Issue 48

Issue 48 is the forty-eighth issue of Image Comics' The Walking Dead and the sixth and final part of Volume 8: Made To Suffer. It was originally published on April 2, 2008.

Plot Synopsis
Rick has found Alice pointing a gun at Lori and Judith. Rick is shocked and confused until Lori explains that it was just a ruse to protect herself and Judith in case the Woodbury soldiers made it into the prison. Alice would pretend to help the Woodbury soldiers by taking Lori hostage. Carl crawls from his hiding spot under the bed and the Grimes family embrace. Alice reminds everyone that they should leave the prison. Lori is concerned about the lack of a plan but Rick calms and reassures her that they will be fine as long as they move quickly and stick together.

The Governor is outside with a large number of Woodbury soldiers and orders them to shoot at Hershel, Billy, and Patricia who are taking cover behind a corner of the building. Patricia believes that they will die if they just stay where they are, so she begins running away. Billy attempts to stop her, however, she gets shot. Billy is paralyzed by Patricia's death and cannot move so Hershel grabs his arm saying that there is no time to be shocked. They begin to run towards the truck, firing at the Woodbury soldiers; however, Billy is shot in the head. Hershel turns and notices that he is no longer holding Billy's arm but is dragging his limp body and looks in disbelief at his son.

The Grimes family and Alice arrive outside and see Hershel kneeling over his dead son. Rick calls to Hershel notifying the Governor of their position. Hershel refuses to join them and with tears in his eyes replies, "Just leave me." Alice stands in the doorway and fires upon the Woodbury soldiers to cover the Grimes family as they start running. She is shot in the knee and falls, killing one more soldier before the Governor kicks her gun out of her hand and shoots her at point-blank range.

Carl, Rick, and Lori continue to run when Lilly, one of the Woodbury soldiers, is commanded by The Governor to shoot at them. She hits Lori in the lower back with a shotgun, and Lori's weight when she falls crushes the baby. Rick stops for a moment and watches with tears in his eyes as his wife and daughter die, then turns and yells at Carl to not look back and keep running. Rick stops Carl from running to the truck and they instead force their way through the zombies in the opening in the fence. The Governor lets them go as he thinks they don't stand a chance out in the open. He then turns his attention to Hershel who is still crouched over Billy's dead body. He looks up at the Governor and says; "Dear God... Please. Just kill me." The Governor obliges him and shoots him in the head.

Lilly then realizes that she has killed a baby and turns on the Governor, calling him a monster. She hits him with her shotgun and puts the barrel in his mouth as the other Woodbury soldiers yell for her to stop, when zombies overrun the group. The Governor pulls the shotgun out of his mouth, and tries to calm the group and get them to stick together but Lilly shoots him in the head and kicks his body into the oncoming zombies. The remaining Woodbury soldiers then retreat to the building, firing as they go. They run out of ammo right as they reach the doors and get inside.

After escaping the Prison, Carl asks where his mother and Judith are. Rick starts to cry and tries to explain but he is overcome with grief. The issue ends with the fence down and zombies roaming within its perimeter as Rick and Carl hold each other a distance away from the prison.

Credits

 * Rick Grimes
 * Lori Grimes
 * Carl Grimes
 * Judith Grimes
 * Hershel Greene
 * Billy Greene
 * Patricia
 * Brian Blake
 * Alice Warren
 * Lilly Caul
 * Smitty
 * Tom Blanchford
 * Hap Abernathy
 * Woodbury soldiers

Deaths

 * Patricia
 * Billy Greene
 * Alice Warren
 * Judith Grimes
 * Lori Grimes
 * Hershel Greene
 * Brian Blake
 * Clint Mansell
 * Multiple Woodbury soldiers

Trivia

 * Last appearance of Lori Grimes. (Alive)
 * Last appearance of Judith Grimes.
 * Last appearance of Brian Blake.
 * Last appearance of Hershel Greene.
 * Last appearance of Billy Greene.
 * Last appearance of Patricia.
 * Last appearance of Alice Warren.
 * Last appearance of Lilly Caul.
 * This issue has the most deaths of named and seen characters so far.
 * There are 6 graves on the cover, which accurately depicts the events of the issue (how many people in Rick's group die in this issue.)
 * Creator Robert Kirkman wrote: "Things did change a bit in (the prison siege) arc while I was writing it--originally, Lori and Judy were going to die in Issue 47, but then I moved things around and it got shoved into Issue 48. Which on one hand, made that cool twist with Alice possible, which resulted in the death being more of a surprise. But at the same time, it made it to where most of the deaths in this arc took place in one issue—which wasn't originally the plan."
 * Kirkman also wrote: "I'm not going to say (the Woodbury survivors) were all killed (when their bullets ran out), but it's very unlikely that we'll ever see them again. The prison is dead to me. I've moved on and so have the characters."
 * In response to questions about Rick and the group knowing if The Governor was alive or dead, Kirkman stated, "Michonne was still lurking around the prison in the aftermath of the attack, so I always figured she ID'd the Governor and passed that message along off-panel."

Goofs/Errors

 * Even though Rick had his right hand amputated by The Governor in Issue 28, he is seen with both of his hands when hugging his family in this issue.