It took a moment for Lori to realize that the thumping sound she was hearing was not coming from the world around her, but rather from inside her own head. Without opening her eyes she lifted her hand to her head to explore her aching skull that seemed to be acting as a vice for her swollen brain – the pressure was unbearable and she wondered if she would pass out again. She groaned when her fingers grazed the spot over her temple, finding the skin split and gooey half dried blood that was tacky on her fingertips.

The sound of rustling across the room forced her to brave opening her eyes and face the too bright light that filtered through a small window, high on the wall. She blinked rapidly to clear her vision and focus on an unfinished ceiling made up of aged wood and then exposed cinderblock walls that had long been discoloured and cracked in some places.

A movement caught her attention and she lifted her head slowly, keeping her hand pressed over her wound that had become slippery under her palm as it began to gush again. She located her husband leaning against the wall under the window, a metal pipe in his hand that he seemed to have been using to pry at the window, which was too small for them to get through anyway; the small panes wouldn't even pass their shoulders, she was sure.

"Jesus, Lori," he limped toward her, using the pipe as a too-short cane.

She watched his movements as she forced herself to sit up, battling nausea and a wave of dizziness. "I think I have a concussion," she muttered, leaning against the wall behind her.

Rick kneeled down next to her and reached out to touch her shoulder. "Yeah, that's a good bet," he winced on her behalf as he pried her fingers away from her head to take a look.

Lori pushed his hands away and checked him over. He appeared to be okay, which surprised her. "Your leg?" she asked, closing her eyes to block out the sunlight that was streaming through the window behind him. She found her stomach with her hand then slid it down low to rest on the barely discernible swell of her belly.

"Sore," Rick admitted, his hand falling to rest on top of hers. "Be better when we figure out how to get out of here."

Lori nodded, smiling in spite of their predicament at the sight of his hand resting protectively over their baby. She hoped everything was alright in there, and then figured she would already know if it wasn't. Lifting her eyes again she looked around the room, swallowing against the pain in her infected throat. Her chest had begun to feel like it was packed with gummy cotton, her breaths filtering through it uncomfortably. "Where is here, exactly?" she asked.

"Best guess is the basement," Rick followed her gaze around the room. "You remember anything?"

Lori shook her head – she didn't remember anything after being smoked in the head with a small fire extinguisher. Except… pulling her hand out from under Rick's, she lifted her shirt and twisted to inspect her side. "I remember being dragged down the stairs," she winced, prodding the bruise on her side and knowing there were probably more along her spine from rebounding against the steps.

She looked across the room to a set of wood and concrete stairs. "You try that door, yet?" she asked, already knowing that it was a long shot that it wouldn't be locked.

Rick stood, wincing a little at the change in position. Lori suspected his leg was more sore than he let on. He turned to look at the stairway she was referring to and shook his head after a moment. "Not yet, was more concerned with making sure you woke up before I go tryin' to open doors," he paused and glanced down at his leg. "And honestly, I wasn't too interested in testing the leg out on a flight of stairs."

Lori nodded. "Of course, sorry, I kinda blanked out on that part."

"Yeah, well, a bump on the head will do that to ya…how exactly did that happen anyway?"

Lori closed her eyes for a moment and willed away the pounding in her head, as if she needed another problem to add onto morning sickness and an infection. The last few days had to be some of her worst, and that was saying a lot considering the way the world had been going for months now. Then again, her husband had been the most responsive to her in those days than he had in the past month. At least there was one thing she could be grateful for. She brought herself back to his question and fought to recall what had happened just before Reggie knocked her out.

"After you passed out, I got a little light headed and felt like I was about to do the same. Reggie came over to help me and she noticed my fever. Asked if I was bitten. She got real freaked out and tried to check me for bites. And then she asked if I was infected. I told her that we all are. Guess she didn't like that answer."

Rick glanced at her head wound again. "I knew that woman was bad news. She took our weapons. Course, that's not surprising considering we're captives now."

Lori instinctually checked her pockets. Just as Rick said, her gun and knife were missing. There was nothing in her pockets at all.

"The keys," she muttered, looking up at her husband with wide eyes.

He nodded. "It was a long shot that she wouldn't search us for everything we could use against her. Should'a run when you had the chance."

"Are we back to that again?" Lori sighed. "I told you I'm not going to leave you, so let's just drop it…"

"You may just have to," Rick cut her off, taking hold of her forearms lightly. "We don't know what this woman intends to do with us. She may have others with her too. We have no weapons. If you get an opportunity to run, you have to take it. I'll do my best to stay with you, but let's be honest, I'm not in anything close to top form right now. We get out of here and it gets tough, you don't hesitate to leave me behind."

Shaking her head despite the throbbing it brought on, Lori opened her mouth to protest but he continued.

"Think about Carl, and the baby."

She couldn't deny he had a point there. She nodded just a little, but they both knew she wasn't entirely on board with this plan. She couldn't imagine just leaving her husband to die. But she also didn't want to leave Carl an orphan and take away the baby's chance at a life. She determined in her mind that none of those things would have to happen. They'd both get out of this safe - somehow.

"Carl… I hope he'll be alright when we don't come back by sunset." Lori knew the group would be there for Carl and take good care of him, she figured Carol would be the most helpful to him in their absence, but it hurt to picture his face when he realized his parents were missing. She hoped it wouldn't be too long before they got back to him.

