Chapter Eleven: Downfall
The next day, they received their assignments. Bellamy would be placed on patrol duty when he wasn't training since he had experience within the military. Finn was given cleaning duty, Octavia and Elyza were told they would work in the kitchens to prepare dinner. Aurora was told she would be staying on board and would not have to do training, only work as a laundry lady.
The group was woken up so early that the sun had barely begun its ascension into the sky when they appeared on deck. Elyza briefly wondered if Harper, Monty and Jasper were already on the water, on their way over to the Freedom before returning her attention to the situation at hand. The ground beneath Elyza's feet was slick with dew and the sky was grey, the beginning tinges of orange lighting up behind the dead city before her.
A middle-aged man with a tired face, wavy brown hair and a scruffy, curly beard was to be their trainer. He was tall and in shape, his shoulders broad and large. He had a strong chest, a slim waist and walked with a swagger only found on people who knew they were attractive. He didn't act cocky or rude, but held an air of confidence that drew people in. His name was Lieutenant Kane.
He talked them through what they would be experiencing when training started. They would begin with conditioning; getting the group into shape, then they would start with hand-to-hand combat. He told them they wouldn't be experiencing the full training experience. They would only be learning the basics of using a gun and how to get out of a close-combat situation.
It was too bad Elyza already knew how to do most of those things, but the types of guns the soldier showed them did seem more complex than the simple Glock she was accustomed to. Kane showed them an automatic and walked them through how to reload, turn off the safety and plenty of other things Elyza didn't really understand.
The next five days passed by in a structured blur. Wake up. Early conditioning. Breakfast. Combat training. Lunch. Weapons training. Assigned work duty. Dinner. A call from Harper. Sleep. There wasn't much time for socializing, but Elyza did accomplish mapping out what little she could of the ship
With the help of Octavia and Finn, she was able to steal several multi-colored rolls of electrical tape from the engine storage room and place small patches at corners and interchanging hallways on several of the Pearl Harbor floors. Bellamy disapproved of what they were doing, but didn't stop them. He knew they were safe where they were, but it wouldn't really be a bad thing to have a plan if things did go south.
Harper called in every night at around seven after dinner. She'd informed Elyza after the second day that Monty was almost through hacking into Dr. Rebecca's system and would be able to write down anyone who had been sick within the last couple of day. After the third day, the only things Elyza got were high pitched tones indicating that someone was there but they didn't have time to talk.
That continued to happen through the fifth day. Elyza's nerves began to tingle after the fourth day and her stomach felt as if they were in knots when all she got the fifth night was another tone. Were they okay? Could they have gotten hurt? Discovered? Were there things going on that she hadn't foreseen?
The day was beginning to turn into night on the sixth day of their liberation and Elyza was still feeling anxious. The entire group—excluding Elyza—had begun to relax and trust the other crew members. They even sat with a couple of other soldiers they'd grown comfortable with—Raven Reyes being one of them. She'd introduced herself as the Genius Mechanic and didn't lack in the confidence department.
Elyza had just finished serving food and Octavia was going to be stuck in the back doing dishes once everyone was finished eat. But she'd opted to sitting down and eating food with her new family until everyone left the mess hall. That meant Octavia would be working late into the night cleaning.
Raven was giggling and leaning heavily against Finn, who was laughing at something she had said. Elyza sat quietly, deciding to observe rather than participate in the conversation, her leg jittering impatiently underneath the table. Bellamy sat quietly too, eating his food with his shoulders hunched. His dark eyes scanned the faces of his table mates until they landed on Elyza, who was looking at him already.
Elyza gave him a small nod and he responded in kind. They'd begun to learn how to read each other after spending some time talking. They both felt as though it was their responsibility to take care of their friends and Bellamy's family. Together, they came to the conclusion that they needed to work together to get those things done.
But, Elyza had reluctantly decided not to tell him about Harper because it wouldn't do any good. She'd deduced that it would be useless to inform him because their plan was already rolling. So she stayed silent and waited edgily for news. Any news.
