Starting Over...

Throughout our journey of survival, our group had its shares of ups and downs, just like any other group of people trying to face this everyday hell together.

For the first few months that the five of us were struggling to transition into a world overrun by walking corpses, we were brutally tested by life, both physically and emotionally. Trust and loyalty within the group were strung thin, we were at each other's throats, and there were times when each of us wanted so badly to just give up and give into our seemingly inevitable fate... to walk the Earth with the undead, as one of them.

But after a lot of inner searching, we all found the will to live deep inside of our souls. We stuck together like glue, and vowed to fight to the death to protect each other. Ultimately, we were a force to be reckoned with.

Each of us had our close encounters with walkers, hanging onto our lives by a dangling thread, as well as our moments of heroism. Through experience and trial and error, we discovered things about the walkers that gave us extreme advantages. We learned the things that attracted them the most, loud noise and the smell of blood; The things that repelled them, fire and the odor of other rotting flesh; Their weakest points, the skull and the base of the neck; And most important to our survival was the fastest way to kill them; destroy the brain.

All of our hard days and nights of grueling traveling, scavenging, and walker slaying had brought us to this day about a year and a half after the deadly outbreak, in this spot where we camped in a lush wooded area. We used Zach's Cherokee as our main form of shelter, since we could simply grab what we could and take off if we had to... which had happened more than once.

We left the doors open and used them as anchors for a blue sheet that created a sort of canopy. To the right of the Cherokee was a decent sized fire Danny and Zach had built that morning, crackling and smoldering away. On the opposite side of the jeep was a clothes line strung up between two tree branches. Hanging from the line were everyone's second pair of clothes, almost dry enough to wear. Pajamas and everyone's first pair of clothes were already in our wicker laundry basket and ready to be washed.

Behind the Cherokee, we had a solar powered camping shower hooked up so it was a bit more private. I had scored the shower with Jessie when our group stumbled upon an abandoned and raided camping ground about a month back. When we all split up to find supplies, that shower had been our big prize of the day. It was solar powered, so all we had to do was let the shower sit in the sun for a day, and it would have enough energy for all five of us to take about a seven minute shower. Not too far from the campsite was a fresh stream, so we all had plenty of water for showers to go around. That luxury wasn't always available, so hot showers were a huge treat.

We had a good sized area roped off around us, and dangling from the ropes were random pieces of chopped up walkers; ears, hands, feet; this kept other hungry walkers out of our campsite. But, there was always the chance of one of those undead freaks slipping by under the radar, so we were always alert. It was pretty much instinctual now.

Danny, Tina, Zach, Jessie and I had been posted in this spot for three days now with little trouble from any lurking walkers... But we knew it wouldn't be safe for long. If you were out in the open, you were vulnerable. When walkers got hungry enough, they always found a way to their next meal, even if it killed them.

It was my turn for a shower, so I quickly grabbed my clothes from the clothes line, including my lacey pink bra and thong, and black socks. My orange towel was the last thing I snatched up before disappearing behind the Cherokee. Within 30 seconds I was stripped and enclosed in the zip up chamber, pulling the drawstring that activated the hot water.

I breathed out a long sigh of content and closed my eyes as I felt the soothing water wash down over my body, soaking through my long auburn hair. A hot shower was so simple but so amazing, and in today's world you definately learned to appreciate the little things.

I quickly lathered up, rinsed, and even snuck in a quick shave with a cheap dollarstore razor that I pitched into the woods once I was done with my shower.

I dried off and yanked on my clothes as fast as I could and without really thinking. My outfit consisted of a white tank top, black leather jacket, tight dark wash jeans and a pair of brown hiking boots. As Tina jumped in the shower, I brushed out my hair and twisted it into its usual french braid.

I made my way back out into the campsite to be met with Jessie, who was poking at the fire and tossing in a few dry twigs to keep it fueled. She had been the first to shower that morning, so her face looked soft and rosy, with not a trace of grime anywhere. Her long curly blonde hair fell loosely around her shoulders, and she was dressed in a pair of navy colored pants similar to the fabric of khaki pants, a mint green tank top and a denim jacket.

"Hey." I greeted Jessie with a smile, and she smiled back.

"Hey there." Jessie's baby blue eyes seemed to smile right along with her peachy lips.

"Have you seen the guys anywhere?" I asked, "I've been looking for them."

Jessie pursed her lips in thought.

"Well, I don't really know where Danny is, but Zach took off that way a little while ago... down this tree line." Jessie informed me while she pointed to the west border of our campsite.

I thanked Jessie and told her I'd catch back up with her in a little while, then set off down the tree line to find my brother.

We were somewhere in Northern Georgia, having traveled south from Indiana. It was the middle of summer again, and the woods was lush, green, and thriving. The only sounds as I walked were birds chirping up in the trees, and my boots crunching against leaves and twigs as I trudged along.

