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

Outskirts Of Atlanta: Part II

As the sun sets, I get everyone to the central part of our camp. Daryl should be back soon, and hopefully not empty handed, so we ready our fire pit and sit quietly on our blankets positioned around the fire. Leave it to Merle to break the calming silence. "I'm gonna see what's takin' Daryl so long. He's probly pissin' his pants without his big brother there to hold his hand." He gets up and walks towards the woods. As he disappears into the trees I can faintly hear him saying "Don't worry little brother, I'm comin'."

With Merle gone, the group seems a bit more at ease. Merle and Daryl are two people that can be extremely effective in this geek infested world, but they are so methed up and sporadic that I sometimes think we'd be better off if they were gone.

As I sit with Lori and watch Carl and Sophia playing with a deck of cards by Ed and Carol's tent, I realise this is a good time to talk about what our next move should be. I ask Lori "What do you think about Fort Benning? We've tried Atlanta, and we've been waiting here for help that doesn't seem to ever be arriving. I'd like to go somewhere with some walls." She gives me a look of reassurance "Whatever you think is best." Guess that settles it. As I show the route to Fort Benning on our map to Lori, I'm interupted by Dale, who is screaming "It's gone!" What is this old man talking about?

"Calm down Dale, goddamn. What's gone?" I ask. He responds sharply "Everything! The food, the ammo, all of it.. just GONE." Shit. That tweeked out son of a bitch must've took everything and went looking for his brother. "Glenn, Andrea, T-Dog! Grab your shit, we're goin' after 'em!" As we check what little ammunition we still have I hear Lori urging me not to go. "It's pitch black in those woods, you have barely any ammo, and those two psychos are probably waiting to ambush you." I sure do hope so. "Well okay then, let's throw them a going away party and tell stories by the fire while they make off WITH OUR STUFF!" Lori looks stunned for a second than gives me a look of realisation, the realisation that I am pissed! She calmly walks closer to me and hugs me tightly. "Please be careful, I can't do this without you." I give her a kiss on the forehead and turn towards the almost pitch black forest. "Let's move out!"

As we move through the darkness I make a mental note of our weapons and ammo. I have my Glock holstered with a full 17 round magazine, and my Mossberg with 6 shells, in hand. Andrea has her Lady Smith with a full 8 round magazine. Glenn has an aluminum baseball bat, and T-Dog has a crowbar. The only weapons back at camp are Dale's Remington with a 5 round magazine, and various hunting knives and blunt weapons.

After about 45 minutes of blindly treading through the forest, while quietly taking down a few scattered geeks along the way, T-Dog suggests turning back. It's been an unrevealing trek as we've come across nothing of importance, so I agree. I don't know why, but on the walk back I start thinking about Rick. I start thinking about Lori, about Carl. Why did he have to die? Why did I get to live? He was my best friend. To be honest, I miss him. I feel guilty that I -- "Hey Shane." Who said that? I look up. It's Andrea. She continues "What's the plan now? Can we make it to Fort Benning now that we've been robbed of pretty much everything we had?" She had a point. Maybe it was time for a plan B. "I don't know. We're almost back now. Let's get some rest and we'll discuss it in the morning." She nods in agreement.

As we approach the camp, we are stopped in our tracks by the sound of gunfire. Dale. "Let's move, quick!" I order. As we come out from the darkness of the trees I am shellshocked. There are geeks everywhere. I can't see where anyone is besides Dale perched safely on top of his RV. Andrea quickly runs in the RV's direction. Maybe she sees Amy. Where is Lori and Carl!? "Do you see them? Lori and Carl, can you see them?" I ask, but I get no response. I look over at T-Dog and Glenn and both of their jaws are dropped. They seem almost frozen. I go back to scanning the camp for Lori and Carl. THERE. I spot Lori crouched down holding Carl behind my Jeep. I quickly dart towards them. While en route I notice two geeks coming up behind them, unnoticed. This can't be happening!