Red River Blue

Chapter 81

Negan knew Harley never even technically agreed to participate in his little wager. But it still irritated him to no end to see her making headway with that big silent goon when he hadn't even managed to speak to Alpha alone yet. The only times she spoke to him at all were to ask him questions about the coalition. Beta and Harley were both present for those interrogations. Aside from that, the woman didn't seem to have any interest in him at all. He was almost starting to doubt his own attractiveness. Negan knew he was a little rusty but he wondered if it was possible that he'd actually lost his edge during all those years that he sat captive in Hilltop. He'd been giving that mack truck looking baldy the eye and his signature Negan smile since he got here. And she'd been ignoring the fucking fuck out of him. When he saw Harley walking back from the creek with Beta trailing behind her, Negan decided it was time to step it up a notch.

The shit filled ditch wasn't his preferred location for a possible romantic encounter. But it was the one place he knew he could catch the woman alone. When he rounded the corner, Negan expected to catch Alpha with her pants down. Literally. But what he wasn't expecting was to witness her in the process of squeezing out a large stubborn turd. His stomach turned at the sight. The smell wasn't much better. And when she rose and pulled her pants up without even the pretense of wiping he had to fight to keep control of his gag reflex.

Alpha not only dressed in a masculine clothing, there was really nothing feminine left about her at all. She'd become so hard that she was really more like a weak man than a woman. There was nothing appealing or alluring about her at all. Still, Negan smiled as he made a show of raking his eyes over her body.

"Didn't mean to catch you with your pants down," he joked, hoping for at least a smile in return.

"We keep the latrine on the edge of camp for hygiene, not privacy," she informed him, speaking in her eerie high pitched monotone.

Negan fought back the urge to huff in frustration. The wretched bitch wasn't giving him anything to work with. Not a smile or a glance. Nothing. He was beginning to wonder if maybe she was batting for the other team. Maybe that's why she wasn't fucking her giant henchman.

Negan took a few steps, moving closer to the shit and piss filled trench. Alpha didn't seem to be returning any of his feigned interest. But she wasn't leaving either. After watching her take a massive shit, his poor dick was like a shriveled worm in his pants. To counteract this, he had to conjure up the most provocative images he could think of, which of course were of the woman he generally spent his time trying not to fantasize about. Thoughts of River flashed through his mind in rapid fire. The way she rubbed up against him outside the barn party. And the things he would have done to her if he'd been deep enough in the bottle not to care about the consequences.

By the time Negan whipped his dick out, it was at least halfway hard and large enough to be impressive even at half mast. Alpha made no pretense about where she was looking. She stared directly at his dick before she turned and started picking her way up the incline. Negan grinned to himself. She might be fooling herself. But she wasn't fooling him. He saw the heated gaze in her eyes.

"Me and you, we're a lot alike," Negan said. "I was the leader of a group. We had rules. A way of life. I know how stressful life at the top can be. How lonely…"

When she turned and took a few steps back in his direction, Negan was sure he had her. He didn't actually say the words. But he made his intentions clear. He was willing to help her relieve some of her stress. Negan reached for her, fully prepared for the woman to throw herself into his arms. He was taken completely by surprise when she spun slightly to the side and threw her weight into him. His boots slipped against the edge of the pit and he fell backwards into the massive stinking pile of human excrement.

"You and I are nothing alike," Alpha said, giving him a satisfied look before she turned and continued on her way.

Negan groaned. He was more than a little relieved that he didn't have to mate with the human version of a praying mantis. But that feeling was heavily tempered by the giant mass of stinking shit that was squishing around him. He shifted his body, trying to find a way to get himself out of the disgusting trench without actually having to put his hands in the filth. Turning, he gagged and wretched as the smell overtook him. On the plus side, he didn't even think the dead would come near him as bad as he stunk.

"Need a hand."

Negan glanced up, a more sincere smile lighting up his face when he saw the woman he met in the clearing standing over him. She reached out her hands, letting him get a solid grip before she helped him haul himself back onto his feet.

"I'll show you somewhere you can wash up," she offered.

Negan thanked her. But after that, he forced himself to stay quiet as he followed her through the woods. It was the first good look he'd gotten of this woman without her dead skin mask on. And he had to admit, she looked like she might be something close to pretty if she washed some of the filth off. Her vibrant blue eyes stood out against the dark muddy smears on her face. And even though her hair was dirty and tangled, he could tell she was a redhead. Her body was curvy enough that her feminine shape was visible even under the layers of baggy rags she was wearing.

They walked longer and further than Negan expected. He assumed she was going to lead him down to the nearby creek. But instead he found himself following her deeper into the woods and finally up a steep incline. When the smell of sulfur hit his nose, Negan knew the walk had been well worth it. The steaming pool of naturally warm water was well hidden behind a large rocky outcrop. A small waterfall trickled down from above on one side, likely making that side of the water a slightly lower temperature than the other.

