Title: No Pain This Time Around

Rating: T

Summary: AU/ZA What if Lori had never met nor married Rick? How would her future in the zombie apocalypse change?

A/N: I just want to say that Lori is not one of my favorite characters but its mostly because of how they depict her on the show that makes me not like her. I hope you find yourself liking Lori even slightly more than before by reading this I saw that somebody wanted to see a happy ending for Lori so I thought I could try and provide that :D


Lori sighed, enjoying the weather. The sun was bright and birds chirped loudly. There was a soothing tune playing pin the radio. Lori loves being single, much to her mother's dismay. She, herself found it particularly hard to put trust and rely on another, no who it was. She found herself humming along the music softly, stopping briefly to sip at her iced tea.

"Sometimes I wonder," She mused outloud. "What it would be like to be married and, or have children," she laughed. "That's a pipe dream," She murmured, taking another sip.

Lori had become a successful woman, steady job, good income and a nice house. She didn't really have to depend on others. She liked it. The not worrying. Not fearing heart break like many times before. She could actually be herself and not fear judgment.

She smiled and got up from the blue plastic chair, stretching softly. Lori frown however when the music stopped playing and was replaced by one of those annoying broadcasts she hated. 'Wonderful' She thought sarcastically. 'They pick the best times'

"Breaking news! A virus has broken out! Stay away from anyone! They could be possible carriers! Please evacute your homes and move to Atlanta! Food and shelter will be provided!"

A scream erupted from the mic and and static replaced it. Lori's eyebrows knotted together in a frown. "Is it really that bad of a virus?" She asked to no one. Lori gave a defeated groan and moved in to the house, making her way to the bedroom. She packed the few meaningful belongings and her clothes but stopped to contemplate how this could go down. "I don't know how long I'll be there, its best to be on the safe side," She then packed a bag of more warmer clothes just in case.

"What if there's a food or if I have to camp?" Lori thought wearily. Thousands of outcomes and situations ran wild in her mind, to many 'what ifs' to count.

Again she played on the safe side, and packed a few Cannes goods to her at least two to three days. Lori took her bags to her car and got in, and she was off on her way to Atlanta.


When she first got on the road practically no one was on it. However, the nearer she got to Atlanta the more people were parked on the road, intent of staying the night or blocking others paths. "This is ridiculous," muttered pulling over and turning off her car.

lori stepped out and sought out information, she approached a woman with cropped greying hair who held hands with a small girl soft brown hair. "Hello, My name is Lori Wayne, do you think you could give me some insight on what's going on?" Lori approached the woman bravely but friendly.

the woman jumped and stepped back slightly. She sized Lori up, taking every detail of her in, deciding wether to trust Lori or not. "Atlanta's not safe," She finally said, Lori raised a brow, and frowned. "My names Carol, Carol Peletier, nice to meet you Lori," Carol added. this is my daughter Sophia," Sophia gave a small greeting before moving on twiddling her thumbs and wringing her fingers like a dish towel.

"Well it's very nice to meet you two, is there a...um...Father?" Lori suddenly felt a twinge of awkwardness settle over them.

"Yes," Sophia answered, looking up at Lori. Lori smiled, not feeling the awkwardness from before. "He's finding us more gas," Sophia added. Lori nodded her head, she'll be needing some gas soon too.

"Do you think it's fine if I stayed by you guys for a while? I'll be sure to use my own supplies," Lori said offering a friendly smile. Carol looked uncertain, as if debating letting Lori stick with them.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt," Carol said slowly. Sophia broke out in a grin, she'd have somebody new to talk to. "Just be careful around Ed," Carol warned. Sophia frowned knowing what could happen to her new friend.

Lori's brow furrowed and she gave a confused look, taking her gaze to Carol and then Sophia.

"Sure I'll do that,"


A/N: Thank you for making it to the end of the first chapter :D if you haven't noticed I changed Lori's last name since she's not married to Rick in this. I took it directly from her actresses' name, hope you guys don't mind ;u; if you have any suggestions for this story of something you would like to see in later chapters please leave a review. Carol and Sophia were added merely as an after thought and I might add other characters from series.