If Elyza was honest, she didn't like Madison Clark very much. Maybe it was the constant downward tilt to her lips, almost as if she were grimacing all of the time, or maybe it was the fact that she looked at Elyza like she was an unholy demon. She could at least offer to be civil to Elyza, considering the blonde had saved her life. Of course not though, because Elyza had defiled her innocent daughter.
It wasn't Elyza's fault, not really. After the apocalypse had started, Elyza had lost both of her parents-witnessed them devoured by infected. She had resorted to their family yacht once the Coast Guard had been destroyed and their safe haven utterly demolished. What the government had thought of as a good plan, placing their backs to the ocean, had ended up destroying them all. Elyza had gotten away though and she hadn't been sure if she was lucky or one of the damned.
She was alone for a long time, silent on a yacht that floated in the ocean until she needed more supplies. She was surviving, but there was nothing about this life that was being lived anymore. To keep from being found, or sitting in one spot for too long, Elyza decided to allow herself to drift for a couple of hours a day without any power fueling the boat. It kept her from using too much gasoline and allowed her to stay utterly alone. Until she heard the screams.
Elyza had taken the dinghy to shore, in need of supplies and was in the process of stalking through a small town somewhere along the Southern end of California when a sound pierced the air. Elyza wasn't accustomed to such a loud sound, the only thing she heard anymore was the occasional zombie feast occurring. This scream was one of pure terror and Elyza's first instinct was to bolt in that direction.
That was where she found Alicia. Dirty, grimy, and skinny, but shouting insults and vulgar remarks at a half a dozen infected from a second story balcony. The balcony had no view, being at the end of a dingy alleyway and barely six and a half feet above the ground. It looked to Elyza like the dark girl had been cornered and forced into this position. The sliding door to the building seemed to have been reinforced with wooden pallets and forced to stay closed.
They made eye contact for a split second across the alleyway before Elyza made a risky move. Something like electricity and a shot of bravery travelled through her body and she did the first thing that came to her mind. She took the butt of the rifle slung around her shoulder and slammed it against a garbage can. The noise echoed through the alley and drew the attention of the zombies nearest her.
"Hey uglies!" She shouted, though her eyes never left those of the brunette. "Chase me!"
Then she made an even dumber decision and lifted the gun in the air. Elyza braced for the recoil before letting a single bullet fly. The aftershock left a buzzing in Elyza's ear and adrenaline coursing through her veins. A grin spread across her face, as she noticed all of the infected were fully focused on her. Then she ran.
It took her ten minutes to lose the ones she had trailing her, yet only another three to realize she'd roused every single dead person from whatever dank hovel they resided in. They were all in search of where that noise had come from. It wasn't safe for her to return to where she'd seen the stranger and yet she did it anyway. She fired her gun again from where she stood, nearly halfway across town and then took off back in the direction she had come.
The girl was gone of course. The balcony vacated and alleyway silent once again. Elyza's heart dropped into her stomach at the realization that the girl had just left, abandoned her to her fate. It wasn't surprising, seeing as it was everyone for themselves nowadays. Human beings were no longer accustomed to being the predator and they primarily scampered about alone and under cover of shadows.
Elyza ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "Serves you right," she scolded herself.
"Are you crazy?"
Elyza nearly jumped out of her skin at the unfamiliar, yet feminine voice from behind her. She wasn't used to being surprised, but this person seemed capable of it. She turned and raised her weapon at the girl she had rescued. Her face was covered in dirt and it looked like her lip had been split and something had scratched her cheek.
If Elyza was being honest, she looked like shit. "Who are you?"
"I'm Alicia," the brunette raised her hands in surrender. "Thanks for saving me."
"Are you dangerous?"
"Should we really be discussing what's dangerous when we're in the middle of a dangerous area surrounded by freaking zombies?" Alicia crossed her arms over her chest once Elyza dropped her gun. The blonde didn't seem to be wanting for weapons and Alicia was a little jealous.
Their relationship had started off rocky. Neither of them knew whether they could trust the other and trying to pry their stories out of each other was harder than pulling teeth. They couldn't trust each other, yet Alicia had nowhere else to go and Elyza had nobody to speak to.
It was tense for the first week, until Alicia brought up wanting to find her family. This created an environment for them to discuss what had happened to them and finally, they both had another person they could divulge in. After their exchange, it was only a matter of time before things grew more intense.
After a particularly gruesome mission on land, Alicia nearly got eaten by a zombie. Their relationship took another turn soon after. They kissed. Since then they had been inseparable and knew each other inside out. Until, against all odds, Madison Clark had appeared.
Alicia had all but lost hope of finding any member of her family after a month of just her and Elyza. She had accepted the fact that they were most likely dead or at least too far away to find.
But one day, the couple was on another raid. Something small because they'd begun to run low on clean drinking water. At this point, they had drifted so far south that they were beginning to enter Mexico.
Both girls were unfamiliar with their surroundings and as they moved further inland, the signs they saw were in Spanish. The building they entered was part of a much larger apartment complex.
"Keep your eyes open," Elyza warned, "we don't know what we'll find." She brought her handgun up and slowly entered the first floor, Alicia followed afterward.
They found Madison, dirty and slightly feral after so much time alone. She was holed up in one of the apartments. Elyza nearly shot her upon sight, assuming she was one of the dead and not the living.
She lunged at Alicia, who was the first in the room, and brought a knife to her throat. Ice blue eyes stared into green and neither of them recognized the other for a few tense, heart pounding moments.
"Alicia!" Elyza had the gun trained on the woman, her finger hovering over the trigger as her girlfriend was sent stumbling deeper into the house. It grew darker and hard to tell which woman was which as they struggled.
"Mom?" Alicia breathed and finally, Madison's eyes seemed to clear and she blinked several times.
The knife lowered and Madison stared, dumbstruck. "Alicia? You...you're not dead?"
Elyza didn't know what to do. She only stood there stupidly, the muzzle of her gun still trained on Alicia's mother. That could have been part of the reason they didn't like each other or get along. When meeting your girlfriend's mother, it wasn't customary to intend on murdering them because you thought they were a zombie.
Alicia raised her hand and shielded her mom from Elyza, "Put the gun down, Lex. It's my mom."
Elyza was much more cautious than that. In the low light, she couldn't see very well, but she still met Alicia's eyes. She searched them for any sign of a lie or possible manipulation. When she found nothing, she flicked the safety back on and repositioned the weapon at her hip.
After that, they learned what had happened to Madison. She had been separated from Alicia during the raid on the hospital to get Nick. After that, the sheer numbers of dead had scattered the rest of the group and she'd lost everyone. She'd kept moving and ended up there, in that dark, ratty apartment with little food or water to keep herself alive.
Elyza glanced between the two women and realized they needed a moment together when they kept glancing at her uncomfortably. She rolled her eyes and gave Alicia a look that said "watch your back". Which was responded with an eyeroll and "She's my mom, Elyza. Calm down."
So Elyza stepped out into the hallway and leaned against the wall, guarding for any zombies that may have been roaming the area. That was another reason she didn't really like Madison, the woman managed to drive a wedge between her and her girlfriend far too often. Before she had shown up, it was easy enough for the two of them to bicker and argue about the simplest things. It came with being two stubborn, pig-headed idiots in love. But with Madison around, it was almost as if Alicia felt like she had something to prove to her mother.
