The department store, as predicted, had been heavily looted, and even the store's large window fronts had long been smashed and what was left of the display contents gone.
Blake knew, of course, that that did not really bode well for what was inside the rest of the store. But living out on the road for so long in the years before arriving at Alexandria and The Sanctuary, the blonde knew to not leave any stone unturned.
"Careful, Peaches, watch that damn glass right there," Negan hummed, his arm sliding around Blake's waist and tugging her away from a particular sharp shard of broken glass, as the pair of them eased their way inside.
Blake peered around, her eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness, her gaze filtering across the remains of what was once, probably a very popular, out of town store.
Clothes littered the ground in piles and just a few items hung off racks limply, unwanted and unloved.
A small smirk skimmed over the blonde's lips as she glanced up at Negan.
"This your idea of a nice date to the mall, huh?" she said nudging him in the ribs with her elbow. "You gonna treat me to a FroYo too?"
Negan grinned back at her, licking at his lips, as he slid his arm down between them and he entangled his hand with hers.
"Only if you'll put out afterwards," he uttered into her ear.
Blake pulled back and eyed him, smiling. "I don't put out on a first date, Negan," she retorted smartly. "But if you give me a ride home, I'll let you put your hand up my blouse."
At this, Negan gave a laugh, leaning back on his heels, biting down onto his bottom lip and marvelling at her.
"Oh, Darlin' I'm gonna hold you that!" he chuckled, as Blake smirked back and led him deeper into the store with a soft sigh.
But they had barely gone a few feet however, when a snarling rotter apared from behind one of the racks, launching itself at Negan.
"Son of a-" he began, giving a roar and shoving the walker from him, as Blake coolly detached herself from the dark-haired Saviour and moved off to look at a stand of what must have been panty-hoes, that now had nothing on it but a single pair of plastic legs covered in fancy fishnet stockings.
A second later she heard Negan taken care of the creature, hearing a crack from Lucille and a heavy thud as the biter collapsed to the floor.
"You having fun?" she called back to him mockingly, turning around and lifting an eyebrow in his direction.
But she stopped, her smile faltering a little as she turned to find herself alone.
She took a step forwards, staring around the empty store.
"N-Negan?" she called out in a quiet voice, here eyes searching the floor where the bloodied walker now lay completely still.
Wait, what had happened? Had he been dragged away by another of those creatures?!
But Blake tried to reassure herself now.
This was Negan.
Surely she would have heard an endless stream of curse words spew from his lips if anything like THAT had happened!
The blonde frowned, noticing from the sorber of her eye, a couple of of the dead shifting around close to the large glass windows they had just come through.
"Negan…" she hissed again, taking another few steps further into the room and staring about.
But still there came no reply.
Seamlessly Blake's hand slid to her hip, pulling her knife from its leather pouch, and holding it at her side, fingers tensed around the handle.
A chinking of glass from behind her made her jump for a brief second, but she noticed it was just the two same walkers trying to make it through the window, obviously having heard her voice.
She turned away, ignoring them and moving swiftly behind the large stand of dusty purses on her left, pacing across the room, her green gaze searching here and there for any sign of the leader of the Saviours.
But again there was still nothing.
"Negan, where the fuck are you? This isn't funny, y'know?" Blake said aloud, hoping to god that this was some sort of stupid joke. But again there came nothing but the groans of the walkers, now slowly dragging themselves across the store floor behind her.
She paled slightly, swallowing hard and all of a sudden feeling very lost and very very alone.
She was just about to call desperately again, when a noise from just over her right shoulder, made her jump, her head snapping towards the clattering sound of something tipping over nearby.
She noticed that up ahead, where the source of the noise had seemingly come from, was a large fitting room, that split off into two sides.
And so, raising her knife slightly, she edged her way towards the entrance, pausing when she got there and listening.
A little way behind her, one of the dead gave a loud carrying groan, but there came nothing else now but the sound of her own breaths, shallow in her throat.
It had a been a while since Blake had been out here on her own like this.
And although she was good with a knife, being so far away from the place she called home now…. well this felt different somehow. A little unnerving perhaps.
Or, maybe, it was the absence of Negan, here one minute and gone the next, that magnified this sensation of overwhelming fear.
But she could do this. She was strong, she knew that.
And so, taking in a sniff or air and lifting her chin, steadying herself, she crept through the narrow walkway that led to the left hand row of fitting rooms.
It was a mess in here, with abandoned piles of clothes littered everywhere, with a long row of the large white doors that separated each fitting room, some hanging off their hinges, some intact, as she eased herself by them, finding each cubicle empty, save for a few items of abandoned clothing, as she passed.
"N-Negan?" she said in a soft whisper, her eyes darting about worriedly.
But before she could say another word Blake heard the snarl of walker behind her, closer now that she had been expecting. And she turned to see a glimpse of a misshapen rotter dragging itself through the narrow doorway behind her.
"Shit..." she muttered under her breath, her eyes widening in alarm.
But before the creature could round the corner and clap its grey and vacant eyes on Blake, the blonde cried out….feeling a sudden hand clamp around her middle.
And as quick as a flash before she could do anything to stop it, she was dragged quickly into the vacant cubicle behind her.
The blonde gave a squeak and lifted her knife in urgent protest, as she felt her back collide with the side of the cubicle wall and the door to snap tightly shut behind her.
But she blinked up in fear...only to see a familiar grinning face staring back at her.
Negan.
Standing there, tall form crammed into the tight fitting room, smiling down at her, showing off a perfect line of pearly whites as he did so.
"What the f-" Blake began furiously.
