The day I turned 8, my mother came upstairs to wake me up early. I groaned and rolled over when she rubbed my back, shielding the sun from my eyes.
"There's a cute little boy outside asking if he can play with you," my mother encouraged, urging me out of bed.
I found Shane sitting on the front porch steps. My attention was distracted by the chain around his neck and the golden number 22 that hung from it. He sprang up and grabbed me by the arm, a sort of gleam in his eyes.
"Where'd you get it?" I asked, eyes watching his necklace. Shane smiled, revealing en empty spot in his mouth where his tooth used to be.
"Found it," he told me, swaying back and forth on his heels, "now, come on, there's something I wanna show you." I followed him without hesitation, through the woods behind his house, which was only six doors down from mine at the time. I remember having to stop to catch my breath and wipe the sweat from my forehead. He was hard to keep up with, always a few feet ahead of me, and my foot caught a root on the way, causing me to tumble to my knees.
"Shane!" I called, standing up and wiping the dirt off my pants. I didn't see him ahead of me, my eyes darted back and forth.
"Boo!" He snuck up behind me and laughed when he saw the terrified look on my face. My fear turned to anger rather quickly.
"Don't do that!" I spat.
"Do what?" he called sarcastically over his shoulder, smiling, leading me further into the woods.
He's leading me out, further away from the farm, away from Lori, Carl, the rest of the group. I follow, watching his back, the way his strong shoulders move beneath the fabric. For a second, I'm reminded of that day in the woods. The day I turned 8. He led me to a tree house, a place he said we could spend time together, a time where we could just hangout. A place where he became my friend.
"He went this way." Shane turns around to face me, rubbing his now shaven head. The look in his eyes he always had when we were kids is gone, there's blood dripping from his noce and mouth, staining his dirt covered skin. Once again, my eyes fall to the chain still hanging on his neck. I follow him, without hesitation, watching my breath as it floats through the chilled, autumn air. Randall couldn't have gone this far. It's too quiet. He doesn't look me in the eye...and I know what he's doing, what he intends to do. Shoot me. Kill me. Murder me...I follow him because I don't want to believe it. But there was little I could do anymore. I had just sat there and watched as the apocolypse changed him. I let him go. Shane. He wasn't Shane anymore. He lost his way...And I let our friendship slip through my fingers as he slowly turned the face of evil and became my enemy.
Nothing chilled me more than seeing the end of his gun pointed at my chest. Nothing hurt me more than coming that realization that him and I could not coexist in the world.
And I didn't want to accept that.
Ah sorry these are so short! I've been really busy lately, but they should get moving more quickly.