KAIYA'S POV:

After the Asian boy, Glenn, came and talked to me, two adorable little kids came into the room, both smiling brightly at me. When the door closed behind them, they launched themselves onto the cot, flinging their arms around me and laughing.

"I knew you'd come back, Kaiya!" the little girl said with a giggle.

"Told you!" the boy said.

"Nuh uh! I told you!"

I chuckled. I felt at home with these two little kids. They made me feel appreciated. I must have been pretty important to them.

"Now, guys," I said, pulling them out of the hug. "Can you tell me your names?"

They frowned. "I almost forgot you cant remember," the boy said. "I'm Carl. You gave me some really good advice not too long ago," he said with a glance at the little girl and a blush.

The girl smiled at me, her dimples poking out and her short hair bobbing. "I'm Sophia. You saved my life a while back and got lost like you did a few days ago. But we found you just like Daryl did now!"

"Daryl? Is that the guy that was in here earlier? The one who saved me?"

The kids nodded.

This Daryl guy was kind of intimidating, with large muscles bulging from under his unsleeved, tan skin. He seemed like a jerk, but something about the way he had reacted to me at first made me think I meant something to him before. I mean, sure I must've meant something to everyone here if we were all surviving those walkers together, but to him I was… something more?

"Well, we aren't allowed to say much more. We cant tell you too much in a little time," the boy said, both hopping off of the cot and exiting the room.

A woman older than me with long, dark brown hair came in next. "Hey, Kaiya. I'm Lori."

I smiled up at her. She was kind of a comforting presence though I had no idea who she was.

"I cant really tell you much. We never really interacted much at camp. But, when we stayed at the CDC, I made fun of you for being claustrophobic even though you seemed to be practically fearless otherwise. You would always go out slinging guns with the boys, fighting even harder than some of them. You were a real little trooper. And I know Carl, he's my son, really looked up to you."

I chuckled. "I'm claustrophobic?"

She nodded with a grin. "Well, I'll send the next one in." She stood and left.

Another woman around the same age with blond hair came in. "Hey, kiddo," she said, giving me a small hug and being careful to avoid my injuries. "How're you holding up?"

I shrugged. "I'm a little weird-feeling. I have rediscover who I am. I don't even know how I should be reacting to everything. How I normally would I guess, but I don't remember how that is."

She nodded sympathetically. "Well, we're here to try and help you remember. I'm Andrea. My little sister Amy… she was one of your best friends before she was killed."

I flinched involuntarily, though I'm not completely sure why. "She died?" I asked in a small voice.

She nodded. "You and some of the men had gone into the city to find Daryl's brother, Merle, and when you were just coming back, there was a walker group that invaded camp." She had a dreamy, far away look, like she was watching the incident happening on the side of my cot. "You should have seen yourself. You jumped out of the bushes with the guys, holding a gun up. You shot at everything, hit everything, and you looked like a real warrior." She lifted a hand to brush a piece of hair out of my face. "We really thought you were gone this time, Kaiya."

I didn't know what to do, so I just sat and watched her.

"But you're here now, and that's what matters. I'll go send in Carol."

I nodded as she stood and walked out.

Another woman came in with very short hair and a sweet, motherly smile. "Kaiya," she said. "I'm Carol. Sophia's my daughter. You saved her life once. I never really did get to thank you for that. I felt so guilty when you got lost out there in the woods. Some people thought… Well, they thought you were dead. I didn't know what to think. But I really hoped you weren't. I would have felt so much worse if you had gotten killed out there."

I was really interested about this incident that people kept bringing up. "How long was I lost?"

She thought on it. "Almost a week. But we were looking for you the whole time. Daryl especially. In the end, you made your way back to the highway where we had left you a sign and some food."

That was the third time he had been mentioned to me and I hadn't even talked to him since earlier.

"Well, I'll leave you now."

The next person to come in was a man named Shane. He didn't have much to say. He mainly told me about all the worry I was causing with all of my disappearing acts. I mumbled an apology, but he chuckled and said he was only joking.

After him came an old man named Dale. He told me about myself. This piqued my interest. "How old am I?" I asked, intrigued by his description of me.

"I believe your seventeen now. You were sixteen when we met."

I nodded. I'm pretty young. "What was I like?"

He paused, thinking for a moment. "You were a fighter. And you had a pretty bad mouth. I'm sure if your mother had been around to hear half the words you said, she would have had a stroke," Dale laughed.

I frowned. "I don't sound too nice."

He shook his head. "No, you were! You were one of the nicest young women I had ever met. But you were tough. You fought with the men, you shot better than some of them, you cussed like a sailor, and you had a temper that rivaled Daryl's."

Again Daryl was mentioned. "Can I see Daryl?" I asked.

Dale got a strange look on his face. "I don't know that anyone can make Daryl do anything, but I'll try. And I have a feeling that, since its you, he'll come." He sent me a wink and left the room.

Why would Daryl come just because it was me? What was with this odd relationship I seemed to have with the hillbilly? I was really tired, but I guessed I would have to sit through the rest of the conversations with the campers.

"Hey, there, baby doll," came a drawling voice.

I looked to the door. There was a man who reminded me of Daryl. The same redneck demeanor. This man was intimidating as hell.

"Who are you?" I asked, conscious of the squeak in my voice.

"Merle Dixon. C'mon, baby doll. Don't tell me yer scared o' me."

I swallowed a bit of the saliva that had built up in my mouth.

"Oh come on!" he chuckled. "Kaiya Caston, scared of someone?"

I stayed quiet.

"You aint got no reason tuh be scared o' me. Hell, ya punched me once or twice and sent me sprawlin'. Ya can take care o' yerself, baby doll."

I still said nothing.

He turned back to the door. "Daryl'll be glad tuh know yer awake."

I felt my face go blank.

He smirked at me over his shoulder. "Ah, ya remember him, dontcha?"

I shook my head.

"Well, I'll tell Darlina yer awake."

Something happened the moment he uttered that name. I felt something, heard something, going on inside my head. "Hey, Darlina! Git yer ass up here and quit flirtin' with the rug rat!" Was that a memory? It was sure as hell Merle's voice and it wasn't coming from Merle right in front of me.

He gave a knowing smirk and left the room.

Next came a man named T-dog. He didn't have much to tell me either, except that I helped Daryl keep his temper in control. Which was odd. From what I had gathered about that man, he let no one make him do anything. He was a mean guy who didn't let anyone change that. Except me?

I gripped my head in confusion as T-dog left the room.


Ahh, she's making a small amount of progress already. Lets hope she remembers more pretty quickly, huh? Hope you liked it! Review! :)