Blake pursed her lips together, her arms folded across herself irritably, as the truck hurtled down the dusty dirt back road.
Normally she would have enjoyed being out of the Sanctuary, staring out at the open road stretching for miles and miles ahead of them…
But what should have been a normal journey, was, instead, full of annoyance for Blake.
Mainly due to the tanned hand that had been sitting on top of her knee for almost the entire journey.
Arat was driving in the seat just to Blake's left, but of course, Negan who had ushered Blake into the cab ahead of him, about thirty minutes ago, was now sat close to her other side, his hand placed up her leg possessively, and his other elbow leant lazily against the open window on his right.
Negan had touched her with more purpose than this before, that was certain, but it was the fact that he was being so blatant in front of Arat, and the other men sat in the back of the truck, that really put Blake on edge.
She had tried to shove his hand away from her, several times now, but Negan had just wordlessly grinned, smugly replacing his hand where it had been each time…inching ever-higher on her thigh, every time he did so.
It, thankfully for Balke, wasn't long into the journey, by the time Arat turned the steering wheel abruptly, turning the corner around a small farmhouse, and heading towards a penned-in lot of buildings up ahead.
Blake noticed Negan from the corner of her eye, run a hand over his mouth and give a gentle, groaning sigh.
And it wasn't a moment later she felt him lean in towards her.
"You gonna be able to handle yourself out there, Peaches?" he asked her in a low drawl of a voice.
Blake chewed on her lip, shrugging neatly.
Negan had already made Arat give Blake another knife before they left, which the curly-haired Saviour had done, slightly reluctantly. Obviously not sure whether she trusted Blake yet.
But Negan's orders were pretty much law here. Everyone knew that. So they all had to comply whether they wanted to or not.
Blake threw him a look.
"Of course," she said in a snarky voice. "I was out there a lot longer than you were, Negan. I can take care of myself."
But at this, Negan just grinned, his eyes gleaming with utter interest in her….as his fingers began to glide up her bare thigh…
"Oh, I do not doubt for a second you fuckin' can, Darlin'," he uttered, in a growling voice into her ear.
But Blake slapped his hand away, tutting, crossing her legs hastily and throwing the dark-haired Saviour an unimpressed look.
She mouthed words 'fuck you' to him, not wanting Arat to be aware of her current uncomfortableness with the situation. But this only caused Negan to give a laugh, staring down at her hungrily.
How was it possible for one man to drive her crazy in so many different ways?
But to Blake's relief, it was only a minute or two later, that the van pulled up in the midst of a group of large warehouse-style, industrial-looking buildings.
"We're here," uttered Arat bluntly, turning off the engine as the second truck, driven by one of the other Saviours pulled up beside them.
"Well then, let's get fuckin' to it," Negan said abruptly, shoving open the door beside him and hopping swiftly out.
Blake, of course, followed him after a second or two, brushing down the back of her shorts and gazing around, squinting through the sunshine.
The entire place looked deserted, bar a couple of walkers, that had already noticed their arrival and had managed to drag themselves slowly along the pathways towards the group, groaning as they did so.
Negan who was whistling easily beside Blake, arched his back, peering around, as one of the dead drifted near to him, giving a snarl of hunger.
But Negan merely gave a wide grin, and cracked the creeper over the head sharply with Lucille.
Blake blinked harshly …as she heard the sound….it reminding her suddenly of the last time she had touched Negan's trusty old barbed-wire covered baseball bat.…
She gave a small gulp…turning away from him. And even when he looked back at her raising an eyebrow, as the walker slumped to the ground, Blake still did not give him the satisfaction of a response to his work.
The tall-dark haired Saviours chocolate eyes seemed to linger on her for a long second before he finally tore his eyes away, tenseng his jaw in what seemed like put-out irritation at her failure to acknowledge his greatness.
"Alright," he finally uttered, his seething subsiding slightly as he turned back to the small group of Saviours as they all emerged from the trucks, weapons held aloft. "Show me the fuckin' goods."
Arat, standing before him looking stern, nodded immediately.
"It's just over here…" she noted, in a deep voice, gesturing with her head. "We've still got a one of them tied up….the other tried to escape so we shot him….but the guns are all still there. We left Mark and Eduardo standing guard."
At this, Blake gave a frown.
