The Walking Dead: The Shane Walsh Alternative (Season 3)

Winter Recap

It's been about 6 months, and there's been no sign of the rest of the group. Andrea, Glenn, Michonne, Maggie, and myself have become extremely close surviving together under these circumstances. We are still living out of the abandoned meat locker, and scavenging what we can from nearby houses and establishments. The winter didn't bring any snow but it sure was cold. We would all sleep pretty much on top of each other to stay warm. We noticed that the geeks mobility is hampered by the weather though. They seem to move much slower in the cold. We flirted with the idea of moving north to a naturally colder area to make combatting the geeks easier, but ultimately decided we're not very equipped ourselves to deal with the cold. Plus, I'm not going anywhere until I find Lori and Carl, and Maggie feels the same about Beth. I hope they're all okay.

Andrea has remade Dale's calendar from Fort Benning. According to her today is March 1st, 2011. That would mean we're about 282 days into the geek apocalypse. It feels like it's been 2000 days. It's been just the 5 of us for about two thirds of that time. The luxuries here don't quite match up to that of Fort Benning, but we're trying. We've made a small water filter and we've used leaves and newpaper to insulate the meat locker, to help keep out the cold winter air. We have power for certain small items such as lamps or power tools, but nothing major. We only have 2 batteries compared to the dozens we were able to gather at the fort.

We have 2 mountain bikes that we've found while searching a nearby house, that we use to travel the area. They're really nice to have. They don't require any gas or maintenance like a car would, but they don't offer much protection while riding either. We've also made a small stove out of scrap metal that's powered by burning wood. We've been eating anything we come across in the woods, squirrels, snakes, racoons, even deer every once in a while. Along with a steady supply of food, we've had a steady supply of water too. We have buckets upon buckets of water from collecting rain over the last few months. So we've all been able to stay in good health for the most part.

Andrea and I have still been having our physical relationship, with no emotional strings. It's been a while since I've seen Lori, and for all I know she may be dead. Michonne is a woman of few words who keeps to herself for the most part. She doesn't like to talk about her past, so we've all stopped asking even though our curiosity is still present. Maggie and Glenn have hooked up. I'm not surprised. There was sexual tension between them two the moment they laid eyes on each other. They do most of our runs together on the mountain bikes, since they're quick and Glenn has the most extensive knowledge of the area. He's lived and traveled all over Georgia. I've overheard them several times weighing pros and cons about having a baby in this world and it always makes me think of Lori being pregnant.

I think of the others every day, I miss them. I miss Carol's warmth and compassion. I miss Belle's energy and sarcastic sense of humor. I miss having Daryl around more than I thought I would. He was physically the most capable member of the group and I was beginning to grow comfortable with him as my right hand man. I miss Beth's singing. With no music around, overhearing her quietly singing to herself was the closest thing to a radio I've had. I miss Lori's love. Having someone that I could go to no matter what the case and feel appreciated, was something I definitely took for granted. Now if I make a shakey call I have 4 people down my throat and nobody to tell me I did the right thing. Sometimes I need that positive reinforcement that she provided. I miss Carl and Sophia's innocence. Seeing those 2 would take me back to a time when things were normal. I don't have that escape without them around.

Geek activity in the area is seemingly increasing. Just a few nights ago we had to all hold the meat locker doors shut as a small herd of geeks passed and pressed up against it. If that door would've broken open we'd all be dead. There's no other way out, no escape plan. That's been a huge concern of ours recently and one of the reasons we've spawned talks of relocating to another building. We wouldn't have to worry about reinsulating another place since winter is pretty much over, but most of the buildings we've come across recently have doors broken or missing all together, caved in roofs, broken windows, fire damage, and things like that. It would take too much time to fortify any of those places. The only 2 suitable places in the area are Fort Benning and that prison we've seen, but one is occupied by the general's platoon, and the other by the geeks.