A crash of thunder rumbled overhead, as the first few spot of rain fell down beneath the canopy of trees, just as Blake stomped her way through the undergrowth, her gun raised aloft and her eyes trained on the gloom ahead.

Blake was no tracker, that was for sure, but she knew the areas outside of Alexandria pretty well, and knew that if there was anywhere Mia was bound to have gone it was in this direction, following the least shrouded route out of the small village.

Her blood was boiling in her veins and her heart going at a hundred miles a second, hammering away inside her ribcage…with every fibre of her, desperately hoping that Mia was in fact still holed up in one of those houses back there…never having left the safe quiet of Alexandria.

But this world was never like that, and Blake could only think the worst now, making to head as deep into the undergrowth as she could.

If Mia had gone this way, this was the way she would have gone, out through this small grassy clearing and now down the mucky dirt path that led out of the village. People always tended to veer off this way. The route looking far more inviting than any other, reminding Blake somewhat of a small woodland glade…

...for the first forty foot or so at least! But after that, the path grew treacherous and many an Alexandrian had been caught out here, by walker or just an upturned root here and there. It was perilous and more than one person had taken this route, never to return home again.

But this would not be Mia's fate, not today….

For it would truly kill Blake to be this close to her now and lose her, yet again.

For good this time.

It truly scared her to think that around one of these trees her eyes might fall upon the sight that terrified her to think about. Or even the idea of never finding anything. Of never really knowing what fate had befallen Mia…..the constant doubt and false hope that somewhere she might still be out there, sticking with Blake for the rest of her days.

Her hands were shaking now, but even so, her eyes were narrowed and the gun in her hand clutched tightly between her fingers, poised and ready.

But she had barely even gone more than ten feet into the shrouded trees, when all of a sudden a rustle was heard behind her, a little louder than the pitter-patter of rainfall…

…causing Blake to swing around, her gun held aloft and her eyes blown wide…

….but she breathed a sigh of utter relief to see that it was only Negan there now, her utter annoyance at his presence obvious on her face as she lowered her gun, watching as he approached her now, Lucille hanging limply from his hand, his chin lowered darkly.

"What are you doing here?" Blake bit defensively at him before she could stop herself, angry tears pricking at her eyes.

Why she was snapping at Negan, she wasn't sure. But something about his presence seemed to raise her hackles just a little bit.

But Negan merely stared at her now, his gaze roving across her tearful face, as the rain fell ever harder and louder all around them.

"What am I fuckin' doin' here?" he replied in an incredulous voice, his eyebrows disappearing up into his hairline as he spoke. "I'm trying to stop you from waltzin' off into the goddamn forest an' getting yourself fuckin' killed, Sweetheart. That's what I'm doin' here!"

His voice was ever so slightly heated now, staring at her with an expression resembling utter disbelief.

But this tone with her, only served to cause an anger to bubble up inside Blake.

"I need to find her Negan!" she said in an angry voice, furious that they obviously were not on the same page right now.

But Negan came to stop just in front of her, shaking his dark head.

"I know you fuckin' do, Peaches," he uttered. "But stompin' off on your own ain't gonna help anyone. Now let's go back into that fuckin' goddamn Village of the fuckin' damned and discuss this. We'll send out my men, they can scout the entire area for us, an' they can fuckin find her."

And with that, Negan reached out and tried to make a grab for Blake's free hand to take it within his.

But before he could do so, Blake snatched her digits away from him, and backed up, tears sloshing down her already dampened cheeks.

"No!" she said in a sharp voice. "I'm not here to just sit around and hope that Simon or Dwight or Gavin is gonna find her, Negan! I love her and if you loved me, you'd let me do this."

Blake stared up into Negan's' eyes now, trying so hard to convey to him just how desperate she was …how utterly devoted she was to getting Mia back by any means necessary.

Negan was silent for a long moment, his tongue pressed to his back molars, his chest rising and falling hard, looking mad, as though he desperately wanted to argue with her now.

But Blake held her breath, waiting, half expecting him to snap at any second.

But, to Blake's relief, the dark-haired Saviour, after a long moment, finally let out a shuddering sigh, lifting his free hand up and dragging it down his face tiredly.

"Fine," he finally uttered in a dark tone, pointing at her suddenly. "But there is no fuckin' way I'm letting you go out here lookin' for her by yourself. I'll come with, 'case you get any dead pricks on your tail."

But Blake breathed again, pursing her lips together at his words and shaking her head.

"No," she replied in a firm tone, raising her chin aloft, and staring directly into Negan's eyes. "You are gonna go back to the camp. You're gonna give the rest of the Saviours the orders that they're to thoroughly search every house and vehicle…and then you're gonna go off in that direction…"

And with that, Blake pointed at the treeline just about visible just across the dirt road that led in the opposite direction.

"…and you're gonna search those trees for any sign of her. We'll cover more ground separately."

But at her words, Negan immediately gave a growling shake of his head.

"Nope, nu-uh," he said abruptly "That ain't fuckin' happenin' Doll-face-"

But Blake took a step into Negan now, jabbing him in the chest with her finger.

"Negan, please, baby….I know these woods. I'll be fine. I've got my gun…and if I get into any trouble I'll just yell."

The tension between them was deadly for a long, long moment.

The dark-haired Saviour's brow was now littered with a dark and seething frown, but Blake could only watch as he relented a little taking a step back and blinking at her heavily, letting out another sigh of utter frustration.

