Zombie Number 228

Basic Information

• Name: Fredrick
• Team: Atlanta Nordic Walkers
• Position/Role: The Relentless Pacer
• Nickname(s): Zombie Number 228

Quotes

"If you keep going long enough, eventually even the horizon gives up and lets you pass."

"Stopping is merely a suggestion, and I’ve decided to ignore it entirely."

Impression

Zombie Number 228 doesn't so much make an impression as he leaves a gentle but consistent trail behind, rather like a snail that's tired of being a snail and decided it would like a go at marathon running instead. His presence is that of someone who’s already walked the length of life twice and hasn’t quite realized he can stop anytime. He’s got an aura of casual inevitability—like death, taxes, or the way bread always lands butter-side down. People who meet him feel both a strange compulsion to keep moving forward and an inexplicable craving for a long nap. When he stares into the distance, you can almost hear the middle distance sigh and wave back in resigned familiarity.

Physical Description

• Height: 185 cm
• Weight: Lean, but as stubborn as a particularly unyielding lamppost
• Distinctive Features & Attire: Zombie Number 228 possesses a complexion somewhere between "morning fog" and "the kind of milk you probably shouldn’t drink." His eyes are perpetually locked into a state of looking through you, beyond you, and into a void that may or may not be considering calling back. His attire consists of old marathon t-shirts that have clearly run more marathons than most people have had hot dinners, paired with shorts that have lost their original color to the point where even they seem confused about their purpose.

Personality

• Motivation: To keep moving forward until the concept of "forward" gives up and becomes a circle.
• Quirks: Zombie Number 228 has an uncanny ability to keep a conversation going even while walking away from it. He occasionally counts his steps out loud, causing everyone around him to feel vaguely like they’re being measured for something—possibly a coffin.
• Likes/Dislikes: He likes the sense of direction that isn’t exactly lost, but just… misplaced. Dislikes stopping, sitting down, and escalators that don’t move.
• Fears: He fears the day when his legs might decide they’ve had enough, sit down for a cup of tea, and leave him standing there with nothing but a pair of poles and an awkward silence.

Backstory

Zombie Number 228 wasn’t always a zombie, nor was he always a number. Once upon a time, he was just a regular man named Fredrick, with a job, a hobby, and a very mundane relationship with forward momentum. But one fateful day, during his 227th marathon (because why wouldn’t you do that many marathons?), he discovered that stopping was, quite frankly, overrated. It began with a small thought: “What if I just… kept going?” And so he did. He kept running, through the finish line, through the after-party, and right out of the frame. At some point, they stopped announcing his name and simply gave him a number—a zombie-esque nickname for a man whose legs had long since ceased to care about their original mission. He naturally gravitated toward the Atlanta Nordic Walkers, drawn to their peculiar brand of perpetual motion. They recognized a kindred spirit in Zombie Number 228 as he wandered through a park, looking lost but oddly purposeful, and handed him a pair of walking poles. From then on, he became their relentless pacer, always moving forward without needing to be told where he was going. They handed him a pair of walking poles, and he’s been moving relentlessly ever since, seemingly without needing to be told where he’s going—whether with them, or perhaps even leading them in his own bewildered yet determined way.

Abilities & Skills

Signature Moves

The "Perpetual Stride"—an unbroken, steady rhythm of walking that is said to lull opponents into a false sense of complacency, mostly because they start wondering if he’s ever going to take a break.

Special Abilities

He has an unerring sense of direction, provided the direction is "forward." He can also lull small children and adults into naps simply by recounting the history of his marathons, complete with step counts.

Weaknesses

Descending slopes or sudden changes in direction. His legs are so accustomed to the relentless ascent and forward march that any deviation sends his entire being into a profound philosophical dilemma, as if gravity itself had suddenly decided to play a cruel joke.

Equipment

Zombie Number 228’s Nordic walking poles are not just tools of propulsion; they are extensions of his very being. They have been worn down over time, their grips molded to his hands, as if they too have accepted their fate of endless forward motion. They give a gentle, persistent jingle—like a warning sign that something unstoppable is approaching. He carries an old wristwatch that no longer tells time but rather keeps count of his steps, days, and presumably, the number of times he’s tried to have a sit-down only to forget how.