Starting Over...

My stomach dropped to my knees as Zach stomped his way across the lot, making his way to Daryl and I within seconds.

"Either of you seen Rick?" He asked us, his eyebrows furrowed and his voice sharp.

"Uh... No, I haven't seen him. Have you, Daryl...?" I replied slowly, glancing up at the redneck to see him silently shaking his head.

I could tell just by Zach's stiff body language that he hadn't only come out here to ask us about Rick... Something else was up.

"Well, he's gone off somewhere... Hopefully he'll be back soon." My brother mumbled, and I couldn't help but notice his eyes slightly narrow as he looked over to Daryl, then back at me. "Kayla, I need to talk to you for a second. Alone."

I gulped inwardly and gave Zach a puzzled look, but nodded my head.

"Hey, I can take a hint." Daryl said as he backed away from Zach and I, flashing me a small nod before turning on his heel and heading toward his truck in the vehicle bay.

I kept my eyes on him as he left, watching the faded angel wing designs on the back of his vest until he was out of earshot. When I turned my nervous eyes back up to my brother, he was starting down at me intently.

"What?" I asked him defensively, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Where did you go yesterday?" Zach demanded as he folded his lean, toned arms over his chest. "You just disappeared, Kayla, without even thinking to say a word to me about it."

"I didn't know I had to tell you about every little thing I do..." I scoffed at him, rolling my eyes and leaning against the building.

"I never said you did," Zach quickly countered, "But if you're planning on leaving these gates without me, which I'm really not on board with, then you sure as hell better let me know."

"Why, so you can sit up on your fucking high horse and tell me no like I'm still a little kid?" My voice snapped sharply and I could feel my face twisting up in annoyance.

Zach furrowed his eyebrows at me the minute I cursed at him. It always pissed him off when I argued with him like this, but I didn't care. I was done being treated like a baby.

"Watch your mouth-" My brother tried to sternly lecture me, but I was quick to cut him off.

"Stop talking to me like you're Dad!" I hissed, causing Zach to clamp his lips into a tight line, "And stop telling me what to do. If I wanna say fuck, I'll say it loud and fucking clear...!"

"All right, Kayla, that's enough." Zach tried to stop me, but I kept going.

"No, it's not enough, Zach! I'm sick of worrying about how you're gonna react when I do things, because I shouldn't have to. Sorry, but Daryl invited me to come with him on his hunting trip, and I wasn't gonna just-"

"So Danny wasn't lying to me?" My brother suddenly interrupted me, and I tilted to my head to the side in confusion.

"What do you mean Danny wasn't lying to you...?" I asked as I pushed myself off the wall and took a step closer to my brother.

My hands found their way to a resting spot on my hips as I anxiously chewed my bottom lip and scrunched my eyebrows up. Zach sighed and turned his head away from me, running a hand through his hair. He seemed really aggravated, but I wanted to know what was going on, so I kept pressing.

"What the hell, Zach?!" I persisted, taking a step around him and putting myself in his new line of sight, "What's he been telling you? Come one, I wanna know."

My brother hesitated for a second before he finally let out another sigh, giving me a look. I stared at him expectantly until he started talking again.

"He's saying you've been sneaking off and fooling around with Daryl." He told me, hushing his tone. The way his voice sounded, you'd think his skin was crawling right off his body.

My mouth fell open in sheer amazement. It was the end of the world, we're all living in a prison trying to survive, and Danny wanted to start rumors?

"Seriously? 'Fooling around with Daryl'?....And you believe him." I said in more of a statement than a question. Zach's hazel eyes grew weary as they gazed down at me, making me frown and shake my head. "Wow. You do, don't you?"

"Well, when you go running off outside the prison with him, and then today you're up there on the roof together... Plus you hang out with him a lot around here, and the guy will barely say two words to anyone else... " Zach frantically rambled, "What am I supposed to believe...?!"

