"Why are we all here for?" I asked of Dwight, just as I walked onto the factory floor. I spotted Mark tied to a chair while the whole population of Saviors were standing there. Dwight was up by the furnace, looking into the fire. "Dwight?"

He looked over his shoulder and simply grunted out: "We have to wait on Negan to arrive."

I looked forward and spotted Daryl standing almost directly behind Mark, holding on the mop tightly with a mop-bucket behind him. I decided to act casually and walk up beside him, which he showed some sort of emotion to.

When, suddenly, a clang came from high above. Everybody looked up after gasping, seeing Negan and Carl both up above us on the catwalk while we all focused on him to deliver the reason of why we are all here for.

Yet, he kept clanging Lucille onto the railing until everyone would kneel for him. I looked to Daryl after seeing everyone kneeling and he just slowly shook his head, taking a knee against his will. I rolled my eyes and did the same, taking a knee next to him.

Front and center, standing above us, Negan hands over Lucille to Carl, who has to take it to keep himself safe in this situation.

Placing his hands on the railing, he held himself up and announced: "You know the deal. What's about to happen is gonna be hard to watch. I don't want to do it." By this point, Mark is shaking and sweating not far in front of me. "I wish that I could just ignore the rules and let it slide, but I can't. Why?"

Altogether, everyone — minus myself and Daryl, of course — yelled back at Negan: "The rules keep us alive."

Coming down the stairs now, Negan says one by one: "That. Is. Right." Taking a moment to pose again at the middle of the stairs and holding himself off the railing, he continued: "We survive. We provide security for others. We bring civilization back to this world. We are the Saviors." He paused to move around a little. "But we can't do that without rules. Rules are what make it all work. I know it's not easy, but there's always work. There is always a cost. Here, if you try to skirt it, if you try to cut that corner..."

At the end there, Negan got loud, which made Mark whimper in his chair and the rest of us to tense-up. Then, he started to chuckle — which shows just, first-hand, how bad his mood swings are. "...Then, it is the the iron for you," he finished, seemingly normal about it now.

I looked to my right and seen how Daryl looked, obviously a slight mixture of scared and pissed. I placed my hand on his bent knee and he flinched, but relaxed after a moment. I kept looking up at Negan because I didn't want the attention on us. But, then, I seen Daryl turn his gaze back to Dwight, who looked back at Daryl.

Dwight was probably one of the first to get the iron, himself. That's why half of his face is the way that it is. I felt bad for Dwight, but I don't know how bad I did, though.

"On your feet," Negan concluded, which I silently thanked since I didn't feel like being on my knee anymore.

Everyone stood up, but Dwight was the last to. Negan made his way down until he was finally on the same floor as us. Doctor Carson was standing to my right as Daryl spun around to be on my left now.

Everyone faced Negan as he made his way down, actually smiling at myself and Daryl in the process before he lightly smacked the side of Mark's neck in passing. "D...," Negan chuckled out, slipping on a big black glove.

Meanwhile, Dwight was obeying orders by getting the iron fresh out of the furnace with a hook while he wore his own pair of black gloves. The iron was hanging off of the hook as Dwight slowly spun around with it. That thing was glowing red at the bottom of it. Oh, my God. I think that I'm going to be sick.

Now that Negan had his own black gloves on, he turned towards Dwight and took the iron right off of the equally burning hook. He cracked a smile at Dwight, which he returned by force.

Negan turned to face Mark and almost seemed sincere about what he was about to do. "Mark... I'm sorry," he apologized while Mark shook with fear in his tied-up chair. "But it is what it is."

I spotted Sherry close-by, who came up to Amber and comforted the blonde, holding onto her for dear life. Dwight seemed to be avoiding looking up at her and me, too, for that matter.

Negan licked his lips before eying Mark with a sideways stare. With each step that he took towards Mark with that hot-ass iron, the more Mark shook. Then, just as I bit down on my hand from screaming, the deed was done.

He took the iron and branded the left side of Mark's face while I, along with a few others, arched in horror with our mouth opened wide in shock. I seen Carl, who was completely scared now more than ever, and noticed that he didn't have his wrap around his face anymore, either.

