A slender man with a well-toned physique awakens in a ditch in the countryside with a throbbing headache.
"Shit… I think I drank too much last night, Abigail…"
The man turns his head, expecting to see his wife lying next to him, but it's not long before he realizes where he is.
"What the…"
The man stands up and looks around. He can't see anything but the country and road that seems to stretch for miles.
"Where am I? Abigail! Jack!"
The man is alone, and no one is in sight.
"How did… How did this happen?" the man asks while rubbing his eyes. He was fatigued and completely hungover.
The man wore a black cowboy hat with a brim that was wide but not too wide, and wore a long white shirt under a slick black vest. This vest matched the black gloves that he wore on his hands.
He wore dirty black jeans and sported brown leather boots as well as a belt around his waist of the same color. On his hips were two holsters, each of them containing a revolver.
He always kept a hunting knife in a sheath on his hip as well when he couldn't use his revolvers or when he was skinning an animal.
At his side, he carried a satchel, which was full of supplies, ranging from provisions to ammunition. Practically anything that he needed.
"I swear to God, if my family has been kidnapped…"
This was the only explanation that the man could think of: His family must have been kidnapped by a gang of people and he was dumped in this ditch faraway. What other reason could there be? The main question was, who would do this?
There was no time to waste. The man didn't have his horse with him, so he had no choice but to walk.
"It's going to take hours before I reach a town…"
With a deep sigh, the man started to walk down the seemingly endless road.
A couple of hours pass, and the man is still walking in pursuit of a town. He was on a mission to get back to his family no matter what. He had to.
At last, a spark of hope began to flow through him. Up ahead, he saw a group of people approaching. They were approaching, yes, but very slowly. Slower than what was normal.
This didn't worry the man though. He started running and shouting to get attention. "Hey! Can you help me? Are you from town?"
The man didn't get an answer. All he got was loud moaning and groaning sounds from the group. Before he knew it, he was surrounded by ten of the people.
Except, upon closer inspection, they weren't people at all. They were corpses. Walking corpses. Bodies rotted to hell and beyond repair. The man couldn't believe what he was looking at.
"What the hell is this…"
On instinct, the man grabs one of his revolvers from his holster and aims at the approaching monstrosities. He wasn't a stupid man; he could tell these things weren't friendly, and he had no qualms about killing whatsoever. He did what had to be done.
One by one, the monsters fall onto the road, each a bullet in their head. It seemed to get the job done, because they were no longer moving. The man knew that a shot to the head was the fastest way to kill someone, and this was no different.
"God damn…"
Walking past the rotting corpses and trying to bear the putrid stench, the man continues along the road once again. He was on alert in case he ran into another group of those things. He didn't even know what to call them. All he knew right now was that they weren't human and that they couldn't be permitted to live.
Hours pass, and the man finally reaches a breakthrough in his journey.
"Welcome to Macon, Georgia…" the man says to himself, reading a large sign before him. "What the hell? I'm all the way in Macon? Better than nowhere, I guess…"
The man eventually finds himself inside of Macon. The city looks terrible. Buildings are starting to collapse, and he finds even more of the corpses wandering in the streets. He was mainly confused about all of these buildings, though. He's never seen anything like them in his life.
There are abandoned cars parked on the streets. Cars that he doesn't recognize at all. He hasn't even touched an automobile before, and these look way too advanced. The man was confused by everything around him.
"I must still be dreaming… Come on, Abigail, wake me up already…"
The man starts walking through Macon, seeing if he can find any other people. That was his most important order of business. It might not be much, but he'd take any kind of advice or information in order to help find his missing family.
The man decided not to shoot any more of the walking corpses. There was no point in him wasting all of his bullets. There were simply too many of the things to deal with, anyways. Luckily, he was able to slip by one of the massive crowds.
The man eventually found himself in front of one of the many buildings, and he inspected it before doing anything else.
"Everett Pharmacy Drugstore. Might be people inside. Never hurts to check it out."
The man heads to the front doors and tries to open it, but they're locked shut tight. He then proceeds to bang on the door, but this noise alerts nearby walkers.
"Come on! Is there anyone there?!" the man yells out, while he notices a small group of the corpses slowly approaching him.
Finally, the front doors to the pharmacy open, and he is quickly pulled in.
"You idiot! You brought the walkers right to us!" says a woman.
"Walkers? What? Is that what you call those… things?" the man replies, brushing himself off and standing up.
The woman has an angry look on her face. "Yeah, that's right. And you led them right to us. They're going to get in eventually!"
"Hey, calm down, lady. I'm just looking for some help, alright?"
"Yeah, well we all need help. Every single one of us. You're not special."
"Hey, calm down," a man interjects, "We're all in this together."
The other man walks over and he's holding the hand of a little girl.
"Hey," the man says while letting go of the girl's hand, "I'm Lee."
"John," he replies as he shakes Lee's hand. "John Marston."
"Those are some interesting looking clothes you're wearing, John. Almost looks like you're out of some history book." Lee says as he inspects John's attire.
"What do you mean, partner? It's the year 1907, ain't it?"
Other members of the group approach John in confusion.
