Looking back on it, the question made sense to ask, though it still caught him off guard. After all, who was Rick to tell him the way things were, if he hadn't had that experience himself? In this world and his own, everyone had been forced to get their hands dirty at one point or another.
His expression darkened as he considered his answer, his gaze dropping to the ground.
Killed his best friend. Ripped a man's throat out with nothing but his teeth. Slaughtered an enemy camp.
What had he done? Perhaps it was easier to ask what he hadn't, at this point; the list of things he wouldn't do had dwindled with every new threat. He'd long since lost count of how many lives he'd taken, the blood on his hands thick enough that he'd never be able to fully cleanse it. Regardless of how things went, even with Washington, the promise of a cure and a dream of returning to normalcy, Rick already knew he'd never be able to go back to how things were. They could pretend there was hope, that they could adapt and change to life as it was, but... some changes were permanent.
"I kept my family safe," he settled on, his tone firm despite the neutral wording.
In the end, he'd done what was necessary. Everything he'd done was for them, and so long as it worked, so long as they lived, he didn't regret it.
But that was a pretty heavy subject, considering they hadn't even exchanged names. Social niceties were a luxury more than a necessity now, but they'd leapt straight into discussions of morality and death before Rick even knew what to call him.
no subject
His expression darkened as he considered his answer, his gaze dropping to the ground.
Killed his best friend. Ripped a man's throat out with nothing but his teeth. Slaughtered an enemy camp.
What had he done? Perhaps it was easier to ask what he hadn't, at this point; the list of things he wouldn't do had dwindled with every new threat. He'd long since lost count of how many lives he'd taken, the blood on his hands thick enough that he'd never be able to fully cleanse it. Regardless of how things went, even with Washington, the promise of a cure and a dream of returning to normalcy, Rick already knew he'd never be able to go back to how things were. They could pretend there was hope, that they could adapt and change to life as it was, but... some changes were permanent.
"I kept my family safe," he settled on, his tone firm despite the neutral wording.
In the end, he'd done what was necessary. Everything he'd done was for them, and so long as it worked, so long as they lived, he didn't regret it.
But that was a pretty heavy subject, considering they hadn't even exchanged names. Social niceties were a luxury more than a necessity now, but they'd leapt straight into discussions of morality and death before Rick even knew what to call him.
He frowned, his head tilting slightly.
"You have a name?"