It Comes With The Name

Chapter 3: Grounded

Of course, Shane had integrated Lauren into the camp right away, and subsequently Daryl and Merle as well. Merle had made himself at home pretty much as soon as he set foot in the camp, Daryl on the other hand was much more stand-offish.

Lauren spent the first few days at the camp trying to settle in and get the lay of the land, so to speak. The Dixons set up their tent as far away from the others as possible, parking their truck beside it. Luckily, there happened to be a few spare tents, one of which Shane set up for Lauren right beside his own. Carl slept in her tent most nights, cuddled up next to Tank.

Lauren met the rest of the campers, some a bit more weary of her than others. The two blonde women who she had seen the first day were sisters. Amy, the younger of the two, was around Lauren's age, maybe a few years younger. She was a nice enough girl. The two of them didn't talk much but she always flashed Lauren a smile when they would pass by each other. Her sister Andrea on the other hand clearly wasn't a huge fan of Lauren. She was never rude per-say but she kept her distance, always shooting Lauren weary glances.

Lauren took a particular liking to Glenn, the boy who had been atop the R.V. The two of them had grown very close very quickly. They had even ventured outside the camp together a few times the past month, mostly to a particular convenience store a few miles outside of the city. But now with supplies running lower and lower, their group had made the tough decision to move further into the city for a run.

A few people had volunteered to go on the run, as the plan was to take a small group. And to Lauren's dismay, she was told she couldn't go.

"You're kidding." Lauren stared in disbelief at the man in front of her. "Shane, I'm the only other person that's gone out on runs before, I should be there."

"This is the first time we're sending a group, Lauren. And they're going further into the city than you and Glenn ever have." Shane shook his head. "Besides, with half our manpower gone, I need somebody else who knows how to use these." He tapped the gun strapped to his hip.

Having two older brothers definitely had its benefits. When Rick and Shane joined the academy, they wasted no time getting Lauren familiar with guns and teaching her basic self-defense moves. By the time she reached high school, she was a pretty decent shot, but she still wasn't a huge gun fan.

"Just because I know how to use one, doesn't mean I'm going to." Lauren muttered, heading off to find Glenn.

He stood at the open door of the car they were taking out, packing what little supplies they could. They had managed to find two sets of protective gear on their last run so those were obviously being taken.

Other than Glenn, the run crew was pretty inexperienced which made Lauren quite a bit worried. T-dog had been the first to volunteer. T-dog and Glenn had been heading towards Atlanta together when the city was destroyed. T-dog didn't talk a lot, but when he did he always seemed to be the voice of reason. Although he had no family in their small camp, it was clear to everyone that he genuinely cared about the people there.

Morales had volunteered as well. Lauren wasn't too keen on Morales joining the crew, as he had a family in the camp. A wife, and two young children whom Lauren had grown quite fond of. She was also rather surprised to see Jaqui offer to go along as well. Jaqui was a kind older woman, who had taken on a mother-like role in camp. Andrea volunteered too, despite Amy's protests.

The final member of their run crew was Merle Dixon. That might have been what worried her the most. Merle was a good shot, Lauren had no doubt that he could protect himself. It was everyone else she was worried about. Merle was anything but a team player, the only time he did anything was if it could benefit him somehow. And she couldn't figure out what the benefit would be this time. Daryl was on an overnight hunting trip, so maybe Merle just figured it'd be better to go than be stuck here?