A/N: I am soooooooooooooooo sorry that this is late. I hope the length makes up for it!
Chapter Twelve: Escape
Elyza knew they couldn't head the way they had been going. Finn had fired off too many rounds and they were already heading in the groups direction. "Head back to the stairs! We need to get on deck!"
The blonde herded her friends in front of her, keeping the undead at her back and the living safely away from them as possible. There had to be about half a dozen of them heading in their direction. They looked human, just like the ones she had already killed but blood coated their collars and mouth. The milky paleness of their skin made extra visible by the copper red substance.
A shiver ran down Elyza's spine as she finally turned the corner, the view of the predators behind her now broken by the wall. She ran, nearly stepping on the back of Raven's boots she was so close to her. Her nerves were shot, her back tingling as if anticipating that at any moment she would be grabbed and devoured by the cannibalistic infected.
They did make it to the stairs though and once Raven was turning to pound of the steps, Elyza was nearly slammed in to by a battle ready naval officer with pale blue eyes and blonde dripping from a deep cut on his face. Someone had clearly tried to get to his head but the mask on his face had prevented the weapon from hitting his brain.
Elyza screamed and turned sharply, nearly tripping and losing her balance when she stumbled up the first step. She took them two at a time, rushing to catch up to the group ahead of her. A hand grabbed at her foot before she could reach the first landing and she was pulled down on to the ground. Metal steps dug in to her ribs and hips as she scrambled to turn around and face her assailant.
The same dead man lumbered after her. He stepped upward, cold eyes fixated on hers as he tried to maneuver himself stupidly up the next step. The rest of the undead were following him, but the staircase was too narrow for any of them to properly pass him up. They were also brain dead and tripping over each other to tumble right back down to the ground.
The breath caught in Elyza's throat and her chest started constricting painfully to where she couldn't get enough breath in to her lungs. Before she could scramble much farther away the infect man's foot got caught on the railing and he tumbled forward, landing right on top of her. If she'd had any breath to scream she would have, but she barely managed to grab a firm hold of his slick throat to keep his mouth away from her with her free hand.
She tried, she really did, to stab him with the knife in her other hand. She didn't freeze this time, not like the time at the convenient store with Bellamy and Finn. No, she stabbed him but didn't think to consider the helmet he had protecting his head. She couldn't reach around him and kill him, she would have to get under the clear mask covering his face and stab into his chin.
Better said than done though. Her fingers were slipping as the man strained, nearly frenzied to get closer, dull teeth gnashing. Elyza had a split second thought of those teeth tearing in to her and didn't want to think of the pain such blunt objects would cause before she finally died.
She gripped tighter on to his neck, undried blood oozing between her fingers. But the man was starting to thrash, his body pinning her tightly to the ground. There was no way to escape and Elyza was beginning to give in. But suddenly there was a wet, squelching thunk and the man above her made a face.
He tried to turn his head but suddenly it wasn't attached to his neck anymore and Elyza was doused in thick, warm, wet liquid that smelled like salt and metal. The head still moved though and the body went limp above her.
She threw the head, struggling to process what had exactly happened, but didn't have enough time before she was being yanked to her feet. Aden had grabbed her and pulled her the rest of the way up the landing. A loud pop sent her ears ringing and before she could even recover from that several more followed.
Elyza glanced around, finding Raven twisted over the side of the railing and aiming her handgun at the small horde attempting to climb the steps in pursuit. "Are you okay?" Aden shouted. He had his machete stuffed back in to the sheath at his waist but Elyza knew that it was probably coated in blood. Then she realized she was also coated in blood and her stomach rolled, threatening to regurgitate her dinner she'd had what felt like years ago.
She could only manage a silent nod, unable to trust her voice in that moment. She still had a firm grip on her unused pocket knife. It was also slick with blood, even though she had been unable to stab the man, his blood had gotten all over her body.
"Move your asses!" Raven shouted, "I'm out of bullets."
Aden grabbed Elyza's arms and pulled her around the landing and up to wear Raven was. The two girls made eye contact and Raven scanned her body for any visible injuries. She must have looked like a mess because Raven frowned, shook her head and headed back up the stairs. The three of them rendezvoused with Finn, Harper, Monty and Jasper on the second floor and took a moment to catch their breaths.
"Shit, Aussie! Are you okay?" Finn asked, rushing over to check her out. She was drenched from neck to stomach and smelled absolutely horrible.
Elyza tried to recover her voice, her breathing was still wheezy but the tightness in her chest was beginning to recede. More air was getting in to her lungs, but she could still only manage a nod.
Finn didn't seem all that convinced and there was a psychotic looking glint in his brown eyes that did not sit well in Elyza's stomach. Something was off with him, maybe he was just freaking out because of their situation. It wasn't every day you had blood—or brain—thirsty monsters after you on a military boat in the middle of the ocean while a whole city burned to the ground.
Harper was resting her head against the sleet metal wall to her left, her arms stretched over the back of her neck whilst she attempted to catch her breath. Elyza got a good look at her then, she looked raggedy. Cuts covered her chin and face, a deep black bruise ghosted over her cheek. She looked incredibly pale. Jasper did say she had been captured.
Monty wasn't looking much better. He favored his left leg, limping slightly and his right arm was pressed tightly against his side. Elyza wasn't sure if it was his arm or his stomach that was injured, there was no obvious signs of blood on his white t-shirt he was wearing which was a good sign.
Jasper appeared to be the only one of the three who was lucky enough to get hurt. He was breathing heavily, but there were no obvious signs of trauma on his body. He stood close to his two friends, a concerned frown clouding his expression.
"Alright, I'll bite," Raven finally said. She was crouched over, her hands on her knees and sweat glistening on her forehead in the lighting. "What the hell? How are there so many of them down there?"
Harper was still recovering her breathing but she turned towards the darker girl anyway, "I've no idea…I've kind of been locked up and tied to a bed for the last couple of hours."
"Sounds kinky," Raven replied dryly. Clearly she couldn't help cracking stupid jokes, during moments of imminent danger. Nobody laughed at her joke though, but it was just how Raven was. "We need to get moving." She straightened up and took a couple of steps towards the next floor.
"Wait," Jasper grabbed her arm, "from what I've seen, a lot of crew members have been going missing the last couple of days. Monty and Harper got caught last night trying to hack the rest of the way in to their system to get more information on Alie. This place isn't safe anymore. Downstairs is where she was keeping the dead, up here was where she kept the still living…Well, slightly."
Raven shook his hand off of her. "We need to get back to the Blakes. We can't just leave them out there. Someone might see them or an infected might get to them first."
"Yeah, it looks like the infected can't climb stairs. The sooner we get to the deck the quicker we can be out of here." Aden added his support.
They were all forgetting something though, and Elyza was beginning to recover her breathing, "Wait a minute." She managed to get out, before coughing painfully and straightening up. Her body felt like it had just been through a 5K she hadn't prepared it for and she ached all over. "Is there no hope in taking back the Freedom?"