Mark's screams were the highlight of the day, just as Carl glanced over at myself and Daryl in question and shock. I felt somewhat motherly towards him, so I walked on over to him and took him in my arms. He laid his head on my chest as I draped my arms around his neck while his arms wrapped around my body.

"Just look away," I whispered to him in his ear with his hat somewhat being in the way. "Just look away, sweetie."

Dwight noticed this and slowly shook his head at us, mentally telling us to just be quiet and let it happen. Negan held it on him for a while while he kept screaming and Amber was crying on Sherry's shoulder. Dwight closed his eyes, probably remembering what he, himself, had already went through this before, too.

Finally, Mark's everlasting screams stopped as he slowly passed out from all the pain. Negan yanked the iron back from his face, watching a piece of skin go back onto Mark's face from the iron. That was enough for me to throw-up a little bit in my mouth. This was so bizarre!

Afterwards, when Negan had taken the iron back and seen that Mark had passed out, he began to chuckle and even hit his left foot on the floor as he was getting a kick out of this. Nasty asshole!

Not knowing if he was talking to the rest of us or Mark's passed out body, but he said aloud: "Ah, that wasn't so bad now, was it?"

Negan turned around and put the iron back on the hook that Dwight still had. He turned and noticed something. "Jesus," Negan commented, grunting. "He pissed himself."

Carl and I looked on at Daryl before Negan turned around and noticed us there together. He walked up behind Daryl and somewhat whispered in his ear: "Clean that up."

I didn't think that Daryl was going to do it there for a minute, but he did. Taking the mop and cleaning up the mess that both Negan and Mark had left behind.

"Doc, I'm all done," Negan said to Doctor Carson. "Do your thing." Somewhat pissed off, Doctor Carson made his way forward to take care of Mark. I let loose of Carl, but kept my arm wrapped around his shoulders, though, as he wouldn't let go of me, either. "Well, the pussy passed out... But, it's settled. We're square. Everything is cool. Let Mark's face be a daily reminder to him — and to everyone else — that the rules matter."

With that said, Sherry looked directly at Dwight, who somewhat smiled back at her through secret communication. And, so, Negan continued: "I hope that we all learned something today, because I don't ever want to have to do that again."

Suddenly, he stopped talking serious before he turned to look down at myself and Carl. He smiled and made his way forward, but I couldn't tell if it was through amusement or hidden anger.

I slowly let my arm leave from being around Carl, but kept my right hand tightened around his arm. I strictly looked at Negan and was obviously very pissed off, and I wasn't about to let go of Carl, either. Negan seemed somewhat impressed by my actions.

"Well," Negan somewhat whispered out, noticing the sight in front of us. "I see that you have your hand on the kid. Unless you want to be next in line to get the iron, then I suggest that you take your hand off of him. Plus, I don't want to do it. I mean... Banging somebody with a face like that? Yuck!"

I looked up at Dwight, who had stared back at me for only a second before he looked down. He was clearly very hurt by Negan's comment — and so was I, too, for that matter. I would still let Dwight fuck me with a face like that.

I didn't want to and everybody could clearly see that. So, I began to take my hand away, but not before Carl reached up for it and placed it back on his arm, where he laid his hand over mine. I think that he just wanted to touch it one last time before he's taken away again. Bless his heart.

Finally, I let go of him and even took a small step sideways away from him. Negan was now pleased as he got on Carl's other side and somewhat whispered in his ear: "Some crazy shit, huh? You probably think that I'm a lunatic. Come on. Let's go figure out what to do with you."

Negan placed his hand on Carl's other shoulder as they passed by me. I said to Negan in passing: "Please don't hurt him." Yet, Negan didn't pay no mind to me as he carried Carl along with him, even though Carl looked back at me with pleading eyes.

I opened the door to the staircase when Sherry almost bumped into me. She quickly and silently apologized to me before she bolted, leaving dust in my face. It smelt like a whole bunch of smoke in here as I could barley see when I walked in.

