I only had a camera that printed out black and white photographs. No sort of color whatsoever. It sucked because it took all the colors out of it. Everything that made the person or thing in the photograph alive. It made it seem less real than it was at the time.

He was smiling in this particular photograph. His naturally squinted eyes as he shined teeth in his smile. He was happy here. He was at peace here. He was real here. Now, he's not here at all...

All the photographs that I kept deep in my bag, underneath everything else. My Bible was in a proper case underneath everything with my photographs stuffed in it, too. Everything that had ever made me happy was there.

That included Glenn, who was featured in several photos of mine. Not just him, though, but everybody else. Maggie was in most of them, too, with her shining belly. Then, in others, there was Abraham, Sasha, Eugene, and Rosita. Some included Tara, too, who I missed dearly, and Father Gabriel. There is some of Daryl and Rick, then of Michonne, Carl, and Judith. All in all, everybody was in all of them.

At the bottom of the pile lied my favorite photo of all... A big group picture of everybody. We were all smiling and holding on tightly to one another. I was between Daryl and Glenn while Tara took a knee in front of me, showing off her famous middle fingers. Maggie was holding onto Glenn, but he had his other free arm wrapped around my waist — all while I was hanging onto Daryl, who had his own big arm lapped over my small body.

We were all there together. For once, that is. Usually, we were everywhere, but home. That day, we were meant to be together in that moment to take that picture. The worse was yet to come, but we didn't know that at the time.

We were just happy to be there together in that moment... And that moment shall live on forever and ever, even without all that color.

I've been wrestling with my demons lately. It's beginning to take a huge toll on me. Mentally, emotionally, and physically.

Mentally, the way they've been trying to use me against Rick.

Emotionally, the way that all I've been doing lately is crying because of them.

Then, physically... The way that they have been mistreating me by slapping me around.

I have been stripped down to nothing and the ground was surprisingly cold to the touch. My ass was freezing and my back was to the walls. I remained in the corner, to where they couldn't actually see me. They'll hand me my food and leave in a hurry. Then, they'll leave me in the pure and utter darkness. Dark and cold. It's the same routine everyday.

Today was no different so far. Daryl remained in the room next to me. I could sometimes hear Dwight talking to him. Usually, he's really mean — which is expected — but I never did hear Daryl say a word back, which is a huge shock to me. He always had something to say, especially when somebody is mean to him or his friends.

Dwight hasn't came to check on me yet. I believe, from the meals that I've received so far, that Daryl and I had been here for about a good week. Five days than seven, that is. I don't know what they're feeding Daryl, but they've been feeding me tomato sandwiches. All it is, is about five thin slices of tomato shoved in between two pieces of bread. It was something, but nothing much at all. No water to swallow it down with, either.

So far, I haven't received my only meal of the day and the door hasn't opened yet. I was desperate to get out of here. I was even more desperate to see Daryl again, to make sure that he's okay. I'm sure that, mentally, he's in the same boat as me. Probably even emotionally and physically, too, which wouldn't surprise me at all by this point.

I thought a lot about Paul lately, though, too. I felt bad that I didn't stick by his side most of the time, especially when it came to the questioning of Gregory's leadership over the Hilltop. Paul agreed with me that Gregory wasn't exactly fit to be the chosen leader, but he wasn't about to complain about it, either. Then, when I would go directly to Gregory, himself, and complain that he wasn't fit to be leader, Paul would immediately apologize for me and take me away before I could make my official statement.

Then again, Paul didn't agree with me on anything at all. When Izzy's mother died and she told me to look after Izzy for her, I agreed — but Paul, of course, didn't think that I would make a good guardian for her. I proved him wrong up until I discover what Alexandria was. I left Izzy and Paul behind, no questions asked. I didn't even think of going back, either, which kills me deep down. They were my little family, but I exchanged them for something that seemed better and even bigger.

Most days, I sleep to the best of my ability with nothing but a hard, cold, and filthy floor underneath me. There was nothing else to do, besides cry and think. My thoughts are very dangerous these days. They're full of images and repeats of what happened only five days ago.

Abraham...

