Chapter 9:

End of the Tethers

Lori looked at the open door with a mixture of fear and sorrow. Lori knew that if anyone was alive in there they wouldn't leave the door open… But this was Paula's house and Lori knew nothing could dissuade her now, Shane knew it as well.

"Okay if we are going in there here is the plan. I take upstairs, Paula and Lori take downstairs. Ed can stay in the RV this time, not having him out here being a danger to everyone." Shane glanced back at the RV where Ed remained and raised his hand signalling the oaf to stay. Lori was sick of Ed, he did nothing but smoke, shout and swear. He was a bad influence on Carl and a worse danger towards his wife and daughter. He needed to go in Lori's opinion.

"Fine, but if you find Freya before me yell and I'll come running." Paula said firmly gripping the gun tighter, Lori didn't like Paula with a gun; she had never fired one in her life. The red-head stepped forward but was cut off by Shane.

"Paula you gotta listen to me." He began but a frustrated Paula cut him off.

"What now Shane?!" she said loudly but Shane stood his ground.

"You gotta accept the fact that we might get in there and one of them, hell both of them might be bit if they are there at all." He said and Lori saw Paula's face harden in anger.

"I told you Shane I will not think like that! Now get out of my way so I can go see my family." She seethed as she pushed past him; she marched up to the open door with Lori right behind her, inside the house was a mess. Something had gone down here that is for sure… The coffee table was overturned and various possessions were strewn across the bleached hardware floor.

"Oh my God…" Paula gasped when she saw the mess; Lori put a hand on her shoulder which she shrugged off as she marched through the house.

"Tom?! Freya?!" she yelled out carelessly, Shane was right behind her as Lori clutched the knife in her hand harder. As much as she hated the gun she missed the security it provided.

"Hey keep your voice down! If there are unwelcome people here then we don't want to alert them!" Shane hissed grabbing her wrist but Paula pulled away and marched towards the stairs.

"Tom?! Freya?! To- ARGH!" she screamed loudly as a figure toppled onto her. Lori yelled out as Shane kicked the assailant in the face, he rolled off of Paula who scrambled to her feet still screaming, Lori looked at the assailants face and she knew why.

It was Tom, not the Tom that Lori knew but something that looked like him. Although he was missing an entire cheek.

"No! NO!" Paula screamed as Shane hit him around the face once more. Tom toppled backwards into the coffee table.

"SHANE! STOP!" Paula screeched as Shane looked back her before cocking his shotgun and aiming for Tom's head. Before he could pull the trigger though he was pushed aside by a frantic Paula.

"NO! I will do it!" she yelled as she turned to face her husband, he lumbered towards her as she raised the pistol, however she was hesitating as he continued forwards, Lori and Shane moved back slowly as she did but she still wasn't pulling the trigger.

"Enough of this…" Shane muttered and he shouldered his shotgun once more but Lori grabbed his arm.

"Shane no!" she yelled as she grabbed but he twisted out from under her.

"No Lori it has to…" however he got no further since a gunshot pierced the air as Tom's body fell backwards. Paula collapsed as Lori lunged to catch her, she was weeping heavily and clutched onto Lori who hugged her.

"It's okay, it's okay…" she whispered into the poor woman's ear, however she stopped when she saw it.

The small figure emerging from behind the sofa.

No…

God please no…

The little figure with blood dripping from its teeth…

Freya…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The little girl snarled as she began to lumber towards the fallen woman, Lori saw Shane raise his shotgun as Paula began to wail even louder but he didn't shoot… He couldn't…

"FREYA! NO!" Paula screamed as she tried to writhe from under Lori but she held fast, Lori knew if she let go Paula would try to hug her child and be eaten alive.

"Shane! Do something!" Lori yelled but he was just staring, he couldn't do it, Lori kept screaming but he wasn't responding, Paula screamed more and elbowed Lori's gut but she still held on. Freya was mere steps from Paula when she saw Shane raise his shotgun once more and close his eyes.

The gunshot was louder than Lori expected, not because she hadn't heard the shotgun before up close but because she was growing faint. She felt the world becoming less real, she felt Paula slip from her grasp and hug the dead child, weeping into the silent daylight, mourning the loss of her only child. Lori felt the tears falling down her face, she could have stayed knelt forever if she hadn't have been brought back to reality by Shane's hand on her shoulder.

"Lori… We gotta go…" he said quietly as she stood up. She knew they had to… The noise from them all would bring all the walkers in King County.

She walked over to Paula and put a hand on her shoulder; Paula beat it away and hugged her daughter closer. Lori looked towards Shane who was gripping the shotgun nervously, he was obviously shocked but still in charge as he turned towards the door. Lori focused on Paula once more.

"Paula. Honey we have to go…" she gripped Paula harder and pulled her to her feet. She let the small girls body drop as she collapsed into Lori's arms, Lori supported her as they moved to leave behind Shane. Paula was limp and barely standing, she was shaking badly and Lori knew she was in shock, hell so was she… She wanted Tom and Freya to be alive so badly… The moved down the front steps and saw Carl waiting nervous by the door next to a smoking Ed. Carl realise and Lori saw him tear up as Shane hugged him before guiding him back inside the RV. Even Ed looked sorry as he climbed behind them, Paula had her head deep in Lori's shoulder as Lori supported her inside the RV and layed her down on the bedding in the back.

The RV started to move as Shane started talking. Lori sat and comforted the crying woman and only half listened.

"Now this is a bad time I know but I need you to be strong just for a little while more okay? We are gonna go to Lori and Carl's place and hole up there for the night before deciding what to do next." He said from the driver's seat. Everybody nodded but maintained their sombre silence, the RV turned several more streets as nobody talked, the only sounds being Paula's cries and the sound of Ed exhaling the smoke out of the open window.

