Tell It to the Frogs

Season 1, Episode 3

## Cast Guide

Starring
Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes
Jon Bernthal as Shane Walsh
Sarah Wayne Callies as Lori Grimes
Laurie Holden as Andrea Harrison
Jeffrey DeMunn as Dale Horvath
Steven Yeun as Glenn Rhee
Chandler Riggs as Carl Grimes

Also Starring
Emma Bell as Amy Harrison
Michael Rooker as Merle Dixon
Andrew Rothenberg as Jim West
Juan Gabriel Pareja as Julian Morales
Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon

**Tell It to the Frogs** is the third episode of the first season of Fanon *The Walking Dead*. It is the third episode overall.

## Plot Synopsis

As the group escapes a ravaged Atlanta, the newest revelation causes a rift between Shane and Lori.

## Episode

### Beg

Thunder rumbles above the cold city of Atlanta as the sun set, Merle Dixon sat alone, still cuffed to a rusty pipes courtesy to Officer Friendly. Merle jolted his head around, looking as if something was flying around his head, waving his free hand around it, groaning, and mumbling, “That’s right bitch…pussy-ass noncom bitch…you ain’t deaf, take it up the damn chain of command or you can kiss my lily-white ass.”

Merle began hysterically laughing to himself, “That’s right. That’s what I said, you heard me…and then this idiot, he takes a swing, and-” Merle can’t help himself but continue to cackle at himself, “You should’ve seen his face…when I punched his front teeth out, yeah, five of ‘em, just like that….oh my God…16 months in the stockade, that’s what them teeth cost me. Worth every fuckin’ minute…yes, sir.”

Merle then begins frantically yanking on the handcuffs against the pipe, remembering the situation he has found himself entrapped in. The red marks weaning against his wrist worsened with every tug as Merle yelled in angst, “No, Jesus…Jesus no, no, no….I didn’t behave, please, I know…I know I’m bein’ punished…fuck, I know, I deserve it, I deserve it, I’ve been bad…show me the way now, help me now…” Merle looked up at the sky as he continued tugging, however, stopped to roll under the pipe, taking note of the toolbox with the hacksaw nearby. He untugged his belt, locking it solidly to grasp anything that he could, tossing with a tight grip on the belt, “That’s okay…never mind you, I ain’t begged you before. I ain’t gonna start begging now.” Merle yelled, continuing and looking up at the sky once more, “I ain’t gonna beg you now!”

### Title Card

The title card depicts Shane Walsh standing in the quarry next to the camp holding his shotgun.

### Homebound

As the group drives forward in the box truck, enroute back home to the quarry camp, Morales sits in the passenger seat beside Rick, pondering on their recent developments, “Best not to dwell on Dixon. Nobody’s gonna be sad he didn’t come back…except maybe Daryl.”

Rick curiously glanced toward Morales, “Daryl?”

“His brother.” Morales scoffed, rubbing his forehead with his finger, as the group was startled by a loud, red Shelby Mustang speeding past them on the smaller roadway leading up to the camp, hearing both the ringing sound of the car alarm and Glenn’s cheering.

“At least someone’s having a good day.” Morales joked.

Back at the camp, Jim strung some cans around the perimeter, hoping it would warn them of any attacks in the future, while Miranda Morales watches over her two children playing nearby.

“Mijo, leave your sister alone.” Miranda insisted, warding her son Louis from teasing his sister, Eliza. Miranda glances over to Lori as she cuts Carl’s hair, with Shane sitting right across from Carl.

“Baby, the more you fidget, the longer it’s gonna take. So don’t, okay?” Lori insists, maneuvering Carl’s head around as she trims.

“I’m trying.” Carl retorts, looking directly as Shane as Shane chuckles.

“You think this is bad, wait till you start shaving. That stings. That day comes, you’ll be wishin’ for one of mama’s haircuts.” Shane jokes as Carl giggles alongside him.

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“I tell you what, you just get through this with some manly dignity and tomorrow I’ll teach ya somethin’ special. I will teach you to catch frogs.” Shane offer, Carl raising a brow in response.

“I’ve caught a frog before.”

“Uh-uh,” Shane waves his fingers, “Frogs…plural. And it is an art, my friend, not to be taken lightly. There are ways and means, few people know about it, and lucky for you, I’m willing to share my secrets. One time offer, bud, not to be repeated.”

“You ever eat frog legs?”

“Ewww…” Carl groans, looking to his mother.

“No, yum!” Shane shouts, hopping off of the log he was seated on also looking to Lori for her support.

“No, he’s right. Ew.” Lori scoffs.

“When you get down to that last can of beans, you’re gonna be lovin’ those frog legs, lady. I can see it now: ‘’Shane, do you think I could have a second helping please? Just one?’’” Shane mocks the older woman as she busts out in laughter.

“Doubtful.” Lori shakes her head, “I’d rather eat miss piggy.” She pauses, glancing at Shane, “That came out wrong.”

