[Warning: This story contains spoilers for The Walking Dead Deluxe #56.] The living Dead comic book readers remember Abraham Ford as a man on a mission: the former U.S. Army sergeant who thought he was saving the world by escorting Eugene Porter from Houston to Washington to end the zombie apocalypse. The headstrong Abe, a brave and muscular badass, clashes with Rick Grimes and his band of survivors over their tactical approach to life in a dead world. But like a good soldier, Abe did his duty as Rick’s right-hand man and enforcer until he was KIA.

But what if Abraham Ford was a villain? It almost happened. In issue 56 of Image’s colorized reprint series The Walking Dead Deluxereveals writer and creator Robert Kirkman that he considered making Abe a villain:

“This song was a rollercoaster to write,” Kirkman writes in the last edition of The floor of the cutting room. “I honestly considered making Abraham a villain for much of it. It could have gone either way. It wasn’t until I finally got to the end of plotting the issue that I decided to do things a little the other way. pull sideways.”

The song opens with tensions flaring: Glenn has just found Maggie suspended from a rope in an apparent suicide, and Abraham wants to put a bullet in her brain before she can resuscitate. When a fight breaks out between Glenn and Abe, Rick draws his gun with a warning: “You pull the trigger – and I’ll pull mine. Leave the girl alone.” But Maggie lives, suddenly snapping awake, leaving Abe shocked at his near-fatal mistake.

“Right or wrong,” Abe Rick warns, “next time you point a gun at my head, I’ll kill you. Understood?’ Rick faces Abe and tells him, “Next time you let me put a gun to your head, I won’t hesitate to blow your brains out.”

The next day, Rick breaks away from the group to relieve himself and is overrun by a walker. Abe takes his time before shooting him and saving Rick’s life. “You should be more careful, friend‘ says Abe. “It’s dangerous here.” In private, Rosita finds Abe trembling with anger over his confrontation with Rick.

Abe admits he saw Rick leave camp and followed him, but he doesn’t know if he had his gun pointed at Rick before he was attacked. “You have to help me, Rosita,” Abe pleads. “Oh, Jesus… Don’t kill me again.” As he falls into Rosita’s arms, the problem ends with Abe, the most vulnerable we’ve seen him.

“You really get a sense of the regret and shame Abraham feels from that one panel,” Kirkman writes Cutting room floor. “A single image says so much. That’s the [artist] Charlie Adlard magic we all know and love.”

The Walking Dead Deluxe #56 is now on sale at Image Comics.