"Well maybe you could believe your sister! And what does it matter if I wanna hang out with Daryl, anyway?! It doesn't mean I'm fucking him!" I barked loudly, stepping closer to my brother. I opened my mouth to say more, but changed my mind and clamped my lips shut instead. I shook my head of long Auburn hair before turning on my heel to leave, "You know what, I'm so over this. I don't have to explain myself to you, or anyone. Believe what you want, Zach. It's none of your business either way."

I tried to storm away, but I didn't even make it two steps before I felt a set of strong fingers wrap around my upper arm, holding me in place.

"Where are you going?" Zach demanded of me, tightening his grip as I attempted to tug my arm away from him, "We're still talking."

"Maybe you are, but I'm not." I scoffed, grunting as I yanked harder on my arm with still no luck of breaking free, "I'm gonna go find Danny and ask him just what the hell his problem is."

"No, you're not." Zach informed me as he lightly tugged me back toward him. "You're not gonna go in there and cause drama just because Danny doesn't want to keep your secret-"

At this point, I was pissed. I ripped my arm away from my brother and placed both palms flat against his chest, shoving him backwards as hard as I could. Judging by the way he easily stumbled, I had caught him off guard. Zach quickly caught his footing though, staring at me with wide, angry eyes.

"Cause drama? This is already drama!" I growled at my flustered older brother, who looked like he wanted to straight up backhand me. "He's lying to you, Zach!"

"How do I know you're not, huh?!" Zach raised his voice, redness spreading up his neck and to his ears.

"Exactly! If you can't tell if I'm lying, how can you tell that Danny's telling the truth?!" I hollered, pausing to wait for an answer out of my brother. His scruffy lips twitched like he wanted to come back at me, but he couldn't find the words. "That's what I thought. I have no need to keep secrets, and like I said before, even if I did have one, it would be none of your God damn business."

With that, I stormed off toward the cafeteria. But Zach wasn't letting me get away that easily. He jogged around me, stepping in my path and blocking my way to the door.

"You're not going in there until I'm done talking to you, Kayla!" He told me, matching every side step I made to try and get around him.

"I already told you I'm done talking. You made your point, Zach, now get out of my way-!"

"No!" My brother shouted at me, and now this time it was him reaching out to shove my frail shoulders back. "You're not going anywhere!"

"What the fuck is your problem?!" I screeched in anger, about to come at my brother with fists flying, when suddenly someone intervened.

"Hey! What's goin' on...?!"

It was Daryl, rapidly closing distance between himself and the two of us, looking confused and concerned. "Ya'll said ya wanted to talk, not start a damn fist fight-"

"Stay out of this, Daryl," Zach angrily ordered as he suddenly stepped in front of me, as if Daryl were a threat. "And stay away from my sister!"

Daryl halted in his tracks, narrowing his steel blue eyes as he glanced at me, then looked back to my brother before asking, "The hell're you talkin' about, man?"

"I'm talking about all this alone time you two seem to be having," Zach clarified, making my blood boil and my teeth grind together, "Doesn't really sit well with me, man."

I rolled my eyes at the mocking tone Zach put to his words, and stepped out from behind him.

"Exactly what are you implyin'?" Daryl demanded as he squared his shoulders and took a step forward.

Zach held his ground, intently staring Daryl down.

"I think you've got some hidden intentions." My brother hissed lowly. "Why the hell else would you lead her away from the prison for over 12 hours, just the two of you?"

"Oh my fucking God, I told you we were-" I groaned as I pressed my palms to my eyes, but Daryl's sharp, angry voice quickly cut me off.

"Oh, yea?! Is that whatchya think?!" He raised his tone, and his Georgia twang seemed to weigh a little heavier on his words when he was angry, "I ain't got no damn hidden intentions, man! This is the end'a the God damn world. I don't wanna be with her!" Daryl tossed his arm in my direction as he gestured to me, his eyes burning in a fiery rage.