Halfway through eating, an alarm went off. Elyza nearly jumped out of her skin she was so on edge and deep in her own head. The entire room's feeling shifted as sailors stood up, glancing around with frowns on their faces. A crackling and then static came on over an invisible intercom, "All sailors are needed on deck, all sailors on deck."
The other soldiers quickly stood, their faces a mask of seriousness. Food was disregarded and boots thudded heavily on the deck as sailors rushed together towards the stairs.
It took Elyza and the rest of her friends a few moments to realize what was going on. Raven was the one who grabbed Finn's arm and began speaking quickly, "That means there are hostiles on the water. Or something has happened that requires all hands on deck. Obviously."
Elyza frowned and stood quickly, her hand falling to her pants pocket where her blue pocket knife was clipped—her only means of protection. Lieutenant Kane hadn't allowed anyone in the group to carry loaded weapons besides Bellamy, because he didn't believe that they were trained enough to be allowed to. Elyza had argued on the subject until she was punished with extra laps and a grueling obstacle course.
The six of them were the last to land on deck, so it took some muscle to push through the crowd of bodies. Everyone seemed fixated on looking towards the city, but Elyza couldn't see over enough people to get a good view of what was occurring. Her heart pounded with nerves, she briefly thought about the radio that was hidden in her drawer. Would she be able to slip away and grab it?
She managed to elbow people out of her way until she saw it. The city was ablaze before her. Fires licked up towards the sky and small boats were drifting away from the shore. She couldn't see any people from the distance, but she knew they were there. The city was officially falling after days of complete silence. This was something she had not expected. She'd thought that land was settling and there wasn't anything to worry about. Or maybe she'd just been so focused on the Freedom she hadn't thought about the billions of people on land. Dying and coming back. There were billions of undead searching for human flesh and it seemed like they had found it.
A resounding boom echoed and the reoccurring ratatatat! of machine guns indicated the presence of living people. Elyza didn't know what to think, people were out there fighting and they were just standing there. She felt like they needed to do something. Anything. But she also felt like she really needed to get to that damn radio and try to communicate with Harper or Monty or even Jasper.
Someone shouldered their way next to her, bringing her thoughts back to the present and the familiar sound of Bellamy's voice pulled her eyes away from the scene before her, "We need to help them."
"Yeah, we do. But how? We're not the ones in charge here, Bellamy." She crossed her arms over her chest as the brisk temperature became apparent. Her mind was racing, maybe she could slip away amidst the chaos.
The voice of the Commander broke through her thoughts, "Line up, sailors. We are to send out search parties. The city is falling and we are here to save as many people as we can. Lieutenant Kane will separate you into groups and your unit leaders' will be in control of the rescue boat."
Everyone rushed to follow their Commander's orders, lining up in rows that Bellamy and Elyza weren't familiar with. Raven attempted to organize them, but it was no use. They were like untrained puppies that didn't know which way was left or right.
The Commander sauntered over to the scattered group, "Lex, Collins, Blakes! You will be with Reyes, she will guide you through the search and rescue protocol. Dismissed."
Raven quickly moved the five of them to a secluded corner of the bow of the boat, near a hanging rescue boat. "Bellamy, Finn, go to the armory and gather weapons. We'll need them for the dead. Octavia, Aurora you'll come with me to get some medical kits. There's going to be some injured out there. Elyza, stay here and get the boat ready, you know how to do that right?"
Elyza nodded quickly, glancing around as the rest of the units began to separate and find a spare boat. Overhead lights lit the deck, exposing their position on the water. Elyza wasn't focused on any of this though, she was more worried about getting back down to the barracks and finding her radio. She needed to get in touch with Harper.
But how could she do that? None of her friends would understand why she wanted to go back down to the barracks. She could talk to Raven, they hadn't discussed it, but she knew that Raven knew at least a little bit about what was going on. If she could convince her, then the rest would have to follow.
Elyza was so lost in her own thoughts, she hadn't realized that everyone had left to do their part. She stood alone whilst other sailors shouted and hustled around her, getting their jobs done. This is my chance, she realized. Glancing back at the dark boat behind her, she quickly moved away without thinking because if she didn't, she'd overthink.