Monty frowned, "You want to try to take it back? There's only seven of us and over thirty of them."
"No, I'm not saying that…but I was thinking we might have to use our back up plan," Elyza sighed. She'd been hoping he would say it was all good and they only needed to kill the doctor and some infected, but clearly this ship was a ghost town. Or, well, ship.
Everyone else seemed to understand what the backup plan was except for Aden and Finn. The latter was the one to ask, "What's the backup plan?"
"It's a bomb," Raven replied bluntly, "I made it for Harper just in case something bad happened. I think this would qualify as bad." She turned to Harper, who had shifted and was leaning heavily against the wall. Monty stood close, as if ready to catch her if she suddenly collapsed. "Do you have it with you?"
Harper shook her head and settled her head back against the metal, looking up at the ceiling, "No, but I hid it in a closet where nobody could find it. I'll show you."
The blonde moved to stand but winced in pain, her nose scrunching and her eyes closing tightly. She breathed heavily and slackened against the wall. The shift in position exposed her middle to Elyza and she noticed the red staining the white tank top she was dressed in.
"Hold on," Elyza stepped forward, "we need to check and make sure nobody's bitten before we do anything else."
"Um," Aden said and Elyza turned to him when he didn't continue. He wasn't looking in their direction though, he was staring down at the landing below them and the blonde turned to follow his gaze. One of the dead had managed to make it to the landing and was working harder than before to get to them, especially now that he was so much closer. Elyza shivered as her gaze fell to the severed head lying in the corner. Its face was towards her and she would still see its teeth gnawing at air. There was absolutely nothing natural about this at all.
"Maybe not here," Jasper muttered, "Follow me." He turned right, opening a door that led down a hall Elyza had never been through before. She really didn't know much about the ship at all.
Monty and Harper leaned against each other, holding the other up like they needed to be held. It was obvious to Finn, Raven and Elyza that they felt more comfortable with each other so they didn't ask if they could help.
Jasper held the door open, his bulging eyes seemed wider and more alert than normal. There was a glint in his eyes that revealed to Elyza he was tense and ready for anything to happen. Whatever had occurred on this boat was something that would scar him and the other two friends for the rest of their lives—whether that was ten minutes or ten years, nobody knew.
Elyza passed through the door last, as usual. She felt more at ease in the back because she could see everyone in front of her and ensure they were safe. She would be the first one to get attacked if someone came from behind and she could be a pretty loud screamer. As long as she could warn them what was coming, she was more than happy to stick with the back. Even if her back did tingle and she expected a knife to slip between her ribs at any moment and she would be dead.
But it didn't happen and the three sailors guided their "rescuers" to a—luckily—abandoned common room. Jasper shut the door behind them and locked it, then leaned against it. He slouched forward and his eyes closed. Elyza caught sight of the heavy sigh he let out once they were relatively safe.
"Shut off the camera, Jasper. They're in the security room, they have access the all of the cameras. If they can get through the zombies out there, we'll be screwed." Harper said. Monty was lowering her gingerly to a leather couch in the middle of the room.
Jasper followed her instructions without question, moving to the back corner of the room where a coffee machine was anchored to a small buffet table. He reached up and yanked the wire from the metal hole. It wasn't as satisfying as if they had been yanked from drywall, but the physical exertion was helpful.
"How the hell are we getting out of here?" Finn asked. He was pacing back and forth like a caged animal. His shoulders were tense and he couldn't stop moving his hands, they ran through his hair more times than Elyza could keep track of. He was clearly beginning to lose it, especially when nobody responded to his question.
Raven moved over to stop him, placing a hand on his bicep and halting his movements. He turned to her and she pulled him to the side. Elyza noticed a softness take over her features and the brunette's hands ghosted over Finn's face and through his hair. She turned away at that, clearly this was an intimate moment between the two of them. She really didn't want to be involved in that. They might not have known each other for a very long time, but things like this brought people closer together in a much shorter amount of time.
"Hey, let's check each other out. Make sure there aren't any bite marks." Aden called out. The boy was very good at taking control of situations, the blonde noted.
She moved towards the rest of the group. Monty had taken a seat next to Harper and was breathing heavily. His face had grown pale—almost as pale as his friend's—and that worried Elyza, they were losing too much blood. "Yeah, let's check you two out."
Elyza kneeled before Harper, cautiously. There were no obvious injuries, but the girl was in pain, "What happened to you?"
Harper sat back a little, moving her shirt up to expose her midriff. A concentrated black and blue bruise was beginning to blossom around a bloody looking needle wound. "I was trying to put up a fight when the doctor came to take more of my blood. She thought that flushing an infected system with clean blood would somehow bring them back. I knew she was crazy, but I couldn't resist. She stabbed me with the needle before I could disarm her. This is the result, I think she punctured something."
The wound was between two of her false ribs, Elyza noticed right off the bat, angled downward as if Harper had been lying on her back. "How long was the needle?"
The ailing blonde shrugged, "I don't know."
"I need an approximation. Are you breathing okay?"
Harper shrugged and spread her fingers to show about an inch and a half of space in between them. "I'm breathing okay, it hurts though."
Elyza huffed, this girl really was not being a good patient. She was acting too nonchalant about her injuries. "Lay down on the couch. I need to listen."
Once Harper followed instructions, Elyza pressed her ear to her chest. "Take a deep breath/" She listened intently for any signs of rattling or fluid in the lungs, which would happen if the girl had actually punctured it. Based off of the angle, area and depth of the wound there was a likely chance that it had happened and Elyza would rather be safe than sorry.
She made a hang gesture urging Harper to continue to breathe deeply when she didn't hear anything. The younger girl breathed in and out while Elyza listened. Nothing. No wheezing and nothing that sounded as though there was liquid within the lung. "I don't think you punctured anything. You're probably just really bruised and your body is trying to adjust to the force of the needle going in to your body. Nothing was injected in to you, correct?"
Harper shook her head, "No. It was just supposed to be used to take my blood."
"Good." Elyza looked over Harper further, making sure there were no bite marks even after she'd insisted she was fine. Well, besides the obvious wound.
After ensuring Harper wasn't dying any time soon, Elyza moved to Monty. He was looking worse than he had only minutes before. His hand was pressed against the saturated white t-shirt he wore, but his fingers weren't stemming the blood flow from his wound.
"Someone get me something to put pressure on this," she said loud enough for everyone else to hear then lowered her voice, "What happened, Monty?" She delicately pulled the tense arm away from the wound. The shirt stuck to the boy's skin but that didn't faze her, she only lifted it up anyway.
"One of the guards got me while I was trying to help Harper," he nodded to the blonde next to him who smiled and squeezed his free arm in appreciation before settling her hand in his, intertwining their fingers.