Negan wasted no time in stripping out of his soiled clothes. He scrubbed them off as best he could, hanging them on a nearby branch to dry before he slowly eased himself into the water. It was hotter than he expected, almost like an old world hot tub.

"Aren't you coming in?," he asked, directing his question to the woman that led him to this strangely idyllic place. When Negan started removing his clothes, she turned her back to him, offering him the most privacy she could given the situation. She didn't turn back around until he spoke to her.

The woman turned around, her cheeks flushing under the streaks of dirt as she let her eyes linger on the old faded tattoos he had on his chest and arm. "Okay," she said, unable to stop the slight quiver in her voice. "Turn around."

Negan grinned as he obliged her, turning his back to her while she wriggled out of her clothes and lowered herself down into the water. When he turned back around she was completely submerged under the surface. The woman popped back up, cupping the water in her hands and using it to scrub the streaks of dirt off her face. It amused him to know that his earlier assessment of her was right. There was an attractive woman under the baggy clothes and dried on mud. Like most natural redheads, she was fair complected with pale blue eyes. Her ample breasts were floating buoyant under the surface of the water.

"Come here often?," he teased.

"My sister liked it here," she said, tipping her chin back and dipping the back of her head into the water so that her hair was slicked back away from her face.

Negan put aside the fact that she was either ignoring or dense to the fact that he was using the oldest pick up line in the book on her. He focused instead on the way the woman was speaking about her sister in the past tense. He came for Alpha. But from his limited observations, this woman might serve his purposes just the same. She belonged to the group of whisperers that were in charge of corralling the dead. Which meant it was a given that she had knowledge of where they were being kept. And she was not only infinitely more attractive than her unhinged leader, she also didn't shove him into a massive pile of shit and piss. Once he knew where the hoard was, he would be free to destroy it and kill Alpha outright without any further games or pretenses.

"What happened to your sister?," Negan asked. He didn't really need to ask. If the woman was gone, it was almost certain that she died ugly.

"She was the one your friend threw into that herd in the clearing."

Negan's eyes widened. He cursed under his breath, suddenly nervous that this woman had lured him into this deserted place for something other than a warm bath. He wasn't getting a revenge killer vibe from her. But from what he'd seen, most of these people had more than one screw loose.

"It's okay," she added, picking up on his sudden nervousness. "She wasn't right after she lost her baby. If it didn't happen then, she would have found another way. At least Alpha's still alive. We'd be dead without her."

At the mention of a baby, the wheels in Negan's mind started turning. There were lots of ways a woman could lose a baby in this world. The baby Aiden and Rosita took in wasn't necessarily the same baby her sister lost. But there was a chance it might be.

"Was her baby the one that those kids saved outside Hilltop?," Negan asked.

The moment the words were out of his mouth, he noticed an instant change in the woman's demeanor and facial expressions. Up to this point, she'd been speaking in the strange detached monotone all her people seemed to favor. Even without the mask, her face was a mask, devoid of any real expression. The mention of her sister's baby lit her face up like a christmas tree.

"What happened to her? Is she alive? Is she okay? Where is she?"

"That's a lot of questions," Negan observed. "...Might be, I've got some answers. But nothing comes free in this world."

"Please," she begged. "I'll do anything. Just tell me she's alright."

"She's alright," Negan confirmed. He held up his hand, clicking his tongue at her before she could barrage him with more questions. "Now it's my turn." The woman eyed him curiously. But she didn't look nervous or scared. And he briefly wondered what she would do if he pulled her into his lap and demanded her body as payment for the information she wanted from him. He suspected she wouldn't resist. But that was a game for another day.

"What's your name?," he asked.

The woman balked slightly, obviously surprised by his question. The whisperers didn't have names. It was one of the things that Alpha stripped from them as a means of control. Negan wondered if her hesitation was due to the rule she was about to break by telling him her name, or she was so far enmeshed that it was taking her a moment to remember what it was.

"Mary…," she finally said, her voice barely above a whisper. Her blue eyes were downcast, almost like she was ashamed of what she said. But then she swallowed, looking up at him expectantly. "Do you know where my sister's baby is?"

Negan nodded. Even if he didn't know he would probably pretend he did. But that wasn't necessary. Because he knew where the kid was. Aiden and Rosita took her in. He wasn't exactly on friendly terms with either of them. But he saw the kids often enough in passing that he could confirm the baby was healthy and happy and being well cared for.

"I do," he confirmed. "But that information ain't gonna come cheap."

"What do you want to know?," Mary asked. Negan smiled at how quickly she'd caught on to his game of tit for tat. A question for a question. And the one he was about to ask her was loaded. Once the words were out, she'd know he wasn't just the outcast drifter he claimed to be.

"Where is Alpha keeping her hoard?"