Little Red Riding Hood. The Big Bad Wolf. Negan had the remnants of the bed time story he'd ready to Lucy in his mind as he stood watch alone outside the walls of the Manor.

He looked to his left and right. Some fifty yards away on either side of him were two others defending the community as he was. Night after night they stood awake waiting for the enemy to appear like a ghost from a fog. On night four after finding the heads impaled on sticks there was nothing.

Negan reached into the pocket of his leather jacket and removed a cigarette, leaning back against the wall. It was the one and only perk to being out alone at nearly two in the morning. There was no one there to give him a lecture about his smoking habit - something he only dabbled in from time to time when he was bored, stressed and occasionally after an above-and-beyond sex session with Alexandra. She never gave him a hard time about it. It was Sarah who hated to see him smoke.

Probably health class in school, he suspected.

Aside from the one vice, he wished he wasn't alone; particularly at the late hour. He wished after the bed time story to his kids he could sit and watch a ball game with Alexandra reading a good book beside him. On a good night she'd lean over and run her hand down his inner thigh and kiss him once with meaning.

He lit the cigarette and took in a long drag before blowing it out as he let his mind proceed with the daydream. Negan sighed, wishing he was at home with his family cuddled up beside Alexandra in bed and sleeping soundly beneath the covers.

For a moment he imagined what she looked like at that moment - possibly laying partially beneath the thing gray sheet on the bed with her feet sticking out at the end because of the warm air. She couldn't sleep without a cover on, even in the hottest of temperatures.

Negan smiled to himself and took another drag from the cigarette. He loved the little things that lingered between the two of them; things only he knew about Alexandra, and things only she knew about him.

"Negan!" Vince's voice shouted a whisper in his direction and Negan turned to his right.

"What you got Vince?" He began to walk slowly in his direction, raising his weapon as he flicked the barely-smoked cigarette to the side.

"Something in woods," Vince whispered again, "This way." He nodded with his head and met Negan halfway between their posts.

"Walker?" Negan leaned an ear and listened, thinking he heard growls but they stopped so abruptly that he couldn't be sure. He glanced at Vince and then waved a hand as the two of them crept slowly toward the woods line.

"Someone's definitely there," Vince said with a confident nod. His hand tightened on the trigger of the rifle perched in his arms and he attempted to control his breathing.

"Chances are they fuckin' know we're here," Negan said quietly. "If it's fuckin' people we're dealing with."

The faint sound of leaves crunch could barely be heard even in the silent nature of the midnight hour, but Vince had picked up on it and Negan sensed it now. He crouched lower as he walked out of instinct an kept his gun raised as the two of them crossed through the barrier of trees.

"I can't see shit," Vince informed him.

Negan didn't respond. He scanned the area methodically, going from left to right and back again.

Nothing. There was no one. Not a sound. Not a movement.

He swallowed hard and looked at Vince, who's uneasy expression made him want to give him a smack in the back of his head to give him a shot of angry adrenaline.

"Stop right there." A female voice interrupted the eerie silence causing both men to halt. Negan kept his gun raised and whipped his head around in all directions contemplating whether or not to respond.

"You with the gun," the voice spoke again, "Lower it."

"Fuck you," Negan replied. His eyes widened and fingers tightened around the weapon when what appeared to be a walker emerge from behind a tree. "What the fu-"

"Stop." The voice was coming from the undead. "We have the means to kill you on the spot."

"What the fuck are you?" he couldn't help but ask when more began to emerge from behind their respective trees, and then others in rows behind them in the distance. Negan's eyes scanned the forming mob of walker-looking people, all who moved far to human-like to be undead. "What the fuck..."

"Drop your weapon to your side sir," the woman repeated calmly, "Or I'll add you to our collection."

"What collection?" Vince choked out.

"I suppose you saw the heads of our enemies... and you'll become just that if you don't oblige."

Negan looked the woman up and down, disgust plaguing his features but he let his arms hang down as their numbers grew before them. "You are fuckin' creepy as shit doll."

"Name's not doll," she replied behind a mask the appeared as if it was made of walker skin, "It's Alpha."

"Alpha male."

"Alpha female," she emphasized. "I don't want to hurt you... but you did kill our family."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Negan asked.

"The undead. You set them ablaze in the massive fire... did you not?"

"How the fuck is that family?"

"They were our means of survival," Alpha claimed, "Our mob. You killed them. Now we're left homeless."

"I don't understand," Vince claimed, shaking his head in disbelief.

"We lived among them; controlled them. These suits masked us to them and they were our protection. We set up camps and roam the area." Alpha turned back to Negan sensing he was more in control, "You ruined that for us and for that we have a severe bone to pick."

Negan's eyes scanned the crowed when he heard a collection of whisperers. His eyes widened a bit when a figured that towered even over him stepped in beside Alpha.

"This is Beta," she claimed, "My number one. We live on the front line, so to speak, and people have followed us in this lifestyle."

"What the fuck does this have to do with us?" Negan asked, eying the tall man in the skin suit.

"You poked the bear by starting the fire," she said calmly, "Now, it's either time to talk and set things right... or die."