Starting Over...

It had taken a lot of reasoning, but I had done it. After an hour of intense debating, I had convinced my group that these people were the type of rare, trustworthy souls that we needed to band with, and they were giving us a chance... A chance we might not ever get again.

Rick was right. The world wasn't getting any better, it was just getting worse. The number of walkers was steadily rising, and the living were becoming increasingly hostile and dangerous... The five of us needed to be part of something bigger.

So, it was decided. We were going to stay.

But even after I had called Rick to unlock the cell door, it had taken us another forty-five minutes to feel comfortable walking out into the open cafeteria. Not one of us was leaving that cell without the others... We were a family, dammit.

Finally, we all strayed down the hallway and around the corner, hesitantly trickling our way into the main room. Everyone from Rick's group had come back out from their hiding spots, scattered around at the tables. It was extremely awkward, watching as they all tried to act normal in our presense.

We must have seemed like a timid bunch of deer being introduced into captivity... I couldn't wait for this probation period to be over...

xxxxxx

Slowly, over the next few hours, we mingled with the prison group, making introductions and small talk.

We all began to realize that we were no threat to each other. Still, things were a little tense, but that was expected.

Somewhere around 5:00 PM, when Carol and Maggie began to get dinner started, Rick approached Zach, who was sitting with Jessie and I at one of the outermost tables.

"You got a vehicle out there, Zach?" He asked my brother, who nodded.

"It's a Cherokee." Zach replied, "We have a little food and water out there, too."

"Mhm," Jessie chimed in, "And a few extra blankets we don't really use..." She glanced across the cafeteria where Beth was feeding baby Judith, and suddenly stood up, walking her to a cell for a nap. "Maybe your baby could use them...?"

I looked up at Rick, and by the glassy look in his eyes, I knew Jessie's offer had touched him.

"I'd really appreciate that." Rick replied softly and sincerely.

He glimpsed at my brother, who nodded in approval. We were starting out on the right foot with these people.

"Well, the reason I ask is we'd be willing to take you down there to get your stuff, before it gets ransacked. We'll help watch your backs while you get everything together."

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Zach said, "Me and Danny can handle all the packing. The girls can stay here, I don't like them being in danger when they don't have to be."

I rolled my eyes, knowing I was just as capable of fending off walkers as any man was... I gave Jessie a look from across the table, and she mimiced it. I knew she felt the same way I did.

I hated when Zach tried to make our decisions for us, treating us like babies just because we were girls... But I wouldn't argue or cause a scene this time... Not in front of Rick and everyone else.

Rick looked down at my and Jessie's pouty reactions and chuckled.

"C'mon, girls. Zach's just being a responsible leader, that's all." He said to us while his chuckle calmed into a grin.

"Exactly!" Zach agreed enthusiastically, giving me a triumphant look.

"Whoa, there, Rick." I said, "Don't go giving him a bigger head than he's already got."

"Yea," Jessie agreed with a sly smirk, "That thing's already about to explode as it is."

My brother rolled his eyes at our insults. As he stood up from the table, he reached out and quickly slapped the back of my head, just barely hard enough to cause a light sting. He leaned over the table to do the same thing to Jessie, but her reflexes were faster than mine and she dodged him.

"Hey!" I squealed as I grabbed the back of my head, stretching my arm out to retaliate against Zach.

He jumped out of my way, laughing as my fingertips barely grazed his shirt. I flipped him the bird. I guess I'd just have to let him win this time...

"We've still got a good two hours or so of daylight left," Rick said to Zach as they started to walk away, "That should give us plenty of time. We'll take one of our vehicles out there, and you can follow back in yours."

I watched as the two of them strolled over to Danny, who was seated on the lefthand stairwell. They told him the plan, and he eagerly jumped up, following Zach and Rick across the cafeteria. Rick pushed the door open, and they disappeared outside.

After a few seconds, the door opened again. This time, Glenn came waltzing in.

He lifted his faded blue baseball cap, revealing a head of black hat-hair, and wiped the sweat off his forehead. He replaced his cap, and hurried across the cafeteria floor to his cell. Glenn ducked inside, reappearing almost instantly.