I looked down the staircase and spotted Dwight standing there, propped up against the wall, and smoking a cigarette. I didn't expect him — or even her, too — to be down here. I just wanted to go downstairs, so I closed the door behind myself and started down that way.

I passed by Dwight and he didn't even look like he was going to stop me — for once. When I was about two stairs down from him, I stopped, gulped, and spun around on my heel. I took those two stairs up again and faced him.

He had his head down, as well as his eyes, as he avoid eye contact with me. I put out my hand at him and that's when he somewhat glanced up at me in question. "Can I have a smoke, too?"

He didn't say anything, didn't even begin to question if I could handle it or not, as he slipped out one to me. I accepted it, placing it between my index and middle finger on my left hand, and held it out for him to light. He lit it and I placed it between my lips, letting the poisonous smoke fill in my lungs and exhale through my mouth.

I sat back on the ledge on the other side of the wall, opposite of Dwight. I haven't been feeling well lately, especially after what happened with Mark. Yet, that comment that Negan made seemed to really hurt Dwight's feelings — which kind of hurt mine, too, to be honest.

"So," I squeaked out after the minute of silence, blowing out smoke. "You two getting back together?"

I knew that it wasn't polite to ask such question, but I was only trying to make conversation. I didn't know what else to say because everything would lead to me getting in trouble and chewed out. I just wanted to be civil with him, for once.

He slowly shook his head while it was still down, then began to look up at me with soft eyes. "No," he actually replied, seemingly honest about it. "I think that it's really over between us."

My heart sank, feeling the weight of his problems swirling around within me. I didn't know why I felt his pain. Maybe it's because I've been so mean to him lately while he's only been looking out for me. I push people away right when they're about to get close to me.

"I'm sorry, Dwight," I apologized to him about him and Sherry first.

He somewhat shrugged it off after sniffling his nose. "I didn't ever want to believe it, even though she had to be with Negan," he commented, sincerely. "Now, I know it's over. We can't ever go back to the way that we were before."

"We all can't, unfortunately," I whispered out after I let the smoke exhale from my body once again. "I wish that I could go back to taking care of patients in a hospital. Some mornings, I still wake up and try to find my scrubs. Then, I have to remember who I am and what this world is now."

To that, Dwight didn't say anything back. He had his head and eyes down, clearly still very upset after this whole day. It's been a long day, that's for sure. The whole entire fucked-up day has ran over Dwight again and again. Sadly, this is how it is for him everyday — especially when I get on him, too.

"I'm sorry," I apologized again, saying it as quiet as I could. I threw my cigarette down to my boots and stomped on it, then throwing it off of my boot unto the other stairs below.

"You already said that you're sorry," Dwight pointed out, shrugging.

I shook my head and gulped. "Not about Sherry," I began to explain to him, hoping that he'll finally make eye contact with me. Before I could continued, I took down a heavy gulp. "About, uh... I'm just really sorry for running you over." That made him perk his head up a little bit. "I take you for granted, Dwight, and I know that I shouldn't since you're not nearly as nice to anyone else like you are of me. So, for that, I'm very sorry. I'll try to keep my anger down towards you to a minimum, but I don't want to be mean to you at all. You deserve better than that... I guess."

Finally, he looked up and our eyes met somewhere in the middle there in this smokey and dusty staircase. He flicked his cigarette to his boot and smashed it, throwing it off the bottom of his boot like I did with mine.

"Just know that I...," my voice trailed off as I knew that the words were within in me — somewhere. "I forgive you, Dwight, for whatever role that you played in the murders of my two friends. But, even though that I forgive you, it doesn't mean that I'll ever forget what you did. I can't find it in my heart right now to forgive Negan, but I think that I can finally forgive you, though."

With that said, he slowly nodded and croaked out: "Thank you."

Then, that's when the silence filled-up the room again. We had nothing else to say to one another. I wanted to say more to him, but I'm not even sure what my feelings are at, at this point. I wanted to hug him and tell him that it'll all be okay in the end. I wanted to tell him that I'll be his shoulder to cry on, but maybe we weren't there just yet.

