Chapter 2

It had been a week since the start of the apocalypse, and the bus that Lily had worked on had finally been finished. It took so long due to the dead that keeps getting near her, making her have to spend time on a fence so she wouldnt be taken by surprise.

She had tuned the engine to produce more power. She had built a shield so that there wouldnt be any walker guts getting into it, as well as a plow at the front. She had made a few modifications to the bus so that the wheels were also protected in case of bandits and any other dangers.

The only thing she was missing now was the looting of stores in the town.

After finishing the bus, she had gone inside to take a shower. She had remembered that after the first week, the power would go out, so she had made sure to finish before then.

After showering, she put on a pair of black leather pants, a pair of knee high leather boots for better protection, and a black tank top covered by a leather jacket. All for better protection. Afterwards, she pulled on a large backpack, a combat knife and a compact bow that she had gotten hold of just before the end.

Having all her gear ready, she opened the door to her house a small bit to have a look for the walkers. When she saw the coast was clear, she snuck outside and started to run towards the town shops. She had two targets on her first run. The grocery store and the local gun store.

She kept jogging along the road while keeping her senses sharp for any walkers. She did come across a few after running for a while, but she just knocked an arrow and shot it in the head. She grabbed her arrows before continuing running.

She soon came across the first stop, the grocery store. She crouched behind one of the abandoned cars across the road and started to observe the area.

`No sign of walkers nearby... Lets try this.´ She concluded in her mind.

She kept crouching while going to the entrance. She hid behind a wall and started to look for a nearby rock, which as soon as she found one, she threw it inside, making enough noise for any straggling walkers to hear it.

Not even a minute passed before she heard the groaning noises. She merely groaned inwardly while thinking of a way to put them all down, seeing as there were nearly a dozen of them inside. A ålan soon formed in her mind.

She grabbed another rock which she threw closer to the entrance, which grabbed their attention. She kept doing the same, leading them closer to her position until they were right in front of her. Finally she grabbed a larger rock that she barely managed to throw at the car she previously hid behind, making the alarms go off.

The walkers were riled up at the sound of the car and started to head toward it. When they were outside, Lily went inside the now walker free store. She knew that since they were attracted to the loud sound of the car alarm, others nearby might also come running, so she went behind the register and grabbed a bottle of alcohol. She had also seen a dead employee when she came behind the register, so she ripped off a piece of his shirt and made a make-shift molotov cocktail.

Grabbing the now ready molotov, she went back to the entrance where she noticed more than thirty walkers had joined the previous dozen. She just shook her head and lit up the cocktail before throwing it at the crowd of undead.

It had the desired effect of setting the whole bunch on fire, slowly dwindling their numbers. A few did however, escape a fiery death, but not enough that she was unable to take them down. Lily grabbed her bow and started to fire at the walkers that had started to near her after noticing her. One, two, five, ending at seven who had escaped the fire, but in return ended up being pierced by arrows.

Lily stood vigilant for a few minutes before retrieving her arrows to see if there was any walkers that was still nearby. When the coast was clear, she grabbed them and went back inside.

She started to loot the place like no other. She grabbed food, medicine, cigarettes and anything that caught her eyes. It was so much that she ended up having to pack up a lot of it so she could return with a vehicle after the weapon run.

After making all the loot ready, she hid her bag alog with the other loot before once again running outside. She kept vigilant, like a certain one eyed man, CONSTANT VIGILANCE!

But she made the run to the weapon store within ten minutes. She had come from behind the store, so she quickly noticed the jeep that was parked at the back, that she knew belonged to the owner of the place. She also had a friendly relationship with the owner, so she knew that the keys were located inside the store behind the register.

She snuck through the back door and through the storage area. When she reached the store proper, she observed the place closely. When she saw that the store was empty, she started to raid the place. She had already grabbed the car keys as soon as she entered, so she just brought all the guns and ammo outside and loaded them inside the parked car that she would use for transportation.

She found many goods in the relatively small store. Weapons, clothes, ammo.

Springfield Echelon 9mm, Glock 9mm, Armscor revolver, SA-35 9mm, Ruger 10/22, Ruger .308 Win, LC carbine, Maverick 88 pump-action, ATI Scout 12 gauge, Remington 870, Mossberg 940 tactical. Even a couple of M249`s laid hidden among everything else.

She also made sure to grab ammo, holsters, silencers and anything everyone and their grandma may need. She also made sure to grab any bows, arrows and knives she found. She was also lucky enough to find a couple of machetes that she also grabbed. She did however, keep one for herself that she fastened to the left side of her waist in a holster that was made for it. She also made sure to grab a lot of the clothes since they were a bit more sturdy and could better handle the world they now lived in.

