The Walking Dead: The Shane Walsh Alternative (Season 1)

Fort Benning: Part I

"Take him inside and tie him to a chair. A sturdy chair, please." I wave towards Andrea to let her know we're clear, and to get everyone over here. I walk inside where Glenn and Belle have already started tying Pete's hands behind an armchair. "Stop. I don't want his hands behind him. Tie them in front where I can see them. I want his legs tied to the legs of the chair and his body tied against the top of the chair." I instruct while checking the rest of the room for weapons or anything valuable. Within seconds everyone else joins us inside of Fort Benning's main post. With Pete tied firmly to the chair, I pull up a chair of my own and position it in front of his, maybe three feet away. "Let me do the talkin'. Lor, gimme one of them waters." She tosses me a bottled water from the bag. I snatch it out of the air, open it up, take a sip, then splash some on Pete to wake him.

Pete opens his eyes, looks at me, then at everyone else. "Who the hell are you people? What do you want with me? Are you going to kill me?" He's clearly a bit paranoid. "Shut up! If you haven't realised, you're in no position to ask questions. That's MY job. Why are you the only one here?" I ask. "Help!" He screams, ignoring my question. I jump out of my chair, grab him by his jaw, and lean in close. "Maybe I didn't make myself clear. If you're not goin' to cooperate, I have other, less friendly ways of persuasion. Now, where is everyone?" I sit back in my seat. He looks me in the eyes, and calms down a bit. "The ones that weren't deployed were instructed to gaurd the fort and let no civilians enter. After just a few days, those that weren't killed, left to be with their families. My only family is my brother Mitch, and he was stationed a good distance north of here, so I have nowhere else to be." He explains. "The ones that were deployed.. What was their objective?" I ask.

"Decontamination." He says. I laugh to myself. "Is that what they called it? They were shooting civilians! Decontamination my ass. That was murder! You sit here in your fortress and turn people away to the geeks like a goddamn coward!" I lecture. "I was following orders." He retorts. "You're the only one still followin' orders man! I'll tell ya this, I'd put good money that the guy that gave you your orders, is GONE. So is all forms of military, or any organisation out there for that matter. We're all just survivors now." He looks away for a second. "Were you military? You strike me as the type." He says. "Nah, law enforcement, and you're too easy to sneak up on." I declare as I stand up and reach for my hunting knife. "So what now? You gonna kill me and take over the fort?" He asks. "Now why would I do that? I'm not a monster Pete. 'Sides, that'd be a waste of good military trained personel. What's gonna happen is, we're gonna stay here. I don't care what your orders were. You won't have to worry about us, we can pull our own weight." I answer.

"So I'm supposed to just break the rules and roll out a red carpet for you?" He asks sarcastically. "Don't you get it? There aren't any rules anymore man. Do you think your soldier buddies are comin' back? Just about everyone out there is DEAD! We ain't joinin' 'em." He looks me in the eyes, before sighing and lowering his head. "Alright." He gives in. "You can stay." He finishes. "Well that's mighty kind of ya Pete. We accept your invitation." I joke. "You gonna untie me then?" He asks. "Yeah I'm gettin' to it. I'm gonna untie ya, but I'll be holding on to your gun, and you're not to be goin' anywhere alone. Got it?" Pete nods his head in agreement. I cut his hands and legs loose and he pulls the rope around his body over his head and drops it onto the floor.

I head over to the information board that shows the layout of the fort. "I can just show ya around." Pete insists. "I think I can manage." I tell him, as I walk over to Glenn. "Stay alert. Keep him in sight I'm gonna take a look around." I whisper. Glenn nods his head and I start walking towards the door leading out of the main post. "I don't know anything about any of you." Pete says as I walk away. "Well nows as good a time as any to get acquainted with the group." I tell him. "What about you?" I keep walking, but as I approach the door, I turn and look back at Pete. "I'm Shane. I'll be the guy that gives you your orders from now on, not some dead general. That's all you need to know about me." I make my way out the door and walk the path to the right of the main post. "Hey, wait up!" It's Belle. "I already know Pete, and I don't think he really wants to be around me right now." I let out a chuckle. "Yeah, that makes sense. Come on then."

This place is huge. I just want to take a look at things, and report back to the group. The path we are walking leads to the fort's hospital. Keep on the path beyond that and you'd be in the training area, where there are practice targets and obstacle courses. Behind that is an aerial base that used to house jets and helicopters, but they're all gone. The path to the left of the main post leads to three housing buildings, that are said to sleep four hundred people each, and past that is the armory, although it's been cleared out. There's also a watch tower on the far left that looks over just the housing area, so it's not entirely useful. The rest of the fort is comprised of civilian houses and small shops. There's also a lone Ford F-150 in one of Fort Benning's three parking lots, that I assume is Pete's. "Good job Shane. Gettin' us inside of Fort Benning may've saved our lives." Belle states. "We're not callin' it Fort Benning any more." I tell her. "We call it, HOME".