Chapter 27 Shane Right

Just Wait 27: Chapter 27: Shane, Right?

Just Wait Chapter 27: Shane, Right?

Just Wait Seeing Magnus accept the blanket, Beth’s face immediately brightened.

“Dad wanted me to thank you for everything you’ve done for the farm,” she said.

“Maggie and I are grateful too.

Since you, Daryl, and the others showed up, we’ve actually been able to sleep without worrying about every sound outside.” Her sincerity left Magnus slightly embarrassed.

“You know this started as a trade, right?

Hershel let us stay on his property, so technically we should be thanking him.” He had promised to help protect the farm in exchange for a safe place to camp, and from his perspective he was simply holding up his end of the arrangement.

Beth, however, immediately shook her head.

“It’s more than that,” she insisted.

“When you first came here, we didn’t trust any of you because we thought we were doing fine on our own.

Then you settled in, started clearing walkers, hunting, bringing back supplies, and putting up defenses.” Beth gave him another small smile.

“It feels safer with you here.” There was no manipulation in her expression and no carefully chosen wording.

Beth was simply saying what she genuinely felt, and that straightforward gratitude warmed Magnus more than he expected.

“All right,” he said gently.

“Now get back inside before you freeze.

Nights cool off fast out here.” Beth nodded obediently.

“Okay.

Good night, Magnus.” She stepped down from the fire engine, closed the door for him, and headed back toward the farmhouse.

Magnus wrapped the blanket around himself and watched her cross the yard through the windshield.

For a moment, he thought he saw movement behind one of the second-floor windows of the Greene house, but when he focused on it, the silhouette was already gone.

Magnus narrowed his eyes.

“So Hershel’s awake.” He leaned farther back in the seat, thinking about why Hershel had specifically sent Beth out in the middle of the night when anyone could have delivered a blanket.

Beth herself clearly hadn’t attached any deeper meaning to it; she had simply listened to her father and came to thank Magnus.

Hershel, however, had lived long enough to understand that relationships mattered, especially now that the world outside had collapsed.

Magnus suspected the older man was quietly trying to strengthen the connection between his family and Magnus’s group.

Hershel had already realized that Magnus carried growing influence among Rick’s people, the Dixons, and the others at camp.

If something eventually happened to Hershel, knowing Maggie and Beth had people around them who genuinely cared whether they lived or died would bring a father some peace.

Sending Beth over with a blanket might have been nothing more than a small gesture, but Magnus doubted Hershel did it without thinking.

Then another thought occurred to him, and his irritation faded into amusement.

“Well, I’m not exactly a terrible choice to keep around,” Magnus muttered.

“Strong, useful, still breathing, and I bring home food.” A smug grin appeared before he caught himself and shook his head.

Whatever Hershel was thinking, Magnus had no intention of treating Beth or anyone else differently because of some unspoken family strategy.

“Enough.” Magnus pulled the blanket higher.

“People need to learn what nighttime is for.” He closed his eyes again, fully intending to finally get some sleep.

Apparently, the universe disagreed.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Magnus’s eyes flew open.

For several seconds he simply stared through the windshield at the moonlit farm with the expression of a man seriously reconsidering every relationship he had ever formed.

He had been woken by Jim, then Beth, and now somebody else had decided the middle of the night was the perfect time for conversation.

Magnus sat upright with enough anger on his face to scare a walker.

Bang.

Bang.

“Oh, somebody’s dying.” He yanked open the fire engine door.

Shane Walsh stood outside.

Magnus stared at him.

Then smiled in a way that contained absolutely no warmth.

“Finally.” Shane’s brow furrowed.

“What?” Magnus stood.

“You out of your damn mind, Shane?” he snapped.

“You think this is a roadside motel where you knock on somebody’s door whenever you feel like it?

Or did being a sheriff’s deputy suddenly give you night vision, so you’ve decided normal conversations only happen after midnight?” Shane blinked.

Magnus kept going.

“I’ve had half the farm knocking on this truck tonight.

Every time I start falling asleep, somebody shows up wanting reassurance, blankets, life advice, or God knows what else.” He pointed toward Shane.

“Congratulations.

You’re the one who finally caught all of it.” Shane had come over wearing the hard expression of a man preparing for confrontation, but Magnus’s furious rant knocked him completely off rhythm.

For a second, he genuinely wondered what he had done to make Magnus this angry.

Whatever warning Shane had rehearsed in his head suddenly felt less impressive when the man in front of him looked ready to beat insomnia itself to death.

“I came to talk,” Shane said finally.

Magnus folded his arms.

“Then talk.” Shane straightened slightly, recovering some of his usual confidence.

Thinking about Lori and Carl gave his expression more seriousness, and he looked Magnus directly in the eyes.

“About the prison.

I appreciate what you’ve done for everybody, and I mean that.” Magnus waited.

“But people are starting to trust you,” Shane continued.

“A lot.

Maybe faster than they should.” His eyes narrowed.

“I just want to make sure you don’t use that trust to pull everybody into something reckless.

So yeah, I’m gonna keep an eye on you.” Magnus stared at him for several seconds.

Now he understood why Shane could irritate people even while trying to protect them.

Magnus had brought food, found shelter, rescued Sophia, helped defend the farm, and offered the group a possible future.

Shane’s response wasn’t gratitude but a warning.

From Shane’s perspective, however, that probably made perfect sense; anyone gaining influence over Lori, Carl, Rick, or the group automatically became someone worth watching.

Magnus almost found it funny.

Rick and Shane had worked side by side as King County sheriff’s deputies before the outbreak, yet their personalities couldn’t have been more different.

Rick generally gave people room until they proved dangerous.

Shane preferred assuming danger first and relaxing only after somebody proved themselves.

That flaw was also one of Shane’s greatest strengths.

Once Shane considered somebody part of his people, he defended them with frightening intensity.

His ruthlessness, suspicion, loyalty, and capacity for violence fit the apocalypse almost too well.

If circumstances with Rick and Lori had unfolded differently, Magnus suspected Shane could have survived for a very long time.

None of that meant Magnus planned to let Shane intimidate him.

“You’re watching me?” Magnus asked, a faint smile appearing.

“On whose behalf?” “Everybody here,” Shane answered.

He rubbed the side of his nose before meeting Magnus’s eyes again.

“I care what happens to this group.” “Good.” Shane frowned slightly.

Magnus leaned against the doorframe.

“Then keep watching.

Don’t look away for a second.” Before Shane could answer, Magnus pulled the door shut.

Bang.

Shane remained standing outside.

Inside the cab, Magnus leaned back and chuckled quietly.

He wasn’t angry enough to start a real fight with Shane, and he certainly wasn’t stupid enough to turn one of the strongest people in the group into an enemy over a warning.

Magnus dealt with walkers using overwhelming force, but people required a different approach.

He already had an idea for Shane.

“Tough guy, huh?” Magnus closed his eyes and smiled.

“Just wait.” Men like Shane were difficult to earn trust from, but once that trust was won, it usually ran deep.

Magnus had no intention of breaking him or humiliating him; he simply planned to make Shane see for himself exactly what kind of person Magnus intended to be.

After that, Shane could decide where he stood.

For once, nobody knocked again.

Wrapped in the blanket Beth had brought him, Magnus finally fell asleep.