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

Welcome home, Boss...

The sky had long since turned an inky black by the time Negan and Blake's truck pulled slowly back through the looming Sanctuary gates, at what must have been gone midnight.

Blake noted that everything felt so still here at this time of night, with far less rowdiness and pomp from the Saviours as there was in the daylight at least.

A crew of three men, that the blonde vaguely recognised, were stood on the other side of the fence, their eyes travelling curiously over the cargo that sat in the rear of their pick up.

Although it had been a struggle to fit them all inside, every single person from Charles's group had was now perched in the back, looking windswept and rather cold in the cool night's air.

On the way back Blake had made sure Negan drove slowly and had reprimanded him when he had driven over more potholes in the road than were certainly necessary. She had of course seen the glint in his eyes each and every time THAT had happened...

Negan, with his is elbow resting cockily against the open driver's side window, slowed to a halt beside the three Saviours as they approached.

"Boys..." Negan said in an easy voice. "...it looks like we have some new arrivals to our lil' community."

He gestured with a soft jerk of his head towards the back of the truck, the three men following his gaze for the briefest of moments before turning back to the dark-haired leader.

"DJ," Negan continued. "You an' Mikey get them inside, get them fed and fuckin' watered, and then make sure they're clear on the rules on their new home. Give them a nice warm welcome from all of us."

Blake pursed her lips, almost rolling her eyes at Negan's tone, his voice just loud enough for the folks huddled in the back to obviously hear.

He was so full of shit sometimes.

Smirking, she turned back towards her passenger side window, staring out onto the darkened lots beyond where she could just about make out the pale spectres of the walkers strung up all across the expansive chain link fences.

She didn't even notice that neither Mikey or DJ hadn't yet responded...

"There a problem?" Is all she heard Negan say in a low and deadly voice after a second or two drawing her attention back to him once again.

His brow was now furrowed, his eyes fixed on the three men before him, all looking sheepish, shifting their weight from foot-to-foot, looking between one another, none of them looking like they wanted to be the first person to speak.

"It's, uh..." DJ said, before gulping, his eyes meeting finally with Negan's. "...it's Simon."

There was a deadly pause as Negan gave a growl beneath his breath.

"What about Simon?" he hissed out in a low, icy tone.

And with another visible gulp heading down his throat, DJ spoke again.

"He's inside...with a bunch of the men.." DJ wavered for a moment before continuing. "I-I think it's best you go take a look for yourself, Boss."

Negan sucked at his teeth, glanced darkly Blake's way for a brief second, communicating with her wordlessly as they often did these days, before giving his door a sudden shove open and stepping out into the night, taking Lucille with him.

Blake let out an internal sigh, before doing the same.

It was cool out now and she felt a sudden wave of guilt pass over her at just how cold and windswept the people all sat in the back of the truck must have been during the ride home.