The Walking Dead: Origins

Chapter 1: Kenny

Hello, my fellow readers, Assassin's Creed Master here. I usually give the whole "Warning if you have not played/watched this contains spoilers" but this story is not really a spoiler. Alright, for those who have played The Walking Dead by Telltale Games, we did not really get a lot of background information on certain characters besides the small information they told us. So I decided to write this story based around their lives up to the apocalypse a prequel to season 1.

This story won't be that long, maybe around 4-5 chapters. Like a DLC to the game. But I had this idea for a while now, and with my other story Fight for Survival on hold, I decided to start writing this one.

As usual, I am speaking too much as always. Enjoy the first chapter and feel free to drop a review or two. Would help a lot and I would appreciated it.


During a quiet peaceful afternoon in the outskirts of Memphis, Tennessee, Kenny and his wife Katjaa and their son Kenny Jr (better known as "Duck") was now making their way home back to Fort Lauderdale, Florida after visiting Katjaa's sister, Janet. Kenny concentrated on driving their pickup truck down the highway while Katjaa sat in the passenger's seat with Duck in the middle.

However, Kenny could not help but notice the roads looked a bit deserted at the moment. Surely the highway would be filled with traffic, right? But there were barely any cars on the road. Although Kenny was not complaining, of course. Now he could got home quicker a lot sooner than he though.

While he was driving, Kenny was too focused on the road that he did not notice his son yapping like usual or the fact they were low on gas. It was only until the light started blinking when he realized. "Need to get gas. Hope there's a gas station nearby."

"There's one about two miles up the road." Katjaa replied while she eyed the map that she had been looking at during their ride home. She recalled the last time Kenny claimed he knew the way home, and this got them lost. She sure was not going to let history repeat itself again, and this is the exact reason she brought a map this time. "It's called "Gil's Pitstop"."

"Good. We'll fill up there." Kenny replied, shifting his eyes up towards his rearview mirror where he noticed a car coming up behind him, coming fast than usual. "Hey, he's going kinda fast, don't you, think-"

Kenny did not have the time to finish when the car when speeding past him, almost knocking him off the road. He growled angrily as he shoved his hand onto the horn. "Stupid asshole! Is he trying to kill us?!"

"Drivers these days." Katjaa mumbled, taking her arms from around Duck after she grabbed him in a protective manner just in case they crashed. She watched as the car drove away at max speed, wondering what the rush was. The roads were almost completely clear.

The family continued driving down the highway as nighttime slowly arrived with Kenny almost falling asleep at one point. Katjaa offered to take over, but he assured her that he was all right. Eventfully, Kenny made it to Gil's Pitstop and pulled along inside towards the gas pumps, and trio exited the vehicle.

"Kenny, I'm going to go and get some coffee from that diner." Katjaa said while Kenny opened up the gas tank door and placed the hose inside. "Ducky, stay with your father."

"Okay Mom." Duck nodded while his mother proceeded towards the diner that was still open this time of day. He began to run around in circles a few feet away from his father with his arms spread out as wide as they would go like he was impersonating an airplane. "Weeee! Look at me, Dad!"

Kenny merely chuckled at his son's enthusiastic tone. It always made his day when Duck did all those dumb things like running around everywhere he went, never know when to be quiet, and always getting himself into mischief. What a good boy he was.

Kenny wiped his forehead while he kept an eye on the meter. However, he could not help but take note that there was not that many people around. Even at this time, there ought to be at least a couple of people and cars around the eyes. "Whew, what a day."

Kenny proceeded his way towards the diner to see how much the gas was going to cost him, leaving his car to fuel up while he did so.

Duck was nearby and finally finished tiring himself out from playing with himself, and ran towards his father. He was only a few feet away from his father but froze when something, or someone had grabbed his shoulder's tightly and yanked him back, causing him to panic and cry out for help. "DAD! DA-A-A-A-A-A-A-D!"

Kenny swiftly turned around the second he heard his son's cries and charged towards the man grabbing his son, and he immediately assumed the man was trying to kidnap him. "Get your fucking hands off my boy!" he reached the man in a matter of two seconds, and with one strong hit, he punched the man directly in his face, knocking him down and causing him to release his grip in Duck.

Kenny was not finished yet. He grabbed the man by his collar and pulled him up to his feet and proceeded to savagely beat him down. "Nobody touches my fucking son!"

After he was finished beating down the man, he hugged Duck in a protective manner while he kept his angered expression towards the man. His expression changed into a shocked one when he noticed that this man was no ordinary man. He looked dead! His skin was torn and dry, his eye balls looked completely white, and his torso was skinny as the average body should be. What in the world was that thing?

The man snarled as it leaned up and tried to grab them both, but a direct kick from Kenny's foot sent him back down again. Kenny picked up Duck and quickly ran back towards the truck where Katjaa came running towards them, obviously attracted by Duck's screams.

