Chapter 1
It was early morning on Hershel's farm. Shane woke up as the sun shone right through his window. He was already reaching for his phone to call Rick when he remembered that Rick was gone. Dead, after that slip up by the police. He was in the middle of the apocalypse living in a farm. He sighed and climbed out of his bed and tossed his shirt on. He walked down the stairs to where Hershel was already up as well as Glenn, Maggie, Andrea, Lorie, and Carl. Rick's son. He wondered how he was dealing with it. "Mornin' Hershel," he said as he sat down. "Shane," the older man said. Glenn looked over at Shane and said, "Food is getting short. We are going to have to go hunting in a few days." Shane nodded as he took a noticeably smaller amount of food than everyone else. He ate quickly and walked outside. He leaned against the side of the house and closed his eyes, remembering that horrible day at the hospital….
He ran down the hallway, hearing the shouts behind him. The government, or military, or other police officers were going to kill everyone here. That disease was spreading and they didn't want to take chances. He found his friend's room and raced inside, shutting the door behind him. "Rick," he hissed, "C'mon wake up please." He moved quickly to his friend and started trying to get him out of the bed. There was so much hooked up to him. He didn't want to kill him. He heard the exterminators coming and he ducked underneath the bed. They glanced in the room but assumed that Rick was already dead and left the room alone. Shane once again got up and started to try and get Rick out of there. He knew there was no way he could without ultimately killing him. "I'll come back for you, I promise," he said quietly. He wished that Rick could tell him something to make him sure it would be ok and that they would make it, but nothing came. He let a few tears fall, realizing that he might never see Rick again but he got up and barricaded the door so nothing could get in. He took one last glance at his friend and then climbed out the window. He scaled the walls and climbed down. he headed to Rick's house where he would pick up Lori and Carl. That would be what Rick would want him to do.
"You ok Shane?" Carol. He almost had to smile. She was always worried about everyone and it was really sweet. She and her daughter, Sofia, were both very nice. They'd found their family on the way out of Atlanta. He'd kicked her husband out of the group a week later. It was his group whether he liked it or not and he needed the best people. He had four families there: Hershel's which was him, Maggie, and Beth, Dale's which was him and Andrea, Rick's and then Carol's. Then there was Glenn and T-Dog and himself. They were a well rounded group of fighters and survivors. The thing Shane didn't like about it was leading them. He wasn't a leader. That was Rick. Not him. He was the guy that pissed the leader off by doing something wrong. He didn't like the responsibility of ordering people around. He had tried to give the leadership package to Hershel a few times but the older man had refused. "Yea I'm ok. Just thinking about all this stuff going on right now," he replied to Carol. She smiled, "We know you miss him Shane. Hershel said that you didn't like being the leader. I think you're good at it." He shook his head, "Not as good as he would have been." She nodded, "Maybe, but that doesn't matter because he's not leading us. You are. And you're doing a good job of it." How did she always know what to say? He smiled, "Thanks, would you mind telling Glenn to come out here? I need him to help me get ready for tomorrow's hunt." She nodded and walked back in the house. He sat down in a chair and waited for Glenn who came a few minutes later. "I heard that someone wanted to pack for a hunting trip?" Glenn asked with a small grin.