She walked with her back straight and eyes forward. She'd learned a long time ago while skipping class that if you looked like you knew where you were going, people would think that you did. Others only saw what they wanted to see and Elyza wanted these people to see her calm and collected going about her own business. She wasn't sneaking away to find a radio that had been stole for her by people who were investigating possible infections on another ship. No, she was just hurrying to get someone a message.
Once Elyza was below deck, she hurried her pace. Nearly running around corners and down narrow corridors. She reached the barracks within minutes, breathing heavily and forcing herself to calm down before pushing through the door. She rushed to her bed, fell to her knees, yanking open her drawer and pulling out the radio.
She turned it on, carefully turned the knob and found the channel they had agreed to use and held down the PTT call button. Taking a deep breath and rolling back on her heels she asked, "Harper?"
She let go of the button and waited a moment but only static answered her call.
"Harper? Can you hear me?" She let go of the button again, listening intently. After a minute of pure static she was going to give up, clearly nobody was near the other radio. Elyza shook her head and sighed heavily, all of this uncertainty was really beginning to wear on her. She dropped the radio on the table and rubbed her fingers against her throbbing temples.
But luck seemed to be with her in that moment because a different kind of static pulled her out of her thoughts. It was interference, someone was trying to communicate but something was in the way. With a new flame of hope bubbling in her stomach, Elyza grabbed the radio and carefully, millimeter by millimeter, turned the knob, trying to find the right channel.
"Elyza?" Finally it was clear and she heard her own name spoken by an unfamiliar male voice.
"Oh thank god, who is this?"
"Jasper. Harper and Monty are…incapacitated at the moment. We were just about to call you…but things happened and now they're both under arrest." The voice was shaky.
Elyza couldn't quite follow what he was saying, "What? I've had radio silence from you guys for days now, what's happened?"
"Long story short, we found out that Dr. Pram is doing experiments on the dying and infected. She's been keeping them in the storage units below deck. She was playing with fire and at any moment she could have exposed the disease to everyone on board. We think she did just that. People are getting sick and it won't be long until we're overrun. What do you say to that, Lex?"
Elyza's breath hitched in her throat, that damn doctor. "Can you get Monty and Harper out?"
There was a pause then trademark sarcasm, "Is that all you got out of that story, Lex?"
With a growl of frustration and a punch at one of the metal bed legs, "Just answer the damn question, Jasper. Stop being a pain in the ass."
"Probably, why?"
"I can convince Raven to come over there. We're in emergency mode over here because the city is falling for real. I need you to be ready in thirty minutes. Get them out." She spoke quickly, the plan coming together in small puzzle pieces that fit like a glove.
The radio went static for a few minutes, "I'll meet you at the Jacob's ladder in half an hour with Monty and Harper. You better be there, Lex."
"I will be."
"10-4, over and out." The radio went static once again and Elyza listened for a second longer before flicking the channel off and standing up. She grabbed her bag and shoved her minimal amount of belongings into it. Her book, knife from underneath the pillow, and change of clothes. She threw the bag over her shoulder and stood up straight, shoving the spare knife into her pocket and clipping the radio to her belt. There was no use in hiding it anymore.
With everything together, she tightened the bag straps and turned, heading back above deck. Once she returned, she found Raven and Octavia standing by their designated rescue dingy boat. Both looked confused and were searching for something.
Octavia caught Elyza's eye as she moved towards them and slapped Raven's shoulder, nodding in the blonde's direction. "Thought you abandoned us again, Aussie." The bitterness in her tone didn't go unnoticed.
"No, I just grabbed some things," Elyza ducked her head, angling herself towards the boat. "Where's Bellamy and Finn?"
"Right here, Aussie," the smirk was evident in the voice as Finn approached. "Miss me?"
"No, I just want to get this going," she didn't even turn, only stepped into the boat hanging by ropes on a double pulley system.
"Alright," Raven clapped her hands and took control of the conversation, "get in this dingy." She chuckled lightly at her own joke. Her laugh didn't really lighten the situation for Elyza, but she let it go and sat down.
