Alright, flashbacks between the x's are in italics, all other italics are thoughts.

also I went back through this chapter and edited a couple things to make sense later.


Raven was organizing their supplies, making sure they had everything. It was still dark, but the sun was going to peak over the hill within the hour. Lexa and Anya were double checking they had all the ammo when Lexa stopped. "Lex, this isn't the time to slow down." Anya says. "Tell me what happened at the riot." She says, making the older woman huff. "You really wanna know?" Anya asks, dropping the duffle bag of boxed ammo.

"The SWAT referred to them as walkers." Anya sighs. "We're all infected. It's already in us. But when someone is killed, they come back. They're still dead, but—." Anya says but pauses. She clenches her fist and looks down. "They got Tristan." She says, barely a whisper. Tristan was her best friend. They had been through everything together. They dated briefly in their early high school years but mutually ended it. Six months later, when Lexa had introduced Clarke and Raven to her sister one afternoon after school, Anya set her sights on the young brunette, but hadn't made a move on her until Raven's senior year.

"He was a walker by the time I got to him." Anya says, not looking up. "Someone from threw me a 9 mil. Told me a headshot was the only way." Anya says. Lexa looks at her sister's appearance. Anya is hunched over the table she's sat the duffle bag on, shoulders tense and her entire body still. "He wasn't Tristan anymore, Lex. He wasn't himself. His eyes were glazed over. He just kept coming towards me." Anya looks up, a trace of tears forming in her eyes. She picks up the bottle of tequila, she must've stocked up on it before the riot broke out, and takes a long gulp. "Hope you're not tired. You're driving today." Anya says and takes another swig before picking up two duffle bags and heading up the stairs to pass them off to Clarke.

Lexa doesn't see her sister again until just after dawn, maybe an hour later. She's swaying slightly as she walks down. Raven follows shortly after, readjusting her t-shirt. The door swung open and in came Clarke, her mother in tow. "Mom is riding with Bell in the car, Octavia wants to ride with us." Clarke says, setting a backpack on the counter. "Her uncle used to take her and Bell hunting and to the gun range. She's a wicked shot." Clarke says. "That is the truth." Octavia says with a smug grin, announcing her presence when she walks in the door. "Let's get moving." Anya says, pausing before drawling out the last word.

Lexa and Clarke climbed in the front seats and started the truck, waiting for the others. When Lexa's father died five years earlier, he had bought a new truck a couple months before his death, a shiny silver Dodge Ram 2500 with an extended gas tank underneath the bed and another reservoir in the bed. With some of the money from his life insurance and their inheritance, they had it lifted and put special off-roading tires on it. Anya wanted to finish her father's project. "We're heading east, through the desert." Lexa says. "My father had a house at the edge of Houston. Full of supplies. We called Indra right before the phones went out and she's got it on lock down and it's still fully stocked, our Uncle Gustus is there too." She says. "We'll be okay, Lex." Clarke says softly, resting a hand on the brunette's. Lexa smiles softly and laces her fingers with Clarke's.

"Hey Princess." Octavia calls, as she's approaching the truck. Clarke turns around just in time to catch the bottle of water she throws to her. Octavia gets in the backseat behind the blonde and hands her a pistol, before scooting over to sit behind Lexa. "Anya wants you to have this. Just in case." She says softly. Lexa looks around her surroundings. "Where's Bellamy?" She asks, a slight hint of suspicion in her voice. She and Bellamy weren't the greatest of friends for the past year or so. Ever since he found out Lexa had feelings for their mutual blonde friend, he'd become a bit of an asshole towards her. He'd also openly flirt with Clarke in front of her, trying to get a rise out of the brunette.

"He's syphoning the gas out of the abandoned cars in the neighborhood." Octavia says, rolling the window down. "He's gonna put the gas cans in the back of the truck, we're gonna need them." She says. "Move, I want the window seat." Anya snaps, approaching the truck. "Take the other one, there's two." Octavia says and Anya glares at her. "My truck, my seat." Anya says and jerks her thumb up and gestures behind her to get Octavia to move. The nineteen year old grumbles and moves over to the passenger side so Raven can scoot in the middle.

