༻❁༺

"Okay, so the trick is to find the smallest opening and use that as your base," the father of two set the chisel's bezel between the door and knob. "Then with force you push down and..." The two boys watched as the handle broke away from the wood, which their father quickly caught it to avoid the chance of noise, "Voilà!" Negan Smith smirked as he opened the door.

His two sons quickly drew their makeshift weapons before entering their latest abandoned house on the block. The older one, Lincoln Smith, gripped his blade tightly around his left hand while his younger brother, Louis Smith, became one with his hammer.

It wasn't often the two would be allowed to join their father on his runs into town, but with supplies dwindling and the winter approaching, Negan decided it was about time they learned.

"Make sure to sweep the place thoroughly before taking anything," the father explained as the three slowly entered the house.

Not even a proper seven months into the apocalypse supplies had already begun to dwindle. Though, it seemed as if they had got lucky with their latest find considering none of the dead had yet claimed their location.

Negan let out a thankful sign as he lowered his weapon, "Okay. Keep your weapon out but check everywhere. Nothing is off limits," he turned to his boys. "Remotes have batteries, look for can openers or things of use. Food could be under the beds, take the clean sheets. I want any type of weapon you can find; knives, axes, those sort of things you grab. Got that?"

Both nodded, "Yes, sir."

"Good, now go."

The three split up and began to ransack the single level home. Negan took the bedrooms and washroom, while Louis raided the pantry and Lincoln scrounged the living room.

The place was sadly rather empty but after a good twenty minutes the three met in the kitchen to show off their hauls.

"Alright, I'll go first," Negan showed off his small bag containing a few packs of daytime allergy meds and half a bottle of Tylenol. "Link, what'd you find?"

The seventeen year-old smirked as he pulled out a plastic crate filled with items, "I've got a few batteries, some blankets and something special for mom," Lincoln pulled out a few dvds from his basket.

His father couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of them, "She's gonna have a field day with those."

"Full set," he tapped the basket.

"That's my boy," Negan slapped his son's back before turning to his other. "Lou, what'd you find?"

"I think I lost," the twelve year-old frowned as he revealed a small bottle of hot sauce and two cans of Champion Pebbles.

The two looked down at the items Louis was able to scrounge up. Negan smacked his lips together before changing his expression, "No. I think you won, kid," he squeezed the boy's shoulder.

Louis glanced up at his dad, unconvinced, "Dad. It's dog food."

"It's still food," he tried to cheer up the boy.

Lincoln quickly caught on to what his father was doing and plucked a can and read off the ingredients, "It has beef, chicken, carrots and peas inside of it?!" He gasped in an overexcited tone.

"No?" Negan grabbed the other and quickly scanned the ingredients. "Well I'll be damned, this might actually be better for us than I originally thought. Good find, Lou!" He slapped the boys back.

Louis muttered a small thanks as he hid his blush.

"Okay, let's get all this back to the wagon and get back to her highness before she wakes up," their father led them back to the unprotected outside.

Grabbing the garbage bags filled with not-so-nessarises they began their long trek home making it right before the sun fully rose in the sky.

"We're home!" Louis called out to the basement before being scolded by his father to keep his voice down. "Sorry," he waved his dad off, running downstairs.

Lincoln simply smiled as he made his way down as well. Seeing his brother practically jumping on the large bed his mom was trying to sleep in.

"Morning my loves," she mumbled as she tried to fall back asleep.

"You'll never guess what we found," Louis ran towards his brother and manhandled the crate of movies out of Lincoln's hands.

Lucille slowly wiped the sleep from her eyes as her son placed the plastic on her bed, "Oh?" She yawned.

"Link found a load of James Bond movies," Her youngest pulled out a few of the disks and handed them to her.

"Did he now?" She smiled as her son continued to show off their finds.

While the boy kept her distracted Lincoln helped his father move the rest of their finds inside before locking and boarding the basement door shut.

