A loud knock at the door woke Lori abruptly from her nap on the couch. She opened one eye, and then the other, and waited to hear another knock.
Another knock that would signal who exactly was at the door.
She waited in silence, sitting up slowly and rubbing one eye. For a fleeting moment, she thought that maybe it was Rick returning home, that maybe...
Lori stopped herself. Thinking these thoughts weren't going to bring Rick back, only the emptiness that his coma had brought her.
Another knock. It was Shane.
Standing up and streching, she yawned and headed towards the door. For the past few days, Shane had insisted on setting up something he liked to call, 'A Signal Knock'. And, just as the name described, it signaled to Lori or to Carl that it was Shane knocking, and they had been instructed to open the door for nobody else. Lori didn't quite understand what was happening or why Shane had been spending so much time with the two of them, but she didn't argue. If anything, she enjoyed the company and the warm safety blanket Shane had been providing for the both of them. Rick had been gone for a while now, and even though she hated using that term, there really was no other way to describe it. He was in a coma, a coma that doctor's insisted he would never come out of. He may as well be gone..
Peeking through the peephole of their old country door, she saw Shane standing there, a look of grief on his face. It wasn't a good look, Lori could figure that much just by seeing. Unlocking the deadbolt and then the door handle, she opened the door a crack. Shane let himself in, barging past her and yelling for Carl.
"Carl? CARL! Get down here, now!"
"Shane, what is-?"
"Pack up your clothes, pictures, anything light that you want to take with you. We're getting the hell out of here," Shane said gruffly, running into the kitchen and beginning his search for a firearm. Lori quickly followed after him, hearing Carl coming down the stairs. Shane was opening cabinet after cabinet, drawer after drawer, searching and searching for something to defend themselves with.
"Shane, what the hell is going on? What are you looking for?"
"Lori! There is no time for this shit, get to packing, please!" He snarled at her.
Lori didn't budge. She stood in the doorway of the kitchen. watching Shane with a look of fear on her face. Carl appeared next to her, looking up at his mother and then to Shane with a matching look of fright.
"Shane, what's happening?" He asked. Shane slammed the cabinet doors shut loudly and whiped around to face the both of them. Seeing Carl standing next to his mother, his expression softened and he walked up to Carl, getting down on one knee and grabbing his shoulders.
"Listen, Atlanta is... It's... We need to leave, okay bud? Go upstairs and pack some clothes and anything that you want to take with you. Anything that can fit into one bag, and one bag only, okay?"
Carl nodded, looking up at Lori before turning around and heading back upstairs. Lori and Shane stood in silence for a moment, an awkwardness rising between the two of them, and finally, Shane spoke again, this time in a different tone... a personal tone that Lori recognized easily. He was trying to soften whatever blow he was about to lay on her.
"Lori," He said, standing back up and looking her in the eye. "Shit is bad... it's real bad. People are running through the streets like... like maniacs," He said, running a hand through his hair and looking away. Lori was speechless. It didn't make any sense, she had been in town just the other day and everything... was fine...
"Shane," She began, "I was just in town, everything is okay-"
"Stop, Lori, stop," Shane said, giving her a dark look and grabbing her by the shoulders just as he did to Carl. "Listen to me. I would not lie to you about this. I was at the hospital-"
"Were you there for Rick? There wasn't a visit scheduled today-"
"Lori!" Shane yelled. "Listen to me! There aren't any visits anymore. The hospital was overrun by those... those things. Those things on the news... I went there to see Rick in the beginning. I was in the room, and I heard gunshots. I ducked and hid, and had I been seen, I would of been shot. I would be dead, and you and Carl would not be safe. It was a massacre... people yelling and screaming, the army shooting innocent people down in the hallway. It was a bloodbath, Lori. What we talked about? It's happening, and it's happening now. There is no more time to explain. We have to leave here and get somewhere remote, somewhere safe... Do you understand me, girl?"
Lori blinked, her mouth open but no sound coming out. Shane looked at her carefully, breathing heavily and showing no sign that he was joking in the slightest.
Author's Note: I'm sorry this ends so suddenly... It's very early where I am, and I have yet to sleep. So, I'll be writing more tomorrow and finishing up this chapter. Apologies! But reviews are very welcome, even if there isn't a lot to go by!