Alicia slides to the ground. Her hands are shaking and she's breathing hard from running so hard. The bloody knife drops from her trembling fingers. It clatters against the tree trunk she's collapsed against. The gentle noise is muted to her. All she can hear is snarling and growling echoing loudly around her. The last noise of the dead guy she just knifed in the head.
Her eyes shake from the rancid blood on her hands to the body lying still in front of her. How had she killed him? How had she, the straight A college hopeful, killed a guy?
He was going to kill me, she thinks to herself as she wraps her arms around her knees.
No..
She swallows the urge to be sick.
He was going to eat me.
Alicia shudders at the thought. To think how close she'd come to that makes her feel even more scared. She'd seen those things tear people apart before. She couldn't imagine how it'd feel. She didn't want to.
She stares at the dead guy and wonders what he'd been like alive. Maybe he'd owned a shitty car. Maybe he'd had a job he hated. Maybe he had a wife and kids, and a dog. Maybe he laughed despite the crap in his life because it was better than giving up. She bets he never saw this coming for him. Nobody had. He'd had a life and now he had nothing.
Just like her.
Miserably shaking Alicia thinks about her mom and Travis, hoping they were doing okay after the attack. Her arms tighten around her knees and she chokes on her scared breaths.
She should have never come here. She should have stayed on the boat with Nick and the others, like her mom had begged her to. Instead she'd argued she wasn't some useless child they could keep trapped on a boat. She could help. She could fight.
But she couldn't.
And now they could have paid the price for it.
Alicia stares at the ground, tears falling down her cheeks. She's seriously worried for her mom and Travis. She'd never seen which direction they'd ran. She'd been busy running from her own group of walkers. And now she was lost. And alone. Her family would be stressing out. They'd be trying to find her.
She had to find them.
"Hey!"
Alicia jumps suddenly when somebody yells and quickly looks up.
Standing in front of her is a blonde chick in a blue biker jacket and torn jeans. There's dirt and blood clinging to her skin and to the aviators tucked into the low cut of her black vest. She's got a scratch on her left cheek and her blue eyes are ringed with deep dark rings. She looks like she hasn't slept in a long time.
But Alicia barely registers all that. She's looking at the sharp looking knife sitting nice and snug in a sheath attached to the blonde's thigh.
And the gun she's holding in aim at Alicia's face.
Immediately Alicia cringes into the tree. The other girl's mean expression pauses seeing Alicia looking scared and she cracks into a wide smile.
"Oh, thank god!" She sighs out in relief. Alicia frowns at her accent and watches the gun come down, "I thought you were another fucking zombie!"
The blonde tucks the gun into a holster on her belt and lowers a hand down to help Alicia up. Alicia stares at it and then back at her.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" She growls when she finds her voice. She smacks the girl's hand away and shakily stumbles up by herself, "You were just about to shoot me and now you wanna be friends?!"
The stranger grins at Alicia. Her angry rejection of help seems to amuse her. It just annoys Alicia more.
"You get this one all by yourself, princess?" The girl asks ignoring the question and smirking as she kicks the dead man's shoe. Alicia glares at her.
"So what if I did?" She snaps back. The other girl shrugs.
"Well I would be impressed. But I can see your ego doesn't need that boost today. So I'll just be going"
She turns away and Alicia stumbles after her.
"Hey wait!"
She rushes to stop the girl. She's the first person Alicia's seen since losing her family this morning. The first living one anyway. She needs to ask her if she's seen her mom or Travis around.
She reaches out to take hold of the blonde's sleeve, stopping suddenly when the girl spins around and grabs hold of her shirt. Alicia freezes feeling a knife being pressed to her throat, and suddenly, somehow, its like they've been here before.
The other girl's body standing so close to hers sets all her nerve endings alight. Her heart jumps excited in her chest, as if it knows exactly whats happening and what will happen. Alicia doesn't. But she does knows if she moves forward, just a little, her body would align perfectly with the blondes, like a puzzle piece, like they were made for each other. Which is stupid, right. They've literally just met. And nothing about this crazy knife wielding blonde is making Alicia want to move anywhere.
