"Ha! Look at these metal scraps! These will make some damn good shivs. We can even latch them onto long sticks or poles to make spears!"

Alicia grinned as she watched Elyza get all animated over the junk they were sorting through.

Elyza turned when she didn't hear a response and caught her staring.

Alicia giggled. "What? Were you expecting applause?"

The blonde shook her head in amused disbelief. "You're insufferable, you know that?"

Alicia just shrugged with a smirk. She enjoyed teasing her scavenging companion; it was all too easy to get a rise out of her.

"So make me a spear," she challenged.

"Alright. I will." Elyza scurried about looking for just the right materials while Alicia continued looking for supplies. She was pretty sure they were rummaging through the wreckage of what had probably been a normal convenience store a few months ago, but since then had been through at least one fire and likely the pillaging of others before them. So far she'd found two working lighters, but that was it.

Several minutes later Alicia whipped around at the sound of a triumphant cry. She laughed as Elyza ran up and knelt before her, presenting her gift.

"Here you are, Commander, as promised."

Alicia reached out for the weapon but hesitated. "Why did you call me that?"

Elyza glanced up, unsure of how this tension had come on so suddenly. "I dunno," she shrugged. "I don't always have a specific reason for each word I say. Just seemed fitting for the moment."

Alicia shook her head, the same as she had the last time she had a funky déjà vu moment like this. "Right. I'm sorry. God, I can be so weird sometimes."

Elyza chuckled, and the tension dissipated. Alicia took the spear in her hand and admired her friend's handiwork.

"This is pretty sick," Alicia observed with a grin. "But what the hell am I supposed to do with it?"

"What do you mean? You throw the damn thing! And as with all good things in life, it's all about follow through."

Alicia raised an eyebrow, unsure if she was just talking about spear throwing anymore, and Elyza laughed. "C'mon, stiff," she urged. "I'll find you a target so you can practice."

Alicia moved the spear around in her hands, getting used to the weight of it and feeling a strange sense of ease with the weapon, though she'd never touched a spear before.

"Ready!" Elyza called out, and Alicia turned to find her putting the finishing touches on her makeshift target. She had found two metal poles that were both about ten feet tall, although they were a bit dented and crooked. She ran a shiny, metallic looking object between the tops of the poles so it looked like a banner and she stuck them into the ground.

"If those trees there weren't so far out of hearing range from the rest of the group, I'd have you practice on them instead, but for now this will have to do."

Alicia laughed. "Look at you! What is it between the poles?"

"Aluminum foil!"

"What? How in the world did you find aluminum foil in all this debris?"

"Well, it's metal. Doesn't burn as well as other stuff. Didn't you ever go camping and make foil dinners? Ya know - wrap up your potato and stick it in the fire to cook?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Alicia said, laughing again. "You're a genius!"

"Thank you, thank you very much." Elyza gave a low, dramatic bow and her best Elvis impersonation, which wasn't too difficult with her deep voice.

Alicia smiled and held up the spear in her hand. "So... How do I do this?"

"Well, you want to find the balance point first." Elyza reached for the spear and Alicia relinquished it. "Like this."

Alicia watched carefully as Elyza shifted the spear ever so slightly along her hand until it balanced perfectly about two-thirds of the way towards the point.

"There," she stated with a smile. "That's where I want to grip it when I throw. But before you release, hold it parallel to the ground and up by your ear, like this, so you can align your sight with the tip and aim."

Alicia nodded, indicating she was following along.

"Then your stance. Are you right-handed?"

She nodded again.

"Okay, I'm going to think of how to do this in reverse then," Elyza chuckled.

"Ah, so you're a southpaw?"

"Sure am! Now let's start here so you're about twenty yards away from the target. Alright, so whichever hand you throw with, the opposite foot will be planted in front before you throw. So for you, your left foot. Position your body slightly sideways - not facing the target straight on. That way you can turn as you throw and use the torque to give you some extra force. The real power comes from speed, not strength. Then finish with the follow through. Let the movement of your hand, wrist, arm, shoulder, and whole body become one fluid motion. Like this."

Elyza went through all the steps she had demonstrated without actually releasing the spear. "Got it?"

"Only one way to find out!"

"That's the spirit!" Elyza laughed as she returned the weapon to its new owner.

Alicia took the spear and just stared at it awkwardly for a moment before shooting a pleading glance at her friend. "Remind me what's first?"

Elyza laughed. "Find the balance point."

"Oh, right!" Alicia played with the placement in her right hand for a few moments until she found the sweet spot, and when she did, it just felt so right. The weight of it was perfect, and she had little trouble imagining the weapon as an actual extension of her limb.

"And finally," Elyza chimed in again, "really imagine this is your enemy - the creatures that uprooted your life and everything you knew. Dig down; find that aggression in you and let it go."

