“It’s best not to dwell on Merle getting left behind. Nobody’s going to be upset that he was left behind. Except maybe Daryl,” Morales told Rick. He was deep in thought about what had happened on the roof.
“Daryl?” I asked him.
“His brother.” Just then Glenn sped around us in his sports car screaming at the top of his lungs. A few of us giggled. “At least somebody’s having a good day.”
Glenn was already at the group’s camp, still pumped up with adrenaline as we pulled up.
“Come meet everybody, you two,” Morales said as he patted Rick’s shoulder. Rick and I stayed behind for a moment.
“What’s wrong, Rick?” I asked him knowing Morales’ words didn’t help him much.
“Nothing,” he sighed. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “We will find them,” his eyes met mine and he forced a smile. I smiled back, trying to keep him strong and squeezed his hand back.
“Well, let’s go!” I grabbed his arm and pretty much yanked him out of the van. We approached the group together. We both looked down as we approached the group of people in front of us knowing all eyes were on us. I worked up the courage to look up first and my eyes went directly to one person.
“Shane?” I whispered before screaming his name. “Shane!” I broke out into a full on sprint with tears streaming down my face and giggling like a crazy person.
“Abby?” I heard him say as he held his arms open for me. I flew into them and wrapped my legs around his waist and hid my face in his neck. “How? Where have you been?” he whispered in my ear as he dropped to his knees still holding onto me tightly. For a minute I forgot that Rick was looking for his family too. I looked around searching for Lori and Carl and saw them already in Rick’s arms on the ground. Rick met my eyes and we smiled at each other. We found them. We knew we would.
*****
That night we all sat around a campfire and Rick and I told our survival story to the group. Rick had Carl in his lap and is arm draped around Lori and he looked so relieved. I sat between Shane’s legs and he had is arms wrapped around me tightly. We were directly across from Rick and his family.
“From the looks of it, everything was overrun,” Rick told the group after Lori explained what the hospital had told us what they were doing with Rick and the other patients.
“Well, looks don’t deceive. I barely got them out, you know,” Shane told him quietly like he wasn’t supposed to say anything. My eyes met Lori’s for the first time since we’ve been here and she immediately darted them in another direction. I let it go, for now, and held Shane’s arms tighter around my body to keep warm.
“I can’t begin to tell you how thankful I am for that, Shane. Words can’t express it,” Rick told Shane sincerely.
“Hey, man, you got Abby back to me. I’d say we’re even,” Shane said with a smile. I blushed a little but it went unnoticed in the low light of the fire. There was a family with a separate fire not too far from us. The man of the family got up and dropped another log in the pit.
“Hey, Ed? You wanna rethink that log?” Shane asked him.
“It’s cold, man,” Ed said back to him. The woman and little girl shifted in their seats in discomfort.
“Cold don’t change the rules does it? Keep our fires to just embers so the light can’t be seen from a distance,” Shane said raising his voice a little bit.
“I said it’s cold! Why don’t you mind your own business for once?” Ed snapped back at Shane.
“Oh, no,” I whispered just so Shane could hear me. He apologized as he moved around me to go talk to Ed.
“You sure want to have this conversation right now?” Shane asked as he stood over Ed.
“Take it out, then. Go on!” Ed raised his voice to his wife. She got up and took the log out of the fire but Shane put it out for her.
“Hey, Carol, Sophia. How y’all doing tonight?” Shane asked the woman and her daughter.
“Fine. We’re just fine. Sorry about the fire,” she started to apologize to him but Shane cut her off.
“No apology needed. Y’all have a good night,” he told her before he turned his attention back to Ed. “Thanks for the cooperation.” He made his way back to our fire and inched closer to me and returned to his original position behind me. “Don’t talk to him, okay?” he whispered in my ear. I just nodded to assure him that I heard what he said.
“Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He’s not going to be very happy his brother was left behind,” the old man who owns the RV asked the group.
“I’ll tell him. I dropped the key. It’s on me,” T-Dog told the group.
“No I cuffed him. That makes it mine,” Rick said.
“Guys, it’s not a competition. But it might sound better coming from a white guy,” Glenn told the two of them.
“I did what I did. Hell if I’m gonna hide from it,” T-Dog felt terrible about dropping the key.
“Dude was out of control. Something had to be done or we would’ve gotten killed,” I finally piped in.
“Your husband did what was necessary and if Merle got left behind it was nobody’s fault but Merle’s,” Andrea backed me up.
