"But have you ever imagined?"
"This isn't actually what you want, nor is it what Lori wants?"
Shane suddenly frowned slightly. Shawn softened his tone a bit more and continued,
"Under the unprecedented major crisis, you and Lori are both escaping."
"You put everything on Lori and Carl, as if as long as they are alive, everything you have hasn't disappeared and is still the same as before."
"And Lori is surviving in the apocalypse as an orphan and a widow. Her feelings for you are just an emotional reliance during a crisis."
"None of this is the real you. Lori already knows what she wants; it's just that you're still standing still."
Shane murmured in a trance, "But… what should I do?"
At this moment, Shane was still thinking of Lori, but with less urgency and absoluteness.
"Look around, Shane." Shawn spread his hands.
"Here, the Prison!"
"This is where you can show your abilities, the best place to entrust your lonely soul!"
"Your true value doesn't lie in possessing Lori or power, but in here, in all the people living here."
"But! But…"
Shane's lips trembled, suddenly a little agitated.
"But you haven't realized the consequences of your persistence!" Shawn forcefully suppressed Shane's voice.
"The struggle for power depends on the struggle of consciousness!"
"The law of the jungle you believe in will make you thrive in this apocalypse, but it will only give you the ability to rule people with 'terror'."
"Because of power, you fought Rick. You have already regarded Lori as an outward manifestation of the power struggle."
"You secretly believe that by having Lori in your hands, you have gained power, and you have won the invisible struggle against Rick!"
"But in reality, everything you've done has only pushed the team to the edge of a cliff."
"Shane, in this damn apocalypse, internal division within the team is equivalent to collective suicide!!"
Shawn grabbed his collar, seeing everything in his eyes clearly.
It was a pair of eyes with their fig leaf completely torn off, filled with shock and a hint of shame.
Perhaps even Shane himself was wondering why this person in front of him understood him even better than Rick?
Suddenly.
Shawn released Shane's collar.
"You say you still want to protect Lori, but do you know what Lori is thinking?"
Shawn looked at him, his body reeking of alcohol.
"She said last time she missed me a lot, she… she still remembers the times we spent together!"
Shane seemed to grasp at a last straw, desperately trying to prove the truth of his words to Shawn.
His eyes flickered, staring intently at Shawn, not even noticing that his voice had begun to tremble.
"Alas—" Shawn sighed.
He hadn't intended to hurt Shane, but now it seemed that if he didn't make things clear, Shane would just keep going back and forth.
"Is that truly love?" Shawn's voice was like thin shards of ice.
Shane's heart sank with a 'thump', and the intense feeling of freefall drained all color from his face.
"No… no way… she wouldn't…"
Shane kept repeating, his face growing paler and paler.
"When she needed to find a reliance for Carl and herself, you should have known that her emphasis on family was greater than personal feelings."
"When Rick came back, Lori didn't choose to confront Rick, but chose to distance herself from you, even directly telling you she was cutting ties!"
"Why did she change her mind later?"
"Why did she still approach you, knowing Rick existed?"
"Why would she say intimate things to you that were detrimental to family stability?"
Shawn pressed on, completely compressing Shane's last bit of breathing room.
"Don't force me, don't force me…"
Shane held his head in pain, backing away step by step, like a lamb cornered by a big bad wolf on a cliff.
But Shawn did not stop because of this; the words he spoke were even more piercing.
"Because she has always been afraid of you, because she understands you, she fears you!"
"She worries that your existence will threaten the stability of the 'family'."
"The so-called nostalgia is just an excuse to keep you stable."
"But perhaps even she herself didn't expect that the words she spoke would have the opposite effect."
"Shane… Lori is pregnant, isn't she?"
Boom—!
Thunder rolled in Shane's mind!
Shawn's words were like a thunderbolt, directly shattering Shane's consciousness!
He stood stiff, his body even forgetting to tremble.
He didn't know why Shawn knew about Lori's pregnancy, even though Shawn was training Carl in the wilderness at the time.
Shane wanted to retort.
He wanted to shout, "You got it all wrong!"
But at this moment, he couldn't say anything.
Shawn ignored Shane's expression and continued to guide Shane, adding fuel to the raging fire that had ignited in his consciousness and spirit.
"You want to protect Lori, but you don't realize that everything you're doing now is continuing to hurt her!"
"This relationship, for Lori, is a quagmire she wants to break free from but is powerless to."
"She's not doing any better than you; you're in pain… she's also in pain!"
"When you eagerly pursue a close connection with her, isn't it also continuously deepening her psychological burden and then completely dragging her into an abyss?!"
"What will be the fate of a pregnant woman, under immense pressure, surviving in a team that is gradually disintegrating internally, in this apocalypse?"
"Shane, can you tell me?"
"Tell me!"
Shawn suddenly roared.
Shane fell to the ground with a 'thud', his body uncontrollably collapsing.
At some point, a thin layer of sweat covered his face.
He gasped for breath, his heart feeling as if a huge stone was pressing on it, almost suffocating him.
"She… she…"
Shane broke down.
Perhaps for Shane at this moment, death was a release.
The sharpness in his eyes towards Shawn was gone, replaced by a hint of pleading.
It was precisely because of the man standing before him at this moment.
Whether it was his strength, his prestige within the team, or his aura, he had completely crushed Shane, leaving him utterly unable to resist.
And it was precisely because Shane still had a conscience that he deeply understood that everything Shawn said was true.
Seeing Shane's complete breakdown, Shawn knew his goal for the night had been achieved.
He knelt down and gently pulled Shane's head into an embrace, not minding his sweaty hair in the slightest.
Fingers, strong as iron, slid from the back of Shane's head down to his nape.
Then, with a slight squeeze!
Shane's trembling body suddenly stiffened, then, as if all strength had left him, he slumped onto Shawn.
"Alright, sleep. Everything will be better tomorrow."
Shawn's tone softened, no longer as aggressive as before.
He stood up and looked back.
He saw Rick standing nearby, at some unknown point.
Seeing Shawn look at him, he silently nodded to Shawn, and the look in his eyes when he turned back to Shane was filled with complexity.
In this damn apocalypse, everyone needed their own unique liberation.
Didn't they?
Brother.
-------------------------------
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