Mert County, Georgia

Mert County, Georgia
Type	Rural County
State	Rural Georgia
Status	Abandoned
Appearances
Seen in Series	TV Series
Issue/Episode	"18 Miles Out"

Mert County, Georgia, is a county founded in 1776 (according to the police logo) and is located approximately just over 18 miles away from Hershel Greene's farm and is seen in the episode "18 Miles Out" of AMC's The Walking Dead.

Pre-Apocalypse

Rural Georgia

Similar to King County, Mert County is located in a rural area of Georgia. It was policed by the Mert County Sheriff's Department. A few residential houses can be seen, as well as several large farms and fields. The county's main center is the Department of Public Works building and lot which oversees the county's major public works such as construction, emergency crews and response, and public transit.

Vehicles and Equipment

The Department of Public Works seems to have access to the following vehicles and equipment to assist the county's well-being:

• Mert County Public School buses
• Mert County Utility Trucks
• Mert County Fire Trucks
• Mert County Police Cruisers
• Mert County Police Motorcycles
• Mert County Bobcats
• Mert County Dump Trucks
• Road signs and construction barriers
• Cement trailers
• Fuel Tanker
• Machinery and construction equipment

Post-Apocalypse

Early Days

Sometime later, it seems that this building and yard were used as an evacuation shelter, as the buses provided many refugees with shelter and the law enforcement kept the walkers at bay. Using the fences as a barrier helped increase their security and similarly to Rick's group, they burned the corpses of any of the walkers they managed to capture or kill. It is unknown if FEMA assisted refugees in this area, however, as no command post or shelters are seen, and the supplies appeared to have been brought by refugees.

Season 2

"18 Miles Out"

Rick Grimes and Shane Walsh drove along the highway to search for an area to release Randall, as he was a threat to the group. Rick stumbled upon the Public Works building and yard, deciding that this would've been an ideal location as well as to search for additional supplies, such as fuel and food. Rick and Shane released Randall and were on their way back to the car when Randall mentioned that he attended school with Maggie Greene, which caused Rick to halt and think twice about abandoning Randall. Frustrated, Shane disagreed with Rick, attempting to shoot Randall. The two began to fight, Shane accusing Rick of being unable to protect the group. The scuffle grew intense, causing Shane to lash out and throw a pipe wrench towards Rick, but instead smashed a window, releasing a herd of walkers from inside the building.

Everyone, including Randall, fought off the walkers by either stabbing them with knives or shooting them with the few weapons they had. Eventually, Shane took cover inside of a school bus while Rick and Randall grouped together and retrieved the car. Randall drove the getaway car, while Rick shot the walkers, which allowed Shane to get back to the car. Once inside, the trio drove away, leaving the county and heading back to the farm.

Inhabitants

• None

Deaths

• Numerous counts of unnamed people

Appearances

TV Series

Season 2

• "18 Miles Out"

Trivia

• In reality, Mert County does not exist.
• The police are very similar to the King County Sheriff's Department and Linden County Sheriff's Department as they all wear similar uniforms, drive similar squad cars and use the Glock 17 as their sidearm. The only difference is that this particular county has highway patrol motorcycles.
• An intersection just before Rick makes a turn and enters the lot can be seen; the streets are Pimento Avenue and Booker Street, located in Griffin, of Spalding County, Georgia.