Where It Begins...

“So… this is where it’s all going to end? Here?” I saw Rick and Shane in a clearing and held my breath to hear what they were saying.

“I have to do what I have to do.” I heard Shane reply and saw him pull out his gun and point it at Rick’s head.

“Shane, no…” I whispered as I gripped the bark of the tree I was hiding behind.

“I’m the better man Rick. I’m a better protector than you; I’m a better father than you. Everyone knows this Rick. It’s time for you to leave.”

“Shane, you know that ain’t true. Just put the gun down—”

“NO!!!!!” Shane’s rough voice caused birds to fly from the trees around me. “Lori and Carl got over you once, they can do it again.” He was speaking louder now to cover up his shaking voice.

“Brother, this ain’t the way to come about it. C’mon now, we can talk this out. Just put the gun down.”

But Shane didn’t move.

“Here, I’m taking out my gun. Nice and slow, so I’m unarmed and we can talk.” Rick slowly put his hand to his gun and slid it out of the holster.

He carefully walked towards Shane, holding the gun upside down to show he trusted him. I bit my lip, praying Shane would drop his gun and get his senses back. But something far worse than I expected happened. In a blink of an eye, Rick had pulled out a knife and drove it straight into the heart of the man I loved.

In that one second, time seemed to slow down. The world around me became still. The cicadas and crickets became muffled. My ears tried to drown out the yell of Shane as Rick helped him fall to the ground. I fell to my knees, tears welling up in my eyes. This couldn’t be happening…

In a snap of a finger, the world came back to me. I heard Rick crying, “How could you do this? How could you make me do this, brother?!” he pulled out the knife and hovered over his dying friend.

That’s when it hit me that Shane would die in only a matter of seconds. All of the air I had inside me left my lungs at once and tears streamed down my face. I gasped for air but ended up choking on it as I stood up and revealed myself from my hiding place. I walked as fast as my shaking legs could take me to the two men.

I fell onto my knees next to Shane and he looked at me, his eyes wide in shock, blood now trickling out of his mouth. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, trying to say something but nothing came out. I grabbed his hand and kissed it. He looked over at Rick and then back at me one last time before his eyes slowly shut and his head slumped to the side.

He was dead.

I screamed and sobbed as hard as my body could endure. I tried to take a deep breath but gagged on my tears. Doubling over, I threw up and my tears mixed in with the mess.

Wiping my mouth, I looked up at a blurry Rick and with all I had left in me screamed, “You—stupid—sonofabitch!” I stood up and faced him.

“Lin, I… I had to. He was going to—” I cut him off with a slap to the face.

My hands turned to fists and I pounded on his chest in a frenzy, as if hitting him could bring Shane back. But it couldn’t. Fortunately for Rick, I dealt very little damage to him, only cutting his cheek with my ring.

I pushed Rick as hard as I could and crawled back to Shane. I threw myself on top of his chest, sobbing into his shirt. I put my right arm around him and ended up getting blood from his stab wound all over my hand and arm. It was still warm.

I cried and wailed, but I kept my head on his chest, hoping for a miracle; that I would feel his chest rise and fall and hear him say my name one last time. Instead, I heard Carl.

“Dad?” his voice was soft.

“Carl… you’re not supposed to be here.”

I heard Carl mumble something as he started to cry.

“It’s not what it looks like.” Rick pleaded with him.

In the midst of their conversation, I swore I had felt Shane’s arm twitch.

“Wh-what did you do? Is… is he dead? You killed him?” Carl whimpered.

“Carl… I had to.”

Shane’s arm twitched for sure this time. I lifted my head up to look at his face, hoping I would see him looking back at me with a smile on his face, as if it were some kind of sick joke they’d played on me. His eyes were open alright, but he was certainly not alive.

I screamed as Shane bolted upright, knocking me backwards. His once kind, bright, handsome face was now grey, lifeless, undead. His eyes that had been a deep chocolate brown and full of energy every time he looked at me were now two different shades of blue, and blood thirsty. His mouth hung open and his eyelids drooped. The only sound escaping from his lips was a soft moan.

I stumbled backwards on my elbows and tried to scramble away from his new hunger; but Shane was fast and caught my foot as I tried to kick away. Just then, a crazy thought popped into my head. But I had to make the decision fast. Should I…

Let Him Bite Me?

Keep Kicking and Get Away