The only liberty I would take with the AMC series if I was it's screenwriter I never discussed on The Walking Dead boards, was I think it's pilot should focus more on the character universe Kirkman created and how they moved around in society and around each other before the zombie outbreak turned civlization into chaos. It could be shot like a two hour Robert Altman TV movie with characters in the area almost connecting, but destined to cross paths down the line. I've been always worried about the TV series starting with Rick waking up in a hospital bed making viewers write it off as a 28 Days Later rip-off. Being a big Stephen King fan, The Walking Dead is the best Stephen King story that he never wrote. That's the best praise I can give. Most Stephen King stories are about the ragtag but interesting group of survivors in an apocalyptic or nightmarish surrounding and how they cope in that setting, but it's not about the creatures that stalk the main characters. Occasionally in most King stories and in The Walking Dead, they find out the bigger monster is who they see in a mirror.