Author's Note: Hey guys! So I've probably rewritten this story a million times, but I think I've finally decided on a plot.

This will mostly focus on the relationship between Cassie and Negan. Unless you readers really want a pairing, there won't be any pairings in this story. If there is going to be a pairing, then it will be more of a side plot, rather than the focus of the story.

WARNING! This is gonna be a pretty heavy story. There will be multiple mentions of rape, alcoholism, PTSD, abuse, and other things. I'm not going to go into major detail with the rape. It's not going to be pornographic in any way. It will mostly just be implied. If you are triggered in any way by any of these things, leave now. You have been warned. This story is going to be rated M for those reasons. Because I don't want this to go overboard and for personal reasons, I will also be censoring the language in this story.

That's all for this author's note. Please enjoy! And please do leave a review if you have the time.

Chapter One: Welcome Home

"Isn't it lovely? All alone. My heart made of glass, my mind of stone. Tear me to pieces, skin and bone. Hello, welcome home."

Lovely by Billie Eilish

Cassie's POV

"Cass, I really think we should turn back."

I turn around to look at my sister. She's sweating hard beneath her baseball cap, staining her blonde hair brown. Her eyes are still red, and she's panting heavily. She's been sick like this for three days now, and hasn't gotten better. If I don't find some medicine for her soon, she will die. I know I can't let that happen. I already lost our parents and little brother. Losing my sister is not an option.

I walk over to her and hand her my water bottle. She tries to turn it down, but I give her a forceful look and she reluctantly takes it. "Tori, we have to keep pushing ahead. There's supposed to be a town not too far from here. Then we can get the medicine you need."

"I'm fine," Tori tried to protest. But she then starts coughing violently, which only proves my point. She sees the pointed look I'm giving her and she gives in. "Fine. We keep pushing."

"Do you want to rest for a little bit?" I ask her worriedly.

She shakes her head. "No, let's just keep moving. I'll be fine." I nod and we take off again, walking carefully through the forest, being sure to stay close to the road so we know where we're going.

As we walk, Tori starts to pant even heavier. She can't go on like this. I know that. But I have no other choice. I have no car to drive. I have nothing but my wit and will to save her. It's not much, but I refuse to give up. We've survived so much already. We survived Terminus, we survived the bombings in Atlanta, we made it even when the rest of our group didn't. We've come too far for us to just die here, on the side of the road. It can't end like that. I won't let it.

"Cass," Tori pants out. I turn around to see her lift her arm before her knees give out and she collapses to the ground. I rush to her side, pulling out a cloth, ready to get it wet.

"Hold on, Tori," I tell her fiercely. "You can't die on me. You hear me? Don't you die on me, Tori."

"Look," she says weakly, pointing her arm with all the strength she can manage. I look to where she's pointing and see a dull gray car on the side of the road.

I give a breath of relief. "Tori, that's it! Come on. Think you can make it to that car?"

"I have to try," she says weakly. I put her arm over my shoulder and pull her to her feet. She tries to help me as best as she can, but she can hardly stand up at this point. I drag her to the car, and that's when I hear the voices.

When I hear the chatter of people, I immediately drop down behind the car. "Alright! Back it up!" I hear someone say in a very southern accent. A car engine starts and the brakes squeal a little as the car backs up. I press a finger to my lips for Tori's sake as I lean her against a tire. Slowly, I peek over the edge of the car to see what I can see. I catch a glimpse of a couple men. One has curly dark hair and seems to be directing the rest of the group that's present, which is quite a few. Standing next to him is an Asian man and a man with long brown hair.

I start to strain my neck to get a better glimpse when I hear soft growling behind me. I whip around immediately and pull out my knife. It's almost on top of Tori, who is too weak to give me a warning. The biter starts to growl loudly, and comes at me, gnashing its teeth. I quickly stab it in the brain, which causes it to fall to the ground with a loud thump.

I turn around just in time to catch three guns on me. It's the three men I spotted earlier. "Hands up," the leader demands quickly.

