Not That Bad

6 ~ Easy Street

ANNA'S POV

♪ We're on Easy Street ♪♪ And it feels so sweet ♪♪ 'Cause the world is but a treat ♪♪ When you're on Easy Street ♪♪ And we're breaking out the good champagne ♪♪ I'm sittin' pretty on a gravy train ♪♪ And when we sing, every sweet refrain repeats ♪♪ Right here on Easy Street ♪♪ Let's have a moment in the sun ♪♪ The magic's only just begun ♪♪ It's time to have a little fun ♪♪ We want everybody to come and see why you should be ♪♪ On Easy Street ♪♪ Yeah, we got a front-row seat ♪♪ Oh, to a life that can't be beat ♪♪ Right here on Easy Street ♪

Anna cover her ears and groans as she walks by the cell. The music blasts loudly, shaking the walls and doors. Her dad loves to play this song to mess with his prisoners as a form of torture. Anna hates this song.

She sends a glare to Dwight who stood outside the cell. He eyed her, knowing that Negan had forbidden her from talking to this Daryl guy. He made a "move on" motion and turned to a guard who was bringing him dog food for the prisoner to eat. Gross.

She keep walking, heading for Dr. Carson's office. She had cut her hand trying to clean a knife for Atlas. Right now some tissues kept the blood in her hand. Her hand stung really bad, almost bringing tears to her eyes. But she wasn't going to cry, and risk Atlas making fun of her and telling Anna to toughen up.

Anna entered and glared at Sherry who was standing in the office. She was one of Negan's wives. Now, as people, they weren't so bad but they continued to pretend to be married to Anna's dad and that was enough reason for her dislike of them. Some of them even tried to mother Anna and be friends, but she shut that down quickly.

As Sherry and Anna wait for Dr. Carson to tend to their needs Dwight comes in, a dirty man in one of the jumpsuits behind him. "Carson," Dwight grumbles.

Dr. Caron nods and hands Sherry a plastic stick thing. "We were just finishing up."

Sherry smiles at Dwight. "Hi, D."

"Hey."

She glances at the dirty man. "Daryl, right?"

"Don't talk to him."

She presses her lips together and looks at the plastic thing, showing it to Dwight. "It's negative."

Dwight shrugs as she leaves. "Well, maybe next time."

Sherry gives him a stern look and leaves, a sigh leaving her lips.

"Sorry. Still getting used to being my own assistant." Dr. Carson apologizes, turning to Anna and wrapping gauze around her hand. She hisses in pain as the rough cotton touches her cut.

Anna stares at Daryl for distraction and curiosity until Dwight steps in the way. She huffs and turns back to Dr. Carson. "Got any suckers?"

He smiles at her and nods, turning around and pulling one from his candy jar. "One sucker for being such a good patient. Come back tomorrow so I can change your bandage, okay Anna?"

Anna nods, taking the sucker, and heading for the door, giving a small wave to Daryl as she exits. She puts the sucker in her mouth and wanders back towards Negan's room happily. The sucker is blue raspberry, Anna's favorite.

When she enter Negan's room, she finds him talking with Simon. Atlas stands nearby but clearly is not a part of the conversation. Simon and Negan glance towards Anna but continue their conversation, Atlas motions her over, a smirk playing on his lips.

Anna walks slowly over to him and look up at his dark eyes. He smiles at her, never a good sign when it comes to her brother.

"My knife clean Anna Marie?"

Anna nods, pulling it from her pocket and handing it to him. He pauses and glances at her hand, pulling it closer to his face.

"You cut yourself?"

She tries to jerk her hand away to no avail. Atlas is not the kind of person to be concerned about his sisters wounds, probably looking for a reason to punish her.

"Answer me, Anna."

She sighs, "Yeah, it was an accident. I was holding the blade wrong and went to wipe it but sliced my hand open. It's no big deal, I didn't even cry. I didn't get any blood on your knife either."

He nods, finally releasing her hand and staring at Anna. "You know better than to hold the blade wrong, I taught you myself. You just ignoring what I've said now?" A dangerous tone creeps into her brother's voice.

Anna shakes her head quickly. "I just forgot, I promise." Her heart starts to race as a familiar fear creeps into her chest. Between Negan and Atlas, Atlas can be far more scary and violent. Anna prays that he lets her go and chooses not to start anything here.

He's quiet for a moment. "Fine, I'll let it slide this once, but this happens again and I'll have to punish you. Clear?"

Anna nods, swallowing nervously. Thankfully, Simon and Negan finish their conversation, prompting Simon and Atlas to leave. Negan turns to Anna and smiles, walking over and ruffling her hair playfully.

"Hey, kiddo. What are you doing today?" He grins and sits down, pulling her next to him on the bed.

Anna smiled and told him about her cut and how the day was going. It almost feels normal, just like old times. It's like she can almost forget all the horrible things he has done. After a while, there's a knock on the door. A savior steps in after getting permission from Negan.

"Sir, the prisoner is making a run for it. Heading for the garage exit."

Negan smiles. "How rude of him." He turns to his daughter. "Come on Anna, I wanna show you how to deal with escapees."

As much as she doesn't want to see what punishment her father is about to inflict on this Daryl guy, she follows him outside.