Protector || Shane Walsh

Chapter 30

Dangerous Game (feat. Beginners) by Klergy

"Hey." I greet Glenn softly, as I climb atop the RV.

"Hey Mia." he replies, politely but glumly.

He's been off ever since he, Rick and Hershel returned with Randall.

I walk along the RV and sit down in the chair beside him.

"You wanna tell me what's goin' on?" I ask him gently. "What happened out there? Are you okay?"

"..I'm fine." he answers, looking out across the farmland to the trees. "I'm alive.. Thanks to Rick and Hershel." he adds.

I'd believe him if his words weren't thick with distaste.

"And they're alive and here because of y-"

"No." Glenn cuts me off. "Not this time."

"What happened?"

Glenn is silent for a moment but then he looks at me.

"I froze." he answers. "For the first time, I froze."

"Glenn, that's okay." I try to reassure him but he shakes his head.

"No, it's not. Not when people are depending on you. You know it's not."

"Tell me how it went down." I say gently. "Rick told us the summarised version. What did he leave out?"

Glenn tells me how after Rick shot the men in the bar, he went out the back to look for an escape.

He tells me how Hershel covered him as he went out for the car. But men outside shot at him and he hid behind a dumpster.

"Maggie.. She told me she loved me. Bullets flew past me and all I could think about was if I was killed.. it would hurt her. I only thought of myself."

"And after that?"

He then tells me how he covered Rick and Hershel while they tried to help Randall as walkers closed in.

"You're being way too hard on yourself, Glenn. After everything you've done, one little slip-"

"One little slip is all it takes for someone to get killed." he says.

"You weren't the only one that hid behind the dumpster, right? Rick was with you and then you all went out into the street, where you covered Rick and Hershel."

"You don't get it-"

"No, you don't get it." I cut him short. "Yeah, you froze. Momentarily. But you still showed up. You got up, you got yourself and the others out of there and back home. You always show up, Glenn. Always."

Glenn looks at me. He still sits in disgust of himself but I can tell he's considering my words.

"Just think on that for while, okay? Now, back to the most important part of that story.." I sit forward with my elbows on my knees and rest my chin in my hands. "Maggie said she loves you?" I ask with a grin.

He laughs softly and shakes his head, looking back out across the farm. "She did."

"Did you say it back?"

"Not yet." he answers.

"Yet? So you do love her and you will tell her?"

"I do.. I don't know whether to tell her or let her go."

"Oh, no you don't." I lift my chin from my hands and shake my head. "No regrets, remember? That's what you told me. This fear of yours, it's just a reminder that you've found something to fight for. And this love, it's a good thing. Something we don't get enough of these days. Enjoy it."