Surprise! I bet you weren't expecting to hear from me, probably ever again, but I'm back! I'm going to do a little explaining, so if you don't care (which I don't blame you) feel free to ignore this and continue onto the chapter. So obviously I haven't updated for a couple of years and believe me when I say that I had no intention of doing that, but it just happened. I was in the middle of high school and some shit just hit me like a truck and everything did a straight shoot down from there. I couldn't find motivation to do anything, and I mean anything, especially writing, which is saying something since this is something that I love to do, for a long time. But I've since graduated from high school and have now finished my first semester of college! I've slowly started to feel better and now have motivation, so expect more of this story and others in the future. So, enjoy!

It didn't take him long to figure out that he had to leave. The man who called himself the Governor made it very clear that he was the one in charge and no one was to question him. After seeing what the man could, and would, do to others that he found, it was obvious that something was wrong. It wasn't to say that he didn't like some of the others that were with the Governor, though. Anna, one of the women who were with them when they found him wondering on the road, was pretty cool. She was the one who ultimately gave him his name: Gunner. He wasn't sure how he felt about the name at first, thought it was too weird and didn't really fit him, but Anna thought it was perfect. She said that after it became known how skilled he was at using a gun (it was muscle memory, he had no idea what he was doing) that the name came to her and she started calling him that without his consent. So when it got around the rest of Woodbury, others started to call him that and it just stuck.

Anna wasn't the only one from Woodbury that he liked. Actually, most of the people who lived in the small community were good people, with the exception of some. He knew that they didn't know what the Governor was really doing, not when he was outside of the walls. After going on a couple of runs with him and the rest of his group, Gunner contemplated on whether to tell others, but Anna talked him out of it. She said that if he told the people, then it would only cause more problems and disrupt the flow of the town, so he kept it quiet. That didn't mean that he was still okay with what was happening. In fact, he hated it.

Which was what found him in this situation now. After spending the majority of winter at Woodbury and going on runs with the Governor, Gunner finally snapped. On their last run they came across a small family, parents and two kids. They've never came across kids when Gunner was with them, so he thought that the Governor would simply let the family go, but that didn't happen. Anna was the one who did it, face stone and emotionless. It wasn't uncommon that the people in the Governor's group would change when they went outside the walls, but he had never seen Anna look like that before. She was wearing the same expression then, when she shot the kids, as she was wearing now while she pointed the gun at Gunner's face.

"I really thought you were with us, Gunner," she said, her voice unnervingly cold. Nothing in Gunner's body told him to be scared, like a normal person. Instead it was screaming at him to attack her, so take the gun away and point it at her. The muscles in his body twitched like it already knew what to do.

"I can't be with a group who would kill a couple of innocent kids," Gunner said, the tone in his voice easily rivaling Anna's. He saw her flinch, never have heard his voice so cold. Normally it was warm and soothing.

"You can't say that. You have no idea who the hell you are," Anna said, knowing that she struck a cord when Gunner's eye twitched. "You've seen what we do for the past three months, why is this any different?"

"I may not remember who I am, but I do know that I'm not a child killer," Gunner said, his fists tightening. Something seemed to snap in his mind and his whole composure changed. "You can try to keep me here, but you better be ready to shoot me cause I'm not staying."

Anna saw the change in him. His previously rigid body loosened, like he was ready to run. His fists tightened, but they didn't reach for any of the guns or knives that she knew he had. His face relaxed and the look in his eyes changed. It was no longer ice cold, but something else immerged. It was still cold, but a spark took hold of his irises and she could see the humor from where she stood. It made her freeze and fear coursed down her body for a reason that she didn't know. It was like he was looking for a fight just for the fun of it.

Gunner moved before she would comprehend what had happened. Instead of running straight at her, he veered to the left. Anna managed to jerk her arm with him and pulled the trigger. The gunshot rang out around the quiet town of Woodbury.

XxXxXxX

Someone was yelling. He couldn't understand what was being yelled at him, it was like he was underwater and the noise was muffled. He tried to make out his surroundings, but it was like every other dream he's had since he dug himself out of the ground. His arm hurt, his head hurt, he felt hot and everything was going dark.

"Do it, just do it," he found himself saying. It hurt his through to talk, like he had a serious case of sore throat. He was also pretty sure that he could taste blood when he talked. "I won't blame you, just remember that. No matter what I've said in the past, I've never blamed you for anything."

He wasn't sure why he was saying what he was, but something told him that it was the right thing to say to whoever was yelling at him. The person kept talking, but it was getting even more muffled. The feeling in his legs began to leave him and even his arm slowly stopped hurting. It felt like he was being submerged in an ice pool and it felt good on his hot skin. All he really wanted to do was close his eyes and go to sleep.

