The Replacement

Part Thirty-five

Warning:

***************

Groaning out loudly as the heavy fog of unconsciousness began to lift, your eyes slowly flutter open to the of a hospital room.

"Looks like someone's finally awake..." you're greeted by the nurse standing over you with a smile.

"W-What happened...?" you enquire, clutching at your throbbing head.

"You blacked out not long after delivering your daughter" the nurse explains.

"W-Where is she?" you abruptly sit up at the reminder of your child, frantically scanning the empty room.

"Where's Negan? Where's my husband?"

"Now, now... calm down..." the nurse gently presses you down to lay again.

"Your husband is in the nursey, keeping an eye over your daughter while she's being monitored."

"Monitored?" you stare panicked at the nurse's words, "what's wrong with her?!"

"Calm down..." the nurse attempts to sooth you, "there's nothing wrong. We're just making sure everything is fine, seeing that you had no prenatal care."

Feeling a bit more at ease, yet not completely satisfied, "could you get my husband for me please?" you request from the nurse.

"I'm sure he'll come in due time" the nurse responds with a weird smile plastered across her face then as she moves toward your IV drip.

"What are you doing?" you ask when she reaches up to insert a syringe into the bag.

"Just something to assist in healing process" she responds, injection the contains then.

"Something's not right..." you begin to slur as the room starts to spin.

"W-What did you give me...? W-Wh... where's my husband and baby...?!" you demand, attempting to grab at the woman but the lose the battle when everything suddenly goes black.

*****

Being abruptly woken up the sound of loud bang; Negan opens eyes his to find a woven bag over his head, pulling it off to find himself along with others inside a bus. Frantically scanning the seats as everyone takes their headcovers, Negan begins internally panicking when realizing you weren't aboard.

The last thing he remembered; was watching as the nurses work on your daughter from outside the nursery room window, keeping an eye over his little girl while they got her cleaned up to go back to your room when suddenly another nurse came rushing toward him, informing him that something was wrong with you. After rushing to your room in a panic to find you still unconscious but ok, he was caught off-guard by heavy blow to the back of the head.

Everything after that was nothing but a black void up until waking up here.

"Is everybody alright?" a concerned Ezekiel calls out and Kelly he begins to recon, realizing then that the children were nowhere to be found, as well as Maggie, Gabriel and Rosita.

While everyone tried to figure out what was going on, they're interrupted by a man dress in complete boarding the bus.

"Goodmorning and welcome..." he addresses all.

"Today, is the first day of a new beginning. The world works when everyone knows their place, your place is at the bottom. All of the resources that we use to bring the old world back into the new, sustain it... it all starts in places like this. You should take comfort in knowing that good people will befit from your labor here. That is your redemption, that is your salvation." Everyone remained eerily quiet, while some silently cried. "The children, they're safe, they're being attended to. Play by the rules; you get to see them again. In order to do that, you must work as one. Here... nobody has a name, because we have no need for them. I'm not going to tell you mine and you will not address each other by yours."

The man then gives instructions for those that points at to exit the back exit of the bus. Once everyone was sorted through, Negan, and Kelly were part of the group left behind.

As the other's fall in, Negan watches the second group drive; wondering what the hell had happened to both you and his daughter. He prayed that the two of you were still safe back at the Commonwealth and not wherever the hell this place was.