#TWDG Tavia

[thecrusadercomrade]

What-Ifs of Telltale's the Walking Dead Chapter 40: What If Reggie Wasn't Pushed Off the Roof?

Summary: When Carver goes to push Reggie off the roof to his death, Reggie dodges to the side. What results is a much happier ending for everyone at Howe's (except for Carver, of course).

Read on AO3!

Read from the beginning!

[clementinesmustyhat]

clem’s jacket in s2 is fuckin awesome people are just haters (tavia’s the hater)

[the-delta-42]

The Walking Dead Game What Ifs: What if Nick shot Clementine?

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Trigger

What if Nick shot Clementine? Prompt Submitted by Guest on FF.net

Requests On Hold

The first thing Clementine was aware of was people shouting. She couldn’t decipher what they were saying, so she shifted and started speaking, “I—” Clementine was cut off by a gunshot and a sudden stab of pain in her side.

“Nick!”

“What the fuck is wrong with you!”

Clementine started to scramble away from them, quickly turning and getting to her feet, she ran into the forest, deciding to take her chances with her mangled arm and her, now, injured side.

Luke stared after the girl, while Pete wrenched the gun from Nick’s hands.

“That was the last thing anyone of us needed.” Snapped Pete, casting a glare around them, “Luke, come with me.”

“Where’re you going?” Demanded Rebecca, getting a pissed off glare from Pete.

“Luke and I are going to find her and explain that what Nick did was an accident.” Said Pete, “Hopefully, we’ll find her before someone else does.”

Reluctantly, Luke followed after Pete, giving Nick a reprimanding look. The rest of their group watched as Pete and Luke disappeared into the forest.

“Maybe…” Carlos spoke, after a moment of silence, “maybe we should’ve just…”

“What?” Demanded Rebecca, “Patched her up? How the hell do we know that she’s not one of Carver’s?”

Carlos sighed, before looking at Nick, “Let’s just get inside before any Lurkers show up.”

T

Clementine didn’t know how long she’d been running. She was hot and dizzy, and everything was a haze to her. Her foot caught on something, making her tumble down across the ground. Finding herself unable to move, Clementine saw a pair of feet appear in her vision. Bracing herself for when the Walker started eating her, Clementine attempted to close her eyes, before a hand slapped her face and she felt something press down on the bullet wound. Groaning, Clementine looking at the source of the pressure.

“…Christa?” Croaked Clementine, as Christa carefully picked her up.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Muttered Christa, “you’re gonna be fine, Clem.”

For Clementine, everything went dark. Christa tried not to worry about how wet Clementine’s clothes were or the amount of blood on her shirt. She’d managed to give the bandits the slip, even managed to snag a couple of guns and a large hunting knife from them. Clementine looked small as she carried her, Christa dispelled her train of thoughts and ducked into a shed.

Carefully setting Clementine down, Christa lifted her shirt up. Grimacing at the bullet wound, Christa carefully lifted Clementine and looked at her back, finding an exit wound. Sighing in relief, Christa rummaged through her pockets of the limited medical supplies she had.

Meanwhile, Luke and Pete followed Clementine’s blood until it abruptly stopped. Pete frowned, before kneeling down and looking at them.

“Where’s she gone?” Asked Luke, looking around, “Did she stop bleeding?”

“No,” Said Pete, “She collapsed, and someone picked her up, but Lurkers have completely covered their tracks.”

“You don’t think she’s with Carver, do you?” Asked Luke, getting a frown from Pete.

“No,” Pete stood up, “they would’ve come for us by now.”

Luke sighed, “We better get back, don’t want to worry the others.”

Sighing, Pete nodded and the two backtracked towards the cabin. Leaving the cold trail left by Clementine and whoever took her.

T

Clementine winced as Christa helped her walk, Christa found the dog bite and had stitched it up along with the bullet hole in her side, after Christa discovered that Clementine had injured her left leg when she fell. Christa managed to find a bunch fish traps, so they got to eat for the first time in a while. They had just reached a bridge and started crossing when a guy in a grey hoodie ran up to them. He’d given his name as Matthew, where they met his group. Led by Kenny. Soon, they were inside the lodge, with Matthew leaving to go back down to the bridge.

“I thought you were dead.” Said Clementine, looking up from Kenny.

“Same,” Said Christa, “the last time I saw you, you were getting swarmed by Walkers after you and Lee tried to save Ben.”

“Yeah, well,” Shrugged Kenny, “I almost was. Ben was screaming so loud I couldn’t hear myself think. I didn’t realise I’d gotten out until it happened.”

Christa looked around the lodge, Walter was making dinner and Sarita, Kenny’s girlfriend, was rummaging through some boxes, “This is a nice place.”

“Yeah,” Kenny laughed, “we’re stopping here for a bit before moving on north. There’s a place called Wellington, high walls and cold ass winters that’ll freeze Walkers right up.”

“We were heading the same way.” Said Christa, “We got attacked by some bandits and Clem and I got separated for a bit.”

“Really?” Asked Kenny, looking around, “What happened?”

“Clem managed to get away, I was stuck with them for a bit,” Said Christa, as Clementine rubbed her arm, “I managed to get a couple of guns and some supplies before escaping. I stumbled across Clementine shortly afterwards.”

Kenny nodded, “How bout you, Clem?”

Clementine swallowed, “I, er, I got chased and I fell into the river. I washed up at a campsite, and I met a dog there, his name was Sam.”

Kenny frowned, “Okay, what happened then?”

“I found a can of beans,” Continued Clementine, “I gave some to Sam and, I don’t know, he attacked me. He bit my arm.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” Interrupted Christa, “her arm was mauled, I’m surprised that it wasn’t infected.”

“I, I kicked him onto some spikes, and I put him down.” Clementine swallowed, “I almost got killed by a Walker, but a couple of guys saved me. They… they were taking me to their group when they saw the dog bite and, and thought it was a Walker bite. I think I passed out, when I woke up, I heard people yelling. I, I just started speaking and one of them shot me.”

Kenny and Christa stiffened, as Clementine continued, “I ran. I think I heard them yelling for me, b-but I just kept running. I don’t know how far I got, but I tripped on something. Christa found me not long after.”

“Jesus.” Swore Christa, as Kenny snarled.

T

A couple days later a truck turned up. A man with a furred collar appeared, looking inside the lodge through the window, when Clementine and Christa found him.

“Who the hell are you?” Demanded Christa, pointing her gun at the man.

“Hello,” Smiled the man, his voice was gruff, “I’m sorry to startle you. I’ve just collected some of my people and we’re on our way home. Just stopping by and checking that there ain’t anyone in need here.”

“We’re fine.” Said Christa, keeping her gun aimed at the man.

“You’re not very trusting, are you.” Mused the man.

“My kid and I were attacked by some bandits, never hurts to be cautious.” Said Christa, getting a nod from the man.

“That’s fair.” The man started walking away, “Best of luck to you.”

Christa and Clementine watched the man walk away, before brushing it off and going back inside. A week later, a group of people turned up. Clementine frowned as Kenny, Christa and Sarita rushed out the door to confront the people.

After a moment, making sure that Walter was still busy with the food, Clementine followed them out. They were yelling, making Clementine worry that they’ll attract Walkers. Pushing her way to the front, she looked up at Christa, when someone said her name.

“Clementine?” Turning to look at the group, Clementine froze.

“What?” Christa looked down, before looking back at the group, then the penny dropped, “Shit.”

“What?” Asked Kenny, glancing to the side.

“I think these are the people Clem talked about.” Said Christa, tucking Clementine behind her, “The ones that shot her.”

Kenny immediately raised his rifle and aimed it at the group.

“Wait!” Said one guy, “It was an accident!”

“Like hell it was!” Bellowed Kenny, “How the fuck do you accidentally shoot someone?!”

“She moved man.” Protested a guy in a baseball cap.

“Of course she’d move,” Snapped Christa, “she’s not dead!”

Clementine looked around the group, she recognised Luke, but she couldn’t see Pete. There was a heavyset man with glasses, a heavily pregnant woman, a man in a flannel shirt and a guy in a trucker’s hat holding a rifle. Frowning, Clementine searched through their group.

“Where’s Matthew?” Asked Clementine, making everyone go silent.

“We haven’t met anyone called Matthew.” Said the heavyset man, looking at them, “Look, we’re not looking for trouble. If you want us to, we’ll leave.”

Christa looked over them, before looking at Clementine, “How about it, Clem? You’re the only one they’ve met before.”

Clementine looked at Christa and Kenny, “They… they could stay, just for tonight.”

Kenny and Christa didn’t look happy about it, but silently allowed it. Sighing, Kenny gestured for them to follow him, they almost had a problem with the guy in the hat when they were asked to leave their weapons by the door. After that, everything was quiet and somewhat peaceful, then Clementine saw Walter by their weapons, before he went outside.

“Hey.” Clementine looked up at the guy who wanted to keep his gun, “Er, Clementine, right?”

“Yeah?” Nodded Clementine, as the guy, Nick, looked at the floor.

“I, er,” Nick scowled, “I wanted to apologise for, y’know, shooting you. I freaked out and acted without thinking. I’m sorry.”

Clementine blinked and stared up at him, before he hurried off somewhere. Everyone was quietly talking amongst themselves when the wind turbine supplying them with power suddenly went crazy. The adults went outside to fix it, leaving Clementine with the heavyset man and the pregnant woman, Alvin and Rebecca. Rebecca was panicking about something, while Alvin tried to keep her calm, looking out the window, Clementine saw Kenny and Christa dealing with the turbine and the Walkers, while Luke vanished off somewhere. Clementine sighed and looked down at her gun, idly removing and reinserting the magazine.

“You okay there, Clementine?” Asked Alvin, making Clementine look up.

“Yeah, just bored.” Shrugged Clementine, wincing slightly as she shifted, “Where’re you planning to go?”

“Don’t know.” Answered Alvin, “I’m just focused on Becs and our son.”

“How do you know it’s going to be a boy?” Asked Clementine, just as a bullet tore through window. Thinking quickly, Clementine grabbed her gun and pointed it at the window, “Guys?”

Clementine slowly made her way down the stairs, spotting the guy from the week before walk through the door, holding a gun to Nick’s back, “You’re the guy from last week.”

The guy didn’t say anything to her, marching Nick and the guy in the flannel shirt, Carlos, in at gunpoint, as a couple of people marched Christa, Sarita and Walter in. The next thing Clementine knew, they were all on their knees with the guy from the week before stalked in front of them. Clementine flinched as the guy, Carver, grabbed Carlos and started beating him. Shifting slightly, Clementine felt her knife shift in her pocket. Discreetly as possible, Clementine removed her knife from her pocket and started to cut her bindings. One of Carver’s guys got shot in the head, making Carver grab Walter and haul him over to the window. Clementine heard a gunshot and a thud, followed by Carver yelling at Kenny.

Carver then came back and grabbed Alvin, with everyone yelling and crying. Carver had just reached the window with Alvin, when Clementine got up and charged at him. She plunged her knife into Carver’s back. Grunting, Carver let Alvin go, before grabbing Clementine’s wrist. Forced to let go of the knife, Clementine found herself being held by the throat, with Carver holding her hostage instead of Alvin.

T

Clementine looked around the community Carver had brought them to, there were at least a dozen people watching them. Carlos was led away somewhere, while they were guided to a yard by a woman called Bonnie. Looking around the yard, Clementine saw Pete and a girl wearing red glasses with a black eye.

“Uncle Pete!” Yelled Nick, running over to them.

Pete looked around the group Nick was with, his eyes settling on Clementine, “You found her?”

“No.” Christa spoke up, glaring at him, “They stumbled across her, while she was with us.”

Pete gave her a regretful look, “I apologise for her injuries, I have no real excuse or reason for it.”

Christa looked at him, “I guess you do a lot of apologising for him.”

Pete gave her a nod, before looking at the others, “Carver’s guys found me after that Lurker got me, took the leg. They’ve had me filling guns, they came back with Sarah a couple days after that.”

“Sarah,” Said Rebecca, walking over, “are you alri—”

Sarah got up and walked away. Frowning, Christa leaned down and whispered into Clementine’s ear, “Go talk to her.”

“Why me?” Clementine whispered back.

“Because you’re a people person,” Responded Christa, “and you have a calming effect on people.”

Clementine gave Christa a sour look before walking over to Sarah, “Hey.”

Sarah looked at Clementine, “You’re the girl that Nick shot.”

“Yeah.”

“Did it hurt?” Asked Sarah, tilting her head.

“Yeah.”

“Why are you with them?” Asked Sarah, as Clementine crouched down.

“We made the mistake of letting them stay for the night.” Said Clementine, “Did… you know them?”

Sarah nodded, “They left me behind in the cabin when they left.”

Clementine blinked, “…what?”