Even though the family of four were safe underground in the lookout basement, they never took the chance. Once they received the alert to quarantine due to the uncontrolled virus less than a year ago Negan had his family quickly stock up on food, bored up all the windows and brought anything of value to the lower level. Chances were too risky to take, especially when one of their own was already as weak as could be, and so far it's kept them safe ever since.

"Morning Mama," Negan made his way over to kiss her forehead, making her hum. "Morning baby. I'm assuming the run went well?" She waved the Golden Gun's dvd case.

"Well... your boy here found us some very nutritious food for us tonight," he joined the two on the bed.

Her eyes brightened as she looked in the crate and pulled out the can. Louis cringed at his mother's confused expression before she started smiling, "Good job, kiddo."

It had been a few days since they had found any proper food. The last few days the four had been living off of granola bars and elm bark they only learned was edible thanks to Louis' Boy Scout journal.

"Don't forget the hot sauce," Lincoln added as he continued to fiddle with his mother's machine.

She lightly gasped, "You got hot sauce?" She pulled it out and lightly moaned, "Yes! Chipotle branded."

The youngest boy's frown didn't waver though as he still glared at the can, enraged by his failure.

Louis had this idea planned out in his head that he'd be the one to find the motherload of supplies. That Negan and Lincoln would struggle to find even a bandaid only for him to reveal his massive haul.

He begged his parents the night prior to go on this run but his dreams, much like the world, shattered when he could only find two cans of food. Dog food for that matter.

"You know what, Lou?" Lucille leaned forward, "I bet I can make this taste like something you'd get at a Red Lobster."

Negan let out a whistle, "Red Lobster? Honey even I don't think you're cooking can get that fancy," he joked, causing the sick woman to elbow his stomach.

"I'll gladly take on that challenge, my love," she smirked as her husband clutched his belly.

"Damn," he wheezed as the younger boy started to chuckle.

Though the laughter would quickly be cut off as a snarl broke through the room. The four all froze momentarily when they heard the walker from outside. Able to see the lone beast limping around their walls from the safety of their small, cloudy, window.

Lincoln saw his brother try to act tough as the moans grew, but still quickly sought comfort in his mothers arms. His parents didn't seem too comfortable either, grasping each other's hand as they tried not to show any emotion.

He knew they were safe inside the basement, but that didn't stop the fear. You couldn't blame them for it, though.

So to quickly dissolve the growing tensions Lincoln clapped his hands together and walked over towards the others, "Your treatment's all ready for you, mom. You have a wig for the day in mind?"

She quickly perked up and glanced over towards the side where seven wigs hung on stolen mannequin heads with care. She scrunched her face and took her time, stalling, before pointing to the green one which Negan quickly helped on her.

After that the two practically dragged her into the recliner chair before hooking her up to the IV.

Lucille was not a big fan of her chemo treatment. Every time they gave it to her she couldn't help but gain a variety of side effects. Making her nauseous and tired all the time.

But when you have stage three pancreatic cancer in a world with no medical facilities left standing this was the best they could do.

Luckily, their old neighbours used to have a daughter studying to be a doctor before everything went down. Meaning when they raided the empty house Lincoln found some old books detailing how to treat her and self taught both himself and his father.

And as they inserted the needle Louis was right next to her with the stacks of dvds, "Which James Bond movie do you boys wanna watch?"

"Golden gun?"

"No Casino Royale," the kids suggested.

Negan sighed as he glanced over towards the window, "Well, baby, I think we're gonna have to skip the movie just for now. Generator's making too much noise."

The wife gave a huff as she watched the feet of the undead monster wandering outside of their home. "Hey," Lucille looked to her husband. "We're gonna have to kill it."

"Why bother, right?" Negan shook his head, "We turn the generator off for a little bit, and they lose interest. They always do."

Louis let out a huff and dramatically threw himself on the bed, complaining about how bored he was going to be while Lincoln walked towards the fridge.