Elyza shook her head and tried to look in to the wound, but her view was barred by the copious amounts of blood still pouring from the wound. A hand towel was draped in front of her face and she grabbed it, quickly reapplying pressure. Monty grimaced and gasped, his free hand coming over to grab at Elyza's on instinct.
"We need to keep pressure on this," she turned to Harper, "will you make sure he hasn't gotten bitten?"
She nodded, shifting closer and examining Monty quickly, "Clean." She said.
"Good." She kept the pressure. "Now we need to find that damn bomb. Bellamy's going to start worrying about us. Raven!" She called, turning to find Raven with Finn's shirt lifted and her hands searching for any signs of a possible bite wound. She turned and dropped her hands when she heard Elyza's voice.
"Yeah?"
"I need you to go with Jasper to find the bomb, wherever it is. Finn, Monty, Harper and I will stay here. Monty's losing a lot of blood and we need to get both of them out of here as soon as possible. They need serious medical attention," whilst spouting out these orders she did not stop the pressure she was putting on Monty's wound.
Raven glanced at Finn and the two exchanged a look that Elyza didn't have the attention span or time to try to decipher. She turned back to Monty who had beads of sweat peppered on his upper lip and a scowl that seemed to be permanent on his face.
Trying to distract him, she started talking, "What happened to your leg Monty?"
"I stumbled," he whined out between gritted teeth. His voice was strained and a vein stuck out in his neck as he struggled to think through the pain. "I stumbled while we were running from that horde downstairs, I think I twisted my ankle or my knee or something."
Elyza shook her head, their situation was looking grimmer by the second. She didn't know what exactly was going on outside. There were infected, she knew and some doctor who didn't think that the infected were really all that dangerous. She was doing experiments on them while kidnapping and possibly killing the living sailors on the ship. How many innocent people were left? How many dead were threatening them?
She had no answers to the questions swirling around in her head and there wasn't any knowing only guessing. They had two injured soldiers, one possibly fatal if the bleeding didn't stop soon. Bellamy, Octavia and Aurora were still waiting for them and they didn't know the dangers that were aboard the USS Freedom. She didn't think that they were in any imminent danger but she still wanted to get back to them as soon as possible.
Jasper and Raven left the room quickly and Elyza called Finn over. "Put pressure on his wound. Don't let up even if he grimaces. He's losing too much blood." She needed to check out his ankle and find something to bind the wound for when they moved. He could lose too much blood if they moved him too much.
After Finn had the proper amount of pressure, she moved away to the cabinets. There had to be something for her to use. She found a couple of hand towels that wouldn't be big enough to wrap around Monty's waist. She found a couple of wooden spoons that could be used to splint whatever it was that troubled Monty's left leg if she could find something to tie it off with.
"Here," suddenly Aden was beside her as she crouched low, looking through a cabinet full of paper cups and napkins. Elyza glance up and found a blanket and bottle of water thrust in her face.
A grin spread across her lips, "Where'd you find this stuff?" she stood and took the items from boy, adding them to her growing pile of loot.
"There's some cabinets over there," he thrust his thumb behind him, "I thought you could use some help looking for supplies. Are you like a doctor or something?"
Elyza's face fell at the mention of doctors and she turned away, distracting herself with her supplies. She piled the loose items inside of the blanket, trying to clear the tightness she was feeling in her throat all of the sudden. "No, um, my mom was—is. I grew up around it, she always wanted me to be a doctor. But I'm more of an art freak. Logical thinking and scientific processes aren't really my thing."
"Oh," Aden seemed to sense her change in demeanor and flashed a soft smile, "Well you seem to be pretty good at it. We're lucky to have you in a situation like this." The sincerity of his tone and the genuine smile that spread across his lips made Elyza's throat tighten even more. His hooded eyes crinkled adorably at the corners when he smiled and it made her happy to see.
"Thanks," she nodded and tore her eyes away from his to grab her bundle of supplies and head over to Monty. Aden followed silently behind her, his hand rested on the hilt of his machete.
Monty himself didn't look all that much different from the five minutes it took them to gather the supplied Elyza would need. Finn still sat there with his arms stiff and straight, his muscles bulging slightly with the strain of keeping a consistent amount of pressure for a long period of time. He was murmuring quiet reassurances to Monty, whose eyes were closed tightly and hand still clung to Harper's.
The injured blonde next to him looked like she was ready to fall asleep, but the concern for her friend was keeping her awake. The adrenaline had probably stopped coursing through her system long ago and she was beginning to feel the aches and pains from everything she had been going through.
"Alright, watch out Finn, we need to remove this cloth and cut this blanket in to long strips we can tie around his waist. The smaller towels will be used as—" Before she could finish the door burst open and Raven ushered Jasper in to the room before slamming the door with a resound smack.
Everyone's heads turned to face the sudden commotion and the two breathed heavily. Raven had her Swiss Army knife out and her right hand was coated in coppery blood. Her other hand waved around a red plastic box with thick white vertical and horizontal lines making a cross in the middle triumphantly. Jasper was doubled over with some type of contraption clutched to his chest the size of a football.
"I found you this, Aussie," Raven hurried over and placed the first aid kit down next to Elyza, "Thought you could use it on these two windbags."
"Oh, thank God, Raven," Elyza set aside her makeshift supplies to open the kit and go through the things she was provided with. There were several compression bandages, a rolled up ace bandage, portable Band-Aid package, a set of tweezers, scissors, antiseptic wipes, gauze, adhesive tape and a tube of Neosporin. There was even a bottle of prescription pain medicine.
"This is a bloody fucking Godsend," the blonde muttered and grabbed an antiseptic wipe, ripping open the package with her teeth. "Alright, remove the pressure, I need to clean the area around the wound."
Elyza, Finn and Monty worked together to get the Asian prepared for transportation. They cleaned the wound and applied several compression bandages to the in wide wound. Elyza wasn't sure how deep it was but this was the best they could do for now, they could only hope that there weren't any visceral organs damaged. If there were, Monty was more than likely screwed. There was no way Elyza would be able to perform a surgery in this type of environment to remove any hemorrhaging if internal bleeding occurred. She particularly doubted that she could do it at all. Surgery was very different than biological dissection labs.
Together, they wrapped the ace bandage around Monty's middle and ensured it was tight enough. The bleeding had slowed and was beginning to coagulate in the wound, but with all of the moving the boy was about to do there was a likely chance he would be bleeding a lot more soon enough. Elyza gave him a single capsule of the pain medicine because she knew they would need him to be in his right mind when the moved.
Elyza ended up discovering that Monty's ankle was only mildly sprained and decided that he didn't need to have anything done to it. She was only spit balling a guess from all of those times her mother had eyeballed her swollen ankle from when she'd fallen out of the trees. His bone wasn't sticking out of his skin, there was only minor bruising and not a lot of it was concentrated so he'd probably only rolled it—she thought.
