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The ground presses hard against Shane's back despite the layers of tent and blanket, but with Lori straddling his hips and the curtain of her hair framing his face, Shane couldn't care less. They have to hurry - Carol’s watching the kids, but Ed’s an asshole that loves to fuck with the schedule whenever he can. There’s no telling when Carl may be back. Lori’s laughter rings in Shane’s ears and he stopped chasing the taste of Rick on her weeks ago.
he wakes up choking, the metallic tang of blood heavy on the back of his tongue. There’s an awful ache in his chest. For a moment, Shane is sure he’s dying all over again. He can still hear Rick’s cries in his ear, smell the grass beneath his hands, but when he opens his eyes, he’s greeted with the sight of his ceiling fan.
- - -
A wail clogs up his throat, Rick can't breathe. He can't breathe and there is blood on his hands.
Shane's blood.
He's killed his best friend, the man who meant everything to him but Shane was gone. He wasn't his Shane anymore, he put Lori and Carl in danger, killed innocent people, and tried to kill Rick. A broken sob erupts; his heart is on fire, spikes of pain like he's the one being stabbed over and over. Shane did this to them, he did this but his blood is on Rick's hands. Rick knows Shane's face is cold and lax, knows he’s dead and gone, he’s dead weight and there’s only one way for him to come back now but he can't help looking again.
His lap is empty.
- - -
It's just the two of them now - Merle, Maggie and the rest of them nearly five years gone now.
Daryl doesn't know how they've made it this far on their own, but he ain't gonna jinx it. Glenn's worn out though, his shift in temperament matches the jagged scar running across his lips. It compliments the slight limp Daryl's got in his left leg. Made them more wary of people, of trusting other folks at all, because walkers aren’t the only danger around anymore.
They've moved on to Tennessee - he almost lost Glenn near the state line - but ain't nothin’ left in Georgia for them. Holed up a cottage miles from the interstate, and his name on Glenn’s lips, Daryl will continue to fight to protect this. He only shuts his eyes for a moment.
He wakes up on his couch, beer splashing onto his fingers and a bereft feeling lodged behind his ribs.
- - -
Sometimes Lori imagines Shane is Rick when they fuck. It isn't easy. Their hands are nothing alike. Rick's are slender, more callused while Shane is all thick fingers, nearly as smooth as hers had once been sans his gun calluses. Rick grinds his hips in a way that drives her absolutely crazy. He covers her body with his, chokes her on his musk and the smell of their bodies joined together. Lori pulls at his shoulders, and she's close, so close and it's almost real.
"Ma'am? Ma'am, can you hear me? You've been in an accident and we need you to stay still until we can get you out, okay?"
- - -
The world ends, her husband is eaten alive and her daughter is dead before Carol is strong enough to defend herself, her family. It's late, too late. Her baby's dead and all she has left is her own life. Carol's going to live for Sophia. She couldn't save her own child but she'll do everything she can to ensure the safety of Carl and the baby. For Sophia, for Lori.
Cool linoleum presses against her cheek. Carol can't remember if Ed's knocked her out again or if she fainted, but the images of her dream are still vivid in her mind. She gets up, hardly takes her any time at all to pack what little they'll need, and she leaves to pick up Sophia from school. She’s not coming back. Nothing will take Sophia from her.
- - -
A herd of geeks are at their back and there’s not enough road ahead of them. It'd been a stupid mistake, a stupid ass rookie mistake that he'd only made in the beginning of this clusterfuck that's supposed to be the end of the world. Glenn thinks this might be their last stand.
Glass breaks and he jerks up, reaching for a gun that isn't really there. Glenn's eyes roam wildly and he sees Saul, his manager, in the doorway.
"Hey, kid, ya got a delivery to make."
- - -
The lines of reality and dreams tend to blur for Merle, but it don’t take a genius to know that dead people coming back to eat the living ain't normal. When Daryl walks away, he doesn't realize the landscape of the forest is different than the one they were talking in. Everyone walks away at some point, and Dixons don’t need nobody, not even each other.
After Daryl walks away, Merle doesn't realize the landscape of the forest is different than the one they were arguing in.