A/N sorry about the first update of this chapter. It had a ton of errors and was really rushed out before i edited it. its updated now and should make more sense without all the continuity, grammar, and basically all the other errors. Thanks for reading! Enjoy!

Chapter VII: Rain Storms and Raiders


Elsa came to the lead humvee's left side, while Anna went on the right, both girls weapons trained on the glass windows as they approached. Any movement and they wouldn't hesitate to put two rounds through it. The interior side of the windshield was splattered with blood on Elsa's side, so she steadily crept a little further away to get a view before approaching the door, making sure whatever was inside was indeed not alive (or undead). Anna lowered her weapon enough to wrench the slightly worn door open and moved to sweep the inside when she heard Elsa gasp. She then heard shuffling coming from the front and saw Elsa crouch-walking over to her, signaling with her hand to get low.

"What? What's wrong?" Anna asked, worry evident in her voice.

"Look over to the hangers."

Anna peered over the blood stained hood and over to the hangers. Things got quiet for a second. The wind blew just slightly, the thunder from earlier became closer, and she could hear Elsa's breathing. Or was it her's? She wasn't sure, but what she was sure was of the sentient figures who were crowded at the hangers on the far side of the runway. Seven or eight, maybe nine silhouettes were in what looked like a conversation. Anna raised her SCAR to her shoulder and looked through the scope. Eight men in scavenged and mismatched pieces of body armor surrounded an elderly man that wore a worn dark brown trench coat with a girl who was hid behind him. The men around him mostly all brandished firearms except one, who was in the center with the man and girl, pacing back and forth with a machete tossing it between his hands and eyeing the two victims.

"Eight contacts, two civilians. There's an old man in rags in the middle of them. It looks like they're going to kill him, Elsa." She knew Elsa was hesitating. "He's got a girl, maybe thirteen, behind him." Anna said, still scoped in.

Another moment of silence and then, "Get in and make sure that fifty is up by the time i get it running."

Anna smiled. "That's my Elsa." She brought the SCAR down and slung it over her shoulder as she went back to the open door and grabbed the dead soldiers arms, dragging him out and setting him down gently, taking his ammo as she went and laying his rifle beside him. Anna had always had great respect for soldiers. The stories she had heard about them facing off against the undead hoards was legendary to her. She crawled into the center, over a console and into a sitting position on a hanging strap that served as the gunners seat. She checked the can that was connected to the large caliber weapon and, seeing that it was full, yet unloaded, brought the receiver up, placing the lead bullet in and dropping it back down. She slapped it for good measure and pulled back the handle, making a distinctive and deep Chu-Ching. She ducked back into the humvee's interior and watched as sparks flew from wires Elsa was fiddling with.

"Are you su-" her reluctance was cut short by the vehicle roaring to life.

Elsa looked up at her and smiled, "Oh, i'm sure alright." She said climbing in and shutting the door. The dried blood was still in the way and luckily, this particular humvee was the National Guard variant featuring normal glass and not the bulletproof type that its counterparts had. Elsa kicked it out, making the least amount of noise as possible while Anna watched in the direction of the men who were still surrounding the two innocents. The entire vehicle shook and its engine whined as Elsa took it over the side hump of the road and onto the soft grass. She brought the gun forward, facing the targets as they got closer and closer and picked up speed.

She could see a glint over the group's heads and couldn't make out what it was, but she didn't think anything of it as one of the men on the outside turned towards them, immediately alerting the rest to the armored vehicle heading their way. They scattered allowing Anna to open up with full force without worrying about hitting the two on the inside. The fifty rattled in her hands as she pressed down on the thumb-trigger, sending its full metal jackets ripping through three hostiles who were making a run for cover behind a black truck. She gritted her teeth as she turned back to her right, opening up on one of them she saw diving into a shed. The bullets tore holes into the sheet metal and wood, vaporizing anything on the other side of it.

Elsa had passed them fully now and the remaining four had retreated to positions to confront the attack. She had turned the humvee to a side when a wheel exploded, allowing her to get out and take cover behind its front end. She brought her M4 up, training it on the nearest target. A man with a riot helmet and an Army vest peeked out from behind a forklift giving her the chance she needed to squeeze off a round. The bullet went straight through the glass face-shield and just below his right eye, making his head jerk back violently. She could hear Anna still booming away at anything that moved. Elsa looked to see where the old man in the center and the girl had gone but only the lifeless form of the man remained. The girl was nowhere to be seen.

