The Walking Dead: The Shane Walsh Alternative (Season 1)

Sheriff's Department: Part III

I go back out to the lobby to find Lori sitting and chatting with Glenn and Carol. I walk over and interrupt. "Hey Lor, where's Carl?" She explains to me that Carl escorted Sophia to the restroom just down the hall, so that's where I'm heading. "Is everything okay?" Lori asks as I walk down the hallway. "Everything's fine. Just gonna go check on 'em."

I get to the door of the restroom, put my ear against it and knock lightly. "Carl?" I can hear shuffling inside. "Ugh, yeah Shane, just a minute!" He answers. I'm not waiting. I open the door to find Sophia and Carl trying, albeit failing, to conceal his father's gun from me. "This is my dad's gun, right? I've seen him with it before." He asks, although he's already sure of the answer. "Yeah bud, I grabbed it 'cause I DO want you to have it. But you're not ready for a gun of that calibur yet. Let me hold on to that for now." I extend my hand for the weapon and Carl hands it over. "Why can't I have a gun? I told Sophia I'd protect her. You handed everyone a gun BUT me. I need a gun Shane." He insists. I look at Sophia who clearly hasn't come to terms yet with the death of her father just hours ago. "I agree with ya bud. Just not this one. Not yet. Plus I'm still tryin' to convince your mom it's the right thing to do. C'mon let's get you both back to your moms." They nod, and we leave the restroom.

When we return to the lobby, Carl and Sophia go and sit by Carol. Andrea is missing, so I assume she's in the shower. I walk over to Lori who looks exhausted. I wanted to talk to her about Carl having a gun, but it should probably wait until tomorrow. "You okay?" I ask, concerned. "Yeah, I've never been more tired, but I'm gettin' one of those hot showers before I go to sleep." She smiles and heads towards the door behind me. I turn to her and I can see Andrea emerging from the showers, hair still wet, her skin clean and glistening. I'll admit, she looked pretty damn good. Before all of this went down, Andrea was the type of girl I usually went for. Blonde and spontaneous. Never went for them for more than a few weeks at a time though.

I kneel down and start searching through Lori's bag for a couple of blankets to set up a sleeping quarters for Lori and I. I assume Carl will sleep by Sophia and Carol for the night. Him and Sophia have been virtually inseparable over the last week and it's probably better for Carol to have some company anyway. As I sift through Lori's bag, Andrea's feet come into my line of sight. Shit. She must've caught me checking her out as she came out of the showers.

I look up to see her gazing down at me, hands on her hips, smiling. "I saw you, ya know." She gloats. "Saw me what?" I ask. "I saw the way you looked at me a few seconds ago. I know that look. Just so you know, I'm a bit out of your league." She playfully states. "Is that so?" I smile back at her. "Guess you better scram then, since you'd just be wasting your time otherwise." I wink at Andrea and tilt my head to dismiss her. I can only entertain her for so long. "See ya later, deputy Walsh." She says as she walks away to an unoccupied part of the lobby. She droops to the floor against the wall, knees up. She looks at me seemingly lost, and mentally exhausted, before burying her head in her lap.

I gather 2 blankets from the bag. I fold one to serve as a pillow, and spread the other across the floor. I lay down and wait for Lori to finish her shower. I can't help but look at Andrea and try to imagine what she's feeling right now. She's putting on this hard exterior, but seems to be internally breaking down. If she can harness her emotions and use it for drive, or purpose, she could be extremely valuable to the group. I look forward to training her with that rifle of her's tomorrow.

I look over to Carl, who's no more than ten feet from where I've set up sleeping arangements. Carol and Sophia lay peacefully asleep as Carl sits up next to Sophia, almost as if he is on watch. Protecting her. "Get some rest bud. Got to be prepared for training tomorrow." I tell him. "I thought my mom didn't want me to have a gun?" He asks. "I told you I would deal with your mom, don't worry about that. Just get some shut eye for me." He finally gives in and curls up next to Sophia to fall asleep.

As I start to fall asleep myself, I hear the door to the showers open and close. I look up to see Lori walking towards me, looking very pleased about having a hot shower. She lays down next to me and I wrap the blanket snuggly around us. She drapes half of her body on top of mine and places her head on my chest. I kiss her gently on the forehead and before I know it, we're both fast asleep.