Alright, so here goes! I've decided to continue this story.

Many thanks to Jenasys Loveless Lovecraft and IronAmerica for their reviews last chapter.

I do not own The Walking Dead.

Turning Tables- Chapter Two: Let Love In

Lori's heart pounded loudly in her chest. She had just gone to the woods to grab some twigs for the fire later that night. Instead, though, she found herself face-to-face with a walker. At first, she didn't want to scream. That just would have caused unnecessary attention to herself. If a herd had been around, they would have come straight for the camp. Straight for her son.

The walker had been feasting on a dead bird, only to find out that there was a much more scrumptious treat just a few feet away. This particular undead freak, at one time, had porcelain pale skin and a head of auburn red hair. She saw Lori gathering sticks and leaves, her mouth beginning to water at the mere thought of human flesh. The undead woman dropped her appetizer and lurched towards her main course. Her leg was dragging out from behind her, and she was making a high-pitched groan that let Lori know of her presence.

The brunette looked in between the walker and the pathway back to the camp. She could make it, if she didn't trip on the way back. Lori's breathing grew sporadic as the undead girl stepped closer to her. She turned away from the walker, fiddling around for the hunter's knife that Shane had given her for times like this. Lori kept looking back at the walker, who was getting closer and closer to her.

By the time she had her hands on the knife, however, the walker had already attempted to tackle her to the ground. Lori used her arm to shield the walker from biting at her neck, but that had only worked for a short moment. The mother had gone to stab the walker with her free hand and ended up being overpowered by the undead creature, who had finally tackled her to the ground.

She began screaming with all of her mite as she felt her flesh being torn apart, the knife that she had lay just out of her reach.

o—o—o

The group came running not a moment later after they heard Lori's desperate screams. Rick left his son with Amy, who had to hold him down to keep him from running alongside his dad. Daryl, Shane, and T-Dog came with Rick, who practically lost it when he saw his wife getting ripped apart by the walker.

Shane and Rick were stunned at the scene that was unfolding before them. Both men stopped in their tracks, just looking on blankly for a moment. It took Rick a whole hell of a lot of courage to pull the walker off of Lori. He grabbed the knife and plunged it into the walker's head again and again. As it toppled onto the ground, the deputy crawled over to his wife, who had already passed out due to blood loss.

"Lori," Rick cried, "Lori, baby, no!" He cradled her corpse close, sobs wracking his body. "No, no, no, no," he sobbed into her hair. "Baby, I'm sorry," he pulled back at her for a moment, glancing down at her fatal throat wound. "I should have done better looking out for you…"

Shane put a hand on his best friend's shoulder, very close to tears himself. "You know what we have to do."

Rick looked up at his former partner. "No, we can't. I—I can't."

Shane just sighed. "C'mon, you don't have to. I'll do it," he went to help Rick up, but he protested.

"No. Maybe—maybe there's some way, a cure—or something," the blue-eyed deputy glanced down at his dead wife, cradling her closer. "I just can't give up hope."

"There's no way to be sure, Rick. Look, you know that I loved Lori—" Shane froze as his best friend looked back up at him, "yeah, I did love her, like I know you did too. But she's gonna turn if we don't do something. That much, we know. She'll turn in a matter of hours."

Rick got back up to his feet and practically snarled at the other former deputy. "We might still have time to get her to someone who can help!"

"Like who?" Shane shook his head, "man, listen to yourself!" he shouted. Daryl and T-Dog watched the confrontation warily. "By the time we find out something, Lori will have reanimated. Do—" Shane just ran a hand through his dark hair, "do you want your son to die next?"

The other deputy had heard enough, just as he was about to lunge for his former partner, Daryl and T-Dog began to pull each man back before it could get any worse.

"Rick, Shane, just knock this shit off, okay?" Daryl practically hissed as he held a distraught Rick back.

"Well, the tables sure have turned, haven't they, Daryl?" Shane retorted, shaking out of T-Dog's grasp. "Just earlier today, me and Rick were holding you down from doing stupid shit."

The redneck just watched Shane as he wiped the spit away from his mouth and stalked away from the woods. Daryl looked at Rick once and released him.

"Sorry, man, just tryin' ta keep ya'll from killin' each other," Daryl grumbled heavily.

"I appreciate that," Rick whispered, dusting his uniform off. "I—Just gimme a minute to say goodbye. Don't let my son come back here. Please." His blue eyes locked with Daryl's, pleading for his word.

The redneck just nodded and brushed past T-Dog, who clapped a hand on Rick's back before leaving.

