Exit Alexandria: Shane's Escape. #wattys2017 #twd

One Down... Two to go...

Phillip joined Shane and darted inside the home. They couldn't stay there. Between the explosion and the gunfire, they were sure more would be there. And even if more of the dead did not appear, they couldn't stay at that house. Henry's blood was spilled there.

***

Phillip was silent. He walked in a trance-like state, keeping a few feet ahead of Shane.

"Phil," Shane called out, but Phillip continued his march, ignoring Shane's words.

Phillip's level of distress had reached an apex that Shane feared Phillip may not be able to return from. Buster followed closely behind Phillip, who held his sparsely packed knapsack as the two trekked through the forest.

"Phil," Shane called again, but Phillip kept marching towards the North Star.

He "knew" it would lead them to "freedom." The dewy air smelled crisp as storm clouds moved in. Shane knew they would need to find shelter soon. He didn't have time for Phillip's melodramatic behavior. He was hurting too, but he handled it better.

"Phillip!" Shane exclaimed, finally grabbing Phillip's left shoulder.

Phillip sharply spun and blocked the grab by using a quick jujitsu wrist twist.

"Let's keep our hands to ourselves," Phillip replied, with a darkness in his voice that Shane had never heard before. Phillip's once vibrant hazel eyes had flickered out into a vacant dimness. Phillip sharply released Shane from the grip. "Why are you even still here, Shane?"

Shane's eyes narrowed. "What the hell does that mean?"

"There's no PYTHON to hide in. There's no shelter. No Austin, no Nancy, no Henry. So tell me, Mr. Walsh, why the hell are you still following me around?"

Shane saw what Phillip was trying to do. He was trying to push him away so he could vanish out into the wilderness to die just like Austin and his son Cameron. Shane wouldn't allow Phillip to succumb to the same fate his family had. Shane refused to lose anyone else.

"Do you hear yourself, man?" Shane scoffed back. "Austin would be embarrassed of how much of a coward you are."

"What did you say to me?" Phillip's eyes intensified as he stepped closer to Shane's bubble.

Shane wanted that very reaction. He needed that fire to return to Phillip. If it didn't, they would surely die.

"Look at you, ready to give up because things are getting tough. Is that what you're really about? Without all your toys, you're nothing but a fucking candy ass."

Phillip stepped closer, inches from Shane's face. His flesh burned with anger and his blood pumped with ire, but his face remained soft and unbothered.

Shane could still read Phillip. He knew under that outwardly cool surface lay a hurricane within. Shane knew the buttons to push just as Phillip knew where Shane's triggers were hidden. Shane figured that Phillip would probably punch him in the gut, and the two would fight. They did that often, "sparing."

But Phillip did something Shane wasn't expecting. Instead of engaging Shane like he usually would, after meeting Shane nose to nose, Phillip merely walked right past him. It was as if Shane was a vapor. Phillip gave him nothing more.

Phillip wasn't in the mood. He wasn't in the mood for anything. He just wanted to lay down and die, peacefully.

"What would Austin think?" Shane asked, still using Phillip's husband's ghost as a tool.

"He doesn't want shit—he's dead," retorted Phillip, who continued to walk away from Shane, deeper into the forest. Phillip was done with the world. Unfortunately, the world wasn't done with him.

Shane was still on his heels when he ran into a small cluster of Walkers.

"I'm not in the mood today," declared Phillip.

But the Walkers lacked the cognitive skills to head the warning. They immediately pounced.

"I SAID I'm not in the mood today!" Phillip said before unholstering Henry's machete and slashing through the Walkers.

Shane caught up with Phillip and also began attacking the Walkers. Using his fireman's axe, he smashed through the brains of the Walkers. The small cluster began to grow, and Shane decided it was time for the two of them to retreat.

"There are too many. We gotta go."

"I got this!" Phillip said, still hacking away at the dead, not losing a drop of endurance.

If he was going down, he was going down fighting. Buster assisted Phillip by knocking down the Walkers and applying his brute strength to their throats. Phillip would finish them by using his boots to stomp in the heads. Shane had a more pragmatic approach. Fighting in the middle of the forest with the dead was a foolish move. Phillip kept slashing, smashing the faces of the lurching Walkers, as did Shane.

But then something unexpected happen. A sharp, cool, piercing sensation penetrated Phillip's flesh. He gasped, quickly turning to see his assailant. It was a Walker, holding a knife.