The Walking Dead: How is Rick surviving?

Seeing how the CR treat captives in Walking Dead World Beyond, how’s Rick alive?

While I was going about my daily business, I started thinking about what to write today, and something hit me.

Okay, we know Rick was taken by the Civic Republic Military in his final Walking Dead episode, “What Comes After,” courtesy of Anne/Jadis. We know that, at one point, he was taken to a ship that wound up in the Chesapeake Bay before being relocated again to, presumably, somewhere else within the Civic Republic’s vast web of facilities and outposts.

We also have a pretty good idea that Rick is still alive, considering that we know there are going to be movies revolving around Rick at some point in the future, and it would be the worst fake-out ever (And, this is coming from a series with a history of bad fake-outs) if the movies ended with Rick dying, or being found by Michonne just before or just after he dies, or some such nonsense, so, the possibility of him being alive is a safe bet.

Having said all that, when you think about what we know about how the Civic Republic treats people who’ve volunteered to go there, I can’t help but wonder: How the HELL is Rick surviving?

In case you forgot, in World Beyond’s fourth episode, “The Wrong End Of A Telescope,” we saw that Dr. Samuel Abbott, a scientist from the Portland Community, had been turned into a walker for the purposes of experimenting on him. Judging by the fact he had a bite in the same general area on his body as all the other test subjects, it would appear his participation in this study was…”not on a voluntary basis,” let’s say.

Now, mind you, this was a scientist, a man who came from Portland with the intent of helping the Civic Republic’s researchers understand the zombie virus and cure it (If Leo’s words to Hope about leaving for the Civic Republic are anything to go by), and, yet, he was turned into a walker because…reasons?

So, if this is what they do to a scientist — Possibly one of the most useful people in a zombie apocalypse — who volunteered to help them cure the zombie virus, it makes one wonder what the hell they’d do to a small-town sheriff’s deputy who was brought to them against his will by one of their off-site “recruiters,” in severely injured condition.

Basically, what I’m saying is: Going off of what we know, the Civic Republic is capable of…Rick should be dead. He is not a Civic Republic citizen, he can’t help them cure the virus, and I can’t imagine Rick being the most cooperative of prisoners, meaning he poses a risk of escaping, trying to reunite with his people, and exposing the Civic Republic’s location to outsiders. All-in-all, someone the Civic Republic would probably want to be without.

So…why is he still alive?

I mean, yes, we don’t know for certain that he is, but, come on, if there’s going to be a Rick Grimes movie, it stands to reason that, for a good chunk of it, he will be alive whilst in Civic Republic custody.

But why? After all this time, what is he to them? A prisoner? A test subject? A trainer? A “guest” of Jadis/Anne (Which would imply a great deal about her status within the Civic Republic if that were the case)? What?

I, honestly, have no idea. I’m sitting here, running through the possibilities in my mind, and while it’s certainly possible I’m overlooking things, I can’t imagine right now any logical excuse for Rick still being alive. Hopefully, with Felix and Iris now trying to get to the Civic Republic research facility in Ithaca, Will having escaped and reunited with them, and Hope and Silas being captured by the CRM, we’ll get a few more clues as to what’s going on the next season of The Walking Dead World Beyond, because, at this moment, it looks like Rick is “surplus to requirements.”

…Damn. Thinking about this makes me wonder what happened to poor Heath…

What do you guys think? Do you have a good idea why the Civic Republic might be keeping Rick alive? Do you think he’s an unwilling captive? Do you think he’s accepted being stuck with them? Do you think he resents Jadis for bringing him there? Let me know! I’m curious to hear! And, if you enjoyed this and don’t want to become trapped when zombies arrive, why not pick up a copy of my book, The Rules: A Guide To Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse! You can also get it at Amazon here, on iTunes here!