Starting Over...

The sound of locusts buzzing droned loudly in the Georgia summer heat as I followed Daryl through the muggy woods.

Right as he stopped and pointed his crossbow at a small animal moving in the distance, I reached up to slap a mosquito biting the clammy skin of my neck. As I rubbed the stinging area, I made a mental note to look for bug spray the next time we went on a supply run.

The arrow shot from the crossbow and nailed a tree trunk a few yards away, making a plunk against the wood.

"Got 'im." Daryl mumbled triumphantly, lowering his weapon.

"What is it?" I asked him curiously.

"Squirrel." Daryl replied back as he hiked one leg over a fallen, rotted out log, then the other. Then he glanced over his shoulder at me and added, "Pretty big one, too."

I craned my neck and watched him, seeing how far he was going to walk. I made an impressed face as he drew further and further away, finally bending down and yanking his arrow from a tree trunk coated in moss.

"Wow, nice shot." I called to Daryl as he roped his kill to his belt.

"Got a lotta practice over the past year," Daryl replied with a raise of his eyebrows, and I knew he was talking about walkers.

"I know what you mean." I sighed in response as I placed one hand on my hip and used the other to wipe a thin film of sweat off my forehead. "Oh, hey, I see another one!"

I hushed my voice and waved Daryl over to me. As he approached, crossbow raised, I pointed through a gap in the trees just a few feet in front of us. A squirrel was resting on a trunk, its fluffy tail twitching about.

He nodded, aimed, and fired. The arrow whisked through the air, making the same plunk sound as it nailed the poor, unsuspecting squirrel to the bark.

"Nice!" I praised his archery with a wide smile, that dulled after a second, "... How are we gonna get him down?"

Daryl stared up at the squirrel, not too far up on the tree trunk, but too high for either of us to reach. His masculine hand reached up and stroked the scruff on his chin as he pondered.

"Good question." He finally concluded, "You any good at climbin'?"

I could tell his question was a joke, but I looked over at him with a smile, anyway.

"Actually, yea." I stated confidently, "I just have to check out the tree first."

Daryl's footsteps crunched into the fallen leaves as he followed me, ducking underneath low laying tree branches and dodging bushes.

"I was just kiddin'." He said to me as we stopped at the base of the tree.

"I know, but how else are we gonna get him down?" I asked with a shrug, examining the tree's climb-ability. "And you need your arrow back, right?"

I was in luck; There were a few branches jutting out just above me, I could reach them if I jumped a little. From there, I could easily scale the trunk and grab the squirrel.

"Yea, but-" Daryl started to reply, but changed the direction of his comment as I hopped up and latched onto the lowest branch, hoisting myself up, "Look, just be careful, alright? Don't fall outta there an' break yer neck, 'cause I ain't carryin' ya back."

I rolled my eyes but didn't look down at him as I spoke back.

"Will you relax?" I said as I grabbed another branch and pulled myself higher. I was about halfway to the squirrel. "Nothing's gonna happen."

I could hear Daryl grumbling on the ground below, but just ignored it. The next branch was a little higher, causing me to have to strain my arms and shoulders to be able to reach.

My finger tips grazed the bark, but slipped off just as I tried to grasp it. I gasped as my balance wobbled, but I was quick to recover, leaning my center into the support of the trunk.

"Looks like you almost fell." Daryl called up to me in a smartass tone.

When I got my grip on the branch and lifted my body higher, I steadied my body and turned my head over my shoulder so I could see him.

"I got it." I assured Daryl sharply, and he shrugged from the ground, turning around to keep a look out for walkers.

I kept my eye on the squirrel, inching upward the rest of the way until I was right underneath it. Making sure my left hand had a steady grip on the rodent, I reached up with the right and yanked on the arrow. It took two tries but finally the arrow popped out of the trunk, and the limp body of the squirrel flopped into my hand.

"Heads up!" I shouted down to Daryl, who looked up at me from the ground.

I held the squirrel out, squinting one eye and aiming for Daryl as best as I could. I dropped the carcus, watching it sail downwards, right into his hands.

He tied it to the rope with the other one and let them both hang from his belt. While Daryl was busy with the squirrels, I clutched the arrow between my teeth as I started my descent back to the ground.

I felt for the sturdy branches with my feet, gradually making my way to the bottom of the trunk. My feet thudded against the grass when I finally hopped down, reaching up and snatching the arrow from between my teeth.

"You're welcome." I said with a grin and held the arrow out to Daryl.

He cocked an eyebrow, taking the arrow from my fingers and placing it with the others at the bottom of his bow.

I gave Daryl a sassy look and started heading off again, eager to find more prey to hunt.

"Hey, Kayla," Daryl's grizzly voice piped up from behind me.

