A housewife in King County, she was married to Sheriff's Deputy Rick Grimes and had a son together named Carl. Lori evacuated to Atlanta with Carl and Rick's best friend, Shane Walsh. Meanwhile, Rick was in a coma after being shot in the line of duty before the outbreak. While evacuating to Atlanta, Shane was unable to get Rick out of the hospital and claimed to Lori that Rick had died. After Atlanta was napalmed, Shane formed a survivor camp outside the city. Two months after the outbreak, Rick woke up from his coma and found Lori and Carl.