1 - People Who Don't Know You

Shane Walsh was sitting on the hood of the Hyundai, staring at his old partner. The sheriff stood alone, despite the group scattered behind him. Shane knew what was coming, had known since the man had taken over from him in Atlanta. His reckoning was here, in a way, and Shane would do a lot of things before he let Rick take what little he had left away from him.

"You were my brother, Shane." Rick said, standing calmly as though his hand wasn't on the pistol grip of his colt, "You know I don't want to do this."

"But you ain't got the balls to shoot me. It's what you should do. You're already halfway there, with your hand on your piece." Shane was mad, but he didn't move from his position just yet. They all watched him, a gawking crowd. Andrea, who'd once said that they were the two odd people, now stood with them and watched it go down. He shoulda left with her when he had the chance. "Even now, you ain't gonna fight for 'em? You gonna send me away so I can go get some group of assholes and bring them right back to this farm?"

"You won't do that, Shane." Rick said, keeping his hand on his gun,

"You sure 'bout that? You know I'm a better father than you Rick. I'm better for Lori than you, man. It's cause I'm a better man than you, Rick. 'Cause if I was you right now I'd fight for it." He strode forward, towards Rick, and raised his voice without realizing. "Let me tell you somethin'. You got a broken woman. You got a weak boy. You ain't got a damn clue how to fix it! Raise your gun!"

He stopped just short of the man, waiting. All he needed was Rick to try and fire at him and he could take his gun, shoot him. Lori would see Rick tryna kill him, see that Shane was strong and she'd come back to him. She loved him, she knew that she loved him and not Rick.

"Leave, and don't you ever come near my family again, Shane." Rick paused for a moment, and Shane didn't move, "Leave!"

Shane looked at the group who watched him. He was wearing a grin that didn't reach his eyes, and the semblance of a smile dropped when he looked back to the sheriff. "You're weak, Rick. Someone is gonna come along, is gonna take your family from you, and you ain't ever gonna be able to stop them because you're weak."

He looked past Rick, to the people waiting around, "Last chance to come with me, people. Let me tell you, this man did not do shit. Who kept you safe for two damn months in the quarry? Who organized runs into Atlanta, got you people water? I did! He left the camp undefended, got Amy killed. He took us to the CDC, got Jacqui killed. He destroys everything!"

No one stepped forward, but Shane always knew that they wouldn't. He was stood, arms flung wide, his eyes wide and crazy and murderous.

"You aimed a gun at my head. You tried to hurt my wife at the CDC. You did god-knows-what to Otis. You disobeyed me, disobeyed everyone, and you stormed into that barn. That was the last straw. I am being strong, Shane. Either you leave or we all do, that's what Hershel said. So you go. You go now or we go into those woods right now, brother."

"You wanna stay with him, Lori? You wanna watch while he gets your son killed, while he gets our baby killed?" Shane laughed, couldn't help it, "You people best not come findin' me for help when this jackass gets you killed."

Shane opened the door of the Hyundai, the one he'd gotten ready on the highway to leave with all those days ago, climbing into it and slamming the door with a thunk. The bags he'd packed in the back, the ones he'd thought to unpack when Lori asked him to stay, rolled off the seat and onto the floor as he reversed the car. He gave the group one last glance in the rearview mirror as he pulled away, and drove for the farm path, knowing that staying with the group would have killed him if he hadn't killed Rick first.

He'd been alone for a week. Shane had thought he'd be better alone, but it was weighing on him. He'd eaten nothing but one tin of beans a day for the last three days and it was taking its toll on him. Shane had set off for Fort Benning, seen a spray-painting on a sign that said it was gone, and done a full-blown turn and headed up to Newnan. Now that he was here, he had nothing to show for it but this shitty little cabin just outside of the town and his last can of beans empty on the ground.

Thoughts of Lori and Rick and Carl and Otis filled his head all the time, and occasionally Sophia, Jacqui, Jim, but Shane felt better. Starving and exhausted, yeah, but he felt the need to go back to Lori waning with every mile he put between himself and the farm. Maybe he'd ditch Georgia altogether, head to Fort Knox in Kentucky. Even if it was gone, it was far away from Georgia. Shane needed miles and miles between him and the man. Otherwise, he'd go back and put a bullet in his old friend to try and take his wife, the one he'd become so obsessed with. Damn, that had been a mistake.