While she and Finn were catering to her patient's needs, Raven, Jasper, Aden and Harper discussed what they were going to need to do with the bomb Raven had made. The mechanic explained that she'd used a digital watch she'd been trying to scrap to make up the timer and they would only have five minutes after starting the detonator to get off of the ship. Elyza was only half listening, but from what she caught of the conversation, this device had some serious fire power packed in to a teeny-tiny sized football bomb.
They deducted that they would need to draw zombie attention to the bomb and then set the detonator. The best place to put it would be on the third level, where they had encountered over half of the dead crew members—according to Harper and Monty. The second level, near the hospital wing that Harper and Elyza had discovered Ellison and his friend was where Dr. Alie was keeping her patients.
"We should see if we can rescue any more people before we blow the ship up."
"There aren't many left," Monty pointed out, "Only Alie, about six guards and I saw maybe four other living patients but they weren't looking too hot. There were dead down there too, maybe half a dozen of them groaning and moaning while Alie tried to "help" them." He shuddered and covered his face with his arm. They had washed the dried blood from it with the water bottle not too long ago.
"We need to get this done fast, Bellamy and the others won't wait forever. It's already been over thirty minutes. He's going to come on board soon enough to investigate if I know him," Finn added. "The guy can't just sit one thing out. Ever. He always has to be in control."
Since they'd been in the lounge room, Finn had calmed considerable. He was more rational and trying to think their situation through a lot more than he had been when they were running for their lives. But, Elyza was still worried that he would end up going off the deep end again and possibly having an anxiety attack again—or whatever it was that had happened to him.
She tried not to think about it though, only focus on the situation at hand. There had to be something that could get them all out of their in one piece. "What's on the first floor?" she ventured, turning to face Harper who seemed to know the most.
The girl closed her eyes and thought about it, "Well, that's where the barracks are so that's probably where the rest of the crew is. From what I've seen today there aren't any more living except for Alie's people. So I'm going to have to say that level one is probably overrun with zombies."
So much for that idea, Elyza thought bitterly but tried not to let that deter her. "Is there any way we can get pass them?"
"By avoiding them? We'd have to be really quiet and hope they aren't attracted to us." Monty muttered sourly.
"Your friends," Aden said suddenly, moving his hands frantically, "is there any way we could possibly get in contact with them? Do they have more guns on your boat?" His blue eyes found Elyza's and she suddenly realized everyone was looking at her to answer the question, even Raven who was supposed to be the one in charge.
"Yeah, we do," she nodded, not exactly understanding where this plan was going.
Harper suddenly sat up with a start, her eyes widening and a grin spreading across her face, "We can give him the other radio! Jasper do you have it?" she held her hand out, opening and closing it greedily, waiting for the boy to hand it over.
Jasper dug around in his pockets for the radio and finally came up with it. He quickly handed it to Harper and crossed his arms over his chest, "How are we going to get that up there?"
"Sneaking works just as well as a full on fire fight," Raven said. "If one of us sneaks up on deck, we can get to them and they can help us from up there."
"I can do it," Aden stepped up eagerly. His shoulders were pushed back and his back was straight as if he was preparing for someone to disagree with him. His machete was sheathed neatly on his left side and he looked regal and in control for a kid in the middle of an apocalypse.
Elyza looked at Raven, who seemed to be considering it. "You can't be serious?" She exclaimed. "He's like twelve!"
"I'm fourteen," Aden frowned, "and I'm capable of being silent. I'll kill them if I have to, I've done it before." He gave Elyza a pointed look and they both remembered the stairwell. Yes, he had and it seemed that he knew how to use the weapon at his waist too.
"Do you know how to get to the deck?" Raven asked.
He nodded, returning his attention to her, "I can remember, yes. Where are your friends?"
"They're tied to the Jacob's ladder."
"The one that you climb up, right?"
"Yes." Raven nodded.
"Alright, hold on," Finn stepped in, "You can't seriously be considering this! I agree with Aussie, this kid is too young."
"I live in this world just like you do, I need to learn how to survive too." Aden stepped forward and suddenly both boys were close together. Aden was glaring, his shoulders held back while he looked up at Finn. Finn glared too, but it seemed that Aden was winning the battle of testosterone because it looked like he was the one staring Finn down. They looked ridiculous, a scrawny kid standing toe to toe against a much taller and much more filled out, fully grown man.
"Okay, boys. Quit it," Jasper chuckled and pushed his hand against both of their chests to get them to separate. "Aden is going. He's the smallest of all of us."
"I agree," Raven added, pulling on Aden's arm so he stood next to her. "I saw him save Elyza. He's got some balls." She grinned down at him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders.
Elyza rolled her eyes, "Fine, give him the radio. Make sure he knows how to get out of here and then we need to head to the medical wing. We need to save as many people as possible."
Once everything was said, Harper explained as well as she could how Aden could get out of there and to the Jacob's ladder on the deck. Elyza and Raven discussed the best plan and how they could place the bomb while also getting everyone off of the ship. There were still people besides them who were in danger and Elyza didn't want to her and her friends responsible for innocent deaths.
They reasoned that they would all have to split up and Monty wouldn't really be capable of helping with anything they had planned. Raven would go to the third level, where most of the infected were and Finn would draw the attention of the ones on the first level. He would guide them down to the third level and rendezvous with Raven so they could detonate the bomb and get back up the stairs.
While Finn guided the zombies, Elyza and Jasper would try to break out the prisoners Alie and her guards had taken. They decided that was where Aden needed to bring Bellamy. They had more firepower on board their little rescue boat that could come in handy if there was resistance. Elyza was hoping they wouldn't need the extra guns once they told everyone that the ship was going to blow up.
"Here," Raven said, turning to Harper and holding out the gun she had confiscated from Finn by its barrel. "Take this. Keep, Monty safe."
"You're going to need that, though," Harper frowned, not taking the offered weapon.
Raven shook her head, "I'll find a blunt weapon or use my knife so take the damn gun and don't argue with me."
Harper rolled her eyes and huffed, grabbing the weapon and resting it across her lap, "Happy?" she asked, raising her eyebrows in a challenge.
"Yes, here's an extra clip," she dug around in her back pocket and tossed the clip in to the girls lap. The two looked at each other, having a silent conversation that was only obtainable after knowing each other for a long time and being able to read body language. It ended with a careful look at Monty, who had his eyes close and was breathing a lot better than before.
Elyza watched this while half listening to what Jasper was saying to Aden. All of this was taking way too long, everyone was trying to think about every possible scenario and then plan on how to get over it. They didn't have time for any of this and she was growing impatient.
"Alright," she stood up and ran a hand through her hair, "we need to get moving. We've used enough time up planning this, now we have to actually do it. Harper, watch Monty, don't leave until Finn and Raven come and get you. Aden, don't you dare get hurt when you get to Bellamy, tell him we sent you. Take this," she pulled out her spare pocket knife and gave it to him. "If he questions you, show it to him. It has my initials carved in to it."
