As you might know, on the dreadful date of October 2026 we celebrate the 10th anniversary of Glenn's death.
The lovely bastard took off with half of my heart and, ten years later, I'm still not over it.
One decade without Glenn is one too many decades. To fix this, I've decided to create what I call 💫The Glenn-verse💫 which will consist of four stories (for now) that serve the purpose of exploring Glenn's character from angles that were never taken or properly exploited in the main series.
The four AUs I've created for this tribute are:
1-> In the midst of early apocalypse chaos, Glenn finds himself completely alone with no idea of where to go or what to do. He finds someone even more helpless than him and soon they become everything the other needs. In a nutshell: accidentally acquired child becomes Glenn's reason to keep going.
2->Glenn joins the Vatos gang after Rick and co. decide not to risk it coming back for him. It only lasts for a day before an unexpected someone finds him, and now the most unlikely duo in the entire series must learn how to survive the new world's system without killing each other. In a nutshell: both Glenn and Merle are left behind in Atlanta. They do what they must to survive, even if that means helping each other, even if they hate it.
3->Based on the video game. Glenn told Lee he wanted to help his friends, who were trapped in Atlanta. He never found his friends but made some new ones. After he and Noah manage to escape the Grady Memorial Hospital, Glenn decides to go back to Macon, to the place where he belonged. In a nutshell: a merge of the show's and videogame's stories through Glenn.
4->The end of the world is not easy for anybody, especially not for young girls. Especially not for young girls who run themselves ragged trying to keep an entire group fed and alive while not being acknowledged at all. In a nutshel: what would've have happened if Glenn had been born a girl.
MAIN GOAL OF THESE STORIES:
1-> To explore Glenn’s capability for platonic love, taking the found-family trope to new heights within twd. Having a helpless person depend on him forces Glenn to mature faster, and reshapes his worldview and some of his actions due to higher responsibility.
2-> To explore how much the people around us can get to us, and the formation of bonds under dire circumstances with people we never believed possible. It also delves into Glenn’s “cyberpunk” side (using videogame analogies to dissociate and excuse cruelty).
3-> To explore Glenn’s influence as an active cohesion mechanism for a different survivor group with a different journey than Rick’s. He's just one person but his precense or absence completely changes the fate of these two communities.
4-> To explore how gender shapes the way we act and the way we’re perceived. Lenna takes on the same role as Glenn but with a different perspective.
BACKSTORIES:
1-> Same as show Glenn. Family in Michigan, sisters, pizza delivery boy, no car stealing mentioned.
2-> Comic book Glenn. Rocky relationship with parents, estranged with his sisters, pizza delivery boy for a while, then car stealer for money and for fun, drowning in debt.
3-> Videogame Glenn. Family from Macon, no mention of his relationship with siblings or parents. Knows tricks to steal cars. Has friends in Atlanta, important enough to him to go looking for them into the deadly city.
4-> Still to be determined. Probably a mix of 1 and 2.
If anyone would like to share their take on Glenn or give any feedback to my ideas (which, even if I have a clear idea of what I want for each of them, are still half-baked), I'll gladly read you in the comments!
Third excerpt for AU 1's fifth chapter. I had lots of ideas for this part since the show never showed us Glenn's pov while being kidnapped with the vatos. Hope you like it.
The man, G, made a gesture towards Glenn. “Get this one to the roof.”
“Wait.” Glenn pleaded as the Latino goons closed in on him. “We can talk about this.”
He got immobilized, got a piece of duct tape slapped over his mouth, a bag put over his head, and was pushed about through hallways and stairs. When the bag was pulled off, Glenn found himself staring at a thirty-feet drop. Down there, he could see Daryl, crossbow at the ready, and Rick, with his shotgun trained on some boy’s back.
In the end, there was no trade made, and Rick left the factory exactly as he’d gotten there.
They took Glenn to another room where G was already waiting for them.
“Sorry about that.” The man said without losing his swagger. “Your cop, you said he was a good man. How well can you attest to that?”
“I—I dunno, I met him yesterday and—” The moment he said that, the atmosphere in the room shifted.
G’s face fell. The others started looking at each other, anxious, and Felipe started pacing.
“Ay Dios…” He turned to G. “We should’ve taken Miguel when we had the chance!”
“Wait. What are you saying?” Glenn jumped up. “You think they’re not coming back?”
“We’ll prepare a rescue for Miguel.” G said, trying to look confident. “Take este to the back.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.” G looked Glenn up and down. “He doesn’t seem like the type to stab an old man.”
That sentence only started making sense once Glenn found out what “the back” was.
The factory had a path that somehow connected with the backyard of a nursery home, which still had residents. Glenn couldn’t believe what he was seeing, it was too surreal, with everything that was happening, so he just sat himself in a corner to wait.
Then, one of the old men started doing weird gestures. It took a moment for Glenn to realize that the man couldn’t breathe. He ran over there, but he had no idea what to do. “Nurse!”
More people started approaching, offering advice that the gasping man was in no state to understand. Finally, Doña Carmen was back with Felipe and, thank God, he had an inhaler.
“What is this?”
“An asthma attack.” It took a moment for Glenn to realize the one to ask was actually Rick.
T-Dog looked especially offended. “We thought you were being eaten by dogs, man!”
Glenn chanced a look at the dogs. Even though it was three vs one, Glenn was fairly sure he would demolish those chihuahuas.
Once the situation with the grandpa was under control, Glenn followed the others to have a “talk” with G. After an explanation, Rick took pity on them and ceded half the guns in his bag to the vatos. And just like that, they were on their way back with no casualties to report.
