A/N

*Sorry for the re-upload, something went wrong with the formatting and the chapter was unreadable, random letters and symbols everywhere oops*

Hi again! I don't think I've written for this story in like a year? Oops..

Hope you've been enjoying the 6 chapters I wrote before this, this installment just offers a bit more insight into Wren's life pre-apocalypse but there will be more Negan soon (the next part is already in the works!)

As always, thanks for reading and please leave a review if you have the time :)


"And I thought things couldn't get any worse."

He turned to look at Wren and was quick to realise who she was, shock spreading across his face upon seeing her alive and well in a world that had fallen apart not long after their own lives – their life together – had disintegrated faster than they could've ever imagined.

Reluctantly, he stepped away from the gate, slowly heading over to where Wren stood, frozen in time and unable to speak. The air suddenly thickened around her and she just couldn't breathe, especially when he stood right before her.

"Wren…oh my god, I didn't think I'd ever find you…"

"Why the hell are you here." She muttered in response as memories of their past life came flooding back.

"I could ask you the same thing. I've been here months now, earning my keep. Negan is a tough guy to work for, but a fair leader I guess." He smiled, almost desperate to soften Wren's hardened expression. "Who'd have thought that we'd meet again after the world had ended. It's crazy right?"

"David, stop talking." Wren shook her head and took a step back. "How can you be like this? Talking to me like we're two old friends happy to see each other…"

"Well I am happy to see you." David shrugged, still smiling somewhat. "Why wouldn't I be? We were close in the past, surely you haven't forgotten that?"

"Unfortunately I can't." Came Wren's sharp reply. "And frankly, I would've been happier to never see you again. It would give me great pleasure to see you go outside of these gates and get ripped to pieces."

David chuckled as though he were trying to mask his offence. "You don't mean that…"

"You're right. You shouldn't even be here, you should've died when you burnt our house down. When you killed our little girl."

"That's not fair, Wren. You know that was an accident."

"You could've been a man. You could've saved her. But you were too drunk to get off your ass!"

"Hey, if you hadn't been whoring it up, it wouldn't have even happened."

At that, Wren swept her palm clean across his face. "I did everything I could to keep our family afloat because you couldn't stay sober long enough to hold down a job. If you think I enjoyed doing the things I did then you're even more deluded than I thought you were."

"Can't we just move on?" David grimaced, apparently not intending to retaliate after Wren's outburst. "That was years back and I haven't touched a drink in ages – it's hard to be a raging alcoholic nowadays. I'm trying to be a productive member of society here, you should give me a chance too. You might even fall for me again." He winked, a cocky smirk in place.

"I fell out of love with you a very long time before the fire...that was just the final nail in the coffin." Wren insisted, her expression blank. "Now I have things to do. Hopefully I won't see you around."

"Ruby would've died anyway!" David shouted after Wren, stopping her in her tracks. "This world ain't exactly the place to raise a kid. Maybe…maybe things worked out for the best."

"You didn't just say that." Wren stared wide-eyed at him for a moment, astonished that even he'd be able to say something so cruel so casually. "If only I had a gun right now."

"You really don't mean that, you're just upset. I know me being alive is a shock to you but you'll come around eventually…you always did right?" He laughed, smug smirk in place.

"I hate you, David." Wren hissed, clenching her fists together. "You disgust me, and you're fucking delusional if you think I'd come running back to you after all this time. In fact, you better stay away from me from now on."

"You're being unreasonable, Wren!" David called after her as she quickly walked back inside. "You can't avoid me forever, we'll have to talk about this eventually!"

"No. No we won't." Wren clenched her teeth, anger searing through her body at the memory of that night. "Because if you come near me, I will kill you."

Wren didn't look back. She couldn't bring herself to take a moment to acknowledge the reality of the situation. Her husband – ex-husband – was alive. Ever since their divorce, Wren had hoped to never cross paths with the man who had taken everything from her and the apocalypse, as terrifying as it had been, had also presented Wren with the silver lining of never having to see him. In fact, she'd long-since assumed David to have died. Or perhaps that had been nothing more than wishful thinking.

Her head spinning, Wren found herself roaming the hall until she reached the armoury. Knocking once, she was pleased to hear no answer and, guessing that those in charge were on a break and Negan was still drinking amongst his so-called friends, Wren entered. Since her assigned job at the Sanctuary took place within its secure boundaries, Negan had stripped Wren of her weapons upon arrival…or at least that had been his reasoning for doing so. But now that she'd come face to face with the past she'd been desperate to forget, Wren felt it was necessary for her to at least have a weapon handy. Wren wondered what to arm herself with; a blade would've been easier to hide but a long-ranged weapon would've been more useful in the event of a surprise attack – walker or otherwise. Hearing voices at the end of the corridor outside, Wren quickly pocketed the closest knife and slipped out of the room, hopefully undetected. Nobody really knew her so only those close to Negan would've challenged her reasons for being in the armoury in the late hours of the night.

