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| “ | In memory of the brave souls we lost during the Trials, we dedicate this monument to our founders, soldiers and citizens of the Commonwealth who fought for the survival of humankind. To become what we were, we shall restore and carry on our historic legacy as we strive to live and thrive for future generations.
―Monument for the Fallen of the Commonwealth.
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The Trials, also known as "the Outbreak", is an ongoing, global pandemic caused by the Wildfire virus that began in France in April 2010. The outbreak was due to a leak from la Biomédicine / DDMI where the virus was originally created for biomedical purposes. It spread to other areas worldwide and was declared a pandemic on 25 August 2010 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Center for Disease Control (CDC).
Wildfire is spread through airborne particles and is asymptomatic and nonfatal. Upon death of any kind, except for traumatic brain injury, the virus reactivates the hindbrain and resurrects the body into a zombie, an aggressive disease vector that spreads a secondary, fatal infection called necrosepsis primarily through bites. Mutations have produced many strains (variants) with varying degrees of infectivity and virulence - affecting the attributes of an ordinary zombie.
The outbreak caused severe social, economic, and political disruptions around the world. Widespread supply shortages caused panic buying and looting, responses from law enforcement resulted in protests and riots, emergency services were completely overwhelmed, and electrical grids and communications failed due to various crises. Society collapsed on 27 August 2010, resulting in martial law being declared in numerous countries. The U.S. Military enacted Operation Cobalt to secure the remaining population of the United States of America in concentrated Safe Zones. The Second Civil War was initiated by the National Guard in response to the killing of civilians. With lack of communication and resources, the Safe Zones were overrun by zombies and the contingency plan to neutralize major cities was initiated on 9 September, marking the end of government and military activity. This resulted in the collapse and fragmentation of most nations across the world, and the end of modern era.
Following societal collapse, survivor groups attempted to reclaim control over territories in an attempt to rebuild civilization. In the former United States, the most prominent civilizations are the Civic Republic of Philadelphia, the Commonwealth, and Portland. Other large, inter-community networks in the United States include the Coalition and the New Babylon Federation. In the former country of France, the Pouvoir Du Vivant and the Union de l'Espoir are the most prominent political groups that have mostly restored a federal establishment. Some nations, such as the United Kingdom, managed to survive on a smaller scale but ultimately collapsed within several years.
As of 2028, the Trials is still an ongoing pandemic. It's unclear how much of the original human population has died, with some estimates putting the current living population below 70 million, making it the deadliest pandemic in history and causing the near extinction of the human race.
History
2010
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The outbreak was discovered by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) on 16 April 2010. It is unknown to the extent of resurrection occurring before August 2010. Based on evidence, the Wildfire virus originated in France from la Biomédicine / DDMI, a biomedicine lab. The exact purpose of the virus by the lab is currently unknown.
Wildfire is only known to infect humans and spreads through the circulatory system, infects every cell in the body and lies dormant. The initial infection is airborne, asymptomatic and non-fatal. It simply causes the host to become an asymptomatic carrier. After a person dies from any method, except traumatic brain injury, the hindbrain reactivates anywhere from three minutes to eight hours after clinical death. The virus becomes active and the body is resurrected into a zombie. Due to the hindbrain being the sole part that is reactivated, it causes the host to act on a primal instinct to feed and will kill and devour the flesh of any living or recently deceased beings. The body of the zombie is still deceased, though the rate of decay is significantly decelerated by the virus. Because of this, a zombie cannot be killed by damage done to the body. Only destroying the brain can a zombie be killed, and penetrating the brain of a recently deceased person is the only means of prevention.
In early 2010, the virus leaked from la Biomédicine / DDMI and was detected in the United States by the CDC by April 2010. In the following four months, Wildfire spread as a dormant, airborne contagion with over a 99% infection rate. By August 2010, the majority of the planet became asymptomatic carriers of Wildfire. In August 2010, people who died began to resurrect into zombies. Reports of dead people coming back to life, killing people, and eating their flesh occasionally reached the public, but it was disregarded as internet rumors and sensationalist hype. Scientists of Biomédicine / DDMI were divided into teams Violet and Primrose. Primrose was the group primarily responsible for Wildfire and traveled to Toledo, Ohio for a conference to address the growing pandemic. Meanwhile, Violet remained in France to combat the virus by using cardiac plaques as a host medium for steroidal therapies into jump-starting the circulatory system and causing nerve confusion to short-circuit the brain and circumvent the reanimation process. However, this preventative measure caused an aggressive variant in which the reanimation time was accelerated to thirty seconds; and the intelligence, strength, and speed of the zombie was significantly increased.
| “ | When it started it was just -- it was a couple of weird stories on the news. Then -- then it was so quick. Everything -- it just happened. Two weeks later I'm in the hospital and there were soldiers shooting people in the halls. They were shooting people, man, not walkers. Then the walkers came through.
―Shane Walsh to Rick Grimes about the outbreak.