"Dwight, about that comment that Negan made earlier about the... melted faces," I stammered out, which made Dwight slowly hang his face down again. I stepped forward, which is all that it took to be chest to chest with him. "I would still 'bang' you, even with a face like yours. So, don't let him and his little comments put you down."

Before I could control myself, seeing Dwight slowly lift his face to mine, I looked at his eyes before I did his lips. I leaned forward and, without hesitation this time, I pressed my lips to his. I immediately recognized what his breath tasted like — a combination of cigarettes and mint gum. At first, nothing was happening there. There were no sparks or dynamites going off within my body, exploding to get out.

Then, as I fell even deeper into it and felt his hands slowly slip around my waist, meeting in the middle back there. I didn't have my hands through his long and blonde locks, though. I had mine at his waist as well, tucking at his usual plaid-styled shirt, trying to lift it up. He was working on getting my shirt off, too, as I felt his warm hands hit my cold back with a sting.

The kiss deepened, now getting rougher and more intense. We wouldn't let our lips leave each other's, as if, we needed them to survive for now on. I snatched off Daryl's vest and let it slip through my fingertips to the side, to where it wouldn't fall down the staircase. Now, I could work on getting his actual shirt off just as he slipped mine off of my head, tossing it off to the side.

I threw my arms around his neck, practically tackling him to the wall behind him before he put his arms underneath me and picked me up, now throwing my back onto the cold ass wall. I had my legs wrapped around his waist as he was holding me up with one hand while the other was laid flat on the wall beside my head.

We had to take a breath now, as we were breathing heavy hot air back into each other's faces. His forehead touched mine as we kept our eyes closed. He let go of my legs and, so, I placed my feet back on the ground again.

Nothing else was going to happen between us from this point forward. We were just playing around with the idea, but it's not going to happen. Even though I did feel all the sparks, butterflies, and dynamites going off inside of me, we wouldn't get this chance again with one another. It doesn't mean that he felt the same thing, though.

I left my fingers from both hands trace his face from his temples all the way down it, letting them stop right around the corners of his lips. Our eyes were still closed and foreheads were touching as we kept breathing heavy air out.

I made sure to keep my fingers from my right hand on his melted face, letting him know once more that I didn't mind it at all. I might of liked it, even. His face will always be different than everyone else's, than Mark's if he makes it, and that's okay. I liked different and I like how it felt, even if it was painful to get it and to look at sometimes, too.

"I've gotta go," I finally said something, whispering it out. He nodded against our budding heads before I leaned forward, both eyes still shut, and gave him a quick peck on the lips again. I kept my fingers on his face until I dipped down to escape his barrier and hold that he had on me.

I picked on my shirt and slipped it on as quick as I could get it on, wondering if he had even seen my bra or not, while it was off. Then, I bent down and handed him back Daryl's vest, which he took back.

We just stared at one another for another long minute, not smiling or anything else. We just kept looking at each other in this intense stare-down that didn't look like it was going to end any time soon. Yet, I knew that it would and wouldn't ever happen again — as long as we're both stuck here, at least.

Without another word, I quickly spun around on my heel and raced down the staircase to get on the next one to go through the door down there. I nearly broke my neck to get away, sadly enough.

Yet, whatever just happened between us let the tension and frustration out of the both of us. Beyond that, it was so worth it.

• You guys wanted it and, well... I gave it to yah! Well, it was gonna be a SIMPLE kiss, bUT I GOT CARRIED AWAY AND, THEN, THIS HAPPENED INSTEAD AND IM OVER HERE ON THE FLOOR CRYING 😭 I LEGITIMATELY FELL OFF MY FCKING BED AS SOON AS MY FINGERS WOULDN'T STOP TYPING AWAY 😭 IDC CUZ I LOVE IT AND YOU GUYS DO, TOO, SO DON'T BE SILENT READERS AND SPEAK UP!!! BTW: Stuff like this probably won't happen again for a WHILE now, sadly 🤷🏻‍♀️ You'll deal (but I won't, tho) 😭 All the love .xx •