“The day after Nick shot you.” Said Sarah, “Pete and Nick went to get fish, Nick came back, and everyone left, Carver found me in the cabin. They all abandoned me and left Pete to die.”

Clementine didn’t know how to process that particular nugget on information, so she just nodded and sat down next to Sarah.

T

Sarah didn’t say anything to other members of her former group, despite Carlos trying to engage with her. Clementine was taken to the armoury by Bonnie to fill up magazines, where the woman gave her a coat she’d found at the Ski lodge, then another woman appeared and took Clementine to the greenhouses, where the guy missing his arm had her and Sarah pruning a pair of plants.

“…Did… did they talk about me?” Asked Sarah, making Clementine pause.

“I… I don’t think so.” Answered Clementine, “I didn’t stick around them very much. Except for Rebecca, but I think that was just to tell them if she started giving birth.” Clementine bit her bottom lip, “…What do you do here?”

“I do as I’m told.” Said Sarah, “Carver’s had me learn some first aid with another doctor he has here. Is it true you stabbed him?”

“Yeah.”

The door to the greenhouse opened and admitted Carver, with Reggie stuttering greetings to him.

“Sarah,” Carver looked at her, “take Clementine to Tavia, the guys need more nails.”

Sarah nodded, before leading Clementine away. Sarah left her with Tavia and went over to a doctor that was supervising Carlos and Sarita. Clementine found Kenny and Mike trying to fight, with Christa between them.

“I’d expect this from Clementine and another kid, not two grown adults.” Grunted Christa, as Kenny tried to shove her out of the way.

“What are you doing?” Asked Clementine, getting their attention.

“Nothing, they’re acting like children, Clem.” Said Christa, stepping away from Mike and Kenny, giving the pair a warning look.

Clementine frowned but carried the bucket of nails over to them.

“Lift with your legs, Clem.” Admonished Christa, “Not your back.”

Clementine immediately straightened her back and bent her legs, with Christa sighing and taking the bucket, “How’s your leg?”

“Still hurts.” Said Clementine, “that doctor said it’s a light sprain, whatever that means.”

“It’ll heal in a couple of weeks.” Sighed Christa, “We’ll—”

Christa was cut off by some Walkers breaking through the glass. Everything became a mad dash, Clementine managed to deal with a Walker, before she been forced to deal with another after it chased her into another room. A Walker grabbed her sprained leg, resulting in a stab of pain to run up the length of her leg, letting out a short scream, Clementine tried to kick the Walker away from her. The Walker was wrenched away from her, with Christa shoving it towards one of Carver’s guards. Clementine grabbed her ankle, freezing when she felt something wet. Removing her hand, Clementine stared at the blood, before her eyes zeroed in on the bite mark on her left ankle.

Christa looked at Clementine, spotting the bite mark and freezing. Christa was suddenly shoved to the side, as Mike advanced on Clementine with a line of cord. Dropping down, Mike quickly located a tear in Clementine’s trouser leg and pulled it part, before roughly tourniqueting the leg and picking Clementine up. The man ran out of the store, with Christa following after him.

T

Christa’s leg bounced as she sat in the yard, she’d been guided in by Sarah, while Carver’s doctor worked with Carlos and Sarita. The sound of the gate opening made Christa look up, Mike was walking in with Kenny, Sarita, Carlos and Nick. Rushing to her feet, Christa made her way over to them.

“Is Clementine alright?” Christa looked around them, “Where is she?”

“Abrahms is watching her,” Said Carlos, “we had to cut her leg off.”

Kenny let out a growl, “Where do we go from here?”

“What do you mean?” Asked Nick, looking Kenny.

“That Luke fella flagged me down,” Explained Kenny, “He wanted a radio, said something about knowing their guard schedules.”

“How’re we going to get him one?” Asked Rebecca, as Christa frowned.

“Would telling Carver about him get us out of here?” Asked Christa, sending them into silence, “We’re here because of you, you led Carver to the ski lodge and got Walter killed, and you killed Matthew.”

“We couldn’t control any of that.” Said Carlos, as Rebecca gave Christa a glare.

“Clementine only got bit because Carver brought her here.” Stated Christa, as Pete went over to them.

“And it’ll take a few weeks before she’d be fit to travel.” Said Pete, looking around them, “Christa’s right, her, Clementine and the group they were with were only attacked because Carver caught up with you. Besides,” he gave Nick a hard look, “Bonnie and Vince are already working on getting us out of the yard.”

“What about Reggie?” Asked Nick, looking around, “Maybe he’ll help.”

“Reggie isn’t getting back in.” Said Sarah, matter-of-factly, “He’s been out here since we left the first time and he’s done enough to get out of here, but they’ve just ignored him.”

Kenny let out a snort, his eyes glancing towards the man at his place by the fire.

T

Meanwhile, inside the makeshift hospital area in the community, Dr Abrahms silently watched the girl as she slept. Carver had appeared and watched her with him.

“Why are you here, Bill?” Asked Abrahms, not looking away from her.

“That girl’s a survivor.” Said Bill, “She and her caretaker saw me off when I stumbled across their group.”

“Really?” Abrahms frowned, turning his head to look at Bill, “Why’d you bring them in?”

“We tracked our people to them, probably got half the story.” Carver frowned, “Things got a bit out of hand, one of the guys in that group saw us gathering our people up and shot Johnny.”

“Makes you wonder what they’ve been through if they don’t trust and assume the worst of people.” Said Abrahms, before sighing, “Sarah and Pete should be let out of the pen, they’ve learnt their lesson, and I’m concerned at how Pete’s leg’ll progress if he’s kept out there throughout winter.”

Carver sighed, “Anything else?”

“I think that nurse would do well if she was in here.” Said Abrahms, before sighing, “What’s going on, Bill?”

“What?”

“Your obsession with Rebecca and her baby, the state Carlos was in when you brought him in, what you’ve been doing to Alvin.” Abrahms glared at Bill, “I followed you because you were reasonable and honest. I thought you weren’t like Negan. Now, I’m not sure. Yes, I understand that Alvin killed George, but that man was a full-on bastard.”

“Dan,” Abrahms looked away from Carver and at Shel, “Russell’s injured himself.”

Abrahms sighed, before grabbing a first aid kit and looked at Carver, “Don’t go anywhere.”

Carver watched as the doctor left with Shel, before looking at Clementine, “I know you’re awake.”

Clementine opened her eyes and looked at him, “You lied. You weren’t gathering Rebecca and the others, you were taking all of us prisoner.”

“Those are the same thing.” Dismissed Carver, looking down at Clementine, “You know that better than the others.”

“They’re not the same thing.” Argued Clementine, “Gathering people doesn’t include tying them up.”

“Why are you so upset for them?” Asked Carver, “Sarah told me that Nick shot you, that nurse you and your caretaker were with said that Nick shot a guy in your group.”

“I’ve shot people.” Dismissed Clementine, “I’m not going to hold it against him.”

“You should.” Said Carver, “You and I are more alike than you’d think, Clementine.”

“I’m nothing like you.”

“Aren’t you?” Questioned Carver, “You’ve killed, I’ve killed. You’ve survived, I’ve survived. You know your way around a gun, and you can handle Lurkers better than so many people older than you. Our doctor told me how you stitched yourself up.”

“Everyone does all those things.”

“Sarah doesn’t,” Said Carver, “Becca doesn’t. Do you really think everyone knows how to use a gun?”

Clementine was silent, getting a smirk from Carver, “You only got bit because you sprained your leg a few days ago, everyone’s seen the limp. I’m willing to bet that you sprained your leg after Nick shot you.”

Clementine chewed the inside of her cheek, refusing to respond to Carver.

“You’ll move on from this,” Mused Carver, “because that’s what we do.”

T

Sarah watched as her former group and Clementine’s group argued. The sight made her upset, the only ones of the former group who were against leaving Clementine behind were Rebecca and Pete. Pete had said that if they left, he wasn’t going with them. Sarah supposed that Rebecca refusing also had something to do with Alvin being stuck in Carver’s office. Clementine had her leg cut off and her group was fighting to stay with her, while Sarah’s former group, her dad had left her behind and ran away.

Rebecca had said they’d gone back, but Luke had said they’d bring Clementine back and they took care of their own. They didn’t, Clementine was found by someone else, and they left her behind and Pete to die.

The gate opening got everyone’s attention, with Tavia walking in with Troy, “Sarah, Pete, you’re getting out of here.”

Tavia looked amongst the group that Carver brought in, “Who’s from the group that girl was in?”

Christa straightened up and marched over, followed by Kenny and Sarita, “Where is she?”

“She’s being watched by our doctor,” Said Tavia, “but, he’s convinced Bill to let you guys out. Don’t screw this up.”

Sarah gently tugged on Christa’s sleeve, “I can take you to her.”

T

Abrahms frowned as Stan measured Clementine’s leg, “Are you sure you’ve got the right materials?”

“I’ve got enough to make seven prosthetics,” Dismissed Stan, “The ones I’m making for her and Pete, they’ll be able to put them on and get walking before they know it.”

Abrahms continued to frown, before he heard Sarah leading some people, presumably Clementine’s group, into the medical area.

“I’ve got hers already sketched up,” Said Stan, still focusing on Clementine’s leg, “it’ll have to be adjustable, so it can ‘grow’ with her, but hopefully, she’ll be walking again before the year is out.”

“Will I be able to walk like I used to?” Asked Clementine, looking at Stan.

“Dan does,” Stan gestured towards Abrahms, “He and I were in the same unit together, dumb bastard stood on a landmine. Lee, our squad leader, had to apply first aid on our doctor. Heh, Sam and I found it hilarious.”

“Yeah, everyone was laughing until Lee punched Sam and broke his neck.” Said Abrahms, “Hell, I’m still splitting my sides about it.”

“Yeah,” Stan sighed, “Lee was a great guy, but his wife… not so much.”

“Was he a history teacher?” Asked Clementine, getting the men’s attention.

“Yeah… how’d you know that?” Asked Stan, leaning back, “Did… did you meet him?”

“He found me when everything ended.” Said Clementine, as Sarah led Kenny, Sarita and Christa into the medical area, “He looked after me, until he got bit.”

“Damn.” Stan bowed his head, with Abrahms doing the same, “How many does that make now?”

“Well,” Abrahms scratched his neck, “Sam got his neck broken by a coffee table. Clara, Danny, Mick and Razer were killed by that landmine. Al blew her brains out in the first few days. Skip, Dick, Tom and Harry were eaten by the dead. Del’s god knows where. You and me are here, and we now know that Lee’s dead… Shit, it’s just us left.”

“Fuck.”

“Hi.” Sarah waved at them, before pointing at the three adults, “They wanted to see Clementine.”

“Well, I’m just about finished.” Said Stan, getting up, “I’ll get to work on her leg tomorrow, since I’m going to attaching Pete’s to him.”

Abrahms gave the man a wave as he left, before giving Clementine and her group some privacy.

T

Christa swore she heard Kenny muttering darkly as he looked at an engine, “How bad is it?”

“Why did Clem have to mention I worked on a vehicle?” Grumbled Kenny, “When she’s walkin’, she’s gonna be helpin’ me.”

“She also mentioned that you were a commercial fisherman.” Said Russell, a teen from Carver group, “but it’s winter and we’re nowhere near water.”

“Yeah, well—” Kenny’s retort was cut off by a gunshot. Alarmed, the three rushed back inside, in time to witness Reggie get shot in the head. A couple feet from him, Carver was on his back and staring blankly up at the ceiling.

“Is he…?” Christa looked to the source of the voice, a girl a couple of years older than Clementine.

“Yes.” Said Abrahms, getting up from his knees, “We—”

A bullet impacted the top of Carver’s head, putting him down before her turned.

“Need to do that.” Finished Abrahms, looking for the source of the shot. Clementine stood with a gun pointed at Carver’s corpse, as brunette supporting her.

“Well, that solves one problem.”

Everyone looked from Carver’s body to a guy holding a restrained Luke, “Caught him trying to steal food.”

Troy immediately raised his gun and aimed at Luke, making Abrahms draw a pistol and aim it at Troy. Tavia aimed at Abrahms, Vince aimed at Tavia, Vera aimed at Vince, Wyatt aimed at Vera, Tyler aimed at Wyatt, Shel aimed at Tyler, Tisha aimed at Shel, Russell aimed at Tisha, Lowell aimed at Russell, Bonnie aimed at Lowell, and Hank, the guy holding Luke, aimed at Luke’s head.

Clementine, after a moment raised Shel’s spare gun and aimed it at Hank.

“Put it down, Dan.” Said Tavia, after a moment.

“Christa,” Said Dan, after a moment, “can you take the kids to that closet over there?”

Hank pointed his gun at Clementine, “No one moves!”

Vince gave a small snarl, “Everyone, drop your guns.”

“Like hell!” Shrieked Tisha, moving her gun from Shel to Vince, “We’re not fucking stupid.”