I could hear a soft jingling sound as he walked by again, glancing at Jessie and I and giving us a polite nod.

I returned his gesture, and as my eyes dropped lower to his hands, I found the source of the jingling; A set of car keys.

Glenn pushed the door open again, calling out to Rick as he jogged back outside. The door swung shut behind him, and then it was quiet.

I glanced around the prison cafeteria, observing everyone that had been left inside.

First, I saw Hershel. He was relaxed across the room, a book open on his lap and a pair of wire reading glasses perched at the end of his nose. His white eyebrows scrunched up as he focused, reading the last few words on the page before flipping it over.

A few feet away from him, Maggie and Carol were seated at the same long, fold out table from earlier that morning. Instead of sorting and sewing clothes this time, Maggie looked through a group of large cans of vegetables, choosing which ones to open for dinner. Carol kept herself preoccupied by making sure the plates and silverware were clean.

The two of them chatted quietly, smiling and chuckling every once in a while.

When I heard louder giggling from across the cafeteria, I automatically turned my head. I found Tina sitting on the floor on her knees behind Beth, who sat crossed legged. I hadn't even seeb her come back out of the cell.

Beth's long, wavy blonde hair was free from her usual ponytail, and Tina was running a hairbrush through the silky strands. I couldn't hear what they were talking about; Most likely celebrities they used to have crushes on, or maybe what they had wanted to do with their lives, back when there were options... But, I could hear their girly laughter, and it made me smile.

"Wow," Jessie piped up as she stared over at the two girls, "We've barely been here a full day and Tina's already got a best friend... That's a first."

I laughed a little bit.

"I was just thinking pretty much the exact same thing." I said, "I swear, we share the same brain."

"You know we do." Jessie replied back with a cheeky smile.

Suddenly, I made a face. Jessie's smile flattened, and she blinked her blue eyes.

"What..?" She asked.

"I just realized something..." I mumbled, and Jessie's face got really serious as she waited for me to go on, ".....If I share a brain with you, that means... I'm half blonde!!!! NOOOO.."

I jokingly cried out and shook my fists at the ceiling, and Jessie gasped in mock offense.

"Shut up!!" She yipped through a fit of giggles, "Bitch."

"I'm sorry," I laughed, "You know I love you, Jess... Even if you are a dumb blonde."

My best friend shot me a look that made me crack up even harder, making the gash on my stomach stretch and sting a little bit under the bandages.

"I'm kidding..!" I choked out as my laughter calmed to a soft giggle.

Jessie smirked and rolled her eyes. Then, she stood up, brushing her hands over the knee length skirt of her sundress.

"Yea, yea." She waved off my dumb blonde joke, "I'm gonna go see if Carol and Maggie need any help. Wanna come?"

I scrunched up my nose a little bit as I thought this over for a few seconds, then shook my head and stood up.

"Nah, I actually kind of want to go get some air.." I replied as I stood on my toes and stretched my muscles out.

"Okay," Jessie said as she started walking away, "Be careful out there."

"I will." I assured her, then walked towards the door.

On my way, I passed by T-Dog, who was napping on the upper right corner table. I smiled and shook my head. Why not just walk to a cell?

Oh, well. Not my life.

When I pushed the big, rusty door open, the warm outside air rushed over my face. It combed back a few strands of hair from my face that had fallen loose from my braid.

The sun was halfway to setting now, hanging a little lower in the sky. Still, it was shining bright enough to cause my hand to instinctively rest itself above my eyebrows, acting as a visor.

Even so, my eyes squinted to adjust to the brightness. Finally, they adjusted enough for me to spot Daryl, Rick, Glenn, Zach, and Danny near the front gate of the prison. Carl, Rick's son, was with them. He was armed, waiting to open and close that gate as fast as he could.

All five men were crowded around a green SUV. Rick was busy dumping a small cannister of gasoline into the vehicle's gas tank, while Daryl and Glenn loaded a few extra weapons and another cannister of gas into the trunk.

As I made my way over, I noticed the green SUV was a Hyundai Tuscon... and a pretty new one, at that.