Soon, the Cherokee, fire and clothes line faded into the distance slightly behind me, and I caught sight of Zach. He was crouched in the brush, peering through a pair of binoculars.

As I approached him, I could see what he was looking at. About 300 yards away, the side of the fenced in prison was visible. When I looked closer and scanned the entire perimeter, I could see the countless amounts of walkers staggering about, the ones near the fence grabbing ahold of the metal and clinging to it.

I crouched down next to Zach, who didn't take his gaze from the binoculars.

My brother, along with the rest of us, had changed over the many months we had been on the road. His body was leaner and more muscular, his skin was tanner, and his five o'clock shadow had sprouted into a dark beard that matched his head of shaggy dark hair. He wore a green baseball cap on his head to tame his hair, a black t-shirt, faded jeans and a pair of hiking boots similar to mine.

His shot gun rested next to his left boot, perfectly in reach just in case.

"Hey," I greeted Zach quietly after a few moments of silence. My hand was instinctively drawn to rest on my hunting knife strapped to my right thigh, just in case we were suddenly ambushed. I had left my dual pistols and my AK-47 back at the campsite inside the Cherokee.

"I see them." Zach replied in a whisper, skipping the hello all together.

My heterochromial eyes widened slightly. He was talking about the group of people that had taken over the prison, just barely beating the five of us to it. We had no idea what these people were capable of or willing to do, so we decided to hang back and keep watch for a few days.

But we hadn't spotted any of them since the day we arrived, and we were starting to question whether or not they were still alive in there... until now.

"You do...?" I whispered back.

Zach just nodded.

"Something happened..." He continued, hooking my interest.

"Huh..? What do you mean?" I urged him to tell me more and ease my confusion.

"There's a shit load of dead walkers, all over the damn place..." Zach muttered, his tone somewhat disgusted, "Everybody's weapons are drawn... They look beat to hell. But I think there's a few of them missing... I can't tell."

I couldn't take it anymore. I inched closer to my older brother and nudged his shoulder.

"Let me see," I said, holding my hand out for the binoculars, "C'monnn." I pleaded when he glanced at me and raised a single eyebrow.

Finally, Zach gave in and slapped the binoculars in my hand with a heavy sigh.

I held them up to my eyes and located the group of people standing amidst a sea of blood, rotting body parts and dead walkers. I made a mental checklist of each person as best as I could remember them, and started checking each of them off one by one as I saw them.

There was the thin man in the sheriff's uniform with curly brown hair and blue eyes; check.

The cute, young and timid looking asian man; check.

The old man with the long white beard and old fashioned clothing who now, to my amazement, was missing the lower half of his left leg; check.

The pretty, innocent looking blonde girl who couldn't have been any older than 16 or 17; check.

The middleaged woman with the short haircut; check.

The African American man who looked as if he could have easily been a tough football hall of famer; check.

Then finally, there was that grizzly looking redneck guy with the scruffy brown hair, blue eyes, and crossbow; check.

I examined the distressed group of people a few times over. Zach was right, they were missing a chunk of their members, but I couldn't figure out who.

Then suddenly, it hit me.

"The pregnant woman..!" I gasped quietly.

"What??" Zach asked me in a confused tone.

"That's who's missing," I clarified, "The pregnant woman... and that little boy with the hat.. and the girl with the short bob haircut, the asian guy's girlfriend."

There was quiet for a second or two before I heard Zach's voice again.

"They probably turned..." He whispered darkly.

"Maybe.." I agreed solumnly. It was probably the most likely outcome. "...Wait!"

Something had caught my eye. In the far left corner of the prison lot, a huge rusty steel door swung open. The young boy that was missing from the group emerged from behind it, keeping his head down with the brim of his hat covering his freckled face. He had a death grip on a powerful looking revolver in his right hand.

The man in the sheriff's uniform was visibly relieved to see the boy, rushing to hug him. I assumed they were father and son.

Shortly after the boy and the sheriff were reunited, I watched as someone else emerged from behind the door. It was the girl with the short, golden brown bob.

Her arms were coated up to the elbows in dried blood, and I could see that she was deeply disturbed by the horrified look on her face. In her arms, she clutched something small, bundled up in a jacket. A baby.

I felt my heart sink a little as I watched the sheriff speaking words I couldn't hear, glancing back and forth between the boy and the girl.

When the girl simply shook her head and burst into tears, the sheriff lost it before my very eyes. While the girl holding the baby hobbled weakly over to the asian man who held her in his arms, the sheriff unraveled. He cried and braced his palms on his knees, hanging his head low and letting the violent sobs rack his body. Ultimately, he threw himself on the concrete, rolling back and forth to cope with his grief. I put it all together... the pregnant woman was the sheriff's wife, and that was his new baby that had just been born into the shell of what used to be life.

