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July 19th, 2003 was a day that should have been special for the Ashanti family, they were celebrating a special day when screams echoed down the streets of Macon frightening the father and daughter duo. Immediately, Hayden Ashanti rushed to help the people of his community when he witnessed an out-of-control man tear his wife's throat open along with the bodies of others rising from death. Hayden froze at the sight until the familiar scream of his daughter, nine-year-old Naya pulled him from it. He turned to see her backing away from two of the strange undead, he rushed forward picking up a bat from the ground and slammed it into the heads.

Naya cried as she looked around, the bodies of her school friends and neighbours were lying around or continuing on their path for their next meal. Hayden was quick to notice that the undead stayed down after the impact on their heads, so keeping that in mind, he picked up his daughter and rushed into the home. "Pack your bag like we're going camping, okay, moo?" Hayden told his daughter, her eyes wide. "Are we going to die too?" Naya asked her father softly. "Not if we fight," Hayden promised, Naya sniffled and nodded before rushing to her room and packing some clothes, her favourite beanie, her comfort teddy and the pocket knife that her father had given her.

The father and daughter duo met back up in the foyer where two duffel bags were sitting by the door, Naya assumed that her father had packed food and supplies. "It's a good thing we planned to go camping and already packed the car," Hayden told his daughter who sent him a teary smile. Hayden took the bags to the car first before he collected Naya from the home and put her in the car, buckling her in before telling her to not look out the window. Naya held her teddy close to her chest, her eyes closed as Hayden drove through the masses to get out of the area as quickly and safely as he could. What started as a day to celebrate Hayden's return from the army became a warzone of the dead.

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It wasn't long till they had reached a blocked road by burning cars, Hayden slowed the car to a stop before falling back in his seat and looking at his daughter who was fiddling with the friendship bracelet on her wrist. "The road is blocked, Moo," Hayden informed her, she looked up to see her father's words were true. "What w-will we do?" Naya asked her father, her blue-grey eyes looking up at her father fearfully. "I'm not sure," Hayden answered her truthfully when he spotted someone in trouble. "Stay in the car, keep down," Hayden instructed Naya, she immediately did as he told her. Hayden pulled his bat from the back and got out of the jeep, he rushed over and bashed in the head of an undead person.

"Thanks," The woman spoke with an uneasy breath. "You're welcome," Hayden told her with a nod as another guy walked up to her. "Are you okay?" The guy asked her out of breath. "Thanks to him," She replied with a thankful smile. "The name's Hayden," Hayden introduced politely. "I'm Carley, that's Doug," Carley introduced them. "Are you alone?" Doug asked Hayden. "Got my daughter waiting in the jeep," Hayden answered him with a frown. "This wouldn't be a pretty sight for a child, huh?" Doug asked with his own frown. "She witnessed a lot," Hayden told him, "Are you guys passing through?" Carley shook her head, "We've holed up in the Pharmacy." Hayden nodded, "Any room for two more?" Carley nodded with a smile.

"Moo, this is Carley and Doug," Hayden introduced the two survivors after they had approached the jeep and opened the passenger door, "And this is Naya." Carley sent her a kind smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Naya." Doug waved before the groans of the dead ruined their peace. "I have supplies in the back and plenty of fuel," Hayden told them. "There's a place you can stash the jeep by the store," Doug told him before they all got into the jeep, Doug directing him to the building before leading them inside. Naya stayed close to her father as they walked inside, she was hidden by the eyes of the other survivors. "YOU BROUGHT MORE PEOPLE IN!" An older man screamed in anger.

"Dad, calm down," A woman pleaded with a tired sigh before turning to Carley and Doug, "We don't have the supplies to add another to the list!" Carley rolled her eyes at the woman, "Lily, we couldn't leave them out there!" Doug nodded in agreement, "He saved us and offered food." The woman, Lily raised a brow at that when another person spoke, "He has a kid." Everyone went silent at that, Lily sighed as she watched Naya peek her head out. Her short blonde waves matched with her blue-grey doe eyes melted the woman's heart. "Okay, two more wouldn't hurt," Lily breathed out. "Really?! Lily, it's starts with one and then it doubles," Her father warned her making Hayden scoff.

