As Shane sat at the Sheriff's station, he felt that today was different than most. His partner, Rick, was in a coma in the hospital due to gunshot wounds and he felt helpless without him. Rick and Shane were similar to brothers outside of the job. They relied on each other for advice when things got tough and they knew each other's families. Shane got a call for a domestic dispute so he took an officer with him and went on about his job. After finishing the protocol for the domestic dispute and talking to both people, he noticed military vehicles traveling into their town. Shane stepped out onto the porch and began to panic because not one, not two but ten tanks just came through. He grabbed the officer and headed back to the station to see what was going on. There was extreme panic when he walked through the doors and when he listened to the news reporters explaining the situation of the outbreak, his mind started racing a mile a minute. Little did he know his life would never go back to normal.
Shane walked out of the woods from his hunting trip with Daryl and Merle. They managed to scrounge up a few squirrels and rabbits but nothing that could support the group for a long time. Since the outbreak, Shane had come across random groups of people or loners that were ready to come together to survive. The only people in this group that weren't strangers to Shane were Rick's wife Lori and son, Carl. Shane walked over to where Lori, Carl and Carol were to check in and tell them they would have some dinner for the night. Shane glanced at Lori, who smiled back at him and he wondered how he got so lucky to find Lori amongst all the horror; having her let him keep a piece of his old life with him and also keep a piece of his old partner Rick. Throughout the past few months, Shane and Lori had started to develop an intimate relationship and it felt wrong to him since it was his best friend's wife but Rick was dead and there wasn't many other women in the post-apocalyptic world. He felt so alive with Lori and knew he had to do all he could to keep her and Carl safe. Shane went back to his tent to gather up a few items for dinner when he heard shouts from the other's at the camp.
"How is this possible?" Shane was dumbfounded.
"Well, I woke up and was very confused but somehow I managed to stay alive," said Rick through tears.
"Buddy, I'm so glad you are back,"
"I am more than happy to see you and especially happy to see you have taken care of my wife and son,"
"Anything for you and your family" Shane responded.
Shane started to think about how Rick being back would affect his and Lori's relationship and knew Rick would not be pleased. He thought about all the possible ways to get rid of Rick while watching him kiss and hug the woman he now was in love with but knew it was just empty threats. As this wonderful reunion was taking place, a faint sound of moans was peeping through the laughter and tears. The moans grew louder and louder and out from the woods came a group of zombies. The first member of their group torn to shreds and eaten was a little boy, next a man and woman and then the deaths kept piling up. Rick did not understand the walkers fully because he had just escaped from the hospital so he did not want to kill the group members that had been turned. He thought they still had a piece of them left. As Rick and Shane were arguing about whether to kill their group members, Carol got her arm ripped in half. "Boom!" Carol had shot herself to stop her from turning and Daryl was trying to kill zombies but was running out of arrows. After they got the situation under control, there were only about six members left, Shane, Rick, Lori, Carl, Daryl, and Glenn. Nobody had been prepared for the attack and it depleted almost their entire group.
Tensions began to grow between Rick and Shane as the months went on. Rick was worried about saving others and always doing what was right whereas Shane only thought about survival of himself and the group. He knew he wanted to keep everyone alive but it was hard when Rick was taking in strangers and not thinking about the consequences. Lori was also coming between the two of them. Even though her husband had been alive this entire time, she fell in love with Shane and could not shake those feelings. She made the decision to be with Shane but she wanted Rick to stay with the group so that Carl would have his real father. This caused stress because Rick wanted to prove to Lori she should be with him and that he was her best option of survival. With all the drama over Lori, Daryl had left the group because he realized their love triangle would cause either the whole group to die and he thought he was better off on his own. Once a day there would be a fight between the two former best friends and something had to be done.
"We both love her but we both can't have her. Our personal issues are jeopardizing the very small group we have left and even caused us to lose yet ANOTHER person," Shane shouted.
"I know Shane but she was my wife and how could you do that to me? I was supposed to be your best friend," Rick exclaimed.
"It's not like I went out of my way to choose her, there aren't many women left and I already knew her,"
"This isn't even our decision; we should be talking to her,"
"I think she knows that I am the best option for her Rick. All you do is worry about right and wrong…This is not the same world you were in before you woke up. Society has been demolished and its survival of the fittest don't you see that?" Shane said.
"If we don't hold on to our morals, then the world we knew will be gone for good. I don't want my son growing up in some crazy world where nobody cares about another's life. He needs to see the good in the world," Rick pleaded.
"I get that but you have to think about it this way: If they don't survive then morals won't matter because they will be dead. There's a difference between doing the right thing and saving every single person we come across. There comes a point where we can't save everyone and we need to let them do it on their own….. I think we should get back now," Shane stated.
It had been a few days since Shane and Rick had their talk and still no progress had been made. Shane decided he needed to separate himself from Rick but knew Lori would not be happy about that. He talked to Rick again privately and offered to give him supplies and send him on his way. Rick was very reluctant and threated to go tell Lori. Shane pulled out his gun and told Rick that if he did that he would kill him right on the spot. Rick was baffled that this was happening with his best friend and thought Shane was not in the right mind set. Shane knew Rick was a liability and needed to get rid of him as soon as possible but it was not going to be easy. He talked as much as he possibly could and tried to explain to Rick why he was doing this and that Lori and Carl were in his best interest. Eventually he broke down Rick, who started to cry and mumble. He knew that Shane was right and that he was not being the smartest when it came to their group but he could never imagine leaving Carl. It did not seem like he had much of an option though. After hours of agonizing back and forth, Rick agreed to the deal as long as Glenn could go with him. Shane walked back to the house where they were all staying and had Glenn come back to where Rick was. They explained the situation to Glenn and he looked ashamed. He couldn't believe they were separating the group and making it even smaller. He had a tough choice to make because if he stayed with Shane there would be more people but he also did not want to leave Rick by himself. Survival or friendship was Glenn's option and nobody knew which he was going to choose, not even Glenn himself.
Shane slowly walked back to the house they were hiding in and was immediately greeted by Lori. She questioned where Rick and Glenn were but Shane could never tell her the truth or she would hate him. Shane sobbed and explained to Lori that Rick and Glenn got caught up with walkers in the woods and sacrificed their lives to save Shane's. Lori broke down and couldn't believe there was nobody left to their group. She had to figure out a way to tell Carl about Rick and knew he would be devastated. Shane felt guilty about his lie but knew it was the only way that Lori would stay with him and the only way to keep her safe.
The sun came up and the three of them gathered up their things. Carl grabbed the canned foods and Lori gathered up the extra clothes while Shane secured the perimeter of the house. They met up outside when everything was ready to go and Shane supplied them with two guns.
"I promise to keep you two safe until the day I die," Shane exclaimed.
Lori nodded her head and took Carl by the hand. The three of them headed back onto the deserted road in hopes to find a city where there were other groups left. The idea of safety and sanctuary were what helped them live another day in this desolate world.