“And that’s what we tell Daryl?” the old man, Dale, asked us again. “Word to the wise: We’re going to have our hands full when we gets back from his hunt.”
“I was scared and I ran. I’m not ashamed of it,” T-Dog said, mostly to himself.
“We were all scared. We all ran. It’s okay,” I told him with a smile.
“But I stopped long enough to chain the door. The staircase is narrow and only half a dozen geeks can get at that door at one time. That’s not enough to break that chain. My point is Merle is alive still handcuffed on that roof. That’s on us,” T-Dog got up and walked away. Rick’s face twisted in guilt as he watched T-Dog walk away.
*****
“You want to keep watch with me tonight? It’s my shift,” Shane asked me once we were back in our tent.
“Your wife coming back isn’t a valid enough excuse to call out sick?” I asked him with a huge grin. He grinned back and shook his head as he walked closer to me.
“God, I missed you,” he held my face in his hands and kissed me gently. He pulled away before I was ready for him to. “Now get your gun and come on.” He smacked my ass lightly and laughed as he turned to leave. I followed behind him, gun in hand and climbed to the top of the RV. He had two chairs set up for us.
“Well ain’t this cute? We’re gonna protect the camp from the undead together,” I threw a flirty look in Shane’s direction and he laughed a little.
“You sure are something, babe. You know that?” He gave me one more kiss before taking a seat and offering me the one beside him. “So, do you like the camp?”
“So far, yes but it’s not even been 24 hours,” I told him. “Tell me about the people here.” I pulled my knees up to my chin and watched him, ready for a story.
“Well, we are sitting on Dale’s RV. He’s a classic old guy. Really wise, ya know? The first people he met out here we Andrea, you know the blonde chick you met in Atlanta, and her little sister Amy. Andrea is some type of lawyer and Amy is in college.”
“I don’t really like Andrea, so far,” I told him.
“Ehh, you’ll get used to her,” he shrugged and continued. “Let’s see, who else do I like?” he thought for a moment and I couldn’t help but giggle at him. “Glenn! That Asian kid is crazy. He goes on all the supply runs, usually by himself. Jim is a mechanic. Jacqui is a great lady. She was with y’all in Atlanta, too.”
“What about that guy Ed?” I asked about the man he told me not to talk to.
“Don’t talk to him, okay?” He gave me a serious look. “He beats his wife and little girl and I wouldn’t put his past him to hit you or any other woman here.”
“That’s a good reason to not talk to him,” I joked but Shane didn’t think it was funny.
“I’m serious, Abby. I’ve been watching him like a hawk just looking for an excuse to beat his ass but I really don’t want that excuse to be you. I’d kill over you.” He was serious as a heart attack. I nodded and smiled at him.
“Oh, guess what I have, love,” I quickly changed the subject to something lighter. I grabbed my bag and pulled out the picture I took from his desk.
“How did you get this?” he smiled as he took the picture from me. I watched him as he traced the lining of my face in the picture. It warmed my heart as I remember the day once again.
“It was left on your desk, remember? I went to the station after Luke… you know… That’s where Rick found me,” I lightly smiled at him for comfort and he returned it. He quickly handed the picture back to me and reached into his back pocket. He opened it and slowly pulled out a folded piece of paper. His face grew into a smirk as he looked at me through his eyebrows. “What’s that?” I asked shifting my chair to face him.
“It’s the picture I had on my night stand,” he whipped his mouth with his thumb after he handed the paper to me as he leaned back in his chair. I knew what picture he was talking about and quickly started unfolding it and he tensed up. “Be careful, now. That’s all I have,” he said holding his sweet smirk. I continued carefully. Once I finally had the whole picture exposed, I couldn’t help but blush. It was one of those racy pictures wives take for their husbands to spice up things in the bed room but Shane and I never really needed that. There was a fire there that never weakened, even in the many years we’ve known each other. I took those pictures for our first anniversary as a married couple. His favorite was the one I was looking at. My hair was a red hot mess and I wore a white night gown. He loved that I was perched up in bed, resting on my knees. He loved that picture because it was the most natural one. I looked at it for a moment then folded it back up and gave it back to him. He grinned as he slid it back into his wallet. I sighed quietly as I returned my picture to my bag. “What’s wrong?” he asked me holding my knee.
“Nothing will ever be the same, will it?” I asked him. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. He pulled his hat over his head tightly and looked directly at Rick’s family’s tent.
“Abby, I really need to tell you something,” he couldn’t look away from that tent. Maybe it was just an excuse to not look at me.