The RV came to a stop as Lori looked out of the window at her house. Mere weeks ago she had been sitting on that porch happily reading a magazine… Those days were over now though… The door was closed like she left it; she could only hope that it was empty as well.

"I shoved the spare key in the mailbox before we left Shane… Should still be there." Lori said quietly, Shane looked at her and nodded, there was something in his eyes Lori didn't like…

Shane had been acting oddly these last few days, she knew he was protecting them all but towards Lori he wasn't as harsh… The night before he had started it again, what was once harmless flirting on his part but now was becoming something else. He had said how he cared for her and for Carl… She couldn't though… She was still married and she didn't know whether or not she could go against Rick like that, dead or alive.

Shane dismounted first with Lori and Carl following, this time however everyone came in so they locked the RV up tight before unlocking the front door.

Lori breathed a sigh of relief as she realised no-one had intruded her house. It was just how she left it, right down to the pile of knocked over magazines she had left on the floor the day she had escaped with her family. She looked back and saw Shane eyeing her again but she looked away.

"Okay there are 3 bedrooms and 4 beds here so we can use the same sleeping arrangement as last night… Carol, you and Sophia can take the master bedroom… Paula you and me can use the guest room it has two single beds… Carl you can share with Shane in your bedroom since we left the air mattress here and Ed the couch is all yours." She said looking at him, he smirked and looked at the couch; Lori was glad she and Rick had splurged a month previously and bought the large and comfortable lounge set with extra mattress.

"Fine with me. Just don't go making loud noises." He said in a slurred voice stubbing out his cigarette in a piece of stale toast. Lori showed Carol and Sophia were their room was as Shane bought in their bags, since they had left certain things at the motel to save space and they hadn't bought a lot to begin with it was easy for the one man to bring it in. Carl went into his room and began tidying it for Shane to sleep there as Lori cleaned some of the mess they had left before they left.

Meanwhile Ed had sat down (again) as Carol and Sophia closed all the windows and blinds. When Shane returned he reinforced the back door as Lori made sure everything was shut and locked.

By the time they had finished it was pushing for 12 so they decided to rest at least. Food was shot anyway and the pitiful supplies they had barely cut the mustard.

"Damn I wished we had taken some of them MRE's." Ed moaned from the couch, Lori and Paula sat with him and Lori silently agreed. Ed had packed enough survival gear to 'feed a small army' in Carol's words. But when people had started panicking after seeing Atlanta go up in flames they had been forced to abandon the Chevvy and the Cop Car and take the RV since it was the only thing pointed in the right direction. Just as she though this Shane walked back inside.

"Guys we have a situation here." He said gravely, a common tone of late.

"If it's about the food then we know dipshit." Ed interjected, Shane chose to ignore him.

"We are indeed low on food but gas as well. If we get attacked that RV has 5 miles in it tops. We need people to get gas and get food, it needs to be done today." He said looking around; Carol, Sophia and Carl had entered as he said it and Carol instinctively grabbed Sophia's shoulders.

"Going back out there again? Are you sure Shane?" she said timidly and Lori agreed. She looked at Paula who still hadn't said a word since Freya's death, she shouldn't go out there again.

"If we go we stick together." Lori said, again it seemed it fell to Shane, her and, regrettably, Ed.

"No. I will go and get gas by myself and I will be in and out quickly. The station nearby also carries food so I should be able to find enough for a few more days at most." He said and Lori tensed, she didn't like the idea of him going off by himself.

"Shane…" she began but he cut her off.

"Lori we don't have enough people to go in a group. I don't want you going Carl needs you. Carol can't go because Sophia sure as hell needs her and I am certainly not putting Paula out there." He said firmly.

"What about me?" Ed asked gruffly, Shane turned to him and scoffed.

"What about you? Don't tell me you actually care enough to come with." Shane taunted and Ed stood up, slowly but surely, and looked Shane in the face.

"Think I can't? I'm going with you whether you like it or not Supercop. Just don't go expecting me to save your life." He said and grabbed the axe off the floor next to him and walked for the door. Shane smiled at Lori before walking after him shoulder the shotgun; he gave Lori a quick hug before walking to the front door, opening it and closing it after him.

"Lock it!" he said loudly and Lori obeyed, closing the latch and moving the chair beside it to ensure it can't be opened easily. She turned and saw Carol looking at her nervously.

"I wish they wouldn't go so soon…" she said quietly and let go of Sophia. Lori needed to talk to her.

"Carl go and show Sophia around the house." She said to her son, Carl looked happier without Shane or Ed around and happily obeyed with Sophia following, she turned to Carol and spoke quietly, ushering her away from the still comatose Paula.

"What is it?" Carol asked.

"I'm worried about this group." Lori said and Carol nodded.

"I know… Where do we go?" she asked but Lori shushed her.

"That's not the problem and you know it. Your husband has to stop being himself, I don't want Carl picking anything up from him." She said and Carol looked around nervously.

"I don't know what to say Lori I am so sorry… It's just Ed can be a bit…" she tried to explain but she didn't need to.

"Carol. Just say the words and I can have Shane deal with him, I can let your husband know he is never to lay another hand on you. Or your daughter." She offered and Carol looked more scared than she had ever done so far. Lori knew this wasn't easy for her but she needed to stop backing away from him.

"Please just give him time Lori… He just needs time to adjust…" Carol almost begged, Lori sighed heavily but let it slide; she nodded at Carol and led her back into the dining room to see Paula sitting where they left her.

Only this time holding a gun.

Thanks for the reading again guys. Feel free to review since I am always on the look out for ideas and ways to improve my stories :-)