Once she had grabbed all that she could find, she stood at the back door and looked across the store.

"To think, just a few days ago we had a beer together... Rest in peace Jim." She muttered in a somber tone.

After bidding her old friend goodbye, she entered the car, started the engine, and returned to the store she raided earlier to grab her loot.

She did have to end a few walkers before she was able to finish the job, but it didnt take too long.

After finally returning home, she started to unload her goods and relocate it all to her precious bus. She spent nearly five hours in the town, and then another two on unloading at home.

"One last target. Anything else I need have to come afterwards. No. There is still another stop." She spoke to herself while sipping a drink in honor of her fallen friends.

"First stop, the hospital for drugs and see if Shane still saved Rick. Next, the police station. I dont want Rick to lose all those guns later when he reaches Atlanta."

While she was planning her next steps.

- Atlanta survivor camp.

A group of twenty sat around a campfire, eating a small portion of food. They were all strangers until a week ago when they happened to band together to get to safety.

They were all sitting and enjoying the small bit of peace they had, except for one person.

"Shane! Wont you come to eat?" Came the voice of an elder man.

"Sorry Dale, not right now. Have a lot on my mind." Shane replied.

The now identified Dale just sighed.

"Its been a week since we got here and I have only seen you eat twice. You wont last long like that."

"I know, I know."

"Still waiting for her arent you?" Came a childish voice belonging to a twelve year old boy. Shane chuckled a bit as he ruffled the boys hair.

"Yeah I am." He replied. The question got everyones attention.

"You waiting for someone? And who might this person be?" Dale asked what they all wanted to know.

"Someone close to me." Shane answered before again turning his back in silence.

They all looked at eachother in silence while still having the question on their minds:

`Who is this person?´

- Lily`s home, next day.

Lily had once again dressed into her outfit from the previous day. Leather pants, knee-high leather boots, black tank top and leather jacket.

She had strapped her machete to the left side of her waist, her bow on her back along with her bag and a quiver of arrows. This time though, she had also grabbed a handgun and put on a pair of fingerless gloves with hardened knuckles that she had found at the weapons store.

This time when she went out, she had taken the jeep. She had planned to go to both the hospital and police station that same day after all, so she needed more space for that days loot.

Barely ten minutes passed before she reached the hospital. She made sure to park in a way so that she more easily could escape in case of an emergency exit.

Having readied herself, she entered the abandoned hospital. She went to the top floor to make her way down while looting medicine and other useful stuff.

Floor by floor she went, grabbing what she found. She soon entered the third floor. The floor that Rick was on.

Lily started to slowly walk towards the room. A good sign for her was that there was a gurney placed in front of the door.

"So far so good. Did you do it Shane...?" She whispered while still sneaking.

Reaching the door, she silently removed the gurney, opened the door, and looked inside. Seeing the inside, she let out a sigh of relief. Rick was still there, alive. She silently reset everything before leaving and continuing her looting spree.

"Hmm, this would be useful, yoink. Painkillers? Useful, yoink yoinkety yoink."

This went on the entire three hours she spent in the building. She did find the infamous `DONT DEAD OPEN INSIDE´ door. And yes, she knew that it was dont open dead inside, but the way it was written..... Yeah, meme time.

When she finally finished her hospital raid, she returned to her car and drove towards the police station.

When she arrived, she found a couple dead officers and a few stragglers, but nothing she couldnt handle, so she quickly ended them with her bow and arrows before heading deeper inside.

She started once again to loot the place when she finally found the armory. She also made sure to grab a few handcuffs while she was there. But while looting, she found the famous revolver that was used by Rick in the show. As a collector she felt the need to grab the gun, but as a reborn person that had become friends with the person who owned the very same weapon, yeah she let it be.

She looked at the place in pride after raiding it. She also had the idea of leaving a letter for when Rick finally woke up. She wrote it and left it with the gun and a set of clothes and hat that Rick used.

Finishing up, she loaded the car and drove home once more. She had managed to loot every place that she could think of, except a sports store downtown, but she figured she could take that one on the way out of town.

Finally reaching her home, she started to unload the cars content into her bus. She stored the food, guns, medicine, clothes, ammo, and everything else she had grabbed the last few days.

When she finished, she entered her house, sat down with a cup of coffee and started to think while taking a sip.

`I guess its time to leave tomorrow eh? Well, I guess I waited long enough. I will see you soon, Lori, Carl.... Shane.´