“Shane. What did you do?” I asked sternly. I sat up straight preparing myself for anything. But then he said it. Not even the whole sentence.
“Lori… and I…” And that’s all I allowed him to get out before I threw my hand up. I knew what he was trying to say. No matter how prepared I thought I was, her name sounded like nails on a chalkboard in his voice. I shivered at the thought of my husband with another woman. Especially someone I trusted so dearly. Someone who raised their child with me. Now I know why she’s avoiding me. I stood up slowly, trying to collect all my thoughts.
“You and Lori, huh?” I asked quietly. I scoffed and put my hand down at my side.
“Baby, you’re scarring me. Let me explain before you-”
“First of all, don’t call me that right now. Secondly, I don’t need to hear it, Shane. You left supplies for me so you hoped I would find you right? What the fuck happened between you leaving the house and you fucking Lori? Hmmm? I’d love to know why you even bothered leaving any supplies for me if you were just going to do this. You’re selfish, Shane. So fucking selfish.” Everything turned red as I spoke. I sounded so calm for saying such hateful things. I went to leave the top of the RV but he grabbed my arm and swung me around to face him. He stood up and held me tightly by my shoulders and looked me directly in the eye.
“Abby, it was a mistake. With all this going on emotions were high. We thought Rick was dead and we saw Atlanta get bombed. We had no idea where you were and if you even had a chance of making it. We were all lost. Everything was gone and all we had was each other,” he tried to reason with me but hearing that they ‘only had each other’ made me sick. I shook his hands off of me and brushed myself off.
“You’re right, Shane. It’s a mistake. I really thought you loved me.” My eyes squinted as I spoke. I refused to cry in front of him. “But I guess if I was dead you would have no problem moving on.” I said before turning away from him again. He once again reached for my wrist.
“Abby, let me fix this, okay?” he pleaded. I sighed and pulled him close to me. My lips met his ear and I whispered to him softly.
“You don’t really have a choice, Shane.”
*****
The next morning Shane and I went to the quarry to get some water for the camp. I decided that I wasn’t going to let the rest of the camp know about this. I didn’t need them feeling sorry for me and I really didn’t want Shane’s reputation as a leader compromised because I think the camp needs a leader like him. We would act like nothing happened with them. They have enough going on. Through better or for worse were my vows and I stand by them unlike some people. Shane would eventually earn my trust back but right now ‘husband’ is just a title to him with no credit of the word given. After getting as much water as we could loaded into the Jeep we drove back to camp.
“Water’s here, y’all!” I shouted as I hoped out of the Jeep before it even stopped. I heard Shane sigh heavily as he threw the car into park.
“Just a reminder to boil before use,” he threw out there as he crawled from the driver’s seat. We both rounded the back of the Jeep and started helping unload the water with Andrea and Amy.
“MOM?!” I heard Carl yell for Lori right after a loud, high-pitched scream. Shane immediately grabbed his rifle and ran and I quickly followed his lead. He threw a gun to Rick as we ran to the source of them screams. The kids ran into their mothers’ arms while Andrea, Amy, and I followed the men. We all watched as a walker tore a deer to pieces. The men went at it, trying desperately to kill it. Dale eventually lopped its head off.
“That’s the first one we’ve had up here,” he told the group as they all caught their breath.
“They are running out of food in the city,” Jim stated simply. I looked to Shane as he eyeballed the rest of the group. He was about to say something when a twig snapped. The entire group turned to the sound. A man revealed himself and everyone but Rick and I relaxed until we noticed everyone else recognized the man in front of us. He held a cross bow and was obviously an experienced hunter.
“Son of a bitch. That’s my deer!” he yelled to us. “Look at it. All gnawed on by this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless proxy bastard!” he continued as he kicked the walker.
“Calm down, son. That’s not helping,” Dale attempted to reason with him but this redneck’s temper had already taken control.
“What do you know about it, old man? Why don’t you take that stupid hat and go back to ‘On Golden Pond’?” I giggled only loud enough for the girls to hear it. This is a guy I could get along with. “I’ve been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp and cook us up some venison.” The redneck continued. I felt my stomach growl at the word. I grew up eating squirrels and deer. It’s part of my blood as a Southern Belle. We hunt and eat what we kill. I felt Shane’s eyes on me as my face lit up with hunger. I held my stomach and he smiled and shook his head before turning his attention back to the man with the deer. “What do you think? Can we just cut around this chewed up part right here?”
