World Full of Surprises.

Negan watched in something close to disbelief as Charlie walked away. His eyes flicked from the couch to the hallway where she had disappeared. Was he really considering going in after her? Hell yes, he was. That bed was calling his name. He ran a hand through his hair as he looked around. He picked up some of their stuff, making sure it was all together in case they needed to make a quick run for it in the morning. He hoped not because he spotted some instant coffee in the cupboards earlier and he wanted nothing more than to sit down with a cup of coffee the following morning.

Negan allowed himself to make the small trek down the hallway to the bedroom, pushing the door open the rest of the way. A small smile threatened to pull at his lips as he saw her laying underneath of the blankets. He knew that she was still awake so he spoke, “Guess I will take you up on that offer.”

He kicked his shoes off, his heart pounding slightly. The last time he had been close to a woman…. He shook his head as he peeled his jeans off. He made his way to the bed and slid in next to her. His body immediately relaxing into the mattress. He let out a small content sigh as he allowed his eyes to close.

Charlie's mind was screaming at her to do anything but what she wanted to do. She turned on her side to face Negan, hesitating for a moment as she eyed him. He looked so peaceful as he relaxed into the mattress and she knew it was wrong, she did, but she found herself cuddling up to his side. Her eyes darted away from Negan's features as she lowered her head down onto his chest, her eyes slipping shut.

"Relax. It's chilly and body heat is never a bad idea," Charlie commented quietly. Her entire body was rigid, the anticipation only continuing to grow with every passing moment. She knew it was probably crossing one too many boundaries doing this but she had thrown caution to the wind. It was the end of the world, what need was there to be extra careful anyway?

Negan held his breath for a moment, not sure how he felt about the current situation. Yet, the sleep that he was so close to grasping him was fogging his mind slightly. He slid his arm underneath her pillow, allowing her to get closer to him. She was right, the body heat was nice. The temperature was dropping rapidly outside and they could make use of the situation. His mind was reeling between what was happening at the current moment, thoughts of if he was going to be able to get some actual sleep that night, and wondering what tomorrow would bring them.

Deciding that he was just going to shove all those thoughts away, he inhaled and exhaled a few deep breaths. “I am relaxed,” he mumbled, his voice laced with exhaustion. “Just haven’t been in this type of predicament in a while… It’s almost foreign,” he let a small, quite laugh escape his lips. “Go to sleep,” he whispered.

Charlie had since abandoned the idea that she would ever reach her brothers - Negan and she had been on their own for the better part of two months and the progress they had made wasn't nearly enough to her. They should be down there, she should have known her brothers were safe and yet all she really had was Negan. Who she was so incredibly grateful for. He was her rock on the days when she needed someone to be there but she did her best to keep up the front that everything was okay because for the most part, :she had come to terms with things. She couldn't change them so what else was she to do?

Stopping in her movements, Charlie's arm shot out to stop Negan, who walked beside her, in his steps. She motioned out to the left, a frown deepening on her features. "There's screams that way... we should at least check it out."

Negan had become quite accustomed to Charlie being around. He felt strongly about the girl who walked next him, making sure to keep her best interest in the forefront of his mind. He stiffened when she reached out and grabbed him, his ears picking up on the sounds that she was pointing out. His eyes narrowed at her and he began to shake his head.

"It's not a good idea Charlie," he hoarsely scolded her. He was thirsty and he wanted them to keep pushing on until they were able to find something to drink. Possibly something to satisfy the hunger pains that were forever present. But as he watched her, seeing her soft eyes plead with him, he let out a rough sigh. "Just watch out okay?" He muttered as he bang to lead the way.

Charlie was relieved when Negan accepted and began to lead the way toward the screams. She had to hurry her steps to side up to him and with a grin that she flashed him, Charlie shrugged her shoulders. "Besides, if there's screams and no one survives, what if there's something we could use? Dead persons' shit is the easiest to take," she reasoned. The screams were growing louder and so she quieted as they came upon a rather gruesome sight. A man and a woman were fighting through a crowd, the woman only growing more distraught because there was another woman who lay at her feet, clawed and pulled apart. The man, he was getting frantic because there were so many walkers and there was seemingly no way out.

Cursing under her breath, Charlie thought nothing of it as she rushed toward the scene. She jerked the hunting knife from her belt and knelt to lift a branch from the ground in her other hand, using each to take out whatever zombie was within her reach.

Negan laughed when Charlie mentioned taking things from dead people. He had become highly accustomed to her company, her quirky quips, and well… He hated to admit it but he really liked having her around. He furrowed his brows as he heard the screams getting louder and louder. “Ah, fuck.” He muttered as she took off. He hated when she did that because he couldn’t keep an eye on her. She was fierce and independent. And he loved that.

