Damn 3 updates in a row! So just in case you were wondering this chapter is the continuation of the first episode and the beginning of the second. This fic will only follow Alicia pov in this situation and to fully understand what is happening with Travis, Maddy Chris and etc, it's better to watch the FTWD episodes. Take this as a push to migrate like planned ;)

Enjoy! All mistakes are mine!

Chapter 3: Matt

The next day at school wasn't any better than the last. After coming home last night I watched as not only Tumblr but every news outlet available was buzzing over a video of this traffic incident , I remember I was still a little out of it from my little episode at the beach when the video had played on the 10 o'clock news but I was able to tell that whatever it was it was bad.

I watched as the man in the car wreck was pulled from the car and the emt's placed him on the gurney, the man didn't move for what felt like hours when suddenly the oddest thing happened. The man popped up grabbing at the paramedic that was leaning over him biting the man on the side of his neck. I stood there in horror watching as other emergency personals rushed to separate the crazed driver from the man's neck.

But seconds after being separated the man began attacking others, biting and clawing at whatever piece of them was nearest. Officers took to beating the man but the man continued his onslaught.

The news is calling it a virus and many of us believe them, I wasn't the only one to notice that our class of 43 was now down to a whopping 17 kids.

The teacher drags on her speech something about chemical reactions but I wasn't really listening instead I stared down at my phone texting Matt once again but with no response.

When I had first arrived this morning the first place I went was to look for Matt, I wanted to find out why he hadn't met me yesterday at the beach. I also just wanted to talk to him about everything that was going on in my mind lately and especially about that mysterious woman. The same women who now haunts my dreams.

"Girl, you're parents were there?" My best friend Julie asks, drawing my attention down to her phone. I watch as the news clip of the attack plays on the small cellphone screen.

"My mom and Travis, yea," I text one more message to Matt," That's not real by the way, it can't be. The guy got shot 6 time in the chest and last time I checked you don't just get up and start walking like nothing happened."

"Oh yeah well check this out," The crazed man rushes towards the shooting officer only to be stopped by a final bullet to the head, " ha! Kill shot bitch."

Chills run down my spine no matter how many time I watch this video and i unknowingly rub at a spot on stomach right over my lungs. It's the same spot where I was rubbing right after I woke up from another nightmare.

May we meet again.

The voice was unrelenting again today as it was before. I'm about to comment back to Julie when Mrs. Ramirez comes over to our table in the back and snatches at Julie's phone before gesturing for me to hand over mine.

"Your phone too, 'Licia."

I scoff. Doesn't this woman know that a phone is a teenagers life and that I won't be giving this phone up, even if this woman was my mom best friend. I clutch my phone tight and draw it closer to my chest giving my best commander glare.

Huh?! Commander? Where did that come from?

We all look up at the intercom, situated in the far right corner of the room, as the little melody plays announcing that there is an important message from her principal about to come through.

"Good morning again students, the district has determined that today will be a half-day. Repeat, today will be a half-day. With that please proceed to your buses in a calm and orderly fashion."

Mom appears in the doorway as soon as the class bell rings. I go to follow her and she pulls me along side her and down the hall as we dodge the hordes of excited students. With the tug on my arm, mom pulls me to side of the front doors.

"Alicia, I want you to get on your bus and head straight home."

"Mom, what's happening." She seems to debating about something before she answers me.

"People are worried about the shooting, they're saying it's connected to the virus hopping around that's causing all these absences in attendance."

"The shooting? Wait wasn't that stuff fake?" No freaking way that shit was real right?

"Alicia, just get home please and be safe. Wait for your brother there, if he decides to come back."

That's right Nick still hadn't returned. Guilt hangs in my gut, i had been so caught up in my mystery blonde that I had completely forgotten about Nick.

"You mean 'when' he comes back, right? not 'if', 'when',"

"Yes Alicia, when."

Mom leads me all the way out and with a kiss on my head she sends me off on my bus. Something is really off, my mom usually isn't that affectionate to anyone other than Nick but I relish in the kiss. Travis comes to stand behind her and waves a sad goodbye to me as I enter the bus. They turn away from me and talk in whispers as they head back to the staff parking at the side of the building.

Matt still runs in my head. Does he know about the virus? Did something happen? I couldn't stand the thought of something bad happening to him, even if my feelings about our relationship was changing a bit.

I decide that the unknown answer to his safety is too strong to fight so as soon as my mom and Travis are out of sight I hop off the school bus and begin my walk down the street to Matt's house.

