Just Keep Walking

Eighty five

"Lower the gun, kid." Negan barked.
"Give me my sister!" Carl screamed, open firing again, but stopped when Dwight tackled him to the floor.
"Kid!" Dwight warned, his own gun in Carl's face.
"Dwight. Back off." Negan ordered. Dwight sighed, but got off Carl, snatching his knife.
"Is that anyway to treat our new guest?" Negan snapped to Dwight, holding his hand out to Carl, who was on the floor, Mary suddenly laying bedside him, her head on his chest, "Come on kid. I'll show you around."
Carl was silent, glaring up at Negan, one arm wrapped around Mary's tiny body.
"You know, you do the same damn stick we as your dad and your little sister, except it's only half as good, 'cause, well, you know, you're missing an eye." Negan chuckled, then his face fell, "Really? You're really not gonna take my hand? 'Cause you're lucky you even still have a hand! Same as your boy Daryl over there, now that I think about it! How's the job going, Daryl? Got enough for you? Yeah, it'd be tough with one arm." Negan chuckled, looking over at Daryl as he worked, surrounded by Walkers. Negan's outstretched band pulled Mary up, making her whimper, then he reached it back to Carl, one of his eyebrows raised.
After a few more seconds of silence, and Carl's uncertain yet angry eyes glaring up at Negan, the boy finally took his hand.
"Ahh, smart kid. Now come with me, and you, Mary. Dwight boy, why don't you grab Daryl, take him to the kitchen, do a little grub prep. New plan boys. Let's burn the dead, unload the truck later. Damn, I am not gonna have time to screw any of my wives today! I mean, maybe one. Haven't for days! Got your little sister stoppin' that. Never gives me a second's peace with all her whining."
"Maybe if you let her come home..."
"No," Negan snapped, "come on."
Carl picked Mary up, clinging to her kissing the top of her head. "What are you gonna do to me?" He asked Negan shakily, resting the side of his face on Mary's head.
Negan stopped and sighed irritably. "Number one, do not shatter my image of you. You're a badass, you're not scared of shit. Don't be scared of me, it's a disappointment. Number two, you really want me to ruin the surprise? Screw you kid. Seriously. Screw you." Negan chuckled, walking into the Sanctuary with a hand on Carl's shoulder.
"I miss you." Mary whimpered, her voice hoarse, and Carl kissed the top of her head again.
"Me too. I love you so much." He whispered. Then he turned to Negan harshly. "What've you done to her? She's worse than yesterday."
"She's had a whole lotta tantrums since then, and hasn't eaten, drank, or slept." Negan shrugged, and anger filled up inside him. He vowed, there and then, that he was not leaving the Sanctuary without his sister. No matter what.
They went inside, Carl clinging to Mary like a lifeline. Carl's jaw dropped a little at the sight of the Sanctuary; they were on a whole other level to the rest of the community, with all the workers below them.
"Check this out." Negan whispered to Carl, walking to the edge of the balcony. As soon as he reached it, everyone below them knelt in silence.
"The Saviours have gone out into the world and fought the dead and come back with some really good stuff. Some of that stuff can be yours, if you work hard and play by the rules," Negan announced, glancing at Carl with a crafty grin, "Today everybody gets fresh vegetables at dinner. No points needed."
Mary sighed as everyone applauded Negan, but didn't say anything, simply nestled into Carl's shoulder.
"You see that? Respect. They still on their knees?" Negan whispered to Carl, then barked, "As you were!"
Negan walked away, as Carl stared at the people below in disbelief.
"Lotta people." Carl commented quietly.
"Too many." Mary mumbled into his shirt.
"He can't hear us. You okay?" Carl breathed shakily.
"No." Mary whimpered, and Carl nodded.
"I've got you now. I've got you. And you're coming home with me today. I'm not leaving without you."
"Thank you." Mary croaked shakily.
"Hey! Come on." Negan ordered, and Carl sighed, but walked over to him, bouncing Mary on his hip, trying to cheer her up. He couldn't.
"Stop that crying." Negan snapped as soon as he saw Mary's tears.
"Stop." Carl hissed, and Negan looked at him in confusion.
"Don't."
"I wanna go home." Mary whined, tearful still.
"You can." Carl soothed, kissing the side of her head. They walked to a room that Mary recognised, and Negan opened the door. Carl looked at the woman in the room in shock, all of them wearing revealing black dresses, all of them gorgeous.
"Ladies. Don't mind the kid," Megan announced, then he turned to Carl, lowering his voice, "I know, every woman where you're from dresses like they do the books at an auto shop. You're gonna want to look at their titties. It's cool. I won't mind. They won't mind. Knock yourself out."
Carl looked at the floor awkwardly, and Mary looked at Negan. "What are titties?" She asked in confusion.