Suddenly in the distance, the incoming sound of a car alarm caught everyone in the camp’s attention. As they gathered around the entrance of the camp, Amy approached quickly, “Is it them? Are they back?”

“Dale, talk to me.” Shane requested, joining Amy’s side, as Dale finally arrived.

“Can’t tell yet…” Dale responded, looking through his binoculars until finally he caught sight on the red vehicle, “Well I’ll be damned…”

“What is it? Is it them?!” Amy frantically asked, attempting to take the binoculars from Dale as she glanced over to see the red car coming in closer to them, retracting away from the binoculars.

Glenn parked the car, with many of the survivors in the camp gathering around him as he exited, the group covering their ears as the car alarm blared right in front of them.

“Holy shit, turn that damn thing off!” Dale yelled as Glenn chuckled to himself excitedly.

“I don’t know how!” Glenn informed him, moving out of the way as Shane and Dale approached the vehicle and Amy ran up to Glenn shouting.

“My sister! Where’s Andrea?!” Amy asked him, grabbing his shoulders.

“She’s fine!” Glenn yelled, looking over as Shane popped the hood and Dale unplugged the battery from the vehicle.

“She’s fine? She’s okay? She’s with you? Where is she?!” Amy demanded, slightly shaking Glenn as he waved his hands in front of himself to her.

“She’s right behind me in the truck new guy helped us get!”

“New guy?” Shane asked curiously, approaching Glenn slowly.

“Yeah, there they are now.” Glenn pointed toward the box truck as it slowly passed the curve entering the camp, and parked behind Dale’s RV. Rick sat contemplating in the box truck, burying his head into the steering wheel as the multiple members of the group poured out the back, Morales remaining at Rick’s side in the passenger seat. Morales placed his hand on Rick’s shoulder, and Rick glanced at the man.

“C’mon. Go meet everyone.” Morales insisted, exiting the truck. Andrea exited out the back and immediately saw Amy, sprinting toward her.

“Amy?” Andrea asked, tears welling up.

“Andrea!” Amy shouted, jumping into her sister’s arms as the two shared a tearful, reunited embrace, “You scared the shit out of me.” Amy sobbed. Nearby, Carl walked away from the scene alongside his mother, tears filling up his eyes of his father as he watched Morales reunite with his children and wife. Lori joined her son, kneeling down to his height and wiping tears from his face.

“It’s okay, baby.” Lori soothed him, cupping his face in her hand.

“Who’s this new guy, Morales?” Shane asked, rubbing the back of his head as Morales finished embracing his family. Shane quietly stepped toward the man, awaiting an answer.

“Some crazy Vato just got into town. Hey, helicopter boy! Come say hello.” Morales shouted into the truck, as Rick slowly exited from the driver’s seat, “Guy’s a cop like you.”

Rick wiped his face as he exited, looking up and evaluating the group until finally he saw someone he never thought he’d see again. Shane.

Shane glared at Rick, blinking rapidly as if his eyes were deceiving him. He let out a sigh of almost disbelief as Rick gently lifted his hand to point at Shane. Just behind Shane, Carl turned to see Rick standing, and Lori joined in focusing her attention over there, stunned to see her long-thought to be dead husband standing just feet away from her.

“Dad…?” Carl muttered, then quickly ran toward the man, “Dad!”

Rick fell to the ground as Carl embraced him, sobbing into his son’s shoulder, kissing his cheek as Lori quickly approached just behind him, falling to the floor with Rick. The group watched on gleefully as the dots connected in their heads, and Shane merely wiped away a single tear before approaching Rick as the latter man regained his footing. Shane hugged Rick gently, burying his face in Rick’s neck to conceal the tears that were welling up. Shane quickly recovered, as well, then glancing at Lori making a sudden realization.

“I don’t…I don’t…” Lori mumbled, holding both sides of Rick’s head with her hands, as Rick just glanced at her smiling, and the two kissed.

### From The Ashes

The group gathered in the dead of night beside the warm embrace of a shobbily put together campfire, Rick clutching his wife and son on each side of him, desperate to never let them go again. Shane sat on the other side of the fire, watching Lori intently but subtly enough to not clue in Rick. His gaze then shifted to his best friend, examining his figure before quickly looking away.

“Disoriented…fear, confusion, all those things come to mind, but uh, disoriented comes closest.” Rick mumbled, sharing his experience since waking up to his newfound friends and his family.

“Words can be meager things. Sometimes they fall short.” Dale recounted, sipping a glass of water from his RV.

“Mom said you died.” Carl reported, looking up to his father.

“She had every reason to believe that,” Rick assured him, looking over to Lori who wiped away a tear, “Don’t ever doubt that.”

“When things started getting..worse, they told me at the hospital you were gonna be airlifted with other patients to Atlanta.” Lori informed Rick with remorse, “It never happened.”

“Well, I’m not surprised after Atlanta fell. And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane,” Rick told his friend, “I can’t begin to express it.”

“There go those words falling short, yet again. Paltry things.” Dale joked.

