Rain splattered the windscreen now, the wipers on Negan's truck going at full speed, as Arat navigated the darkened, sodden road.

It was hard to see now and even the dark-haired Saviour, as cool and collected as he usually was, hand his hand over his scrubby beard, within half a mind to tell the curly-haired woman in the drivers-seat, to turn back around.

Perhaps abandoning a fruitiness chase for a car, now long gone in this storm, was the best case for all of them. They could then go back to the Sanctuary, and Negan could wait it out, until the day after tomorrow- Blake's birthday, where he would take a drive back to Alexandria to fetch her.

Hopefully by then, the storm would have cleared in its entirety, and the roads would not be so dismal and treacherous either.

But as their truck, followed by larger van behind filled with several more Saviours, chugged along down the gloom-filled track, Negan still did not make to tug his hand away from his mouth, or indeed utter any words at all.

For something….some niggling feeling, was stopping him….

Something that he just could not put his finger on.

But it wasn't even a minute later, that Arat slowed the truck, leaning forward in her seat, peering out through the darkened windshield in front of her.

"Uh, boss," she uttered in a slow yet serious tone. "We've got a herd of dead up ahead."

Negan gave a frown and sat up a little straighter now.

He couldn't see shit in front of him through the rain-drop covered window, and so giving an irritable huff, the bearded Saviour, wound down the window beside him and stuck his head out, frowning through the darkness.

There was certainly something up ahead….moving….just off the road a little to the right….

But as Arat slowly eased the truck a little further up the track, it became clear that the female Saviour had indeed been right….

…for dragging themselves across the road ahead, in packs of two or three, had to be about twenty or so walkers of varying levels of decomposition.

A couple of them looked up at the headlights….throwing a light across the road ahead of them…but the majority kept on walking….drawn by something a little way off the path….

Negan gripped Lucille tighter in his hand, narrowing his eyes and squinting out at through the trees up head….at something which caught his eye….

Was that a light?

"You see that?" Negan said in a low drawl, pointing his barbed wire-covered baseball-bat through the window….towards the source of a bright light, just about visible, shining through the trees…..

…looking very much like light from a pair of car headlamps…

Negan clenched his jaw…his dark eyes darting through the rain at a gap obviously made by some sort of vehicle through the trees at the side of the road.

"Want us to go investigate, Boss?" said Danny to Negan's left promptly.

But Negan gave a small grin.

It had been a long time since he had been out here….with the threat of walkers this great…

It was something that really seemed to get the adrenaline pumping through him like nothing else.

"Actually, Danny-boy, you can follow my fuckin' lead on this one," he said wickedly, shoving open the truck door beside him, causing the sound of the rain hitting the asphalt below them, to echo through the cab. "And stay fuckin' tight. I don't want any of these fuckers creepin' up on me in the dark. We clear?"

Both Arat and Danny both immediately nodded, as Arat yelled orders through to the other truck via the crackly radio.

Negan sighed. This would be good for him. An opportunity to let off a bit of steam.

And so, swiftly followed by Danny out the van, as well as Dwight and a couple of other men from the second vehicle, Negan strolled easily out onto the soaking wet asphalt road, rain immediately drenching him from head to toe.

He gritted his straight white line of teeth and lifted Lucille cockily, swinging it sharply across the head of one of the dead, as it ambled close by.

He immediately got drenched with spray of stagnant blood.

"You absolute goddamn cocksucker!" he yelled in faux-anger, staring down at his already wet dark leather jacket for brief moment, before tackling yet another walker, caving its head easily in.

All around him the Saviours got to work, destroying walkers here there and everywhere, as the rain continued to fall. This is what he liked to be witness to. His people stretching their legs…doing what they did…and well, he noted, each one of them strong, being perfect examples of soldiers. And that's why Negan had chosen each and every one of them. For their strength and their abilities.

None of them lingered. None of them paused for even a second.

But it was difficult tonight.

It was hard to see anything out here now, and within just a few minutes, even Negan himself had almost been caught out a couple of times, with one decaying deceased even managing to get as close as to sink its teeth into the shoulder of Negan's jacket.

But luckily for him, the leather was thick and tough, part of the reason he wore it, and the freak's teeth were no way even close to getting through.

From here, from the side of the road, the tall, bearded man could just about make out a vehicle through the trees. It was tipped up onto its side, with a loud continuous beeping sound, obviously alerting walkers from the surrounding woods.

The car they had seen hammering down the road from Alexandria.

It was likely there was certainly someone still in there, maybe even Rick if Negan played his cards right.

He almost gave a chuckle to himself right then and there, as he stomped through the undergrowth, Arat and Dwight either side of him, taking down walker after walker as they went.

There looked to be about eight or so of the dead surrounding the car now, with rotten hand scratching at the doors and pawing at the cracked windows. And it would only be a matter of time before they got through, and ate the sorry shit inside alive, most likely.

But perhaps whoever was inside could be of some use to Negan….leverage maybe, to use against Rick and those other pricks back at Alexandria. Blake wouldn't have to know of course, for the dark-haired Saviour was well aware of how defensive she could get about those assholes back there.

