The Return of Shane Vol 2: The Walking Dead (Final Cut)

"Almost Too Far Gone"

Chapter 5

Rick and his group quickly collected their belongings before following Maggie and Glenn into the darkness. The oncoming herd had been drawn by the group's campfire, but mindlessly continued to follow them further into the forest. Rick wasn't sure how secure this abandoned liquor store would be, but he was sure it was infinitely safer than standing out alone in the middle of the night.

Lori's stomach was still flat and her pregnancy was not yet slowing her down. She gripped Carl's hand tightly as she ran with him through the foliage of the forest. "Carl, we gotta keep up, baby," Lori encouraged her son, who was beginning to lose steam.

"But Mom—I can't," Carl confessed.

Lori, desperate to save her son, lifted him into her arms and continued to run. Rick noticed Lori struggling to hold the ninety-five-pound pre-teen, so grabbed Carl from her arms and continued to run. Daryl turned to see Carol struggling to keep up the speed.

"Come on, now," Daryl said, stopping to help Carol to her feet. "We gotta keep moving!"

The survivors could run, but the wall of walkers still crept closer and closer as the group tried their best to retreat.

Maggie and Glenn were able to locate the brick building; its chipped, yellow paint was a grim reminder of what it was. "Here!" Glenn called out to the group.

"Let's go; move, move, move!" demanded Rick.

Phillip and Shane left the roof after sobering up. Shane took much longer than Phillip to gather himself; besides his injury, he wasn't a consistent smoker, like Phillip was. Phillip watched Shane in his peripheral, just in case he tripped over his sloppy feet.

As they walked through the house, Shane was unable to recognize any of the walkers. This didn't relieve the officer; it only proved that this had all been a waste of time. "There something out there I need to pick up."

"Ok, I'll raid this place for food. No way a farm doesn't have anything to eat." Phillip walked off, deeper into the house.

Shane remembered that Hershel had banned him from his home; that meant all of Shane's property would still be outside the house. He walked over to his tent, snuggled between Andrea's and Daryl's duffel bags. He rooted through his bag in search of ammo, but came across something else—his old police hat and badge. The badge was a golden, septagram star, coated with a thin sheet of grime. He traced his fingers across the grooves and the engraved number, "2030."

"Screw my wife?!" Shane could hear Rick's voice booming in his ears, and he quickly turned around, pointing his gun aggressively. He dropped his badge in the shuffle and desperately searched for the source of the voice. No one was there, and he tightened his eyes as he scanned the area. No one was watching, not even Phillip.

"You did this to us; not me!" Shane could hear the voice again, so he fired his handgun. "That is my wife, that is my son, that is my child!" Shane quickly turned to his left and fired again. He felt surrounded; no matter where he looked, he could hear Rick. But he was invisible. Rick was nowhere to be seen, but Shane could sense his spirit.

"Rick Grimes, you show your face, you son-of-a-bitch!" Shane said with hostility. "Come on out, boy!" He desperately scanned the fields in search of Rick. "Come out!" Shane began to fire wildly into the night.

The blast of the handgun wasn't just heard by the dead, but also by Phillip, who had been busy stuffing his bag with the fresh fruit that Hershel had kept in his refrigerator. Initially, Phillip had assumed that Shane was facing a few walkers, but he soon noticed that the frequency of the firing, coupled with Shane's yelling, indicated something else was afoot.