Duane Jones

## Before 2010

Nothing is known about Duane's life prior to or as the outbreak began, except he was born in 2000 to Jenny and Morgan Jones, and presumably attended middle school. He also had a dog named Midge.

## 2010

"Days Gone Bye"
Outside his house, Rick Grimes sits on the steps. He spots a man stumbling down the road and waves his hand to try and get his attention. As he is doing this, Duane creeps up from behind and hits him with a shovel. *"Carl, I found you",* Rick mutters. *"Daddy I got this sumbitch! I'm gonna smack him dead!"* Duane screams. Morgan approaches the stumbling man Rick was waving to and shoots him in the head. He then proceeds to walk towards Rick and points a revolver in his face. *"What's that bandage for? You tell me, or I will kill you,"* Morgan asks him, cocking the gun at his face. Before he can answer, Rick passes out.

Later that night, Rick wakes up with his arms and legs tied to a bed. The young boy, Duane, stands guard with a baseball bat. *"Did you get bit?"* Morgan asks Rick stiffly, having changed his bandages though Rick's gunshot wound that has mostly healed. *"Just shot, as far as I know,"* Rick says. Morgan checks his forehead and says if he had "the fever" it would have killed him by now, so he sets him free of the bedposts with a switchblade, but not before telling him that if he tries anything, he will not hesitate to kill him. He then offers him a seat at their dinner table.

Morgan tells Rick not to look out the window because they will see the light. He then begins to explain the story of the outbreak and the following days to a confused and disoriented Rick. *"I never should have fired that gun today. The sound draws 'em. Now they're all over the street."* Rick accuses Morgan of shooting a man in cold blood. *"It was a walker,"* Morgan corrects. He adds that they get more active after dark sometimes.

Before they begin eating dinner, Duane insists that his father give a blessing. *"Lord, please watch over us in these crazy days,"* Morgan says, and proceeds to explain to Rick that the man he shot would have tried to eat them. *"One thing I do know, don't you get bit. Bites kill. The fever burns you out. But then after a while... You come back."* Morgan explains*."Seen it happen,"* Duane adds solemnly.

After dinner, the trio talk about Rick's son, Carl, and Rick satisfies a lingering curiosity shared by Duane and Morgan as to what line of work would put someone in a position to be shot at. *"Sheriff's deputy,"* Rick remarks. Morgan smiles and says, *"Duane thought you were a bank robber."* Suddenly, a car alarm starts to go off outside and the trio turns off the lights.

Morgan and Rick peer out to the street through heavy covered windows and boarded up doors. The street is filled with walkers, drawn by the noise of the alarm. As the zombified Jenny walks up to the front door of the house, Duane runs away crying. Morgan comforts his son while Rick stares at her through the peephole at the front door. *"She died in the other room on that bed. I should have put her down. I just didn't have it in me. She's the mother of my child."* Morgan confesses with sorrow.

The next morning, Rick walks outside in a face shield, carrying a baseball bat. *"We're sure they're dead? I have to ask,"* says Rick, approaching a walker sitting near the stoop. *"They're dead. Except for something in the brain. That's why it's gotta be the head,"* Morgan assures him, exiting the house with Duane.

Rick approaches the walker and swings the bat repeatedly at his head, beating it down until it stops moving. He quickly becomes fatigued, most likely from his still-healing gunshot wound.

Back at the house, Rick tells Morgan he thinks his wife and son are still alive. He explains he found empty drawers in the bedrooms and the family pictures and photo albums were gone. *"Photo albums. My wife, same thing. There I am packing survival gear; she's grabbing photo albums,"* Morgan laughs, getting emotional over the memory. Duane suggests to Rick that they could be in Atlanta. Morgan explains that the government was telling people to head to a refugee center there with military protection and food, before the broadcasts stopped. He also explains that the C.D.C. is rumored to be working on a cure.

Duane, Morgan and Rick head to the King County Sheriff's Department, where they luxuriate in hot showers thanks to a separate propane heating system. Afterward, Rick packs a duffel bag with guns and changes into his sheriff's uniform and hat. He hands Morgan a rifle and some ammunition.

They head outside and start loading the weapons into the trunk of his cruiser. Rick prepares to set off for Atlanta, while Morgan says he'll follow in a few days, once Duane has learned to shoot. Rick hands Morgan a walkie-talkie and he tells him to turn it on every day at dawn to make contact. Before leaving, Morgan gives Rick a warning: *"They may not seem like much one at a time. But in a group, all riled up and hungry? Man, you watch your ass."* However, the farewell is interrupted when Rick spots a reanimated Leon who claws at the chain link fence separating them. Rick admits he didn't think much of the young officer, but he won't leave him like this. He shoots him in the forehead with his revolver, putting him down. Then, he and Morgan drive away from the sheriff's department in opposite directions.

Back home, Duane is covering the windows before dark. Morgan heads up to the attic carrying Rick's rifle he left him. He looks at old photo albums and pictures of his wife. Tearfully, he positions the rifle facing the street and begins shooting walkers. He commands Duane to stay downstairs when his son gets startled by the gunshots. *"Come on, baby,"* he says, hoping the noise will draw his wife into view. But when she appears, he breaks down, still unable to shoot her leaving his fate unknown.