I think I liked you better when you didn't have a knife in your hand, Peaches

The department store

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.