Condemned. Sequel to 'Don't Look Back'

Chapter 42

We had the brilliant idea of ditching the RV and carrying Maggie to Hilltop. It seemed like our only viable option.

Eugene took off with the RV, and the rest of us headed into the woods. Carl and I were lookouts, responsible for taking care of any walkers that would interrupt our path.

Luckily for us, there were only a few walkers, all easy to take down, so we had no real hindrances.

The crickets chirped and the frogs croaked, the night was serene.

That was until, the whistling began. It started out quietly, just a two tone whistle being carried in the breeze. We all stopped in our tracks and looked to one another, trying to validate that we heard something.

The two tones were whistled again, this time louder. More and more whistles were heard, none starting and ending at the same time. The sound was all around us, we were trapped.

My heart began racing and I didn't know what to do. It sounded like a lot of people were partaking in the whistling. Too many for us to handle, anyways.

People started coming out from behind trees and watching us, the whistling never ceasing. More and more people began making themselves known, running from cover to cover in an endless cycle.

"Go, go!" Rick said in a panicked manner, and we all darted to one area of the woods no people were seen.

But even as we ran through this uncharted territory, the whistles still filled the air, filling us with fear and anxiousness. We couldn't get away from these people, they seemed to be everywhere and nowhere all at once. We were running through the forest but it seemed like we were making no progress.

We kept running, and running, desperately trying to get away from these people. But we ran right into their trap. A bright light blinded me, and I put my arm up to deflect the light. We all stopped running, we knew we had been caught.

The whistles were intense and never ending, filling my ears with the dreadful noise. I turned and turned, seeing people everywhere. They had got us.

I looked to Rick who seemed like he was at a loss, panicked and desperate. Everyone wore the same grim expression. I made eye contact with Carl, and we gravitated closer to each other not for protection, but for the small shred of comfort we could find.

I noticed quickly that there were only men standing around us, keeping us caged in. My eyes darted around frantically, not knowing what I was even looking for. My heart was pounding in my chest, sweat beaded on my forehead and my nerves were shot.

Carl put his hand atop of mine and gave a gentle squeeze, feeling all of the same emotions as I was. We were terrified with no idea of what was to come.

Eugene was on his knees, being held captive by these people, obviously being caught before we were. My mind was entirely blank, no coherent thought could be conjured. Not with the constant deafening sound of whistles and the pure shock running through my system.

One man stepped out from the crowd, and all noise ceased.

"Good, you made it. Welcome to where you're going." I recognized him from the first group that had stopped us on the road. His obnoxious mustache concealing his upper lip.

"We'll take your weapons." He said, with his arms to his side in an authoritative manner. Rick's ragged breath was heard.

"We can, we can talk about this." He tried to reason, but I knew there was no getting out of this. There's no way all of us were making it out of this anyways. The man shook his head and said,

"We've already talked, now it's time to listen." I swallowed the lump in my throat and waited for the man to say something.

People walked towards us and took all of our weapons, against our will and there was nothing we could do to prevent it.

The mustached man approached Carl and took his pistol.

"This is yours, right?" Carl glared at the man, and I watched with wide eyes. The man backed up from us and addressed us as a whole.

"Alright, let's get this done and get you guys on your knees, we've got a lot to cover." We were forced to our knees unwillingly. The hard ground beneath hit my kneecap and caused me to flinch. This was not going to go well, not by any measure.

"We got it." Abraham sternly said as they lowered Maggie to the ground. I watched out of the corner of my eye, scared to make even the smallest movements.

I heard Maggie's labored breaths and screwed my eyes shut both in anger and pure fear.

A guy named Dwight was called upon, and he stepped out from the large crowd and made his way towards the RV, which was taken from Eugene.

"Come on, you've got people to meet." The guy said and I opened my eyes to see whoever was pulled to from the RV.

My heart dropped immediately. Daryl was pulled from the RV, bloody. Some others were pulled out but I couldn't focus on them, I could only focus on Daryl. He was shoved to the ground roughly, and he took it.

"Maggie?" I heard Glenn whimper. My eyes were trained on Daryl, and his eyes were locked onto me. I could see the anguish on his face, barely though. My hands began to slightly tremble, from which emotion I couldn't tell. My heartbeat could be heard for miles it seemed.

I was sat beside Carl, on the end of the lineup, Daryl was on the other end. The guy with the mustache knocked on the RV door twice, insinuating there was someone else who we had yet to meet.

It was all silent, and thoughts began racing through my mind. I was beyond grateful Kaylee nor Dean came on this trip, there's no way they would've been able to handle this, I just knew it. They were safe, for now at least.

The RV door opened. A bearded man with a leather jacket walked out nonchalantly, like this was just another day, an ordinary event. My gaze shifted to his shoulder, where a menacing baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire rested. He looked down the line and smiled.

"Pissing our pants yet?" He asked. A very odd, yet fitting question. He began walking towards me, smiling still.

"Yep, it's gonna be pee-pee pants city real soon." I was afraid to look up at him, the sight of his shoes was enough to make me want to throw up. I had never experienced this level of fear before. Not even when the Governor took me prisoner, not even when I was alone in the woods, fending for myself after the prison had fallen.

He asked who the leader was, Rick was soon pointed out. The baseball bat wielding guy turned his attention away from my general area, and I felt a small amount of relief.

"You're Rick right?" He asked, stepping closer to Rick. After a short time of silence, the bearded guy said,

"I'm Negan." I heard that name before, and never with a positive connotation. Negan soon elaborated,

"And I do not appreciate you killing my men. Also, when I sent my people to kill your people, for killing my people, you killed more of my people. Not cool." Negan said with a calm, yet menacing tone.

"You have no idea how not cool that really is, but, I have a feeling you'll be up to speed with that shortly." Negan looked up from Rick, and looked down the line once more, I got the courage to look up at him, only to be met eye to eye.

"Yeah, you are totally gonna regret crossing me in a few minutes." Negan threatened as his eyes bore into mine. After Negan's gaze left me, Carl inconspicuously laced his fingers in mine. Providing both of us with a small level of comfort.

"Yes you are." Negan brightly smiled, once again looking my way, and then back down the line.

"You see Rick, you do not mess with the new world order, and the new world order is this. It's very simple actually and even if you're stupid, which you very well may be, you can still understand it." I cast my line of vision over to Rick, who was covered in sweat, and nodded nervously.

"You ready?" Negan asked.

"Here it goes. Pay attention."