All this time, Zach sat quietly, just watching my facial expressions change with each and every disturbing incident.

"What's happening, Kayla..?" he finally whispered to me.

I dropped the binocars from my eyes and turned my gaze to my brother.

"The pregnant woman, she had the baby... but she didn't make it... and I just watched her husband pretty much lose his mind.." I mumbled. I was deeply upset by this, the image of the girl's arms stained in blood and that poor man rolling on the ground stricken with grief.

I couldn't imagine surviving with a loved one for so long, only for them to just be ripped away from you at any moment, no matter what you do to prevent it... I stared at my brother, feeling the harsh realization that it could happen to him... or Jessie... it could happen to any of us at any time.

Even me...

"Hey!" a familiar voice called out, scaring the shit out of Zach and I. I flinched so violently that I lost my grip on the Binoculars, rocketing them to a crash landing in the brush.

"Whoops.." I said in a sheepish way as I began to fish the binoculars from the tangled weeds and branches.

"Jesus, Danny, do you have to sneak up on us like that?" Zach demanded, still a bit shaken.

I had now located the binoculars and snathched them out of the brush. I turned and faced the other way, my eyes spotting Danny a few feet up the path, closer to the camp site. His blonde hair was halfway past his chin now, so he usually wore it in a low pony tail at the base of his neck. Just like Zach, Danny's facial hair was slightly untamed, but not too crazy yet.

Danny was dressed in a blue flannel shirt over a white long sleeve shirt, khaki cargo shorts and a pair of black Nike tennis-shoes.

"Sorry, man." Danny chuckled at my brother's comment, "I was just gettin' ready to go huntin'. You wanna come with me?"

"Uh, yea sure. just--" Zach started to respond to Danny's offer, but I cut him off before he could say too much.

"Actually, Zach, I was, uh... Hoping I could go." I stammered a bit nervously but kept my voice strong, my head up and my gaze sharp.

Zach raised his dark eyebrows at me.

"I don't think so." my brother shot me down immediately.

"Why do you always do this?" I demanded. The frustration was obvious in my voice. "There's no difference between me chopping through herds of walkers while we're traveling, and going out in the woods to shoot a few squirrels."

"It actually is different," Zach countered, "You have to do that in order to survive and keep up with the group. But you're not just going to go walking off the campsite where it's safe for no good reason, we've talked about this. Not while I'm here."

"Um, yes I am."

"No, Kayla, you're not."

"God dammit, Zach," I snapped in irritation, "I can hold my own and you know it. When are you going to accept the fact that you can't protect me anymore?!"

Zach and Danny were quiet, while I continued with my outburst.

"I'm not your little baby sister anymore, Zach. This isn't our pretty little life anymore. I kill those... things.. every fucking day. I can handle myself and my own decisions, and I don't need my brother living in the past and breathing down my neck."

I slapped the binoculars into my brother's chest, and he just looked at me sharply with his hazel eyes. I averted his gaze, and began marching back toward camp.

"C'mon, Danny..I just have to get my guns." I said to my blonde haired group member who slowly followed behind me.

Zach chose to stay and spy on the prison crew, but I knew he was just pouting because he didn't get his way.

I understood where my brother was coming from, I really did. I was his little sister, younger by eight and a half years, and he had always been protective of me. When I was in high school, he scared off at least three of my boyfriends.

Now in this world, Zach and I only had each other. Sure, we had Danny, Tina, and Jessie, but Zach and I were siblings. We were blood, and that was something not many people had left anymore. So, Zach felt like he had to protect me with his life. But I was a big girl, and I was completely capable of taking care of myself.

Zach would just have to accept that.

When we got back to camp, I made a B line for the Cherokee. I leaned inside the cab, stretching a little bit to reach my dual pistols and their hulster belt, as well as my automatic AK-47 with its across-back strap.

I said good-bye to Tina and Jessie, then met Danny on the East border of camp.

He was equipt with a machete, shot gun for heavy duty damage, and a small pistol.

"You ready?" Danny asked me as I approached him.

"Yup." I responded with a nod, "Now let's go before Zach comes up here and tries to change my non-existant diaper or something."

Danny laughed at my stupid, sarcastic joke, then lifted up the walker repellent line so we could slip underneath.

As we trudged out through the Georgia woods, the only sounds made were the crunching of our shoes against the twigs and leaves on the ground.

We didn't say a word to each other for a good while, and that was all right.with me. My mind was in a complete fog.

I couldn't get the image of those people in the prison suffering out of my head. Usually, I didn't have much sympathy for other people now adays, but there was just something about that group that intrigued me and made me feel hopeful... And I had never even met them.

But ontop of all these emotions coursing through my mind and body, there was another strange feeling I just couldn't shake... Like we hadn't been the only ones spying...

-TO BE CONTINUED-