Second excerpt for AU 1 fifth chapter. The scene in which Rick meets Daryl, but with AU 1's context.
There was a small clear a little ways into the woods. There, a geek was feasting on deer throat. The poor thing also had three arrows sticking out of its flank. The geek realized there was a crowd forming around it, but before it could target any of them, the men at camp took turns beating it with whatever weapon they had found: bats, crowbars, the butt of a shotgun… Finally, Dale hit it in the neck with an axe, and its head came off.
“It’s the first one we’ve had up here. They never come this far up the mountain.” Dale observed the corpse.
Behind them, some rustling among the trees announced another presence. Luckily, it was just Daryl, and he wasn’t too happy that his hunt had been stolen. He then noticed the severed walker head was still gnawing on air. “Come on people, don’t y’all know nuthin’?” He shot an arrow right through the geek’s eye without flinching. “It’s gotta be the brain.”
The first time Rick saw Daryl, he made the same conflicted face he’d made when he first saw Merle, and turned to Glenn for any clues on what to expect. This time though, Glenn was more preoccupied watching Polly happily skip around the severed and speared walker head in her way to the brawny man.
“Daryl! Daryl! How many squirrels this time?”
“Dunno, count ‘hem.”
Daryl dropped his string of roadkill on the girl, and Glenn watched in resignation as she dragged their would-be dinner along the ground, dutifully trailing after the hunter.
I just hope this guy doesn’t try to kill us all once he hears about Merle.
Daryl strode up to camp confidently, like he always did, already calling for his brother. But, this time, no one came to meet him.
“Daryl.” Shane called. “Slow down a bit. I need to talk to you.”
“Abou’ wha’?”
“I think it’s about Merle not coming back from Atlanta.”
The moment Polly opened her mouth, everyone froze. Then, Daryl pointed at her while staring hard at Shane, and asked before his face was flooded with anger.
“What did she say?”
Glenn watched with growing anxiety as Daryl unsheathed his knife and threw himself at Rick. There went their hopes for a non-violent discussion.
Thankfully, the police academy trained its boys well and soon Shane had Daryl in a chokehold.
Polly clung to Glenn, which meant she wasn’t running over there to kick Shane in the shins, but she still looked like she wanted to protest. “Are they hurting him!?”
“Uh…” Unlike Merle getting his shit rocked, this was honestly a bit painful to watch.
Finally, the fight seemed to drain out of Daryl and he decided to go down to Atlanta alone to get Merle. And then came the revelation: Rick was going back too. Only a day after finding the family he’d thought he’d lost, one day after finding a group and shelter, and barely knowing anything about Merle Dixon—only bad things he knew, by the way—, Rick was going back. And what was Glenn supposed to do, when Rick turned to him and asked he came along? Not help? Send both Rick and Daryl to Hell without a guide and stay at camp taking a nap? It was very tempting, but in the end, he ended up in the van with Rick, Daryl and T-Dog—who decided to join them too—on their way to Atlanta.
Finally reached the part where AU1 properly mixes with canon.
I can't believe I managed to fit 3 episodes of twd in under 6k words.
Excerpt under the cut.
For context, this is a canon piece of episode two, while they're trapped inside the department store, but retold from Glenn's perspective (which, in my opinion, is very funny)
Glenn really didn’t like the subbasement—the place was poorly lit and the air felt stale—but there was actually a drainage tunnel they might be able to escape through. Although they’d have to check it first.
All heads turned to Glenn.
“You won’t be alone.” Andrea tried to be reassuring. “We’ll be right behind you—”
“No.” Glenn cut her off, more sharply than intended, and forced himself to explain. “If you want me to go down this gnarly hole, fine. But only if we do it my way. If I have to get out quick, I don't want you all jammed up behind me getting me killed.”
The others seemed to agree that it would be very unfortunate, and nodded for him to keep explaining the plan. Plan that Glenn had to make up as he spoke, since he didn’t have any experience in sewer-exploring.
“I’ll take only one person.” His eyes met Rick’s for a fraction of a second and Glenn knew he was about to offer. But that wouldn’t do. “I’ve seen you shoot. I’d feel better if you were in the store watching those doors” Then he looked at Andrea. “You’ve got the only other gun, so you should go with him.” He decided to take Morales and have Jacqui stand watch in case something happened. Rick patted his back in approval and everyone got ready.
Come on, Glenn. This is like the levels in Portal. Next test chamber is “Gnarly Hole”. Just solve the puzzle and find the exit. You’ve done it a thousand times.
The moment he stepped away from the ladder, he heard squeaking. On top of being tight, dark, and wet, the place also had rats. This is officially the worst run ever. Flashlight in hand, Morales and Glenn advanced until they came across a barred screen.
Glenn pointed his flashlight towards where he’d heard a wet, squelching sound and promptly recoiled in disgust. There was a geek knelt down gorging on a rat. It tried to grab them. Luckily, it was on the other side of the bar screen.
That was the end of the Gnarly Hole expedition, another dead end. The walkers had managed to push their way through, and now the group was down to one set of glass doors between them and a terrible death. Fortunately, Rick was full of ideas. Unfortunately, Glenn couldn’t say he liked them.
They went out into the alley and dragged one of the dead geeks inside.
They all stood in a circle around the rotten body, dressed in plain coats and those big cleaning gloves. They could have passed for a cringeworthy cult, or a group of stupid kids about to do a lab experiment that was—very clearly—going to go wrong.