Negan gripped his knife, yanking it from his belt. He followed in her footsteps and began to clear the scene. He knew the pair of them could handle what was going on and he didn’t want to waste bullets if he could spare it.

Once everything had been cleared, he used his forearm to wipe his forehead. He looked around, taking in the surrounding. “Are you both okay?” he asked the two trembling people in front of him. He stepped a little closer, looking them over. “Are either one of you bit? Scratched? Anything?” He couldn’t have people who were a risk near him.

Charlie looked down to her body, grimacing at the guts that had splattered onto her clothes. She reached a hand down, wiping away as much as she could before she looked up to Negan with a scowl. "These were clean, too," she muttered, only to turn her attention to the couple that was still seemingly collecting themselves amongst the bodies of the dead.

Sherry looked down to herself before giving a small nod, "No. No, I don't think so," she spoke, offering what could only be described as a hesitant smile at best. Dwight only gave a nod of his head as he moved to stand, helping Sherry to her feet once he was back on his own.

Clearing her throat, Charlie looked from the couple to Negan and back again. "Do you guys have a camp? Others with you?" She realized it was probably a stupid question but she had learned that most of the times, things were better safer than sorry.

(this post is shit, I'm sorry bae)

“No, we don’t,” Negan listened to Dwight stumble over his words. He couldn’t help but notice how pitiful the man sounded. It looked like the pair of them were in some serious need of help. They both looked as though they were wearing thing. And on account of the situation they had gotten themselves into, Negan was fairly certain they barely knew how to fend for themselves. If they were able to, they probably wouldn’t have gotten stuck right in the middle of a decent hoard of walkers. Anyone with common sense would have strayed away from them.

Negan was almost positive that he and Charlie could use these folks to their advantage. It never hurt to go in numbers. The more people you had who were loyal to you, the better off you would be in the long run. He crossed his arms as he continued to look the pair over, his head tilted to the side. “You both look like you might need some help. Do you guys have anywhere you are staying? Anything that you both could offer?”

Dwight and Sherry shared a look before turning back to Charlie and Negan. Dwight was the one to speak up, trying to take the stress away from his wife. "We don't have much but we have a small camp a little ways away. We were out trying to find food because we were running low and one minute, we were fine and the next.." he trailed off, motioning to the havoc around them. "They were just here and I really can't thank you guys enough for helping us. We don't have much but we'll help with whatever we can."

Charlie stood straighter, offering them not even so much as a hint of a smile. "Take us there and I'm sure that we can figure something out."

They shared another look before Sherry simply shrugged and turned to lead the way back toward their little camp. It wasn't much but it did them well enough and it would have to be fine for Negan and Charlie for the time being.

Ngean kept a close eye on their surroundings as they followed the couple to camp. It didn’t seem as if the surrounding area was too infested with walkers. They could possibly even hole up in the area for a few days. If they did it would give them a chance to hunt and try to find some water.

Negan still wanted to trek on. He wanted to be able to find them a couple of reliable vehicles; possibly even some type of motorcycle. If they were more mobile they would be able to cover more ground. If they could cover more ground, they might even be able to find some sort of permanent residence.

When the stumbled upon their camp, Negan held back a laugh. There were items strewn everywhere, a couple of sleeping bags carelessly placed onto the soil. Were they trying to get themselves killed? “Do you both sleep in shifts or at the same time?” He questioned, trying to press them for more information. He wanted to find out how stable these people were and if they would be able to fend for themselves.

Sherry looked shameful as she opened her mouth to speak, continuing even as Dwight gave her a look to try and silence her. "We do shifts but it's so hard to stay awake in the middle of the night... we usually try to leave the fire well fed in case," she paused to clear her throat, "in the unlikely event that whoever is on watch falls asleep."

Charlie's eyes narrowed at that as she glanced beside her to Negan. She raised an eyebrow, not the least bit surprised by the look that graced his features. He thought they were fucking stupid and to be completely honest, so did she.

"If we're to stick together, that means you both have to pull your weight. We're not here to support deadweight," Charlie explained, her shoulders pulling together as she looked from her long time companion to the other couple. "We'll scratch your backs if you do the same for us."

Negan tilted his head as he listened to Charlie speak. Was this even a good idea if the pair of them couldn’t even do the basic things to keep themselves safe? What kind of danger would that bring to him and Charlie? Charlie. he thought. Negan had made a silent vow to himself that he wouldn’t let anything happen to the woman—no matter how annoyingly self-sufficient she was. Negan liked her. And he wanted to keep her around. He crossed his arms, cleared his throat, and motioned to Charlie with a nod of his head. “Can we talk for a second?”

