DAMNATION.

chapter two, taken.
[ season seven, original episode ]

THE FIRST TIME SHE was taken she was beat, assaulted, and killed two men. The second time she was taken it led to the worst night of her life. This time she isn't sure what it'll lead up to.

When Negan ordered her to be taken alongside Daryl, she fought back hard. She's pretty sure she left some nasty bruises on some of the Saviors but still, they overpowered her.

And now she's been thrown in a tiny five by fix empty room with no light, no anything. The only shred of light she gets is the light from under the door. The room is so silent she can hear nothing but her own heartbeat and hollow breathing.

They took her shoes, which means they took her brass knuckles. But not her knife. She hid it, along with Dale's watch, inside of her bra.

Her shoulder stings with pain. Her knuckles and the sides of her hands are bruised. She threw herself against the door when they first through her in the room, she banged on the door, screaming to be let loose, screaming to see Daryl.

No one answered her. No one even walked down the hallway she assumed she was hidden away in. There were no shadows of feet under the door, no shuffle of footsteps outside.

She is suddenly the loneliest person in the world.

And it's only when she is alone and curled into the corner of a place she doesn't know does she allow herself to process what's happened. Kathleen is a Savior. Abraham and Glenn are dead. They had been murdered brutally at the hands of a monster.

She is alone. Two people from her family is dead. She has been separated from the rest of them. And yet she doesn't cry. She tells herself she will not cry until she is free of this place. She will not cry until Negan is dead and at her feet.

She shuts everything off.

And still... her heart is full of anger and sorrow. She is angry because of what Negan has done. She is sorrowful because two members of her family are dead. Two pieces of her heart have been ripped away and stomped on.

Her mind replays every memory she's ever had with Glenn and Abraham. From the moment she met them both to the last time she laid eyes on their sprawled out corpses.

There's one distinct memory she and Abraham shared. She had been sitting by the lake, her feet just grazing the water when Abraham joined her. He took of his shoes, his socks. Then he plopped down beside her. It was the night he broke up with Rosita. It was right before he broke up with her. They both sat in silence for several minutes. 

"Are you okay?" Odessa had looked to him.

"Yeah," he nodded. He didn't give any funny or sarcastic quips. "Today, when Andy had his arms wrapped around my throat, I thought I was gonna die. And the guy I almost killed— he told Jesus he saw his dead wife. And when I thought was gone die, I heard Sasha."

Odessa nodded, not knowing what to say to him. Rosita would be devastated if Abraham left her, she needed him. But really... she didn't. But if Abraham knew he would be happier with Sasha, then goddamnit he needed to be with Sasha. 

"You could die tomorrow," Odessa told him. "If you want to be with Sasha, be with her. Rosita's strong, she'll come to an understanding... eventually. But if it's Sasha you're meant to be with, go be with her."

And Abraham listened to the seventeen year old who only ever had one true love.

She hates Negan. She hates herself for not trying harder when she offered her life in exchange for everyone else's. She hates herself for almost costing everyone else's lives when Negan ordered her to cut off her own brother's arm. She hates Rick for being seen as a weak man when she knows he's the stronger person she's ever met.

Glenn is dead. He was beat to death right in front of her. A man had to keep his arms locked around her throat to keep her in place, forcing her to watch as Glenn's head became nothing but brain matter and blood.

When the eighth hour comes, Kathleen shows up at her door. The light from outside blinds the teen. She brings her arm up to her eyes to shield them. Kathleen sets a tray on the ground then leaves without a word. They give her a slice of bread, a cup of water, and three slices of tomatoes.

She doesn't eat it. It's better than what she thought they would give her. But perhaps Negan wants to treat Odessa better than most prisoners would be treated to use it as leverage against her father. She isn't sure what Negan's angle is. All she knows is that it isn't good and she doesn't like it.

When Kathleen returns, she looks down at the untouched food and sighs deeply. Her eyes fall to Odessa. The girl is curled into a corner of the naked room. But her eyes bore into Kathleen's.

"You should leave before I fucking kill you." Odessa says. Her voice is calm. That's what it makes it more frightening.

Kathleen does leave because she knows Odessa would kill her if given the chance. When she returns to her own room, she throws her leather jacket over the back of the chair at her desk. Then she settles on the cot.

She stares up at the ceiling and wonders if she did the right thing by leaving Theo, Cole, and Odessa alive. She asked Negan not to kill Cole, she has other plans for him.

But Negan not picking Odessa or Theo completely up to him. However, she knew the moment Odessa offered her life for the other's that Negan would keep her alive.

As for Theo, she hoped Negan would pick him. He had been suspicious of her for a while. Ever since she disappeared on one of her solo runs after they took Alexandria back from the walkers.

Her solo runs were never really runs at all.

They were always one week visits to the Sanctuary. To the Saviors. To Negan.

All that time, Negan knew about Alexandria and its people. He never advanced to take it because he believed in Kathleen. But when Rick Grimes and his people showed up at the gates, Kathleen gave him a list of potential threats.

Negan took that with a very careful grain of salt. His people had been in fights before but with what Kathleen told him about this new group, he wasn't sure. He needed to break some balls.

He promised Kathleen he wouldn't do anything until they did something first. And then they did. They attacked the satellite outpost and gave Negan the perfect opportunity to break Rick's balls in fucking half. And that he did.

Negan left that clearing with Rick's balls in hand. And he smiled about it. He knew he had establish his dominance of the man who saw himself as king for a very long time.

But now he knows it isn't really Rick he needs to worry about. It's the blonde boy that was beside Rick, it's Rick's son, and it's the girl he currently holds as a prisoner.

Negan is not a fearful man. He is powerful and he has a goddamn bat. Yet somehow three youngest of Rick's groups sent a shiver down his spine when they looked at him. They had so much rage and fury behind their eyes. He knew if anyone was going to kill him it would be one of those three. But he knows no one will kill him, not with his amount of people and his power. That would be a mistake.

In her cell, Odessa can tell night has settled outside. She doesn't sleep though. She plans on how she will find Daryl and escape this place.

She remembers when she planned to kill Shane. She remembers how she did just as she said she would. She slit his throat and he bled out in her arms in the middle of a field on Hershel's farm.

And now, she plans on how she will kill Negan. She will slice his throat, just as she did with the first monster in her life.

Unbeknownst to Negan, he will not be able to stand the wrath of Odessa Winona Grimes.

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word count: 1,428

this chapter >>> anything else.

this chapter may be be short but it's a HUGE chapter for this book. it has so much foreshadowing and quite literally is the start of so much important stuff for this book and the rest in the series. odessa's plan to kill negan and kathleen, negan being fearful of the three teens, kathleen's "plans" for cole.

odessa is such a badass though. i love her sm. even though she doesn't see it nor would she believe me if i told her, but she is so incredibly strong. she's stayed standing for so long and this won't bring her down. not yet.

also that abraham/odessa memory?? heart = broke. their friendship deserved more (my fault, oops). but in the scenes they got together they were so cute. love them sm.

next chapter is an alexandria chapter!!! we get to see how cole and theo are doing along with a very importantp carl scene.