Rick, clearly feeling guilty for the atrocity he was about to commit, searched the man’s pockets and took out his wallet.
He read the man’s name aloud, where he was from, the year he was born, counted the dollars in his wallet and showed them a picture he kept of a girl, Rachel.
“One more thing.” Glenn interrupted. “He is an organ donor.” Is and not Was because the guy may not have been so before turning, but he sure was gonna be now.
Next thing they knew, they were chopping up Dead Guy. Not only was it the goriest thing Glenn had seen in his entire life, the sound the bones and tendons made when they broke was absolutely chilling, and the smell of putrid meat being torn open hit him like a truck.
He needed to lean against something. “Oh, I’m so gonna hurl.”
Glenn managed to keep his composure until the others started covering him and Rick in someone’s guts. Worst part was, Glenn couldn’t remember volunteering to any of this, or being asked even.
“This is so bad.” He cried.
“Think about something else, like puppies and kittens.” Rick attempted to console him.
T-Dog followed up with “Dead puppies and kittens.”
Glenn hurled. He just had to. And he was wishing very bad things on T-Dog now.
Now that they smelt like the dead (and looked a little dead too—Glenn was white as a ghost), they were good to go.
Final scene for AU 1 fourth chapter, The Good The Bad And The Dumbass. The dumbass is introduced.
Excerpt under the cut:
There was an abandoned tank by the intersection, right next to where the geeks enjoyed what looked like a horse. Some guy stuck his head out from inside the tank and shut the hatch close when geeks started climbing the vehicle.
He just got himself stuck. Glenn recognized. His mind went back to standing on top of a dumpster surrounded by walkers or being alone on that roof as it poured.
It’s only a matter of time. But there’s nothing I can do for him.
His attention went back to the radio, and then, without being able to stop it, back to the tank.
There’s gotta be one in that tank. He fiddled with the dial, trying to remember the frequency it was set on when he’d found it. He most likely wouldn’t be able to connect, but it could hurt nobody to try.
“Hey, you, dumbass. Yeah, you in the tank. Cozy in there?” He got amused at his own joke, but his smile faded the longer he didn’t get an answer. “Are you alive in there?”
Glenn caught himself sighing in relief when he heard the desperate “Hello?”
“There you are. Had me wondering.”
“Where are you? Outside? Can you see me?”
“I can see you. You’re surrounded by walkers, that’s the bad news.”
“There’s good news?”
“Could be dinosaurs.” The answer came as much out of left turn for Glenn as it did for Tank Guy, who paused before sending a very confused “what?”
“If you were surrounded by dinos, you’d stand no chance. As bad as it sounds, they’re only stiff bodies without half a neuron. You’re a person in full capacity which means, if you do it right, you have a shot. Your shot is an alley up the street, I’ll meet you there.”
“That’s it? Thought I was surrounded.”
“Oh, and you are. It’s really bad on the horse’s side, but the other street’s less crowded.” Less crowded in comparison, it wasn’t clear by any means. “Got ammo?”
“In a duffel bag I dropped. And guns. Could I get to it?”
Glenn checked quickly. “Forget the bag, it’s not an option. What do you have on you?”
“Hang on.”
The radio crackled and the voice was back. “I’ve got a Beretta with one clip. Fifteen rounds.”
“Make them count. There’s one on top of the tank. Jump to the right side and keep going that direction. The alley is only 50 yards away.”
“Hey, what’s your name?”
“Have you been listening? You’re running outta time.”
Shortly after cutting the comm, Glenn saw the guy climb out of the tank’s hatch and strike a walker in the jaw with an entrenching shovel. Glenn had to get going too. He rushed to the fire escape and gulped —he didn’t remember the drop to be so far down. He steeled himself and got down as fast as humanly possible, in part because the metal was burning his hands. Once on the ground, he rushed to the alley entrance only to be met with a gun barrel on his face.
“Whoa! Not dead!” The man lowered his gun. “Come on!”
Glenn sprinted back towards the stairs. He had to make sure Tank Guy was following since he wouldn’t stop turning around to shoot. He wouldn’t stop the herd like that, and Glenn was already dizzy with adrenaline. He’d never had so many geeks after him.
“What are you doing!? Come on!” He could taste the desperation in his voice and, this time, he didn’t care for the scorching metal as he climbed up the ladder. Finally, they reached the half-way landing and stopped, panting. Out of danger for now, Glenn took a good look at Tank Guy. The first thing to get his attention was that he was dressed head to toe like a policeman.
“Nice moves there, Clint Eastwood. You the new sheriff? Come riding in to clean up the town?”
“It wasn’t my intention.”
“Whatever, yeehaw.” Maybe Glenn was being a little mean, but he had just stuck his neck out for this stranger, so he could take it. “You’re still a dumbass.”
Second part of The Good The Bad And The Dumbass, fourth chapter of AU 1. "The Bad" is introduced.
Excerpt under the cut:
If there was something kids liked more than toys, that was good stories.
“ —and then it tried to grab me, but I ducked out of the way. He got offended and called his friends, and I had to run in between their arms like this!” The kids gasped as Glenn demonstrated how he twisted himself out of the walkers’ reach. As he performed, he noticed the mothers on the other shore of the pond, looking unimpressed. “B–but, you should never try this yourselves! Stay always at least five feet away from the infected, and don’t go anywhere without supervision!”
The boys groaned. “You just made it boring!”
As the kids scampered away, Glenn heard a booming laugh behind him. Taking a deep breath, he mentally prepared himself.