She ducked her head back behind the front wheel as a torrent of bullets came into contact with the bumper, headlights, and hood. Anna had gone quiet on the gun up top and it worried her until she heard shots coming from over the armor plate that surrounded the gun. Anna was shooting her SCAR, likely having ran out of ammo with the mounted weapon. Elsa peaked out again, spotting the two remaining bandits running to the nearest hangar, the leader with the girl in tow. A shot from Anna's position and the man behind the two dropped to the ground and started crawling. The next second, a spray of red came out if the front of his head, rendering him incapacitated from one of Anna's 7.62 rounds. The redhead scrambled down the turret and out the passenger door meeting Elsa at the front of the vehicle. Both trained their weapons on the entrance to the hangar, a small door that was dwarfed by the large aircraft doors it was cut into.

A groan from one of the bodies, and Anna had pulled her M9 from her hip-holster and sent a nine millimeter through his skull and replaced the weapon back to her side. Both women stacked up on the door, Elsa on the left side and aiming into the right and Anna the opposite. "On three," Elsa said holding up her fingerless-gloved hand, the other still aiming her weapon. "One." A finger went up."Two," another followed. "Thr-," Anna didn't hear the rest as she went through the doorway covering her side of the room and Elsa following in milliseconds after, doing the same to her side. -Bang- -Bang- -Bang- The shots, followed by flashes to Anna's rear where Elsa was, made her jump in surprise. The silence crept in and nothing moved and the flash and crack of thunder outside made the girls jump.

Anna faced to where Elsa had shot, who was also still aiming at a darker corner behind supply crates she had and a trailer that had a helicopter strapped to the top with a tarp over it, half hanging off. Anna scurried over to the trailer, Elsa following her every move behind her. They moved slowly toward the edge of the crates and there, the girl from earlier was pushed out, a gun barrel pushed to her temple. The girl who Anna thought was about thirteen looked much more mature at this distance. Her long dark brown hair looked pitch black in the darkness and ran down over breasts that were covered only by a white tank top and halfway down her stomach. The dark blue pants she was wearing had holes at the knees, revealing scrape marks from being dragged around on the pavement. Her eyes begged for help from the two, only damming the tears with the adrenaline pumping through her body.

"Back off or the girl gets it." a deep but raspy voice said from behind the crates. "I'll blow her fucking head off if you don't clear out of here."

"What makes you think we care?" Elsa stalled, watching Anna take careful aim.

"You're human, same as everyone else. It tears you up to see your kind get killed.. just like anything else in this fucked up world. Anything that isn't infected."

"Well, look we can talk about this all day, or we can agree on something. It's your call."

The man had gone quiet, seeming to consider it. "Ya know.. I've always wanted to go out in a blaze of glory." He reached out and pulled on the girls hair, causing her to yelp in pain. "What about you darlin'? How do you wanna di-" A shot rang out and the man's gun flew to the floor along with a finger that followed. The girl fell away and to the ground as the man screamed and came around the corner bearing a machete in his other hand. His brown beard was stretched wide by his mouth that was emitting a warcry; a last ditch effort to cause some pain. He raised the blade and started to come down with it on the girl, but his bald head was soon splattered into a red cloud behind him with a shot from Elsa's M4. The machete came down still, with less force though and grazed the girl's side. A thin red line of blood formed as she got to her knees. She crawled over slowly and grabbed his gun, turning around and stood up. All the while, Elsa and Anna had lowered their guns and kneeled beside eachother and watched as the scene unfolded. The girl raised the revolver and shot the remaining four shots into the bandits carcass, the gun making clicking sounds as she pulled the trigger again and again. Elsa was the first to stand, moving to the girl and slowly taking the gun out of her grasp, throwing it to Anna. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, Elsa brought her over to sit on a crate by Anna, who stood ready to comfort the girl.

"Hey, it's okay. You're safe now. Me and Elsa here will get you out of here." Anna said coming to sit by her. The girl nodded her head slightly, not speaking but breathing heavily. Her light blue eyes came up to meet Anna's and then closed as she took in and let out a deep breath. "What's your name?" Elsa asked, coming to kneel with the two girls, a hand going to the girl's shoulder.

"My names.. M-Madison." She said in a raspy, but calm and sweet voice. "It's Madison." A small smile came to tug at the edges of Madison's lips as tears started to swell in her eyes. Both Anna and Elsa noticed in time to reach around the girl, holding her between their sitting positions as she cried. The two older women looked at eachother for a second before back to the girl. Anna stuck the tip of her tongue out slightly at Elsa earning a playful glare from the older woman.