"I can't hold on for much longer. Do it now when you still have the chance," he said and he felt tears leak out of his eyes. He wasn't sure why he was crying, a little voice in his head told him that he's been in more pain than this. He didn't try to stop himself though, not having enough strength, so he let the tears fall freely down his face. The darkness crept further into his eye sight and he decided to just close his eyes, make it easier on the person in front of him. He had no idea what he was telling the person to do, but he knew that it would be easier if his eyes were closed.

The person in front of him said something much quieter than he was saying before, but he was too far gone to hear it. Something cold pressed against his forehead and then everything was numb.

XxXxXxX

Gunner opened his eyes and sat up so fast that it made his headache even worse. His first instinct was to reach to the side of him and feel for the warmth of another body that he's gotten so used to, but his hand didn't connect with Anna like it normally would. Confusion clogged in sleep riddled mind for a moment before everything from the previous day snapped back to him. Trying to leave Woodbury, Anna stopping them, a gun going off and then Anna on the ground, bleeding out. Gunner felt some sort of remorse deep in his stomach for the lose of Anna, but it was gone as quickly as it had made an appearance.

After the events of last night, Gunner had run from Woodbury as fast as he could, before anyone was drawn to the area because of the gunshot. He moved quickly and efficiently, changing his course multiple times to just in case anyone was following him. It was late afternoon when his body finally made it clear that he needed to rest and he found a house down a fairly well-hidden drive way to sleep for the night. After doing a quick pass around and through the house, no signs of a threat were found and he decided that it was a good place as any to camp out. It hadn't been very hard to block the entrances and he didn't bother to set any noise traps, since he was already a light sleeper to begin with.

Now that he was awake and there was no way he was going to get back to sleep, Gunner figured it was time to wake up. A quick look out of the curtains revealed that it was early morning, meaning that he had gotten the most sleep in one night than he had since he crawled his way out of the ground. Winter still lingered in the air and he quickly threw on another layer under he thick jacket before going to look through the kitchen. Since the house was fairly well hidden behind a group of trees, there were still some supplies that he could use. He opened the fridge first, which was a made idea because the rotten food almost made him vomit, so he quickly closed it after looking quickly and seeing nothing salvageable. The cabinets were more promising and made a pile on the kitchen island of canned foods and water. He even grabbed a bag of very stale chips to eat as he did another pass through of the rest of the house.

He found a couple of duffel bags that he could wear and quickly filled one with the food and drinks and the other with more supplies that he found from the bedrooms and bathrooms. He even found an axe in pretty decent condition behind the house. By the time he was ready to leave, it was late morning and he had to be extra careful that he wasn't heading back the way of Woodbury. As he walked down the side of the road, he was careful to keep an eye out for both walkers and people.

He had no idea where he was going to go, but he just kept walking.

XxXxXxX

The man's head was thrown back as the bullet dug its way into his forehead. Everything played out in slow motion as the rest of the man's group watched in shock as his body crumbled to the ground. Gunner stood silently, lowering his arm, as he waited for the men to look back at him. When one of the men finally looked back at him, Gunner could see that he was trying to look angry, but the fear was still set in his eyes and posture. He raised his own gun and leveled it at Gunner's head. He stared at the slightly wavering barrel with unimpressed eyes.

"You must really have a death wish," the man said, staring at the way that Gunner wasn't bothering to move. "I didn't think that you were going to be that stupid, but I've been wrong before."

"I'm not the stupid one. I warned you guys not to bother me and now look what you made me do," Gunner said, shifting his weight onto his other foot. "Now I have to waste even more ammo."

The man opened his mouth to say something again, but Gunner raised his gun and fired before he could. The other men finally moved, but he was quicker and managed to easily put a bullet between each set of eyes. After he found out how good he was at firing a gun at Woodbury, he focused on honing his skills and now he is confident to say that he was pretty good. Gunner felt nothing as he was the bodies of the men who had tried to rob him fall to the ground.

After spending six months on his own after he left Woodbury, he learned how to survive. Much to his surprise, he already knew most of what he had to do, leading him to the possibility that he was some sort of survivalist or something before he lost him memories. Despite learning that he already knew how to survive, it was like a double-edged sword. Since the world went to hell in a handbasket, people began to act like animals. Gunner found that it was easy for him to get used to killing people. He still never killed any children or families, only people who try to rob or kill him, so he counts what he's doing as good. He's helping get rid of some of the scum that seemed to rule the new world.

"Well that wasn't very hard," Gunner mumbled to himself, putting his gun away and quickly searching the men for anything that was of use. He only found a few bullets and a lighter, but it was still better than nothing. He left the bodies to rot in the sun as he walked back to the Harley that he had acquired a couple of months ago. It was hidden among the trees, something that Gunner did before he went to scavenge the house that he found alongside the road. He rolled it out of the shrubs and back onto the road before straddling it and firing it up. It roared like a beast and he took off down the road, swerving around the first walker that had been drawn to the gunfire.

