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The Walking Dead #7 (Apr. 2004):
“Miles Behind Us, Part 1”
by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard

The Walking Dead #7

Title: “Miles Behind Us, Part 1”

Medium: comic

Cover date: Apr. 2004

Publisher: Image
Written by: Robert Kirkman
Art by: Charlie Adlard


27 characters in this story:

Character
(Click links for info about character
and his/her religious practice, affiliation, etc.)
Religious
Affiliation
Team(s)
[Notes]
Pub. #
app.
Rick Grimes Rick Grimes
(lead character)
hero
CBR Scale: S Christian (denomination
unknown)
Rick's zombie apocalypse survivor group Image 151
Lori Grimes Lori Grimes supporting character
  Rick's zombie apocalypse survivor group Image 78
Tyreese Tyreese supporting character
  black; Rick's zombie apocalypse survivor group
[pro-football player, car salesman before zombie apocalypse]
Image 49
Carl Grimes Carl Grimes supporting character
CBR Scale: S Christian (denomination
unknown)
Rick's zombie apocalypse survivor group Image 143
Dale Horvath Dale Horvath supporting character
CBR Scale: M religious/ethical
Rick's zombie apocalypse survivor group
[was a retired car salesman before zombie apocalypse]
Image 67
Allen Allen supporting character
  Rick's zombie apocalypse survivor group
[Donna's husband]
Image 19
Andrea Andrea supporting character
  Rick's zombie apocalypse survivor group
[Amy's sister; long-time survivor of zombie attacks]
Image 56
Glenn Rhee Glenn Rhee supporting character
  Asian; Korean...  Image 134
Chris Chris supporting character
  Rick's zombie apocalypse survivor group
[boyfriend of Tyreese's daughter Julie]
Image 10
Julie Julie supporting character
  black; Rick's zombie apocalypse survivor group
[Chris's girlfriend; committed suicide in the prison]
Image 9
zombies zombies villain group
  [generic listing] Image DC, etc. 1,325
Shane Walsh Shane Walsh
(flashback)
supporting character
  Rick's zombie apocalypse survivor group Image 29
Sophia Peletier Sophia Peletier supporting character
  Rick's zombie apocalypse survivor group
[young girl]
Image 134
Billy Billy supporting character
  Rick's zombie apocalypse survivor group
[young child; twin]
Image 86
Ben Ben supporting character
  Rick's zombie apocalypse survivor group
[young child; twin]
Image 84
Donna Donna supporting character
CBR Scale: S Christian (denomination unknown); feminist
Rick's zombie apocalypse survivor group
[Allen's wife; mother of twins Ben & Billy]
Image 7
Rick's zombie apocalypse survivor group Rick's zombie apocalypse survivor group supporting character group
  [1st app: The Walking Dead #2 (Oct. 2003)] Image 160
Carol Peletier Carol Peletier supporting character
CBR Scale: M Christian (denomination
unknown; devout)
Rick's zombie apocalypse survivor group
[Sophia's mother]
Image 68
God God
(mentioned, pg. 10, panels 3-4) 
deity real/historical person
CBR Scale: D God
[1st app: Old Testament (1402 B.C.)] various 313
Santa Claus Santa Claus
(mentioned, pg. 7, panel 7) 
hero clergy/religious leader
CBR Scale: S Christian
  DC Marvel 1,199
Amy Amy
(mentioned, pg. 7, panel 5) 
supporting character
  Rick's zombie apocalypse survivor group
[Andrea's sister; P.E. Major before killed by zombie]
Image 2
Harrison Memorial Hospital Harrison Memorial Hospital
(mentioned, pg. 2, panel 3) 
supporting character group real/historical person
  [where Rick Grimes wakes up on pg. 2 of "Walking Dead"] Image 2
Jim Jim
(mentioned, pg. 7, panel 5) 
supporting character
  Rick's zombie apocalypse survivor group
[survived zombie apocalypse]
Image 10
Lori's father
(mentioned, pg. 2, panels 1, 4-5) 
supporting character
  [father of Rick Grimes' wife Lori] Image 1
Lori's mother
(mentioned, pg. 2, panels 1, 4-5) 
supporting character
  [mother of Rick Grimes' wife Lori] Image 1
unnamed old man at country store
(mentioned, pg. 14-15) 
supporting character villain
CBR Scale: S religious/ethical turned manifestly non-religious
[retired] Image 1
Judith Grimes Judith Grimes
(mentioned, pg. 22, panel 3) 
supporting character
  [Lori Grimes' newborn baby, born into zombie apocalypse] Image 28

Excerpts

BELOW: Lori Grimes commits adultery with her husband's best friend, Shane Walsh: Lori Grimes is generally portrayed as a fairly ethical, upright person. But in the midst of a zombie apocalypse, and away for husband for weeks, Lori turns to Shane Walsh for comfort and the commit adultery. Based on what has previously been revealed, it can be assumed that this was the only time she did this with Shane. Also, she clearly expressed regret about this incident and later called it a "mistake."(Note that this scene is a flashback, showing Lori's memories of the incident as she looks at Shane's gravesite after he died while trying to kill Rick.)