The images of them saying their very last words before death took them. "Suck my nuts," I remember Abe saying up to Negan after being hit once by Lucille. I remember seeing Abraham signal a peace sign towards Sasha, who wasn't far from me.

Glenn...

"I'll find you," Glenn had struggled to say to Maggie, but it hit me just as hard. Lucille had already did her own little number on him before he finally said those words.

I remember how I was wishing death upon myself after Glenn was officially gone. I remember crying and crying until I nearly puked. I remember wanting to jump up and murder Negan with my bare hands. I remember what really happened, though, most of all.

So, I'll sleep and forget what really happened. I dream that I'm back at Alexandria, surrounded by everybody that now love over there. I dream that Maggie has her and Glenn's baby and they name it, but I never can see what it is or what it's name is, either. Though, the image is still nice to imagine.

I dream that Abraham is still our lookout and cracking jokes every chance he gets while he smile and shakes with each chuckle. I dream of Sasha up there with him while she laughs with him. Eugene is rocking a ponytail in the back of his mullet, which I've occasionally laughed at before.

I dream that Daryl and I have come back from a hunt or something, and are immediately welcomed back with open arms. Rick is there with Michonne under his arm while Carl is chasing after Judith, who is seemingly five years old or even older than that, but not by much. Rick comes up to Daryl and hugs him while Michonne hugs me. We hold onto each other for a while until Judith runs in between our legs and we laugh about it.

Glenn and Maggie start to walk up to us with big smiles while Maggie is holding their baby in her arms. Glenn hugs me while Maggie is talking to Michonne, but I have no idea about what. Nothing else mattered because Glenn was hugging me and I was hugging him back.

Every dream ends the same, though. It ends with Glenn whispering something in my ear, but I never get to hear it before I suddenly wake up. Every night, I dream the same dream and never get to hear his very last words to me.

Suddenly, before I know it, the door opened and the light came in. For a moment, it burnt my eyes, but I knew that it was only temporary before somebody throws in my plastic plate of food before they shut it again. However, this was different.

Instead of a plate being thrown in, it was clothes. "Change into these," the voice demanded, but I didn't know who it belonged to yet. It didn't sound like Dwight. "You have five minutes, so you better be changed before we come back."

Then, the door closed behind himself and the darkness was what was left. Slowly, I began to crawl across the dirty and cold floor until I felt the clothes in my hands. I picked them up and tried to get myself dressed before they were to return. I wasn't going to not get dressed. That would risk them seeing me naked. Plus, I bet these worthless clothes would make me feel warmer. My body had become numb to the cold, so the warm clothes made me feel better.

However, just as I slid the jumpsuit on, the door opened again without the top of it being on my upper body. Good thing that my back was turned, so they couldn't see my front. So, quickly, I slid the top part of it on and turned around, seeing that the buttons wouldn't button, so that half of each of my breast was hanging out and my plain stomach also.

I was clearly very unimpressed by the clothes and by the three minutes that I was given than the five that I was promised. Standing there in the frame of the door was Dwight, to my surprise, but with two other Saviors, too.

"Good, you're ready," he commented, analyzing my appearance from head to toe. "It looks good on you."

"I need a shirt," I said in return instead. "I'm not walking around like this."

For a moment, Dwight stood there very still and quiet, going into deep thought there for a minute. He nodded and finally promised: "We will. Just c'mon."

He leaped forward and grabbed my arm, as hard as he could. "No," I yelled and tried to escape — but to no avail. "I'm not going anywhere until I get a proper shirt!"

"Yes, you will," he growled and pulled on my arm even tighter than before. That's when he finally found the strength to carry me out of the dungeon that I had been in the past week.

He had his arm tightened around my right arm as he carried me out of there and into the hallway. I can only hope that it's clean in the halls since I have no shoes on to protect me from anything that might lie down here.

The two other Saviors followed after us as we continued down the hall until we got to another door, which seemed nicer than my own. Dwight stood me up by the wall across from the nice door before he entered the door, closed it, and returned only a beat later with a plain white tank-top in hand.

"Here," he muttered and handed it to me. "You're going to go in here and change."

