Starting Over...

-KAYLA POV-

Danny and I were quiet while we walked away from Daryl and back into the still empty cafeteria; no one else was up yet. We split up when the door shut behind us, and I strayed over to one of the tables and took a seat. I glared at the back of Danny's blonde head as he passed me by.

I hated when he tried to act like he was my protector... It was annoying, not to mention embarassing. I didn't need anyone to protect me, especially not Danny.

Ever since our group had first come together a year ago, he had been really flirtatious with me, despite Zach telling him multiple times to back off... That just made him cut back to only hitting on me when my brother wasn't around.

But I didn't need Zach to stick up for me every time. I had always been capable of doing it myself. I wasn't scared to be a bitch or tell Danny off, either... But that still didn't stop him from being a creep. He'd always come crawling back with a different perverted joke or sleezy pick up line.

I don't know how many times I told Danny that he was just a friend and member of my group, nothing more. I worded it to him in countless ways, starting out as subtle, polite hints that changed into blunt statements over time.

Still, after all his attempts were shot down, Danny thought I was just playing hard to get. His excuse was that there was no one better left in the world, so I might as well just settle down with him... Romantic, right?

Honestly, I'd rather stick to being single for the rest of my life.

A minute or two after I sat down at the table, I spotted Zach strolling around the corner, coming from the holding cell.

He was in the middle of pulling a blue t-shirt over his head of dark hair, which seemed to grow wilder and more curly every single day.

When he had his shirt on, I waved to him and caught his eye. Zach strolled over to the table and flopped down in the seat across from me, yanking his knee up into his chest so he could relace his boot.

"I was looking for you," Zach told me without looking up, "Why do you always get up so early?"

"You know I suck at sleeping," I reminded him, "I just got up to go get some air this morning... I found Daryl out there and sat with him for a little while."

Zach finished tying the laces on his boot then looked up at me with a raised eyebrow.

"With Daryl...?" He asked me suspiciously, and I rolled my eyes.

"Yea... Daryl," I repeated slowly, "I was just helping him skin some squirrels he caught."

Just as I finished my sentence, I heard the cafeteria door swing open. Zach's hazel eyes were drawn to whoever had walked inside, and I knew who it was without having to turn around, but I did anyway.

It was Daryl, tromping his way across the cafeteria floor. I noticed that he had re-strung the freshly skinned squirrels to his belt, and they swayed back and forth with his stride.

Daryl grabbed a few pieces of firewood from the corner of the large room and tucked them under his arm before turning around again. His eye caught mine as he made his way back to the door, and he gave me a small nod of acknowledgement.

I returned his subtle gesture with a slight wave. Then, he fixed his eyes forward and continued out the door like he had never seen us. I turned back to Zach.

"See?" I said.

"Yea, I see." Zach grumbled back, "Sorry... We haven't been here that long, I still don't know these people... You know how I get."

I smiled at my brother's honesty. It was always refreshing to hear.

"I know," I said softly, "But I'm a big girl, Zach. I can take care of myself... I don't know how long I've been telling you that."

Zach peered at me from across the table, then sighed and ran his hand through the mop of curls on his head.

"I know you feel like you have to protect me, but it must be exhausting worrying about someone else all the time." I continued on, "I can hold my own, Zach. Really."

"I know that." Zach confessed while leaning his elbows on the table and looking to the side, "It's just hard for me to accept it. You're twenty-three now, you're a woman... but I still see my little thirteen year old sister when I look at you."

"Do I really look that young?" I asked my brother with a laugh.

He turned his head back toward me, and I saw a grin form under the dark scruff on his face.

"You know what I mean..." Zach said, "You're grown up. I can't keep you hidden under my wing from everything bad in the world anymore, like I could when you were little... Especially not the way things are now. You're capable of making your own decisions, and trust me..." Zach's eyes got a little sharper, "I know you will."

I gave my brother a sheepish look and twiddled the ends of my hair. Yes, I was a bit of a hassle for him sometimes, I'm sure. But I was stubborn, and I always had been. I couldn't change that, even if I wanted to.

"I'm sorry..." I apologized with a sigh, "I just want to prove to you and everyone else that I can take care of myself, and be a valuable member of a team. Prove that I'm not just... Dead weight."

I paused to make sure my word choice was just right. Zach's eyes softened.

"I get that, Kayla." He said, "I know the world's not the same anymore, and I need to start thinking differently."

Zach reached his arm across the table and wiggled his fingers towards me. I smiled, knowing what this meant.

It was our secret handshake we invented as kids that we always performed when we made promises to each other. The last time we had done this was back before the world turned to shit, when Zach had backed our dad's truck into the big apple tree in our front yard.

