Chapter 145: The Return of the Ghost
Axel stayed at Rick's house that night. He slept lightly, dreamlessly, and when morning came, the quiet warmth of a home greeted him. He opened his eyes to the scent of something cooking and the soft murmur of morning conversation.
Michonne stood at the stove, spatula in hand, humming softly. She glanced back at him, a faint smile on her lips. "Morning, stranger. You hungry?"
Axel sat up on the couch, his silver hair tousled, eyes still heavy from sleep. He gave a slow, soft shrug. "Thanks. But... I'm not really hungry."
Michonne nodded. She didn't press. That was Axel—ever since he was a kid, always a little removed, always quiet in the morning. But today, there was something else. A strange calm. A stillness that clung to him like fog.
Rick came around the corner, coffee in hand. "You sleep okay?"
Axel nodded once. "Yeah. Just needed a bed."
Rick sipped his coffee. "You going somewhere?"
Axel grabbed his coat and katana. "Gonna walk around the city. I'll be back later."
Rick watched him go, a hundred questions behind his eyes—but he said nothing.
---
The city was alive. Streets filled with people. Kids on bikes, vendors shouting about fruit and bread, someone sweeping their porch. Laughter echoed between rebuilt buildings. The dead had been gone for five years, but it still felt surreal.
Axel walked through it all like a ghost with skin. His white hair drew attention. Some people whispered. Others smiled, not recognizing him at all.
He kept moving.
Eventually, he saw him.
Negan.
Walking a big mutt of a dog down the sidewalk, cigarette in one hand, a beat-up leather jacket still somehow clinging to his frame. He looked up, and that familiar grin curled across his face.
"Well, holy shit. Look what the cat dragged back."
Axel smirked, stopping in front of him. "Not a kid anymore, Neg."
Negan squinted through the sunlight, then chuckled. "Yeah, well. In my eyes, you'll always be the same pain-in-the-ass kid who flipped my whole damn world upside down."
The two stood in silence for a moment, the dog sitting at Negan's feet, tail wagging lazily.
"You got a minute?" Axel asked.
"For you? Always."
They found a bench nearby. Sat down. Smoked.
Then, Axel talked.
Not fast. Not dramatic. Just steady. Honest.
And Negan listened.
"Before the world ended," Axel began, eyes distant, voice low, "the government wanted a super soldier. Something to end wars. Bring peace. You know—bullshit ideals dressed in blood. They started putting people through hell. Experiments. Torture. Most of them died. Some went crazy."
Negan's face was unreadable.
"My father… Michael. General Michael. He was the head of the project. Thought it would save the world. Thought it was necessary. But eventually, he saw the truth. Saw the rot in the system. So when one of the treatments actually worked, he stole it."
Axel paused.
"He had to choose. Me. My mom. My little brother. Only one of us could get it. Only one could survive what was coming. He chose me."
Negan blinked slowly. "Jesus."
Axel smiled faintly. It didn't reach his eyes.
"I didn't know what I was. Not then. Just knew I couldn't die. Not really. I'd get torn apart, shot, broken—but I always came back. And then… when the world ended, when the walkers came—I survived. My mom and brother didn't. You already know that part."
Negan's jaw flexed.
"Year later, my father came back. Said he'd been hiding. Protecting Redhold. But they found him. The Ashen Circle. The bastards who helped create the experiments. They came for him. And they killed everyone."
Axel's voice dropped. "So I killed them all. Every last one. And when I did… something inside me broke. The treatment, the thing inside me—it woke up. And when it did, the walkers… they all died. All over the world."
Negan's cigarette burned low. He didn't interrupt.
"I saved the world. But it didn't feel like saving. It felt like ending. My body… my mind… I wasn't right. I wasn't me. I couldn't stop thinking about blood. About burning the world down."
Axel leaned back, staring up at the sky.
"So I ran. Hid in a mountain. Alone. For eight years. I fought the rage every day. Screamed into the cold. Wanted to die. Couldn't."
His voice wavered.
"A few months ago, I felt it shift. Like… like the fire was still there, but I was finally stronger than it. Finally in control. That's why I'm back. I had to know if there was still a place for me."
Silence.
Negan leaned forward, elbows on knees, hands folded.
"Kid… You know I've done some real messed up shit. Led people with a bat and a smile, thought fear was how you survive. But you? You saved the world. And it nearly cost you your damn soul. That doesn't make you a monster. That makes you human."
Axel looked at him, surprised.
Negan shrugged. "And if anyone gets to wrestle with darkness and come out breathing—it's you."
Axel looked away, eyes stinging. He hadn't cried in years. Not since his mother and brother death Not since Redhold.
Negan stood up, dog at his side. "C'mon. Let's go get a drink. My treat. You look like you need something strong, and I sure as hell want to raise a glass to the only man who scared death off the planet."
Axel smiled, really smiled, for the first time in a long, long while.
"Yeah," he said softly. "I'd like that."
And for the first time since the world fell apart, Axel didn't feel like a weapon.
He felt like a man.
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