"How did you know that would work?" Alicia asks as she watches elyza come back from the closet with a first aid kit.
They're held up in the managers office in a Foot Locker. After ten minutes running for their lives away from the growling crowd climbing the escalators after them, Alicia had taken lead and pulled the other girl into the nearest store. Elyza had argued. She'd wanted to keep going, in hopes higher ground would help them. But Alicia didn't like the way the other girls face had been steadily paling from blood loss.
Elyza ignores the question at first. She's busy looking through the drawers of the desk. After a short moment fumbling around inside them she lets out a triumphant laugh and slams a bottle on the desktop.
Alicia frowns at the blonde twisting the cap off to pour the clear liquid over her wounded arm. The unmistakable smell of vodka hits the air and Alicia stares impressed at Elyza's unaffected stare down at her arm as the stinging liquid washes over the open flesh lining it. It won't clean it. But its better than zombie blood.
"They like eating the living" Elyza answered finally, voice low and husking with distraction, "I just figured if the walker had enough fresh blood on it the others would think it was alive too"
Alicia nods. It seems logical. In fact, its pretty fucking brilliant.
"You're pretty smart" she mumbles the thought aloud and blushes a little when she realises how the blonde must have heard that.
She keeps her eyes glued to the dried blood lining the bottom of her converses, too embarrassed to look Elyza in the eye. A smile tugs at the corners of Elyza's lips seeing Alicia look so shy. She can't help but think its adorable.
Elyza swigs some of the vodka and then takes a seat on the floor opposite Alicia. She balances the first aid kit on her right knee and raises a brow at the younger girl.
"Was that a compliment from her royal highness?" She grins when Alicia rolls her eyes, "Wow, it really is the end of the world"
Alicia swats Elyza's free knee, "Shut up"
Elyza chuckles and opens the first aid kit. Her eyes scan through the meagre supplies before she brings out a bandage roll. She tears the packaging with her teeth and unravels the roll. She stops to assess the wound before she attempts to wrap it around her arm. Its hard. She can't seem to make it a tight enough to stop the bleeding. She's just covering herself in blood. She growls beneath her breath and furrows her brow in intense concentration.
Alicia watches Elyza struggle a moment before she sits up and offers her help.
"Thanks" elyza sighs leaning her head back while the brunette's hands gently grip her arm. Alicia smiles when the blonde tiredly closes her eyes. She looks less fierce and bossy this way. It suits her.
"You might want to use that to wash your hands" Alicia mumbles nodding to the blood covering Elyza's fingers. The blonde shakes her head.
"Waste of good booze" she smirks and offers the bottle to alicia, who pushes it away and continues to fix her arm.
"You're pretty good at throwing knives" Elyza mumbles through the long silence that follows. Alicia just shrugs, "Where'd you learn to do that?"
"I didn't. I just did it"
Elyza opens her eyes and looks down at the gentle way Alicia is cleaning her arm before she bandages it. She tilts her head to see better and it sents her hair cascading down the side of her face and neck. Elyza smiles and before she can stop herself she tucks the dark strands back behind Alicia's ear. The other girl jolts and closes her eyes at the contact and breathes slow through her nose. When she looks back at her, Elyza can't stop her calm stare into Alicia's eyes. Their forest green look so familiar to her. And she's not sure why. But she doesn't care. She just wants to keep looking at them.
Alicia looks away first. She hurriedly bandages Elyza's arm and backs away from her. Elyza tips her head confused. And Alicia wishes she'd stop that. Its making her heart pound in her chest and her confusion over it just irritates her.
"You probably need stitches" She mumbles as Elyza tightens the bandage off.
"Probably" Elyza husks flippantly back. She doesn't really care about her arm. She's had worse.
Alicia looks up and those eyes are still staring at her. Deeply. Searchingly. Like they can see every last part of her. She shifts uncomfortably under their attention.
"So where exactly are you from?" Alicia asks awkwardly, "That's not an american accent"
Elyza chuckles and finally she looks away. She drinks some more vodka before she answers.
"Melbourne" Alicia frowns at her, "Australia" Elyza clarifies with a teasing smile for the other girl, "You know, about fifteen hours thata way"
"I know where Melbourne is!" Alicia snaps and they settle one again in an awkward silence. Alicia plays with her fingers and Elyza sips at her vodka and watches her. The blonde doesn't miss the way Alicia keeps glancing up every so often only to look quickly away. It amuses her. A lot.
"Why're you here?" Alicia asks intrigued by the australian. Elyza throws her a quick smirk.
"Looking for a friend" she answers quirking a brow in challenge.
Alicia gives her an unamused look back and stands, "We should get going. The walkers will probably have doubled by now" She starts taking steps towards the door, "This place should have a back door or-"
Elyza grabs her hand as she makes to walk past and yanks her back. Alicia stumbles in front of her with an annoyed look down at the blonde. Elyza just gives her a serious and unapologetic look back.
"It's getting dark" she explains gently, "We can't wander the streets at night. It's too dangerous"
"So, what? We stay here?"
Elyza nods, "Unless you have a helicopter stashed in those shorts.."
