Chapter Text
He wasn't even going to try sugarcoating it, Shane was ready for hell after Rick stabbed him.
...
This was not what he had in mind.
Not waking up to find himself in his bed, in his apartment, in his hometown.
How was this happening? Didn't he just die? Was it all...
No...it was too real, all of it was too real to be a nightmare.
But he seemed to be here, and there were no signs of walkers or a rundown building, everything looked fine.
So...was he somehow thrown back in time? If so, how?
...
Nope, to hell with those questions, he'd rather they remain unanswered.
...
But if this truly was the past then...
He rushed up out of bed, shirtless and only in his pajamas, going to his calendar hanging up on the wall nearby.
Three months.
That's how long he had until...all of it played out.
...
But he could...he could change things.
There were a few things he regretted.
Leaving Rick in that hospital.
Sleeping with Lori later on.
Actually considering killing Rick.
Disregarding Sophia.
Sleeping with Andrea.
Trying to murder Rick.
Rick.
The person at the front of his mind.
He couldn't do that again, already he'd betrayed the man he...doesn't matter right now.
All that matters is he's got three months.
And when that moment happens, well, at least he knows this time around about that third man.
When she came to, Lori found herself on the couch.
Walkers...Shane going insane...walkers on the farm...Rick...the prison...her baby...
"Lori?"
She sat up and turned to see Rick sitting beside her, looking at her with concern.
"You alright?"
She thought on it.
She could tell him right?
...
Then again he didn't seem...aware.
So she decided against it.
"Yeah, I'm fine. What happened?"
"We were arguing about...something...and you suddenly just...dropped."
She nodded slowly.
She suddenly recalled how horrible a wife she was to Rick, he deserved far better than her.
"Sorry, I don't know what came over me. Where's Carl?"
"I sent him to his room, he's fine."
Again she nodded.
...
All that arguing, and for what? Because she was mad that he wouldn't just go off on her? Rick wasn't like that, well not the one she grew to knew post outbreak, but this Rick was different, too kind for his own good.
Lori hated herself.
She had slept with Shane after, because she thought Rick was dead and so did he, but...regardless, she cheated on him.
Which led to Shane spiraling into insanity, and him trying and failing to kill Rick, and Rick becoming the man she knew while surviving all of that.
She was at fault for that.
She already kind of figured she was back in the past, so no issue there, but now she had things to do.
First this relationship.
Rick truly was too good for her, Lori would admit she was a terrible wife and not exactly a great mother considering that during the apocalypse she had constantly lost track of her own son.
Oh, she did, now it truly did hit her.
Honestly, this marriage was not really salvageable at this point, mainly thanks to her.
She felt it would be better if they separated.
No prenup or anything, for one the world would end in...was it three months? And secondly, she had no reason for it, so why would she need one?
Lori also wasn't naive, before the outbreak, the first go around, she'd seen the way Shane looked at Rick, and the way Rick, unconsciously, displayed similar feelings.
She knew Shane didn't discriminate on who he was interested in, male or female, but the way he looked at Rick was different.
Of course, after the world went to hell, she herself had fucked that up too, Shane by that point was at the point of no return.
But regardless...
And next she had to get them ready, Rick would be shot and in the hospital in two months, and the outbreak would happen only a bit afterwards.
She couldn't be weak, she couldn't rely on anyone else, she couldn't be the past version of herself, no, she was weak then.
She had to be strong, to be able to protect herself, her son, her daughter (if that still happened, which she doubted now), and the others who'd join their group.
She'd been muttering to herself and so deep in thought that she barely registered that the words had slipped out.
"Rick this isn't working anymore. I still love you, but...not in the same way, and I think we should get a divorce."
She didn't even register the look of shock and hurt on Rick's face.
Maybe that was bad of her, but right now she had to start preparing.
Because their world as they knew it ended in three lousy months.
Hershel stood out on the front porch, looking out at the land in front of him.
His morning had been...quite a shocker.
When he'd woken up, gotten dressed etc, he'd gone downstairs only to find his wife and stepson were alive.
Not sick, not walkers, but alive.
So was everyone else in his family who were at the moment.
He'd noticed Maggie having a similar reaction as him, though managing to quickly gather herself and hide it, except from him.
Similar story with Beth.
So his Maggie and Bethie remembered too, their past life, before waking up here, in the past.
Hershel didn't know if this was a blessing or a curse, but he'll be damned if he didn't take this chance to ensure his family is all here later on.
And also prepare for Rick and his group as well.
Step one, stop Annette and Shawn from helping any "sick people".
Step two, no walkers in the barn.
From there things should, hopefully, go far better.
Though he hoped Rick and his group didn't arrive in the same way as last time.
Morgan had locked himself in his bedroom.
Duane was alive, he was fine.
Jenny was too.
Three months until everything fell apart.
He didn't believe it at first but, it made sense.
He'd died, then woken up here, all the way back in the past, somehow.
Which meant...he could save them.
He could save Jenny.
He could save Duane.
He wouldn't separate from Rick this time around.
...
Rick.
...
No, he had a wife, so did Rick, that couldn't happen.
But...if Jenny still...then he'd have to be ready.
If so, he wouldn't hesitate this time, last time it cost him his son, he wouldn't make that mistake again.
Hopefully he could save Jenny, but...could he?
No, of course he could, and he would.
He wasn't loosing his family this time.
Ok, he must be high as shit.
Cause that whole dream, or nightmare, or whatever the fuck it was, was very...weird.
But Merle would admit, it made him think a lot.
He was a horrible brother, Daryl didn't deserve his dumbass.
It made him pissed off at himself for the first time in a long time.
He knew what he had to do.
He had to get off his ass, and step up, be a man, be the brother Daryl needed.
Sure daddy wasn't here no more to continue on his torture, but Daryl needed him, it didn't matter.
And for starters, he was gonna get off this god damn meth and shit.
Don't get him wrong, he ain't going to no rehab, but he is gonna get himself clean if it's the last thing he does.