Author's Note:
Hey guys, super excited to begin my first fanfiction, Amid The Ruins! In case you haven't figured it out yet, this is a character-submission fic. You create the character using the template I give you at the end of this introduction chapter, and I'll add them into the story! You can submit them anytime, no matter how far along we are in the story. However, there are a few rules to go over:
-If there is too large of a cast when you submit your character, I may need to wait until we have more room to add them in. I won't add a character until it makes since according to the current storyline.
-Given that each chapter will be relatively short for the sake of making it less burdensome to write, and so that I can upload more often, not every character will get their own storyline immediately. They will be given attention, but you need to be patient.
-The original group will be comprised of 10-12 submissions, after that, any further character submissions will have to wait until a later time.
-I approve, and even highly recommend, families rather than a single character submission. It's entirely unrealistic to have so many diverse people in a group together without any of them having surviving family.
-I ask that if you have a character participating in the story, that you at least do your best to review each chapter. Reviews give me motivation! Even a simple 1-10 rating is good.
-Give your character some flaws-a boring, invincible badass with no flaws makes for a tiring character that I'll likely have a chore writing. I enjoy flawed, deep characters.
-No character is guaranteed a lifespan of any length. If your character dies, you're free to submit another. However, any petty complaints as the result of a character death will be ignored. The death toll in this series will be very high, as is appropriate for a dangerous world like the Walking Dead, especially with such a large cast. And believe me, not every death is gonna be pretty. I doubt this will be an issue, so long as everyone is mature enough.
-No canon or canon-based characters. This is an entirely original storyline.
-No overpowered or unrealistic weaponry. If I think something is senseless, I won't hesitate to change the character to be more suitable to a grounded series such as this.
-If you have any suggestions or comments for your character or the way I'm writing them, don't hesitate to give me a PM! Feedback is always welcome.
Without further adieu...
Skylar's thick brown hair blew gently in the wind, as he absentmindedly stared out the car window. He had always loved the feeling of wind in his hair. The wind caused his dark blue eyes to squint, enjoying the scenery. Barely hanging above the landscape, the sun was glowing a hazy orange, casting a bright, misty light on the trees sidelining the road they were driving on. Given the circumstances, it didn't quite seem right that everything could look so beautiful. They were running out of food, not to mention gas. As much as his dad promised that they'd be okay, things were getting more grim with every passing day. Getting lost in thought seemed to get more and more common for him nowadays.
"Hey, Skye," said his dad from the driver's seat, breaking him from his trance, "looks like there's a rest stop about five miles up the road. We'll stop there."
"Mhm." Skye nodded, glancing over at Pfiefer. As expected, his sister was sleeping quietly across from him, her sleep-frayed jet black hair obscuring her face. "You think it's safe?"
"'Bout as safe as anywhere nowadays."
He turned his attention back to the window, staring out at the forest. They'd been driving along back roads for over a day, but still hadn't run into any supplies. They passed a few towns, but weren't able to find much. The cities were even worse. That's where the biters were most difficult to avoid. Big cities meant big risks, and his dad was being careful. However, it was only a matter of time before they got desperate enough to try and search a big city again. The last time he'd tried, he almost wound up dead. After that, dad stopped allowing him to help on supply runs, and the same went for Pfiefer, no matter how much they protested.
However, before he could once again lose himself in thought, a loud noise suddenly startled him. It was a loud bang, almost like a pop. Suddenly, the car was swerving, jolting his sister awake. His dad struggled to keep it in check, slamming the breaks and sending Skye's face into the back of the passenger seat. The car skidded to a stop, sliding along the road with a piercing noise.
Finally, they were stopped, having nearly gone over the side of the road. A brief moment of silence, permeated by heavy breathing ensued.
"Everyone okay?" Skye's dad asked, turning back to his children.
"I...think so..." Pfiefer replied, still visibly shaken, "what happened?"
"We must've ran over something," he replied, "tire popped, I think. Skye, you wanna give me a hand with putting in the spare?"
Nodding, Skylar stepped out of the car with his father. After a brief inspection, they found the culprit. About fourty feet back lay a small plaque of serrated nails facing upwards on the street. It certainly didn't look like an accidental contraption.
"Who the hell put that there?" Skye asked, inspecting the plank.
"Probably a trap set up by looters, if I had to guess."
"Think whoever set it is in the area?"
"Let's not stick around to find out."
