I glanced up at the sky as the light around us continued to fade, we still hadn't decided on a place to stay for the night and time was steadily running out before darkness fell.

'Do you think there'll be room at the inn?' ELyza joked, bag slung over one shoulder as she strode just ahead of me along the wide road.

'Very funny,' I said dryly, casting my gaze around in search of any walkers. A few had picked up our trail from the broken car and had been stumbling along behind us for the last ten minutes. They were slow and so were of little bother to us, I just wanted to get away from them sooner rather than later.

'Come on Alicia, it won't hurt you to crack a smile,' the blonde called over her shoulder, maneouvering to face me as she continued to walk backwards.

'You're going to fall over in a minute, and when you do I will not be helping you up,' I told her, shoving my hands further into my jacket pockets.

'I'll do it right now if it'll cheer you up,' she replied, spinning a full circle before extending her hands in a flourish.

I couldn't resist a small smile at her antics, side stepping around her to take the lead as she jogged to keep pace at my side. My bad mood wasn't meant to be directed at Elyza, I was just missing my family and so far there had been no luck finding a radio to contact them. Despite our string of bad luck, I knew that I could count on Elyza to make any situation more bearable.

'Ooh, look, MattressFirm, we could put the quality of their products to the test,' Elyza mused, quickly scrapping that idea when a walker in the display window glimpsed us and threw itself against the glass repeatedly in an attempt to break through. 'Hmm, maybe another time.'

The signs advertising fifty percent off had peeled away from the windows, the large sign on the front of the building dim and far from its once pristine condition. I turned my attention away from the store with distaste, drawing to a stop when we reached a crossroad.

'Any preference?' I asked Elyza, glancing both ways indecisively.

'Flip a coin for it?' she suggested lightly, draping an arm over my shoulder which I quickly ducked out of with a frown. She pretended to stumble and cast a look of mock hurt in my direction.

'Are you incapable of taking anything seriously?'

'I am more than aware of our situation thank you, no need to bore ourselves to death in the process,' she returned coolly, leaning her head back to gaze up at the dimming sky.

'Having fun hardly seems appropriate at this time, right now we just need to-'

'Enough already,' Elyza sighed, slipping the bag off of her shoulder and let it drop to the ground with a thud. 'Time for a spontaneous training session.'

I stopped walking and looked over at her, was she serious?

'You clearly need to work a few things out of your system before you can even begin to relax so lets get on with it,' she explained, rolling her shoulders in preparation.

I cast my gaze around, wary of any walkers that might attack whilst we were preoccupied but the only two that I saw were in a tangled heap beneath an overturned car, their exposed limbs twitching occasionally under the metal.

From experience I knew that Elyza would not be deterred from her decision and reluctantly dropped my own bag to the ground with a sigh. Might as well get this over with. Thoughts of my family were weighing on my mind and combined with the lack of appropriate accommodation for the night, it had not left me in the best mood. If Elyza wanted a fight then she would get one.

Elyza threw some punches at me without warning, my reflexes allowing me to curve away from them with relative ease. I retaliated with a few jabs of my own, pushing Elyza back a few steps in response. These sessions had been few and far between for the last few days, but I picked up everything she had to show me with relative ease.

A swift kick was thrown my way but I blocked it with my forearm, earning an approving look from Elyza as we both drew back.

'Can we just get moving now?' I asked, tired of wasting time on this pointless activity.

'You won't be complaining when it saves your life, or would you rather just fall flat on your back without any survival skills?'

I scowled lightly at the prospect, that was not who I was anymore. I would put up a decent fight if the situation required, I didn't want or need any protection from this world. Without even realising what was happening, I launched myself forward into a sprint towards Elyza.

A flicker of surprise registered on her face before I collided with her and then we were both falling, the impact softened by the grass that I had manoeuvred us towards by the sidewalk. A woosh of air escaped the blondes lips and in the split second that it took her to recover I had my dagger raised to her throat. She stilled in an instant, flicking her eyes up to my teasing smile.

'Who's flat on their back now?' I smirked, careful to keep the blade a safe distance from her exposed neck. She grinned back humorously, not even a hint of annoyance present at being tackled to the ground.