“Looks don’t deceive you, buddy. I barely got them out.” Shane told Rick as he sipped from a bottle of beer, watching just behind Rick and his family as Ed Peletier threw a log into a separate fire nearby. Shane shook his head, “Hold on a second.”

Shane got up, shuffling toward the separate fire, greeting the woman and young girl sitting with Ed, “Carol, Sophia, how are y’all?”

“We’re fine, right, Sophia?” Carol meekly responded, rubbing her daughter’s arm.

“Ed. Wanna rethink that log?” Shane asked the man, pointing toward the log Ed just put in the fire, “Cold don’t change the rules. Keep our fires low, just embers so we can’t be seen from a distance, right?”

“You should mind your business for once.” Ed mocked, kicking the log further into the fire as Shane kneeled down to Ed’s height who sat on a separate log.

“You really wanna have this conversation right now?” Shane asked condescendingly, as Ed groaned and looked over to his wife.

“Go on then. Pull the damn thing out, go!” Ed demanded his wife, who, startled, rushed to yank the fresher log out of the fire, as Shane began stomping gently on the fire.

“I’m sorry about the fire.” Carol apologized, rubbing her neck as Shane began walking away, but he stopped for the brief interaction.

“No apology needed. Y’all have a good night, okay?”

“Thank you.”

“I appreciate the cooperation.” Shane took off, rejoining the rest of the other group at the fire. He rejoined the conversation, sitting back on his original log, noticing as Lori avoided eye contact with him.

“Have you given any thought to ‘’Daryl’’ Dixon? He won’t be happy to hear his brother was left behind.” Dale asked T-Dog as he chewed on a piece of fish.

“I dropped the key, I’ll tell him. It’s on me.” T-Dog offered, “It’s my problem.”

Rick shook his head, “I cuffed him, that makes it mine.”

“Guys, it’s not a competition. I don’t mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy.” Glenn recommended in realization of Merle’s racist tendencies, figuring Daryl may share some of those opinions.

“We could lie.” Amy suggests, her arm linked to her sister’s in unison.

“Or tell the truth,” Andrea counters, “Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he’d have gotten us killed.” She looks to Lori before addressing the group, “Your husband did what was necessary, and if Merle got left behind, it is nobody’s fault but Merle’s.”

“And ‘’that’s’’ what we tell Daryl? I don’t see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you?” Dale scoffs at this suggestion, “Word to the wise…we’re gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt.”

“I stopped long enough to chain tha door.” T-Dog informs the group, “Staircase is narrow, maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at a time. It’s not enough to break through that…not that chain. Not that padlock. My point…Dixon is probably alive, still up there, handcuffed to the roof. That’s on us.”

A somber mood set on the group as the fire slowly dried up.

### The Very First Night

“I found you, didn’t I?” Rick told his son, brushing the hair away from his eyes as the boy lied in a sleeping bag in the corner of their tent. Lori sat on the other side of the tent in a bag she would soon share with her husband, smiling.

“I love you, dad.” Carl told his father, preparing to drift to sleep.

“I love you.” Rick told his son, kissing his forehead and getting up to join Lori. As he kneeled in front of Lori, he passionately kissed her and lied down alongside her, “Found you both. I knew I would.”

“You’re getting cocky now, just a bit.” Lori joked, rubbing Rick’s cheek.

“No. No, I knew. Walking into our house, finding it empty, both of you gone.

“I’m so sorry.” Lori remorsefully apologized, feeling the veil of guilt over leaving the house and Rick behind, despite believing he was lying dead in a hospital.

“I knew you were alive. All the photos were gone, everything.”

Lori chuckled as she grabbed one of the photo albums taken from the house, flipping through it to a page of Carl’s previous birthday party. The joyful expressions of Carl and the other children and parents of the children in attendance. Rick and Lori excitedly flipped through the book, page by page, remembering the faces they knew so well just months ago, as their joy bled into a somber recollections of a life that has fled them. Lori glanced over to Rick, then placed her head on his chest.

“I know…I know I said it, Rick, but God…” Lori sighed emotionally, “I don’t know how I can make it up to you. Make things right. Leaving you back there…”

“You did what you had to for Carl.” Rick expressed while kissing the top of Lori’s head, “I don’t know if I could’ve been strong enough to do the same.”

Lori smiled, looking back up to Rick as she removed his wedding ring from her necklace placed beside the sleeping bags. Rick slyly cackled as he placed the ring back on his finger.

“You kept it.” Rick adorned, as he regained his composure. The ring slipping on his finger sealing their reunion, finally.

“Of course.” Lori muttered, as she kissed Rick on his lips, the two passionately embracing for the first time, with no one around to watch.

Shane sat atop Dale’s RV, his eyes glaring onto the Grimes’ tent. He placed the rifle in his lap onto the ground as he dug through his pocket for a black leather wallet. As he opened the wallet, he gazed on a picture of himself and Rick he had kept inside. He touched Rick’s face gently on the image, before removing it and covering his own mouth in distraught. He shoved the image back into his wallet forcefully, taking a sip from a bottle of beer before aggressively tossing both the wallet and bottle into the forest ahead.

