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The Disappearance of Rick Grimes is a major event that took place during the first half of the ninth season of AMC's The Walking Dead.
History
Background
After mending his relationship with Daryl, Rick rides off to lead a herd away that is heading towards the Bridge Camp. Rick successfully begins to lead the herd away but is cornered at a crossroads by another herd. The mass of walkers frightens the horse he's riding, causing him to be thrown off and impaled on a large piece of rebar. He passes out from his chest wound as the walkers approach.
He has a vision of himself in the hospital before he wakes up. He uses his belt to lift himself off the rebar and climbs back onto his horse. He rides off with severe blood loss as the walkers follow. As he is riding he eventually falls off his horse and crawls into a small cabin where he promptly passes out again. Rick has a dream about Shane where he reconciles with what he had done to Shane before being woken up by a walker attacking him. He flees the cabin and gets back on the horse.
On the road, Rick clings to life as the herd continues to follow him. He hallucinates again and this time he's back at the farm. He walks into the barn, where he finds Hershel greeting him. Rick embraces him and apologizes for what happened to him and his family, but Hershel reminds him that Maggie is strong. Rick tells him he has to find his family but Hershel tells him he doesn't and just has to wake up.
Rick wakes up but only for a few moments before falling back asleep. He is in the hospital again, looking at a similar door, this time reading, "Don't Open, Dead Outside". He opens the door and steps into a massive pile of corpses of all the people he's encountered since the beginning. Sasha stands up from the pile and explains to Rick that his family has never gone missing and that his family was right in front of him. She then tells him to wake up.
Rick wakes up again and is thrown off the horse at the work camp, which has been abandoned as bodies litter the campsite. Rick draws his gun and shoots many of the zombified survivors. The herd tears through the camp, so Rick crawls to his feet and limps away.
He reaches the bridge but collapses right in front of it as the herd follows. He appears to pass out again but Daryl, Maggie, Carol, Ezekiel, and the others rush past him to kill the walkers. Michonne comes to his aid, where Rick finally accepts that the people here are his family but also realizes that he is once again dreaming.
Rick wakes up one last time and gets to his feet.
The Disappearance
Rick hobbles over the bridge as the dead follow. He reaches the other side and watches as the dead continue to walk over it but soon realizes that the bridge will hold. Rick begins walking again as two walkers quickly approach him. One gets so close that it's able to open his mouth to bite him but is killed by a crossbow bolt moments before it can.
Rick looks out to find Daryl, Maggie, Michonne, and others racing to help him and to redirect the herd. Rick sways out to them, not to save him but they ignore his movements. Rick looks back to the bridge where he sees a walker knock a box of dynamite onto the ground. Seeing his chance to stop the herd, Rick pulls out his Colt Python and fires a single round at it.
The bridge explodes. Rick is nowhere to be found as the dead begin to fall into the raging water current. The survivors all begin to break down into tears as they watch what they believe to be Rick's death.
Elsewhere, on a riverbank, Anne is waiting for someone to pick her up when she looks at the shoreline. She notices Rick's body is lying there, barely moving. As a helicopter approaches, Anne calls out to them and informs them she has a B, even though she promised them an A. The pilot is not pleased but accepts Anne's offer. They take Rick into the helicopter and fly him away to a new location to treat his wounds.
Participants
The Militia |
The HeapsCivic Republic Military |
Results
- Anne relocates to the Civic Republic where she eventually becomes a Warrant Officer.
- Rick Grimes is taken to the Civic Republic where his injuries are treated at a military hospital.
- All of Rick's friends and family believe him to be dead.
Appearances
The Walking DeadSeason 9World BeyondSeason 2
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The Ones Who LiveSeason 1 |