Alicia nodded, her instinct taking over from there. Imagining all that was not so difficult. She even spun the spear between her hands several times, taking on an expression of focus and ferocity Elyza had never seen on her before. She took two steps, planted her left foot with the spear held to her ear, and let out a great kiai as she released her weapon.

Elyza's jaw dropped as she watched the spear streak through the air and absolutely annihilate the thin sheet of metal.

They both stared dumbstruck where the foil used to be, then turned to each other. Now Alicia's mouth was agape as she snapped out of a kind of trance and Elyza let out a long, appreciative whistle.

"Damn, girl! I should be taking lessons from you! Grounders don't stand a chance against you!"

"Wait, Grounders? What do you mean?"

"Uh, walkers, that's what I meant. That's weird. But anyway, what do you have to say for yourself? That was amazing!"

Alicia laughed and shook her head incredulously. "I have absolutely no idea. That was weird, but it just felt really natural."

"You even let out a kiai like a freaking pro. Did you take martial arts? Are you, like, a secret black belt or something?"

"No, not at all, I swear! And... What in the world is a 'kiai'?"

"You know, it's that grunt or yell people let out when they're doing karate or something like that."

"Oh, gotcha," Alicia said, laughing again. "I didn't realize there was an actual name for the sound.

"Hold up. I knew something you didn't know? Can I get that in writing?"

"Oh, shut up!" Alicia moved to punch her arm, but Elyza deftly parried the attack, grabbed her wrists, and had her arms locked around her so she was totally immobile. Alicia struggled for a few moments before realizing it was futile, so she relaxed her muscles and sank back into the strong woman behind her.

"Now that was impressive," she admitted. "How did you do that?"

"Sorry, only one lesson for today, young grasshopper. I can't have you learning all my tricks at once."

Alicia laughed, feeling the smirk coming from behind her even though she couldn't see it. "Fine, but you can let me go now."

"Um, afraid I can't."

"Oh, really? And why's that?" She started struggling against her captor again, only to find the vice-like grip tightened even more.

"Think of me as your very own, personal, life-sized Chinese finger trap."

"Oh, good Lord..."

"The more you try to pull away, the tighter my hold. It's not until you completely relax and let go of the fight that you can be free."

Elyza had whispered that right into her ear, and Alicia felt a completely involuntary shudder ripple through her body.

Elyza felt it too - it would have been hard not to notice every movement of the other girl's body since there was hardly a modicum of space between them, and Elyza realized she couldn't remember the last time she was this physically close to another living human being.

"Elyza," Alicia's voice was at ease and barely audible, and Elyza instantly loved hearing her name spoken like that.

"Hmm?"

"I think I'm completely relaxed now."

"Good," she whispered back. "I think it's been a long time since you were."

Elyza reluctantly released her hold and Alicia reluctantly stepped away. She turned to face the other girl, eyebrows knit together in contemplation as she finally asked the question she'd been pondering since she had first really taken a good look at her.

"Elyza, have we met before?"

The blonde shrugged. "I don't know how we would have, but who knows? What if we bumped into each other in an airport once, or struck up a random conversation when we happened to be at the same concert?" She laughed at her own suggestions.

Alicia smiled and shook her head. "I don't think so. No matter how random the conversation would have been, I think I'd remember you."

All Elyza could do was nod. How had she not realized before how beautiful this girl was?

Alicia continued, "I'm not normally like this with other people. I never am, actually, let alone with someone I've just met. You saw how snarky and petulant I can be, but I just feel comfortable with you, though I have nearly no past experience to draw on that would give me reason to even trust you at all. And yet... I do trust you."

Elyza gasped as an image suddenly flooded her mind. A fragment that somehow felt more real and yet more distant than a dream. She was in a tent, the daylight outside fading, and across from her was... Alicia? But she was different... Those words were the trigger. I do trust you, Clarke...

"Hey, Elyza, are you okay? What is it?"

She snapped back to reality - this was reality, right? - when she heard Alicia's voice again and felt her giving her shoulders a gentle shake. Elyza looked around confused but then met her worried gaze.

"Whoa." Elyza felt her legs wobbling beneath her, so she lowered herself to the ground before she could fall.

"Whoa is right." Alicia joined her, crossing her legs and keeping her gaze intent upon the other girl. "What happened to you there?"

"Did it last very long?"

Alicia looked concerned. "No... But you definitely checked out for a few seconds. What happened? Is this a normal thing for you?"

Elyza let out a nervous laugh. "No, definitely not. It was the weirdest thing..."

"Looked like you had a major déjà vu moment there."

She nodded. "Yeah, but... I mean, it really felt like a memory. It wasn't just the sense that I had previously experienced that moment... I saw it."

"What moment?"

