I lead Glenn and Belle back down the stairs and into the pharmacy where the downed geek is. I take out my hunting knife and jab it into the geek's pelvis, then start sawing through its rotted flesh, up to its neck. The smell is putrid. I can hear Glenn and Belle gagging as I dig out organs and fat. "Who wants to go first?" I ask. "Let's get this over with." Glenn reluctantly volunteers. I smear geek blood all over his shirt and pants, front and back, then I drape some intestines around his neck. "Do I look like a geek?" Glenn asks. "You ALWAYS look like a geek." I answer with a laugh. "Belle, you're up." I inform. "Ugh, this better work. It smells worse than I thought." She says as I do the same to her, that I did to Glenn. After finishing Belle's geek camouflage, Glenn does mine for me.
"Ready to try this out?" I ask them. "Yeah, let's hope Carol was right." Belle says as we head towards the door. "Alright. Everybody form a triangle and stay close, move slow, don't talk, and definitely don't stop moving. Let's go." I open the door and the three of us walk out into the packed street of geeks. To my surprise it seems to be working. I stumble through the crowd of geeks, holding my breath to combat the smell, AND my nerves. I look back at Glenn and Belle to make sure they aren't having any complications. We continue moving, slowly making our way back to my Jeep. We get about halfway there before the unthinkable happens. Rain. You've got to be kidding me.
"This isn't good." Belle says as the geeks start looking at us suspiciously. "Shhh. Keep moving." I tell her. She was right though, this isn't good. The rain is washing our geek camouflage off, soon we're going to be defenseless in the center of the crowd. "Get ready to run." I tell Glenn and Belle as I reach for my hunting knife. Glenn readies his hatchet, while Belle has her hands on her machete. Here they come. One geek lunges at me, and I stick my knife in its skull. I can hear Glenn and Belle grunting as they swing their weapons. We continue to thin out the crowd, moving in a triangle formation watching each others backs. "Screw this!" Belle screams as she whips out her skateboard and skates off ahead of us. "Hey! Where you goin'!?" I yell out to her, but she seems to not have heard me. Within seconds she is out of sight. "Shit! We gotta move fast!" I order Glenn and we both start sprinting forward, swinging our weapons wildly as we run. Are we going to make it?
As I ponder the possibility that I may not make it out of this, I hear a vehicle coming towards us. It's Belle driving my Jeep. She nails a handful of geeks as she swings the Jeep around to pick us up. "Hurry, get in!" She yells to Glenn and I. We both jump in through the open windows and Belle speeds out of the city and back to the highway. "You alright?" Belle asks. "Yeah." I look at her with disappointment. "Don't you EVER break formation again. You almost got us killed." I explain. "Yeah well, you're alive aren't you? You're welcome." She answers with a cocky tone. "I'm serious Belle. You broke formation without warning and left us to fend for ourselves in the middle of a herd. We were lucky to get out of there. I don't want you puttin' OUR lives in danger again. Are we clear?" She looks at me understandingly and assures me it won't happen again.
"Slow down a little bit, the roads are slick from the rain." I instruct Belle. She shoots a scornful look my way. "I'm sorry I snapped at you, I--" I begin. "No, you're right. I shouldn't have broken formation." She interrupts. "You were just trying to help." I reassure her. "Yeah, and I almost got you both killed. Truth is, I'm still trying to adjust to being a part of a group. It's hard after traveling alone this whole time." She explains. "Why were you alone? What happened to your family?" Glenn asks Belle from the backseat. She looks visibly shaken by the question. She always seemed uneasy whenever someone asked about her family. "I'm an orphan. My dad disappeared while my mom was pregnant. She gave me up. I was in foster care my whole life, until I turned 18 and my foster home cut me loose. I've been drifting ever since, doing odd jobs here and there for cash. It wasn't easy but I made it work. So you see, even before all this, I was ALWAYS on my own." She expounds. "I'm sorry." Glenn replies. "Don't be. I'm not." She smiles.
We arrive back at Fort Benning as the sun sets. With everyone getting ready to go to sleep, Belle, Glenn, and I store the meds and equipment we've gathered from our run. When finished, I give my thanks and goodnights to Glenn and Belle, before heading to my sleeping quarters to see Lori waiting up for me. I give her a couple of vitamins to take and sit down next her. "Take those, we have at least a few months worth." I insist. "Thanks." She answers, hanging her head. "I know you're scared about the baby Lor. Ain't nothin' gonna happen to you, ya hear me? I won't let it." I assure her. "I know you won't." She says as she rests her head on my shoulder. "Do you ever feel guilty Shane? 'Cause I do." She inquires. "Guilty about what?" I ask curiously. "Guilty about us, because of Rick. Sometimes I feel like everything I'm doing is just wrong. Do you feel like that too?" She elaborates. "There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of Rick, but the bottom line is, he's GONE Lor. I'm still here, and I love you." I tell her. She lays down on our bed and pulls me down with her. She wraps her arms around me and gives me a kiss. "I love you too."
YOU ARE READING
The Walking Dead: The Shane Walsh Alternative (Season 2)
FanficWe've followed Shane and his group as they fled the hilltop camp outside of Atlanta. We've followed them as they made their way to the King County Sheriff's Department. We've followed them to what was left of the Center for Disease Control. With lit...