The teen grabbed the three remaining packs of his mother's treatment and placed them into the freezer, layering them over ice to keep them cool, before shutting the door, protecting the cold air inside. Then he grabbed his trusted hammer and ventured outside to switch off the generator while his father continued to tend to Lucille.

After Lincoln returned from outside the four sat around and tried to find something to keep them entertained. They played monopoly so many times Negan had to make a score chart over who won the most. Lincoln.

But since Lucille was rather annoyed with her boys turning off the generator she decided today's activity would be one Negan would absolutely dread... reading.

Louis curled in his mothers arms while Lincoln laid next to his father and listened to the man read as if he were held at gunpoint, "'I see what you are feeling,' replied Charlotte. 'You must be surprised, very much surprised... So lately as Mr. Collins was wishing to marry you. But when you have-'" the man let out a long and drawn out sigh, "Mama."

"Hmm?" She smirked as he hung his head low.

"This book sucks. It's killing me. I-I-I can't... I can't do it," he chuckled.

"You're the one that won't let us watch James Bond," she kicked the book in his hand and demanded him to continue. "Read."

Negan let out another drawn sigh and tried to find his place, only for the constant noise from outside to increase with a loud thump.

Lincoln watched his brother slowly dig into his mothers side as she rubbed his back. He wanted to say things were going to be okay, but that would be a lie. They all knew that, but with everything going on he just wanted the rest to simply feel safe, even if they knew they weren't.

Lucille shifted slightly and locked eyes with Negan, "We've got to take care of it."

The elder two gentlemen of the house strapped themselves up, covering every opening with baggy clothing or duck tape. They looked absolutely ridiculous with their snorkelling goggles on, but they wouldn't take the chance of gaining the infection.

For a simple scratch could and would kill.

When they made it outside the living dead was already waiting for them. It dragged it's feet through the unkempt leaves as it slammed its rotting fingers against the house, mindlessly trying to enter.

The two slowly creep towards it with small weapons drawn. Negan went behind and raised his hammer, only for it to smell his fresh blood, charging at the father. Lincoln tried to stab it in the head but when it threw his father against the wall he missed, making him stab nothing but air.

Negan struggled to keep the walker at an arm's length, pushing it back as hard as he could while Lincoln stabbed it for real this time. Though the blade didn't go deep enough in as it continued to try and bite his father.

"Come on. Seriously?" Negan grunted before the two watched the walker's brain explode out it's ear.

The beast dropped lifelessly once more, making the two men whip their heads towards the direction of the gunshot, seeing Lucille and Louis standing there.

Lucille glanced down at the gun in her hand and frowned, "That was our last bullet," she explained as her other hand gripped her infusion pump.

Though neither cared as Lincoln rushed to his mothers side, making sure the IV was still connected. While Negan pulled his other son closer to his side, still staring at his wife, "Hey. Are you alright?"

She smiled, "Uh-huh. Turn the generator back on. Lou and I finally decided on a movie," she chuckled as she picked up her pump and walked back inside their home.

"Do we have enough gas for that?" Lincoln asked as Louis trailed after his mother.

Negan exhaled low as his hand trailed down his face, "We should be fine as long as we conserve it. Turn it off immediately after the movie is over, and back on for dinner."

The boy nodded before grabbing his knife from the still walker, "We can go on another run tomorrow. I'll check the maps and find a place for us to explore."

༻❁༺

A few movies later Louis entertained himself by a game of chess, by himself, while Lincoln traced the map. Crossing out the places they went to that morning and circling the places he planned on going tomorrow. While their dad tended to a now very exhausted mom.

"How you doing?"

"I'm good," she snuggled deeper into the sheets.

"I got something for you," Negan reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pouch of green, whispering so the others wouldn't overhear. "I found someone's stash. Now, it's a little bit dried out, but this is gonna help with your nausea."

She let out a small chuckle before sighing as she glanced over at her distracted son studying the map, "You're having to go further and further every time."