The rest of the group settled into the boat, sending it swinging and creaking on its ropes. Elyza set down her bag, shoving it under one of the round floatation devices and wedging it in the corner so it wouldn't fly loose. Raven had Bellamy stand on the opposite side and ordered everyone to distribute their weight evenly.
"Alright, on three we're going to turn off the lock and slowly lower ourselves to the water," Raven placed her hand by the locking mechanism up on the metal clasp holding the boat up. "We have to do it at the same time or else we'll all go falling nearly a hundred feet into the ocean. Ready?"
Bellamy scoffed, his hands hesitating on the clasp, "I guess as ready as I'll ever be. Hold on guys."
Raven counted down and the rest of the group braced themselves on the lifeline ropes tied to the boat. Elyza shut her eyes, she had a very bad problem with heights and dropping a hundred feet into a deep ocean sent her heart pounding and adrenaline coursing through her veins.
When the ropes were loosened they jolted down several feet, jerking to a stop suddenly nearly ten feet below where they had been. "Sorry!" Bellamy cried out, voice clipped with pain. Elyza's stomach rolled and she thought she was going to lose her dinner.
"Steady, Bellamy," Raven shouted, her voice also strained. "Just slowly ease on the pressure alright? We'll be down there before you know it."
"Not too fast though, I'd rather not belly flop from 80 feet in the air, thanks," Finn called, voice shaky and nearly a pitch higher than normal.
Elyza still didn't open her eyes the entire way down. After the first jolt though, there was just a steady feeling of moving downward and the ever increasing sound of the waves. Once the bottom of the boat slapped against the water, the rope was ripped loose and Bellamy rolled it up.
The boat began moving with the short, choppy waves almost instantly and once Raven was finished with her rope, she went to the controls and twisted a key into the ignition. The boat purred to life and with another flick of some buttons a flood light brightened up a circle of ocean around them.
"Alright, friends. Aurora, I want you on look out. If you see anyone in the water, guide us to them and we'll pull them in. This boat can only hold about twelve people so we need to make sure we save those we know we can save. Bellamy, Finn, you two will work on getting them into the boat and Octavia will warm them up. Elyza you'll use the medkits and determine if there are any injuries. If you see any bite marks we'll have to deal with that properly. We can't risk infecting the ship." Raven called out, revving the engine and turning the boat.
Elyza knew this was her only chance, so she stumbled shakily to her feet—unable to get her sea legs yet. She held on to the lifeline until she was able to follow the rhythm of the waves before making her way over to the center console where Raven stood.
"Raven," Elyza grabbed her arm which was wrapped around the throttle, "we need to go to the Freedom." She said it low enough that nobody else could hear her over the roar of the engine, but Raven was close enough to understand her words.
With a frown and obvious confusion, the brunette turned to looked at Elyza, "Why the hell do we have to do that? We have people to rescue."
Elyza shifted her body forward so she was pressed close to Raven, looking her in the eyes. She tried to get across what she wanted without alerting the others by shooting Raven a hard look.
Still, the brunette frowned in confusing, clearly she couldn't read expressions very well.
"Harper."
Her expression cleared and she nodded, "I don't need to know any more. We'll head over there now." She raised her voice, "Guys. Change of plans. We're going over to the Freedom. They're having some problems that need to be addressed so we're going to be addressing them."
The others frowned in confusion, looking at each other to try to find an explanation for the sudden change in plans. Raven continued, "Elyza and I will go on board. The rest will stay here, it shouldn't take too long."
Finn shifted and called out, "You guys shouldn't go alone. I'll come with you." He flashed his trademark smile, clearly he was just trying to seem confident and act like the girls couldn't do this on their own.
"Yeah, I don't think it's safe enough for just two of you to go without some back up. Especially with the city falling right at our backs," Bellamy piped up, his deep voice easily heard over the sound of the engine.
"Fine, Finn can come with us. Get a gun together and make sure you have an extra clip. I don't want to risk our safety. Bellamy, you'll be in charge down here, make sure nobody gets on board. I mean nobody. Is that clear?"
