Too Good to be Bad | Negan |

54 - Stop it

We spend the rest of the morning carrying out mattresses, but eventually Kieran is called away and I get tasked to sort things out inside one of the trucks. At some point, we're pretty much done, but we can't leave yet because there seems to be some sort of problem. Apparently, one of the guns is unaccounted for and Negan has everyone in Alexandria searching for it. Some poor woman is going to lose her head if they don't find it.

With not much to do, I hang out with some of the other workers around the trucks. I decide not to dwell around in Alexandria because I can't really stand the looks of hatred the people there throw my way. I can only maintain my calm by reminding myself that we will be leaving soon and this will all be in the past.

I lean against the truck and let my face bask in the sun until my attention is drawn to a couple of men just a few feet away from me. One of our Saviors comes up threateningly to a man from Alexandria. I recognize the Savior with his long, tangly hair and ratty face all too well. It's Jared, the same guy that locked me up at Christmas when I sleepwalked into the library. I can't help but look as he comes up to the other guy's face.

'What the hell is this?' Jared asks him, holding up a piece of paper.

The guy from Alexandria holds his hands up defensively. He's a tall guy with curly hair and he looks very scared.

'It's not what it looks like', he says, trying to back away.

'Congrats for winning, but you still lose', Jared says, reading from the paper. 'Is this supposed to be some sort of joke? Are we a joke to you?'

'No, no, we found those crates, the note was already in th-'

Jared doesn't let him finish. I flinch when his fist connects with the guy's jaw. Jared is joined by another Savior and together they quickly work the guy to the ground. I watch in horror as they punch and kick him until he's hardly moving anymore. Some of the other Saviors and workers come closer to watch, others just turn away. But I can see the guy's face turning into a bloody mess and before I can stop myself I step forward and yell:

'Stop it, you're killing him.'

They do stop and they turn to look at me. I curse internally when I realize my mistake. I promised Kenny I wouldn't do anything out of line, but here I am. A nasty smile appears on Jared's face when he recognizes me.

'What was that?' he says, walking over to me.

'Nothing', I say in a small voice.

'Nothing? It sounded a lot like you were telling us what to do. So you still haven't learned your place, you stupid bitch?'

I try to back away, but bump into the truck so there's nowhere for me to go when Jared comes up to me and grabs me by my hair.

'I'm sorry', I say quickly, breathing hard in fear.

'You think we're being too harsh on this poor guy?' he asks, getting close to my face. 'Then why don't you take his place?'

He pulls my hair harshly and shoves me to the ground next to the guy they just beat up. His entire face is puffed up and he's breathing slowly. I try to push myself up, but before I can, Jared kicks my side hard and I fall to the ground again.

'Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?' Kenny shouts just as Jared kicks me again. Fortunately he stops when Kenny makes his way over to us. I've never been so glad to hear him. Although I'm sure he won't be happy about what I did himself.

'This bitch had a big mouth', Jared shouts back.

'She's under my control, I'll deal with it', Kenny says, making his way over to us.