"Hayden Ashanti, Captain Ashanti of the 86th Infantry stationed in Afghanistan," Hayden introduced himself officially causing Lily and her father to falter, "And this is my daughter, Naya." Lily sent a smile to Naya, "I'm Lily and this is my father, Larry." Hayden shook Larry's hand, he bowed his head respectfully to Hayden. "I'm Glenn," The man who pointed Naya out spoke with a nod, his hands hidden in his pockets. "And obviously you've met Carley and Doug," Lily added receiving a nod from Hayden. "Have any idea about what is happening out there?" Doug asked as Hayden sorted through the food and handed some out, the others taking it with grateful smiles and 'thank yous' before he handed a candy bar to Naya who was sitting curled up in a corner.

"It has to be a disease of some kind. Some sort of mutation in Mad Cow," Hayden expressed, "But it could be anything to tell you the truth." The others were silent as they processed that information. "Think we're all infected?" Glenn asked with a worried expression. "No, I think it's the bite. Trade of saliva or bacteria in the mouth," Hayden guessed with a tired sigh, he sat down next to his daughter and pulled her into his arms. "Pretty medical guesses for a soldier," Doug commented. "My late wife was a doctor who worked abroad. She and I shared stories all the time about our experiences and things we learned," Hayden replied to him with a fond smile. "Did she get?" Carley trailed off as she glanced at Naya. "No, she died two years back to cancer," Hayden answered her as Naya drifted to sleep safely in her father's arms.

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Meanwhile on that same fateful day, a thirty-seven year old African American man was handcuffed in the back of a police car. History professor, Lee Everett is on his way to prison, having been convicted for killing a state senator that had an affair with his wife. While driving for prison, the police officer tries to engage Lee in conversation. He asks Lee why he isn't saying that he "didn't do it". The officer explains that, usually, he would have to suffer through a person saying that they didn't commit any crimes at the point they were at, and is surprised that Lee is not doing that. Lee tells the officer that he isn't the kind of guy to say something like that.

The officer then tries to make small talk as he ignores the radio chatter from his police comm system that calls for assistance to a 10-34. A column of police vehicles passes by on the other side of the road towards the city. The officer in the squadron car with Lee asks about Lee's job and then questions him about his ex-wife. Lee is sensitive about his ex-wife and does not respond to the officer's remark about him marrying the wrong woman. The officer then brings up a story about a convict who had once sat in his car on the way to prison that had cried about not having done anything. A police helicopter flies by overhead towards Atlanta as another police column passes by with it.

He shuts his radio off as the operator again asks for assistance for a riot in the city and Lee asks if the man was innocent; And the officer tells him, "They caught the fucker red-handed, stabbing his wife and cutting her upright as the boys came in the front door." The officer professes disgust at the man for crying like that, and says a quite profound and premonitory line about people, where they would "up and go mad when they believe their life is over". Unaware about how true his words would become for the new chapter in Lee's life. As he tries to bring up another story that he believes to be more hilarious than depressing, he takes his eyes off of the road and crashes into a man that had wandered out onto the pavement and violently cuts off the road and into a roadside forest.

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Lee awakens after at least a day of unconsciousness in the back of a wrecked car with his handcuffs still on. He became aware of his surroundings and notes both his thirstiness and the pain in his right leg. He kicks out a window and drags himself out of the car, noticing that the officer was lying in a pool of blood a short distance away. His shotgun lies a few meters away from the body with a single shell on the ground. Lee limps over to the officer and removes the keys to the handcuffs from the corpse. After trying to unlatch the chamber from the pulley, Lee drops the keys in front of the officer's face. Lee quickly retrieves the keys again and then proceeds to remove the handcuffs from his wrists.

A weak groan comes from the officer, prompting Lee to ask if he was alive. The officer then growls and claws at Lee causing him to fall down in surprise and then recoil as the officer then tries to attack him again. Lee crawls back further and further until his back hits the wrecked car. He sees the shotgun and shell within reach and he grabs both but drops the shell upon trying to load it into the weapon. He grabs it again and successfully loads the shotgun, then points it at the officer, who appears to be exhibiting some form of animalistic behaviour as he continually tries to claw at him and shows no regard for the fear of the gun pointed at his face. Lee shoots the officer in the head, blowing it apart and slaying him.

