This was inspired by the many anti-Lori stories out there. I thought we ought to give her a chance to shine or at least have her own version of the story so far. I decided to change it around somewhat to stop predictability so at the moment there is only our star Paula, Lori, Shane, Carl, Ed, Carol and Sophia present and they are heading away from Atlanta back to King County because Paula wanted to go and search for her husband Tom and her little girl Freya. Happy reading
Chapter 1:
Groceries
Lori sat quietly in the passenger seat of the "commandeered" RV as she looked out over the horizon. She didn't like this plan to begin with but with the fall of Atlanta and nowhere else to go she thought home was the safest option, she knew her own home wasn't an option since the walkers had been rife in that area but she knew Paula needed to go back.
They had been forced to leave without Tom or Freya since the military was storming through and Paula had been heartbroken, when the question of 'where to go?' had left Ed's filthy lips she had jumped on the opportunity with vigour.
Ed… No there was a rotten excuse for human skin. Man looked like a pig given human form in Lori's opinion, very odd since both his wife and daughter looked like the most polite people on Earth. This man seemed dangerous though and she knew Shane's eye was forever on him.
Shane had been her saviour in the time of need; she had gotten her, Carl and even her best friend Paula out of the city before the horde made their way through. She had always thought of Shane as a good guy since she met him in high school whilst she was dating Rick.
Her heart clenched as she thought of Rick, she instinctively checked for Carl only to see him in same spot he was in before, playing cards with Sophia in the dining area of the RV, Shane was driving but soon it would be Ed's turn, although his skills at being a human being can be questioned he was at least another pair of hands.
"Lori... Hello?" a voice brought her out of her daydream; she turned to see Carol looking at her from behind the driver's seat on the couch.
"Oh sorry Carol I was in a world of my own." She said with a reassuring smile, she saw the fragile woman smile as well.
"Um I just wanted to ask do you have any food left at all in your pack?" she asked delicately, Lori grabbed the camping bag from the foot well, the only one she recovered from the car amongst the chaos. She rummaged inside it but found only some clothes and family photos. She had met Carol and her husband Ed with daughter Sophia when they were stopped at the barracks leading into Atlanta, the only real reason they had stuck with the threesome is because Carl had taken a 'shine' to Sophia. They stayed together and they even followed Shane, Lori and Paula when they said they were going back to King County since their own hometown had been destroyed. Carol looked liked years of marriage to this man had worn her down and the daughter looked skinnier than Carl.
"Damn… Nope I got nothing Carol. What about you?" she asked Paula in the seat opposite Carol, the woman flicked her medium length red hair out of her face and looked in the cupboard next to her.
"No I don't have anything." She said simply. Lori looked at Carol who shook her head and realised how little food they really had. She looked at Shane beside her and gave him a tap on the arm.
"Shane?" she asked, the main woke from a daydream and tore his eyes away from the devoid of life highway.
"Yeah Lori?"
"We gotta make a food stop soon… we barely have anything left." She said, she saw the worry in Shane's eyes as he checked something on the dashboard.
"We need gas as well… We best stop at the next gas station; I saw a sign back there saying there was one in ten miles. Lucky us." He said, Lori nearly scoffed at the choice of words.
Lucky.
I think the words lucky was a bit of a stretch, the dead coming back to life really closed off all options of the word lucky being put to good use anymore.
"Well we better decide who is going in." Paula said from the seat behind.
"Agreed. Me and Ed will lead the charge and you girls can fill up." He said briefly but Lori talked over him.
"The men leading the charge? No offence but I think Ed won't be keen to help, I say you, me and Paula go in and search. Ed can fill up the RV and Carol can keep an eye out for walkers." She proposed and she saw Shane think it over.
"Fine but I want you carrying the pistol, Paula you can take the machete in with you." He said in a final tone, Lori saw the woman turn pale but nod. She didn't blame Paula for being scared.
Hell they all were at this point.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO O
The RV pulled to a halt outside of the gas station, it looked dead from the outside but in a week or two Paula had come to realise that the walkers came in different varieties, there were the obvious ones that attacked head on, but then you got the sneaky ones that waited until you had your back turned then pounced, those were the ones Paula was afraid of.
"Right now you guys listen to me now." Shane began to speak and Paula began to listen, she had known Shane as an acquaintance for several years now and she knew when he started giving orders you listened, "Me, Lori and Paula are going in for supplies. Carol I want you on the roof looking out for walkers, you see any heading out way then I want you to get Ed to beep the horn 3 times. Ed I want you filling the gas tank up she takes Diesel, keep an eye out yourself you're no use to us dead. Kids stay in the RV at all times no getting out unless you have to understand?" he turned to the boy and girl who both nodded vigorously; he then turned to Lori and handed her the pistol from his side belt.
"Oh Shane I don't know if I can…" she said quietly before he spoke over her again.
"Don't worry it ain't difficult. Just aim for the head and fire when one of them tries to eat you." He said with a dry tone, Paula saw the woman give the man a sly smile and hold the pistol by her side as she hugged her son and told him to stay inside, she thought of her dear baby Freya… how much she wanted her Tom back to protect her… She needed her family back so badly…
"Paula!" Shane shouted and the woman was brought back abruptly from her daydream.
"Sorry… Yes?" she asked and a machete was thrust into her hands.
"Try not to scream if you see anything but give us a shout, try not to draw more though ok?" he said and Paula nodded, she needed to be focused, she needed to get back to her husband and her baby girl soon before she went crazy with concern. She shouldered the empty camping bags and held the machete tightly.
"Ok guys move out!" he shouted and Paula saw Carl and Sophia climb back inside the RV, Ed pick up a fuel pump and Carol climb on top of the RV with a pair of binoculars. She turned to see the doors of the gas station swing open as Shane raised his shotgun and Lori raised her pistol whilst stepping inside, Paula right behind them machete held high. She heard her brain screaming at her not to walk in there but she knew she had little to no choice in the matter.
She was gonna have to face her fears head on.