Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead and I never will.
Summary: The son of Philip Blake aka The Governor wanders alone after the fall of Woodbury. Can he find a new purpose and redemption or will he fall to his own inner darkness?
A/N: In this au Merle lives.
A young man in his mid to late teens (A/N: Imagine a teenage David Morrissey) could be seen slowly trudging down a deserted suburban street with a tired and miserable look on his face.
His usually neatly trimmed brown hair had grown into an unruly shoulder-length mess and a light stubble beard could be seen on his face.
He stood somewhere between 6'2 and 6'4 in height and was attired in black boots, grey cargo pants, and a long black rain coat over a black kevlar vest and blue T-shirt. His clothes looked like they had seen better days as they were dirty and his shirt was a bit torn. On his back, he carried a hiking backpack filled with supplies. Around his waist, he wore a black belt with a black wood-gripped Browning Hi Power with an extra magazine strapped on the back in a brown leather holster. A custom hunting knife rested on his left hip in a sheath.
??? POV
Six months...
I've been on the move for about seven or eight months now and I'm beginning to wonder if it's even worth it anymore.
I lost my home, I lost my people, I lost my family and I'm losing myself.
My father left me in charge of Woodbury with the two newbies, Sasha and Tyreese, while he lead the attack on the prison and I did what I always do, I let him down and I let the rest of my community down.
I remember how it happened, how my two teammates betrayed me by letting Rick Grimes and his group in, how they turned their own guns on me when I opened fire on the enemy and how I barely made it out alive.
In the time since the fall of Woodbury and now, I've had some near death encounters from both the dead and the living variety, the two that stood out the most being a biker gang that "claimed" a house that I'd been resting in which led to me having to make a quick escape in the middle of the night, but not before having to kill one or two of them and a few people who seemed to be wearing masks made of out the skin and hair of biter heads and were herding a massive horde of the things, that one was the closest I've probably ever come to dying.
I'm not suicidal, but I'm beginning to think that it might be a good idea.Then again, maybe there's still something for me out there. Maybe...
POV End
The teenager continued on until he heard a gunshot not too far away quickly followed by more.
This made the young man go on high alert as he drew his pistol and ran behind a nearby building. He put his bag down against the wall so that it wouldn't slow him down in case he needed to engage hostiles.
The gunshots continued to ring out, ranging from what sounded like regular handguns to shotguns and automatic rifles.
"Fucking idiots really ringing the dinner bell there." thought the teen in his head as he pulled his knife from it's sheath and planted it in the skull of a biter that shambled towards him while more began approaching.
He pointed his pistol at the nearest biter only to put it away again.
"No need to get gun-happy and attract more, not too many of them anyway and I can use the bullets later." thought the teen as he approached a trashcan and grabbed it's lid.
The teen approached the nearest biter and and smacked it over the head with the trash lid making it collapse to the ground, though it wasn't dead till it received a stab wound to the head.
The next biter got manhandled to the nearest wall and got it's head smashed in with the trash lid right before the next one got stabbed in the head.
The now bent up trash lid was discarded after it was used to take out two more biters leaving five more to take care of.
The teen grabbed the next biter by the neck and drove his knife into it's mouth so hard that it came out on the other side, severing the brain stem and ending it's undeath.
After plucking his knife out of the biter's skull, he planted it in another one's head before removing it, wiping it on the corpse's shirt and resheathing it.
"Three more." muttered the teen as two of the three remaining biters approached within close proximity of eachother.
The teen grabbed the biter closest to him by the collar of it's shirt and shoved it backwards with all of his strength, making both creatures fall to the ground, one on top of the other. He took quick advantage and slammed the top biter's head down on the other's several times until both ceased their movements.
The last approaching biter got tripped to the ground before having it's mouth forced open on the edge of the curb and it's skull stomped in.
The young man once again took his pistol from it's holster and went around the back of the building while also staying as close to the wall as possible for cover.
After getting to the end of the building, he took a peek around the corner into the next street. There he saw two rough and unkempt looking men standing over a girl around his age.
The men were either ex-military, ex-national guard or wearing stolen gear as they wore camouflage uniforms, but with the sleeves removed, black fingerless gloves and magazines duct taped around their forearms for protection from bites.
