Lee Everett adjusted the rearview mirror of his silver Prius, casting a quick glance at the disturbing lack of traffic on the highway behind him. He was on his way to Meriwether County Correctional Facility, visiting his brother, Bud, who had gotten himself a life sentence after he discovered his girlfriend was having an affair with a state senator.
Bud, bless his heart, was always a soft-eyed, kindhearted fellow, but ever since he had settled down with a job at UGA, the stress started to weigh down on him. With Bud teaching history at the university, Lee stepped up and took over the family pharmacy up in Macon. He had only been the manager for a few days before seeing his brother's face all over the news.
Bud hadn't been allowed to speak to Lee or their parents for a couple months, and Lee suddenly realized how much he missed hearing his brother's voice. Their parents were, understandably, beyond upset, and had even refused to accompany Lee to the facility. "We just need some more time, Lee," his father had said, holding his wife close, lightly dabbing her eyes with a tissue. "We'll visit him when we think we're ready."
Lee grumbled, turning the volume down on the radio. Ever since he had gotten in the car early that morning, the news had been blasting useless emergency broadcasts nonstop. He had passed through Atlanta a while ago on his way up to Athens, and judging by the crowds of people who looked a little off their rockers, the July heat was getting to people.
A series of police cars on the other side of the highway were speeding back towards the city, the roaring of their sirens quieting down as they drove further and further away. Lee exhaled, gripping the steering wheel tighter. Though most of the people in the city looked more or less stable, some of them looked worse off than others, shambling about, occasionally attempting to pounce on others.
Lee looked up when he heard the sudden roar of a helicopter rip through the atmosphere, the aircraft soaring to Atlanta along with several more police cars. There was probably some kind of riot, Lee thought to himself. Fucking animals.
Lee dug in his pocket and pulled out his phone, speed dialing his parents. The phone rang for a few seconds before his mother answered.
"Hello, Lee," his mother greeted. Her voice was silky soft as usual, but Lee could hear violent coughing in the background.
"Hey, ma. I just left Atlanta and I'm going down I-85. Something's going on in the city, probably a brawl or riot or some shit like that. I wouldn't be surprised if it's because of the heat," Lee explained, watching as another line of police cars traveled back towards the city.
"There's a bit of a tizzy in Macon today. We've had more people in the pharmacy than usual. Some kind of sickness is going around, I reckon," his mother's voice sounded a bit worried. "The minute you leave the Correctional Facility, I want you to come back to Macon right away. Your father and I are barely able to handle the constant flow of panicked customers streaming in and out of the pharmacy, and," his mother paused. "And?" Lee urged.
"And I'm worried, Lee."
"What for?" Lee asked, taking a minute to put his phone in the other hand as he readjusted his grip on the steering wheel. "Something's not right. Some of these people look relatively normal, but others have jaundiced eyes and abnormally pale skin, not to mention some of them are coughing up blood and fading in and out of consciousness," she explained.
"I'm not sure if it'll help or not, but maybe some of them are suffering from anemia or vitamin B12 deficiency," Lee suggested. "I mean, judging by some of the symptoms, those two are the most likely problems."
"No, honey. You haven't seen these poor folks over here. They're as pale as fresh-fallen snow, although there is one common occurrence between them all." "What's that?" "They all seem to have flesh wounds of some kind, almost like a dog bite or even a human bite."
Lee sat in silence for a minute before responding. "That's odd," Lee mumbled into the phone. "If these flesh wounds had something to do with all these sick people, what the hell could it be?" Lee's eyes locked on a figure stumbling onto the road in front of him, and just before the collision, he yelled out.
"OH, SHIT!"
The man's body crumpled beneath the car, his spine giving a sickening crack as the wheels mowed over him. The Prius veered off the highway and through the railing, bounding down the terrain and into the wooded area.
And everything went dark.
A/N: The list of character personality swaps will be as follows:
Lee swaps with his brother, B. (or Bud)
Clementine swaps with Duck
Diana swaps with Ed
Kenny swaps with Katjaa
Shawn swaps with Hershel
Chet swaps with Andre Mitchell
Doug swaps with Carley
Lilly swaps with Larry
Glenn swaps with Irene
Ben swaps with Travis
Andy St. John swaps with Danny St. John
Brenda St. John swaps with Terry St. John
Mark swaps with Beatrice
Christa swaps with Omid
Molly swaps with Crawford Oberson
Anna Correa swaps with Dr. Logan
Vernon swaps with Brie
The Stranger swaps with Chuck
Please note that I am not yet including 400 Days characters, Season 2 characters, Michonne Mini-Series characters, or ANF characters.