"Nothing." Carl answered firmly. Mary looked around and saw a woman crying, who seemed younger than the rest, more innocent, more scared.
"Can I talk to you for a minute, dear wife?" Negan asked Sherry, who was comforting the other woman, when he noticed Carl's disapproving glance. Him and Sherry walked over to the side, and began to talk.
"Make yourself comfortable, kid." Negan ordered to Carl, and Carl sat on the edge of a chair, needing a rest from carrying Mary. She nuzzled into his chest, and twisted her fingers around his hair.
"Is Mishy okay?" Mary asked him softly.
"Yeah, and daddy and Judith too. Don't worry about them."
"What about Maggie? Do you know about her?"
"I don't know, she's still at Hilltop."
"I miss Glenn." Mary cried softly, suddenly breaking again.
"Me too." Carl whispered, stroking the back of her hair.
"I really miss him." She sobbed, clinging to him.
"I know. I know." Carl soothed. Negan walked over, and placed a beer bottle in Carl's hand, patting him on the back.
"Drink up. You, stop crying. I can't deal with crying children." Negan ordered, then he walked a few steps away to the crying woman.
"Amber, baby, you know I don't want anyone here that doesn't want to be here, right?" Negan soothed to the young woman.
"Mm-hmm." The woman nodded shakily, her eyes scared and avoiding Negan's.
"Oh, so if you want to leave and go back to Mark, you can. But what can't you do?"
"Cheat on you." Amber whispered, and Carl felt a little sick. He didn't like hearing about cheating and affairs. An affair changed his father forever and resulted in his youngest sister's father's death.
"That is exactly right. You. Can't. Cheat on me. There's plenty of other gals who would love to take your place, and there's a few job openings that I can think of. You want to go back to Mark and your mom? Hell, I'll put you all on the same job."
"No. I - I'll stay, I'm, I'm sorry." The woman stuttered.
Negan put a seemingly gentle hand on Amber's cheek, but Mary could tell that deep down, it was powerful, controlling, strong. "You know what that means, right? You know what that means, right?" He repeated firmly.
"Ye-yes. I love you, Negan." Amber assured shakily.
"Oh, of course you do, darlin'. I don't know why you're crying. It's all gonna work out aces for you." Negan chuckled, kissing Amber's forehead, his eyes on Carl's disapproving face.
"I want to go home. He said he doesn't want anyone here who doesn't want to be. Can I go?" Mary breathed shakily to Amber when Negan left her to talk to Sherry.
"He says that, but we can't really." Amber answered tearfully.
"Maybe one day we can. When my Mishy saves me, she can save you too." Mary promised, crawling over and hugging Amber. Amber hugged her back, crying into her hair, clinging to the child.
Mary wiped away her tears, and rolled her eyes when she saw Negan and Sherry kissing. She patted Amber's shoulder, and moved back to Carl, back to clinging onto him.
Carl stood up suddenly when the door opened and Daryl and Dwight walked in. Negan ignored then, holding up a finger in their direction as he carried on kissing Sherry, but Carl and Daryl locked eyes, both of them broken hearted and scared. Carl was shocked and shaken to see Daryl as submissive as he was; Daryl used to be a warrior, a fighter. Now he was a shadow of the man he once was.
Finally, Negan and Sherry broke away, and whilst Sherry seemed awkward and embarrassed, Negan chuckled, and walked over to Daryl, to the plate of food he was carrying, and grabbed a cocktail stick, stabbing it through an olive, which he ate with a grin.
"Carl, will you grab this tray for me?" Negan asked with a smile, and Carl placed the beer bottle on a table, then put Mary down. She clung onto his leg timidly, and Carl took the tray.
"Why do you got him here?" Daryl asked, his voice harsh and gruff.
"Woah! What we talk about when you're not here is none of your business!" Negan growled to Daryl, making Mary shrink. "Do not make me put this toothpick through the only eye he has. You go with Dwight. He'll get you a mop. Dwighty boy! Fire up that furnace. I'll be down in a few. Time for a little déjà vu. Come on kids." Negan ordered.
"I wanna stay with Carl and Uncle Daryl." Mary whimpered.
"You're staying with Carl. Move it, princess." Negan sighed.
Mary whimpered again, but followed Negan and Carl, one of her hands holding onto Carl's checked shirt. They walked to Negan's own room, Mary confused yet in awe of the pure luxury of it.
He shut the door harshly behind them, and Mary's blood ran cold, scared of what he could do to them.
Carl was stood in the middle of the room awkwardly when he spoke up. "Are all of those women actually your..."
"Wives? Yeah," Negan answered with a grin, "always wanted to screw a whole bunch of different women, I mean why settle for just one? Why follow the same old rules? Why not make life better? Speaking of... Sit. Let's get started."
