Chapter 3-A promise

A year ago

Shane's P.O.V

Shane stared at the city as he heard the door open behind him. He turned around and saw a man and a woman. "Who the hell are you?" Shane asks.

"My name is Dawn. This is Dr. Edwards," Dawn says. "My people found you, stabbed no less. What happened to the person who did that to you?"

"I don't know," Shane says. "It was my friend, partner."

Dawn nods. "Well, we were able to save you. You've been asleep for about two days. You owe us your life."

"Well, thank you for saving me, but I got people to find," Shane says. "I would like to leave."

"You're welcome, too, after you pay off the debt you owe to us. It took quite a lot to save you. We need help, and once you help us and your debt is paid, you'll be free to leave."

"What If I just kill you and leave?" Shane growls.

"My officers will gun you down before you get to the door," Dawn says as she lays her hand on her gun. "Or I can kill you now."

"No need for that. I'll work."

Maggie's P.O.V

Present

The group stood around a table as Octavia showed them the maps they had. "When they took Blake, we took one of them. They drew us a map of the place. There are three entrances: an elevator shaft filled with walkers, the front door, and this back entrance. Walkers get in there, so they only use it when needed. Some of the officers also use that part of the building to blow off steam," Octavia says.

"You guys got in through the back entrance?" Maggie asks.

"Yeah, killed three officers and got out with Blake and Shane. I don't know if they sealed it. They might have. But maybe not. Nobody alive knows we were there," Clarke says.

"We could do this without violence, take one of them, do a hostage exchange," Tyreese says.

"I wouldn't risk it, their leader. She might not, and she's dangerous. She loves the power she has. Do you wanna do this and make sure that Beth gets out? We go in at night, kill walkers and whoever is in our way, and get Beth," Octavia says.

"We can't all leave," Carl says. "We don't know if Gareth is still out there. We have to be ready to fight if he comes."

"He's right," Daryl says. "A couple of us will go. Shane, Octavia, Maggie, and I."

"We shouldn't be wasting our time with this. We need to get Eugene to Washington, then your friend will be safe," Abraham growls.

"Then go, we aren't gonna stop you, but I ain't leaving Beth. Go on your dumb ass mission."

"This mission will save the whole damn world," Abraham growls.

"I don't believe that," Daryl says.

"We got our people to worry about. If you wanna go, go. But we're saving our people," Rick tells Abraham, who scoffs as he leaves the church.

"We'll need more people," Octavia tells Daryl.

"I'm in," Glenn says.

"Me too," Carol says.

"Alright, six people should work," Daryl says as he looks at Octavia, who nods. "We leave in an hour."

"Daryl, it's gonna be dark soon."

"Doesn't matter. I saw a car while we were walking over here. We'll get it running and go," Daryl says before he walks outside.

Rick's P.O.V

Rick walked up to Shane as he put food in a bag. "I know this is weird," Rick says as he looks at Carl holding Judith.

"It is," Shane says as he looks at him. "I never imagined I would meet my daughter like this; she doesn't even know who I am, and you've been raising her. To her, you're her father," Shane says. "Carl already had the talk with me and told me that I can be here Uncle, but I'm not her father."

"Shane, I'm sorry."

"Stop saying that, man," Shane says. "Everything that happened, it was my fault. I tried to kill you, and you did what you had to. Me not having a relationship with Judith. That is my fault. It's hard not being able to be her father, and I'll have to come to terms with that, but first, we save Beth."

Rick nods as Shane puts the bag on his back. "I gotta ask, what happened to my shotgun?" Shane asks with a grin.

Rick chuckles. "Sorry, it got left at the prison."

"Damn shame, and my car? Burnt?"

"Probably," Rick says with a grin. "We left a lot there, including Hershel, on the ground."

"Once we get Beth, we'll go back, bury him, and then if Abraham is still here, might as well join him," Shane says.

"Yeah."

"Let's get moving," Daryl says from the door.

"You heard him," Maggie says as she grabs her bag and follows Daryl.

"If those assholes show up, give them hell," Shane says, and Rick nods.

"We will," Rick says as Octavia kisses Blake's head and leaves with Shane.

Shane's P.O.V

A year ago

Shane grabbed his tray of food and looked around the cafeteria. He stopped when he saw a teenager sitting by herself. He walked over to her table. "Mind if I sit?" Shane asks.

"It's okay," The girl says as Shane sits down.

"I'm Shane," Shane says as he holds his hand out to her.

"Blake," She says softly as she shakes his hand.

"Where are your parents?" Shane asks.

"My Dad's dead, died in a car crash when I was three, and my Mom, she's out there. They took me from her," Blake says softly.

Shane nods. "She's probably looking for you right now, and until she finds you. You can come to me if you need anything, and if she doesn't, I'll help you find her."

"Why? You don't know me," Blake says.

"Because you don't deserve to be here, and I have a lot to make up for. Maybe this is a start."

"Walsh," An officer says from behind him. Shane turns around and looks at her. "Dawn wants to see you."

"I'll see you, kid," Shane says as he stands up and follows the officer.

Rick's P.O.V

That night, the group sat in the church eating. Rick looked at Abraham as he sat down beside him. "We need to leave soon," Abraham says.

"As Daryl said, if you wanna go, you can go. We aren't going to stop you," Rick tells him. "Take the bus and go, but we aren't going anywhere until Daryl's group is back. Or you can wait a couple more days. When Daryl gets back, we go back to the place you found Glenn, bury Maggie's father, load up on supplies, and head to Washington," Rick says, and Abraham stays silent. "Think about it," Abraham doesn't say anything as he stands up and walks away from Rick. Rick takes a bite of his food and looks at Carl, who is talking with Blake and holding Judith.