"You need all that just to go right out there?" I asked no one in particular, and each of them turned around. By the looks on their faces, they were a little surprised to see me.

"Well, you can never be too prepared." Rick informed me, his expression of surprise fading into a small smile.

"Plus, the Cherokee's out of gas, remember?" Zach reminded me, "Like... completely empty, passed the point of running on fumes. It's not gonna move an inch without fresh fuel."

"Oh, yea..." My voice trailed off as I remembered the thirsty chugging sound the Cherokee's engine had been making when it finally crawled to a stop at our campsite.

"Speaking of gas, we've only got a can and a half left after this," Glenn spoke up, slamming the trunk shut, "We're low on medical supplies, too... We should probably go on a run soon."

"Right.." Rick nodded as he set down the now empty gas cannister, and capped the vehicle's gas tank. "We'll make a plan when we get back."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Daryl, and I could feel his steel blue eyes boaring into me.

"She taggin' along?" His gruff voice hit my ears, his question directed at Rick. How'd I know he was going to have something to say?

Before Rick could answer Daryl, I took the liberty of turning towards him and doing it myself.

"'she' is standing right here, and 'she' can talk to you 'her'self." I spoke clearly in third person, cutting my words and putting extra emphasis on 'she' and 'her', "And no, I am not 'tagging along'."

Daryl narrowed his eyes down at me, as if it intimidated me... I narrowed mine right back.

Wow... His eyes were alot more blue than I thought...

"Kayla.." My brother's low voice of warning flowed through my ears, but I ignored him.

I heard Rick tell Zach not to worry about Daryl and I, and then he disappeared around the side of the car, hopping into the driver's seat. Danny and Zach climbed into the backseat.

"Hm." Daryl grunted back as I heard the Tuscon's engine start, "Good."

"'Good'? What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped at Daryl's back as he turned and opened the passenger side door.

"Means you'd just get in the way." He scoffed over his shoulder before ducking inside the Tuscon and slamming the door shut.

I was annoyed, but I didn't say anything more. What was the point? He wouldn't hear me, the windows were up and the vehicle was already rolling toward the gate.

I watched the tail lights with a furrowed brow. Daryl really got under my skin... Who the hell was he to tell me I'd get in the way? He didn't even know me, or what I was capable of doing... I truly hated being underestimated.

Glenn unlatched the gate's lock, helping Carl slide it open. The Tuscon rolled outside the safety of the fenced in lot, and the very second the rear bumper passed through the thresh hold, they slammed the gate shut again.

The walkers that had been locked on the outside pressed their rotting faces into the fence, snarling and snapping their jaws. They linked their boney fingers through the spaces in the metal and rattled it around fiercely.

I walked over to Glenn and Carl in a slight huff. I joined them in staring past the gate, watching the Hyundai roll through the open field, leaving the walkers in a cloud of dust. It didn't take long for it to reach the treeline, and soon it disappeared into the woods.

I sighed loudly, and Glenn turned his head to look at me.

"Hey, Kayla..." He said, his voice sounding genuine, and I turned my eyes to meet his, "Don't take what Daryl said to offense. He's just not used to new people being around. I think he's still getting used to me, and I was here before he was."

I didn't say anything at first, just chewed my bottom lip lightly.

"Why'd they leave you behind?" I asked him after a second or two, "Does Daryl think you'll get in the way, too?"

Glenn blinked at me, obviously noticing the bitter tone in my voice.

"Well, a few people have to be at the prison at all times... Just in case... So I chose to stay." He replied slowly.

I nodded my head in response. I knew he was here mostly to guard Jessie, Tina and I and just wasn't saying it... it was still only the first day of our "probation period".

"Daryl's a nice guy," Carl's small voice piped up from my other side, and I looked down at him. His blue eyes looked just like his dad's. "You just have to give him time."

I couldn't help but smile at the boy. He was so mature for his age... But I guess he'd have to be to survive in this world.

"So I've heard..." I sighed to Carl, "I just wish he wouldn't be so rude."