The bumper was all bent up and the left tail light was busted, and Zach made me swear not to tell Dad how it happened. Instead, he made up some fake story about an old lady backing into him in a parking lot and taking off.

We had performed the handshake right there in the front yard, and I promised to stick to the fake story... As long as Zach bought me a burrito bowl from Chipotle' that afternoon and brought it to my work, which he was had been willing to work with.

Zach began talking again as I reached across the table and laced my fingers in his.

"I promise I'll try not to be so controling, but you have to promise me something, too." He raised an eyebrow at me and squeezed my hand tight.

I nodded, signaling him to go on.

"I'm not going to tell you to stay inside this fence 24/7... But you have to promise to at least try to be careful and stay out of trouble." He finished.

"Okay, I promise." I said with a nod of agreement. I could work with this compromise.

I could do whatever I wanted, I just had to manage to keep myself out of trouble... How hard could it be?

"Shake?" Zach asked, initiating the ritual.

We bobbed our hands slowly three times, then once more, firm and halting.

"Shook." We both said in unison, looking each other in the eye. That was it, the promise was solid.

Maybe it was just a weird sibling thing... But to us, our handshake was like a super duty pinky promise, or something.

"But, I'll tell you one thing I'll never stop doing." Zach spoke up again after we let go of each other's hands, "And that's protecting my little sister. You're stuck with me for life, sorry to say."

I giggled as Zach shrugged his shoulders at me, and suddenly I remembered what Maggie had said the day before... She was right, I really was lucky to have my big brother here with me.

"Okay," I complied when my giggles had passed, "I can work with that."

Zach then stood up and announced he was going to go find Danny. As he walked away, I could hear baby Judith's tiny morning cries echoeing from the cells to my left. Her cries acted like a sort of alarm clock, and I knew everyone else would be up soon.

No more than ten seconds after that thought had crossed my mind, Beth emerged from one of the cells. She looked a little groggy, her eyes puffy and her blonde hair askew.

She disappeared under the stairwell, most likely peeking into the cell that was directly under it, which was where Rick and Carl slept. Of course, Judith was with them.

I could hear a mix of whispering voices just barely audible over Judith's crying. One voice was light and airy; Beth's, the other deep and husky; Rick's.

I couldn't make out what they were saying, but soon they hushed, and Beth reappeared holding a restless baby in her arms. Her left hand clung to a bottle of formula underneath Judith.

As Beth crossed the cafeteria to sit on the other stairwell, she glanced over at me and smiled.

"Mornin', Kayla..." She whispered softly with a polite nod in my direction.

"Morning." I greeted her with a friendly smile.

After that, Beth was quiet as she covered the rest of the distance to the stairwell. When she sat down, I could hear her softly humming to Judith as she fed her.

Beth was a sweet girl. Quiet, though... That must have been why she and Tina had instantly gotten along so well. When I thought of Tina, I felt compelled to go and see if she and Jessie were up yet.

I pushed myself up from the table and walked straight ahead towards the hall that led to the holding cells. The sun had just barely made its grand entrance for the day, casting a warm orange glow through the windows near the ceiling.

The soft lighting was very soothing... As I rounded the corner, my fuzzy mind caused me to collide with another body coming around the opposite side.

I gasped and stumbled backwards, finding myself face to face with Michonne, who was staring me down.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there..." I apologized to her sincerely, "I was kinda spaced out."

Michonne was silent for a second, then finally spoke as she stepped around me.

"Don't sweat it." She said in a cold tone of voice, and made her way out into the cafeteria.

I turned my head to watch her descend for a second, but ignored our encounter for the most part, and continued down the short hallway that led to the holding cells.

Tina and Jessie were both awake, sitting up in the sunlight that flowed through the small barred window on the back wall.

Jessie sat upright with her lower half still tucked into her blue sleeping bag. She was bunching her long curly hair at the back of her head, using a red scrunchy to tie it back in a bun.

Tina looked up at me from her place on one of the cots, where she was busy writing something down in her dusty, scuffed up diary she had always kept.

"Hey, early bird." She greeted me while finishing the last of her sentence, flipping the diary closed and tucking it back into her backpack.

"Mornin', book worm." I said back to her with a cheeky grin.

I leaned against the steel frame of the door, motioning for Jessie to toss me the hairbrush that was sitting next to her.

She grabbed it and tossed it underhand, and I gracefully snatched it from the air with no problem. I proceeded to brush my hair back away from my face... It needed a wash, but I had no way of getting water for my solar powered shower yet, so tying my hair back into a ponytail was the best I could do for now.

"How'd you guys sleep?" I asked them once my ponytail was secured. I tossed the brush back to Jessie, who was now standing up.

"Pretty good." Jessie replied after she had caught the brush and tucked it away. "What about you? I'm guessing not that good since you weren't here when we all woke up."

