Future Ghosts • TWD

92. Grief.

"Damn tragedy. That's what this is."

Rosie was standing between Rick and Negan, with Gabriel behind her and Daryl a few feet away, staring down at a gravestone right in front of her. She wasn't sure if she was breathing or not, or if her heart was still beating. Her ears were ringing and her eyes were making everything all blurry. She sunk her teeth down into her bottom lip so hard that she could taste blood, and Rick was right beside her. He held Lucille loosely in his left hand, so close to Rosie's right hand. Negan was just on her left, and if she could just-

"Well, this must really suck for you guys."

Maggie was dead, and she was buried in the dirt beneath Rosie's feet, and her baby was dead, too, because unborn babies can't live without their mommas. And the baby, Rosie wasn't sure if it was a boy or a girl yet, but either way, it didn't matter anymore because it would never be born. Maggie would never get to be a momma and Glenn would never get to be a daddy, and Rosie would never hold that baby. She would never hug Maggie again, and she would never hold Glenn's hand again, because they were all dead. And Negan had killed them, and he was standing right there next to Rosie, unscathed, unharmed.

He needed to be dead.

Negan had stopped them when Maggie needed to be with a doctor, and then he bashed in Glenn's skull and made Maggie wait there, all night until the sun rose. And he killed Glenn, and he killed Maggie, and he killed the baby. Rosie couldn't breathe, and maybe she'd be dead soon, too, but she didn't care. All she cared about was Negan being dead, even if it meant that Coach Smith died with him, because Negan killed Maggie and Glenn and Abraham and the baby, and he took Daryl and he hurt Daryl, and he took Rosie and she hated him for it.

Her hand was so close to Rick's, so close to the bat. She wasn't allowed to speak, she wasn't allowed to leave Negan's side, she wasn't allowed to touch any weapons, but she didn't care, because Negan had to be dead. It was a terrible plan and Rosie didn't think it would work, but she had to try because Negan had to die.

So she took hold of the baseball bat, and before Rick could stop her, she was tearing it out of his hands and raising it up, ready to show off her swing and kill Negan all at once, but Negan saw it coming. When Rosie tried to swing at him, he grabbed onto her arms and he was squeezing so tight that it would hurt, and Rosie was pretty sure she was crying, but she couldn't tell.

"Hey! No!" Negan was shouting in his loud, powerful, authoritative voice as he pried the bat from her grip. Rosie let out a loud, pained scream that sounded more like a sob as she tried desperately not to let go of the baseball bat.

Rick had his hands on Rosie's arms now, too, and he was saying, "Rosie, Rosie, Rosie," in his soft, kind voice, and he was trying hard to calm her down, because he knew her well and he was sure he could help her, but Negan wasn't having it, because Rick wasn't allowed to talk to Rosie, because Rosie wasn't Rick's, because Rick wasn't there for her before things changed, so Rick didn't deserve to be with her now, and Coach Smith did, because he was always there for her.

Negan tore the bat away from Rosie so roughly that it sent Rosie tumbling into the dirt, away from Rick, but Rosie didn't care. She was back on her feet in less than a second, and she was going back for Negan, kicking, shouting, screaming, hitting, doing anything she could to hurt him, but new hands were on her arms, and they were strong and they were pulling her back.

"Let me go! Let me go!" Rosie was screaming, kicking her legs out towards Negan. Negan was staring at her, his eyes wide and angry. "You killed them! You killed Abraham! Glenn and Maggie and her baby! You killed them!" She knew she was crying now because she could feel it on her face and in her throat, and she could hear it in her voice. She thrashed in the arms of whoever was holding her back. "Get off a' me! Get off! "