Negan led them a safe distance away from the couple. When he knew they were out of ear shot he stopped. He briefly licked his lips in an effort to moisten them before he spoke. “Charlie, they seem like the kind of people who are going to get us killed. I am not about to put my life on the line for two dipshits. You really think this is a good idea?”

Charlie was agreeable to following after Negan away from the pair that seemingly didn't know anything about survival. She couldn't wrap her head around how or why but she wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. Negan and Charlie had both been out for far longer than the other couple, she was nearly positive. She cleared her throat as Negan spoke, crossing her arms.

"I think so... we'll try and teach them better. If they don't, if we can't teach them survival skills, then we leave them. But sometimes numbers are better than nothing," Charlie tried to reason, chewing on her bottom lip as she glanced in their direction. "Most people can be taught when it comes right down to it, when it comes to a life or death situation."

“I don’t know…” Negan mumbled as his eyes flicked back over towards the couple. Goddammit, they look pathetic, he thought to himself. He could see in Charlie’s eyes, that for some reason, she really wanted to help the two of them. He narrowed his eyes at her, letting out a rough sigh. “Charlie,” he warned. “If anything happens—anything. They put us in danger, take from us, or whatever—they’re done and I will be fucking sure of it?”

Negan hadn’t meant to come across too rough, but he knew he had. He meant business and he was as serious as a heart attack. “I’m taking this chance because you want me to, just remember that.” He turned around and went to walk back towards the two of them.

Charlie gave a solemn nod of her head, tilting it to the side as she looked up to Negan. A sudden urge to lean up and just... thank him welled but she pushed it away before she could act on the feeling. She turned, walking back toward the couple with a grim expression that matched Negan's.

"We are in charge. You fuck with us, you fuck up, you do anything other than what we ask..." Charlie trailed off with a shrug of her shoulders. "It wouldn't be very hard to leave you behind at all, not if this is how you decided to live life before us."

Negan nodded along with every word that fell from Charlie’s lips. He wanted to laugh at the slightly scared expressions that were coming from the couple standing in front of them. He was wary about how the situation was going to go, but the stern tone in Charlie’s voice gave him the reaffirmation that she was still teamed with him.

“It’s a pretty simple thing to get on with,” Negan’s gruff voice spoke out. “We have survived just fine up until this point, so if you want to survive as well you just need to fall in line.”

Dwight was shaking his head in agreement, looking as though he was ready to do anything to get on board with the duo. “Yes, yes. We understand completely,” he spoke for him and his wife. “We will do whatever it takes, you have my word.”

With a slight tilt of his head, Negan gave a quick smirk. “Alright then.”

Charlie glanced to Negan and didn't dare try to hide the smirk that grew on her features. Not with how easily it had been to double the size of their group. She knew that these people could prove to be a problem but she was hopeful that if they taught them well, that Dwight and Sherry would prove to be well worth saving.

With a sigh, Charlie motioned toward what few belongings the pair had scattered around the ground. "Get your shit together. We still need to make some progress today."

She didn't wait to see what their reaction was before she was turning back to Negan and stepping over to him. Charlie set a hand on his arm and gave a gentle squeeze. "I think this is going to be good, Negan. The more people we have now, the easier it's going to be to gather more as time goes on."

Negan allowed his eyes to wander a little longer than necessary on Charlie's frame as she walked in front of him. Once he realized what he was doing, his eyes immediately flicked down, focusing on the dry earth beneath his feet. They had only been traveling for what he would have assumed to be twenty minutes before Dwight spoke up.

"So are you two a couple or...." Dwight trailed off as he noticed Negan glaring at him. "I mean if that is okay for me to ask."

Negan wanted to tell him that it was none of his God damn business considering they hadn't even known each other an hour yet. But, as he saw Charlie looking at him, he rolled his eye. "Might as fuckin' we'll be at this point, huh?"

Charlie's eyes widened a bit at the question that fell from Dwight's lips, her head shooting up almost frantically as she searched for Negan's gaze. She gave a shake of her head, unsure of how to answer. Sure, they cuddled at night and they looked out for each other and they had slept together but... Charlie shivered as she looked down, feeling her cheeks turning red. "I... dunno?" She produced finally, wincing at the way she had to have come across.

Taking a deep breath, Charlie flashed a smirk as she finally looked up to meet his gaze.

"Are you trying to ask me out, Negan?" Charlie asked, her smirk only growing as she tilted her head back to make proper eye contact with him. "You better make this a good one."