“You look stupid.” Said Clementine, resulting in Tisha aiming at her.

Unseen by almost everyone, Christa slipped into the weapon closet and took enough guns for her group and Luke’s group, discreetly handing weapons to each person as she passed them, before giving a gun to Kenny.

After a moment, Christa and the two groups aimed at Carver’s guys.

“Oh, look.” Said Abrahms dryly, “You’re out numbered.”

Troy took his gun off Luke and aimed at Rebecca’s abdomen, “Fine.”

A sawn-off shotgun pressed against the back of Troy’s head.

“I never liked you,” Stated Stan, “you fucking psychopath.”

Slowly, Vera lowered her gun, with Becca taking it from her, as Wyatt switched to aim at Tyler. Hank, deciding he’d had enough, shot at Clementine. The resulting fire fight was short, with both Stan and Abrahms killing Troy, Vince taking a hit to the shoulder from Tavia. Tisha, Tyler and Lowell hit their targets in non-fatal areas, while they themselves and Tavia were gunned down fairly quickly. Hank turned his gun on Kenny and shot his left eye out. Vera, taking her gun from Becca, shot Hank in the face. Abrahms, stepping over the dead, rushed over to Shel, where she was kneeling over Clementine and pressing down on a bullet wound near the centre of her chest.

“Let me look.” Abrahms examined Clementine, “There isn’t much bleeding, and her breathing isn’t laboured.”

Carefully lifting the girl up, Abrahms checked her back, finding an exit wound, “She’s lucky, an inch in any direction, she’d be dead.”

Carlos glanced at them, before looking up at the office, “I’m going to check on Alvin.”

“Sarah,” Abrahms ordered, “get some medicine and medical supplies and go with him. Sarita, I want you triaging the wounded down here.”

“Who put you in charge?” Demanded Nick, getting a glare from Abrahms.

“In the time of a medical incident, doctors and nurses become the de facto leaders until the chain of command is reestablished after everyone has been treated.” Said Abrahms, “Understood?”

T

Carlos ran his hand down his face, accidentally smearing some of Alvin’s blood on it. Rebecca had gone into labour, while Stan and some others sealed the entrances and exits. The massive herd of Lurkers passed without issue, with Shel and Becca putting down anyone who’d been killed by being shot in the chest. Kenny, and the other wounded, were tended to by Abrahms, Christa and Sarita helped Rebecca give birth.

“How is he?” Wyatt’s voice made Carlos jump.

“He’ll live.” Said Carlos, “But it’ll be a long recovery.”

Wyatt nodded, “We’re going to fall back on some of the expansion efforts, use some of the supplies to reinforce our walls.”

Carlos nodded, before walking down the stairs and looked around. Nick and Mike were keeping the damaged door shut, while Stan worked on it.

“I think they’re starting to leave.” Said Mike, making Nick crouched down and look at them, “We can stop holding the door down now.”

“You can stop holding it down when I say you can.” Said Stan, “We don’t want any getting in if you’re wrong.”

The two men grumbled, but didn’t move.

T

“We’ve got a few working cars,” Kenny looked around, “so we can get our asses outta here soon.”

“We could stay here for the winter,” Said Christa, “move on when it’s warmer and safer.”

“It’d also give Clem and Pete more time to heal up,” Added Luke, “I don’t know about you, but the cold makes me ache.”

“You got your ass kick.” Said Mike, bluntly, “Of course the cold’s gonna make you ache.”

“But, Christa’s right,” Said Jane, “we have enough to last us through to spring and it’d be safer to stay here until our injured and young are ready to be moved.”

Kenny frowned, he didn’t like the idea of staying, but he knew solid reasoning when he saw it. It’s something Lee would’ve thought about.

“Well,” Grunted Kenny, “let’s how this pans out.”

Below the office, Clementine, Becca and Sarah were showing three people who turned up a few days after the herd passed through, showing them where they sleep and worked during the day.

Coming back into the main area, Clementine saw Rebecca and Alvin looking at their baby, Abrahms and Sarita were checking the injured, Clementine absently rubbed the bullet wound, and Kenny and the others were coming down from the office. Luke and Jane went off somewhere, while Mike, Bonnie, Russell and Nick went to stand watch. Clementine let Sarah guide her over to the other injured, just as Kenny dropped down next to Sarita, as Carlos checked on Alvin and the baby.

“What are you gonna call him?” Asked Kenny, looking over at them.

“We haven’t really discussed it,” Confessed Rebecca, “We were so worried about Carver finding us and we couldn’t agree on if he was a boy or a girl.”

“I,” Alvin coughed, “I can’t think of anything.”

“You could name him after his father.” Suggested Kenny, looking from the baby to Alvin, “We could call him AJ for short.”

“He does look kinda like an Alvin.” Agreed Clementine, before tilting her head and squinting her eyes, “But, if you squint, he also kinda looks like a potato.”

Alvin started to laugh, before grabbing his chest and wincing, “Ooh, it hurts when I laugh.”

“I think you’re right,” Said Rebecca, after a moment, “I think AJ will suit him.”

“He’s beautiful.” Murmured Alvin, as AJ slept.

“Wait a few weeks,” Warned Kenny, “he’ll cry though the nights and makin’ all sorts of mess.”

“Don’t be disgusting, Kenny.” Reprimanded Christa, sitting next to Clementine, “There are little ears about.”

Clementine gave Christa a disgruntled look, as they all made quiet conversation. No one knew how long they’d actually be here, but they had to make the best of it.

Next Story: What if Clementine died instead of Sarah?

[autistic-silhouette]

No bc the way this would've been better cndmcksjv

Like, I do love the stuff we got, don't get me wrong, but the first bullet was literally scrapped plot and I would've loved to see AJ with javi playing baseball

We still don't know if Christa is alive or not, and Omid didn't deserve to die, if he was gonna, at least not that early and not that stupidly

Couple of TWDG unpopular opinions

Season 2 would’ve been better if we replaced the Cabin group with the 400 Days characters or even better, replace Arvo with Eddie and use the 400 Days crew and Tavia instead of the evil stereotypical Russians and just have the final episode of Tavia and co getting revenge for losing their home and it ends with either Clem choosing to save Kenny or Nick

Killing off Omid and never mentioning Christa ever again was stupid

The story would be better if Clem was looking after Christa and Omid’s baby instead of AJ

Ben, Sarah, Nick, Luke and Mariana being killed off was pointless

TNF should’ve been about the season 2 ending. Either Clem alone, Clem in Wellington or Clem with Kenny or Jane(or if they didn’t kill him so stupidly, Luke) and Clem building her own community and raising and protecting AJ

Only mentioning Lee in the final season was a disservice to Kenny, Jane, Luke, Alvin and Rebecca. The fact that Lilly never mentions Kenny and even wishing he were still alive so she could kill him herself would’ve been enough and Clem shutting her shit down in a similar Kenny style. “I am glad Kenny smashed your piece of shit father’s head in. God you are still not over it are you? All this hard bitch is just for show isn’t it? After all this time, you are still the same scared little girl crying for daddy’s help. Well get the fuck over it, Lee had enough of your bullshit and I have too. Go to hell Lily, tell Larry I said fuck you!”

Not going back to Richmond after getting AJ back was honestly bad writing in my opinion. Clem and AJ already had a home waiting for them with a family who wanted Clem to return. Ericson is a nice place, but unless there is an explanation as to why they didn’t go other than “…shut up, that’s why” it’s really fucking stupid. If it were up to me, Clem would’ve sought help from Javi, Gabe and Richmond get the kids back instead of James. The rescue is a success. Lilly and her people are dead and we get the choice to either return to the school or Richmond. Or hell even the choice to go back to Clem’s old house as was in the cut ending with AJ(or Christa’s child if they didn’t erase that plotline) and whomever your love interest is.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

400 Days is simultaneously brilliant and disappointing

I’m currently working on another essay about S2 that’s taking me longer than I expected... which I should have expected but y’know, I’m me. I have no idea when it’ll be finished, but I figured that in the meantime I could write about something that came up while working: 400 Days.

400 Days is the stand-alone DLC episode that was released July 2, 2013, and tells the stories of Vince, Bonnie, Wyatt, Russell, and Shel in the same Georgia area that S1 takes place. While the story doesn’t feature Lee or Clementine, it acts as a bridge between S1 and S2. 

I’ve talked about it in the past, even doing a T5F on the Top 5 Missed Opportunities in 400 Days. My past opinions can be summarized in an ask I answered for anon: “Wasted potential. I remember enjoying it when it first came out before s2 released, and the reason I enjoyed it was because I thought it’d be way more important for s2′s story than it ended up being. Bonnie was the only character that mattered while the others made brief, useless cameos if they chose to go with Tavia. Like… it could’ve been so good and it fell flat on its face.”

While not entirely inaccurate to how I feel now, I do believe I wasn’t giving 400 Days a proper chance. 

A major thing I’m noticing as I revisit many of my past posts from when TWDG consumed my life is that nitpicking and overanalyzing for the sake of pumping out content on this blog is the big contributor to why I experienced extreme burnout for the series to the point where I started actively disliking it at one point. While I did genuinely enjoy the creating the content, and obviously still do, there’s a lot I take issue with now.

Looking back on everything, I’m starting to see things differently and appreciate aspects that I previously despised. That level of nitpicking I did was mostly negative and infected a lot of my judgment when it came to games I loved. I knew certain points in the series were disappointing, therefore I should showcase everything wrong with them, and anything positive I have to say comes with a footnote of, “it’s good, but I think this would’ve made it better,” as if nothing was ever good enough. While I’m not ruling out discussions of “what could’ve been,” I want to appreciate what we were given.

Case in point: 400 Days. I adore it. 

I replayed this dlc not only because it somewhat ties into what my larger essay is about, but also I started playing the Mass Effect games and I’m having a mini-crisis about lowkey hating ME1 more and more as I play... dropping it to play 400 Days and write this sounded sooooo more appealing. 

Uh, there’s a freebie update on what I’ve been up to. I’m desperately trying to make ME1 work and then it made me drive the damn Mako and I’m upset about that.....

Anyway-

 400 Days is brilliant. 

I didn’t expect to have as much fun playing this as I did.

400 Days is a quick yet compelling experience right from the beginning, and if I’m completely honest, I haven’t had this much fun playing a TWDG episode for a long time. While I adore TFS, I have a lot more history with that game that changes the overall experience, but this? The whole thing was a blast! Sure, it’s not quite a masterpiece, but it’s way better than I remember. It deserves more credit than I initially gave it and I’m here to rectify that. 

Personally, I love mini-stories that all tie together in the end to create one big story. I'm always going to love the idea, and when it’s executed well, it’s brilliant. Because it’s a single episode that tells five mini-stories, it’s easier to pack in so much detail and make things coherent. While we don’t have as much time with our protagonists, we still get a clear picture of who they are and how they’re handling the apocalypse, how they ended up where they are now, and how they handle each dilemma thrown their way. 

These stories take place at different times of the outbreak, starting before the outbreak and going all the way to 400 days in where all the characters are together and discovered by Tavia. Three of the five stories center around this gas station/diner called Gil’s Pitstop, with the other two being in that area, but all five have elements that weave them together beautifully. A character may show up in one story alive, then show up in the next as a walker, and it’s all dependent on the order you play and the choices you make. 

Each story has a “moral dilemma,” usually a major choice you have to make that affects whether or not a character will agree to go with Tavia, the only exception to this being Bonnie. 

And honestly? All of them are great. They fit in so well with the world of TWD. I’d say that Shel’s story has not only one, but two of the best moral dilemmas, whereas Wyatt’s dilemma is the weakest given it’s decided by a game of rock, paper, scissors. 

I can’t get into the meat of why I think this DLC episode is great without going through each story, so-

Vince: Day 2

Chronologically, Vince’s story takes place first in the timeline, giving us a peak into his life before the outbreak where we see him in a dark room pointing a gun at someone who is pleading for their life. 

“Damn it, I told you! I already told you it wasn't me, man! Man, come on, I told you like...like twenty times... I don't even...I don't even KNOW your brother!”

Vince then shoots him and flees. You get to decide how he’ll try to ditch the gun, but no matter what, he’ll always get caught and we see him on the prison bus, convicted of murder. 

Right away, this tells us so much about Vince yet leaves us wanting more. What happened to Vince’s brother that made him murder a man? We never actually get to know, all Vince says about it is that "I helped my little brother,” which could mean a number of things. 

So Vince is the kind of man willing to take things that far for family, or those he loves, even if he ends up with a prison sentence. His moral compass is already twisting and turning in a different way compared to the others. 

