Better off dead

Chapter 01: Days gone by Pt. 1

Earlier with Rick
Rick and Shane, another deputy, are sitting in their police car talking and eating. "What's the difference between men and women?" Rick asks randomly, "Is this a joke?" Shane laughs, "No, serious" Rick replies and Shane answers "I never met a woman who knew how to turn off a light. They're born thinking in a switch, it only goes one way. On. They're struck blind the second they leave a room. I mean every woman, I ever let have a key... I swear to God. Come home, house all lit up, and my job, apparently because... because my chromosomes happen to be different cause I then gotta walk through that house, turn off every single light this chick left on!"

Rick snickers "Is that right?" "Yeah, baby. Alright, Reverend Shane's preaching to you now, boy!" Shane says mocking a pastor's voice making Rick smile "The same chick, mind ya. She'll bitch about global warming. That's when Reverend Shane wants to quote from the Guy Gospel and say 'Um, darling? maybe you, and every other pair of boobs on this planet just figured out that the light switch see, goes both ways, maybe we wouldn't have so much global warming' " "You say that?" Rick asks with an amused look.

"Yeah. Anyway, uh... Polite version..." Shane coughs awkwardly "Still man, that... that earns me this. This look and loathing you would not believe. And that's when the exorcist voice pops out. 'You sound just like my damn father. Always, always yelling about the power bill, telling me to turn off the damn lights' " "What do you say to that?" Rick asks and Shane answers "You know what I wanna say. I wanna say, 'Bitch, you mean to tell me you've been hearing this your entire life and you are still too damn stupid to learn how to turn off a switch?' You know... I don't actually say that, though" "That would be bad" Rick snickers.

"Yeah, go with the uh... the polite version there..." Shane says bashfully "Very wise" Rick comments "Yes, sir. So how's it with Lori, man?" Shane asks "She's good. She's good at turning off lights. Really good. I don't know why I sometimes forget" Rick answers with a shrug as he looks down at his lap with a disheartened look.

"Not what I meant" Shane says, giving Rick a sympathetic look. Rick sighs and admits "We didn't have a great night" Shane nods and says "Look, man, I may have a... failed to amuse with my sermon, but I did try, the least you could do is speak" Rick scoff and says "That's what she always says 'Speak, speak' You'd think I was the most closed mouth son of a bitch you'd ever hear her telling" "Do you express your thoughts? Do you share your feelings and that kind of stuff?" Shane asks, trying to be helpful.

Rick sighs again and says "The thing is... lately whenever I try... everything I say makes her impatient, like she didn't want to hear it after all. It's like she's... pissed at me all the time, and I don't know why" Shane sighs as well and says "Look, man, that's just shit couples go through. Ya know? It's... It's a phase" Rick let's out a bitter laugh and says "Last thing she said this morning?" "Mm?" Shane hums questionably " 'Sometimes I wonder if you even care about us at all' She said that in front of our kid. Imagine going to school with that in your head. Difference between men and women? I would never say something that cruel to her. Certainly not in front of Carl."

Before either can say anything else, they get a call about a high speed chase. Shane puts the food in the dustbin as Rick drives the car.

Shane and Rick are listening to the caller on their radio. Rick stops the car and he and Shane get out of the car. They set up spike strips to stop the felon when he drives by. They back up to the other deputies and get out of their cars to aim their guns. "Sounds like they're chasing those idiots up and down every back road we got!" One deputy commented then Leon says "Hey, we'll get them on one of those video shows, you know, like World's craziest police chases, what do you think?" Rick rolls his eyes and says "What I think, Leon, is that you need to stay focused. Make sure you got a round in the chamber and your safety off" Leon realizes he didn't do that and corrects his mistake.

"Would be kind of cool to get on one of them shows" Shane jokes earning a look from Rick. Suddenly, the car comes down the road. It hits the spike strips dead on and ends up crashing after flipping multiple times "Holy shit!" Rick says in surprise. The deputies aim all of their guns at the men inside the car. The driver's door opens and he comes out with a gun. "Gun, gun, gun!" a deputy calls out "Put it down! Put the gun down!" Rick orders the felon, but the man comes out firing.

Several shots are exchanged and Rick is hit in the vest. The other deputies take him down. Another man comes out firing and they also take him down. Shane runs to Rick "Rick!" Shane shouts out panicked "I'm alright!" Rick says gasping "I saw you get tagged, man, it scared the hell out of me" Shane pants "Me too. Son of a bitch shot me. You believe that?!" Rick says in shock "He got you in your new vest?" Shane asks "Yeah. Shane, you do not tell Lori that happened. Ever. You understand... Aah!" Rick is cut off when he's shot again.

Suddenly, a third man comes out and hits Rick in the shoulder with a shotgun. This time, Rick is actually hit and lies on the ground gasping for air "Rick! Rick! No, no, no! Shh, shh, shh. No, no, no, no... He's hurt! Leon! You get that ambulance down here, you tell them there's an officer down, you do it now!" Shane stays with Rick to comfort him "Shh, shh, shh, hey, you look at me, stay with me, you hear me? Shh, shh. okay. Shh, shh, stay with me, you hear me? Shh, shh, ok? You stay with me, ok?"