"Um… it's 2003…" Lee says, not sure whether or not John is joking.
"Excuse me? No, that can't be right. This is all a dream… Ain't no way…"
"We have bigger problems than having to worry about this wannabe time traveler. Lee, we gotta get that medicine, remember?" says another man.
Lee sighs. "Yeah, you're right, Kenny. John, we'll talk more later, alright? We're in a bit of a predicament right now."
"What kind of predicament?" John asks.
"That man over there. Larry. He's got a heart problem. He needs nitroglycerin pills, so we're trying to get the medicine." Lee says while pointing to the tall old man.
"He's my father, just so you know. If you let him die, I'll kill you. I swear it." the woman from earlier snaps as she walks over to Larry.
"We won't let that happen, Lilly." Lee reassures her.
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite understand what you said. Nitro what now?" John asks, completely confused.
"Nitroglycerin pills. Anyways, one of our other guys left to go collect some fuel at a nearby Motor Inn. Haven't heard back from him yet. I know that you just got here, John, but maybe you can be of use to us? I'll help you out with whatever you need if you can."
John nods, as he sees this as a fair deal. "Alright. I'll do whatever you want."
"Just keep an eye on this girl, alright? She's in my care, but right now I have to focus on getting that medicine. Can you keep her company?" Lee asks.
"Sure, no problem." John says in an agreeable manner.
Lee smiles and leaves to take care of business, while John is left with the young girl.
"So… what's your name, little lady?"
"Clem- Clementine." she says shyly.
"I'm John. That's… that's a nice hat you got there. I've never seen one like that in my life."
"Thanks. My dad gave it to me for my birthday."
"That man who just left… he's your father?"
"No, my parents are in Savannah right now. Lee is just taking care of me until I see them again."
"Okay, got it. How old are you, Clementine?"
"I'm eight. How old are you?"
"I'm thirty-four. I have a son that's close to your age. He's a little bit older. Twelve."
"Where's your son now?"
"I don't know. I don't know where my family is. I'm looking for him and my wife."
"I'm sure you'll find them, like how I'll find my parents eventually."
"Thanks, Clementine. I know that I'll find them. I have to."
Lee returns a few minutes later. "I tried getting in through the pharmacy door, but it needed a key. I'll have to find it. But anyways, how are you two doing? Clem, have you heard anything from Glenn yet?"
"No, not ye—"
All of a sudden, Clementine's walkie talkie starts making static sounds, and then a voice comes on.
The man explains that he's stuck at the motor inn and is surrounded by walkers, and he needs help to get back to the pharmacy.
"Well, I guess I'd better go get Glenn, then." Lee sighs.
"I'll help." a woman with a gun approaches them.
"Thanks, Carley. I think we can do it with just the two of us."
"You sure? I think I'm in the right condition to help." John says.
"No, don't worry about it, John. We'll be back before you know it. Just keep Clementine company and help out in any way that you can." says Lee.
John nods reluctantly. He wouldn't have minded helping because fighting was something he was accustomed to. He wasn't currently an outlaw anymore. He started a new life with his family, but old habits definitely do die hard in his case.
"I'm going to check things out, Clementine. Stay here, alright?" John tells her.
"Okay, John. I will."
John makes his way over to the counter where a family of three are. John looks at them with a slight bit of sympathy. It reminded him of his own family. His wife and his child.
"Uh, hey, folks…" John grins amicably as he approaches the family.
"Oh, it's you. The time traveler, right? You certainly look like it." the man chuckles to himself.
"Uh, it's John, by the way. What happened to your kid? Is he alright?"
"I'm Kenny. And yeah, he's alright. That old bastard over there tried to throw him out earlier. Thought he was bitten, even though he wasn't. Anyways, we'll be out of here soon I hope. All I want is to get my family back home safely."
"Yeah, I hear ya. Speaking of family, I'm currently looking for mine. I have a wife and a son as well."
Kenny sighs and puts his hand on John's shoulder. "Sorry if I sounded a bit rude earlier. I respect another family man. I'm sure you'll find them, wherever they are."
"Thank you." John smiles slightly.
"By the way, this is my wife, Katjaa, and this is my boy, Duck."
"Nice to meet you, John." Katjaa smiles sweetly.
"Duck? Your boy's name is Duck?" John snickers, finding the idea of the name Duck a bit ridiculous.
"Oh, no, his name's actually Kenneth Junior. We just like to call him Duck. It's his nickname." Kenny laughs.
"I understand. Well, it's nice to meet you folks. You take care now."
"Thanks, John. See you around." Kenny nods.
John heads back to Clementine. "Hey, Clementine. How are you doing?"
"I'm okay. Just worried about Lee. I hope he makes it back safely."
"I'm sure he will. He looks like a pretty tough guy."
Clementine smiles. "Yeah."
The goods that the pharmacy still had looked unfamiliar to John. Was this actually real? Was he really almost one hundred years into the future? It was starting to look that way. He needed answers.
About a half an hour later, the doors opened, and Lee walked back in with Carley and the other man, Glenn. There was a can of fuel in his hands. Enough to get out of there.