Elyza didn't like it, but dealt with it because she knew it wasn't her place to interfere.
But here she was, stuck on a boat in the middle of the ocean with two Clark women. One she was in love with and another she could hardly stand. Everywhere Elyza seemed to turn, Madison was there to tell her she was doing something wrong. Elyza had never really liked teachers or guidance counselors before the apocalypse, but the tone in Madison's voice was always so condescending, she didn't know how much more she would be able to take.
To say that when they were attacked, she wasn't a little relieved they'd taken Madison was an understatement.
It happened in the early morning hours. They had given up on keeping watch since they had never run into anyone at sea, which was part of the reason they didn't hear the radar going off. Elyza was woken by the thump of heavy boots above her head and several hisses, followed by a low-pitched argument.
Her eyes shot open and she jerked out of bed. Alicia followed only a moment later, having very little room on the twin sized bed for space. They had only heard the noise because they were in the service quarters. Having Alicia's mom on the boat was definitely a mood killer, but that didn't keep them from sneaking around like teenagers.
Alicia rolled out of bed first, having replaced her bra and shorts before going to bed and was thus, still slightly clothed. Elyza had to scramble around for a moment to gather her clothes. The girls exchanged a look that spoke more words than they could say outloud in that moment. Elyza's hand had already gone for the handgun resting on the ground and Alicia snatched up the knife she always had readily available.
It was probably their luck that they had chosen that night to go down into the service quarters. There was less of a chance they would be found first, which meant Madison was in more danger than they were. Alicia slipped her shirt over her head and Elyza hovered her hand over the door, waiting for the silent okay from Alicia to move forward.
Once she received it, the door was opened and they were padding softly into the entryway. They made a sharp left turn and Elyza cautiously peeked out, straining her ears to hear anymore sounds of raiders. There were boots pounding above them, too many to be sure how many people exactly, but enough to know it wasn't just Madison up for a late night snack.
Alicia slapped Elyza's arm lightly, making little noise in the process. She jutted her finger to the stateroom backway and mouthed my mom. Elyza nodded, even though she thought it was futile to try and save Madison when they were all trapped, surrounded by miles of ocean, she agreed that they needed to stay together. If they could keep themselves locked away in a tight space, there would be more of a chance for them to fight their attackers one by one.
Before either of them could open the door though, a loud shriek drew both of their attentions. Elyza instinctively raised her weapon, her finger brushing over the trigger lightly and it comforted her. With a deep, steadying breath, she tried to to calm her rapid heartbeat. There was no use in fighting now, but Alicia didn't seem to get that.
She plunged forward, opening the door and all ideas of stealth went out the window. Madison was on her knees at the other end of the hallway, a woman not much bigger than Elyza herself was trying to shove her along and up the stairs. There was a man in front of her, gesturing for her to hurry but Alicia and Elyza were both blocking the way up.
"Hey! Stop!" Alicia shouted, though there was nothing for her to do except raise her knife threateningly from such a great distance. Elyza, on the other hand, trained her gun on the man.
"How many are there?" She called.
"Too many for you to handle." The dark haired man called back and raised his arms, interrupting the girls' views of Madison. "Put the gun down and we can talk."
"We aren't talking until you let her go," Alicia spat back venomously.
"Alicia, just listen to them!" Madison called back, though they couldn't see her. Her voice was pitched higher than usual, and cracked a bit, as if she was in pain.
Alicia glanced to Elyza, her eyebrows furrowed together in a way that Elyza read as; what should we do?
The blonde knew they really had no choice in the matter, they were out of their element and under someone else's control. But Elyza couldn't tell Alicia that, the brunette was a stubborn woman who would rather die for her family than live alone. Telling her they couldn't do anything for Madison and that they had to trust these people with her life, well, that wouldn't go over well.
But it seemed Alicia had read it in her eyes before she could think of anything to say. Those beautiful greens turned back to the invaders, both of them weaponless besides a gnarly-looking serrated machete.
"Fine," was the last thing Elyza heard before a splitting pain started at the back of her head and she jolted forward. It hurt and she brought her hand up to grab it, but she was slammed to the ground and hit once more, with a violence that frightened her and her vision faded into nothingness.
She woke up with a tense neck and a pounding headache. It vaguely reminded her of waking up with a hangover, except this was much, much worse. There were voices, but they were muffled, almost as if Elyza's ears were stuffed with cotton.
"She needs medical attention," it was the deep, raspy voice of Madison. She was nearby and slowly, Elyza's eyes fluttered open.
"I agree," a man said. "Vida." His tone was stern, as if he was getting ready to chew the person out for something.
"Don't." Another man growled firmly and Elyza's eyes finally focused. They were sitting in the lounge room. Elyza was lying out on the couch and there were several people looming over her.
The darkness still penetrated, but the sun was slowly coming up, casting the room in a dull, faded light. Elyza tried to sit up and nearly passed out from the pain, her vision blurring as her skull throbbed. She couldn't help the groan that escaped.
"She needs a doctor," Came the same voice that agreed with Madison.
"She is our doctor," it was Alicia and the relief that spread through Elyza's chest had her slouching further into the cushions.
Elyza rubbed her forehead and then ghosted her fingers to the back of her head. They came away sticky and she groaned again. "Alicia?"
"I'm fine, I'm here." Alicia reached out from behind Elyza and placed her hand on her shoulder. "How are you feeling?"
Elyza tried to sit up, lightly pushing Alicia's hand away and fighting through the pain. She leaned forward on her knees once she reached a sitting position and sucked in several deep breaths to clear her foggy brain.
Several people moved at once. Their attackers raised their weapons, suddenly having multiple automatic guns in their grasps. Alicia lurched from her seat and kneeled in front of Elyza, her face scrunched with worry.
"Are you alright?" Elyza's eyes scanned over Alicia's face, and when she didn't find anything there, she brought her hands up to brush over Alicia's cheeks.
The brunette smiled fondly and rested the palms of her hands on Elyza's knees. "Always so concerned about me. I'm fine, what about you? How's your head?" Alicia reached up and brushed her fingers over Elyza's neck soothingly.
Elyza could feel everyone's eyes on them and swallowed hard. She glanced around at her surroundings, finally allowing her attention to expand from Alicia. The other girl was always her first concern and top priority.
There were three people, not as many as Elyza had expected, but they had more weapons than she had in her cache. One man had a machete and the woman, who was insanely pregnant, held an automatic rifle. The other man had a handgun and several knives strapped to his waist. Madison was sat behind them in one of the dining room chair, separated from Alicia and Elyza.
One of the guys reminded Alicia of Nick with his messy brown hair and tanned skin. He looked young and was concerned for Elyza's well being, clearly the weak-link of the group.
"I'm doing alright."
"Look, she's doing just fine," the dark haired man said. He had a baby face with heavy cheeks and small eyes, his mouth seemed permanently set in a grimace. "Now we wait for Connor. If anything, we can take her and give her medical treatment while we're at it."
Elyza scoffed, "None of us are going anywhere with you." Alicia stood and shifted onto the couch next to Elyza, though far enough away that they weren't touching
"You have no choice in the matter," the man said, but he smirked, and Elyza suddenly wished he was grimacing again. "If anything, I hope he lets us take her back," his eyes shifted to Alicia and glittered with something that didn't sit well with Elyza at all.