Aden nodded and took the knife, looking it over and rubbing his thumb over the indentations of the letters. Elyza squeezed his shoulder, "Now go."
The boy left, sticking his head out of the door and looking both ways before finally letting the door fall shut. Elyza watched after him, worry eating away at her insides as he left. She didn't know if she would see him again and that tore at her more than it should have for only knowing him a short while.
"You think he'll be okay?" Raven asked, stepping closer to the blonde. She had been lost in thought and didn't realize the soldier had gotten closer.
Elyza tried to wipe the frown of concern off of her face but knew she had probably failed miserably, "I think he'll survive. That's all any of us can do. We'll know once Bellamy contacts us on the radio if he's successful."
Raven nodded, "He will be. I think he's got a good head on his shoulders. Not to mention that gnarly looking machete at his waist."
Elyza managed a small smile that she didn't really feel at the attempt at a joke in such a bleak situation. "Thanks, Reyes."
"No problem, Aussie," she winked before turning around.
Elyza and Jasper left next. They would have a fifteen minute head start on Raven and Finn and once that fifteen minutes was up, they would have a maximum of fifteen more before they need to be off of the ship. This meant that they had twenty five minutes to gather up the rest of the living sailors on the USS Freedom and get them off of the ship and to safety.
For the briefest moment, Elyza wondered how they were going to fit so many people in to one small rescue boat, but then pushed the thought aside. That was a problem for future Elyza and company to deal with, not right now. Now was the time to focus on the task at hand.
The duo followed the directions Harper had given them and Jasper helped guide them a little bit better. He wasn't as familiar with the vessel as Harper was, since she was stationed on the Freedom and he wasn't. But he'd been getting by for the last few days, which meant he knew his way better than Elyza did.
They followed twists and turns, heading deeper in to the maze of identical corridors until Elyza was pretty sure they were lost. They didn't see any of the undead, which meant that Harper's assumption that they were all probably near the barracks on the first level. Finally, before they turned another corner, Jasper stopped her. He pushed her back and peaked around the corner quickly before turning back to her. His face was alight with something Elyza thought was akin to glee.
"Alright," he clicked a button on his watch and it lit up green, "we have twenty two minutes to get everyone off of this boat."
"Plenty of time," Elyza let out a breath she'd been holding. She was nervous, there was no telling what kind of reaction they would get once they revealed themselves. Did Alie already know they were there? Or was she completely oblivious? Were her guards warned about them? There was no telling and all of the uncertainty was worming its way in to Elyza's gut.
Jasper nodded, "It'll be fine. There are three guards stationed at the door." He pulled out his gun from the waistband of his jeans and turned off the safety, "Just stay behind me."
Before she could even consider replying he was around the corner and in the open. She quickly followed behind him, grasping for her knife and flicking its serrated blade open. It didn't look half as dangerous as the Glock Jasper was holding, but it would be useful in hand to hand combat. Elyza was used to that type of combat, she'd grown up doing different types of Karate and with a dad who though everything about survival was fun and interesting.
"Stop right there," a low male voice called out warningly. It was gravelly and threatening and sent a shiver down Elyza's spine. That was not a friendly voice. She couldn't see around Jasper's shoulder and felt her heart pick up speed as she stood carefully.
Jasper held up his arms and gestured for Elyza to step out too and mimic his movement. "We're here to tell you that this ship is about to blow up."
Elyza held her hands up to, her thumb resting on the knife in her hand even though her four other fingers weren't wrapped around it. All three guards were male with the same defensive get-up on as the infected Aden had beheaded. The overhead lights glared off of their clear masks which made it difficult to see their facial expressions. The trio had their guns up and trained on the two of them. Two on Jasper and one on Elyza.
Figures, she thought, he is the one with the gun. She wanted to prove that she wasn't one to be underestimated by sending the knife twirling in their direction. Maybe it would embed itself in one of their arms, or maybe a neck if she focused hard enough. But, for now, maybe it would be best if they thought she was some untrained girl with a knife. They didn't need to know about her years of fencing or archery or karate or the amount of time she went hiking with her father. Or how obsessed he was with history and wanted to learn how the people of old had survived. They didn't need to know that she actually was a badass.
"What the hell are you talking about, kid?" the middle soldier called. He was methodically shifting his gun between the two strangers before him, keeping careful eye of their movements while the other two remained silent. Their fingers hovering over the triggers, ready to fire at a moment's notice if either Elyza or Jasper made any sudden movements.
Jasper shrugged, "Someone planted a bomb, and it's going to blow a hole the size of a great white shark in the hull of this ship in about twenty minutes so I suggest you guys help us round up the rest of the people on board so we can get the hell out of here."
"How do we know you're telling the truth?" the middle man asked again, he was clearly their leader. Elyza caught a glimpse of pale skin and a clean shaved jaw when he tilted his head back, but still, it was hard to tell anything about his facial features.
Jasper released a strained chuckle, "If we weren't telling the truth, why would we be trying to rescue you?"
"If there was a bomb on this ship you'd try to save yourselves," the man shot back.
The man with his gun aimed at Elyza spoke up then, "Let's just take them to Alie, she'll know what to do with them."
"We're not takin' 'em to Alie, Diaz," the first guy said, "We can deal with 'em ourselves." The gun fired before Elyza really knew what was happening and suddenly Jasper was on top of her. He threw their bodies to the right, past the wall and back in to cover. They landed hard and the air left Elyza's lungs as did the knife from her hand. She gasped, trying to recover the missing oxygen and scrambled for her knife.
Jasper was pressed tightly against the wall, hands carefully around the gun. "Stay back," he called just as he rolled away from the wall and aimed his gun, shooting off three rounds before rolling back. Just as his back slammed against the wall a spray of bullets peppered the far wall and Elyza nearly squeaked with the suddenness of it.
She might have been well-trained, but she'd never experienced a firefight like this. There had never been a moment when she was seriously in danger. Her father had always been there and it was always a practice or lesson, never something that she could possibly die because of. Even though there was always that risk that something could go wrong, the probability had been substantially smaller than this.
The guns stopped firing and the same sailor called out, "Come on out guys, let's talk about this!"
"There's nothing to talk about," Jasper shouted back, "there's a fucking bomb on this ship! There's dozens of infected and you're down here doing what? Picking your noses? Go get the rest of the crew and get the hell out of here!"
"We're not going anywhere! We have orders!"
Jasper and Elyza exchanged frowns, were they actually taking orders from Dr. Alie? From what Elyza knew they were supposed to be getting them from the Commander on the Pearl Harbor.
"Who's giving you orders?" she asked, her voice less harsh and quieter than Jasper's had been.
There was a moment without an answer. Elyza was sure she heard murmuring between the three men as they discussed what they should tell.
"The Commander."