She looks down at Alicia's legs again and it makes the other girl unconsciously tighten the shirt wrapped around her waist. Elyza smirks and looks away. Alicia calms down the second she does. She doesn't know what is about Elyza but the girl just somehow knows how to get under her skin. It's irritating.
Elyza sighs feeling Alicia's glare, "Look, we'll sleep here tonight and then tomorrow, after I've found you some lovely pants to cover them gorgeous legs, I'll get you out of this hell of a mall. Deal?"
She holds her hand out and Alicia rolls her eyes but doesn't take it.
"Sure" she mumbles and moves past the blonde's still outstretched hand to check the door is secure. Elyza just smiles after her. The girl is a total worrier.
Alicia locks the door and slips the key into her pocket. Then she tests the handle a couple times. And all awhile Elyza is watching in complete fascination. She wonders if the girl has an compulsive disorder or if she's just afraid to be alone with someone she doesn't know. Elyza wouldn't blame her if she was. She would be too if the other girl wasn't so vulnerable and innocent looking.
"You always stress this much sleeping with strangers?" She asks making the other girl whip around with eyes wide at her.
"I'm not- We're not... Definitely not-"
"Hey, calm down!" Elyza laughs, "I didn't mean it that way. Jeeze"
Alicia growls under her breath and Elyza can't help but lick her lips. Christ the girl is hot.
"Let's just sit down and start over" she suggests gently.
She gives the other girl a friendly smile but Alicia is too annoyed to care much. It wasn't that elyza's teasing was too much. It was the way her heart lifted hopefully in response to it. And she didn't know why it did. She didn't want to sleep with Elyza. She wasn't gay. And she had- has, she has- a boyfriend. But she had to admit she did think Elyza attractive. Really attractive. And brave. And smart and strong. With lips so damn kissable it hurt to look at them.
She shook her head. She felt so confused.
"Or how about-"Alicia cuts Elyza's suggestion straight off.
"How about you shut up and we both sleep?" She snaps angrily.
Elyza holds her hands up and mimes locking her mouth, "Shutting up" she promised and silently leant back against the desk.
Once she was comfortable she moved a little over and patted the empty space beside her. Alicia eyed it warily and that made Elyza smile.
"Hey I won't bite" she looked Alicia over and smirked, "Not Unless you ask first" she winked and Alicia felt her stomach flutter nervously.
She ignored Elyza's second pat of the floor to tempt her over and instead settled in the corner away from the door. Elyza watched her every step towards the corner of the room and then her untying her flannel shirt from her waist to use as a pillow. She watched the younger girl curl up on her side and close her eyes for the briefest of moments before she snapped them open again. Elyza's eyes softened in sympathy. She understood what was wrong.
"Was he your first?" She asked turning her gaze away to the door. She felt Alicia look back at her, "Your first kill" she clarified when Alicia didn't answer. Behind her Alicia cringed.
Kill. She killed somebody.
"Yeah"
She pulls her knees up to her chest and tightly wraps her arms around them. She squeezes them tightly and bites her lip to stop herself from crying. She didn't want to look so weak in front of Elyza. She was tougher than that. She could take this horrible disgusting thing she did on the chin. Just like when her dad died. Just like when Matt was bitten. She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't.
Elyza could practically hear the other girl struggling to keep it together in front of her.
"It gets easier" came the blonde's gentle reply. Alicia just stares at her.
"It shouldn't be easy" she breathes miserably out, "It shouldn't be this way at all"
Elyza's gaze moves away from the door back to the distraught teen curled up behind her. She wants to help the girl, comfort her. But she doesn't want to upset her further. So she leans back against the desk and sips slowly at her vodka. She's thinking about her own first kill. It'd been a boy, just a random stranger calling out for help. She'd run over to him straight away but found he'd been bitten and begging to be put down before he could change. She remembers kneeling beside him and humming a soft lullaby. She remembers the cold feel of the knife handle in her palm and the sound it made sliding out of its sheath. And then the thankful look in his eyes as she pushed it into his neck. She'd cried for hours beside his body, riddled with guilt and regret. Until he'd finally begun to turn too.
Elyza shivers to herself and glances back at her companion only to find Alicia had rolled over to sleep. She looks her over in the dim light. Even asleep Alicia looks upset. It breaks Elyza's heart. Her eyes glance down to the blood on the girl's hands. She thinks its so tragic that someone as innocent as Alicia has to now kill in order to survive. The world was unfair before but now it was downright playing dirty.
An itch on her arm pulls Elyza's attention away. She looks to the faint red seeping through the bandage lining her forearm. She's not worried. It will stop soon. She scratches at it as she slips her eyes over Alicia's pale face again, and she frowns trying to guess her age. She seems close to Elyza's age in the way she holds her own. But that consistent snarky sarcasm holds all the signs of a teen. The blonde just hopes Alicia knows what she's up against when it comes to being a cynical bitch. She's pretty sure she holds the champion belt when it comes to that.
Elyza's eyes continue to graze all over the brunette as she sleeps. From the bags under her eyes to the gentle rise and fall of her chest. Elyza is very much hypnotized by her.