I had no doubt that she would have responded with an equally witty comment but I didn't have chance to find out when the sound of thudding steps pounded across the concrete of the road without warning. I glanced up sharply in surprise, barely having time to register the leather clad girl thundering towards me with a primal screech before she collided with me as I had done to Elyza not moments ago.

The knife flew from my hand as I hit the ground, twisting to relieve the pressure on my arm before a knee was placed firmly onto my back to ensure that I was immobilised on the ground. My cheek burned as it pressed against the concrete road and confusion swirled through my thoughts as I tried to process exactly what was going on.

'What the hell do you think you're doing?' Elyza growled, and I heard her scramble upright somewhere behind me. 'Get off her Octavia.'

More footsteps were heard jogging closer though how many I could not guess. There was a heartbeat of silence before the girl responded.

'You know her?'

'Of course I know her, why else would I let her tackle me like that!'

The weight on my back eased the slightest bit as the girl hesitated, still unsure of the threat that I posed. For just a second I was tempted to tell Elyza that she had by no means let me tackle her, but I decided that it was probably not the best idea to try speaking whilst this ferocious girl was positioned on my back.

'You heard her O, stand down,' a male voice instructed, the weight finally disappearing on my back to allow me to breathe once more. I gasped in a breath and rolled onto my back, blinking against the sun to see five faces peering down at me, one of which being Elyza's worried frown.

The dark haired man, presumably the one who had given the order, reached out a hand which I gratefully excepted and was pulled up to my feet. I wobbled for a second before Elyza stepped closer, knocking back the boy's grip on my hand to look me over.

'You okay?' she asked, ignoring the new arrivals in favour of my well being.

'I'm fine, what exactly is happening?' I said quietly, my gaze darting to the small group that had formed around us. The leather clad girl was still watching me suspiciously, three men also watching us with narrowed eyes.

Elyza didn't offer an explanation but instead turned to the taller, dark haired man and a small smile lifted her lips.

'Well look who it is,' she said almost in disbelief. 'You've looked better.'

'I could say the same for you,' he retorted, the two of them just staring in silence for a moment before the distant sound of an engine shattered the peace. The girl, Octavia, snapped her gaze down the road where we had just been walking, a darkness falling over her expression.

'Save the reunion for later, we need to get out of sight. This way,' she told us, setting off at a fast jog to the nearest building. I shot Elyza a confused glance but she shook her head, this wasn't the time to be asking questions. We followed the girl as the three boys bringing up the rear behind us. A collection of storage garages were situated just ahead of us, West Side Storage the sign read as we raced past.

Octavia ignored the closest two storage containers and knelt in front of the third to pull on the handle and slide the cover open. We ducked inside when it was half way open, Bellamy ushering us all in before he to stepped inside and hastily pulled the cover back down.

I was surprised to find the interior to be somewhat spacious, going back a good few metres to provide more than enough room for all of us. The lack of lighting left me peering at the dark silhouettes that were highlighted by the dim light filtering through the gaps. With seconds to spare, we heard the roar of an engine approaching from outside before it went silent.

The person closest to me, presumably Bellamy, gestured to get everyone's attention and raised a finger to his lips in a clear signal. We all stood motionless, not daring to move as we listened intently to the distant mumble of voices.

'You sure the smoke came from this direction?' a rough voice called out, barely audible from inside the storage container. The fact that we could hear them meant that they were either very close, or they were not afraid of attracting walkers by being loud.

'It sure did, and we know they're last sighting was not a few miles away from here so keep an eye out for them,' another replied, the voices falling silent again and I gulped at the prospect that our broken down car had drawn these people here. Was it Elyza and I that they were looking for?

The sound of wood splintering was heard as they presumably kicked in the doors of the nearby buildings, rapidly followed by the shot of a weapon ripping through the air. I winced and took an involuntary step back at the sudden noise, colliding with someone stood at my back. My mouth opened for a split second to mumble an apology but pressed my lips together again before I could alert these strangers to our position.

A hand grasped mine lightly and I glanced over my shoulder in relief to see that it was Elyza, her features barely visible but the reassuring grip on my hand steadied my nerves and I could easily imagine the comforting smile that she was sending my way.

