Chapter One

I was the match, and you were the rock
Maybe, we started this fire
We sat apart and watched
All we had burned on the pyre.

Things we lost in the fire – Bastille

The truth was that when people had talked about the end of the world, it was always thought that it would end with a bang. In reality however, the world ended with a whisper. By the time people began to take notice and realise what was happening, it was already too late. There was no stopping what was happening. The world ended violently, bloody and the lives of those who were unlucky enough to survive the initial chaos were changed forever and there was no going back to what once was.

For Rose McAdams, her world had ended quickly, by time she had known what was happening it was already too late.

After losing both of her parents in a car crash that had almost robbed her of her own life, Rose had decided to follow in the footsteps of those medical professionals who had worked so hard to safe her parents and had saved her. After graduating from school, Rose had spent the next 11 years studying her ass off in order to become a doctor and not just any doctor but a surgeon.

They'd been fed lies by the government, told that the situation was under control and to carry on with their normal lives. So that had been what she had done and she because of that, she found herself in the midst of the downfall of civilisation. One 30-minute nap had altered her life and ripped away her family and everything that she had worked so hard for.

The year she graduated.

The year all of her hard work was set to pay off…

…the world imploded.

"McAdams, get your ass out here now!"

Startled so suddenly out of the first nap she'd had in 37 hours, Rose hit her head hard against the wall. Cradling her forehead, the new doctor looked towards her colleague who was now filling the doorway of the on-call room, his green scrubs splattered with blood.

"Jesus, Hunt what's happening?" she asked, quickly slipping her feet back into her trainers and standing, hooking her stethoscope around her neck before running out after Dr Hunt…

…and immediately into absolute chaos.

How she'd slept through all of this was beyond her. It just went to show how hard she had been working. Everyone in the hospital was pulling double shifts due to the unknown illness that had felt like it had just come out of nowhere.

Rushing after Hunt into the ER she paused.

It was total anarchy.

Some of her colleagues were yelling over the din about a triage area being set up in the cafeteria, trying as best they could to redirect the endless stream of patients down the hall and away from the already overwhelmed ER. "What the hell…?"

"St Margarets has shut down it's ER, they not accepting any new patients, so everyone's been directed here!" Hunt explained over his shoulder, his short copper hair stood up in all directions, only serving to show his stress at the current situation.

"Hunt, we don't have the resources for all these patients, we're already at capacity ourselves." She said, dodging a harassed looking nurse. Her evergreen eyes scanned the crowd wildly, all traces of tiredness gone as concern and fear began to build up in the pit of her stomach.

There were people everywhere, a lot of whom carrying injuries she could tell were easily bites, chunks of skin torn out of arms, legs, shoulders and even facial injuries. It was chaos, almost like the aftermath of a major disaster. Unsure of where to start, the young woman let her attention drift to the television, just about able to make out what the news reporter was saying over the din of the ER.

"Medical professionals and experts alike are still unable to clearly explain to us what is happening and what is causing these people to attack. All anybody is sure of is that this outbreak of violence isn't showing any signs of improving. In fact, in the past 15 minutes, I have witness 6 ambulances and 17 cars pull up outside of this ER, all of them carrying varying degrees of serious injuries. That said they're being turned away due to overcrowding in the hospitals. Speculation right now would have us believe that this outbreak is the result of an airborne virus, a toxic chemical spill or bioterrorism but we still don't know…"

"Mr Smith I'm sorry but I can't…"

"Just someone, anyone, tell me what god damn floor my wife is on! She can't be here…" a man shouted back, waving his hand at the chaos unfolding around them.

"Linda, everything okay?" Rose stopped beside the nurse trying to manage the reception desk, but between the phone ringing and the patients, the poor woman was being pulled in every direction and she looked completely overwhelmed.

"No, the computers aren't working…" the younger girl answered, only to once again be cut off by the gentleman in front of her. Grateful for the reassuring presence of her colleague who would hopefully be able to sort this situation.

"Then look up her fuckin' name in some god damn fuckin' paperwork, it's Lucille Smith…"

"Okay Mr Smith I need you to take a step back and listen, as my colleague has just said, the computers aren't currently working, so right now we don't have access to that information." She carefully explained to the man.