It only takes about 15 minutes to reach his house. I stop in the driveway watching as the front door swings open and shut. Matt wouldn't leave the door open..An almost eery feeling overwhelms me and I have to fight the urge to turn around and start running from this horror like movie scene. Well at least if I die, It will be in my new $87 jacket..

We're not dying here. I need your spirit to stay where it is.

The voice is right i'm not dying today. Ripping the headphones I had put in my ears earlier out I enter the home. The first thing I notice is how quiet it seems to be. I remember Matt saying something about his family being out of town, leaving him and his brother Chase home alone for the week but Chase has never been a quiet person.

Entering further that feeling of being in a horror movie returns especially when I make my way to kitchen and take in the broken dining room chair, the scratches on the walls and Matt's mom's flowers thrown all over the floor.

A noise from the kitchen has me crouching down. It was a deep groan, a familiar sound. I stay down low, avoiding the broken glass pieces of the vase that once held the now ruined flowers. I reach to my side and am surprised to not find a sword tied to my waist. Pfft a sword? Really Alicia? Have you been sneaking some of Nick's crazy juice?

The groans get louder the closer i get. What I do next is the dumbest thing possible. I look around the corner and find a lump on the couch, immediately I pop up from my spot and rush to said lump.

"Matt? Matt, Oh my god!"

Cool water runs down my hands soaking the towel I hold. I rush to get it as cold as possible I'm so focused on the task I can't help but jump at the sound of my phone vibrating on the counter next to me. I pick it up and put it to my ear, holding it in place between my shoulder and my head.

"Alicia, where the hell are you? I tried to call the house but you didn't answer! Listen we found Nick and we're on our way home, I need you to start packing some things for us-"

"Mom, I can't-"

"We're heading into the desert. Travis is gonna go pick up Liza and Chris and we're heading straight home-"

"No mom, i can't go." A groan from behind reminds me of my task, i make quick work of wrenching the excess liquid from the towel. Turning off the water I rush to the living room almost tripping over my jacket I had discarded in a rush. Matt's fever seems to have gotten impossibly worse so i quickly lay the rag across his forehead.

"Mom, He's sick, God he's so sick.."

"Who 'Licia?"

"Matt. His fever is like 103. I tried to get him into the bath but he's complaining that it hurts when I touch him. He said Chase was the same and even attacked him before taking off, I tried calling 911 but the lines are all busy-"

"Ok. 'Licia baby listen to me. We're on our way! Whatever you do stop touching Matt S-...ay…...lici-...ca...hear-"

The line goes dead. I've never been so scared before in my life. Matt's breathing gets harder and he's now tossing and turning, groaning for help. All I can do is hold on to him, hoping that my body heat can help break the fever or at least comfort him in his restless 's sweating profusely from the heat, his dark skin is now a sickly shade lighter and I can feel his body angrily twitch beneath mine. I hold tight.

I lay there praying for what seems like an eternity when i hear hasty footsteps heading in from the front door. Mom and Travis arrive, Mom violently tears me from my spot next to Matt and checks me over several times. As if satisfied with her examination she pulls me into a tight hug, leaving kisses all over the top of my head.

"Mom, what the hell is going on?"

Travis moves to replace my spot next to Matt. I repeat my question again but mom just stares on at Matt, studying him. She pulls me in once again and lets out a loud gasp. I follow her gaze and find my own gasp leaving my lips.

On Matt's right shoulder lies a blue and red mark, a mark oozing with the darkest blood I have ever seen. It takes me a minute to realize what the mark 's a bite.

"C-Chase..he was scratch-ed...came home...he bit m-me..left." I try to pull away but mom holds me back.

"Is this how it starts, Travis?" She asks.

"I don't know..Calvin was shot and he.."

"Calvin?" No one answers me, instead Mom and Travis share a look. I never noticed how tired and unruly they looked. My confusion gets worse when mom starts dragging me out of the house.

"MOM! What the HELL are you doing? He's sick and he needs help!"

She doesn't budge.

"MOM! PLEASE WE HAVE TO HELP HIM!"

I push against her with all my strength but she remains strong, she's pushing me now and I watch as Travis walks out of the room after us, closing the door behind him. He joins my mom and soon I find myself being picked up off my feet and carried to the car.

"PUT ME DOWN, TRAVIS! OR I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL END YOU!"

"MOM TELL HIM TO PUT ME DOWN! PLEASEE! MATT NEEDS ME!"