She resists the urge to swallow and stands still, showing she means no harm. Her heart is racing terrified as she calmly breathes and she looks down at the other girl breathing angrily against her. Alicia waits for something to happen. She's hoping her stillness will make the other girl trust she's not a threat.
Seconds pass painfully slow as the knife scratches lightly against her throat. And her focus continues to slip as she stares down at the shocking sea blue glaring back at her. She's never seen eyes look that blue before. And yet they feel familiar somehow. Like an ocean she's swam in before.
"Rule one of zombie world," the girl husks, slowly letting go of Alicia's shirt, "Don't grab me. Ever"
"Got it" Alicia mumbles back, "Sorry" she adds sincerely.
The other girl lets up on her glare then and suddenly smirks happily back like nothing ever happened. She takes her knife down, which relieves Alicia.
"What's your name, princess?" she asks tucking the knife back onto her thigh.
Alicia rolls her eyes at the pet name, "Alicia"
The other girl nods and holds her hand out. Alicia makes to take it but the blonde moves last second and grips Alicia's forearm, clasping it firmly.
"Alicia," she repeats huskily and for some reason it causes a tremble to roll down Alicia's back, "I'm Elyza" she announces gently.
Elyza's fingers squeeze her and Alicia takes the hint to squeeze Eliza's arm back. It's a strange greeting but it makes Elyza smile and Alicia definitely likes that better than Elyza's angry face.
"So, Princess Alicia," Elyza smirks again, "What's your plan"
Alicia blinks at her as they let go of each other, "Plan?"
"Yeah. What're you up to on your lonesome out here?" Elyza waves around them at the filthy abandoned car lot.
"Looking for a friend" Alicia cuts back sarcastically. She can't help it. The other girl keeps looking at her like she can read her mind and it makes Alicia feel uncomfortable.
Elyza chuckles like she knows and nods towards the dead guy behind her, "Looks like you found one. Though, if that's how you treat your mates, I'm not sure this is gonna work out"
"Who said you were my friend?" Alicia fires back hotly.
Elyza just smiles. Alicia is all fire and aggression. And Elyza likes that. Almost as much as she likes the look of those legs in those shorts.
She takes a moment before she replies to Alicia's outburst, and runs her eyes eagerly up Alicia's tall frame. She's incredibly attractive. With her long brown hair pulled over one shoulder and her plump soft looking lips that are just begging to be touched. And she just knows if she touched them she'd never stop.
Elyza quickly glances down when she feels herself staring and finds her eyes catching on Alicia's stomach. There she spies a subtle set of abs sitting beneath the shirt tied around Alicia's waist. She rolls her eyes for the girl's lack of smart consideration when she last chose what to wear. She's got to know the world is full of things that would love to sink their teeth into her flesh.
Elyza swallows a low smile when she immediately considers herself one of them.
"I'm not trying to kill you" she says forcing her eyes up to meet with Alicia's green ones again. She finds herself staring at their forest glow. She finds a warmth in them even though they're taking her in with so much distance. It should feel cold. But it doesn't. She can't help but feel like its not the first time they've looked at her that way.
For some reason her smile turns a little sad when she adds, "Don't the rules of the world imply that that's how we make friends now?"
Alicia just stares back at her. She's isn't sure whether the girl is making fun of her or not.
Deciding she doesn't care and that she has no time for any of this Alicia starts walking past Elyza towards the mall she'd been trying to get into before the dead guy grabbed her. She's pretty sure her mom would be inside. With Travis. Looking for supplies. Just like they'd planned.
She makes about five steps before Elyza pulls her back.
"Not so fast, hot stuff" Elyza pulls Alicia around behind her and turns to face her with thumbs in her back pockets and a grin, "Where'd you think you're going?"