Shane still wasn't sure whether he was just jealous of Rick and Lori falling in love so early while he kept on being a bachelor, having off and on again stints with the hottest girls in town looking for something like that, or if he really did care for Lori. Some part of him said the latter, but the rest of him needed it to be the former because he couldn't do this. He could see his mistakes, all laid out before him, and there was no changing falling in love with Lori, or begging her to come back to him, or busting open that barn, but maybe he could get himself far enough away that

He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't hear the noise of a car or cars pulling up until they were real close. He jumped up, grasping his shotgun, and he pressed himself against the wall beside the window. Just one car outside. A dirty white pickup with a man sat in the back, a semi-automatic in his arms. Shane swore, knowing it'd be hard to take down him and whoever was in the cab. He heard the truck doors slam and moved to the back door.

At it, he tried to see through the boards over its window but couldn't, and quietly swung it open to the sight of a woman, hunting rifle pointed right at him.

"You aren't dead," she commented, and Shane raised his shotgun to shoot. Another gun cocked behind him. How had they surrounded him so quickly? The black woman before him said, "Take the aim of that shotgun away from my chest. I like my body just like this, not peppered with holes."

"You heard the girl." a deeper voice said, "Drop it or I'll blow your brains all over this here wall."

Shane put one hand in the air, crouching to place his shotgun on the ground. He didn't have much choice, not when shooting one of them meant the other had a chance to fire. Surrender was all he had, as much as it made his mouth taste bitter.

"Kick it to her." the voice said again, and he did, pushing it with his foot. She retrieved it, and Shane noted the silver cross hanging around her neck. If she was religious then he could use that.

"I ain't lookin' for trouble." he said, "Jus' tryna survive, so long as God lets me."

The woman raised an eyebrow, "A holy man, huh? You don't look the type. I sure ain't. Come on, preacher, back through to the couch." His lie had backfired, and Shane remembered to just point and shoot next time.

Shane turned around, seeing the tall black-haired man behind him back up slowly as he kept his gun trained on Shane. He needed to be patient, wait until they lowered their weapons and then grab the handgun from the back of his pants. As he stepped back towards the couch, he saw another woman who'd been behind the man. She had her blonde hair twisted into a bun, defining the sharp angles of her face as she stood opposite the couch.

Shane sat when the man gestured for him to, making sure to lie back to conceal the piece hidden under his shirt.

The two kept their weapons up, stood on either side of the couch. The blonde one didn't have a gun out, though he saw a rifle strapped to her back and a handgun at her waist.

"You got a name?" she asked, drawling the words.

"What's it to you?" he sneered. Manners wouldn't save him now, and these people didn't need to know. Shane felt the anger building in him and would have flipped if not for the two guns pointed at them. He was willing to bet that they wouldn't shoot, but Shane thought he might be able to get something from these people.

"If you're an asshole then we can go on our way. We saw your car, all clean looking, and figured someone was here."

Shane felt his head aching from the lack of food, sleep, everything. "Man, who are you people?"

"Hopefully, friends." She leaned back against the fireplace, looking down at him, "What's your name?"

He was reluctant to answer the question, but her mention of friends made him hopeful that maybe these people had a group far away. "Shane."

"You got a group, Shane?" she asked, her face neutral as she stared at him. He felt like he was being evaluated, picked apart and studied by this woman who couldn't have been more than thirty-five.

"Not anymore." he slowly moved one hand back across the couch, towards where his gun was, "They died."

"You want a new group?" she asked, a slow smile spreading across her face, "You seem smart, smart enough not to trust us. Don't pull out whatever weapon's in your pants, Shane, cause none of us want blood on our hands."

"I don't need no one." he scowled, moving his hand away. No need to get his head blown off. The blonde reached her cowboy boot out, knocking over the empty can of beans and sending it rolling across the room.

"You need food?" Her smile grew, knowing what he wanted, "We got food, we got beds and space and all that. Come back with us."

"Why would you-" the man with the semi-automatic blurted out, but she interrupted him.

"Eddy, you ain't the leader so shut your trap." Shane looked at 'Eddy', the one with the semi-automatic, and saw him roll his eyes. Maybe not the most functional group, but Shane's head had been spinning ever since she said they had food. "You wanna come with us, Shane?"

"I don't even know yer names."

"I'm Tess Clare. That's my brother, Edison, and that's Athena." the blonde introduced, moving from her position against the fireplace, "We're on our way home now and it's a pretty long drive with the dead everywhere so I wanna get goin' before this morning's up. You comin' or you stayin'?"

Shane rubbed a hand over his head, not trusting these people but not thinking they were dangerous, either. His gut said to go because he was running on fumes and he felt faint almost all the time these last few days. A walker had pinned him up the day before and Shane had considered letting it bite him and joining the winning team. He'd lost Lori and Carl, lost his best friend, and he didn't have much at all now.