“And you call ‘at a story? If the dead haven’t got yer ass yet ‘s only ‘cause yellow meat tastes like shit. Anyone with a pair ‘a eyes ‘n legs can do whatcha do.” Merle commented as if it were the weather, lounging on the rocks with his bag of substances propped nearby.
Glenn rolled his eyes. He was used to this by now. “You should go, then. Don’t let “yellow meat” touch your precious beer, even if that’s the only reason you have any.” He muttered under his breath. When he chanced a look at Merle, the man was already staring him down without an ounce of his typical messed up amusement.
Shit.
Merle got up and walked up to Glenn, all gait and aggressive confidence. Glenn tried to stay firm, but stumbled back the moment Merle put a hand on his shoulder and pushed.
“Whatcha say, huh? Think I can’t go in there ‘n come back with a haul better than yers?”
They had a couple of spectators now.
“Listen here, city boy.” Merle lowered himself to Glenn’s level and slowed his voice down, as if talking to a kid. “Anything yer scrawny ass can do, I can do better.”
“What’s goin’ on here?”
Glenn got his personal space back as Merle straightened up and turned towards Shane.
“Hey, Cop Guy!” Merle grinned. “Kid says the city’s actually easy, ‘n tha’ we a bunch’a pussies who need their shit brought for them.”
Glenn gawped, then quickly stuttered. “Tha—that’s not—”
“If it’s so easy, how come we’ve only been getting one bag’a stuff and not more?” Merle continued. “Tell ya wha’! Next time I’ll go with ‘im, t’see if he’s been sleepin’ on t’job.”
Glenn’s stomach dropped. He and Merle alone in Atlanta?
He’s planning to kill me, isn’t he?
“Actually,” Andrea appeared from behind the clothes rack. “I’ve been meaning to go into Atlanta myself to look for more specific stuff.”
“And Glenn’s been complaining it’s getting harder to find stores with good stuff.” Jacqui added. “I worked for the zoning department in the city. Maybe I can help?”
“If y’all going, then I’m going too.” T-Dog joined the circle that was starting to form around Glenn. “That way we can carry more things and won’t need to be sending people down there every two days.”
“It would be dangerous to have so many people in Atlanta at the same time.” Morales commented. “The more eyes watching your back, the better. Count me in.”
In the end, Shane conceded to the operation, warning them to not take any unnecessary risks since the group couldn't put any more people on the line if things went sideways. Glenn understood that as “If you fuck it up, no one’s coming.”
Some part of him wanted to be bitter and question how come he hadn’t seen any of this enthusiasm for helping him in his runs before. The other part accepted that this was the best moment possible — if Merle tried anything funny now, Glenn would have witnesses.
And that’s how it was decided that the supply party would make its first incursion into Atlanta in two days time.
In the end, I couldn't stick to my 5-chapter structure for the first part of AU 1, so I decided to add another chapter.
The Good, The Bad and The Dumbass
Excerpt under the cut, featuring part of Glenn's first official run into town after joining the quarry camp:
Glenn peeked through a knothole in the fence. He smelt the decomposing body before he saw it, even though he knew exactly where it was. He had to close his eyes and take a deep breath into the elbow of his clothes to calm his stomach.
He scanned the rest of the street. It appeared as if no other geeks had wandered into the area. Luck was on Glenn’s side this far.
Then, he got a bit of a running start and hauled himself over the fence. The jump put some strain on his abdomen, and he used the fact that he was alone to stop and breathe.
You just got here. There’s no rush yet.
He walked himself back to the apartment calmly —as much as one can be in such an environment— and silently. The streets were uncannily empty, making Glenn overthink every step. Not seeing any geeks, Glenn realized, was just as creepy as seeing a bunch of them. It might be worse. Because he knew there were geeks in the neighborhood, and they must be somewhere, he just didn’t know where. And it was making his skin crawl.
Somehow, he managed to reach the old metal door without using his distraction technique. Glenn pushed himself inside, not wanting to open the door fully, and scanned his surroundings. The hall was as dark and as empty as he remembered it, and his labored breathing started to ease out.
“That was…easy?”
He entered the apartment using the keys he still had in his pocket and filled his backpack with the food he left behind last time. Then, he took himself to the roof and scanned the area. Everything was eerily still and silent, like time itself had frozen. In a way, Glenn supposes, it did.
He’d had the opportunity to properly check his bruises in the bathroom. They had already taken the yellow, greenish coloring of the final stages of healing. But that improvement ended up being a poison apple. Getting his strength back made Glenn confident. And then greedy.
I did tell the girls I’d grab things for them. And T-Dog’s neck hurts. And we need more medicine.
Before he could think harder about it, he took his small map out and added the streets he believed he’d taken after leaving the refugee center. If he wasn’t wrong, the panel he’d thrown Polly’s little pink ball against had been a Walgreens. If he could find it again, he could get the things they needed.
With a destination already in mind, Glenn went back to the streets and got moving.
It didn’t take too long before a certain white van came into view, the one he’d tried unlocking the night of the bombing with no luck. Further down the street was the liquor store. He could picture the Honda CB parked on the side-walk; screwdriver, rucksack, tent and radio still strewn around where Glenn had struggled against the Dixons. He couldn’t believe he was living with those guys now.
He picked up the bag and checked its contents. Almost-full water bottle, clothes for two people, saved MREs, and a shake-to-charge flashlight.
