Broken

Chapter 6

"Are you sure no one's up there?"

Negan stands at the bottom of the stairs with Eve as she hides behind him, her hand clinging to the top of his arm as she peeks round it.

"I told you, sweetheart. There's no fucker up there. I told Eugene to fuck off home," Negan assures her.

"But what about outside?"

"It's two in the goddamn morning. The only fuckers up are those on the wall, and we won't be seeing them."

He leads her up the stairs and out the door. Eve shivers as the cool night air hits her skin, her eyes flitting from left to right as she takes in her surroundings. It isn't what she thought it would be. When Negan had talked about houses, she hadn't really taken him seriously, imagining it more like a trailer park. But it's an actual town, big, white houses all around her.

"This way," Negan says, leading her forward.

They cut through back yards, making their way down the sides of the houses. Eve looks down at her bare feet, wet from the dew on the grass. Negan hadn't thought to bring her a pair of shoes, but she hadn't minded, and when he'd offered to go get her some, she'd politely declined, purely because she hadn't wanted him to leave.

"This is mine." Negan smiles, gesturing towards a house in front of them.

"You have this to yourself?"

"Yeah. I only got this because it's straight across from Rick's. Fucker likes to keep an eye on me. Come on," he says, making his way up the porch steps.

Eve stands in the hall, amused that places like this still exist. It looks so normal, compared to how things are outside the walls. Her eyes wince shut as Negan flicks on the lights, the front door creaking as he closes it behind them. Crossing her arms over her chest, she stands there feeling small and exposed, eager to find a small place in which she can hide.

"You okay?" Negan frowns. She shrugs her shoulders, staring down at her feet. "Can i get you anything?"

Eve shakes her head. "I'm tired."

"Course you are, you haven't fucking slept yet. Come on, i'll show you to your room," he says, walking up the stairs as she clings to his arm. "That's mine," Negan gestures to a room on the other side of the landing. He opens the door in front of them, stepping inside. "It's not much. If i'd had more time i would've made it fucking nicer."

There's a pale, cream carpet, the feel of it strange beneath her feet. There's also a dressing table, a set of drawers, and a single bed.

"I brought that over from Rick's," Negan says, gesturing towards the bed. "There was already one here, but i thought you might like this one better. Last one had a set of drawers underneath, thought you might appreciate one you could.. you know, go under. If that's your thing." Negan clears his throat. "Sorry. I'm not saying that's your fucking thing, i just-"

"It's perfect, thank you."

"You're very fucking welcome. Well, i'll leave you to get settled in, gonna get my fucking head down anyway." Negan steps towards the door. "Night."

~

She'd crawled under the bed straight after Negan had left, taking neither a blanket or a pillow. Eve tosses and turns, sweat dripping down her face as she calls out in her sleep, her fingers scratching at the carpet.

Eve wakes. She mustn't have slept long, the room still dark as her eyes slowly adjust.

"No."

She turns her head towards the door at the sound of Negan's voice. Eve begins to panic. Someone's here. He's let someone in.