Broken Realities: What-if

Author note at the end. Enjoy.

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Hershel regarded the family carefully. "What brings you folks to our farm?"

Kenny's face grew serious. "We're heading to the coast. Figured the islands might be safer. But we've been on the road for days, and the RV has been making some noises." At his word, Shawn looked at Alex, matching a stare before looking back at the family.

"I just need to check it and maybe let the machine rest for a bit, then get back to the road." Kenny finished, gesturing towards his vehicle, while his wife looked around, and Duck, the boy, was barely able to stay in one place.

Hershel stroked his chin thoughtfully. "We've already got quite a few guests," he said, glancing at Alex and Lee. Who nodded as greeting to the man returning their nods. "But I suppose we can find room for a few more, at least for a night or two."

Relief washed over Kenny's face. "We'd be mighty grateful, sir. Though it shouldn't take that long."

Hershel said nothing and walked away, ending the conversation.

Kenny watched Hershel walk away, a mix of relief and confusion on his face. He turned to the others, his mustache twitching slightly as he spoke. "Well, I guess that settles it. We're staying for a bit."

Shawn stepped forward, extending his hand. "I'm Shawn. This is Lee," he said, gesturing to his companion then to Alex. "And Alex. Welcome to our farm."

"So, the coast, huh?" Lee asked, curiosity evident in his voice. "What made you decide on that?"

Kenny's eyes took on a distant look. "I'm a commercial fisherman by trade. Spent most of my life on the water. When all this started happening, it just made sense, you know? Get to an island, set up some nets, live off the sea."

"That's… that's a good plan as well…" Alex muttered, though Shawn heard it as well, but didn't say anything.

Katjaa placed a hand on her husband's arm. "Kenny has always been resourceful. We thought it would be safer for Duck, away from the cities."

Lee nodded, understanding their logic. "It's not a bad plan. Have you heard anything about the situation on the coast?"

Kenny shook his head. "Not much. Radio's been spotty at best. But it's gotta be better than what we've seen inland."

"I… Don't think so." Alex spoke up, turning their attention to him. While Kenny frowned, he still paid attention to the young man. "I don't think you'd be the first ones with that idea. Heck, I think most people in coast has already taken all the boats and got away. Those who were too late should be swarming the cities as Walkers or bandits by now."

Kenny's brow furrowed, a mix of frustration and worry crossing his face. "Look, kid, I appreciate the concern, but we've got to have some hope, you know? It's all we've got left."

Katjaa placed a calming hand on her husband's arm. "Kenny, he's just trying to help. We should consider all possibilities."

As they talked, Duck had wandered over to where Clementine was, introducing himself. Though when he noticed Clementine dodging him, he ran around the place instead, talking loudly.

"Your boy seems to be adjusting well," Lee observed, steering the conversation away while keeping an eye out for them, cutting off Kenny's thoughts.

"Duck, huh. Suits him." Shawn commented with a smile, which Kenny and his wife chuckled at, the previous tension forgotten. "So, you get it."

Though only Alex was confused, staring at the adults chuckling to themselves and once more when they noticed his confused stare.

Shawn, finally spoke up once more. "You mentioned your RV was having issues. We're enforcing the fences for now, but if you need any help, don't be shy."

Kenny nodded appreciatively at Shawn's offer. "Thanks, I might take you up on that. Been hearing some odd noises from the engine. Might be nothing, but better safe than sorry these days."

Duck came bounding over, full of energy. "Dad! Dad! Can I help with the RV? Please?" The boy's enthusiasm was infectious, immediately making Kenny chuckle once more while the others smiled at the family man.

"Sure thing, Ducky. Why don't you go grab my toolbox from the back?"

With that, everyone dispersed, though not before Shawn gestured towards the porch for Katja to sit at instead of standing around. Lee also asked if she could keep an eye on Clementine while she was there, which she happily agreed to.

Though Alex found himself watching Kenny and Duck work on the RV, both seemed to be having fun. Shawn nudged Alex's arm, pulling him from his thoughts. "Hey, you alright?"