With that said, I walked forward and entered through the door before I heard the door behind me close. I looked over my shoulder and seen Dwight standing there, and I froze in confusion.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, frustrated. "I can't change with you in here with me."

"Yes, you can," he countered and turned his back on me. "I'll have my back on you, so that you can."

With that said, I rolled my eyes and turned my own back on him as I dropped the top half of the jumpsuit down. As I began to put the plain white tank-top on, I took a moment to examine the room. It was a simply bedroom, which was seemingly small, though, by the looks of it. I see a bunch of plaid shirts, which made me believe that this was Dwight's personal room.

"You better not be trying to find something to use against me," I heard him say as I shook my head. "Because, before you even think about it, you'll be dead."

I shook my head and practically whispered (and somewhat promised): "No, I'm not."

"Good," I heard him grunt, somewhat awkwardly. Then, he cleared his throat. "You done yet?"

I nodded, even though he couldn't see that at the time, and finally said: "Yeah, but I want to know what I'm doing today first."

He turned around to face me with his hands on his hips and nodded. "You'll be dealing with me today," he answered, no hesitation. "Don't worry. I'll play nice."

I rolled my eyes and silently huffed out: "Lovely."

"C'mon now," he demanded and opened the door, revealing the same other two Saviors. We walked out there together and, as soon Dwight had shut the door behind us and locked it, he told the Saviors: "You two can leave us now."

With that said, the two rough-looking Saviors nodded and left, disappearing around the corner. After they were officially gone, Dwight looked down at me and said: "Okay, let's go. Stay quiet and stay very close to me at all times."

With that said, I nodded and began to walk right behind his shadow as we got to some double-doors, which he opened and it revealed the sudden sunlight. I placed my arm over my eyes and shielded myself from it like I was a damn vampire.

Nevertheless, he held the doors open for me and I walked out, having him right behind me now and shutting them. "What the hell...?" I breathed out and looked forward.

The crazy sight of the front of the Sanctuary was beyond weird. There was a big fence surrounding these Walkers that were stuck in there, but they weren't alone. They were other prisoners in there, trying to fight them off. It was disgusting.

"C'mon," he simply said and took me by the arm again, trying to pull me down the left side of the stairs. He shook my head and planted my feet on the ground. He noticed that I wasn't moving and looked back at me. "Tess..."

"No," I said to him, still frightened and glaring down at the fenced-in prison. "I'm not going in there."

"You're not," he suddenly said and that's when I looked directly at him. What? "Just c'mon and trust me here."

For a second longer, I stood there hesitant, but when he pulled on me again, I decided to let him take me with me. Before stepping out, we stopped as some woman, with half of her hair shaved off, came up to us and laid some poor excuse of sandals in front of my feet before she walked away again. At least my feet won't be that bad on the rough pavement with the rocks and the unknown.

Finally, we began to walk down in front of the fences and, then, we stopped. Several Saviors were out there, guarding and watching those who was inside the fences. Some were just standing around, though, waiting on something to happen, I guess.

"Stay here," Dwight whispered in my ear as he suddenly disappeared without a trace. I stood by the fence, but not close enough to be attacked by the Walkers on the inside.

I watched those innocent prisoners fighting off those Walkers to the best of their ability without any weapons. One had a tall and thin pole, but for some reason, he wasn't killing the Walker directly in front of him.

"Oh, hell yes," I suddenly heard a very familiar voice yell. So, I spun around to see Negan coming around some truck with a big fat smile on his face and Lucille in his hand, over his shoulder. "That's what I'm talking about!"

Suddenly, everybody began to take a knee and look down at the ground. I didn't know what to say as I just stood there, looking down at them now. Abruptly, somebody practically ran over to me and yanked me down to the ground with her. "Stay down and say nothing," she advised me and I did as I was now being told.

She was holding my arm, making sure that I was down and had my eyes glued to the ground, too. I heard Negan roughly hitting the ground with the rocks that nearly came and hit me right in the face. He walked passed everybody and I heard him laughing, finding amusement in all of this. What a prick...

"You may all stand now," Negan suddenly called out and we all began to slowly stand up. I only could see the back of his head as he entered through the doors Dwight and I had just came out of. What the hell was that about?

