I woke up to someone tapping my shoulder. "Hmm?" I sat up, rubbing my eyes. "It's time for dinner." I looked up and saw a girl in her 20s with short brown hair and green eyes. She looked very thoughtful and serious, staring off into space thinking deeply about something. I pulled the covers up to make my bed, and turned to walk down the hall.
The house was very nicely decorated, full of family pictures and wooden décor. Even the hallways were no exception - the wallpaper was patterned with a rainbow of flowers. I recognized the serious girl who just woke me in one of the family pictures. "Thanks for waking me." I said, turning to her. "No problem, kiddo. My name's Maggie, by the way." She nodded in my direction.
I returned her friendly nod and we walked down the hallway in a comfortable silence. I didn't really know much to talk about anyways; my amnesia was still in effect and I didn't even know my own name. I hoped the memory loss would wear off soon, so I could have a normal conversation with people.
We reached the main room in a few seconds, where a full group of people were seated in various perches. I recognized Rick, Daryl, Lori and of course Maggie, but the rest I did not know. I looked for a place to sit in the room, and settled for a countertop beside Lori. "How was your rest?" Lori asked, taking a bite of her meat. "It was good. I still don't know my name, though." I said, a tone of disappointment in my voice. "That's all right. You'll remember it sooner or later." Lori gave me a smile, and she gestured to the dinner table. "Grab yourself some food, there's squirrel and carrots." She told me.
My stomach turned at the thought of eating meat from a fuzzy gray squirrel, but I supposed that if this was what everyone else wanted to eat, I would eat it too. I took a spoonful of raw carrot slices and a bit of squirrel just to try it, and I propped myself back up on the counter. I dug into my meal like I hadn't eaten in weeks, and the squirrel turned out to be pretty good!
After dinner was over, Rick stood up in the middle of the room. "Everyone, I'm sure you already know this news, but if you don't, please listen carefully. This morning a survivor stumbled upon our camp. Apparently one of us tried to shove her into a barn. She has severe amnesia, and she was having hallucinations about walkers in the barn. One of you really scared her. Finally, we have to make a group decision here. We can keep this girl here until she has healed and she has regained her mental stability and memory or we keep her here for as long as she likes." Rick explained, and everyone murmured in the group. My cheeks heated as the attention became focused on me - my hands became sweaty, I started fiddling with my fingers and I hung my face. "All in favor of setting her free." Rick glanced around the room. One man raised his hand, and that was it. "Well, Shane, looks like you got outnumbered." Rick said, and Shane stood up.
"We have to let her go, Rick. She'll be dragging our group behind, and we're going to have to feed her too." Shane shook his head, narrowing his eyes. "Shane, there are walkers out there. She's only thirteen! How is she ever going to survive by herself?" Rick replied smartly, giving an ice-cold stare to Shane. "Um, excuse me?" I piped up, my little voice practically nothing. "Yes?" Rick turned to face me. "What are walkers?" I said. A look of shock passed over everyone's faces, and some of them stared at me sympathetically. Lori whispered to Maggie, "The poor girl. Nobody told her." I waited patiently for Rick to tell me, and after what seemed like forever he finally replied, "Um ...there's a virus going around that is spread by the human bite. The virus gives you a high fever, then you die. But you rise up as a walker, and you're hungry for human flesh." I stared in bewilderment at him, who said it as casual as he could.
"That's why we gotta shoot 'em in the brain.' Daryl patted his trusty sidekick, his crossbow. "Wow." Was all I could utter. "How much of the world has been affected?" I asked in a panic. "All of it." Rick winced. I felt my heart ache as I thought of my family possibly becoming walkers. "Anyone want some dessert?" A cheery voice called from behind us. It was a beautiful girl with platinum-blond hair and green eyes - she was in the hallway pictures with Maggie. Her pictures were labelled as "Beth." "Yes please, Beth!" Almost everyone called, except for Shane. His brow was furrowed and his arms were folded.
After the adults exchanged some common conversation, as though the world wasn't coming to an end, Beth brought in the dessert. It was a chocolate cake drizzled with caramel. "Beth, you made this?" I managed to muffle without choking on a crumb. "With my own two hands. Daddy plants a vegetable garden in the backyard!" Beth smiled, and Hershel grinned as well. As I took a bite into my cake, it brought back a memory. My birthday parties ... my age ... my name ... It brought back everything.
"My name's Courtney Freed." I tapped Lori, remembering the promise I made her to tell her my name. "Your memory's okay now?" She gave me a smile. "I remember everything." I confirmed, taking a forkful of cake.