Similar to Lee, he was convicted of murder before the apocalypse, but Vince seems to feel less remorse or guilt for it than Lee does. Lee killed a man in a fight after he caught him with his wife, a heat of the moment thing... but we don’t actually witness it happen. We get to see Vince shoot someone and later claim it was to help his brother out. I find this comparison interesting since this small chapter never tries to set up a, “This is the beginning of Vince’s redemption arc,” like it does for Lee. It more so leans into the fact that yeah, Vince and the other prisoners are here for a reason and right now, redemption isn’t on the table. 

Lee feels bad for what he did and who it hurt. Vince feels bad that he got caught but doesn’t feel bad about helping his brother. The only thing bringing them together is that pre-apocalypse, they accepted that this was their life now only to have a curve ball thrown at them and they find themselves free again. 

Well, first they have to gain their freedom by getting outta those cuffs, I suppose. 

The set up for this story is that Vince is on a prison bus that’s stuck in traffic. You can actually see Gil’s Pitstop through the windows, too. It’s hot as hell outside, and two other prisoners, Jerry and Marcus, up at the front keep arguing while Vince is stuck between Justin and Danny.

Justin is here after years of stealing money from people with “a really good pyramid scheme,” then lied about it on the stand, and Danny is a convicted rapist. The three of them have good chemistry with their banter, it’s enjoyable to watch. You learn more of why they’re here and how they view their guilt, and have the opportunity to tell them the truth about Vince or lie. In doing so will affect how they view you, either you boast about killing a man and become Tough Guy Vince, or lie and say you didn’t do it only to be labeled a coward.

It’s a pretty good time considering the circumstances, but that’s due to how well written and performed this banter is... until Jerry and Marcus become hostile, and one of them chokes the other out. 

But don’t worry, Officer Dipshit [his name is Clyde] is here to help! He starts by yelling at them to stop and then just shooting Marcus in the head before panicking and threatening Vince, Danny, and Justin with the shotgun. 

Honestly, I think Justin says it best: “THIS is what happens when you give guns to ASSHOLES.”

It’s super intense, and you know what’s going to happen the moment this incompetent cop refuses to get in between the fight and break it up properly, choosing to instead point his shotgun at them and yell. But Officer Dipshit gets his comeuppance when Jerry, who was choked to death, becomes a walker and attacks him. Then all hell breaks loose as the other officer [Bennett] flees, leaving you and the other two chained together with a walker that wants to eat your face. 

Vince manages to get Officer Dipshit’s gun and shoot the walker, but the noise only brings more of them onto the bus where they begin trying to get through the gate. 

Now the moral dilemma- Vince has the shotgun. The only way you can escape is to shoot off one of the cuffs, but in doing so will shoot off someone’s foot and they’ll need to be left behind. Whose cuff do you shoot? Danny or Justin’s?

By the way, I love that this whole scene was set up with Danny yanking on the chains that bind you all together as foreshadowing for the solution to this new problem, it’s great.

But here’s the thing about this dilemma... the end percentages still baffle me after all this time. According to The Definitive Edition, 70% of players shot Justin, and 30% of players shot Danny, and I just have to ask why that is?

Because to me, shooting Danny feels like the obvious choice and is what I did. 

Justin is more about keeping his head down. He’s willing to lie if it benefits him. He says that he doesn’t feel bad for his victims, claiming that they knew what they were getting into and he still carried them for years. He’s pretty upfront with his guilt, he never denies it. Hell, he even shrugs and confesses that he lied on the stand, fake crying to try and get a lesser sentence. He’ll joke around, even if he’s mostly annoyed by Danny’s bullshit. Given that he was involved with a scheme that allowed him to make off with millions, he’s also incredibly intelligent. Plus, he’s voiced by the same guy who voiced Ben in s1. I wouldn’t say he’s annoying or anything, he just comes off as more self-serving. 

Danny, on the other hand, is the more charismatic of the two. He’s the one cracking the jokes and yanking on the chains, but he’s also the one who wants to help break up the fight between the other prisoners and stands up to the cop as he’s threatening all of you to shut up. This shows a lot of courage and willingness to intervene when he sees something wrong. He claims he’s innocent, insisting that he’s a morally good man and was falsely accused. Oh, and he misses his girlfriend. He’s a real bro, y’know? 

Here’s the thing: yeah, Danny’s a “bro,” but he’s also a convicted rapist.

Justin: I wasn't stealing from guys like that. Anyway, better than stealing his virginity.

Danny: Hey, how many times I gotta tell you?

Justin: Here we go.

Danny: Seriously! I was falsely accused!

Justin: How old was she? Fifteen?

Danny: Damn it, it ain't like that.

Justin: You're tellin' me there wasn't a star witness waiting around in your white van? I'm shocked.

Vince: You WERE convicted, Danny. Gotta admit that much.

Danny: Aw, come on, Vince. That don't mean I did it.

“It ain’t like that.” Then what’s it like, Danny?

Because when Justin tells him that he “probably ruined that poor girl’s life, you piece of shit,” all Danny has to say is, “Big talk from White Collar over there. How many lives you ruin, kid?” 

As if Danny’s logic is that Justin ruined more lives where he only ruined one, so Justin’s the worse criminal here so let’s shift to him... and I dunno about you, but that makes me feel real icky inside.

I have a feeling it’s because Danny is more of a “bro” and he actively stands up to Officer Dipshit that more people went with him. Or they just weren’t paying attention to what he was convicted of, or they believed him when he said he was falsely accused. Personally, I have a hard time believing him based on his dialogue when you point the gun at him multiple times during the final decision:

Danny: Come on, you know I'm a good guy, man!

Danny: Okay, I know I'm a fuck-up, but Jesus! 

Danny: Come on! I did some bad shit, but I'm a good guy, Vince...

And he says that last one AFTER Justin says, “You're gonna do me and not this rapist fuck?”

Also if you DO save him over Justin, he dies later off screen and Russell will make a comment about how it’s a good thing he did before Shel and Becca joined the group... if anyone can spot a creep/pervert, it’s Russell! 

Vince: Guys, look...if I learned one thing from Danny, it's that we have to stick together and protect ourselves!

Russell: What?! That guy was an asshole! You should be happy he got killed before Shel and Becca joined us.

Becca: Why?

Russell: Don't worry about it.

Justin is upfront that he’s a criminal and I believe him, I believe he’s a self-serving liar... but Danny doth protest too much, me thinks, y’know? Between the two, I'm gonna take my chances with Justin over Danny. I don’t care that Justin’s a liar and eventually ditches Vince, Vince doesn’t seem to heartbroken about it anyway. 

By the way, shooting Danny is the way to get Vince to go with Tavia so make note of that if you’re trying to get everyone to go with her and appear in S2. Actually, it’s interesting that Vince is less trusting of strangers if you go with Danny over Justin, as if he got burned by that choice in the end, hmm? 

Anyway, that was my spiel about Danny vs Justin, and I would be interested to know what y’all picked. I’ve read a lot of discussions about this choice and I know I’m not the only one who feels this way about the percentages. I’ve read a lot of responses to why people picked who they picked, all very interesting. 

Back on track, this is a solid chunk of the story. I enjoy the dilemma presented here. You’re chained to these two guys and if you don’t shoot one of their ankles off, then all three of you are going to die. What gets me about this is it’s not like the Doug vs Carley choice. Doug and Carley were both in trouble but you only had enough time to save one of them. You weren’t actively shooting them. 

Here? You have to pull the trigger more than once. You have to pick one, shoot their ankle off, and then leave them there in order to escape. It’s super fucked and going off the way Vince hesitates and looks back at the one you shot, I’d say it’s something that’s gonna sit with him for the rest of his life. 

The pacing of this episode is great, it’s intense, the escalation in hostility between the two other prisoners only for it to end in blood is well executed, and overall the set up is damn good. 

Wyatt: Day 41

Dude. Wyatt’s story. I love Wyatt’s story. Of all five stories, it’s the one that made me laugh the most. It’s absolutely hilarious despite taking place in a very tense and panicked situation. 

Wyatt in on the run with his companion, Eddie. They’re driving away after an encounter with group of guys that ended in Eddie shooting one of them, and now they’re being chased and shot at by someone in a truck. 

Eddie: God, this is so fucked!

Wyatt: Why the hell did you shoot that guy, man? What the hell WAS that?

Eddie: I didn't mean to do it! It just happened, okay? Where the fuck were you with a warning?

Wyatt: Me? You're putting that on me now? I didn't see the guy, either! I was too worried those dudes were going to pull guns on us or--

Intense right off the bat, a complete panic as you’re trying to shoot at the truck chasing you while Wyatt and Eddie argue about what happened. Eventually the truck swerves off the road and you seem to be in the clear.

From what I gather, Wyatt and Eddie had a run in with Nate, the guy from Russell’s story, an unknown man who Eddie shot and killed in the encounter, and possibly some others given how Wyatt says he was worried about the “dudes” [plural] but he didn’t see the guy Eddie shot. Given that Nate’s alone in Russell’s story and the lone one chasing them down, it’s likely he’s the only survivor from that side. It’s unknown if Wyatt and Eddie were in a bigger group or not, so I’m going to assume it was just the two of them. 

Wyatt: Did you mean to pull the trigger?

Eddie: I don't know. I was so keyed up... I just... damn it. Look, Wyatt. All I know is those guys had me all... jacked up like I was on speed or something. I was just on edge, you know? Then I was, like, watching that guy's brains come out the back of his head. I'm sorry, man. I...

The core of why Wyatt’s story is possibly my favorite is the electric chemistry between him and Eddie. The dialogue, the voice acting, it’s all just dripping with personality and you feel like you’re watching two friends who’ve known each other for a long time, just *chef kiss*  

Eddie: See? It's fine. Road's straight as my dick.... You think we're in the clear?

Wyatt: Don’t talk about your dick.

Eddie: ...... Why not?

[or alternatively, if Wyatt says nothing, Eddie will just : “... Are you still thinking about my dick?” sksks it’s so stupid, I can’t help but love it.]

They talk like typical stoners, which they indeed are because Eddie’s got some “sticky” in the glovebox and wants it after they believe they’re in the clear. Y’know, the perfect time for some weed. Kate Garcia would greatly approve. 

So they’re driving along and we get more context for what happened, more great banter... and then they hit someone. 

The dilemma in this chapter is the fact that they hit someone and they don’t think it’s a walker, it’s a person. Even though they’re on the run from Nate and it’s foggy as hell outside, Eddie insists that they help whoever was hit. 

I believe Eddie is such a fan favorite not just because he’s funny or a charming character, but because of his compassion. In this moment you feel his frustration and guilt in having hit someone. He isn’t about to perform a hit and run even in this new apocalyptic world even though it would be easier to just assume it’s a walker and keep driving. 

Eddie: What if that was you, man?! After all the shit that's happened in the past couple months? Where's your compassion, motherfucker?

or

Eddie: If that guy back there is alive, we HAVE to help him, Wyatt. There ain't a lot of live dudes left these days.

Eddie showed a lot of shock and guilt over shooting a guy before, but now he’s sure he’s hit an innocent person and he refuses to leave them. His humanity does him credit and that’s why he’s one of my favorite characters in this DLC. 

But then comes the choice: One of you has to go find this person you hit, and one of you has to stay in the car. Who should do what? 

The end stats for this are 50/50, and it’s decided either by you refusing to go out yourself, or agreeing to a game of rock, paper, scissors. 

No, really, that’s how they decide who gets to go out there, best two outta three. That’s why I say this is one of the weaker portrayals of the dilemma, you don’t necessarily get to decide what Wyatt’s going to do, therefore shaping his personality and morals... it’s all up to luck. 

Though you can outright refuse, and Eddie will go out anyway so that’s one way to shape Wyatt if you’re playing him as less compassionate, or more cautious, or even as a coward. While there is an option for Wyatt to volunteer, you still have to rock, paper, scissors for it which I’m kinda meh on. Personally, I think if you’re brave enough to volunteer, you should be able to double down with Eddie and make the choice yourself rather than leaving it up to fate decided by a couple hand gestures. 

My advice to anyone playing this is try to lose the game. If Wyatt loses the game, he will go out there with a gun to find the person you hit, otherwise Eddie will go and Wyatt will be left in the car. Wyatt remaining in the car is the weaker option, far less exciting and results in you being attacked by Nate and forced to leave Eddie behind. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad by any means and getting to see that it’s Nate is neat when going into Russell’s story, but I think Wyatt being left behind is more impactful because it opens up a new dilemma.

I managed to lose the game by picking scissors every time. I find that Eddie tends to pick mostly rock, at least every time I’ve played before I’ve beaten him with paper, but rock beats scissors sooo pick scissors. 

Wyatt takes the gun and goes out into the fog to find the guy, who is revealed to be Bennett, the cop who fled the prison bus in Vince’s story. Wyatt tries talking to him, but Bennett is too injured and out of it to respond. Wyatt starts to help him, but because nothing is ever smooth sailing... walkers begin to groan and you realize that they’re coming through the fog. 