A pang of pity hit Glenn in the chest. That man had everything to take his kid away from this place and take care of her. If only he’d had better luck…
As he picked up the radio, Glenn got an idea. He bet it would surprise the group if he could connect with the CB at camp. As he moved the dial, some frequency sounds came through, but no one answered when Glenn spoke.
Disappointed, he turned it off. The static sounds went away, but there was a hum in the air, one that Glenn had thought belonged to the radio.
His blood went cold the moment he lifted his gaze.
I imagine you guys are normal people who don't sit around for hours theorizing on how Glenn might have gotten his job as runner for the quarry camp.
But I do.
In my head, it goes kinda like this:
“Man, Dale,” T-Dog called as he cracked his neck for the thousandth time. “Your RV’s really nice. But if I gotta sleep on that floor one more night, I might set it on fire.”
As they argued, Jacqui discretely approached the girls.
“You don’t happen to have any ‘products’, right?”
Andrea sighed in shared concern. “We are really low. I don’t know what we’ll do once we run out.”
“Um,” both their heads snapped towards Glenn, realizing he’d been listening. He looked at his feet, embarrassed. “I can get you more products if you need them.”
Jacqui lifted an eyebrow at him. “You have feminine hygiene products?”
“No! But there should be in Atlanta.”
A sudden stillness fell over the campfire, everyone staring at Glenn in silence.
Andrea was the first to huff. “Right. If only stores were still open.”
“We can just get in and take them.”
There was another silence, a more pointed one. Shane stood over him, arms in jar position, assessing him the same way he had when they’d first met.
“You saying, you see going into that dead city, grabbing the stuff, and coming back as a possibility?”
Glenn knew how crazy it sounded, but he didn’t like the way Shane said it. As if Glenn were crazy.
“I mean, I’ve done it before and I’m alive, so…”
Shane kept staring at him hard. Then, a grin slowly stretched itself across Shane’s face, giving him a bit of a condescending look.
“You’ve got it man.” He clapped Glenn on the shoulder a little too strongly. “Have everything ready for tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow!?” Glenn choked on air. “Wait, do I still have to take night watch?”
“Of course. We’ll be one man short, we need people rested.”
The next day, Glenn felt as if he had a taped-on sign on his back.
Everyone turned to watch him everywhere he went, their pitying eyes inescapable. Some — Glenn would swear — almost told him not to go, but then they remembered they were out of food and bottled water and toilet paper, and they were telling him to be careful out there instead.
Dale and Jim prepared an SUV for him to drive down to the city and handed him some pliers.
“In case you need them.” Dale said as he patted his arm in support. “We’re all very proud of you.”
Glenn huffed. “Well, it kinda feels like you guys think I’ll be driving to my death.”
Moving on to AU1 (I really need a better name) chapter 3, Dysfunctional Family.
Glenn barely survived going up the hill on foot under the scorching Georgian sun. Now he wakes up in an unfamiliar place.
Excerpt under the cut.
The softest breeze caressed his cheek for a second, then it stopped. There was a long, tired sigh. Then the breeze was back with heaviness, sending short bursts of air towards his face.
He tried to stir, but his stiff body wouldn’t allow much movement.
The soft breeze paused again. More suddenly this time, deliberate.
And then, a small, hopeful “Glenn?”
He let out a miserable groan and got a light shoulder shake in response.
“Wake up!”
“ ‘M try’n’ ”
“About time — you’ve been asleep for hours! My wrist was starting to hurt.”
Glenn peeled his eyes open and forced himself onto his elbows.
“Where am I?” Glenn’s voice was raspy, his throat dry and rough.
“Dale’s RV.”
Who’s Dale?
He forgot to ask. The moment his eyes managed to focus, they sent an image to his brain that halted yet again his thought process.
A youthful, kid-like face looked back at him and beamed. She was wearing a hat, a red hat. Glenn’s own hat. He’d already forgotten all about it, but now that he thought of it, he’d given that hat to Polly.
But it couldn’t be, right? Could he be having another hallucination? A dream perhaps? The stabbing pain in his abdomen felt too intense to be a dream.
“Polly? How–” He grunted as he got himself upright. “How did you get here?”
“We got stuck in a jam trying to leave the city, then Merle noticed some cars going up the hill and told Daryl to follow them. And now we’re here.”
The names were somehow familiar, but the memories felt kinda fuzzy. Still, those two guys Glenn had briefly met and a forgotten hat wouldn’t randomly appear in a dream-like delusion, right? He wasn’t seeing things.
He stared intensely at Polly, waiting for her to disappear.
She noticed his staring and smiled up at him.
“Thanks for coming back.”
Glenn felt like a fraud.
His intention had never been to “come back”. The idea that Polly was still within reach, that reunion was a possibility, hadn’t even crossed his mind. Maybe it should have.
“I’m glad I found you.”
The moment was interrupted by someone entering the RV. The older man paused when he saw them. Then, slowly, his surprised expression turned into relief.
“Well, it’s good to see you awake!”
“Thanks, um, for letting me rest here. Are you Dale?”
“That’s me, and this is my RV. You did look like you needed a nap.”
“Right. Thanks, again. Um, are we alone?”
The man chuckled good-heartedly, “Not at all! You should come meet the others.”
So, I'm working on this project called the Glenn-verse which is basically 4 AUs exploring the character focusing on a different aspect of his personality enhanced by the turn of events of each AU.
My current problem is: when should I begin to officially post the story, like, the full chapters?
Typically, when a character inspires me enough to write an entire fic dedicated to them, I post it on their birthday (because that's when you would give a gift to a person). And that was the idea for this project too.
