Chapter Summary: Elyza wakes up to see Ofelia (who she hasn't seen since the hotel).
WARNING: THEMES OF RACISM IN THIS CHAPTER.
Author's Note: So I just got a new job and I'm juggling that and college, so updates might come out slower. The good news is that I have mapped out the entirety of this fanfiction in an outline, so it will be updated, just not as regularly. (Yes, that means I know exactly how this will end)
Elyza groggily wakes up, a haze clouding her mind. She tries to blink through it and peers at her surroundings. It looks like a sort of diner. She's laying on two chairs placed side by side, with her legs dangling off one end awkwardly.
"Oh good, you're awake", An oddly familiar voice sounds from the side.
She drags her eyes over to see Ofelia, this time in an apron but looking no worse for wear. Her posture shows no hostility, which is a jarring comparison to the last thing Elyza remembers.
Elyza slowly pushes herself into sitting position, groaning and grabbing her head in pain. She doesn't need to check to know there's a goose egg forming on the back of her head from the blow. On a similar setup nearby, but with three chairs for her leg, Lindsay lays, sporting a nasty bruise on her jaw. "Ofelia?" Elyza forces out of her mouth in a sluggish slur.
Ofelia starts to walk over, probably to help Elyza sit up, but instead shrinks back when the glass doors open. Heavy booted heels click on the greasy, grimy, linoleum flooring. The same man that had ordered them to put down all their weapons walks until he is right in front of Elyza, crouching to her height. "So you're going to join their ranch huh?"
Really, Elyza hates this man. She just wanted to punch him in the face or knee him in the crotch. Both at the same time sounded particularly appealing. However, with Lindsay unconscious and helpless, that wasn't a smart move. Elyza was more muscular than she used to be, but certainly not enough to carry Lindsay very far. She settles for spitting out, "So what if I am?"
The man's face darkens, and opens his mouth to respond. Ofelia interrupts with, "Taqa, maybe you should wait a little, she just woke up-"
"I know what I'm doing, Ofelia. Wait outside", this man who is apparently named Taqa answers. Ofelia frowns but does not complain as she slips out the doors. It irks Elyza how compliant Ofelia is. The woman was never outgoing, loud, or brash, but she also would never just take something that was unfair. She was righteous.
Taqa turns his attention back to Elyza. Pulling a chair over to sit on, he looks at her with a curious tilt of his head as he proposes, "You can join me, you know. The ranch is ours. We will take it over eventually even by force. We have the helicopter now from them."
Elyza's blood turns cold. "Helicopter?" Alicia was on the helicopter, which meant they were holding Alicia here too, or Alicia was hurt. Perhaps even both. Blood rushes to her ears and her heart pounds in her chest. Her world spins with the possibility of losing the love of her life once again.
Taqa takes this surprise for her being impressed and puffs out his chest. "Yes, we shot down their helicopter and took it. Taking our land back will be easy with that, considering how they ran off after it went down."
The rigidity of Elyza's spine goes down a degree and she stops seeing red. Alicia should be fine. They hadn't harmed her. Now all Elyza had to do was figure out a way to get back to her. She spends the rest of the (very one-sided) conversation with Taqa surveying the restaurant, the sliver of the outside that she could see, and coming up with a plan in her head.
-0-
A burly middle aged white man is cursing his mouth out at Connie and Kelly. Kelly looks reared up and ready to have a go at punching this man into oblivion, but Connie holds her back by the arm, frantically signing something. Alicia laments that she never learned sign language in her spare time, but it seems a little late for that right now in the moment.
"What's happening here?"Magna asks. She settles into a cross-armed stance, leaning casually on one leg.
"Your kind is waltzing in here and just taking our food without contributing, that's what's happening. I just asked her to mop my kitchen",the burly man answers indignantly, still glaring at the two girls, and not really looking at Magna. Nearby, Troy watches with an amused expression. A little girl can be seen hiding behind his leg. Alicia wrinkles her nose. This may be a safe place, but by the way they gave Alicia side-eyed glances, they were pretty hostile to any new people. The prejudice was overwhelming here.
"Excuse me! I'm not your maid!"Kelly screams back, spittle flying in fury. Magna must leap forward and wrap her arms around Kelly's waist to prevent her from lashing out at the man.
"Kelly! Calm down, I get it, he's an asshole, but you shouldn't be the one to beat him up… I will", Magna screams over Kelly's rage. Kelly calms down and spins to face Magna with a face that said "oh shit". Alicia knows she should stop Magna, but she is glued to the spot.
The wiry woman lets go of Kelly and slowly stalks forward, permanent scowl matching the death glare that she trains on the man. He totters back several steps, fear finally registering on his face.
Magna continues advancing, all that is on her mind is the injustice of this place. In the anger that she feels for her friends, her vision tunnels, and she sees nothing but her target. It is a scary type of concentration that nobody wants to be the focus of. Alicia certainly wouldn't want to be the focus of it. She is so keyed up as she stalks forward, that a tap on her shoulder causes Magna to whip around, almost lashing out, only to see that it is Connie.
Connie wields a sad face and quickly signs to her. Magna furiously signs back, and Connie shakes her head with equal vigor. Letting out a sigh with a shake of her head that sends her curls bouncing, she talks as she signs, "If you must, then go. But I will fight them to make sure you two get the resources you need to make it out of here." She proceeds to send a death glare at everyone in the vicinity, daring anybody to challenge her.
