It was sunny outside, Glenn's favorite time of day. Sunny skies mean less traffic accidents which means it's easier to deliver pizza. When you live in a place like Atlanta, it's pretty damn hard to deliver pizza in 30 minutes or less with rush hour traffic. Glenn hated delivering pizzas. It's not so much the delivering part as it is the people he works with. It's always, "RHEE! Get over here!" And, "You were over 30 minutes. Half of that is coming out of your paycheck." And sometimes even, "God. Rhee. Get your crap together."
All in all, Glenn was really only delivering pizzas to pay rent and help get through college. Man, sometimes he just wanted an adventure. Cruising through Atlanta at near death speed with a crate of pizza just isn't Glenn's version of fun. Now, maybe a zip line or paintballing or-or maybe if he's feeling really adventurous a spot on that one show where you live on an island with a group of people and you have to do a ton of challenges and not get voted out.
Man, he really needed a vacation. It'd be nice to lounge on the poolside at a 5 star hotel while a waiter brought him drinks. Oh, Glenn could go to one of those places where you get to drive your dream car. Glenn would choose a Camaro. A red one. With racing stripes. On second thought, he's already in a car 24/7. Maybe poolside was the better option. He could go all out and snag a plane ticket to the Bahamas and see nothing but palm trees and sandy beaches all day long. Aw, who was he kidding? Pizza delivery boy is definitely not that high paying of a job.
Glenn sighed. One day he'd really like to do something. Something exciting and adventurous and fun and once in a lifetime. Something that'd make a great story to tell everyone. Maybe someday Glenn would actually have enough courage to spontaneously buy a plane ticket to a foreign country or choose to go on a cross country road trip with only a single days warning. For now though, Glenn was content to live a life of monotony delivering pizzas in the warm sunlight of Atlanta, Georgia.
Daryl Dixon never liked the heat. It was terrible for hunting and just plain miserable. And hunting was probably what Daryl did best in life. He had been training with his crossbow since he was just a little boy. He had hunted every animal imaginable. He'd caught rabbits in traps, tracked deer through the forest, and even sniped some quail out of trees. Merle taught Daryl everything he knew about hunting.
Whenever their father was out or asleep or passed out drunk on the couch, Merle would take Daryl outside and teach him how to survive on his own. How to hunt and track and clean an animal and handle a weapon. At first Daryl hated it, but now he understands that Merle only wanted him to be able to fend for himself and know how to fight and stay alive. Then after they were done, they'd sit on the bed in Merle's room and talk about what would've happened if their father hadn't been a drunkard. Or what they could've done if college had been an option.
Daryl eventually moved out and bought a small apartment on the edge of Atlanta, near some woods good for hunting. He would deliver the occasional animal to the butcher whenever he needed money. Daryl would get pizza on days when he didn't feel like hunting. It was always delivered by the same Korean kid. It seemed like life passed in a haze.
All Daryl would do was hunt and hunt and hunt. There was the occasional visit from Merle to see how Daryl was doing, but those were few and far between. The person he saw most was probably either the butcher or the Korean pizza delivery kid. He really needed to get out more. Maybe go out to a shooting range or a store to upgrade his crossbow.
He would never admit it to Merle, but Daryl tired was of the monotonous cycle of hunting and pizza. But what else was there to do? Daryl wasn't the kind to go shopping or try out the new restaurant that just opened up across the street. He could go to Colorado. Hike around on some mountain trails maybe. Pitch a tent and stay on top of a mountain for the night. Like a survival vacation of sorts. Something challenging but not too easy.
Daryl honestly has no idea. He sits down on his 6 month old unwashed sheets and pulls on his combat boots. Shrugging on his winged vest, Daryl grabbed his crossbow and shouldered open the door to his apartment. Perhaps he'd go to Colorado someday, but that day was not today. Today he was going to go hunting, order more pizza, and slide down into bed early without thinking for awhile.
Rick Grimes was never the settle down type. He was a police officer, ready for action and to protect his town. Rick drove all around town in the squad car with his partner, Shane. Man, he and Shane worked the best together. They were amazing partners and took down loads of criminals together. It had been Rick and Shane for so long. Then, Lori came along and Rick fell head over heels in love. They had a son named Carl. Then it was Rick, Lori, and Carl. Shane was an afterthought. To his credit, Rick felt awful and made sure to keep in contact with Shane. Slowly but surely, Shane started to get along with Lori and everything eventually went back to normal.
