TWD: Saving Merle First - Chapter 60: It’s Time to Let Go (Patreon)

Two furious shouts suddenly shattered the silence of the night. Before anyone else could figure out what was happening, the two men were already grappling with each other.

Wade sighed.

"Daryl, go tell everyone else to stay away from this area and get some rest. Marcus and I will go take a look."

Daryl silently nodded and walked away, though he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed that he was going to miss the show.

Shane drove a vicious punch straight into Rick's face.

"What gives you the right to make that decision for me?! That's my child! Mine!"

Rick staggered back several steps. After standing there stunned for a second, he surged forward and punched Shane right back. His blue eyes were bloodshot as he growled through clenched teeth.

"You think I don't know?! I just chose to pretend I didn't see it! Don't forget what I used to do for a living, Shane!"

His wife had gotten together with his best friend.

They had even conceived a child.

The sense of betrayal stabbed at Rick's heart over and over again like needles.

It hurt.

God, it hurt.

And yet, when he'd first realized what had happened, he'd managed to remain calm. He hadn't even confronted them on the spot.

Because Rick knew that he'd spent an entire month lying in that hospital bed.

During that month, Shane had been the one protecting Lori and Carl, leading them through the chaos as they struggled to survive in this godforsaken world.

Rick could understand that.

He could accept it.

He was even genuinely grateful that Shane had managed to keep Lori and Carl safe.

But none of that gave Shane the right to keep coveting Lori or trying to involve himself with her!

Shane spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva. He ran his tongue over his teeth to make sure none had been knocked loose, then glared viciously at Rick.

"So? What now? You gonna arrest me right here and pronounce me guilty? Use this as an excuse to kick me out? Or are you just gonna kill me?"

As he spoke, a crazed smile gradually spread across Shane's face.

Rick's eyes stung, and the pain on his face only deepened.

Because the Shane standing in front of him now looked no different from the criminals Rick had arrested in the past.

The same madness.

The same violent temper.

The same urge to tear everything apart.

For a moment, Rick's reason began to crumble. His emotions were already in pieces, leaving him completely lost and unsure of what to do.

Seeing that, the fury inside Shane gradually began to subside.

His voice choked as he spoke.

"I didn't want any of this either. It was you. Your heart had already stopped back then. You were supposed to be dead, but somehow you weren't. You came back."

"You came back to this camp and just took charge like it was the most natural thing in the world. You took away the people I cared about, and now you're trying to take my child too!"

"Who the hell do you think you are? God? What gives you the right?!"

Wade walked over as the two men's anger gradually began to cool and stated the cruelest truth of all.

"Because Rick and Lori are legally married. They made vows to spend the rest of their lives together."

The words were harsh.

Painfully so.

But Wade had to say them.

He needed them to sink deep into Shane's heart and cut away that twisted way of thinking.

Shane turned toward Wade, his eyes bloodshot. He had barely opened his mouth when Wade cut him off.

"Why do you think I brought you two all the way out here and made sure no one else came near us? Think about Lori. Think about Carl, Shane! Are you really selfish enough to make them spend the rest of their lives dealing with everyone else's looks and whispers, unable to hold their heads up?"

Those words were like a bucket of ice water dumped over a volcano on the verge of erupting.

The eruption was stopped.

The heat faded.

And slowly, the fire died down.

"But... that's my... my child..."

"You can still be the child's godfather, can't you? The child and Carl can still see you as a father figure, if Rick agrees."

Wade looked toward Rick.

Rick nodded.

"I do. Completely. Shane, I'm grateful to you. I really am."

"If it hadn't been for you back then, I can't even imagine how Lori would've kept Carl alive in this damn world, or how they would've survived long enough for me to find them."

"Honestly, without you, things would've been much worse. I wouldn't have even known where to start looking for them, much less how I was supposed to bring them back."

"That's why, even when I realized what had happened, I chose to look the other way. Because I knew you were all trapped in an impossible situation."

"But Lori is my wife. And that child will be mine too. I'm going to raise that child."

"For Lori's sake, for Carl's sake, and for your own... let her go, Shane."

By this point, Shane knew that Rick had already made the biggest concession he possibly could.

He stumbled and dropped heavily to the ground.

With his head lowered, he spoke in a muffled voice.

"I need some time alone to process all this... Just give me some time to get my head straight, alright...?"

Wade exchanged a glance with Rick.

Rick understood.

With heavy steps, he turned and walked away.

Wade sat down beside Shane, effortlessly opened a bottle of whiskey, shoved it into Shane's hand, then opened another for himself.

"Shane... I'm guessing part of you wants to leave. Go off on your own, lick your wounds, wander through this goddamn apocalypse alone until you either die somewhere along the road or grow old by yourself."

"But that's not how your story should end."

"You're like me. You can see what this apocalypse really is more clearly than most people. You have abilities the others can't match, and you have the will to do whatever it takes to protect the people you care about."

"You shouldn't end up like that."

Shane slowly raised his head and looked at Wade.

Through the pain in his eyes, something different began to emerge.

Wade raised his bottle and lightly tapped it against Shane's.

Without another word, they both tipped their bottles back.

Gulp, gulp, gulp~

After taking a long drink, Wade continued.

"I told you guys before that I want to create a world where people don't have to live in fear of walkers. A place where the elderly are cared for, where the able-bodied have a purpose, where children are raised and protected. A world where everyone can live together in peace."

"I don't know whether I can actually pull it off."

"But if I do, it'll be a utopia completely removed from the hell this apocalypse has become."

"That's the one thing I want to accomplish with this short life of mine. I want to try. I want my life to mean something."

"Whether I die pursuing it or actually succeed, people will remember what we tried to build."

"So..."

"You coming with me, Shane?"

Shane looked at Wade's stupid grin and the hand he was holding out.

For some reason, Shane smiled too.

It was an ugly smile.

He'd heard plenty of people try to comfort someone after heartbreak.

He'd heard plenty of motivational speeches too.

But he'd never seen someone combine the two into one ridiculous speech before.

What kind of messed-up motivational bullshit was this?

Smack!

"If you get yourself killed, don't expect me to follow you."

Wade smiled again.

This time, it was more genuine.

Their bottles clinked together once more, and the two kept drinking.