Safe haven | Rick Grimes

114. THERE'S NO ESCAPE FOR THE LIVING

Chapter one hundred and fourteen

"There's no escape for the living."

Five years after the bridge explosion, a helicopter flew through the dark sky, descending toward the orange glow of a burning forest. The moment the aircraft touched down, Rick Grimes and a few other workers stepped out into the smoke.

"Consignee Grimes is tethered. Inbound," a soldier's voice crackled over a walkie-talkie.A woman's recorded voice began blaring through a megaphone across the site. "Consignees, the Civic Republic Military thanks you for signing up for this voluntary assignment. This is a level-three hazardous event."

Rick stood in the ash, firmly gripping a heavy axe in his left hand.

"By eliminating the advance of ignited delts, you are protecting crops and food stores for over two hundred thousand people," the recording continued as Rick surveyed the flames. "You are now speeding up your path to citizenship."

"Base, this is Alpha. All consignees are in place and ready to execute," a commander stated. Red warning lights flared to life across the perimeter. Rick lifted his left wrist, which was chained to a long tether wire, and glanced back at the armed soldier monitoring his movement.

"Copy. Execute clearing protocol," the base radioed back.

Rick immediately broke into a jog, leading the line of consignees into the burning trees. Charred, flaming walkers—or delts, as the military called them—stumbled out from the smoke. Rick swung his axe with practiced precision, dropping the first flaming creature instantly. He kept moving through the heat, driving his blade into a second walker's skull, and then immediately pivoted to the left to strike down a third.

The dead kept pouring out of the brush. Rick lunged forward, swinging his axe over and over to clear a path through the fire. Driven by an intense focus, he ran deeper into the tree line, dropping two more walkers in quick succession.

Seeing him move too deep into the burning woods, the soldier holding his tether line realized Rick was traveling past the safety boundary. "Grimes! Grimes!" the guard shouted.

The soldier violently yanked the tether wire. The sudden force pulled Rick backward, sending him crashing hard onto the ash-covered ground.

"Sergeant Grimes!" the soldier called out, marching up with his rifle raised.

Rick scrambled onto his knees, breathing heavily as he looked up through the smoke. "Sorry. Just trying to find my axe," he told him, his voice rough. Slipping his heavy leather belt off his waist, he wrapped it tightly around his left forearm.

Grabbing the axe tightly in his right hand, Rick looked down at his left wrist. He brought the blade up, staring at the simple wooden wedding ring that he had carved and Scarlett had placed on his finger—the ring that had made them husband and wife in the eyes of the Lord.

"Consignee Grimes!" the soldier's voice echoed through the smoke.

Rick's breathing turned heavy and erratic. He had never taken that ring off. But losing it—and losing his hand—was the only way he would ever get back to her. Get back to their kids. It meant everything to him.

"This is how," he muttered to himself, grunting through his teeth. "This is how."

With a surge of desperation, he swung the axe, committing to the sacrifice necessary for his escape, he cut off his hand.

A sharp gasp escaped him as he forced himself to stand and sprint into the burning woods, his breath shaky and shallow.

"Consignee Grimes is breaking protocol!" the soldier shouted into his radio, giving chase through the haze. Rick kept running, fueled by the thought of his family.