THIRTY DAYS THAT'S HOW LONG it had been since the world stopped, or if you really wanted to precise — 43,200 minutes since the world stopped.

Lucy Hayes only knew the exact date because she refused to let herself forget. The pages in her journal were full of dusty marks; dirt or rocks were the only way for petite brunette to keep track of the agonizingly long days. Pens and Pencils were now a luxury in this world, and one her older sister Lori wouldn't allow her to have. The few pencils they did have were to be used for the children's schooling — no arguments about it.

Lucy found it a bit ridiculous that her nephew and the few other children in the group they found themselves with still had to do schoolwork. It was about keeping things as normal as possible for the kids; Lori stated when Lucy rolled her eyes at her older sister, but things were beyond normal!

The world had stopped or ended depending on how you looked at it. Lucy liked to think of it as God had taken a vacation and this is what happened; the dead were living again and hungry for the flesh of those whose hearts still beat.

It had been a fluke that Lucy had been in Georgia the day everything ended. The Hayes woman never stayed in one place for too long — especially her hometown. She preferred to travel and live a life full of adventure, but when Lori called in hysterics, Lucy knew she had to take the first plane to Georgia.

She was only suppose to be there for a few weeks while they held their breath and waited for her brother in law; Rick Grimes to recover from the bullet wound he suffered, but rapidly news reports started to flash across the tv and people had started to act crazy — reports of people attacks others.

The day it all stopped had become a blur to Lucy. It all happened too quickly and too full of chaos. Lori was shouting at her to hurry and grab whatever she needed while helping Carl grab a few of his things. Shane Walsh had barged into the Grimes home, hurrying them up and trying to get them all to safety while his partner and best friend laid unconscious in a chaotic hospital.

"Lucy, we have to go!" Shane shouted at the younger Hayes sister, grabbing her arm roughly and dragging her towards the door. "If I don't get y'all out of here..." He muttered, shaking his head as though to push away that terrible thought.

"Shane." Lucy hated how weak her voice sounded, but everyone knew she was not as strong as Lori. She never was. "What is going on?" Her nails dug sharply into Shane's upper arm as he continued to drag her small body towards the waiting car.

"I don't know, Lucy." Shane's dark brown eyes look into her scared green one for a moment before pushing her next to Carl in the backseat of the car. "Do not open the windows for anyone or anything." His tone held an edge at his quickly pulled out of the driveway and onto the road.

Lucy nodded, too shocked to form anymore words. She reached her arms out and quickly pulled a scared looking Carl into her arms and held him tightly, trying to comfort her nephew in all of this in unknown chaos.

"Rick?"

Lucy's wide green eyes watched as Shane sadly shook his head at her sister's whispered question. A soft sob left Lori's throat at the realization that her husband was most likely gone.

The world that Lucy Hayes had known ended thirty days ago. Everything and everyone was different. Survival was all that mattered now.

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"Why does mom still make us learn this stuff?" Carl complained with a huff as he sat down next to Lucy, working on a math book that Lori had left for him while she got up god knows what with Shane.

Every since they found this quarry and the other small group of survivors, Lori and Shane had grown closer. Lucy wasn't sure if it was jealousy that she felt whenever Shane sent a look Lori's way during the dinner they had around their small fire or if she just felt pity for her older sister.

"Because even though the world ended you should still know math." Lucy mocked her older sister, a smile on her face as she stuck her tongue out at her nephew, ruffling his hair.

"Well it's stupid. I could be doing other things." The young Grimes boy sighed as he softly pushed his aunt's hand away from his hair. "I could be protecting you and mom! I could be learning how to shoot a gun!" He stated matter of factly.

"Carl," Lucy's tone was soft as a small smile formed on her tired face. She knew her nephew wanted to do so much more than Lori was letting him do, but she understood in a way why Lori wanted to keep Carl shielded from as much as she could.

"Hey." Lori's cheerful voice entered Lucy's ears causing the younger brunette to look away from her nephew to see her older sister walking towards them, fixing her hair and shirt in the process with a smirking Shane following closely behind.

Lucy rolled her eyes as Shane's brown eyes caught her green eyes and sent a wink her way. It was no secret where the both of them had just come from and what they were doing. It made Lucy's stomach sour just thinking about them together.

"I'll see you later, kiddo." Lucy promised, ruffling his hair again before standing up.

"Where are you going?" Lori questioned, looking at her younger sister with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know." Lucy shrugged. "Might see if Amy wants some company."

Lucy quickly walked off before Lori could question her anymore. A sigh left her chapped lips as Shane grabbed a hold of her upper arm as she tried to pass by him.

"What?" Her tone was harsher than she intended it to be.

"What's wrong, Luc?" The former cop questioned, his fingers still digging into Lucy's flesh. "Dixon bothering you again?" His jaw tensed as he thought about the older Dixon brother who always disrupted their group.

Lucy shook her head. "No. I'm just tired." She lied through her chapped lips. "Might try and take a nap."

Shane nodded, his jaw loosening at her words. "I'll came by your tent in a few. I just need to speak to Carl for a minute." He finally released his grip on her arm, placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

Lucy nodded before walking off towards her tent. It was common knowledge between the small group of survivors that Lucy Hayes was dependent on Shane Walsh. It was painfully obvious that she wouldn't have survived without him by her side. Lucy knew that and Shane knew that too.

What Shane Walsh didn't know was how much his little touches or kisses truly meant to her. In a world with so much death and destruction; those small things meant everything to her. She needed Shane Walsh, but he needed Lori.

Lucy Hayes needed Shane Walsh to survive, but did he need her?

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an —
This chapter is slow, but I wanted to introduce Lucy better. I surprisingly like this chapter because usually hate my first chapter. Shane obviously will be with Lori, but not in love with her. Also I want to say Lucy will probably be a very frustrating character in the beginning of this. She's going to make a lot of decisions ( stupid ones ) she's also very dependent on Shane so a lot of the time she blindly follows him, but she will grow as the story goes on! Please don't give up on her lol.