But I've been thinkig about it and 2026 is a very special year indeed because this October will mark an entire decade since Glenn died in the show.
I've been thinking about what this project means to me, and what Glenn means to me, writing his story from the beginning four times with a different focus each time, but always trying not to lose his essence. From my pov, the pov of an author whose head is 24/7 inside her story, it's like bringing him back. I know an AU will never be canon, but there's still a little of him there. And because of this story, Glenn will never be dead to me, not fully. So maybe I should post it on the same day he left off 10 years ago.
But what do you guys think it's more symbolic, posting it on his birthday (technically Steven's birthday, since Glenn doesn't have an official one) December 21st, or on his deathversary (the date season 7 came out) October 23rd?
I wanna post this story so bad, but at the same time I wanna wait till December.
Little excerpt from AU1 chapter 2 under the cut.
For context, Glenn rescued a child in Atlanta but was left behind in there during the burning of the city. Now he's trying to make his way alone to the next safe place he can think of: the quarry.
So far, Glenn hated his only job.
He was panting like a dog. He’d stopped at the base of the hill to get one of the water bottles out of the bag and he’d already gone through it, yet he felt dehydrated. He stepped on something that snapped and he flinched. He’d been doing that a lot.
Every step was a battle. His legs were shaky and cramping. His head had been pounding for a while now and he could only think about the next step leading him to the quarry — and somehow, in his tired mind, that would fix all his problems —, or leading him to his death — if you think about it, that’d also end his problems.
“There’s always some problem with you.”
Glenn froze. That couldn’t have been the wind. He turned slowly to the tree to his right, as if he’d been the one to whisper the subliminal message to him. Then snorted at himself without any humor.
“As if.”
He dragged himself further up the road. The blazing sun and his terrible headache were making it hard to see properly.
“Do you even know where you’re going?”
Glenn ignored it and staggered forwards. It was just the heat.
“I’ve got a plan.” He slurred unintelligibly at no one.
His head felt like a boiling pot while beads of cold sweat coated the rest of his body. The uneven temperature was sending chills down his nervous system, resulting in his muscles spasming involuntarily from time to time. He needed to get to that quarry now.
“And what will that solve?” His father asked, stern. “You’re no good on your own, but you’re so stubborn.”
“Shut up.” Glenn tried to say, but it became a garbled sound that stuck at the back of his throat.
“You failed that little girl.”
Glenn had no answer for that. There were now color blotches in his vision and everything was slightly tilted. Then he realized he was tilted and on the ground.
It was really hard to breathe and his mind was ready to switch off.
“Glenn!”
He heard someone, high-pitched and scared, call his name. He tried to cling to that voice. He couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore, so instead of trying to see what was happening, he focused all his energy on his breathing. Even with his best efforts, he still drifted in and out of consciousness, catching only bits of distorted speech, as if his ears were under water.
“ — dead?” “Polly, — from him. Dale.” “Is — bite?” “N–, — were my –” “ – know –?” “ — ‘bout ‘im is — bike-stealer.”
As the voices argued, hands grabbed at Glenn and poked his ribs. He wanted to push away from them, but his body wasn’t responding.
“Stop, – upset—”
Yes. Please. Stop.
“There – no bites, he’s — pulse, –” “Please, —” “ – kid – like — out of Hell, – can’t leave — doorstep — this far.” “Fine.”
More hands grabbed at Glenn. They were trying to get him upright, but the movement made everything spin and, just like that, Glenn was out.
Chapter 2 of AU 1 is here! Btw I'd love it if you could help me name the story, I'm tired of referring to it as "AU 1" but, smh, I can't come up with good names. If you have any ideas I'd love to see them in the comments.
Excerpt:
The concrete was hard under him, and the sky dark as ink. Not a single star for Glenn to focus on, just infinite void. He’d never felt so fascinated by his own existence. In the distance, the moaning of the dead became unsettling white noise, mixed with some sort of mechanical hum. The hum became rumble and, above him, the dark figure of a helicopter mixed the obscurity of the night with its blades.
Glenn allowed himself a second to blink the image in before jumping up. He gasped at the acute pain in his sides that took his breath, but didn’t give up. Holding his middle section with one arm, he swung the other wildly.
“Hey! Over here! HEY!”
If that was an evac helicopter, the damned thing was way too late. But Glenn couldn’t just let it pass him by.
“Over-” There was a displacement in the air, like it’d been punched away. A few kilometers from him, an ominous dark ball plonked on a building, and then, the entire thing went up in flames. Glenn’s eyes opened wide. His jaw fell slack, his cry for help forgotten — useless.
He felt a pressure on his chest, constraining his already strained lungs, and took a couple of instinctive steps backwards. He turned around and watched in abject horror as several more buildings were set on fire in the distance. It gave Atlanta’s sky line a glow Glenn could only associate with the crackling of a fireplace, but this experience wasn’t comforting at all. He lowered himself down, half out of it. A potent chill ran down his spine and shook him whole.
Glenn made a tight ball of himself, wishing to be as small as possible, to disappear. But since he wouldn’t disappear, all he could do was hope against hope that this building too wouldn’t become a giant torch by the end of the night.
I'd love to share it right now, but I want the first official posting of the story to be on Glenn's birthday. Still, I wanted to show you a little excerpt from the chapter. The moment Glenn meets our little oc co-protagonist, to be precise. A zombie meet cute.
It begins after the cut.
