PART 2: MEETING THE FAMILY
Elyza has met a lot of intimidating people before but nobody holds a candle to Anya, the stranger's sister. She waits for them just outside the town. After a short side trip to the school and the grave of the former leader of the Blue Helmets, they meet up with her. Finn looks heartbroken throughout the whole ordeal, she doesn't know the story of him and General Wells, but it is obvious that he meant a lot to Finn.
He doesn't even raise his weapon at Anya, who greets them with her rifle. She too wears dark paint on her face and her mouth is pulled back with apparent contempt. For a short moment Elyza fears that the tables have turned and now they are the prisoners.
"It's alright, Anya. They are friends."
Elyza sighs a breath of relief, when Anya lowers the gun and her facial expression relaxes somewhat. Raccoon eyes briefly explains what happened and that they are headed to their camp to meet with Octavia.
Anya only nods.
She slings the rifle around her shoulder again and gives both of the a curt nod.
"Have either of you seen the Moon Man or what's his face," she asks without any preamble. "The crazy one of the Plissken Brothers. Well who am I kidding they have all lost it, but I'm looking for the one who's in charge."
"Jack," her sister helps her out.
"Exactly, fucking Jack Plissken."
"I have never heard any of those names," Elyza says slowly. What she doesn't say is that the names do sound kind of familiar, though Elyza isn't sure where she has heard them before. "What do you want with them?"
"I have a score to settle with them," is all that Anya says, before she turns away and starts moving. "You coming?"
Elyza ends up walking next to the brunette woman, while Finn hangs back and walks behind them. At first it is Anya that leads the group, but after some time she falls back and instead keeps in step with Finn. They don't talk, but Anya keeps on eyeing Finn suspiciously.
"So, Octavia is back at your camp?" Eliza asks, when the silence grows larger and larger.
"Our home, yes."
"Is she hurt? How did she end up with you? Did she look for me? Did you-"
"Wow, one question at a time. She's not hurt, She's doing pretty well as far as I can tell. She even found a special friend... if you know what I mean." The stranger winks at Elyza knowingly.
"She, um- what?"
"I'm sure she will tell you all about it once we come home. She sure loved to talk, doesn't she?"
Elyza remembers the long nights they spent sitting at campfires and talking about everything and nothing. Octavia did have a lot of opinions and wasn't shy about sharing them. She misses her so much. Thank God she is about to see her again, thanks to- only now she realizes that she doesn't even know her companions name.
"You never told us your name."
"You never asked," the woman just retorts with a short smile.
Elyza realizes she is right. They were so busy holding the woman hostage that they never even bothered to ask her for her name.
"So, what's your name?"
"It's Alicia. Alicia Clark," she grins.
For a moment Elyza is stunned into silence. The name sounds so familiar, so intimate coming off the other's lips. The way Alicia pronounces it makes Elyza's insides tingle; her heart starts beating furiously in her chest and her cheeks burn up. She takes a deep breath and shakes her head softly, this is ridiculous. She can't explain where the feelings are coming from and isn't sure if she wants to find out. Looking up to meet Alicia's eyes she continues to introduce herself.
"Nice to meet you, Alicia. I'm-"
"Elyza," Alicia interjects, before she can finish her introduction. Alicia rejoices in the astonished look on her face. "Your friend just loves saying your name. Maybe not as much as waving his gun in my face, but still..."
"Right."
Alicia shoots a quick glance back and Elyza follows her gaze at their two companions, who walk a couple of meters behind them. They don't talk; Finn stares right ahead, while Anya watches them warily. Elyza smiles at Finn, who returns her smile with a pained expression clouding his face.
Finn didn't want to go with the siblings. They had a big argument about it right in front of the them. Finn openly proclaimed that he didn't trust either of them and they should just keep to themselves. No wonder Alicia didn't like him. Finn has been beyond rude to both her and her sister. If their positions were reversed, Elyza doesn't think she'd feel any different about Finn.
But she knows Finn and even though he can be rude at times, his heat is at the right place.
