Walking Dead: Fragile Bonds
Chapter 2 of my Walking Dead story, enjoy.
Reviews
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)
Now onto the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead or its characters.
Chapter 2
With a gasp, Rick sat bolt upright in bed, before groaning, rubbing his eyes.
'That, damn nightmare again…' He thought to himself forlornly.
He shook his head sadly, it had been five years since that horrific incident that led to the death of Brian Blake, and Shane's death. With his wife and best friend dead, things just fell apart for Rick. Despite being cleared and it being confirmed he had no choice but to shoot Blake and the general sense of relief that a dangerous serial killer was dead and gone, Rick couldn't recover from what he had witnessed and endured because of that case. He had gone from the golden boy of the force to a washout, his career stalled, he now was mainly confined to desk work, especially when he had started to really break down and turn to the bottle. He had managed to pull himself out of that particular dark pit, only to remain wallowing in grief, no hopes of advancement and now just surviving, not really living, surviving. Getting out of bed he sighed and made his way to the bathroom, he glared blearily at his reflection, his hair was just messy now, tangled, he was unshaved and had bags under his eyes, in short he looked far older than his forty-four years. Shaking his head he turned from the mirror and began to get ready for the day ahead.
A short while later he was showed, freshened up, still unshaved however, and dressed in his uniform, eating breakfast quietly. He looked up warily, biting his lip as he heard the footsteps of the only other occupant of the Grimes home. A tall pale nineteen year old lanky boy entered the room, sullen and moody with almost shoulder length black hair, hanging limply around his face with the fringe covering his right eye, blue eyes just like Rick's that reflected anger and bitterness in comparison to Rick's reflecting nothing but anguish and emptiness. He had some slight muscle tone, but was otherwise scrawny. Rick swallowed and tried to smile.
"Morning Carl." He greeted his son.
Carl sat down heavily at the table. "Dad."
That was all he said before he began eating. Rick did his best to suppress his sigh; despite their shared grief and terror after Lori had died, Rick's breakdown had at first scared Carl, now it left him bitter and angry, truly straining the relationship between father and son.
'It's like we're strangers now.' He reflected sadly. 'No longer father and son, just two people sharing the same house.'
Even as he was thinking it they both finished breakfast and, without a word, like he had been doing for the past year or so, Carl stood up and left the house. Rick shook his head sadly, noting that there were other ways Carl had been affected too, he had become listless, seemingly aimless in life. He had somehow managed to get through high school without dropping out and it had only been two or three B grades that stopped him passing with straight A's. But since then he had never even attempting to find a job or go to college, spent as little time at the house as possible and that was when he truly began to grow distant.
Dismayed at how far things had fallen, but seeing no way to rectify them, Rick put away the breakfast dishes, washing them up and clearing everything away. With that done and a glance at the time Rick sighed and picked up his hat before leaving and locking up, everything was just routine now, he did it automatically without thinking, without care. Making his way to his car he got in and began the drive to the station. Luckily it was a peaceful morning and there wasn't a lot of traffic about. As such he could hardly miss the large billboard as he passed it, emblazoned with the image of a fifty-something fair skinned bald man with a grey beard and moustache, dressed in a sharp suit and with warm brown eyes, smiling, with giant letters next to him declaring 'Vote Douglas Monroe for Mayor'. Not too far down the road, on the other side, another billboard, this one displayed a severe looking fair skinned blue eyed blonde woman with her own suit and the words 'Vote Pamela Milton for Mayor'.
'Almost forgot, the Mayoral Elections.' Rick noted to himself. 'Can't say I favour either candidate, that said if I really had to choose...I'd probably vote for Douglas.'
Pushing the thought out of his mind and focusing once more on where he was driving, Rick made his way to the station.
Finally arriving Rick entered and did his best to ignore the few glances sent his way from the other officers, just as much as he ignored the ones who were studiously doing their best to not glance his way. He walked over to the desk, the same desk he had now been stuck behind for five years and sat down. He was mostly in charge of paperwork now, although he still did the usual duties expected of a Sheriff's Deputy. Apart from the black period where he had turned to drinking there were no blemishes on his record and even then he had avoided serious incident and the Chief had done his utmost to try and ensure such a thing never happened again, including forcing Rick to attend AA meetings until that issue was sorted out. Taking a slow breath Rick picked up the first document on his desk and prepared to read it over.
"Mr. Grimes?"
He started at the female voice and turned to see a woman standing by his desk; she was somewhat tall with long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, blue eyes and fair skin with freckles below both eyes and across the bridge of her nose, she was also slender and professional looking in a smart skirt-suit.
"Y-yes?" Rick asked, unsure.
The woman smiled. "Pleasure, I'm Andrea."
End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.