### The Woods

Rick awakens in his tent, alone. He frantically looks around for Lori and Carl, breaths rapidly escaping from him as he hops out of his tattered sleeping bag very suddenly. As the laughter of basic camp interactions makes its way into his understanding, he calms, slowing his breaths as he unzips the tent and exits, the sun blaring directly into his face. He glances around the camp, taking note of the survivors around him he has recently come to known.

“Morning.” Morales greets him, patting Rick on the shoulder as he passed by alongside his wife and two children.

“Morning…” Rick responded, rubbing his eyes as he approaches Carol, who began waving him over to a laundry station nearby, “Hi, Carol, is it?”

“Yes. I got your clothes, still a little damp, but the sun will have ‘em dry in no time.” Carol offered Rick a small folded pile of his clothes, as Rick gratefully accepted it.

“You washed my clothes?”

“Well, best we could. Scrubbin’ on a washboard ain’t half as good as my old maytag back home.” Carol gleamed, using her hand to cover the blistering sun from blaring into her eyes.

“That’s very kind. Thank you.” Rick graciously thanked the older woman, before approaching Glenn who sat sorrowfully against Dale’s centerpiece of an RV in this campsite. Glenn watched as Dale and Jim took apart Glenn’s red Shelby he had attained, courtesy of Rick, on their recent trip into the city.

“Vultures.” Glenn mumbled under his breath, before addressing the two men with a defeated tone, “Yeah, go on, strip it clean.”

Dale shook his head, half-smile chalking up his face, “Generators need every drop of fuel they can get. Got no power without it, sorry, Glenn.”

“Thought I’d get to drive it at least a few more days.” Glenn mourned as he watched Jim further strip the vehicle down for parts, as Rick playfully patted Glenn on the shoulder and shook his head, smiling. Rick glanced around the camp until he finally noticed Lori not far away. He walked toward her, leaving Glenn to mourn alone.

“Hey.” Rick greeted her, planting a kiss on the side of her head.

“You sleep okay?” Lori mindfully asked, tugging at the sleeve of Rick’s shirt gracefully as.

“Better than in a long time.” Rick smiled, before bowing his head in retreat, Lori taking notice.

“What is it?” She requested as Rick wiped his eyes.

“I’ve been thinking about him,” He declared as Lori sighed in response, “Merle.”

“You’re not serious.” She scoffed, as Shane arrived from the quarry with two buckets full of water.

“Water’s here, y’all.” He announced, “Remember to boil before use.”

Lori watched as a couple members of the group went to retrieve water, including Rick, however she pulled him by his arm, “What are you saying right now?”

“I’m asking.”

“I think it’s crazy. The stupidest way to break your son.” Lori showed visible distress and emotion in giving her response, concerned that Rick returning to Atlanta for Merle Dixon of all people would mean losing him yet again, possibly permanently. Before Rick could offer another response, the group heard screams erupting from just outside of camp. Rick, Shane, Dale, and Jim quickly sprung to action, grabbing a weapon and sprinting toward the source of the screaming, as Lori, Andrea, Amy, and Carol quickly followed behind.

“Mom!” Carl shouted as the group arrived, running toward Lori with Sophia, Eliza, and Louis quickly running behind him.

“Right there!” Louis shouted to Morales, who arrived just behind the others.

“Nothing bit you? Scratched you?” Lori demanded, examining Carl for any wounds he received. Rick lingered a moment, watching this interaction before joining Shane, Morales, Dale, and Jim in examining what the children had seen. As they entered the treeline, they quickly gazed upon a walker, devouring the corpse of a deer with multiple arrows sticking out of its side. Rick, Shane, and Morales work together, knocking the walker to the ground, as Dale prepares his axe and swings, coming down directly onto the walker’s neck, severing its head. The group takes deep breaths, scanning the surrounding area as the tensions calm.

“First one we’ve had up here. They never come this far up the mountain.” Dale informed the group, specifically the newcomer, Rick.

“They’re running out of food in the city, that’s what.” Jim declared, as the group heard branches snapping just beyond some bushes past the clearing where the walker was found. Rick readied his Colt Python as Shane raised a shotgun in the direction, as a man wearing a brown tank top and dirty ripped jeans emerged, wielding a crossbow.

“Oh, Jesus…” Dale muttered, motioning for Rick to lower his gun as Shane lowered his shotgun.

“Son of a bitch. That’s my deer! Look at it, all gnawed on by this…” the man, vented in frustration before beginning to kick the headless corpse of the walker, “filthy, disease-bearing, motherless bastard.”

“Calm down, son. That’s not gonna do ya any good.” Dale attempted to calm the man, as Rick quickly realized from his demeanor that this was Merle Dixon’s brother, Daryl.

“What do you know ‘bout it, old man?” Daryl bellowed, getting directly into Dale’s face as the older man backed away holding his hands up, “Why don’t you take that stupid hat and go back on to “the golden pond”? I been trackin’ this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think?” Daryl glanced over the deer, evaluating its corpse and taking note of the bite marks and chewed off flesh being localized to one area of the deer’s body, “Think we can cut around this?”

