World Full of Surprises.

Charlie had tried time and time again to contact her brothers throughout the past weeks. She had gotten it down to a routine. She would wake up in the morning, check her phone, and try to call them. The phone would go to voice mail and she would sigh as it told her the mailbox was full. All of messages from her. Then again right before she went to bed. As the weeks wore on, her voice grew less and less hopeful. The world was over, as they knew it. Were her brothers even still alive? It had been days since Charlie had last tried calling them, she couldn't stand to hear that Godforsaken beep again. It had started to haunt her at one point, she had needed to let it go. Miracles would be needed on multiple fronts if she was to ever see either of them alive again.

Doing her best to avoid meaningless conversations, Charlie spent most of her time in the gym, doing one thing or another. She was either reading a book there or in the small equipment room off to the side of the gym, working out her frustrations. It was the only thing keeping her from going off on someone. Charlie wanted to leave but she wasn't willing to be the first to try, not when she had no idea if someone would try to stop her. She was in no place to put up a fight against hundreds of people.

Charlie was laying down, her nose buried in a book she had picked from the library. At first the banging hadn't been too much of a distraction but when it just didn't stop, she let out a sigh and closed the book. Pushing herself up, Charlie made her way out of the gym. Her eyes narrowed, spotting a group of people watching the main doors. What the fuck was going on?

Before she could even get close enough to ask, or see for herself, Mathers was opening the door. A man that was more blood than anything else stumbled inside. Charlie's instincts kicked in then and she raced forward, sliding onto her knees as she got up to him. He'd fallen down. "Towels. Clothes. Gauze. Rubbing alcohol. A needle... thread!" Charlie started shouting random words, supplies she would need to stop the bleeding. When no one seemed to move, Charlie looked up with a glare, "Now, you fuckin' idiots!"

Charlie was applying all of her weight on the wound that she had found - it was too covered for her to figure out what type of wound it was. Soon enough, supplies were brought to her and she went to work. Wet towels wiped away the blood to give her a better view of what was going on. Her schooling was screaming in the back of her mind - she shouldn't be touching the blood but there had been no choice. "This is going to hurt," she muttered to the man who seemed more out of it than anything as she all but poured the alcohol onto the wound.

"Someone... something, bit him?" Charlie spoke quietly, more to herself than to the staff crowding around her. Her stomach was a knot, something was wrong and yet, she didn't stop moving long enough to consider what could be wrong.

James Negan wasn't necessarily a calloused man--even though most might say he was. Before the world turned, to what we know now as shit, he was a high school gym teachers. Negan pushed his students to be the very best. He wanted to see every ounce of determination and ability drip out of them as possible. While he was rude, crude, and might have joked around too much with the older boys, Negan was an honest man--even with the demons he may have battled. It wasn't until his wife fell ill that Negan saw the evils of the world for what they really were. Not only did his wife pass away, but soon after that, the dead became the walking and living dead.

Negan sought safety and shelter at the school that he taught gym at. Day in and day out, his eyes would scan the once very familiar walls of what used to be his work place. The only difference now is they housed the living and kept the dead out. The walls weren't used as a place of enrichment, of determination, or even knowledge--those walls were the barrier between life and death. And at this point and time, he was on this side of death.

Negan wanted to think that those around him were just as strong, determined, and had the will and drive to live and survive just as he did--but he was starting to think not. People were finally beginning to crack, wanting out. One girl particularity would go on about how she needed to find her brothers--someone needed to help her find her brothers. Usual Negan would silently roll his eyes at her disposition. However, when he watched her throw herself to the floor in order to help someone, a little bit of that shifted in side of him.

Leaning over the man to get a better look at the wound, Charlie yelped in surprise as he jerked away from the groaning corpse. She had been so focused on what she was doing that she hadn't noticed him taking a last breath, the blood was still seeping from the bite mark on his shoulder. And the scratches down his arm. With a shove of her arm, Charlie scrambled away from the corpse as others began to rush away from the scene.

Opening her mouth to scream, it was silenced as the creature reached for her. With a swift kick to the jaw, Charlie shoved herself backward and was on her feet in an instant. This place was safe no more. She had no clue how she would get there but she needed to get further south, she needed to find her brothers. Sicking of waiting around.

Charlie didn't bat an eye as she turned away, rushing toward where everyone else had already seemed to head - the gym where dozens of cots were laid out. She made her way toward hers so that she could grab her things and leave as quickly as possible.

