Alicia didn't think she had ever seen anyone eat so much or so fast in her entire life. That is, other than when her brother Nick was completely stoned. Both Elyza and her brother Cory, shoveled food into their mouths like it was nobody's business. Granted, they had helped with capturing the fish they were viciously feasting on, everyone else was eating at a much more sedate pace. It was like they hadn't eaten in a long while and wouldn't get another meal for days to come. Alicia paused for a moment upon realizing that they probably hadn't eaten for at least a few days. She finished half of her own fish and caught Elyza's eyes while silently moving her plate over to the blond. The woman blinked at her in question, her brows furrowing.
"I'm not hungry."
It looked like she was about to protest until she turned eyes to her younger counterpart and slid the plate his way. Cory looked at the fish longingly but didn't make a move. After a moment, Elyza dropped a hand to his head with a sad smile and nodded. "Go for it kid."
The boy took the fish with more confidence and Elyza watched her brother enjoy his meal while her own lay forgotten for the moment. "Thanks."
Alicia startled when she realized blue eyes had locked on her own after her attention had rested with watching Cory eat silently. She shrugged trying to make light of the situation.
"Really, it means a lot." Elyza said and continued a little louder. "It means a lot that you found us and took us in."
Some of the others at the table stopped eating and turned their attention to her. It was a little uncomfortable since they had just been let out of confinement after severe questioning with Daniel and Victor silently watching, much to Alicia's displeasure. However, both Cory and Elyza appeared none the worse for wear from the experience. Perhaps, a little shaken if anything, but Elyza was casual and explained that she understood the precautions and if she had lives dependent on her then she likely would have done worse.
"It's not the dead you have to worry about, it's the living," she had said.
It was an odd thing to say, but Alicia was finding out that Elyza was a very atypical girl. Either way her pragmatism was appreciated by the more skeptical in their group.
"Of course, you're welcome here," Alicia's mom said and reached out to place a comforting hand on Elyza's. The woman in question smiled brightly in return and Alicia couldn't find it within herself to tear her gaze away until Nick coughed in her direction. Hesitantly, he rolled his eyes when all she did was fix him with a look silently asking what his problem was until he nodded his head at Daniel. The man was staring Elyza and her brother Cory down with purpose. It was a very uncomfortable expression and she was glad it wasn't directed at her.
"We'll see." Daniel responded to Madison's comment. "Perhaps these people will be looking for you and willing to trade something in exchange." Everyone at the table stopped eating and were silent for a moment. Ofelia hushed her father but he shrugged her off.
Alicia watched Elyza blink and stare determinedly at the older man. "Or perhaps, you'll find a better use for us." She started and placed a comforting hand to her brother's sleeve. "I was a medical student, and my brother was a nature scout. We grew up outdoors, and we're survivors. So I can assure you we're very resourceful." Elyza's words were calm but also determined. Alicia found it difficult not to appreciate the inflection in her voice from her Australian accent.
"Let's just calm down," Travis interrupted the conversation before at got out of control and Alicia was almost disappointed that the scathing remark to the older gentleman hadn't made it's way past her lips. "They've been through a lot," he began. "Let's give them time to adjust and we'll make a decision later, as we've already discussed. No one's on our radar and from what they've told us the ship that sank theirs was in bad shape so we have no clue what happened to it after they were attacked."
"So they say," Victor commented rubbing his chin. Elyza stared him down with her chest puffed out and Alicia couldn't help but glance at her ample cleavage partly in envy.
"We're good people-" Elyza rebutted.
Daniel raised an eyebrow and pointed a fork in her direction. "That is what anyone would say."
Elyza's chin jutted out and Alicia could tell she was grinding her teeth.
"That's enough!" Madison raised her voice and Alicia appreciated the moment of silence around the table once the accusations ceased. It didn't stop her from glaring daggers at Victor, someone she was learning to trust and actually got along well with her brother.
"Listen, we don't have to stay." Elyza spoke up after a moment. "I get it, I really do. You've done more than enough, more than most people would have really."
"This is stupid." Alicia growled under her breath barely containing her fury and Nick raised an eyebrow. She absently grabbed one of the fine knives sitting near her plate and dragged it onto her lap.
"We can have a trial period," her brother said and Alicia looked at him with her lips slightly parted. "If this girl does have medical knowledge it'd be stupid just to ship her and her brother off to sea."
"They also know more about the people out there who are dangerous," Ofelia said next to her father putting a hand on his shoulder.
"It sounds reasonable, Travis?" Madison asked and he nodded in agreement.