“I wouldn’t risk that.” Shane declared, as Daryl sighed in defeat.

“Shame. I got some squirrel, ‘bout a dozen or so. That’ll have to do.”

As Daryl finished his sentence, the head of the walker began moving its teeth, startling the members of the group.

“Oh, God…” Amy mumbled, covering her mouth and audibly gagging.

“Come on people…gotta be the brain, don’t y’all know nothin’?” Daryl shouted, readying his crossbow and firing one bolt directly into the brain.

### File A Complaint

As the group returned to the main area of the camp, Daryl shouted out for his brother, “Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel, let’s stew ‘em up!”

Rick and Shane shared a glance, following a few feet behind Daryl, before Shane decided to speak up, “Daryl, slow up a bit. We gotta talk.”

“About what?” Daryl spun to face the man.

“About Merle. There was uh…” Shane rubbed the back of his head, “A problem in Atlanta.”

“He dead?” Daryl quickly requested, his gaze rapidly flipping between the two men.

“We’re not sure.”

“He either is or he ain’t!” Daryl quickly shouted, getting closer to the two men, as Rick gently pushed against Daryl’s chest to keep some space.

“No easy way to say this, so I’ll just say it.” Rick finally spoke up, igniting a reaction from Daryl.

“And who the hell are you supposed to be?” Daryl aggressively pondered, pointing a finger in Rick’s face.

“Rick Grimes.”

“Rick Grimes,” Daryl seethed, “You got somethin’ you wanna tell me?”

Rick sighed, “Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He’s still there.”

Daryl scoffed in bewilderment, “Hold on. Lemme process this. You’re saying, you handcuffed my brother to a roof? And you left him there?!”

Rick and Shane once again shared a glance as Rick finalized his explanation, “Yeah.”

Not even a second after Rick’s final statement, Daryl flung the sling of squirrels off of his person and threw it at Rick, then swung at the man. His blow missed, but caused Rick to stumble backwards, landing on his back but quickly getting back up, as Shane rushed Daryl but was shoved aside. As Rick and Shane recovered, Daryl reached for a knife in his holster.

“Yo! Watch the knife!” T-Dog warned, readying himself in case he felt he needed to jump in. His thoughts quickly diminished as Shane rushed Daryl from behind, knocking the knife from his hand and placing him in a chokehold.

“Aye, you’d best let me go!” Daryl mumbled between breaths, “Choke hold’s illegal.”

“File a complaint.” Shane mocked him, “Come on, man, we’ll keep this up all day.” Shane tightened his grip in each instance that Daryl would resist or attempt to break free. Rick approached, closely to Daryl’s face in an attempt to build some sort of rapport.

“I’d like to have a calm discussion here. Do you think we can manage that?” Rick requested from the man, getting closer as Daryl remained quiet, “Do you think we can manage that?” He repeated, as Daryl reluctantly nodded. Shane released the redneck, who paced for a moment before kicking a rock.

“What I did was not on a whim. Your brother doesn’t play well with others, I’m sure you’re clear on that.” Rick explained, as Daryl slowly began to become more attentive to the deputy, as T-Dog finally involved himself in the discussion.

“Wasn’t his fault,” T-Dog declared, garnering Daryl’s attention, “I had the key. I dropped it.”

“You couldn’t pick it up?” Daryl mocked, waving his hand in frustration.

“We were on the roof. Flew right off the damn building.” T-Dog sighed in distress, the remorse of his mistake visible to the others.

“If that’s s’posed to make me feel better, it don’t.” Daryl retorted.

“Well, maybe this will…look, I chained the door to the roof, so the geeks couldn’t get at him, with a padlock. Gotta count for something.” T-Dog explained, as the crowd surrounding the group thickened.

“Hell with y’all! Just tell me where he is so I can go find him.” Daryl yelled, addressing the entirety of the crowd at this point.

“He’ll show you,” Lori told Daryl, before moving her gaze over to her husband, “Isn’t that right?”

Rick somberly nodded, locking his eyes with Lori as Daryl glared at Rick in his peripheral vision, and Rick finally spoke to agree to these terms, “I’m goin’ back.”

Lori stormed off toward the RV, as Carl glanced at his father in distress.

### A Debt

Rick exits his tent, now clad in his deputy uniform once more. Daryl and Shane both approach Rick as he exits, Shane’s face bearing a tense expression.

“So that’s it, huh? Just gonna walk off? Just to hell with everyone else?” Shane accused Rick, livid over the idea of returning to Atlanta.

“I’m not sayin’ to hell with anybody, Shane.” Rick retorted, locking his eyes with his best friend.

“Throw me a bone here, man,” Shane pleaded, rubbing the back of his head as he scoffed, “Could you tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?”

“Hey, careful there.” Daryl warned the man, who glanced at him begrudgingly.

“Douche bag’s what I meant.” Shane quickly responded, “Merle Dixon…guy wouldn’t give you a glass of water if you were dyin’ of thirst.”

