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{5} Elusive Thoughts

Negan harshly released his grip off of the girl and cleared his throat, his childish mood changing like the flick of a switch. A scorn made its way on to his face and he glanced over at one of the men.

It was clear that these were his top workers. Brooklyn flickered her eyes from one to the other, giving them each a confident impression, to which they all returned with a suspicious glare.

One man with scuzzy blonde hair stepped forward, he was slovenly dressed and walked with a slight hunch. His face was emotionless but what the girl didn't notice at first was the huge scar etched on to the side of his face. It was bumpy and red, the dry skin peeling off and uncovering blistered dots of dry blood underneath.

"You say the words, they're ready to go," He uttered, his chapped lips formed a thin line matching with his solemn expression.

With a sense of authority and power, Negan gripped the brim of Lucille and mumbled, "that's good." He then spun around on his heel to face an agitated man who seemed awfully on-edge.

Normally Brooklyn would've stepped up, showed these people that she wasn't afraid of anything. But at this moment, she wasn't quite sure how she felt. She was riding a rollercoaster full of emotions, her thoughts and feelings being tossed around and toyed with as the figurative cart wobbled along on the rails.

It was as if the ride just kept stopping and starting. At times, she'd be perfectly ready for anything, a fiery attitude ignited in her soul. But other times? Times like this? Brooklyn felt like a useless coward. Negan was a smart man and not someone to mess around with, the girl knew that.

"How the fuck do you think that woman ended up jumping out of that weird ass box and trying to chew my fucking face off? Cause when I fucking checked before we left? She was fucking fine," his tone was snarky yet it had an extra twang of humour, "so tell me Eugene. Cause I want to fucking know..."

Oh shit. Brooklyn could already tell that this man was potentially going to break. She braced herself, for Negan gave the impression that he could be very dangerous if he needed to be.

It looked as if this 'Eugene' was doing the same. His brain was stirring, trying to come up with an answer that wasn't going to anger his boss. He anxiously swallowed his fear and opened his mouth, struggling to let any words come out.

"Um- I figure it was a tarp. We sealed up said box good and tight." He sturdily nodded, giving his final answer, "she ran out of air."

Whatever happened, Brooklyn could tell that it was bad. Maybe Rick had the upper hand in the fight and Negan had to simply evacuate. Or maybe it was just pure luck that Negan and his men were able to get away. All the girl wanted was answers. She wanted to know whether she was standing on the wrong side of the battlefield or not.

Bending his back slightly, Negan edged forwards, his head twitching and eyes narrowed. He contemplated on what to say, trying to sniff out any lies that this man had possibly spoken of.

"Maybe..."

Brooklyn uncomfortably looked away, the suspense making her feel awkward. A light breeze hit her as Negan brushed past, his sweet, intoxicating aroma following him. To say that she didn't find this man attractive was a lie, yet she tried to convince herself that she was wrong. She didn't know Negan. She knew nothing about him apart from the fact that he could be quite insolent towards others when he wanted. And that, she didn't like.

She had to keep herself together. So far Negan had also shown himself to be annoyingly pompous or maybe even manipulative. However, she couldn't say that either. He'd saved her ass at Alexandria, stopped her from bashing her head on a sharp piece of metal and despite his arrogant personality, Brooklyn was sure that there was a different side to him. There had to be right? Maybe it just needed to be discovered.