"I'm comin'," he said. He could always slip away in the night once he had food.

Shane watched as Tess parked the Hyundai, missing the weight of his gun. He still had a knife on his belt, so he wasn't completely defenseless. The fact that she'd driven for the last few hours with just him and a knife seemed a little stupid to Shane, but maybe she'd had a plan. She'd been quiet, occasionally making small talk, and Shane couldn't help but stare at the dip in her vest where the curve of her breast was visible.

He slammed the Hyundai door as he got out, and turned to see that there was a small crowd forming to see the new car and the new person. Great. He kept his head up, despite the stares.

"Everyone, this is Shane. We found him on our way back, just south of Newnan." Tess said, and Shane marveled at the way they all listened to the woman, "I'mma talk to him and then y'all can pester him all you want."

She started walking, gesturing to him to follow. Was outside of Griffin far enough from Senoia that he'd never see Rick again? She led him into the main lobby of the motel, where the front desk sat before a corkboard full of labeled keys.

"You can have a room, but I just need to ask you a few questions. Just what we do."

He leaned against the desk, watching her as she moved with the assured grace that reminded him of the dancers and cheerleaders from high school. She was hot.

"What'd you do before this?" she asked.

"Law enforcement. I was a police officer in King County."

"Edison was military, maybe you'll warm to each other," she commented, sitting down in the chair behind the desk. She kept her eyes on his as she asked the next question, "You ever kill anybody?"

"Just criminals, before all this. The uncooperative, dangerous ones." he lied. She didn't frown, but her eyes narrowed at him. Shane found himself wanting somewhere to stay that wasn't alone. Maybe he'd even convince Lori and Carl to join him here, one day. He wanted to stay and she couldn't know about Otis.

"You planning to stay here?"

"Yeah. I could use someone to have my back." Shane didn't think anyone had had his back since they got to the farm and Rick had left him for that redneck, Daryl. He'd been alone even while he was with that group, even when he'd been fucking Andrea after gun practice in the backseat of his Hyundai.

"I'll take that." she said, standing, "Pick a room number. 1 is the bottom floor, 2 is the top. The last two numbers are the room number, so 201 would be the second floor, room one."

"I'll take 212." he said, the first set of keys he set his eyes on. He wanted to be off the ground floor just in case the dead got through the rickety wall out front.

"Ah. Well, looks like we're neighbors." she grinned, tossing him the keys. Shane caught them and they jingled as he opened his palm back up.

"I don't gotta have that room."

"It's all good, just make sure you say hello to everyone, 'specially Eileen. She's the old lady who owned this place and she'll kill both of us if she doesn't hear all about you." she smiled at him, and then she was walking past him and outside.

Shane followed her and saw her going upstairs. He was about to follow, to find his own room when a voice called out.

"Mister, new person, hello!" he turned, seeing the little old lady called Ellen or Esther or something, stood behind him. He wondered what the best way to tell the woman to get lost was. She had grey curls around her wrinkled face and a fancy skirt on. A skirt, in all this. Bunch of fools and dead men walking, this group.

"What?" he asked.

"I'm Eileen, but I'm sure Tess told you that already."

"Shane Walsh." he introduced himself, "She mentioned talking to you."

"Welcome to Motel 41. Well, what's left of it."

"This is yours, ain't it?" Shane thought maybe that was why the old people were alive. The others had probably defended the place for them.

"Oh yes. My husband and I loved traveling in our youth, and when we realized it was time to settle down, we thought we should make a nice place for other travelers." she looked so damn happy that it made Shane irritated. He hadn't asked for her stupid story. The part of him that had appeared at the farm was threatening to come out, to yell at her like he'd yelled at Hershel, but he didn't. "Are you planning on staying?"

"Yeah." he said because saying he wasn't or that he didn't know would get him turned out on his ass and he wanted something decent to eat. Shane was starving.

"I hope that's sincere honey because this really is a nice group and we need more types like you."

"Like what?"

"Good men. You look a little dented, a little dinged and wide-eyed, but I think we can polish you up just fine."

"You're crazy." he rolled his eyes at the old woman, shifting his weight onto one leg and smirking to himself as he looked down at her. She was tiny and batshit and if she came anywhere near him with a cloth and polish, metaphorical or otherwise, he'd let her know where to put it.

"You say that honey, but I can see it. I do hope the Circle comes to a good conclusion about you."

