Chapter One
Walking Dead
The Gas Station

The rain fell hard against the cracked windows, fat drops in rapid succession. It was the first storm in weeks, offering a break from the recent humidity and tensions building within the old farmhouse. The house was abuzz with various fights as food became scarce, and the death of Sophia was still fresh in the minds of all. It was rare to find a calm moment to yourself with so many people under one roof. However, with the majority of the group out on a mission, Lori found her moment as she sat on the loveseat, gazing outwards into the storm, one hand rubbing over her swollen belly before going back to ruffle Carl's hair as he slept against her. As a child, Carl used to curl up by the window and listen to the storm, feeling the light breeze on his cheeks and fall asleep. As time went on, Lori joined him and they would share a moment together. Mother and son. It was good to see that some things never changed, regardless of how bad things got.

As the storm crashed on, Lori waited patiently for her husband to return. Rick had been gone all day, on a mission to see what canned goods could be salvaged from the store in town. Thankfully, he was not alone. Rick was accompanied by Shane, Daryl, Andrea and T-Dogg, the best shots in the group. Despite that fact, Lori was worried. The world had changed since the arrival of the "Walkers", and no amount of protection would ever convince Lori that she, or anyone else, was safe. Not anymore. As a fresh burst of thunder echoed through the skies, Lori held Carl close and continued her watch, vigilant to wait until her man came home.
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Rick was not having a good day. The mission had gone wrong from the beginning, after T-dogg ran into a walker half a mile from the store, blowing a tire in the process. While he and Andrea stayed behind to change it, Shane, Rick and Daryl headed towards the store, leaving the truck and Daryl's bike.

They crept along the side of the road, eyeballing abandoned buildings, staying low and keeping their eyes moving for any sign of a walker. Ammo was limited, so while each man was equipped with a gun with 10 shots, Daryl had his crossbow and both Rick and Shane were armed with Machetes they had found at a nearby slaughter house a few weeks before. As they made their way to the food mart, a trio of walkers stumbled out from a hardware store, moaning loudly in response to seeing live flesh.

Daryl made quick work of the first walker, the bolt from his crossbow impaled the Walker's bloodshot eye socket while Shane and Rick took care of the others with their Machetes. The blades sliced through zombie flesh like it was warm butter.

Shane offered a thumbs up and a cocky turn of his head, "Well, that was easy." Rick just rolled his eyes.

As they approached the store, the faint sound of moaning echoed from a nearby alleyway.

"Anyone else hear that?" Rick asked, continuing to scan the area for risk.

" Sounds like we have a walker problem, boss." Daryl paused as he checked his bow, making sure he was loaded and had spares within reach.

"Yes, but the question is, how many walkers are we talking here? One? Two? Twenty?"

Shane looked over at Rick, his brow furrowed and a hint of a smirk on his lips, "It sounded sorta quiet, now didn't it, Rick? Only one way to find out for sure? Cover me." Before Rick could argue, Shane takes off, crouched forward like a military solider and disappears down the alleyway.

Rick cursed under his breath, "There goes Shane." Reckless once again. Always the first during training to go for the kill, always the first to draw his gun. Shane was always THAT guy. Never thinking before he acted, though Rick had to admit to himself it was part of the reason why they had become such good friends. Rick kept Shane grounded and held him back from making too many mistakes.

As the guys walked over to the alleyway, a lone gunshot rang through the streets, echoing loudly.

Followed by another.

And another.

"This isn't going to be good." Rick thought, drawing his gun.

Shane flew around the corner of the alleyway, red faced, cursing as he ran. " RUN asshole! There's like 50 Walkers behind me! Move!" Sure enough, three more Walkers were following. Then two more.

Rick didn't need to be told twice. He and Daryl took off, following Shane as they ran, in hopes of finding the truck, their chance at surviving. "They must have fixed the tire by now." Then Rick's day went from bad to worse. They stopped dead in their tracks.

There was the truck.

Surrounded by walkers.

Doors open.

Empty.

There was no sign of T-dogg or Andrea.

" They must have been attacked and run off before the tire was set." Daryl whispered in a raspy, worn out voice.

The group of walkers were closing in on them. Rick began to draw his gun, noting that Shane had already drawn his. It seemed hopeless. They would have to stand and fight or risk death. With less than 30 bullets left, and over 50 walkers, there would be loss on both sides. Better to try and survive though, rather than let them get torn up. Rick began to prepare himself for the worst.

It was Daryl who snapped Rick back to reality. " Rick, my bike is right there. I can lead the herds away and you n' Shane can take the truck when Andrea and T-dogg get their asses back here. Piece of cake. I'll meet you at the camp."

It wasn't a bad plan at all, actually. There was a gas station 100 feet from where they stood and the side door was slightly open. Rick and Shane could sneak in the side and wait until the herd left and keep an eye out for the others.