Unless of course she ran into the leader himself.

He whistled to grab her attention, approaching her with a few long strides while Wren stood still, wondering if he'd seen her leave the room.

"What're you so far away from your nest, birdie?"

Wren turned around to see Negan and his right-hand man, Simon, watching her closely. "You know you're not supposed to go down these parts…"

"I got lost," Wren replied quickly, trying to keep her composure. "Just wanted to get my bearings."

"Is that right?" Negan cocked his head to the side, a wicked grin in place as though the situation amused him. "Hand it over."

Wren sucked in a breath and smiled as innocently as she could manage. "Hand what over?"

The leader chuckled and shook his head. "You just left the armoury. I don't think you went there just to get your bearings, did you?"

"You've got no proof." She told him, folding her arms across her chest. "And you can't frisk me."

"Well I wouldn't be complaining if I had to…" Negan grinned.

"Should I search her, Negan?" Simon asked, watching Wren narrowly.

"No, she'll hand it over. Won't you birdie?"

Knowing that Negan was aware of the knife in her pocket, Wren knew she had to admit defeat this time. But how could she?

"I need it." She insisted, thinking back to the smug look David had given her at the gate.

"And why do you need to arm yourself? We have good security here, nothin's getting in here."

"Please, just—"

"He said hand it over!" Simon shouted, taking a step forward.

But Negan stopped him, sensing that something was off with Wren. "Leave us." And of course, like every other obedient man in the compound, Simon left. Just like that.

"What's going on?" Negan cocked his head to the side, genuinely curious as to why Wren was acting so out of character. She seemed oddly vulnerable, a trait which she hadn't displayed before.

"I don't want to talk about it. Especially not with you." Wren bit her lip, refusing to show Negan any sign of weakness.

Negan stepped forward, extending his concern further. "Has something happened?"

"I said I won't talk about this with you." Wren snapped, reaching into her pocket and taking out the knife. She threw it on the ground, the sound of it clattering on the cold stone echoing through her mind, reminding her that she wasn't safe. "Take the fucking thing, just leave me the hell alone!"

Then Wren stormed off, mind racing with thoughts of what she could do. She needed to protect herself, because she knew exactly what David was like…what he was capable of.


Wren was unable to sleep that night, her thoughts plagued with the memory of that night, the dreadful scene playing in her mind over and over on a continuous loop. She recalled how she'd let out a loud and pained cry when she saw the small body bag being removed from the house, how she'd screamed and hit her husband for what he had done, vowing to never forgive him as the firefighters held her back. She never did forgive him.

David had never been much of a father to their daughter Ruby but to Wren, that little girl had meant everything. She loved taking her to the park on the warmer days and reading to her until she fell asleep on the nights where she wasn't out trying to make ends meet. It had been years but Wren still remembered every moment, every single thing, about her daughter. Ruby's small, freckled face flashed across Wren's mind every single day and in her dreams, scenarios would be played where she was still alive, learning to adapt in a new world wrought with danger.

After the fire, Wren had been unable to return to the house she'd once shared with her husband and daughter, instead moving to live with her parents, away from the painful memory of her daughter's death. David had tried to contact her an endless amount of times, to beg for forgiveness and to convince her to call off the divorce, but Wren had refused any outreach because any love she had left for him had been replaced with pure hatred. The only time they met face to face was to finalise their divorce, after months of Wren fighting to separate from her husband, and it was there that Wren had deemed David dead to her.

"You died in that fire." She'd said to him as they parted ways. "In my mind, you're dead."

And ever since the apocalypse had begun, Wren had presumed that David was dead. She and her family had never ran into him when their home town gathered to become one collective at the very start of the outbreak, nor had he tried to find her…all contact had just ceased to exist. Just like she'd thought David had. But now Wren knew that he was alive and it scared her. David had had such a hold over her in the past; knowing exactly what to do and say in order to reel her back in. He was lazy, selfish and cruel and yet her past self hadn't been able to escape him. The apocalypse had been the only thing to help break her away from her ex-husband's stronghold…but even that hadn't kept him away for good.

Wren wanted him out of her life for good but, even though she had threatened to kill him, she doubted that she ever could. Sure, she was a strong woman and the end of the world had only enhanced that strength, forcing her to do things she never even dreamed she'd be able to do, but murdering a man in cold blood seemed impossible. Even after all that he'd done to hurt her…and their daughter.