2 Chapter Two

"Dad! Dad! Get up!"

"Mmm."

My eyes fluttered open. Judging by the voice, I knew Carl was the one waking me up. It took me a moment to realize that this wasn't a dream, but rather, it was my reality now. I have a son, a wife and a fairly fulfilling job. Thankfully it seems that I absorbed his memories with no problems or pain, completely different from what I'd seen in the novels I'd read. All I had to do was think of a memory and it'd pop up.

"Alright, alright. I'm up." I look to my side and wonder where Lori was at, quickly remembering that the original Rick and her had a fight and she stayed the night at a friend's house, and judging from the words said last night, she'll most likely be gone for a few days. Unfortunate for their relationship, fortunate for me. I need to quickly make plans for the future.

I slowly lifted myself from the bed, trying to get a hang of my new body. Though it was fairly similar to my previous one, I was taller and definitely fitter. That was another thing, I had to keep up my physical abilities. Even if the walkers are slow, the ability to run and walk for a long time is a crucial ability to living in the apocalypse. No more consuming junk food for quick meals and no more chugging copious amounts of energy drinks to get through my shift.

Finally, I walk over to Carl who's been staring at me, impatiently. He's 12 years old. He looks very cute and I can definitely see why so many people adored his character in my previous life, but he'll grow up fast, so I need to prepare him for the future. I can't go randomly spouting off premonitions of an apocalypse obviously, but maybe enrolling him in survival courses and teaching him necessary skills like hunting will at least give him a better chance of survival. 

Though I need to learn how to hunt myself, so we can learn together. A good father son bonding experience. I silently marvel at the new experience of having a son and a family. I rub my clean-shaven chin and speak, "Alright Carl, get ready for school. Do you have all your books?"

"Yeah, dad. Don't worry. You always remind me." He spoke, with fond exasperation in his tone.

I chuckle. "Well, I'm your dad. It's my job. Now hurry up and brush your teeth. I'll go fix you something for breakfast."

He quickly nodded his understanding and went to the bathroom, so I walked to the kitchen and started cooking a simple breakfast using the memories of what Carl enjoys. While cooking, I started to plan. First things first, money. I quickly remember how much Rick Grimes makes from his memory.

I freeze in place as I realize how much money Rick Grimes makes as a deputy sheriff. He earns a little over $32,000 a year, not including any bonuses he receives. That... isn't as good as I'd want. His savings, on the other hand, are pretty good but not good enough for what I need. $53,000 dollars in his savings account. I'm definitely gonna have to find other ways to make money. I quickly plate the sausages I just made and started cracking the eggs.

There's the lottery, but I don't remember any important numbers. I know a few companies that blow up in price and popularity but I have no idea how to invest and no company will rise in price before the world ends. I guess cryptocurrency isn't feasible either as just like the companies, anything that becomes worth anything doesn't appear until far after the world ends... Now that I'm thinking about it, I really should have chosen a time period far earlier than one year before the apocalypse.

 My current job is okay, but I don't want to be a cop, not really. I don't have that strong moral code Rick had and my goal isn't to stop crime or whatever the original Rick wanted to do, it's to survive the oncoming apocalypse. I did ask the entity for a few abilities, so I could use those to make money.

Maybe I'll start an architectural or engineering firm? Or even both. I definitely have the knowledge, but could I even grow it to the point necessary before the apocalypse started? It'd also have to be ran and developed all by myself as I don't want any employees looking into what I use the money for.

I'm not planning on building the world's biggest bomb or anything, but the amount of guns, ammunition and stockpiles of food necessary to survive would raise a lot of red flags. I quickly plate the eggs along with the sausages and walk over to Carl's room to call him down for breakfast.

I'd need to set up an LLC and all that jazz, but since I'm the only employee, I'll be the sole owner. With the knowledge from this world and my previous life, I should be able to pull it off. The hardest part is going to be setting it up and then making enough money to buy everything that I'd need.

It's also gonna be a bit strange, a 35-year-old former deputy sheriff running a architecture and/or engineering firm with no experience with architecture or engineering. I'll just bullshit my way through every question, I guess. There isn't really a reasonable explanation as to how someone could suddenly become a master Engineer and Architect overnight.

I shake my head. These are things I'll worry about later. Right now, I need to focus on my daily life. As a cop, I'll have plenty of time to think and plan.