Alicia frowns at her, "I need to get in there" she points at the mall over Elyza's shoulder and makes to go again. But Elyza just pushes her back.
"Rule two of zombie world; don't be an idiot"
"Excuse me?!" Alicia swipes elyza's hand down and folds her arms. Elyza can't help but laugh at the small show of standoffishness.
She steps forward and brings her hands down on Alicia's shoulders to force her to be still. She brushes her thumbs across the girls exposed collarbone gently when she starts arguing until she feels her relax a little. Oddly alicia feels strangely comforted by the unwanted contact.
"I get it" Elyza says continuing to stroke Alicia's skin, "You wanna go shopping because who wouldn't, right? The entire mall is up for grabs. What're you after? That handbag your daddy always put off buying you? That new laptop you couldn't afford on your allowance?" Elyza grins at Alicia's lips pursing angrily, "New dancing shoes?"
Alicia glares coldly at the girl's mocking. Her temper was caught fast on Elyza's insinuation that she was shallow and selfish enough to turn into a thief the moment the world went crazy. She wasn't some daddy's girl. She never had been. She never got the chance to be.
"Food" she says curtly, surprising the other girl, "And medicine. My friend is sick"
"Sick how?" Elyza asks immediately narrowing her eyes suspiciously at the brunette. Alicia rolls her eyes.
"Not bitten sick" she stands back from Elyza's hands. She doesn't understand why the girl keeps touching her. Or why she sort of likes it.
"You realise that entire place is going to be crawling with things that'll take one look at that hot bod and try to chow down?" Elyza tells her. She runs her eyes over Alicia again and smirks, "Not that I blame them"
Alicia's hand clenches at her side. She's angry at the blonde for treating her like a kid. But worse she feels oddly flattered by her comment too. Its confusing. She takes a couple breaths to calm down and starts walking towards the mall. She hears Elyza groan before she follows.
"You'll get me killed, princess" she grumbles in pursuit.
Alicia immediately spins around and prods her in the chest.
"Hey!" Elyza yelps rubbing the hurting spot.
"I didn't ask for you to turn up and fall into my lap" Alicia growls viciously, her fury at the world and especially this annoying blonde on full display in her stormy green eyes glaring down at the shorter girl. It has Elyza stopping short. Alicia's anger is both terrifying and harrowing. And yet, she's not scared. Because somehow she knows its all for show.
"I didn't ask for you to find me and follow me around like some sort of puppy" Alicia continues, voice deepening with that angry growling timbre that Elyza thinks suits her just right, "Okay? I got here alone and I was doing completely fine. So just.. just take a hike!"
To Alicia's rage Elyza just tilts her head and grins.
"Fell into your lap, huh?" She chuckles when Alicia blushes at her own choice of words, "Well, I don't remember that part.."
Elyza walks forward, straight into Alicia's space. She leans even further in so their noses just brush, causing a nervous tremble to roll down Alicia's back. Alicia backs up immediately but Elyza doesn't let her go far. The brunette swallows watching the blonde follow her and she jumps feeling her butt hit something blocking her path backwards.
Elyza smirks at Alicia caught up against a car bonnet and slips herself right in front of her. Giving Alicia absolutely no way out as she stretches a little up.
"Maybe you could jog my memory though" Elyza husks looking down to those pursed lips. She can't help but lift her chin a little when Alicia lets out a slow breath, nudging their mouths together just a little. She knows she's being incredibly forward and usually its not her style. But it is the end of the world. And something about this kid makes her inhibitions completely disappear.
Alicia's eyes are wide with what's happening, and her inability to stop it. She tries to remember why she should. A vague voice in the back of her mind whispers Matt's name to her. But Alicia barely hears it. Its hard to think when Elyza's eyes and mouth are that close. She's trying to figure out how the hell this happened and why. But her heads shutting off. All she can think about are those smirking lips that lie nearly against her own.
And it stuns her when her only thought is to move into them.