Lee pants as he stared at the body of the officer. Lee notes how the dead officer's skin was rotted and smelled like guts despite his mind reeling as he tried to process the information of what had happened. However, his attention is taken by a small figure in the distance. "Hey! Get some help, there's been a shooting!" Lee called out to them, he watches as they scurried away and disappeared. Shortly thereafter, a cluster of other with rotted skin and what appear to be severely decomposed frames come out of the brush. Lee hastily stands up and with his single good leg, he limps away from the car wreck, noticing others trying to claw at him. Lee climbs up the hill and climbs over a fence into a suburban backyard.

Several thumps against the fence chase the wounded man as he crawls further away from the fence. He hits a wooden deck and watches the fence shudder until a quad of the gunshots sound out in the distance. The fence stops shaking after the final gunshot. Lee hesitantly pulls himself to his feet and calls out for anyone to reply. After finding no help, Lee's decides to enter the house and finds the back door unlocked. He enters the house and quickly ascertains the disturbing quality of the downstairs section of the house as demolished as it is. A pool of fresh blood resides on the path between the living room and kitchen, and Lee slips in it as he searches the house for any signs of life.

He finds a cup of water beside the kitchen sink and greedily drinks from it. Suddenly, a beeping noise comes from the living room. Lee investigates the sound and finds an answering machine of the house's phone displaying three new messages. Lee presses a button on the answering machine and listens to the first of three messages; A woman who names herself Diana asks a woman named Sandra to look after a boy named Clement for one more day, as she and her husband, Ed, had been attacked by some crazy guy and had to be taken to the emergency room. She promised that they would be back from Savannah before Sandra's spring break.

The second message automatically plays and Diana details that she and Ed were under quarantine in the city and were not allowed to leave. She begged Sandra to take Clement with her to Marietta before Diana had to leave for the hospital. The third message then plays and Lee hears Diana weeping. Diana tells her son -- If he were indeed listening -- to call the police. The crying woman repeats that she loves her son as the line cuts out. Lee picks up a photograph of a family of three next to the phone and hypothesizes that both Ed and Diana had perished due to the rotting people.

Lee then hears a child's voice come from the kitchen. He returns to the kitchen and finds nobody there. Suspicious, Lee checks each of the cupboards and drawers and finds a walkie-talkie. The child on the other end of the signal tells him that he is being too loud and has to be quiet. He asks him a series of questions while trying to locate him downstairs, in which he discovers him name to be Clement, his age to be ten, and his parents to be in Savannah. He asks him if he is safe while searching for him in the kitchen. He explains that he is hiding in his treehouse. Lee sees him outside and waves at him in the treehouse.

Clement suddenly yelps and disappears into his treehouse. Startled, Lee turns around and sees another person lunging for him. He throws his hands up defensively and pushes her off him. The woman's decayed skin gave him all of the understanding he needed, and he turned and ran from her, but slipped in the blood on the floor. His head bangs against the edge of a kitchen counter and his vision blurs. Incentivized by the growling of the woman crawling towards him, Lee shakes his head and kicks the woman away. He stands up and runs again, only to be tripped by the woman's hand. He drags himself away towards the back door as a small child opens it with a hammer within his small hands.

Lee kicks the attacking woman back and grabs the hammer from the frightened child. He bashes the rotting skull in and kills the woman. Panting from the struggle, Lee drops the hammer and formally greets the young boy. He asks if he had killed the woman, and Lee says that something else did. Lee asks him if he had been alone since Sandra had died, he answers yes and that he is waiting for his parents to return. Lee says that they may not come back for a while and promises to look after him until everything gets fixed by other people. Lee then decides that they have to leave the house since the neighbourhood was not safe. Clement nods in agreement despite his hesitation, the two prepared to leave.

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Rosemary Speaks

And that begins the book Still. Not. Bitten.
Each perspective change will start in bold letters as you may tell from the switch from Hayden to Lee, there won't be a lot of them but the first part will be featuring Hayden and Lee as the main roles. Also, these chapters may be long ones.

I decided to sort of add Lee's entire introduction for those who may not have watched or played the game. I removed the dialogue scenes so it doesn't drag so it's mostly summarised until Lee and Clement join the crew in Macon.

But I'd love to know what you think so far!

And any questions?

Hope to see you in the next chapter!