Rick carefully slid down the wall and sat down next to her, taking her hand. "He's gotten a lot tougher; he'll be okay."

Lori leaned over to rest her head on her husband's shoulder. "He's still just a kid though." She couldn't help it; she would always worry about her son. And someday she would be doing the exact same thing with the baby currently growing in her womb. Who was she kidding; she would always worry about her husband too. And at the moment she could see he was hurting. He was leaning his head back against the wall and his eyes were shut, his breathing heavy.

"You sure you're just sore?" She reached up to thread her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck, gently massaging his head. It occurred to her that she hadn't gotten a good look at his leg since she had woken up. He had rolled his soiled pant leg back down so all she could see was the blood that had already been there.

"You didn't ask for a number," Rick chuckled a little.

Lori shook her head; she appreciated his attempt to keep the moment light. "Okay, scale of one to ten? Be honest," she added, knowing he might try to make it seem better for her sake.

"Hmm, eight, when I have a chance to think about it. Adrenaline helps to take my mind off…but now we got nothin' to do but sit here."

Lori nodded, moving her hands to reach for his pant leg. The sun filtering through the small window provided barely enough light as she pulled back the material carefully. Reggie had done a good job with the stitches, but Lori could see inflammation topped by ugly bruises discoloring his leg. Given the size of the trap and force that it must have closed with, she wasn't surprised by the damage. Still, it turned her stomach a little and she worried how Rick would heal. There were no comfortable hospitals or beds for him to recover in, and the floor of an old, dark, and cold basement couldn't possibly help the process. She placed the pant leg back just as carefully as she had pulled it up, and looked him over again.

"And how about the rest of you? Something tells me she didn't roll you down here in a wheelchair…"

He hummed in agreement. "Yeah, I'm sure I got the same treatment as you. Can't remember a thing between passing out on the table and waking up on the ground in here," he shrugged. "Feel a little banged up, but nothing too serious. Other than the leg, of course."

Lori's body chose that moment to bring the attention back to her as a coughing fit hit her when she sighed. Just as she figured, it didn't sound pretty. The congestion in her chest was getting to the point of painful and her throat still ached. She wished she had some water.

Rick looked at her sympathetically and stretched his arm around her. She placed her head back on his shoulder. The stairs caught her eye again and she remembered that they still didn't know if the door was locked. They needed to come up with a plan to get out of there and that door was the only option at this point.

Before she could open her mouth to voice her thoughts to Rick, a low but distinct scraping sound filtered through the room. She quickly looked to her husband to find him looking back at her, both of them bewildered and alarmed. She was hoping it was an animal, even a rat would be welcome over the alternative and more likely culprit: Walkers. Assuming it was the latter, she tried to breathe shallowly to avoid another round of coughing. Of course, since her anxiety was up the plan didn't work and she couldn't help but let loose a few hoarse coughs.

Her hope that the noise was just an animal was diminished when as soon as she stopped coughing, it sounded again, louder and sharper than before. It was enough for Lori to identify the sound: a chain being yanked and pulled taut. Something was chained up somewhere down in the room with them and it most definitely was trying to get out. There was no denying at that point what the something was.

Rick began to push himself off the floor to a standing position. Lori quickly sprung into action and used her hands to help him stand. She heard scraping again, closer, and momentarily panicked until she realized it was the pipe that was still in Rick's hand.

He motioned for her to stay where she was but she got to her feet anyway.

"I'm coming with you" she whispered, fighting desperately not to cough once again.

He paused a moment and then nodded, but placed his arm in front of her to indicate that she should remain behind him. They moved slowly toward the other side of the room, where the light from the small window did not reach. Lori hadn't looked too carefully at that side of the room before, but she noticed there was more to it than she'd previously assumed. She could hear the scraping and yanking, more forcefully now, but still slightly muffled. It certainly did not appear to be in the same room as them. The farther they moved across the room the louder the noise got and finally they reached a door.

Rick looked back at her briefly and she nodded, twisting her fingers into the fabric at the small of his back, figuring he was going to attempt to open the door. Even if they had to get past a walker, or several, she silently wished that this door would lead to a way out.

Her hope was immediately dashed when the door opened to reveal what she assumed was a storage closet. It was hard to tell in the dark, but there was no doubt that the room did not lead outside. At the far end of the closet was confirmation of the source of the noise.

A female Walker was chained to a shelf that was bolted to the wall. There was one chain around its ankle and one around the wrist. She looked like she was in her early twenties, long brown hair and a dress, neither of which looked too disheveled so Lori assumed this Walker couldn't have turned that long ago. Perhaps she hadn't even turned before she got chained to this closet.

Upon seeing them, the Walker began grunting and lunging eagerly. Before it could do much more damage to the chain and the wall, Rick moved forward and swiped at its head with the pipe. It threw the Walker off balance just enough for him to pin it to the wall and plunge the pipe into its skull.

Lori moved forward to hold Rick steady as he stumbled back a bit. She had no doubt that the encounter had aggravated his leg. She glanced once more at the now unmoving Walker on the floor and something else caught her eye. A small trap was attached to its other leg. She was about to point that out to Rick when the sound of a door opening stopped her. She turned quickly to see the door at the top of the stairs wide open with light streaming in, outlining Reggie's silhouette.