"Where she goes, I go." Elyza clenched her jaw, anger boiling in her blood.
"Reed? Really?" The dark haired guy said, slapping the other guy - Reed's - shoulder. "Just shut up."
"No," Reed scoffed. "Connor likes to pick from the people we loot. He looks for those he can use in our fleet."
"You have a fleet?" Alicia questioned.
"Yes, several ships."
"Reed, we're not-"
Reed held his hand up. "Shut it. Yes, we have many ships and many people, this ocean is our territory and you have invaded it. It is our luck though," he leaned closer and brushed his thumb over Alicia's cheek. "We found you."
It took every ounce of willpower to keep herself from lunging at this disgusting idiot, but Elyza managed.
Alicia wasn't put off by this show of dominance and met Reed's dark eyes. "I wouldn't be so certain about your luck."
They fell into silence, Elyza stewing in her anger. Alicia and Elyza sat close, but didn't look at each other, both too concerned with searching for whatever vessel this mysterious Connor would appear from. Elyza's eyes eventually wandered once Reed sent the other guy on a quick perimeter run. She watched the woman for several seconds, Vida, she assumed her name was. Her stomach was large and rounded, probably around eight or nine months pregnant. She held her gun like she would a baby, yet her back was perfectly straight. She looked like a soldier, even in her simple civilian clothing.
It made her pause and she wondered why a woman in her condition would put herself and her baby at risk like this. She tried to read it in the other woman's body language, but there wasn't much. Vida was good at schooling her features and standing completely still.
An engine revved in the distance and the dark haired guy returned, "Connor's here." He seemed excited and for a split second, it looked like he was smiling.
Both Elyza and Alicia tensed at this news. They didn't know what to expect from this Connor person and it didn't sit well with either of them. They were accustomed to always being one step ahead and cautious when making their moves. Now, they were out of their element and the situation was out of their control.
An old, off-white fishing boat was slowly approaching them, drifting through the water towards the swimming deck.
"Go help them," Reed demanded of the darker man, who instantly jumped to do his bidding.
Two men came up the stairs, neither of them seeming to have a weapon on them. One was tall with a salt-and-pepper beard that matched his thick, curly hair. He cheeks were round and heavy, similar to Reed's and he had a scrunched upturned nose. He held his head high, and outshined the other man with him, clearly the leader.
"Nice ship," he grinned and nodded at Elyza. "Your family must have had a lot of money."
Elyza didn't respond, opting to keep her lips tightly shut.
"Alright, Reed," the man turned his head away from his captures. "What do we have?"
Reed began to listing off all of the supplies they had on the ship. After a brief discussion, Connor seemed to have come to a conclusion.
"Okay, gather up half." Once Reed was gone, he turned to his three prisoners. "It seems Reed has told you a bit about what we do. I'm going to ask you a couple of questions, if I like your answers, we'll continue. Okay?"
All three women glanced at each other. Madison was still sitting in her chair, but she leaned forward to listen closer to the man. Elyza didn't trust any of this, it didn't feel right, almost as if something even worse was about to happen.
"I take your silence as my cue to continue," Connor chuckled. "Do any of you ladies have any special skills?"
Elyza leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest, "I'm pretty good with a gun. Want me to show you? Just give me one."
Connor shook his head, "No, not yet at least. I don't think I should trust you. Any other skills? Medical? Mechanical?"
"Elyza has a-"
"No," Alicia interrupted her mother, sending her a withering look that said "shut up, or else".
But the damage was done, "Which one of you is Elyza?"
All three women fell silent once again, avoiding Connor's look and staring at their feet.
"We can make this easy or hard, it all depends on you." His voice was harder now, any pleasantness completely gone. This was what was missing, Elyza realized. This was not some friendly negotiation or civil conversation, this was a group of pirates taking what they wanted.
"I'm Elyza," she finally spoke up.
"And what do you have, Elyza?" Connor smiled, his eyes crinkled at the edges. If they weren't in this situation, Elyza may have found it reassuring.
"I have three years of medical school. Didn't graduate, but that's not really my fault." She shrugged and rolled her eyes.
"Do you?" Connor mused, nodding to himself and examining Elyza with a critical expression before moving on. "Anyone else? Any skills that may be useful?"
Nobody else said a word.
"I see," Connor smiled again and turned to leave. "I will be back. Vida, watch them."
Half of their supplies were packed onto the fishing vessel within half an hour. Connor didn't returned and the three prisoners were never allowed to move. Elyza watched as her belongings, things that reminded her of her parents, were taken away. It wretched at her heart and Alicia placed a firm hand on her thigh, as if knowing exactly how she was feeling.
Madison didn't say a word to either of them, but Elyza found that she kept glancing in their direction curiously. It was different than how she used to look at their interactions, as if they disgusted her every time they were together.
"Jack! Gather up the brunette's things, she's coming with us!" Reed called excitedly from the back of the boat. All three heads whipped around at this voice and Elyza's heart dropped into her stomach. No.
Reed entered the room, nearly skipping with happiness. He had that same, spine-tingling smile on his face as he'd had before. Flashes of him touching Alicia rushed through Elyza's brain and, God, she wanted to kill him. Almost as badly as she wanted to strangle Madison sometimes.
As he came closer, Elyza's eyes dropped to the weapon at his waist. This was her only chance, and she would go down swinging if it meant keep Alicia safe.
Reed came closer, as if ready to grab Alicia himself and toss her over his shoulder to get her to the boat faster. He didn't get very far because Elyza lunged and met him halfway.
His hand came up as if to bat her away, but Elyza anticipated this, ducking beneath his arm and twisting her body away until she ended up behind him. Her hand slipped over the holster of his gun before her fingers grasped the grip, yanking it free. Reed cried out when Elyza kicked him in the back and brought the gun up in one, smooth, calculated motion.
Vida's rifle came up automatically, training on Elyza immediately. "Drop your weapon!"
"Drop yours!" Elyza snapped, glaring ice cold daggers at the man before her, the anger finally bubbling over. "Or I swear to God I will put a bullet between this halfwit's eyes."
"You'll be dead if you pull the trigger."
"So will he."
Reed's eyes were wide and pleading, all of the cockiness and fake bravado gone in a sudden exchange of power. "Don't kill me please," he begged.
Connor and his man came running up the steps at the commotion, the leader's eyes growing wide at the situation he found himself in.
"Call your girl off," Elyza growled, not taking her eyes off of Reed. "Or I will kill him. But first, I'll let him turn." She angled the barrel of the gun lower, over Reed's sternum.
"Elyza, come on," Connor's voice shook with false calmness as he glanced from Reed to Elyza. "We can discuss this."
"No, there is no discussion. You will not take Alicia, or I will kill Reed. That is your choice."
"Fine fine," Connor said. "We won't take the girl. But we need insurance that you won't follow us. We don't want to kill you...we just want what you have. Someone has to come with us."
Elyza risked looking away from Reed to look at Madison. One of them had to go and Alicia would not allow for it to be her mother. "I'll go," Elyza offered.
"No you won't," Madison rolled her eyes, "I'll go."
