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

Long, lonely nights

Chapter rated M

The days seemed to drift slowly by...

You'd have expected that with each day that passed, for Blake, things would get easier, with memories of her short time at the Sanctuary slowly drifting away.

But they didn't.

Things of course went by as usual at Alexandria. Rick, Sasha, Michonne, Rosita, as well as others, would go out, day-to-day, try to find guns, or at least try and scavenge enough food to keep the Saviours at bay for their next offering.

But as the hours and days ticked by, Blake felt herself becoming more distant and withdrawn from the type of life she had so been used to here.

It had been strange, at first, to be back....with faces, some she recognised, some she didn't, all whispering behind their hands about her...gossiping, speculating....mainly about David's death...but sometimes Blake had caught sentences slip from people's mouths...callous and uncaring...

"I don't know....he always seemed nice to me..."

"Yeah...you don't know...maybe she's lying.....I mean, he seemed like a good guy...and if he did hit her, well, maybe she did something to deserve it...."

"What? Like betray us?"

"Well you never really know about some people do you...?"

This had been one example of a conversation two middle-aged women from across the street had murmured to one another, when they had thought Blake had been out of earshot.

But talk like that was common here. For what else did anyone have to gossip about these days? Although that still didn't make it hurt any less.

It seemed like no-one trusted her anymore, and they were probably right to. She, above anyone else, in both this place, and back at the Sanctuary, had held Negan's favour. And that was a rarity in this world.

Not only had the dark haired Saviour let her live, but he had given her a room, a view, a life, even pizza, for god's sake...

She knew the ins and outs of the Sanctuary far better than anyone else here did...and yet she was still feeling tentative about giving up any information to Rick.

For she knew what would happen....even if the people here did manage to storm the Sanctuary, then what? Their numbers would still be no match for the vast amounts of burly Saviours Blake had seen at the factory whilst she had been there, let alone the number of people Negan had at his outposts. It would be suicide.

And so Blake knew that she would keep her mouth shut, and reveal little to nothing about her stay there to Rick, or Michonne, or in fact, anyone who asked.

And they had asked. Again and again and again. ENDLESSLY.

At first, their words and questions were kindly, with a faux pretence of caring.

But after a day or two they became almost desperate...begging her for any scrap of information that might be able to use to help their cause.

"Are you sure there's nothing you can tell us about Negan?" Rick had asked tiredly as he had come to Blake's door one afternoon, under the pretence of coming to bring her some fresh vegetables they had traded from the Hilltop.

But Blake had stood there, one hand on the door, lips pursed, not wanting to let him inside.

Rick was a good guy, she could tell that. But she still wasn't about to give up any of Negan's secrets to him.