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

Sheriff's Department: Part II

Andrea is the first one through the door. I'm not surprised. "Oh my god." She says with a dropped jaw. She walks over to the table and immediately picks up  the Browning Automatic Rifle Safari, puts the  stock against her right shoulder and starts peering through the scope. She looks like a natural. "That's beautiful." I blurt out. Andrea smiles at me. Behind her I can see Lori giving me a befuddled look. "What? I meant her form." I really did. Andrea laughs and walks outside of the room, satisfied with her weapon.

I want everyone to have a handgun. I hand a Glock 17 each to Glenn, T-Dog, Dale, Carol, and Lori. Lori looks at the gun and shakes her head, her eyes welling up. "Is this really what it's come to? We're gonna roam the earth totin' our guns and searching for food? What kind of life is this?" She asks, trying hard to keep her composure. "The one we live in." I answer. "Look Lor, I know it's not easy to take in, but it is what it is. This is what we HAVE to do in order to survive." I continue. She sobs uncontrollably as she wraps her arms around me tightly.

While trying to console Lori, I hear Carol say "I've never held one of these before, let alone fired one. I don't think I'll be of any use with this." She lays the Glock back on the table. "Carol, please hang onto it. I'm gonna make sure everyone here learns how to properly use their weapons before we leave this department. Please, pick it back up and hold on to it." I urge her. She does as I ask and leaves the room in the same fashion that Andrea did, although unpleased with her weapon. I also hand a Harrington & Richardson Pardner Pump Compact and a Remington 870 to Glenn and T-Dog, respectively. I put the rest of our arsenal in a duffle bag and we all rejoin Andrea and Carol in the lobby of the department.

I instruct everyone to have a seat while I go over our next move. "Alright everyone listen up. Fort Benning is still our destination but in light of all that's happened I think we should stay here for a day, maybe two. This place has its own water supply and backup power generators which means--" Before I can finish I'm cut off by an overly excited Dale. "Hot showers!" "That's right." I confirm. "After eveyone gets cleaned up, I want you all to meet me in the range and I'm gonna show y'all how to handle your firearms. Any questions?"

"I have a question." T-Dog says with his hand raised in the air. "What are we looking for at Fort Benning?" He asks. "Shelter, protection, food, and an explaination for what's goin' on out there." I answer. "And what if we don't find any of that at Fort Benning? What then?" T-Dog continues. "Then I guess we'll just have to look elsewhere won't we? But for now, that's our best option, our only option. If it's not the safe haven I expect it to be, we'll figure something out, I'm sure." I humbly answer. To tell the truth, I havn't thought about anything further than Fort Benning. All of my eggs were in that basket. What if what T-Dog said becomes a reality? What do we do if Fort Benning IS overrun? I don't know, but I know we don't give up. That's for damn sure.

"Any other questions?" I ask. "We have shelter and hot water. Why can't we just stay here?" Asks Carol. She looks at me as if she's daring me to come up with a reason to why we should leave. "That water will run dry in just a couple of days. There's no food here, and we've been scavenging items around this area for the last 2 weeks. Resources are bound to run out. We have to keep moving." Carol seems at least somewhat pleased with my answer.

"Are there any other questions?" I ask again, hoping that everyone is finished. I just want to take a damn shower. Nobody says anything, so I assume we're all in agreement. I briskly walk out of the lobby and into the shower room. I remove my weapons and clothing, and place them down on a bench. I enter the shower and turn on the faucet. Yes! The water is indeed still hot. After bathing in a cold lake for weeks, this feels like absolute heaven.

As the warm water hits my face I start remembering a conversation Rick and I had in this very room. I was telling him about all the different women I'd slept with in my time. He just kept yapping about Lori. "Lori is ALL I need. Her warmth, her compassion, I can't find that in another woman. Hell, I don't even want to find that in another woman. I have it all already, in MY woman." He would tell me. I'm starting to see what he was talking about. I find myself feeling this way for Lori, more and more as each day passes.

I finish my shower and head towards the bench to retrieve my clothing and weapons. I throw my clothes on, and begin holstering my weapons, but there's one missing. Rick's Colt Python is gone.