Sorry forgot to mention in previous chaptr before it was to late that I do not own any properties of The Walking Dead and all of the characters are actually imported from the show so there are no OC's here. So don't whinge because the disclaimer is in here.

Chapter 2:

Baby's First Gunshot

Lori didn't like guns, Rick always came home with his in his belt and she would say to him to put it in the cabinet upstairs before he did anything else. She had seen those 60 Minutes stories about kids getting their hands on the parent's guns and accidently shooting the cat or one of their friends.

She held the pistol Shane gave her shakily; she held it in front of her eye line as they walked slowly through the station taking a aisle each. Once or twice she had seen Rick's gun on top of the cabinet and had just held it and pretended to aim it and whatnot but she had never fired one in her life.

"Ok guys grab anything that looks edible or drinkable alright?" Shane said once they had cleared the area, the place looked like it had already been cleaned out but there were odd packets of food here or there that looked good. Lori took a bag from Paula and began packing things in, Spam and Starburst where the only things left, she saw Shane pick up some odd bottles of water, Coca-Cola or anything drinkable.

Lori thought back to the days when she could go to the local Costco and stock up for the week, probably run into Janice who is a cashier and talk to her about her boys Roger and Louis. Those days were probably over now… she had seen people she knew turn into walkers and chase down the living… seen Shane pump rounds into those she had once called her friends.

She shook the thoughts from her head and shoved a can of tomato soup into the pack, as she did so she heard a noise coming from the back of the store, a slow shuffle of footsteps.

"Shane…" she said softly, he looked at her and listened, he nodded and shouldered the shotgun moving to the origin of the sound. Paula appeared next to her.

"What is it?" she asked in a soft and shaky voice.

"I heard something from the back of the store." Lori explained, Paula look frightened and Lori saw her grip her machete tighter. She was in half her mind to send Paula back to the RV with the food they had but she couldn't stand to be alone.

Her thoughts were cut off by a groaning behind them, they both turned and Paula screamed loudly as they saw an awful sight. A man with his left cheek bitten clean off was shuffling towards them, they both stood and stepped backwards and Lori raised her pistol and aimed at the man's face… she couldn't pull the trigger though.

"Lori…" Paula whimpered.

"SHANE!" Lori screamed, her screams were answered by shotgun sounds from the back of the store and Lori guessed he was cut off, the man quickened his pace and Lori felt the wall press up behind her, the man was nearly on top of them when her brain slid into gear and her finger closed over the trigger.

The gunshot stunned her ears for a second as the man's head exploded, the ringing sound stayed in her ears until she heard Carol shouting from outside.

"Lori! Paula! Shane! There are walkers coming!" Lori looked outside to see Ed bumbling around holding an axe and Carol dismounting from the RV. Lori saw Shane appear from a Staff Only door and run away whilst reloading.

"Come on!" he yelled and Lori's legs began to work again as they propelled her forwards, she held onto the bag for dear life as she saw Shane and Paula exit the store she turned back to see the Staff Only door burst open and walkers begin to spill out, 10…20…30… Lori didn't bother to count as she twisted on the spot and ran for the already started RV.

"Lori come on!" Paula screamed as Lori lumped into the RV and fell heavily on the floor. She felt the RV begin to move and turn and heard the thumping of walkers skulls against the hood as they picked up speed. She hugged Carl as she regained her breath.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO O

"Everybody ok?" Shane asked, and everyone said yes as a chorus until Paula spoke.

"No…" she said softly and barrelled towards the RV's toilet, for an awful second Lori thought Paula had been bitten until she heard the splatter of vomit hitting the inside of the basin.

Lori looked back to the others and saw them grimace.

"Ew!" Carl said loudly, Lori motherly instincts kicked back into action.

"Carl be quiet." She scolded and the kid sat back down next to Sophia as she hugged her mother. Lori sat next to Shane who was checking his ammunition and she felt a tear roll down her cheek, he noticed.

"You ok?" he asked quietly so the rest of the group couldn't hear. Lori wiped her eyes and face and told Shane what was on her mind. She withdrew the pistol as she said it.

"I killed a walker Shane. When you started firing one came for me and Paula and it nearly got us… I couldn't help but think about his life before all this…" she said with a quivering voice, she saw Shane looking intently at her.

"Lori I told you before not to humanise them… They may have been people once but they are dead now. You can't let them get to you like that…" he started to explain.

"He's right you know. Can't let no dumb, dead bastards get us." Ed interrupted from the front, his driving wasn't exactly smooth and neither was his voice.

"Hey Ed let's watch the mouth ok?" Shane warned, the fat man just scoffed.

"Ah come on! People eating people and want me to mind my fuckin' language?" he said loudly and Lori saw Carol and Sophia shift uncomfortably in their seats, apparently Ed's foul mouth and temper wasn't a rare occurrence.

"We would appreciate it Ed, for both my son and your daughter." Lori said bitterly, God this man harboured no love or concern for his own child's well fair.

"Ah hell don't worry about it you kids fine ain't ya?" Ed asked the children behind him, they both squeaked out a 'yes' at the same time. Lori felt the anger bubbling inside of her.

"You wanna shut up Ed? I think it would help everybody here." Shane said in his tougher sounding voice. Ed just scoffed and faced the road and continued driving.

Lori sat back in her seat and tried to forget about the tension in the air around her. The only thing that punctuated it was the sound of Paula's vomiting in the RV's toilet.

"I am not emptying that." Carl said quietly causing everyone to start laughing clearing the tension in the air. The sun had started to set and they needed to find a place to stay, suddenly a road sign came into view.

Farrow Heights Motel - 15 Miles.

"Looks like we have a place to stay." Shane said and suddenly all the hours of the day landed on top of Lori's mind.

She needed to sleep.