Bellamy nodded and shifted so his back was pressed against the edge of the boat. He pulled a handgun from his waist and checked the clip before reloading it and holding it grip out towards Finn. "Take this." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a second clip. "And this. Shoot straight too, don't waste bullets."
Finn nodded, taking the extended weapon and extra clip, shoving the gun into the waistband of his fatigues. The clip went into his calf pocket the Velcro tightly shut so it wouldn't fall out.
Raven had already begun the trip to the USS Freedom, the boat heading deeper into the ocean and farther away from the dying city behind them. Elyza turned her head to watch the flames. They were too far away to hear the gunfire, but other units were already on the water heading in the direction of the danger. She didn't know what would happen to them if anyone found out they were going against orders, but she did know they needed to get to Harper, Monty and Jasper.
It took less than ten minutes of boating at high speeds and only hearing the splash of ocean water and the roar of the engine to reach the USS Freedom. Raven shut off the flood light not long after they drew closer, attempting to cloak their approach with the night. She didn't know why she did it, from what she knew there were no hostiles on board, but she still felt a twisting in her gut that told her something was wrong.
She pulled back on the throttle, the engine slowing and purring. The bow of the boat dipped down again and they approached at a much slower pace, barely leaving a wake behind them. Raven pulled up to the Jacob's ladder not much more than twenty minute after Elyza had spoken with Jasper.
The blonde yanked the radio from her waist after they had tied the boat to the ladder. She stood and turned it on, pressing down on the alert button for a couple of seconds before letting go, listening for a reply tone. When she didn't get one after a couple of tense seconds she shut the radio back off.
"Here," she muttered, shoving it at Octavia—the person nearest to her, "Turn it back on in five minutes. I'll try to contact you from the other one on the Freedom."
Octavia frowned, stood too and took the device, "Where did you get this?"
"That's not important," Raven called, flipping a switch and grabbing Bellamy's arm. She turned him towards the dashboard and pointed out what some of the switches did before moving away. She patted the guy on the back and shifted the hat on her head before looking around at the Blakes. "Alright, you guys. Stay here and do not let anyone on this damn ship that is not Lex, Collins or me."
Bellamy nodded, "Of course. We'll stay right here." He leaned over and grabbed a semiautomatic rifle he had gotten from the Pearl Harbor, slinging the strap over his shoulder. "And we'll protect ourselves, we'll be fine, Reyes."
Raven shook her head but couldn't help the small smile that curved her lips, "Good."
Elyza moved towards the ladder, resting her left hand against the cold, damp metal. "Come on, we need to get moving."
"Wait, what exactly is going on? Why are we here?" Finn asked, his frown quite obvious as he tried to think through what he already knew.
Elyza turned to Raven, they were the only two who knew exactly what was going on, but they didn't know if they should inform the rest of their unit. The blonde wasn't even sure Raven knew the full extent of what was going on. But with the disaster on shore and the possibility of disaster on the Freedom, there was little reason to keep it from them now.
Raven nodded, seeming to understand where Elyza's thoughts were heading without her voicing it. So, with a deep breath, Elyza told them. "Before Harper and I met up with you guys on the Pearl Harbor we ran into a couple infected on the Freedom. After getting on to the Pearl, we devised a plan to see if there were anymore. Harper left with two other sailors, Jasper and Monty to figure out what was going on. We kept in touch through that radio and now we're here because the three of them figured out what was going on. The doctor on board has been experimenting on them, but she doesn't seem to understand the risks of infecting the rest of the ship.
"There are only so many humans left alive and we need as many of them as we possibly can. So yeah, Harper and Monty got caught and now the doctor is holding them. Jasper went to get them so we're going to take them back to the Pearl Harbor with us. We'll have to inform the Commander of what's been going on and deal with the consequences."
It took a moment of processing for the rest of the group to realize what Elyza had said. To her surprise, Aurora was the one to speak up. She rested her hand on Octavia's shoulder and stood. "How long have you known about this?"