They'd been driving for hours now, Lexa had the windows down, it'd be good for Anya to get some air in her face. Clarke had her head in her hand, leaning against the window sill. Her other hand was holding Lexa's, her thumb running up and down Lexa's knuckles. Every now and then, Lexa would glance around at the others in the car.

Anya had an arm wrapped around Raven, the younger girl tucked into her side, fast asleep. Anya had her head resting against Raven's and was peacefully sleeping against her girlfriend. Octavia was pointing her gun to some imaginary enemy outside, and peering through the scope. "Hey," Clarke says, catching her attention. "It'll be alright. We'll be okay." She says softly. It's a few more minutes before Octavia speaks up. "According to the map," Octavia starts, having looked at the map an hour ago and threw it on the floor. "There should be a school before we hit Tucson. We'll stop there. We should be safe for a few hours." Octavia says.

Lexa pulled the truck up close to the door, Abby pulling the car up behind her. Bellamy was the first to approach the door, Octavia in tow, both with their guns at the ready. "We need to clear out a section to stay in, make sure there's no walkers in here." He says. The door is opened and Bellamy and Octavia are the first to enter, followed by Anya with her shotgun. Lexa makes a move to follow, her 9 mil in hand when Clarke grabs her upper arm to hold her back. "Don't go, they've got it." She says. I need you out here.

Bellamy and Octavia cleared almost a dozen rooms before they heard something. They looked down the hall past a barrier gate that was pulled halfway down to see a walker, slowly coming towards them. Before Bellamy had a chance to even lift his gun, a shot fired and the walker was on the ground, with a bullet through his eye. Octavia turned around to see Anya with her shotgun raised and slight smoke coming from the end of the barrel. "Thanks, but I could've gotten that." Bellamy says sternly. Anya grumbles and walks past him to pull the gate down and lock it.

The double doors open up again and Anya comes out, handing Clarke the gun and approaching her girlfriend, who immediately hugs her. "It's clear," She says to no one in particular. "Get the gear, we're gonna clean the rooms out." Anya says, walking back in. Clarke was backing the truck in the double doors, so they wouldn't have to unload the entire thing, with Lexa guiding her. "Alright, keep coming." Lexa calls, backing up and waving her hand to guide the blonde. "Geez, Lex, at least buy her dinner first." Raven chuckles as she and Octavia walk past, carrying food into a room.

Lexa's cheeks flush and it only makes Raven and Octavia laugh harder. The trucks engine is cut and Clarke is jumping out and walking towards Lexa. "What's so funny?" She asks. "Just Lexa being dirty." Raven says, and she and Octavia walk into a room. "What's up with them?" Clarke asks, grabbing a duffle bag. "They're just being themselves." Lexa says and goes to rush off real quick but Clarke grabs her arm. "Hey, did you wanna explore a little later?" Clarke asks. "It's just, we were cooped up in the compound for over a week and it feels good to be out." She says. "Yeah, sure." Lexa smiles.

Clarke and Lexa had somehow managed to find a stairwell that lead to the roof that evening, not far from the rooms they had cleared. They let Anya and Abby know they would be shooting any walkers they saw while they were out, so if any shots were fired, they wouldn't freak out. Lexa set a bag down on the concrete of the roof, pulling out a blanket and an automatic rifle and holding it for Clarke to take. "Lexa, you guys know I can't shoot." Clarke chuckles nervously. "That's why I brought it, I figured I could teach you." Lexa smiles softly, earning a smile and a small nod from the blonde.

"Look, there's one now." Lexa says, pointing to a slow walker in the distance. She picks up the gun and attaches a suppressor to the end to make it quieter, as to not attract more walkers than they could handle. Clarke is leaning against the concrete barrier with the gun pressed tight against her chest. "Alright, ease up a little." Lexa says, touching the blonde's shoulder. "Don't put the butt in your chest, you'll shatter your sternum." Lexa whispers, wrapping her arms around Clarke and guiding her arms. She pulls the gun to barely touch Clarke's shoulder.