"Started on what?" Carl asked shakily, putting the tray down on a coffee ta le, and perching on the edge of an armchair, Mary climbing onto his lap.
"Mary, you're not glued to your brother. Sit next here by me." Negan ordered. Mary looked at him emotionally, then stood up shakily, walking to the couch Negan was sat on. Mary sighed, but Negan ignored her, and spoke up. "I want to get to know you a little better, Carl."
"Why?"
"Work it out. You're smart. In fact, I'm gonna tell you just how smart you are, in case you don't already know. See, I'd expect a kid your age to be moping around, no doing a damn thing except crying about missing the prom. But you, you go on a mission. You find me, you kill two of my men, and you're smart enough to know that I'm not gonna let this slide. You do anything to get back your little sister even though you know it might kill you."
"She's my sister." Carl shrugged nervously, as Mary studied his whole face, every detail.
Negan laughed suddenly, bringing a hand up to his face. "Ah, I can't, I can't do it! It's like talking to a birthday present. You got to take that crap off your face! I want to see what grandma got me!"
"No." Carl retorted in disgust, and Mary's heart twisted.
"Two men!" Negan shouted angrily, "Two. Men. Punishment! Do you really want to piss me off? In front of your little sister?!"
"Stop! Leave him alone! You can't make someone do something they don't want to," Mary growled through her croaky voice, "it's unkind. It's his body, and you can't make him do things he doesn't want to with it!"
Carl breathed in shakily; he was glad Mary was trying to defend him, but he hated that she knew what to say. After the Claimers had tried to sexually assault Mary and Carl all those months ago, Rick had given her a talk on how no one should ever touch anyone's body or make them do anything with their body if they didn't want to. He didn't want that memory - he didn't want any memories of that horrific night.
"Quiet," Negan snapped at Mary, then he turned to Carl, "and you. Now."
Carl's jaw tensed, and he looked down, sighing, then he took off his hat and placed it on the table.
"You don't have to." Mary breathed shakily, and Negan pointed a warningful finger at her.
"It's okay, Mary," Carl soothed shakily, starting to unravel the bandage, "it's just my face."
Negan chuckled, grinning widely as Mary and Carl held back tears. "Almost there! Almost there."
Mary let out a whimper as Carl's bandage fell, his head bowed, his hair covering the wound. He was embarrassed, self conscious, and Mary could tell, her own face in as much pain as his.
"Get that hair out of your face. Let me see." Negan ordered. Carl took a deep breath in, and brushed his hair out of his face, his hand shaking. Mary looked straight into his eyes, not caring about his horrific scar. His whole eye was gone, the socket visible, but she didn't care. She was scarred too.
But what did pain her was Carl's lip wobbling, his face twitching in self consciousness, his whole body filled with fear of Negan's reaction. Five people had seen Carl's sat before this; himself, Denise, his father, Michonne, and Mary.
He wasn't ready for anyone else to see.
"Christ! That is disgusting! No wonder you cover that up!" Negan exclaimed loudly, as Carl face twitched and shrank, "Have you seen it? I mean, have you looked in the mirror?! That is gross as hell!"
"Stop it!" Mary begged, as Carl looked down, whimpering quietly, "He's beautiful! He's the most beautiful person in the world!"
"Beautiful! Hell no, it's gross as shit! I can see your socket! I want to touch it! Oh, come on, can I touch it?" The man begged, grinning.
"Stop!" Mary screamed, sobbing, going to run to Carl as he cried, but Negan put an arm out, not letting her move. It was heart breaking for Mary to watch Carl cry - it was so rare for her to see that it was almost as bad as when she saw Rick cry.
Suddenly, Negan noticed how upset Carl was, and he exhaled shakily. "Damn. Holy hell, kid. Look, I just... It's easy to forget that you're just a kid," Negan apologised sincerely, as Mary cried at him, and Carl sniffled, his breathing erratic, "and I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything. I... I was just screwing around."
"I hate you. You're a bastard." Mary sobbed.
"Just forget it." Carl mumbled to Negan, his head bowed.
"I hate you!" Mary screamed, hitting Negan's arm away and running to Carl, clinging to him as they both cried softly. Negan felt horrific as the scene unfolded, and he knew he'd gone to far. He knew he had to let the children go home. He couldn't even watch as they spoke, and as Mary planted a soft kiss on Carl's scarred eyebrow.
"I'm okay, Moo," Carl assured shakily, "I'm okay. Don't worry. I'm not sad. I'm fine."
"You're not. You're sad. But you're beautiful. And we both have eye scars. We're both beautiful, and scars are beautiful too. We need them. They tell our story," Mary soothed, reciting things that Rick had said to her, "and that's beautiful. He's a bastard. Ignore him. You're beautiful."