Origin
Allen lived in Gainesville, Georgia with his wife, Donna (who was eight years older than he), and their twin sons, Ben and Billy. He worked at the mall as a shoe salesman; an occupation, he admitted, that didn’t quite pay the bills. When the zombie outbreak began, Allen and Donna had heard that Atlanta would be the safest place to be due to the military’s attempt to make it a safe zone. Thankfully, they came later and found that was not the case. After their car breaks down, the family finds Glenn, Dale, Amy, and Andrea, who had set up camp on the south side.
Creation
Written by Robert Kirkman and drawn by Tony Moore.
Character Evolution
Beginning as a man simply trying to protect his family, Allen devolves into an emotional wreck once his wife dies. He becomes distant with certain members of his group and even mentions suicide. He does seem to snap out of it for a spell when he volunteers to help purge part of the prison of zombies, but his inexperience by this time leaves him open for attack.
Major Story Arcs
Life in the camp isn’t safe. One day while the ladies are returning from washing laundry, a zombie wanders into camp and attacks Donna. Allen is on Dale’s RV and tries to get a clean shot at the zombie but his wife is in the way. Dale shows up and chops off the zombie’s head and Allen runs to comfort his wife. Upon learning that the zombie head still lives, Allen shoots it. Allen continues to be a guard when the group is away at shooting practice â not out of necessity, but because target practice is too far away for him to walk without getting tired.
During a group dinner, Allen relates his family’s story. The camp is attacked shortly thereafter and Allen defends his family. Allen and Donna try to make Jim comfortable after the ordeal, as he gets bitten and develops a fever. The group figures that it is time to move away from Atlanta after they have to bury Shane and Amy and follow Jim’s wishes to be left to become a zombie on his own. Allen packs his family into Dale’s RV and group looks for a new place to establish themselves.
Wiltshire Estates
As the group searches for a new place, Allen helps out with the grunt work in moving cars from the road and searching for firewood. Upon finding a gated community, Allen and his family take a room and get a good night’s sleep. In the morning, Allen finds Donna awake and asks her about her thoughts. She tells him about Andrea and Dale’s tryst from the night before and Allen gets in the mood for sex. The twins, however, are awake and quash any hopes of getting any action.
The group assembles outside and begins a search of the homes to find a residence for each family. Allen tells his wife to be patient and wait for Tyreese to bring his gun but Donna doesn’t see a cause for worry in a gated community. She approaches a house and a zombie emerges and bites her face. Allen pulls his gun and begins blasting at the zombie eating his wife. Tyreese tries to hold him back and the two watch as other zombies join the feast of Donna. The shots, it appears, has drawn more zombies. The group retreats and Allen refuses to move. He prefers staying with his wife regardless of the consequences. Rick finally snaps him out of it by reminding him of the twins. Allen enters the RV and tells the twins about their mother’s death as the group makes its escape.
Hershel’s Farm
Allen becomes despondent and some of the group begins to worry about him. Once they find Hershel‘s farm, Andrea tries to reason with Allen by telling him to live for his kids now. Allen loses it and yells at Andrea. Rick has a bit more luck. Allen breaks and tells Rick that he contemplates dying to end his pain. He can’t sleep because he figures he can still hear his wife beside him. Andrea tries again later but gets the same result: a very angry and offensive Allen. It isn’t until the barn is being cleared out that Allen acknowledges that he’s going to try to be strong for his kids. The group is soon kicked off Hershel’s farm and they go back to scavenging and looking for a new place to live. They soon find a prison.
The Prison
Entering the prison, Allen is given the job of sitting atop the RV to prevent any zombies from entering the prison while others go to purge the jail yard of the things. Despite any indications of being more present, Allen checks out temporarily and sobs on the roof of the RV. He snaps out of it when Andrea shows up requesting his help in getting more ammo for the others. They enter the RV and get as many bullets as Andrea will be able to carry. The group camps out on the jail grounds that night.
The next morning, Rick and Tyreese explore one of the buildings while Allen stays back with his kids. In fact, once the prison is considered safe, that’s all Allen does. His brooding gets so severe that Sophia mentions that Allen is beginning to scare her. Just then, Rick beats the crap out of Thomas and Allen herds the kids away.
Allen does more herding when Dexter and Andrew decide to take their prison back from Rick’s group. The two men had left a wing of the prison open, however, and zombies entered the prison grounds. Allen claims to want to help after getting the kids away but he isn’t seen in any of the action.
To make up for his lack of help, Allen volunteers to help Rick check out the A Block. The men march through and find a zombie lingering in the hall. Allen attempts to shoot it but is stopped before he can. Rick explains that the shot would attract others. They move on and find a library. Allen finds a body and isn’t sure if it is a zombie or just a dead person. Getting too close, the body leaps forward and startles Allen back into a shelf. Instinctively, Allen shoots the zombie in the head. The group then decides to split up. Allen, being a tad out of shape, hangs back while Rick and Axel move on. A zombie crawls from the shadows and bites Allen in the heel. Rick and Axel quickly move Allen outside and Allen bellows about how he can feel the infection moving up his leg. Rick gets an idea. He thinks that removing Allen’s leg will stop any infection. Despite Tyreese’s protests, Rick cuts off Allen’s leg. Hershel appears and takes some of Axel’s hair to help dress the wound. The men move Allen inside and he is cared for as best as the group can. He feels he’s dying and charges Dale and Andrea to take care of his boys. Sadly, Allen does end up dying. Rick takes it upon himself to shoot Allen in the head so as to prevent him from coming back as a zombie.
Allen’s body is buried on the grounds of the prison. Rick talks to his burial site from time to time as a means of comfort. Allen’s grave is later joined by Carol‘s grave.