REMEMBER ME HAPPY | r. grimes

EPILOGUE NO. 3

with love <3

EPILOGUE NO. 3

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— THIS WAS IT. This was the end of the cruel joke that God played on us so many years ago.

It was hard to remember what life was like before we had to rebuild it.

We had losses.

One too many. I'd lost count by now, which was a difficult concept to come to terms with. How could I forgot our friends– no our family, that we had lost?

Time will do that to us.

Time will wind down our memory and make it fade away into the afterlife. The farm was a distant memory. The CDC an even further one.

I felt old as I reminisced on those memories.

Of the moments Rick and I shared together. Of how we defended one another through everything. We changed together, and built a life together.

A life that I was eternally grateful for.

I often wondered what life would be like if it weren't for this apocalypse that hit our lives like a shit ton of bricks.

Would we still have Judith? Would I get to play Batman to the kid I met and instantly loved like my own?

Would Rick and I have even met?

It was hopeful that we would. Seeing as the two of us were cops, it was bound to happen at one point. I hoped our instant pull and attraction to one another would still happen.

Hope wasn't something we had to hold onto anymore. At least not in the unhealthy way we all were. Now, we had hope of a new life.

A new fortress.

A new sense of safety.

It had been months since we'd seen a Walker pass through. The word felt foreign on my tongue as I realized I might not ever say it again.

We created a safe place for others to find refuge. A safe place to recreate our lives together in our old age.

Carl was practically our Governor. Something that Rick had handed to him when the time was right.

It felt weird at first, not having to carry a gun around on my hip anymore. It felt even more strange to watch my beautiful girl grow up in a world where she was safe.

Safe for what I would hope to be for the rest of her life.

It was a sweet feeling.

I wished our loved ones were here to experience this with us. Silas would have loved this little town we set up in.

It felt like it was back to normal.

That everything we went through was a long, distant memory.

In fact, it's so normal that–

"Baby? What're you doin' out here?"

I looked to see the man I loved standing at the door. His hair was shorter. Grey, too. As was mine, if we were being honest.

"Just thinking."

"Hmm. . . Just thinking?" Rick smirked as he sat down beside me.

I nodded my head in confirmation and threw my legs across his lap. "Thinking about how far we've come."

"We've come a long way." Rick confirmed. "I wouldn't change a single thing."

I didn't say anything else after. There was no need.

Because now, we were in paradise.

It was practically like Heaven.

THE END