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The LAFD dispatched hazmat units on the request of the CDC.
The CDC and World Health Organization (WHO) declared Wildfire a global health emergency on 25 August 2010, as reports of zombies occurred across the planet. The WHO released an emergency plan in officials handling the outbreak by properly disposing of recently deceased individuals. Government officials, military personnel, law enforcement, and healthcare providers were the only people fully aware of the virus. Otherwise, the majority of the population continued to be unaware of Wildfire as government officials tried to conceal it to prevent anarchy. As police began neutralizing zombies, civilians believed they were killing unarmed citizens and protested the police's use of deadly force, which resulted in riots. On 27 August 2010, all emergency services were completely overwhelmed. Civilians began panic buying and looting supplies. The panic by civilians and violent force by police and military caused riots, which escalated the crisis. Electrical grids and call centers were abandoned or overrun by zombies, causing widespread power outages and communication blackouts. The United Nations General Assembly, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union held several meetings in an attempt to combat the rapidly worsening pandemic. The panic and overwhelmed, or lack of, first responders led to conflagrations in urban and rural areas.
In the United States, state governors began to implement martial law and requested the National Guard to quell the riots and contain the virus. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded all flights to prevent the spread, while other remaining flights were shot down by the Air Force. The U.S. government issued a national state of emergency and federalized the National Guard as the U.S. Military drafted and initiated Operation Cobalt to contain the outbreak. Quarantine zones, or Safe Zones, were established across the country to protect civilians and serve as a staging ground for military personnel. Meanwhile, survivors outside the Safe Zones were executed by the military in order to prevent them from becoming zombies as the collapse of the global supply chain would eventually result in famine, disease, and violence. Due to a breakdown in communications and demoralization, military personnel abandoned the Safe Zones to protect their families. This left the Safe Zones vulnerable to attacks. Disagreements regarding the execution of civilians resulted in the U.S. Military fracturing, initiating the Second American Civil War. Due to the losing the frontline caused by abandonment and the Second Civil War, the remaining loyal military personnel were ordered to humanely terminate the civilians within the Safe Zones and fall back to the nearest military installations. On 9 September, the contingency plans for Cobalt were initiated. The Air Force was ordered to destroy all major cities using napalm. Afterward, the U.S. Marines and Army were ordered to liquidate any survivors in the city.
Unrest, economic failure and widespread deaths led to key government figures being evacuated to undisclosed locations, the U.S. government being de-facto disbanded, state governorships turning inactive and the dissolution of the United States with the rest of the world following a similar fate. The particular fate of world leaders however remains unclear. It's entirely possible that some governments continue to operate albeit in a largely isolated and reduced capacity. Shortly after Operation Cobalt, it is safe to assume that the UN, NATO and EU have since dissolved as a result of the outbreak and thus are no longer functioning organizations. Following the collapse of modern civilization, humanity faced near extinction. Across the planet, humans began forming survivor and refugee groups. Over time, many of these groups were killed by zombies, other survivor groups, or died of natural causes such as illness, starvation, or exposure. Some nations, such as the United Kingdom, managed to persevere given its geographic advantage but suffered a majority of it's population being killed.
In Pennsylvania, the main theater of the Civil War was fought in this state. The combatants were between the U.S. Military and the Pennsylvania National Guard during Operation Cobalt. Adjutant General Johnathan Beale led the National Guard to abandon Pittsburgh to focus their efforts in defending Philadelphia. Major Donald Okafor of the U.S. Air Force and his wife, Estelle Okafor of the U.S. Marine Corps, were ordered to destroy Philadelphia. After having already destroyed Los Angeles and Atlanta, the Okafors defected as they didn't want to destroy another city. At Estelle's request, Donald used his arsenal to destroy the Lincoln Financial Field where she and 4,000 Marines were stationed and awaiting the bombings to liquidate the survivors. Donald continued to defend the city and assisted the Pennsylvania National Guard. Shortly after, the city was secured and the Second Civil War was won by the National Guard. The city was reformed into a sovereign directorial republic city-state called the Civic Republic of Philadelphia (CRP), and the Pennsylvania National Guard became the Civic Republic Military (CRM), led by Major General Beale. The city's government, the Civic Republic Council (CRC), and the CRM acted separately. The cities of Portland and Omaha were also secured, along with Omaha's satellite community in Lincoln known as the Campus Colony of Omaha. The CRM made contact with these secured cities and formed a federation called the Alliance of the Three.
In Georgia, shortly after the outbreak, the U.S. Army secured an island fortress under Operation PADRE. Government officials were provided with detailed plans for rebuilding civilization in the event of global disaster. Under the command of Major General Krennick, the program called for the Army to find survivor groups and provide them with supplies for rebuilding. A shipyard of PADRE-issued shipping containers held supplies for distribution. Shortly after the bombings, the shipyard was overrun and Krennick was killed. His surviving children, Sam and Ben Krennick, continued PADRE's work. This involved kidnapping children in the area and training them rebuild in PADRE's image. Elsewhere in Georgia, survivors that managed to escape Atlanta before the bombings and survivors trying to enter the city for safety converged and formed the Atlanta Survivor Camp just outside the city in a quarry campsite, led by Sheriff's Deputy Shane Walsh.
