Poker Face

Chapter 20 - Welcome Home

"Shit on a god damn stick," Negan hissed through his teeth, kicking the car back into gear and rolling towards the gate, through the small herd of walkers. The gate stood wide open and there were no guards standing atop their posts. There were no signs of life outside as they neared the building. Negan's stone face was set in a deep frown, chest heaving and nostrils flared as he tried to contain his anger. The only time Aven had seen him that furious was the first time she saw him, bashing in her rapist's skull. The air in the car changed and she had an uneasy feeling.

"Negan, this isn't good. We should-" Aven began before being cut off by Negan slamming his fist into the horn and holding down, repeating the action several times. "What the fuck are you doing? You're gonna draw the walkers over here."

"Where the fuck are my men?" Negan growled. When no one emerged from the building after a moment, he grabbed Lucille from the back seat and flew out of the car. Aven jumped out after him, jogging to keep up with his long strides towards the building.

"Negan, calm the fuck down. You're being stupid. You can't go in there without backup." Aven reached out to grab his arm and he spun suddenly towards her as though he were about to strike.

"I have backup," he hissed. "Let's go." Before she could argue, he was opening the front door of the building. Aven drew her gun from her hip and followed, refusing to let him go in alone. They opened the door and stood at the entrance in awe, a long hallway in front of them consumed in flames. Negan moved to take a step forward but Aven stepped in front of him.

"Don't be a fucking idiot," she begged. "There's nothing we can do here."

"Paula!" Negan called, his roaring voice echoing through the flames. "Primo!" The only answer was a faint gurgling noise as a blood-soaked woman without a face fell around a corner to the floor. She looked up at them, her eyes almost completely white, and began trying to drag herself down the hall, catching fire as she went. "FUCK!" Negan barked, spinning on his heel and slamming Lucille against the outside of the metal entrance door. A walker stumbled towards him and Negan went at it, not stopping his attack until it was indistinguishable as a humanoid figure. Then he went at another, and another. Aven stayed at the door, her gun still drawn as she kept an eye out for attackers. When the flaming corpse in the hallway came closer than she was comfortable with, she put a bullet in its head. Then she heard a crackling noise followed by a voice.

"Repeat: Sanctuary to outpost Delta. Do you copy?" Aven vaguely recognized the voice as one of Negan's men but wasn't sure exactly who it was. She could see the radio on the woman's hip, singed but functional. As if Negan wasn't in a bad enough mood, when he turned back to Aven he saw her disappearing inside the flaming building. His eyes grew wide and he dashed to the door, but she was already reemerging, the collar of her shirt over her mouth and nose and a radio in her outstretched hand. Before he could reprimand her for running into the flames, the radio crackled again. "Come in. Do you copy?"

"D, we have a major motherfucking problem," Negan radioed back.

"Boss? That you?" Dwight asked.

"It ain't the god damn tooth fairy," Negan replied humorlessly. "Outpost is down. Everyone is gone. No signs of life."

"Everyone?"

"Did I fucking stutter?" Negan said through gritted teeth.

"What about the backup we sent?" Simon's voice came through the radio. Negan let out a shaky, frustrated sigh, at the end of his rope and having trouble dealing with his men asking stupid questions as he glared at the empty truck of the Saviors who had come to help. Aven grabbed the radio from him and held it to her mouth.