"Everything has its time

And everything ends."

-Unknown

✪☮✪☮✪

PROLOGUE

"What's the difference between men and women?"

Two small town Georgian cops sat in their vehicle, eating lunch, their scanner quiet for the moment. Sheriff's Deputies Rick Grimes and Shane Walsh were more than partners, they were best friends. Had been all their lives, along with Thea Winters, the girl who had completed their trio, up until she left to join the US Army. They often got to enjoy quiet moments like these, eating burgers and fries, complaining about the women in their lives, or the one that was just barely on the outskirts anymore.

"This a joke?" Rick questioned, handing his friend a napkin, as he had a little grease around his mouth still.

"No, I'm serious. I never met a woman who knew how to turn off a light," Shane said, grinning as he dipped one of his fries in the sauce on his friend's half-eaten burger. "They're born thinking the switch only goes one way, on. Mm, and they're struck blind the second they leave a room. I mean, every woman I ever let have a key, I swear to God, it's like I come home, house is all lit up...well, except T, but T's always been an exception to pretty much every rule."

"Yeah." Rick said, thinking about his other best friend, who was out fighting in war torn Afghanistan.

He had been thinking more and more about her recently, what with his marriage troubles. He had started to wonder what his life would have been like if he had gathered up the courage back to ask Thea out when they had been kids, before Lori, before marriage, before his son. He always felt guilty for that thought, because there was nothing he loved more than Carl. Nothing. Yet those thoughts kept coming the more he and his wife argued. He found himself waiting for Thea's weekly phone calls, and her letters, with eager anticipation, just for a mental escape from his marital problems and to hear more about this strange world his best friend, and one-time romantic interest, had pushed her way into.

"Anyway, my job, you see, apparently, because...because my chromosomes happen to be different is I've then gotta walk through that house, turn off every single light this chick left on." Shane continued his rant about women and light switches, unknowingly bringing his best friend out of his head.

"Is that right?" Rick questioned, finally turning his head to look at his friend, who was clearly amused by himself.

"Yeah, baby. Mm. Oh, Reverend Shane is preaching to you now, boy. Then...then the same chick, mind you, she'll bitch about, uh, global warming. You see, this is when Reverend Shane wants to quote from the guy gospel and say, 'Darling, maybe you and every other pair of boobs on this planet just figure out that the light switch, you see, goes both ways, maybe we wouldn't have so much global warming.'"

"You say that?" Rick asked, knowing from experience that his friend could be that tactless.

"Mm. Yeah, well, a polite version," Shane laughs, as Rick chuckles at his best friend. Shane had always been the womaniser, the easy going seducer, while Rick was the cool, charming gentlemen. In high school, Rick had spent so much time wrapped up in his secret feelings for his best friend, and then in his relationship with Lori, that he hadn't really dated all that much. Shane had dated a lot. A lot. "Still, man, that...that earns me this...this look of loathing you would not believe. And that's when the 'Exorcist' voice pops out. 'You sound just like my damn father! Always yelling about the power bill, telling me to turn off the damn lights!'."

"And what do you say to that?" Rick wondered, now fully curious as to how these conversations ended. Probably with his friend wearing a drink, or a red mark on his cheek from an angry ex-girlfriend.

"I know what I want to 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." The two Sheriff's Deputies chuckled together, exchanging amused expressions as they laughed.

"I go with the polite version there too." Shane added, and Rick nodded.

"Very wise."

"Yes, sir. Mm-hm. Well," Shane said, his face losing the amusement and a sense of seriousness replacing it. Rick and Lori's failing marriage had been on his mind a while. He had always liked Lori, though he had never told Rick that, and she had started to confide in him about how she didn't see her and Rick ending in happily ever after any more. They were already talking about a more permanent separation and seeing divorce lawyers. It was basically over. "So, how's it with Lori, man?"

"She's good, she's good at turning off lights," Rick said, drawing a chuckle out of his best friend as he chewed on another French fry. "Really good. And I'm the one who sometimes forgets."

"Not what I meant." Shane said, rubbing his hands together, and wiping the napkins he had between his fingers to try and get rid of the greasiness.