"It's your boat Victor." Travis added to the finely dressed man.
"It's a yacht," Victor corrected with a tilt of his head. "Someone should stay with them at all times." The agreement was made and they waited for Daniel's vote of confidence.
Daniel nodded his head slowly. "One wrong move and they're gone."
Alicia's hand eased its death grip on the knife in her lap when Nick touched a hand to her shoulder. "What's with you?"
Alicia watched the blonde smile and licked her lips shakily. "I don't know." She replaced the knife on the top of the table and stared at it in curiosity and then at Daniel. Her fingers had been itching for the chance to dig it into his flesh for the slight against Elyza and her brother. The violent thoughts disturbed her more than anything because they didn't bother her. She had killed the dead, but she had felt compelled to harm the living for a stranger.
The next day Nick and Alicia volunteered to give the new comers a tour of Abigail. Or rather, Alicia had volunteered and dragged her brother along. It wasn't like the ship was overly large, it was impossible not to run into any of the other crew members, but it gave them a sense of privacy that Alicia had craved since laying eyes on the two strangers. They walked along the deck, snuck food from the kitchen, and finally, showed them to the last spare room available on the ship. It was definitely a step up from sleeping in the infirmary. Madison and Travis occupied one room, while Nick and Chris shared one, as did Ofelia and Alicia. Victor had his own private suite and Daniel slept in one of the studies located near the bridge. For some reason he was more comfortable higher up on the boat rather than in the vast catacombs of rooms below the main deck with the rest of the crew. While Alicia was very fond of Ofelia, she was certainly not a fan of her father. Ofelia's relationship with her father was still strained after finding out her father had lied to her during her childhood.
Elyza and Cory were all too happy to share the remaining spare bedroom. Elyza flopped back onto the white linen sheets with a smile and her brother walked around the room running his hands along the furniture. Alicia couldn't keep from smiling as the blond closed her eyes and ran her hands along the sheets. She stuffed her hands in the back of her jean pockets content to watch Elyza enjoy a simple pleasure that she had also taken for granted in the old world. Some days she wished for a room that was grand and a bed that was soft with sheets and pillows made of fur and paneling of richly carved wood like those in her dreams.
She heard Nick speaking to Cory and watched as the boy tried pulling his sister up from her position of comfort. Elyza curled up on the bed and half-heartedly shoved him away.
"Go check out the game room for yourself," she muttered clearly happy to have her brother occupied by someone else for a time.
Cory seemed to pause for a moment longer and stared at Elyza meaningfully. Elyza merely smiled, her eyes still closed, and nodded. The sandy haired teenager turned to Alicia with a more serious expression and searched her face. She raised her eyebrows in question but remained silent as he found whatever he was looking for and his face transformed into that of a happy go lucky child once more as he followed Nick out of the bedroom and to the game room.
Alicia felt silence settle across the room and fidgeted. She wasn't usually someone who felt awkward in social situations. Quite the opposite, she was usually the one to make others feel out of place with a single glance. She hesitated, but ended up sitting on the bed near the blond but not close enough to touch her. Carefully laying back on her elbows, Alicia watched for any reaction or request to leave from the blond. As she laid back with her feet crossed at her ankles, Alicia stared up at the ceiling and allowed herself to feel the boat move as it crashed into the waves.
For the first time in a long while, she felt at ease, and she let her eyes fall closed and her head ease back.
"What's that?" The touch startled her more than the voice. She opened her eyes to find Elyza sitting up tracing the scars along her arm. Alicia attempted to cover the mark of the self-inflicted scar on her left forearm but Elyza easily brushed her hands away and held fast.
Their eyes locked and Alicia found herself squirming under the woman's gaze unable to look away. She licked her lips stalling trying to find words under such scrutiny.
"My boyfriend, Matt," she moved her eyes to the squiggly heart shape and was mesmerized by the way that Elyza's hands looked grasping her forearm. "He drew it. He died. And I wanted to remember him." She explained simply and sighed with a sad smile. "He was a good person." The pain at his loss was still present, but she no longer felt the burning ache in her chest when thinking of him.
"So you thought you could take a contaminated needle and preserve it into your flesh?" Elyza's eyebrow rose in sarcasm.
"Mockery is not the product of a strong mind." She retaliated sharply and without thought.
The words came unbridled from memory but she found Elyza's reaction confusing. She watched as her blue eyes widened a fraction before her face grew cold. She all but dropped Alicia's arm as if it had burned her. Alicia flexed her fingers anxiously.