Killing people was not how things should be done. Although she was one to talk nowadays, after what happened with David… So the caramel-blonde woman, hearing this, merely rolled her eyes, scoffing, and turned away from the group for a second, gazing at a boarded-up building beside her.
It was strange to think that Negan and the Saviours could have easily come across her group back when they lived out in the open. Often frequenting places like this for as long as they could hold them for.
Would she have been the one killed for trying to escape?
She could have easily been, she knew that, if things had been different…
Behind her, the group all filed out, heading over toward a large two story building in the centre of the lot. Obviously where the weapons cache was.
But Blake stayed where she was….as another of the dead drew near….
"You gonna just stay out here all day, Sweet-cheeks?" commented Negan suddenly.
Blake looked around to see the bearded Saviour stood there, back arched easily, a single eyebrow raised in her direction.
But she didn't give him a response, merely holding on in her spot for a second ,as the walker moved closer to her….and closer and closer…..
Blake pulled the knife from her belt, gazing back around and puncturing the dead figure easily through what was left of its skull with her blade.
She gave a sigh, as the freak stopped in all its movement, before retracting the knife and turning slowly, walking over towards Negan.
"I guess not…"she murmured in a cool tone.
But this only caused Negan to cock his head, peering at her.
"You pissed at me, Peaches?" he said after a moment or two, as she caught up to him. "Coz, hell, I can see that somethin's the matter here."
But Blake just gave him a dark scowl, rounding on Negan suddenly, stopping in her tracks.
She brought herself up to her full height and stepped close to him, jabbing a finger into his leather-clad chest.
"Yeah, there is actually," she said between gritted teeth, glancing this way and that, for a moment, making sure no one was in earshot of them. "You trying to grope me back in that van….Arat was sitting right there, Negan!"
Negan gave a bemused sort-of grin, peering down at Blake at this close proximity.
"Why the fuck would I give a shit what Arat sees us doin', Doll-face?" he muttered shaking his head, and giving another groaning laugh. "You ashamed of me or somethin'?"
At this, Blake opened her mouth as if to say something, but at the last minute changed her mind, instated closing it once again, before letting out a growl of frustration.
"Ugh, I really hate you sometimes!" she said giving Negan a gentle shove away from her and stalking off in the direction that the others had gone in.
She heard him instantly let out a carrying chuckle, hearing his boots chink as he walked along after her.
She wasn't ashamed of him…not in the slightest…but mainly because there really was nothing going on between them.
Just a little harmless flirting on occasion…
That's all it was…..right?
But Blake wasn't so sure about that anymore…as she entered into the cool building behind a scrawny man who looked like a black-haired Dwight.
She looked around.
The place looked like it had once been a large office block, probably made for the people who owned the farm to run some sort of business out of.
Several rooms snaked off a long corridor…and behind a desk at the front, was a large wonky-looking sign with a photo of a cat on it, with the words I hate Mondays emblazoned across it in bold white letters.
Blake's lips twitched up slightly as she tore her eyes away from it, the seven Saviours ahead of her, all trailing off towards a room at the back of the place.
But Blake instead, turned left, making down the small corridor, lined with open doors to offices that had long been looted.
Footprint-covered paper lined the hallway carpet, as she walked, knife raised aloft….not really searching for anything in particular. But it was good to be out of the Sanctuary for a bit…
…to feel just like she had in the long years she had been out here…surviving….
Blake had been in some sticky situations with the dead in the past, always helped along by the people she had travelled around with…
Not David, though, never David.
He had always been the one who volunteered to stay behind…ton take care of the camp… Fighting and scavenging were never his strong point.
But they hadn't been Blake's either before the world had gone to shit.
Blake had always been the girl in the high heels….with the long carefully waved hair….and tight pencil skirt….
Never in a million years had she expected a few years down the line, she would have been carrying a knife around, and wearing little to no make-up each and every day.
But she had got used to this life…she was far more tanned now…and leaner too….but her hips still had that nice curve to them, as did her breasts….which she was thankful for at least. She hadn't wanted to day to come where she wasn't able to recognise herself anymore.
Blake gave a sigh, glancing over her shoulder, half-expecting Negan to have followed her down the hallway, as he usually did.
But to her surprise, there for once, was no sign of the tall, dark-haired Saviour in the gloomy, and silent corridor.