Mom opens the car door and Travis throws me inside right on top of Nick. I put my hands against Nick's chest, pushing to sit up. Nick throws his arms around me and holds me. Tears run down my face as I try and try again to pull away.

Mom slides into the seat next to me, while Travis walks around the truck to the drivers side. As soon as he enters the keys are in the ignition and he's pulling out from Matt's home.

I cry and cry while Nick holds me, he attempts to comfort me but I hardly recognize the words he whispers into my hair. I glance at mom and Travis, my blood runs cold. Their faces are empty of feeling, no regret or guilt. Seeing them so blank of emotion after just ripping me from Matt makes my blood boil.

I say nothing as we make our way home, I answer none of their questions. I'm mourning. I cry tears of lost love, though not the kind of love I had for Matt before the dreams. It was was the type of love I had when losing a family member because that was how i saw him, how I recently saw him. Matt was a part of my family he introduced me into the art world, showed the thrill of living life to the most, showed me the beauty in everything around us even the parts others would consider ugly.

He taught me that life was more than just getting good grades and making my deceased father proud. I don't know what the hell was happening, hell maybe it was just a bad flu like the news said and he'll be outside my door tomorrow teasing me for my parents over reaction.

I try to tell myself that this is just mom and Travis overreacting but just like yesterday the voice in my head reminds me to stop lying to myself. The voice tells me that this, whatever this is, it wasn't the end that this wouldn't get better. So I continue to cry only allowing the voice to tell me one more message before i drift off on my brother's lap from exhaustion.

Soon, Lexa. Soon we will meet again

A shaking of my shoulder wakes me up, I slowly start to open my eyes, waiting for them to adjust. Mom leans over me, her hands leaving my shoulder to caress my face. I jerk back and am happy to see the hurt flash across her face.

"'Licia, we're home. I need you to stay here with your brother and start packing."

At the mention of Nick I turn around and find that I am no longer in my brothers arms.

"Where is Nick?"

"Travis carried him inside..your brother has been off the pipe for 3 days straight, he's going through withdrawals right now."

" What? He can't just stop cold turkey!"

"I know that's why i called doctor Abigail, by the way she's glad to hear that you're safe, she said that if she had time she would call in the order for something small to help him slowly get the drug out of his system but I'm not sure we're still gonna be here by then so I'm heading out to find something else."

"What about, Travis?"

"Liza and Chris aren't answering their phones so he's going to pick them up across town."

Liza has always been a good friend of the family ever since mom and Travis got together, which is amazing seeing as she was Travis' ex-wife and the mother to their son Chris. I'm glad to hear their safe but confused as to why mom and Travis are freaking out over a bad virus.

My arms move forward, pushing my mom back from my path. She moves enough to give me room to slide out of the truck, once on my feet I head to the front door, I shiver as a small breeze passes by. Damn they must have forgotten my jacket. I cross my arms over my tank top clad chest and stomp my way into the house.

Travis passes by me in a hurry, he's already leaving to pick up Liza. I make my way to the living room couch where my brother lies in a similar state to Matt, but at least I know what causes Nick's illness.

"I'm leaving 'Licia...I'm sorry abou-"

"Save it. I don't want to hear your apology, just go get my brother his shit."

Mom cringes but nods. She knows what she did was wrong and if she doesn't I'll gladly be here to remind her.

"Do-don't blame mom...she's just trying to protect you. Some weird shits been going, 'Licia, shit that no one can explain."

"Nick, shhhhh. You don't know what you're saying," I caress his face and his eyes close as he leans into my touch, "sleep big brother, soon mom will be back with your fix."

1h later

Dragging the two overstuffed suitcases to the door I just barely avoiding tripping over Nick's recently discarded blanket. I toss it the side with my foot and continue my trek, dropping the luggage with the others I had made.

Mom had given me a list of things to pack which I had actually completed pretty quickly. I wipe the sweat from my forehead, making my way back to Nick's side.

I clear the table next to him, making sure to not spill the untouched chicken noodle soup I had made for him earlier. Grabbing some more dishes I head to the kitchen, tossing the pile in my hand into the sink. Taking another glance at Nick, satisfied to see him sleeping, I head over to the pot of soup and begin filling the container I had put next to it.

If mom believes I would just give up on Matt, she must not know me too well. When I fill up what I deem is enough soup I put the cover on top and place it into my bag on the kitchen table.

Quickly I rush to my room to retrieve my white and black bomber jacket, I throw it on and walk back to grab my bag.

