Flash Fiction #19
Title: Flash Fiction #19
Fandom: The Walking Dead
Word Count: 756
Characters: Shane Walsh, Lori Grimes, Rick Grimes
Warnings: None
Author’s Note/Disclaimer: I don’t own anything associated with The Walking Dead - I just like to take the characters out to play from time to time. This is unbeta’d and unedited - all errors are my own. If you see anything that needs correction, please let me know! Concrit is always welcome!
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Shane waited until Rick and Glenn left on a supply run before he made his move. He watched Lori as she sent Carl off to Carol and Sophia’s tent, mentally rehearsing what he wanted to say. He still felt horrible for what had happened at the CDC. He’d never intended to get that rough with her; he never meant to hurt her or scare her. He just needed her to understand his feelings, to listen to what he had to say.
He walked slowly toward her tent, making some noise so she’d know he was approaching. “Lori? Can I please talk to you for a minute?” He kept his voice soft, nonthreatening. Lori’s back immediately stiffened and, as she turned to look at him, Shane was struck by how cold her eyes were.
“Stop right there, Shane. If you come any closer, I swear to God I’ll beat you to death with this pan.” She clutched the pan tightly with both hands, her knuckles almost white from the pressure.
“Hey, I’m not going to touch you, I swear it. I just want to talk to you, to apologize.” He raised his hands to show he meant no harm and sat down on a log a few feet away. “Please, Lori, I’m so sorry that I hurt you. I never wanted that. I never wanted to hurt you. I only want to love you, to remind you that you love me.”
“Love?” she spat, her eyes flashing with anger. “How dare you say that word to me? Shane, you attacked me!” She whirled on her heel and began to walk away. Shane stood and grabbed her arm, spinning her back around to face him.
“Lori, I’m trying to tell you I’m sorry. Please, just… just listen to me, ok? Lori, I know you love me. You would never have been with me if you didn’t. You told me that you were going to leave Rick but then he got shot. I thought that… that me, you, Carl, we could be a family. And now Rick’s back and all of a sudden you’re playing the dutiful wife, thrilled to death that you have a second chance? Lori, that makes no sense. How could you do this to me, to us?” Shane’s voice grew progressively rougher, more emotional. Tears glistened in his eyes as he searched her face for some sign that she understood, that she felt the same. “Lori, I love you. Why can’t you love me back?”
Lori wrenched her arm from Shane’s grasp, venom in her words as she said, “I have never loved you. Get that through your head now, Shane. What happened between us was a mistake. You told me my husband was dead. You lied to me. Everything that happened between us after that was a lie. Forget it and get out of my life. Stay away from me, stay away from my son, and stay far away from my husband or so help me God, I will tell him what you did. You’re nothing to me, Shane. Nothing.”
Lori stalked off to Carol’s tent, tears streaming down her face. Shane abruptly sat on the ground, fisting his hands in his hair as her words echoed through his mind. He looked up as Rick and Glenn returned to camp, their footsteps drowning out the words that had broken his heart.
“Shane, you all right, brother?” Rick said as he knelt by Shane, putting his hand on Shane’s shoulder. “You look upset. What’s happened?”
Shane shook Rick’s hand off, attempting to smile. “Nah, man, I’m ok. Just, you know, wishing things had turned out differently.”
Rick nodded and stood up, offering his hand to Shane to help him up. “Yeah, I know. I’d hoped that the CDC would be our salvation. And now here we are, back in the woods.” He sighed as he looked around the camp. “We’ll get through this, Shane. We just have to keep going, keep on fighting, keep the hope alive.”
Shane nodded, his face set in grim determination. “Keep the hope alive, damn right. Here, I’ll help you with this stuff.”
As Shane and Rick walked back to the camp, Shane determinedly kept his eyes off of Lori. For the rest of the evening, he kept mostly to himself, volunteering for an extra watch shift to give himself more time to think.
By the time the sun came up, he had figured out where things had gone wrong. He knew what he had to do to fix it.