The commotion was unsettling, to say the least. Negan followed suit, in a more calm fashion than the others, and proceeded to collect his things. He had a feeling it was all going to be downhill from here, so he grabbed the essentials. He knew that he needed to stay light, that way he would be prepared if anything else were to happen. He forced as much as he could into his tatical backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

As he stepped outside the threshold of the school, the sunlight burnt his eyes. He scanned the outside seeing corpses laying, rotting. A few things off in the distance seemed to move, but because they weren't too close he wasn't worried. Soon enough others began to flood out of the school.

Charlotte caught his eye as she began to walk off past him, he reached out and grabbed her arm gently, "Hey, which way did you say that you were going to be headed?"

Tossing her bag over her shoulder, Charlie headed off in the direction of the nearest exit. It didn't matter which way she went because she was sure to reach one eventually. The only thing that had surprised her was when Negan's hand shot out to grab her arm.

She looked up to him slowly, her eyes narrowing. "What's it to you?" Charlie huffed, rolling her shoulders as she looked away.

"I have to head south. My brothers are down there somewhere, just south of Atlanta. I don't know where they are but I'm sure they're alive and I gotta... I gotta find them," Charlie repeated the same thing she had said since this whole thing had begun. "So, like I said. What's it to you?"

Negan allowed a dry chuckle to escape his lips. Did she really believe that going off by herself was going to work out too well? He was't entirely sure what the hell was going on in the world at this given time, but he knew people should be at least sticking it out in pairs. The only reason he was so keen on asking her, was because she was the only person who seemed to move a muscle in order to help the wounded. He needed someone like that who was going to stay by his side.

"Well," he started as he moved his hand off of her arm. "I think it is a whole hell of a lot better to stick together than for you to go off on your own."

He shifted his backpack on his shoulder, "I've been hearing you talk about going out and finding your brothers an awful lot, and the CDC is in Atlanta... Maybe we can try and make that trek together. As safely as possible, you know?"

Charlie shifted rather uncomfortably when Negan finally mentioned why he was asking. She looked away, tugging her bottom lip between her teeth. She wanted so desperately to trust his offer but then, she was beyond uneasy. If there was anyone in this goddamned safe zone she wanted with her, it would have to be Negan. He seemed to have a clear head on his shoulder and ultimately, that's what you wanted in a situation like this.

"Fine. But I need you to understand I can care for myself. Watch my back, sure but I wasn't raised to be a weak female," Charlie added with a. Huff, crossing her arms. She motioned with her head for him to follow as she led the way out of the school.

"And maybe some conversation every now and then would be nice. Which from what I've gathered isn't your strong point."

It took all Negan had with in him not to laugh out loud. He understood that she could do for herself, but how much did she really know? All the women Negan knew depended on everyone else. Hell, he knew she was different, he could tell just by looking at the girl. But that didn't mean that there weren't things she was going to need him for. It was almost like she was trying to put her foot down and intimidate him.

Instead of saying what he really wanted to say, he just smiled softly. "Listen here, we don't have to gossip every single night." He looked around and tried to take in their surrounding--see how much really had changed. "But if having a conversation with you every once in a while will keep us alive, I guess I'll just have to do it."

"What would we gossip about?" Charlie countered with a laugh, rolling her eyes. She readjusted the grip she had on her bag and turned to continue on down the abandoned road they were on. It seemed like hours had passed before she slowed to a halt, dropping to the ground after a moment so that she could lay back against the ground. Not that it was any cooler than the air aorund her but it was nice to lay back down for a few minutes, at least.

"I don't know about you but I need to take a break," Charlie murmured, dropping her bag on the ground so that she could pull a bottle of water out of it. She took a long swig of it before holding the open bottle out to Negan. "I don't have cooties. I promise."

Negan watched as she slumped to the ground, shaking his head with a small internal laugh. He looked around for a moment to survey the area. He knew they couldn't stay there for too long. They had to keep moving. Although he still wasn't quite too sure what was going on with this world, the only thing he knew was they had to keep moving.

He crouched down next to her, raising an eyebrow as he reached out to take the bottle of water from her. He took a small swig, knowing that they would probably have to try and ration what they had until they could stop somewhere to stock up on supplies.

He looked around again as he began to speak, "We can rest for a few minutes. But I really think it is going to be best if we could cover a little more ground before night fall. Try and find somewhere to get some supplies and somewhere semi-safe so we can rest our heads for the night."