"We didn't have a great night." Rick finally admitted, staring out the windshield at nothing in particular, just so he didn't have to look at his best friend with the sense of defeat and shame that he knew was in his eyes. Back in high school, if anybody asked which boy was most likely to get married and have it stick, they would have said 'Rick Grimes'. He was kinda ashamed to be failing in something that he should have been good at. Thea had always said that he would make a good husband for a good woman someday. Lori was a good woman, which obviously meant that he was the one who was failing.

"Hey, look, man, I may have failed to amuse with my sermon, but I did try. The least you can do is...is speak." Shane pressed, wanting to hear what his friend had to say about his deteriorating relationship with his wife. Or soon-to-be ex-wife.

"That's...that's what she always says. 'Speak...speak'. You'd think I was the most closed-mouth son of a bitch ever to hear her tell it." Rick said, rubbing his chin in frustration before pressing his index finger to his mouth to stop any more words from falling from his lips. His temporary separation from Lori was difficult, probably more so since neither of them had moved out from their shared house. It didn't feel like they were separated, just like they were ignoring each other.

"Do you express your thoughts? Do you share your feelings, that kind of stuff? Thea always said that women like that stuff." Shane asked, tilting his head to side as he questioned his friend, feeling slightly guilty to having a small ulterior motive to his concern.

"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." Rick said, shrugging his shoulders out of frustration and exasperation.

"Look, man. That's just shit couples go through. Yeah, it's a phase."

"The last thing she said this morning, 'Sometimes I wonder if you even care about us at all.' Started talkin' about this divorce lawyer she had hired. Basically told me it was over, man. She said that in front of our kid. Imagine going to school with that in your head," Rick said, shaking his head at his wife's cruel words as they echoed around in his head. Lori had been so good at the start of their marriage, but as the years went on, their relationship soured. Maybe they had married too young, like his parents said. Maybe it was his lingering feelings for his best friend that had come between him and his wife. Whatever it was, Lori wasn't willing to work on things anymore from the sounds of it. "The difference between men and women? I would never say something that cruel to her, and certainly not in front of Carl."

The beeping of the radio scanner brought them out of the tense and really kind of depressing conversation they were having, bringing their attention to the crime in progress.

"All available units, high-speed pursuit in progress. Linden County units request local assistance. Highway 18 eastbound, GTA, ADW, 2-17, 2-4-3," Rick and Shane hurriedly packed away their food into the bag it had come in, as dispatch continued to describe the situation quickly. "Advise extreme caution."

Shane leaned out the window to dump their lunch in a trash can, as Rick turned on the sirens and careened out onto the road, speeding towards the expected route of the car chase. Shane pulled on his deputy hat and a pair of leather gloves on so he was ready to lay down the tire shredder strips. Neither man paid much attention to the two crows picking at the dead carcass of a cat on the road, as they practically flew by it. If they had, they might have shivered at the clear bad omen.

"Suspects are two male Caucasians. Be advised, they have fired upon police officers. One Linden County officer is wounded."

At this point, Rick and Shane were being followed by another police vehicle down the solitary back road that led out of the small town. It was quiet, apart from the loud, obnoxious wailing of the two sirens that disturbed the peace as justice sped down the road, eagerly waiting to dispense itself upon the unwitting criminals who were fast approaching their destination.

One police vehicle stopped along the road, at an angle to form half of a barricade, while Rick carried on forwards, before screeching to a stop. Shane quickly hopped out, dispatch's words becoming lost on him as he moved out of hearing range to the back of the car, grabbing the tire shredder strip from the trunk. He hurried around the car with it in his hands, and dropped one end of it on the ground by Rick's feet. Rick held it straight while his partner stretched it out across the road, and then they both climbed back into their vehicle, Rick using his rather impressive evasive driving to reverse quickly and then skid out of the way, forming a two vehicle barricade with their back-up.

All four police officers stepped out of the vehicles, each armed with a pistol or a shotgun. They all stood or crouched between the two cars, using them as cover in case they were fired upon by the two car thieves.

"Sounds like they chasing those idiots up and down every back road we've got." Sheriff's Deputy Lambert, a calm and cool cop, remarked, as he made sure his safety was off and lined up a shot, waiting for the perps to appear.