For some reason, his words stung. I didn't expect that feeling at all... It was like I'd been rejected without ever asking for acceptance. But, despite those strange feelings, Daryl kept shouting.

"I told ya from the git go that I wasn't takin' the heat fer you leavin' unannounced, girl." He growled as he pointed a finger at me. Before I could reply, he added in, "I was just tryin' ta be nice. Sure as hell won't catch me doin' that again."

With one final glare in Zach's direction, Daryl turned on his heel and stormed off toward the cafeteria door. When Zach turned back to face me, my arms were crossed over my chest, and I could almost feel the icey chill in the glare I was giving him. He narrowed his eyes right back at me.

"Kayla, from now on, I want you here with-" He started to say something to me, but I wasn't having it.

"No, don't start trying to lay down the law with me." I spat venomously at my brother, "I'm done listening to your rules. You're not the leader anymore, Zach. Rick is."

By the slightly deflating look in Zach's eyes, I knew I had hit a weak spot. Maybe if I wouldn't have been so mad I would have felt bad about it, but in that moment there was no remorse.

"Okay," Zach muttered as he nodded his head, staring me in the eyes. "All right, Kayla. Have it your way, I'll back off. I'm only trying to protect you."

"I can protect myself." I mumbled back, letting my eyes linger on his for just a few seconds before walking off toward the other side of the lot.

Knowing Danny was inside the cafeteria, probably up and about by now, I didn't really want to go in there just yet. I was just too mad, and I didn't want to cause even more of a scene inside and in front of everyone... Even though I was sure they had probably already heard.

A long, frustrated sigh escaped my lips as I stopped near the catwalk, a stretch of fence surrounding a narrow platform that connected the cafeteria to a smaller building, which was still unexplored. The doors were all chained and barricaded, which gave me the creeps... Who knows what the hell was lurking inside those walls, waiting for one of those doors to creak open just enough...

A shiver jolted up my spine as I tried to push those hellish thoughts from my brain and think of something else... But all I could think about was my argument with Zach, and what Daryl had said. I still didn't understand why it had hurt so much when he told my brother he didn't want to be with me... That's what I was trying to prove the entire time, so why did it feel like I had been shot down?

I reached into my back pocket for my pack of cigarettes, then suddenly remembered I had let Daryl have the last one, up on the rooftop.

"Great..." I grumbled to myself, leaning back into the catwalk's fence.

I sat there for a long moment, debating whether going inside to get more cigarettes was worth it or not. Maybe this was God's way of telling me to cut back on smoking...

Then again, if there really was a God up there somewhere, he'd be keeping all these dead people in the ground... Better yet, normal life would still be going on, and today would be just another day. Getting up, going to work or class, meeting Jessie and some friends down at Dixie Roadhouse when the sun went down...

But instead, this was what life was... Sleeping in an old prison, scavenging for food and supplies, just trying to survive. Years of my life spent in school and working to save money, just for everything to completely halt... Disappear off the face of the Earth as if it never existed. Life, I mean... All the different parts of it.

I gazed up at the morning sky, which was brightening into a pale blue as the sun continued to rise. As bitter as this world made me sometimes, I knew I was blessed to still have Jessie and Zach, the two most important people in my life. As for Danny... I don't know. I was just so mad I couldn't exactly tell what I felt about him anymore.

Whether there was a God looking down on us or not, I knew we were all lucky to have each other. Who knows where my group would have wound up if Rick wouldn't have taken us in, and given us a chance. We had only been here for a few weeks, but I don't know what my life would be like now if I had never met Glenn, or Maggie, or Hershel...

Or Daryl...

I furrowed my brows as that blue eyed redneck invaded my thoughts. Suddenly all I could think about was the sound of his voice, husky and southern... The way my stomach twisted up when I was near him, and the way that his lean abs looked when he raised the hood of the truck, his shirt inching upward...