He took another small swig on the water before capping the bottle and handing it back to her. He wiped his mouth quickly before standing back up. He looked down at her, feeling like he was towering over her as she sat on the ground. "You still need a few minutes of can we get going?"

Charlie had let her eyes slip shut as Negan took the bottle of water from her, beginning to relax. It would be so easy to just fall asleep here and honestly, what would the harm in it be? She doubted she would come across another human as the stranglers were rare, even when they were back in the school and safe, the people that came were few and they were far between. It seemed that no one really knew what was going on but they knew it had spread. The only thing Charlie hoped for was that her brothers, wherever they were now, that they were safe. That was the only thing that truly mattered to her.

Groaning, Charlie waved off his question and pushed herself back to her feet. She adjusted the bag on her shoulder before nodding in the direction that they had been headed in.

"We minus well get moving. Hopefully find something to eat somewhere.." Charlie trailed off, her eyes lighting up at the prospect. She looked to Negan, raising an eyebrow. "I'm sure that with how quick everything went down that stores still must have food. At least the frozen stuff still has to be good. Not ideal but it's manageable," she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"If there's one thing you're going to learn about me during our time together, I'm a fuckin' great cook," Charlie added with a laugh. She would never disclose why - her brothers had never managed to pick up the skill and she just seemed to be natural at it so she took on the task of feeding their family with whatever their father managed to bring home. If he did.

"Tell me something about yourself that would surprise me."

Negan kept himself from jumping as she got to her feet. He was almost positive that she would do the typical thing for a woman to do—roll her eyes and continue to sit. With a slight nod of his head he listened along to what she had to say. He wasn’t quite too keen on the frozen foods. Sure they would be good to eat right now, but he knew that they needed to get things that would last. He knew they needed to be looking for canned foot, instant meals that you could just add water to.

He shifted his back pack once more as they continued to walk. He was trying to remind himself that he didn’t have to be so uptight. He didn’t have to continually feel so uncomfortable around other people—especially females. He was still grieving, but he knew that he needed to speed up the process—especially when it could hinder his survival.

Negan couldn’t keep his smile from spreading when he heard her mention cooking. The man would do anything to sit down and have a home cooked meal. His smile turned into a small smirk as he realized the chance of that was completely long gone. The thought suddenly occurred to him that the last home cooked meal he had was before his wife had passed. He tried not to grimace to himself as he continued to listen to her speak. He was trying his hardest not to zone out and just ignore her. He knew if he wanted this to work he would have to try and get along with her and give in to her needs.

“Besides the fact that I was once a high school gym teacher?” He chuckled. “Uhm. I was married before all this… What about you? What is something interesting about you?”

Charlie stopped in her steps when Negan mentioned being married. The last thing she would have expected for him to say, was probably that short of a few, very select things. She wanted to comment, to say she was sorry but she had no clue how to approach the subject. Was it even a good idea to? Probably not so she settled with shaking her head and resuming her movements.

"You're not one of those gym teachers that couldn't actually play a sport worth shit, were you? That couldn't run even a quarter mile without wheezing?" Charlie teased in a sing song sort of voice, tossing a smirk in his direction.

"I played on my school's baseball team because the interest in softball wasn't enough," charlie commented with a shrug of her shoulders. She let out a small sigh, wondering how far she really should go with the details. Negan was a closed off man, that was for sure and she didn't want to get too close. It was the end of times, after all.

Charlie snickered at the thought, "the first game I ever played, the rival team couldn't wrap their heads around a female catcher. Thought it was ridiculous but we ended up playing a perfect game. Only the fourth in my school's history."

Negan laughed. A lot of high school gym teachers were that way, so she did have a point. “No, I can definitely play sports. Also out ran a sixteen-year-old boy in his prime.”

He looked over at her briefly, his interest peaking as she spoke about her stint in baseball. “That’s pretty impressive,” he mumbled quietly, not knowing what else to say. He watched as she smiled as she spoke, she seemed to speak so passionately about it. She looked truly happy as she continued to speak. He looked back in front of him, trying to look out as far as he could in order to see what was in the distance.

He pointed out in front of him, seeing what seemed to be a convenience store in the clearing. “Looks like there is a Stop and Shop up ahead. We should be able to get in there and see if we can get some snacks and maybe stock up on some more water.”

