Daughter of a Dixon ✔️

78: Eenie, Meenie, Minie, Moe

He strode forward, radiating cockiness and pride. He knew he had us trapped, that we were absolutely, completely powerless. We were exactly where he wanted us to be.

"Boy, do I have a feeling we're getting close... it's gonna be pee-pee-pants city here real soon."

He walked up to the center of the circle, scanning us all broadly with his eyes. "Now... which one of you pricks is the leader?"

"It's this one," of the Saviors said from behind me. With my peripheral vision, I saw him place a hand on Rick's shoulder, and he jumped at the contact.

The man in charge smirked, and walked to stand directly in front of Rick. He was just short of me, and I felt myself beginning to shake uncontrollably in the shear presence of him.

"Hi," he said. "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. You have no idea, how not cool that shit is. But, I think you're gonna be up to speed shortly... man, you are so gonna regret crossing me in a few minutes.. you sure as Hell are."

I swallowed unevenly, and stole a glance at Rick. My heart broke when I saw the lost, helpless expression in his eyes. He was merely a shell of the strong, confident man I had seen just a few hours ago; he was breaking down with every passing second.

"You see, Rick," Negan continued. "Whatever you do, no matter what, you don't mess with the new world order. New world order is this, and it's really, very simple. So, even if you're stupid, which you very well may be, you can understand it. You ready? Here it goes, pay attention."

Suddenly, Negan dropped his bat, bringing it up close to Rick's neck. I inhaled sharply, leaning away from the wire-covered weapon. "Give me your shit, or I will kill you..."

The villain grinned, and slung his bat back over his shoulder. He began pacing the circle, scanning over us warily. "Today was career day. We invested a lot, so you could 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."

He walked back over to Rick, staring him directly in the eyes and emitting pure dominance. "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. In fact, you are pegged, even 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. Is that understood?"

Rick remained silent, and Negan leaned down closer to him, cupping his ear. "What? No answer?" Then, a realization crossed him, and he let out a chuckle, causing me to shudder.

"Wait, you guys didn't actually think you were getting through this without being punished, did you? I don't wanna kill you people, I just wanna make that clear from the get-go. I want you to work for me, and you can't do that if you're dead, now can you? But, then again, you killed my people, a whole damn lot of 'em, more than I'm comfortable with, and for that... you have to pay. So, now?"

He looked across at all of us, and his eyes landed directly on me before he spoke. "I'm gonna beat the holy Hell outta one of you."