"Yea, not so great.." I grumbled while scuffing the toe of my boot at a crack in the floor, "I guess it's just because we're somewhere new."

"Maybe it'll be easier for you to sleep once we're out of this holding cell. " Tina said as she pulled her shoes on.

"Maybe.." I replied absent mindedly.

The girls and I made our way out into the cafeteria. The smell of meat roasting over a fire came wafting in from outside, and I knew it was Daryl cooking up the squirrels.

My stomach growled at the aroma. I used to be the pickiest eater; I hated mushrooms, red meat, onions, squash...I ordered all my sanwhiches plain, burgers with only cheese... Yea, I was one of those people. Now adays, I was happy to just have a half way full stomach.

There were a few more people up now. Rick and Hershel sat at the middle table having a quiet discussion.

Carl had joined Beth on the stairwell. He tickled his baby sister's belly, and smiled as she cooed and kicked her legs. Beth giggled as the two young siblings interacted. Tina ran off to sit with them, and Beth looked up to cheerfully greet her as she approached.

Across the cafeteria on the completely opposite wall, Glenn cuddled close to Maggie... Every time I looked at how in love they were, I felt some sort of dull pain throb in the bottom of my heart... Maybe I was jealous...

As I looked around, I noticed T-Dog, Carol, Zach, Danny and Michonne were missing from the group. They were around somewhere, though.

"Kayla," Hershel called to me, and I noticed him striding toward me on his crutches. "Looks like it's time to change those bandages."

I glanced down at my stomach, and noticed the reddish stain had grown larger and darker.

"You're right..." I agreed with the old man, then looked over at Jesse, "I'll be back in a little bit."

With that, Hershel began to hobble toward his cell, and I followed close behind.

xxxxxx

By the time Hershel had fixed my bandages up, breakfast was finished.

Everyone was up now, and we all sat quietly around the cafeteria, most of us at the tables and a few on the stairwells.

We each had a small bowl or mug of squirrel meat in front of us. It didn't taste too bad, charred and a little gamey, and it felt nice and warm on my stomach.

"Good squirrel, Daryl." Rick piped up between chews.

Daryl nodded, his mouth full and his eyes fixed on the mug in his hand.

"So, we need to go on a run today, right?" Glenn said, his eyes darting around from person to person. "We're almost out of gas."

"Low on medical supplies, too." Hershel added in, "We can't afford for anyone to get seriously injured on what we got now."

"My truck's radiator's gonna blow on the next treck if I don't replace it..." Daryl grumbled from the stairs as he stabbed a cube of meat with his fork.

Rick nodded, acknowledging everyone's suggestions. "We'll head out in the next few hours. We also need to find some things to lock down the prison... padlocks, chains, bungee cords... I don't know who this G person is, but I'm not taking any chances."

We were all quiet for a few minutes, eating and listening to the sounds of our forks clanking against the dishes.

"...I know who it is." Michonne's voice broke the silence, and every head in the room turned toward her.

"What...?" Carol asked in a puzzled tone, as if she was speaking what was on each of our minds.

Michonne set down her bowl and fork, then peered around the room at us.

"I know who G is." She clarified, her eyes stopping at Rick. "I know who he is... And I know where he is. And I know he wants this prison."

It was as if time had stopped. Everyone was staring at Michonne with wide eyes. I finally tore mine away from her and set them on Rick.

His ice blue eyes were fixated on Michonne, and he too slowly set his dishes down.

"Can you tell me..." Rick whispered.

My eyes shot back to Michonne, who nodded her head, then took a deep breath. The tension in the room was so thick, it could be cut with a knife.

Then, Michonne began giving us the details.

"A few miles away from hear, there's a community of survivors by the name of Woodbury..."

xxxxxx

After Michonne's story at breakfast, everyone was speechless.

Turns out there was a large group of people living in the ruins of a town that had been reconstructed and named Woodbury.

Michonne told us that she and a friend of hers that she had been traveling with had crash landed in a helicopter that was supposed to take them to a safe haven, and woken up in Woodbury.

The survivors in the town were ruled by a power hungry, blood thirsty leader that went by the name of the Governour, who had put on a huge front... His people had been brainwashed into obeying his every word, as if he were a God.

And now he wanted this prison to expand his territory... And he was coming for it.

I hadn't even finished my squirrel, having lost my appetite after hearing Michonne's unsettling story.

When Rick, Daryl, and Glenn drove off the lot in the Hyundai to get supplies and gasoline, I excused myself outside to clear my head... But not before grabbing a cigarette and a lighter.

Outside, the sun was bright, but today there were clouds casting shade upon the ground, so it wasn't as hot.

