𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 ➳ 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬

Chapter 3 ~ So We Meet Again

The bullet flew out of the chamber and hit the window pane, shattering glass into shards all over the floor.

"Put some back or the next one goes in you!" Carl bit out.

The man just chuckled, "Kid, what do you think happens next?"

"You die!" I piped up, my eyes hardening as I went to stand by Carl.

I noticed Rick walk in just then and I met his blue-eyed gaze.

"Carl, Carl, put it down," Rick tried to coax him.

But Carl wasn't having it, I could tell. When he got one thing in his mind, he stuck with it. That's the way he'd been for as long as I'd known him.

"No. He's taking all of our medicine. They said only half our stuff!" he said defiantly.

Suddenly, I felt myself shiver as another figure made their way into the room. Negan.

He grinned over at my boyfriend, chuckling to himself, "Of course. Oh-ho. Really, kid?"

"And you should go. Before you find out how dangerous we all are,"

Negan's amused expression soured then and I saw a spark of rage flicker in those dark eyes of his.

"Well, pardon me, young man, but did you just threaten me? Look, I get threatening Davey here, but I can't have it. Not him, not me-" Negan started to say, his voice hardening slightly.

"Carl, just put it down," Rick whispered to his son, interrupting the psychopath.

"Don't be rude, Rick. We are having a conversation here. Now, boy, where were we? Oh, yeah-" he started again before this time, cutting himself off briefly as his eyes drifted to me for the first time during this conversation, "Now who do we have here?"

He frowned in thought a moment before a light came into his eyes, the realization dawning on him. My heart pounded in my chest as he took a step closer to me.

"Ohhh, you must be the pregnant lady that I-" he grinned before making a popping noise with his mouth.

I cringed at the brief flashback, phantom pains coming into my body then for just a second before they too went away. Negan's eyes traveled down to my stomach then and he shrugged.

"Well, not pregnant anymore, obviously," he smiled maliciously.

He was about to speak again when suddenly, Carl stepped up to stand in front of me protectively. He stood so close to me that I could smell the scent of pudding and gun metal on his t-shirt. I couldn't be more grateful for that boy in the Sheriff's hat than I was at that very moment. A flicker of surprise appeared on his face before it was replaced by amusement.

"Oh, so you two are..." he beamed sadistically before making a humming noise in his throat, nodding to himself, "That makes so much sense. Guess I know now why you didn't want to leave her to bleed out, huh, sport?"

Carl said nothing to him and Negan let the subject drop. Finally, he let out a long sigh before handing the gun over to his father wordlessly. It was in Rick's hand for less than a minute before Negan took it from him.

"You know, Rick, this whole thing reminds me that you have a lot of guns. There's all the guns you took from my outpost when you wasted all my people with a ton of your own guns, and I'm bettin' there's even more, which adds up to an absolute load of guns, and as this little emotional outburst just made crystal clear I can't allow that," Negan lectured Rick, his voice hard.

Rick was silent throughout all of this and he chanced a glance over at Carl and me. I bit my lip as the silence ticked by before Negan spoke again.

"They're all mine now. So tell me, Rick - where are my guns?"

Rick swallowed once before he wordlessly brushed past him, leading the way out the door. Negan began to follow then and whistled at his men to follow as he began to saunter off. But just as he reached the doorway, he turned back around and sent us a smirk.

"I'll be sure to tell your...I mean my little girl you said 'hello', Angel." he said with a wink before rounding the corner.