Summary: After the explosion at the CDC, Daryl and Shane find themselves separated from the group and forced to survive together. Can they put aside their differences in order to survive and maybe even find...love?

Warning: Torture! (in later chapters); Sane-er! Shane; Past-Abuse; Daryl; OOC!NESS; AU! SHANE NEVER DIED; Also Shane doesn't kill Otis,

Disclaimer: Don't own.

CHAPTER ONE

The farm was gone.

Flames engulfed both the barn and the house, roaring and fierce against the beautiful night sky. Walkers snarled and groaned as they flooded the yard but and he knew that he should be moving but he was frozen, hovering just out of their sights on the edge of the forest, crystalline blue eyes locked on the chaos before him. It felt as if he was seven years old again hiding in the woods around his home as his mother screamed and burned alive inside it. He could almost feel the scorching heat of the flames, hear her high pitched screams of agony and terror flooded him.

"Dixon! Come on man, we gotta get outta here!"

Daryl jerked, coming back into himself as Shane's voice penetrated the haze that had overtaken his mind. He turned to face the man, who was staring at him with panic in his dark eyes.

"We ain' gonna be able to reach the others in this mess." He observed softly.

Rick and the others had taken off already, the only reason he and Shane hadn't was because they'd been out hunting when this all had started. Rick had seen it as a way of forcing them to get along, while keeping them both safe, so Shane had been his "hunting buddy" off and on for the past week or so.

Shane nodded and they ducked back a bit so that their presence was completely masked from the walkers around them.

"So...any plans?"

Daryl narrowed his eyes, glancing back at the barn.

"That cabin we found when we were searchin' for So- the lil' girl ain' too far from here. We shoul' be able to reach it wit no pro'lems."

Shane nodded again, following the smaller man deeper into the forest. They traveled silently, eyes peeled and weapons at ready, as they moved through the foliage. What seemed like moments later, they found themselves standing in front of their destination, the night eerily silent around them. They quickly cleared it, then boarded themselves inside.

Shane sighed, pacing anxiously.

"Fuck. Fuck, Fuck,Fuck! What are we gonna do? How the hell are we gonna find the others?"

Daryl shrugged silently,watching as the other man wore himself out cursing and pacing. The former deputy glared at his lack of response, lips twisting into a fierce snarl.

"I doubt you even care! You were gonna leave anyways so it don't really matter, do it?" He snapped and the archer forced himself not to flinch.

He'd never done well with raised voices, it never bode well for him. Instead he shook his head at the raging man and settled down in the corner furthest from him and waited patiently for him to run out of steam. It was a practice he'd often used with Merle when he acted the same way, one that unfortunately hadn't really worked with his old man, but seemed to work with Shane.

The dark haired man shot him one more glare then went back to his ranting, hands moving in wild gestures that seemed to go with his words. Finally, after what seemed like hours, he calmed and took a seat beside Daryl, exhaustion clear in his eyes.

"What a fucking mess." He lamented, running a hand through his hair irately, before turning to the silent hunter beside him.

"You have any supplies?"

His companion shook his head. "All my supplies was in my tent. Just got my bow, my knife, an' the clothes on my back."

Shane groaned. " Same. Just got my gun and what I'm wearing. Rick had the shot gun. Looks like we're gonna have to start from square one."

Daryl pursed his lips.

He and Shane barely got along at the best of times. Even on these forced hunting trips him and the deputy were always arguing and fighting. The man was too hot-headed and volatile and honestly, anything could set him off. It made the hunter wary of their current predicament and he couldn't help but wonder just how long they would last before killing each other.

Shane having similar thoughts groaned again and leaned his head ack against the wall with a thud.

"I'll take first watch. Get some sleep."

Daryl sent him an uncomfortable look.

Did the bastard actually expect him to fall asleep with him sitting so close? He barely trusted the man enough to let him stand behind him on a hunt yet here the man was asking him to go to sleep with him sitting beside him, so close their arms brushed against each other with their every movement.

"What?" The ex-cop asked, seeing the younger man's discomfort and Daryl stood.

"Nuthin'."He replied, moving to the corner directly opposite of the former deputy. He settled in to it, then curled in on himself and fell asleep without another word.

***SHANYL***

Shane frowned as he stared at the sleeping hunter in the corner across from him, pondering the situation they now found themselves in.

He and Daryl didn't get along at the best of times, and while he knew it was mostly his fault he still couldn't help but blame it on the younger man. The hunter was so taciturn and quiet and when he did speak he was gruff and closed off, hardly making an effort to integrate himself into the group. Even before, when Merle was still with them, he'd barely made an effort to get comfortable with the group, spending most of his time in the woods hunting or near the tent he and his brother had shared. It was frustrating as hell.

Still, Dixon knew these woods better than anyone else in their little ragtag group so he was kinda glad that he was stuck with him out of everyone. It meant he had a better chance of surviving. He sighed again, thoughts drifting to the rest of the group.

They'd been gone when him and Daryl had arrived at the farm and he hoped everyone was alright, even Rick. While being forced to go hunting with Dixon he'd thought long and hard about the conflict of him, Rick, and Lori. He had honestly believed that Rick was dead before he started sleeping with Lori. The day after arriving in the quarry, the woman had crept into his tent seeking comfort and being that he was terrible at feeling he'd provided it the only way he knew how. Afterwards, when she'd fallen to sleep, he'd broken down crying feeling as if he'd betrayed his best friend, his brother in all but blood. He prayed, begging his brother for forgiveness for both sleeping with his widow and for enjoying it. Over time, his trysts with Lori had become...comforting in a way. They were the closest he could get to his brother and after every time he had begged his forgiveness.

Then Rick came back.

Rick came back, alive and healthy and he was no longer needed. Lori looked at him with disgust, as if he'd purposely lied about the death of the one man he saw as family just to get in her pants. She snarled at him and cursed at him, seemingly forgetting that she'd initiated the entire thing and he found himself lost and confused.

He knew he had to let her go, had to let her and Rick be happy, but it seemed so hard and he didn't want to be alone again so he'd tried to hold on. He'd almost become the one thing he didn't want to be. He'd almost raped her and he couldn't forgive himself for letting it get that far.

The incident at the CDC had forced him to step back and reevaluate the entire situation. He'd started to see just how horrible he wa becoming so he started trying to withdraw from her, from the madness she inspired in him and it worked. It worked!

He no longer felt the horrible, homicidal rage that used to engulf him every time he saw her and Rick embrace. He no longer felt those impulses to do things he knew he'd never would've thought of doing before. He felt like himself again for the first time since the day Rick was shot.

He hadn't even freaked out on Rick when the man had confronted him. He had explained as best as he could and although the man had been upset, he'd actually accepted him. He hadn't been angry with him or hated him like Lori had said he would.

He smiled slightly, focusing his mind on the present, his gaze moving to the archer sleeping across from him.

The others would be alright.

They had to be.

TBC...

A/N: So I couldn't figure out how to end this chapter and well yeah. you can see I took quite a few liberties with Shane's character, but its my first time writing him as a main character so please be gentle. Tell me what you think. :-)