Part of Rick wondered if maybe Shane had been right from the beginning, maybe “his way” of doing things was the right one. It wasn’t the first time something like that had crossed his mind. Every time he killed someone, every time something had to be sacrificed so his people could go on surviving he thought of the man now sitting beside him. He thought of how he would feel about it. How he would deal with things. And Rick took it into consideration.
Then he thought about Dale, about Andrea, about Hershel… He thought about Lori. He thought about what Daryl would do, how Carol would handle things, what Morgan would tell him… He would think about Michonne. He thought about all these people and what they would do, what they would tell him. However at the end of the day it didn’t matter. What mattered was his decisions, his choices, his words that people followed.
His decisions that got people killed.
Shane hadn’t been right back then. He had grown unstable, and dangerous– Hell, maybe he still was. It didn’t matter. What mattered was there was a man sitting next to him who had known him since he was a child, a man he used to be able to call his best friend. Rick had changed a lot since they last saw each other, he couldn’t help but wonder how much Shane had as well.
“What do you think?” It sounded like a childish response, but he was honestly curious. He was curious what Shane would think he would do. What Shane would do.
"What do I think you would do? Or what do I think you should do?"
At one time he would have given a sure as fuck answer to both those questions, and would probably be right on both accounts. But now? He wasn't so sure as fuck about either. Rick had changed so much. The Rick he left back on the farm would have never gone in an assassinated an entire group of people just to get what he needed. The Rick he left would have probably insisted on some rational end to an irrational situation.
Now that clearly wasn't the case.
As for himself and what he thought they should do... Rick had changed a lot, but so had he. He wasn't so... sure he should be leading anything-- That was Andrea's thing now. And him? His solution would have been to go in there kick the door down, and shoot everyone. Not much different from Rick's plan, just a little less subtle. Both of them would have been wrong.
"I dunno, man. We've tried this my way/your way bullshit before and it didn't work out for anyone." Shane said turning his head, to look at his friend. He looked older, and so much more tired than he had only a little over a year ago. "But somethin' has got to be done, but this ain’t just about your group, or your friend, there are entire communities out here now in this shit. Whatever is gonna be done it's gotta be done before this gets any more out of hand."
He leaned his elbow against the door, "that's what I think."