He was trying to get a better view of the Ford Focus. The front was completely smashed in a light post. The windshield was cracked and splattered in blood. Glenn felt bad but, if this person was heavily injured, he wouldn’t be able to save them. He swallowed his guilt and mentally apologized one last time before moving on. But that’s when he saw it. A “baby on board” sticker.
Glenn’s heart plummeted.
It didn’t mean there was a baby in the car now, right?
But what if.
He peered through a side window and found no baby — unless you counted a ten-year-old as one. He carefully opened the door and the girl, who’d been rocking herself in place, froze. She didn’t even look up.
“Hey…” Glenn tried, voice as soothing as he could muster. “I’m not one of them. Let’s get you out of here, okay?” Glenn unbuckled her seatbelt and helped her out of the car. Their eyes met for the first time; hers were full of fear and tears.
“I want my dad,” she sobbed. The man was completely limp and unresponsive. There were shards of the windshield sticking out of his chest and — yeah, no, he was dead.
The geeks wouldn't take much longer to move on and find them, and Glenn didn't know how to explain the situation without further traumatizing the child. He lifted her from her armpits, pulled her to his chest, and took off, feeling her muffled cries on his shoulder as he ran.
He was about to cut through an alley when a lurker cut them off from the other side.
Glenn dived down and hid behind one of those big dumpsters with small wheels.
“Did they see us?” The girl asked, voice wet and shaky.
“Don’t think so.” Glenn checked the other side to make sure they weren’t getting surrounded, then returned his attention to the girl. She was trembling, nose runny and eyes red. Glenn felt awful for her.
“I’m Glenn,” he said, voice as calm and gentle as possible. “What’s your name?”
The girl sniffled and croaked: “Polly.”
“You’re being very brave, Polly. We’ll get out of this together, we’ll look out for each other.” She nodded minutely, staring unseeingly at the asphalt.
Glenn couldn’t work on cheering her up while making sure they weren’t found out and thinking of the route they should take, but he also didn’t want for her to stew in her misery. So he decided to give her something to distract her.
“Hey, Polly, do you like hats?” She shrugged as he took his baseball cap off and offered it to her. “I think this one would look good on you.”
“I had a friend with a similar hat.” Polly commented and Glenn made a noise of interest to keep her going. He didn’t think they could be heard. He’d been keeping his voice very low and Polly was so scared of making any noise that Glenn had to strain his ears to hear her at all.
“He was the guy who brings pizza home? I never spoke to him but he always stopped to say hi.”
Suddenly, vivid memories flooded Glenn’s mind. An address he’d been delivering to for little more than a year. The couch was in clear view from the doorway, a little girl hid behind it, watching him. Glenn gave a tentative smile and a wave of his hand. The kid returned the wave. By the third time Glenn delivered to that house, it had become their ritual.
This post is about AU 1. Link to the og post in case you don't know what I'm talking about.
Do you think I'll be able to cover everything that happens to Glenn before he meets Rick plus the canon events of season 1, in only 5 chapters? I do, for now at least.
This is what I have:
"Goodbye, Old Life" -> Introductory chapter. It covers Operation Cobalt and Glenn attempting to leave Atlanta with our secondary MC.
"When The Living Come Knocking" -> Yes, I stole it from that one chapter in season 3. But I'll be changing all the canon titles, so they won't overlap. Glenn is afraid of a second bombing so he prepares to settle himself in a nearby quarry.
"Dysfunctional Family" -> Shane insists that, even if they haven't known each other for long, they're all like a family now - working like a single unit, doing their best to protect one another. Glenn soon finds out it's not quite like that.
"The Ones Who Come Back" -> Yes, another reference to twd meta. Chapter full of "come backs". Rick comes back, they go back for Merle, then for Glenn, and then they come back to camp...a little too late.
"The Clock Is Ticking" -> You know there's a literal clock in S1 last episode, but there are also quite a few metaphorical ones.
So far, only Goodbye Old Life and When The Living Come Knocking and Dysfunctional Family have been written, but I hope the structure is interesting!
Alright folks. This project wasn't born for shipping. But Glenn is Glenn, and he deserves love. So shipping time it is. Just to be clear, this is concerning AU4 fem!Glenn, not the others.
I try to get as little help from AI as possible, but I caved, and this is what I got:
Hi, chat. I need help with a twd project. It basically studies how Glenn would react to the environment of twd if he'd been a woman. One aspect to take into account when analysing the way people act around other people are preferences. For young people specially. Someone who's open to love, or is even actively looking for it, might show slight behavioral shifts when they're around someone considered "romanceable" or with someone who's "not an option" from the get go. Glenn is straight (or so I believe since he never said otherwise), so it makes sense for his female counterpart to be straight too, right? It wouldn't count as altering his preferences since those are his preferences, just inverted, no? And since we're here, who would become "romanceable" from a young girl's point of view? Basically, I want to give her a crush like the cute-awkward thing he had with Maggie right at the beginning, but I'm struggling to find a target.
Tbh, I kinda agree with the damn machine that Daryl is the best option, but I wanted to hear your opinion.
I was thinking about AU 3, the one in which Glenn is supposed to go back to the motel crew, and I've gotten an existential crisis.
Link to the original post for more context
And the matter is: does Glenn return to Macon alone?
My first idea was for Glenn to meet Noah during his stay at the hospital and they bond so we can have this cute "young adult trying to keep it together & teen who thinks the other is cool" dynamic.
I rewatched the first half of season 5 in case I was forgetting anything and Noah mentions how he's been at the hospital for almost a year by the time he meets Beth. That means, if Glenn leaves at the 3 months mark, they'd miss each other by a few months. And if I make Glenn stay longer, he'll miss Lee and the others leaving the motel.