Alex nodded, but his mind was still on Kenny's plan. "Hm? Yeah. Just thinking." He answered. "About?" Shawn asked and the younger man hesitated before sighing. "What do you think about what Kenny said? About the coast?"

Shawn sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know, man. It sounds good in theory, but like you said, they can't be the only ones thinking it."

As they reached the fence line, Alex picked up his hammer, but his mind was elsewhere. He was weighing the pros and cons of every location he had thought about while considering the skills and resources they had available. The only reason he hadn't chosen some island was the resources or skills to get there.

With Kenny there manning the boat, they could find an island, bring the materials they need and the essentials. That way, they are safe from walkers and humans.

By the time the sun was high in the sky, they had made significant progress on the fences. When it was time for launch, Shawn decided they need another break and went inside the house. But he didn't forget to mention that he'll talk to his dad about the plans and future treats.

Meanwhile, Alex talked with Lee about Macan.

"I'd prefer we went today." Lee told him while they walked up to Clementin, forehead ceased in worry. "I need to check up on my family."

Alex nodding, "Yeah, and me for my friend." Though he smiled at Clementine's discomfort. She looked like getting a headache from Duck talking so much and so loudly to her, while Kenny and Katja were not too far away either. Though when she saw Alex and Lee walking up to them, she smiled, running up to Lee.

"Lee!" She called in relief. With Duck falling silent now. Seeing the two men, the parents of the boy also joined them with their son right behind.

"Hey, Clem." The man greeted the 8 years old back with a smile. Alex couldn't help him but give her a head pat on her hat, earning himself a giggle.

While talking, they got back on the discussion of what they were when things went south and what they were going to do now. That's when Alex found what little Kenny shared, such as Kenny's family visiting Katja's sister in Memphis, Duck almost getting bit in a gas station, and him wanting to hole up in their boat until government takes care of everything.

Alex frowned at the last bit, a theory cooking up in his head, but he kept quiet, and it seemed Kenny appreciated it. That's when Lee revealed that they needed to head to Macon. "I'd be happy to give you three a ride since it's on the way."

Meanwhile, Duck seemed to understand the tension and kept quiet, while Clementine grabbed Lee's hand, who squeezed her hand in reassurance. She smiled at that.

Though the peacefulness ended as everyone picked up, in the silence, on the growling of walkers coming from the side where an unused tractor was.

As the growling of walkers pierced the air, everyone froze for a moment. Alex was the first to snap into action, his eyes quickly scanning the area. If he panicked right now and let things overflow, they would only kill the walkers without getting any information out of them. Something, Alex had no intention of letting go.

"Everyone, stay calm," he said, his voice low, shaky, but firm. "Kenny, get Duck and Katjaa to the RV. Lee, take Clementine to the porch. Call Shawn out while you're at it."

Kenny nodded, quickly ushering his family towards their vehicle. Lee hesitated for a moment, looking at Alex with concern.

"Are you sure about this?" Lee asked, his hand still holding Clementine's.

Alex nodded. "We need to assess the threat. Go."

As Lee and Clementine hurried towards the porch, Alex turned his attention to the source of the growling. He could see movement behind the tractor, and when they stopped hiding behind the tractor, he heard loud gasp from Clementine, who hugged Lee's leg while trembling. Alex's own heart was racing, but he forced himself to remain calm.

"Hey, uglies!" He called loudly. Immediately, the four walkers that were banging on the fence to get to the porch turned their attention towards him. That's when Shawn and Hershel came out, with the old man shutting the door behind him to hide his wife who almost followed him out.

"Shawn!" Alex called out, breaking the older young man's focus from the walker to him. "I need you to be my eyes on the ground. Stop me from tripping on anything." He told him, while the man looked confused. But as soon as Alex ran towards the fence and jumped out, everyone gasped once more.

Hershel ran inside to get his shotgun, coming out with a yell to someone inside. "Stay inside!"

"Are you crazy!" Shawn yelled, running to the fence Alex jumped out. Alex replied, his voice steady. "We need to handle this carefully. I want to test something." Eyes focused on the walkers as they started to circle the fence and get to him. He glanced around the area, making sure there won't be any other surprise.

