And here's chapter twelve. I do not own The Walking Dead.

The Walking Dead: Survival of Shane

Chapter Twelve: Woodbury

Shane and Daryl sat by the campfire, the hunter skinning another dead squirrel, two more already skinned at his side. "I can't believe we couldn't find anything else but squirrels," Shane commented. "I could really go for a can of beans right now."

"We've got corn," Daryl reminded him, snaking a can of cream corn out of his bag. "Eat those." He threw the can to Shane.

"I never was one for corn," Shane told him, catching the can in his left hand.

The two sat in silence, Daryl harvesting the edible parts of the squirrel, Shane carving a stick with his knife into a spear. They didn't need it, but he was bored, and needed something to do. It had been five days since they were dropped off near Woodbury, and they had yet to be approached by anyone.

They avoided speaking about Woodbury, for fear of one of their people watching them. They had to maintain their appearance of random survivors. Shane knew it would be a little awkward for the two of them; they never talked to each other much, and didn't have much in common. Shane hoped this would help in their cover.

Shane saw a stray Walker approaching from Daryl's side. He stood up, gripping his knew spear. Daryl looked at the Walker, not panicking or worrying a bit, then back to his squirrel. Shane lifted the spear, about to stab the Walker in through one of it's eyes, when an arrow pierced it's forehead.

"I had it," Shane told him, turning around; the hunter was skinning another squirrel.

"What?" Daryl asked. He looked passed Shane, at the Walker, seeing the bolt in it's forehead. The two of them looked at each other, then reached for their weapons, aiming at where the bolt came from.

"Who's there?" Shane yelled. "Come out!"

"Relax!" Shane and Daryl stood there while a Hispanic man came out from behind the trees. He held a machine gun in his hands. "We're friendly."

"Who shot the arrow?" Daryl asked.

"My buddy," the man said, "Shumpert. He's not comin' out yet."

"We don't want any problems," Shane told him.

"Me either," the man responded. "We've been watchin' you."

Daryl took a step forward. "I don't like bein' watched," he told the man.

"What's your name?" Shane asked.

"Martinez," he said. "What's yours?"

"Shane," he told him. "This is Daryl."

"Daryl?" Martinez repeated. He eyed Daryl, inspecting him. He looked at his crossbow, then back to Daryl. "You have a brother?"

Daryl looked at him with a dumbfounded look. "What d'you care?!" he asked defensively.

Martinez smiled a little. "I know a guy a lot like you," Martinez told him. "Name's Merle."

Daryl slowly lowered his crossbow, staying in character. "You know Merle?"

"Yeah, I do."

Daryl retrained his crossbow at Martinez. "What's he look like?" Daryl demanded.

"Little to no hair, always lookin' to score some kind of drug. Also, he's left handed, though he doesn't have much of a choice," he laughed.
"Where is he?" Daryl asked. "He alive?"

"He's back in town," Martinez told him. "We have a place. He's there. We'll take you there if you want."

Daryl looked back to Shane. "Should we go?" he asked. "You trust this guy?"

"I don't trust 'im," Shane said. "But I don't trust anybody anymore."

"We'll go." Daryl looked at Martinez, lowering his weapon. "But I swear to god, if he ain't there, I'm gonna make you regret it."

"Alright," Martinez said, "fair enough."

Martinez turned around and whistled. A large black man came out of the woods, holding a bow, an arrow at the ready. Shane lowered his gun. They were finally gonna see Woodbury.

Shane and Daryl followed Martinez and the large black man, Shumpert, through the woods, wondering when they would get to Woodbury. "How much further?" Daryl asked.

"A little while," Martinez told him.

They continued to follow them until they saw a large wall, with many armed guards patrolling the top of it. "Wow," Shane said, amazed at the wall. It seemed to be made up cars, couches, sheet metal, wood, and anything else that could be used as a barricade. He checked what he could see, trying to find any chinks in the armor.

"Welcome to Woodbury!" Martinez said.

"When'd you build the wall?" Daryl asked.

"It was finished a few months ago," Martinez said. "Haven't had any Walkers inside since then."

"At all?" Shane asked.

"Not a one. Except for the pits, we got no Walkers."

"Pits?" Daryl asked. "What pits?"

"We'll explain later. Let's get inside."

The four men approached the wall, two people on the wall aiming their guns at them. "Who're they?" a young woman, perhaps in her mid-twenties, holding a bow asked.

"Friends," Martinez told her. "Let us in."

"Alright." The young woman whistled at someone, and the wall began to open. It was a gate. Shane and Daryl followed them inside, looking at the town called Woodbury. It was unreal.

Shane saw people laughing, drinking, working. He saw smoke rising from barbecues, cooking what was most likely fresh meat. It was amazing, but also a little sad. He knew from just looking at these people that they were unprepared, didn't know the true horrors of the outside world. They were living a fantasy.