There is an urge in Alicia to step up as people start to look as if they're about to protest. "She's right. We are able, we are lucky. We have more than enough to give at least basic traveling supplies to the both of them if they're going to leave." Her tone is quiet, not raised, her chin jutted out in a powerful stance of confidence. The power she exudes is unquestionable.
Across the area, Troy can be seen raising an eyebrow quizzically at the authority she exudes in a place where she has no control at all. Despite that, the men and women of the ranch shrink at her presence.
-0-
Connie and Kelly cried as they somberly departed, and Yumiko ended up hugging a Magna who had turned away and tried to hide the fact that tears were forming in her eyes. It is as they are closing the gate that they see the bike rapidly approaching. Dust is kicked up behind the rumbling machine. It grows in volume and visible size from a speck until it is clearly a bulky driver and huddled figure leaning against the driver to stay upright.
Alicia pulls out her butterfly knife in a well oiled and practiced motion, dropping into a fighting stance readily. Next to her, several guards load their guns and Magna pulls out some newly acquired throwing knives.
None of them quite know what to do when the figure is dumped onto the floor in a groaning, coughing, heap. She is treated literally no better than garbage. The said heap slowly pushes herself up, and Alicia's heart drops. "Ofelia!"she cries before running forward to help her, Nick close on her heels. There is no hesitation as she drops to her knees in the dry dirt to help Ofelia up.
Ofelia looks straight into her eyes, and rasps out, "He said to tell Otto that he's holding Elyza hostage until he gets what he wants." Alicia's entire world stops. Everything around her is warbled as if she is under water.
"Where?"Alicia demands as the militia surges forward, crowding around. Everything is falling into chaos as everyone shouts different suggestions on how to deal with Ofelia, but Alicia's mind is one-tracked.
"The Black Hat Reservation", Ofelia manages to tell Alicia as the militia starts to yank her away, intent on detaining her. Her mind tells her to make sure Ofelia is okay, but her heart is consumed by Elyza. It is the same heart which races as she shoots up from her place next to Ofelia, marching back into the ranch, through the throng of spectators that was forming, and straight to the big house of Jeremiah Otto.
"Alicia? Alicia, wait up!"a voice calls after her.
She does not listen to the voice and barges straight into the house without knocking, sending the door banging into the adjacent wall. The old man jolts out of his desk chair in surprise. To his credit, he recovers rather quickly and raises an eyebrow, "And to what do I owe this lovely visit, Alicia?"
Jake Otto comes barreling in after her, huffing and puffing. She pays no mind to either of them and storms forward to the table where all the maps are situated, grabbing a bunch of them and quickly flipping through them until she finds the one she needs.
Jeremiah gets up and walks towards her. He puts on a lazy and unimpressed air. "Hey missy, it ain't nice to just barge into somebody's house and through their things. Could be trespassin'."
Hair goes flying as she whips around to face him with a raised brow, "And who's to determine what's trespassing and what's not? There's no law anymore." She pauses before pointing to the Black Hat Reservation on her map. "We have to go save Elyza and Lindsay."
"Woah woah. We ain't going nowhere. We're safe here, and we're not risking all of our lives for two people," Jeremiah answers, taking a step back in resistance. Alicia's eyes flare as she looks up at him. Her jaw clenches as she sizes him up, wondering if she should just knock him out and take the gun on his hip as an extra weapon, try to convince him, or just go.
Jake steps forward, as if sensing the oncoming fight. "Alicia… he's right… we can't act brashly", he attempts to placate, stepping forward with his hands raised as if approaching a dangerous animal. In that sense, he is almost correct, because Alicia is so determined and angry that somebody would lay a single hand on Elyza that she is practically feral.
She can't believe they would leave somebody behind like that, especially Jake. To think, she had thought she had finally made a good friend in this apocalypse. "If you guys are too chicken to save them, then I'll do it myself", she snarls back, shoving Jake out of the way as she storms out in a hurricane of brown hair, green eyes, and a whole lot of sass.
The sound of boots on dirt and gravel can be heard chasing after her. "Alicia, this isn't smart." She ignores this, because right now she doesn't care whether or not this is smart, this is about Elyza. Plus, she's pretty sure that if she keeps ignoring him, he'll deem her a lost cause and leave her alone eventually. Spoiler alert, he does not.
Jake trails after her all the way down the hill, ignoring all the residents of the ranch who attempt to flag him down to help them. As she grabs weapons from the storage, he huffs, "Well, if you're not going to listen to me, I'm coming with you. A person who knows the way is better than a map. C'mon let's get a truck. It'll be faster to get in and out." Alicia turns around, considering him as he stares back with his face set in a determined expression. He was a Daddy's boy through and through, but perhaps he had some sort of humanity left in him. That was rare in a world like this. If this was really an entire reservation, then maybe another body wouldn't hurt. She nods, making sure she retains the scowl on her face so he knows it is a grudging acceptance.
The two of them are silent as Jake opens up a truck and they load it with guns and weaponry. Alicia is about to jump into the front of the truck when lanky legs jump onto the bed of the truck with a thud. "If you're going to save them, I'm coming too. Count it as me doing my part to help", Magna announces as she plops down and motions for Jake to start the engine. He looks at Alicia for confirmation. It is kind of like a kid waiting for his mother's approval to do anything at all.
Alicia nods, setting her shoulders. She would get Elyza back, even if she had to stop another war to do so.