"The whole time," Elyza nodded, she felt guilt heat her face. She didn't know Aurora well, she seemed passive and quiet, yet protective of her kids. But the woman had managed to survive this long so there must have been something hidden behind that meek exterior.
The glare she was shot by the older woman could have possibly killed her if looks could kill, "You put my family at risk?" She glanced at her daughter and then her son, "I told you we shouldn't have trusted her again. She abandoned us once and now she's lied to us about something that could possibly get us killed."
The siblings looked everywhere but at their mother when she said this. The venom evident in her voice made Elyza flinch, "I don't want to hurt you or your kids. I just want to protect you." She gripped tighter onto the ladder, allowing the pain to focus her.
Finn stood too, "It doesn't matter. What matters is keeping us safe. That's all Aussie says she wants, that's all she's trying to do. We need to stick together."
Nobody spoke for a minute, only glanced between each other. Bellamy tilted his head up, he hadn't stood yet either but he didn't seem all that concerned with doing so. "Finn is right. We have to stick together. But you need to stop hiding stop and stop leaving us. We are your family now, we'll protect you with our lives."
Elyza's jaw clenched, "Alright. I'll do the same. I'm sorry for keeping this from you. But we have to get up there. This is all time sensitive." She turned away and lifted herself on to the ladder, bracing her feet against one of the lower rungs.
She slowly moved herself up, not looking back down towards the smaller boat and hoping that Raven and Finn were following her. Elyza reached the top in record time. Her shoulders burned and her breath came out heavily. She peaked over the side of the ship, her fingers grasping tensely to the final rung of the ladder.
There wasn't anyone on deck. Most lights were on and it seemed to the blonde that everyone was below deck, asleep. She pulled herself up higher before pushing off with her hands and feet, landing over the railing easily. She stretched her shoulders and glanced over to find Finn already clambering over the edge too.
Once Raven was aboard, they huddled closer together, scanning their surroundings carefully.
"I don't like this," Raven whispered, "They should have gotten a signal. They should be out there helping civilians."
Elyza shook her head, frowning, "Jasper said he'd be up here with the others."
"Who's Jasper? Why isn't anyone up here? This place feels like a ghost ship." Finn asked, glancing behind him towards the door.
Elyza huffed, grabbing her knife out of her pocket. She hadn't thought of grabbing a gun, believing that this would be a grab n' go rather than a search and rescue. The blonde glanced to Raven, searching for some type of guidance.
Dark eyebrows rose under a Navy hat, "This isn't my mission. I don't know enough about any of it. You've got point, Aussie."
"Bloody hell," she growled and ran a hand through her hair, "Fine. We're going to head down to where they kept me when I first got here. Keep your eyes peeled, I don't know who—or what—could come at us." The twisting feeling in her gut she had begun feeling whilst climbing the Jacob's ladder pulled tighter as she thought through what they would have to do. None of this felt right, it felt off and very nerve wracking. The hairs on the back of Elyza's neck stood on end and she shivered.
"Alright, lead the way, Aussie." Finn nodded, his thumb flicking over the gun in his hands before he stood up straighter, brandishing the weapon dangerously.
Elyza pointed at him with her knife, "Aim that thing at me and I swear to God, I will stab you."
The floppy haired boy nodded seriously, understanding that the blonde probably would do what she said, "I don't plan on shooting anyone. Especially not you or Raven. I've got this."
"You better," Raven muttered and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Now let's get moving."
Elyza led the two of them towards the door, opening it carefully and stepping aside so Finn could enter first with his gun at the ready. His feet echoed too loudly on the metal grates of the landing inside and Elyza winced.
"Be quiet, Finn!" she whispered harshly.
He flashed her a frown before nodding and stepping aside to allow Raven to enter and scan their surroundings. When Elyza finally allowed the door to fall shut behind her, she realized how dark it was. There was a single emergency light glowing red over their heads and casting ominous looking shadows down further down the stairs.
Raven searched her pockets before coming up with a single flashlight, clicking it on. "Alright, lead the way."