“I would not risk that,” Shane said shaking his head.
“What? That’s a damn shame!” I piped in before I realized I was talking. The redneck fella met my eyes and almost grinned.
“I got some squirrel. About a dozen or so. That’ll have to do,” he told me before looked around at the group.
“That’s a close second!” I said with a little too much enthusiasm. I heard Shane laugh and the redneck just ignored me as he walked around the diseased deer. By the time he reached the severed head of the walker it started moving.
“Oh, God,” Amy moaned and Andrea turned her away. The two of them had enough excitement and made their way back to camp.
“Come on, people. What the hell?” the redneck shot his crossbow and an arrow went right through the walkers head. “It has to be the brain. Don’t y’all know nothing?” He finished his trail around the group. I smiled at the man knowing I was gonna love having this guy around. Another country bumpkin, just like me. Rick’s eyes never left the man as he walked until they met mine. Then I realized who this man was. This is Daryl Dixon. Merle’s brother. Dale’s voice echoed in my head, warning us that we were gonna have our hands full. I waited for Rick and Shane to pass me before I followed them back to camp. Shane mentioned staying close to him but I ignored his request. I’d stay close but only for the show, not for his protection.
“Merle!” he yelled. “Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel!” Everyone lined up outside the RV. They knew what was about to happen. I noticed Andrea stiffen up and knew she wanted to be involved. I took my place beside Rick.
“Hey, Daryl. Slow down, I need to talk to you,” Shane walked up to him as he whipped his nose again.
“About what?” the redneck softened his voice.
“About Merle.” Shane rested his hands on his hips. “There was a problem in Atlanta.”
“Is he dead?” Daryl asked quietly.
“Not sure,” Shane said as he bit his lip lightly. I used to love the face he made when he was nervous but this time I felt disgusted.
“He either is or he ain’t!” The tension immediately multiplied. Rick decided to leave my side and enter into the conversation.
“There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just gonna say it.” He marched up to Daryl with confidence and looked him in the eye.
“Who are you?” he asked him.
“Rick Grimes.”
“Rick Grimes?” he spat harshly. “You got something you want to tell me?”
“Your brother was a danger to us all. So I handcuffed him on a roof. Hooked him to a piece of metal. He’s still there.” Rick held his ground not knowing exactly how this man was going to react.
“Hold on. Let me process this.” Daryl started pacing. I watched intensely knowing I was about to see the top two cops of Kings County in action. “You say you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!” he yelled. Andrea rolled her eyes and crossed her arms and Lori stood behind her still halfway in the RV.
“Yeah.” Rick said plainly. Lori looked in my direction and I smiled at her just knowing that we rarely got to see this before the dead started walking. We were witnessing our husbands do their jobs, and honestly, it was sexy. Whether I was livid with Shane or not, this was my weakness. Daryl threw his squirrels at Rick for a distraction but it failed. Shane quickly tackled him but he pulled out a knife.
“Watch the knife, babe,” I said calmly.
“We got this, babe,” he told me as he easily slipped Daryl into a head lock.
“You best let go of me,” Daryl yelled.
“Nah, it’s better if I don’t,” Shane smirked as his cockiness took over.
“Choke hold is illegal,” Daryl said as he fell to the ground.
“You can file a complaint,” Shane said simply. His smart ass attitude was winning me back, I can’t lie. The whole camp just watched in awe as Daryl was easily brought down. Rick got down to Daryl’s level.
“I’d like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Can we do that?” he asked the defeated man. There was a pause but Shane let him go. Daryl tried to collect his breath as he moved to his feet. T-Dog had stepped up at this point ready to tell his story. He and Rick discussed everything that happened on the roof without missing a detail. They explained that he was still up there and they could save them but Daryl was even more distraught.
“To hell with all y’all. Just tell me where he is so I can go get him,” Daryl threw his hands at them.
“He’ll show you,” Lori said calmly from the door. Everyone’s attention turned to her. Isn’t that right?” Rick kinda glared at her for a minute before opening his mouth.
“I’m going back,” he said. Lori quickly marched back up the stairs into the RV. Rick turned to put his uniform on and Shane followed close behind him. I couldn’t believe he wanted to leave after we just got here. We just found what we were looking for and he wants to turn around and leave. I stomped up to him. “I’m not saying to hell with anybody. Not you, or Abby, or least of all, Lori.” I heard him say to Shane.
“Tell her that,” I said. Knowing how she must feel. He was surprised to hear me say anything and Shane was even more surprised that I was defending Lori’s feelings, but I knew how I felt about this.