Lori's body lay still. With a trembling hand, her husband said his final goodbyes before shooting her in the head.

That was the hardest thing that Rick had ever had to do in his life. All because of this fucked-up world that they lived in, his wife was now dead. God, Carl would be so devastated…

Rick scooped his wife's corpse up in his arms and carried her away, weaving through the woods so that their son couldn't see it. She had to be buried, and quick.

o—o—o

Carl buried his face into his father's side. Both Grimes boys were standing before Lori's fresh grave, paying their final respects. The revelation of her death hadn't gone over well, especially not with Carl. Not that Rick thought that it would, anyways. The father just did everything he could to comfort his son in this sorrowful time in their lives.

"Dad, I don't want to stay at this camp anymore," the young boy told Rick, shaking his head, "now that mom's gone…"

Rick kissed the top of his son's head and rubbed his back for all it was worth. "I know what you're saying, Carl, I really do. But we really have no place else to go."

"And I ain't leavin' without my brother," Daryl grumbled, mostly to himself, as he passed by the mourning family. Great, the former deputy thought, he had gone back to hating everyone.

Carl looked up at his father. "I'm scared, dad. The geeks got mom."

The former deputy sighed and picked his son up, holding him close. "Wanna know something, buddy?" When Carl nodded, his father then continued, "I'm scared too. But you need to know that I will do whatever I can to keep you safe. Point blank."

"And you've always got me too, kiddo," Amy began, sparing the child a small smile. Hearing of Lori's death was a complete and utter shocker. In many ways, Lori had been a pain. But, really, she did try. And absolutely no one could fault her for that. She just felt so bad for Rick; he and his wife had never even gotten the chance to settle back together quite yet. Based on her understanding, the two of them had had a rocky marriage. The former deputy wanted to forget about every fight and misunderstanding, but his wife just couldn't let any of it go. She kept apologizing for the past and never really looked towards the future, or even at the present.

And that was the exact reason why, for a moment, Rick thought about a life without being married to Lori. Now he just wanted her back. He wanted to hear her protests once more about going to Atlanta. He felt guilty for wanting a divorce.

"I'm sorry for intruding, but…" The former college student sighed, rolling her shoulders back, "I just wanted to put my respects in."

Rick looked over at Amy, who just put a hand on his back and sent him a smile just the same. "Thank you, Amy."

The young blonde nodded, refusing to let her cheeks flush this time around. "Lori was a good woman. And she knew that you loved her. You and Carl both did," she looked between both Grimes boys and went to step back. As she went to take her hand off of Rick's back, he quickly caught it and laced his fingers through hers for a moment.

"Thank you," he repeated, blue eyes boring into her own. "I appreciate everything you've done for Carl. If—if something should happen to me, I want you to take care of him, okay?" Rick glanced down at his son, lips quirking weakly, "he's all I got left."

"Rick—"

"Just promise me. Please," the deputy pleaded once more, giving the blonde's hand a gentle squeeze.

Amy did her best to nod without blushing. With the way he was looking at her, it was like he was searching her deep down for something else entirely. It was merely her imagination, but it sure as hell didn't feel like it. "Yeah, you got it," she breathed, squeezing his hand right back.

For a moment, neither of them moved. Not even Carl noticed this. That poor kid was just in his own little world. It took Andrea clearing her throat for Amy and Rick to let go of each other's hand.

Amy just blushed madly and headed in the opposite direction that her sister came from, presumably towards the RV for some time to herself. Andrea knew her sister well enough.

Rick nodded towards the older blonde and gave her a half smile. "Your sister's a good girl."

"Yeah. A good girl. Do I need to remind you that she's just twenty-four? A twenty-four-year-old that loves dragons, unicorns and mermaids," Andrea told the former deputy, quirking an eyebrow. "Look, I know you just lost your wife, and I'm really sorry, but don't think that you can use my sister as an outlet."

"What? Andrea," Rick glanced down at his son, making sure he still wasn't paying them any attention. "It's not like that, okay? I wouldn't do that to Amy."

The elder blonde gawked at the former deputy one last time before leaving him to his own thoughts. Damn, did that woman have some nerve or what? For Christ's sake, his wife had just died! Did she really think that he would run off with another woman the second that no one was looking?

Amy was just a friend, Rick told himself. That was all.

Well, Rick, you won't run off the second after, but… Oh, hey guys! How was the chapter? Any ideas on how the series will go now that Lori's gone? Comment below!

Until next time.