"Well, generator needs gas, and this place has been picked over. But the bright side is that I reckon that's exactly what's keeping us safe. There is nothing here that anybody wants," Negan smiled.

"You can't keep it up. We need to move. We need other people," she told him.

He grasped her hand, "It's just too dangerous out there."

"That's my point."

"Baby, you have three treatments left. That's it, okay?" He leaned forward, "So we are gonna get your strength up, and then I will put you in my truck and I will take you and the boys wherever you want to go wherever you can dream up. I promise. Okay?"

She meekly nodded, "Okay."

༻❁༺

Negan huffed as the sounds of another walker had found their way onto the Smith property, "Damn it!"

"It's not like killing a person, babe," Lucille added the hot sauce to their dog food. "It's not even like killing an animal. You can't let it keep bothering you."

"It doesn't bother me," Negan told her. "I'm just worried that I'm gonna get used to it."

"Okay," she nodded. "Go turn the generator off."

Once he left Lucille called the other two boys over for dinner, handing them each a filled plate. Louis glared daggers into his plate while Lincoln overly cheered for this fine dining. Even though the elder son was absolutely dreading the taste of the meal.

Negan quickly returned and joined the three at the bed they sat around, "Generator is off," he clapped his hands and looked down at the meal. "Link, you think you could turn it on before you go to bed?"

He nodded, "No problem," he said as they all looked down at the meal before them.

The pregnant silence only grew as they each waited for one to bite the bullet and take the first bite. So with a burst of sudden bravery Lincoln took a bite. He might not have always been the most fearless person in the room, he was rather jumpy actually, he knew if he didn't no one would.

Soon the others all took small nibbles at their meals, and soon they all were simply eating, "How, um... How's your dinner, guys?" Negan asked.

Lincoln smiled, "Not that bad, actually. Better than Red Lobster," he lied. It was revolting.

Lucille nodded, "It's really good. If I had known that dog food could taste like this... I would have been eating that shit all along," she took a large bite.

They began to lightly chuckle as she patted her son's back, "I think we have our new head scavenger right here."

"I second that," Negan pointed his fork at the boy.

"Third," Lincoln said between bites.

The young boy scoffed, "I don't know what you guys are talking about, this is gross," he pushed the plate away.

Lincoln sadly glanced over to the half full plate, knowing just how hungry his little brother must've been, as an idea sparked in his head. He smirked and leaned over, "Thanks Lou-Lou," he grabbed the plate.

His parents raised a brow at the boy before Louis gasped, "Hey! What are you doing?!"

"What?" Lincoln took a large mouthful of his brother's meal, "You obviously didn't want it."

"It's still mine! Give it back!" Louis tried to reach for his plate but his brother used one hand to hold up the food and the other to push him back, "Why? It's not like you're gonna eat it."

"Yes I will! Give it!"

Their parents watched with hidden smirks as their sons fought over the remaining food. Negan ended up telling Lincoln to let Louis eat, resulting in the younger one to engulf the dog food so his elder brother wouldn't have his share.

Once he finished the mother grabbed their plates, "See? I told you I could make it taste good," she smirked.

Negan and Lincoln made eye contact as the father mouthed a simple thank you while the other just winked. The boy knew how to get people to do what he wanted, after all he had a great teacher.

"Oh! I almost forgot," she leaned back and pulled out two neatly folded scarfs. "Happy birthday," she held them out for the boys.

Now the boys raised their brows, "Birthday?"

"Mom, it's like late fall. My birthday is in August," Louis scrunched his face.

"Are you both truly denying a present?" She deadpanned before the boys quickly grabbed a scarf, Louis with brown and Lincoln with grey.

They unwrapped the scarfs to reveal a bracelet matching the colour of their scarf, "Okay I know it's not much but I was bored and I did some rummaging and-"

"It's cool mom," Lincoln smiled as he put his grey bracelet on.