“She knows,” Rick said as he walked passed me.
“Well I don’t, Rick so could you just throw me a bone, here?” Shane followed after him raising his voice a little. Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?”
“Hey choose your words more carefully,” Daryl said calmly.
“Oh no, I did. Douche bag is what I meant.” Shane was completely serious and it made me smile.
“Something funny?” Daryl spoke to me for the second time.
“Don’t talk to her like that,” both Shane and Rick told the man. Daryl just starred at me for a few seconds before returning to the conversation at hand.
“Merle Dixon. He wouldn’t give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst,” Shane scoffed.
“What he would or would not do doesn’t interest me. I can’t let a man die of thirst. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That’s no way for anything to die. Let alone a human being.”
“So you and Daryl. That’s your big plan?” Lori asked. Rick immediately looked to Glenn.
“Oh, come on,” he pouted.
“You know the way. You’ve been there before. In and out, no problem. You said it yourself. I know it’s not fair for me to ask but I’d feel better with you along. I know she would to,” Rick motioned to his wife who was still glaring at him. I completely understood where she was coming from.
“So now you’re risking three men?” I asked him.
“Four,” T-Dog volunteered. He and Daryl had a little spat before Shane continued what I was trying to say before.
“That’s not just four. You are putting every single one of us at risk. Come on, you saw that walker. Here. In camp. They’re moving out of the cities and we need every able body we’ve got. We need them here to protect camp.”
“Sounds like what we really need around here is more guns,” Rick spoke calmly to Shane’s worried tone.
“Right, the guns,” I felt my mood lift even though the atmosphere still felt tense.
“What guns?” Shane asked us. Rick answered with a long list of things we got from the station.
“You went through hell to find us. You just got here and now you’re gonna turn around and leave?” Lori asked.
“Dad, I don’t want you to go,” Carl piped up. His little comment got me. I helped raise this boy and I’m always on his side, no matter what. I sighed deeply.
“Shane’s right, Rick. Merle Dixon isn’t worth one of your lives even with guns thrown in,” I said to him. He calmly approached me. He’s very good about keeping calm in high energy situations.
“We owe a debt to a man, Abby.” I nodded. He elaborated what he was talking about to the group. He explained that he needed the walkie in the bag to warn him about the trap in Atlanta.
“So use the CB. What’s wrong with that?” Andrea finally found an excuse to speak.
“There’s nothing wrong with the CB. The walkies date back to the 70s. They don’t match any other band width, not even our car scanners,” Shane explained to her.
“I need those walkies,” Rick said to Lori. Her eyes whelped with tears as she nodded in agreement to let him go. Rick then got down to Carl’s level and spoke with him about it. Carl toughened up and nodded his head to his dad.
The men started gathering supplies for their trip while Shane pulled me to the side.
“Do you agree with any of this?” he asked me.
“Honestly, I can see it from both sides. No Rick needs to be here for his family. He did just get here and I can’t stand seeing Carl like that. But on the other hand, I know Morgan and Duane. And they cannot go into Atlanta. We do owe them, big time or Rick probably would have died. There’s no way Rick got out of that hospital and all the way to me alone.” I tried to explain but his expression did not change. He couldn’t believe I was siding with another man.
The truck’s horn interrupted us and Shane rushed to Rick’s side to get him some ammo. Watching the two of them right now was just like watching them before everything. Every time the two of them communicated, it reeked of brotherly love. I smiled before I realized that Rick has no idea that his own best friend betrayed him in the worst way.
*****
Later, Carol, Jacqui, Andrea, Amy, and I went off to do some laundry while we watched Shane show Carl how to catch frogs. I remember watching Shane and Carl before. How innocent everything was. How nothing could faze them together. Carl was raised calling us his aunt and uncle. We were a family. None of that has changed here. Shane and Carl are still inseparable. It almost makes me sad that Shane and I were too busy to have children. He would’ve been a wonderful father. Now we may never get that chance. My thoughts were interrupted by Jacqui.
“I’m beginning to question the division of labor here,” she joked as she and Andrea set down buckets of clothes. “Can somebody explain to me how the women wound up doing all the Hattie McDaniel work?” she complained. I smiled at her just thinking how I don’t mind doing laundry while watching my boys play.
“The world ended. Didn’t you get the memo?” Amy joked. My smile broke into a quiet laugh. Andrea may be annoying but her sister has a sense of humor.
