Red River Blue

Chapter 53

"It's just you and me Cujo," Negan joked, lifting Daryl's puppy up into his lap as he kicked his feet up to rest on one of the large rocks that bordered the firepit.

After being babysat like a child for the last two days, Negan was finally left to his own devices in Alexandria's campsite. He did receive a stern warning from River before she left for the movies. She told him if he knew what was good for him he would stay there and not go looking for any more goddamn trouble. And for once, Negan intended to listen. He knew if he started any further bullshit, there were going to be consequences. He didn't think Alexandria's council would kill him. But there was no question in his mind that they would gladly ship him right back to Hilltop to live out his remaining years pruning tomatoes. And he was sick of pruning tomatoes.

Alexandria was the place for him. The only place where his particular talents could be put to good use. And Negan had a funny feeling that despite all the hatred each and every council member had pent up inside of themselves towards him, that they were still going to let him stay. They were nothing else if not resourceful. And he was a resource. He was convinced that they would see it eventually, if they hadn't already.

Negan rubbed his hand over the puppy's soft downy fur as he swallowed down the last few sips of the iced tea in his insulated cup. Popping the top off, he shook a chunk of ice out into his mouth and crunched on it as he lowered the puppy back onto the ground. A chipmunk skittered across the open grass between two nearby tents and Negan laughed as the small dog chased after it, tripping over his own paws in his excitement. Wrapping his shirt around his hand, Negan lifted the small skillet he was using to warm up his dinner and moved it away from the fire to cool down.

Knowing that watching Daryl's birthday present chase chipmunks was only going to entertain him for so long, Negan glanced around. He knew which tent was River's. And he knew that she and her one armed husband always had extra books lying around. People borrowed and returned reading material from them all the time. Going in River's tent was probably an invasion of privacy. But Negan figured if he only meant to borrow a book, it probably wasn't a major violation. It's not like he was going to barge in and rifle through River's panties, though the idea of it made his pants suddenly fit a little tighter in the crotch. He tried his best not to think about River like that. Those thoughts were never going to amount to anything but trouble. The kind of trouble that would earn him a lot worse than a timeout in HIlltop's gardens. But after half a day of watching her bounce around the bakery booth in her little cutoff shorts, Negan was having a harder time getting her off his mind than usual.

Negan ducked his head as he stepped inside River's tent, leaving the flap unzipped behind him. The window covers were open to allow the early summer breeze to pass through. But he could still smell the lingering odor of sex and the fruity body spray that River hosed the blankets in to try and cover it up. He reminded himself that he was looking for something to read. And there were books stacked up on both sides of the bed. Negan took a step towards the side of the bed that didn't have a hairbrush lying next to the books. But he quickly changed his mind and headed the other way, curious to see what little miss cupcake was reading.

From the illustrations on the covers, Negan could tell that River's reading material consisted mainly of romance novels. It made him chuckle. He grabbed the book on top of the stack, laughing when he realized that all the juicy parts of the story were dog eared. The corners of the pages were folded in and creased. Negan flipped through the book, opening it to one of the sections River had marked. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to read there. Some swooning fluffy romance scene where all the vital body parts were described using vague euphemisms maybe? Negan's eyes widened slightly after the first few sentences. And he flipped back to the cover, looking at the picture of the scantily clad woman sandwiched between two muscular cowboys and laughing. This wasn't a romance novel. This was straight up porn, including a graphic description of the illustrated woman in question being taken roughly in both holes by two men with giant dicks.

"Damn girl," Negan muttered, sliding down onto his butt as he read the rest of the raunchy scene. Curious to see if the other books were as filthy as the first, he reached for the next one on River's stack. As he pulled it off the top of the little crate, a pair of River's red lace panties came with it, the edge of the almost non existent garment caught between the pages of the book. The used panties fluttered down into his lap and Negan plucked them up, unable to stop the images of what he was sure River looked like wearing nothing but a red lacy thong from flooding his mind. Years after the only time he'd ever seen her naked body, he could still picture exactly what she looked like wearing nothing but a pair of mismatched socks. Regret and guilt filled him along with the intense rush of desire. He knew taking her like he did was wrong. But when she offered herself up like prime steak on a platter, he didn't have the self control to refuse.

"...you want me to blow you right here then or what?," River asked, her hand cocked up on the naked curve of her hip as she regarded him with a questioning glance. Negan knew he ought to call her a slut and tell her to put her goddamn fucking clothes back on. And it wasn't the sexy curves of her otherwise slim body that broke his resolve to do so. It was the daring defiant look in her eyes. She took off her clothes because she didn't think he had the balls to do anything about it. And before he even realized what he was doing, Negan had River by the arm marching her towards the camper.

He only meant to scare her. Once they were inside the camper, he expected River's bravado to crumble. For her to cower and cover her naked breasts with her hands. But she didn't. Instead, she regarded him with a look that almost signaled boredom. Like she was completely unimpressed with him and the power he was currently weidling over her and her people.

