"...'Cause I'm Negan."
Just three words. That was all the dark-haired man had to utter for the sound of panicked whispers to surround them suddenly.
The man named Charles stared quickly around at his people who all seemed to be shifting on their feet, looking agitated.
For Blake knew that Negan was a notorious spectre even in these parts. Known to everyone for what had to be, hundreds of miles around.
Just his name alone uttered in hushed tones was a thing of grotesque legend, and everyone here had obviously heard what he was capable of.
But while Charles stared around wild eyed, Negan and Blake kept their eyes fixed on him...ready...waiting…
"Stop it!" he hissed out to the couple of men nearest to him. But it was no use. There even came a sudden cry from one of the women behind them as Charles stared her way, lips parted, watching in horror as the integrity of his group fell apart around him.
But he tried to keep his cool as best he could, merely turning back to Negan with a sneer, giving Negan's chest a hard shove with the barrel of his gun.
"Never heard of you," he said, grimacing. "And I really couldn't give a fuck who you are. You see, we're taking your van-"
He nodded towards Lucille, still in Negan's hand.
"-your weapons, and anything else you've got. Now either you hand it all over, or I'm gonna be putting a bullet through both your skulls'."
"Charles!" came a sudden pleading voice from behind them.
Blake glanced around to see a woman in her late fifties, with sand-coloured hair, step out of the surrounding circle of people.
"Please," she continued, her brown eyes full of despereation. "You dont know who this is-"
But Charles cut her off angrily.
"I don't give a fuck who this is, Martha!" he yelled suddenly. He was breathing hard now, his cheeks looking pink. "They either give us what they have, or we kill them. Fair and square. This was the plan."
But Martha wasn't looking at Charales anymore, instead she took a step forward, her eyes darting back and forth between Negan and Blake.
"Please," she said, entwining her fingers before her in a gesture of prayer, and shaking her head. "I am so sorry. If we'd have known who you were we'd have never-"
"Martha, what the fuck are you doing?-" Charles shouted again, sounding furious.
But again the woman ignored him, and this time another man, far younger, with red hair and glasses, nodded feverently, came to stand beside her.
"She's right," he said too, in a pleading voice. "We are so sorry. Truly. Charles...H-He doesn't speak for all of us, I swear. W-We were just desperate. We thought up this stupid plan, and-"
"ENOUGH!" cried Charles, his voice echoing through the clearing, stopping the young boy mid-way through his sentence.
He was breathing hard now through his nose, looking enraged.
He turned back to Negan, wrinkling his nose and baring his teeth.
"Look I don't care who you are, Asshole," he snarled out. "This was supposed to be just a simple grab and go, no one had to get hurt, but, hey, you had to mess things up for yourselves."
Charles looked down at the gun in his hands.
"Now...well….now you haven't given me a choice," he said, his adam's apple sliding down his throat as he gave a hard swallow, before he stared back up at Negan, his beady eyes meeting with the Saviour's dark and angry ones " I guess I'm going to have to kill you both, AND take your shit."
Blake gritted her teeth together furiously at his threat, lowering her chin as he wavered for a second.
"Charles," came the woman named Martha's voice once more, sounding desperate. "Please-"
But Charles spoke over her, never taking his eyes off Negan all the while.
"No, Martha! We stick to the plan!" he said loudly, his finger slowly clenching around the trigger...
But Blake, in that instant, took her chance.
This wasn't going to be the way Negan was going to die. Or her either.
Not by the will of some stupid son-of-a-bitch.
And so, with a roar of anger escaping her lips before she could stop herself, the blonde launched herself forwards, snatching the blade from her belt.
Charles quickly caught her movement, his eyes widening.
And neither Blake nor Negan could do anything as Charles suddenly swung the gun around, pointing it in her direction and pulled the trigger.
But Blake, on this occasion, was lucky.
Very lucky.
For today was not going to be the day she got shot for a second time in just a few short months. Nu-uh.
People screamed all around as several bullets peppered the bonnet of their truck, blowing out one of the headlamps.
But Blake just took this as her opportunity, her long legs closing the gap between her and Charles, her knife plunging into the soft meat of his right flank, just below his armpit, causing him to scream out in pain almost immediately.
But now it was Negan's turn.
And with the man before them momentarily distracted, the dark-haired Saviour grabbed Charles' gun with both hands, causing him to turn back around to face him in panic.
"Oh you'll learn my name, you spinless mother-fucker," Negan growled, as he headbutted Charles, sending him sprawling backwards.
He tripped over his own feet a couple of times and fell to the floor in a heap, now without his gun, clutching his bloodied side and whimpering.
Not one of the people standing around made a move to help him now.