Sneakily I walk to the front door making sure to avoid making any sounds. Turning to grab my phone off of the table near the door, I misjudge the distance of my phone and end up hitting my mom's glass vase. In slow motion I watch as the vase tilts over, immediately I rush to pull it back. Thank God for my quick reflexes. Checking to make sure the vase is still in tact and flat on the table, I let out a breathe I hadn't realised I was holding. Opening the front door I making my way out and down the stairs of the porch.

I made it! Being outside almost makes me want to do a little happy dance at my sneaking. Oh what the hell! I do my little happy dance twirling with my hands in the air. I'm so unbelievably relieved.

"GET THE HELL OUTTA THE WAY!"

The yelling startles me and I find myself jumping out of the way of an oncoming motorcycle. My ass hurts from my landing and I can feel the liquid dripping through my bag and onto my back. Great there goes Matt's soup.

The motorcyclist stops a few feet away and hops off the bike jogging to me.

"Jesus dude! Watch where you're going!"

"Well I'm sorry but it's not every day some crazy sheila decides to dance in the middle of the damn road!"

The heavy Australian accent throws me off but so does the tone. The accent aside, this voice, the raspy-ness, it sounds so familiar to the voice I hear in my head. I look up expecting blonde hair but find that the woman is still wearing her helmet.

I'm about to beg for her to remove her helmet when a loud crash and a scream of my name comes from back in the house. I push to my feet and rush to the front door.

Nick lies on his back, a couple feet away, choking on his vomit. With speed I didn't know I had, I'm kneeling beside him and turning him on to his side.

"No Nick! You're not doing this to me now!"

"What's wrong?" It's the woman from outside. Her helmet is gone and now I see her face clearly. She's beautiful.

Her blonde hair is pulled back in a ponytail, loose waves falling alongside her face some sticking to her sweaty forehead. Her eyes are a beautiful blue, so blue it was as if I was looking up at the clearest sky I had ever seen. I find myself tracing her lips with my eyes, they're a soft pink and I feel myself at a loss of breath when she starts to nibble at her bottom lip.

My eyes travel downwards to admire her light blue leather jacket clung to her body perfectly and went well with the white low plunging tank inside...oh shit! Abort! Stop staring at her cleavage, Alicia! And those pants! The black skinny jeans hugged her legs, as if painted on to her skin, I had to stop myself from leaning to the side to see how well it hugged her ass behind.

"'Licia?" Nick. I look down in my lap and find my brother staring back at me. I shake off the blonde and focus on the task at hand.

"Nick, it's ok I'm here. I'm here big bro. I'm here."

A brown package is thrust into my view and I follow the hand up to its owner. The blonde glances at me then to Nick, arm still outstretched.

"This is for your brother I'm assuming. My friend works at the pharmacy, asked if I could deliver this to..well to you so here is me delivering it. You're Madison Clark, right?"

"No..yes.. I mean..my mom is Madison."

"Well then i guess i can just deliver this to you, how bout I help you get your brother somewhere more comfy and then help you clean up all this?" She points to the puddle of vomit on the floor.

It's hard to speak, especially when she leans over and grabs one of Nick's arms and places it around her neck, lifting him up and off of me. All I can do is nod and follow her up. I grab his other arm, mirroring her, when he is secure between us we move to the couch.

"So to the lounge then?"

I hesitate not trusting myself to not sound like an idiot so again I nod. Why am I so nervous? I shouldn't be nervous, this girl shouldn't be making me nervous. I reason with myself because there is no possible way that this blonde could be the same blonde from the other day, her voice can't be the same one I've been hearing for the past 3 days. Speaking of that voice in my head, it was gone now.

I focus on my brother and the blonde, not allowing the pain from the loss of comfort the voice provided to obstruct me from my task at hand. Figuring out who the lady was and her connection to the voice was just going to have to wait.

We finally reach the coach, together blondie and I place Nick gently down. I pick up his legs and lay him down completely so that his entire body is stretched out comfortably. With that done I turn to the blonde, who now stands a few feet away from me.

Her eyes trail down my body before locking her gaze with mine. My throat goes dry at how dark her blue eyes had become. Where I am blushing and fidgeting in my spot, she stands confidently with a hand on her hip and a smirk on her face. I won't let this stranger get the better with me. So with determination I bring my hand up and thrust it forwards to the blonde

"Alicia Clark, and you are?" She takes my hand and I let out a gasp as she brings it to her lips and kisses my knuckles.

"Elyza Lex. But you can call me whatever you like, sweetheart."

Well, fuck me.

TBC.