"How old are you, Madison?" The girl sobbed uncontrollably, unable to answer. "Hey." Elsa said, trying to sooth her. "Madison, i need you to calm down, okay? We have to ask you some questions," she looked up to Anna," to see if we can help you." Anna smiled sweetly back at her. Completely unaware of the silent exchange going on between the two, Madison's sobs became softer and she hiccuped a few times before being able to coherently speak to the two. "How old are you?" Elsa restated, rubbing her hand in comforting circles on Madison's back.

"I'm seventeen... i think.," she looked around with some contemplation,"Somewhere around there."

"Are you okay? Did those guys hurt you?" Anna asked.

"No, but my Papa.." a catch in her voice. She sucked in a deep breath and held back tears that were begging to be released. "They killed him." she simply stated.

"Do you have any other family? Anyone we can bring you back to?" Elsa asked.

She shook her head. "No. Everyone back home is dead. Those assholes killed my entire family." She bared her teeth spitting the last sentence out. "That's why we were out here in the first place. To get away from them."

Both Elsa and Anna hesitated and turned to look in each other's eyes. Elsa nodded yes, affirming Anna's silent request. "You wanna come back with us?" Madison looked at her with what looked like a mix of utter confusion and pure joy. "We have enough room back at our house. You can stay with us for as long as you like." Anna smiled at her.

"But-but i don't even know you. Either of you. Why would you even think of letting me into your home? How can you trust someone you just met?"

Elsa looked at her sternly."Trust me, i've been around some pretty fucked up people. You just don't fit that kinda person with me. My gut tells me otherwise."

The girl blushed slightly and smirked as she shifted her focus from Elsa to Anna and back again. Anna gently squeezed her shoulder."We can take good care of you, at least until you don't want us to anymore. If you come back with us, we promise you can leave whenever you want. We'll even teach you a few things when we go out. Like this trip, we were checking out that convoy down that way" She motioned with her gloved hand toward the direction of the road with the convoy; now one vehicle short of its original count, "when we saw those guys chasing after you. We made a pretty good entrance though, huh Elsa?" she winked at Elsa who chuckled back at her.

"Best entrance yet."

Thunder boomed and the sound of rain falling heavily across the airfield came into focus as they quieted down. "I should go get Bullet and the jeep," Elsa said standing and lifting her hood over her head, her braid slightly sticking out over her shoulder. Her face could barely be seen in the light and Anna got up to wrap her in a hug before she went out.

"Okay, just be careful. There could still be infected and other guys out there we didn't see." Elsa nodded as she pulled away from her. "Ill open the door for you when you get back.

Elsa nodded "Okay, i'll be right back. Just be ready." and with that, she turned, jogging out the door into the wall of rain that awaited outside.

Anna turned to Madison and pulled out a small pack from behind her that was attached to her vest. "Alright now, let's get that cut patched up." She walked to Madison's side and inspected the cut, reaching up to feel its sides for swelling. She heard Madison hiss and flinch as her fingers came into contact with her skin. "Well, there's no infection so that's good. I'm just gonna clean it and put a bandage on it, okay?" Madison looked at her, a worried expression on her face. "Don't worry, this is nothing sweetie.. just a little cut is all." She reached for the hem of Madison's top, stopping to ask if it was okay.

Madison nodded 'yes' and Anna lifted it just above the cut, not going any higher than she needed to. Madison had a light blush the entire time, making Anna try harder to reassure her she was there to help and not do anything more to the girl. She pulled out a roll of medical tape and a package, which she ripped open and brought a cloth soaked in alcohol to the wound, dabbing it along its length. She then put a piece of gauze over it and stretched the tape out over the edges, ripping it when she had enough length to hold the gauze on. She pulled Madison's top back down and patted her arm."You're good to go." She said smiling. The room flashed in lightning followed by a loud Boom that vibrated through the ground with its passing. "Now," She got up and turned to walk to the open door. "I'll be checking on that every once in awhile. I mean that is," She spun around on her heels to face Madison, making her pigtails swing across her chest, "If you're coming to stay with us." Madison only smiled back and shook her head yes.

"Thank you. Both of you." she got up and hugged Anna tightly.

"Ca- Can't Breathe." Anna struggled to squeak out.

