The Walking Dead, Volume 1: Days Gone Bye...
Prologue: A New Day
Hell.
That's how one should describe the small town of Macon, Georgia at its current state of this moment qith multiple cars overturned on their sides or backs, powerlines fallen on the ground with sparks of electricity coming out and newspaper spread out all over the streets.
But the most disturbing thing about Macon was the number of dead, rotten corpses on the ground. Some lied with bullets in their brains, heads chopped off and even ripped in half. But there was a secret about these corpses.
Suddenly, an alarm rang out from a small pharmacy called 'Everett Pharmacy Drugstore', whether it was a break-in or some kind of plea from help was unknown, but one thing was certain... it woke them up.
The corpse of a dead woman lying in an alleyway with an icepick in her shoulders and remained motionless before her eyes opened. But they weren't any normal eyes of the human, no, they were a pure milky-white.
The monster managed to crawl up and began to limp towards the origin of the noise. Walking into the streets of Macon, she turned her head to look at the broken window with bloody handprints on it, trailing down until it couldn't be seen anymore.
It then continued on till it reached the pharmacy, only to see dozens of her brethren limping towards the pharmacy and began pounding on the doors and windows all for one objective... to feed the juicy taste of human flesh.
Inside the store, survivors were all huddled into one room and all froze when the alarm went off.
A slightly overweight man in a green shirt, khaki shorts, and open-toed sandals instantly checked the door and paled in horror.
"Guys! They're coming!" he yelled out and then all hell broke loose. The monsters then started to pound on the doors and the windows, as the residents inside scramble to defuse the situation.
A mother helped her son off the counter he was sitting and tried to get him out of the room, as another woman got out her gun and started to put a new clip inside the gun. A man with a mustache started to run towards the door, "I'm gonna get the truck pulled up 'round back!" he yelled to a woman next to his side.
"Do it fast, I've got to get my dad out of here.".
"I don't plan on dilly-dallying." came the man's reply, "Honey, take Duck into the office and barricade the living hell out of the door behind me." he turned to a small Asian man, "Glenn, when you hear me honking in the alley, start getting people out of here."
The man known as Glenn nodded, "You got it!".
He then turned to an African-American helping a little girl on the counter, "Lee, try to board up the windows and buy us some time, and Carley," he turned to a small woman, "Help Doug and shoot anything that gets too close inside.".
They both nodded and headed off to do their ordered jobs. Carley and Glenn ran towards the door to help Doug, while Lee searches for supplies in the hardware section.
Come on, I know they're here somewhere, he thought franctically, before his face brightened at the sight of some boards and nails. He then picked them up and ran toward the nearest window that was swarmed by monsters and instantly began hammering the nails onto the boards, trying to buy some time.
However, it was all for naught, as one of the creatures broke through and got stuck in between the windows and tried to reach for Lee.
He stumbled back and instantly turn the hammer around and imbedded the claw into the monster's head. Unfortunately, it resulted in the hammer getting stuck inside its head and Lee couldn't pull it out.
Goddammit, he cursed in his thoughts before he saw Glenn rush off for some reason and saw that the door was slowly beginning to open and rushed over and reinforced the pressure on the door.
It was chaos throughout the store, but little did anybody know was that this was A New Day for them.
It was a new day for all of mankind becausethese creatures that was trying to devour them and all of humanity were... the Walking Dead.
*Que The Walking Dead Theme*
What a day, he thought.
He sits, shoulders down, head staring at the cuffs wrapped around his wrists, slumped in defeat. The trial had weighed on him like he never thought it would. The long, agnos ing weeks before they finally accused him of what he knew what he'd done.
Lee Everett isn't a bad man, but he'd done a bad thing. He knows that he deserves to be in the backseat of a Geogia Police car heading towards the West Central Prison a few miles away from Atlanta in the surronding countryside.
He lifted his head to stare through the windshield. The highway stretches long ahead yet, and he knew this was the longest trip of his life, and feel like the last.
His eyes drift up to the rear-vision mirror to stare at his expression, but the cop in driver's seat happens to look in the mirror at the same moment. The cop locks his eyes with Lee and Lee puts on a hard expression.
The two stare at one another for a short while before Lee turns away.
The cop's eyes seemed to focus on Lee's face in the mirror, studying the lines and contours. The tired, anguished eyes and hardened demeanor. He feels the air of regret and sadness around the man behind him.
"Well, I reckon' you didin't do it, then," The cop says, returning his attention to the road.
Lee keeps his head turned away, surprised and even vaguely frustrated at the cop in front of him.
"Does it really matter?" he asked in a deep, baritone voice, his tone borderline sarcastic.
"Nah, not much.".
Lee looks up at the mirror briefly once more, having nothing more to say.
"Y'Know, I've driven a bunch 'a fellas down to this prison," The cop continues, "Lord knows how many. Usually is 'bout now I get the 'I didn't do it.'".
Lee shakes his head, "Not from me.".
"Cause guys in your positions already said it enough?".
Lee has no response to that. The cop's thought process is logical, but he can think up whatever logical explanation he likes. Lee knows the truth, as everybody else thinks they do, too.
He stares out the windshield at the highway stretching ahead and there is a short moment of silence before the car's radio pipes up.
"We've got what looks like a 10-91E near Peachtree Exit of 285. All cars asked to keep on the lookout for a 91V in the area.".
Lee didn't have a clue of what that police chatter was about, but the cop didn't seem worried. There was another momentary silence before the cop glances into the rear vision mirror once more and continues.
"I followed your case a little bit, you being a Macon boy and all.".
"You're from Macon, then," Lee observes.
"Yep. Came up to Atlanta ot be a cop in the seventies. Always wanted to work a murder case, like that senatorial case you got yourself mixed up with, with all due respect.".