"All right, Daryl, good luck. Don't get bit."

Daryl laughed, "Like those sonofabitches could catch me." and ran to his bike, shouting as he went. Some of the herd looked up, distracted by the noise. Daryl took a few out as he went, the crossbow snapping it's bolts one after the other, direct hits taking down a Walker. Shane and Rick sprinted to the gas station, and ripped open the side door, arms raised to deal with threats.

The moans were instant and erupting, a sloppy gurgling sound.

Two to the left. Shane dropped to the ground and sliced the machete through the air. The sensation of blade slicing through thigh flesh was fluid. The first walker dropped to the floor, a second after his leg did. As he fell, Shane quickly leapt to his feet and drove his blade downward, breaking through the skull of an older walker, still dressed in her Sunday best. The blade was lodged for a moment, only to be ripped from the skull, spraying old blood and stabbed into the neck of the legless Walker on the floor.

One to the right. A large hulking man, with wisps of hair, clearly overweight when he was alive, still wearing overalls from a life of farming. He reached out for Rick, only to have his arm hit the floor hard, severed at the shoulder, his head followed. As the Walker hit the floor, Rick swore the entire gas station shook.

"Damn, that was a big one." Shane mocked, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Together, Shane and Rick barricaded the side door, shoving an old shelving unit against it and bolting the top. They could hear Daryl's bike driving away, in addition to him hollering loudly.

"This place hasn't been used in years." Rick thought to himself as he looked around the station, checking for trouble. An old counter had been ripped off the wall mounts and was thrown onto the floor. A small room off to the side had an old, red leather sofa in it and a beat up desk. There was even a washroom attached to the office, that offered some clean water once it ran for a few minutes. Piles of drywall and wooden frames had been carelessly thrown about the room. The only useful part of the gas station were the windows and front door, tightly boarded up, with metal bars for extra reinforcement. They would be safe here. For now.

"Man, that was a rush." Shane laughed to himself. His adrenaline was pumping so hard, he could feel the energy shift in a new way. A way he couldn't place it. Maybe he needed to take out some more Walkers.

Rick looked at him in shock. " Don't you understand what just happened? We're trapped in a gas station, waiting for a chance to escape. We don't even know about Andrea and T-dogg. They could be dead. Daryl just ran off and risked his life for us. He could be dead too! Doesn't that bother you?"

Shane stared back at Rick in disbelief, his own adrenaline being replaced by anger. Anger towards being accused of being an asshole." Of course it bothers me...Rick. What's gotten up your ass? We're safe in here. Daryl is fine, you heard him drive away. The Walkers will move on and we'll head back to the farm. You can see your pretty wife and kid before you know it."

" I know what happened between you and Lori." It was all the needed to be said, calmly and to the point. The time had come. Shane's attitude shifted and he looked apologetic.

"Listen, Rick... what happened between me and Lori...I just want you to know, man...I'd never have done that had I known you were still alive. Heat of the moment. She'd taken down her first walker, she felt the rush. I felt it too."

" I can't believe you'd do that to your friend. Your BEST friend."Rick's own adrenaline began to pump harder as he lost his calm demeanor. Something was about to go down.

"Come on, Rick. You remember what it feels like! The feeling you get when you do something right, when you overcome shit in your way. When you stop being helpless. She was lost, man...a fuckin' widow in a war. She'd lost her husband, was scared she'd lose her son, and I'd just given her some control again. You'd feel it as well. That rush... that need."

" Stop talking about this. I don't want to hear it."

"You should have seen her after the kill. Her eyes were wide, she was breathing heavily and her lips were so wet. Practically quivering in her boots. She looked scared and eager to do it again. This was a woman who wanted it bad, Rick. When she pressed her body against me, hugging me, she was so happy. Her body was so tight, I lost it man. I just couldn't hold back."

"Shut up."

" I let her shoot a second one and she pounced me."

"Shut up!"

"We ripped off our clothes in that field and I..."

" SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Rick launched himself at Shane, screaming. Not caring about Walkers, not caring about hurting himself. Not caring about anything other than making Shane suffer. Suffer for what he had done. He wanted Shane to hurt.

The fight started in the main part of the station. Rick slammed into Shane, knocking him backwards into the wall. Punches were thrown. Rick felt a knee smash into his stomach, followed by an elbow to the nose and his world was lit by hundreds of tiny suns. He was winded as he fell to the floor, but he shook it off and kicked at Shane, launching him into the old counter. He began to ease himself up, using the wall for leverage and both Rick and Shane staggered to their feet, breathing heavily, blood streaming lightly down the side of Shane's face.

Shane stared at Rick, standing there, refusing to back down. His own adrenaline wavered slightly. He knew he had done the wrong thing fucking his best friend's wife. He had apologised in his own way and yet, Rick wasn't going to accept it. He was ready to keep fighting until Shane had learned his lesson.

