❝ He who sings frightens away his ills... ❞
— MIGUEL DE CERVANTES —

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"OKAY, boys, let's get this haul unloaded and inside," Negan demanded of everyone, including myself. This was a new load from Hilltop, apparently, and Negan wanted me on unloading duty today. "I want to get back in there and unload a little, myself."

He was so gross, but I did not question it as I just rolled my eyes and crossed my arms across my chest. One of the many Saviors that I do not know approached Negan and said to him before he could leave, "Negan, need to talk to you about redirect."

"What about the redirect?" Negan immediately pressed, eyeing the man in deep question.

"It got screwed up," the man was trying to tell Negan. "We're on it now, but it's a mess out there."

Negan was somewhat pissed, but he suddenly looked at me and said, "See that right there?" I did not say anything as he turned back to the man and asked, "And whose job was that?"

"...A pack and a tent," I heard George saying about the load, I am assuming. "Awe, damn. I thought they packed this up tight."

"Ah, no worries," the other Savior said, just as I approached the truck from the side. "There's plenty more where this came from."

"Right?" the other Savior laughed, playfully hitting George on the side.

They laughed together as they hopped into the truck together to start unloading all the stolen shit. I peered inside and seen George lifting up a box that immediately dropped all the bottles inside of it to the ground of the truck. "Son-of-a-bitch!" George cursed, slowly turning around as he froze. "What the hell?"

Before I knew it, guns began to go off from within side the truck. I fell back and took cover, immediately finding myself crawling under the truck. I stayed there, holding my hands over my head, and tried to let my heart calm down. I was not prepared for that.

"Stay back!" the somewhat familiar male voice demanded. "Drop your weapons!"

Wait a freaking minute... I crawled out from under the truck and got up, cowering by the side of the truck. I looked and seen who it was... "Carl?"

He almost jumped when I said his name, but turned around when he seen that it was me. "Tess?"

Then, he shook his head and returned to pointing his machine gun at everyone. "I... I only want Negan! He killed my friends. No one else needs to die."

Suddenly, somebody began to whistle and I almost immediately recognize it to be Negan. Carl heard this, too, and redirected his machine gun to face the source of the whistle.

Negan comes back around with a smile of his face and uttered out, "Damn."

Carl followed Negan's every little move with his machine gun. You have no idea how much I wanted to shout out to Carl, "Shoot him, Carl! Do it already!"

"You are adorable," Negan squeaked out, not missing a beat. He grabbed one of the other Saviors and placed him in front of him as some sort of shield of protection. "Did you pick that gun 'cause it looks cool? You totally did, right? Kid... I ain't gonna lie, you scare the shit outta me."

Then, in one swift motion, two Saviors launch forward and tried to grab Carl, but not before he shot them both. Dwight came out of nowhere and took Carl immediately down to the ground. I wanted to jump on Dwight's back, distracting him, while Carl can run away. Yet, I knew that would not be safe for either of us to do.

"Kid," came Dwight's warning tone, taking the machine gun and holding it down to Carl's head.

"Dwight, stop!" I finally screamed, running forward and coming up behind them. "Stop it, he's just a kid! Don't hurt him!"

I looked to Negan with pleading eyes and he slowly nodded. "Dwight," he used as his code for him to let up. "Back off."

Dwight does, jumping up and allowing Carl to roll around on his back, as he stripped Carl of any weapons that he may have. Carl looked forward and this is when I seen what he was looking at. He was looking up at Daryl, who was staring at the both of us with worried and sad eyes.

Negan smiled as he made his way to tower over Carl's down body. "Is that any way to treat our new guest?" He held his hand out for Carl to take, which surprised the bloody hell out of me. "Come on, kid. I will show you around."

I looked forward as Daryl nearly escaped some of the Walkers that he was around in that gated-area that I spend a day in. I wanted to help him... Hell, I wanted to help everyone that I could right now. Carl included.

"Negan," came my own warning tone as I came up beside him. "Please. I am begging you. Don't hurt him. He means a lot to me."

Negan looked at him, still having his hand out for Carl to take, but still looked amused. "I would never," he assured me, placing his free hand over his heart. "Don't you trust in me, Tess?"

I did not know how to answer that, quite frankly. My eyes began to get waterier as I stared back into the eyes of a cold-blooded killer. I did not trust him one bit, which means that I do not believe in him as far as I can throw him.

"Sure, Negan," I lied, whispering it out.