It was likely he had followed Arat and her team to the weapons cache instead to look at their bounty, and so Blake headed off alone, turning a corner and finding herself near to a long, steep stairwell leading towards a door at the top.
She paused momentarily.
Was this a good idea? Wandering off on her own from the group.
She doubted of course that it was, but what interest did she really have in how many guns the Saviours were able to get their hands on? Surely that was just bad news for the people back in Alexandria, the Hilltop group , as well as any other people the Negan had reign over. Wasn't she better of not knowing what they were planning?
And so Blake, grabbing hold of the handrail, began to slowly trudge up the small set of stairs, her eyes darting this way and that, a little nervously as she went.
The area was pretty penned in, and Blake knew, that if a walker was to jump out at her right now, she would have little or no chance of escape.
But luckily for her, no such creature appeared, as she reached the top and shoved at the large wooden door.
It stuck fast for a moment or two, but Blake, putting her shoulder into it, managed to eventually prise it open….slipping hurriedly into a large open room.
There was a large window on the far side that illuminated one half of the space, but even in the shadowy corners, Blake could tell that every inch of this room had been lived in recently.
Sleeping bags, some dusty clothes, and the remains of a few empty tin cans and a small camping stove, littered the floor. And in the corner, a large bookshelf stood, which looked like it had obviously been moved back and forth in front of the door to protect from any intruders.
Not that it had been of any use on this occasion.
Blake gave a heavy sigh, strolling over towards the window, pocketing her knife once again.
This is what her life was like not so long ago….sleeping on floors….unable to wash….eat properly…with only another body, David's, to keep her warm at night…
It had been tough.
But Blake had survived.
Well, she was here wasn't she?
She peered through the grimy panes of glass, looking out onto the trucks that were parked below…..
….just as a sudden creaking of floorboards behind her, made her swing around, her heart thudding rapidly and her eyes widening…
…but she breathed a sudden sigh of relief as she saw who it was.
"You out to give me a heart attack?" she said, pursing her lips irritably.
But Negan, who was stood in the doorway, just grinned.
"Just thought I'd come see where you'd wondered off to," he said readjusting his grip on a bloody Lucille and strolling over to her easily. "Wanted to make sure you weren't gettin' that oh-so fine fuckin' ass of yours, into too much trouble."
Blake couldn't help but smirk at him as he crossed the room towards her.
He was everything she wanted right now, and in the silent room, with just the two of them alone…the intensity of their situation upper her longing tenfold.
"A smile, huh?" he said cocking his head to the side. "That mean you've forgiven me, Peaches?"
Blake shrugged, and backed up against the wall behind her, titling her chin upwards as Negan stopped just an inch or two away from her finally.
She could smell that muskiness again….the scent of gasoline….of humidity….causing her breath to catch slightly in her throat.
She saw his tongue reach his back molars as he looked her up and down….looking almost as if he was about to devour her at any second, eager for her response.
Blake's heart thudded in her chest as a warmth spread between her legs, and up through her stomach.
"Maybe," she uttered, gazing up at the bearded man before her, through darkened lashes….
There was a heat between them, she could feel it…
An utter longing….
Blake's fingers' curled around the fabric of Negan's t-shirt, now visible through his unzipped jacket.
Her skin was burning for him right now…wanting nothing more than for him to press himself into her.
And she didn't have to wait long either, as Negan grinned down at her, suddenly placing his free hand to the wall just above Blake's shoulder, and shifting forwards.
She was trapped there now, partly by Negan's closeness and partly by her own inability to move.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly causing the dark-haired Saviour's eyes to drop down to her breasts momentarily, before he stared up at her once more, his eyes dark and wanting…
He licked at his lips excruciatingly slowly.
"So….you plannin' on stayin' over again tonight, Doll-face?" he asked her in a low sultry voice, leaning his face into hers suddenly, causing a pool of sticky wetness to appear inside Blake's panties. "Or we gonna start makin' out here instead? Either way, I'm easy."
Blake blinked once, before smiling up at him coyly.
He was trouble. She knew that for sure…
But part of her wanted nothing more than for him to kiss her right her and now, without even another thought.
"Well that depends on how badly you want me….doesn't it, Daddy?" she uttered in a breathless silky tone, parting her lips slightly and letting them linger dangerously close to Negan's own bearded face. She gazed up into his eyes, never letting her own green ones leave his.
She knew just what saying words like that would do to him.