In Virginia, the northern region of the state was effectively evacuated. Very few survivors and zombies remained. Most of the zombies that did occur usually wound up in a massive quarry. This allowed multiple survivor communities in the area to thrive. The first was the Alexandria Safe Zone, originally a self-sustaining residential development that was used by the U.S. Military as a Safe Zone to evacuate politicians from Washington, D.C. The leader of the community was Ohio Representative Deanna Monroe. The second community was the Kingdom, originally a U.S. Army post that was secured during the outbreak until it was abandoned and later occupied by a theatrical group that roleplayed as a medieval community. The leader was zookeeper Ezekiel Sutton, who was referred to as "King Ezekiel" and had a pet Bengal tiger named Shiva. The third was the Hilltop Colony, originally a museum held in the Barrington House and used as a FEMA camp during the outbreak. The leader was local business man Gregory. The fourth was Hollowbrant Outreach Recovery, originally a recovery facility that was occupied by multiple families during the outbreak. The leader was Natania. The fifth was the Heaps, originally a massive trash landfill that was later formed into heaps to act as a barrier and protect the Scavengers, a group of bohemians that occupied by the area. The leader was art teacher Anne, who went by the name "Jadis" and implemented their own language of broken English. The sixth and final group was the Sanctuary, originally a factory that sheltered a group of people who extorted supplies from other communities. The leader at the time was unknown, but one of the prominent lieutenants was mortgage broker Simon.
In October 2010, sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes awoke from his medically induce coma from when he was shot in the line-of-duty shortly before the collapse. After being rescued by Morgan Jones and his son, Duane, Rick learned that Atlanta had a refugee center and that his wife Lori and son Carl likely evacuated there. He arrived to Atlanta and ran into a supply runner group for the city's survivor camp, led by Glenn Rhee. He and the others brought him back to the camp after being rescued where Rick found his wife, son, and partner and best friend Shane Walsh. Unknown to Rick at the time, Shane and Lori had been having a sexual relationship in the two months they thought Rick was dead, which resulted in a pregnancy. Lori came back to Rick and broke things off with Shane. Rick also began leading the group and making decisions despite Shane being the leader. After getting attacked by zombies and suffering causalities, Rick led the group the CDC to find safety or at least answers. They were met by Dr. Edwin Jenner, the lone survivor of the CDC. He revealed to the group the reality of outbreak and the truth that they were all infected. Due to containment protocols to keep pathogens from escaping the facility in the event of power failure, the CDC was set to explode as the power was almost out. Rick and his group managed to escape while Jenner died in the blast.
Rick's group decided to go to Fort Benning, but they were attacked by a herd. During the attack, child member Sophia Peletier went missing in the woods to escape zombies chasing her. During the search for Sophia, Carl was shot in a hunting accident by a farmhand, Otis. Otis took the group the Greene Family Farm, led by farmer and veterinarian Hershel Greene. To perform the surgery to save Carl's life, Hershel was in need of supplies. Otis and Shane went on a supply run at FEMA camp, but they were attacked by a herd and Shane shot Otis so the zombies would eat him and allow Shane to get away. Hershel performed the surgery and was successful in saving his life. Shane's mental state deteriorated and, in his paranoia, grew increasingly resentful of Rick - especially with Lori pregnant with his child. After learning Hershel kept his zombified family and friends in the barn to await for a cure, Shane attempted to reclaim control of the group by opening the barn and forcing the group to kill the zombies. One of the zombies was Sophia, who had been bitten. Rick was the one who put her down and assumed total authority over the group. When the group was attacked by another survivor group called The Living, one of the members named Randall Culver was left for dead after being injured. The group debated what to do with him, with Rick ultimately deciding to let him go. Furious, Shane killed Randall and led Rick out to kill him, as well, but Rick was able to stop Shane and kill him. The altercation alerted a herd nearby and, due to the natural swamp barriers that protected the farm getting frozen over because of the cold weather, overran the farm. Group member Andrea Harrison was left behind when the rest of the group evacuated, but was rescued by lone survivor Michonne Hawthorne. The group spent the next eight months looking for a safe place as Rick became a dictator in the group.
2011
In Ohio, former U.S. President William Milton managed to lead military forces into securing a portion of a city shortly before the collapse and gradually reclaimed the entire city, block-by-block. By April 2011, the city was mostly secured and established as The Commonwealth. Construction of a massive wall surrounding the city began as The Commonwealth was defended by its own highly organized army, led by former U.S. Marine Michael Mercer. The Commonwealth was organized in a class system, and citizens were assigned to roles and social classes based on their previous occupations before the outbreak. Residents who enlisted in the Commonwealth Army were granted special privileges to themselves and their families. While able to effectively recreate the old world, the Commonwealth became an autocratic oligarchy and faced issues of classism and police brutality. The Commonwealth began a network trade with other communities in the Midwestern region and would eventually accrue over 50,000 citizens.