"It has to barely touch your shoulder, so the recoil doesn't fuck you up." Lexa says softly in her ear. Clarke has to close her eyes and bite her lip to try to stop a shiver run down her spine. It didn't work. "Line up the shot." Lexa whispers, resting her head on Clarke's left shoulder, the one opposite of the gun. "Open your mouth slightly, helps relieve some of the pressure." She says. "Don't forget to breathe." Lexa breathes softly in her ear. "And take the shot." She whispers. A second later, the gun fires and the walker drops to the ground.

"There you go." Lexa smiles and backs up from Clarke to see her smiling. "You'll be fine." Lexa smiles. "How'd I get such a great friend?" Clarke smiles. "Because you have a great taste in friends, obviously." Lexa smiles.

xxxxxxx

Lexa and Octavia were sitting in their English Lit class, half way through sophomore year, when the Principal walked in. "Principal Kane, what do we owe this pleasure?" The older teacher asks. "We have two new students. Clarke Griffin and Raven Reyes just moved here from Washington DC." He says and he and the teacher talk for a minute, after telling the two girls to find a seat. Clarke took the seat across the aisle from Lexa, Raven taking the seat next to her.

"Hey, you can come sit with us at lunch if you want." Octavia says when the teacher announces they have an extra ten minutes to talk before the bell rings. "That'd be nice. Thanks." Clarke smiles. "I'm Clarke, by the way." She introduces herself. "And this is Raven. She lives with my mom and me." Clarke says. "I'm Octavia Blake." Octavia smiles. "Lexa Woods." Lexa says and her eyes meet Clarke's. "Woods?" She asks. "Isn't your sister Anya?" She asks. "Depends who's asking." Lexa laughs. "I did some research on the school before we moved here. I heard she's the best soccer player in the state. I hear there's gonna be tons of scouts looking at her. She signed with UCLA already, didn't she?" Clarke says and Lexa falls silent.

"You haven't heard, have you?" Octavia asks. "Heard what?" Clarke asks. "Anya slipped last week in practice. Fractured her ankle real bad." Lexa says. "She's out for the rest of the season. She's gonna lose her scholarship to UCLA." Lexa says. "I'm so sorry." Clarke immediately says. "It's okay, she'll survive." Lexa says, giving a tight lipped smile in return. There were worse things to worry about. Raven is about to change the subject when the bell rings and the students file out.

The four girls sit down at a table with their lunch trays and Lexa looks around at the other students. As if on cue, Anya approaches her sister on her crutches, pausing to ruffle her sister's hair, slightly frizzing her perfect braid. "Hey Kid." She laughs and takes a seat next to her sister, a tall boy sitting across from her, next to Clarke, and pushing a tray across to Anya. "Carrying her food, watch out, people might start to think you're my sister's bitch." Lexa laughs. "Watch it, Kid." The guy laughs. "Sorry," Lexa starts, tearing her eyes from her sister and friend to address the new students. "Clarke, Raven this is my sister, Anya, and her friend Tristan." Lexa says, gesturing between them. She notices Anya's eyes linger on Raven slightly longer.

"I heard we had fresh meat today." Anya says. "Where you from freshmeat?" She asks. "Washington DC." Clarke says. "My mom was a surgeon, thought we needed a change of scenery, so she brought us here." Clarke says and Lexa can her a slight undertone in her voice. "So you guys are sisters?" Anya asks. "Not quite." Raven says. "My dad was never around, and my mom in prison for drug abuse when I was ten." She says. "Clarke's mom adopted me. I honestly have no clue where I'd be if it wasn't for them." She says. Lexa's noticed by now that neither Clarke nor Raven have mentioned to a 'father', and Clarke doesn't bring up her mother too often. She decides not to ask.

xxxxxxx

Clarke hugs Lexa, because, she is right. She does have a great taste in friends. After a good minute, because the blonde really needed the contact after the two weeks that they've had, they pull away, only for Lexa to hold the blonde against her still. The two girl's make eye contact and Clarke's breath hitches in her throat. The blonde's eyes dart from Lexa's eyes to her lips, and then back up again, before slowly closing the distance between them. Their lips barely touched at first. Lexa wasn't even sure it had happened until she pushed further, pressing her lips fully against Clarke's.


Hope you guys like the story. Reviews/comments are always hella nice. Suggestions are hella nice too.