"Oh. Sorry." The brunette released her, Anna being relieved to have air back in her lungs. Headlights pulled up to the door and Anna move to the large handles and pulled the door open. "Can you get that other one?" she asked.

"Sure." Madison hurried over, pulling the other sliding door open as Elsa drove through. The jeep stopped and Elsa got out, immediately reaching for the back door handle. Out came Bullet, who tackled Madison to the ground and sniffed around her neck and her hair, only to lick her face. Both girls still standing burst out laughing as Bullet moved off Madison to sit in between her owners. After The two laughing had calmed enough, Elsa helped Madison up off the ground and to her feet. "That's a first."

"What?" Madison asked, confused.

"He usually eats people when he first meets them."

Madison's eyes widened and her mouth parted slightly as she looked back to the pure white dog between the two woman. When she heard laughter she looked back up at them, curious to what was so funny. Both of them were doubled over and Anna pointed at her "Her face!" she laughed harder. Elsa straightened, still giggling to herself. Anna did the same, smiling as she reached down and scratched behind Bullet's ear; just where he liked it.

"Madison, this is Bullet. Our guardian angel." Anna said. "You can pet him if you like. He doesn't bite." Madison reached forward slowly,"mostly." Elsa playfully swatted her shoulder as Madison made contact with the top of Bullets head between his ears. "Hey! Will you quit that? You're starting to leave a mark." she narrowed her eyes at Elsa.

Elsa laughed,"Oh, hush you big baby."

"Only yours." Anna said unexpectedly, making Elsa's cheeks turn bright pink. She loved the reaction she got and smirked back at the blonde, who didn't reply.

"So, you're both... ya know.. Gay?" Madison chimed in.

They both nodded 'yes' and Elsa walked over to wrap her arm around Anna's shoulders. "I thought so.. You two look perfect together." she said smiling at the couple.

"Thanks," they both said in unison and looked at eachother, chuckling. Anna leaned forward and pressed her lips to Elsa's and pulled away with a giddy grin.

"We should probably come back another day. The rain isn't going to pick up anytime soon from the looks of it so, now would be a good time to head out." Elsa said.

"What about the salvage?" Anna asked.

"We'll stop by the convoy and gather up everything from the trucks and put all we can fit into one of the big trucks in the middle and ride out of here. We can come back another day."

The other two girls nodded.

"Madison, i want you to stay in the jeep. You don't have a jacket."

"I can help. Just get me one off of the bodies i saw out there. I wanna help you guys, not just sit around and do nothing while you do everything." She said looking between the other two.

Anna shrugged. "She wants to help. I say we let her." Elsa nodded in agreement. "Now, who's gonna drive the truck and who's gonna take the jeep?" Anna asked.

"I'm the only one who can hot wire it, so i've got the truck."

"What do i do?" Madison inquired.

"You can help us load up and then ride with Anna or me back home. Either way, you're not getting left behind." Elsa smiled at her, earning one back. "Okay."

"Are you ready?" Elsa asked, looking between the two girls in front of her. Both nodded yes and moved to the jeep and got in. Madison patted the seat next to her as she got into the back, expecting Bullet to climb in after her. Elsa smiled at the attempt. "Do this," she clicked her tongue twice to show her what to do. Madison clicked her tongue twice like Elsa showed her and patted the seat next to her where soon Bullet appeared. "There ya go." Elsa said as Madison looked back to her with a contented smile on her face. Elsa got into the driver's side and Anna got into the passenger seat. Elsa shifted it to drive and they watched as they turned around and headed back into the rain. The rain came down hard on the jeep, making a soothing sound as it hit the metal roof. They drove down the short length of runway and got onto the road, pulled around the convoy and stopped.

The two in the front got out, simultaneously throwing their hoods on as they stepped out. Elsa Anna went to the rear humvee and started to collect the salvage they would be taking back; rifles, ammo, gear, clothing, basically anything that wasn't bolted down, she took while Elsa was in the large truck in the front, sparking two wires together. She hit them once; no joy. She tried again; sparking the wires, but no ignition. "Come on, damn it." She hit them together once more, this time, the vehicle turned over; a cloud of black smoke puffing out of the exhaust stack on the side. "At'a girl." She said relief washing over her. She got out, bringing a army-issued coat to Madison. "Here, i found this. Don't worry, it was already in the seat. No blood." she yelled over the rain, giving a reassuring smile to Madison before she also stepped out to help the other two. "What am i looking for?"

"Anything we can use at all. Weapons, ammo, grenades, clothes, gas cans pretty much anything you can find, just bring it to the back of this truck."