One of the men looked to be a somewhere in his 40's with a tall and athletic build, bald head and a ginger goatee. He was armed with an M16A2 with a red dot scope and an M203 grenade launcher. Around his waist, he wore a belt with a Bowie knife in a sheath, a Beretta holstered on his hip and pouches with magazines for both of his guns.
The other man also appeared to be somewhere in his 40s, with an average height and build, a buzzcut hairstyle, and a grey stubble beard. His gear was practically the same as his teammate, except that his assault rifle didn't have a grenade launcher attachment.
The girl appeared to be somewhere in her late teens to early twenties with a slim and decently tall build, light skin, blue eyes and dirty blonde hair that went to her shoulders with a red highlighted braid on the left side of her face. She wore a moss green denim jacket over a red zippered hoodie with fingerless black gloves, faded blue jeans and brown boots. Not far from the girl laid an 870 Remington pump action shotgun with a strap. She had a cut on her lower lip and a look of fear on her face.
"What ya think Tom, think we should have a little fun with her before we take her back?" questioned the bald man with a grin, his decaying teeth showing.
The other man lowered his gun from the girl and he began undoing his belt.
"I'm sure her pops won't mind Sean, if he wants her back alive that is." he replied his grin equally as sick.
A part of the young man pondered whether or not he should get involved. He still had time to get away and escape without being noticed by these people. Besides, why should he risk his life for others when it always ended badly in the past?
Both men laughed and the other started undoing his belt as well.
"You can go ahead and try, me and my people will keep fighting, because freedom... freedom means nothing if you're not willing to die or kill for it." responded the girl, her look of fear now mixed with anger and determination.
The young man suddenly felt inspired by the girl's words. She seemed to share some of the same values as he did.
As his old man once taught him " In this life now you kill or you die or you die and you kill."
The young man assessed both of the attackers and decided to aim for the bald one first.
The first shot went off perfectly as the bullet pierced Sean's skull, making him collapse lifelessly, his weapon clattering to the ground next to him.
Tom's eyes widened in shock for a brief moment before a look of rage appeared on his face as he spotted his friend's killer, making him turn to the young man and open fire on him.
The young man responded by ducking behind the the corner again and returning fire every few seconds when he could.
Soon the magazines in both Tom and the young man's guns ran dry causing both men to have to reload. This however gave the girl the opportunity she needed.
The girl took advantage of the gunfight distracting the man in front of her and took the dead man's pistol from it's holster.
The gunfight between the two men went on for a few more seconds before several gunshots went off right behind Tom. His gun dropped from his hands and he slowly turned around to reveal blood pouring from several gunshot wounds in his back.
The man dropped dead to the ground after one last bullet went through his skull courtesy of the girl who was now standing over him with the other dead man's pistol.
The young man saw this and slowly walked into the girl's view keeping his gun drawn in case the girl tried to shoot at him.
"Who are you and why did you help me?" asked the girl while nervously pointing her weapon at the teen.
Seeing how nervous the girl looked, the young man reholstered his pistol and slowly raised his hands in surrender.
He realized that he'd have to take a gentle approach.
"Jeremiah Blake, and I only helped because you looked like you needed it." answered the teen while slowly closing the distance between himself and the girl.
Jeremiah's movement seemed to spook the girl.
"Stay where you are!" shouted the girl.
The teen sighed and stopped, realizing that having nearly been raped by those two guys and whatever else could've happened to her probably didn't endear her to strangers.
"Look, from what I heard, I understand that you have people that you care about and they're in trouble with those two dead guys' group." said the young man, hoping to calm the girl.
The girl looked down sadly and slowly lowered her weapon.
"I can sympathize, Iost my home and my people to another group about eight months ago." continued the young man, seeing that he was getting through to the girl.
The girl fell to her knees and closed her eyes as tears started pouring down her face.
Jeremiah walked to the girl and got on one knee in front of her.
"Tell me your name and let me help you." said the young man as he took one of her hands in his own.
The girl sniffed and wiped her eyes before opening them and taking a deep breath.
"Coast Dempsey." replied the girl with a dead look in her eyes.
I know the chapter was short, but I hope you enjoyed it.
If you want you can leave a review and don't be afraid to share your thoughts and ideas for the story with me.