In Virginia, the extortionist group that occupied the Sanctuary took the Hollowbrant group and the Kingdom. The Hollowbrant group attempted to fight back by attacking the Satellite Outpost, but they failed. Simon ordered all the men and boys over the age of 10 to be executed. After the massacre, the women and children fled Hollowbrant and found Oceanside, a cabin-motor court by the beach that kept them hidden and developed a code to kill any outsiders to prevent the Saviors learning of their new location. Meanwhile, high school gym teacher Negan Smith was unable to save his wife, Lucille, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He later found the group at the Sanctuary and, with Simon's help, eliminated the leader. Negan proclaimed himself the leader of the group that he called the Saviors. Negan went on to claim the Hilltop Colony and demanded they provide half of their resources. In response to this, Hilltop's supply runner Paul Rovia, aka "Jesus", went to the Kingdom and formed a secret alliance with King Ezekiel. Meanwhile, one of Negan's followers was a man named Mile Jurkovic, better known as the "Croat", who was notoriously sadistic. Negan tried to kill him but was unsuccessful, causing Mile to escape. He later fled to Manhattan where he was rescued by a theater critic called the "Dama". In Manhattan, Mile created the Burazi in the image of Negan and the Savors.
In New York, the CRM began Project Votus at the Civic Republic Research Facility in Ithaca to delay and possibly prevent reanimation. This involved taking infected survivors and studying their reanimation and exposing them to a modified version of Chlorine Gas using an intra-cerebral injection of algae-derived chemical extracts. To supply these test subjects, the CRM, through Lieutenant Colonel Carm Elsick, made contact with Jadis at the Heaps in Virginia. He offered to provide supplies in exchange for Jadis and the Scavengers to find survivors and give them to the CRM. Survivors were given a designation as A or B. A's were strong leaders that the CRM considered a threat and required Jadis to kill them via zombie bites so they could be studied at the research facility in Ithaca. B's were ordinary people trying to survive that the CRM considered resourceful and conscripted them to six years of consignment, a form of indentured servitude, before becoming naturalized citizens of the CRP.
In Georgia, Rick's group discovered the West Georgia Correctional Facility, also known as the "Prison", and managed to clear most of it for settlement. However, surviving inmate Andrew tried to take back the Prison by overrunning it with zombies. Lori went into labor and was unable to receive adequate help during the attack, and died giving birth to her daughter, Judith via caesarean by Maggie Greene. The incident caused Rick to suffer a mental break, while other members took charge of the community. Meanwhile, Andrea and Michonne found a settlement in the town of Woodbury, led by a man named Philip Blake, but was known as the "Governor". Michonne correctly assumed that Woodbury killed groups of people for their supplies, and left. The Governor's right hand and former member of the Atlanta camp, Merle Dixon, caught Glenn and Maggie on a supply run while he was hunting Michonne and brought them to Woodbury to interrogate them for information on their camp. Michonne saw the incident, tracked down Rick's group, and revealed what happened. Rick arranged a rescue operation to save Glenn and Maggie, which was a success. Merle left with them, also, as his brother Daryl was still part of the Atlanta group. With the Governor aware of their location, he attacked the Prison. Andrea, who stayed in Woodbury, arranged for peaceful negotiations. The Governor demanded Rick give him Michonne, as he wanted to torture because she killed his zombified daughter, Penny. Rick refused and the Prison managed to defend themselves against Woodbury's attack. When the Woodbury Army refused to go back and kill Rick's group, the Governor annihilated nearly his entire militia and fled. Rick's group went to Woodbury and, after discovering Andrea had been killed, brought the surviving people of Woodbury to live with them. Rick decided to step down from his leadership role and implemented a council to make decisions. The following day, the Governor returned to Woodbury deserted and set the town ablaze. Afterwards, he wandered the wasteland for months and went by the name "Brian Heriot".
2012
In Georgia, an influenza outbreak occurred, killing many in the state and decimating whole communities. The Prison suffered many losses from this flu, but they managed to survive. Meanwhile, the Governor was rescued by a woman named Lilly Chambler and her family. They relocated and were brought into River Camp, led by former Woodbury resident Caesar Martinez. Despite the past altercations, Martinez allowed the Governor to stay. However, the Governor murdered Martinez and the second-in-command, Pete Dolgen, in order to assume power. The Governor later returned to the Prison and led the group to attack it. Over half of the Prison community and nearly all of the River Camp was killed in the battle, including the Governor. The Prison was destroyed and overrun with zombies, causing the remaining survivors to flee. With the remainder of Rick's group scattered, they began to follow tracks to a community called Terminus. During the trip, Glenn and Tent Camp survivor and Lilly's sister, Tara, were accompanied by a convoy led by Sergeant Abraham Ford, who was on a mission escorting Doctor Eugene Porter to Washington, D.C. Doctor Porter claimed to be a scientist, part of the Human Genome Project, and had the ability to stop the Trials. Other survivors found each other along the tracks and arrived at Terminus, but they were captured upon learning the community was populated with cannibals. Carol Peletier, one of the few members of Rick's group to not get captured, managed to partially destroy Terminus. It allowed the zombies to overrun the community, and for the group to escape.