This surprised Shane. Rick was someone who was very devoted to his family, it was true, but he was always the guy who tried to rationalize and solve problems without violence. This new Rick was born from bloodshed and walking death. He seemed ruthless and unforgiving, willing to do what it took to protect himself and his family. Shane was impressed. Rick's eyes were filled with an eager desire to continue. Shane had seen this look before. On Rick's wife. His adrenaline shifted into something new.

Shane sighed, "Rick, I'm sorry. It happened. Now you know. I didn't want to piss you off but you needed to know how it all went down."

"Fuck, Shane! How could you do that to me?"

Rick leapt forward and swung a fist at Shane, barely missing him. Feeling the heat radiating off his friend, Shane grabbed onto Rick's face and pulled him hard against his own body. He mashed his lips against Rick's and held him in place. Hands quickly found their way to Shane's chest and shoved, causing the embrace to break and Rick to stumble backwards against the wall.

"Shane,...what the fuck was that?"

He looked at his friend, still saw the "look" and went for it. "Rick, I'm done fighting. I think you are too."

This time, Shane didn't hold back. He shoved Rick hard into the wall, feeling the cheap drywall flex and dent against the pressure of two men caught in this odd circumstance. His own hand pulsated as he banged it between the wall and Rick's shoulder but he didn't care. He wanted this bad. Now.

His lips met less resistance than before and Shane's tongue began to explore the coarse, sun chapped lips of his partner. Rick was beyond shocked at what was happening. He tried to stop it, but Shane's hands held him firmly in place. He could feel every muscle of Shane's torso against his own, and knew that he was stuck as the smaller of the two men. Sweat began to flow down his face and lower back.

He knew he was trapped against Shane, but part of him didn't mind. In fact, he wanted it. No, more than that Rick realized. He needed it. All the fighting, all the tension between them, all the shit that happened with Lori and cheating. None of it mattered. He needed a break. A break from the stress of surviving. This was perfect.

His hands reached up and grabbed Shane's head, pulling his face as close as it could go. A low, guttural moan escaped Shane's lips, and he knew in this moment that Rick was his.

Shane began to kiss harder, deeper, tongue probing inside Rick's mouth, hands leaving shoulders and touching various parts of the body. One hand in particular went lower down Rick's body, wrapping itself around the small of his back, pulling them together, leaving no space between them. Rick gasped. He'd never been so close to a man before. Hell, he could feel Shane's dick straining against the fabric of his pants, rubbing against him.

Without a word, Shane's hand slipped down and ripped open Rick's fly. His hand felt it's way in, and quickly gripped Rick's cock, already erect and in eager need for release. As Shane kissed, his hand began to stroke, faster and faster, pulling the cock out to increase it's strokeability. These were not gentle strokes either. They were fast strokes, tightly gripped, from the base of Rick's shaft to the tip of his dripping cock. Rick could barely contain himself and moaned whorishly into the mouth of Shane, his own hands wrapping themselves around Shane to keep the contact.

Still Shane beat faster. Rick's eyes closed as he grew closer to orgasm, his head tipping backwards, mouth breaking the kiss, alternating between groans of pleasure and heavy breaths.

Soon, Rick could hold back no more. He cried as he tipped his head back farther. Shane said nothing, but quickly pressed his lips onto Rick's neck and bit down, intensifying the suddenly rush of endorphins through Rick's body. That rush lead straight to Rick's penis, which began to explode, shooting jet after jet of hot cum all over the front of Shane's shirt and hand. He cried out briefly, only to feel the sudden press of a callused and sweaty hand cover his mouth. Rick's own body, a traitor, as he rocked with the remainder of orgasmic bliss. Shane's lips found Rick's again and Shane stifled his own gentle cry into Rick's mouth. Then he felt a loosening of the hand and Shane let go of Rick's dick.

They pulled apart, looking at each other questioningly, and Rick discovered a tremendous amount of wetness on the front of Shane's pants.

Shane whispered with a low gruffness. " Maybe you should go check and see if the coast is clear?

Rick was confused but went off to check the door. The truck was parked, T-dogg and Andrea were in the back of it and Daryl's bike was parked beside it again.

"Shane, let's go. They're back."

The two men quickly walked out of the shop, stopping only to bump into Daryl who came from behind the Gas Station. He had a scowl on his face, which was typical for him. Rick hopped in the truck while Shane stepped back to help Daryl load his weapons on the bike.

"You do ok, Daryl?" Shane asked, with a concerned tone in his voice.

"Yup, I did. What about you boys? Keep your hands busy while I was gone?" There was a tone of bitterness in his voice, but Shane missed it.

"Yup, no problems."

End of Chapter One.