"Fuck, you are lucky I have a soft-spot for you, Darlin'," Negan said in a heated tone, looking away off into the trees in the direction she wanted him to go in, for a moment, before turning back to her. "But let's get things straight, any sign of you even breaking a goddamn nail, Sweetheart, I am haulin' your ass back through those fuckin gates, no arguments. We clear?"

And with that Blake gave a firm nod, lifting her hand for a moment and running her fingers down Negan's damp t-shirt-covered chest, before pulling swiftly away from him and turning on her heel and heading back towards the rain-soaked and ever-deepening wooded canopy.

She knew that if she didn't go now, it was likely Negan would change his mind.

She was right about all this of course. They would be able to cover much more ground and waste less time this way, if she kept going.

Besides she was strong and far more capable than many people often gave her credit for being.

She could handle this.

Blake didn't even dare to look back now, as she heard Negan let out another harsh sigh behind her, before the tall man swivelled around on his own booted heel, trudging back in the direction of gated community.

The caramel-blonde woman let out a varying breath of her own, tensing her shoulders a little, as another crackle of thunder sounded overhead, shrouded by the canopy of trees above, as the rain hissed down onto her head.

It was obvious now that what little light they had left today would be gone soon, especially with the storm above growing ever stronger. And so Blake upped her pace just a little, driving her way into the undergrowth, caring very little as branches and brambles scratched at her arms and legs.

All she cared about was getting Mia back.

So she would carry on searching. For hours if she had to….hoping of course that the tiny girl was hidden in one of the safe white houses back there at Alexandria. But for some reason, Blake's instinct was telling her to go this way…to take this path…

…that this was the way that Mia had gone.

But why?

Had she been trying get away from Tara or Rick or any of the others there? Surely not.

Then why had she run? Why had she left the safe proximity of those gates and ventured out here?!

Another rumble of thunder ecahoed overhead, louder than before, causing Blake to jump slightly.

Between that and the sound of the rain hissing down upon the canopy around her, it would be hard to hear any walkers out here. So Blake knew she had to keep her wits about her, raising her gun aloft in front of her and wholly regretting not bringing some kind of knife.

She had four bullets left in her barrel, but she hoped she would not have to use any of them, her green eyes flickering this way and that, hoping, no, praying for even just a sign of Mia.

He minutes inches by, as Blake walked and walked, the trees growing ever closer with every step she took, all sense of time disappearing from her now.

All she knew was that she was far from Alexandria, all sign of the road over to her right now gone, and the wooded area she was walking through growing ever more treacherous with every step she took, with unturned braches, long abandoned snares, and muddy verges.

The sky had darkened quite a deal and Blake, her teeth chattering slightly, fended her way through the undergrowth her wet clothes stuck to her already freezing-cold skin.

But still she persevered….

…carried on walking, unsure of whether Mia would have gotten this far or whether Blake was, in fact, walking around and around in circles. But either way, she would keep looking….each and every second of every day that followed if she had to….not resting until the teeny girl was safe back in her arms.

She had lost two children of her own during pregnancy, and now that she was this close, she wasn't about to lose another too.

Blake tucked strand of her damp caramel-hair behind her ear now, staring suddenly skyward as a fork of lightening appeared through the canopy above, and barely a second after that another loud crash of thunder came from the sky over her head.

The storm was over her now, the area around her growing dark and quiet, save for the pouring of raindrops….

….and a sudden rustling from somewhere just over her shoulder.

Blake stopped in her tracks, shaking herself, her brain finally grinding into gear.

Fuck.

She span quickly around, gun raised, just in time, to see a walker spring out from behind a tree, launching itself at her, its bared teeth snapping hungrily and its decomposing green hands making a desperate grab for her arm.

Blake gave a short sharp cry out, surprised by its sudden appearance here after nothing for at least the past half hour.

She took a step back…

….and another…

…and another…

Her rain-soaked fingers fumbling hurriedly with the gun in her hand, the safety still on.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Blake staggered backwards, as the walker propelled itself towards her, its horrible digits curling around her forearm, its broken teeth getting close to her face.

Blake's thumb desperately tried to grab for the safety, but, distracted by the rotter's ever-nearing jaws, she flinched away, attempting as best she could to hold the creature at arm's length, feeling it's wet limbs sliding from her grasp in the rain.

Shit!

She stumbled backwards….

…..but, beneath her feet the mud was soft….

…and Blake wasn't able to take time to watch her footing…

..feeling the ground sink behind her…

…her eyes widened, her feet all of a sudden, scrabbling at nothing….

…and Blake could only let out a small cry, as she tumbled backwards...

….into nothingness, giving a sharp and frightened yelp….

….dragging the hungry walker down on top of her as she went….

Nooooo, Blaaaake!

Thanks to MisfitCarter, masquerade04, Kara315, DreamersChance, anonymouslyindisguise, Squishy97, guest, Jam86, rissbenzo, JasminJW, CLTex, Magikat409, purplemonkey36, AllieRosexxx, Guest, kaylee00, LJH, angelstuffing, alliesmiley2, angelvoice15, GhostlySights, Annonymoosed, Keyadae, comet92, RedPheonix001, sreid045 and Booboo for commenting on the last chapter.

Also thanks to you all, for your kind world about James. I miss him dearly.

And sorry for the brief haitus. I'm back and running, but super busy at the moment, but I will try and update again before the end of the week if I can!

Please review! :)