"I'm waiting, princess"
Elyza smirks wider and Alicia's chest shakes with the quick breath in she takes. She closes her eyes, hoping that if she's not looking at Elyza's she could get some control back. Elyza just breathes a laugh and gently touches the back of Alicia's head, fingers just slipping through her hair where it curls over her right shoulder. Her hand feels warm and Alicia hates how her skin is easily welcoming it. She lets herself be pulled closer, giving herself up completely just as Elyza's lips begin to brush heavier over her own.
"Shit!" Elyza breathes suddenly and Alicia's eyes snap open.
Elyza's shooting a serious look over her shoulder. Alicia turns her head and stumbles a step to the side at the five walkers staggering towards them through the parking lot. Each of them snarling excitedly.
She gasps sharply when she becomes aware again of her surroundings. She has no idea how but Elyza completely managed to shut her down and take her out of the fucking apocalypse just then. And instead of being furious with the blonde girl beside her, she's surprised at her fury with the walkers for interrupting them.
Alicia looks down when Elyza takes a tight hold of her hand and starts heading in the opposite direction of the walkers, pulling her quickly after her.
"Looks like it's your lucky day, princess" she says pulling Alicia quickly into a run towards the mall.
Alicia frowns at her back, "Where're we going?" She gasps breathing hard from trying to keep up. Elyza doesn't say. Just keeps tugging her along at a fast pace.
They round the corner but skid to a sudden stop just inside the mall entrance. Both with frozen stares for the dozens of walkers standing still ahead of them. Elyza curses internally. She knew this was a bad idea. The two girls hold their breaths but the walkers haven't noticed them yet. They look like they're just standing there, vacant.
Alicia looks back terrified at Elyza who puts a finger to her lips and slowly starts backing up. Alicia copies her, stumbling a little over her own feet in her panic to get away.
Elyza pulls her a step to the left and a loud rattle echoes around the mall from the kicked can under Alicia's boot. The two girls look down at it, and Alicia feels completely afraid at the look Elyza shoots her before she turns her attention to their audience.
The walkers ahead of them have all turned and the two girls freeze at the loud growling crowd ambling towards them.
Alicia breathes deeply against the loud pounding of her heart, especially when the first walkers they'd been trying to shake enter the mall behind them, blocking their way out.
"Shit!" she whimpers.
Thats it, she thinks, We're screwed!
She looks down when Elyza grabs her hand again. She leans close and gives Alicia a serious look and her knife before she tells her to run. Before Alicia can argue she's being pulled around Elyza's back to the free space on her left. The blonde pushes hard on her shoulder to get her to go already. Then she pulls her gun out.
Alicia shakes her head, "I'm not leaving you!" She shouts at her.
Elyza ignores her and shoots a walker down. Another comes at her and Alicia's fear heightens when he manages to grab Elyza's jacket.
"Oh no you don't!" The blonde growls grabbing his torn hoody to yank him back.
He falls over himself and she quickly shoots him in the head, turning to shoot another approaching walker, and another. The noise attracts more of them and Alicia knows Elyza will run out of bullets before she kills them all.
"We have to run!" She shouts to the other girl, looking around frantically at the snarling walkers.
"Are you still here?!" Elyza replies grunting as she throws another walker back into the crowd forming on her.
She starts backing up from them, ducking and dodging any walker that lunges for her and then putting them down quickly. She keeps going, breaths becoming more and more tired as she fights continuously against the horde. When she feels her back hit a wall she jumps to the left, cursing under her breath when she realises the only way free is towards Alicia.
Elyza looks over her shoulder to the stairs and stares furiously at the other girl still stood watching. She's about to snarl at her to run again, but the words choke in her throat. Her heart freezes seeing a walker approach Alicia from behind and she quickly raises her hand to shoot it before it can so much as growl at the other girl.
"Fucking run, you idiot!" Elyza shouts at her, turning herself panicked when hands clutch at her shirt.