"Drop that knife," the long haired one says.

I drop my knife and put my hands behind my head. "Come around here," the leader tells me, gesturing with his gun.

"My sister," I say quickly. "She's really sick. Can you help her?"

The long haired one comes around to see Tori lying on the ground. "Get up," he tells her gruffly.

"She can't," I tell him. "She's-"

He doesn't listen to me as he drops to his knees to pick her up by her shirt. Tori gives no protest, but pants heavily, as if this exhausted her.

"Please," I plead. "She's really sick. She might be dying. Can you help her?"

They seem to be purposely ignoring my question. "Come out where I can see you," the leader demands. I do so, taking slow steps so that he doesn't get spooked and shoot. Several other people have turned to watch the exchange now, to see what's happening.

"Who are you?" the leader asks me. His gun does not leave my face.

"My name is Cassie Draper," I tell him. "My sister is Tori Draper."

"Why were you spying on us?" the long haired one demands, sounding very angry.

I shake my head right away. "We weren't spying on you. We saw the car. Tori can't walk so I thought we had found a solution. We didn't know you people were here."

The Asian man hovered over my sister, feeling her forehead. "Rick," he says to the leader. "She's burning up."

A gray haired lady who's carrying a tray of water, watches the exchange. I look at her. "Can you please pour a cup of water on her head?" I ask softly. The lady doesn't move. She just looks between me and Rick. "Please?" I beg. "She's dying. Don't you people have any sense of humanity? Please help her."

After a few more minutes of staring, the lady goes to pour water over her head. "Look, I know you can't trust us," I tell the leader. "You don't know us. I'm sure you've seen some terrible things, just like we have. I get it. But please. Please just help my sister. Once she's better, we'll be on our merry way." I look around. "Group this size has gotta have a camp. Please help her."

The Asian man starts to reason with Rick. "Rick, if they wanted us dead, they could've killed us. There's more of us than there are of them." Rick doesn't seem to want to listen. He points to my sister. "That girl is really sick. If we don't help her, she will die. That's not the kind of people we are. We help people."

Finally, after a few moments of thinking, Rick lowers his gun. "Yeah," he tells the Asian boy. "Alright." He turns back to look at me. "Hands stay behind your head," he warns me. Then, he comes over and starts to pat me down. Once he knows that I don't have any weapons on me, he backs away.

"Glenn," he says to the Asian boy. "Take her and her sister in a car. Put her," he points to me, "in the cell." He then looks over to the long haired one. "Daryl, go with him. Keep an eye on her. Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid." Then, his gaze turns back to me. "If you try anything, we will kill you. Understand?"

I nod, not at all thrown off by his death threat. I've stared into the face of cannibals and survived. This guy can't be worse than them. With that, Daryl grabs my arm and starts pulling me towards a car. Glenn picks up my sister and gently places her in the passenger's seat. Daryl pushes me into the back seat before climbing in after me. Glenn then gets in the driver's seat and we take off. I stare at the number of people there in awe.

"Is this all your people?" I ask incredulously.

Glenn shakes his head from the front seat. "No. There's more back home."

Daryl gives him a look, telling him to shut up, before turning to me. "You got a group?" he asks me roughly.

I shake my head. "No. We haven't been with a group in months."

"What happened to 'em?" he asks.

"We left," I say simply. "They were crazy. Completely psychotic. They took people in and ate them. Tori and I barely made it out with our lives."

Daryl and Glenn exchange looks. "You were at Terminus?" Daryl asks me.

"Yes." Then I give him a confused look. "How do you know about Terminus?"

"We were there," Glenn says after some silence. "We escaped, too."

I can only nod in reply. Small world, I think to myself. What are the chances of two separate groups ending up at Terminus and surviving?

"And you've been on your own since?" Daryl asks doubtfully.

I nod quickly. "Yes. It's just been me and Tori for months now. You're the first people we've seen since Terminus."

"How many walkers you kill?" Daryl then asks.

I shrug, unsure. "Too many to count. I would say around five dozen, if not more."

