Just Keep Walking

Seventy five

"Come on," Dwight barked, opening the door, and pulling Daryl, Michonne, Rosita, then Glenn who was holding Mary, out of the van, "you got people to meet."
Glenn fell to the floor, Mary by his side, as he held back tears. "Maggie?" Mary looked at her, and saw that she'd cut her hair off, and looked sick.
"Maggie." Mary whimpered.
"Mary! Mary! Mary!" Rick shouted, trying to get to her.
"Back." Simon growled, a gun to Rick's chest, and he knelt back down, looking at Mary in pain
"On your knees!" Dwight ordered, and Glenn nodded to Rick, then Michonne, Mary forced to kneel between himself and Rosita.
"Alright! We got a full boat. Let's meet the man." A man sang, knocking on the RV door. Mary whimpered, and Glenn held her hand tightly, as Negan walked out with a baseball bat over his shoulder, barbed wire wrapped around it.
"Passing our pants yet?" Negan smiled, "Boy, do I have a feeling we're getting close. Yep, it's gonna be pee-pee pants city here real soon. Which one of you pricks is the leader? Which is the foul mouthed toddler's daddy?"
"It's this one. He's the guy." The other man, the second in command, answered, pointing to Rick.
Negan sighed, and walked to Rick. "Hi. You're Rick, right? I'm Negan, and I do not appreciate you killing my men. Also, when I sent my people to kill your people for killing my people, you killed more of my people. Not cool. Not cool. You have no idea how not cool that shit is. But I think you're gonna be up to speed shortly. Yeah. You are so gonna regret crossing me in a few minutes. Yes you are. You see Rick, whatever you do, no matter what you do, don't mess with the new world order. And the new world order is this, and it's really very simple, so even if you're stupid which you very may well be, you can understand it. I bet even your kid understands it. You ready? Here goes, pay attention." Negan smiled, swinging his bat and knocking Rick's shoulder. "Give me your shit, or I will kill you. Today was career day," Negan announced, walking around the semi circle of Alexandrians, "we invested a lot so you would know who I am and what I can do. You work for me now. You have shit, you give it to me. That's your job. Now, I know that is a mighty big, nasty pill to swallow, but swallow it you most certainly will. You ruled the roost. You built something! You thought you were safe. I get it. But the word is out, you are not safe! Not even close! Sorry, little girl, your daddy lied! In fact you are pegged, more pegged if you don't do what I want. And what I want is half your shit. And if that's too much, you can make, find, or steal more, and it'll even out sooner or later. This is your way of life now! The more you fight back the harder it will be. So if someone knocks on your door, you let us in! We own that door! You try to stop us, and we will knock it down. You understand?!"
Mary whimpered, and clung to Glenn, her other hand twisting the fabric on her borrowed jacket into a tight ball. Rosita looked at her, and grabbed her hand gently, making her kneel open and strong.
When no one said anything, Negan leant to Rick's head, and spoke right up to his ear. "What, no answer? You don't really think that you were gonna get through this without being punished now did you? I don't want to kill you people. Just want to make that clear from the get-go. I want you to work for me. You can't do that if you're dead now, can you. I'm not growing a garden. But you killed my people, a whole damn lot of them. More than I'm comfortable with. And for that for that you're gonna pay. So now.... I'm gonna beat the holy hell outta one of you."
"No." Mary hissed suddenly, and everyone stared at her.
"Mary." Rick hissed in panic, as Glenn shushed her.
"What the hell you say?" Negan asked, half amused, walking over to her.
"No. You're not gonna do that," Mary whispered shakily, "because that's unkind. You only kill bad people. We're not bad people. We're good people. We're family. You're not hurting us. And if you do, my daddy and my Uncle Daryl and Mishy will kill you. They're badass."
"That's cute," Negan chuckled, "but you gotta learn."
"Then teach us! But don't kill us, Megan. That's not right."
"I am teaching you. Did you just call me Megan? Have you heard this cocky little badass? Man. Shit, girl, I gotta say, you're one brave kid. Rick, maybe you're not a shit dad! She's alive and a badass!"
"My daddy is a good daddy!"
"I doubt it. Now, oh now I am gonna teach you! So quiet time now kid. What's, what's your name? Something badass."
Mary ignored Negan, defiant and angry, and Negan turned to Rick, his bat pointed at him. "Her name?"
"Mary." Rick breathed reluctantly.
"Well, Mary," Negan announced, waving his bat around, "this is Lucille and she is awesome. All this, all this is just so we can pick out which one of you gets the honour. Huh," Negan nodded, looking at Abraham's moustache as he walked around, "oh, I gotta shave this shit."
Mary shrank again as Negan went to Carl, and ended up holding onto Glenn's arm with both hands. "You got one of our guns," he nodded, bending down to Carl's eye level, still smiling, "woah. Yeah. You got a lot of our guns. Shit kid, lighten up. At least cry a little."
Negan chuckled at his own joke, then put his gun in the front of his jeans. He walked over to Maggie, and laughed again. "Jesus! You look shitty! I should just put you out of your misery right now!"
"No no!" Glenn screamed, brushing off Mary and running at Negan, but before he found pull him away, Dwight grabbed him, and hit him with Daryl's crossbow.
"Stop it! Stop it!" Maggie wailed.
"Get the hell off!" Mary screamed, chasing after Glenn, who was screaming and begging for them to leave Maggie alone, with Dwight pointing his crossbow at him.
"Nope, nope, get them back in line!" Negan ordered,
"No. No! No!" Glenn yelled, groaning and sobbing as Dwight dragged the pair to their places, "Don't, don't!"
