Man with the Bat || a Negan novel

Chapter 21: Where Theres a Will Theres a Way

The van came to an abrupt stop, jolting my body into a pile of cardboard boxes.

"Ooff" I grunted, annoyed with Phil's wretched driving, if this was back in a civil society, Phil wouldn't have passed his driving test. I don't think he would have even passed segment one to be honest.

"Alright, clear out and search, there's not much ground to cover here so we won't be too long" I hear Simon's demanding tone, "Then we've got to hit Alexandria, if that bastards stupid that's where he'll be."

I couldn't just climb out of the van now. If I did, I was sure to be caught before I even got a solid look around the place. They'd take me back to Negan and complain about my little adventure. Negan would most likely scold me either way, but I needed to do what I set out to do before returning to him.

Though, I didn't really have to return to Negan on my own terms because I knew one way or another he would find me. He wouldn't rest until he did.

I waited for what felt like forever, then I decided it was time to make my move. I poked my head out of the back of the van, warily glancing from side to side. No one is in sight. So, I climbed out.

This wasn't my first time at The Hilltop, I had been here plenty of times with Rick in the past. But, this was my first time here without him. It felt odd, typically we entered these gates together, Rick already ready to confront Gregory. We were pulled up close to the Mansion, if I had to guess I assumed that The Saviors were in there.

Steering clear of the windows, I sneaked my way past the mansion, heading in the direction of the small houses. I needed somewhere to hide until The Saviors left, but the question was where? If I ran across a single person that feared Negan as much as the workers at the sanctuary did, then I was shit out of luck. They would turn me over before defying him, that was a fact. I rounded the corner of one of the houses, peering around the side in case I was to come across anyone.

So far, so good.

I began to step backwards, cautious of my surroundings. I figured if I kept my guard up nothing could take me by surprise. In a way I felt like I was a Secret Agent, sneaking around the corridors with a mission intact. Yeah, that was a good way to think of it! Secret Agent Calloway, ready to battle all danger, no matter how frightening it may be -

I had been so focused on walking backwards and looking forward, I hadn't recognized the fact that I could potentionally run into someone the other way around.

I whipped my body around faster than I ever had before, pulling the pocket knife Tara had given me out of my pocket and pointing it at the enemy.

"I dead ass saw you get out of the van, you aren't as slick as you think you are Mia."

Nigel.

He had a casually smirk painted on his lips, just like I had grown so familiar to over the course of these past couple of weeks. But now that beautiful smirk curved up onto a face of horror. Back in the days Halloween existed, one might see this particular design painted onto the face of some gorry creature. Yet this wasn't Halloween and Nigel's wounds weren't makeup, this was reality.

Nigel's flesh had been so brutally tarnished by the iron, it molded and folded in all different forms. A hot red tint to it, with a rough scab tracing over the top of the skin. Nigel took notice of my attention falling solely on his wound, looking down at the ground in shame.

"Yeah, it's pretty rough" he sighs, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, "But aye, I'm still alive. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing, but it's something."

"A good thing" I hurriedly answer, recognizing my awkward stammering, "I mean - I'm just really glad you're okay and you're here and safe" I pant out, attempting to tear my eyes from the blemish.