Nicole Baxton

30 *(The Final Push)*

**Nicole Baxton** is a main character who appears in The Hell that Walks: Season 1 and later returns in The Hell that Walks: The Final Season.

## Personality

Nicole is a no nonsense, tough, and strong survivor, and adamantly believes in what she thinks. Early in the apocalypse, Nicole is shown to be highly trusting of strangers, especially when encountering Leon Dawson for the first time. However, due to the events that follow, such as Penelope's betrayal, she became less trusting of others. Her breaking point was when, after attempting to help Leon accept Matthias Harris's death, he lashes out at her and nearly kills her, leading her to leave him behind.

Despite this, it is shown she does care about people she knew back then, notably when she is overjoyed when learning that Tyler Horvath is alive.

## Pre-Apocalypse

Nothing is known about Nicole's life prior to the apocalypse.

## Post-Apocalypse

During the early days of the apocalypse, she encountered Charlie and Ray, and took residence inside a church. At the same time, she began a romantic relationship with Ray. Eventually, she encountered Penelope and took her in.

### Season 1

#### Shot in the Dark

Off-screen, Nicole encountered an injured Matt and took him back to the church. Later, she finds Leon Dawson trapped in a thorn bush and frees him, and is amused when she believes he's flirting with her. She eventually takes Leon back to the church, and then attempts to diffuse the situation with Leon and Penelope. She then takes Leon to Matt, and while Leon and Matt are talking, Nicole is revealed to have talked to Ray and Charlie about leaving the church, much to Penelope's dismay.

Nicole is able to escape the church along with the others when beasties arrive, but Ray is bitten in the process. Nicole desperately attempts amputation, but when it is revealed Ray was bitten on the abdomen, Nicole is devastated, and watches as Drew Hunnigan puts Ray down. When Penelope recommends feeding Ray's corpse to the beasties, Nicole is outraged. Nicole stays back in order to grieve Ray, and doesn't appear again in the episode.

#### Killing in the Name Of

Nicole appears greeting Leon and Tyler once they return with Terrance Jadad and Zoey Baker, and learns of Samuel's death. Later, when Wendell arrives and attempts to cut off Leon's arm, Nicole saves him by shooting Wendell in the head. Nicole is later able to escape with the others in the truck. Nicole then witnesses Penelope murder Chris Atkins, and helps bury him, despite her reluctance.

#### Coming Back Around

Nicole, along with Charlie and Drew go searching for gas, and witnesses Charlie admit his role in Chris's death. She then watches as Charlie is tackled off the cliff by a beastie and Drew slip off the cliff. She is able to save Charlie before he is killed by the beastie, and helps Charlie back to the truck along with Drew. She later joins Drew and Zoey in bathing at the lake. However, due to Drew and Zoey having sex, Nicole is unable to see the beasties and is attacked by them. She is however saved by Leon and Matt.

Nicole later is present once the group finds a mortally wounded Charlie, and tearfully says goodbye to him. Nicole then attempts to put Charlie down, despite Charlie wishing to turn, but is prevented from doing so. Back in the truck, she is unable to get out of the truck before Penelope's Group knocks the truck off the edge.

#### O'Death

Nicole is revealed to have survived the fall, and was saved by Heath Carter, and is taken to Hodder Trucking Warehouse, where she recovers and greets Leon. She then has a deep conversation with Leon, where she and Leon admit their feelings for each other, and also learns about Matt's amputation.

When the warehouse is about to be overrun, Nicole stands with Leon and also sees an alive Matt. During the escape, she witnesses Peter's, Bill's and Vanessa's deaths. Later, she and Leon are separated from the others, leaving her and Leon's status unknown for over two years.

### Season 3

During the time-skip, Nicole and Leon are revealed to have started a relationship. Additionally, she and Leon witness the aftermath of the bandit fight between The Invaders, La Pandilla, and Matt's group. Eventually, she and Leon find the undead corpse of Matt, and watches as Leon tearfully kills him.

This eventually takes a massive toll on Leon, resulting in him beginning to deny Matt's death. Nicole, despite attempting to bring Leon back to reality, is eventually driven away from Leon due to him nearly killing her in a rage. Additionally, during the time-skip, she shaved her head.

#### The Games Begin

Nicole returns when she encounters Beth Carter, and after Heath finds and apologizes to Beth, Beth comes down and invites Nicole to accompany them, and Nicole fails to recognize him. However, after Beth mentions Tyler, Nicole demands to be taken to him.