Elyza stepped forward, slowly moving her way down the stairs to scan and listen carefully. She barely dared to breathe and her heart beat hard in her chest. It was too silent, there wasn't enough noise to indicate the existence of living human beings. She remembered the last time she had been there, it was less than a full week but there was already so much that had happened.
They reached the second landing and Finn and Raven scanned their surroundings once again with their weapons. Still nothing.
The trio finally made their way down the hallways Elyza was all too familiar with. There were several doors on either side that were darkened and Raven cupped her hands around her eyes, looking inside of each of them carefully before shaking her head. "Empty."
Elyza finally stopped at a door halfway down, the window was dark and she stepped forward, looking in. It was hard to tell whether or not there was something there, but clearly the sheets were rumpled from someone sleeping there.
"I think someone might be in here," she said after a moment.
"Really?" Raven double checked her before nodding in agreement. "Probably." She yanked on the handle. Locked, of course. "Let me pick this."
"You can pick locks?" Finn asked curiously.
Raven shrugged nonchalantly, pulling a Swiss Army knife from one of her various pockets. She flipped several attachments open before settling on a pair of scissors and some sort of long something Elyza couldn't recognize. It took less than five minutes to get the door unlocked and once she did, everyone held their breaths. They expected an alarm or something to go off but all remained eerily silent.
"Alright, I'll go in alone," Raven slipped the knife in to her pocket and drew her gun from its resting place on her hip. "When I say so, yank the door open, I'll go in." She turned to Elyza, who rushed to the door, grabbing the handle.
She nodded and held the flashlight out in her left hand, thumb over the button to turn it on when the moment arose. "Three, two, one…" she nodded once again and Elyza yanked the door open.
The silence that followed was nearly crushing and Elyza held her breath, glancing behind her and back down the hallway. Nothing, just a low lighting and shadows leading to the staircase. She turned back around, listening carefully. She didn't dare to tilt her head around the corner of the door for fear of whoever was inside would cause some sort of problem and she'd get shot in the head.
Blue eyes met chocolate brown with concern after a couple of seconds of complete silence and it took Elyza a moment to realize what was wrong. "Finn!" She called, just before a body slammed into him.
A growl and a groan followed Finn's fall before he was screaming and thrashing underneath the body. Before Elyza could even think, Raven was back in the hallway and the sound of gunshots sent her ears ringing. A short, blonde headed body slammed into the back of Raven's body once she'd stopped shooting.
Things settled instantly and Elyza rushed forward, pushing the body of Finn's attacker off of the squirming boy. He kicked himself away, aiming his gun at the limp body and his hands shook. The front of his uniform was coated in a dark red blood.
"Finn," Elyza held her hand up, placing herself in the line of fire. Her body itched to get out of the line of fire, but she knew she needed to calm the boy down before he ban to over kill. "Finn, he's dead. Are you hurt? Did it bite you?"
Raven put the gun back at her hip and held out her hand, taking the gun before helping Finn to his feet. "Let me check, please." She quickly checked his arms and neck for any signs of a bite. Elyza held her breath again, waiting for the verdict with a heavy heart. If he was bit they would have to do what they did to Ellison.
"He's clean," Raven called a smile evident in her voice, "You're clean." She let out a breath and pulled him into a hug that smeared the fresh blood onto the front of her own uniform.
Elyza rubbed forehead in relief and stood up carefully. But the relief for short lived when she turned towards the body, turning it so she could see the face. Eyes were still opened on a face she didn't quite recognize with blood running down his forehead and they were the bright, pale blue that she associated with the infected. This is worse than I thought, she cupped her hand over her mouth before standing.
"This was an infected. The ship could be crawling with them."
"Harper and the others could be dead," Raven added.
Elyza shook her head, "We have to find them. There's something seriously wrong going on here." Finally her eyes fell to the new person still standing in the darkened doorway of the room.
It was a young boy, a couple of inches shorter than herself with messy blonde hair and blue eyes that weren't unlike Elyza's own. He stood with his back straight, even though he looked as though he had just seen a ghost and been woken up from a deep sleep. His eyes had heavy bags underneath them and a prominent cut made his lower lip look swollen. He couldn't have been much older than fourteen.