"To be perfectly honest," Alicia says in a hushed whisper, "I don't get the two of you. This Finn guy is like a disaster waiting to happen. I only know him for an hour and I'm already looking forward to the moment he's gone."
"He is my friend."
"Is he?" Alicia asks with narrow eyes.
"Yes. He cares for me and I care for him. He saved me so many times I don't know how I could ever repay him. I understand where you are coming from. He can be intense at times-"
Alicia laughs out loud. It's not a pretty laugh.
"That's one way to put it. Homicidal is another."
Elyza just ignores her comment. She knows him better; she has to admit that it indeed took her a long time to be able to trust Finn, but once they got over their initial difficulties, she realized that Finn was loyal as a dog and just the right friend to have in a freaking zombies apocalypse. He could handle any weapon imaginable; she had even seen him shoot a fucking crossbow.
"He's just very... careful with who he trusts, but once he decides you are worthy of being his friend, he'd give her life for you without blinking an eye."
Alicia turns around again, only to find Finn eyeing them suspiciously. Elyza suspects that Finn has heard at least part of their conversation; his exceptional hearing had saved their lives on multiple occasions.
Elyza uses the moment to give Alicia a once over.
She carries the huge military backpack that their relieved her off before on her back. Elyza has lifted the backpack before, it is fucking heavy, but Alicia doesn't even seem to notice. They keep a fast pace, quickly nearing their destination. She has legs that go on for days and are clad in a ripped skinny jeans. Elyza wonders if this is a fashion thing (which would be ridiculous, because let's face it this world isn't really the place to care about fashion) or if just she doesn't have another pair of jeans. She's wearing a dark leather jacket that has a lot of different patches sewed on the arms. Elyza can't tell what they are about, because they are all in Russian.
The one that stands out the most though is a black and white patch on her upper arm that looks like an insignia of some sorts. The symbol looks very similar to the bio-hazard sign she still remembers from when she was nothing more than a med student working her ass off to get good grades. It is similar, but still very different, the patch is more delicate, more natural.
She wonders if it means something to Alicia.
Her dark hair is perfectly braided into delicate strands that decorate her head. The hairdo looks elaborate, like it took someone hours to get it done. Alicia isn't wearing the face mask any longer. After they made her take it off in the house, she never put it on again. Elyza is thankful for that, because now she can admire her whole face and not only her piercing eyes. And damn, she is probably the prettiest girl Elyza has seen in a long fucking time. She remembers the way she felt her up and feels the blood rush up to her face.
Again.
Something pokes her upper arm and Elyza winces. Alicia is looking at her expectantly.
"Huh?" she asks really fucking eloquently. Way to go, Elyza.
"I asked you a question. Are you okay? You seem kind of out of it."
"Yeah, yeah, I was just... it doesn't even matter. What did you ask me?"
"I asked you if you were hungry."
"Umm, not particularly no. We had lunch or dinner or whatever just before we came into town." Elyza bites her lips. "Why are you asking?"
"Oh, no reason at all," Alicia smirks at her. Her eyes wander over Elyza's body taking all of her in, before continuing. "It's just, I noticed you looking at me... you know, there is this glint in your eyes, when you look at me... like you are hungry."
"Um... I... ehmm," Elyza tries to find words, but comes up short. Her mouth goes dry and she quickly averts her gaze, feeling the familiar blush coloring her whole face beet red.
"... like you wanna eat me."
Alicia's home is a pretty and huge cottage home with two barns in the vicinity of another village Elyza doesn't know the name of. Again she curses herself for not taking Finn up on the language lessons he had offered her. Whenever they arrived at a new place, she has to ask Finn for the name, because she isn't able to read the stupid signs. Damn them Russians for having a different alphabet.
People come pouring out of the house, when they arrive. There are even children here; Elyza doesn't think she has seen a child since day fifty-ish after the breakout. The kids and the elderly were the first to fall victim to the disease. Their cries still reverberate in her mind sometimes. She still remembers one of the soldiers crying after he had to kill one of the smaller kids to prevent her from turning. That was the worst... knowing they were gone past the point of saving, while their bodies kept on moving and breathing. In the first days they still look so much like their old, human selves - that changes quickly though.