Negan stood up straight, face like thunder as he checked the rounds still left inside the gun in his hands, before looking back up to Blake, who both looked and felt, almost unperturbed by the entire situation.
For she had faced bigger and badder people than Charles in her life. Her ex-fiance alone being one of them.
She felt stronger now.
More confident than she ever had been. And knew that was because of what Negan had built her up to be. What he had given her the chance to become.
"Wow, Peaches, I forgot how much of a goddamn badass you can be!" Negan exclaimed suddenly, turning on his heel to face her.
But Blake merely shrugged.
"You can thank me later for saving your ass," she teased, as Negan raised his eyebrows in interest.
His gaze seemed to rove over her in a protective manner, as if checking for any damage, or hurt inflicted on her, before he looked back up to her face, his chin dipped and his eyes sparkling.
"Well in that case, you want to do the honors, Doll?" Negan said suddenly, holding the gun out towards her.
But Blake took a step into him, before staring over at Charles coolly.
"Hmmmmm, I'm not sure," she uttered in a purring voice, with a wrinkle of her nose, turning back to Negan. "I think this is more a job for Lucille."
The dark-haired man before her was silent from a short moment, before that tell-tale grin suddenly flicked up onto his lips, his eyes flashing with glee.
"Oh, Darlin'," he eased out, pressing the gun into her hand for her to hold and leaning his entire form in towards her, his lips lingering close to her ear. "You have no idea how hard for you I am right now."
And Blake, in spite of the situation they found themselves in, found herself smirking as he pulled back from her, his dark eyes fixed to her green ones.
"Well you can always show me later," she said in a vixen-like tone, causing Negan to run his tongue across his lips for a brief moment, before turning away from her once more.
As Charles lay there whimpering , Blake stepped back, her green eyes glinting here and there, making sure none of the others tried anything. But in their defence, none of them moved, all of them just watching the scene before them unfold in silence. All obviously knowing full well what was about to happen and none of them doing a thing to stop it.
Negan paced over towards the cowering man, dragging a hand tiredly down his bearded face.
"Oh Charlie, Charlie, Charlie," Negan hummed out in a low voice that held the tension everyone was feeling, swinging Lucille from his gloved hand threateningly.
The man on the ground attempted now to drag his sorry form away from Negan's advancing one.
He looked a far cry from the bold and arrogant man threatening both of them just a few short moments ago.
But Blake knew of course that was the effect Negan had on people, even the most strong people often floored, both literally and metaphorically, by the man himself.
"Somehow I'm startin' to think that you ain't got that dick an' balls you were busy swingin' between your legs jus' now," sighed the dark-haired man in a voice full of goading. "Cause' you strollin' on out here like you were king of the fuckin' castle, pointin' a damn AK47 at us, well, I've gotta admit, I was lookin' forward to a good ol' fashioned, all-guns-a-blazin', fight."
Negan gave a grimace now, swinging Lucille haphazardly and pointing it towards Charles' skull.
"But Charlie," the Saviour sighed again, as Charles stared up at him fearfully, not saying a word now. "I am very fuckin' disappointed. See there ain't many people that have the fuckin' balls to stand up to me."
Negan shrugged, glancing over his shoulder back at Blake.
"I mean maybe Peaches here," he continued, turning back towards Charles once more. "But you see she's a fuckin' special exception."
Blake raised both eyebrows and pursed her lips, almost rolling her eyes at how predictable Negan was being right now. Not that she minded too much of course.
"But god-fuckin'-dammit do I miss the thrill of an asshole like you steppin' out of the damn ranks, strollin' on up, threatenin' me. But, shit, jus' like a guy in line for the bathroom after a bad truck-stop burrito…. if only you could've followed the. fuck. THROUGH!"
Negan's now-furious voice rang out loud and echoing through the clearing, sending a small group of birds that had been nesting in a nearby tree, fleeing into the air with a mass of screeching calls.
The sound reverberated for a second as Negan visibly seethed, his square shoulders raised, and his teeth now bared in a look of utter distaste at the man now squirming desperately on the ground before him.
Blake had to admit, she almost felt a little bad for the guy, probably just in too deep. Wanting to stand up and be strong for his people, wanting to help them. Just like any leader would.
And for a split second Blake had half a mind to step forwards and stop Negan from making his next move.
But what Charles did next, made her stop in her tracks suddenly…
"Please," cried the man on the ground in a sudden weak voice, peering up at Negan fearfully, his eyes now wide and his voice full of desperation. "P-Please. None of this should be on me. This wasn't my idea…."
He turned and pointed a shaking hand suddenly in the direction of Martha and the others.
"...it was theirs! P-Please...i-if you want to punish anyone, it should be them. They came up with this plan. Not me. It's them that's to blame for all this."