So, bashing yet another of the dead aside with the bloody end of Lucille, Negan stormed forwards, trampling soggy leaves underfoot as he went, as the men and women at his side did the same.

It didn't take the long, with more than one Saviour to two walkers by this point, tackling the living corpses down, stabbing them through their soft skulls and shoving them away.

One of the walkers, who once was probably a large guy, turned to Negan with a moan, reaching its torn arms out towards him greedily. But Negan easily swiped him aside with a growl giving a loud 'Aha!' as he did so….

But before the menacing leader of the Saviours could turn back toward the car once again, he suddenly heard Arat's voice loud and clear…

"Negan….y-you should come here…"

He stopped in his tracks.

…her tone was different now and certainly not one Negan was used to hearing being uttered from her mouth. Usually Arat was sharp, commanding…a great general….

….but there was something different now…something wrong….

Negan glanced up to where the curly-haired woman was standing, at the side of the now-tilted open car-door….as Dwight and Danny stood either side of her…..all with the same worried expressions on their faces.

The rain seemed heavier now….as Negan's eyes blackened, closing his lips tightly...his mouth immediately going dry…

…silence falling all around them…..

The Saviours all stood around now...seeing something Negan couldn't….their faces solemn and anxious.

But Negan, re-adjusting his grip on Lucille, strode forwards….his eyes fixed on Arat for a long moment….approaching the car….

…but it was only when he was side-on with the beeping vehicle…did he finally drag his eyes away from hers, and peer inside…

….staring down at the unconscious figure of Blake, sprawled across the dash…

Shit.

Negan felt a tick in his cheek…a feeling of pure anger….as he gazed at her…in the same dress he had left her in not even forty minutes before.

The bearded man licked his lips carefully, before reaching swiftly in and pressing his fingers to her neck…

He waited…

And waited…

Until he finally felt it…a pulse…faint but still there…

Her face was just about visible in the darkness now, caramel-blonde hair strewn across her damp cheeks, as he reached his fingers now up to brush the strands away. But he flinched away suddenly, her skin like ice to the touch.

"Get her the fuck out of there…" he just about managed to utter in a low, furious voice, pulling himself up and out of the car, standing up straight once more.

He could feel his hands shaking with anger now…

And at once, the Saviours around him all did as they were told.

Negan could feel his blood boiling…his heart pounding like a drumbeat in his chest.

What the fuck was she doing out here? Why the fuck was she alone….having left that place in a speeding car? What the hell had happened?

But Negan knew that this was no time to dwell on questions. For all he could dwell on, was getting Blake back to Sanctuary safe and sound.

Carson was there…the only known doctor for miles around…and if he couldn't save her, Negan would sure as hell be throwing him in the furnace, just like he had done to his brother.

Negan right now felt angrier than he had in a long, long, long time, watching as Arat and Danny prised Blake's limp body from the driver's seat.

For all he knew, she could be paralysed…brain dead…have mere moments left to live.

But as her lifeless body was gently dragged from the vehicle, her pretty face was momentarily illuminated in the light from the headlamps…and thankfully Negan could make out no head-wounds as such. Just a large bruise across her right temple and a few scratches that littered her face and upper body.

"Give her to me," he uttered in a dark tone, placing one arm beneath her shoulders and one in the crook behind her knees, as rain fell down on them hard, and pulling her from Danny's grasp.

She was freezing now, her skin wet against Negan's calloused fingers….that had just a few hours ago been tracing the outline of her curves, back on that bed in Alexandria.

Whoever was responsible for this would pay, that was for sure. Negan would see to that one way or another.

It must have been obvious to everyone standing around the dark-haired Saviour right now, just how seething he truly was, for no-one uttered word.

Dwight sliced through a couple of walkers skulls just a little way over to his right. But apart from that, the only sound that could be heard, was the hammering rain up on the undergrowth below their feet.

Even the car's beeping was soon switched off by one of the Saviours. But Negan did not linger to dwell on this anymore….his mind on one thing and one thing alone right now.

And so, clenching his jaw tightly, Negan marched back over towards the their awaiting trucks…his eyes black and livid….Blake held tightly in his arms.

The ground underneath her was humming…

Or was it the ground at all?

Perhaps it was something softer…the smell of leather and rain and musk filling her nostrils now…

"W-Whe-re-" she murmured, her eyelids flickering but unable to open.

She felt a thumb drag its way across her cheek, as she frowned, groaning slightly.

"Da-" Blake just about managed to breathe out…trailing off….

…before slowly slipping back into a state of unconsciousness once more…

The rain was still falling hard by the time morning came, dark and cloudy, barely feeling like morning at all with the huge storm clouds that seemed to swirl around the high, dingy windows of the Sanctuary.

Negan had been here all night in the makeshift hospital room, pacing back and forth irritably while Dr Carson checked Blake's vitals and made sure she was ok.

From what he had murmured, still in just a t-shirt and sweatpants having been woken in the middle of the night, Blake seemed stable, with no major injury….most likely suffering from a little concision after a quiet a hard bump to the head.

