God damn right you should
be scared of me
Who is in control?

***

━━━━━▼━━━━━

The garage door rose up, and the women was already waiting as if she warned. But Blake didn't hold anything against her, probably never even fired a pistol. So she relaxed her trigger finger as Dwight came up beside her. "I...Figured you were coming...Right this way." She quickly followed Rick's order further into the garage.

As Blake took a survey of the food on the shelves was she in mere understanding that their system wasn't so much different than their own.

"You run the show in here?" Negan pondered the thought allowed. "I—I just keep track of it all, the rations, the guns..." He motioned her to continue through, but he did not order Blake to follow. So with that Arat went in steed.

"...I just want to point out to you that I'm not taking a scrap of your food. Slim pickings in here. And I can't be the only one to notice that you got a fat lady in charge of keeping track of rations, can I?" Blake so lazily rolled her eyes at his damned joke, wanting to throw up at how inconsiderate he was about something like that. So instead she went outside and looked to see Dwight, he nodded off towards her but instead she was already fumbling with her smokes.

"He bothering you again?" She snickered, smiling up and taking off her hat for a moment to wipe her forehead from the sweat. She offered him one as well because this is probably the only chance they'll get to be alone. 

"When isn't he?" Blake continued back, Daryl was being ordered off to transfer the guns and that made Blake breath easy that he wasn't being tortured anymore. Seeing the sunlight and gaining fresh air into his lungs.

"Waiting for the day you tell him off, but to be honest...You'd probably turn him on." She cracked another genuine smile as Dwight held a lot of power ever since he returned back from his attempt in running away.
Which she aided him with.

"Thanks, I really needed that image...You think they're gonna get the bike?" 

"Oh they better..." He growled, defensive over everything that wasn't his, but Daryl's.

Almost like he wanted to be Dixon's twin at this point.

"Think it'd be okay if I ride with you back?... I just, I met with Addie and it didn't...Go well." She whispered, breathing out again as her head was completely down and away. 

"Blake..." He whispered, trying his best to consult her but she shrugged it off.

"She hates me because I can't do anything, it's too late for us to backtrack, Negan is making it a vengeance. And I think it is because I don't know what to do anymore." Her emotions were coming out even further, her shaking demeanor was making her worse by the minute and the only thing he could do was offer a hand to her shoulder. Making her gaze up.

"How pathetic do I look?" 

"You haven't seen your daughter in how many years? You thought her dead or in another state...She can't blame you for anything Blake." Dwight's rye smile made her lean back against the wall further. 

"I'm her mother, and I wasn't there..." She spoke without any conviction, nothing left in her fight for today that it was the steps that made her wipe the tears all the more quickly.

"Hell are we talking 'bout over here?" Negan dwelled, but noticed something odd about the women before him, she was still and not removing the ash from her cigarette. Her glance was rimmed with swollen red eyes. 

"Dwight, I need you to help Arat and the rest of 'em. Hop to it." She closed her own eyes with the order into the world, and while he was distracted to see him walk off. Did Blake inhale longingly, not daring to look up hun.

"I'd offer you a hug doll but I don't wanna get stabbed." He joked, and the laughter that came out of her throat only hurt him more. There was a reason she wasn't with her daughter right now. But she wasn't budging just yet. 

"You okay?" She shrugged, still not really looking to her leader.

"Darling...Darling...Come on now, what do I have to do to get you to smile again?" She took an honest step forward and planted her head to the leather padding of his shoulder. With his free hands did he pull her closer, his lips automatically reacting to her as they managed to reach down to her temple. 

"Almost done sweetheart, then you can get drunk off your ass and sleep till noon tomorrow. I won't give a shit." That made her body show a sign of a chuckle, while her chin connected to his shoulder blade now. 

"That doesn't sound productive sir..." She whispered, closing her eyes and moving away. Negan could only wish to hold her once again...

"Oh but it is, so let's go get some guns huh?" She nodded, finishing off her smoke and while she was about to step on it to crush it. He beat her to it.

"I do have something to find though..." Her eyes glanced down that single hallway where people were going back and forth. 

"Anythin' you want darling, dibs is all yours...Hell if you want Rick's fucking shirt off his back I will gladly get it for you." She chuckles and shook her head. "His pistol maybe." She cooed, knowing full well that nobody should have it besides her.

"Your call darling, just keep smiling cause when you start cracking it makes me think when I'm gonna start." 

"So I guess we're both having a drink tonight then...Unless you're busy with all this shit." She speaks, taking a look around the pantry. But the man just began stroking his beard. 

"Oh hun, you best know we are..." He promises, and with that they both strive outside. Only for Blake to be stopped by Arat and she waved off Negan for him to continue to torture Rick.

"They had everything booked?" Well that made it easier, so while Blake trailed through the neat handwriting, her eyes finally landed to the sniper rifle. Handing back the book did she see it lodged in the corner. 

"Ma'am?" The soldier questioned, and she nicked her head in a silent order for him to hand her the sniper. It still had it's skin cover as well as the pack with bullets beside it. "Didn't think you liked snipers Blake?"

Arat questioned, crossing it off as well as whatever is left as people came out of the room. "It's mine." She offered up, showing the same number from her dog-tags to the one imprinted on the butt end of the stock.

"What else are you holding out on me?" Blake grinned widely and whispered that Negan did in fact make a comment about the leather vest, which completely changed the height of the topic.

"Oh darling, when you said you had somethin' to look for...I didn't think that was up your alley." He generally spoke, and Arat continued to cross of the given entrance. But Blake disregarded him as she looked straight to Rick, who refused to look towards her in fear of retaliation.

"I see you figured out my house safe huh?" She spoke, and he instantly knew he was being talked to, so his face was completely relaxed as she sounded like her old self. Just discussing something about work or over the phone, and his rye smile picked up for a moment.