"Alright, now that everyone is back here safely and we got the fuel that we need, it's time to start working on getting that medicine again." Kenny announces.
"Got it. I'll work on that right now." Lee agrees.
John watches Lee head over to the man who's currently on lookout duty: Doug. He didn't look like a very skilled fighter, but he had the proper knowledge about certain things, particularly technology, making him a valuable asset to the group.
John watches Lee leave with Doug and he crosses his arms waiting. Getting out of the pharmacy safely and finding his family were the only things that he could think of. He reaches into his satchel and pulls out some crackers. Eating was the only thing he could do to help with the stress.
John turns to Clementine and hands her a couple of crackers. "Here. Are you hungry?"
Clementine happily takes the crackers and eats them. "Thank you. I'm surprised that you have food. There's hardly anything left now…"
"What do you mean? Can't you folks just go to the store and buy some?"
Clementine shakes her head. "No, not anymore…"
John sighs and doesn't respond. He still didn't understand what was going on. He didn't know why he was here or why the world was like this right now. Little did he know, he found himself right in the beginning of a zombie apocalypse.
Soon enough, Lee returns with Doug, a key in hand.
"Okay, I got the key. We're in business." Lee smiles, showing it to Lilly.
"You're amazing. Now let's get in there." She smiles as she follows Lee into the pharmacy office.
Unfortunately, an alarm goes off once they enter the room, and it ends up attracting all of the walkers that are outside of the pharmacy.
"What the hell is happening?" John yells.
Lee and Lilly rush back out into the lobby with the medicine.
"We gotta get out of here, NOW!" Kenny shouts.
The walkers start to surround the pharmacy, banging on the doors and trying to get through the boarded windows. It was only a matter of time before they got inside. The group had to act fast.
"I'll get the truck pulled up around back. Lee, Carley and Doug, make sure our defenses stay up until then. You too, John! Oh, and Lee, I better take that axe in case I run into any of them on the way!"
"Here you go!" Lee nods as he tosses the axe to Kenny.
John and Lee head over to the doors where Glenn, Carley and Doug are holding them down.
Glenn goes to help Katjaa and Duck while John and Lee take over.
Carley notices a walker getting in elsewhere and takes her gun to take care of it, leaving Doug, Lee, and John holding the doors shut.
"Clementine! Can you find something to stick between the handles? Something strong!" Lee strains.
"Okay, I'll try!" she says, running off.
"That window is screwed!" Doug cries as he looks over to the window nearby.
"Go! Me and John can hold this door down for now!" Lee says.
With all of their strength, Lee and John force the door closed as well as they can.
"Get them off of me! Get them off, get them off!"
The screaming is coming from Doug. He's about to be pulled through the window by the walkers. Meanwhile, Carley is out of ammo, and she's struggling to get to her purse.
"Go, Lee! I'll hold this door down myself!" John says.
Lee nods and leaves John to help Doug and Carley. Soon enough, Clementine comes back with a cane, which John puts in between the handles to barricade the door.
By the time that's over, it was too late to save both of them. In the end, Lee chose to save Carley by helping her grab her ammunition, and Doug was pulled out by the walkers and devoured.
"Oh, my God. They got Doug!" Carley cries.
Kenny burst through the back of the pharmacy "Let's go!"
Everyone starts running to the back when all of a sudden, a crawling zombie grabs onto Clementine.
"No!" Lee yells as he goes over to stomp on its head.
After it dies, Clementine, Lee and John run for the back door.
"You're not coming with us, you son of a bitch!"
Larry punches Lee and knocks him flat onto the floor.
"No!" Clementine screams.
John, who was still back with Lee, helps him up. "Come on, partner. I won't let you get left behind!"
And with that, they end up escaping the pharmacy.
A while later, all of the remaining survivors are at the Motor Inn.
"Hey, John. Thanks for helping me out there." Lee smiles while extending his hand.
"No problem. It's too bad that we couldn't save that other guy though. I'm sure that I could have done something." John says, accepting Lee's handshake.
"It's okay, John. You held that door on your own for a bit. If you hadn't, more of us could have died." Lee sighs.
John nods and adjusts his hat. "Yeah…"
Lee leaves to go talk to the rest of the people, while John hangs back and observes. These people seemed like a decent bunch, but he didn't know about this Larry guy. He hadn't spoken a word to him yet, but he seemed like an asshole to him. A part of him feels like they weren't going to get along.
Later on, Lee, Lilly and Kenny group up together, and John joins them.
"Well, Glenn left for Atlanta, so I guess it's just us now." Lee says.
Kenny grins. "This motor inn's pretty damn defendable. We block off the entrances with some cars and keep someone on watch, we could stay here until the military rolls through.
Lilly nods. "I actually agree with that plan."
"Me too." says Lee.
John isn't quite too sure what to say, so he remains silent.
"We've got beds, water, and most importantly, we've got light. There are worse places to call home." Kenny continues.
"Yeah, you're right. You know guys, I think we're going to be okay." Lilly smiles.
John crosses his arms, thinking about everything that has happened so far. Were they really going to be okay? Was anyone in the world going to be okay? And most importantly, was his family even around here?
Only time could tell.