Another shot went off, followed by a third, had they inadvertently stumbled across more walkers?

'Goddam it, there's nothing here but walkers man, lets just head back,' the first voice shouted out to the other. A heartbeat of silence followed the comment before the second man spoke.

'Fine, we've still got one of theirs so they'll be back without a doubt. Move out!'

I frowned, realising that Elyza and I hadn't been the target of this search party and glanced at the other shadowy figures around me. What trouble were these people in?

The engine outside roared into life once more and faded away to nothing within a few minutes. Regardless, we stood in silence for at least another five before Bellamy tentatively peeked through the gap to make sure they really had gone and this was not some trick to expose our position. He finally turned to us, certain that they were gone.

'Listen up, they've just stirred up at least five walkers from what I can see, we just need to make it past them and get somewhere safe for the night. We can return to base tomorrow.'

'You make it sound so simple,' one of the boys muttered with undisguised sarcasm, receiving a scathing glare from Octavia.

'Shut up Murphy, we can take out those in our path and get back safely. No heroics.'

'Exactly,' Bellamy agreed, looking at each of us in turn. 'Me and Octavia will take the lead. Elyza, you and your friend can follow us whilst Murphy and Atom bring up the rear.'

Everyone nodded and with a count of three Bellamy pulled up the cover fully and we exited in formation. My mouth was dry with the realisation that I had no weapons on hand, the knife still back on the road where Octavia had knocked me over. In the sudden panic of the vehicle approaching it had not even registered to go and retrieve it but to get to relative safety as fast as possible.

Elyza was at my side, gun at the ready, and my worry receded to know that she had my back. I didn't know these people, even if Elyza did, and I wasn't about to put complete faith in them. As we emerged back onto the road, the walkers that had been following the vehicle twisted back to us with a collection of groans.

Octavia and Bellamy strode forwards and took down the two closest, the girl using a sword that I hadn't seen earlier strapped across her back. It kept the noise to a minimum to ensure no other walkers were drawn to our location. The other four walkers were still some distance down the road and so Bellamy and Octavia retreated back to our group and led us down in the opposite direction, away from where we had previously been.

We moved at a steady jog, thankfully not running into any trouble as we continued down the wide road. There was little to see around us other than the abandoned cars surrounded by the wide stretches of open land on either side. We took the next right turning down a smaller road and came to a stop not five minutes later outside a block of apartments. I glanced over my shoulder, expecting to see the undead closing the distance but it was clear.

'We'll stay here for the night, it's already been cleared out but you should be on your guard nevertheless,' Bellamy advised, gesturing for us to the approach the buildings. We passed the entrance sign which read Encantada Appartments. I just hoped they were as Enchanting as it promised.

'What are you going to do?' I called back when I saw that Bellamy was still stood by the side of the road. He looked back in mild surprise at my question, possibly not having expected any concern from a stranger.

'The walkers are stupid, most likely they'll just continue straight on but if not for some reason, I'll make sure they're dealt with. Now get inside.'

Elyza pulled on my arm to get us moving again, and after one lingering look back we left him behind in the shadows. We settled on the B block as our accommodation for the night, it was one of the closest and Octavia assured us it had been swept for walkers just the previous day. It seemed reasonable enough, we had stayed in worse places since the apocalypse and very few had actually provided a bed for a decent rest.

We were ushered inside, Octavia closing the door at our backs before she returned to where Bellamy was standing guard by the road. Murphy and Atom went ahead to double check each room on the floor and I lightly grabbed Elyza's wrist as she moved to follow them.

'Elyza, what's going on?' I asked her, feeling like we had just been swept up in a hurricane of trouble.

'We just achieved what we set out for,' she said with a smile. 'These are the people I was telling you about. As for what mess they're caught up in I have no clue, but we did it Alicia.'

I found myself smiling back at her, it seemed that our journey to Santa Fe was over, we had found them. Excitement burned in my chest, this was the first group of people I had come across since losing my family. If they had a radio then I could finally try to get in contact with them. My earlier reservations about our travel to Santa Fe had disappeared entirely, this was the hope we had been searching for.

Thanks for reading, leave a comment and tell me what you thought :)