𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦 twd

𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY
↳ chapter eighteen

"Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.. probably." Negan chuckled softly as he sat in the shotgun seat of a moving car. Madi sat beside him, her hands on the steering wheel as she drove, though she was still paying attention to the man.

In the backseat, Eugene sat alongside Gabriel, who was still being held prisoner, though he'd been at another outpost for most of his time with The Saviors.

He was listening to Negan's confession, "Any second now, those men I sent out down there on that road, setting up that roadblock with the dead, not knowing they're joining their joining their cold asses any second. 'Cause Rick and his band of pricks-- we're gonna hit 'em hard." The powerful man explained.

Madi bit into her inner cheek, aware of the leader's questionable plan to trick their enemies. Of course, she placed her trust in him, understanding the code of war.

"You know, I don't enjoy sacrificing my own people. You know that, right? I mean, those guys back there, they came up with Simon. Madi was gonna kill them just the other day-- And I realized that some of us had to take one for the team, it may as well be them." Negan explained his reasoning and excuse for basically killing a group of The Saviors.

Madi could feel both Eugene and Gabriel's eyes burn holes through the back of her head at the mention of her name. But, she simply glanced over at Negan before her attention returned to the road ahead.

Behind the two Saviors, Gabriel spoke up, "I still don't understand." He declared, needing more of an explanation.

"Ricky was slipped some intel, which made him think he could get the jump on us." Madi began, figuring she could put it into simpler terms, "The thing is, it came from a less-than-reliable source. So, if I were him, I'd be scouting ahead-- taking out that little road-block crew is gonna make Rick think he's got the real story; where we'll really be."

Negan exchanged a smile with the girl as he nodded his head in assurance. "They'll come to get us. But, see that is the trap. And that is how we will get them." He added onto the girl's words, "They're gonna find a map with a time and place I'll be, and they're gonna believe it, because they will have killed all of those poor, treacherous bastards."

"So that's it? You're confession is that you're gonna kill every last on of them? When you spoke before, you seemed almost as if you didn't want it to happen." Gabriel presumed, left utterly confused by Negan's layered mindset.

Negan sighed, his eyes landing upon the girl beside him as he spoke, "It ain't about want, Gabey. It never was." He huffed, his tone almost saddened.

Madi didn't notice the set gaze that he held on her as she shifted the car, swerving around a walker that stood in the middle of the wide, empty road.

But, as she did so, Gabriel opened his car door and threw himself outside, causing Madi to slam on her brakes.

The three who remained in the vehicle stepped out onto the pavemented road, the Saviors behind them getting out of their parked automobiles as well. "He fell out the door." One of the Saviors' voice shouted out to the others.

"Hang back! He can't see crap." Negan ordered them before he, Madi, and Eugene all raced into the forestry alongside the road.

Because Madi was the youngest and fittest, she ran at a pace so quick that it made the trees blur past her, before she found the man of faith, a walker in the midst of attacking him as Gabriel tried to keep it at arm's length.

After huffing in annoyance, Madi pulled her knife from it's holster and plunged the blade into the undead creature's rotting skull. Gabriel could hardly make out her facial features as he stared at her confusedly for a moment.

"Madi?" He questioned one making out the girl's short height. Madi shoved him against a tree, his face pressed against the rough bark along the surface as it scratched his cheek from her force.

"You're just a kid. You shouldn't have to do this-" Gabriel was cut off by Negan's familiar voice, "She doesn't have to do this, but she wants to." The leader had confidently declared, "Right, Madi?"

Madi peered over her shoulder, a small smile on her face as she nodded in assurance, "That's right." She agreed, pulling Gabriel's head a few inches away from the tree before throwing his face against the surface, audibly breaking his nose as he cried out in pain, falling to his knees and into a near-fetal position.

Negan watched him closely, Lucille in hand. "You said you didn't want to die a fruitless death." He recalled the priest's words from the day that he, Madi, and Gabriel were trapped together, "Well, you can't always get what you want."

He seemingly prepared to kill Gabriel as he rose his bat, bouncing it against the air as though he was practicing. But, after throwing a glance to Madi and looking down at the bleeding man, Negan gave Madi an order, "Load him into the car." He demanded.

Madi did as told, grabbing the injured man by the back of his scrub shirt collar as Negan and Eugene followed closely behind the pair.

_

The Saviors had their rivals surrounded, their whistles echoing into the large, spacey valley that they stood in. Rick and his people glanced around them, trying to locate the source of the noise when they heard Negan's voice ring out from a megaphone.

"Hey, Rick. Look at that. Pegged again-- pegged so very hard. I ambushed your ambush with an even bigger ambush." Negan spoke to his declared enemies.

But, Rick shouted out to him, his voice actually audible to the opposing leader, "How about you step out and face us?"

"Oh, I am everywhere, Rick. Some more bullhorns, more walkies. Pick a direction to run. See how you do. Make it fun for all of us." Negan smirked as he stood alongside Madi, her arms crossed over her chest as she listened to his words, "Guess what else I did; I brought you some of your old friends. You remember your old buddy, Eugene? Well, he is the person that made today possible. Same goes for Dwighty boy here!"

Madi glanced back at the beaten blonde man, his eyes meeting her's for only a moment before he stared down at the grass ahead of him.

Her attention returned to Negan once again as he continued his monologue, "In case you were wondering, he didn't ream you on purpose. No, he is just a gutless nothin' that sucks at life, and now he gets to stand up here and watch you all die, and he's gonna live with that."

Again, the man listed another one of Rick's people, "Gabriel, well.. he's got to go, too." Negan placed his pistol to the back of priest's head, "We are cleaning house today, Rick. And then, there's you. It never had to be a fight. You just had to accept how things are. So, here we go.. Congratulations, Rick."

"3.." Negan started a countdown for The Saviors, "2," leaving the other, opposing groups totally confused, "1."