Two Years Earlier
Day Of the Outbreak

Niall's POV
It was really great being on tour in the US; it was an experience that I loved and enjoyed. I was able to meet many people of different race and heritage. I even loved it when the lads and I were able to just get in our car and go somewhere without fans disturbing us much--and don't get me wrong, I loved our fans but sometimes we really just needed a break.

Right now me and the lads were in our rental car, on our way out of Atlanta toward Macon, Georgia for a concert we had set up. Management had decided that this was the last one in the states before we moved on.

We were driving on the highway since we had 85 miles before we reached our destination. I was staring out the window of the passenger seat, watching the trees and cars blur past. Zayn was driving and Liam, Harry and Louis were sitting in the back.

"So, what do you think about Atlanta?" Zayn asks, glancing over at me.

I turn my head to look at him and shrug. "It's great. I mean, the weather's nice and the people are too...it's not like we've never been here before, y'know."

Zayn nods, eyes flickering to the rearview mirror. "What about you guys?"

"I could live here." Liam says. "And it's not too expensive."

Louis grins and says, "The view of the water is beautiful and perfect."

I laughed lightly and turned my attention back to the window and the passing cars. Zayn was driving a fair distance behind a police car and I watched as an armored truck sped past us, heading back to the city. Tired of the silence, I turned the radio up hoping something good was on.

Once the radio was on, we listened for a few moments in silence. Zayn moved to go around the police car in front of us and he took his eyes off the road to see if he could get over. In those next few moments, everything happened in slow motion.

Someone staggered onto the road and I screamed at Zayn to watch out; he hit the brakes and jerked the wheel hard to try and avoid hitting the person in the middle of the highway. The car was tailended by the police cruiser behind us and Zayn fought to to regain control of the car even as the wheels locked.

The car flipped and rolled down an embankment, my screams falling silent when I hit my head. I was out before the car stopped rolling.

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I came to slowly and painfully, hearing yelling and the sound of a shotgun going off. My head was hurting horribly and someone was shaking me, yelling my name. It sounded like Liam.

"Niall! Niall wake up!"

I cracked my eyes open, a groan leaving my lips as I turned my head toward the voice. Everything was blurry and I couldn't see his face clearly but it was in fact LiLi. Another groan escaped my lips and I said, "Liam?"

"Yeah bud, it's me." Liam helped me sit up and my vision swam with the movement. "Come on, we need to get the hell out of here. That man who was in the back of the police cruiser had to shoot the police officer."

I frowned and said, "Why? W-what's going on?"

Liam didn't answer my question and just helped me out of the car. He helped me around the car and toward a fenced off backyard where an African-American man was waving us to hurry. I frowned and turned my head, looking behind us. People were staggering after us, moaning and groaning and they looked dead, as if they were decomposing.

"What the hell?!" I trip over a rock in my surprise and fall on my stomach. Liam helps me back up and we start running toward the fence.

"Up and over! Hurry!" The man says, helping me over the fence, where Zayn, Harry, and Louis were already waiting. They helped me down and I about collapsed to the ground from the pulsing headache I had.

Liam and the stranger made it over the fence and I could hear the people or whatever the hell they were now pounding on the other side. I scrambled back as far as I could, not wanting to be anywhere near that fence. I looked at the stranger wondering who he was. Apparently I wasn't the only one.

"Who the fuck are you?" Louis demanded, crossing his arms.

The stranger looked at me closely before he answered. "I'm Lee."

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I stared at the door, feeling just as afraid as I was when this all started. I had woken up what seemed like hours ago, alone once more but tethered to a radiator by my wrist. The handcuff was biting into my skin and it hurt a lot. There was blood and deep lacerations from when I had first woken up and tried to get free.

I couldn't get free and gave up, deciding to preserve my energy for when I got the chance to get out of here. Honestly, I missed Lee and Clementine. They helped us when we needed it; we were a group all on our own before we were separated and forced to go our own way.

I sighed in frustration and jerked the my hand, causing the handcuff to bite even deeper into my skin and draw more blood to the surface. I silently cursed at the pain and my stupidity and looked up quickly as the door opened. Negan walked into the room followed by a kid who couldn't have been more than sixteen.

"How're you doing, Niall?" Negan asked, walking closer to kneel in front of me. I want to spit in his face and tell him to fuck off but I don't think that would be a good idea, not to mention I was pretty afraid right now. So I answer truthfully and without attitude.

"My head hurts and the handcuff. . ." I trail off at the end, nodding my head at my restrained arm.

Negan nods and reaches over with the key, unlocking them. "I'm sorry for the restraintment but the last time we left you free you tried to escape and hit one of my best in the head."

I stared Negan straight in the eyes, not at all wavering from the man's face. If any-thing I was going to stare him down. "Yeah? Well, I don't regret it and I'd do it again."

Negan laughed. "You got fire kid!" He hit the guy standing next to him in the arm. "Carl, you hear that? You two can learn a lot from each other!"

Carl looked like he wanted to really kick the bloody hell out of the guy and I didn't blame him. In fact if I wasn't so damned scared of being killed, I would certainly initiate the fight.

"Why am I here Negan?" I demanded. "You kidnapped me and brought me here so what do you want?"

"Well, I needed new members and because your friends got away, I figured that you would do."

I stare at him before I looked away quickly. My anger diminishing with every second that I was here. In truth, if he needed new members, I could earn his trust and then steal my supplies back and get the hell out of here.

Negan stepped forward and touched the side of my face gently, lifting my chin up to look at him. "Believe me kid, this place is safer than where your friends are. And I protect what's mine."

I shuddered at his words, having no choice but to stare up at him with my wide blue eyes. He stared down at me, his eyes darkening with something akin to desire. My breathing began to pick up and I realized that he was waiting for me to speak.

Taking a shaky breath, I said, "O-okay."