The reason I think this path’s better is because now you have a new choice to make: Do you try to help Bennett, or do you abandon him?

Wyatt wasn’t the one driving, and he’s out here due to a lost game of rock, paper, scissors... but is he willing to leave this man out here to be eaten to save himself, or is he going to try and do his best to help the man at the risk of getting them both killed. 

I chose to try and save Bennett, which meant I had to to drag him back to the car while stopping to shoot walkers... and the noise only brings more of them and uh oh, Eddie’s screaming for Wyatt to hurry up because he’s being attacked! If Eddie remains in the car, Nate attacks him and no matter how fast you go, Wyatt never makes it in time... Eddie drives off without Wyatt, who is now left in a misty forest with more walkers on the way, and Nate.

It’s rough, but more compelling, in my opinion. 

The highlight of this story is Wyatt and Eddie’s relationship, and there’s something about them getting separated that just stings, y’know? I found myself dreading getting out of the car not because of the dangers held within the fog, but because I knew Wyatt and Eddie would be separated after this only to never be reunited. 

Well, we assume they never reunite and that... the best way I can describe this is I feel like Sarah from Labyrinth, just throwing myself onto my bed and beating my fists against the wall and exclaiming, “IT’S NOT FAIR!!” at everyone... because it’s not fair that Wyatt and Eddie get separated and it makes me emotional, I’m not happy about it. 

But that also proves how effective Wyatt’s story is. Wyatt by himself also has the vibe of your sarcastic stoner friend who’s into indie bands and video games, but that’s part of his charm. 

Overall, a damn good story and execution. 

Russell: Day 184

I have a lot of feelings about Russell. 

As far as the playable protagonists go, I can say with confidence that he’s my favorite. I love them all, but Russell sticks out to me by how much younger he seems to be, his interesting backstory, and by his jaded behavior. 

His story starts with him walking down a long yet familiar road. He has his backpack and a map, and tells us he’s trying to get to his grandmother’s house. However, as he’s walking along, the truck from Wyatt’s story is coming up the road and Russell’s gotta decide if he should hide or stand his ground. 

If you hide, you’ll quickly remember why you know this road. Russell will hide down next to a corpse, but not just any corpse- the body of either Carley or Doug, depending on who you saved in S1. A neat inclusion, if not a little sad... and annoying because then I’m forced to remember Lilly shooting Carley outta spite and me leaving her ass on the road... wasn’t S1 so fun??

Anyway, Nate pulls up and talks to Russell no matter what, and you have no choice but to hitch a ride with him. You can try and refuse, and Nate’ll drive away... only for a dozen walkers to appear out of thin air and surround you so Nate will come back for you... I see you, Telltale, I see through your nonsense. 

The rest of Russell’s story has him and Nate... bonding? I don’t even want to call it that, but they talk as they drive, we get more insight into Russell’s last group that left him with some trauma.  

Russell: There was seven of us. I didn't have any family there or nothing; they were all at my Gram's down in Statesboro. There was a dad who had a daughter 'bout my age. One guy said he used to be a cop, but nobody really believed him; then a teacher and his wife. Leader was this guy, Steve.

Nate: Go back to the daughter.

Russell: Steve was a bad dude, but everybody was with him, you know? He said seven was the magic number, so we didn't add nobody to the group. If we found survivors, it was the same every time. He...he...

Nate: Let it out, Paco.

Russell: Just... "We gonna kill these folks and take their stuff or what?" And then bang, they'd be dead. Anyway... I couldn't handle that. After weeks of it, I packed my shit up and figured I can make for Gran's alone and try to find my family. I slipped outta there. I couldn't live like that.

Super interesting, and I wanted to learn more about this group but Nate ruins it by continuing to be a creep. 

By the way, Nate? Crusty. Stinky. He is repulsive and I hate him... but he’s also the best antagonist in this DLC, go figure. I’m pretty sure the writers had a lot of fun making him as slimy as possible. He’s dangerous and a huge creep, he makes my guts feel icky, I just-

Russell: Why you gotta be like that?

Nate: Like what?

Russell: Always talking about women like that.

Nate: WOMEN? Ha, okay. Let me see if I can answer your question. Because...because the hunger a man's got for a woman is all we got left now. No laws, no jobs, ain't nothin' that make us men. But they ain't eaten all the women yet.

Nate, you’re gross and I hate you.

Unfortunately, Russell is stuck with this man for the time being until the two end up at Gil’s Pitstop only to be shot at by someone inside. Together, they avoid being shot and break in to find an older man is responsible for shooting at them, and his wife is injured, bleeding out in the booth beside him. 

The man, Walt, yells at them to get out and accuses Nate of coming back to finish them off. Alarming, to say the least, but Nate casually denies the accusations that he’s been here before and calls Walt crazy.

Given this is Nate we’re talking about and he’s been in this area awhile, I’m inclined to believe that he was here at one point and could’ve attacked the couple, possibly with his group that Wyatt and Eddie encountered. 

But here’s where things get interesting, and where Russell’s story becomes more unique when it comes to the dilemma. You’ve got this older couple here, one of them injured, and the other shot at you. They’re accusing your crusty companion of coming back to finish them off, and said crusty man decides to manipulate you by echoing the story from earlier: 

Nate: What do you say, Russ? Should we just kill these folks and take all their stuff?

Super fucked up, and it has an immediate effect on Russell. Nate gives him the crazy eyes and casually points the gun at Russell... so what do you do? Do you comply, or do you stand up to Nate?

Unfortunately, no matter what you do, Nate will always kill the old couple. If you comply with Nate, whether by saying nothing out of shock or hesitantly agreeing, you witness the murders and Nate gloating about how all their stuff is there’s now. Then you get an eerie line from Nate as he looks back at Russell with a smile:

Nate: Relax. You're my boy, Russell. Things are going to be a-okay.

All while Russell stands there in absolute horror and shock, probably reliving the trauma he escaped from his previous group and realizing he’s now stuck in it again. 

This ending to the story is awful... not awful as in it’s written poorly. No, no, quite the opposite. It’s awful because of what it does to Russell. By complying, Russell is now stuck with this man who “kept you around,” according to the little choice notification in the corner. Who killed with no compassion, no guilt, and is gleefully admiring the “rewards” he got for doing it. Russell just stood there while two innocent people were murdered and he does nothing to stop it. He looks at Nate and sees Steve, a man he earlier described as a bad person, but everyone was with him, everyone complied. Russell couldn’t take it anymore and he had to leave, only to find himself at the mercy of another Steve and that’s tragic. 

Luckily, Russell manages to get away somehow given he’s with the rest of the group in the epilogue, though we never find out how. 

As for the alternative, Russell can stand up to Nate and call him out in one of my favorite moments:

Russell: Are you serious?

Nate: Maybe. Why not?

Russell: That's fucked up! There are real fucking monsters out there!

Nate: No shit.

Russell: And you're just going to joke about the shit I seen? Fuck you, Nate!

Nate: I saved your ass!

Russell: You didn't do shit.

Nate: Easy, Russ.

Russell: I ain't hurtin' no one. And don't you hurt these people either.

Nate: COME ON! Can we still be friends?

Russell: No.

Russell leaves Nate behind, and as he’s walking outside, he hears two gunshots from inside. At first, the player’s probably thinking how Russell should’ve done more to help the couple, but what could he do? Nate had the gun, and wrestling it from him would’ve gotten Russell killed. It’s fucked, but there was nothing he could do with Nate holding as much power as he did. Russell had no choice but to stand up to him in hopes of convincing him to leave the couple alone, and then leave. 

Unfortunately, Nate isn’t easily swayed. Russell’s lucky he got away when he did. 

Russell standing up to Nate, avoiding the road he’s desperately tried not to walk again, is compelling as hell. By walking away, he’s saying that no, that’s not who he will become. He won’t be Steve, he won’t be Nate, he won’t be a man who causes hurt and death in order to reap the “rewards.” 

In the end, Russell is more bitter, wary to trust and I don’t blame him. This moral dilemma is so powerful because it’s a choice between remaining strong, brave enough to look at what you could become and say, “no,” and giving in, becoming the thing you feared and ran from. 

Not to mention Russell’s story all started because he left to go find his grandmother, to reunite with his family. If Russell were to reunite with her, would he be proud of how he got there? Or would be feel like yet another monster who hurt others to get there? 

All in all, so damn good. 

Fuck Nate, though. Hope he choked. 

Bonnie: Day 220

Bonnie, everyone’s favorite.... CJ wrote sarcastically, knowing full well that a lot of people don’t actually like her. 

It’s a shame that S2 has tainted Bonnie’s character for a lot of people, but this post isn’t about S2 so I’m going to focus solely on what we see of her in this story. 

What we get is a woman struggling with addiction, clinging to a life preserver the best she can in a world where the dead walk but people are more dangerous, a preserver that can be ripped out of her hands depending on your choices. Bonnie is recovering from a drug problem when we meet her out in the rain with a man named, Leland, and the two are playing a cute little game of “would you rather.” 

She has a deep southern drawl, and easily teases Leland even without player input. 

Leland: You've been a lot more fun lately. Feelin' better?

Bonnie: I guess I am.

Leland: Well, you sure do look better. Though you gotta admit, anything is an improvement. That came out wrong... what I mean is... I mean... You were... you were, uh... you know.

Bonnie: Take a hike, big ears.

Leland: I resemble that remark.

Bonnie: You resemble a satellite.

Leland: Ya know, you weren't so damn sassy before. Guess that's a good sign. I mean it, though. After we found ya, you were still so hooked on that stuff. I never thought you'd make it. You ain't outta the woods yet, I know, but you've come a long way, Bonnie. I'm proud of you.

At first, you pick up on a little romantic tension between the two and think, “Oh, I see~” There’s some definite chemistry there. Leland even goes as far as to caress her cheek and say her name softly. 

Then Dee shows up, and you realize rather quickly that she’s Leland’s wife, and then you go, “Oh... I see.” 

Dee sees it, too, and calls the two of them out on their flirting. 

Dee: I got you a present.

Leland: Aw, you shouldn't have! What did you find?

Dee: I'll tell ya later. I don't mean to interrupt your "chat" with your "girlfriend", but we gotta get movin'.

So that’s not great.

But it appears that Dee found a bag and avoids saying where she got it. Leland keeps pushing on about the bag, and this causes a fight to break out with Dee getting more defensive until she tells then to run. Turns out, Dee stole the bag from a nearby group that is now hunting them down, so the three of them have to get out of there. 

Bonnie falls behind, and ends up shot. Leland calls out to her, but we see Dee holding him back before disappearing, leaving Bonnie on her own. This segment is super good, she falls down a hill and a zombified Clyde- you remember Clyde? Officer Dipshit? Yeah, he shows up as a walker here to attack Bonnie if you don’t kill him in Russell’s story. After killing the walker, Bonnie’s forced to navigate a corn maze while avoiding the flashlights of the group chasing her. It’s a well done scene, and the moment Bonnie makes it out is just heart breaking. 

She’s wounded, all alone, and she’s slipping all over in the mud, desperate to take cover behind a tractor. Plus her little, “Mama watch over me,” gets me, y’know? 

The dialogue that follows is raw. Eerie. Just-

Bonnie: Dee, oh, God, Dee... I'm so sorry, oh, God...

Dee: Wh... why? You... Why? Do... d-- do I look... How bad is it? Bonnie?

Bonnie: It was dark, it's so dark, I couldn't see you! I didn't know it was you! How was I supposed to know it was you?!

Dee: There was no... I thought I...saw you... You did this...? You... killed me. You killed me... I sh-- should never have... tr-- trusted you... just... just a junkie... Leland, she... she did this to me...

Bonnie: I... God, I'm so sorry, so... I can't... Oh, God, God...

Dee: I knew you'd fuck up again... take him...

Bonnie: I... I... no, God, I'm sorry. I need him; I need you both...

Dee: You... bitch... I knew you wanted him... didn't think you had the stones... Goddamn you...

-and then Dee dies. Dee repeatedly calling Bonnie a junkie and a fuck up is painful. Bonnie’s clearly in distress, apologizing and trying to comfort Dee as she’s dying, and all Dee can do is call her a fucking junkie while damning her, telling her they should’ve never trusted her. I cannot imagine the toll that takes on Bonnie going forward. 

Now the dilemma here isn’t that Bonnie killed her. You have no choice on whether or not to hit her with the piece of rebar. If you don’t, Dee will kill Bonnie and you get a nice ol’ YOU ARE DEAD. You have to hit Dee, Dee will always die, it’s more up to you how Bonnie reacts and handles it. 

The dilemma here is Leland finds them and is horrified that Dee is dead. He then asks Bonnie what happened. Do you tell him the truth or do you lie? 

This is rough, to say the least. Because it was an accident. You had no choice, you didn’t know it was Dee and now you have to decide if being honest is the best choice in this moment. Are you willing to take responsibility for something you did even if it hurts you, or hurts Leland? Or are you going to lie to the grieving husband of the woman you killed to save your own ass? 