I turned to my left, where the woman was now standing. She was actually really pretty, compared to most of the women Saviors that have wandered around here so far. She had her hair back in a ponytail, which reached all the way down to her waist, and it was brown. She had matching eyes, too, and a whole lot of damn tattoos. Her tank-top reached to the middle of her belly, so I could obviously see a belly-button ring. Then again, she had a hoop lip-ring, too, and sleeves on both of her arms from the shoulders to the wrists.

"Thank you," I decided to thank her for saving me back there. I wonder what would've happened if I had just stood there when Negan walked up. It'll just be easier on me if I go ahead and say my thanks, so it won't cost me later.

"No problem," she grunted and finally let go of my arm.

That's when Dwight showed back up with a hammer — out of all things. We turned towards him together. "Brie," Dwight said to the woman next to me, which I am now assuming is her name. "What are you doing here?"

"I just saved your prisoner's ass," she barked back at him, no hesitation whatsoever to get right in his face. "She didn't know what to do, so I saved her from what Negan could've done to her."

With that said, she passed right by Dwight, making sure to nudge shoulders with him, before she eventually disappeared. When she officially gone, he turned towards me and actually apologized: "Sorry about that. I forget to tell you that, whenever Negan is around, you have to bow down. You can't say anything or even look up at him. That's the rules."

What the fuck? I wanted to ask, but decided against it quickly. I wasn't about to question or even understand the rules. I'm not about be here long enough to care. I was getting out of here the first damn chance that I get.

"What's the hammer for?" I decided to ask him, examining the hammer in his hand. "You don't get to have more weapons that that around here?"

He shook his head and responded, "No, it's not that."

"Then, what is it for?" I huffed, getting aggravated by being played along here.

When I asked this, he sighed loudly and placed his hand left hand on his hip. "It's, uh," he stammered our, gulping. "Well... It's for you, actually."

"Me?" I squeaked out in surprise. What the hell?

He handed me the hammer and took it, feeling the weight of it in my hands. I didn't know what to do or how to respond. Why would he just hand me a hammer for?

"I'm sorry that I have lied to you," he suddenly apologized, which made my eyebrows meet in the middle of my forehead. "I didn't know that you would have to go inside the fences today."

No... "You have got to be kidding me," I grunted with my eyes now closed in anger and disbelief. "Dwight, I—"

"I know and I'm sorry," he apologized again, but in a whisper that he said right to my face. I don't think he wanted everybody else to know that he was actually being pretty nice to me right now. "Just get in there today and I'll have you doing something different tomorrow."

"What do I even have to do?" I squealed out like a pig — without actually meaning to. I was mad, confused, sad, frustrated, and everything else that followed. I was in these mixed emotions that was driving me right back to anger most of all.

"Hold the dead off," he simply spat out, which didn't help me whatsoever. "Don't get bit."

I rolled my eyes and thought to myself: Gee, thanks for the advice... Not! To him, though, I said: "What the hell is that suppose to mean?"

"It means," he began to say and turned towards me, "you're not supposed to curse at any of us — especially Negan, so don't start with me."

To that, I rolled my eyes and growled under my breath. I don't want to go in here and be burning underneath this hot ass sun while they won't even let me put my hair up. Assholes.

Dwight opened the gate and it squeaked, which bothered me a little bit. "Don't draw attention to yourself," I heard him whisper in my ear before, just to act tough around his fellow Saviors, he pushed me inside the fence with the hammer as my one and only weapon.

I trampled inside without actually falling to my knees. This surprised me and mostly because I'm normally clumsy and will fall over anything. Nevertheless, I nearly fell over my feet just to get in there.

Immediately, I was almost attacked by two of the Walkers that were practically guarding the entrance from the inside. I jumped, but didn't actually react. I just kept on walking right into the middle of it all while other fellow prisoners.

Don't draw attention to yourself, I heard Dwight's words entered in my mind again as I just stood there, not doing anything at all. I was gripping the hammer with both of my hands for dear life. I had it squeezed to my chest so much that it might leave an imprint on my body later.