I announced I was going back inside, and turned on the heel of my boot. I headed back toward the cafeteria door, trying to get over how insulted I felt. Simply trying to convince myself that Daryl was just a typical man; Cocky and big headed; Didn't really help... But I knew what would do the trick.

A cigarette. Maybe a few cigarettes.

There had to be some kind of nook I could sneak off to around the outside of the prison... So, instead of opening the door and going back inside like I said I was going to, I ducked around the side of the building, hidden away from Carl and Glenn.

I knew I wasn't breaking any of Rick's probation rules, but I wanted to explore without any eyes on me.

I leaned my back against the rough bricks, reaching my left hand behind me and giving the pocket of my shorts a pat. I smiled when I felt the cardboard pack of Newports that were still in my pocket from that morning, along with the lighter.

I pulled the pack out of my pocket and whipped out a cigarette, not even caring it was my least favorite brand.

In just a few short motions that seemed like second nature to me at this point in my life, my cigarette was lit and the pack was tucked safely back into my pocket, along with the lighter.

The thick smoke coated the inside of my lungs, sending a satisfying nicotine buzz coursing through my veins. I exhaled the first puff slowly and let my eyes wander around the cement lot.

I had never seen this side of the prison before. In fact, there was a good percentage of it I hadn't seen yet. My view from the binoculars had been pretty restricted.

I began to slowly stroll around the cafeteria, puffing on my cigarette and taking in my surroundings. The cafeteria was the nucleus of the lot, smack dab in the middle of two larger concrete buildings, and a few storage sheds in the very back.

There were certain areas of the lot that were seperately fenced off, leading to doors that I didn't dare open... Not unarmed, at least. Who knew what the hell was behind them, or if Rick or anyone in his group had gone to look inside yet themselves? Too much mystery for me.

I'd just stick to what I could see for now.

As I rounded the side of the brick building, my eyes were drawn passed the fence and into the completely open yard behind the prison. Dozens of walkers stumbled about in the grass, some of them emerging from the woods about a hundred yards away.

They were eerily calm... I was too far away for them to notice me. I stared at them a moment longer, wondering how the hell the world had come to this... I actually found myself asking that question a lot.

I ashed my cigarette and started to move on down the backside of the building, but halted when something caught my eye... something laying on the cement a few feet away, shimmering against the glow of the late afternoon sunshine.

I squinted at it in an attempt to get a better visual, but with no luck. Curiosity got the best of me and I walked over to it, noticing it was a silver necklace as I approached.

I held my half-way smoked cigarette inbetween my index and middle finger on my right hand, while bending over and scooping up the necklace in my left.

"I wonder where this came from..." I asked myself softly.

The delicate chain was draped across my fingers, feeling like silver lace. I studied the heart shaped charm dangling from the chain and noticed it had hinges.

It was a locket.

I grasped my cigarette inbetween my lips, holding the charm gently in both hands. I ran my thumb nail along the thin crease, and the locket released, folding open to reveal a small picture on both sides.

On the left was a picture of a little boy with dark hair, freckles, and big blue eyes. He was dressed in a baseball uniform, posing as if he were about to hit the ball. The little boy's big smile was missing the two top front teeth. I found myself smiling back at him, realizing it was a picture of Carl at age seven or so.

On the other side of the heart shaped locket was a picture of Rick next to a woman with pretty green eyes and long, wavy dark hair. They were both smiling into the camera so wide that it could have just as easily been laughter.

Rick had his arm around the woman, and her head seemed to rest naturally on his shoulder... They looked so in love.

I felt my smile fade as I remembered back a few days, when I had seen Rick dealing with the death of his wife, the woman in the picture, through my binoculars. I honestly couldn't believe her baby had survived the birth... God knows how gruesome that must have been...

This locket must have belonged to his wife... I flipped over the charm. On the back, "Lori" was engraved in cursive.

After taking a second more to look at each picture, I snapped the locket closed and carefully tucked the chain into my pocket. I made a mental note to return it to Rick or Carl later, then turned and walked back towards the cafeteria.

By the time I rounded the corner to the other side of the cafeteria, facing the front of the prison again, I had taken the last drag of my cigarette. I flicked the filter onto the ground, pulled out another cigarette and quickly lit it.