But I didn't like him that way... I mean, he was Daryl. Why would I look at him that way...?

... Who was I kidding. I knew there had been something brewing in the back of my mind for that redneck, I just didn't want to let myself admit it. But it was just a crush... A physical attraction. There was nothing I could do about it.

This world wasn't built for love... There just wasn't any place for it. Everything was built on death, or survival. So I knew Daryl and I could never happen.

Plus, he had said it himself. He didn't want to be with me anyway, and after Zach's little freak out I doubted he wanted anything to do with me at all.

I glanced back at the cafeteria, knowing for sure that was not where I wanted to be... But what choice did I have? I couldn't go anywhere alone, as much as I wanted to. Plus, we were supposed to be having the memorial for T-Dog and Tina soon... Everyone was probably up by now, and I still had to replace this journal.

I closed my eyes and let another sigh escape from my lips, when suddenly I heard footsteps approaching me from my left. I opened my eyes and quickly turned my head, feeling my stomach clench as I saw who it was. Absolutely the last person I wanted to see in that moment... Danny.

Honestly, I would have rather seen a walker coming my way.

I scowled and narrowed my eyes as he strolled right up to me as if nothing were wrong.

"What do you want?" I barked at him as I crossed my arms over my chest and turned my head forward.

"I wanna talk to ya." Danny replied as he finally stopped few feet away, his voice sounding somewhat sincere.

"Yea, well I already got enough of that from my brother, so I'm not really in the mood for more talking." I scoffed at the tall, blonde man. "Especially not with you."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Danny tilt his head to the side and shift his weight from one leg to the other. Then he had the audacity to ask: "Somethin' wrong?"

That sent me over the edge. I clenched my jaw and roughly pushed my body off the fence, whirling around to face Danny. He stood a few inches taller than me, around Daryl's height, so I had to turn my head upwards to meet his gaze.

"You know damn well something's wrong!" I hissed at him as I poked my finger into his chest, "You've been feeding my brother lies about Daryl and I!"

Danny's lips upturned in a frown as he stared down at me, and finally he sighed and ran a hand through his mangled blonde hair.

"I only said those things 'cause I was worried about ya." Danny told me, and I immediately rolled my eyes.

"Bullshit!" I spat right back at him, as if my words were poisonous daggers. "You did it because you're jealous, Danny. You've never liked Daryl, not since the minute we stepped foot in this prison!"

"I guess you don't remember how that bastard hunted you down like a dog in the woods that day, huh?" Danny growled back at me, his eyes narrowing. "Him and both his buddies. I still don't trust none of these people around here."

"They were just doing what they had to, to keep their people safe." I argued back, "And now, we're part of their group, so you better get over your trust issues real quick."

Danny was quiet, gnawing at his bottom lip as he thought about his next words carefully. He took a few steps closer to me, his eyes darkening a little.

"I don't think we made the right choice stayin' here." He grumbled, keeping his voice hushed, "Rick's been goin' batshit crazy over some note Daryl gave him, and no one else is fit to be leader here."

"Zach-" I started, but Danny fiercely cut me off.

"Man, your brother don't know shit about being a leader." He scoffed, his face twisting into a disgusted sneer, "We should have been doing things differently this whole time. Way differently."

"Differently?" I repeated his words slowly, narrowing my eyes, "Differently how?"

"Like I should have been the one doing the leading," Danny snapped at me, "And right now, we'd be somewhere totally different, and you'd be with me instead of flirtin' around with Daryl.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was one thing for Danny to meddle in my life and make up rumors, but I wasn't going to stand here and let him talk shit about my brother, no matter how pissed I was at him.

"Danny, if you had been leading us, we'd all be dead right now." I hissed up at him fearlessly, "And honestly, that would be way better than being with you. Stay the hell away from me."

With that, Danny and I exchanged one final glare before I stepped around him, and stormed my way back to the cafeteria.

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To be continued...

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