Dead Man Walking | Rick Grimes

What if... the world never ended? Part 1

Rick sat at the bar and tipped his glass of whiskey to his lips, sipping at the amber liquid. His usual, bright oceanic eyes were downcast and foggy as he fidgeted with the gold band he had yet to take off. Rick knew that his marriage was officially over, but he couldn't bring himself to take off the one thing that he felt bound him to his ex-wife. When Lori had asked for a divorce almost a year ago, he had been entirely blindsided. Sure, he wouldn't lie and say their marriage was perfect, but he didn't think it was that bad! It started with a few arguments here and there about small things. Then there were times when Lori would go out at night and come back until near dawn, but what really slapped Rick across the face and made him realize his marriage was over was Lori revealed that she was pregnant.

He knew the fetus growing inside his wife wasn't his since they hadn't had sex in nearly a year, but he still held out hope despite knowing this. He felt foolish for trying to get her to change her mind and stay with him. He even went as far as offering to raise this baby with her. Rick was desperate to make his failing marriage work, but in the end, it was like none of his efforts mattered. Lori finally got what she wanted, and now, here he sat alone in a bar with nothing but a single ring to remind him of what he had and lost while she sat at home with a new baby and lover. He knew that he should hate Lori for what she did to him, hate her for having an affair while they were still married and getting pregnant with her lover's baby, but he couldn't. She had given him the one thing in his life that made all the hardships and sadness disappear: his son.

Rick felt his eyes water as he thought about his twelve-year-old boy. No one can say that Carl wasn't his like this new baby, and Rick felt ashamed when he pondered the paternity of his only son. The divorce seemed to hit Carl particularly hard, and the look their boy gave his mother when he learned about the real reason his parents were separating from some mean kids at school shattered Rick's heart. Rick always wanted that picturesque life with a happy wife and a few loving, doting children, but obviously, that didn't happen. Lori is happy and content at home with his son, her new baby, and her lover, while Rick drowns at a local bar in the middle of town.

The bell that hung over the front door chimed, and the barkeep turned, a smile on his aged face as he recognized his friend and long-time patron. Rick heard the man in front of him greet the person but couldn't bring himself to turn as he slipped the gold ring from his left ring finger. The cold steel felt foreign in his hand; if he focused, he could see his disgruntled face in the reflection. How could things go wrong so quickly? How could he have been so blind to his wife's unhappiness and indiscretions?

"An old-fashioned from the pretty lady across the bar," The barkeep suddenly said as he slid the new glass of amber whiskey toward Rick. Rick looked up with wide eyes and laid his ring down, his eyes searching the bar for this woman who was kind enough to buy him a drink. The barkeep pointed toward the woman with a smile, his eyes crinkling at the sides. Rick followed the man's finger and stared at the red-headed woman who sat across the bar with her own glass of bronze liquid tipped at her lips.

Her full lips were painted a dark red shade that seemingly didn't transfer onto her glass when she set it down. Her brown eyes were lit with amusement as they stared at one another. Her red hair cascaded down her back in waves, and her outfit hugged her body in all the right ways. She was voluptuous and pleasing to the eye that much Rick could admit upon first glance. What he didn't expect was the surge of shyness that floored him when the woman across the bar smiled at him and raised her glass.

"Why don't you go talk to her, son?" The barkeep asked with a smile, "You've been sulking here every Friday for the past few months."

"I don't know," Rick muttered, his eyes never tearing away from the woman. The woman broke eye contact with him and turned her attention back to her phone, her smile dropping instantly and her eyes rolling. "She doesn't look to be in a talking mood,"