The Walking Dead: Angel At My Side

Chapter Three: The Walls That Lie Between Us

"Come on, just keep running." Shane ran slightly behind Kate, pushing her to keep running. Kate slid on a wet pile of leaves, tumbling to the ground then proceeded to roll down the steep hill. Shane had no time to catch her. "Kate!" He quickly and carefully ran down the hill after her, holding his assault rifle close and ready.

Kate landed in a small creek with a thud, just barely missing large and jagged rocks. She went to sit up but Shane yelled at her not to move just as he reached her at the bottom. "Jesus, don't move." He looked at her, small cuts and bruises began to form. "Just let's see what's the damage." He went to slowly move her head to find any head wounds.

"Just leave me, Shane. They're going to kill me anyway." She looked up at him, her vision blurred just slightly. Shane shook his head violently, she could sense panic in his voice.

"No, don't say that." He found no real damage, so he took her hands and pulled her up to a sitting position. "I'm going to carry you, all right?" He didn't wait for a response before he picked her up in his arms and once again began moving away from those men who are searching for them.

At last, they made it to the road, cars scattered among the ditches. Shane quickly made his way towards the closest vehicle, Kate was now walking beside him, trying hard to keep up. "Are there keys?" She peeked over Shane's shoulder, they both spotted the set of keys. 

Shane pulled open the door, "Get in." Kate bent down and climbed into the car, scooting over to the passenger seat as Shane got in the driver's side and started up the car. The two drove up the ditch and started down the road into the opposite direction of the house they had been at, unaware of the direction they were heading, both taking a deep breath and relaxing in their seats. The thought of their last encounter back at the house still played in Shane's head, the thought of Lori fading with each romantic thought of Kate.

Kate scooted into the middle seat of the pickup truck, leaning her head on Shane's shoulder who in return put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her tightly to him, keeping his eyes on the road and his left hand gripping the steering wheel. 

"What's that?" Kate questioned as they sat idly on a dirt road looking at a broken down wall that lead into a building.

"It's a prison." Shane looked around, not many walkers were in sight. "It's looks..." He paused, his hands tapping the steering wheel. "Safe." Kate's eyes widened, her fingers clung to his bicep in a happy manner.

The pick up truck moved slowly towards the entrance. "Wait." Kate's nails dug into his biceps, he winced a bit. "They could be very much inside, prison's are large. We left almost all of our weapons at that house." She released her fingers, realizing she was hurting him.

"There's only one way to find out." He parked the truck and jumped out, his rifle in hand. Kate followed shortly after, staying close behind him, her knife at the ready. "Stay close." Shane whispered as they walked into the building, climbing up broken and fallen bricks.

They spotted two walkers in the dark tombs of the abandoned prison, Shane took out his knife that was in his belt at his back, he swung the knife and took out the first walker without incident. Kate, suddenly feeling brave grabbed her knife and took down the second walker. She tried to pull the knife out in a smooth manner like Shane had done, but it got stuck. Shane walked up, took the knife handle and kicked the walker. Kate blushed as Shane handed her back the knife, a smile planted on his lips.

"Do you hear that?" Kate whispered, a sudden pack of voices throwing her into a silent state of panic, she hoped that group of men hadn't somehow followed them here. Shane nodded as she clung to his back, his arm wrapping around to her back.

"Shane?"

Shane's jaw dropped, he couldn't believe the people he was seeing standing before him, he would have bet his life on them all being dead. Kate watched Shane's face, she couldn't understand why he wasn't moving, why he was putting his gun down, dropping his guard. Her heart was still pounding, she wasn't going to trust another human again after what had happened.

"Do you know these people?" Kate whispered into Shane's ear, giving the group a scowl. 

"Um, yeah, I do."

Glenn, Daryl and Maggie all stood in front of them, Daryl had his crossbow pointed straight at Shane, he didn't trust Shane. Glenn held a screwdriver in his hand and Maggie had a hunter's knife, all were ready for something to go sour.

"Glenn, grab their weapons." Daryl ordered. 

Kate jumped away from Shane, unwilling to give up her weapon to strangers. Shane turned his head just slightly to peer at Kate from the corner of his eyes. "It's okay, I know them. It's okay." She shook her head, but if she did trust anyone, it was Shane. She re-approached the group and handed her knife over to Glenn, followed by Shane giving up his weapons.

"Let's go." Daryl turned and headed down deeper into the tombs. The rest followed.

Rick jumped up from the table right as his eyes caught a glimpse of Shane, he thought he was seeing things. Carl was holding baby Judith, his eyes widened when he saw Shane, he quickly disappeared with Judith into the cell block. 

"I-I...What?" Rick tried to find words, but he couldn't.

"Found these two sneaking around in the back, must have a wall down back there." Daryl stood along side the wall, his crossbow still pointing at Shane.

"Listen, we didn't-we didn't know." Shane explained, his voice cracked, trying to avoid eye contact with Rick Grimes, is former best friend and Lori's husband.

Hershel walked up with crutches, glancing at Shane to Kate to Rick to back at Shane. "We have enough room."

Rick shoved himself to the front, now he was inches from his face. "I don't think so!" He snarled, grinding his teeth in anger. "Leave now!" Hershel came up and placed his hand on Rick's shoulder.

"Rick, calm down." Hershel spoke softly.

"They're not staying!" He stomped off into the cell block where Carl had gone. Hershel following soon after, then Daryl.

"Is this everyone?" Shane asked Glenn.

"Beth and Carol are in there."

"Andrea?" Glenn shook his head. Shane's heart began to ache, worrying about the answer to his next question. "And Lori?"

Glenn inhaled slowly, lowering his head and then shook it. "No, she died giving birth."

Birth, Lori had been pregnant, she had no idea whether the baby was Rick's or Shane's. Shane pondered whether he was a father or not, but pushed the curiosity down deep inside, he couldn't think about it, he couldn't think about Lori.

Just then Kate reached up and touched Shane's shoulder, he put his arm around her to show the group she was his and to show her everything was okay. He could feel her shaking in his arms, she was terrified. "It'll be okay." He whispered, ignoring the aching feel he had in his heart.

With night fall, the prison was quiet. Shane and Kate were forced to sleep on the hard floor in the eating area while the rest continue to sleep in their cell block that was locked up. Kate lay awake, wondering why Shane wasn't talking to her, "Shane?" She whispered, looking up at the tall ceiling. Shane made a groan type sound, "You said it'll be okay earlier, but-" She paused, tapping her finger against her bottom lip, "But you're not acting like it's okay." In that moment she felt his warm hand touch hers, wrapping his fingers with hers. 

"It'll be okay."