fucking responsibility, I will have no other choice."
So much for not drawing attention to yourself. It had only been 3 days since you first entered the compound and you assumed none of your group had measured up to Negan's standards, which was why you were still here and not there. You settled into a nice routine of waking up and heading to each room to do laundry. You introduced yourself at least a hundred times and you had even made a friend named Ellie. She worked with you and told you the major rules of this place, the point system, and the consequences of breaking a rule. That finally told you what happened to Dwight's face. Yikes.
Trying your best to not speak up to Negan in his time of power, you noticed some scuffling toward the back of the room. That girl, Sherry you thought, had just entered and you swear you saw her fixate you with a scowl before disappearing among the crowd.
Negan had not spoken for several passing minutes and you realized he was waiting for someone to take the fall for this. You didn't even deem this a necessary cause of action over some smeared lipstick, but apparently Negan disagreed with you.
"I will give you all the rest of the day to think about who's responsible. If someone doesn't speak up by sunset, you're all fucked." Negan said and turned to you with cold eyes, sauntering past you without another word. Naive as you were, you presumed it best not to follow him in his fit of anger. Instead, you slunk into the shadows and watched Sherry as she exited the room. You decided to follow her.
It was in your best interest to find out if it was her anyway. You were about to turn the corner after her when you heard her muffled voice.
"You can't take the fall for that-that slut. She should have known no one turns down Negan's offer. It's a blessing, not a curse and she should be punished for passing up such a gift." It wasn't Sherry's voice, but then, whose was it? You chanced a look around the corner and saw a blonde beauty standing in front of Sherry.
Amber.
You remembered being introduced to her. However, she wasn't speaking as if she had done it, she spoke to Sherry. There is no way that Sherry would resort to something like this, right? There had to be a misunderstanding. Amber caught your eye and you quickly turned and ran back the way you came toward Negan.
You were running and turned to look back to see if Amber had caught up with you, when you slammed into the chest of someone walking in your direction.
You looked up into the eyes of someone who made your breath catch in your throat and your lips part.
Daryl.
♔