"Yea?"

"Gimme a smoke."

I cackled a laugh, grabbing my backpack and twisting it around to my front so I could unzip the front pocket, "You liiiike... L&M's?"

"Hell, I don't care." Daryl croaked to me, his reflexes acting fast as I tossed the red pack to him. "Lighter?"

I tossed that back to him, too, trading for the pack of cigarettes. I snatched one out for myself and tucked the pack into my pocket, just in time to catch the lighter from Daryl and ignite the end of my cigarette.

I exhaled the smoke, looking back at Daryl who was tapping ashes onto the forrest floor. The heat wasn't so bad where we were in that moment, shaded under a thick, leafy canopy... But the humidity was dense and smothering.

Since it was best to keep moving out in the open like we were, Daryl and I multitasked, smoking our cigarettes and watching our steps on the uneven ground as we walked. I was leading the way, warning Daryl of weak spots in the dirt and tree branches that snapped back like rubber bands.

"Another snapper," I called over my shoulder as I passed through a cluster of thin branches.

I kept walking, but after just two steps I heard the branches whip backwards, striking Daryl sharply in his chest and neck.

"Son of a bitch...!" He barked, fighting his way through the now tangled branches.

"Hey, I warned you." I told him with a smirk and a shrug.

Daryl just glared at me lightly, wiping a tiny bit of blood from a scratch on his neck before stepping in front of me.

"How 'bout I lead the way from now on, huh?" He grumbled as he peered at me with his blue eyes.

I stifled a laugh as I gestured to the bumpy path in front of us. "Be my guest."

Daryl continued through the woods in a huff, and I scrambled to keep up.

"Where are we going, anyway?" I called up to him, stepping over an overgrown tree root.

"Follow the leader!" He hollered back.

I rolled my eyes, knowing he wasn't going to tell me.

xxxxxx

xxxxxx

"Do you think any celebrities survived?"

"I dunno. Who cares?"

"It's just weird to think about, that's all."

"Prob'ly not. They were so used to havin' other people take care of 'em, there's no way they woulda known what to do when this shit broke out."

Daryl and I sat ontop of a large boulder next to a muddy creak that trickled through the woods, taking a break from walking and snacking on some granola bars.

"You never know. Maybe Bruce Willis is still alive out there somewhere, he was pretty badass." I said between chews, "Or like, Ryan Reynolds... That would be so amazing if he lived."

Daryl crumpled the empty granola bar wrapper in his hand and took a swig from his water bottle.

"Yea, well keep dreamin', 'cause I doubt any of 'em are still around."

"Hey, there's always hope." I pointed out,  "I mean, now that there's really no such thing as money, TV or movies anymore, they would just be regular people like us."

Daryl stared at me, his eyes mysterious and narrow as he listened to my philosophy. His reply was simply to grunt, and take another short drink of water.

I copied him, popping the last bite of my granola bar into my mouth and washing it down with a sip of warm water.

"C'mon, didn't you have any celebrity crushes?" I asked, "Think about it, the population's shrunk down so much that if they did survive, and somehow we did come across them, we might have a chance with them."

Daryl looked at me again, one of his eyebrows cocked.

"You think about this kinda stuff a lot?" He asked, sounding like he wanted to laugh, but of course kept a straight face.

"I guess." I replied with a shrug, "There's a lot of time to think, usually."

Daryl nodded and stared out over the trees.

"Well... I guess I wouldn't mind if Scarlett Johanson came walkin' through here." He confessed, "... Or Angelina Jolie."

I raised my water bottle as I grinned and pointed at him. "See? It makes sense, doesn't it."

I giggled and Daryl finally cracked a small hint of a smile, which was short lived. He raised his hand toward me, signaling me to hush. My breath caught in my throat as I watched him tune in on the sounds around us.

"What is it?" I whispered.

"Shh..." Daryl hushed, placing a finger to his lips.

His eyes flicked over to mine as a series of twigs snapped loudly below us. My stomach dropped to my knees as the sound got louder, accompanied by low groans and gurgles...

I instinctively reached for the knife strapped to my leg, unsheathing it as I scanned the area. Where were they going to come from?

When I caught sight of the first one, a tall, lanky figure wearing a soiled white dress, I pointed to it with my knife. Daryl glanced over at it and nodded, in turn pointing out six more that were headed toward us from the other direction.

Okay... Seven. That wasn't too bad of a number, we could handle that.

The only problem was this boulder we were sitting on top of. It was high enough to just barely keep us out of the reach of the undead, but left us no escape route but to jump as far as we could manage, and run for it.

But, if we didn't inflict at least a little damage on these freaks, that plan would probably just get us bit... So we had to think this through.