And suddenly Blake was taken back to a familiar voice who had spoken a set of eerily similar words, back in that dusty Sanctuary lot all those many, many months ago.
Back then the cowardly David had done just what Charles was doing now, trying to backtrack, trying to blame others for his own doing. Trying to get others hurt, to save his own skin.
Blake's blood boiled at this, her eyes becoming all of sudden black.
"You utter fucking asshole," she spat suddenly, marching forward on her long legs, shoving past Negan and pointing the barrel of the gun to Charles' skull.
The man before her whimpered, holding his hands aloft.
But Blake had had enough.
She looked up to Negan to at her side, her green eyes meeting with his.
"We done here?" she asked simply.
And Negan gave a knowing nod, grimacing and stepping easily back.
"Oh we sure are, Peaches," Negan murmured out, knowing exactly what Blake was about to do.
And the blonde, with eyes full of utter hatred for the man on the ground before her, merely uttered out a low "good" before firing the gun into the man's skull.
The kickback of the gun jolted her shoulder hard, as blood and viscera spurted out of the back of Charles skull tearing it easily apart.
The brown haired man seemed to flounder there for a moment with a vacant expression before collapsing onto his side. Dead.
Everything seemed to fall silent after that, as Blake gave a sniff, lowering the gun and turning to face Negan.
But the dark-haired Saviour was already staring back at her, his gaze a little questioning.
"Reminded me too much of someone I used to know," Blake explained, before pursing her lips.
And Negan immediately seemed to understand, blinking with recognition of just who she could have been talking about.
"Prick had it comin'," he growled. "Both pricks actually."
The blonde woman gave a small sigh, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as Negan leaned into her once more.
"Jus' wanna let you know though," he said in a meaningful voice. "Your ass looked fuckin' incredible when you were blowin' a hole through ol' Charlie-boy's dome back there."
Blake raise a single slender eyebrow upwards, leaning back on her hip and eyeing him.
"You only saying that because you still think you're gonna get that blow job?" she asked, tutting.
But Negan merely flashed her a grin.
"And am I?"
But Blake merely pursed her lips, smirking and turned away from him, leaving him without an answer.
She strolled easily over to Martha now, knowing Negan's eyes were following her as she went, her face becoming serious now as she stared into the eyes of the other woman.
Martha looked back at Blake nervously but held her gaze.
"How much supplies do you have?" the blonde asked in a gentle voice. Probably far more soft than Martha and the others probably expected after what had happened to Charles.
Martha glanced at the young guy at her side momentarily before turning back to Blake, here eyes flicking over to Negan over Blake's shoulder for a second as she did so.
"We have a little water, probably a couple of days worth, and some cans of food, but not much…" she started in a nervous sounding voice. "...that's why Charles...I-I….we're so sorry...we never meant for anything like this to-"
"Its fine," Blake said with a small shake of her head, her eyes earnest.
None of this, or what Charles had done, was these people's fault.
From this angle staring right at them all, even in the dim evening light Blake could see how gaunt and scrawny these people were, probably surviving off next to nothing for weeks on end.
Blake worried at her bottom lip with her teeth for a short second before she looked over her shoulder back at Negan who was pacing slowly over towards her, barbed wire-covered bat brought up onto his shoulder..
Her eyes met with his and she knew that he understood exactly what she was thinking.
That's why they made a good team. Why they always had been...
For Negan could read her like a book. And vice versa.
And the dark-haired Saviour made no move to argue with her now, merely coming to stop just a foot or two behind her, letting her do what she need to do,
Blake took a breath of air through her nose turning back around slowly, staring once again at Martha, parting her lips.
"How many are you?" she asked in a quiet voice.
Martha blinked rapidly as though she had not quite been expecting this question.
"I...uh...there's twelve of us here," she replied with a stammer. "Plus we have two young kids and their mom just behind that tree line over there."
Blake waited as Martha turned and nodded to a man just over her shoulder who yelled out one of the trio's names. Causing them to appear from the tree-line a little further up the road a second later, all clutching each other's hands and approaching the group.
Blake paused for a moment, looking from the group, to the space at the back of their large pick-up truck then back over to Negan, pursing her lips into a thin line.
"You think we can get them all back to the Sanctuary in that thing?" she asked in a tired voice.
And Negan, rocking back on his heels, pulled a face and surveyed the truck to his right.
"Well we can give it a good fuckin' try, Darlin'..." he mused, looking back at her, his lips curving up into an arrogant grin.
"...I mean, they don' call us the Saviours for nothin'."
Thanks to CLTex, Megshinkley, Bluebloodssvuorder, Guest, Zapzapyotsuba and jjputnam81 for reviewing.
Please let me know what you thought of this chap.
Have a nice weekend!