"Killing yourself with blood poisoning won't bring back the dead." Elyza said after a moment of silence before Alicia could question her and wonder if she had said something to offend her. "Well, I mean it would in the sense of making you undead. But your boyfriend would still be dead, or undead. Either way he's dead."
"I know." Alicia said firmly at the callous words and traced the scar reverently. "It feels like another life time. All of this does." She looked towards the ceiling her eyes distant. Her tongue swiped across her lips briefly before receding and her gaze returned to the faint unfinished scar. She rotated her forearm watching the skin move and stretch. "Blood doesn't make me squeamish, but I was mesmerized by the color. It was so red." She had seen so much blood in the last few months. Why would hers be any different than the countless others in the world dead or otherwise?
"You're an odd girl." Alicia's face closed off instantly. Elyza's serious expression was calculating, but a smile slowly spread across her lips. "It's not a bad thing," she clarified. "It's not worth it to feel guilty. There are way too many other things to take responsibility for than to feel guilt at someone's death."
"You can't save everyone." Alicia whispered soft and decidedly.
"No, you can't. And some people don't deserve it." Alicia looked at her questionably but Elyza nodded to her scar instead. "Remembering those we've lost gives us strength. It also makes us weak." Elyza ran her fingers along Alicia's arm and then trailed her fingers across the flesh.
"What does? Love?" Alicia asked with her brows furrowed trying to make sense of the woman before her. She felt a shiver run down her spine at the continued touch.
Elyza suddenly blinked dropping Alicia's hand in the process. Alicia couldn't help but stare at the blonde completely transfixed. Blue eyes nodded sadly lost in past memories.
"If I didn't have anyone else to love, it wouldn't be worth it." Alicia reflected looking at the walls and listening to Nick and Cory's voices down the hall from the game room. "I've got most of my family here. We're surviving and for that I guess I should be grateful. But I don't think it's enough. Life should be about more than just surviving. I mean, don't we deserve better than that?" She sighed shrugging her shoulders unable to convey her feelings appropriately.
"Maybe we do."
Alicia was so lost in her own thoughts that she completely missed Elyza's face nearing her own. She turned her face at the blondes' words and her eyes widened in alarm as soft full lips made contact with the corner of her mouth. Instinctually, she knew that the kiss was meant for her cheek but she still felt the flush spread across her face. Elyza's face pulled away and Alicia stared at her in disbelief with her lips slightly parted. She was unable to form words for several moments.
"What?" She whispered curious as she searched blue eyes.
Alicia's skin tingled where Elyza's lips had nearly made full contact with hers. The sensation felt so foreign because of its familiarity. For a moment she saw Elyza with her hair pulled back in braids and an angry scrape above her right eyebrow. The woman's face drained of all emotion and Alicia tried not to fidget under the intensity of her gaze. Elyza seemed as if she was searching for something specific, something familiar. Her brows furrowed in concentration while her eyes scanned over hair and clothes, taking in Alicia's appearance. Another moment longer and Alicia was about to open her mouth until her breath was nearly stolen from her by what the blond did next. The skin around Elyza's eyes began to crinkle and her lips pulled up into a soft and almost tender smile. Alicia felt as if she had seen the stars in the sky for the first time.
"You look like you needed it," were the simple words spoken.
In the next moment, Alicia heard shouts of her brother and Cory down the hall pressing close. She blinked as the footsteps closed in and Elyza turned her head to face the doorway. In an instant, the vision before her was gone but several others quickly took its place. A mountain, a gunshot, and an army of wild warriors dressed in ragged armor and face paint. The images came fast and unrelenting. She vaguely heard voices in the background but it was difficult to focus with the slow building ache behind her eyes. Her head felt light all of a sudden and she touched a hand to her forehead. Her vision blurred for a moment and she inhaled a shallow breath.
A voice called out to her and the world continued to spin. More voices, different ones in a foreign yet familiar language spoke to her. She grasped both hands to her head and clutched the roots of her head trying to ease the pressure in her skull. Her brother's voice resonated, but it was the sounds of a female that broke through. The voice was both strong and soothing. The voice attached itself to the hands that grasped her shoulders and Alicia opened her eyes at the sudden shake she was given. She opened her eyes; not realizing she had them tightly closed and met concerned blue eyes.
"Klark," she gasped before the searing pain knocked her sideways on the bed and she succumbed to darkness.
Please leave a comment. Your reviews fuel me. Also, thanks to the the wonderful Enyn_Skyward for her assistance. For those asking, I am going to be finishing up with this story first before I return to writing "The Change Of Seasons." Homecoming will absolutely be finished in 25-30k work in the month of April.