“It’s just the way it is,” Carol said quietly. “I do miss my Maytag.” Carol started showing her small sense of humor. We all smiled and thought of things we miss.
“I miss my Benz, my sat nav,” Andrea added.
“I miss my coffeemaker with the duel drip and built-in grinder, honey,” Jacqui said with a yearning tone in her voice.
“Computers. And texting,” Amy said. Typical for a college student. I thought long and hard about what I truly missed. I looked at Shane again and laughed quietly.
“I miss my vibrator,” I plainly said with my hands in my lap. The women hooted at my comment.
“We all thought Shane’s woman wouldn’t need one,” Jacqui playfully pushed my shoulder.
“Please, all women need one,” I told the group of girls. They laughed again. “I know I’m not the only one.”
“I miss mine, too,” Carol said. We couldn’t help but explode with laughter at quiet Carol’s small remark. It was too good.
“What’s so funny?” Carol’s husband, Ed, marched over with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.
“We’re just swapping war stories, Ed,” Andrea told him. We all got really quiet for some reason. I saw no reason for us to stop having fun just because he came over.
“Problem, Ed?” I asked him with a little attitude.
“None that concerns you,” he snapped back at me. He then turned his attention to his wife. “And you ought to focus on your work. This ain’t no comedy club.” Andrea and I both scoffed at him and rolled our eyes. I noticed Lori talking to Shane and Carl was gone. She was a little too close for comfort and they were alone. Things looked heated but I didn’t get much time to analyze the situation because I had one of my own.
“Ed, tell you what. If you don’t like how your laundry is done, you can do it yourself.” Andrea stood up and threw a shirt at Ed but he threw it back in her face.
“Ain’t my job, missy,” he said. My patience with this man was gone. Amy pleaded with her sister to stop so Andrea stepped down but I couldn’t.
“What is your job, Ed? Sitting on your ass smoking cigarettes?” I asked him closely.
“It sure as hell ain’t listening to some uppity smart-mouthed bitch. I tell you what,” you could tell he was getting pissy. He turned his attention back to his wife. “Come on. Let’s go!” He yelled at her.
“She doesn’t need to go anywhere with you.” I said standing my ground.
“That ain’t none of your business. Come on, you heard me,” he ushered Carol on.
“Abby, it doesn’t matter,” she whispered behind me. But I wouldn’t listen to her.
“Hey, don’t think I won’t knock you on your ass just because you’re some college-educated cooze,” he looked me right in the eye. I just laughed in his face as he threatened Carol again.
“So she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed? We’ve seen them,” Jacqui spoke up. Ed just laughed in her face. He started yelling that it wasn’t any of our business again and that he was done talking. He grabbed Carol’s arm and Andrea and I both tried to get her to stay. Ed got too worked up and just swung his arm. He smacked me plum across my face and I didn’t even blink before I was throwing punches but Carol got between us and Andrea held me back so I couldn’t do much damage between the two of them fighting me off. Before I knew it Shane had appeared and grabbed Ed by his shirt and dragged him away from us. Carol watched in horror as my husband beat the shit out of her husband. I held her as they yelled for Shane to stop. Shane grabbed Ed’s face, I’m sure to let him know exactly where his place was, before beating him a little more. Carol broke from my grip right as Shane got off of Ed. She was blubbering that she was sorry even though she had nothing to feel sorry for. The ladies looked at the scene with confusion as Shane wrapped his arm around me and led me away from them.
“Are you okay?” he instantly brought his hands to my face when we got into our tent and desperately searched for anything wrong with it.
“I’m fine,” I told him but he didn’t stop touching me. I flinched when he brushed where Ed smacked me.
“Obviously you aren’t. What did I tell you about him?” he asked seriously as he pulled some alcohol from a bag.
“I’m sorry it must have slipped my mind after you told me you fucked Lori,” I spat tossing his hand away from my face.
“Abby, come on,” he pleaded.
“No. Shane, please tell me what y’all were talking about before you came to save the day?” I asked him while cocking my head to the side maybe to better hear him.
“She wants me to stay away from her and Carl,” he put his hands on his hips and looked disappointed.
“That’s all? Why did it look so much more intense than that?” I asked him putting my hands on my hips. We stood there starring at each other for a few minutes before he finally marched over to me. He grabbed my face roughly and kissed me intensely. In that moment nothing mattered. The pain in my face, the camp being separated, or even that fact that Shane cheated. None of that mattered because I loved him and he was showing me that he loved me. We didn’t see the need to leave the tent until the next morning.