His eyes met hers and for a moment, a small, brief moment something passed between them. She was almost sure if she could reach out her fingers, she'd feel the invisible rope almost tethering them together. It was almost like she could fall into them, those hazel eyes that seemed to hold her captive, rooted to the spot. Rose wouldn't be able to put a name to it, but it was something she'd think back on a lot later on.

With a soft sigh, she gently guided the man aside away from Linda to a quieter part of the ER, close to the elevators, "Mr Smith…"

"Negan." He said interrupting her. Rose smiled softly and nodded her head.

"Okay, Negan. How about you tell me when your wife was brought in and what for and maybe I can help you out." She suggested, a part of her doubting her words as she glanced back towards the chaos unfolding.

"I don't know, a few hours ago. There was a message on my phone, left by her friend saying that Lucille had spiked a fever, so they'd rushed her in, with the chemo the Doctors…"

Rose nodded her head, once again gently guiding Negan away from the ER and the much taller man went with her surprisingly easily. In fact, he had to fight not to lean into the soft touch she placed against his leather clad arm. He knew better than anyone he was the shittiest husband, he knew his marriage to Lucille had ended a long time ago when she'd found out about him and Janine, but they'd stayed together due to her illness.

It wasn't easy, there were days she could barely stay in the same house as him, but he wouldn't walk away. He wouldn't end it because at the end of the day, once upon a time there had been love between them both. Maybe that was gone now but they were still married and until she was through this illness, they refused to acknowledge the true shit show their marriage was. Still, right now all he wanted was to stand here and get to know this beautiful woman in front of him, there was something inside of him almost pulling him to her.

"Whoa watch out Doc!"

Negan grabbed Rose by the shoulders, moving her quickly out the way of a team of medical professionals frantically working on a bloody patient on a gurney as they rushed past by the pair. "Damn…" he whispered, watching the scene momentarily before turning back to the Doctor.

"Thanks!" Rose breathed out, a hand on her chest as she let her focus shift back onto Negan and his situation as opposed to how his firm touch had set of her heart rate. Willing the sudden rush of heat in her face to disappear she tried to smile.

"If your wife is going through chemotherapy and she's got a fever they'll likely have her up on the Oncology ward. The ER isn't the place for someone with a compromised immune system," she explained as gently as she could, stopping in front of the lift and pressing the button to call for it.

Even on a normal day, for someone going through such radical treatments, the ER was dangerous, however with whatever was happening down here tonight, Lucille would have been directed straight upstairs.

"Now if you take this lift up to the fourth floor, there should be someone there who can take you to your wife."

"Thanks Doc, truly." Negan said, his hand going to her shoulder and Rose had to suppress a delightful shiver at the touch. For a fleeting moment she felt disgusted in herself for feeling any semblance of attraction to this man. For one, he was married and obviously deeply in love with his sick wife and two, she had a job to do, one she was completely neglecting right now.

"It's no problem, Mr Smi…Negan. You take care and I hope everything works out with your wife." She said softly, offering him a warm smile as he stepped into the lift and turned back to her. With a final nod of her head Rose turned her back on the stranger and headed back into the ER, ignoring that nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach that was making her feel as though she were making the worst mistake.

There was an intense connection brimming between them, one they couldn't ignore or explain even if they tried.

For his part, Negan stared at the closed doors with a frown on his face. He'd came to the hospital looking for Lucille, despite knowing she'd probably turn him away, he'd come anyway. He hadn't expected anything to happen, but those small moments in the presence of the beautiful ER Doctor who'd pulled him aside to help him had been something profound, something he couldn't put his finger on. It had only been moments; he didn't even know her name but leaving her had been the last thing his heart had seemingly wanted.

Neither of them believed in fate but if they did, if they had known what would happen in months to come, they both would have followed that invisible pull they'd felt and held onto one another. Perhaps if they'd known the future, they wouldn't have let those elevator doors close.

"Dr Hunt!"

Rose was startled back to the present by Linda's scream. Rushing towards her colleagues, Rose saw Dr Hunt trying to fend off some kind of attack. All around them the crowd began to surge, trying to get away from the scene as Dr Hunt and two security guards tried to remove the woman currently lashing out at them.