Once he left Woodbury, Gunner had no idea where he was going. He simply walked down the road, and when that one ended, he would find another to follow. He managed to make his way out of Georgia and through Virginia. As far as he knew, he was heading towards Washington D.C. He had no idea what he would find there, but it was a good destination as any. He hadn't stopped and stayed in one place since his time with the Governor, though he found enough people who offered him a place to be set for the rest of his life. Something told him that he shouldn't stay with any of the people, a reason that the couldn't pinpoint, but he trusted it and declined all offers made to him. He had made it this far on his own, he can keep going.

The warm air blew his hair around his face and he decided that next time he stopped, it would be time for another haircut. His unbuttoned flannel flew behind him as he raced down the road and he was happy that he decided not to wear the leather jacket that he had found a few months back. It would be too warm now that summer was upon him and the last thing he needed was to pass out. The land stretched out around him and he took one had off of the cycle as he rode leisurely down the road. He was so relaxed that he almost missed the person who had ran out in the road and right in his way.

Gunner swore as he felt panic rise into his throat. Normally he wouldn't care if a person ran out in the road, he's had to run down people before, but it was different on a cycle. He was going to fast that even if he breaker, he wouldn't stop in time to avoid hitting the person. So he did the only thing that he could and veered around the person. For a minute he thought that he was going to make it, but then the motorcycle pitched to the side and he felt his knee skid painfully across the asphalt. He tried to over correct himself, but it was too late. The last thing that he saw was the road getting closer to his face.

XxXxXxX

Wherever he was, it was soft, probably the softest place that he's been for a long time. Whenever he was in a house, he never slept in the beds. It just felt too weird sleeping in the bed of someone who was most likely dead. So, the fact that he was in a bed immediately rose a red flag in his head. Pain came from what seemed like everywhere on his body, but Gunner ignored it. He strained his ears to listen for any sounds coming from around him. His hearing had improved after so long by himself and it was uncomfortable for so much noise to be around him. Gunner could tell that there was no one in the room with him, but he could still hear people moving around outside his room.

He slowly opened his eyes and looked around at his surroundings. He was in a room that seemed to have been made into a small apartment. The bed that he was in was against one wall and a small table with a couple of chairs sat in the middle of the room, with a tiny couch pushed up against another wall. It would have been cozy except for the machines and IV that he was hooked up to. Gunner was about to pull the tubes out of his arm when the door opened and he froze. Every fiber in his body told him that he should be looking for some sort of weapon, but he could already tell that there were none around him, so he had to face whatever came through the door on his own.

"Oh, you're awake! That's good news," the blonde man said when he walked into the room. Gunner saw the surprise on his face when he was him awake, but he didn't say anything. Instead he let the doctor come up to him and look at the machine sitting next to the bed. "For a while I wasn't sure if you were going to pull through. You got pretty banged up and then I wasn't sure if you were going to wake up. Good thing you did. There's a couple of people who want to meet you."

"Where am I?" Gunner finally asked. It hurt to move the muscles in his face and a quickly look down when he moved the blanket that was covering him showed bandages wrapping up his arms. He could only guess what it looked like under his clothes and on his face.

"One of the people who want to meet you will tell you. Just stay here so I can go let them know that you're awake," the man said, turning away from Gunner and walking back to the door. Before he left, he turned back around and looked at Gunner from over his shoulder. "You're lucky that you missed the person on the road."

The man closed the door behind him and Gunner didn't miss the sound of a lock turning, but it didn't stop him. He immediately finished tearing the tubes out of his arm and threw the blanket fully off of himself. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, Gunner attempted to stand up but nearly collapsed when he put all his weight on his legs. Unimageable pain shot up his legs and into his stomach, making its way through his chest and even to his face. He bit back a scream and continued to stand up, with the help of the moveable IV stand next to him. He knew that he wasn't going to get very far like this with no weapon, so he made his way as quickly as possible around the room, but there was nothing easy to use at a weapon. If he had more strength he could break one of the chairs, but there was no way he would be able to lift it enough the smash it. He was tempted to kick something out of frustration when he heard the door unlock behind him and he quickly moved. The man from before walked in, but this time he was followed by two other men. One had stringy blonde hair and the other had a well-trimmed beard and wearing leather jacket.

"Well hot damn, you're up and moving around already," the man in the leather jacket said, whistling through his teeth. "You're one tough son of a bitch."

"Where the hell am I?" Gunner demanded, trying not to lean as heavily on the IV, but he winced when he moved his legs. The man saw this and his grin grew wider.

"Looks like you're in a little bit of pain there, pal, so I'll be nice and tell you where you are," the man said before throwing his arms out for dramatic effect. "I'm Negan and this is the Sanctuary."

And there's my first chapter in a few chapters. I was going to have Gunner stay with the Governor for a while longer, have a whole story with him, but I decided not to because I like Negan better. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I promise that it won't take me nearly as long to upload another.