"She's cute," Clarke says as she walks up to him and sits down.

"Thanks," Rick says. "I thought about it a lot, seeing Shane again, but I never imagined he'd show back up with a wife, a whole new family."

"It took us a while to become that," Clarke says. "Since the start, it was always me, Octavia, Theo, Blake, and Oliver. No one trusted Shane, but Blake did. She barely left his side after he joined us, and she never told us why, but she told Octavia, and after, Octavia treated him like family. He's saved my life more times than I can count."

"I know the feeling," Rick says as Sasha comes up to them. "Rick, have you seen Bob?"

"No," Rick says as he stands up. "Has anybody seen Bob?"

"He went outside about two hours ago," Rosita says. Rick walks past Sasha and outside.

"Bob," Rick says as he looks around. "Bob!" Rick shouts. "Everybody spread out, find him. Groups of three," Rick says as he walks outside. The rest of the group follows.

The group searched for about ten minutes. "I found him!" Sasha shouts. The group runs over to Sasha, who is beside Bob, who is on his back beside the church. His leg missing.

"Let's get him inside," Rick says as he grabs Bob. Abraham, Tyreese, and Oilver grab him, and they carry him inside the church, and set him down.

"There is a first aid kit in the office," Gabriel tells him.

"Don't waste it," Bob says.

"You need help, Bob, get it," Sasha tells Theo, who nods.

"No," Bob says as he pulls his shirt down to show a bite on his shoulder. "It happened at the food drive," Bob says. "Don't waste the supplies."

"There is a bed in the office. You can put him in it," Gabriel says.

"Thank you," Sasha says, and Gabriel nods as Bob is carried into the room.

Rick stares at Gabriel. "Who was she?" Rick asks Gabriel, who looks at him. "The walker at the food drive, who was she, and why is you'll burn for this craved into your church?" Rick growls. "What have you done?" Rick growls. "You've done something," Gabriel takes a step away from him. "What have you done."

"I always lock the door," Gabriel says as his voice breaks. "I always locked the door. They started to come, my congregation. Atlanta was bombed the night before, and they were scared. They were-they were looking for a safe place. A place where they felt safe. It was so early, so early, and the doors were still locked. You see...it was my choice. There were so many of them, and they were trying to pry the shutters and banging on the sidings, screaming at me. The dead came for them. Women...children. Entire families calling my name as they were torn apart, begging for mercy," Gabriel says as he sobs. "Begging me for mercy, damning me to hell. I buried their bones. I buried it all. The Lord sent you here to punish me. I'm damned. I was damned before. I always locked the door. I always locked the door," Gabriel says as he sobs, and the group stares at him.

Abraham's P.O.V

The group stood in the church. "We need a plan," Clarke says. "Based on what Bob told it, Gareth wasn't far. He was at the school. He knows where we are."

"They're watching us," Rick says. "So let's use that. Abraham, Clarke, Rosita, Sasha, Oliver, and I will leave the church when they see that. They might come, and if they do, we'll have them cornered, and we can kill them," Rick says.

"It's not a bad plan," Clarke says.

"Alright," Rick says. "Get whatever guns we have, and let's go."

Rick's P.O.V

Rick walked into the into the church as Gareth spoke. "Light the henches," He tells a man, and before the man can shoot the hinges, Rick shoots him in the head, leaving Gareth and three more.

"Put your guns on the floor and knell," Rick says.

"Rick, we'll fire right into that office, so you put you-," Gareth is cut off by Rick shooting his fingers off. Gareth screams as he falls to his knees.

"Put your guns on the floor and knell," Rick growls. They nod as they lay their guns down and knell. Rick walks up to Gareth as Abraham, Clarke, and Sasha go over to the other three.

"No point in begging, right?" Gareth asks.

"No," Rick says.

"Stll you could have killed us when you came in. There had to be a reason for that," Gareth says.

"Didn't wanna waste the ammo," Rick says.

"We used to help people. We saved people," Gareth says before he groans in pain. "Things change, and they came in and after that-," Gareth pauses. "I know you've been out there, but I can see it. You don't know what it's like to be hungry. You don't have to do this; we can walk away, and we will never cross paths again. I promise you," Gareth says.

"But you'll cross someone's path. You'd do this to anyone, right? Besides, I already made you a promise," Rick says as he pulls out his red machete.

"No!" Gareth shouts as Rick slams it down on his head. After hitting him multiple times, he stops.

Rick's P.O.V

Rick sat outside the church as the sun started to rise. Abraham walks outside and stands behind him. "Daryl has 36 hours. If he isn't back, we leave without the rest of you. We'll go with you to the prison," Abraham says, and Rick nods.

Shane's P.O.V

One year ago

Shane walks into Dawn's office and looks at her. "What do you need?" Shane asks him.

"Were you a cop before this?" Dawn asks him.

"Yeah," Shane says. "I was a deputy in King County."

"I knew I saw your name somewhere. I saw a newspaper about your partner's shooting. I could always use more officers."

"How do you know I won't run?" Shane asks.

"Because of that girl, I have eyes everywhere, Shane. You run, and I'll throw her from this building," Dawn says, and Shane stares at her.

"Alright, fine, I'll work for you," Shane growls before he throws the door open and leaves.

Thanks for reading. Everything with Bob went the exact same as it did in the show. The next chapter will be focused on the group in Atlanta and some of the group in church. In the next chapter, Beth and Noah come into the story. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.