Connor nodded. "Is that good enough for you?" He turned to Elyza, who gave him a hard look before glancing to Madison. Her eyes were wide, but she met Elyza's gaze unwavering. Something passed between them, they both had the same goal in mind. Keep Alicia safe. That was always what they both wanted, so when Elyza nodded her approval, Madison nodded back.
"Good." Connor smiled thinly, "Now can we put our weapons down?"
"Wait what? No, you can take me." Alicia stood in protest.
"Alicia, sit down," Madison growled, using the full power of her "mom voice". Alicia only glared at her a moment before turning to Elyza, her jaw setting in that stubborn way that meant an argument was coming.
"Alicia, please." Elyza glanced from Reed, still on his back, hands up by his head, to Alicia. She tried to plead with her eyes, knowing full well if Alicia started causing more of a problem, they all would have a much bigger one. Alicia glared at her, green eyes going hard for a moment before she retook her seat. They were going to have a problem later, Elyza knew, but right now was not the time. "Now, how do we know we'll get Madison back alive?"
"I guess you don't, you have to trust us." Connor reasoned.
"Not good enough," Elyza's finger tightened around the trigger. "How about you leave one of yours behind too? Maybe this idiot?"
Connor huffed out an incredulous laugh. "I don't think so. Vida can stay, right, Vida?"
It was a smart move. This was probably the back-up plan, Elyza noticed. If they couldn't reason with their victims, appeal to their humanity. The likelihood that any decent human would intentionally injure a pregnant woman was slim. Elyza gritted her teeth in annoyance, but knew there was nothing she could do about it.
"Fine," Elyza agreed tensely. They settled into that loaded silence once again. Elyza didn't really want to shoot Reed, she knew it would satisfy her for a moment, but it wouldn't fix anything.
"Vida, lower your weapon." Connor offered and she did.
Elyza begrudgingly stepped back and lowered the gun. Reed scrambled to his feet, moving around the table so quickly he nearly tripped. He was behind Connor in record time and shot Elyza death glares.
Jack crouched down by Madison, though his eyes hovered on Elyza, seeming to expect some violent reaction. If she could have, Elyza would have had all of them thrown overboard. He grabbed her arm and drew her out of her chair.
Madison nodded to Elyza, her jaw tight and it felt like another shift in their relationship. The woman glanced at Alicia then, "I'll be back, sweetie. Don't worry."
She was gone in a moment and Connor stepped forward. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Elyza as if she was a problem he would seriously have to deal with.
"I would extend you an offer to join us, but by the looks of you, you'd be too hard to handle. So I've decided half of your things and dear old Mom will have to do."
"How do we get her back?"
"Keep your radio system on, Vida will monitor it and we will send out coordinatesk of where you can pick her up. Once there, we wish for you to leave Vida and go your own way. We will never cause a problem with you again." Connor explained. "We all just want to survive."
Once again, his words didn't strike Elyza as completely truthful. This was too benevolent for what they were about to do. If anything, Connor should be insisting on killing everyone and just taing the yacht and their supplies. Yet here he was.
"I would like my gun back, please," Connor extended his hand.
"I won it fair and square." Elyza tightened her grip on it.
"Surprise attacking my brother doesn't seem very fair. Please give me my gun back." His tone hardened and so did his eyes.
Elyza handed it over and crossed her arms.
Connor smiled and tucked the weapon into his pants. "We will be in touch, Elyza." He turned on his heels and his goons followed behind them, leaving Alicia, Elyza and Vida alone together.
None of it sat well in Elyza's stomach, she felt sick - but that could have been from her head trauma. She tucked her forehead into her hands once Connor and his people were gone and tried to think. This was so wrong.
Alicia spared a look at Vida before pulling Elyza to her feet and yanking her across the room so violently that Elyza was surprised her arm didn't pop out of it's socket. They wound up in a corner, Elyza pressed against the wall and Alicia invading her personal space, but not in a way that was at all pleasant.
"What the hell was that?"
"What do you mean?" Elyza responded indignantly, having never been a good responder to anger.
"My mom? Really?"
"What was I supposed to do?" The blonde whisper-shouted, leaning her body forward and glaring at the woman before her. "Don't say let you go with them because you know that wasn't an option. Since we've been together, it's been you and me, and that is not changing for me. "
Alicia's jaw clenched and unclenched, her nostrils flared and God, did her eyes flash. If Elyza hadn't been so angry herself, she would have found it insanely attractive. "I lost my mom once, I hadn't intended on losing her again. But, thanks to you, now I have."
Something snapped in Elyza, being blamed for something she that she had done for the woman she loved didn't sit well in her stomach. Being blamed by the person she loved sat even worse. She grabbed Alicia by her cheeks, not hard, but firmly enough to make the brunette look at her. "Alicia, she would rather have been taken than you. She would rather sacrifice herself - which she won't - than allow you to do the same for her. She loves you, we both do and we'll both do anything to keep you safe."
It took them both a moment to realize what she had said, when Elyza did, her heartbeat seemed to triple in speed. She looked at Alicia critically, wondering if she had caught on or would ignore it. But the softness and trust and affection she found there said she had. "Y-you love me?"
Elyza licked her lips, throat suddenly dry. She had never been very good at expressing her emotions, but she was forced to confront them now. "Of course I do, Alicia. God, I love you more than anything. I'd do anything to keep you protected and safe. I know your mom means a lot to you, but you have to trust that we will get her back, okay?"
"Okay," Alicia breathed and slumped forward, pressing her forehead into Elyza's shoulder. She hated feeling like this, like a part of her was missing and alone. No matter how loved and happy Elyza made her, there was still a small, gnawing thought that eventually she would be alone. It felt like she was always scrambling to keep everyone safe and together, when the entire world was hell-bent on keeping them apart.
They were silent for a moment before Elyza chuckled, "Normally, when someone admits they're in love with another person, they say it back."
Alicia groaned, "I'm sorry, I just...I was thinking. I love you too, but...you know, I already told you."
"What?" Elyza frowned and tilted her head in that cute way that reminded Alicia of a confused puppy. It was so innocent and wondering, she wouldn't help but smile.
"Awhile back….even before we found my mom, we were in bed and you were falling asleep. We were talking, kind of. I was talking and you were humming. But I said that I was in love with you, but you had already fallen asleep."
"Oh my God," Elyza wrinkled her nose and a crease formed between her brow, disgusted with herself. "I am really sorry."
Alicia chuckled and shook her head, pulling Elyza close and pressing their lips together. The chaste kiss only lasted a moment before Elyza tried to deepen it. But a voice drifted across the boat. "That's enough. If you don't stop, I'm either going to shoot one of you, or myself."
Vida's voice was dry and unentertained, but realizing they had an audience caused the couple to lurch apart. Elyza nearly fell on her ass, she was so disoriented from her head injury and the kiss.
The two glanced at each other, embarrassed for a moment before slipping into their public roles once again. It was something they were both very good at.
They could slip into roles as teammates and partners, while completely ignoring their feelings. Both of them were very good at making rational decisions, even if it may negatively affect the other. It wasn't the healthiest dynamic, but the hardness of the new world required it.
Neither girl spoke, just silently returned to their previous positions on the couch. Elyza rubbed her eyes, she didn't trust Connor and she knew Alicia didn't either. She scanned Vida, looking her over critically for any weak points.
There were several, but the most obvious one was her stomach.
