Nate:
Squeaks come from the cell door as it is opened slowly. A sharp light shines in brightly, almost burning my tired eyes. I quickly jump up ready to defend myself if need be.
"Natey-boy it's your lucky day!"
Negan, I say under my breath, clenching my fist tightly. Back to fuck with me even more, it's taking everything inside of me not to end him.
"Come on, get up. Time to get back to business" he says throwing me a pair of clean clothes.
I look him up and down with suspicion, "Where's Carmen?"
He smirks obnoxiously, "Your ex-wife is fine. You don't have to worry about her anymore. She's mine now, I'll take care of her" he boasts proudly like getting ahold of her was his greatest accomplishment in life.
A warm feeling burns in my stomach nonetheless I allow my intellect to guide me in my next move. "Alright, if that's what she wants"
A quick flash of shock slips on to his face but it's wiped away in a hurry."No hard feelings about this man. We can be back on good terms, I'll even accept you back into the Saviors" Negan holds a hand out to me insinuating that he wants a handshake.
"Fine with me" I accept the gesture without showing any hesitation. Again I notice a brief glimpse of shock but this time it fades into contentment.
"It's a great thing when two men can put aside their differences," he smirks.
___________________________________
The hot summer sun beams down on me without mercy. It feels good to be back working, I only wish it was under better circumstances.
The task of loading the trucks is redundant but I can't complain. It's a pretty nice gig compared to a lot of the other jobs around here.
"I heard Negan had you locked away for some time", the man helping me says. He's alright but we're not best friends or anything else of the sort.
"He wanted my wife he gave me no choice but to be against him" I keep my head down and continue working. Telling this story isn't my proudest moment.
"God, I was hoping those were just rumors. You've been the talk of the town"
Great, people have already started gossiping. Not only do I have to deal with being humiliated in front of my wife, I now have everyone sticking their nose in my business.
"What have people been saying?" I ask curiously.
"Mostly that they feel sorry for you. A lot of people didn't want to believe it," he tells me in a genuine manner.
I nearly scoff at the thought of people feeling 'bad' for me, "That's unexpected, I thought most people have blind allegiance to Negan. Anyways this isn't over, and he knows that"
The man wipes sweat from his forehead then looks at me with concern, "What are you planning, going against him is deadly there's no way around it once he catches on it's over for you dude".
I'm not going to go into details with him. He is a stranger after all, "He won't catch on, I'm going to hang low for a little while and I told Carmen to do the same".
He smiles but he soon goes back to gloomy expression. "How is she taking it, it must be hard for her".
"She'll be alright. Negan won't hurt her as long as he thinks she's over me." A wave of emotion hit me but I don't show it. I miss Carmen more than I ever have in my entire life.
____________________________________
Negan:
Later that night...
My deep sleep ends abruptly, as I am shaken back into reality by the buzz of my walkie talkie. My eyes open and my eyelashes faintly bats against my lids when I blink.
"Sir, sorry to disturb you but we have a... situation on our hands"
A situation? This better be serious if it's being brought to my attention especially at this time of night. If this has anything to do with Nate, this might be the end of the road for him. I've given him plenty of chances.
"What's going on?" I ask in a hoarse voice.
The walkie buzzes again but now there's a different voice that comes through. "Negan, I need you out front. It's Jackie..."
I sigh a breath of relief at the sound of Simon's voice. He's not my second in command for nothing, he knows how to handle most problems that arise around here. But what is going on with Jackie, that I need to go out of my way to check on?
I ponder on this thought for a moment, debating whether or not I should go down there. I look over to the other side of the bed to see that thankfully Carmen is still asleep.
I suppose I should at least go see what the big fuss is about. I don't need her freaking out on me again. I was so close to punishing her sexy ass, "Let's get this over with", I say to myself out loud.
An exasperated sigh comes from me and I groan as I rolled out of bed. I don't put much thought into my clothing, the nearest shirt and pants will have to do.
Before locking the room door behind me I look back one final time to make sure she's still asleep. I don't want her following me just in case this is worst than I'm anticipating.
My footsteps echo through the hallway as I make my way to the staircase. The complete absence of noise is rare in the Sanctuary. It's only this time of night that this place is actually pleasant.
As I get closer to the outside, I can hear voices in the distance. Whatever is going on has created a crowd.
"Well I'm here you morons, make it worth my while" I fling open the exit doors, letting the cool air of the night hit me.
The mob stare back to me, all showing the worry and fear in their body language. They kneel at my presence but not in a familiar way. It's isn't until I take a couple of strides forward that I see the so-called 'situation'.