Negan began to laugh, and looked at Glenn. "Alright, listen. Don't any of you do that again, I will shut that shit down, no exceptions. First ones free. It's an emotional moment, I get it. Sucks, don't it? The moment you realise you don't know shit!"
Negan walked back over to Carl, and began to laugh again, pointing Lucille at him. "This is your kid, right?" Negan laughed at Rick, "This is definitely your kid! Two in this world! God!"
"Just stop this!" Rick screamed suddenly, and Negan span at him.
"Hey! Do not make me kill the little future serial killer! Don't make it easy on me. I gotta pick somebody." Negan shouted, then his eyes fell on Mary again, petrified, clinging to Glenn in pure fear. "What type of father let's his little girl come along? You allowed her to go out? Without you?! Look at her. She's so scared."
"I'm not scared of anything." Mary whispered.
"Oh, you're so sweet," Negan cooed, leaning over and stroking her cheek, making Rick's jaw and fists clench, "but you will be scared soon."
"Never. Touch. Her. Again." Rick growled suddenly, his face furious and animalistic, ready to kill.
"Oh, relax. I'm not gonna hurt her," Negan laughed, "I'm not a monster."
"You don't touch my kids. You don't ever lay a finger on my little girl." Rick hissed angrily.
Negan walked over to Rick, his eyebrows raised, then he went to Carl, and flicked his hat back. "Whoops."
"Leave them alone." Michonne whispered, her voice dangerously low.
"Oh, I guess you're... I know that you're step mom, step mom, what a cute little family. I'd hate to break it up." Negan teased.
"My mommy is dead." Mary whispered.
"So is mine." Negan shrugged nonchalantly.
"I want to go to my daddy."
"You're staying right there for now. You know your daughter already tried to kill me?"
Rick didn't say anything, but he was proud, and not surprised, and it was shown by a slight smile reaching up his face, then it fell straight away. Mary clung even tighter to Glenn, and the attention left her for a second.
"Well, well, well. Everybody's at the table, waiting for me to order." Negan sighed, letting out a whistle as he walked around the semicircle, "I simply cannot decide. I got an idea," the man nodded, pointing his bat at Rick, then moving it around in the circle, chanting a nursery rhyme every child, even Judith knew; "Eeine. Meenie. Miney. Mo. Catch. A tiger. By. His toe. If. He hollers. Let him go. My mother told me to pick the very best one. And you. Are. It."
And the bat fell on Abraham.
"Anybody moves, anybody says anything, cut the boys other eye out and feed it to his father, and then well start! You can breathe. You can blink. You can cry. Hell, you're all gonna be doing that."
And with that, the bat was brought down on Abraham's skull, his fingers still in a peace sign, and everyone began to scream.
But after the first hit, Abraham raised his head back up, and hissed three sharp words. "Suck. My. Nuts."
"Ho, ho, ho! Look at that! Taking it like a champ!" Negan laughed, then carried on batting Abraham's head until it was a bloody mess on the ground, blood splattered on everyone by him. As he beat Abraham, Glenn held Mary's head into her shoulder, not letting her see the murder. He couldn't let her see, but she could still hear. She heard it all.
"Did you hear that? He said suck my nuts!" Negan chuckled, before hitting the mess of Abraham's broken skull and brain again. Sasha sobbed the whole time, as did Mary, the sight horrific.
"Oh my goodness look at this!" Negan chuckled, swinging Lucille around so blood flew onto the group. "You guys, look at my dirty girl!"
"Daddy." Mary whimpered, and Rick looked at her in desperation. He needed to reach her.
"Sweetheart," Negan cooed, reaching Rosita, "lay your eyes on this. Oh damn. Were you, were you together?Well, that sucks. But if you were 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 damn look. Take a damn look!"
But Daryl couldn't take it. He couldn't take Negan taunting the ex-girlfriend of the man he just murdered. He couldn't take him shouting near Mary, who was seeing horrific sights. So, with a grunt, he got up, and managed to punch Negan twice, before he was grabbed. Mary screamed out as Daryl tried to fight the two men holding him back, and screamed even more as they held him to the ground.
"Daryl!" Rick shouted, as Mary screamed, holding back her tears. She had to while they were with Negan. She couldn't be weak.
"No! Oh, no," Negan chuckled, "that? Oh my. That... Is a no-no. Mary, even you know that! It's a no-no! The whole thing. Not one bit of that shit flies here!"
"Get away!" Mary screamed as Dwight held Daryl's own crossbow to his head.
"Do you want me to do it? Right here?" Dwight hissed, as Negan grabbed Daryl's face, pulling it so Daryl was looking at him.
It was possibly even more painful than Mary hearing Abraham being murdered. To her, Daryl, her Uncle Daryl, was possibly the strongest man she knew. He was a fighter. A warrior. An asskicker. And there he was, held to the ground, humiliated, weak, powerless. It pained her.
"No," Negan explained, "no, you don't kill them, not until you try a little." Dwight dragged Daryl back to his place, and Negan spoke up again. "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. I need you to know me. So... Back to it!"
Glenn could see it coming. He saw it coming before Negan even finished his sentence. Mary looked across at Glenn in panic, and their eyes met. He managed - under all the cahos, all the panic - to give her a tiny smile, and a loving wink. The bat was swinging to his head, yet he assured her first.
She was his priority. His job was to be her friend, to comfort her, to be a mixture of her big brother and second father. And he'd succeeded from the second they met.
From when he saved Mary and Rick in Atlanta, it was Glenn's destiny to be there for Mary Grimes, even more than it was for him to fall in love with Maggie Green. He'd succeeded.
So he gave her a smile and a wink, his eyes filled with love, then the bat went down on his skull.