Elyza didn't want to do it, but she wasn't going to let Alicia make the hard decision. Since Connor had decided to leave one of their own behind, the only option the two girls had at getting Madison back was by finding out where they were going. She was heavily pregnant and it ate away at Elyza's heart to know what she had to do.
She exchanged a look with Alicia, those green eyes shown brightly with sympathy but also a hardness to them, as if saying 'we have no choice'. They didn't, not really. Family was supposed to stay together and even if Madison didn't know what to think of Elyza, the blonde knew how much Madison meant to her girlfriend. With a deep breath to calm her nerves, she glanced at Vida.
The woman had her back turned to the two girls, scanning the surrounding ocean out on the deck. Elyza tensed her body as she turned back towards the girls. She had her rifle propped in her hand still, but there was little rush to use it. It sat in her loose grip. Before her head completely turned to Elyza, the blonde was moving.
Elyza surged forward and ducked to the side when the rifle came up. For a split second she could see straight down the black barrel and adrenaline fueled her forward. Elyza's arms wrapped around Vida's wide waist, she slipped her foot under the back of the other woman's and used her unbalanced weight to drop her back to the ground. Elyza used her left hand to lower Vida to the ground at a much slower rate than she would have without the extra support. She snatched the rifle with her right hand and then dropped the woman, allowing her to fall completely to the deck.
It happened in seconds and Alicia watched in awe at Elyza's smooth movements. It looked like an almost choreographed action move. The blonde brought the rifle up and had it trained inches from Vida's face. They all sat there in silence for a moment, as if all three were trying to process exactly what had just happened.
Elyza's chest heaved with adrenaline as she broke the silence, "Where are they going?"
Vida sneered, her dark eyes alight with a fire and rebellion that seared into Elyza. "I'm not going to tell you. You can kill me if you want."
"I'm not going to kill you," Elyza stepped back and lowered the rifle, but didn't flick on the safety just in case. "Alicia, grab some rope and we can get more information out of her." She didn't risk glancing at the brunette, but knew full well that Alicia would do what she said.
Elyza brought the gun back up, "Stand up." Elyza moved backwards slowly, keeping the gun trained on the pregnant woman as she reached for a chair. She spun it around and gestured with the gun for the woman to sit. Alicia came back a moment later with some zip ties.
"I couldn't find any rope," Alicia shrugged. While Elyza kept the rifle trained on Vida, Alicia went to work restraining her. Elyza didn't want to shoot this woman, she had never killed a living person before and didn't want to start now. But she knew if there was any indication that Vida would attack Alicia, there would be no stopping her. She kept her finger hovering over the trigger and watched Vida intensely, their eyes locked the entire time.
There was something in Vida's eyes that set Elyza on edge. It was almost as if the woman had no self-preservation, like she didn't care if she lived or died. It confused Elyza because she was pregnant and should be living for her child, trying to find a safe place for the baby to be born. But here she was, putting herself at risk by pirating another vessel on the water.
It seemed like this group was well organized, so Elyza could only assume that they had some safe place for their people to go. Yet Vida seemed to opt out of that option.
"What's wrong with you?" She blurted out after a moment. She hadn't meant for the words to come out so harshly, but they had and she couldn't take them back now. "Are you mentally unstable?"
"Excuse me?" Vida raised an eyebrow. "I am perfectly sane."
"Doesn't seem like it to me," Elyza used the rifle to gesture to the woman's stomach. "What are you doing out here like this?"
"If I can't pull my weight, I don't survive."
"That's ridiculous. You're pregnant. Right now, a new life should be something everyone is celebrating." Elyza protested. "Not treated as weak."
"Tell that to Connor. Survival is the most important. Me surviving versus my baby...well, that's something I can live with."
"Wait," Alicia seemed to reel from this line of reasoning and blinked several times, "you think it's more important if you live? You don't care about the child growing in your stomach?"
"Trust me, kid, it isn't as great as it's cracked up to be. If I could get this kid out of me now, I would." Vida grimaced and it was one of the most hateful looks Alicia had ever seen on a woman's face.
Alicia and Elyza exchanged a glance, both unsure of how to deal with this.
"You don't want to watch your kid grow up?" Elyza prompted.
"In a world like this? No. This isn't living, this isn't really much of a life anyway. What would a kid want with it?"
The trio fell silent, absorbing this new information and stewing in their depressing reality. It struck Elyza, how right she was.
"Also," Vida continued, suddenly on a roll. "There is no place safe enough to raise a child." She glanced down, and though there was sadness etched into her features, disgust was the primary feeling. But there was something else, something Elyza couldn't quite place.
"We could help you find one." Alicia suggested, crossing her arms over her chest.
"You and what group? What people?" Vida waited a moment for a response, but didn't get one. "I don't think so."
"We could, if we joined together with your group. If we could convince your leader-" Elyza tried to reason.
"Connor doesn't want to find a safe haven or somewhere to settle. All he wants to do is take and live like a king. He's a raider, he's scrounged for money and food all his life. He knows nothing else. He won't agree to it."
"You couldn't convince him?" Alicia asked. "If we went to him?"
"I'm not taking you to him."
"What could convince you? What could I do to make you take us to him?"
"Nothing."
Elyza tried to think of what she could offer. Something Vida couldn't refuse. But out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Alicia's body jump, as if suddenly having an idea.
"What if we could deliver the baby? You said yourself that you would rather survive than the child and a natural childbirth is the hardest type."
"You don't have a doctor."
Alicia glanced at Elyza, who was glaring at her as if to say; are you really putting me on the spot like this? "We do."
"If you did, Connor would have taken them and neither of you look old enough to be a doctor."
"I went through my first year and a half of medical school and worked at a hospital in Australia. I could, theoretically, deliver your child as safely as possible." Elyza licked her lips nervously and didn't know if this was going to work at all.
"How can you ensure I won't die?" Vida raised an eyebrow, her brown eyes staring hard at Elyza.
"We can't ensure that, but you have a much more likely chance surviving with her than without a doctor." Alicia fired back indignantly.
"Say I do decided to tell you where Connor's fleet is. How do I know you won't betray me? How do I know I'll be safe?"
"You give us the coordinates, we'll leave you here and when we come back, you can stay with us. That's really the only thing we can offer you. It's safer here than it is with Connor and his pirates, you know that. It would also be safer to raise a child here." Alicia continued. It sounded good, but both girls had to rely on Vida caring somewhat about the child she was carrying. If she didn't, then she may have decided to turn her back and not trust the two teenagers in front of her.
Vida stared at them hard, her back straight and hovering an inch away from the back of the seat. She was tense for anything. She expected Elyza and Alicia to hurt her and threaten her to get what little information they could out of her. Vida's experience after the end of the modern world hadn't been the best. She had lost her husband and been forced to do things she never would have thought of doing before.
"Fine," Vida finally submitted, slouching against her chair in defeat. "Fine, just untie me first."
A wave of relief flooded through Elyza, but distrust instantly followed. It was one thing for Vida to agree, but it was another thing completely for her to be trusted. It didn't sit well with Elyza, but she knew there was no way for her to be totally confident in Vida.
Less than thirty minutes later, Vida had provided the two girls with the longitude and latitude of Connor's primary vessel. She said it was most likely where Madison was being taken and informed them that the boat was actually at a docking station and located on land.
