The Walking Dead: The Shane Walsh Alternative (Season 1)

Outskirts Of Atlanta: Part I

The plan was simple. Get to Atlanta and wait for military aid. That was two months ago, but here we are still on this hill living out of our cars. The geeks are becomming more and more frequent, and supply runs into Atlanta, more and more dangerous.

I figure I'll do some rounds and see how the morale around camp is holding up. First and foremost I want to check on Lori and Carl. Lori is the widdow to my best friend, Rick Grimes, and Carl is their 12 year old son. After I discovered that Rick had passed on, I felt I owed it to him to look after his family. In doing so, Lori and I have become intimate, and I treat Carl as if he were my own.

As I approach their tent I can faintly hear Lori assuring Carl that we are going to be rescued sooner than later. "Hey bud." I cut in. "Go on outside for a bit and play with Sophia. I wanna talk with your mom." As Carl leaves the tent I shoot Lori a sly smile and kiss her passionately. I never felt this way about her before, or any woman for that matter. But under the current circumstances our bond has grown stronger than anticipated. "How are you holding up?" I ask. "I'm okay I guess. I just keep telling myself I'm out camping". I lazily chuckle at the nonchalantness of her response. "I'm going over to Dale's to check on our rations, if you need me. Be back in a bit". She smiles in my direction and calls Carl back as I leave their tent for Dale's RV.

Dale's RV is the biggest vehicle we have so we decided to use it for storage. As I approach the RV I can see Dale perched on top, with his Remington 700 VLS rifle, keeping watch. I give him a head nod and enter the RV. The first thing I notice is our canned foods are running low. I'm not overly concerned though, as Daryl said he was going hunting today and the girls would try their hands at fishing tomorrow after they've finished with the wash. Ammo is holding up pretty well. We haven't had to deal with too many geeks up on this hill. By the looks of it I can quickly estimate that we have about 200 rounds of ammunition. "Should be good" I mutter to myself as I exit the RV.

Once outside I ask Dale, "How long has it been since Glenn took his group into the city?" Dale checks his watch and responds "Over an hour now. Hopefully they get back soon, we're losing day light". Dale is right. The sun is setting and Glenn is still out with some of our more capable group members. Glenn regularly makes runs for us, since he has the most extensive knowledge of the city. On his last run he came across several supply stores that were somehow unlooted, but he needed more hands to get the stuff back to camp, so I told him to form a team. He chose T-Dog, Morales, and Jacqui, mainly because of their lack of firearms, which ensured it would be a quiet trip, but Andrea and Merle also went along, as they forcefully persuaded Glenn to take them. Merle brought with him a Browning Hi Power handgun and a Winchester Model 70 rifle. Andrea brought her Smith & Wesson 3913 handgun, also known as a Lady Smith.

Still making my rounds at camp, I walk over to Ed, Carol, and Sophia to see how they're holding up. I've had my eye on Ed since I met him. I found him and Carol trying to hitchhike a ride into Atlanta with Sophia. I noticed bruises on Sophia's arm and what appeared to be a fading black eye on Carol. I suppose Ed is a bit of a womanizer but I don't know for sure, so I don't pry into their business. "What's up Ed, how're you and your family doin'?" Ed aggitatingly responds "Good. Anything else you wanna talk about?" I really hate this guy. "No Ed, I guess not. But you let me know if you need anything..." I look at Carol. "...Anything at all." I say, before walking towards Morales' family.

Morales found our camp while on his way to Atlanta with his wife, Miranda, and his two kids, Louis and Eliza. I informed them that Atlanta was overrun and that they were welcome to camp out with us until they decided what to do next. Also spending time with them at camp is Andrea's sister Amy, and a loner that Dale picked up early on, named Jim.

Before I get to say anything to them, I hear Dale yelling "Shane! They're back! I can see them!" I walk over to the RV and Dale hands me his binoculars. I look through them and can see T-Dog driving his van, with Jacqui in the passanger seat. And right behind them is Glenn in his 4 door sedan that he used when he was just a delivery guy. Morales rides passenger while Andrea and Merle share the backseat. With them back, the camp is whole again, except for Daryl, who went out to hunt shortly after Glenn's group left for the city.