The Rift

Prologue: The Stranger

Here we are...
Book Four of The Walking Dead: Purgatory begins...

OCTOBER

A partly cloudy sky rests above the earth, the midday sun blasting light across the rural land of Philadelphia.

Trees of many kinds tower over the forest floor, casting long shadows. A gentle breeze flows through the landscape.
There is only silence.
A long, deserted road cuts through the forest, it's tough concrete surface riddled with cracks and litter.

On that road, a lone walker wanders aimlessly. It is an older male, wearing worn out and scummy overalls, a foul stench hanging off of its body. A large wound is on the walker's neck, exposing rotting flesh and part of the skeleton. It emits low moans as it walks down the road.

Footsteps approach the walker from behind.

The decaying walker slowly turns around and snarls, just before the blade of a small hatchet sinks into its neck.
Dark blood pours out of the opening. The hatchet is pulled back and strikes the walker a second time, this time severing the head from the body.

The stranger stands over their kill, clad in a heavy, black colored combat suit and gas mask, the blood stained hatchet in their grasp.
The stranger steps over the beheaded walker and keeps heading down the empty road.
The gas mask of the stranger completely covers their head, shielding them from smells and such. The only negative effect it has is that the interior of the mask becomes constantly hot like wearing a costume at a theme park on a hot summer day.

A large, dark grey backpack hangs from the stranger's shoulders, filled with essential supplies.

The forest on both sides of the road is eerily silent.

The stranger stops at an abandoned car on the side of the road, opening the unlocked trunk of the Toyota Camry to only find a tire iron and a broken flashlight. The stranger shakes their head in disappointment and shuts the trunk door.

A rustle in the forest behind a large section of shrubs causes the stranger to look toward the woods.

The stranger readies their hatchet.

A young woman, wearing a dirty and worn out tank top and pants emerges from the brush, leaves and pine needles crunching beneath her feet.
She doesn't notice the stranger at first, but then looks up at gasps. She freezes and says, slowly holding her hands up, "Please don't hurt me!"

The stranger just stands there near the open trunk of the Camry and cocks their head, examining the raggedy looking woman with observant eyes behind the gas mask.

The young woman, a red haired ponytail behind her head, has a small bag strapped to her waist.
She reaches for it.

The woman unzips the bag and slowly takes out a granola bar, still in its packaging.
The stranger watches as the woman holds out the granola bar to them, asking, "Is this what you want? Food?"
The hatchet still in the stranger's grasp, the woman keeps offering the food to them.

With a swift motion, the stranger brings up the hatchet and sinks the blade into the woman's left hand. She screams in agony and falls to the ground.

Blood pours from the wound. The woman clutches her hand, still screaming in terror and crawling to the woods.

The stranger slowly walks over to her and raises the hatchet a second time. The blade is brought down on the woman's head, killing her. Her body goes limp. The stranger frees the blade from the punctured skull with a swift motion.

The granola bar lays on the edge of the road near the scene, and the stranger picks it up and stores it in one of the many pockets of their black combat suit.

The stranger adjusts their gas mask, then continues down the road as if nothing happened.
The stranger glances at a sign on the side of the road: Haven. A new community. 68 miles.
The stranger stops in their tracks and look over the sign for a few moments, then gives off a "Hmm."

They continue on their way again, following the way to a place called Haven.

Some prologue huh? What do you think of the stranger?