Kissing Death

Sunrise - Around six AM

It’s been over two months since the dead took over the world. Jason and I found a safe haven close to Atlanta, on a rock quarry. The people at the camp are extremely nice, apart from a handful that I won’t mention.

Glenn, a guy a few years younger than me, found a blank journal while he went on a supplies run to Atlanta and thought I would like it. “You’re a history teacher, right?” he asked. “Maybe you can keep track of everything for us.”

I’m grateful for that idea. I never would have thought of it. I’d say part of my old self--the vocal history geek--was killed on the day I lost my mom to the undead.

“Go on,” she told Jason and I. “I’ll hold them off.”

She had always been the adventurous type of woman. She went to the shooting range with my dad and hunted with him all the time. When everything started, I predicted that she would be one of the last survivors of this apocalypse, but she was lost on the second day.

I cried for days, on and off. I fell over countless times and begged for Jason to take us back to where she died. He practically had to drag me through the dirt until I found my feet again.

We came across this camp after a couple of weeks of hiding. I was glad to see familiar faces when we arrived. Carl and Lori Grimes. Carl was one of my students. I never got to know his mother very well, but his father and I were... close.

Carl was one of my favorite students while school was still running. I treated him like he was my child. The bigger kids pushed him around sometimes, but I was always there to put an end to it.

And Rick Grimes, his father... I don’t know where to begin when it comes to him.

I have to stop writing now. Jason’s waking up. I can’t let him see me cry.



Nighttime - Near midnight

I thought that I had seen a ghost several hours ago. Rick Grimes--who was allegedly dead in the King County hospital--is alive. The group that traveled to Atlanta brought back a “new guy.”

Upon hearing this, Jason and I were immediately curious. I had hoped that it was my older brother, but the man who arrived was far from being my brother.

The tears that flowed from my eyes when Rick held Carl in his arms were indescribable. Jason eyed me suspiciously, but I naturally ignored him.

“Mrs. Cooper,” Rick had said when he saw me. “It’s so good to see that you’re alive.” He then greeted my husband and carried on. I wasn’t used to Rick calling me “Mrs. Cooper,” but I knew that the formality was necessary around those who didn’t know about us.

Jason and I have been married for almost three years and I still feel like I don’t know him. The way he glared at me tonight--after Rick had told his story over the campfire--was cold and bone-chilling. As I rest beside him, I feel nothing but discomfort. I had always known there was a monstrous side of my husband, but I’d never seen it in his eyes like I did tonight.

After what happened between Rick and I before he went into his coma, I was sick with guilt. He and I were both unhappy in our marriages, but unlike me, he wanted to fix things. Unfortunately, in the middle of his attempt, he gave in to temptation and so did I.

You could say I’m in love with Rick. I certainly know I am. When I married Jason, I didn’t know what I was thinking. We were both clearly attracted to each other from the moment we met, but things began to fade. So, he asked me to marry him. I didn’t know what to say. Perhaps I should have said no.

Rick’s in the next tent over. Their lantern was just turned off. He’s probably making love to Lori as I write this. I wonder if he’ll ever find out about Lori and Shane, his apparent best friend and leader of this group.

I saw Lori and Shane together the other day. I thought nothing of their betrayal towards Rick, because Lori had been betrayed, too.