One of the kids jumps at Anya and the stoic woman leans down to lift the small girl up and spins her around. Her laugh echoes around the square between the house and the barns. Other people also slowly make their way towards them and build a half circle around them. A young woman comes up to Alicia and hugs her tightly.
Elyza watches the lot of them greet their family. She is disappointed when she doesn't spot Octavia among the others. She needs to see her; she needs to know that she is safe.
She wants nothing more than to inquire after her friend, to find out where they were at; but at the same time she doesn't want to disturb the emotional homecoming. She knows how hard it is to have friends out there and not know if they are still alive, she knows the joy of seeing them and being able to hold them close again. Finn takes a step towards her, and comes to a halt right next to Elyza. Their arms brush against each other.
Finn smiles at her.
"Thank you for coming with me," Elyza says quietly.
"I promised you we'd find Octavia. I promised to bring you home." Elyza feels tears well in her eyes. She is so lucky to have found Finn. In the few days they spent together, they grew pretty damn close. "But I wouldn't mind if we left rather sooner than later, these people give me the creeps."
Elyza suppresses the urge to roll her eyes at Finn.
"Everybody gives you the creeps."
"You don't."
Elyza takes his hand in hers and gives it a squeeze. Finn looks down at her with a look she can't really place, but he returns the light pressure. Alicia clears her throat. Elyza quickly loosens her hold on Finn and moves her hand to the strap of her backpack. For some weird reason she feels caught. She shifts from one foot to the other and waits for Alicia to say something.
"We have two very special friends with us today," Alicia says loud enough for everybody to hear. Most people are still scattered around the square in between the houses and slowly come closer to listen to the brunette. "Finn and Elyza. We met them in Leno. Elyza is looking for her friend. Octavia. If one of you would be so kind to fetch her, I'm sure Elyza is dying to see her friend again."
Nobody moves.
"Titus, why don't go you to the, you know the guest quarters and fetch her," Alicia addresses a bald man that is standing very close to her. He is wearing long brown robes and blinks at the brunette.
"Heda-"
"Just do it," Alicia hisses. Elyza feels Finn tense next to her. Something is off, even she notices that. She tries to meet Alicia's eyes, but the woman is not looking at her.
"I'm on it."
The lanky guy quickly rushes off into the direction off the house.
"Great," Alicia turns towards Elyza and Finn with a huge toothy smile on her face. "I'm sure you want to wash yourself or at least changed into something... not so dirty. Indra, why don't you show our guests up to the room?"
"Wait, wait," Finn snaps. "The room? I'm not going to just follow this fucking eblan anywhere. Elyza, get your friend and we leave."
Before Elyza can respond though, Alicia takes a step forward. The smile is gone from her face, instead every muscles is tensed, she pulls her mouth into a thin line and comes to a stop in front of Finn. There are only inches between them.
"That is exactly what you are going to do, Finn." The name sounds like venom on Alicia 's lips. Elyza feels a cold shiver run down her back. Something is going very, very wrong. She glances over at her friend. Finn seems taken aback. He blinks at Alicia, and his hands quickly move towards the weapon on his back.
"Don't you fucking dare. If you so much as touch the gun, you are dead."
If looks could kill, both Finn and Alicia would drop dead right this second. All at once the people surrounding them draw their weapons and point them at Finn and Elyza. Nobody says a word, they just wordlessly take their weapons and angle them at the two of them.
Elyza feels the betrayal burn deep in her heart, she fucking trusted Alicia. She believed her, when she told her that Octavia was with them. She trusted her. The brunette never gave her any reason not to trust her. Elyza always believed she was rather good at reading people. Apparently she was wrong. And this mistake could cost them both of their lives.