The walker's fingers scratch over her chest, and his teeth snap right by her ear as she tries to hold him off. She hears Alicia shout, trying to distract the walker off her. But it doesn't work. He's not interested in walking to Alicia when there's food right here for him.
Elyza grapples with him and she hears Alicia shout when she feels herself trip down. Elyza hits the floor hard and she grunts even more winded when the walker lands on top of her. She raises her hand to shoot him but realises with dread that she's dropped her gun in the fall down. Immediately she's taken over by fear as she tries to hold the walker off her. Behind him she can hear the others drawing nearer. If she can't find a way to kill this one she'll die.
She looks around on the ground beside her for something to help but there is nothing. Just garbage. The walker pushes harder against her hands and they slip off his shoulders to press against the shredded skin peering through his shirt. Sickeningly she can feel them begin to sink through the weak rotted flesh on his chest. The sight, feel and smell of it makes her gag.
The walker's body slowly lowers with her hands going deeper into him. His snapping mouth gets closer. She lets out a scared whimper. Any second now she'll be his new chew toy.
"Elyza!" A scream calls her name and then suddenly the walker stops fighting and hangs limp above the blonde.
She moves her head back and stares up at its still face. At the knife embedded between its eyes. Her knife.
She only had seconds to process what happened before somebody's helping her yank the dead walker off.
"You okay?" Alicia pants touching elyza's face gently.
Elyza looks back at her and stares. She's trying to understand how she's not dead but she can't. How did Alicia do that?
The other girl watches her back concerned and scared.
"I know you're shocked and all, but I don't think they're going to wait for you to get over it"
Alicia looks over Elyza's head to the walkers still coming for them. The blonde snaps back then and nods. She clambers to her feet and bends over the dead walker that'd just tried to eat her.
"What're you doing?!" Alicia hisses as Elyza tugs the knife out of the walker, "Leave it! We'll get another one later!"
Elyza ignores her and braces her boot against the walker's head. She yanks the knife out and quickly wipes it clean against her vest before she drags it point deep up her right arm.
"Elyza!" Alicia gasps watching on in curious horror as blood gushes out of the blonde.
Elyza continues to ignore her and kneels to drip her bleeding arm over the walker's skin and clothes, staining them with her blood. Then she rushes to Alicia's side and grabs her hand.
"We gotta go, princess"
Alicia's eyes snap back and forth between Elyza and the walker.
"But- You- What?!"
Elyza rolls her eyes and forces Alicia to move. They sprint towards the shops, and Elyza skids to briefly head back to scan a map of the mall before she returns to their escaping. Alicia doesn't know what the hell to think. She doesn't understand how Elyza can be so calm after what just happened.
"I'm thinking shoes" she mumbles ignoring Alicia's incredulous look as she begins directing Alicia up a floor.
Alicia looks down as they rush up the still escalators. She sees the dead walker coated in elyza's blood and she stares at the new walkers falling to their hands and knees beside him. Soon they crowd around him, pulling at his clothes and arms, some even biting into him. She turns away when one rips him chest to stomach open with their hands.
"I think I'm gonna be sick" she whimpers squeezing her eyes shut as her own stomach flips in revulsion.
Elyza rubs her back and nudges her to keep going. She's feeling sick herself. Her hands are still coated in that walker's blood. She's shaking still from the revulsion of feeling his rotted insides. And the fear of having come so close to her own death makes her feel weak. But she can't slow down. She's bleeding heavily and the growing horde downstairs is just going to attract more walkers. That one body isn't going to keep them for long. For now she has to keep going.
We have to keep going, she thinks looking at Alicia's pale face glance back at the walkers again. For some reason she feels an undeniable need to keep the girl safe. To protect her. And instead of questioning why she just promises herself she will.
"You're doing fine" she soothes the other girl, "Just keep walking. And for the love of god please don't step on any more trash"
Quick note to my followers; Im on Archive Of Our Own too now! Same username. Find me there for (eventual) new stories unpublished on fanfic! :)