"Maybe we'll get on one of those police shows. Like "World's Craziest Police Chases". What do you think?" Leon, the bumbling idiot of the King County Police Department, mused excitedly. Leon was young and pretty dumb, and the rest of the department was always wondering how he got into the force in the first place.

"What I think, Leon, is you need to stay focused, make sure you've got a round in the chamber and your safety off." Rick said, resisting the urge to pistol whip the other deputy.

Police sirens wailed in the distance, as the four King County cops prepared themselves, the air having a tense feel to it.

"Would be kinda cool, getting on one of them shows." Shane broke the tension, smirking in his best friend's direction, and Rick rolled his eyes, and shook his head as the sound of sirens and car engines at full throttle grew ever closer.

The stolen car, a silver Camaro, came into view and Rick felt his heart pounding in his chest. That was normal. It was adrenaline speeding through his body, getting him ready for a confrontation.

The car hastened towards them, with two Linden County police cars in pursuit, and then they hit the shredders.

The car skidded across the road and for a brief moment, Rick thought that he, Shane and his two fellow officers were going to be in some serious trouble, until it started to roll into the verge. It finally stopped, having flipped over onto the roof in a mass of twisted and beat up metal. If the two suspects had managed to survive that, then God must have wanted them to receive justice, because otherwise there was no way they were walking away from that crash unscathed.

The four Linden County officers exited their cars, aiming their weapons at the crashed Camaro, just like Rick and his guys were. Rick and one of the Linden County cops started to slowly edge forwards, guns still raised as one of the thieves forced a car door open and stumbled out into the open, gun in hand.

"Gun, gun, gun!" One of the Linden cops shouted.

"Put it down!" Rick instructed, attempting to keep a calm and level head, as the perp started to fire at the Linden cops, clearly not wanting to do down without a fight. His fellow policemen fired back, though neither side was actually hitting their target. They were just wasting bullets, all of their shots going wide. "Put the gun down!"

Rick fired off five shots simultaneously, mostly in warning, but it only attracted the gunman's attention. The madman started shooting at him, and suddenly Rick was wishing he had stayed behind the cover of his and Shane's car. He took a bullet to his lower chest, and went down.

Shane saw his partner go down, and shot at the criminal with a renewed vigour. He managed to nail the bastard with three bullets in the chest, a strange sense of satisfaction blowing through him as he watched the asshole slump to the ground. Though he had to take cover when the other thief suddenly made himself known, with a volley of shotgun shells flying in Shane's direction, shattering the windscreen of his police car. Shane managed to fire another couple of rounds at the second gunman, but the Linden cops were the ones to finish it, taking the guy out with a shot to the chest.

"Rick!" Shane bellowed, fearing for his friend, whose body seemed to be convulsing on the grass.

"I'm all right!" Rick called back, wheezing as he struggled to right himself, managing to get up to his knees, as his friend and partner walked towards him, concern etched across his face.

"I saw you get tagged, man. Scared the hell out of me." Shane voiced his worry, eyes flitting between his best friend, as he got to his feet, and the wreckage of the once beautiful Camaro in case the criminals managed to get up again.

"Me too. That son of a bitch shot me. Can you believe that?" Rick questioned, his voice still thick with the shock of actually being shot, even if it hit him in the vest.

"What? It catch you in your vest?"

"Yeah," Rick replied, looking down at his chest before his eyes snapped back to his partner. "Shane, you do not tell Thea or Lori that happened. Ever. You understand?"

A single gunshot was heard and Rick cried out, pain searing through his back and into his chest. He dropped to the ground, everything becoming fuzzy to him but the pain. Rick blinked bleary eyed up at the sky, hearing a muffled gun shot, and then Shane's face came into view, felt his hands as he ripped open his shirt and tried to stop the bleeding, shouting orders to Leon over his shoulder. Rick didn't hear his best friend's choked words of reassurance, he just heard a ringing in his ears. The sound of a gunshot reverberating in his mind over and over again, until it all faded to nothing.

He faded in and out, hearing bits and pieces of hushed conversations and emotional confessions. At one point in his delirium he believed he heard Thea's voice in his ear, whispering she loved him, that she wanted him to wake up. That's when he knew that he was dreaming, because he'd only heard her say those words in his dreams.

And then he woke up.