"The Circle? What is this, the roundtable of King fuc- King Arthur?" Shane thought not to swear at the lady, something of his old-self reminding him of manners from the old world.

"Just a name I have for them, Tess' inner circle." she smiled, clearly enjoying knowing things that Shane did not, "Tess, her brother Edison, Atticus and Athena. Sweet old Adam doesn't care for all that politics like my husband and I, so Adam just keeps watch whenever they meet. He's on the gate, and all the others disappeared at once. That's when you know they're meeting, not that they ever hide it."

"If they're gonna kick me out then they best let me have a damn meal for traveling all the way here," he grumbled. Shane cast his eyes up to the upper portion of the motel and saw that Tess wasn't on the walkway. Was she actually with them, and that's why she'd walked away so quickly? 'course. She'd questioned him so she could report straight to her 'Circle' about him. Shane wished that the old lady had explained who everyone was instead of just blurting names at him. Edison though- he knew that name from the way over. Tess' brother, the one who didn't want him around. He was smart.

"We're having lunch soon. Delayed it for everyone's arrival." she smiled, "We got some old packaged pancakes and strawberries since it'll be our last harvest of them."

"You got strawberries?" his mouth gaped a little, and the woman pointed to the corner of the motel, up against the wall, and realized that the corner of the wall, where the grassy verge was, had been turned into a small farm.

"When Tess and her brother arrived, they gave us the idea to wall the place up and make a garden because we didn't know how long the military would be clearing the whole country up."

"They ain't coming," he said but was still salivating at the idea of strawberries.

"The military? Well, no one can know that, dear." she shook her head, "If you mean the strawberries, I know. We can't plant anymore, its probably getting to late fall now and they just won't flower in the cold."

"'m goin' to my room," he said, not wanting to argue with this old woman about the end of the world. Food or not, Shane was suddenly unsure about staying here. The Circle, what the hell? He didn't want to go out there again, though, not when these people didn't know who he was and thought he was good. It was a chance to get rid of everything he'd done, everything that had been irredeemable.

After he'd climbed the stairs and headed to the second-to-last room on the row, 212, and he was about to unlock his room when he saw through the window of the next room along. The whole group of them, Tess, her brother and two of the triplets, the girl and one of the men. He leaned close to listen and watch and saw Tess speaking, but Atticus was stood beside the window and he turned, seeing Shane. The others followed his gaze as he said something. There was a moment of them all staring at Shane and Shane quickly moved his head down to the lock of the door, keeping his eye on the window.

Atticus scowled at Shane, mouthing what was probably 'fuck off' before reaching out, forcefully dragging the curtains closed.

Shane was going to start hell if these people didn't give him his weapons back when they kicked him out. After that show, it wasn't much of a question that at least one person wanted him gone.

Sat on the floral bed, and figuring that it was actually kind of comfortable, he considered his options. He could stay, have food, but he didn't like the whole damn thing they had going on. If he left, Shane could easily end up in a bad spot. Not that he couldn't look after himself, but sometimes when he was alone all he could think about was Otis and he hadn't thought much about what had happened before this until he was here in the room, by himself again.

He hadn't wanted to kill Otis. Not one fucking bit, but he and Otis were going to die and if they died, Carl would die. He didn't know where having the idea to shoot Otis had come from, but at least it was smart. The right choice was the one that kept them alive. Two dead men and a dead child, or one dead man? It was an easy choice when he thought of it like that, but not when he'd been there. He wouldn't wish that decision on anyone, not even Rick.

Sometimes, he still heard Otis screaming.

While contemplating, Shane heard the noise on the other side of the wall rise. Where it had been mumbling before, he could hear the discussion now.

"—who the fuck do you think you are? You're an idiot. That man will rob us blind, kill us, leave us for dead! Who the fuck made you leader?"

Shane pressed his ear against the wall, feeling the cold, bumpy paint scratch at his face.

"—majority decision, Eddy. Why do you hate him so much?"

"Look at him! He rubs his head like a god-damned psychopath and you're asking me why I hate him?" Edison shouting. Shane had half a mind to punch the fucker in the jaw.

"Stop. We don't kill-" Tess? Shane couldn't tell who was against him and who wasn't, or even who was speaking.

"Maybe we should fucking consider it!"

"Edison, me and my brothers agree with her. Your sister is the leader, and we all agreed but you. Sit down." Not Tess. The triplet- Athena. So the triplets were on his side, and Tess, which meant Shane didn't need to worry too much about being sent back onto the road.

A door slammed, and Shane reeled backwards in time to see the tall man storm past the windows of his room, going somewhere. A moment later the voices resumed on the other side of the wall.

