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This article is about the Novel Series character. You may be looking for the Road to Survival character.

Holy shit, we are going to have a hot time in the old town tonight. There’s enough here to keep us going until the next fucking ice age.
―Wilkins to Matthew about the crops.[src]

Speed Wilkins is a main character first appearing in The Walking Dead: The Fall of the Governor. He is a young Woodbury soldier involved in the prison assault, and he survives the brutal attack with few other fellow citizens and returns to Woodbury to continue his life without Brian's tyranny. He is described as being "a cocky nineteen-year-old high school football star from Athens who, at the moment, looks punch-drunk and dazed by the struggle, all his big-man-on-campus swagger long gone."

Pre-Apocalypse[]

Athens, Georgia[]

Speed was born in 1984 and grew up playing video games, where he learned everything he knew about weaponry but has never trained in the paramilitary protocol or even the rudimentary handling of firearms in life. He was a football star in high school, but he never was a great athlete.

In 2002, he went to Piedmont College, where his first year of playing Division III football for the Lions had been a bust, having injuries to his joints, especially his knees, which were weak and brittle. Still, he had high hopes for his sophomore year.

In mid-2003, he discovered the clandestine marijuana field just to Northern Georgia as he knows weed scent for sure, a treasure trove of sticky, fragrant heaven hidden within the large acreage of tobacco—a botanical nesting doll—ingeniously concealed from the outside world by some enterprising stoner farmer.

Post-Apocalypse[]

Woodbury, Georgia[]

At some point after the outbreak began, Speed started living in Woodbury. He takes part in the assault on the prison.

The Fall of the Governor - Part Two[]

"The Fall"[]

After the fall of the prison, Speed and a small group of surviving soldiers hole up in the prison to regroup. As they count their ammo Speed has got a Bushmaster with five rounds still in the clip. The next day when Lilly leads the survivors out of the prison, Speed and Matthew and stay at the front as they are the strongest of the six. As they are driving back to Woodbury by Lilly Caul, they hit a bump on the road which causes Speed to fall off the back of the truck, he dodges many walkers trying to get his bearings and weapons and when he is about to be killed is saved by Lilly who later becomes the new leader of the town.

Descent[]

"Lake of Fire"[]

Speed and Matthew are sent by Bob to look for more fuel on the road, but instead found a field of tobacco protected by a fence. Speed ends up getting high after discovering the field, using a fountain pen as a contraption to smoke the tobacco, and after smoking out he fell asleep . After waking up, Speed gets up and calls out to Matthew, not being able to find him. After Matthew finds Speed, Matthew tells Speed to duck as a walker is behind him, and after killing the walker they run back to the highway to Bob's pickup, after getting it to start they leave, with walkers on their trail. Matthew drives them to the area where the Governor rallied all the vehicles before attacking the prison, with Speed thinking back to the day where many of his close friends died, and the first time that he registered the natural leadership capabilities of Lilly Caul. Speed asks Matthew what is he looking at, and Matthew points Speed towards the horde of over a thousand walkers gathering.

Death[]

Killed By

As the walkers overrun Woodbury, Speed tries to outrun the walkers, however he gets trapped by three different groups of walkers. As Speed uses the last of his ammo, a walker sinks his teeth into the nape of his neck. He is then bitten multiple times on his arms, legs and shoulders before finally falling. Speed, barely conscious as the walkers devour his midsection, is shot in the head out of mercy by Lilly from a distance.

Killed Victims[]

This list shows the victims Wilkins has killed:

Relationships[]

Lilly Caul[]

Go easy, Speed... rest in peace.
―Lilly before shooting Speed.[src]

Although not seen interacting much, Lilly trusts Speed and the two have a stable relationship. As Woodbury gets overrun, and Speed gets devoured, Lilly is shown to care and gives him mercy, shooting him in the head from the distance.

Matthew Hennesey[]

Speed and Matthew had a stable relationship, being two of the youngest and strongest in Woodbury. They would often go on runs together, and Speed was grateful when Matthew saved his life a walker that was about to attack him. The two would also often smoke weed behind the courthouse together.

Reese Hawthorne[]

Speed and Reese had a stable relationship, both having a lot in common and being around the same age. After Reese arrived to Woodbury, the two often smoked weed along with Matthew behind the courthouse, and when Speed was devoured by walkers, Reese paused for one horror-stricken moment, thinking that he should intervene and try to help him, but is pulled away by Jeremiah.

Appearances[]

Novel Series

The Fall of the Governor - Part Two

  • "The Fall"
    • "Chapter Seventeen"
    • "Chapter Eighteen"
    • "Chapter Nineteen"
    • "Chapter Twenty"
    • "Chapter Twenty-One"
    • "Chapter Twenty-Three"

Descent

  • "Lake of Fire"
    • "Chapter Two"
    • "Chapter Three"
    • "Chapter Four"
    • "Chapter Five"
    • "Chapter Six"
  • "The Labyrinth"
    • "Chapter Seven"
    • "Chapter Eight"
    • "Chapter Nine"
    • "Chapter Eleven"
    • "Chapter Twelve"
    • "Chapter Thirteen"
    • "Chapter Fourteen"
    • "Chapter Fifteen"
    • "Chapter Sixteen"
    • "Chapter Seventeen"
  • "Last Rites"
    • "Chapter Twenty-Four"
    • "Chapter Twenty-Five"
    • "Chapter Twenty-Six"

Novels 1 2 3 4 5
Rise of the Governor
The Road to Woodbury
The Fall of the Governor
Descent
Invasion
Search and Destroy
Return to Woodbury
Appears Voice is heard
👁 Appears with no lines Appears in a flashback
Appears as a walker 🖼 Appears in a photograph/video
Appears as a corpse Appears in a hallucination/dream

Trivia[]

References[]

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