Negan looked back at her back pack, “If you are willing to ditch some stuff in your bag, I can as well. That way we can fit more supplies in it. That, or we need to try and find a duffle bag or something else to carry.”

"If there's one thing my father was good for, he taught my brothers and I about survival. Pack your bag with the heaviest stuff toward the top," Charlie added when he mentioned ditching some things. She didn't think it was that big of a deal, the only things she really cared about was the knife that she had kept hidden for so long. Part in fear she would lose it and part in fear that someone would be afraid of her because of it. A woman who knew how to properly use a knife, well, they certainly weren't normally in her field of work.

Getting into the building had proved a little more difficult than Charlie had expected but Negan broke the glass of the front door and they were inside a few moments later.

"I'll go see if there's not a weapon we can keep..." Charlie trailed off with a nod toward the refrigerated coolers. She reappeared after a few minutes with a crowbar in one hand and a baseball hat in the other. She smirked as she whistled for his attention.

Dropping her bag down by where Negan was, she knelt to pull out everything inside. She repacked only one other outfit and started to pack as much of the water as she could with some bags of snacks on top. Looking over to him when she stood back up, Charlie fixed the hunting knife to her belt before she nodded down to the weapons on the floor. "You can take your pick, I'm fine with either one."

Negan made his way around the store, grabbing various items he thought they might need. He made sure to grab plenty of non parishable items, including a variety of protein bars. He also grabbed a few lighters and some lighter fluid--just in case they would need anything of the sort. He smiled at her when she reappeared, finding the crowbar slightly amusing.

He looked over the pile of weapons that laid in front of them. He continued packing things into his bag, making a mental note of the weapons that he already had packed away. He reached out and grabbed one of the knives that were laid out in front of him, tucking it in his belt.

He zipped his his bag closed in one fluid motion and stood up, slinging his back pack over his shoulder. He nodded, mumbling a small thank you to her. "Are you hungry? There is some frozen food still left over there," he mentioned as he pointed. "But I think if we are going to it it we should do it now instead of carrying it around with us."

Once Charlie was back on her feet, she pulled the bag over each shoulder and secured the strap at her waist and the one across her chest. She had been so focused on packing it, and the task at hand, that they still needed to travel quite a bit before nightfall that she hadn't considered the food that they could eat right this moment.

"Uh... there's a microwave in the back. It should still work since the coolers are still functioning," Charlie commented, stepping over to where the frozen food was so that she could scan the available items. She opted for a pair of turkey and cheddar hot pockets, figuring they were easy to eat while they continued to walk.

Gripping the crowbar in her free hand, Charlie carried the box of hot pockets into the back. She prepped them and set them in the microwave so they could cook before she took a seat on the desk in the back.

Negan walked around a bit, eyeing certain things around the store. He walked over to a window and looked out around the complex. He tried to spot any of those things around. Deep down he was a little nervous to encounter one of them, but he knew he that he would be able to handle whatever was thrown his way.

He heard the microwave beeping in the back, signaling that whatever Charlie had decided to make was done being heated up. He weaved his way back through the aisles, making his way back to where she was. He pushed open the door to the back office, seeing her sitting there. She looked pretty damn comfortable. He laughed lightly at her.

“Looks like you have made yourself at home,” he mentioned as he pointed to the way that she was sitting. He nodded over towards the microwave. The light in it had gone off so he couldn’t see what she had decided to make. His stomach began to rumble, reminding him that he was in fact pretty hungry. “What did you throw in there?”

Charlie had already bent the sleeves on the hot pockets so that they wouldn't fall out and she offered one to Negan. "Ham and cheese hot pockets. Nice and hot, easy to eat while we continue walking so I figured..." she trailed off, shrugging her shoulders. She hadn't really asked him if it was okay with him but she doubted he would really have any complaints.

As they made their way out of the back room, Charlie made her way back over to the fridges where she grabbed a bottle of mountain dew to push into the side holder on her bag. She looked up to Negan with a shy grin. "It's my oldest brother's favourite and he got me addicted to the stuff. I can't help it."

Leading the way out of the shop, Charlie wasted no time in ripping into her hot pocket. Once she finished it, Charlie reached to pull her hair back into a messy bun to keep it off of her neck.

"What's your favourite meal?" Charlie asked after a few steps, raising an eyebrow as she glanced his way. She wanted to ask more, about his wife, about everything but that seemed to be a topic that was probably off limits for them and so she would just do the simple questions that she hoped wouldn't cause any problems.