Neither of them were expecting that answer. Did that mean the Commander wanted all of this experimentation done? Did he want all of this stuff to happen? If so, things were much worse than they originally thought. Which Elyza didn't think was even possible until then.
Before either of them could think of a reply a boot landed heavily around the corner. Elyza had the fleeting thought that there shouldn't be anybody that close to them before a hand grabbed at her arm and twisted it up and between her shoulder blades. She cried out in pain when her shoulder protested at the odd angle and jerked, trying to get herself away from her captor.
Jasper was yanked up next, the gun kicked from his hand before he was placed in the same position as her. His face twisted in pain and he kicked against a clothed shin. "Fuck!"
Elyza tried to lash out with her pocket knife but only managed to get it knocked out of her hand by the butt of a gun to her wrist. The pain throbbed instantly and she yanked her hand back, holding it to the middle of her body. She tried to think of a way to get them out of this situation. All three men were larger and bulkier than her and Jasper, even though her partner was taller than two of them, he didn't have the muscle to take them out if they resisted.
"Let's take them to Alie," her captor suggested eagerly, "she'll know what to do with them."
Before she could really process what she was doing she set her elbow slamming against the man's helmet. It probably jarred her more than it hurt him, but it shocked him so much his hands loosened and she managed to rip herself away from him. She dove for the gun Jasper had been forced to abandon and tried to hold it steady in her hands.
By the time the three of them had begun to react, she was already turning over on her back, bracing her shoulders and firing. She aimed carefully for the parts of the body she knew were the least protected by the protective gear the men wore. Neck. Shoulders. Legs. Any of those areas were her best bet.
The first man dropped instantly after a bullet tore through the center of this throat. The second dropped to his hands and knees as two hit one after the other in to his knee then his thigh, but the final man still had Jasper pressed against his front.
Elyza held the gun steady, aiming it straight at him. But no matter how much she trusted in her abilities, she didn't want to risk injuring Jasper when she fired. So she hesitated, her eyes shifting between Jasper's fearful brown and the partially hidden ones beneath the mask.
The man used his free hand to scramble for a knife that was strapped to a back part of his material belt and pressed it against Jasper's throat, "Drop the gun or I'll kill him." A thin stream of blood rolled down Jasper's neck as the knife dug deeper.
Jasper winced, grimacing in pain, "Shoot him."
She hesitated still, trying to find a spot she could aim for that wouldn't put her friend's life at risk. She couldn't find one, but kept her finger hovering over the trigger if an opportunity arose.
"Drop the gun, kid. I will slit his throat. I have orders." The man snarled, pulling on Jasper's arm harder for emphasis. His shoulder looked like it was ready to pop out of place with just a little more pressure.
"Orders to kill innocent people?"
"We're experimenting for a cure. Dr. Alie is on the verge of a break through, we know it. She told us."
"What if she's lying?" Jasper gasped, clawing fruitlessly at the sailor's ridged forearm around his neck.
The sailor shook his head, "This is about the world, kid, not about some stupid science experiment. This is to save everyone on the sacrifice of a few."
Elyza shook her head and made eye contact with Jasper. They needed to keep him talking to Jasper could find a way to give her an opening to shoot at. "That's bullshit, there isn't a cure. Alie hasn't found anything. You're being lied to. All of your crew members are dead on level one. This is a ghost ship."
That seemed to get him to shut up and his mind whirling. Jasper took his silence as distraction and sent his free elbow flying in to the man's head, similarly to how Elyza had broken free. His heel smashed down on a heavy boot and he pushed his body back against the man.
The sudden onslaught of blows surprised the sailor and he went stumbling backward, pulling the knife away from Jasper just enough for the boy to slip out of his grasp. Elyza took that moment to fire. Three rounds. One embedded itself in his bulletproof vest, the others in an arm and thigh respectively.
He landed on his back with a thud, groaning in pain and shock at what had just happened. Jasper held a hand to his neck and it came away bloody.
"Let me see," Elyza stepped closer, forcing herself to tear her eyes away from the two writhing men on the floor. She tilted Jasper's head towards the light, trying to get a good look at the cut. It wasn't too deep, but was bleeding profusely. It was a good thing the knife hadn't nicked his carotid artery. "You'll live."
The taller boy nodded, taking her word for it, "We need to get out of here." He glanced at his watch, "Less than fifteen minutes before the bomb goes off and this place goes under."
Elyza nodded and pulled the large automatic weapon off of the dead man, his skin was already turning milky and his forever open eyes a filmy, ice blue. She shivered and glanced at the other men, they were still in too much pain to really pay attention to their escaping prisoners. One of them—the one that was shot in the thigh first looked like he was loosing a lot of blood. She guessed that she had hit his femoral artery. He'll be dead soon enough too.
She moved away from them and headed back around the corner. The door to the infirmary was tightly shut at the end of the hallway but once she reached it and twisted the handle, she discovered that it had been left unlocked. Jasper stood behind her, one of the other men's rifle around his shoulder and aimed down and to the side, away from her.
Before yanking the door open, she glanced at him to guarantee he was ready to move forward. He nodded his affirmation before she stepped to the side and pulled at the door, forcing it to twist on its hinges quickly. Jasper stepped forward and over the slight lip in the doorway, toggling his gun from left to right as he scanned the room.
Elyza hadn't been inside of the infirmary before, but it looked like how she would imagine it. Rows of single beds drilled into the ground with their own personal monitoring systems along a long, rectangular room that reminded her of the barracks back over on the Pearl Harbor. Several people occupied beds near the front, their arms hooked up to some long tubes that were attached to another person on the bed next to them.
Several people were moaning and groaning loudly, thrashing a little too. Everyone seemed to be restrained by their wrists and ankles. There weren't any guards in here, which caused both intruders to relax substantially.
"Untie those that aren't infected…or don't look infected. Avoid anyone with fevers." Jasper whispered quickly. The amount of noise in this room was so underwhelming that they both felt the need to be as quiet as possible. Maybe it was being around the sick and dying that made them feel that way.
Elyza nodded her understand before moving to the right side of the room. There were only about six people laying in beds, two of them were thrashing and moaning as if possessed or in an unbearable amount of pain.
The first person she approached was lying still, eyes closed and face pale. She was an older woman with leathery skin and a permanent frown on her deeply lined face. Her forehead was covered in a thin sheen of sweat and her upper lip held evidence of perspiration. Her right forearm had an intravenous needle dug in to the skin and attached to an IV next to her monitor. A clip was attached to her pointer finger of the same hand, monitoring her oxygen and heart rate as she slept.
She didn't open her eyes when Elyza felt her forehead for any sign of a temperature. When the girl realized the older woman was burning up, she had to assume that they could do nothing for her and moved along.
It was probably one of the worst things Elyza had experienced in her entire life. She knew that at least half of these people were sick and she didn't even know what to do about it. There was no medicine to cure them and she couldn't do anything to ease their discomfort. These people were dying and she would have to leave them behind to do so.