The group was later brought into safety at the St. Sarah's Church by Father Gabriel Stokes. However, survivors of Terminus, led by Gareth, tracked the group to the church and kidnapped Bob Stookey. They partially cannibalized him, but brought him back to the church after they discovered he had been bitten. A conflict ensued, with the Hunters being butchered in the church by Rick's group. Abraham led his convoy to D.C. while Rick's group stayed behind to wait for Daryl and Carol, as they went on a search to find Maggie's sister, Beth, who had been taken by Atlanta PD and brought to Grady Memorial Hospital as an indentured servant. Meanwhile, Dr. Porter revealed that he had lied about being a scientist. He told the truth in order to keep Abraham from moving the mission dangerously further. Eugene had lied because he believed D.C. would be the safest place due to being the former U.S. capital, but he knew he couldn't get there on his own. Abraham's group returned to the church as it was overrun with zombies. They rescued the rest of the group and went to Atlanta to rescue Beth. In the hostage negotiation, Beth was accidentally killed by Lt. Dawn Lerner in order to free fellow captive, Noah. Daryl killed Dawn, and both sides agreed to ceasefire. Noah went with the group and told them about his community of Shirewilt Estates in Richmond, Virginia. Rick agreed to take him there and to join Shirewilt. However, the community was destroyed by a group called the Wolves. The group continued onward until they were rescued by Aaron and Eric Raleigh, who were recruiters for the Alexandria Safe Zone.
Rick's group met with Deanna Monroe at Alexandria and were given job assignments. It became clear to Rick's group that most of the Alexandrians were inexperienced in dealing with the real world. A supply run resulted in the deaths of Deanna's son, Aiden, and Noah, because the supply runners didn't listen to Rick's group. Father Gabriel warned Deanna that Rick's group was dangerous. Rick, who had been made constable, attacked the town's surgeon, Pete Anderson, after learning he abused his wife Jessie and children Ron and Sam. These incidents called for Deanna to hold a meeting and vote in Alexandria on banishing Rick and his group. Meanwhile, Aaron and Daryl encountered the Wolves, but were rescued by Morgan Jones, who had followed Abraham's map to Alexandria. At the community meeting, Pete killed Deanna's husband, Reg, resulting in her having Rick execute him. Upon disposing of Pete's body, Rick discovered a quarry that held thousands of zombies. Observing the truck barrier keeping them inside was about to fall, Rick alerted Alexandria and planned to shepherd the herd away from Alexandria. During his plan, the Wolves, who had followed Aaron and Daryl, attacked Alexandria. While Alexandria was successful in defending itself, the attacked made noise that alerted half of the herd to the community. The Wolves attack and botched herd plan resulted in nearly half of Alexandria getting killed. The herd surrounded Alexandria, trapping everyone inside. Outside the community - Daryl, Abraham, and Sasha Williams had a skirmish with the Saviors, but managed to kill them and return to Alexandria. Meanwhile, Alexandria's watchtower that was damaged in the attack fell onto the wall and allowed the zombies to enter, resulting in Deanna's death. Rick became the leader of Alexandria and led the community to fight against the zombies.
A month later, Rick and Daryl encountered Paul "Jesus" Rovia on a supply run and brought their group to the Hilltop Colony. Upon seeing an assassination attempt on Gregory's life, ordered by the Saviors, Maggie made a deal with Gregory that they would eliminate the Savior threat if Hilltop agreed to provide half of their food to Alexandria. Gregory agreed, and Rick's group was able to annihilate both the Satellite Outpost and the Slaughterhouse Outpost. However, the attack led the Saviors to retaliate, killing Alexandria's doctor Denise Cloyd. The group prepared for an attack, but Maggie experienced pregnancy complications and required them to travel to Hilltop's doctor and OB/GYN, Harlan Carson. On the way to Hilltop, Rick's group was captured by Negan and the Saviors, where he declared Alexandria as the Savior's property and demanded half of their resources, including all their weapons. As punishment for their attack, Negan killed Abraham and Glenn, and took Daryl as a slave. Maggie and Sasha continued to Hilltop to receive care, and later replaced Gregory as leader. Rick tried to have Alexandria follow Negan, but after Negan killed Deanna's son, Spencer and pantry worker Olivia, nearly killing Aaron, and taking Eugene to make bullets for the Saviors - Rick realized they could not live under their conditions. He met with Maggie and Daryl, who had been rescued by Jesus, at Hilltop. They met King Ezekiel at the Kingdom to prepare for war and formed the Militia. During this meeting, Gabriel was captured by the Scavengers and taken to the Heaps where he was to be traded with the CRM. Rick's group arrived and propositioned Jadis to join their cause, to which she agreed. Tara had gone on a supply run and found the Hollowbrant survivors at Oceanside, who had guns. She led Rick and the group to Oceanside where they obtained the weapons, but Oceanside refused to participate in the war. One of the Saviors' top lieutenants, Dwight, switched sides and agreed to be a spy for the Militia. As Alexandria prepared for battle, the Scavengers betrayed them and sided with the Saviors. Before Alexandria was lost, the Hilltop and Kingdom arrived to defend the community, pushing the Saviors and Scavengers back.