Negan had to stay silent, there were a few things racked in his brain that he wanted to say. But didn't considering they were either inappropriate on Blake's behalf, or they'd make her angry. And for the first time in a while, did he list to his gut and manage to see Rick normal for once.

Maybe Blake would be the bridge between these two communities like they've always planned. "Hell did you have a sniper at home for darling?" 

"Just in case if I was sent back to California...Remember that Rick? I told you and Lori that I had to go back to training?... That was a lie." She smiled up to Rick, ripping off her hat so he could see her for the first time without it.

He caught his breath to see how much she's actually changed, her eyes were dead, and if there was any sort of spark to ignite in them. They'd be raging with fire, the scar down her right cheek was in an obvious state of healing but didn't look pleasant at all. Choking at the thought that his own people did this, that sunken feeling of how her vengeance is still sanctioned as much as theirs.

"July 12th, 2009...I killed the fifth most wanted man in American and I came back to fucking Cynthiana. A lot you don't know Grimes..." She whispered, but Negan could obvious hear and was loving each and every second. This was the worst kind of torture for Rick. That someone from his past life completely decimated his home and his mindset for her. Although Negan didn't know her beforehand, it seems Rick didn't either. The secrets she's kept hidden are surrounding her, and as Daryl came to as well...She smirked as the lies and deceit seem to be rising.

"Hold...Up!" Negan spoke, taking a pistol off of the bundle Daryl was carrying. And seeing as how he took the stage once more, Blake backed up and away. Eyes were on hers, Daryl's. Because he recognized her from somewhere, yet he could not put a finger on it to save his life. So hurrying off back inside so he could get just another glimpse of who she was before they manage to leave off again will perhaps give him an idea.

"...Let's see if you've been taking care of my guns." Barely a moment of approval did Negan rise it to the air and let a shot ring out, and on second instinct did Blake stop herself from yanking out her own. 

"You see that little quirk the girl's got...I like that about her, always holding off to put another fight out." Negan cooed, laughing as he looked back up to the window he had just taken a shot at.

"Feels good! Sounds good! Oh, I do believe Lucille's getting a little jealous." As he gave compliments to the gun, his eyes were lingering far too long on Blake. Something that Arat caught up on in the instant, she sighed as she heard another incoming order to scan the books on which gun was being processed out.

Oh was Blake in for a long night of talking.

"Well, ho-ly smokes! Look at this!... It was YOU guys that took out little Timmy and the dick brigade?" Blake huffed as it was another long line of people that were killed because of their group. They were missing and in a pile of their ashes did Blake deeming that it was either a grenade or a rocket launcher, making the Saviors look at close by military personnel to see if there were any survivors...Sure enough there weren't. But that issued rocket launcher can't just be found in stores.

"Wow, Rick. Getting in your last licks...Ooh, man, I'm gonna have some fun with this." Blake couldn't, for the life of her, understand why Negan would waste rocket launcher shells just to 'have fun' but perhaps she could talk him out of it...

"Blake." Arat's voice made her attention go elsewhere as she looked on up to see her friend pushing the women in charge of the pantry upstairs. Olivia was struggling, but it was more so that she was being held.

"Please...I-I don't know for—" The women begged, and Arat put herself before either of her leaders. But more so looking at Negan as she wouldn't be able to look to her friend without cracking a smile for what she uncovered beforehand. "Arat...We don't do that unless THEY do something to deserve it."

Negan proclaimed, knowing full well that Olivia's innocence was no more than a teddy bear as she has barely left Alexandria. That much is obvious.

"Yeah. We went through the inventory. Guns in the armory, guns they had around the walls, they're short. Clock 9 and a .22 bobcat." Blake's lips perked as she let out a heavy sigh, knowing full well that Rick is gonna be screwed if he doesn't procure either of those damn guns.

"Is that true?" He questioned, making Olivia nod in response as she looked fearful. Not even daring to look at either of the Saviors before her, as they towered over her. More so than Rick as their shadows were darker...Vengeful.

"We had some people leave town. Those guns probably went with them." Rick pleaded, trying to think of a lie on his feet. But it did not work. "So Olivia sucks at her job. Is that what you're saying?...There should be full accounting here, right? Top to bottom. Am I right?" The women was completely struck with the amount of negative attention he was gaining and struggled for a response yet again.

"You see, what's in here...isn't in there. You're two handguns short. Do you know where they are?" The women before them all stood by her word, although it wasn't her fault that they were stolen, it is evidently her duty to keep everything safe and secure.

"That's disappointing Rick, I thought that we had an understanding. But this— well, this shows that someone's not on board, and I can't have that..." The sinister tone dripping from his voice was enough to make Blake flutter, and once again, Arat caught that notion and bit her lip to destroy the temptation of smiling.

"...I don't enjoy killing women. Men—I can waste them all the live long. But at the end of the day, Olivia, my dear, this was your responsibility. You—" 

"Look, we can work this out." Rick pleaded on the sake of Olivia's wrongdoing.

Blake could already sense that this would be some apprehensive people, who would be? But since there is a log, and whoever took it is downright idiotic for not remembering that key factor...Basically screwing everyone up.

It's either stolen, lost or hidden.

"Oh...Yes we can. And I'm going to—Right now...This was your job, and you screwed up. Keeping track of guns?...That shit...Is life and death." Negan finished, having Arat take away Olivia from the conversation off into the corner between two buildings. There she'd be separated from the rest of the people as Rick called for a community meeting.

Which allowed the entire group to be up and away from the houses, making it easier doing to go through them and find those two guns.

◇──◇────◇────◇──◇

Date Posted: 07-25-19

Time: 1:40

Word-Count: 2518

I found another chapter hidden in the depths of my computer