"I'm gonna be on time next week I promise!"

Whoops.

But I'm uploading now that's what matters, right? (Is that not what I said last week?... Anyway, I'm sorry, please don't come to my window with torches and pitchforks.)

Anyway, here's the latest chapter, and it's a fun one. Lots of shit goes down in this chapter. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Maryanne could only watch as Beth ran over to the body of her mother.

"Mama... mama," the girl sobbed. Suddenly, the walker reached up and grabbed onto the girls blonde hair.

Maryanne could move again as the girl began to scream. She grabbed the girl, pulling her away and handing her off to Jimmy as the others disposed of the walker.

The girl began to sob once again.

Maryanne turned slowly, her eyes cold and hard as she saw her brother. She stalked over to him, and with no words said, she slapped him.

His head snapped to the side, and his jaw set.

She spat on his shoe before walking away, tears brimming in her eyes once again. Guilt ran through her once again as she realized she'd given Carol so much false hope.

Suddenly, she felt hands on her upper arms, gripping her so tight it hurt. She screamed in surprise, and looked over to see Shane. There was so much anger in his eyes, she couldn't help but be petrified.

"You think you can just do that and walk away, hm?!" he demanded loudly, his face mere inches from hers.

"Get off of me!" she yelled, trying to pull away from him. This only caused his grip to tighten, and she cried out in pain. "You're hurting me, you bastard! Let me go!"

"Look at me!" he screamed, one hand disappearing from her arm and going to her jaw. This forced her to look into his anger-feared eyes, and she could only whimper as her grip began to bruise her jaw. That's when she finally felt the sharp sting of his hand, and her head snapped to the side.

He'd finally hit her.

"Hey!"

Suddenly, Shane's grip disappeared, and she was pushed behind Rick. Her breathing was quick, watching as Lori pushed him away, her face angry.

"Haven't you done enough?" she heard her ask him, and he shook his head before stalking towards Hershel and his family. Rick gave her an apologetic look before he followed. Her breathing was still quick, only watching as they walked away.

She felt gentler hands in her own, and she looked over at Lori. Carl was beside her.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up. Carl, will you go get some water, please?"

Her son nodded, and the women went to Maryanne's tent.

When they arrived, Maryanne sat down on the cot, and stared at the tent wall for a moment before dropping her head in her hands. A sob racked her body, and all she wanted to do was lay down for days.

"Hey," Lori said gently, a mother's tone coloring her voice. "It's okay... it'll be okay."

Maryanne laughed humorlessly. "That may work with Carl, but not me."

Lori sighed, tucking some hair behind Maryanne's ears.

"I'm... so sorry about Shane. I didn't... I didn't know he was capable of doing something like that."

"Really? You didn't see it coming?" Maryanne asked. "He's not the same as he was, before the turn."

"No, he's not. It's like I don't even know him anymore. I-
Their conversation was interrupted by Carl, who entered with a bucket filled halfway with water.

"Thank you, Carl," she said, taking it from him and dipping a rag into the water.

"I can see some muscles already just from carrying that water here," Maryanne said in a joking tone as Lori wiped away dirt from her hands and the blood from her face. She'd split her lip when Shane hit her.

Carl rolled his eyes.

"You're gonna be a body builder soon enough," she added, and this made Carl smile a little. She sighed.

"I'm sorry, baby," she said, taking his hand. "I know you wanted to find her alive."

Carl nodded, and took his hand back as he left the tent.

He heard Mary's voice coming from inside Lori's tent, and he sighed. He wished he could knock, but there was no way to.

"Mary?" he asked, and the chatter stopped.

"Yeah, come in."

He pushed open the flaps to the tent, and sighed once again when she wouldn't look at him.

"I'll, uh... wait outside. Come on, Carl."

Lori left, a hand on her son's shoulder.

"Mary..."

Slowly, she looked over at him, and Rick pushed away the anger he felt. Her jaw had five oval marks varying from purple to blue, her cheekbone had a small, brown mark on it, and her lip was swollen.

"I know, I've looked better," she said jokingly. He wanted to crack a smile, but he didn't. He sat down in front of her, his hands taking hers.

"Hershel wants Shane gone."

Mary nodded, looking at the ground.

"Now, I can try to convince-"

"Don't."

"What?" Rick asked after a moment. Had he heard her right?
"Don't try to convince him."

"Mary-"

"No. Shane needs to go. I know you love him like he's your brother but Rick... he's not the Shane that also loved you like a brother. I admire you for trying to be the bigger person, and trying to make it work... because God knows I've long since given up. But... Lori agrees. She wants him gone, too. He's scaring her, Rick. And after today... she doesn't want anyone in danger, and that's what Shane is. He's dangerous."

There was silence as Rick processed all this.

"Rick..." Mary continued, and he looked up at her. "You know Otis' death wasn't an accident, right?"

Rick didn't answer. He had a feeling, but he never wanted to voice it, as if it would jinx it somehow.

Finally, he nodded.

Rick made sure to confirm with Lori that she, too, wanted Shane gone, and it didn't surprise him that she agreed.

"What about Carl?" he asked.

"Carl agrees, too," she replied slowly. "I mean, don't get me wrong, he loves Shane, but you know how protective he is of Mary."

"Yeah," Rick retorted.

"I think, deep down, he's... scared of Shane. He won't admit it, but... a mom knows."

Rick nodded, and stood. As some of the group gathered the bodies they'd planned on burning, Rick went to the house to talk to Hershel. He explained that they were planning on asking Shane to leave, and if that was enough to keep them on the farm.

To his surprise, Hershel agreed, and Rick left the house to leave him with his family.

Nerves now racked him as he left the house. It was on him to ask Shane to leave, he knew that.

But he would wait.

For now, it was time for a funeral.

I'll admit – I had way too much fun writing this.

By popular demand, I will be keeping Shane alive... for longer than the show did. And he won't be at the prison. I'M SORRY! I just really don't like Shane... At all. I literally laughed when he died.

But it will be interesting. You'll just have to wait and see where I'm going with all of this...

But that's all for this week, I hope you enjoyed. Let me know your thoughts in the review box, 'cause you know I love to hear from you guys.

I'll see you next week. Have an awesome day.

-SparrowEyedGirl