And remember, that group is still chasing you down, it’s only a matter of time before they find you so whatever you do, you have to do it fast or else that group is going to kill you.

Fun fact, according to the stats, 75% of people lied to Leland, and 25% of people told him the truth. Which I find fascinating yet unsurprising that players wouldn’t tell the truth in order to cover their asses. 

To be fair, a new player might think that telling the truth could cause Leland to lash out and you’ll get hurt, and that takes priority over doing the “morally good thing” of being honest. Or they don’t want to admit they did a bad thing. Players never like doing that unless it was on purpose. 

Not only that, but if Leland knows that truth and you can convince him to leave with you, the fact that Bonnie killed her [accident or no] will always hang heavy in the air. If Leland doesn’t know the truth, then y’know- ignorance is bliss and Bonnie won’t have to face the repercussions from him... she’ll just have to deal with her guilt and trauma internally. 

You also have to remember that Bonnie is a recovering addict. Leland and Dee were her life preservers that kept her afloat this whole time. She just accidentally killed half of her support, and now she’s staring at the other half and has to judge if she’s willing to risk losing him, as well. If both Dee and Leland are gone, Bonnie is alone, and that could be far worse than anything else for her.

For me, this dilemma is fairly similar to Russell’s- who are you shaping Bonnie to be with this choice? Can Bonnie live with herself if she lies? 

If you lie, it’s easy to convince him to come along with you, but you can still do so if you tell the truth, which is what I did. It all depends on your approach and if you can convince him that it was a genuine accident on Bonnie’s part. Which it was so again, not hard. If you can’t convince him, he’ll stay by Dee’s side while Bonnie runs away and you’ll hear a gunshot. 

If Leland leaves with Bonnie, they don’t stay together since he’s not with the group in the epilogue. As far as I can tell, we never find out what happened to him, Bonnie never says. 

Bonnie’s story is solid, super enjoyable, I love it. Again, you might be noticing a pattern but every story so far has been excellent, not a single bad one in the bunch. 

And that doesn’t change with Shel’s story.

Shel: Days 236 & 259

Shel’s story is the final event on the timeline, and while I said that Wyatt’s story made me laugh the most and Russell’s my favorite protagonist, Shel’s story is my favorite overall. It’s not funny like Wyatt’s, and I wouldn’t even say Shel is as compelling as Russell, but it more than makes up for that with the story it tells. 

It’s funny to think back on this because had you asked me years ago about Shel’s story, I probably would’ve told you it’s my least favorite and that Shel and Becca weren’t great. Again, another example of me not giving them a proper chance.

This time around I was surprisingly invested in Shel as a character. She’s a lot more... how do I put this? Softer? She’s softer than the other playable protagonists in the way she acts, speaking, and views the situation. She has a little sister to look after in this world, a young, impressionable girl that Shel sees getting colder and colder with every terrible thing she sees. It’s understandable that Shel wants to protect Becca, or even shelter her from the reality of their situation. 

I liked Becca a lot, too. She wasn’t annoying like I remembered her being. Her behavior is understandable when you pay attention. She’s young, she doesn’t fully understand the weight of the things she may do, and she’s easily influenced, which becomes scary later on. 

Shel’s story takes place in Gil’s Pitstop where she and Becca are staying with a group of familiar faces. Yep, the cancer patients from S1 are back. Turns out Vernon was more of a bastard than we initially thought as we learn he planned to steal the boat from the moment we found it... and given that he’s no longer with the group, I’d say that didn’t work out for him in the end. 

Aside from them, we have Stephanie and Roman. These two are key to this story, both having ideas about how Becca should be raised, and Roman becomes a more antagonistic character in the end. 

This story is about Shel’s conflicted feelings about the world and what it’s doing to her and Becca. They have to keep inventory of guns and supplies and hey, remember how Dee stole that bag? Surprise, Shel’s group were the ones chasing you down when you were playing as Bonnie, and they make comments depending on if Leland stayed with Bonnie or was caught. 

Shel meets Roman outside where we see “guard dogs,” which are just walkers they’d tied up to keep people away. Depending on if you stayed with Nate or stood up to him, you may encounter Walt as a walker, or Bennett. They’re feeding the walkers when Roman makes a comment about how Becca wouldn’t mind doing this, and that Shel can’t keep sheltering her, something Shel struggles with. 

Shel also discovered the old woman walker is eating a puppy and the affect on her is instant, nearly bringing her to tears. Which is completely understandable. When I say that Shel is softer, it’s because of a moment like this where she sees something that’s sad and she doesn’t just shrug it off. She feels it deeply, and that’s further proven when she goes back inside only for Becca to scare her as a little prank. 

Shel lashes out at her, and I love their conversation once she’s calmed down. 

Shel: It's the walkers...I guess they got ahold of a puppy.

Becca: A puppy?

Shel: Yeah. I guess it just...it got to me, ya know. It was so little. You don't think about babies anymore, but... After a while, you just kind of accept...this is it.

Becca: Yeah. I guess you kinda forget.

Shel: Right? But then...you know...there it is. You see it and you want to protect it... And now it's gone.

Becca: That sucks.

I feel like this is obvious, but Shel seeing a dead puppy being eaten by walkers probably brought Becca to mind. While Becca isn’t a baby, she is still a kid, and we know how TWDG works. Children and teens aren’t safe from death in this series. In S1 we dealt with Duck’s tragic death, and we found the walker child in the attic. S1 is all about Lee doing everything in his power to not let that happen to Clementine, and it cost him his life. 

Becca could die just as easily as that puppy. All it takes is one moment, no matter how hard Shel tries to protect or shelter her, and she’s gone. 

Also, this whole “you don’t think about babies anymore” is clever, given what happens in S2 with Rebecca and AJ, I wonder if that was intentional or not. 

But the moment is interrupted when Stephanie barges in to bring us our first major moral dilemma.

A man was caught trying to steal supplies from the group. He’s beaten up, and Roman claims he was already like that, and all he did was tie him up and put a blindfold on. The man doesn’t speak English. He isn’t bit, and he didn’t hurt anyone. This is the second break in the group’s had. The group is arguing among themselves when Roman gives us the dilemma:

Roman: Look, we all know what we're talking about here, so let's stop dancing around it. We either let this guy go and take our chances...or we kill him.

This is... fucked? How else do you describe it? This man can’t defend himself since he doesn’t speak English, no one can understand him, he can’t stay with the group but letting him go is risky. What do you do?

There isn’t a right answer to this, even when you know both outcomes. 

On one hand, you let him go. You can’t just execute a man, that would be wrong, so you send him away and maybe he won’t come back. You’ll be in the clear and you’ll feel like you did the right thing.

Shel: He's not even armed! We can't just kill him! This isn't in self-defense.

Becca: Isn't it, though? If it means he can't come back to hurt us?

Shel: That isn't the same thing.

Joyce: But last time...

Shel: Joyce, that was a long time ago. If we kill this man, then we are giving up a part of ourselves that we can NEVER get back! I'm not ready to let that go.

But that doesn’t happen. The man does come back and he brings his group, we’re attacked, and Boyd dies in the fight. Roman becomes obsessed with securing the place by any means necessary. 

On the other hand, you kill him. You make the choice as a collective group to execute a man and you get to live with that. 

Shel: We can't take the risk. We kill him.

Stephanie: There's gotta be another way...

Shel: Tell me. What if he comes back? With weapons, or...or a gang? Is it worth losing any one of us?

Stephanie: Jesus. There really is no other choice, is there?

Roman: We can't keep him here and we can't let him go. If there's even a chance of him coming back or telling folks who might try to hurt us, we can't risk it. I won't ask you to watch, but if we do this, we're all in it together. If this ever happens again, it's gonna be one of you pulling that trigger.

And in doing so, the group’s morale plummets, and Roman still becomes obsessed with securing the place by any means. 

But you also have to consider what this will do to Becca. Shel just had to face a hard reality when she saw that dead puppy, and now she’s left as the swing vote that decides a man’s fate. That’s a lot for any person and there are so many factors at play here. 

No matter your choice, there’s a time skip and we see Shel and Becca in an RV playing Go Fish. Becca admits that she’s been sneaking out, something that’s horrifying to hear when you realize what Roman would do to her if he ever found that out, or if Becca was spotted and led someone back that wanted to hurt them. 

Speaking of Roman, he comes knocking on the door to ask Shel to come talk to him about something important. It’s not long before you learn what happened: Stephanie stole supplies and tried to escape. 

Roman: We caught her trying to escape.

Shel: Maybe she wasn't. Maybe she just wanted to get outside these walls for a while. Ever since the...incident, you've made this place feel...I dunno...oppressive.

Roman: We've made it safe. And she was definitely trying to escape; she had most of our ammo and medicine with her. She screwed us, Shel. All of us. And now were' in that position again where we can't keep her here and we can't let her go. You do know why I'm telling you this, right?

Roman’s telling Shel this because he wants her to shoot Stephanie, and she can’t say no. 

As if this wasn’t enough of a gut punch, Shel goes back to the RV and tells Becca what’s going on. 

Y’know that feeling you got when you heard AJ say he liked killing Lilly for the first time in TFS? I got a similar feeling when Becca said this:

Becca: Oh, my god. The hell did she do that for?!

Shel: Roman says we have to-

Becca: Kill her? Yeah! Why would she do this to us?!

Shel: She's just scared. She made a mistake.

Becca: Well, that'll be her last mistake!

Shel: Becca! Stephanie is your friend!

Becca: WAS my friend.

Shel’s fear that this world is changing Becca isn’t misplaced, and now she’s forced to face that reality head on once again. 

Also, I’m pretty sure this is the moment that causes people to dislike Becca or think she’s annoying, but again, given what she’s been through no matter what choice you made, her reaction makes sense. If you let him go, she saw her group attacked and Boyd killed, and that showed her that it was a mistake to let that guy go. If you killed him, then she watched her older sister decide the fate of a man and then watched him be executed. 

A lot of the TWDG fandom tend to intensely dislike child characters for the mere fact that they’re not Clementine, and ironically, they end up behaving in ways that make them more annoying than any child character they dislike. So I wouldn’t take their word for it when they say Becca’s a bad character. Play the story, pay attention, and make the judgement yourself. 

As for the second moral dilemma in this story, Shel can either take her gun and shoot Stephanie, or she can take the RV keys and drive away. Do you agree to kill Stephanie or run away? 

For me, this is an easier decision than the first one. I grabbed those keys and we got the hell outta there. 

But for this choice, Shel can either give in and allow this to be who they are now in order to protect Becca, or she can prove that there are other ways, that they don’t have to stay under Roman’s thumb and kill whoever he tells them to. There’s no saving Stephanie at this point, you have no choice in that, but you do have a choice in how Shel raises Becca from now on. 

Oh, and if you’re looking to get everyone to go with Tavia, you have to drive away. If you shoot Stephanie, then she and Becca will refuse to go with Tavia. 

Shel’s episode is my favorite, and the perfect way to end the main story if you’re playing in chronological order. She’s another great character who I didn’t expect to make me feel the way she did. 

Epilogue: Day 400

Once all five stories are finished, we’re introduced to Tavia. She’s a scout looking for survivors to bring back to her community. She talks with someone over the radio about finding all the photos and a note near Gil’s Pitstop that gives the group’s location.

Turns out that Vince, Wyatt, Russell, Bonnie, Shel and Becca all found each other and are surviving together in their campsite. Tavia approaches the group and it’s up to us to convince as many of them as we can to come with her. 

For Vince, you have to shoot Danny, and with Shel you have to escape. Bonnie will agree to go no matter what. Wyatt and Russell can be convinced to join regardless of your choices. The best option is to tell them that you find people from everywhere, and Wyatt will agree to go in hopes of finding Eddie while Russell wants to find his family. 

Most of the dialogue is determined by your choices, as well. 

Once you have your group, the DLC ends with the group burning the photos and note, before asking Tavia how she knows if this will work out. 

Honestly? Great ending, great execution of consequences brought on by your choices. 

The 400 Days DLC is fantastic. It’s brilliant. I love it to pieces, and I highly encourage anyone reading this to replay it. 

Don’t play S1 first, and don’t plan on jumping into S2. Play the DLC by itself, let it be a story contained to an hour of your time. That’s what I did, and I had so much fun! These characters and their stories are wonderful, the writing is phenomenal, I love it!

But... Now that I’ve spent all this time praising this DLC, calling it brilliant and encouraging everyone to revisit it... it all comes with an asterisk* attached:

*As a single experience, 400 Days is brilliant and I love it.... but when played together with S1 and S2.......

400 Days is disappointing.

That’s the glaring issue here. 

I can praise this DLC all I want, and I did. That doesn’t negate the big picture, or the big problem fans tend to have with it. 

