Title: Jar of Hearts

Summary: Falling in love doesn't always turn a bad man into a virtuous hero, but does that mean his love is any less real? Negan/OC evolving into a Daryl/OC

Rating: M for Mature

Disclaimer: I only own the OCs. I don't even own the damn title.

Chapter One

She owed her life to undercooked chicken.

Later, when she had time to think on this, she wasn't sure if she was grateful for this or not. On the one hand, she was alive.

On the other, it was up for debate that this was the preferable option.

Kate Franklin didn't believe in fate, so she knew that the questionable street vendor quesadilla was the only reason she had lived through the early days of the apocalypse. Instead of being at the hospital the day the military had stormed it, shooting the remaining patients and staff, she had been alternating between lying in bed wishing she was dead and getting really friendly with the bowl of her toilet.

As soon as she realised she was sick, she had placed what she knew had to be the weirdest online food shopping order of her life (mainly water and glucose tablets). The guy that delivered it had been the last person she saw. On day four of her food poisoning hell, she had felt human enough to grope on the nightstand for the remote control and turn on the radio. She half listened between anti-emetic induced bouts of drowsiness and it only struck her as vaguely bizarre that when she finally awoke around fifteen hours later that the radio was giving out nothing but static.

Gingerly, she hauled herself out of bed and padded to the bathroom, actively keeping the toilet out of her line of sight. Standing under the shower for the first time in days, her mind drifted back to the dreams that had plagued the better part of her night. Urgent voices telling her to stay inside, stay out of sight. Sounds of gunfire and screaming, a helicopter flying low and the screech of tyres.

The shower had gone cold halfway through. Shivering, Kate towelled herself off and wandered through the apartment. There was a sense of something missing, but she wasn't sure what. Pausing at her answer machine, she frowned. Fifteen new messages? She pressed play and continued into the kitchen, wondering what her still fragile stomach could put up with eating.

Beep "Hey slacker," Jo's voice filled her apartment "I heard you got a bad quesadilla from Salmonella Sally outside the hospital. What did I tell you about those street vendors? Feel better kid. Let me know if you want me to come over."Beep

Beep "Hello, this is a message for Dr Kate Franklin- this is Jim calling from Amazonfresh, I just wanted to make sure that your order is correct?" Beep

Beep "Hey gorgeous, it's me," Kate smiled as Aaron's lazy drawl reached her ears "I talked to Jo – what were you thinking? I think I know you well enough to know you don't want anyone to see you ralphing, but if you need anything you know where to find me." Beep

Beep "Dr Franklin, this is Dr Helen Chase. I understand you are currently unwell, but I'm calling to confirm that you definitely won't be able to make it into work anytime soon. I'm afraid we've had a surge in the ER and as usual, are pretty short-staffed. Would love to hear from you ASAP. Thanks."Beep

Beep "Katie, it's your mom. I haven't heard from you in a couple of days – are you OK? Call me when you get this."Beep

Kate sat at the breakfast bar, gingerly nibbling on a slice of toast and half listening to her voicemails. At the twelfth message she froze, fully alert. Her toast lay forgotten on the plate and she had sat like a statue, a chill descending on her already cold shoulders.

Beep "Kate, are you there? There is some weird fuckin' shit going on out here. Have you been watching the news? There are people literally coming back from the dead. A guy I know who works down in the morgue got bitten by one of them. There are more of them on the streets every twenty-four hours. Listen, if you aren't somewhere safe you need to lock your doors, turn out all the lights and wait for me to come get you. We have to get out of the city - the army's going to evacuate the hospital tonight and we have to be there."Beep

Aaron had sounded terrified, breathless, like he was hurrying down the corridor at the hospital. Kate slid from her stool and went back to stand in front of the answer machine.

Beep "Kate, I don't know how much of the news you've seen, but things are getting pretty bad out here. Please don't leave your apartment until Aaron can get to you. Sam and I are going to gather supplies today while he helps to get the patients airlifted out and then he'll come to your apartment and we'll go to the hospital together. You need to pack light OK? Bare essentials only."Beep

Beep "Katie," Jo's voice was thick and cracked. She was crying "Katie, Aaron's dead." Kate felt her legs give way and she crumpled heavily to the floor "The military stormed the hospital and shot everyone who was left. There's no evac. We have to get out of here. The city isn't safe anymore. Sam and I are coming to get you so be ready for us. There's a group of families from our neighbourhood that are going to travel together and Sam's brother has a truck. He'll bring us to you. The military are setting up road blocks all over the place and shooting most people on sight so it may take us a little while but we are coming for you."Beep

Kate sat on the ground, dazed. Her mouth was dry, her tongue and teeth coated and chalky. She felt the grain of the carpet digging into the bare skin on her legs.

This had to be a joke. That was it – Aaron and Jo were playing a trick on her, teasing her for being so stupid and eating from the street cart that was the number one cause of visits to their own ER. They were probably at her house now along with Sam, giggling over their genius. That had to be it. It couldn't possibly be real, and yet... Kate was reminded of the disjointed dreams that had disturbed her sleep the night before. She was also suddenly keenly aware of what was missing from her surroundings, what had been bothering her since she had awoken. No traffic noise. Kate dragged herself to her feet and staggered to the living room window which faced out onto the street. What she saw caused bile to rise once more in her throat.

