Ruthie Bingham is a survivor of the outbreak in Thomas Dunne Books' The Walking Dead. She is the youngest daughter of Chad and Donna Bingham, and the sister of Sarah, Mary and Lydia. She is described as "an adorable little elf with Shirley Temple curls hanging over the collar of her miniature ski jacket."
Pre-Apocalypse[]
Valdosta, Georgia[]
Ruthie was born in 1996. Nothing is known about Ruthie's life prior to or as the outbreak began, except that she resided with her parents and three sisters.
Post-Apocalypse[]
The Road to Woodbury[]
"Red Day Rising"[]
Five days after arriving in tent city, Ruthie and her sisters play hopscotch on a makeshift court etched into the red-brick clay with a stick while Lilly Caul babysits them. The settlers hear an engine in the distance and worry about it being a possible gangs of raiders. The Bingham girls freeze mid-skip but Lilly assures them that it's probably one of their own vehicles. Ruthie, Mary and Lydia start looking around for their mom. Lilly rounds up the four children and tells Sarah to pick up Ruthie before herding them all into the Bingham family tent.
On November 2nd Lilly babysits the Bingham girls while most of the camp goes on a run to gather firewood. Ruthie and her sisters play musical chairs with three broken-down lawn chairs inside the circus tent. Lilly hears walkers approaching and scoops up Ruthie in her arms. They start to make their way out of the tent when a walker approaches from outside. They retreat back into the darkness and Lilly sets down Ruthie who's mute with horror. Lilly says they're going to play a new game "hide and seek" but all the girls know this isn't a game. While Lilly grabs a shovel, Sarah's leg is grabbed by a walker from under the tent. She shrieks and instinctively pulls away to escape, causing the walker to get dragged further inside. Lilly jumps into action and kills the zombie. Ruthie and her sisters cling to one another and slowly back away towards the tent's exit where half a dozen walkers enter the tent. Sarah picks up Ruthie and the group plans on sneaking under the tent flaps when another walker blocks their path, having crawled in from underneath. The zombie bumps into the centre pillar and collapses the whole circus tent. In the darkness, Lilly orders Sarah to take her hand and grab the other girls to pull them out. The girls escape from under the collapsed tent, but Lydia is missing
Lilly rescues Lydia and all the girls cling to her as they run towards a silver Chrysler 300 parked with it's keys in the ignition. Lilly shoves Ruthie in the front seat as more walkers emerge out of the surrounding woods. In the chaos, the twins safely shut themselves inside the car as Sarah is surrounded by walkers. Ruthie and her sisters watch in catatonic horror as Sarah makes a run for the circus tent and is quickly devoured by walkers. Lilly bangs her shovel on the row of vehicles to lead all the walkers away from the girls. The next day a funeral is held which Ruthie and the seventy-two settlers of tent city (excluding Lilly and Chad) attend.
It is unknown what happened to her and her family after tent city was destroyed by walkers and engulfed by flames. Lilly's group speculate that it is very unlikely there were any survivors.
Appearances[]
Novel Series[]
The Road to Woodbury[]
- "Red Day Rising"
- "Chapter Two" (No Lines)
- "Chapter Three" (No Lines)