Dead Man Walking || RICK GRIMES POV -SLOW UPDATES-

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"I hate to break it to you, Grimes," June started with a smile, her rifle hanging from her shoulders as the pair made their way through an abandoned town, "But that's pretty sad."

Rick rolled his eyes and refrained from laughing, letting his weapon dangle from his shoulder, long forgotten as the two talked, "What? I have never had a way with the ladies," He shrugged. He knew he should be embarrassed, but with June, it was hard to feel anything close to embarrassment, "I had to lie to Shane about dating some girl who went to another school."

"Oh no!" June laughed, "Not the whole, 'you won't know her, she goes to another school' line!" The sound was like music to his ears as she thoroughly found his pathetic story humorous. Rick couldn't help but chuckle a few times, realizing how pitiful teenage Rick Grimes was.

"What about you, June?" Rick asked, diverting the conversation, "You're a knockout, so you must've had boys lining up for you." June's cheeks flushed a tint of pink before she shook her head. He couldn't deny it; he probably would've been one of those boys crushing on her from afar, not having the courage to speak to her or ask her out. It's a good thing he grew out of that awkward, shy shell, or else he would doubt his ability to speak to her now.

"Nah," She responded, genuinely surprising him, "I didn't really date in high school either."

Rick stopped in his tracks and cocked an eyebrow at her, not believing a word she said. She's lying! A beautiful woman like her must've had tons of boyfriends! "Bullshit," Rick said in disbelief. She turned and shrugged her shoulders.

"I wasn't too interested in dating," She said, "Also, my dad would've killed me, and I wasn't about to piss him off."

"He a disciplinarian type?" Rick asked, resuming their walk and stepping in tune with her. Her eyes combed the abandoned street before them, merely nodding.

"Something like that," She responded, "On his side of the family, most of the women were teen moms, and he didn't want that for my sister and me. He wanted us to finish high school and have a career before entertaining the idea of dating." A sad look crossed her features, but a small smile spread across her lips as she reminisced, "My sister was the boy-crazy one, and I swear, she almost killed him from all the stress she caused him."

"He's also the one that taught you how to hunt?" Rick enjoyed moments like this. He liked learning as much about June as possible and seeing how her life was before the end.

"Yeah," She smiled, "He forced us to learn." She sighed and returned her grip to her weapon, turning her gaze upward to meet his eyes, "What about you?"

"No, your dad never taught me how to hunt," Rick joked around, earning a playful nudge from June, "Mom was a stay-at-home mom. Dad busted his ass for us; Had two brothers, Justin and Jeffery."

"Justin, Jeffery, and Richard," June mused, "Someone broke the J name trend."

"Yeah," Rick nodded, "I was a surprise. My brothers would torture me growing up," He smiled at the memories, "When I was about eight, they convinced me there was a demon in the basement. One day, when our parents went out, they locked me in the basement for what felt like hours, finding ways to scare me. They would mess with the breaker box to flicker the lights. Crawl under the house, pound on the floor, and make all sorts of noises. By the time my parents got home, I was wailing in the basement and pissed my pants."

June snorted, stopping in her tracks before covering her face to laugh hysterically into them. She doubled over and placed one hand on her knee while the other landed on her midsection. Her face turned red from how much she was laughing, her eyes watering. Rick chuckled at the memory, a sense of heartache washing over him despite his laugh. He has no idea what happened to his family – the last he heard, Jeffery was in Spain. He had no other choice but to assume they were dead. His parents were up there in age... his mom had arthritis and diabetes, and his dad was on the verge of being diagnosed with high blood pressure. Both couldn't run if they needed to. He trusted that Justin tried to help them and survive as long as he could, but Justin wasn't exactly the type to think things through. He was impulsive, and that's dangerous these days. Impulsive decisions can cost you your life.