The title means 'Family above all else' (or something to that extent) in Latin.

I got this idea during (would you believe it, Latin class) and decided to post it up here. Might continue it if I get enough readers :) But I'm still focusing on my Maternal Instinct series. (Do me a favor and read those too! xD Thankyouuu)

Anyway, what if Shane's daughter fell for Glenn, and he told her she couldn't see him? Then she finds out about him and Lori, and all the other hidden secrets in camp. Everything comes to a boiling point, and nobody can be trusted now. To Chloe Walsh, the living were definitely more scary than the dead.

(And she's 20 for all those who are curious)

R&R!

Thanks!

The first thing I thought of when I woke up was 'Damn, I've fallen asleep in my party dress'.

The second thing I thought of was 'Oh, and in the car, too'.

The last - 'Holy shit my mom is gone'.

I sat up straight, already feeling tears start to hit as I thought about what I had just saw back at the hospital. My mom. Dead. And not even from the cancer, either! From that flipping bite mark in the side of her neck!

"You alright, Chloe?" My dad looked back at me from the front seat. He had his hands tight on the wheel and was driving pretty quickly through the neighborhood.

"No." I answered honestly. "I'm... I'm not."

I read his face and knew he was just as emotionally messed up right now as I was. He'd just lost his wife, my mom. "I know. I know."

Seeing my dad in so much pain made it ten times worse for me. He was a cop. He never showed any emotions like that. I shook my head clear and changed the subject. "Where are we going?"

"Rick and Lori's. I've got to make sure her and Carl are safe."

I felt a stab of remorse remembering my dad checking Rick for life signs, and shaking his head.

"Okay." I answered quietly. We drove silently towards the Grimes' house and I found myself really worrying for them, too. I babysat Carl a lot on weekends, he was a sweet kid and I'd known him his whole life. I was 8 when he was born. I brought the baby pictures in for show and tell and bragged to class about my new 'nephew' and how flipping cute he was. I taught him how to play the play station and Xbox, and felt proud when he started beating me- at every single game. I'd been there for every baseball game just like he came to all the games I cheered at when I was in school. We went to each other's birthday parties and I was the first person he'd call if someone was being mean to him at school or if his parents got in a fight and he wanted someone to talk to. In so many ways... he was my little brother.

And in the same ways, Rick and Lori were like my second parents. Rick and my dad were best friends since high school and it was the same with my mom and Lori. The Grimes family were at every barbeque over the years and we always did things together. Lori took me out shopping for lingerie on my eighteenth birthday and we purposely left the receipt on the kitchen counter so my dad would flip out. And then that year we got him for April Fools and replaced his normal rounds with blanks when he went to the firing range. Rick had come back to the house laughing his ass off.

But Rick was gone, now. And so was my mom. There was no changing that. And I was reminded of that every day, whenever I looked down at my wrist. No, I know what you're thinking. Nothing like that. When I turned 18 Rick and Lori made me Carl's godmother. I got a tattoo on my wrist of a Celtic knot bracelet, with 'Grimes' and 'Walsh' entwined into it, the words 'familia ante omnia', meaning 'family above all else' in Latin. All our names were written within the Celtic knot, around to the back of my hand. Carl always promised he'd get the same one on his upper arm when he got old enough.

Absently I looked down at it. I felt like I had to add to it, now. Get Rick and my mom's birthdays written under their names, and add today's date for the date of death. What used to be a sentimental tattoo was suddenly now a tribute to the people I'd lost. Even the meaning of the tattoo of the pink breast cancer ribbon I had on the left of my chest seemed to change. It used to be a tribute, too, but now it didn't really have a meaning. My mom died, yes, but not from the cancer. My mother was murdered.

The waterworks hit harder and I tried to shake it off, but it only made it worse. I wiped my hand across my eyes and climbed into the front seat next to my dad. On instinct I reached for the radio dial and switched it on... and instantly regretted it.

"This is the emergency response broadcast. Civilians please report to the nearest military checkpoint and-"

My dad switched it off.

"Sorry." I mumbled. "Forgot."

He nodded and scratched at the stubble on his chin. "We're here." He said.

I was out of the car before he even stopped, breaking into a run for the Grimes' house. I heard my dad follow behind and cock his gun - just in case.

"Lori!" I screamed, swinging open the door. "Carl!"

"Chloe?" Lori peered out through a doorway. "What's wrong?"

"Lori!" I rushed to her, "Oh, God, Lori, we've got to go, now."

"What? Chloe-"

"Lori, please." My dad showed up beside me. "It's not safe here."

"But the news said to stay indoors, I-"

"Lori!" Dad shouted, "Get Carl, gets your things, we're leavin', now."

"O-okay." She nodded and ran off to do as he said. I ran up the stairs and followed her to Carl's room, where he was sorting through his 'Yu-Gi-Oh' cards.

"Carl, honey, pack a bag, we've got to go." Lori grabbed him a suitcase from his closet and tossed it on the bed. "Hurry."

Carl had a question mark plastered to his face but she ran out, leaving me to explain. I started going through his drawers and shoving random clothing into his bag.

"Have you seen the news, Carl?" I asked. He shoved his cards in his pocket and started helping me pack.

"What, about the crazy people? Yeah?"

"It's gotten really bad." I said. I blinked back a few tears and continued, "They said to get to a military checkpoint. That's Atlanta."

"We're going to Atlanta?"

"Yeah."

"Well, we're going to the hospital, first." He insisted, "We've got to get my dad, and Miss Sarah."

I didn't have the heart to tell him so I just nodded as the tears managed to spill over. I turned my back to him so he couldn't see me break down and told him to go get his bathroom stuff while I got some other things. After he left the room I turned around and dropped against the wall, hitting my head back on it and just started sobbing hysterically. I had to let Lori tell him. My dad would have to tell Lori, and she'd tell Carl.

God the kids going to be crushed. It hurt more just thinking about the look on his face. Oh my little brother. I didn't think I could stand seeing him go through that. He was twelve for crying out loud! He wasn't ever supposed to know pain like that.

Neither was I.

I don't think anybody was.

2 days ago, if you told me I was going to lose my mom and pretty much everyone else I ever knew or loved, I would have told you to buzz off and get your head checked. Now? I just nod and accept it.