A New Home

Seeing Red

You had woken up mid morning propped up against the tree, Negan's leather jacket still draped around you. The brisk morning air had snaked its way between his jacket and your skin, making you shiver suddenly. Negan had scouted ahead and had found the group's tracks, and was waiting on you to wake up.

The bleeding had stopped (thank fuck) but that would not make up for the amount of blood you had lost in the process. You were incredibly weak and you felt like a fool when Negan suggested giving you a piggy back ride the rest of the way there.

"You're joking right?"

"No I'm dead fucking serious, you can't walk like this. Just hop on my back it will be fine. Unless you're too damn heavy then we have a problem..."

"I'm fine, seriously I can walk. As I said I've had worse. Seriously."

In an attempt to prove to him that you were right and ignoring his sarcastic comment, you pushed up from the ground with some struggle and proceeded to stand up. You regretted it instantly, stifling a scream as pain ripped through your side once again, and your vision failed. You stumbled forward, nearly crashing face first into the dirt. Why did you have to be so damn stubborn all the time?

"Woah, ok, yeah, definitely not."

He ran in to steady you, and gave you a 'I-was-right-you-were-wrong'  kinda look and you gave in.

"Fine. Fine!"

He smirked triumphantly, and you hobbled over to his back, throwing his jacket over his shoulder and subsequently smacking him in the face. You stifled a giggle.

"Jeez thanks kid."

He did that on purpose,
casually throwing his jacket back on. You rolled your eyes and huffed loudly whilst you tried to get on his back, resisting the urge to correct him or smack him again. He was getting on your nerves but a small part of you enjoyed the witty banter you shared. He crouched down to make it easier for you, and braced his hands against your thighs ready to hold you.

"Ready?"

"Yup, yup let's just get on with it."

"Ok, on 3. 1, 2, 3!"

You kicked off lightly from the ground as he hoisted you up on to his back, using your thighs as leverage. You squeaked as you felt your skin slowly tear away, allowing small drops of blood to be soaked into your jacket sleeve bandage.

"You doing ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, fine. Can we get going now?"

You were struggling to breathe, and an uncomfortable sweat formed under your arms and on your forehead. You hoped that wasn't what you thought it was, and pushed it to the back of your mind.

It had been a couple of hours since you both had left the 'camp', and you could tell Negan was getting breathless. He had been up all night on watch and now had to carry you all the way to wherever you were going. The tracks were becoming clearer so that was a good sign.

Traipsing through the woods for hours on end with a dead-weight obviously wasn't fun, and he tried to pass the time by making conversation and more sarcastic comments, but you were barely paying attention. Your thoughts were preoccupied with the thoughts of infection. And not just normal infection- what if some walker blood had gotten into your wound? You tried to push those thoughts away to no avail, and ended winding yourself up further. You just had to focus on staying awake- and staying alive. For both your sakes.

Negan was panting at this point and suggested you both take a break. You agreed reluctantly- you wanted to keep moving so you could stay focused, but he was exhausted, you could tell. He placed you down gently and motioned for you to sit.