“What he would or wouldn’t do is of no concern to me.” Rick justified as Shane rolled his eyes, “I can’t let a man die of thirst…thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That’s no way for anything to die, let alone a human being.” He finished as Lori approached catching the end of Rick’s justifications.

“So you and Daryl? That’s the big plan?” Lori muttered, crossing her arms, as Rick glanced over at Glenn who had been watching.

“Oh, come on.” Glenn mumbled distressingly.

“I know, it’s not fair of me to ask. But I’d feel a lot better with you along, and I know Lori would too.” Rick pleaded, as Glenn hesitantly nodded his head.

“That’s just great. Gonna risk three men now?” Shane yelped in annoyance.

“Four.” T-Dog joined in, raising his hand as Daryl huffs in response.

“My day just gettin’ better and better, ain’t it?” He sarcastically declares.

“You see anybody else here steppin’ up to save your brother’s cracker ass?”

“It’s not just four,” Shane stepped in, “You’re puttin’ every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that walker. It was here, in the camp. They’re moving out of the cities. If they come back, we need every able body we got.”

“It seems to me like we need guns,” Rick retorts, “Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns, seven hundred rounds, assorted. I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It’s just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up. “

“You went through hell to find us, you just got here, now you’re gonna turn around and leave?” Lori exclaimed angrily.

“Dad, I don’t want you to go.” Carl joined in.

“Lori, I have to.” Rick rebutted, “I owe a debt to a man and his little boy. If they hadn’t taken me in, I’d be dead. It’s because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they’d follow me to Atlanta, they’ll walk in the same trap I did if I don’t warn him.”

“What’s stopping you?” Lori asked.

“The walkie-talkie. The one in the bag I dropped, he’s got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer.”

“So use the CB. What’s wrong with that?” Andrea butted in, catching the latest of the conversation.

“CB’s fine. It’s the walkie’s that suck shit. Date back to the ‘70s, don’t match any other bandwidth…not even the scanners in our cars.” Shane answered.

“I need that bag,” Rick pleaded with his wife, “Okay?”

Lori stood quiet for a moment before offering a slight, hesitant nod, as Rick paced off toward Dale’s RV with T-Dog right behind.

### A Deal

Dale sat by his RV alongside Jim, keeping watch in the distance for any sign of the undead as Rick and T-Dog approach, ready to make a deal.

“Dale,” Rick called out, stopping just shy of the RV placing his hands on his hips, “Rumor is you have bolt cutters.”

“Maybe.” Dale enigmatically responded, relaxing in his chair.

“We need to get to that roof, dog. Gotta cut off that chain to get up there.” T-Dog advised the older man, as Jim quietly watched.

“I never liked lending tools. The last time I did - and yes, I’m talking about you T-Dog…” Dale motioned to the man accusingly but somewhat jokingly, “Let’s just say, your bag of guns wasn’t the only bag that was dropped. My tools got left behind with Merle.”

“We’ll bring your tools back,” Rick offered, “Think of the bolt cutters as an investment.”

“Sounds like more of a gamble,” Dale retorts while handing over the bolt cutters, “What do I get in return? One of those guns, maybe? My pick.”

“Done.”

Jim finally shifted forward in his chair, “Dale, let’s…sweeten the deal a bit. Now that cube van…”

“What about it?” Rick asked the mechanic.

“The RV’s radiator hose is shot. That’s a problem if we need to get somewhere and wanna get very far. And the hose on that van is just about a perfect match…well, enough that I can make it fit.”

“Tell you what…we get back, you can strip that van down to the bare metal.” Rick accepts, glancing behind him as Daryl begins slamming on the horn in the box truck they are preparing to depart in. Rick thanks the men before pacing toward the truck, only to be stopped by Shane.

“Got any rounds in the Python?” Shane asks him, reaching into his pockets.

“No. Fresh out.” Rick answers, checking the Colt Python just in case.

“Last time we were in the gun range, I scrounged up some of your loose rounds. Figured you could use ‘em.” Shane informed his friend while pulling some loose rounds from his pocket that he had retrieved from his bag and handing them to Rick.

“You and that bag…” Rick joked, offering a slight chuckle, “Like the bottom of an old lady’s purse.”

Shane smiled before his face returned to a tense expression, “I hate that you’re doin’ this man, I think that it’s foolish and it’s reckless, but if you’re gonna go, you’re takin’ bullets.”

“I’m not sure I’d wanna fire a shot in the city, not after what happened last time.”

“That’s up to you.” Shane mumbled, “Just come back as soon as you can, alright?”

“Alright. Thank you.” Rick thanked his friend, preparing to step off, until Shane grabbed him gently by his shoulder, considering taking his friend in for a hug, but changing his mind, patting Rick’s shoulder and walking off toward the tents instead, as Rick enters the driver’s side of the box truck.

Shane stopped just short of the Grimes tent where he overhead Lori and Carl speaking inside.

“Hey, I bet they’re gonna be just fine.” Shane heard Lori mumble to Carl as the boy lied down in the tent.