"Yeah!" Louis did the same, "Where'd you get these?"

She chuckled, "Okay, so when you were gone I was looking for something and I happened to find your baby booties. Then after a quick cry about how old my babies are now I decided to repurpose them. Those are made from your old shoelaces."

"Well I love it," Lincoln grinned as he leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Thank you mom."

"Thank you," Louis did the same on her other.

Negan gave her hand a small squeeze, "Man those two are lucky..." he dramatically sighed.

"Don't worry. I didn't forget about you," she slapped his chest before pulling out a small yellow gift bag from under the bed. "Happy anniversary."

He quickly threw the paper aside and peaked in the bag, stopping suddenly to look up at her. She giggled as he then pulled out the brand new leather jacket, "Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Holy... shit! Where did you get this?" He placed it over him.

She laughed, "Okay, it was in the crawlspace this whole time. 'Cause I was mad. I was so mad that I couldn't return it, so I just hid it, and I told you I returned it. So, there you go."

"You're awesome," his grin somehow grew even larger.

"I'm sorry," she suddenly said, making him freeze. "I'm really sorry I made a big deal out of it. If I'd known..." she deeply inhaled. "Like, all this was gonna happen, I wouldn't have cared about a stupid credit-card bill."

She tried to laugh it off but he quickly grabbed her hands, "No. No, no, no, no. See, I, um... I don't deserve anything from you. And you shouldn't be apologizing to me. It should be me apologizing to you," he told her. "The man that I was the pain that I put you three through. You know, uh. You know, I lie awake at night just wondering how I got so lucky that you have all stuck with me."

She chuckled, "Come here."

Lucille placed the plates to the side and crawled over to her husband, wrapping her arms around him, "Listen to me. I stuck with you 'cause I could always see the man you are right now. Even when you weren't. And that asshоlе really had it comin'."

"Yes, ma'am," he nodded as she pulled his face towards hers and whispered. "Let's smoke the pot."

"No way."

"Yeah," she laughed.

"I got that for you. No."

"What, we gotta go to work tomorrow?"

He sighed, "In front of them?"

"They can have some too!"

"No!" He matched her ecstatic tone.

"What's the worst that can happen? Hmm?" She giggled, "What the cops gonna come and arrest me?"

Negan glanced over towards the two boys who watched confused, "Are you sure? You feel okay?"

"I feel good enough."

"Can I wear my jacket?"

"You better," they quickly kissed before he reached over and pulled out the bag and glanced at the boys, "So boys, who wants to become a man tonight?"

༻❁༺

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Lincoln groaned as the sounds of dripping filled the room. His head was pounding but he ignored it and threw his pillow over his head to drown out the noise of falling water. Water.

His eyes shot open as his dad heard it too. Negan sprawled out of bed and ran to the fridge, "No. No, no, no, no!" Negan opened the fridge door making a litre of water fall from inside.

Lincoln was fully awake now as he watched slacked jawed as the water trailed down the side, making him realise two things. One, his mother's treatment was now unusable. And two, he forgot to turn the generator back on.

Soon the four all began to pace around trying to figure something out, "Remember that guy and his family came through here a while back? The kid had leukemia, uh, and they were looking for this group of doctors that traveled around in a mobile clinic?"

She shrugged as he went on, "I remember I sat down with him, he showed me his map. These doctors, they take the same route every time, and they make the same stops. I think that I know where they are, and if I leave right now, I can catch them before they move on," he quickly packed his bags as his mother shook her head.

"They could be dead by now if they even existed to begin with. And then what do you do when you find them? You have nothing to barter with, so just stop," she told him, eerily calm.

"I will figure it out," he tried to leave but Lucille pushed him back.

"Stop Negan! I said stop!" She shouted, "I have something to tell you."

She glanced back at her two sons who were both preoccupied. Lincoln was fixated on the map to try and find some spot survivors could be while Louis fiddled with the radio, praying for someone to answer.