The next bed she came across held a restrained man, thrashing and moaning, teeth bared. It wasn't until she had gotten within three feet of him and he turned to face her that Elyza realized he was an infected. His left arm was tied down from wrist to elbow to keep the needle in his arm from being forced out form his movements. His eyes were blue and bloodshot but his skin was still smooth and pale enough to pass for human. He must've recently died, Elyza realized.
She couldn't see any signs of anything that could have dealt the kill blow so she had to assume he had been infected and died. The tube that was attached to his arm was hollow and rubber with a thick red liquid entering or exiting it, she wasn't sure which. As her eyes followed the line to where it originated, she found that it was connected to a man laying uncomfortably still on the bed next to him.
He was pale, almost as pale as the crisp sheets around him, but his chest rose and fell, indicating that he was still alive. He had military short brown hair and a young face, smoothed with a restful sleep. He was well built—from what she could see—and seemed to be completely at peace.
This man was clearly not sick, but being used as a living blood bag. Elyza flew into action suddenly. She pulled the needle from his arm, placing the edge of the sheets over the small wound to keep it from bleeding everywhere. She shut off the monitor with her free hand and pulled off the finger monitor so it wouldn't go off and warn anyone that someone was tampering with their patients.
At the sudden movements the man in front of her woke up. His eyes were a hazy brown-green color that barely seemed capable of focusing on Elyza's face. But she didn't have time to slowly bring him into the land of the living, they needed to be up on deck in less than ten minutes or all of them would be going down with the USS Freedom.
"Can you walk?" She asked, leaning over him so he could see her better.
He nodded, "What—"
"No time for that," she interrupted. "Get up. We have to get out of here." She stepped away from him before he could ask any more questions and moved to the next bed.
This one held another sleeping person, so she quickly treated them to another of the sudden wake-up calls as the previous man. The woman woke up much more slowly, but seemed to in control of herself so Elyza sent her over to assist the man in the bunk next to hers.
The bed next to the woman's held another infected, a man who thrashed and growled, baring his teeth menacingly with insanity in his blue eyes. Elyza would have loved to have been able to put both of them out of their misery—she had come to assume there was no cure for them—but there was no time for any of that. They needed to take the surviving and go.
The last two beds held one sick woman and a dead man. The man must not have been dead for long because he hadn't quite been able to turn yet. He was pale and stiff—rigor mortis already beginning to seep in to his muscles and the warmth to escape from his skin. This one Elyza had the moment to mercy kill before he turned. Nobody deserved to live that way, not with the urge to eat human flesh so she did what she thought was best.
She took his needle out of his arm and brought it around to the soft spot at the back of his neck. She found a spot on the back of his skull, near his spinal cord and stabbed upwards, towards the brain. The resistance wasn't too much back there, she was almost certain she had gotten to some part of the brain stem and hoped it would be enough to keep him from waking up again.
Without taking the needle out she stepped back and turned around to find that Jasper had already taken his time with killing the rest of the infected and herding the five survivors towards the exit. She followed quickly behind, taking up the rear.
"—make sure to stay behind me," she caught the last of his instructions. Clearly they had done what they'd come to do and it was time to get the hell out. Elyza couldn't say she was upset to be leaving. Even if these people had saved her life, she wasn't about to thank them for it. She fully believed that she could have continued to surviving on her own if they hadn't interfered.
Brown eyes caught blue and both of them nodded to each other, keeping their weak survivors between them as they slowly exited the room. Elyza held her gun up after closing the doors, scanning the hallways as they painstakingly moved.
Jasper shot first, firing and killing the two guards who had turned while they had been busy saving people. The dropped to the ground quickly, blood bubbling from bullet wounds in their throats. Somehow Jasper must have gotten the bullet to curve because one of them had an indented cheek where the bullet had curled upward and into the brain.
They continued down the hallway—Elyza dropping to grab her discarded knife from earlier—until they reached the central staircase. Jasper took them cautiously too, careful to make sure that nobody was waiting around corners to attack them.
Elyza found it odd that Alie nor any more of her guards were there to prevent them from leaving, but she couldn't complain. It made it a hell of a lot easier on them. They reached the first landing without any problems, but as soon as Elyza's feet hit it gunfire resounded from above.
Three quick pops of a gun followed by several shouts with one that drowned out the rest, floated from the hallway above. A deep, demanding and overpowering voice that belonged to the one and only Bellamy Blake. Clearly he—and most likely Octavia and Aurora—were fighting some sort of threat and Aden had been successful.
The group of rescued sailors looked exhausted and a little scared. None of them were in any shape to withstand a fight, whether with the infected or living—Elyza wasn't sure.
"Jasper, you get up to the deck. Make sure they get down to the boat, I'll stay back and help the others." She called up to where Jasper stood, hesitating at the step to the next landing.
He looked back down, searching before he met Elyza's eyes. Maybe it was being in such a stressful situation, but she could read the look in his eyes: are you sure you can take them?
She responded with an earnest nod. Even if she wasn't certain of the outcome, she would still have to go help if it meant getting these people before her to safety. Dying to defend the weak was something she could happily oblige to, her father had. It would only be right if she followed in his footsteps.
Jasper stepped to the side, ushering everyone up on to the landing and then up towards the next, keeping them close so he could defend them better. Elyza followed them until they reached the first landing. She hadn't spent much time there except to bypass it on her way to the deck. Gunfire echoed and the hallway grew bright with explosions as the gun power was ignited.
Elyza ducked her head out of the entrance to get a view of what was going on. Bellamy stood in the middle of the corridor with a semiautomatic weapon in his hands. His sister stood to his right, a handgun in one hand and something that looked like a crowbar in the other. There was no sign of Aurora anywhere.
Aden stood a little ahead and to the left of Bellamy, in a spot where several infected had surrounded him. The only thing that was keeping them at bay was the way he twirled and danced with his machete, swinging it in a deadly arch at necks and arms and really anything within range. But they were closing in fast, he wouldn't be able to hold them off for much longer.
"Aim, Bell! Don't just shoot at them! Aim for their heads!" Octavia shouted, a hint of hysteria seeping in to her voice as the horde moved closer.
"What the hell do you think I'm doing, O?" Her brother shouted back, undoubtedly frustrated that they were bickering at a time like this one.
Trying to get a better view of the amount of infected they were up against, Elyza craned her neck and clicked the safety off of her weapon. There only seemed to be about a dozen or so left. Half of them looked like they had been mauled to death themselves while others looked like they had woken up craving brains for breakfast.
From where Elyza stood, it looked like they had enough firepower to kill them off if they used it properly. It would cut out drawing them down to the third floor.
"Octavia!" She shouted, moving closer and aiming her gun. She rested her eye against the scope, aiming and firing quickly.
The brunette turned instantly, relief flooding her features for a split second before returning to focus on the situation at hand. She refocused her eyes on the nearest infected, aimed the gun carefully and fired. Slow and meticulous, just like she'd been taught. "Where the hell have you been, Lex?"