Elyza and Alicia formulated a plan and decided to take the dinghy boat and input the coordinates on that instead of taking the much larger yacht. The plan wasn't very detailed because they didn't know what they were going to find once they arrived, but Vida tried to help them out as best she could.
Her people didn't live on the water, apparently. They had a base of some sort, a boat storage facility further north along the coast. But Connor sent out envoys all of the time in search of vessels they could raid like The Abigail. At the rate they were moving, Madison and Connor would be back at the base before them, but other parties would still be out.
Vida tried to draw them a map as she explained, but only succeeded in confusing Elyza even more with the position of the boat. After a bit of confusion and frustration on Elyza's part, she let Alicia finish up gathering intel while she prepared the smaller boat. It wasn't a one-woman task, but she would rather do something productive than sit and plan over something she couldn't be completely confident in.
Alicia and Elyza left not long after and left Vida behind. There wasn't a very likely chance that if she wanted to she could leave unless she jumped overboard. Elyza had ensured she had the keys and had done some finessing in the engine room and was certain that Vida wouldn't be able to figure it out. She was effectively stranded in the middle of nowhere.
The two girls travelled in silence, the wind whipping their hair and making it nearly impossible to be heard over the sound of the engine. Elyza was too focused on following the GPS signal Vida had provided and Alicia was busy loading and preparing weapons for a fight while trying not to fall overboard.
The journey to Connor's base wasn't the most eventful Elyza had ever had. The waters were a bit rough and the boat wasn't too keen on the speed she was going, but they managed to make it in record time and not die. Instead of marching right up to the front door, they stopped.
The facility was rusty and old looking. If Elyza hadn't known it was the base of a group of survivors she would have thought it was abandoned. There was no movement outside, but a rusted fishing boat lay on a raised platform just above the water. It looked like it may have been being worked on before the world ended, but now it at vacated.
From Vida, Elyza and Alicia knew this was primarily where Connor brought his kidnapped people. This was where they would find Madison.
Elyza brought the boat around the side of a rocky beach, behind a high cliff that dropped off into the ocean and hid them from the storage facility. She and Alicia ran the dinghy up the beach until it was secure against the rocks and wouldn't fall back into the ocean and leave them stranded.
"Ready?" Elyza asked, once Alicia had her weapons secured to her body. This was the first time they were going to fight living humans, who could think and act for themselves. They were accustomed to fighting hordes of zombies back to back with two knives, not living beings with firepower. This was probably the biggest fight they were going to experience together, so Elyza wasn't at all surprised to see a bit of fear in Alicia's eyes.
"As I'll ever be," she tried for a smile and straightened her shoulders. Elyza had learned to read Alicia a long time ago and knew this was how she acted when approached with a stressful situation. She mentally prepared herself and no matter how afraid, worried or angry she was, she always approached problems with a level head. It was one of the many attributes Elyza admired most.
Alicia tried to keep walking, but Elyza reached out for her wrist. "You don't have to lie to me," she breathed, keeping her voice low and pulling the smaller girl back to her. "You're afraid, so am I. But we're going to get your mom."
"I just don't want anyone to get hurt." Green eyes finally met blue and they were filled with so much fear it actually surprised Elyza.
"Nobody's going to get hurt." Elyza assured and brought a hand up to brush over Alicia's cheek. No matter how much she wanted to believe her own words, the risk was much higher for both of them. She licked her lips, "Nobody is going to die at least, we won't let that happen."
"Promise?" Alicia blinked hard and rolled her eyes up towards the sky, the feelings in her chest threatening to spill over from her eyes.
"Hey, love" Elyza reached forward again and made Alicia look at her. "I promise. Now don't go getting all sappy on me, Clark." She tried for a smile.
Alicia rolled her eyes and surged forward, pressing a hard kiss to Elyza's lips. It ended just as suddenly as it had started, "I love you."
Elyza blinked, always stunned whenever Alicia did that, but happy nonetheless. "I love you too, now don't go saying goodbye 'cause neither of us are going anywhere."
"Okay," Alicia breathed shakily before finally pulling away. Both girls tried to mentally prepare themselves as they walked, staying a couple of feet away from each other in their own spaces. They were still connected though, they always would be, but right now they needed to prepare individually.
They walked, the journey didn't take long and once they got to the curve that lead to the incline up towards the boat storage they paused together. Elyza pulled the automatic gun she had confiscated from Vida off of her shoulder and brought it around to her front, grasping it in both hands. She also had a pistol at her hip and several knives hidden on various parts of her body.
Alicia was much more subtly armed with a baseball bat and a handgun that she wasn't very good with. There were also several knives strapped to her, but the most gnarly thing was a machete sheathed to her back.
"I'll take out any guards outside first, so stay behind me." Elyza stated simply before curving around the cliff and lining the scope to her eye. She scanned over the boat slowly, in search of any patrol or sentry guards posted along vantage points. They stood still for several moments in hopes of tracking any patterns of people.
All Elyza found were guards standing along the docking area, as if expecting an attack from the sea and not the land. Vida had said as much, which was why they decided land was their best option. Nobody would see them coming from this angle.
"Clear," the blonde finally breathed and dropped her weapon slightly, but kept on high alert. "But stay behind me."
Alicia nodded and Elyza moved forward. She watched where she was placing her feet because rocks were loosely piled along the beach. Their progress was slow, due to the threat of twisting an ankle if a rock happened to be loose enough.
They reached a platform that stood at least two feet above their heads. Interlacing and crisscrossing beams of steel kept it standing up. The platform stretched outwards towards the ocean where the boat sat just above the dock. Getting up would be hard enough, but the real danger was being so out in the open, if someone turned around, it would be easy enough to catch them.
"I'll boost you up," Elyza yanked the strap of the gun over her head and stretched it towards Alicia, who took it instantly. The blonde crouched low and braced herself to take all of Alicia's weight. "Stay low and against the cliff. We don't need them seeing us too soon."
Alicia nodded and set her jaw, glancing up at the platform. She braced a hand on Elyza's shoulder before lifting her foot and using her girlfriend as a step stool. Her boot dug into Elyza's hand painfully, but she still pushed up, boosting Alicia.
The brunette grasped the edge of the platform and pulled herself upward. Her muscles burned, but she managed to scramble up and over with little problem. She stayed low, nearly lying flat on the concrete platform and laid the gun on the ground to her left. Alicia reached over the edge and extended her hand to help Elyza.
Elyza took it and jumped, pressing off of one of the beams underneath to give herself more leverage. Alicia made a strained noise as her muscles stretched when she took on the full weight of Elyza's body, so she used her other arm to grasp the woman's forearm and pull harder.
Once they were both safely on higher ground Elyza smirked, "You need to gain some muscle, Clark. I don't weigh that much." She stood and dusted off her pants before crouching low and taking her rifle back.
"Tell that to your ass, Elyza," Alicia rolled her eyes and stretched her foot out to kick the blonde's bubble ass.
"Excuse me, my feelings are hurt," Elyza turned and her eyes seemed to sparkle like the ocean in the sunlight. She smirked too and Alicia realized, not for the first time, that this woman before her was dangerously beautiful. Her hair glowed in the sunlight, shining so bright it looked almost white-blonde. Her tanned skin seemed to absorb the light and glow in itself and her smile made Alicia's heart flutter almost painfully in her chest.