The woman strained against Dr Hunt, her teeth clashing together as she fought to get closer. It didn't even seem to faze her as she was struck not once, not twice but multiple times by the security guards. Not once did she turn her attention from Dr Hunt and it was with a horrified cry, Rose watched this former patient lean in enough to the red-headed Doctor that she was finally able to clamp her jaw down on his neck.

Dr Hunt screamed….

…blood sprayed all over the white, sterile floor…

Mayhem erupted.

The guards finally pulled the woman away and with her came a huge chunk of flesh from Dr Hunt's neck. His jugular was torn, he was dead in an instant.

Screams echoed loudly throughout the ER. People rushed to get as far away from the scene as they could. More patients appeared, at least that's what Rose thought they were, until they started attacking and tearing into whoever they could reach.

"Everybody, move away from the ER, head down the corridor!" Rose yelled, climbing up on to the front desk and waving her arms towards the back of the hospital. Despite their terror everyone did their best to move in the direction they were being instructed. "Tom get those doors closed!" she yelled to the security guard currently cradling his wounded arm. His eyes met hers shakily and he did his best to move towards the ER doors. '

The sound of a gunshot caused the young woman to fall down off of the desk in order to avoid being hit. Another gunshot followed, then another and another.

Daring to look up into the ensuing chaos, Rose watched as soldiers began to storm the doors, shooting those who tried to escape before gaining enough ground to lock the doors. Trapping them inside with those sick people who were still attacking anyone they could reach.

"We need to move Doc!"

Rose gasped, startled out of the frozen stupor she'd been in as two strong hands hooked under her arms and hauled her up onto her feet. Glancing behind her she saw Frank, the hospital janitor, a good man, standing at 6ft5, he was the kind of person everybody loved and had worked here in the hospital for longer than Rose had been in school.

Allowing him to guide her away from the chaos, the pair of them ran towards the emergency exits which were already blocked by crowds trying to force their way outside. "Damn it." She whispered, she wanted to get out and she couldn't see how.

As she turned to Frank, the older man rushed into the crowd, towering over practically everyone there. The crowd parted for him, not really having a choice in the matter, letting him quickly reach the fire exit and try to push the bar down to exit. When the door didn't budge, Frank took a step back and threw all his brute strength into a kick and the door not only opened but flew off its hinges.

From her vantage point Rose raised her eyebrows at the man, who gave her a small shrug as everyone around him began rushing through the exit. His eyes drifted past her, and he quickly began to usher her forward, "Doc we gotta go." He instructed her.

Following his gaze, Rose immediately saw people who should have been clinically dead judging by their injuries, moving towards her. Not wasting another second Rose ran towards Frank and out of the fire exit but the world outside offered no sanctuary. In the distance there were explosions, rapid gunfire, there were cars speeding down the road, some colliding violently and people ran in every direction, screaming in absolute terror.

"Oh my god, what the hell is happening?"

12 months later

"Ouch!"

"Miss Rose?" Frank was on his feet in an instant, having long since adopted calling Rose by her first name instead of Doc at her insistence.

"I'm okay Frank," Rose called over her shoulder. Frank nodded his head and went back to whatever it was he was doing, whilst Rose turned her focus back onto her feet. She bit down on her lip as she tried to carefully pull her sock off and away from the massive friction blister that had long since burst on the back of her heel. Her sock, now fused to her foot with dry blood was making what should have been a simple task, one she was instead struggling to complete.

In the grand scheme of things, especially when considering everything that had happened in the last twelve months, a blister wasn't the end of the world, but she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep walking unless she took care of it and soon.

They'd been walking for weeks, having been forced out of the last place they'd tried to lay low due to the dead and weeks before that, their camp along with the rest of their group had been killed. The group they'd been with since a month into the outbreak had been attacked and slaughtered by some freaks wearing the skin of the dead. As it was, they were trying to find somewhere they might be able to see through the winter which was drawing closer and closer.