"Aren't you scared?," he asked, his hand stroking up and over her shoulder before he moved it down to cup one of her full rounded breasts. Her nipples were already rock hard, puckered up by the cold air outside.

"Scared?," she asked with a high pitched giggle. "Of you? You ain't about to do anythin' ta me that ain't been done before." River's eyes shifted to the bat that was resting against his shoulder. "...And guessing by the size of the bat yer compensation' with, I doubt I'll even feel it."

Negan cocked his head to the side, blinking his eyes in disbelief. It had been a long time since someone mouthed off to him. Especially to that degree. Not only was this little curvy slip of a woman not cowering in fear, she looked ready to laugh in his face. And he couldn't have that.

Negan turned, lifting Lucille and slamming her down onto the small pressboard table. The cheap wood cracked, splitting the table almost in half. And finally, there was a flash of fear in River's blue eyes as she flinched away from him. Negan tossed his bat on top of the broken table. Then he grabbed her, one arm circling her slim waist to pull her against him as the other twisted into her hair and forced her head back so she was looking up at him. He kept expecting her to break and beg him to let her go. But she didn't. Not even when he dipped his head down and forced her lips apart with his tongue.

"Yer gonna do more than feel it," he taunted. "I'm gonna make you come screaming my name."

River snorted, making it clear that she wasn't impressed with his confidence. He tightened his hold on her hair, pulling at the roots hard enough that he knew it ought to make her wince.

"Say my name," he ordered. "I wanna hear you say it."

River narrowed her eyes at him. Her throat bobbed and he assumed she was just swallowing her pride. But really, she was gathering a large wad of spit onto her tongue. Pursing up her lips, River spat directly into his face.

"Fuck you," she hissed.

Negan released his hold on her. Partly out of shock. And partly because he needed his hands free so he could pull his red scarf off his neck and use it to wipe River's spittle off his face. He kept an eye on her as he shrugged out of his leather jacket. As he pulled his t-shirt off over his head, he gave her a choice.

"You can either say my name," he told her. "...or I can put you over my knee and make you say it. Your choice sweetheart." At that point, Negan wasn't sure if he wanted her to give in and say his name or if he hoped she wouldn't. So that he would have an excuse to pink up her tight little cheeks with his open palm.

Not only did River not say his name. She lifted her hand and flipped her middle finger up at him. Then she laughed. Her high pitched giggles bounced off the walls of the small camper as Negan grabbed her by the arm and drug her into the bedroom. Pinning her legs between his thighs, he turned so that he could force her face down onto the already rumpled bed. It wasn't until he brought his hand down across her ass for the third time that he realized his rough treatment was not the punishment he intended it to be. He was arousing her. She was so wet between the legs that when he moved, there was a dark spot on his jeans where her mound was pressing against him as he spanked her.

River never screamed his name. But she did scream as she came, orgasming so hard that there was a puddle on top of the cheap comforter between her parted knees. And even after that, she was still eager for more, climbing into his lap and bucking her hips into his until he spilled himself inside her with a loud roaring groan. He all but begged River to come back to the Sanctuary with him after that, offering her anything and everything he had to offer to convince her to be his. River refused him, of course. He learned later that she had a husband and a baby waiting for her at home. And not an after the world fell let's survive together husband. But a real one. Like his Lucille…

"Get it together," Negan told himself, scrubbing his face with his hands and trying to banish thoughts of the incident from his mind. Negan took another look at the panties in his lap before he put them right the fuck back where he found them. He was debating whether or not to put River's porno book back with them or read the rest of it when a shuffling noise outside the tent caught his attention. Several years in a cell hadn't dulled his survival instincts. Negan ducked, scrambling across the floor of the tent and lying against the fabric wall under the small mesh window. He could see the shadow as someone peeked inside. But from his vantage point, he couldn't tell who it was. When he hid, he was really only concerned about being caught in River's tent. But as he lay still, only a thin layer of waterproof fabric separating him from the other man, Negan felt the hair on his arms start to prickle up.

A flurry of loud voices and small stampeding feet could suddenly be heard as people rushed back into the campsite. And Negan knew his instincts about whoever was on the outside of the tent were right when the person quickly ducked down to avoid being seen by the small crowd that was entering the area. Negan could hear the kids. And at first he assumed they were just running back for a snack or something else they forgot to take to the movies with them. But then he heard River's voice. It was filled with fear and panic as she urged the children to stay close to her. River didn't scare easily. If she was ready to panic, Negan knew something bad was happening.

"I'm gettin' my gun outta the tent!," Axel hollered. And Negan heard River tell the boy to get hers too. And to hurry up. Negan sucked in a hard breath when he saw the shadowed figure on the outside of the tent move. Axel shrieked when the figure darted around the side of the tent and grabbed him.

"Ger yer hands off him!," River screamed. Lydia gasped, pushing Annie behind her in case the man had more than a knife. Monroe was crowding into River's side, fat crocodile tears already running down over her cheeks. Judith went for her bow, stringing an arrow and pointing it at the man that was holding a knife to Axel's throat. Hershel plucked a large rock from the edge of the firepit and was already starting to edge around the man.