Lori Grimes commits adultery with her husband's best friend, Shane Walsh

Source: The Walking Dead #7 (Apr. 2004): "Miles Behind Us, Part 1", pg. 1-3. Written by Robert Kirkman. Art by Charlie Adlard. See also: adultery; Lori Grimes; Shane Walsh

BELOW: Shane Walsh's grave site is marked with a simple cross: Shane Walsh tried to kill Rick, but Rick's son Carl shot and killed Shane first. The remaining survivors in their camp bury Shane next to Amy and mark his grave site with a simple cross made out of sticks.

Shane Walsh's grave site is marked with a simple cross

Source: The Walking Dead #7 (Apr. 2004): "Miles Behind Us, Part 1", pg. 4, panel 1. Written by Robert Kirkman. Art by Charlie Adlard. See also: cross; Shane Walsh

BELOW: Rick decides that his group of survivors should not observe Christmas this year:

Rick decides that his group of survivors should not observe Christmas this year

Dale: Oh, and one more thing... Andrea's been keeping track of days since this whole thing went down. Unless she's messed up along the way-- tomorrow is Christmas.

Rick: Don't tell anyone! Do you hear me? I don't want anyone to know. I don't want to have to explain to my son that on top of all this other sh--... Santa can't find him. Let's just skip Christmas this year, okay? I don't want to upset the kids.

Dale: Okay... Understood.

Source: The Walking Dead #7 (Apr. 2004): "Miles Behind Us, Part 1", pg. 7, panels 6-7. Written by Robert Kirkman. Art by Charlie Adlard. See also: Christmas; Rick Grimes; Dale Horvath; Andrea

BELOW: Rick thanks God the snow is letting up and Dale says it is about time God gave them a break: When Rick says "Thank God the snow let up," he may or may not just be using the phrase "thank God" as an expression of speech. But Dale decides to interpret the expression somewhat literally, and refers to God pointedly, saying that God has got to stop giving them such a hard time. At various times, Dale is something of the "moral center" of this group of survivors. His statement here may be light banter, but it also may stem from a genuine belief that God is in control and that God was in some way responsible for the zombie apocalypse as well as the weather.

Rick thanks God the snow is letting up and Dale says it is about time God gave them a break

Dale: It's a bumpy ride, but we'll be fine as long as I take it slow. We should be on the road in no time.

Rick: Thank God the snow let up, eh?

Dale: He's gotta stop sh--ting on us sometime, y'know?

Source: The Walking Dead #7 (Apr. 2004): "Miles Behind Us, Part 1", pg. 10, panels 2-4. Written by Robert Kirkman. Art by Charlie Adlard. See also: God; gratitude to God; Rick Grimes; Dale Horvath

BELOW: Tyreese expresses belief in the sanctity of life when he tells Rick of his concern about not feeling bad about killing the man who viciously attacked his daughter:

Tyreese expresses belief in the sanctity of life when he tells Rick of his concern about not feeling bad about killing the man who viciously attacked his daughter

Tyreese: A couple weeks after this all started... the first time we ran out of food, we made a run down to a country store about two miles from our house. We got there to find the place torn apart... It'd been looted three times over... But there were stray cans all over the place. It seemed safe enough so Julie, Chris and I split up... Looking the place over to find as much food as we could. There was this nice old man, gotta be at least sixty. He was always sitting in front of the store with buddies chatting away about God knows what... Nicest old man you'd ever meet. Always had a kind word to say. While we were separated, he got a hold of Julie... pulled her into a back room. Seems he'd been living in the place... We had no idea anyone was even there. The sweet old man... The first thing he thinks of when he finally sees other people... He tried to rape Julie. Had I been two minutes later when I found them... He'd have done it. I killed that man, Rick. I wanted to... But I didn't mean to. I beat on him... and he died.

Rick: Jesus, man... Don't beat yourself up over that... You did what any father would have done in that position. I may be a cop... But I don't let rules blind me to what's right and wrong, especially in light of our current situation.

Tyreese: I'm not beating myself up because I did it... I'm beating myself up because I don't feel bad about it. Yeah-- The end of the world changed him... But look at how it changed me.

Source: The Walking Dead #7 (Apr. 2004): "Miles Behind Us, Part 1", pg. 14-15. Written by Robert Kirkman. Art by Charlie Adlard. See also: murder; sanctity of life; Rick Grimes; Tyreese; unnamed old man at country store