Shane sat in his patrol car fiddling with the stereo trying to find a station, any station that might give them an update on the current situation. He, Carl and Lori were currently sitting in the middle of a stationary queue of traffic on the interstate; where they had been 'parked' for nearly the whole afternoon and most of the evening. Carl had made friends with the daughter of the couple from the next car along and he and the girl, Sophia, were currently sitting on the tail gate of her Daddy's Cherokee playing chequers. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look up into the darkened sky as the sound of helicopter's whirred overhead.

"Are we gonna go soon?" Sophia asked her mother. Carol stopped checking the sky to tell her daughter honestly. "I don't know, baby. I sure hope so."

"I'm hungry." Carl whined quietly, Lori looked over and playfully ruffled his dark brown hair.

"I know, Carl. We all are." Carol turned around to face his anxious mother.

"Why don't I get him something to eat? Ed's into all this survival stuff. We've got enough MREs to feed a small army."

"I'd sure appreciate it." Lori called out and Carol waved her hand at the other woman.

"No trouble." Carol walked around the side of the car and opened the passenger door; only to have Ed slam it shut, narrowly missing her hand in the process.

"What in the hell did you tell her that for? We don't even know these damn people."

"The boy is hungry. We can spare one box." Carol wrapped her arms around her middle and dropped her head slightly as she spoke to her husband.

"It's called operational security. How long you think this stuff is gonna last if you keeping running your damn mouth off to everybody we meet?"

"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking." Carol sidestepped out of Ed's reach instinctively; so many other times when she had made a miscalculation he had lashed out with his hand rather than with his words. Lori stepped quickly back to the other side of the car, not wanting the quiet woman to know that she had overheard her husband's callous remarks. She stepped over to speak to Shane, sitting in the patrol car; giving Carol time to compose herself.

"You getting anything?" Lori said through the open window.

"Nah, there's nothing."

"Big surprise there." Lori remarked drily, Shane shook his head slowly running a hand through his thick wavy hair.

"No, I mean there's nothing. Emergency broadcast systems stopped, and that recording about he Refugee Centre. It's all gone." Shane stepped out of the patrol car, slamming the door shut behind him. "I'm gonna walk up the road apiece see if I can see what's going on."

"I'll come with you." Lori stopped by Carol's car to check on Carl. Carol held out a couple of packages of snack crackers. Other than looking a little paler, the other woman seemed no worse for wear after being verbally smacked down by her husband.

"Guess Ed must've forgotten to pack those MREs after all. I found these in my purse."

"It's all right." Lori smiled gently at Carol, wanting her to know that she appreciated the gesture. "Listen, do you mind keeping an eye on Carl for a minute?"

"No." Carol smiled over at the young boy, sitting so patiently next to her daughter. Sophia had been whining incessantly until Carol had thought that Ed would burst a blood vessel. She could see his jaw clenching and knew that it was only a matter of time before he vented his anger and frustration. She had never been so happy to see someone in her life when Lori had tapped her knuckles on the window and asked if Sophia would like to play chequers with Carl – that had been almost three hours ago.

"Shane and I are gonna go scout up ahead a little bit," Lori brushed a lock of hair away from where it had fallen over Carl's brow. "And see if we can find someone who knows what's going on."

"I want to come too." Carl pleaded. Lori pulled him into her and pressed a kiss to the top of his head, shaking her head in refusal. Shane came up beside her and offered his own reassurance.

"Hey, we'll be back before you know it. Okay, little man?"

"Why would they stop broadcasting the refugee centre?" Lori asked anxiously as they moved among the parked vehicles, heading further along the interstate.

"I don't know." Shane replied, rubbing his knuckles; the only outward sign of anxiety he allowed himself to show.

"You think they're turning people away?"

"They're gonna have a riot on their hands, if they try."

"Your Dad's nice." Sophia said to Carl as they started another game on the tailgate. Carl looked up in surprise.

"Shane's not my dad. My Dad's dead." They flinched as an explosion in the distance startled them; Carol moved instinctively closer to both children, reaching out to offer draw them in closer to her body.

"What do we do? What do we do?" Lori chanted under her breath as the explosions became closer and louder; she and Shane had found themselves in the middle of a panicked crowd. He moved closer to her side and grabbed her arm to hurry her along.

"We're gonna do what Rick would have wanted us to do, get you and Carl out of here." Shane paused as another pair of helicopters swooped in low overhead, and watched as it flew high over the city of Atlanta.

"That's not lightning." Lori stated as they watched the sky light up over the hills. Shane had his suspicions and pulled Lori along with him, walking a little faster.

"You stay with me now. Come on." They started to run along the interstate until Shane pulled Lori into a small clearing topping a rise. From there they could see clearly what was occurring in the city below.

"Oh my God!" Lori breathed in horror.

"They're dropping napalm in the streets." Shane scraped his fingers through his hair, staring down at the explosions below.

"Shane…." Lori whispered, terrified beyond belief and not knowing what on earth they would do next.

"Come here…" Shane pulled Lori into his arms, where she collapsed sobbing against his chest. He held her tightly as he watched the city burn. I'm sorry, Rick. He silently apologised to his friend whom he had left barricaded in a hospital room on the outskirts of the city. I'm sorry that I didn't try harder to get you out. I'm sorry that I told Lori you were dead, but it was the only way I could get her to leave. I knew that you would want me to keep her safe. Believe me, man; I didn't think it would be so hard – we thought there would be enough time to get to the centres but I guess I was wrong. I'm sorry, so sorry.