"Tell your dad to not shoot." Alex ordered, before Shawn did as he said. Before turning to him, staring at the walkers slowly trying to reach Alex who backpedaled step by step. Shawn looked at him incredulously. "Test something? Are you crazy?"

Alex shook his head. "Just trust me. We need to understand these things better if we're going to survive long-term."

By now, Kenny had returned after locking his family in the RV, a determined look on his face, while theirs had an horrified one. "What's the plan, kid?"

Alex took a deep breath. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. We need to isolate one of them. Shawn, do you have any rope?"

Shawn nodded, still looking skeptical. "Yeah, in the barn."

"Good. Get it," Alex instructed. "Kenny, I need you to help me lure the rest away. We're going to try and restrain it." Though at the end, his voice cracked with his facial expression. For a moment, Kenny saw how terrified Alex looked before the 19 years old pushed on, clearing his throat.

"Fine. What do you want me to do." Kenny replied, voice firmer than any other time. "I need you to make as much noise as you can when Shawn ropes one of them. I'll continue be the bait."

Shawn returned with the rope, his face a mix of fear and determination. "I got it. Now what?"

"Tied in a circle, like those cowboys. You can do that?" Alex asked and Shawn just "uhhed" unsurely. "I can do that." Hershel interrupted, taking the rope and giving the shotgun to his son. Once tied, he turned to Alex, though not before warning him a little. "Careful, there's a hole on your next couple of steps."

"Thanks, okay." He murmured, when he saw Hershel ready. "Get the closest one to me. Kenny, I'll give you the signal. Go to the tractor and yell."

The tension in the air was heavy as everyone moved into position. Alex's heart raced, but he forced himself to remain calm, knowing that any mistake could be fatal.

"Now!" Alex shouted.

In a flurry of motion, Hershel swung the rope, managing to loop it around the neck of the nearest walker. The creature snarled at the object, but the man simply pulled and held him by the fence. Strong enough that it wouldn't walk away as Kenny made noises, but not enough where it would get pulled and fall into the house's front yard.

"Kenny!" Alex yelled, giving the signal.

Kenny immediately started shouting and banging on the tractor, drawing the attention of the other walkers. They turned, shambling towards the noise, leaving the captured one isolated.

Alex jumped back inside, giving Hershel a nod of gratitude. "Keep holding it like that for another few minutes." Without giving Hershel a chance, he ran towards Kenny who backed away from the walkers banging on the reinforced fences. Taking out his slingshot, he took aim with a steel ball and released.

The first one's head snapped back, falling back. His action made everyone else surprised, but Alex's focus stayed on the walking dead. With a frown, he aimed once more and fired, another died. Leaving the last uncaptured alive.

"Don't get close to it. Give me a second." Alex shakingly told Kenny, before running to his truck and coming back with his machete. "You're crazy." Kenny murmured when he passed him by, but Alex didn't say anything. Questions running around in his head.

"Normally, a slingshot can't pierce through a human skull, especially one as cheap as mine." Alex spoke, his voice echoing the area, bringing their focus on him, while Shawn decided to switch with his father, giving him back the shotgun.

Alex approached the lone walker cautiously, his grip on the machete tightening. "But that wasn't just luck back there," he continued, his tone grim. "The bones... they're softer for some reason. Decomposition weakens them, yes, but not to this degree. If these were regular people, I wouldn't have been able to drop them like that."

He stopped just short of the walker, which now snarled and snapped in his direction. Its sunken, rotted eyes glinted in the fading sunlight, and its stench made Alex almost vomit, but he pushed through.

Instead, he took a deep breath and swung the machete in a clean arc, not putting all his strength. Yet the walker's head was snapped from its neck, falling in the yard. The sound of bone and flesh giving way unnerving in the sudden silence.

'Too soft. Way too soft.'

Yet what was more unnerving was the head still moving, jaw trying to bite into anything, growling and groaning at anyone.

Alex stared at the still-moving head, his face a mixture of fascination and horror. The others looked on, their expressions ranging from disgust to shock.