With that, the two got to work changing out the tire with a spare. Luckily, only the front right tire was popped. He'd learned long ago how to change them, and today was no different.
"Skye, you finish this up for me, okay?" Suggested his dad a few minutes later, handing the tool over to his son. "I'm gonna check the map real quick."
"Will do."
His dad retreated into the car, opening the glove compartment. Doubling his efforts, Skye worked to tighten the last remaining bolts on the tire. Before long, he had once again found himself thinking deeply. There was certainly a lot to think about nowadays. He found himself thinking about his mom a lot since the outbreak. He figured after so long without her, he would finally stop thinking so much about her, but time didn't seem to help much. If anything, the memories plagued him now more than ever.
A few moments before he was finished with the tire, he heard his dad approaching from behind. His footsteps were slower than usual for some reason.
"Almost done," he said, "give me just a second."
No response.
"Dad?" He added, turning around.
Suddenly, he jumped to his feet, stumbling backwards. Instead of his dad stood a large biter, growling and snarling as it swung an arm out at him.
"Shit!" He exclaimed, knocking on the car door to signal his dad. The biter must've come from the woods without him noticing.
Pulling out his gun, he leveled it up at the corpse in front of him. However, when he went to pull the trigger, he hesitated. He'd never killed one of them before. Why was it so difficult, after everything they'd taken from him, to put aside his fears and kill one of them? Perhaps it was the eerie, ghostly look in the biter's eyes as it stumbled towards him. Maybe it was the towering stature of it, probably around the same size as his dad. Maybe he was just weak.
After a moment of backing away from the biter, his dad had emerged from the car, gun drawn. Pfiefer soon followed, staying back.
"Skylar," he yelled, "get back!"
He shuffled backward, giving his dad room to dispatch the biter with his pistol. The gunshot was deafening, causing him to cover his ears. The corpse fell to the ground, dead for good this time. Its head was nearly blown completely off, brain matter and blood staining the road in front of him. He relaxed for just a moment, trying to catch his breath.
"Skylar, look out!" Screamed Pfiefer, pointing behind him.
Suddenly, something grabbed a hold of his arm from behind. Yelling out, he jerked around to find another biter, who had now emerged from the forest, drawn by the noise.
"Dad!" he yelled, unable to break its grip on him as it tried to force its teeth towards him. His hand was now the only thing keeping it from tearing into his face, as he tried to push it away by the neck.
"I can't get a clear shot!"
Terror shone on his face as he looked over at his dad. He couldn't hold its teeth back much longer. After a moment's hesitation, his father fired his gun. The first and second shots missed, but the third hit its chest, sending it to the floor. From there, his dad finished it with a shot to the head. It all happened so fast.
Relieved, he took a step towards his dad to give him a hug, but suddenly, his leg gave out from underneath him. He fell to the floor, screaming in pain.
"Skye," Pfiefer exclaimed, running over to him, "what's wrong?"
"My...my leg..." He replied, looking down. The adrenaline must've stopped him from feeling it before. A large, rapidly bleeding wound on his thigh caught his attention. He'd been shot. After a few moments, his vision began to blur as he started to feel lightheaded and distant. The pain was beyond excruciating, and his screams became more intense when his dad tried to put pressure on the wound.
"Skylar," he heard his dad say, almost sounding far away, "oh my God...I didn't mean to-...stay with me, okay? I need you to stay awa..."
Everything went black.
Well guys, I hope you liked that little introduction/prequel! Here's the template for creating a character. Please fill it out and PM it to me if you'd like to create a character for the story. I need:
1. Name(first, middle, last)
2. Gender.
3. Appearance(BE DETAILED, the less you put the more I'll have to make up myself)(be sure to include their age)
4. Personality(a paragraph would be great, be very detailed)
5. Family/Friends(in case you'd like to submit several characters as a family or group)
6. Brief description of Family/Friends(if applicable)
7. History/Backstory(NOTICE - All characters will begin in the same group in our first chapter, so their history must eventually correlate to having ended up at the refugee camp in which we will begin our story)
8. What they like in a person.
9. Sexuality.
10. Flaws.
11. Strengths.
12. Weaponry & Skills(not necessarily just combat experience, but also other things that would be useful. I will not accept your character if they are overtly badass. We don't need any Daryls here)
13. Suggestions(what you'd like to see me do with the character, how you'd like to see them develop, ect. Not necessarily going to happen, but I still value your ideas)
Feel free to add any additional info.