Alexandria, Hilltop, and Kingdom arrived at the Sanctuary to declare war. They offered to spare the Saviors if Negan surrendered, which he refused, causing the Militia to attack and surrounded the compound with a herd. The Militia attacked the Satellite, Office Plaza, and Chemical Plant Outposts. The Satellite Outpost was a victory for Hilltop and resulted in Morgan imprisoning the surrendering Saviors, the Shephard Office Battle plaza was a victory for Alexandria, but the Chemical Plant Outpost was a pyrrhic victory for the Kingdom as nearly all their soldiers died in battle. Rick went to the Scavengers to convince them to join them against the Saviors. Jadis initially imprisoned Rick and prepared him to the CRM, but later agreed to assist the Militia in the war. Daryl, Tara, and Morgan drove a truck into the Sanctuary to kill the remaining Saviors, but it drew the herd inside and away from the courtyard, allowing the Saviors to clear the herd. The Saviors retaliated by bombing Alexandria and attacking the Kingdom and Hilltop. Carl was bitten prior to the attack and died wanting everybody to make peace instead of war. Alexandria and Kingdom managed to safely evacuate to Hilltop, combining all three communities. Negan ordered Simon to seek retribution from the Scavengers for their betrayal with limited casualties. Simon went against Negan's orders and goaded Jadis into attacking him after he killed two of her followers, prompting the Saviors to eliminate all the Scavengers, except for Jadis. Rick and Michonne attempted to recruit her, but then abandoned her after realizing she couldn't help them.
Negan planned to attack Hilltop using weapons and ammunition tainted in zombie blood, administering necrosepsis if they simply wounded somebody. On the way there, Negan was attacked by Rick, causing Simon to take charge and lead the attack. Several Hilltop residents died necrosepsis after getting wounded, and many more died from the zombies that turned inside. Negan was captured by Jadis and attempted to trade him to the CRM as an "A", but she spared him after realizing that Simon went against his orders. She released Negan and he continued to the Sanctuary where he killed Simon. While Hilltop prepared for battle, Maggie was approached by a professor named Georgie, along with her group. She offered free trade in terms of food and a instructional manual entitled "A Key To The Future", which provided schematics in building medieval human achievements for fledgling civilizations. After his husband Eric's death, Aaron went to Oceanside to convince them to join the war effort. Natania was accidentally killed and succeeded by her granddaughter, Cyndie, but Aaron successfully recruited them to the Militia. After being convinced by Rosita, Eugene sabotaged the Saviors' bullets by making them exploding ammunition, causing the Savior Army's guns to explode upon firing. The Militia gained the upper hand, and Rick apprehended Negan alive due to Carl's wishes, but garnered ire from Maggie who wished to see her husband's murderer killed. Rick spared the surrendering Saviors and had everyone return home, sentencing Negan to life imprisonment. After the war, Rick gave clemency to Jadis, who then reverted back to Anne and joined Alexandria. In the aftermath, the Militia and Saviors made peace, Negan was imprisoned in a cell in Alexandria, and Maggie used Georgie's plans to rebuild the communities. Later that year, she gave birth to Glenn's son, Hershel.
2013
Most of Northern Texas and Southern Oklahoma was occupied by the Pioneers. However, after the Nuking of Texas, it's unknown if the group was able to survive.
2014
In the eighteen months since the end of the Savior War, the communities of Alexandria, Hilltop, Kingdom, Oceanside, and Sanctuary lived in relative peace. However, several Saviors still believed in Negan and his ways before the war. Daryl was put in charge of the Saviors to keep them from returning, and Maggie was elected leader of Hilltop over Gregory. When Gregory concocted an assassination attempt on her life, she arrested and publicly hanged Gregory. Maggie's decision to kill Gregory inspired Oceanside to take justice into their own hands and methodically kill the Saviors that murdered their men and boys. The communities initially believed it to be Anne, as she had a habit of making people disappear and would have a motive because of what the Saviors did to her people. Rick led a group to rebuild a fallen bridge that would connect the communities, while Michonne worked on a multi-community charter of rights and freedoms. Tensions grew high as the Saviors demanded answers, and the rest of the communities felt the Saviors didn't deserve their help. Daryl and Maggie tracked down the disappearances of the Saviors and discovered it was Oceanside. After learning about the massacre, and that they were inspired by Maggie's execution of Gregory, both Maggie and Daryl were inspired by them to kill Negan. Daryl took Rick on a detour while Maggie went into Alexandria to kill Negan. In the cell, she attempted to kill Negan but decided against it when she realized that death is what he wanted in order to be with his wife, and forcing him to live would be the better punishment.