"I meant it in the nicest way," Alicia breathed, blinking several times to clear her mind. "You have a nice ass." This was not the time to get side tracked by the beauty of her girlfriend. They both had to stay focused because they couldn't afford distraction, it could get them both killed.
Elyza rolled her eyes and shifted her rifle, "Nice save there, 'Alicia. Let's go, st-"
"Stay low, I've got it."
Elyza carefully watched the boat, searching for any more movement, but found very little. She hoped that if someone had seen them, they would have already been dead. Together, they made it to the bow of the ship, Alicia traced her finger over the metal, warmed by the sun, as they moved.
They stayed to the left, where the sun pounded down on their backs and the docks below were blocked by the ship. Most of the guards were there anyway, which made it a much better choice.
Elyza crept along ahead of Alicia, her shoulder brushing the hull of the boat with each step and her hands held tightly to the rifle. They reached the stern and climbed up twenty feet, using the roped Jacob's ladder hanging over the edge. Elyza went first, assuring there was nobody no board before giving Alicia the all clear sign.
They moved as quietly and quickly as possible, but this time, Alicia took the lead. She had spent the most time pouring over Vida's rough sketches of the ship and knew its layout better than her girlfriend.
It was a large ship, much larger than Elyza's yacht and when Alicia opened the door that led into its depths, both girls were a little scared. It was dark and the heat seemed to stay within the ship, absorbed through the metal and with no place to go, it settled and cooked the inside. Neither of them knew if they would make it out, but they had to go in if they wanted to rescue Madison.
They nodded to each other, as if tracking the other's thoughts and moved forward in sync. Alicia withdrew her handgun and held it up, while Elyza kept her ears strained and in search of any sound out of the ordinary.
It was slow going, but there didn't seem to be any people inside of the ship, what little noises they heard seemed to come from the ship itself.
They reached a door that Alicia looked into, the window was slightly blocked by something on the other side, but when she looked down, she noticed a stairwell. "Vida said they have a jail and that they would most likely be holding my mom in it. She said it would be in the lowest part of the ship."
Elyza nodded, "Okay," she whispered, "you stay here, keep a look out, I'll go down and check, okay?"
"I don't think we should separate," Alicia cautioned.
"It'll be fine, I'll be right below. Just keep watch, please." Elyza tried for a reassuring smile, but only succeeded with a tense grimace. Her eyes were full of fire and stubbornness that meant she would argue her point even in this deadly situation.
"Fine," Alicia clenched her jaw and gritted her teeth, but didn't say anything more.
Elyza stepped forward and opened the door and taking the first step down to the lowest level of the ship, "I'll be back." She whispered like The Terminator before she was gone and Alicia was left wondering if she should laugh or cry. She was pretty sure Arnold Schwarzenegger died at least once in those movies, then again he came back, but was also a robot. Elyza was definitely not a robot.
I hate you, she thought fondly and hoped Elyza could hear her.
Down below, Elyza was met with twilight. There were very few windows, and where there were, there was very little light permeating them. A single light was bracketed by metal and cast weird shadows on the ground. It was rusty and smelled like a mixture of diesel gas and mildew. There was a disgusting green slime dripping down the wall in some areas.
A shiver ran down Elyza's spine and wrinkled her nose in disgust. She brought the gun up and kept both eyes open, scanning with all five of her senses for any sign of an enemy. She reached a corner and paused, listening for any sounds of breathing or scuffing of shoes, but found none.
Body tense, she turned and gazed down a long hallway. At the end was a barred door and much of the same bleak surroundings as before. But this time, a bright flash of blonde and pale skin reflected in the darkness.
"Madison?" Elyza called, forgetting to be cautious in her excitement and relief. She dropped her gun down and took off at a sprint down the hallway.
"Elyza?" Madison reached through the bars as soon as Elyza got there, she grasped onto the other blonde's wrist. "Alicia, where is she?"
"She's safe, keeping watch up above. Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" Elyza frowned, squinting in the low light and search Madison's face for any signs of injury. There was a cut on her lip and a bruise forming around her eye that didn't sit well with the younger woman.
"No, I resisted, this was my punishment. Besides that, they haven't done anything to hurt me…" she paused, frowning. "I can't believe you came to save me. How did you get here? Why are you here?"
Elyza shook her head and reached for the lock, yanking at it to see if she could get it to open using brute force. "What do you mean why am I here? we had to save you. We weren't just going to let you get taken."
"But you hate me."
Elyza paused in her ministrations and looked up in surprise, "I hate you? You're the one who's been acting like my relationship with your daughter is a sinful. You've been acting like you hate me and completely disapprove of everything I do, I can't help but reflect how you act towards me."
Madison crossed her arms. "I didn't like you or trust you, but the way you treat Alicia, the way you look at her, I guess I didn't really notice it until today. You want what's best for her."
"Madison," Elyza licked her chapped lips, stopping completely from trying to break the woman out. "I love your daughter. I will always try to make her happy and keep her safe. I want you to accept me as an important person in Alicia's life."
"I thought you would go back to the way it was before you guys found me."
Elyza laughed bitterly, "I may not like you much Madison, but I don't wish you dead. And you're Alicia's mom, she wouldn't let you go without a fight."
"They were going to kill me, I know it. They plan on leaving my body at some drop off point and taking that pregnant woman back to teach us a lesson."
Before Elyza could reply, a gunshot rang out from above and echoed off of the metal walls. Her heart jumped into her throat and the pounding of feet followed swiftly behind, accompanied by shouting.
Elyza jerked away from the cell and ran towards the exit, nearly halfway down the hallway before realizing Madison was still locked up. She couldn't think of a way to get Madison out off of the top of her head, so she did the next best thing.
"Back up," she warned, bringing the rifle up and aiming it at the lock. Once Madison was safely away she fired a single shot and the casing whizzed off somewhere to her left.
Madison tested the door and it opened. Together, they rushed off towards the stairs. Just as Elyza reached the top, the door was slammed shut.
Elyza's momentum carried her forward and she slammed into it hard. Reed's face ducked into the window and he smirked, waving. "Time to deal with you later, right now, we'll kill your dyke girlfriend."
The blonde slammed herself forward, baring her teeth threateningly and pounding her fists against the door in the hope that sheer force would knock it down. Rage boiled in her veins and made her hands shake, she was utterly useless.
Reed's gloating smile disappeared and Elyza shook the door harder, making the entire frame rattle. She turned and elbowed past Madison, who grimaced at the force and a loud clatter followed her. Without anything else to do, Madison followed her back below deck.
Elyza was pacing already, up and down the hallway. Her shoulders were hunched and the gun she'd had was on the ground. She ran her hands through her hair and looked like an angry caged lion. Madison stayed away, unsure of how to help Elyza when she was like this. She didn't know the girl very well at all, but being separated from Alicia like this, with the threat of death hanging over all three of them.
Back up above, Alicia didn't know where to go. Every turn seemed to be a dead end and Reed's voice was echoing behind her. Her heart was in her chest and adrenaline was coursing through her veins so quickly she thought that she may faint.
The sound of footsteps had surprised her and before she could find a place to hide, Reed had turned the corner with the other guy from the boat. Alicia had raised her gun and shot, but her hand had been shaking and she was a novice shooter. The bullet whizzed passed the men and they both ducked back, surprised to find a hostile.