Who are you? She thinks frowning hard at the younger girl.
She can't shake it. That feeling of familiarity. She rakes her eyes over Alicia's body and somehow she knows it, like she's seen every inch of it before. She remembers the burning feeling she got when she grabbed the other girls hand when the walkers had appeared. She'd held her hand and felt an immediate flush of safety overtake her. Even though she was the one saving Alicia. And when Alicia's long fingers had squeezed hers back.. Elyza had felt that burn right between her legs.
Elyza shakes her head feeling it again and fidgets uncomfortably. She shouldn't be thinking that. She shouldn't be admiring the girl at all. She should be worrying about their shitty situation and belittling herself for getting herself into it. She still can't work that one out. Why had she even stopped by the girl earlier? She hadn't even looked human. Just another walker. Elyza wants to believe its because she was bored and wanted to kill something to amuse herself. And believing it would be easy if she hadn't then followed the girl through the parking lot, first to stop then to assist her in her death mission. Elyza doesn't even know why she had. She just didn't want to watch this beautiful girl that appeared from nowhere be killed. Thats what she tells herself.
Because believing she felt cosmically drawn to Alicia wasn't an option. Nothing lasts in the apocalypse.
Feeling is weakness, she recites to herself and peels her eyes off Alicia's sleeping form. But she can't help the glance back she gives after she's turned her head away.
"Night, Princess" she sighs and settles herself in for the night watch.
She sits slouched back but with one leg propped up incase she needs to move quick. Her left hand sits balled up on top of her knee. Usually she'd be holding her gun there pointing at the door. She doesn't even have her knife. Alicia does. Elyza feels a brief flicker of irritation towards the other girl for leaving her weaponless and she grumbles beneath her breath before resigning herself to hand to hand combat.
Soon her thoughts and Alicia's soft breaths are her only company as she rides out the eery silence of the mall outside their room. She finds it oddly comforting, having someone there with her. Even if they don't seem to like her and their attitude gets under her skin sometimes. Elyza keeps stealing side glances at Alicia throughout the night. She tells herself its to make sure the girl is still safe and sleeping. But in the back of her mind there's that annoying tingling familiar feeling. One that said she'd met the girl somewhere before. That she was important. But Elyza can't work out why. It grates on her patience so much that by the time Alicia finally wakes up Elyza is in a pretty grouchy mood with the world.
"Morning" Alicia mumbles, shifting herself up to stretch. Her back aches horribly from the night on the floor and her crumpled shirt had hardly saved her neck from the same torture.
Alicia pushes her arms out and groans feeling the satisfying click of her bones. She looks around their pitiful office room after, bringing her eyes back to the silent blonde.
"Usually people say morning back" she says walking towards the blonde. Elyza just grunts in reply.
Alicia looks down at the Australian and sends her a sympathetic look when she sees how exhausted Elyza looks. Alicia wonders if she has trouble sleeping at night. Her eyes travel down when the blonde still refuses to look at her. She nods to Elyza's arm.
"How's the emo arm today?" she asks smiling nervously when Elyza looks blankly back at her, "You know, because you cut yourself?"
Elyza doesn't even blink and it makes Alicia feel so stupid.
Hiding her blush, Alicia just rolls her eyes and turns to the door. She peers through the clouded glass, searching for anything moving in the distorted shadows outside that warned a walker was out there waiting for them. She can't see anything.
"I don't think anything is out there" she whispers turning her head when the blonde starts moving behind her.
Elyza comes wordlessly to her side and roughly pulls her out of the way to open the door, turning quick to cast Alicia an impatient look when it refuses to budge. Alicia crosses her arms and stares back at her. She's not going to be pushed around by this girl.
But what she hoped would be a silent fight she would win turned into Elyza reaching forward for her pocket for the key.
"Get off me!" she snaps slapping Elyza's hands away from her shorts.
Too late. The blonde already has the key.
Elyza scoffs and offers Alicia a light smirk in return for the violated glare she receives, "Don't flatter yourself, princess"
The blonde turns back to the door and unlocks it. Alicia watches as Elyza knocks loudly on the glass, almost hard enough to smash it, and stands back with her ear pressed against it. She smiles seconds later and Alicia catches the faintest whisper of a countdown before Elyza is shoving the door open, smashing it into the unsuspecting walker outside. It stumbles back and hits the floor and Elyza wastes no time in walking over to stomp her boot into its head. It takes a few goes until the walker's skull caves in sending brains and blood across the floor towards Alicia, who immediately turns away with a churning stomach.
"Right then!" Elyza says cheerfully and claps her hands together not noticing the pale teenager behind her panting and swallowing to keep from vomiting, "Breakfast"
Alicia shudders to herself. Eating is the absolute last thing on her mind right now. Still, she follows Elyza out of the office, making sure to carefully tiptoe around the walker and its mess. All the while she's thinking who the hell this strange Australian is and whether she's truly safe with her. The girl seems a bit crazy.
I've got to find mom and Travis soon, She thinks while she follows Elyza through the quiet mall.