He had reassured Negan that she would likely be awake by morning….

But as the hours drifted by, the dark-haired Saviour had started to become more and more impatient….growling and snarling at every word spoken by both Carson himself, and any other Saviour who disturbed them.

He was irate right now, furious with both himself for leaving her, Blake herself for leaving Alexandria, and the people responsible for forcing her out. There had to be a reason why she had decided to leave in such a hurry, and if anything happened to her, that would be on, not only Rick, but Carl's head, and that pretty-boy Steve, as well the heads of every other fucker back in that goddamn place.

Negan was sat back in his chair now, just staring at Blake's face, as she lay there on the trolley bed beside him…her eyes closed and her head hanging limply on its side against the pillow.

Her cheeks had regained some colour after coming here, drying off and getting into the warm once again, which Negan was of course relieved at…

But the bearded Saviour would not be happy until she had woken up. Until she could tell him who was responsible for all this shit.

That was if she ever woke up at all.

Carson was efficient, perhaps even better than his now-deceased brother. But even so, the equipment he had to work with….it wasn't up to shit….not compared to what things used to be like….

Negan's mind flickered back to all those hours spent sitting beside another bed…in a hospital long ago…

Watching as another woman in his life, drifted away from him….

But Negan's thoughts were now finally disturbed by a heavy set of boots pacing around the corner, coming to a stop in the doorway to his left.

He shifted his brown eyes up to see Simon standing there, with a frown plastered across his moustachioed features.

"I heard what happened," muttered his right-hand man, with a small shake of his head. "She doin' ok?"

But Negan dragged a sudden gloved hand down his long bearded face sighing heavily.

"The Doc ain't too sure…" he replied starkly, shooting a scowl over towards Carson who was busying himself at the back of the room. "But if I find out it was that fucker Rick who drove her out of there, Si. Then holy shit I am comin' for them. You understandin' me?"

And almost immediately, Simon gave an very understanding nod, his eyes full of seriousness. "Loud and clear," he said cocking his head to the side as he spoke, folding his arms across his chest as he leaned up against the doorframe.

And Negan was about to utter another swift word to his friend, when suddenly, there came a soft stirring from the bed.

Negan's eyes immediately darted back over to the figure of Blake, lying under the cover of cool sheets, still in her skimpy, yet now damp, summer dress.

A frown line slowly seemed to be forming between her brows, as she parted her lips, trying to mouth something under her breath.

Negan hurriedly got to his feet, damp jacket still shrugged over his shoulders, watching as Blake shifted under the sheets, letting out the smallest of moans….

…as her eyes blinked themselves gently open…

Thank fuck.

The dark-haired Saviour took in a breath of air for what felt like the first time in hours, as Carson behind him swung around to see the patient blink and stare around.

Negan felt his heart resuming pounding at a normal pace now, as Blake, looking groggy, pressed her hands to the mattress beside her and eased herself up slightly…her lips parting…

Fuck…she really was everything to him…and Negan finally realised what he felt about her.

She was\s more than just that girl he flirted with. More than just that smart-mouthed woman. That queen. She was his everything. And Negan truly realised how strong his feeling were now that he had almost lost her.

His chest rose and fell hard now beneath his damp t-shirt, as a smile twitched its way onto his lips in a look of what could only be described as utter relief.

"Hey, Peaches…" he managed to breathe out, in a low husky voice….finally causing Blake's green eyes to suddenly shift up towards him…

…but his smile she did not return….

….instead her brow seemed to furrow slightly, as she let out a trembling breath…..staring up at him….her mouth opening….

"Y-You…" she merely murmured in a quiet voice, her eyes widening suddenly as she looked back at the dark-haired Saviour.

There was something wrong here..

"I-It's you…." she repeated again, her voice becoming slightly higher now, a gulp appearing at her slender throat. "…y-you're Negan."

At once Negan's chocolate eyes blinked suddenly, as his brown eyes became black.

What?

But he could only tilt his head, watching, as panic seemed to fill Blake's face.

Her green eyes quickly darted this way and that, as if she was desperately searching around the room for something. But what?

But the answer to that question came sooner than expected. And it was just a short moment later, that the caramel-blonde woman spoke again, making Negan's blood run cold for the second time tonight, with the words that spilled finally from her mouth.

"Where is he?..." Blake uttered aloud, her gaze filling with utter alarm. "W-What have you done with him….…."

But Negan gave a growl under his breath.

"What have I fuckin' done with who, Doll-face?" he asked in a dark tone.

But before he could even finish, Blake had looked back up at him, frowning. Staring back at the dark-haired Saviour like she truly and utterly hated him.

And it tore him apart to hear the next words that finally spilled from her lips…worse than any walker ever fucking could.

"…..David…" Blake finally murmured back.

"…my fiancé…."

Uh-oh.

Thanks to xojade, elysiumPhoenix, Monizzlle, Hmc09, alliemsiley2, CLTex, JusithMosalii, strgzr1980, EJM87, Boohoo, MisfitCarter, l0velylexx, Anna Katharyn, LJH, EvilDreams101, Fried Rice and Becca4930 for commenting.

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