Starting Over... |Daryl Dixon| |The Walking Dead|

Chapter 1: How It All Began

hey guys! sooo i just recently watched seasons 1-3 of the walking dead, and i'm completely hooked! i'm waiting for season 4 to come out on dvd, so no spoilers, please!! ;p

anyway, i fell in love with daryl from the beginning, and the idea for this story stirred up inside my head.

it's set at the beginning of the third season, going on througout. im going to follow the basic plot of the show, adding my own personal twist to things.

i hope everyone enjoys my first walking dead story, and my first story on wattpad! xoxo ((sorry if some details are a bit off... feel free to correct me, but please no rude comments. thanks!))

xxxxxxx

CHAPTER 1: How it all Began

It had been at least a year since the plague wiped out most of the earth's population.

I was one of the few survivors, including the four members of my group: Jessie, my childhood bestfriend; Zach, my older brother; Tina, a cashier at my formerly local grocery store; and Danny, a random stranger from my small hometown in southern Indiana.

The five of us had stuck together and survived ever since all hell broke loose... that's a day I'll never forget... it was my 21st birthday.

-FLASHBACK-

"Tonight's gonna be so awesome!!!" Jessie squealed from the backseat of my brother's 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

"I know," I agreed from the passenger seat, "I can't believe I'm turning 21! Aah!!"

"Oh, please," Zach chuckled from behind the wheel, "You already drink like a fish, what's gonna be so different?"

"I won't have to hide my can of beer when the cops show up to parties anymore, that's what." I replied back matter-of-factly.

Zach rolled his hazel eyes behind his green Raybans sunglasses.

"That's a great aspiration for life, Kayla." he said, but couldn't help smirking.

"Oh, come on, Zach." Jessie piped up again, "Don't rain on Kayla's parade just because she's in her prime and you're like 30 now."

I cracked up laughing as my brother shot my best friend a how-dare-you look in the rearview mirror.

"I'm only 29!" he corrected her sharply, and she giggled.

"Relax, Zach! I'm just teasing you." Jessie reassured him, calming her fit of giggles.

"Yea, yea.." my brother scoffed.

I smiled at their banter as I rolled down the window, allowing the warm summer air to whip into the cab, sweeping my long auburn hair off my shoulders.

I dug into my purse, locating a fresh pack of cigerettes. They were Marlboro Reds, my favorite kind. I unwrapped the plastic casing, flipped the pack open and whipped out the first one. There was nothing like the feeling of having plenty of smokes.

I slipped the cigerette between my lips and sparked my pink camo Bic lighter, watching the end of my cigerette as the flame danced around it. I puffed on the cigerette twice, then exhaled the smoke. It was sucked out of the Cherokee like a vaccuum.

"Those things are gonna kill you one day, Kayla." Zach warned me for the hundredth time as I flicked the ash out the window with my thumb.

I rolled my dual colored eyes, one green and one honey brown. I had always embraced my heterochromia.

I had heard this speech a million times, and not just from Zach. But, I had been smoking since I was 15 years old, and I didn't intend on quiting anytime soon.