chapter one. welcome to the circus.
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"WHATS THE RULE?" Negan paced back and forth in the old, run down RV. His signature leather jacket and recently cleaned weapon of choice, a wooden baseball bat covered in barbed wire—and usually flesh and blood— hung at his side.
The sound of hundreds of Negan's followers whistling floated through the walls and resonated within the vehicle, confirming that the show was indeed about to start.
"Stay in the RV."
"That is abso-fucking-lutely right daughter o' mine! I don't need you seeing this shit, it's about to get ugly." Negan laughed cynically. His saviors had been hunting this specific group for weeks upon finding twelve of his prized executioners dead. He wanted to show them how things worked around here, and 'that sweet ass ride,' as he'd put it.
Through the thinly covered windows, a beam of light flashed on, illuminating the soon-to-be newest victims of the Sanctuary. This wasn't anyone's first rodeo, Negan had several groups under his reign and not once did he forget to put on a foolproof show.
Simon, the closest thing Negan had to a right hand man, stepped into the light. His voice silence the whistling and replaced it, commanding them to their knees and removing them of their weapons. His muffled voice didn't travel near as well as the combined noise of a hundred men, but a few words could be made out.
"Show time!" Negan sang, swinging Lucille to rest on his shoulder. A few moments later, a knocking on the side of the vehicle signaled it truly was show time.
Negan stepped to the door, a few drops of blood from the man who'd originally occupied the RV were splayed across the floor from when they'd beaten him and dragged him out. "Wish me luck darlin', it's gonna be a fun, fun night."
Jane sat in the little chair she hadn't moved in since she'd transferred from the truck to the van, tapping her nails on the wooden table. She kept silent, ignoring the slightest sliver of sympathy that crept into her chest. These people killed her dads men, and they needed to be taught a lesson. Jane knew that was how things worked now. It was how her father protected them. It was their fault, if anything.
The door swung open, and Negan stepped out. The sinister grin that hadn't left his face since dusk still prominent. The door hung open for several moments as he taunted, "Pissing our pants yet?" He stepped away from the door, and Jane silently stood from her seat. Creeping towards the open door, she crouched in the shadows. "Boy, do I feel we're getting close."
She could see several people down to their knees in front of her father, expressions ranging from fear to anger varying on each persons face. One woman was visibly shaking and covered in sweat, her baby bump visible under her tight shirt. A man stared at her in concerned fear from a few places down. The man from before, who she'd seen dragged out by his arms and shoved in front of the truck was close to tears.
"Yep. Gonna be pee-pee pants city here real soon." He joked, a chuckle slipping out at his own joke as he paced in front of them. "Which one of you pricks is the leader?" He asked.
Simon answered for them, pointing towards the man kneeling slightly in front of the rest. "It's this one, He's the guy."
Negan turned with a sigh, Lucille glinting threateningly in the headlights. He stepped forward until he was right in front of the man, smiling evilly. "Hi. You're Rick, right?" He didn't wait for an answer before he continued. "I'm Negan. Also, when I sent my people, to kill your people, for killing my people, you killed more of my people. Not cool."
Jane crept closer to get a better look of the people in the clearing.
"Not cool. You have no idea how not cool that shit is," Negan carried on. "But I think you're gonna be up to speed shortly." The shaking man stared up at him in fear, the look Jane had become so accustomed to seeing when people looked at her father. Sometimes they even looked at her like that, though it all led back to the fear of her father doing something to them for doing anything to upset her. "You are so gonna regret crossing me in a few minutes. You see, Rick, whatever you do, no matter what, you don't mess with the new world order and the new world order is this, it's really quite simple. So, even if you're stupid, which you very well may be, you can understand it. You ready?"
