Chapter 1: Awakening in a Nightmare

Darkness. That was the last thing I remembered before the pain came. It wasn't the sharp, biting kind, nor the overwhelming kind that forces screams from your throat. No, this was something deeper—a dull ache, a suffocating weight pressing down on my chest, my mind fogged as if I had just been pulled from a dream.

My eyes snapped open. Trees. A blue sky. The distant sound of birds.

And a corpse standing over me.

I jolted upright, scrambling backward on the dirt as the thing let out a gurgling moan. Its sunken eyes, pale and rotting skin, and jaw hanging slightly ajar left no doubt in my mind. This was a walker.

The panic surged in me, but something else did, too—recognition. I had seen this before, lived through it in a different way. A way that wasn't real. This was Telltale's The Walking Dead.

I was in the game.

A sickening realization settled in my gut as I processed my surroundings. I wasn't in my bed, nor in my world. My body felt different—leaner, stronger, but unfamiliar. A sharp headache throbbed in my skull, bringing with it fragmented memories that weren't mine. A name surfaced: Ethan Carter. It felt foreign, but it was mine now.

The walker took a lurching step toward me, snapping me out of my daze. Instinct—or maybe the muscle memory of this new body—took over. My hand groped the ground, finding a thick tree branch. As the corpse lunged, I swung hard. A sick crunch echoed through the forest as the branch connected with its skull, sending it sprawling. It groaned, struggling to get up.

I didn't hesitate. I lifted the branch and brought it down again—hard. The groan stopped.

Panting, I stumbled back. The stench of death filled my nostrils. I had just killed a walker… and it wasn't a cutscene. This was real.

I took deep breaths, forcing myself to think. If this truly was the world of The Walking Dead, then that meant danger was everywhere. I needed to move. I needed a plan.

Distant gunshots rang through the air. My heart skipped a beat.

The farmhouse.

Hershel's farm wasn't far from here. That meant I was near the beginning of Season One. Which also meant Lee and Clementine were close by.

A second chance.

I clenched my fists. The story of The Walking Dead was tragic, filled with loss. But now… maybe I could change things. Maybe I could save them.

With a deep breath, I turned toward the sound of gunfire and ran.