Then, Negan turned back to Carl and said, "Y'know, you do the same damn stink-eye as your dad, except it's only half as good 'cause... Well, you know, you're..." With his other hand, he signaled to his own eye. "...missing an eye."

With Carl shut his other eye and looked down, Negan chuckled while Carl seemed to be disappointed. "Don't you make fun of him," I almost cried out right in Negan's ear. "He's just a kid. He's been through hell."

"Tess," Negan finally gave in, screaming my name out. He faced me and was no longer amused. "Am I gonna have to ask Dwight to put you back into your cell again? I thought that we just talked about this. Did we not?"

"We did, but—"

"But, nothing," Negan immediately countered, interrupting me before I could get started. "Tess... Either you're with me or you're against me. There ain't no in-between here. Plus, if you don't want to die, then you'll keep your mouth shut for now on."

Before I could say my final thought, I looked down at Carl and seen how disappointed he was. He glanced up, but only to make eye contact with me. He was so sad, and I think that it is because he sees that I have temporary aligned myself with Negan — the same man that single-handily murdered our two friends.

I did not believe in Negan. I did not trust Negan. I hate his guts with a burning and firing passion. This murdering son-of-a-bitch... I want him dead on a stick!

"I—"

"C'mon, Tess," Dwight suddenly interrupted me before I could talk back to Negan. "I've got to get you to help me repair that bike. Remember? You're supposed to help me do that today."

"Dwight, I—"

"It's no problem, really." What is he going on about here? He is acting like we are making conversation when we are not. He reached out for my hand and I accepted it, for some odd reason. "Let's go. We'll catch up with you guys later."

"Perfect," Negan accepted, watching us until we were completely out of his sight. I was still in disbelief for so many different reasons. I felt Carl's eyes burning a whole into my back as Dwight dragged me away.

As soon as we were inside the building, I snatched my hand back and shoved him into the concrete wall behind him. He bounced back and had his arms somewhat outwards, looking down at the ground for a moment.

"What the hell was that about, huh?" I cursed, tightening my fists on my sides. "I was trying to tell his ass off!"

"Calm down," he warned, whispering it in my face. "I just saved your ass out there. If you had said anything back to him, he would've asked for Lucille and taken her down on your hard-ass head."

"What if I want to die, huh?" I questioned, getting right back into his face as well. I was gritting my teeth and ready to fight him already. "What if my dying means that everyone else lives?"

"Tess, don't... Don't do this to me. I—"

"To you?" I countered, almost laughing. I had my hands now my hips and did a quick twirl around. "What would this do to my brother? He may very well be the only person that still cares about me."

"Tess, I swear to God—"

"Fuck off, Dwight," I cried out, shoving him off of me. "You don't care about me, either! Why didn't you just let Negan kill me for?! I'm no use to you!"

"Yeah, you are!" He was now screaming back at me, no longer holding back. "Plus, you don't need to die over something so stupid! You're not stupid, Tess! You may be reckless, but I've never figured that you would take the easy way out..."

I immediately twisted my head to stare him down, almost breaking my neck in the process. "What did you just say to me?"

"You. Heard. Me," he growled out each word through gritted teeth as he took slow and easy steps towards me. "You're better than that, Tess."

"I hate you," I finally confessed, which brought a certain look on his face.

"What?" he breathed out, squinting his eyes in question. He could not believe that I had just said that — after all that he has done for me so far.

"I fucking hate you!" I exclaimed, stomping my foot and certainly not backing down. "I hate you, Dwight! You don't care about me! I know that you don't — because it's just this front that you put up for me to get closer to you!"

"Is this really what it's about? Huh?" He wiped his hand over his face and took a step forward. "Is this about that kiss?"

"That rejected kiss, you mean," I corrected him, now letting my own feelings be shown. "The one that you wouldn't continue because you got spooked! You only want me alive, just in case Sherry finally leaves your ass."

He stepped right into my face and threatened, "Don't you ever talk about my wife again."

"Then, say it to my face this time," I growled under my voice. "Tell me you never cared about me. Tell me exactly what I already know, D. Tell me that you want me alive, just in case Sherry doesn't want you anymore."

This time around, Dwight could not find the words to speak. I found all of my answers in his silence, alone. He knew that I knew too much and that I could not be played any longer.

"That's what I thought," I whispered back to him, slowly nodding his way before turning away from him on my heel. I had my hands tied behind my back, easily looking over my should back at Dwight. "Find me when she's finally gone, I guess."

Without another word, I disappeared into the dark without him.