"It was what you said; that's what set it off. When you said, 'I do trust you.' Then my mind just whooshed to this other scene that played out in my head like a dream, but I was actually there. And you were there, so it couldn't have been a memory, right?"

"Right..." Alicia agreed, trying to wrap her head around what the blonde was trying to describe.

"So you were there, standing across from me like you are now, but you looked totally different. You were dressed like... like I don't even know what. Some kind of warrior getup."

Alicia's eyes widened as she continued.

"Oh, and you had on this crazy face paint. And we were in a tent. It was kind of dark but there was still light coming in from outside. I could feel that I was tired and a bit surprised, I think, with whatever was going on. But then you said those same words. 'I do trust you.' You looked so earnest, like you hadn't trusted me before, I guess, so you were trying to show me you were sincere..." She trailed off, unsure if she should mention the Clarke part. She didn't understand what that was.

"You certainly remember a lot of detail for only a few seconds."

"Yeah, I guess so."

Alicia paused for a moment. "That happened to me too."

"What do you mean?"

"I saw something too. When I threw the spear. It was vivid just like yours."

Elyza was stunned. "Why didn't you say anything? What did you see?"

Alicia shook her head. "It wasn't something I wanted to see. I threw that spear and I... I killed someone. It went right through their chest."

"Well, that's what we're going for here!" Elyza laughed. "I told you to visualize the enemy."

"But it wasn't a walker, Elyza. It was a real, living person. A woman... sitting up high, like on a platform. Some of the details were hazy. I was calm but full of anger, and I killed her. And it felt so real. It kind of horrified me."

Both girls were silent for a moment, processing everything.

Alicia opened her mouth like she was about to speak again but promptly closed it. Elyza looked at her expectantly and waited.

"Why does this keep happening to us? And what is it?"

Elyza shrugged. "Maybe it's just the madness that is our lives now. The intensity and stark conditions have to take a strange toll on the brain."

"I think it's you," Alicia commented softly. Elyza looked at her curiously and she continued. "Yes, there has been this new madness and intensity - I've lived it for months now. But I didn't feel these things until you got here. It's been what, an hour since you showed up? All these moments have happened since then, and it's things we're saying and doing together that make them happen. You can't just think it's everything outside of us that's causing it."

Elyza put her head in her hands. "I don't know what to think. I don't know if I want it to keep happening. It's confusing."

Alicia felt a bit hurt, though she knew it was irrational. "Then I think you'd have to stay away from me, if that's what you want."

Elyza quickly looked up. "No, that's not what I meant."

"But this happens when we're together. I don't know if it's going to stop."

"But I wasn't in your vision. Maybe it is just triggered by the situation. Me hearing those words and you throwing the spear."

Alicia looked down at the ground. "But you were there."

"What? Did you just forget to mention that part?" Elyza winced a bit at the accusatory tone in her own voice, especially since she knew she had also omitted part of what she had seen and heard.

Alicia sighed, ignoring the question. "It was after I threw the spear and the woman was dead. I looked down for a moment, absorbing what had just happened, finally feeling just how physically drained I was, and then I turned and saw you. But it wasn't just that I happened to see you. I was looking for you and knew I'd find you where you stood. I think there was a crowd, but I didn't see other faces. The rest was blurry and then it ended." She sighed again. "So there. Now you know the whole of it."

Elyza closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to relieve some of the tension that was starting to build in her head. "So are we the triggers for these visions, or are they just happening because of the situations we're in, and our subconscious is inserting who we're with into the scene?"

Alicia shrugged even though Elyza's eyes were still closed. "So if my brother were here instead of you when I threw the spear, do you think he would have been the one in my vision?"

"Maybe?"

Alicia wasn't convinced that was the case, but she didn't have anything more to back her stance.

"Hey, you two!" Nick called from the distance. "Workin' hard or hardly workin' over there?" He laughed at his own dumb joke.

"Speak of the devil," Alicia whispered with a smile.

Elyza smiled back, grateful for the momentary distraction.

The girls stood and brushed themselves off.

Alicia shouted back, "Whatever, Nick! I'm sure we've found better-"

"Alicia!" he screamed back in shock. "Behind you! RUN!"

The two girls whipped their heads around in horror and Elyza immediately grabbed Alicia's hand and took off at a sprint.

"The walkers are running, Elyza! How the hell are they RUNNING?"

"Shit!" Elyza muttered. "Look at that! They've split up and they're cutting us off from the rest of our people." She dropped Alicia's hand now that they were sprinting at full speed, and Elyza quickly redirected their route. "Head toward the forest!"

Alicia nodded in understanding, not able to waste any breath on unnecessary words. She was terrified of leaving the open land and discovering what might be lurking in the shadows of the trees. At least she wasn't alone.