Alicia had spun around and headed deeper into the boat upon instinct. She thought for a split second about Elyza stuck in the bottom of the boat, but couldn't spare much more because she was suddenly fighting for her life.
She took several twists and turns until she didn't know which way she had come from. Every wall looked the same and every door as nondescript as the next. Her heart pounded harder and she twisted around a corner, opened the nearest door and pressed her back to the wall on the other side. She tried to calm her breathing even though it came in ragged gasps that sounded like a motorboat to her own ears.
Her eyes were closed, yet she could see orange behind her eyelids. It hurt and when she blinked them open, her pupils had to adjust to the sudden influx of light. There were windows lining this room and it took her a moment to realize she was seeing the ocean.
Alicia licked her lips and glanced around. There was a table in the middle of the room, with four chairs surrounding it and further behind, the kitchen stood. It was old and outdated, yet contained everything needed to make a full meal. A gas stove, a fridge that was yellowed with age and a toaster oven.
"Alicia?"
The brunette jumped at the voice and turned towards it, bringing the handgun up and training it at the stranger's sternum. Her heart fell when she saw it was Connor. He was frowning and held his hands up on either side of his head when he noticed the gun.
"What are you doing here? How did you get here?"
"Scream and I'll shoot you," Alicia sneered. "Where is my mom?"
Connor shook his hands slightly, as if trying to placate the young girl. "Calm down, she's here. Below deck, in a cell. I can take you to her."
Alicia licked her lips, mouth suddenly dry because Elyza was with Madison, at least she thought she was. "No," she gritted her teeth.
"How did you get here? Where's Vida? Is she hurt?"
"No, she's not hurt. But she's not here, either."
"What about the other girl? Elyza. The one with the head injury."
"I came alone," Alicia lied. She didn't want to risk her girlfriend. If Elyza was smart, she would sneak out with Madison and get out quickly. But, God did Alicia know Elyza would be raging in here as soon as possible with her guns blazing. She couldn't stand leaving the brunette to her own devices, it was probably one of her most fatal flaws.
Elyza would come back for her, even if it meant barging into her own death.
A body pounded into the door Alicia had used moments before and she turned her body. She was still open to the door, but her back wasn't directly facing it. If she needed to, she'd be able to shoot whoever entered if they were hostile.
"Connor! The girls! Both of them are here!" It was Reed, shouting in a panic. Alicia trained the gun on him, gleefully brushing her finger over the trigger. A part of her wanted to shoot him right then, but she wasn't a cold-blooded killer. "You." he hissed bitterly when he saw her.
"Calm down," the younger boy said, he grasped onto Reed's arm as he moved to advance. "What are you doing here?"
"We just want my mom back, we won't bother you ever again. Just let us go."
"How do we know that?" Connor asked.
"We're heading south, trying to find somewhere else to go. There's nothing left here for us. We'll go to Mexico."
"I want your yacht." Connor crossed his arms, as if realizing he has the upper hand here and he did. The door was blocked by two of his men and Alicia was backed into a corner. She had eleven bullets left, yes, but she wasn't sure how good her aim would be and she didn't want to kill anyone.
"You can't have it, but we will leave you alone. We promise. I just want my mom and Elyza. That's good enough for me."
"What about Vida? Where is she?"
"She's on the yacht."
"Alive?" Jack asked.
"Yes, alive. We wouldn't betray you like you would us."
Alicia's mind was racing even a she spoke. None of them seemed to have weapons on them, but she wasn't sure if there was backup coming her way. If she was overpowered, all three of them would be screwed. If she shot Jack or Reed, Connor would be on her in a second, but if she shot Connor the other two would be.
Connor opened his mouth to say something and Alicia finally made her move. She shot at Jack and Reed several times, squeezing the trigger and aiming for places that would hurt but wouldn't kill. They both fell backwards, blood spewing from wounds that Alicia couldn't quite place. She rushed them and Connor shouted at her to stop, chasing after her.
Alicia spun and brought the gun up, aiming for a split second before firing. The bullet was off just a little and only grazed the side of Connor's neck,but it effectively stopped him. The brunette stepped over the two men who were moaning and groaning at the door and took off at a run. She couldn't afford to worry about them and hated herself for injuring them when humanity should have been standing together.
"Alicia!" it was Elyza and relief flooded through Alicia's body.
"Elyza!"
They tried to follow each other's voices until Alicia came around a left hand corner and slammed right into her girlfriend. She was wrapped in the familiar, warm and strong embrace of the woman she loved and it was the best feeling. She wrapped her arms around Elyza and squeezed her tight, burying her face in the blonde's neck.
When she spotted her mother she withdrew herself from Elyza and latched on to Madison. They hugged for a moment, tears pricking both of their eyes before Elyza had to draw them apart.
"We have to get going, I rigged the gas line. This place is going to blow."
"You did what?" Alicia nearly shouted.
"The boat is going to blow up if we don't get out of here."
"This way," Madison pointed.
The trio weaved their way through halls and rooms that Madison guided them through until they ended up back at the stern where they had started.
"You two get down, I'll be right back," Elyza called, already halfway down the side of the boat and heading towards the dock.
Madison pulled Alicia towards the ladder before she could protest and practically shoved her over the edge. Together, they kept moving and Elyza set herself up on the railing. She brought the sight of the gun to her eye and aimed for the four men heading towards the boat.
Alicia and Madison made it to the ground and the younger woman lead them into the direction of the dinghy boat's hiding place. They heard four gunshots ring out, consistently and methodically before they stopped, leaving a ringing in both of their ears.
Alicia glanced back once to see Elyza landing lightly on her feet and taking off at a full sprint towards them. "Faster!" She shouted. "It should blow any second."
Madison pushed Alicia faster, staying behind her to protect her as well as she could. It took only another couple of seconds before the boat did explode, sending an inferno into the air and debris spraying on all directions.
The force of the blast sent all three women stumbling forward and Madison used her body to cover daughter's as they fell to the ground. Debris fell all around them and a couple of feet away, Elyza was curled up with her hands over her head. They were about fifteen feet from the platform's edge and the cliff face.
Once the wreckage settled, Alicia rolled herself out from under her mother and checked on Elyza. A couple of cuts and bruises, but she wasn't much worse for wear. Once they were satisfied with each other's physical health, they kept moving, but at a much slower pace.
Their entire bodies were sore and they moved a little too quickly in their haste to get out of there that Alicia slipped. She cried out in pain, her ankle rolling over a rock and getting caught underneath for a moment before she was able to pull it out. Elyza was at her side in an instant, wrapping an arm around a slim waist and taking on most of Alicia's weight.
"You okay?"
"No, it hurts," Alicia winced, squeezing her eyes closed. Madison came up on her left to support her other side.
"We've got to keep moving," Madison warned, so they did.
They made it to the boat and settled Alicia into it before entering themselves. They took that moment to look at each other and realize they were alive and together. All three of them had to calm their breathing and slow their heart rates.
"We did it," Alicia breathed, almost as if she couldn't believe it herself.
Elyza grinned and Madison laughed so happily that they all devolved into a fit of relieved laughter. It was relaxing and some of the stress from their day seemed to melt off with just the knowledge that they were alive.