And, as correctly predicted, Negan at once, gave a gruff-sounding growl, staring back at her hard.
But it didn't all go to Blake's plan, as the tall, dark-haired man's hand almost immediately drifted down from the wall beside her head, instead, moving to the aching space between her legs.
A soft and needy whimper escaped her lips before she could stop herself…her breath catching at his sudden touch.
Here she was, pinned up against a wall by Negan himself…wanting him more than she could say right now…
Negan leaned his mouth slowly into hers, his lips curved up into a devilish grin…
….as they slowly brushed, excruciatingly slowly, against Blake's own swollen ones….
But as in-the-moment as she was….she couldn't help but pull back quickly, as there came a sudden noise to their right, braking through the utter silence that otherwise enveloped them…
A frown twitched it's way between her brows as she pulled her face from Negan's, blinking.
"W-What was that?" she uttered instantly.
Negan, who looked a little put-out to say the least, frowned back, giving a huff.
"What was what?" he replied in a low drawl of a voice, removing his hand from her thighs, instead sliding it easily up the side of Blake's slender hips.
But the noise came again.
Low and quiet….sounding sort of like a sniffling.
"I-Is that one of the dead?" she said blinking again and staring over to her right, where the noise seemed to be coming from.
If it was a walker they were certainly hiding well. There was no furniture in the room, bar the large bookcase, after all.
But Negan didn't seem interested in this, his attention still fully on her.
His hand drifted instead, to Blake's collarbone, slowly brushing a long stand of hair back over her shoulder, his gaze dark and playful.
"Didn't sound like it, Peaches," he uttered dismissively, as he suddenly leaned in towards her, making to press a needy kiss to her neck.
But Blake was distracted, and swatted him immediately away.
She gave him a gentle shove with the hand already at his chest.
"No, Negan, stop," she muttered in a softly-scolding voice. "There's something there…"
She prised herself from him easily and moved over towards the set of shelves, frowning hard now.
The noise came once more, louder now from this position…
….closer….
But what was it?
Blake moved around the bookshelf, listening intently.
It didn't sound like a walker, that was for sure…
She cocked her head, as the noise sounded again.
It was coming from behind the shelves…it could perhaps be a rat or mouse…but it sounded bigger than that…
….alive…
"Help me with this," Blake uttered suddenly to the Saviour at her side, as she grabbed a hold of one corner of the large piece of furniture.
The bookcase was empty save for a tin can or two, but was still much heavier than Blake could manage to shift alone.
Behind her Negan gave a huge, over-the top sigh, rolling his eyes, but, placing Lucille down between his feet, helped her anyway.
With great effort the pair dragged the large set of shelves away from the wall, about three foot or so, and Blake, happy it wasn't about to topple over, let go of the object, hurriedly moving around it, not really sure what she was expecting to see on the other side…
But much to her utter disappointment, there was, in fact, nothing there.
She parted her lips….that frown line still lingering between her eyebrows.
She could have sworn she had heard something…
But before Blake or even Negan, could say a word, the sound came again.
Much louder now, echoing across the space…coming from the wall…
Blake strode suddenly between the gap and crouched down beside a metal grate in the wall.
A vent of sorts, that had previously been obscured behind the bookshelf….hidden from sight.
She peered at it, noticing that two screws that held the grating in place, now lay strewn across the floor just beneath the vent.
There was something in there….something hiding…
Blake tugged her knife from her belt, feeling a little defensive…
Was that space big enough for a walker?
A racoon maybe….or a big rat….
But not a walker….right?
But Blake's curiosity got the better of her, and before she could question herself on what she was really doing, she had tugged the metal grate hurriedly away….
…..holding her knife suddenly aloft….
But Blake's eyes suddenly widened, her mouth falling slightly agape….
…as she peered down….and saw exactly what was inside…
I wonder what it is?!
Thanks to Elysium Phoenix, Hmc09, Guest and JudithMosalii for reviewing the last chapter.
I'm extremely grateful to those few who did review, but the last chapter did not seem to be as popular as the previous were. Are you all sure you'd like me to carry on with this? Perhaps I'm dragging it out too much. I can possibly bring it to a close soon if people would prefer. I wouldn't want readers getting bored. I'll see what the response it to this one and decide, I think… Thanks to all of you who have read so far though, I really appreciate it!
Please review! :)