Future Ghosts • TWD

153. Rope.

"Rosie, where's Lydia?" Negan asked for a second time when Rosie didn't answer the first.

"What are you-? Why are you wearin' that?" Rosie asked, her eyes wide and her voice shaky. She felt like she was going to pass out, seeing Coach Smith in the same mask as the people who killed her friends and family.

"You just need to trust me right now, Rosie. I'm helping you. Where is Lydia?" Negan asked once again. Rosie wouldn't answer. She didn't know if she could trust him or not. "If I don't get her out of here, Alpha's gonna kill her. Where is she?"

"How do I know you ain't gonna kill her?" Rosie asked, a ball of anxiety growing in her chest.

"Rosie, please just trust me on this. Please," Negan pleaded, giving Rosie a desperate look.

"I can't- I- I can't trust you," Rosie said, shaking her head.

"Yes, you can. You can. You know that, Rosie. Please. You need to find her and get the hell out of here before Alpha kills you both," Negan said. He'd been with Alpha every second of every day for the past few weeks. He gained her trust and now he knew what she wanted. She wanted both Lydia and Rosie dead.

"No," Rosie said, shaking her head. She already had a job to do, and she couldn't trust a word out of Negan's mouth anymore. He was wearing the mask. He was with Alpha. He hanged those people from Hilltop. He participated in burning it to the ground. "I need to find the kids and make sure they're ok," Rosie told him.

Negan scoffed at that, shaking his head. "No. You need to get the hell away from here. As far as you can get. That old man's got the kids," he said. Rosie shook her head again. "You leave. I'll find Lydia. I'll get her out. But you gotta go."

"Shut up. I'm not leavin' again. I'm not leavin' 'em. I left the others in the shed and Alpha killed 'em. I left Siddiq with Dante and Dante killed him. And I left Connie and Magna in the cave, and now they're dead. I'm not lettin' the kids- I'm not leavin' 'em," Rosie said. Her voice was shaky and she was terrified, but she wasn't leaving those kids like she left everyone else. "I promised Daryl. I gotta," she said. So before Negan could stop her, she ran off.

"No!" Negan shouted. He was stuck with the decision between letting her run off to find the kids and saving Lydia instead, or stopping Rosie and getting her far away from there. Rosie's mind was set. She was leaving and she was finding those kids. But Negan's mind was set on keeping her alive. It always had been. So he ran after her, grabbing her arm and holding it tight. "The longer you stay out here, looking for those kids, who I saw go off with the old man, the closer you are to having your head put on a stick!"

"Shut up! I can't trust you!" Rosie said, trying to pull her arm out of his grip. "You're with her! After all she did, you're with her."

"I'm out here to kill her," Negan admitted, his voice quiet, but harsh. Rosie wasn't sure if she could believe him. "You know I wouldn't put you or Lydia in danger."

"You just did!"

"I tried to stop her, but I needed her to trust me. Please, find Lydia and get her far away from here. I'm gonna lead Alpha out and kill her. I need you gone," Negan said.

"No!" Rosie shouted. She reached for the knife on her belt, ready to use it against him. She wasn't going to kill him. She wasn't sure if she was even capable of killing him. She didn't think her brain would let her do it. But she could hurt him just fine. However, before she could stick the knife into his hand to loosen his grip on her arm, she was hit in the head hard enough to make everything go black.

God fucking damn, was she sick of this.

•

When Rosie opened her eyes again, she could hear someone saying her name over and over again. "Rosie! Rosie, wake up. Please, please, wake up," that voice pleaded. Rosie's head shot up and her eyes darted around until they landed on Lydia. She was tied up in a chair across the room. Rosie looked down at herself, only to see that she was tied up, too. "Rosie," Lydia breathed out in relief.