Shane and Daryl followed Martinez, Shumpert leaving for some unknown reason. They followed him to a nice building, where a man with glasses sat, writing in a notebook. The man looked up. "New people?" he asked. He stood up, closing his book, extending his hand to Daryl. "Name's Milton."

Daryl looked at the man's, Milton's, hand. He took it awkwardly. "Daryl."
Milton went to Shane next. "Shane," Shane told him. "Nice to meet some friendly faces. You in charge around here?"

"No, no, I'm just his advisor." Milton looked them.

"So where is he?" Daryl asked. "Inside?"

"Yes, he's just talking with someone," Milton told him. "Important business."

Shane wondered what this 'important business', believing it to be about Michonne. "What about Merle?" Daryl asked. "Where is he?"

"You know Merle?" Milton asked.

"This is Merle's little brother," Martinez told him. "Daryl Dixon."

"Wow! What are the chances of that?" Milton asked. "I'm gonna have to catalogue this!"

The bespectacled man walked away, once again writing in his notebook. "Catalogue?" Shane repeated.

"Milton keeps records of everyone here," Martinez explained. "How many people have, who came with who, their ages, what their skills are; he's a real OCD kinda guy."

"Sounds boring," Daryl commented.

"He's actually more useful than you think!" Shane looked at the house, finding a man with brown hair and a big smile standing where Milton was sitting. "It helps to know what people are good at. Even if it is nothing."

"Who're you?" Daryl asked. "You run things around?"

"Yes, I suppose I do." The man extended a hand. "You can call me The Governor."

"Governor?" Shane asked, taking the man's hand. "You were a governor?"

"No," he said, releasing Shane's hand and extending his own to Daryl. "But everybody calls me that. Don't know why, don't know how, but it stuck with me."

"You're not gonna believe this," Martinez told The Governor. He pointed at Daryl. "But this is Merle's baby brother."

"Merle's baby brother?" The Governor repeated. "So, you're Daryl! Nice to meet you!"

"Where's my brother?" Daryl asked.

"He's out right now, hunting," The Governor told him. "He's quite the hunter. He's practically feeding everyone here by himself. He left a few hours ago. Should be back soon."

"Good." Daryl held a bag out to The Governor. "Here's some squirrel for y'all to cook."

The Governor took the bag, looking through it. "Well, thank you very much." He handed the bag to Martinez. "Get these to the cooks."

"Got it." Martinez left, heading for a group of people next to a grill.

"No, why don't you come inside," The Governor offered. "We'll have some nice cold brewskies to celebrate a family coming together."

"Cold?" Shane asked.

Once inside, Shane noticed several shelves filled with books. In the apocalypse, entertainment was hard to come by, so books were really the only things that could be used. The Governor walked over to a small fridge, which was plugged into a small generator. He pulled out a six pack of budweiser, placing them on a table. He ripped two off, handing them to Shane and Daryl, then took one for himself.

"I haven't had a cold drink in months!" Shane said. He opened the can and began drinking. "Let alone a nice cold beer."

"What makes my town great is the ability to be comfortable," The Governor told him. "Since we got the walls, we don't have too worry much about Biters getting in. We can afford to lie back and relax."

"Biters?" Daryl repeated. "That what you call 'em?"

"Yeah. Cause they bite. What d'you call them?" He took a sip of his beer.
"Walkers," Daryl told him, taking a sip of his own beer. "Sounds better than Biters, that for sure."

"It's a matter of opinion," The Governor told him.

"Whatever."

"It's a nice place ya got here," Shane commented. "Martinez said the wall was finished a few months ago, is that right?"

"Yes, it was. It was tough. Lost a lot of good people making it."

"Sorry to hear that."

Shane finished his beer, then looked for a place to throw away the can. He spotted a small trash can with a bag in it. He walked over to it, throwing the can in it.

"Shane?!" Shane turned around, finding a blonde woman standing in a doorway, wearing nothing but a robe.

"Andrea?!" Shane smiled at seeing his old friend. He went over to her and hugged her. "You're alive!"

"I thought I would never see you again!" Andrea replied. He released her, and she looked over at Daryl. "Daryl! You're here, too!" She ran and hugged him as well.

"Yeah," Daryl told her, awkwardly returning the hug. "Didn't think we'd see you again."

"Where are the others?" Andrea asked. "Rick? Lori? T-Dog?" She looked back at Shane, who lowered his gaze to the floor. They had decided back at the prison that the two of them would tell her that their group was either dead or separated.

"We lost T-Dog and Carol a few weeks ago," Shane told her. "Rick, Lori, and Carl; we got separated after the farm. Along with everyone else."

"They're alive," Daryl said. "We made it out, so did they."

"I guess I can skip the introductions," The Governor said. "Andrea told me about her people; I was gonna surprise her, but I guess this is good, too."

Shane looked at Andrea, then at The Governor, putting two and two together. They were sleeping together.

Please remember to leave a Review.