The quiet conversation is interrupted by the sound of an approaching siren, but the cop ignores it, being used to such sounds, and keeps talking.
"A real shame, that is."
Lee wasn't listening, however, as he turns his head towards the side window to watch another car come screaming past - lights flashing and sirens wailing - on the other side of the highway.
Lee wonders briefly about where it could be going in such a hurry, but his thoughts are soon interrupted by the driver's continued speaking, and he turns his head back to the front.
"Hell, the whole family used to be regulars at your folks' drugstore right in downtown. Still there?".
The corner of Lee's mouth curved up into a small, proud smile as he remembered his parents and their drugstore is still in buisness even after the incident with the senator.
"Sure is.".
"Good.".
Lee starts to think about his family for a moment - regretful, but also hopeful - before he is inevitably disturbed by the radio's constant chattering.
"Be advised of medical personnel on the route to Hardsfield. Various 10's and 20's coming in.".
Again, the cop ignores the radio.
"I got a nephew up in UGA. You teach there long?" the cop asked Lee through his mirror.
"Going on to my sixth year," Lee replies, wondering if he knew the officer's nephew.
"You meet your wife in Athens?".
The question pulls Lee up short, and he looks down from the mirror before turning to the window. Not feeling obliged, nor prepared to discuss the subject.
As Lee tried to focus on the passing scenery to distract himself, the cop persists, much to Lee's vague annoyance.
"You want to know how I see it?".
As Lee thinks of how to reply, he sees four more police crusiers and a SWAT van speeding past with their lights and sirens going. While Lee racks his brain for reasons why, he mutters an evasive answer to the driver's question, hoping to drop the subject.
"Not really.".
"Well, too bad." the cop continues, to his growing annoyance, "It's my car. You have the right to remain silent, but it don't mean I gotta be.".
Of course, Lee thinks. His frustration growing with the man, as he gave the cop a steely gaze just in time for the cop to open his mouth and then close it. He looks away and seems to rethink what he says.
This pisses Lee off slightly and his face takes on a slight angry visage as he glared at the mirror. 'Or she married the wrong man,' he thought to himself. He wanted to say this, but couldn't, and merely grumbled in discontent.
"Riot in progress. All available units for incoming 217's. Rolling calls and dispatches to all locations.".
"Any of that seem important to you?" Lee asked, trying to change the subject.
As he says that, a helicopter flies overhead, quite low over the roof of the car, before 4 more police cruisers and two more SWAT vans follow it. He thinks there must be something big happening back down the way that they came from, what with all the mayhem on the road, not to mention that the radio won't learn to shut the fuck up.
"All of it, but that box never shuts up. Sit in this seat and pay too much attention and you'll drive yourself crazy." the officer grumbled, shaking his head if he had a bad headache.
You don't say, Lee thought to himself. At least they had one thing to both agree on.
The cop pauses for a moment, before adding. "You'll have to learn to stop worrying about things that you can't control.".
There's another moment of quiet as the sirens fade, before the cop continues on his earlier tangent.
"I'm driving this man once, h-he was the worst one," he says, "He wouldn't stop going on about he didn't do it. He was an older fella. Big, soft eyes hidden by a pair of smart folks glasses, and he's just wailing back there, says it wasn't him. Cryin' and snottin' all over, right where you're sittin'." He gestures to the backseat with his thumb.
The radio continued its chatter "All officers are available for incoming 217's-" before the cop finally grew tired of the radio's continuing its chatter and shut it off altogether so he can continue talking uninterrupted. Lee doesn't think that this was a good idea, but he won't be the one to tell the cop his business.
"And before long he starts kicking the back of the seat, li-like a fussy baby on an airplane. And I tell him he's gotta stop, that that's government property, and I'll be forced to zap him otherwise. So he stops, and havin' exhausted all options, he starts cryin' for his mama, 'Mama, it's all a big mistake! It wasn't me!'".
Lee listens and watches the cop's animated face in the mirror, expecting him to continue. When he doesn't, Lee's curiosity gets the better of him,
"So, did he do it?".
The cop glances at the mirror again, a look of anger on his face. "They caught the fucker red-headed! Stabbin' his wife, cuttin' her up just as the boys came through the door! He sits in my car screamin' bloody murder that it wasn't him! I think he actually believe it himself." The cop shakes his head and huffs a sigh. "It goes to show, people will up and go mad once when they believe their life is over.".
Lee thinks this is a pretty accurate assessment of the story he just heard. In fact, most of what this cop has said seems pretty spot-on to him. Such wisdom could only come with age and experience. It seems to Lee like this cop has seen more than enough of the world.
"Oh, I got another good one for ya," He continues on, turning his head towards the backseat. "This one's a little bit less depressing and a bit more hilarious if I do say so myself...".
Lee blocks out the cop's as he stares out the windshield. For, not far ahead, he think he sees a figure, maybe a person standing in the middle of the road. As the car rapidly approaches the figure, Lee is able to focus on it and finds that it is, in fact, someone. His eyes widen in shock and horror, than realized that the cop wasn't paying attention to the road.
"WATCH OUT!" he shouted, hoping for the cop to see the pedestrian.
But the cop does not return his attention to the road, oblivious to the danger, and they hit the person as they wandered into the middle of the car's path. The person's head makes contact with the windshield, dark blood splattering everywhere and the car spills out of control, crashing straight through the barrier on the side of the road, and rolling end-over-end, side-over-side down the hill. Lee sees nothing but shattering glass and twisting metal and the shrubbery flashing by the windows as he's thrusted against the dividing wall, the doors, the floor, the roof, again and again before finally coming to a stop at the bottom of the hill.
What a day, were his final thoughts before he passed out and darkness took over his vision.