"How many people you kill?"

"Two," I reply softly.

"Why?"

"One was a member of Terminus. He was trying to kill us, but I shot him before he could. The other was bit. She asked me to kill her, so I did," I tell him. I don't cry over those deaths anymore. They still haunt me, even now, but I don't cry over it. I've accepted who I am. A monster. There's no point fighting it. You can't be a pure person in this world, and survive.

Tori still hasn't accepted that. Which is why I'm always so scared for her. It's more than just a big sister looking out for her younger sibling. I have to be the strong one. The one who is willing to do what it takes to keep us alive.

"How long have you been out there?" Glenn asks me. "With her like this?" He nods to Tori, who is still lying in the passenger's seat, practically unconscious.

"We left Terminus months ago. Tori didn't get sick until about two, maybe three days ago. It's a miracle she's survived this long. She needs medicine badly. Do you have anything that could help her? A doctor, or something?"

"We have an infirmary," Glenn tells me. "And a doctor. She'll be fine." I breathe out a sigh of relief. If Tori gets the care she needs, then I'll be able to sleep at night. It is only then that I become truly aware of how tired I am. I am exhausted. It's been days since I really slept. I've got a couple of hours here and there, but ever since Tori got sick, I've been having to keep watch, which means less sleep for me. I yawn a little, and lean back a bit more in the seat. But I don't fall asleep. Sleeping right now is not an option. Once we get to their camp and they put me in their cell, then I can sleep all I want.

The drive to their camp only takes about twenty minutes. Once it's in sight, I am sitting up straight in my seat, craning my neck to get a better look out the window. Their camp isn't some meager campground with a few tents here and there. It's huge! They have large steel walls surrounding their camp, and a large fence guarded by plenty of people and guns. When they opened the fence, I saw quaint houses arranged everywhere. There are plenty of people walking around what looks like a park that's in the center of their camp. They are obviously very well off. I can't help the pang of jealousy that spreads through me. Tori and I have been struggling along on the outside for so long, and all along they've been here, living good, comfortable lives.

Daryl pulls me out of the car and I watch as a couple people carry Tori away. Daryl pulls me in a different direction, towards one of the houses. The inside of this house isn't finished. It's walls are bare and the house is empty. The door is designed like a jail door. Daryl leads me to the first room, which is bare except for a small mattress, and locks me in there.

"I'll bring you some food and water," he says gruffly before locking the cell and leaving.

I immediately collapse on the mattress. I don't bother to try to escape. I'm not leaving Tori here alone. Besides, this is the safest I've felt in months, despite being locked in a jail cell. I know I should be suspicious of these people, given that we know nothing about them, but I'm too tired to care too much right now. If they want to kill me, let them kill me. With that in mind, I close my eyes and fall asleep.

Tori's POV

When I wake up, I am surrounded by unfamiliar walls and unfamiliar faces. One is of a blonde lady with glasses, who seems to be muttering nervously about medicine. The other is an Asian man who looks concerned and is listening to the blonde woman. I don't notice the dark haired woman standing next to him until she speaks.

"So what does that mean?" Her voice is very much southern, and reminds me faintly of my mother's voice.

"It means she has Kawasaki disease," the blonde haired lady says.

"Ok, so how do we treat that?" the Asian man asks.

"Fluids, aspirin, and according to this, intravenous immunoglobulin," the blonde one says, sighing nervously. "I'm guessing that's not something you find in your everyday pharmacy. We'll need to get it from a hospital. The closer hospitals have already been cleared out. That means a long trip. She may not make it. We have to act fast if we're going to save her."

The Asian man turns to the dark haired woman. "We'll need a map. Find any hospitals in some nearby towns. I'll start getting a group together." The girl nods, so he turns to the blonde one. "Keep her alive until we get back," he instructs. The blonde lady nods and the other two leave. None of them seemed to notice that I am awake.

I watch out of the corner of my eye as the woman preps an IV. She is about to insert it into my arm, when I notice that she is going to miss the vein.

