Season One

Chapter One: Here's John Doe, Part One

Late at night in the middle of the woods, I looked down at the dead body on the ground in front of me with a mix of bewilderment, disbelief, and maybe, just maybe, a small amount of amusement because the dead body on the ground confirmed a few things to me. 1) I woke up in the Walking Dead TV show universe. 2) Zombies have taken over the world. And 3) I already fucked up.

Because the dead body belonged to Negan.

Which meant I either saved a lot of people or killed a lot of people. But really, it hadn't been like I had a choice. I only woke up about an hour ago in the middle of bum fucking nowhere in my PAJAMAS, mind you, and let me tell you, that is a very disorienting and terrifying experience. One minute, laying in my bed, bitter about my meaningless life, then BAM smack dab in the middle of nowhere. You know all those self-insert stories where the main guy or gal is perfectly okay emotionally with the obviously terrifying reality of their possible new life?

Yeah, fucking bullshit.

But back to the current situation at hand… I killed Negan. Accidently, of course. However, I didn't feel bad about it because 1) He attacked me first. He likely thought I was a walker because who would wear pajamas in the middle of the night in the middle of the woods in the middle of a zombie apocalypse? But 2) I tried to get him to stop and I don't know if that helped or made things worse because then he tried to 'Glen' me with a barbed wire baseball bat, possibly Lucille, so I can only assume the Here's Negan stuff already happened. So naturally, I fought him for the bat and 'Glen' him instead… And yet 3) let's face it, I did everyone a huge favor. I know he has fans and fangirls and I know he gets his redemption arc later, somewhat, but killing Glenn and Abraham? His harem of women forced into a sexual relationship with him that the writers and us all pretend didn't happen?

Yeah, fuck that guy.

But what surprised me the most was how fine I was after the fact… Sure, I did vomit a bit… and began to hyperventilate so there's that… But I'm fine now. I'm perfectly fine now. Really. I just killed a guy. That's all. Totally, not panicking again. I just need to take a moment and clear my-I heard a branch on the ground snap and turned around to see…

Sophia…?

Oh, fuck me, was this only season two? I really fucking goofed it, didn't I? But I left my thoughts and focused on the shocked little girl shifting her wide fearful eyes between Negan's corpse and me… I decided to speak first to prevent her from thinking I was a crazy pajama murderer living in the middle of the woods…

"Uh… Hey… I'm not going to hurt you or anything… That's just one of the dead… Yeah, the dead… You really shouldn't be out here though… Are you with anyone…?" I asked as gently as possible. I really didn't want to scare her away if she was lost. Although, the little girl seemed hesitant for only a moment but answered…

But something else was off about her…

"I was…" Sophia answered quietly…

Wait… She was…? I took a longer look at her… Something was different about her… She looked… older…? She had white skin, medium strawberry blonde hair, brown eyes, and freckles and she wore an oversized red jacket, a very oversized blue shirt with a rainbow heart, green cargo pants, and black boots. But her skin seemed paler… Her hair was longer than when she was lost and died in the show… her eyes seemed dull… and she looked extremely skinny… No… Starved…

"How long ago was that?" I asked quietly, scared of her answer…

"I've lost count of the days… But I know it's been a few months… Winter ended…" Sophia answered quietly again…

My mind was a whirlwind of thoughts… I've just killed Negan… I've just met Sophia… But wait, Negan and the Saviors were from Virginia… Sophia was lost in Georgia… Did she somehow travel North trying to find Rick…? Nothing made sense… But I decided I needed more information…

"This is going to sound strange but I've been lost in these woods for a while…" I began. She gave me a look that told me she didn't quite believe me but I continued on anyway… "I don't exactly know where I am… or if I'm even in the same state anymore… Then this…" I gestured to Negan's corpse…" "Walker…" Sophia said quietly. "Walker? Yeah… This walker attacked me and now I've just met you… and this day has just been the worst…" I gave a humorless smile and chuckle. Surprisingly, Sophia cracked a smile before it disappeared completely again… She appeared thoughtful…

"I've been lost too… My mom… I've just been… alone…" Sophia said quietly. Tears formed from the corner of her eyes and she tried to wipe them away while I stupidly said nothing… But she failed… She began to cry… Which turned into sobbing…

Slowly, I walked over to her and hugged her… She stiffened only for a moment before she relaxed against me and buried her face into my chest… Slowly, her sobbing grew quiet while I tried to think about what to do…

Sophia said winter already passed which meant Rick and the gang likely already left the farm if the events stayed the same… Which meant they were likely close to going to or already at the prison… But they only stayed there for about a year or so anyway… Even if I wanted to get her back there to reunite her with her mother Carol, I had no idea where the prison actually was… I could try finding Woodbury but then I'd have to deal with the Governor… Internally, I shuddered… But I had no idea if the events would even stay the same… We could travel all the way back down to Georgia for nothing… Finally, I made a decision… If we were in Virginia considering how long Sophia's been alone and Negan's corpse was right next to us…

I'd take Sophia to Alexandria.

Eventually, if events stayed the same, Rick and the gang would make it there… Many would still die because of that choice like Tyreese and Beth… But I had no way of knowing if things would stay the same anyway… And I couldn't allow Sophia to stay out here with all these walkers either… I didn't want her to suffer a long road ahead for nothing… So I ended the hug and bent down on one knee, still holding onto her slightly shaking shoulders and looked directly into her tearful eyes…

"I know I'm not exactly dressed for all of this… Or seem prepared… And I know you want to find your mom… But we need to know where we are first then we'll figure out what to do next after… So for now… Why don't you stick around with me and I'll try to help you find your mom, yeah?" I asked with an awkward smile… I felt bad for lying to her about helping her find her mom but Alexandria was both our best hope if we were in Virginia… But Sophia stared at me with those dull eyes which caused my eye contact to waver a bit…

But finally, she spoke…

"Okay…" Sophia said quietly.

I simply nodded and stood back before looking around to decide where to start walking. I thought I saw a building in the far distance and began to walk there. But Sophia spoke up from behind me and I stopped with wide eyes at what she said quietly…

"Mister… You forgot your weapon…"

Slowly, I turned around and looked down at the blood stained weapon I used to destroy the former future leader of the Savior's head… An ironic fate… But to take the same weapon used for control… and fear… I swallowed with a grimace…

Before I picked up Lucille.

Don't really know where I'll go with this story but it's been an idea I've had for a month or so. I've always wanted to write a Walking Dead fic but never had a good idea of what to write. Originally, I had a self-insert meet Rick and the gang in Atlanta, at Hershel's farm, at the prison, at Alexandria, and even meeting them post All Out War. But like I said, this came to mind and well, I'm just going to see where this goes. But I will say this, I probably won't go past All Out War. I like the Whisperers and the Commonwealth stuff so maybe I'll consider doing those story lines down the line but no promises.

Next - Chapter Two: Here's John Doe, Part Two