Kenny muttered, breaking the silence. "What the hell are these things?"

Alex took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves. "These aren't just sick people. Sick people, if you chop their heads, they die. But these… Their entire physiology has changed."

"There's a fungus in the wild." Alex started, getting everyone's attention. "It produces by infected insects. The way it does is it gets into its brain and takes over the insects body."

Clementine closed her eyes, whimpering behind Lee's leg.

"It's alright…" Lee whispered to her weakly.

While Alex's face was pale, he gulped, before crouching next to the moving head. "The difference is, those insect are still alive while being controlled." The sentence brought chill down everyone present. But Alex continued. "These… things. They're dead. They don't feel pain or tiredness."

"Then…" Kenny muttered, looking at the dead walkers on the other side of the fence. Alex nodded. "The only way to put them down for good is the brains. Whatever it is, because its not a fungus, is in the brains. It's forcing the body to move even after a person has died."

Shawn, who had been watching the scene unfold with a mix of horror and fascination, finally spoke up. "What about the one we captured? What do you intend to do with it?"

"Test things on it. What does it react to other than sound? Is it blind? Does it have a good nose? How does it distinguish a walker from one who isn't one." Alex replied, taking his machete and piercing the head through the skull, immediately, the head stopped moving.

Alex stood up, eyes not leaving the body. When he did turn to face the group. Lee and Shawn turned away with a grimace. "There's a saying, something like. The unknown is scarier than the monster under your bed. But once you understand that monster, you can kill it."

Hershel's grip on the shotgun tightened. "You want to keep one of those monsters alive? On my farm?"

"Not alive," Alex corrected, his tone firm despite the tremor in his hands. Everyone could see it. But for the sake of the situation, they ignored it. "It's already dead. But yes, sir, I think we need to keep it... contained. At least for a while."

Lee stepped forward, Clementine still clinging to his leg. "Alex, I understand what you're trying to do, but is it worth the risk? What if it gets loose?"

Alex ran a hand through his hair with his free hand, the weight of the decision evident in his posture. "We'll take every precaution. Double, triple security measures. But think about it - what if we could find a way to move among them undetected? Or even know a horde of them are coming beforehand. The knowledge we gain could save lives." He noticed some figures on the windows of the house, but he ignored them. That wasn't important.

Kenny nodded slowly, his initial skepticism giving way to grudging agreement. "The kid's got a point. We're flying blind here. Any edge we can get could mean the difference between life and death."

"I don't need more than a day or two with it. The main thing I want to find out is how does distinguish a walker from one that isn't. We discover that, our world would change. We would take fewer risk while being out there to scavenge for food or survey the area."

That seemed to do the trick for Shawn as he turned to his father, still holding the walker to the fence with the rope. "Dad, I know it's asking a lot, but Alex is right."

Hershel remained silent for a long moment, his gaze moving from the captured walker to the faces of those around him. The situation was finally understood by him with its gravity. Finally, he let out a heavy tired sigh. "Alright. But at the first sign of trouble, we put it down. No exceptions."

Alex nodded, relief washing over him. "Thank you, sir. I promise, we'll be careful."

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Author Note:

Hello,

So something did come up. I fully intended to kill Shawn Greene like it happened in the game, but after watching a video, I saw that I had changed too many things and couldn't kill him off like I wanted. Hopefully, in the future, I get that chance again.

I'm not sure if its too fast or if I dropped enough hint about Alex's character development. I wanted to show that while others were running away from the walkers and such, Alex was one of the few who took time to learn about them. This was shown in the chapter where he took off a small horde instead of running away.

Every other character, in the game at least, ran away from them. Kenny with his family, Lee, the Greene family who thought they could be cured, etc. This chapter, it was my way to derail the story into the direction I want. If I see a chance for a character to die, I will take it and kill them off. Because people are stupid. But individual are smart (most of the time.)

This means that Macon arc will be pushed a chapter. But in exchange, I hope I'm giving you guys some entertainment.

Anyway, don't wanna rumble too long. Stay safe

Author out.

Walking Dead meme here.