400 Days acts as a bridge between the two seasons but let’s be real, the only story that actually matters here is Bonnie’s. She will always leave with Tavia no matter what, and she plays a major role in the group’s capture and eventual escape. The others make brief, meaningless cameos that only exist to make the player go-

-every time one of them shows up. We never hear from them, or about them, again after that.... so what was the point? 

What was the point of 400 Days in the grand scheme of things? 

400 Days becomes worse when you get your hopes up that it’s just a teaser, a little taste, of what’s to come in S2. You think these writers took the opportunity to introduce you to these important characters, tell you their backstories, so that they could be incorporated into S2′s plot as major characters. 

But no, only Bonnie. 

And even Bonnie’s character becomes muddled by ep5 depending on how you tried to help Luke. 

The thing is, 400 Days isn’t terrible because of this. Obviously. It’s disappointing, but why it’s disappointing and the way people claim it could’ve been fixed is... well...

It’s not simple. It’s so easy to just be like, “400 Days is bad because our choices didn’t matter! It’s pointless! Why didn’t they do something else?? I know exactly how this could be fixed!”

I know what everyone always says whenever 400 Days is brought up: “The 400 Days cast should’ve been the cabin group.”

Great idea in theory, or headcanon/AU.

In execution, it would’ve been too complicated and I think we all know that, but a fandom’s hubris knows no limit when it comes to them believing they know better than the developers. 

Not to say we can’t criticize issues with the writing, but it helps to at least be understanding of how things actually work, i.e. video games are hard to make and long posts on tumblr “fixing” video games are fun to read but wouldn’t actually work in practice because that’s not how video games work so maybe stop insulting the developers while acting like you know better about a field you don’t even work in. 

Trust me, I know. Don’t think I’m not one of those people, I’m literally here writing you a long post on tumblr. I’m not innocent here. Have you read any of my Violet posts? You don’t think there was a long period of time where I thought *I* knew better?? I wish I could say you’re right but you’re not, I’m just as bad. I’ve said some unkind things about certain developers that I look back on and just face palm as I slowly sink back in my chair shamefully. I still agree with my criticisms but not the way I said them, and I’m trying to not be like that anymore. 

All that to say it would be too complicated for the 400 Days cast to be the cabin group due to the different combinations of characters who can stay or go with Tavia. What happens to players who had only Bonnie go with Tavia? Or had all but one go? The only solution would be to have a set ending for 400 Days, removing the consequences of choice and having a more linear ending.

Y’know this would’ve gotten them the “my choices never actually matter >:[” criticism which I believe is a fair criticism of games that make these big claims about choice and consequence only to give you the illusion of it. But, there needs to be some common understanding of what can realistically be implemented in a game like that. You can’t expect them to have a thousand different outcomes and have it be a smooth, functioning game, especially when you take into account the release dates and the things going on behind the scenes at Telltale and how that affects development. These studios have deadlines, they have higher ups working them overtime so they can push as much product out as possible, they have a budget that’s never enough, and frankly, shit just happens sometimes.  

I’m not saying that we can’t be disappointed. I’m disappointed that I’ll never get to know if Wyatt and Eddie reunited, or what happened to Russell. I have no idea if Shel and Becca are still alive, and I don’t know where Vince is. I don’t even know what happened to Bonnie after S2. 

When thrown into the entire series, 400 Days is disappointing due to the high expectations it brings for S2, but I argue that it isn’t as terrible as people claim it is. 

I literally just spent several paragraphs explaining why it’s brilliant and why you should go replay it by itself, I think it’s far from terrible and deserves praise for its characters and the moral dilemmas it presents. Don’t think about S2 while you’re playing it, that’s not the point. The point is to experience it for what it is, a series of stories set in the zombie apocalypse that all lie together in the end. 

I would love to hear more thoughts about this, whether it be about the characters or what choices you made and why. Even if you disagree and think 400 Days is trash, tell me why, I’m interested to know. 

In conclusion: 400 Days good. In other news: Happy New Year

As I’m writing this, it’s New Year’s Eve and I’ve got a little over an hour before midnight, sooo here’s a happy new year to everyone. I hope you’re all doing well, staying safe and healthy the best you can. 

As I said at the start of this, I have another essay I’m working on related to S2.... it’s taking forever because there’s a lot to cover, it’s about some polarizing characters and choices, and I have no idea when I’ll be finished. If it takes even longer than I’d like, I’ll probably put it down and work on a smaller post in the meantime. Maybe something about the Michonne mini-series or a character analysis.

I guess my new thing is disappearing for weeks at a time only to pop in whenever there’s news about the Clementine comic or to throw down a long ass essay about something no one asked for hahaha. I can live with that, I think. I will be around for the rest of the weekend, though, so any asks about 400 Days will get answered, I’d love to hear from y’all. 

Uhhh any other news... Oh, @pi-creates​ and I are making a new Dragon Age server on discord that we’re gonna open up soon for anyone interested in that. Right now it’s mostly just discussions about the games and lamenting about the apostates who broke our hearts... well, Pi’s lamenting, I’m mostly just spewing bitter salt about the sewer rat bastard that is my apostate boyfriend >:[ We’ll post a link once it’s ready to go, though I dunno when that’ll be. We’re pretty proud of the set up, and I made a bunch of DA emojis. It’ll be a fun time. 

Think that’s everything. I wish y’all a happy, healthy new year! 

[starrysharks]

twdg person again, THATS SO AWESOME!!!! I LOVE THE CLEM ND AJ DYNAMIC TOO!!!! and ur also a LOUIS FAN?? THATS SOOOOOO BASED!!!!! pls assign favorite twdg characs to ur ocs i think that’d be really interesting🙏

OKAY :D (i'll do reassass characters because of the zombie thing)

octavia's definitely a clem fan, partially because she's the protagonist so she has a lot of time to get used to her, and also because her resilience and determination, which tavia looks up to. ^^

for savory, idrk tbh. maybe lilly? he does have a hatred for annoying people, but finds them interesting at the same time, so an antagonist like lilly would probably intrigue him a lot. otherwise, probably AJ because he reminds him of octavia (he would never admit this), or minerva for similar reasons to lilly.

onion methinks would be a fan of the more lighthearted silly characters like louis and duck because they act as a relief to all of the stress of the main story. they would definitely cry whenever something bad happens to them and bawled when duck died. (also thought that lee was really cool and sweet to clem, also cried when he died and let him become a walker instead of mercy killing.)

vivica, if she were to play video games, would probably just be drawn to the more rebellious characters in general, especially the ericson kids. violet and marlon specifically, i think they'd remind her of octavia and her bluntess/mysteriousness a lot <3

[bluebutterfly1]

TWDG 400 Days Character Concept Art

[arcaniteripper]

The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series ― Art Gallery: Season One Concept art: Part 2

[aesthetic-survivor-of-twd]

I would have loved to see more of the "400 Days" DLC characters. I'm really glad at least Bonnie got to have an important role in the series, but I wanted to see a bit more of the other guys as well. It was awesome to see Eddie again in TFS though... even if he dies like 5 seconds later :')

SAME.

Honestly if there was one thing I would have changed about the series it would have been keeping the original story concept of season 2 where all of the 400 Days cast had a much bigger role than they ended up having in the final draft.

Honestly, all of the characters in that DLC had so much life and character to them that you could have honestly provided them their own fully fledged season together.

Nate is one of my favourite antagonists just because of how crazy and eccentric he is and his dynamic with Russell was weirdly entertaining...

Shel had an interesting story of having to now look after her younger sister after escaping from their group...

Motherfucking Eddie and Wyatt could have had an ENTIRE season just dedicated to them talking shit and driving in a car together for 90mins each episode and I would have bought it.

It had SO. MUCH. POTENTIAL.

[shalebridgecradle]

I understand if it's been a while since you've had much interest in TWDG, thus probably not having put much thought into your own ficwork, but what're your ideas on Tavia's backstory(assuming that hasn't already been touched on in Lost Causes)? The extra unused photo from 400 Days showing her to been in politics make it seem like she could've been a state governor for example, though Idk if that'd sync up with what we see at the end of 400 Days(like wouldn't anyone of the group recognise her?)

tbh, it’s less to do with a dwindling interest in TWDG (although that’s certainly true) and more to do with the fact that I was super burnt out on…literally everything and needed to unplug from what social media I could and recharge for a bit. And that was before 2020 decided it’d be neat-o to speedrun the Plagues of Egypt or whatever the fuck it thinks it’s doing.

ANYWAY. It took some digging, but I did finally find my initial brainstorming notes on Tavia and her backstory. It’s not completely accurate anymore because it’s early work, and stuff changed as I wrote and the story developed. (Like, I have in these notes that Tavia’s gay but not super out about it because Reese as a character didn’t exist at that point. So obviously that doesn’t hold true anymore. lmao.)

I’m still fishing around for any further notes I might’ve jotted down, and I’ll let you know if I find them, but if I did write that stuff down, I…have no earthly idea where it is if it’s not in the main fic notebook. ¯\(°_o)/¯

Anyway, based on that unused photo of her from 400 Days, I did write Tavia as having been in politics. I had her as a member of the State House of Representatives in Delaware, so local/state level. She had her eye on politics at the national level and was contemplating a run for Congress, maybe even the Senate, before the apocalypse ruined all the things.

(I have no idea why I picked Delaware, for the record. I think it was mostly based on her accent, or lack thereof. There’s plenty of other roles for her in politics where no one in the 400 Days group would’ve recognized her, though. Mayor, national House of Representatives, etc. There’s 50 US state governors and 435 Representatives at the national level; the average citizen doesn’t know them all. Just make Tavia from a state none of the other characters are from and you’ve got plausible deniability for them not recognizing her.)

And that’s about all I’ve got on her backstory, actually, aside from stuff re: her relationship with Reese and some family history. I mostly used that “huh, looks like she was in politics” photo as a springboard to develop her character, her role at Howe’s, and how she’d handle certain situations / plot developments.

[mirrandapl]

Becca, Shel, Annie, Tavia.

[thecrusadercomrade]

What-Ifs of Telltale's the Walking Dead Chapter 28: What If Carver was a Good Guy?

Summary: When Clementine finds herself at the mercy of walkers after her bad encounter with a dog in the woods, rescue comes from the usual faces, but their destination is a little different...

Read on AO3!

Read from the beginning!

[ttgpredictions-archive]

Tavia and/or other survivors from 400 days (excluding Bonnie) will make a return in The Walking Dead at some point.

[twdg-incorrect-quotes]

[during the escape from Howe's]

Russell: Run for it!

[Vince and Tavia get jumped on by walkers]

Vince: But I just got promoted!

[dalekofchaos]

Replace Arvo and the Russians with Tavia and the 400 Days characters

I think something that would've improved the end of season 2 was replace Arvo and the Russians with Tavia and the 400 Days characters. It makes perfect sense. They destroyed their home and killed their leader and these characters deserved more than cameos. And originally Eddie from 400 days WAS MEANT to take Arvo’s role in episode 4 originally, so replace Arvo with Eddie. So when Tavia and her people corner Clem and the others, Bonnie is trying to make peace with them since they were her friends. But after Rebecca is turned and when either Clem or Kenny shoot her. Bonnie is the first casualty. I'd like to think the rest of episode 5 is about the group being hunted by Tavia's people and trying to save AJ, however Tavia wants the baby as Carver convinced her that the baby is his. Ultimately it ends with Mike, Jane, Vince, Becca, Shel, Wyatt, Eddie, and Russell dead and only Clem, Kenny, AJ, Luke and Tavia left alive. The final choice is about who you save from Tavia. Kenny or Luke? I think something like this would've been better than that loathsome little shitbird and the Kenny vs Jane drama.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Top 5 Missed Opportunities in 400 Days

Hey, remember when TWDG Season One ended and we were a group of emotional messes? Remember when Season Two was announced and we were gonna get a DLC to bridge S1 and S2 together and we were extra excited for everything to come? Because I do. 

To be fair, I truly did enjoy 400 Days when it first came out years ago, and it’s not like I hate it now or anything... I just can’t help but look at it and see wasted potential on every level-- the characters and their development, the stories, the impact our choices made for the future...

The concept of 400 Days-- a collection of stories that follow different protagonists and the situations they find themselves in within the zombie apocalypse that eventually connect to one another-- is a great one. I love the idea of mini-episodes that are all connected, and one choice you made in one episode affects the next episode you play... so what happened? Why does it fall flat now when we look back on it?

Well, a major reason for me is the fact that all four seasons of the main game are complete. When 400 Days came out, we didn’t have S2, so we didn’t know what our choices meant. That lead to us theorizing about what would happen if we got everyone to go with Tavia, or what would happen if no one but Bonnie went. Why was Bonnie the only one who agrees no matter what? What could that mean?

