Chapter One

"Fuck!" He pressed his face against the cool window pane, mouth slightly agape. He wiped the muggy fog from the window with a quick swipe of his sleeve. "What the fuck is fucking happening?"

Bang! Bang! Bang! The sounds of gunfire ricocheted through the hospital, making him duck away from the window instinctively. Negan gave a furtive glance to his wife and baby behind him before another series of gunshots caught his attention. He peered over the windowsill. A line of men dressed in combat gear pointed their rifles at the civilians. They barked orders, but he couldn't make out anything distinct. The civilians kept shambling towards the soldiers, orders be damned.

One of the soldiers shot a pale, sickly looking man in the head. Negan's stomach lurched as the man dropped to the ground, dead. Blood oozed out of the forehead wound onto the dirty floor below.

He pounded his hand on the glass. "Jesus, fuck! They're shooting innocent fucking people!"

The crowd continued to shuffle towards the soldiers, unfazed by the dead man or the gunfire. As they kept advancing, the soldiers opened rapid fire. Pieces of skull and other viscera exploded everywhere, splattering cars and people alike. Negan put a shaking hand over his mouth, unable to tear his eyes away from the people dropping like flies. Why weren't they fucking running away?

A lone woman broke through the line, and grabbed the nearest soldier. Her teeth sunk into the exposed flesh of his neck, like a knife cutting into butter. Thick, dark blood leaked from the corners of her mouth, dribbling down to his army uniform. His screams carried over the gunfire and into the room, making the hairs on Negan's arm stand on end.

He backed away from the window as stars burst in front of his eyes, hands threaded behind his head. Fuckfuckfuck. Gripping a chair for balance, he bent at the waist, heaving and gagging. The last time he'd seen that much fucking blood was when one of his dipshit students headbutted another, busting the poor kids fucking lip wide open. Even then it was enough to make his stomach churn.

What the ever loving fuck was going on? For once in his damned life, Negan was glad to be inside the hospital, rather than out of it.

As soon as he'd caught his breath, he turned back to his wife. "Lucille, baby?"

His heart dropped at the sight of her ashen skin. All that noise and she was still asleep. She must have been worse off than the doctor said. He stumbled over to her and placed a hand on her forehead. Fortunately, she no longer felt feverish. He bent over and kissed her cheek.

An hour ago, the nurse had promised she would be back as quickly as she could. He couldn't wait for her any longer.

"I'm going to find out what the fuck is going on." He gave the baby in her lap no more than a cursory glance as he strode over to the door.

Annoyed, he peered down the hallway towards the nurses station. Both empty. Where the fuck was everybody? He jerked a hand through his hair and slammed the door shut again. Fucking useless nurses. The rustle of the sheets drew his attention and he smiled. Thank fuck, she was finally waking up. For a while there he was worried she was going to….He couldn't even form the thought in his mind.

He raked a hand back through his already messy hair. Lucille liked to tease him about the stupid hairs that landed on his forehead.

"Okay, everything is going to fucking be fine." He didn't know if he said it for her benefit, the baby's or his own.

He glanced back over at the closed door and shook his head. An empty nurses station was a bad fucking omen for sure. He rolled his neck, listening to it pop as he kicked a chair beside his wife's bed.

He reached over and stroked the delicate skin on her cheek, another smile coming to his lips as her lashes fluttered. The baby in her lap yelped and nestled deeper in her blankets, eyes slowly disappearing behind long dark lashes.

Lucille's face twitched and from behind the curtain of her thick dark hair, her eyelids fluttered.

"Baby?"

She let out a low growl that rattled from the back of her throat. The sound sent a chill through his spine and goosebumps popping up all over his hairy forearms.

"Do you need some water?" He cleared his throat several times, choking back the warbling tones, as he snatched up the pink plastic hospital cup. He put the cup to her lips and tried to coax some water into her. With one jerk of her head, she sent the cup skittering across the floor and water sprinkling over the baby's face and down the front of his shirt.

"What the fuck, Lucille?!" He wiped his hands down his chest as the baby started to whimper.