But her words were cut off by Negan pressing a single finger to her lips and offering her a playful warning look, as the sound of the walker approaching drew nearer and nearer.
Blake smacked his hand away, offering him a reproachful look, but all the same, didn't say another word.
What the hell was he playing at?
Both adults eyes flickered downwards, looking beneath the door and watching the rotter's mangled feet until they had dragged themselves past.
Almost immediately, once the imminent danger had passed, Blake stared up at Negan, the movement causing him to look back at her too.
"What the fuck?" she mouthed, frowning hard.
But the dark-haired man just continued to grin, leaning his face in close to Blake's and blinking slowly, teasing her now, as the tip of his nose brushed hers.
From outside the door just beside them, they heard the groans of the walker grow louder.
Blake of course knew what a precarious position this was.
If the dead heard them or discovered they were in here, it would take them no time at all to get underneath that door and attack. And with no way of escape that would surely be the end for them both.
So the blonde woman couldn't quite believe how calm Negan looked, taking this as an opportunity to make sure he had Blake in a compromising position.
With one hand he had her pinned to the wall behind her, and with the other, she felt him slide his tanned digits down her side purposefully.
At this she tilted her head, shooting him a warning look. But it seemed like this only served to rile Negan up even more, as he bit down onto his lip and pressed his taut body up against hers, with Blake now feeling his warm breath on her own pouting lips.
She made to protest a little, but could only close her eyes as his mouth gently met with hers, it taking all her effort not to moan out softly, feeling her panties dampening between her legs at the welcome contact between them.
He really was an asshole, wasn't he?
She felt the dark-haired Saviour smile into her mouth as he kissed her, slowly and purposefully, being careful not to make any noise at all.
Blake couldn't deny that this didn't get her heart racing. Feeling more alive now than she had in weeks. Out here, just the two of them, risking themselves like this. Well, it was almost exhilarating.
And so maybe it was that reason, that, not even a moment later, both adults felt their kisses growing more urgent, Blake's free hand slipping to Negan's belt, and his sliding to her ass, giving it a needy squeeze.
At this, Blake pulled her mouth from his, breathing ragged, staring up at the dark-haired Saviour with lidded eyes full of desperation. Both knowing exactly what the other wanted.
But were they really going to do this, here? Now?
But there question was undoubtedly answered for them, as suddenly Blake felt her foot suddenly get tugged out from under her. And both of them stared down in immediate horror to see a rotting hand wrapped tightly around Blake's ankle.
"Shit!" she cried in a loud voice, before she could stop herself.
And before she or Negan could say anything more, the rasping noise from the walker at her feet was joined by another set of snarls.
Fuck. They'd found them.
Blake tried to pull her ankle from the walkers grasp, but its grip was just too strong, its long fingernails digging through the fabric of her jeans and into her flesh.
And so, panicking, Blake,with the knife that was still clutched in her hand, leant down and reached beneath the door, plunging the blade into the rotter's decomposing skull as it snapped its jaws at her
But even as the dead figure stilled and became lifeless, Blake found no relief, staring wide-eyed, seeing from her vantage point beneath the fitting room door, as two more walkers entered into the narrow corridor on the other side of their cubicle.
"Shit!" Blake said again, standing up straight and staring at Negan in worry. "There's more of them! We need to get out of here."
But to her dismay, Negan was merely stood there, leaning against the wall behind him as cool as a cucumber, much to the blonde's irritation.
"It'll be fine, Darlin'," Negan merely purred, hissing out a sigh and lifting his wire-covered baseball bat aloft as he pushed himself from the wall. "Nothin' me and Lucille here can't handle."
But as the noise of snarls grew louder at the his voice, Blake shot him a scowl.
"You'd better handle it, Negan. This is all your fault anyway," she snapped.
"That so?" said Negan with a grin, moving past her and peering carefully through a crack in the door, out into the small hallway beyond.
"Yeah. If you weren't in here playing your stupid games and trying to scare the hell out of me, we'd be fine!" she hissed.
But Negan merely swung around, that grin still plastered across his lips, narrowing his eyes in her direction.
"Thought you enjoyed our little make out session, Peaches?" he asked in a cocky voice, moving back towards Blake and looming over her, licking his lips teasingly.
But Blake, knowing full well what he was trying to do, merely tutted and gave him a shove away.
"Later, Hot Stuff," she said with a bemused shake of her head. "Let's get out of here first and maybe you can get to second base on the ride home."
Negan gave a chuckle at Blake's words.
"Oh now we're fuckin' talkin, Sweetheart," he said leaning back against his long legs and dragging his teeth over his bottom lip hungrily.
Blake smirked, watching as Negan turned back to the door.
"Well I guess it's now or never," he commented peering out of the thin crack between the door and the wall where the walkers were just about visible on the other side, pawing and scratching at the white fitting-room door.
The dark-haired man looked back at her.
"You ready, Darlin'?" he asked, his face suddenly becoming wholly serious. As did Blake's now as she nodded back.
And in a second, lifting her knife up high. Negan had taken a step back and unlatched the door...
...flinging it wide open to the awaiting dead...
Sorry this chapter was all filler and took me ages to write. Hopefully I'll be back with some more action soon.
I am so glad you guys are all still interested in ready this fic on this platform. In that case I will keep posting. I just wasn't sure how many of you had tumblrs too, y'know?
Thanks to samanthareissa, London, Mimoo123, xxmoonlitsorrowsxx, Luna white, Cassandra, tomieharley, green, BlueBloodsSVUOrder, werdan, kagomesdance, CLTex, MegShinkley, Daphneecl and The Captains muse for reviewing.