Slowly Elyza moves her hands over her head. Her arms shake from both anxiety and fury. Finn is still frozen to the spot, his hands hovering over the cold metal of his rifle.
"Don't", Alicia warns him again without breaking their eye contact. She has taken a step back again, her arms balled to fists next to her body. She's one of the few that isn't pointing her gun at them. "Don't make them shoot you, because they will trust me. I'd hate for our little rendezvous to end like this."
Finn finally drops his hands. Defeated he stares at Alicia.
"Who are you?" Finn asks his Russian accent suddenly thicker, more obvious. It always showed, when he became agitated. Elyza has witnessed this before - the last time ended with Finn shooting a bullet through a guys head.
Alicia takes long to answer. She takes a step back, and watches both Finn and Elyza with a calculated smile. She laughs darkly. She is like a completely different person now. Finn just stares at her, very obviously picking his mind where he is supposed to know her from.
"I'm your justice, ripa. I know who you are and what you did. And you are not going to get away with your crimes. Not again."
"You're with Wallace."
Alicia makes an indignant sound and spits on the ground.
"Never."
"Then who are you with?"
"Heda owes you no explanations, ripa," Anya says as she steps forward and comes to a stop right in front of him. She spits at his feet, before she looks him up and down. "Not you, not anybody."
Finn moves, before anybody realizes what is happening. He lunges for Anya, who is only inches away from him. He wraps an arm around her middle and pulls her towards him turning the woman around, so that her back is facing him. His other arm comes up to her throat, a knife reflecting the sunlight as he presses it into her flesh. Elyza never even noticed him drawing the knife.
"Finn, no!", Elyza shouts, when she hears the first shoot.
A loud cry escapes Elyza's lips and she almost unconsciously moves towards Finn. Strong arms hold her back. Everything is happening so fast. She expects Finn to go down, but the bullet never hits him. Either it was a warning or whoever took fired the gun was a lousy shot. Finn doesn't seem hurt at all, instead he glares at Alicia.
"One wrong move and your dear sister dies," he hollers. He presses the blade harder into Anya's throat and blood starts to spill.
Alicia hasn't moved or shown any sign of distress, but her eyes betray her feelings. She doesn't take her eyes off Anya for one second. She bites her lips and raises her arms above her head.
"Chil yo daun, nobody shoots." The others slowly lower their weapons. Alicia takes a few cautions steps to her right, away from Finn. "Stand down. Everybody. Chil yo daun. What do you want, Finn kom maun?"
"I'm no Mountain Men. I don't have any allegiances, not anymore. I mean you no harm, let us go and she lives."
"Lies," Anya spits. "Nothing but lies."
"Be quiet, devushka. And you," he looks around meeting the eye of the other people, "if you want her to survive, you will put down your weapons."
Nobody moves.
"So you can kill us?" Alicia asks darkly. "I know who you are Finn, ripa gon goufas en elder." She keeps on moving circles around Finn and his hostage. "You are kom maun, you are a bringer of death, you are a murderer of the innocent. You massacred my people, you killed our children."
"Innocent? Nobody is innocent in this world," Finn snorts. Anya struggles in his grip and he pulls her further into him, his fingers burying into her side. "Elyza, don't believe a word of what they say. They are nothing but savages."
"Savages? That's rich coming from you." Alicia laughs as she takes another step forward.
Elyza is paralyzed; a strong arm is still holding her back, so she doesn't even notice Alicia moving closer to where she is standing. Their arms brush against each other for a second, before she feels Alicia's hands bury themselves into her upper arm pulling her away from the men that's holding her.
Whoever was holding her captive, releases her and suddenly she is pressed into a smaller, softer body. Another hand loops itself around her torso pulling her back. Cold steel touches her throat and ghosts over Elyza's skin. Her stomach drops and she feels close to fainting. Elyza doesn't even struggle against the stone hard grip. She doesn't beg, she doesn't say anything.
Her mind is blank.
She senses Alicia's warm breath at her neck and feels like throwing up.