Madison nodded, turning to run to the humvee in front of Anna's. Elsa went to the other large truck behind the one she had hot-wired and looked through the back. Only the body of a Corporal remained. His stripes the only indication Elsa could see that wasn't mangled. His standard issue M16 was beside him, the slide locked back, signaling the weapon was empty. This was the only soldier in this convoy she had seen that had looked to fight whatever it was that attacked them. His M9 laid beside his hand that was outstretched toward it, its slide was also locked back. A magazine for his pistol was clutched in his off hand. This man had been fighting for his life when this went down. She grabbed both empty weapons and slipped the mag from his hand, stepping out of the tarp covered truck bed and on to the now muddy road. Anna came around the corner. "We got everything back in the truck. Everything okay back there?" She asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I wanna tell you something later. Something doesn't seem right, but for now we have to get home." Anna nodded and started to head for the jeep when Elsa reached out and grabbed her wrist before she got away and pulled her in for a soft kiss. She let Anna go to get in the jeep. She walked up behind the truck, placing the two weapons in back with the pile of other things Anna and Madison had gathered. She went to front and got in, shutting the door and pulling a small cord that let out a low horn. Anna started on the way out and Elsa followed a safe distance behind her.

Anna drove through the gate to the airfield and turned onto the road that they had drove on to get here. "You are so lucky." She heard Madison say beside her in the seat that she usually sat in. "Why do you say that?"

"Because you've got Elsa. She's perfect. And she's got you, so she's just as lucky." The redhead blushed at the compliment.

"Yeah, i guess we are pretty lucky, huh?" She smiled to herself. She went up the off ramp they had gone down earlier with the hole to one side and checked her rearview mirror, checking up on Elsa behind her. They continued on the Interstate in a peaceful silence, save for the rain pattering on the roof till they got back to The Pyramid Colony and were stopped at the entrance by Isaac.

"Anna." He tipped his cap at her.

"Isaac," she respectfully nodded back.

"Who's the young lady with ya?" he asked.

"This is Madison. Me and Elsa rescued her from a group of bandits at a-" She considered keeping the airfield a secret for her and Elsa's return trip, but decided against it, seeing as the militia could use the extra firepower they were sure to acquire there. "abandoned military airfield. We were going to scavenge it, but got side-tracked, so if you wanna send a team over there, it may be worth your while." She smiled at him. There was a gleam in his eyes and she knew he was excited. He was always excited at the prospect of adding new 'toys' to their arsenal.

"Well, Miss Madison, when you get the chance come over to the militia headquarters on the fourth floor and we'll get you into our files as a resident." He smiled at her and stepped away from the jeep as Anna pulled it in. A few moments later, Elsa drove up and smiled as she saw a few of the guards on duty gawking at the military truck entering the settlement.

Anna pulled into the market and waited for Elsa to pass by and park behind Rahja's. Anytime the two had ever found any vehicles, they parked them behind Rahja's large shop. If anyone was seen even nearing the back, they were turned away thanks to Rahja's pit bulls, Buck and Nikko. Anna got out and Madison switched to the back seat as Anna got back into her spot up front as Elsa rounded the corner and walked up to the jeep, stepping in moments later. They drove back up to their house and as they were pulling into the garage, Anna squealed with excitement. "We're home! Are you ready for the grand tour? Where do we start, Elsa? The garage door, or the front door? Or should we start from the middle and work our way outwards? Maybe we can do like a spiral and show her-"

"Anna."

"the inside first and then move to the outer rooms. Oh! what if we-"

"Anna."

"start from the garage and do like a sweep through the house in like a sweeping mot-"

"Anna!" Elsa chuckled. "Why don't we just go in and show her as we go."

"That's good, too" Anna said smiling back at her girlfriend.


A/N Sorry this is so late guys n gals of FFN. Ive been applying to colleges and for student aid and all this stuff so i haven't had a whole lot of time to write. Thank you for all the views! Its nearing 2,000 tonight! All i can say is WOW! i never expected to get his much. also thank you for the reviews, the favorites and the follows. They really keep me going and show me that im not just writing just to write. That there are people enjoying my story. So, yeah, thank you all for the support. Ill try and get the next chapter out by this Saturday. if i dont, then expect it Sunday for sure. As always, follow if your new and wanna get notified when i update, favorite if you liked it, and review if you wanna share your thoughts. I value all opinions and suggestions you guys have for me. Thanks!