Disclaimer: Random disclaimer, I don't own The Walking Dead or any of its products since they belong to Robert Kirkman.

Chapter 7:

Entry and Exit

Hannah charged up the stairs and knew the door she was looking for, it was the only one that was closed all the way shut. She reached it and tried to open it but found it looked from the other side, she began banging on it.

"Morgan! I know you're in there! I know your wife's been bit! Morgan you gotta let me in!" she yelled as she banged, she heard the kids behind her panicking but she kept going until the door opened a fraction, she was greeted by the furious face of Morgan

"NO! You ain't coming in she is fine!" he yelled back with equal force, Hannah lost her patience and drew her gun and pointed it at his face.

"Let. Me. In. Now." She seethed and the startled man stepped back as Hannah pushed her way past Morgan as the door swung open. She stopped clean when she saw what had truly happened to Jenny.

The first thing she saw was the bite mark, a deep bite just above the left breast near the shoulder with the blood staining the nightie around it. Next she saw the woman's face, she was clearly beautiful once but now she was paler and her eyes were discoloured something awful. Blood leaked from her mouth as she growled at the sight of fresh meat, she had already turned. She lunged and Hannah jumped backwards before she realised that both of Jenny's hands were handcuffed to the bed.

"Oh Morgan I am so sorry…" she said lowering the gun, she hadn't thought at all… all she could think about was her children… didn't even think about what this man was going through. She heard a whimper behind her and the horror struck her as she turned to see Duane staring at the thing that was once his mother.

"Mom…" he started but Morgan shouted over him.

"Duane get out of here!"

"Mom!" he lunged forward but was grabbed from behind by Jamie as Morgan and Hannah pushed him back.

"JAMIE, GET HIM OUT OF HERE!" Hannah shouted and she saw her young girl pull with all her might as her brother pulled with her, Hannah pushed and the three kids fell back on the other side of the door, Hannah stood and swung the door shut behind them and locked it. She was answered by banging and screaming on the other as the desperate son tried to get in, Jenny growled louder behind her. Hannah turned calmly and saw the broken Morgan sitting down.

"Morgan… We can't leave her like this… This isn't fair on your wife, this isn't fair on your son!" she shouted, the man couldn't do anything more than weep as Hannah told him the awful truth, he blurted out a quick response.

"I can't… I tried to Hannah but I can't… I can't shoot my wife…" he spoke softly; he looked at the thing growling in the bed beside him and Hannah knew he still saw the woman he loved.

"I can do it if you want." She offered, Morgan raised his head and looked at her with teary eyes.

"I don't know… I want to do it… But I can't…" he weeped, Hannah knew the predicament, he wanted to be the one but he hadn't the will to do it.

"Morgan… You can't leave her like this… That thing isn't your wife anymore… Now either you shoot her or I do because I can't let my children be in any more danger." She said quietly but firmly, Morgan kept looking at her before he stood up quickly, he held out his hand and Hannah handed over the gun as both he and she tried to block out the banging at the door still continuing, she could hear Jamie trying to reason with him on the other side of the door but failing.

Morgan raised the gun and aimed at the face of his former-wife, she saw his hand shake as he tried to keep his hand steady, but just as his finger began to close around the trigger he dropped the gun.

"I can't shoot her Hannah and the gunshot… won't it draw walkers?" he said, Hannah knew he was trying to reason with himself, stop himself from killing her. However he had a point, the gunshot would draw walkers from all around, walkers that would already be outside the closed up windows after chasing them from the park. He sat down as Hannah stood up; she knew what she had to do and how to do it.

"Morgan. I'll do it… but you gotta forgive me for how I do it." She said and Morgan looked at her and nodded blinking back tears as he sank in his chair more covering his eyes. Hannah picked up the blade she had been eyeing the knife since she walked in, it was a blade long enough to pierce the brain, it would do the job. She moved next to the woman who snapped at her, trying to get a bite in. The bangs outside the door had subsided to Jamie must have succeeded in reasoning with Duane.

