The Walking Dead are a large freelance group of mercenaries who have taken up residence in the Combat Zone.  The group was originally just a small group of ex-military veterans of the South American Wars who had gone to work for Militech.  But after an Op went sideways and they barely survived after being left for dead by the company, they decided to go freelance.

 

The group remained small, under the leadership of former Marine Captain Ned Morgan.  They selected their own missions, handled by a former Marine General turned fixer named Ezekiel “Pappy” Boddicker.  The group chose Night City to call home during the down time, mostly due to Pappy owning an old apartment building in the Marsten District.

 

When Carnival hit, the group got some amount of press when they successfully defended their building and its residents from a group of bountuy hunters and the roving gangs who were going berserk in the Zone.  When the dust settled Pappy put out the call to replace several members of the team who had been badly wounded or killed.  The response was massive.

Freelance mercs from all over arrived anxious to be part of such a well organized group free from the corporate and political bullshit.  As new people signed up with the Walking Dead, renovations began on Boddickers building.  It was always the largest buildings in the Zone, but years of misuse and neglect had been taking its toll.  With former military engineers signing on, the building was repaired, fortified, and reinforced.  It now serves as the base of operations and the down time hub for the entire group. 

 

The building itself is about 20 percent active members, with the rest of the occupants being civilians who are willing to pay a higher rent for the security and safety the Walking Dead provide the building.  They chose not to relocate after the area they were in was walled off.  The no mans land status of the Combat Zone means no one asks questions, no one complains about their gun range in the basement, and no police come to investigate their stockpile of weapons.  A closely guarded secret in the group are secret tunnels they have arranged adjacent to the sewers and storm drains that allow them to smuggle weapons in and out of the Zone through a storefront located north of the Zone.

 

The group has made great strides to make the group self sufficient.  There is a day care for the young children in the building on the second floor.  A bar has been built just off the lobby on the ground floor.  The gun range, weapon, and equipment storage are in the basement, as well as a large common room that has been stocked with food and supplies in case of siege.  The basement has been fortified to serve as a bomb shelter, which was one of the reasons it was such an attractive location in the first place.  In addition both interior and exterior cameras have been installed throughout the building, and are monitored at all times from the security room on the third floor.

 

The Walking Dead maintain close ties to Shrapnel, mostly out of mutual respect, but also due to the therapy that Shrapnel offers for Cyberpsychosis, an ever present threat in the mercenary field. 

 

The Walking Dead actively patrol around their building, position several snipers at strategic locations around the roof, and every exit has a minimum of one guard at all times.  Sometimes members of group are sent along with civilians when it is necessary for them to leave the building, such as to buy food or medicine.  And they maintain their own armored school bus to take any child whose parents wish them to attend to the school maintained by The Elders.   

while they have not sought to expand their territory, they are growing increasingly intolerant of the war between Stomp and Slaughterhouse, and any sign of either gang starting trouble near their building is usually dealt with overwhelmingly harshly.  Both gangs have tried to hire the Walking Dead to supplement their own forces, but as of yet the gang has remained neutral. But in their precarious position sandwiched between the two gangs territories, it is only a matter of time before they will have to choose a side or be swept up in the crossfire.  As it stands they have already been dragged into minor skirmishes between the gangs, during which time they have eliminated both sides, winning themselves friends among neither.

 

It is standard policy for the Walking Dead not to accept any jobs that take place in Night City, and really try to avoid anything in Northern California altogether, preferring to work out of Country if they can.  But if the price is right, they will listen to any offer.