And we have those answers now, and it’s a let down... especially when it could’ve been so much better. That’s what I wanna talk about today. I wanna talk about what I think are the biggest missed opportunities in 400 Days. 

5. Giving Shel and her dumb sister actual personalities

Of all the stories you can play in 400 Days, Shel’s episode is probably the worst due to the fact that she and her dumb sister lack any memorable qualities or personalities.... which is such a shame because this story also has one of the more interesting moral dilemma’s. 

In this story, you play as Shel who is surviving in the diner/gas station with a group that consists of some of the cancer patients from S1. Remember them? They were with Vernon and helped him steal out boat? Yeah, they got away and apparently Vernon died and the group feel apart over the damn boat, but you don’t get much more than that. 

Shel has this dumb sister who I can’t be bothered to remember her name because she’s that bland. Her sister is basically Shel’s personality. Take away her sister, and you’re left with nothing. 

They’re going for the “Oh man, I don’t know what this world is doing to my dumb sister, it’s changing her, I don’t want her to have to do things like murder, I want her to have a normal childhood,” but that falls flat when they don’t give me a reason to care about them in the first place. 

Like I said, the moral dilemma for this one IS interesting-- They catch someone who tried to steal from them. The man is injured pretty bad, and he can’t speak English, so there is no way for them to communicate with him. Roman, the dude who acts as the leader of our group, says that they can’t keep him here but they can’t send him back out there... and that means killing him. 

So what do you do? Do you risk it by giving this man a second chance, give him some food and send him on his way and hope he doesn’t come back and do more harm? Or do you kill this man so that there is no risk in him coming back to do harm? 

And you as Shel are the swing vote. That’s not an easy choice to make, plus you gotta think about how that choice is gonna affect your dumb sister?

Except it doesn’t really matter.... at all. No matter what you do, Roman still cracks down and wants to murder another member of the group who tries to escape, Shel’s dumb sister is still a brat who talks big but never does anything, and Shel is still a stale piece of white bread. 

If they wanted us to care, then give Shel something other than her sister. Maybe they could’ve had her be someone who doesn’t really have a backbone, she tries to avoid conflict and is intimidated by Roman, she doesn’t speak up even when she should, and then her dumb sister could be the opposite-- Loud, take charge, wants to get more involved with protecting the group, isn’t afraid to stand up to Roman which causes him to take her under his wing and wanna turn her into a murder baby... which Shel definitely doesn’t want so what could she do to keep her dumb sister away from him? 

If they wanted to tell the story of a woman worried her sister is going to grow up cold and ruthless because of the world around her, then tell that story. Show us that story, show us what happens when you agree to kill the man and now her dumb sister genuinely believes that murder is an easy solution to their problems, so when it comes to the woman who escaped, the dumb sister volunteers to kill her and Roman lets her... and you as Shel gotta decide if you wanna fight that by running away or just let it happen. 

I dunno man, but Shel’s story is my least favorite of the bunch because I have no reason to care about either of them, and that’s a waste. 

4. Nate’s a shithead so they should’ve used him more

Well, hello again, Nate... we meet once more here on T5F. 

So yeah, I’ve talked about this crazy bastard on a previous list about characters no one likes, so you’re probably wondering why I’m saying that he should’ve been around more.

That’s the thing, I hate Nate. He’s gross, he’s brutal, and he’s uncomfortable with those crazy eyes of his... but he would’ve made for a fun antagonist in more of 400 Days, as well as in S2. 

Depending on what episode you play first, Nate can either first appear in Wyatt’s story, or Russell’s. In Wyatt’s story, Nate is chasing down him and Eddie after Eddie accidentally killed a guy who was with Nate, and Nate here is chasing them down for some revenge. He eventually finds them, and who ever is left in the car as no choice but to flee, leaving the other behind. 

Nate plays a more active part in Russell’s story, picking him off the highway and chatting with him on the way to the diner/gas station, and y’know how Shel has no personality? Well, I think I know where all the personality went because Nate’s got quite a bit of it. He’s one of the more memorable parts of 400 Days for a reason. He has a weird charisma about him, but then he starts talkin’ gross and almost gets Russell’s face eaten off by a walker and you get the idea that this man isn’t quite right, y’know?

Then we make it to the diner/gas station where they get shot at, and Nate insists on finishing this... as in, let’s go in and shoot whoever is shooting us. They sneak in, and the old man there says Nate is back to finish the job... which isn’t great. Nate acts like he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but then suggests they kill the old couple using a line from the story Russell told her.... y’know, the story that’s kinda triggering for Russell. 

At this point, Russell can either tell Nate off and leave, or he can stay where Nate will kill the couple right in front of him and claim that Russell is his boy and it is not great.

We know that either way, Russell gets away from Nate. We never see him again so he could be dead, turned, or alive. All I can think about is the fact that they created the beginnings of a compelling antagonist who could’ve bled over into S2 at Howe’s or even afterward. Like if we showed up at Howe’s and were locked up, only to find Nate locked up with us. Or maybe instead of Arvo, Nate could’ve been the one who stumbled upon Clementine and Jane and was overpowered and threatened by them... only for him to stalk them and confront them about what happened. 

Either way, there was a missed opportunity to do more with Nate. 

3. Focusing on the wrong things within Bonnie’s story

Alright, everyone’s favorite: Bonnie. 

Bonnie is the only character in 400 Days who actually matters in terms of S2... and even then, her story doesn’t matter too much...which is dumb. 

For me, Bonnie’s story is such a waste... like okay, right from the start they establish that Bonnie is a recovering addict, and I’m intrigued. The idea of an addict surviving in the apocalypse while trying to kick the stuff is interesting as hell.... but the story kinda just glosses over it unless Dee is insulting Bonnie by calling her a junkie. 

No, the story we got was Bonnie breaking up a marriage. Great. 

There’s this dude Leland who has a wife, Dee, but he and Bonnie are getting awfully snug with one another... so that’s real nice. Dee eventually finds them giving each other the look and breaks it up in a passive aggressive way before revealing she found a bag of supplies. This happens to be a bag that she “found” at the diner/gas station where Shel’s group is currently staying. 

An argument breaks out between Leland and Dee with Bonnie in the middle and it’s not compelling at all. You can just sit there and do nothing and it doesn’t matter, they continue to fight until Shel’s group spots them and they gotta run. 

Bonnie ends up shot and falls behind, and we do get a cool scene where she has to make her way through this cornfield without getting caught. I do like that bit, it’s fun. 

But then she gets away, grabs a weapon, and hits someone walking up on her... that someone happened to be Dee. Whoops. Dee calls her a junkie, saying she killed her, and then dies.

Now comes the big choice: Do you tell Leland the truth or lie to cover your ass?

While this is an interesting choice on paper, it doesn’t matter. Leland isn’t with Bonnie in the end no matter what, and Bonnie will always agree to go with Tavia. 

Personally, I wanted the fact that she was a recovering addict to be more front and center. Throw Leland and Dee away, have Bonnie travelling on her own. Have her going through withdrawals, show us her struggle of still being hooked on drugs while surviving in the zombie apocalypse... have her stumble across Shel’s group and from a distance, she sees they have medical supplies. She’s so desperate that she sneaks in at night and steals as much as she can, but gets caught. 

We could still have her running away through the cornfield with the drugs, she can still get shot and everything... but maybe she’s so desperate for them that she ends up killing one of Shel’s group members, and she sees just what she’s willing to do in order to get these drugs, and you can make a choice of abandoning the drugs and quitting, or taking the drugs and running away... and it could actually affect Bonnie in the ending and into S2. 

Plus, her killing one of Shel’s group would help add to the debate in her episode, y’know?

I just... I wanted that story... not what we got. 

2. The past is more interesting than the present

This goes hand in hand with #3, but applies to almost everyone else. 

All of these characters that we get to play as have more interesting backstories that I was more compelled by than what they’re actually going through in their stories. 

The first time we meet Vince, he straight up murders a dude who is pleading for his life, saying he doesn’t even know Vince’s brother. Like... okay, what the hell happened here? What happened to Vince’s brother that made her commit murder like that? 

How about Wyatt and Eddie? They’re running from Nate after Eddie killed the guy he was with. They’re panicking, Eddie is covered in the dude’s blood, Wyatt doesn’t know if Eddie meant to shoot or not. You can tell they’re known each other a long time, too. They’re a couple of stoners who got themselves into hot water. 

Oh and Russell? His story is interesting as hell! He was in a group where the main guy kept going on about how seven if the perfect number for a group, ya can’t break seven, and this group eventually started killing so they could steal, so Russell got away and is now on his way to find his grandmother’s place. 

Once again... Bonnie is a recovering drug addict in the apocalypse. 

The only one without an interesting backstory is Shel... which I guess is fitting. The boring character doesn’t even get a fun backstory, she just exists. 

It’s not a good sign when I’m more interested in the past, y’know? Vince’s I can give a bit of a pass to because he killed that guy before the apocalypse broke out, and his dilemma takes place right at the start, and it’s done pretty well. 

Everyone else though? I already explained Bonnie’s, but what about Russell and his seven group? We could’ve gotten that story of a group that starts out good, the guys gives his philosophy on the dumber seven, Russell meets that one girl... but then things start to grow dark when the group starts to become desperate enough to murder and steal, the guy keeps going on about the number seven so they can’t invite anyone in, and they can’t let anyone go... so Russell has to sneak away or something. 

Wyatt and Eddie? Show ‘em there when Nate and his buddy show up. Give us the tension of “are these guys chill or are they planning something?” when Eddie gets into a fight with the other dude and ends up shooting him, Nate gets pissed, and they gotta flee. Wyatt doesn’t know if Eddie shot him intentionally or not, it’s a whole, thing and they can still hit the cop and do that whole thing, too. 

I just... I think problem is the stories were a bit too compact and short, not giving the characters a chance to develop or the stories enough compel to them. 

1. It doesn’t matter who goes to Howe’s or not and that’s dumb

Sigh..... so yeah, obviously this is #1. 

My biggest problem with 400 Days is that is doesn’t affect much. Even Bonnie’s story doesn’t affect what she does in S2.

As for the rest, if you only got Bonnie at Howe’s, then the rest and their fate’s are unknown. But if you do manage to get everyone to go with Tavia, they are at Howe’s... the problem is, they show up in small cameos that literally do nothing. 

Ya got Wyatt who walks past Clementine like “Dude you better hurry, Bill doesn’t like to wait” like.... what, am I just supposed to get excited and point at him like “oooohhh I know him! I know him! That Wyatt! Hehehehe!” because I didn’t do that...

Or Vince randomly showing up to catch Tavia smoking, or Shel and her dumb sister making a comment about Sarah, it’s just dumb. 

And then Howe’s falls and their fates are left unknown anyway.... so it didn’t matter. 

I’ll just say what most of us were thinking.... Why weren’t they the cabin group? No, seriously, why weren’t the 400 Day’s crew the cabin group? Because it was too hard given the fact that there are so many combos? That’s fair, but if that’s the case, then what was the point of 400 Days?

Did they just want to tell a bunch of smaller stories within this world but never actually planned on using them outside of fun cameos in S2, with the exception of Bonnie? That probably is the case... and I think my disappointment in 400 Days does stem from being in the fandom at the time and getting hyped to see what they would do with these characters, only for it to be this. 

Not only that, but then I started to think about how they could’ve done with game but with the actual cabin group from S2. Luke, Nick, Pete could’ve had their own story dealing with Nick’s mom getting bit after they took in a bite victim. 

Rebecca and Alvin could’ve had a story about their marriage kinda falling apart despite them trying hard, and this could help make her affair with Carver make more sense. 

Carlos and Sarah could have a story that explains Carlos’ over protectiveness and as well as explore Sarah as a character. 

Hell, give Mike a story. 

Give JANE a story about her and Jaime so that her appearing outta no where isn’t jarring, and develops her and the reasons she treats survival the way she does.

There was so much they could’ve done with this idea... and to be honest, if we ever get another game in this series, I would love it in this style but expanded into a season where each episode follows a different character and tells a different story, but in the end they all end up connecting. There is SO MUCH you can do with that!

But alas..... 400 Days for me is full of missed opportunities and I wish it wasn’t. 

---

Honorable Mentions

-Eddie only appeared in Wyatt’s episode and then disappeared until his death in S4.... Eddie’s great, should’ve been around more. -Would’ve been nice if the cancer group from S1 was expanded on, give more context to what the hell happened to Vernon and the boat, y’know? -a bit more development for Tavia would’ve been nice, as well... she just kinda shows up at the end and recruits who she can. 

---

So what are your thoughts on 400 Days? Do you agree with these missed opportunities, or have any to add? Lemme know, it’s always fun to chat.

Have any suggestions for future T5F’s? Feel free to send ‘em in! :D

Next week’s T5F Top 5 Reasons Gabe’s Pretty Great, Y’all Are Just Mean