"A little higher," I say in a croaky voice. She gives a gasp and barely misses stabbing me with the needle.

"Oh! I didn't know you were awake," she says, breathing out sharply. "What did you say?"

"It needs to be a little higher," I tell her. Even speaking hurts. "You'll miss the vein, otherwise." I lay my head back and close my eyes, exhausted from the effort the conversation took. I do open my eyes to watch as she inserts the needle, to make sure she does it right.

"Were you a doctor?" she asks me as she carefully sticks the needle into the right vein.

"A nurse," I respond in a hoarse whisper. That's what I did before the end of the world. Turns out, nursing is a helpful skill in the apocalypse, so I guess I went with the right major. I almost chose education, but went with nursing in the end. Cassie has always been grateful for that.

My eyes flutter open quickly. "Cassie?" I ask in as loud a voice as I can manage.

"She's safe," I am assured. "Daryl said she was napping when he last saw her. She was awake only for a moment to ask about you."

I nod and allow myself to relax. Cassie is safe. As long as she's safe, then I can relax. I want to ask so many questions. Where am I? Who are you? How long have I been here? What are my symptoms? But I can hardly move my head up and down without feeling like I'm dying. So I allow sleep to take me once again.

Cassie's POV

I wake up to see a new face staring at me. A black man with a kind smile, holding a stick in his hand. "Morning," he greets me. "Got you some breakfast." He points to a plate that has a fried egg on it with a fork.

My stomach grumbles at the sight and I pounce on the food at once. "Thanks," I tell the man with a full mouth. It takes me only a few seconds to completely devour the egg. "Do you know if Tori is ok?"

He nods. "She's doing fine. We got her some medicine, and she's on the road to recovery. Doctor says she should stay in bed for maybe a week before she's fully healed."

I nod, grateful for the information. "How long was I out?"

"You slept for about a day and a half. It's about mid morning right now." He nods to the sunlight streaming through the open window. "Excuse me. I have to tell Rick you're awake." He stands up and leaves the room for only a moment. A second later, he comes back in, bringing Rick with him.

"Sleep well?" Rick asks me, almost conversationally. But I can tell by his eyes that he's still suspicious of me.

"Yes," I answer. "Thank you. For saving my sister." He doesn't respond to that. For a moment, he just glares at me. "What?" I ask once I get tired of his glares.

"What were you doing out there?" he asks me, sounding somewhat harsh. I understand why he's acting so cautiously around me. In this world, you can't trust anyone. Not really. It's a lesson I learned the hard way, in Terminus. Terminus is what caused me to lose my faith in humanity. Now I know there's no going back to how the world used to be. We can have some semblance of order, but it won't be the world I grew up in. And that's the fact. Tori used to go on and on about finding some sort of cure, or heading for the CDC. At first I hoped right along with her. Then, years passed and nothing happened. Tori insists that it's just taking time to find a cure, but I don't think that's the case. I think that they've given up, just as the rest of the world has.

I shrug. "Just walking. We were sticking close to the road. I was hoping to find a town. Maybe find some medicine. Find a place for Tori to sleep safely." Rick looks me right in the eyes, and seems to decide that I'm not lying.

"What happened to your people?" he asks.

"The first group we were with got over run by the biters. If any of them are left, I don't know. That was over a year ago. Tori and I ran as far as we could from them. We were on our own for about a month after that until we came across Terminus. We harbored there for only a day or two. Tori quickly found out that the meat they were feeding us was human flesh. She's a nurse and she's been in a morgue before, so she knew what the meat was." I swallow, sickened by the thought of that place. By the idea that I almost ate human flesh. "We snuck out during the night. We barely made it out. Had there not been a large herd of biters passing by, they would've caught us. After that, we were on our own again, until we came across you."

Slowly, after a lot of thought, Rick stands up. He opens the gate. I watch him warily for a moment before I stand up and leave the cell. He shuts it behind me, then looks me dead in the eye. "You try anything, anything, I'll kill you." Again, I'm barely fazed by the death threat. I've heard worse threats in my lifetime, including before the world ended. Besides, I don't plan on trying anything. I want to stay here for as long as it takes for Tori to recover. Once she's better, we'll be on our way, and they won't have to deal with us.

