𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 ➳ 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬

Chapter 9 ~ Two Down, How Many to Go?

Before I knew it, a gun had went off and Rosita had been tackled to the ground. Negan began to cuss as he fussed over Lucille who was now marked with a pretty little bullet hole in her side.

"You just - you tried to kill me?! You shot Lucille!" he roared at the Hispanic girl on the ground.

"She got in the way," Rosita bit back at him.

My eyes widened and Carl held me tighter just as Negan bent down to pick up a bullet off the gravel.

"What is this? What is this? This little bad boy made from scratch? Look at those crimps. This was homemade. You may be stupid, darlin', but you showed some real ingenuity here. Arat, move that knife up out on that girl's face. Lucille's beautiful, smooth surface is never gonna look the same, so why should yours?! Unless - unless you tell me who made this," he continued, anger emanating in his words.

"It was me. I made it,"

"You see, now I just think you're lying. And you lying to me now?! Such a shame. Arat's gonna have to cut up that pretty face. One more try,"

The woman holding the knife against Rosita slid the blade closer to her skin and I could see Rosita squirm.

"It was me!" she spat, moving her head slightly so that the knife finally dug into her flesh.

Negan chuckled just as a streak of blood trickled down her cheek.

"Oh! You are a feisty one! Fine. Have it your way. Arat, kill somebody," he grinned, shrugging before turning to face away from us.

Without warning, the woman sat up off the ground and pulled out a gun. Just as Rosita began to protest, she turned the weapon towards us. I clutched Carl's arm tightly right as Arat pulled the trigger. Everything seemed to go in slow-motion then. Like we were moving through molasses. The bullet left the chamber in a loud bang before whizzing towards us.

"Carl!" I choked out in shock, unable to breathe in that moment.

In the blink of an eye, Carl had pulled me into his chest and out of the way. But when it was over - when I finally opened my eyes...I saw what I wish I hadn't. Lying on the porch was Olivia...a bullet embedded firmly in her face. A strangled cry left my lips and I buried my face in my boyfriend's chest so I couldn't see the blood trickling down through the wooden floorboards, staining everything crimson. My fingers clutched onto the material of his shirt so tight, I thought I would rip it. But suddenly, we heard a commotion and ultimately, I let go of Carl just long enough to see what was going on.

Down below, Rick had finally arrived.

"We had an agreement!" Rick seethed, stalking over to Negan.

"Rick! Look, everybody, it's Rick. Ah, your people are making me lose my voice doin' all this yelling. Rick, how about a "thank you"? I mean, look, I know we started this relationship with me beating your friends, and because of that, we're never gonna sit around and braid each other's hair or share our deepest, darkest secrets, but how about a little credit? I just bent over backwards to show you how reasonable I am," Negan began to tell him, "Your kid and his little Wolf girlfriend - he hid in one of my trucks and machine-gunned a bunch of my men down while she tried to kidnap my new daughter. And I brought them home, safe and sound, and I fed them spaghetti,"

Rick's eyes went wide, turning to the both of us with a look that was a mixture of shock and outrage. Carl and I tried to sink lower behind the railing out of guilt but eventually, stood up to face the older Grimes.

"Another one of your people - well, he wanted me to kill you and put him in charge. I took him out for you. And another one, here - she shot Lucille, trying to kill me just now, so I gave you one less mouth to feed," he continued, that sardonic grin still fixed in place, "And by looking at her - that mouth did some major damage. Now, personally, I wouldn't have picked her to be the one to go, but Arat - I don't know - didn't trust her,"

Rick was silent a moment as Negan just stood there, smiling like two of our people hadn't just been murdered in cold blood. By his own hands.

"Your stuff's waiting for you at the gate. Just go." Rick ordered, trying to hold back the wrath of his anger.

But he didn't just take the stuff and leave. No, first he took Eugene who finally had fessed up to being the one who actually made the bullet.

"I'm gonna be relieving you of your bullet maker, Rick - that and whatever you left for me at the front gate. And however much you scavenged, it's not good enough, because you're still in a serious, serious hole after today. Let's move out!" Negan told Rick gruffly before roaring to his people to follow him.

The trucks started up and as Negan led the procession, Lucille over his shoulder, I knew that this day would mark the end. But not for us. No, this day marked the end of Negan.