"Don't try any bullshit," the man warned. "...or I'll gut him like a fuckin' pig."

"Just let him go," River said. "We don't want any trouble." The man pointed at Lydia and smiled.

"Kill her and I'll let the boy go," he ordered.

"What?," River gasped. She glanced between Lydia and the man that had a knife to her son's throat, her eyes widening. Clearly, her and Lydia bringing the kids back to camp to keep them safe while everyone else looked for their missing family members was the worst idea of all time.

"Do it now," the man ordered, tightening his grip on the boy. He pushed the edge of the knife in harder. And Axel yelped as the blade cut his skin. River moved, picking up a small paring knife from one of the food prep tables. She wasn't sure what she could do at this point. Except stall and pray for a miracle.

River was breathing hard and fast, cursing herself for never practicing her aim. If her oldest daughter was here, Harley could hit the man dead between the eyes with the small knife River had in her hands. A skill that River unfortunately lacked. She blinked her eyes. River had no idea where the hell he came from. But suddenly, Negan was rising to his feet behind the man that was threatening her son. It was like he suddenly materialized out of thin air. River moved towards Lydia with the knife, hoping to keep the man's focus on her. Which worked. Because he didn't realize Negan was there until the bones in his wrist were snapping.

Negan gripped the man's wrist, forcing his hand out and away from Axel's throat. And then he twisted, not just enough to make him drop the weapon altogether but breaking his bones and making him scream in pain. Negan's other hand was locked into the man's greasy mass of hair,

Axel dropped to the ground, one hand moving towards the cut on his throat. With his other hand, he snatched up the knife that the man dropped. Ignoring his mother's desperate cries for him to come to her, Axel looked up at the man that just cut him, his little face contorted with anger.

"Fuck you," he hissed, stabbing the knife down through the center of the man's foot. Axel gripped the handle on the knife and twisted it, tearing the man's foot open and making it so the wound would take longer to heal. River must have decided she'd seen enough. Because she rushed forward, pulling the knife out and dragging her son back. She checked the cut on the boy's neck, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw it was just a surface wound. Monroe ran for the first aid kit.

"Stay here," River warned, pointing her son towards a camping chair before she ducked inside Daryl's tent, reappearing with a large rifle in her hands and a bundle of nylon rope hanging over her shoulder.

"What are we doing with this fucking fuck?," Negan asked, jerking the man's head around by the hair and jacking his arm up harder against his back. River tossed her gun onto her back, grabbing a metal folding chair and dragging it away from the end of the picnic table.

"Don't kill him," she warned. "They took our people."

The man screamed as Negan walked him forcefully over to the chair despite the wound on his foot. Negan held him immobile while River used the extra tent rope to tie him up. When she finished, she slapped the man hard across the face, rocking his head to the side.

"Who's missing?," Negan asked. River shook her head.

"Sam. Mika. Beth. Frankie's been gone all day. I'm not sure who else," she admitted.

"My mom was here," Lydia added, still hugging Maggie's daughter against her. "I think they've been here all day. Maybe longer."

"Fuck!," Negan huffed, repeating the word a few more times. Ezekiel and all his peace and love bullshit. Letting anyone and everyone into the fair. That shit had to stop. Negan was honestly surprised that something like this hadn't happened before now.

Negan locked eyes with Lydia, ticking his head towards the man in the chair. "Does he know where your mother took our people?," Negan asked. Lydia nodded. She recognized the men. He was a shepherd, usually responsible for corralling the dead. Something that was considered important and impressive work by whisperer standards. And he was here in town. Assigned to kill her. Which meant he knew where to meet up with her mother and the others once he finished his job and left.

"I know how to make him talk," Axel announced. He moved towards the man. His neck was freshly bandaged, the collar of his shirt stained with blood. And from the look on his face, it seemed that stabbing the man through the foot had not satisfied his craving for revenge. "Let's cut his balls off!," Axel suggested with unnecessary excitement. Negan fought back a laugh.

"I've got a better idea," Negan said, pointing the boy towards the supply tent. "Go get me a pair of pliers from the toolbox. Sharp ones." Axel nodded and tore off into the supply tent with Hershel hot on his heels, appearing a short few moments later with a wicked looking pair of pruning shears. Negan took the shears, motioning for the boys to step back.

Crouching down in front of the man, Negan clamped the shears together a few times in front of his face. The man gulped, his throat bobbing as a large wet stain spread out across the crotch of his pants.

"I'm gonna ask you a question," Negan told the man, snipping the shears together a few more times. "And I'm gonna give you ten chances to answer it before I kill you."

Negan moved around behind the man, positioning the man's thumb between the sharp curved blades of the shears. River felt her stomach lurch when she heard the shears clamp shut. The man screamed in agony as his thumb dropped down into the grass under his chair. And Negan asked his question for the first time.
"Where the fuck are our people?"