Man with the Bat || a Negan novel

Chapter 20: Risks and Retributions

I awoke the next morning feeling empty. I wasn't quite sure if it was because Negan wasn't lying next to me, or if it was because he was at one point, but I felt incomplete. My bones felt the exhaustion as I pushed myself up in bed, adjusting to the morning light beginning to shine through my window. I could tell by the soft light it was still early, perhaps 6. I could always curl up and go back to sleep for a while, after all I had nothing better to do. But I opted against it.

My reflection in the bathroom mirror was the same as always, minus the bruise, but something about me appeared different. I rubbed my eyes, trying to get a better look of my image. Same old green eyes, same old brown hair, same soft features, but something was very different. Though I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

I washed my face, in hopes to discover this new found difference about me, but no such luck. I let my hair hang loose, the gentle waves running down my back, and pulled on a typical outfit. As I pulled on my jeans from the day before, I noticed the metal hunk weighing down the left pocket. The pocket knife. I had forgotten about it. 

I shoved my hand in my pocket, feeling the cool touch of metal against my fingertips. I wasn't sure if the weapon brought me comfort or fear. The fact that I had a weapon in the den of our enemy should give me comfort, but it didn't. I wasn't going to use it on Negan, I couldn't. But I kept it on me anyways. 

My boots were heavy against the concrete flooring as I headed down the winding halls, determined to reach the room of who I sought before anyone else did. Was it a good idea to do this? Probably not. Was I going to do it anyways? You betcha!

Three solid knocks on his door was all it took for him to open, a look of fear across his features, but when he noticed it was me he just looked plain annoyed.

"The hell you want?" he asks of me, myself making a face at his rude greeting.

"Good morning to you too" I greet Dwight, who pushes the door open for me to enter. 

I entered his room, looking around at the mess of it. I pushed the door shut behind me as he sauntered over to a chair in the corner of the room. Something about Dwight seemed off, agitated, perhaps guilty.

"Did you do it?" I question, getting straight to the point.

"No" snapped Dwight, "But I know that Negan is gonna think I did, no thanks to your little visit."

I sighed, annoyed with his rude ways, "Dwight, if you did it I'm not going to rat you out," I quietly mutter, "I'm happy he's gone."

Dwight snapped towards me, "Well then maybe you're the one who let him out, maybe you should be the one to blame, maybe Negan should come after you."

Dwight was completely on edge, it was hard to believe he wasn't guilty. But maybe he wasn't. Who knew? Sometimes people seemed guilty when they actually weren't.

Back when the group found me, they kidnapped me and held me hostage. Interrogating me about some little girl named Sophia. I hadn't had the pleasure of meeting Carol's daughter, but I could tell by their forward approach, she meant a lot to the group. They found me marching through the woods just days after Sophia had been missing, so it wasn't completely perplexing as to why they thought I might have something to do with her. The point of this being, I was on edge just as Dwight was. I came off as guilty just due to my fear, but I wasn't. I was just confused as to why I was tied to a chair and two guys wouldn't stop asking me about a little blonde girl. I thought they were going to kill me, but luckily I made friends with Carl through the shed wall. He would sit and chat with me about the randomest things, he was just about 11 back then, so any conversation was amusing. When they finally decided to do away with me, Carl wouldn't let them have it. Luckily, Maggie took me under her wing as well and the group agreed to keep me around. From that, they became family.