A skirmish at the bridge camp occurred between the Saviors the other communities, which attracted a herd. Rick and Daryl made a plan to divert them, but Rick was injured. At the bridge, he sacrificed himself by blowing it up to keep the zombies from reaching Hilltop. Despite the communities believing Rick had died, he had actually flown down river. In order to escape the community's persecution, Anne reached her CRM contact and demanded an extraction. She found Rick and used him to get into the CRM by admitting him as a "B", which saved his life but imprisoned him in Philadelphia. Rick was succeeded by Michonne as leader of Alexandria, and created a council to vote on decisions. Before Rick disappeared, he and Michonne conceived a child together. Before their son was born, Michonne found an old college friend Jocelyn, who led a group of children. After bringing them into Alexandria, Jocelyn stole Alexandria's supplies and kidnapped most of the community's children, including Judith. Michonne and Daryl tracked down Jocelyn's group, but were attacked and branded with "X's" on their backs. In order to save Judith and the others, Michonne killed Jocelyn and all the children in her group. Michonne and Daryl recovered Alexandria's children and brought them home. Due to community's betrayal resulting in Rick's supposed death, and Michonne's former best friend attacking them, Michonne lost her trust in people and decided to isolate Alexandria from the other communities. Hilltop, Kingdom, and Oceanside remained somewhat allied, but weakened by Alexandria's isolation. The Sanctuary later became unsuitable for a community, forcing the Saviors to join the other communities or left the area. Michonne later gave birth to her son Rick Grimes Jr., also known as RJ. While Michonne stayed in Alexandria and raised her children, Daryl continued to look for Rick as they never found the body. Due to Negan's close proximity causing her distress, Maggie left Hilltop with Hershel and joined Georgie's group to help fledgling communities, leaving Jesus in charge of the colony.
Texas was hit by nuclear missiles launched by cult leader Theodore Maddox, using the artillery from the USS Pennsylvania. The entire state sustained a nuclear winter and resulted in irradiated zombies. Survivor Alicia Clark was bitten on the arm and was unable to prevent the spread of the infection after amputation. However, she managed to survive and overcome her infection due to the radiation as weakened it and allowed her immune system to fight it off. Her survival was noted by nurse June Dorie. PADRE learned of June's theories that radiotherapy could fight the active infection. They began intentionally infecting people and using radiotherapy to find a cure. The radiotherapy did treat the infection, but the amount of radiation needed to fight the infection resulted in radiation poisoning - killing the test subjects. The program was put to an end shortly before PADRE's fall in 2022.
2018
In 2018, the Civic Republic did a study and confirmed that the allied communities would never become self-sufficient and could cause a strain on the Civic Republic's resources, resulting in a collapse.
2019
2020
Within ten years, the Civic Republic grew to have over 250,000 inhabitants. The cities of Portland and Omaha each had populations of nearly 100,000. The Campus Colony had nearly 10,000 inhabitants - totaling the Alliance's population to over 400,000 survivors. Using chlorine gas, the Civic Republic destroyed Omaha and the Campus Colony. Their efforts to destroy Portland were thwarted by a group of surviving rebels from the Campus Colony. The scientists at the research facility defected, went into hiding, and began research into yeast-based countermeasures to decimate the zombies.
The Coalition reformed in 2020 following a conflict with the Whisperers, a primitivist cult that wore the skin of zombies in order to move among and control them. They infiltrated The Coalition during The Fair of New Beginning at The Kingdom and kidnapped eleven residents, decapitating ten of them, and placing their heads on pikes to mark the border between the Coalition's land and the Whisperer's. The conflict continued into 2021.
2021
The Whisperers used a massive herd at their disposal to destroy Hilltop and Alexandria. Negan was pardoned in order to infiltrate the Whisperers and assassinate their leader, Alpha. Their second-in-command, Beta, was later killed and the Whisperers dissolved. Michonne left Alexandria in order to find Rick, and was succeeded by Aaron and Gabriel Stokes. Alexandria was repaired, but Hilltop was damaged beyond repair. Maggie then led the survivors of Hilltop to The Bricks, a brick factory in New Jersey. The Coalition continues to be active in Virginia and New Jersey, and made an alliance with the Commonwealth.