It looked like a war zone. Burnt out cars and bodies littered the street. Half a mile to the east, she could see the hospital – or more accurately what was left of it. The once pristine white building was now dotted with flame bitten windows. A plume of black smoke belched from the roof. Kate reached a palm and placed it on the chilly glass, hardly daring to believe what she was seeing. Looking to the west she could see the end of the street piled high with sandbags. A tank sat in front of it, seemingly unattended, its gun poised toward a target long since obliterated.

A sudden sound back to the east made Kate start and crane her neck around to see its source, flattening herself against the window, her face crushed against the pane.

A woman was running down the street, her hair in disarray and the knees of her thin cotton pyjamas bloodied. Tailing her was a shambling staggering wreck of a man missing an arm and soaked in blood. His remaining arm reached out toward her, grasping the air in her wake. Kate watched aghast as the woman ran as fast as her legs could carry her, always only just a few steps out of reach. As she ran, she cast a glance backward at her pursuer. This was to be her undoing. Kate gasped as the woman tripped over the legs of a prone body and went sprawling across the floor. She scrambled backwards on her backside; she was close enough now that Kate could see the look of abject terror on her face as the man closed the distance between them, kneeling down and hungrily sinking his teeth into her neck. Kate whirled away and ducked underneath the window where she couldn't be seen, her heart pounding like a jackhammer and tears in her eyes.

What the hell was going on? How had this happened? Tears streaming down her face Kate trembled as she crawled across the floor back to the phone and grabbing it from the cradle, fingers shaking as she dialled 911. She gagged as the polite automated voice told her that the phone line was currently unavailable and to report to her nearest evacuation site.

The TV. There had to be some information somewhere. Kate scrambled toward the TV and turned it on. She flicked through the channels, all of which showed similar versions of the same message: 'A state of national emergency has been declared. Please remain calm and make your way to your nearest evacuation site.'

X

Kate wasn't sure how long she had lain on the floor in front of the TV, bathed in its eerie blue glow, but when she heard the low rumbling sound of a vehicle in the street and looked back toward the window, night had fallen. The sounds got nearer and nearer until Kate guessed that whatever it was was in the street directly below her apartment. Slowly, she crawled back toward the window and braved a peek outside.

There was a truck parked in the street below, the engine still running. The streetlights had been cut off so the only light came from the truck's headlights, which were bright but seemingly smeared with a mixture of mud and something viscous. Kate's heart leapt into her throat when she realised it was gore.

The woman from earlier – or at least, what was left of her – lay in the middle of the street with her attacker still feeding on her. Since Kate had last looked, another man, naked from the waist up and covered in scratches, had joined him. Kate stared, so transfixed in her horror that she only noticed the tall dark figure of a man emerge from the truck and stride towards the feeding frenzy in the middle of the street when he raised a long thin object and brought it crashing down on the head of the shirtless man with a sickening crunch. Before Kate knew what was happening, a scream of horror escaped her lips. The figure whirled around, looking towards the source of the noise. Kate clapped a hand over her mouth and sank back beneath the window once more.

She sat frozen in fear for a few moments, not daring to breathe. Had he seen her? Would he be able to figure out which apartment was hers? Her apartment was shrouded in darkness, save for the blue glow of the emergency message on her television screen. At least twenty minutes had to have passed before she moved a muscle. The truck's engine had been switched off but she hadn't heard it drive away. Slowly, tentatively she crawled back up to look out into the street. The men that had been feeding off of the fallen woman now lay in a crumpled pile on top of her, their heads oozing black blood all over the street. The figure who had murdered them had disappeared. Kate scanned the rest of the street as well as her eyes could manage in the dim light, but could see nothing. Her grip on the window ledge had only just loosened when a loud knock at her door, a punch of sound into the previous silence, made her jump and catch her breath.

For a moment, she did nothing but stare at the door wondering she had hallucinated the noise. When it happened again, louder and more insistent this time, she let out a squeak and felt her stomach turn in fear.

"Doctor Franklin, is that you?" A man's voice, deep and purposefully clear, came from behind the door "I've come to collect a Doctor Kate Franklin. Jo and Sam sent me. Please open the door."

Kate crept towards the door, her hear in her throat. When the knock came for a third time, she heard herself croak "Y-you know Jo?"

"I'm Sam's brother. They've gone to the hospital to find supplies and whatever might be left. They knew you were alone. Please can you open the door? It's not too safe on this side of it."

Kate pressed herself against the door and whispered "You murdered those two men."

"Murdered? Honey... they were already dead. Have you seen the news? Please open the door. I know it's scary right now, but we're real short on time and I'm not here to hurt you."

Kate's fingers fumbled numbly with the locks. Pulling back the door hesitantly, she came face to face with a man in his early forties, tall and lean with a handsome, rugged face. He did look a little like Sam and that comforted her. Over his shoulder was slung a baseball bat covered in blood and that did not comfort her. He was dressed in dark jeans and a zipped up hooded sweatshirt. He looked tired but alert.

"Can I come in?" He asked again, gently pushing against the door with the bat. Kate shrank back as entered her apartment, his eyes never leaving hers. He looked at her in a way that made her feel exposed and uncomfortable. She glanced down at herself, suddenly remembering her decision to only wear shorts and a vest straight out of the shower (which felt like a million years ago) and looked back up at him.

"I... had food poisoning."

"You look like someone who had food poisoning." He gestured to the door "You'd better close that."

Kate quickly complied "What did you say your name was?" She could see an ID lanyard hanging from his belt with his photograph on and his last name – Egan, the same as Sam's.

"I didn't." He turned to smile at her "I'm Nick."

Kate could see the ID card in full now – she was in the company of one Mr N. Egan.