“I know. I’m not worried. Are you?” Carl responded calmly.

“Yeah. A little.” Lori answered his question, her tone indicating confusion at the young boy’s response.

“Don’t be. After everything that’s happened to him so far…nothing’s killed him yet.”

From outside the tent, Shane offered a sly chuckle inaudible to the two inside. Lori smiled, turning around to look at Shane, her face quickly shifting to a look of indifference as she processed Shane’s appearance. Shane’s smile slowly crept away, as he paced off toward his own tent.

### Return

As Rick pulls the box truck into park just outside the limits of the city, he glances rapidly around his surroundings, evaluating for any threats.

“He’d better be okay.” Daryl insists, exiting the vehicle just as it comes to a stop.

“We can walk from here.” Glenn informs the group, “Just along the tracks for now.”

Back at the camp’s quarry, Shane stood with Carl in the water, while the women of the camp worked on the laundry about 50 yards away.

“I’m not getting anything.” Carl mumbled, desperate to catch even a single frog as Shane had promised as they trudge through the water.

“Yeah, bein’ all wily, staying submerged, little suckers. They know somethin’s up, that’s what’s going on. Just going to have to do this the old fashioned way.” Shane assured Carl, “You are the key in all this, little man. All I’m gonna do is gonna after one of them, all right, scare the rest of ‘em off. They’re gonna scatter and I’m gonna drive ‘em your way.”

“Alright.”

“What you need to do is round up every bad boy you see, got it? You with me?” Shane hyped the young boy up, patting his back.

“Yeah. Yeah…” Carl excitedly exclaimed.

“Hells yeah, gimme your mean face, alright? Let’s go.” Shane yelped, growling alongside Carl in a joking expression. The two laugh as Shane crouch walks around in the shallow water, before taking note of a group of frogs, splashing them in the direction of Carl, “C’mon little man! Get ‘em! Get that net in there and get ‘em!”

Nearby, Andrea, Amy, Carol, Jacqui, and Miranda witnessed the display unfolding.

“I’m beginning to question the division of labor here.” Jacqui mumbles, with Andrea and Amy nodding in agreement.

“What’d you get boy? What you got?” Shane excitedly asked the young boy as he pulled the net from the water.

“Dirt.” Carl shyly responded.

“Oh, boy. Let’s start over, let’s find the bucket.” Shane chuckled, reaching his hands into the water to locate the bucket they had previously been utilizing.

Back to the laundry zone, Jacqui further questioned the labor of the camp, “Can someone explain to be how the women wound up doin’ all the Hattie McDaniel work?”

“The world ended. Didn’t you get the memo?” Amy responded sarcastically, as Carol’s husband, Ed, glared in the distance, leaning against the back of a truck with a cigarette in his mouth.

“Just the way it is…” Carol somberly declared.

### Swapping War Stories

Moments later, the group of women doing laundry grow bored of the monotone activity, Carol deciding to spark up some conversation, “God, I miss my maytag.”

“I miss my Benz.” Andrea declared, sighing.

“I miss my coffeemaker with that dual-drip filter and built-in grinder, honey.” Jacqui joked, thinking about the delicacy that would be considered rare nowadays.

“My computer…texting…” Amy pondered.

“I miss my vibrator.” Andrea boldly exclaimed, as the women around her began laughing, pausing for a beat.

“Me, too.” Carol agreed, but not before glancing over her shoulder to see if her husband was listening. The women continue to laughing as Ed finally takes notice and approaches them.

“What’s so funny?” He condescendingly asks.

“Just swappin’ war stories, Ed.” Andrea tells the man, but notices his presence lingering over them as they continue laundry, “Problem, Ed?”

“Nothin’ that concerns you. And you ought to focus on your work, ain’t no comedy club.”

Gray Area

Nearby the women in the quarry, Lori approached the pair of Shane and Carl, “Carl, what’d I tell you about not leaving Dale’s sight?”

“But Shane said we could catch frogs.” Carl defended his actions.

“Doesn’t matter what Shane says, it matters what i say. Go on back to camp, I’ll be right behind you.” Lori demanded, waving Carl back up the trail leading to the mainland of the camp, before turning her attention to Shane.

“I don’t think you should be takin’ this out on him.” Shane mournfully declares, urging a scoff from Lori.

“You don’t tell me what to do. You lost that privilege.” Lori scorns him, before turning around to walk away, only to be gently grasped on the arm by Shane.

“Lori, could you wait up a sec? I think we should talk. We never had a chance-”

“No. No, no. That’s over too. You can tell that to the frogs.”

“Dammit, Lori. Look, I don’t know how it appears to you or what you think…”

“How it appears to me? I’m sorry, is there a gray area here? Let me dispel it. You stay away from me. You stay away from my son, you don’t look at him, you don’t talk to him. From now on my family is off-limits to you.”

Shane buried his face in his hands, annoyed, before looking back at the woman, “Lori, I don’t think that’s fair.”

“My husband is back. He is alive.”