"Kenny, what's happening?!" Katjaa asked in a worried tone.

"This guy, h-h-he grabbed Duck, h-he weren't human. I-I-I don't know, uh, I. " Kenny stuttered to get his words out to explain what just happened in simple terms. He turned his attention towards the road and was shocked to see a couple of more people walking towards them who resembled a lot like the man he just saw. "T-There's more of them! Back to the truck!"

Kenny carried Duck as he and Katjaa ran back towards their pickup truck. He was too much in shock to even realize the gas tank was not full, and to even remember he did not pay the bill for the gas, but even if he did, he didn't really care right now. All he cared about was escaping.

The second he was in the truck, he locked both the doors and immediately turned his keys into the ignition and stepped his foot onto the pedal, speeding out of gas station and back onto the main road.


The family remained silent as Kenny did not dare stop the truck under any circumstances. They had been driving for four and a half hours straight, passing dead bodies and a lot of people who begged for them to stop, but Kenny was not take any chances. Eventually, they made it into Rural Georgia, but it was now extremely dark, and Kenny finally gave in and needed a place to stop for the night.

As Kenny drove, he heard a rattling noise coming from his engine. He must have overheated the engine from driving too fast and driving non-stop. "Oh, shit! Engine's cutting out."

Katjaa looked out of their window for any sign of life out there, but they seemed to be in empty area. However, fortune shined upon them when she noticed a building not too far from them. She tugged Kenny's arm to gain his attention. "Kenny, look. There's a building over there. I think it's a farm."

"Well, we ain't got any much choice for tonight, hon." Kenny agreed as he pulled into the dirt road that led towards the farm. He kept his foot pressed against the gas pedal, determined to get there before the engine cut out.

After a couple more minutes passed, Kenny pulled up into the farm whilst observing the house, realizing someone was home when he saw lights were on. He exited his pickup truck but order his family to stay here just in case. "Stay here, hon. I'll go and look for help."

Kenny proceed towards the house door but froze in his steps when a man stepped out form the house, armed with a Remington 870 shotgun. He raised his hands in the air, even though the man was not aiming his gun towards them yet. "Whoa, whoa, take it easy. Not here for trouble."

The man holstered his weapon for now as he remained silent for a moment. He had grey hair with a grey beard; he wore green overalls across his body, he looked Caucasian-American, and to top it off, he looked around in his late fifties. "What are you doing on my farm?"

Kenny was about to answer with the truth, but would he really believe him if he told him the dead were awake and were killing the living? He told half the truth for now while slowly lowering his hands down to his sides. "A bit of chaos going on at the moment. My trucks got a bit of a problem, and me and my family don't think it's safe to continue driving at night. We were just looking for a place to stay for the night, is all."

The man thought about his request for a moment as he placed his gun down and rested it against the wall. He placed his hands to his hips while focusing his attention towards the woman and boy in the pickup truck, and then shifting his attention back towards Kenny. "All right, you can stay for a little while until you fix your truck, but that don't mean you get a free ride. I don't run no bread and breakfast. There's no room in the house, so the barn will be the best I can give you."

"That's fine. Thank you, much appreciated." Kenny thanked, taking off his hat for a moment and wiping the sweat away from his forehead. "I'm Kenny. That's my son Kenny Junior and my wife Katjaa."

"I'm Hershel." the man introduced himself, too while he remembered what Kenny had told him about his truck. "So, got a couple of engine problems?"

"Yeah, kept cutting out on the way here. But don't worry, I'll have it fixed as soon as possible and we'll be out of your hair." Kenny reassure, placing his cap back onto his head.

"All right. I'll get something for you and your family to sleep on." Hershel replied, retrieved his shotgun as he walked back inside the house.

As a few minutes passed, Kenny, Katjaa, and Duck settled themselves into the barn on some mattresses with bed covers. It was not the best place to be sleeping, but it was better than nothing. Duck was asleep in a matter of seconds, but his parents were still awake for a few more moments.

As they got comfortable, Kenny shifted his attention over towards Katjaa and reached out his hand, placing it upon Katjaa's while he gave her a reassuring smile. "Honey, everything's going to be all right, you know. This whole thing's going to blow over before you know it."

"I know, Kenny. I have hope that it will." Katjaa agreed, resting her head in her arms as she rolled over on her side. "Goodnight, Kenny."

"Goodnight, Katjaa." Kenny bidden her farewell for the night as he got himself comfortable, hoping someone would be able to sort this situation out before it got out of control.


And that brings us to the end of the first chapter, folks, and this was the story of Kenny, Katjaa, and Duck. I hope you all enjoyed this prequel beginning so far. If so, stay tuned for chapter 2.