"Just finished a cigarette...? Perfect time to smoke a cigarette." I muttered to myself, the cigarette bobbing up and down with my words.

I smiled as I said it. That was an inside joke between my old co-worker, Paul, and I. We had worked as servers at a small italian restaurant called Sophie's Bistro, back when life was normal.

Somehow, between running drinks and food to our needy tables, we would sneak out the back door for a quick smoke. Sometimes we could finish an entire cig, sometimes we'd only get a few puffs before our manager, Johnny, would peep his head out the door.

"Kayla!! Table 17 needs an extra side of marinara." He would say; Or "How long does it take to roll 45 silverware, Paul? I mean SERIOUSLY."

Sometimes, on slow days, Paul and I could get away with stretching 10 minute breaks that Johnny granted us into 20 or 30 minute breaks, just standing out behind the restaraunt, chain smoking and shooting the breeze..Hence how the inside joke was born.

I'll admit, I had always had a thing for Paul... He was tall, had big green eyes and a beautiful smile... He always made me laugh... And I knew he had a thing for me, too.

At work, he would always stash my favorite candies in the locker where I kept my things, and we would always text, even if we didn't work the same shift that day.

One night at a pretty rowdy party, Paul and I got a little drunk... Okay, very drunk, and we ended up making out in the kitchen of whoever's home we had happened to be in. Things escalated quickly, and we ended up in a spare bedroom upstairs.

But, shortly before things went passed the point of no return, I realized what I was doing, and it just... wasn't right. Paul and I both agreed to pretend it never happened, and just remained good friends. And that was the farthest I had ever gotten with a guy.. So here I was, still a virgin and most likely going to die that way...

Hey, I said I was a party girl, not a slut.

When I looked up from lighting my cigarette, I noticed an old blue and white truck parked between the two buildings on either side of me. My stomach fluttered. Being a country girl straight from the hills and cornfields of Indiana, there was a special place in my heart for trucks. Especially vintage trucks.

I walked right up to it as I exhaled a cloud of smoke, inspecting every little detail. I peered into the scratched up windows at the brown leather interior, which was ripped in a few places and showing the yellowing foam underneath.

The white and blue duo tone paint was coated in a film of dust, sporting a few dings and scratches... But what else could you expect in a zombie apocolypse? It was still a beautiful vehicle.

My eyes traveled from the tires, which were in surprisingly good condition, to the bed... which held a burly black and chrome motorcycle.

I blinked at this sight for a second, taking two more long drags off my cigarette, right down to the filter. I tossed it to the cement and instinctively ground it down with the ball of my boot.

Something about this just screamed 'Daryl'... But hey, even if it did, he had great taste.

I had gotten my fill of staring at the pretty truck, and turned on my heel to see a rusty fire escape, scaling up the side of the building next to the cafeteria. My eyebrows raised in interest as I made my way over to it, studying the distance it was from the ground.

To my amazement, I reached my arms up and easily wrapped my fingers around the bottom rung. I took a deep breath, and hoisted myself up, being careful of my wounded stomach. Climbing the three story building was suprisingly easy, and when I reached the roof I realized there was an extra floor, casting a shadow over the lower platform that I now stood on.

I peered out at the view of the yard past the fence, which was crowded with walkers. My eyes danced across the open field as I tried to take a headcount... I lost track at 42, and gave up. From this distance, the walkers all began to look the same.

I focused on fetching another smoke from my pocket. I looked down at the end of it as I held my lighter up and puffed the ember into action... Just as the lighter ran out of fluid.

"Damn..." I muttered softly, plucking the cigarette from my mouth with my two fingers. "Oh, well."

I was about to chuck the burnt out lighter across the rooftop, when the sound of moaning and wheezing caught my attention, coming from my left.

My reflexes caused my muscles to freeze in defense, but as I listened I could tell the noises were coming from the ground. Slowly, I walked over to the edge of the roof and peered downward. Sure enough, there was a group of about 10 or 12 walkers crowding the fence, which was only about a foot and a half from the side of the building. The barbed wire seemed right within my reach, but I didn't dare test that theory.