“He’s my best friend. You don’t think I’m happy about that?”

“How fucking dare you? Why would you be? You are the one that told me he died, you son of a bitch.” Lori finalized, storming off behind Carl back to the camp, as Shane glances over to the women once more doing the laundry, looking for something to take his mind off the confrontation.

### Final Straw

In Atlanta, Rick, Glenn, Daryl, and T-Dog enter the department store the group had previously sought shelter in on the previous run to the city, finding one walker roaming. Daryl quickly disposed of the walker with his crossbow, firing one bolt through its skull and removing it with ease, as they head to the staircase.

Back at the quarry, Shane watches from a distance as the tension heats up in the situation unfolding with Andrea and Ed.

“Ed, tell you what, you don’t like how your laundry is done, you are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself. Here.” Andrea sarcastically declares, tossing a wet shirt at the large man, only to be hit in the face as he tosses it right back at her.

“Ain’t my job, missy.” Ed yelps, edging closer to Andrea’s face.

“Andrea, don’t.” Carol insists as Andrea steps closer to the man.

“What is your job, Ed? Sitting on your ass smoking cigarettes?” Andrea declared, her face spelling out that she is fully ready for the confrontation.

“Well, it sure as hell ain’t listening to some uppity smart-mouthed bitch. Tell you what…” Ed looks to Carol, aggressively grabbing her arm, “Come on. Let’s go.”

“I don’t think she needs to go anywhere with you, Ed.” Andrea insists, stepping between the two.

“Andrea, please, it doesn’t matter…” Carol meekly mumbled.

“It’s none of your business, you bitch,” Ed shouts, “Don’t think I won’t knock you on your ass just ‘cause you’re some college-educated cooze, alright?” Ed threatens Andrea, before turning his attention back to Carol, “Now you come on now, or you gonna regret it later.”

“So she can show up with fresh bruises later? Yeah, we’ve seen ‘em.” Jacqui butts in, standing from the stool she had been previously sitting in.

Ed laughs in a condescending tone, “Stay out of this. Now come on! I am done talking.”

Ed yanks on Carol’s arm, as Andrea, Jacqui, and Amy interject attempting to separate the two. The situation worsens as Carol attempts to pull away, leading to a physical reaction from Ed, who harshly smacks the woman across the face. The women intervene once more, with Andrea aggressively shoving Ed in an attempt to force him off of her, however, it is only Shane’s intervention that stops him.

Shane grabs Ed by the back of his collar, tossing him to the ground and dragging him a short distance away, all with Ed demanding Shane lets him go.

“Get the fuck off me!” Ed shouts, futilely clawing at the deputy’s hand. His clawing stops as Shane throws Ed to the ground on his back, getting one top of him as Amy comforts Carol just behind them with an embrace. The women watch as Shane releases his pent up anger, all of his frustrations into Ed’s face. Blow after blow, Ed becomes more and more unrecognizable as Carol sobs in the background and Andrea, Amy, and Jacqui watch in both horror and relief as Ed is finally put in his place.

Shane continues pummeling the man before grabbing him by both cheeks with one hand, pulling him close, “You put your hands on your wife, your little girl, or anybody else in this camp one more time, I will not stop. Do you hear me?” He pauses, giving Ed a chance to respond, “Do you hear me?!”

“Yes..” Ed weakly mumbles, before he is punched once more by Shane.

“I’ll beat you to death, Ed.” Shane quietly threatens him, punching the man one more time before standing up and beginning to walk away, only to turn around once more and kick Ed square in the stomach. He finally storms off past Andrea, Amy, and Jacqui as Carol, sobbing, approaches Ed and crouches down next to him.

“Ed, I’m sorry, oh God…” She sobs over him, cradling him as he spits out his own blood on the ground.

Back in Atlanta, the men finally reach the rooftop, as T-Dog cuts through the padlock and enters the roof, Daryl brushing past the other men.

“Merle! Merle!” Daryl shouts, reaching the spot where the group had left Merle behind, before stopping in his tracks and breaking out into sobs, “No! Fuck, no!”

Daryl shouts as T-Dog, Glenn, and finally Rick join him in his realization. They stare at the pipe, the handcuff still linked to it, but empty. And just below the cuffs, a pool of blood surrounding Merle’s severed hand.

## Co-Stars

* IronE Singleton as T-Dog
* Jeryl Prescott Sales as Jacqui Moore
* Adam Minarovich as Ed Peletier
* Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier
* Madison Lintz as Sophia Peletier
* Maddie Lomax as Eliza Morales
* Noah Lomax as Louis Morales
* Viviana Chavez-Vega as Miranda Morales

## Trivia

* This episode is Shane-centric.
* First appearance of Jim West.
* First appearance of Ed Peletier.
* First appearance of Carol Peletier.
* First appearance of Sophia Peletier.
* First appearance of Miranda Morales.
* First appearance of Louis Morales.
* First appearance of Eliza Morales.
* Last appearance of Merle Dixon. *(Unknown)*
* This episode features 11 chapters.