rag doll | TWD

[62] hostiles and calamities

in a darkened room --- skid row

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[POV]

Dwight was called out to where the other men had found Fat Joey's body. As he heard Negan's trucks roll up, he sprinted inside to bust open Daryl's cell door, which was unlocked and empty. 

In the yard, Eugene was unloaded from the back of the truck as Negan extended a hand to JJ who was climbing out of the cab. 

She eyed Eugene, who was welcomed with a bag being ripped off of his head. "What are you gonna do to him?" JJ questioned as she and Negan walked up the steps. 

"Don't you worry about that, sweetheart." He grinned. 

The other wives greeted Negan as they entered in. Katie was quick to pull him away from JJ, letting him know what she knew. 

Sherry was gone. 

And so was Daryl. 

JJ didn't even have time to sit before Negan requested her presence elsewhere. 

"JJ, may I speak with you privately?" 

She didn't like his change in tone. It made her nervous. As she followed him out and down the stairs again, Katie had a look of suspicion written across her face. 

"What's this about?" JJ's voice tried to not crack.

Negan remained silent, leading her to Daryl's cell. It caused her heart to drop. She wondered if she had screwed up today somehow, or if Negan was going to punish Daryl for what had happened at Alexandria. 

But when Negan pushed open the door, no one was there. The cell was empty. 

"Care to explain?"

It clicked in JJ's mind. She hadn't seen Sherry upstairs. And now Daryl was gone. They escaped. 

She acted clueless in front of Negan. "I- I had nothing to do with this."

He nodded slowly. "I'll give you one more chance to not lie to me." Negan held up his index finger, taking a threatening step towards JJ. 

"I-" She looked to the empty cell. "I didn't do it. I swear."

"Damn it, JJ." Negan rubbed his face, huffing loudly as he turned to one of his men, "Put her back in her box."

JJ instantly started shaking her head, as the man took her arm, dragging her back to the dark cell, "No. No!" 

"I wasn't even here!" She shouted, hitting the door as hard as she could as the man pulled it closed behind him, making sure it was locked. "I wasn't here!" JJ started to pound the door with her palm. "I wasn't here!"

JJ did this until she eventually wore herself out. She fell to the floor, tear-worn mascara staining her cheeks. She tried to look on the bright side of things- at least she could take these damn heels off. 

Negan didn't just throw JJ back in the cell, he also punished Dwight, sticking him in Daryl's cell, quizzing him about Sherry's disappearance. 

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[JJ]

I had fallen asleep against the door, waking up to a light tap on the other side. 

"JJ, you in there?" 

I recognized the voice. Barely. 

"The hell do you want?" I asked Katie. My mind circled back to how she was the one to pull Negan to the side and let him know that Daryl had gone missing. 

"You know I had to." She stated. "You know I had to tell him."

"Bullshit." My voice was raspy, probably because of the amount of screaming I did at the slab of metal they called a door.