Biting down harder on her lip, she pulled her sock completely off her foot and braced herself against the pain that shot through her foot and up her leg. Reaching for her water, Rose carefully poured the liquid over the open wound and hissed against the pain.

"Oh, that doesn't look too good Miss Rose." Frank said as a matter of fact, coming to sit down beside her the log, his attention immediately turning back to whatever he was cradling in his hand.

"Doesn't feel too good either." Rose said chuckling slightly at Franks look of disgust. She was used to his ever-changing attention and matter of fact comments, he'd always been the same and it was one of the many reasons he was so beloved wherever he went.

Upon first glance she could understand those who felt Frank to be a threat and truth be told, he could be dangerous, especially if someone he cared for was in trouble but underneath that he was a huge teddy bear. A gentle giant, at least that's how they knew him at the hospital. Frank was somewhat mentally challenged but he was the kindest, bravest and most loving person Rose had ever met. She thanked her lucky stars every day that they'd made it out of the city together, it didn't even occur to him to go anywhere else, like he said, the hospital had been his home, his family.

They were all each other had left. To Rose, he was the best friend she could have asked for and her protectiveness over this gentle giant made her realise just how far she'd go to protect him.

"What you got there, big guy?"

"I think they're pumpkin seeds," he replied, showing her the handful of seeds he'd managed to scavenge from somebody's lost purse, left at the side of the road. "We can set up a garden like the one we had when…" he trailed off, frowning as he thought back to everything they'd lost over the last few months.

Glancing at him Rose sighed, lightly bumping his shoulder with hers, "We'll find somewhere to settle soon, then you can set up that garden for us yeah? That's why you've kept all those seeds right?"

Frank smiled warmly and nodded his head, reaching into his backpack. Finding an envelope, he let the seeds fall inside before finding a pen and writing on the outside of the envelope what they were.

Whilst he did that Rose turned her focus back onto her foot, she wanted to get off the road soon, they only had a couple more hours of daylight left, and she didn't want to spend it sleeping out in the open. The nights were getting cold, and she knew they couldn't go another night on just a couple hours of sleep if any at all. She was tired of walking, of running she just wanted to be able to settle somewhere, to try and recapture some semblance of normality.

Applying a small amount of Neosporin to the friction blister that seemed to take up at a good portion of her heel, she bit back the barrage of curse words that threatened to spill out. Instead, she busied herself by grabbing her last clean bandage and wrapped it carefully around her foot, praying it'd be enough till she could really sit and take care of it.

"Miss Rose…."

"What is it, Frank?" Rose asked, pulling out a dry sock from her bag and putting it on. As Frank moved to stand, she frowned and followed his concerned stare. Behind them, spilling out of the woods were a hell of a lot more walkers than they could handle. "Fuck!" she yelled, pushing herself up from her seat and stumbling back, the pain in her foot secondary to the loud beating of her heart.

Frank used his foot to kick a walker back into the crowd, causing a few of them to stumble. For her part, all Rose could do was thrust her knife into the head of the female walker currently gripping her sleeve. Grunting with disgust as the knife practically slid into her head like butter, Rose pushed the dead woman away, taking a step back away from her other would-be attackers.

Movement behind her caught her attention and she felt her blood run cold. "More incoming…Frank there's too many we need to go!" she yelled, cursing as she rolled her ankle trying to move out of reach of a walker. Twisting her knife in her hand, she stabbed through the eye of another walker before pushing it away with her other arm, another walker immediately taking its place.

"Miss Rose look out!"

Rose felt her body dragged back and instinct made her fight, only to instantly calm when she felt the familiar hand on her shoulder. It was Frank and a second after her pulled her back a truck careened into the walkers she'd been facing. Some of their bodies were thrown violently down onto the road, their heads making a disgusting wet sound as they were crushed beneath the tires.

"Get down!"

The unfamiliar voice yelled out towards them and instead of ignoring it, Rose dropped to her knees and threw her arms over her head. Frank was next to her, his body partially shielding her once more, with his arm over her head, as an eruption of gunfire loudly echoed all around them.

Ever her protector.

Then just as quick as the gunfire had begun, it was over. The silence hung heavy in the air.

"What the shit boys. We stumbled onto a party!"