I racked my brain for a plan as the walkers noticed Daryl and I perched ontop of the boulder like sitting ducks. Their jaws snapped as they hissed and hobbled over to the rock, pressing their bodies against the rough surface.

Daryl kicked a boney hand away from his boot, cursing as he inched backwards a little. The walkers groaned and wheezed, peering up at us with their sunken in faces and cloudy eyes.

He managed to get another solid kick to the walker's face, his heel sinking deep into its eye socket. The corpse instantly fell limp, crumpling to the side.

That still left six, and I could hear more straggling through the trees toward us.

I cringed as one of them clawed at the surface of the boulder, ripping the cracked, yellowing nails from its fingertips and leaving bloody smears on the mineral.

I slung my knife at the creep closest to me, but missed by a few inches, only scraping the gritty surface of the boulder. I couldn't lean over enough to get a kill shot without falling into their waiting arms.

"Shit." I muttered as I lifted my foot away from one of their swiping hands, but as I lowered it back down, the walker reached up with its other hand and snagged my ankle. "Ah! Daryl!"

I shook my leg in an attempt to break the shrieking beast's grip, but it was too strong. Panic set in as I felt my body slipping downwards, and my breathing became ragged. I clutched my knife, knowing this thing was most likely going to drag me to the ground.

"Bastard!" Daryl growled, kicking the walker's temple.

The blow busted a joint in the neck of the freak, but didn't kill it. If anything, it got more pissed off, yanking at my leg more aggressively.

With its head still cocked unnaturally to the side, the walker proceeded to drag me down the face of the boulder. As soon as my body hit the ground, I flew into action, knowing I would be ripped apart if I wasted even one second.

I kicked the knees of the walker in front of me, snapping the brittle bones and watching as it fell over. This gave me a gap to slip through, smashing the seething skull of the fallen corpse on my way.

A shriek escaped my lips as I stumbled away, feeling fingers grazing my hair as I went.

In front of me, the muddy bank to the creek sloped downward toward the murky water. Behind me, the walkers hissed and stumbled toward me, and I didn't know what to do.

There were too many living dead for me to kill off with my knife, and even if I used my gun, that would only attract more...

"JUMP IN THE CREEK!"

I gasped as something thudded to the ground a few feet away from me, and turned to see what it was. The two squirrels Daryl had killed earlier lay sprawled in the grass, sliced up and dripping blood.

"KAYLA, C'MON, DAMMIT!" Daryl's voice shouted again, "SWIM ACROSS! I'LL BE RIGHT BEHIND YA!"

I didn't even give it a second thought. As the walkers trailed over to the fresh squirrel meat, I dashed for the bank.

As soon as my shoes hit the mud, they slipped out from under me and I tumbled down the bank, splashing into the shallow end of the water on my hands and knees. I quickly stood up and wobbled toward the other side pf the creek, which was probably about twenty or thirty feel long... I just hoped it wasn't too deep.

The muck at the bottom of the creek glued to my shoes like suction cups as I waded. Thankfully, the water only rose up to my waist, but it was a struggle to move through.

Pure adrenaline propelled me across the creek. I was out of breath, but not out of energy. I managed to crawl onto the muddy bank, still able to hear the walkers growling from across the water behind me.

The bank was too steep and slippery for me to climb, which I concluded through trial and error. I panted for breath as I slowed down and examined my surroundings, looking for a way out... And my eyes landed on a web of thick vines sticking out through the mud, growing off of a sickly looking tree on the edge of the bank.

I rushed to it, yanking my feet from the mud as they sank into it. My leg muscles were burning, but I had to keep going.

When I approached the vines, I reached up and grasped them, letting out a groan of exhaustion as I tried to pull myself up. I tried my hardest to get some kind of grip on the muddy ledge with the bottoms of my shoes, but just ended up slipping and sliding all over.

After my third failed attempt, I had to drop from the vines, and take a few deep breaths. I reached up again, gritting my teeth as I hoisted the entire 110 pounds of my body with my strained arms muscles.

By some miraculous force, I was able to lift myself onto the grassy bank. I was completely drained, my lungs feeling shriveled, and my clothes covered in mud.

But I pushed myself up off the ground. I couldn't bear to look behind me for Daryl, terrified of what could have become of him.

Even though I was dizzy and light headed, I forced myself to keep moving. There was a tree line a few feet away from me, and I hobbled closer to it, hoping there would be something better on the other side.

But as my body passed through the gaps of the tree trunks, the loose dirt gave way beneath my feet, catching me completely off guard.

I heard myself scream as my body plumeted downward.

My forehead smacked against something hard, and as my vision faded to black, I could feel loose dirt and pebbles cascading down upon my body like snow...

-TO BE CONTINUED-