"𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥."
It was a chant Madalyn Taylor told herself every day. Every day since the world ended. She didn't believe it most times, but if she said it enough times it had to come true at some point. Right?
"𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦."
...
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Madalyn barely had time to process what was in front of her before she was getting dragged out of the van. She tried to pull away from the man's grip, but he only tightened his hold on her, making her wince. Her widened eyes scanned the area.
There were Saviors everywhere. Far more than Madalyn could count. They had them all surrounded. Then her gaze found the people on their knees in the middle.
Rick was the first person she saw. He looked the most scared she had ever seen him. Maggie was downright deathly. Something was wrong with her. Very wrong. Abraham and Sasha seemed well enough. As well as they could be in this situation. Aaron seemed terrified. Eugene clearly had gotten on someone's bad side.
Lastly, her eyes landed on Carl. No. Why was he here? Her breath quickened as they locked eyes. She tugged harder against the man, but that only made him throw her to the ground. She caught herself before her face collided with the dirt and looked up at Carl. He was shaking, she could tell even from the distance separating them. She wondered if she looked just as scared as she felt.
The Saviors forced the rest of them to their knees, Madalyn between Michonne and Daryl. Glenn caught sight of Maggie and tried to go to her, but Dwight grabbed him by the back of the shirt.
"On your knees!" he demanded. Maggie cried harder. Madalyn had to keep herself from breaking into frightful tears.
"All right," one of the Saviors shouted. He was tall with a prominent mustache. He smiled as he surveyed them. Like they were animals. "We got a full boat. Let's meet the man." He knocked on the door of the RV.
The man. Negan.
The tension grew as that Savior walked away from the RV, and they waited. It was an agonizing few seconds. Madalyn wasn't sure her heart could race any faster. But then... the door opened, and a man walked out.
He had on a cocky grin and a leather jacket with a red scarf. But the baseball bat resting on his shoulder is what drew Madalyn's attention. Was that... barbed wire?
"Pissing our pants yet?" the man―Negan―asked. Madalyn knew deep inside her this was Negan. The man who terrorized Hilltop. The man who called all the shots with the Saviors. The man who terrified the hell out of her. She had thought only hearing his name would send shivers down her spine, but actually seeing him nearly had her entire body shivering despite how hot she was.