Rose glanced past Frank's shoulder to see men climbing out of the vehicles that now lined the road, where only moments ago there'd been none, and she frowned. They were all heavily armed and looked as though they had no qualms about shooting any of them dead in the road if they so much as made a wrong move. For a moment though, Rose was thankful they were here, she didn't think her, and Frank could have made it out of the cluster fuck they'd found themselves in.

"Well, a good fuckin' hello to you beautiful…"

A groomed, leather jacket wearing figure with a shit eating grin on his face, stopped just in front of the truck nearest to them. Over his shoulder was a baseball bat, wrapped in barbed wire, an impressive weapon she wasn't keen on being at the end of. For a moment she was stunned, not just because she felt a momentary flicker of recognition, but he was extremely good looking, in that whole 'could tip your life upside down and make you love it' kind of way. Add to that, they were all so clean, so put together. When Rose met this man's eyes again, she couldn't shake the feeling she'd met him before. It only took a moment, but Rose felt a flicker of recognition as her eyes locked with his.

Franks abrupt shift away from her to stand up shook her attention of the stranger and onto him. He moved protectively in front of her, his gaze locked on the strangers, his fingers tightening around steel pipe in his hand.

"Whoa take it easy there gigantor…." The man in front of them laughed and Rose immediately knew he was the leader of…well whatever this was. Eager however not to cause any trouble and with hopes they could get out of this situation unscathed Rose forced herself up off her knees, to stand next to Frank, laying a calming hand on his arm.

"Frank it's okay look at me…okay, just take it easy we're okay." She encouraged him, knowing that his protective instincts right now were in overdrive. The truth of the matter was however, that they were outnumbered and outgunned, she needed him to take a step back.

Frank grumbled under his breath before loosening his fingers and dropping the pipe in his hand to the road but not moving a step away from Rose.

"Well now that's settled, how about we get to know each other."

Rose frowned and glanced back to the stranger, meeting his gaze head on, once more hit with the feeling she knows who this man is. Pulling her gaze away from that shit eating grin on his face, she eyed the men now surrounding them warily, feeling unsettled.

"How about a name sweetheart?"

Realising the question was aimed at her once more, Rose turned back to the stranger and this time as her eyes met his, she was sure she knew him and suddenly remembered him. It seemed as though he recognised her somewhat, indicated by the slight narrowing of his eyes and tilt of his head.

"I know you." He said, his voice almost questioning.

"I know you too…" she replied softly, somewhat in disbelief. What were the chances she'd meet a man she'd talked to for only minutes this far into the apocalypse. More than that, how was it she even remembered someone she'd only spoken to very briefly. "…from the hospital, you were there before it…before everything happened."

Rose was well aware of the shifting of the group around them, the curious murmurs and looks being exchanged but she kept her eyes on the man in front of her. "Negan…?"

"Well shit, what are the fuckin' chances…" Negan commented, before taking a step towards Rose, holding out his hand. "Hey Doc…"

A/N - Okay, so first off let me thank everyone who came here to read this story. I'm very excited and I've had it planned out for a very long time, I just haven't had the inspiration to write it. I can tell you that so far, I've got things planned for well after the war between the communities…and on a timeline scale, we've still got a while to go till we get there.

Secondly, there will be things that may differ to the way they played out in the comic or tv show. I'm really excited to play this all out from the saviour's perspective. I'm excited for you guys to see how the actions of Ricks group may have affected those in the Sanctuary. I'm one of those who firmly believe that we as viewers, only see Ricks group as the good guys, because we've been with them from the beginning. Would we have been on the side of Negan if we'd been with him from the beginning? If we're all honest however we know Rick and his group are not innocent and they've done awful things to survive. Like don't even get me started on just slitting the throats of sleeping men and women in that satellite station all on the word of Gregory whom we all know was corrupt anyways.

Things will play out differently to how you've seen them before but in many ways stay the same, I hope you guys stay with me.

I'm excited to take you with me on this journey. I'm so excited to take you on Negan and Rose's journey, it's a journey I've been planning out for a very long time. If you're interested to go on this journey with us, be sure to let me know and I'll of course reply to all your reviews in the next chapter.