"What are you doing?" one male prisoner called out to me after finally chaining the Walker back to the fence. He came up to me with blood splattered across his face, obviously angered by me. "You gotta do something or they'll come in here and drag you out by your hair."

I didn't say anything. Maybe my face said it all. I was embarrassed, confused, and didn't care. So, I just shrugged and kept my lips pursed shut. This seemed to frustrate him even more.

Who the hell did this guy think he was? He wasn't the ringleader here. He's just another prisoner here against his will — just like me. I don't think he needs to be barking orders towards me. I mean, if I don't wanna do it, he can't make me. If I don't do anything and I get yanked out of here, then I won't have to be here anymore — which is a plus for me.

He got up behind me and yelled almost directly in my ear: "Go do your job! Hurry up! Go!" Once again, I didn't know who this guy thought he was, but he's the only one who is pushing my buttons here. "Hurry up before they come in here!"

I bit my bottom lip and was going to keep ignoring him until he did something he shouldn't have... He pushed me and I really did almost fall forward this time. I didn't realize how mad I was until I found my balance again to get up.

By the time that I got up, I was fuming and, suddenly, the images of Glenn and Abraham's deaths popped into my mind. I was livid now.

So, then, I put the hammer in my right hand, straightened my back, and swung the weapon around. The guy had fallen, but only because he didn't want to get hit. A Walker had gotten loose and was coming after me, so — against the rules — I drove the hammer into its skull, immediately killing it.

Before I knew it, I was starting to go on a warpath of raged killings. One by one, I began to take out every single one of the Walkers that were in there while the other prisoners shielded theirselves from my rage. Then, once I was done and all the Walkers laid dead on the ground, I turned and faced that guy that was on my back before.

He was still lying on the ground, balancing himself with his elbows, and looked scared as hell. "Got something to say now, you dick?!" I yelled down at him, holding the hammer high and ready to slam down on his head. "Huh? Do you?"

"Tess," I suddenly heard my name being called out. I looked up and spotted Dwight standing in the middle of the now-opened gates entrance.

"No, let her," a new voice came into the mix as everybody was now bowing and taking a knee, including Dwight. "No, stand up. Let everybody take a witness to this."

Then, one by one, everybody now began to stand up. Negan... Just like before, he was back to smiling and looking like he was about to fall over backwards with that back of his. Most of all, though, he had Lucille hanging over his shoulder. He seemed impressed, to say the least.

"Tess," he smiled my name from ear to ear. He started to walk passed Dwight and finally stopped behind that guy. He took Lucille and tapped his shoulder with her. "Get up. You're pathetic." It didn't take much before he jumped up and ran away, hiding away in one of corners of the fences. Wow.

"Man," Negan sang out, stomping his foot and smiling even larger than before. "Look at you. You came in here and killed all of my biters. By the looks of things, you were going to kill one of my prisoners, too. Man... You are tough. Tough as damn nails! Nah, let me rephrase... Tough as Lucille here — and that's pretty tough!"

"Don't test me," I threatened with a growl. I couldn't believe myself right now. What is this force, though? And, well, since I have nothing else to lose... "I'm going to kill you, sooner than later."

"Woo," Negan breathed out and stepped backwards. He was still smiling. "Look. At. You." He paused, just to point at me every time he breathed out a simple word. "You have some serious lady-balls!"

Nobody said anything. Nobody did anything. It was completely silent after this point. Negan was impressed and I have no earthly idea why. Shouldn't I be dead by now? I stood up to Negan, which is legitimately forbidden here.

"C'mon, Tess," Negan suddenly said and turned his back on me. "We have much to discuss."

I don't know why, but I decided to just follow after him. I was to follow the killer that took away my whole world and continues to hold me hostage from living my life.

It was now or never.

• Holy... Is Tess planning on doing a sneak-attack on Negan? Dwight, perhaps? Hey, he's picked his side and Tess has GOT TO realize that! So, this takes place approximately five days (a week, of course) AFTER the devastating deaths of Glenn and Abraham. Tess isn't okay, not even in the least. BTW: Who is BRIE? We'll find out more about her soon... 😏 LOLZ 🤩 Anyways... All the love .xx •