Jenny stopped moving as Hannah held the knife in both hands; perhaps she knew this was her end, perhaps that last strand of humanity in her was aware that she was about to meet her maker.

A tear came out of Hannah's eye as she plunged the blade down, it pierced Jenny's eye and went in deep. Hannah held the knife inside her head as she shuddered several times then slumped backwards. Dead.

Hannah dropped the knife as Morgan started to wail, he moved forwards and clutched his wife's body as Hannah moved back from him, she felt the fear and bile rise up inside her but swallowed it all down as she kept a stable head. She noticed the blood on her hands and nearly retched again.

As she looked down she realised that this was the beginning of the world she had to live in, the world she had to survive in.

The world where she had to kill people.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Lori never knew Shane could shout so much. Indeed she was pissed at Carl for disobeying her but Jesus Christ… He didn't deserve that… True, Carl was being reckless and so was Sophia by just walking around in broad daylight without adults around and Lori had told him off for that but Shane didn't need to go full Rambo on him… He had been fuming…

Carl sat on the couch in the motel as Shane, Lori and Paula stood in front of him, Sophia had gone into the other room with Carol wanting to talk to her, Ed still wasn't up yet… This was gonna wake him up though.

"What the hell you tryin' to do Carl? Get yourself killed? I thought you were a smart kid you know…" he towered over the cowering kid.

"Nothin' we were just bored because you guys weren't up then…" Carl tried to reason.

"Then go back to sleep, read a book or even go into one of the other rooms out of sight just don't go walking around by yourselves." Lori said calmly trying to diffuse the tense atmosphere.

"Sorry…" he said but Shane talked over him.

"Yeah well being sorry doesn't excuse you okay? I need to know what was going through your mind when you thought 'Let's go for a walk in a parking lot by ourselves where there are people who eat other people'!" Shane started to get louder, Lori saw her son get that face he always got when Lori told him off good and proper for breaking something or doing something else bad. He was on the verge of tears.

"Shane I think he knows what he did wrong…" she said quietly in his ear but he just blew her off.

"No Lori! The time for a slap on the wrist has past! He needs to know the consequences of being an idiot in this world are death or infection." He said firmly, Lori was shocked and by the look on Paula's face so was she.

"Shane…" Paula began but he was on a roll now.

"You know what Carl, you do that again and I might just be done with you! I put my life on the line for you and your Mom and this is how you repay me?!" he bellowed, face turning red.

"Shane…" Lori said louder but Shane once more ignored her as Carl succumbed to tears.

"You want to end up like your Dad?! Dead?! Want to put your Mom through that?!" he shouted and Carl started to cry, that was enough. Lori stepped in front of him and pushed him back.

"Enough! You are not his father Shane! Now I want you to leave the room whilst I talk to my son!" she yelled and Shane looked surprised, he blinked and took a step back before leaving the room altogether, Lori knew he was surprised by what he had just done. She looked at Paula who nodded and followed Shane out the door.

Lori had spent the next half an hour comforting Carl telling him Shane had a point but was being unreasonable about it. They had left the motel as soon as Ed had woken up, he and Shane sat in the front of the RV as they drove towards King County, Carl and Sophia no longer played and laughed but sat on opposite sides of the RV in silence, Carol was sat next to Sophia chatting with Paula about cooking, turns out they were both avid cooks and both interested in cooking in a kitchen again. Lori herself sat next to Carl and was just staring out the window, although she wasn't known for her active imagination Lori would get lost for hours looking at the world speeding past her on a long road trip.

"Heads up guys here we are." Shane said from the front of the RV, Lori turned and saw the sign for King County go past them as the rolled into town, although the feeling of homeliness filled Lori she still felt nervous and afraid to see the devastation of a walker attack on her home-town…

Her fears were justified as soon as she got a good look at the second sign welcoming them to King County, smeared across the sign was a massive blood splatter with several corpses at the bottom of it.

It read 'Welcome to King County – The Safer Community'