She pulled him aside to the washroom and locked the tow of them inside. Once they were situated she took in a deep breath and muttered six words, "I know about you and Janine."

The husband froze, "What?"

She repeated herself, "I've know for a while. I knew back then. I've... I've known for a long time."

Negan's lips parted, "You knew. You... You... You knew about Janine. Uh, about me and her? You knew this whole time?"

"Mm-hmm," she sniffled, thinking back to her husband's old mistress.

He took his time to find the words, "Just so you know, I... I... I broke it up with her as soon as we got your diagnosis. Uh, I never saw her or even talked to her again."

She grasped his hand as the two teared up, "I know that, too. I know."

"Jesus, Lucille. I don't understand. Why are you telling me this now?"

"'Cause..." she hiccuped. "I want you to know that you made up for it and you can stop. And if you really want to help me then just stay. Stay," she begged him.

He shook his head, "Baby, we... we were so close. You know? This... This can work. The doctors said that this could work," he tried to tell her.

"No, they didn't. We went down swingin'," she smiled through her silent tears. "Now it's time for you three to go on without me."

"Baby-"

"Those two boys still have so much life to live," she squeezed his hand even tighter. "They have barely been on this earth and they have so much more to experience. I need my boys to all do my fighting for me, okay? So stay."

The two continued to silently cry as their foreheads found each other. The two holding onto one another for different reasons. She kept repeating the same word over and over again as Negan eventually muttered, "No."

Lucille looked back up at him as he wiped away her tears, "No. We are not giving up. You know, we have made it this far, so we are gonna see this through. I'm gonna find these doctors, and I am gonna bring you back the drսg that you need, and we are gonna kick this cancer out of you."

He inhaled sharply as he unlocked the door, "We are not giving up. Do you hear me? We are not giving up. Not ever."

Exiting the washroom he picked up his bag and grabbed the empty gun, placing it in his waistband, "Link?"

The boy tensed as his name was said, he glanced back and muttered, "Yes?" As he tried not to shake.

His father walked over and gave him a quick hug before pulling away, "You're gonna be the man of the house for a bit, okay? Take care of your mom when I'm gone."

He quickly nodded, "Yes, sir."

Louis perked up and grabbed his backpack, "Great, let's go," he walked towards the door. 

Negan grabbed the boy by the bag and pulled him back, "What do you think you are doing?"

Louis glared up at his father, "Going with you?"

He shook his head, "Not happening."

"You need backup!"

"You are twelve."

"So?! Dad I want to help you," he exclaimed. "I want to help mom. If Link stays here with her I can give you some backup. I'm small and quick on my feet."

Negan shook his head, "You are staying here."

The two continued to fight as Lucille huffed, "Negan," the three looked back to see the sick woman sit down on the bed. "Just let him go with you."

"What?!" All three said in very different tones.

She sighed as her hands caressed her temples, "Let him go. It's not worth arguing."

"Lucille, baby. Do you understand how dangerous it is outside? What could be out there-"

"So he never learns?" She asked, "It's better he goes now when it's practically empty instead of never leaning at all."

After a bit more back and fourth Negan finally agreed and the two prepared to leave. She pulled Louis close and held him tight, "You listen to your dad, alright. You do everything he says and you don't go off on your own, got that?"

The tween nodded, "Yes, mom."

She meekly smiled as her hand caressed his face, "That's my boy," she kissed. "My sweet boy, I love you so much," she kept herself strong and fought back the tears so he wouldn't notice.

He kissed her cheek and pulled himself out of her hold, "We'll get you your chemo and be back so mom."

She chuckled, "Whatever happens, happens."

Negan then pulled his wife close and gave her one last kiss goodbye before the two left. The two remaining members of the household tried to stay strong and held back all the tears they could before letting it all out for different reasons.

Lucille, because she might of just seen her husband and younger son for the final time. And Lincoln, because if they didn't come back soon he would be the one who accidentally killed his mother.

•••