"Can I see my sister?" I ask hopefully, pleading with my eyes. Rick looks to the other man, who nods.

"I'll take you to her," the African American man says to me. I give Rick a nod of thanks and follow the man out of the prison.

Sunlight hits me first, and I bask in the warmth of it, feeling better than I have in weeks. Now all I need is a hot shower and some clean clothes and I'll feel like a normal human being again. The community is filled with the sounds of people chattering, laughing and talking. I see a couple walk by, holding hands. Another lady is pushing her baby in a carriage. It's so peaceful. It's hard to believe that just outside the walls is a world full of monsters.

"What is this place?" I ask my guide, still looking around their enormous camp.

"We call it Alexandria," he tells me. "It was a housing development before the world fell apart. The lady who founded this place had her husband build walls around it. We've got plumbing, electricity." I can hardly believe my ears. Running water? Electricity? I've almost forgotten what it's like to have those things.

"And it's been here since the beginning?" He nods. I can't help but wonder how this place has stood for so long. It's incredible. I catch sight of a toddler running after his friends. He will never have to know about the monsters that live right outside his door. He won't have to face them. He won't go to bed hungry, or worried that he will be torn apart in his sleep. I envy him because I wish I had those things. I wish that I wasn't a monster, just like him. But it's too late for me.

"Here we are." He leads me up to the steps of a building. Inside is a miniature hospital. There are a few other people present, but I ignore them and move to my sister's side. She's sleeping, but I clasp her hand and sit silently beside her.

"Thank you," I tell the black man. "Thank you…"

"Morgan," he tells me.

"Thank you, Morgan," I tell him softly. He gives me a short nod and leaves the building. The others are watching me carefully. I don't recognize any of them. One is a man, who wears his hair in a mullet. The other is a girl with dark hair in a ponytail. The last is a blonde female with glasses.

"She's doing much better," the blonde lady volunteers when the silence becomes too long. "Though she should stay in bed for about a week or so."

"Thank you. What's your name?" I hold out my free hand to her.

"Oh. Denise." She shakes my hand quickly.

"What's your name?" It's the dark haired woman that speaks. She's smiling hesitantly, while mindlessly fiddling with a bottle of pills.

"Cassie. You?"

"Tara," she introduces herself. "This is Eugene." She jerks her head at her companion. "Are you and your sister going to be staying here?"

I shrug, unsure of the answer myself. "I don't know. I'm not sure if Rick will let us stay. Or if Tori will want to stay." Or if I want to stay, I think.

"You should really think about it," Tara suggests politely. "We could always use more people. You'd be safe here." I smile slightly. While I understand Rick's caution in letting me in, I don't exactly appreciate his open hostility. Tara's welcoming person is a nice change.

"Thank you," I say again. Tara then taps Eugene's arm and they both leave the infirmary, leaving me alone with Tori and Denise. Denise quickly busies herself with something else. I sit with Tori for a while, until I start to grow impatient. Eventually, I get up and walk out the door. I stand in the sunshine for a bit before walking down the streets. I search for a familiar face when I catch one walking towards the gate. It's Glenn.

I jog over to him, and he turns to me with a look of surprise in his eyes. "Rick let you out?" he asks when I get close enough.

"He did, but he made it very clear that I was under his watchful eye, and that I better not try anything," I tell Glenn with mock gravity, mimicking Rick's southern accent.

Glenn gives a laugh and a small shake of his head. "I'm sorry. But he's just trying to protect our group. He has to be cautious."

I shrug off his apology. "It's fine. I get it." Glenn looks relieved that I'm not angry. "You guys saved my sister," I say, my voice heavy with gratitude. "That's a debt I can never repay."

"You don't have to-"

I cut him off. "But I need to try. 'Cause I don't like owing people. Makes me feel guilty," I tell him. "So, what can I do to help out around here?"