"Put the knife down or your friend dies," Alica demands. She is so close, her voice so loud, so determined, so cold. It is all so much, too much. Elyza closes her eyes, she can't stand to look at Finn or at the other's any longer.
This is where she dies. This is it, after months and weeks and days of surviving, of living though this shit, this is it.
Finn laughs darkly. His knife draws blood again, as he slashes it over Anya's skin. Dark blood runs in line down her throat coulouring her shirt in red. Anya hisses and tries to wriggled out of Finn's move. When he presses the blade deeper into her flesh and whispers something in her ear, she halts.
He looks up.
"Do you really think I care?" he says. "She means nothing to me."
"Oh, doesn't she?"
"She's just somebody I picked up on the road. She's nice to look at, yknow... that's all. The only reason I ever helped her was because I was hoping for a bit of gratitude sex for helping her find her friend, but I guess it's too late for that anyways. Go on and kill her, it doesn't make a difference to me."
Elyza is taken aback by his words.
Finn, her Finn, her friend, her companion. She meets his eyes and sees the pain in them, he can't be serious. He can't be so cold. He can't have done all of this to just get into her pants. Not after all they lived through together. He never even had tried to make any advances, she remember how he told her about another girl, a girl he grew up with once. About how he was still looking for her.
It can't have all been lies. She refuses to believe that.
He isn't even looking at her. His head is frantically looking from one gun barrel to the next. She tries to tell herself that he has a plan, that this is him protecting her by pretending to not care about her at all.
Alica laughs deeply.
Elyza can feel the vibrations of her chest, that is still pressed into her. She feels the warmth and softness of her breasts in her back. Alicia moves forward, moves even more into her and if Elyza were to turn her head slightly to the right, she'd come face to face with the other woman. Her breath ghosts over Elyza's ear. "He doesn't even care if you live or you die, hodnes. You are nothing to him."
Elyza opens her mouth to say something, but no words make it out.
The blade presses into her skin again and she doesn't dare to move. She's never been more afraid before.
The zombies weren't the real monsters, no they were the monsters. The humans, the wicked and malicious men and women that were still left on this earth. The ones that killed without feeling remorse, the ones that only ever cared about themselves. The ones that spilled blood without wasting a thought on whose it was.
Anya suddenly moves in Finn's grip. Her hands go up to push the arm that is holding the blade to her throat away. Finn is surprised at first, but quickly recovers. The blade slashes through skin and blood runs down Anya's arm. She cries out, but doesn't loosen her hold on him, she half turns in his grasp and kicks him in the leg. Finn stumbles back, still clawing for the other woman.
Blood runs down Anya's throat and arm, reddening her shirt, but she doesn't seem to care. Her eyes are glazed as she lunges for him and they topple to the ground. The knife falls down and Finn is left basically defenseless. A low groan escapes Anya as she angles her body upwards and her fist collides with his face. Finn's head recoils, meeting the hard ground. Before he can react or defend himself, another fist strikes him.
Anya is breathing heavily as she sits atop Finn; she moves her arm back to hit him again, when a loud voice interrupts her.
"Ste back, Anya," Alica says and moves the blade away, as she loosens her hold on Elyza; the blade disappears from her throat and for the first time it feels like she can breath again without having to fear her throat get slashed.
Dutifully Anya nods, and gets up. She stands motionless over the seemingly dead body of Finn. His face is bloody and dirty and he isn't moving any longer. Elyza shakes her head. He can't be. No. No. He can't be dead.
"Is he dead?" It is Alicia's voice that breaks the silence. There is no emotion in it. Nothing.
Anya kneels down next to the unconscious figure of Finn to check his pulse. Her hand is bloody, so is Finn's face. After a couple of seconds she gets up and nods at her sister. "Still breathing."
"Good, I'm not done with him yet. It would be a shame for him to die without feeling the pain he made them go through. Wake him up. He will be conscious, when he receives his punishment."
"Please Alicia," Elyza hears herself beg.
Alicia steps around her and softly shoves her back. Elyza stumbles and falls into the hard body of somebody else; strong hands hold her steady, hold her captive.