She didn't respond, though her mouth hung open and her gaze was fixated on the baby in her lap. The newborn whimpered and stretched her arms above her head. Lucille lowered her head slowly with the apparent intention of giving their baby girl a kiss. He breathed a sigh of momentary relief. But the more he looked at her, the more the hairs on the back of his neck stood on edge.

"Lu? Baby?" He took a tentative, hopeful step towards her.

A deep garbled growl came from Lucille's throat as she inched closer to the baby's face, teeth bared, sending another jolt of panic straight through him. As he moved around the bed, she gasped and snarled.

"Lucille?!"

At the sound of his voice, she glanced up and jerked towards him, rolling off the bed. The sudden movement sent the tiny baby sliding from her lap and towards the edge of the mattress. Negan lunged forward with a startled cry, catching the baby before she fell to the floor. With his arms full of the precious newborn, he wasn't able to catch Lucille too. She hit the ground with a sickening thud before lifting her head at an odd angle.

Growling, Lucille reached out for him, clawing at the air and gnashing her teeth. With a startled cry, Negan pressed himself against the wall. He watched as his wife stumbled to her feet, his heart pounding. She staggered, like she was standing for the first time, before propelling herself with surprising speed towards him. He dodged to the side, barely missing her grasp. She mirrored every step, until his back pressed against the wall. The baby in his arms began to wail.

"Please fucking stop, Lu. Please baby, it's me," he whispered, tears filling his eyes.

That fucking thing was not his wife. Keeping his back to the wall and Lucille in his sights, he made it to the door. He slipped out into the hallway, slamming the door behind him. He scanned the area for help. A surge of hope and relief raced through him when he spotted the doctor kneeling by the nurse's station. Even from behind, Negan was sure it was him. He stared daggers at the fucking guy yesterday when he had started fucking rummaging around between his wife's legs to deliver their daughter.

Now didn't seem like the best fucking time for him to fucking take a break.

"Hey! Doc! We fucking need some help over here. I don't know if you've fucking noticed but there's some serious shit happening outside and my fucking wife….Fuck, help us," Negan called, hurrying towards the hunched over form. As he neared the doctor, a bubble of dread rose in his belly. At first he couldn't figure out why. When he reached the nurses station, he froze at the sight of a pair of unmoving, pantless legs. The doctor obscured his view of the rest of the body, but from the pool of blood surrounding the two, there was no doubt that person was dead, dead, motherfucking dead.

"Fucking hell," he gasped, cupping his baby's head as she began to whimper again. The doctor's head snapped round to face him, his gaze milky and expressionless, just like Lucille's. And just like the crowd outside...God fucking damnit. Negan's stomach lurched as the doctor shambled to his feet, bloody and broken with a mouth full of...flesh. Negan gagged a couple times as the doctor inched his way towards them. The putrid smell of death wafted over them, making the baby cry and bringing Negan back to his senses.

"Fuck you. Not my baby girl you fucking shithead," he said angrily, backing away from the advancing doctor, whose pace quickened with every step Negan took. Whatever the fuck this thing was, he wasn't fucking letting it near himself nor the baby. He planted his sneaker in the middle of the thing's-more monster than man-chest and sent it sprawling. He stood frozen in place as the Doctor pushed himself to his feet, undeterred from the boot to his ass. It's jaws snapped and the clacking of its teeth brought him to his senses. The fucking woman outside bit into an armed soldier like he was a fucking filet mignon. Fuck that.

Panting, he turned on his heel and raced back down the corridor as fast as he could without dropping the baby. He stopped outside of Lucille's room and stared at the door. That wasn't her anymore. Whatever it was, it wasn't her. He heard her scraping and banging against the door from inside the room, desperate to get to them.

"Fucking eating people…" He held the baby against his heart. As much as he didn't want it to be true, he couldn't change what he'd seen.

Sick people tearing fucking chunks out of other people with no remorse, or visible disgust. He could only assume that's what she would do now if he went back to her. It would most likely be him and his baby next.

His eyes watered and a single tear slipped down his cheek. He shook his head, resolute. They had to peace the fuck out and fast. Otherwise….they'd be one of them.