This book contains several characters of The Walking Dead (subjected to Robert Kirkman) but the events that occur during the course of this story are entirely my creation - this allows for unique storytelling as well as a completely different plotline.

(I'm basically trying to say this story is made up)

—

-Riley-

The sound of shattering glass.

A blood-curdling scream.

A deafening gunshot.

The morbid stench of death.

Blood... so much blood. Everywhere.

—

The nightmare awakened me with a start. Sweat trickled down my forehead, as I struggled to regain my breath. That nightmare had plagued me since the day I was forced to live it.

2 years since all that, and you still haven't got over it.

Shaking my head to clear these tormenting memories, I checked my wrist-watch, which still worked - unlike most things these days - thanks to a helpful pack of watch batteries I had discovered last month. Uttering a curse as I noticed the time, I peered around the room.

Nothing's changed, thank God.

Usually, I didn't permit myself to sleep too often. Many an unfortunate survivor had been killed whilst sleeping, and I was determined not to allow the same thing to happen to me.

It's easy to underestimate the dead.

Too easy.

Climbing out of my hand-crafted, and admittedly poor hammock, which had served as an uncomfortable bed for longer than I cared to remember, I peered out the nearest window - nothing more than a gap in the wall. Greeted with the chill of the November air, I was soon cooled from my panicked state.

I exhaled, staring at the bleak, grey horizon. It matched my life perfectly: empty.

I wasn't too popular even before the apocalypse, but at least I had family. Now, it's just me. A 15 year old boy, fighting for his mere survival in a world where the dead do not stay dead for long.

Still, it feels good to know I'm doing better than most adults out there, right?

Reaching beneath my hammock, I pulled out a camcorder. It was low on battery, but everything ran out sooner or later, and batteries were certainly one of the less important things.

I had found that documenting my days were the only way to stay sane in this solitary world.

"Day, uh... 1174, I think," I spoke to the electronic device, "and nothing's changed here. I'm still a loner, surviving in a world that's hardly worth surviving in. Still, on an optimistic note, I - Riley Palmer - am officially fourteen! I figured it out yesterday, when I finally found a damn calendar in someone's house. One year older, and with any luck I'm one year wiser."

I paused in thought for a moment, "nah, just one year older, I think."

I tried to force a laugh at my own joke, but I couldn't remember laughing for over 700 days - hell, I'd almost forgotten how.

Any humor I could muster was cut short by an all-too-familiar hollow groaning.

Walker.

Upon hearing the sound, I instantly switched off the camcorder.

I had spent the last year or so in a tree-house, which had took me about 5 months to perfect.

By 'perfect,' I mean I was able to build it so it didn't collapse.

It was damp, cold and the smell wasn't particularly great, but it did succeed in protecting me from the remnants of human beings that shamble around outside.

Known only as 'walkers,' these things were a horrific transformation from a human corpse.

Too many loved ones had joined their forces, but I was determined not to, at least not yet.

I heaved a sigh at the sight of such a worthless creature - incapable of emotion, lacking a soul. They feature a human's body, but nothing more.

Whoever this was, I'm doing them a favour.

I withdrew a katana that I had carried with me since I'd discovered it over a year ago. It was exceedingly useful for 'taking care of business' without generating much sound.

Jumping down from the tree-house, which was about seven feet high, built in a firm net of sturdy tree branches, I landed safely a few feet from the pitiful creature. It turned to face me, revealing its grey face and lifeless eyes, as I raised the dirt-encrusted blade, and swung it forward...

—

First chapter up! The next ones will be longer - this is just an introduction to my own character. Copyright and all that, for you guys who care about that crap. Let me know what you think, not that there's much to think yet, and vote if you can. Means a lot, you know.