Surviving All Out War (BOOK FIVE IN THE SURVIVING THE WALKING DEAD SERIES)

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"Michaela, wake up." I opened my eyes as Tobin gently shook me awake. "You alright? You were talking in your sleep."

"Yeah, I do that a lot." I mumbled as I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"The house is ready, would you like a grand tour?"

"Sure." I gently smiled. Tobin smiled back and stood up, offering his hand to me. Once on my feet, Tobin led me up the stairs and into the house. Bars were on every window, by the looks of it.

"It's secure, safe, but it'll let you feel more like a human than a dog in a cage."

"As long as I got a shower and a toilet, I won't complain." I laughed as I entered the living room.

"We stocked your shelf with books, well, as much as we could. The Saviors took off with a lot of them."

"Yeah, that one's on me." I chuckled. "Gets borin' when Negan puts ya on bed rest." Tobin didn't respond and showed me the rest of the house. The kitchen was clean, stocked, and knife free, the bedroom was stocked with clothes and a nice queen size bed, and the other rooms were bare, no blankets, no pillows, all empty.

"We figured if we get more prisoners, we can rehabilitate them like this, too."

"'We' or 'you'?" Tobin didn't respond as I began to go through my clothes.

"Was he good to you?"

  "Negan?" Tobin nodded. "Yeah, he was good to me. Never laid a hand on me after he found out I was pregnant, but that one's on me. I loved to push his buttons. Simon was the one who got it through his head that he couldn't manhandle me anymore."

"Simon?"

"Yeah, turns out that those people have a soft side to 'em after all. Simon is great, he's super sweet, protective, funny, he's like a brother to me."

"A brother you slept with."

"Well, if you wanna make it awkward, then yeah. But I meant by the bond we have. I could always turn to Simon when I needed someone to talk to. One time Negan and I got into it real bad and Simon didn't even hesitate to let me stay with 'em for a few days. We laughed, we talked... he's my best friend."

"You said something about a wedding in your sleep. Did you have to have a wedding when you married him?"

"Yeah, but the one I was dreamin' about wasn't the one I was forced into. The first weddin' I hated because I hated Negan. This one was spontaneous. We had cake, gelato, a huge party for the entire Sanctuary. He wanted to have it just for his top Saviors, but there was so much cake and gelato, I convinced 'em to share it with the workers. Negan surprised me with it, said he wanted to show me how much he loved me. He never touched any of his wives after that day. He kept them at wife status because they're fuckin' useless, but otherwise, he had dropped 'em like a fly. He stopped havin' dinner with 'em, stopped sleepin' with 'em, stopped talkin' to 'em unless he absolutely had to. It was a real weddin', and he dedicated his love to me that day."

"Doesn't sound like Negan."

"All this is just business. But after y'all attacked the Sanctuary and outposts, took me prisoner, I'm pretty sure it's become personal. When he gets me back, I don't think anythin' will stop 'em from killin' everyone." The room fell silent.

"So, he made you happy?"

"I was the happiest woman in the world when I was with Negan because he was my world. I loved 'em. I still love 'em."

"What about Daryl?"

"Daryl..." I sighed. "Daryl was my husband, and at one point, I did love 'em, but Negan is my husband now. Not by force, but by choice, and I'm not changin' that anytime soon."