chapter 62

Chapter 62: Monsters and Men

The Sanctuary's iron doors creaked shut behind them, the hum of life returning to the compound as Negan and Axel stepped inside. It smelled like sweat, steel, and smoke—home, for people like them.

Negan walked ahead, Lucille draped lazily over his shoulder, a half-eaten apple in his other hand. Axel followed, silent, his eyes colder than usual, face unreadable.

They passed workers who lowered their heads, whispers already spreading like fire.

"That's him."

"He killed Simon."

"Negan's new right hand."

"The devil with the sword…"

Axel heard them all. He didn't care.

Upstairs, in Negan's private quarters, Negan flopped down onto the leather couch with a heavy sigh.

"Well, holy hell, kid," Negan muttered, tossing the apple core into a metal bin. "Rick's got that damn cop guilt face now. I'd recognize that constipated look anywhere."

Axel leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. His voice came low, thoughtful.

"There was a child, Negan."

Negan's smile faded. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"I know."

"Burned." Axel's jaw clenched. "Buried like garbage under the bodies of grown men."

The silence that followed was heavier than anything they'd brought back from Alexandria.

Negan looked up at him, serious now.

"You think Rick meant to do it?"

Axel shook his head.

"No. But he did it. And the dead kid doesn't care about intentions."

He pushed off the wall and walked to the window, looking out over the Sanctuary yard. People were moving. Working. Living.

"We don't touch women. We don't touch kids." His voice was colder now. "That's our line. And they crossed it."

Negan stood up slowly, Lucille in hand.

"So what now?"

Axel turned to face him, eyes lit with something dark, something old.

"Now we give them a chance. One chance." He smirked slightly. "To apologize. To kneel. Or to burn."

Negan's grin returned—not wide and wild, but razor-sharp.

"Goddamn, kiddo… you're really starting to sound like me."

Axel laughed softly for the first time in days.

"No, Negan."

He looked him in the eye.

"You're starting to sound like me."

—

The sun was just beginning to crest over the horizon when Axel and Negan pulled up to Alexandria once more. Dust rose from the tires, swirling in the air like ash. They didn't come in guns blazing. Not this time.

Axel stepped out of the truck first, his boots hitting the gravel like war drums. Negan followed, silent for once, his eyes sharp as ever.

Rick stood atop the wall, hands gripping the railing. His jaw clenched the moment he saw them.

"You came back."

His voice was tired, hoarse—haunted.

Axel looked up, eyes cold but calm. He opened his mouth to speak… then stopped.

His gaze shifted, sliding past Rick to something behind him.

A small figure.

Tiny shoes.

A pink sheriff's hat.

Judith.

Axel's body tensed, and for five whole minutes, he said nothing. His eyes were locked on the little girl, something unspoken brewing in the silence. Negan noticed it.

"You okay, kid?" he asked, voice unusually gentle.

Axel didn't answer right away. His brain was moving too fast—scenarios, calculations, outcomes. War. Blood. Regret. Peace. Retribution. Forgiveness.

When he finally spoke, his voice was steady. Cold. Brutally precise.

"You destroyed one of Negan's outposts."

He shrugged.

"Don't give a fuck."

Rick blinked.

"You killed his men. Honestly?" Axel chuckled. "I liked that. Right, Neg?"

Negan smirked.

"Damn right. Cleared some payroll."

Axel took one step forward.

"But you, Rick. You killed a child. Burned him under bodies like trash."

His tone turned darker.

"You crossed the only line I got."

The world felt still. Everyone behind the gates froze.

Axel raised one hand, holding up two fingers.

"Now, you got two options."

He raised the first.

"One: go to war. Right now. All-out slaughter."

He raised the second.

"Two: you die. Alone. Here. Now."

Rick's group stirred. Daryl growled. Michonne moved to speak. Tension twisted the air.

But Axel wasn't done.

He lowered his hand and stepped closer to the gate, his voice now barely more than a whisper—but every word hit like a bullet.

"Or… Option Three."

Even Negan looked at him sideways now.

"You kill your daughter. And I'll call it even."

Silence.

The kind that hurts. The kind that stops hearts.

Negan turned his head slowly, the smirk gone.

"Jesus Christ, kid…"

Rick didn't move. Judith stood behind him, unaware of the storm outside the gate.

Axel's eyes burned with something ancient. Something broken.

"Three options, Rick. Choose."

—

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