Rise Up

Chapter 1

"Suck...my...nuts," Abraham said as he straightened himself back up.

Abraham was a fighter. A soldier. And this asshole with a baseball bat was taking that away from him. The tears falling from my eyes were not going to stop anytime soon. Negan swung again. And again. He kept it up until his stupid bat was drenched in Abraham's blood.

"Abraham..." I whispered.

Negan started chuckling when it was done.

"Did you hear that? He said, 'Suck my nuts'. Phew," he said laughing.

That son of a bitch. I watched as he continued to let the blows land on Abraham's already non-existent head.

"Oh, my goodness! Look at this!" Negan said.

He swung his bat in the air and some of the blood landed on Rick's face. I wasn't sure how much longer I could stand this.

"You guys, look at my dirty girl!" he said showing off the bat.

He then looked over at Rosita.

"Sweetheart...Lay your eyes on this," he said.

"Leave her alone," I said looking directly at him.

Negan looked over at me then back at her.

"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 fucking look," he said waving his bat in front of her.

She was not looking at it.

"Stop..." I said.

"Take a fucking look!" he ordered.

I was gonna let him have it. But suddenly, Daryl stood up and gave Negan a hell of a right cross.

"Daryl!" I shouted when the other men came over and pinned him to the ground.

I moved closer but one of the Saviors held me back.

"Stop!" I yelled trying to get free.

"Daryl!" Rick shouted.

"No! Oh, no. That? Oh, my! That...is a no-no," Negan said kneeling next to Daryl.

I looked at him. He was looking back at me. We never broke eye contact.

"The whole thing...not one bit of that shit flies here," Negan continued.

Dwight then came and aimed the crossbow at him. I leaned forward.

"Do you want me to do it? Right here," he said.

I clenched my fists. Negan then pulled Daryl by the hair and looked at him. The guy that was holding me back kept me from going after him.

"No. No, you don't kill that...not until you try a little," Negan said.

The hell did that mean? Dwight dragged Daryl back to his place. The man holding me then let me go. I exhaled and looked over at Daryl. I would have reached for his hand but I didn't want Negan seeing that. He'd probably use that to his advantage.

"And anyway...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," he said.

I looked to my right then to my left. How much more loss could we take? The answer was we couldn't. I knew I couldn't.

"I need you to know me. So...back to it," he finished.