Shane heard more footsteps a moment later. He moved back to the bed and sat down, trying to work out what he'd do from here. He wanted out of this crazy ass group, but the world was harder alone. Still, it was too much like the mess that his old group had been in for Shane to know it would go well.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in." he called out, and it swung open to reveal Tess. Her bun was tidier than it had been, so she must have redone it, but she looked stressed out as she leaned against the doorframe.

"We're giving you one chance. You screw up, do anything to anyone in this group, you're gone," she said.

Shane looked to the floral armchair, everything floral in the room, but Tess didn't come in and sit and he didn't offer. Now wasn't the time to make passes, not when he'd ruined everything last time by being in love with Lori.

"And if I don't want to stay?"

"Then you get your guns and you go." she shifted, "Could use you, though. Whatever you probably heard then, it isn't a bad group. Edison is just…a little upset about it all. He went on Survivor a couple of years back, got pretty far, and they offered him a return to film this summer. Clearly, it didn't happen. It's all he can talk about, how good he was at almost manipulating everyone into following him, and how shitty it is that he didn't get to do his return season."

"He's that angry over a TV show?"

"Other things, too. His daughter, my niece, she died at the start of this. We went to get her from school and... she was dead with a whole bunch of reanimated kids. Those three kids staying here were the only ones alive, hidden in a cupboard."

"Sorry." he said, remembering how Carol had been after the barn. How he'd gone to her, apologised that Sophia had been in there, before Rick had sent him away.

"Isn't your fault. Anyway, we're gonna do lunch now. You comin'?"

"I ain't eaten more than beans in days." he grinned, forgetting Edison's tantrum and Tess' warning for the moment.

Edison and his wife sat away from the rest of them, and Shane caught the man scowling over at him every now and then. Shane wasn't liking the guy at all, but it was Tess' brother and he'd have to make nice even if that wasn't any way to treat your sister.

"Were you an army-man?" a little voice asked, and Shane looked away from Edison to see one of the boys stood before him. "You got hair like my daddy. He was an army-man. He took his tank to Atlanta to clean it up but I don't think he's coming home now. It's been ages."

"I was a police officer." Shane didn't know how to respond to the little boy, with his spiky black hair and big eyes. How did this kid already know his dad was dead? He couldn't have been more than six or seven.

"Did you drive around with your lights on?" He made a steering-wheel motion with his hands, and went "Nee-naw nee-naw!". He looked real happy about his impersonation of the police car, and it reminded Shane of something he'd seen a younger Carl do after he and Rick had given him a ride in their patrol car.

"Me and my partner, we used to catch the bad guys all the time." Shane thought of his last patrol with Rick, when he'd been shot and Shane had gone to that hospital every day, begging him to wake up. Lori needed him. Lori… no, he'd spent enough time thinking about her. He was in Griffin, miles away from Senoia. Rick had no reason to be here and Shane didn't want him to be.

"That's cool. I'm Jake, what's your name?" the kid thrust his hand out.

"Shane." he took the little hand, gently shaking it despite the kid's forceful attempts to do a strong shake. He didn't wanna hurt the kid.

"Are you living here now?"

He looked over to Edison, but then to Athena and Tess. They were watching him with the kid. "Maybe."

"Pleasepleasepleaseplease," he took a long breath, "pleasepleasepleaseplease-"

"Alright, alright. But you gotta be good, little man, go and eat your lunch." He reminded him of Carl and Shane needed the child to move away from him now 'fore he drove back to Senoia and finished it with Rick.

"I will." the kid beamed, and Tess shifted in the seat a few feet to Shane's right. When Jake had skipped back over to the other kids, and his food, she spoke.

"You're good with kids. You have any, before this?"

"No. My best friend though, he had it all. Wife, son."

"Were they part of your old group?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry that they're dead." she said, a sad smile on her face, and Shane didn't correct her. He didn't need them knowing the truth, not if he wanted to get away from Rick once and for all.

A/N : Okay so, while watching Season 1 and 2 again, I developed a soft spot for Shane and I really think that he wasn't a complete bad guy, he just got messed around by the group a lot. Thus, this fic was born where Shane leaves instead of being killed by Rick. Don't worry, the fic won't be all OC's. Team Family will be around again in the near future, no matter what Shane wants to happen, and we'll just have to see if Shane can deal by then.

This story is T for now based on my plans, but that may go up to M depending on how the chapters go.

Please let me know what you thought, if you think this fic is a good idea and if you also feel sad that Shane really was doomed from the start. : (