"Who are you people?" he asked, his eyes not leaving Elyza's.
"We're here trying to save our friends. Who are you?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
Both of his eyebrows rose, "I'm Aden. These soldiers found my mother and me on land. She didn't make it and here I am." He spoke matter of fact, his voice never allowed any of the emotions he was feeling to be heard. Elyza noticed the tension in his shoulders and could tell he'd been through a lot since things started going downhill.
"Well, Aden. I'm Elyza and these are my friends Finn and Raven. We have reason to believe there are infected aboard this ship. More than just this one," she gestured to the dead man on the ground, "we need to get you and our friends out of here and to safety."
Those blue eyes bore into hers, searching for something but Elyza wasn't sure what. He must have found it because he nodded, "Alright. Let me grab my things." He turned back in to the room and disappeared into the darkness.
Elyza glanced at her two friends, exchanging worried glances. They didn't know this guy, he might have been a kid, but could they trust anyone these days? The kid didn't seem dangerous or even remotely violent, but still. The unknown made it hard for Elyza to make a decision. But he was also a kid, not much older than fourteen so her humanity and empathy pulled at her. He'd just lost his mother and it didn't seem like there was going to be any respite for him.
Aden reappeared with a small drawstring backpack stuffed until it looked round like a basketball and a very gnarly looking machete in a leather sheath. He slid it in to the belt of his pants and nodded at Elyza.
The three friends tried not to pay too much attention to the dangerous weapon in the teenager's hands.
"Are there any others down this hallway that you know of?" Elyza asked.
The boy shook his head. "No, they just found me early this morning and I was all alone."
Raven nodded, "Alright, kid, let's get going. Where do you think they could be?"
Elyza shrugged, "We should probably go deeper. Harper said something about the doctor doing some experiments."
"Dr. Alie?" Aden asked, frowning.
Elyza nodded, "Yeah, stiff asshole?"
The boy grinned, "With the red lipstick?"
Elyza nodded once again and the boy laughed, "She's hot."
Raven smacked him upside the head, "And it sounds like she's evil so hot and evil means don't touch. Now let's get going."
She grabbed Finn's arm and pulled him back towards the stairs. "Elyza, take this," she said handing over the gun Finn had been wielding previously, "and kid, keep that machete ready, we don't know what we're going to run in to."
Elyza took point again and they rushed back to the stairs. Since nobody had come investigating the gunshots, she assumed that most of them were dead, zombies or caught up in something the evil doctor was doing somewhere deeper in the ship.
Her heart was pounding in her chest, clearly something was wrong on this stupid boat. She didn't know why she was investing so much in people she didn't even know. She could just leave, the found Aden and they could rescue him. But where would they go? If they went back to the Pearl Harbor they would have to explain themselves. If they went back to land there was a hell of a chance they would all die faster than they would at sea.
She led the group down the stairs and towards the showers she'd used last time. They turned a corner and Elyza stopped in her tracks, staring at the sight before her. Raven rammed in to her back and the blonde almost fell forward with the force of the smaller girl's body. But cat like reflexes of a trained soldier caught her before she could fall on her face.
"Shit, shit, turn around." Raven called yanking on Elyza's frozen body.
A gunshot rang out as she was pulled back around the corner. She didn't realize it in her sudden shock, but the gun had slipped from her hand and Finn had picked it up. He stood in the middle of the hallway, aiming and firing.
"Finn! Stop!" She yelled, "You're only going to draw them closer to us."
Raven let go of Elyza and yanked at Finn's shoulder, "Come on! Run!"
"Elyza!" The voice was new, yet familiar. The blonde's head whipped around towards the way they had come. Harper was limping as quickly as she could towards them with Monty leaning heavily against Jasper a couple of feet behind her. "Run, now!"
A/N: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Next chapter is coming as soon as possible and then we'll see Alicia. I know someone was asking about that but they were just a guest so I couldn't respond. But anyway, let me know what you think and I will definitely reply. It took me a lot of time to get this out there and I was struggling. So I hope this is okay :) ~TGF