#### The Madness Within

When arriving at the Military Base, she learns about Tyler's abduction, and reunites with Leon, who introduces her to the others. Nicole later joins Leon, Heath, Sasha, Noah, Jenny, Terrance, Kaitlyn, Lex, Ronald, Cindy, Elroy and Aiko on the trip to find Tyler and Benji Odans. Nicole later stays with the truck along with Elroy, Ronald and Aiko, and helps an injured Benji back to the base.

Later, Nicole joins Terrance, Jenny, Leon, Cindy, Elroy, Sean, Aiko, Clyde and Kaitlyn in the trip to save Tyler from The Revivalists. Nicole is then one of the people to immediately go into the sewers, and later witnesses Jenny and Terrance work together to kill both Shane and Byron. Nicole then goes with Kaitlyn and Elroy to get a bloodbag, and she then witnesses Kaitlyn ambush and kill Marcel.

When the alarm sounds off, Nicole helps save Tyler, Jenny and Terrance by shooting both Milo and Judy dead, and then makes her escape along with the others. She then reunites with Tyler and takes part in the festivities, then witnesses the deceased crucifixion members.

#### The Final Push

Nicole is seen comforting Leon over the death of Eve Harris, and is finally able to make him accept Matt's death, and kisses him on the cheek. Nicole later joins the others when the revivalists arrive, and witnesses Gabe's death. She later hides with Leon, but is shot in the shoulder. She, along with Leon, are nearly killed by Louis and Ed, but they are saved by Tyler. She later is able to escape on the chopper with Leon, thus surviving the apocalypse.

Two years later, she and Leon were able to mend their relationship and Nicole allowed her hair to grow more.

## Killed Victims

* Wendell
* Milo
* Judy
* Numerous counts of beasties

## Relationships

### Leon Dawson

When first meeting, Leon was instantly attracted to her while Nicole teased him about it. As time went on however, Nicole would begin to return Leon's feelings, resulting in the two starting a relationship off-screen. However, after Leon lashes out at Nicole and nearly kills her after she attempts to make him accept Matt's death, their relationship is severely damaged, and Nicole leaves for her own safety.

When Nicole and Leon reunite, Nicole is shown to be somewhat fearful of Leon, much to Leon's dismay. Throughout the series, it is shown that Nicole still hasn't forgiven Leon. Leon is then shown to regret his actions towards Nicole, and hopes for forgiveness.

After Eve's death, Nicole comforts Leon, and is finally able to make him accept Matt's death and kisses him on the cheek, thus mending their relationship. When Nicole is shot in the shoulder, Leon fiercely protects her, and helps her to the chopper. It is because of Leon that Nicole was able to survive.

Two years later, Leon and Nicole have started a relationship.

### Ray

Before meeting Leon, Nicole and Ray were dating and cared about each other very much. When Ray was revealed to be bitten and was subsequently put down, Nicole was saddened by his death.

### Charlie

As Charlie is a member of Nicole's group and his eagerness to go along with Nicole's plan to leave the church, it's shown that the two have a good relationship. When Charlie is mortally wounded, Nicole is devastated by this, even to the extent that when Charlie finally died, Nicole wanted to shoot Charlie in order to prevent him turning.

### Matthias Harris

Despite knowing each other for a short time, the two had a good relationship due to Nicole saving Matt's life when he is wounded. When hearing about Matt's amputation, she is worried for him, and is relieved when she finds out he's alright.

When she and Leon eventually find an undead Matt, she is greatly saddened at his death.

### Tyler Horvath

Despite not interacting much, it is shown that considering that Nicole demanded to go to the military base after Tyler was mentioned, they had a good relationship. When Nicole hears about Tyler's impending death, she is saddened.

### Penelope

Penelope and Nicole have a poor relationship due to Penelope's egocentric personality and demand to overtake Nicole as leader. Nicole begins to despise Penelope further when she recommends that they feed Ray's corpse to beasties. Their relationship is completely destroyed once Penelope murders Chris and Charlie, and, when hearing of Penelope's death, she is satisfied.

## Appearances

* The Hell that Walks: Season 1
	+ Shot in the Dark
	+ Killing in the Name Of
	+ Coming Back Around
	+ O'Death
* The Hell that Walks: The Final Season
	+ The Games Begin
	+ The Madness Within
	+ The Final Push

## Trivia

* Nicole was originally meant to die in the time-skip due to unknown causes, but the idea was scrapped.