So, would anyone be fatally wounded if I warped the timeline a bit for the sake of found siblings?
On the other matter: what happens to the quarry camp without Glenn?
No one would want to take on Glenn's job alone, so they'd send a group. Thanks to canon, we know who that group would consist of. They'd be doing more or less alright until the faithful day in which Rick shows up, starts firing rounds the next street over, and sets a ton of walkers on the group.
They'd probs be too busy cursing their bad luck to go across roofs and check on who's making the noise. Result: no one sees the idiot stuck in a tank -> Rick dies -> no plan to get the group out of the department store. Now there's two options. 1) Miracle. 2) They're cooked.
You're free to leave your miracles in the comments, but for the time being let's go with: option 2) they're cooked.
Back at camp, Shane doesn't do shit to help them and the others, even tho they wanna go get them, are too scared. Except for Daryl, of course. Two options:
1) Atlanta isn't exactly a small city, and it's not like the group left a trail of bread crumbs he can follow. Realizing his chances of finding Merle are rather slim, Daryl goes back to the quarry hoping that his brother will ultimately make his way back. The only thing making its way to the quarry is a group of walkers. After the attack, Shane decides it's time to fly and try for Fort Benning.
2) Daryl doesn't give up. He doesn't find Merle, but he kicks up enough dust that the hospital crew eventually finds him. He's taken by force to the Grady, where Glenn recognizes him and they eventually make their escape together. Now brotherless and campless -the other's still went Fort Benning-, Daryl decides to go to Macon too since he has nowhere else to go and nothing better to do.
If you think Daryl's insertion in the story seems unnecessary or forced, do not hold back at all and tell me. The main reason why I want Daryl in the story is to shock Glenn by finding someone he recognizes but barely knows in a semi-hostile environment he's been navigating alone for a while, and see how his morals would clash with early-Daryl's in that situation, even tho they have the same goal: to leave the hospital. The other reason is that I really like Daryl's development and would like to experiment with him being around a new group, even tho the story will be told from Glenn's perspective and Glenn's development will still be tha main point of focus.
Final decision:
Glenn's stay at the hospital doesn't overlap with Noah's. Daryl isn't abducted. -> Glenn leaves Atlanta alone.
Glenn meets Noah at the hospital. Daryl isn't abducted. -> Glenn leaves Atlanta with Noah.
Glenn's stay at the hospital doesn't overlap with Noah's. Daryl is abducted while looking for Merle. He and Glenn form a reluctant alliance. -> Glenn leaves Atlanta with Daryl.
Glenn meets Noah at the hospital. Daryl is abducted while looking for Merle. He and Glenn form a reluctant alliance -> Glenn leaves Atlanta with Noah and Daryl.
(Season 0 is how I refer to the events previous to Rick waking up in the hospital)
Link to the original Glenn-verse post
It's only a timeline, and I'll be working on the other AUs for a bit, so if you see anything amiss or would like to add something, I'll be reading the comments before I start turning it into a proper story.
-Glenn is staying at Atlanta's refugee center. So are Polly and her dad.
-Merle reaches Atlanta chasing a guy from his motorbike group who stole his stash (this is loosely based on the video game Survival Instinct. Won’t take it as canon, only a few ideas)
-Operation Cobalt begins: the military pull away. Polly’s dad tries to escape the city by car but has an accident when he avoids crashing into a biker. (That was Merle, but no one will ever know that)
-Merle finds the bar his old pal is hiding at and confronts him. At the same time, Daryl goes into Atlanta looking for Merle. Glenn doesn’t have a car so while everyone grabs their vehicle and jams the I85, Glenn has to run.
-Daryl finds the crime scene (Merle obviously killed that guy) and confronts his brother about making everything worse instead of staying put. Simultaneously, Glenn rescues Polly from the crash.
-After a while of running, Glenn and Polly come across Merle’s bike outside the bar and Glenn tries to hotwire it like he’s seen in video games (in this AU he’s never done it before)
-Before Glenn can take the bike, the Dixons leave the bar and, upon seeing him, Merle attacks.
-Walkers are approaching and Glenn is weakened by Merle’s beating. He begs Daryl to take Polly.
-Merle, Daryl and Polly escape Atlanta and reach the I85 jam.
-Glenn manages to outrun the horde and find safety on a roof.
-The military drop Napalm on Atlanta.
-Merle sees a small group driving towards the quarry. He tells Daryl to follow them so they can drop Polly with them and take their stuff while they sleep. (In season 2 it’s revealed that’s the reason why Merle and Daryl joined the group originally. Dunno why they stayed tho)
-In the morning, Glenn gets himself some rest and supplies.
-The next day, he goes up to the roof to scan his surroundings and spots the quarry in the distance. Not wanting to stay in Atlanta, he makes his way there.
-Glenn reaches the quarry and reunites with Polly.
-Glenn shares his story over the campfire at dinner. For his “resourcefulness” Shane appoints him as supply runner.
-Not everything is sunshine at camp, the group demands more things from Glenn and he has to take more risks to get everything they ask.
-Once, Glenn takes so long to come back that they thought they had lost him. It's decided that, next time, a group will go with Glenn.
And we all know what'll happen to that group👀 We don't really get much info on how Glenn survived previous to meeting Rick so, does this sound good? Btw, the parts talking about the Dixons or what Polly's doing while Glenn isn't present won't be in the story. I just added them for context.