"You still care for him? Even after he was ready to let you die for his crimes?"
"I don't- he didn't..." Elyza is at loss for words. She doesn't know anything anymore. She knows him, Finn is her friend; he risked his life for hers on multiple occasions. Finn cares. But still he would have let her die. He said as much. Tears well in her eyes, when she looks at his lifeless figure on the ground. She shakes her head. No, she can't be weak now. Not in front of them. Not in front of the enemy. "What about Octavia... is she here? Did you lie about her too?"
"I never lied to you, Elyza. We did take your friend in, no harm has come to her. I merely neglected to mention that she left with one of my brothers to look for you. She cares deeply about you."
"So, you used me. You used me to get what you want."
"I will not deny that."
Elyza tries to wriggle out of the man's grip, but her attempt is fruitless. He is too strong and his hands only tighten around her.
"Let me go," she shouts, "let me fucking go."
"I'm sorry about this, Elyza," Alicia says, while she doesn't look sorry at all. She moves towards her, their bodies nearly touching. She lifts her hand to push a stray strand of hair out of her face. Her fingers brush over Elyza's cheeks. "Nobody will hurt you. You are not at fault here, my fight is not with you."
"Fuck you," Elyza growls.
"When this is over, you will be free to go. We can help you find Octavia."
"I don't want your help."
She spits at Alicia's face, because that's all she can do. Her whole body is shaking from this feeling of helplessness. Fingers dig into her skin and she cries out in pain. She tries to kick at the woman, but Alicia swiftly dodges the kick.
Her eyes never leave Elyza as she uses the hem of her shirt to wipe her face with. Elyza can't really help but look down, when the fabric lifts, and she gets a good look of the toned stomach beneath. Again she tries to kick Alicia, but only kicks at the air.
"Gustus, check her for hidden weapons and then handcuff her." The man behind her grunts in acceptance. "I'm sorry, strik gona. I apologize, but you leave us no choice, if you continue to behave like this."
She nods at the guy behind Elyza, before she turns around.
Finn is still lying on the ground. They have treated his wounds and she can spot somebody with a green medical gown kneel down next to him and plunge a syringe into his arm.
"Don't!" Elyza shouts. "Please, I beg of you... don't hurt him, don't... don't kill him. I'm sure this is all just a huge misunderstanding. Finn would never-"
One last time Alicia turns around and looks at her thoughtfully.
"You will understand soon enough."
Only minutes later they have strung up Finn on a wooden pole in the middle of the square. He is still somewhat out of it and blinks at the people surrounding him. They haven't cleaned the blood of his body, his face is swollen and his nose looks broken. Tears are streaming down his cheeks and he is whimpering.
"Please, you have to help him. He is in pain. Can't you see that?" Elyza shouts, but nobody is paying any attention to her.
"You know nothing about pain, girl. Neither does he," her otherwise silent guard says. Gustus is still guarding Elyza. She is in handcuffs and they have taken everything from her but the clothes she wears. Gustus stands next to her and he clutches her upper arm. His grip has softened somewhat, but Elyza still knows that there is no way to escape. "Not yet."
A shiver runs down her spine at his words.
Alicia steps forward and she looks different now. She is wearing some kind of cape that falls down from her left shoulder. A katana is slung around her back and she raises and arm. Almost immediately the square falls silent.
"We are gathered here today to bring justice to our family. Not to long ago a group of raiders slaughtered our village. They came, when the night fell, they hid in the shadows and executed our brother, our sisters, our children and our lovers. For too long we have been searching for the miscreants who flooded our streets with blood. Today I stand in front of you, to tell you that the time for justice has come.
"Tonight a debt will be paid, before the fire burns away the deeds of the past."
She steps forward and looks directly at Finn, who hasn't shown any reaction to her words.
"Finn kom maun, you are accused of the killing of eighteen of my people. Children, unarmed men and women. You and your people killed them in cold blood, you killed them for fun, you killed them without any remorse or compassion. Your deeds will not go unpunished. We are your justice, ripa gon goufas en elder. Blood will have blood."