As dangerous and disgusting as they were, the walkers had always fascinated me. I wondered exactly what it was that caused the dead to turn; Bitten or not.

I took a slow drag of my cigarette as I stared down at the bloodthirsty beasts, who only looked at me as their next snack. I looked at the dead lighter in my hand, then absent mindedly tossed it downward.

I watched as the lighter sailed toward the ground, smacking a female walker dead center in the forehead on its way down. Of course, she didn't react to the sudden strike. Walkers had no sense of feeling, only a sense of hunger. Hell, you could put 10 bullets in their chest and chop both their legs off with an axe, and they'd still drag their way towards you... Those things were nothing but walking, flesh eating machines, and the only thing stopping them from devouring what remained of the Earth's population was people like us who came along and killed them... Again.

I smoked through half of my cigarette, just standing and staring down at the pack of undead monsters trying to claw their way up the fence to me. I became lost in my thoughts, until suddenly a loud, abrupt sound startled me back into reality.

*BEEP**BEEP**BEEEEEEP* .... *BEEP**BEEP**BEEEEEEP* ....

It was a car horn. I whirled around in my spot on the roof, careful to keep my balance so I didn't fall to the waiting walkers below. As I gazed out into the field, I caught sight of the green Hyundai tearing towards the prison gate with the Cherokee close behind, leaving the herd of walkers chasing after them in a cloud of dust.

The Hyundai continued honking, and down at the gate, Glenn and Carl took their positions. They waited as the Tuscon and Cherokee grew closer and closer, finally whipping the gate open and allowing them to lass through at the very last second.

Once the vehicles were safely inside the fence, the gate was slammed shut, seperating the dead from the living... And it was done. I raised my eyes and nodded my head slightly as I took a puff off my cigarette. It was obvious they knew what they were doing, their organization was spotless.

I kept watching as the guys all stepped out from the vehicles and began unloading the familiar items from our campsite in the woods. I stayed quiet and took my time finishing my cigarette, not bothering to climb down from the roof to help them.

I certainly didn't want to get in the way.

When everything was unloaded, the guys disappeared inside one by one,without even noticing I was watching.

First went Rick and Carl, followed by Glenn, then Zach, Danny, and Daryl... who stopped short of the cafeteria door, letting in swing closed in front of him.

My stomach fluttered as he suddenly turned his up, staring straight in my direction. Even across the slight distance, I could make out his steel blue eyes and stoney, intimidating expression.

I stared Daryl down, placing one hand on my hip and popping it out to the side in a sassy way, simultaneously taking a long inhale of nicotine. I had maybe one puff left before I hit the filter.

Daryl tilted his head to side a little bit, shifting his weight and crossing his toned arms over his well built chest. I could read his body language loud and.clear.

He was challenging me, trying to play alpha male. Well, it wasn't going to work on me.

I forcefully exhaled the last of the smoke, then flicked the filter off the side of the roof. When it crashed to the cement, what was left of the cherried ember exploded like a mini firework. Then, I thrusted my hand out in front of me, nice and high so Daryl could see it... And flipped him the bird.

I held that pose, and watched the redneck's face. I smiled in triumph when I saw his eyes narrow, and his lips tighten into a scowl under his scruffy facial hair. He then shook his head, yanked open the cafeteria door, and stormed back inside in a huff. Ha, I won.

I let out a chuckle as I turned around and made my way back over to the fire escape, beginning to descend my way back to the ground.

"Two can play at your little games, Mr. Big and Bad..." I muttered to myself as I reached the last few rungs an dropped back onto the cement.

By now, my stomach was growling. I was looking forward to dinner, even if it was cold corn and green beans from a can. Anything everything edible now adays was a luxury.

I knew this wouldn't be the last stand-off I'd have with Daryl... I could tell he was just as stubborn as I was, if not.more so. But there was no way I was backing down. I'd at least get him to respect me, even if it was only a little bit. He didn't have to be my bestfriend, or even like me for that matter.

I mean, how hard could it be... He had to stop caring at some point, right?

-TO BE CONTINUED-