I ignited my cigarette and took a long drag, thinking about what I'd just heard from Michonne in the cafeteria.

A psychotic, power hungry cult leader threatening to come after the prison we lived in with guns blazing? Ontop of the living dead, now we had to fear the living, too...

I sighed and took another hit off the cigarette. As my eyes scanned the lot,  I found Carl standing at the gate, staring out into the field.

I tilted my head to the side, wondering what he was doing. So, I strolled over, letting my cigarette hang at my side in my finger tips.

As I got closer to Carl, I could see a sad and distant look on his face as he stared past the gate.

"Hey," I greeted him softly, and as he turned his striking blue eyes up to me I smiled warmly.

"Hi, Kayla." Carl replied, returning the smile, only a bit softer.

I could still see the sadness in his eyes.

"You okay, sweetie?" I asked him as I puffed on my cigarette. I was about half way done with it, and I could feel the buzz from the nicotine.

Carl shrugged.

"I guess so, I don't know..." He said, and I saw his eyes drop down to look at my cigarette, "Smoking's bad for you, you know..."

Why was everyone telling me that lately?

I didn't reply to his comment. Instead I pursed my lips, and tossed the remainder of the cigarette on the ground, grinding it into the cement with the ball of my boot.

"So, what's bothering you?" I asked Carl as I crossed my arms over my chest. "I know you don't really know me that well, but you can talk to me... I won't tell anyone, I promise."

Carl stared up at me for a moment, then turned his piercing blue gaze back out into the field where the walkers droned about mindlessly. Finally, the young boy let out a sigh.

"It's just... ever since..." Carl's voice cracked slightly, but he recovered quickly and regained his composure, "Ever since my mom died and Judith was born, my dad's been acting weird..."

"Weird?" I repeated Carl as I furrowed my eyebrows. "What do you mean...?"

Carl looked at the ground and kicked his shoe at a pebble as he replied to me.

"Just... weird. He talks all night long, and I hear him when he thinks I'm sleeping. He talks to himself... and to Judith..." The boy paused for a moment, "...Sometimes to my mom... But he never talks to me, hardly even when he's awake."

I frowned at what Carl was saying. This was a pretty deep problem for a twelve year old to have...

"Maybe he just doesn't want to scare you, and he doesn't know how else to do it but to distance himself a little." I.suggested, but Carl shook his head.

"He's losing his mind, Kayla," Carl exclaimed, his sharpness catching me off guard. He almost sounded angry. "He's trying to do too much, taking too much responsibility... I tried to get him to give up on being the leader for a while... Daryl could do it."

I thought for a second what the group would be like with Daryl for a leader, but shook the thoughts from my head and focused on Carl as he kept talking.

"I just wish there was something I could do to bring him back to normal..." He whispered softly.

As he said this, a light bulb clicked on inside my head. the locket!

"Wait here," I told Carl, who looked at me quizically, "I'll be right back."

In record time, I dashed back into the cafeteria, all the way to the holding cell, fished the locket out of my jean shorts that were stuffed into my backpack, and made my way back to Carl without even breaking a sweat.

"Okay," I said to him a bit breathlessly, "I have something for you."

I held the shimmery silver chain up in front of Carl, and he stared at it in awe. As he reached up and took the delicate necklace into his hands, his lips parted to say something, but no sound came out.

"I found it yesterday morning," I informed Carl as I watched him pop open the locket and study the pictures. "It was laying right over-"

Suddenly, Carl lunged forward and embraced me gently around my middle, taking me by surprise and cutting my sentence short.

"Thank you, Kayla..." Carl whispered into my tank top, then pulled his head back and looked up at me with tears in his eyes and a small smile on his lips, "I'm gonna give it to Judith."

"I think that's a great idea." I said to the boy sincerely as I patted his back. "So, does this mean we're friends now?"

Carl nodded and released me, then stood at my side and linked his arm around my waist as we started walking back toward the cafeteria.

"Yea.." He mumbled, "Good friends."

I smiled and draped my own arm over his shoulder, squeezing him toward me, and I heard him laugh a little.

At that moment, Carl had warmed my heart. He and Judith reminded me of myself and my own brother in some way... Carl already loved his baby sister and wanted to protect her with his life.

"Judith's a lucky little girl to have a big brother like you, Carl." I told him as we stopped in front of the door, and he looked up at me one more time as he grabbed the handle.

"Thanks, Kayla... I hope we have a bond like you and Zach have." Carl said to me, "And I hope Judith grows up to be just like you."

With that, Carl opened the door and disappeared back inside, leaving me standing there stunned... But in a good way.

I smiled as the happy warmth in my heart spread throughout my entire body as I replayed Carl's sweet, genuine words over in my mind.

Maybe we did belong with these people after all...

-TO BE CONTINUED-