"Jus drein jus daun," the words repeated over an over. The assembled crowd chants them again and again. They raise their fists together with their voices. The words echos in Elyza's head and she wants nothing more than cover her ears with her hands. Her hands start to shake uncontrollably. "Jus drein jus daun!"
Alicia lifts one hand in the air and it grows quiet again.
"Your punishment is to feel the pain you have inflicted upon others; you are to suffer through the death by a thousand knifes. Jus drein jus draun, you are to pay for your crimes with your blood. You have killed eighteen of our people, you have bathed in their blood and now we will draw yours."
Alicia takes a step forward and lets her eyes wander over the boy in front of her. He looks miserable, his clothes are dirty and bloodied and he is still whimpering and silently talking to himself. Alicia leans down and gets a knife out of a strap around her leg. It is no ordinary knife, there are ornaments and engravings decorating the handle.
She raises her hand and Finn jerks back, but there is nowhere to go. The knife slices through Finn's shirt and Alicia rips it away from his body. He is left half naked and with a trembling body. He tries to move again, but the shackles keep him in place.
"Do you have any last words, ripa?"
For the first time he looks up, but he doesn't look at Alicia or any of the other people, instead he looks straight at Elyza. His eyes are bloodshot and the skin around his left eyes is swollen and purple. He blinks at her.
"I'm sorry," he breathes. "It wasn't me, it was him... Wallace- he made me do it. I never meant to hurt those kids. Every day I see their faces, every day I hear their cries. Please, please don't kill me."
Elyza feels her heart break at the sight of him. She always knew that he had a past, all of them did. They did what they had to do to survive. Finn had always been somewhat broken, but this, he didn't deserve this. Nobody deserved this.
"Please," she begs. "Please, help him."
"He lost his way a long time ago, the ripa is far beyond saving," Gustus says simply.
Alicia runs the tips of her fingers over the blade, as she watches Finn.
"Jus drein jus daun," her voice is low as Alicia slices through Finn's skin. He cries out in pain, while Alicia ever so slowly lets the blade slide through his flesh. His body jerks and he tries to move his body away, but that only makes Alicia press the knife harder into him. "Blood will have blood."
Elyza whimpers, as her knees buckle. She falls to the ground, as Anya steps forward to take the knife from Alicia. Her words are colder, and Finn's screams louder. Elyza can't bear to look at him any longer, she only hear his cries, his pain.
Another one steps forward to take the knife and draw blood from his body.
"How, how is this justice?" Elyza whispers. "How can this be justice?"
"This is our way, hodnes," Alicia says as she kneels down next to her. She is so close that Elyza can feel the warmth radiating form her body. "There are no governments any longer, no jurys, no courts, we make our own laws. He who spills the blood of the innocent, has to pay with his own. It is the only way to appease the dead."
"That's crazy."
Alicia shrugs, as Finn cries out again.
"She doesn't need to see this," Alicia addresses Gustus. "Help her get inside. A bath might do her some good after the day she has had. I will come to meet you, when the ceremony is over."
"I thought you said you were going to let me go?"
"I will. Once the ceremony is over."
Elyza makes the mistake to look up. She tries to avert her gaze, but her eyes come upon Finn almost at once. His whole torso is bloody, slash wounds cover most of his skin. His hair is sweaty and sticks to his head. She feels like she is about to be physically sick. Her stomach turns and tears run down her cheeks.
"Please, make it stop," she begs. "Please."
Alicia just shakes her head.
"He has to pay for his sins."
"Come on, girl," Gustus says as he helps her up. "Get up, so we-"
"Heda! Heda!" a shrill shout suddenly interrupts the ceremony. Everybody turns around and makes way for a small girl that comes running at them. She is breathless, when she arrives. She wears a rifle on her back that is almost as long as she is tall. "Heda! It's them! The Men from the Mountain! They have come to kill us!"
All hell breaks loose.