| “ | It'll never work.
―Manning speaking to the other guardsmen.[src]
|
” |
Manning was one of Gene Gavin's bodyguards, along with Trey Barker. He is described as being in his mid to late thirties and having wild, unkempt gray hair.
Pre-Apocalypse
Location Unknown
Almost nothing is known about Manning's life before or as the outbreak began. It is known that he was friends with Gene Gavin and Trey Barker and that he worked together with them as a soldier in the Georgia Army National Guard.
Post-Apocalypse
Woodbury, Georgia
Manning along with Trey walk up to Brian wearing ratty camo-fatigues, both holding assault rifles high against their shoulders. When Brian asks Gene who gets the money to enter the race tracks, it gets the attention of Manning. Along with Gene and Barker, Manning took control over Woodbury, Georgia. When Gene talked to the residents of Woodbury, Barker and Manning were looking for any other survivors that were not present at the meeting.
The Governor's Rule
Manning along with Barker, Stinson, and Tommy Zorn are being kept prisoner below the racetrack. When Barker comes up with a plan to escape, he doesn't agree with it and thinks it will fail. The plan is that one of the prisoners will pretend to be dead so Brian will come in to take them, and when he enters they will attack him. Barker eventually talks them into it, and Stinson volunteers to be the one to play dead.
Later, Brian Blake and Bob Stookey go down to the race track to see the prisoners. Brian tells Bob that there were originally seven of them, but there is only four left now. He also states that these are the people he has been feeding to Penny Blake. When they arrive they see Stinson on the floor bleeding and slowly moving. Brian, believing he has turned, goes in to put him down. When he enters, Barker jumps on his back and attacks him, ripping his chains off the wall in the process. Manning and the others try to escape their bounds during this time but fail. After a short struggle, Brian grabs his gun and unloads a clip into Barker's skull. He then shoots six shots above Stinson's head in order to scare him. He walks over to him and puts the barrel of his gun into his mouth but doesn't shoot. He leaves, and Bob takes Barker's body to the infirmary for "preparation". Manning later fights in the arena against Tommy Zorn, and he fights with an enormous battle-axe. When the battle starts Zorn immediately attacks Manning slashing his battle-axe with his machete. Manning careens back into the mud and a walker tries to bite into Manning's ankle. About an hour into the fight, both Manning and Zorn are dead from their wounds, and they are chopped up and fed to Penny.
Death
Killed By
- Brian Blake (Caused)
Manning was killed by his wounds in the arena, he was then chopped up and fed to the captive walkers in Woodbury.
Appearances
Novel Series