Rick and Shane chased criminals in the day, adrenaline rushing, fast paced chases. While Rick spent the evenings with Lori and Carl, fulfilling the familial urge deep inside of every person. Things were going great for Rick. He had everything he ever wanted. But soon, Lori gradually became unsettled with Rick's career. "It's dangerous," she would say, "Think about Carl and I." Shane got upset too. "Come on, Rick. You're not gonna leave the force, are you? It's your life."
Rick exhaled slowly. He just wanted a break. Between criminals during the day and an angry wife at night, he was getting pretty winded. But Rick couldn't choose. Not between his family or his career. They were both his life. His family for obvious reasons. Rick had always wanted to be a police officer and now he was living his childhood dream. He wasn't going to give that up for a worried wife.
Rick could take Lori and Carl on a vacation. That would surely calm them down. Maybe a little family time was just what they all needed to get back into the rhythm of everyday life. But where to go. Atlanta didn't really have that many attractions and plane tickets were out of the question with Rick being the only working member of the household. Perhaps a road trip then? But where to? Truth be told, Rick was sick of being in the humid summer heat that Atlanta had to offer. Maybe North Dakota or Colorado. Cooler temperatures and nice views. Or not. Rick didn't know. The only thing Rick knew was that they really needed to get out of Atlanta for a few days.
Maggie never really wanted to live on a farm. She didn't think anybody really wanted to live on a farm. Milking cows got a bit old when all she wanted to do was go out and have fun with her friends. But really though, why did Maggie have to help milk the cows and feed the chickens? Shouldn't she be getting a job and starting to make money to help pay for college?
Other girls her age were already in college. But Maggie? No. Maggie was helping out her father on the farm. She wanted to go to school somewhere in Atlanta. It was near the farm and a chance to see what city life was like. She'd never been in one of those big cities before. Small towns and farms were all Maggie knew.
Unlike books that told stories about how amazing small towns were. How everybody knew everybody and there was a low crime rate and loads of trust. Maggie found it quite boring. There was nothing to do. And the closest store was a 30 mile drive. It was quite annoying when you thought about it.
Maggie remembered when she and Beth had gotten so tired of the heatwave on the farm and the boring everyday chores that they had jumped into the cow pond to cool off. Daddy had been livid but she and Beth had just laughed it off. Maggie wished they could do something fun like that again.
She sighed as she tipped her head back on the old wooden porch swing that was just outside the farmhouse, a glass of lemonade resting heavy in her hand, ice cubes already beginning to melt in the summer heat. Maggie liked to look up at the stars and try to guess what would happen the next day. Maybe she'd go to the store or one of the chickens would get eaten. So far, she'd never gotten anything correct other than the temperature raising and spending another day on the farm.
Maggie wanted adventure. She wanted to look up at the stars and be right for once. She wanted to explore the big city and finally get off of the farm. Inhaling, Maggie looked up into the velvety sky dotted with specks of light. "I think," Maggie said slowly, "that something big is going to happen. And it might not be tomorrow or the next day. But it will happen. And I will get through it." Letting out her breath, Maggie glanced up at the sky a final time before grabbing her lemonade glass and going inside, the door creaking shut behind her.
The cement was colored a vivacious red and the smell of metal was a bitter tinge in the air. A baseball bat covered in barbed wire lay on the cement, silver fading into a dark, dry was sobbing. Rick was screaming words at their captors. About how he'd destroy them and oh how he'd make them feel pain. Daryl was staring off into space, eyes vacant but thoughts running wild because "Oh my god it was his fault. He killed Glenn."
The scene was so, so grotesque. Brain matter was spattered across the warm asphalt. The moaning cries of walkers could be heard in the distant background. But walkers didn't matter to Maggie in that moment. The only thing that mattered was Glenn. She had to get to Glenn and protect Glenn and he was on the ground with a dent in his head and Maggie needed to go to him.
It was Negan. His men had trapped them and tied them up and broken them, literally and figuratively. It was all Negan's fault. He was the reason that Glenn was gone, nothing but a broken corpse left behind. He was the reason their entire group was distraught and in pain. Negan was the reason Maggie was going to have raise a child alone in a god forsaken world. It was all his fault.
The hard pavement scratched Maggie's knees in her kneeling position, drawing small drops of blood. Rick was still insulting their captors, voice hoarse from all of the screaming. Daryl was now writhing, as if he was in shock. And Maggie was probably in shock too.
She could vaguely see smoke rising into the distant sky, like the world was finally burning. This world deserved to be burned to the ground, scorching all of the roots that had been touched by humans. Maggie looked up, green eyes glistening as they faced the blue expanse. She looked up into the sky and screamed. Glenn was gone and she was still here. Somewhere in the back of her mind Maggie registered that it was sunny outside. Glenn's favorite time of day.