Within ten years, the Commonwealth's population grew to 50,000 survivors and was later led by Milton's daughter, Pamela Milton, following his death. In 2021, the Commonwealth took in survivor communities of Alexandria, Hilltop, and Oceanside in Virginia. They were soon seized under military control by Lance Hornsby. Meanwhile, the citizens of the Commonwealth protested the conditions of the city's classism and police brutality, resulting in the death of Pamela's son. In response, Pamela summoned a swarm of zombies to initiate lockdown, but variants among the herd infiltrated the perimeter and allowed thousands of zombies to overrun the city. The civilians and army eradicated the swarm by destroying The Estates. Pamela Milton was sentenced to life in prison and was replaced by Ezekiel Sutton.
2022
Following an uprising by the children's parents and an invasion by Troy Otto and his people, PADRE was destroyed in 2022. The survivors later dispersed to create new communities across America using the resources intended for PADRE's Expansion.
In November, the Civic Republic Military moved to enact a plan to destroy Portland, declare martial law across the Civic Republic itself, and move across the continent, wiping out other survivor communities and seizing their resources to ensure the Civic Republic's survival alone. However, the organization's plan was discovered by Rick and Michonne Grimes who were finally reunited after years apart. Learning of the plan, Rick killed Major General Johnathan Beale and he and Michonne wiped out the Frontliners and the CRM Force Command, stopping the attack on Portland. The two then revealed the CRM's actions to the Civic Republic Council, leading to a reform of the military and the city being opened to the outside world for the first time.
2023
One year after the defeat of the Milton Regime, the Commonwealth celebrated their first commemoration of its fair and equal ruling under Governor Ezekiel Sutton. Shortly after, Rick and Michonne Grimes arrived with the reformed Civic Republic Military as they made an alliance with the Commonwealth by offering supplies, and Rick and Michonne reunited with their children.
Daryl Dixon departed from the Commonwealth beforehand and traveled in the Northeast before being captured and brought to France.
2027
In New York, the city of Manhattan is occupied by the Burazi. Their leader, the Croat, was originally a member of the Saviors in Virginia. Despite being a hostile group, the leader Negan Smith believed the Croat was too sadistic and rogue to be a productive member of the Saviors. Sometime before 2012, Negan attempted to kill him. The Croat lost his right ear and managed to escape. He later came to Manhattan and created the Burazi as his own version of the Saviors, which operated on a similar system of extortion and using people as a resource.
The following fifteen years, the Croat used his knowledge of alternative energy to manufacture fuel from the methane found in the zombies. The Croat also allied himself with a theater actress named the Dama. Together, they had plans to colonize the communities on the mainland, similar to the Saviors. In order to do so, the Croat and the Dama believed they needed Negan to accomplish their goals. Upon learning he was still alive and wanted for murder by the New Babylon Federation, the Croat went after Maggie Rhee. Now the leader of the Bricks in New Jersey, the Croat kidnapped her son Hershel Rhee and brought him to Manhattan. The Croat promised to return him in exchange for her bringing Negan, as Negan had murdered her husband Glenn Rhee years prior.
Maggie was successful in locating Negan and bringing him to Manhattan under the ruse of rescuing Hershel from the Croat. Upon learning he was brought there as a trade, Negan willingly let himself be taken by the Burazi in order to save Hershel. Maggie and Hershel returned to the Bricks, while the Croat and the Dama began to plan their colonization with Negan's help.
Major Societies
References
Conflicts of The Walking Dead: World Beyond
| |
|---|---|
| Major Conflicts | Civic Republic Military |
| Events | The Trials • Monument Day • The Night the Sky Fell • Operation Cobalt • Project Votus • Huck's Observe-and-Report Mission • Genocide of Omaha • Genocide of the Campus Colony |
| Battles | Battle of the Perimeter • Rebellion at the Research Facility • Battle for the Chlorine Gas |
Conflicts of The Walking Dead: Dead City
| |
|---|---|
| Major Conflicts | Burazi Conflict • New Babylon Conflict |
| Events | The Trials • Operation Cobalt • The Lineup • Kidnapping of Hershel Rhee |
| Battles | Skirmish at the Laundromat • Skirmish at the Tribal Hideout • Battle at Madison Square Garden • Skirmish at the Ferry Terminal • Bombing of the Liberty Queen • Battle of St. Patrick's Cathedral |
Conflicts of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon
| |
|---|---|
| Major Conflicts | Power of the Living Conflict • El Alcázar Conflict • Los Primitivos Conflict |
| Events | The Trials • Monument Day • Disappearance of Daryl Dixon • Mutiny on the Power of the Living Ship • Search for Daryl Dixon • Raid on La Tarasque's Castle • Attack on Fallou's Community • De Gaulle Day • Skirmish at Theo's Plantation • Uprising at Maison Mère • Skirmish in the Catacombs • Skirmish in Old Belchite • Ambush at La Riada • Fall of El Alcázar |
| Battles | Battle at the Abbey • Battle of the Nest • Battle of the Hippodrome • Battle of Solaz del Mar |