"Busy, sorry. Do you have the radio?" she called, picking out a target and firing. The dead were within five feet of them. While Bellamy continued to fire rapidly, hitting his targets but not in the head, Aden was still stuck in the masses.
Octavia stopped firing and diverted her attention to her pants where she scrambled for the radio that was stuck to her waist. Elyza covered her, firing as more and more dead frenzied towards them. When a radio was tossed in her face, she flinched away, nearly misfiring and hitting Octavia instead of a dead person.
Elyza lowered her weapon and flicked the button on, "Anyone read?"
She waited a moment, listening as her friends kept the approaching horde at bay. "Aussie?"
"Oh thank God, Raven." She took a deep breath, the relief nearly rehabilitating at hearing the familiar voice.
"What's going on up there? It sounds like a massacre!" came a crackling reply.
Elyza risked shutting her eyes, "Bellamy and the others are up here. Don't send Finn, get Harper and Monty and get your asses out of here. We're going to take down the infected on level one."
"Are you sure?" even with the crappy quality, Elyza could hear the concern and doubt in the older girl's voice. "I'm about to set the bomb. That means five minutes, Lex."
Elyza growled before pressing down on the transmission button, "Yes, I'm sure. We'll take care of it and meet you up there."
There was a moment of static when Raven didn't reply, "Okay, I set it. Good luck."
"Roger." Elyza flicked off the button and stuck the radio into her belt. She settled her hand back around the trigger and readied herself to aim. Tensing her shoulders she fired, slowly but surely picking off the dead, one by one. They were easy targets to hit, all they did was move forward. They had no ulterior motives like living people did. They wanted a meal and they saw it right in front of them, nothing more and nothing less.
Aden did not pick his way back towards them, but remained where he was, his back nearly against the wall as he bludgeoned and sliced with a fury Elyza wasn't sure a fourteen year old should possess. After several minutes of gunfire there were more than two dozen bodies slouched on the ground. Dead.
Elyza's ears rang and her shoulders ached from the recoil of the gun and tension she felt in her back. Her breathing came heavily, she hadn't realized at the time that she had been holding her breath with every shot she'd fired.
"Aden?" She called, her voice sounding quiet out loud but loud and ragged in her own head.
"Here!' he beckoned her over with his bloody machete. All three of them ran in his direction, tripping over bodies and slipping in blood.
When she approached him, he was kneeling over a particular body. Elyza couldn't get a good look, but their legs are still moving. Bellamy and Octavia moved forward quickly, roughly pushing Aden out of the way. Aurora.
She was laying on her back, breathing coming raggedly. Her arms and chest were bloody, which made it difficult to determine her injuries. But it was obvious she wasn't going well.
"We have less than five minutes. Get her up." Elyza murmured, trying to sound as compassionate as she could with the thought that they could all be drowning within the next three minutes.
Bellamy shot her a hard looking, making his normally melted chocolate eyes turn hard as unyielding as packed dirt. But he didn't say anything, only scooped his mother up into his arms and standing with a grunt.
"Hang in there, ma," he whispered, but not quietly enough for the rest of them not to hear. Octavia stood as close to him as she dared, her fingers laced with her mother's as they carefully picked their way back through the bodies.
Octavia and Bellamy hurried towards the stairs ahead of Aden and Elyza, who hung back and scanned their surroundings for any signs of a threat. Elyza didn't know it, but Aden was just glancing at her every couple of seconds, trying to mimic her tall stance and carefully observant gaze. It would have been laughable if they hadn't been in such a precarious situation.
The boy himself was covered in a heavy layer of infected blood and several pieces of flesh, guts or some type of innards. He didn't seem to mind it much, even wore it with pride the way his back was held. Where the hell had this kid come from?
They made it to the deck quickly enough and Elyza desperately wished for a watch in that moment. How much longer did they really have? Octavia ran over to the Jacob's ladder and beckoned to the rest of them. Elyza and Aden stayed behind Bellamy as he struggled to hold his mother's weight and run at the same time.
The siblings helped maneuver their mother over the edge, where she grabbed on to the ladder and Octavia made sure to stay underneath her to keep her steady. Elyza glanced over the railing and down at the low sitting, crowded boat below them and then up at the still burning city behind them.
A helicopter and several jets flew overhead, circling like gigantic vultures. They seemed to be waiting for something. Then she heard it—the rip of the sound barrier—something much bigger than fighter jets and water carrying planes were coming their way. Before her very eyes, she saw a black streak cross the night sky. Several object fell from it at hundred foot intervals.
"Oh shit," Elyza muttered, unable to comprehend exactly what was going on.
The bombs hit land not seconds later and the sound was almost deafening. The ship itself rocked and there were several shouts from below.
"Hey!" a shout came from deeper in the ship. Elyza turned quickly, but not fast enough. A gun fired and Aden was abruptly thrown backward, away from Elyza. He turned toward her, his eyes wide with shock and fear before it crumbled in to pain. He clutched at his back, faltering backwards.
Elyza saw the gunman, but couldn't do much about it. "Run, Aden!" she shouted, pushing his stumbling form towards cover. Another shot was fired and ricocheted off of a metal pole she had just barely passed.
"Keep moving," she murmured to Aden, who was whimpering softly but listened to what she said nonetheless.
They bypassed the turret stationed near the bow of the ship, entering open territory between it and a storage unit.
"Stop!"
Elyza froze and turned, keeping Aden behind her when she did so. The soldier was edging closer and closer, trying to stay steady as the large waves rocked underneath them from the aftershocks of several bombs being dropped on a city.
Boom! Another explosive went off, but much closer than the ones on land. The ship rocked precariously, sending the gunman toppling over and the two kids nearly falling themselves. Elyza managed to keep them up by bracing her hand against the railing.
Without thinking, Elyza scooped Aden up in to her arms and took off sprinting for the other side of the ship. It was leaning at a steep angle towards the port side, lending Elyza speed she didn't know she could have. She jumped, her foot landing on the much lower railing before she careened forward and off of the edge of the ship into pitch black water.
A gun went off and an explosion of stinging, burning pain laced through her shoulder and neck. The last thing she saw before the darkness and pain took over was a fiery orange skyline.
A/N: To elaborate on my above author's note, I am really sorry this chapter was so late. I had a problem with a plotline I really wanted to include, but then had another idea that needed the end result of the other plotline not to happen (if that makes any sense). So I stressed about that for an extra day. After I got that figured out though, I kind of went a little overboard, so I'm hoping the length of this chapter makes up for the lateness of it. Also, I got a job (finally) and I start on June 15 so that means I'll probably be posting less or possibly just not being accurate on when I say I'm going to post. Then again it is Friday (technically Saturday, my clock says 12:55 AM) so I am once again late.
But anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Leave a Review/Favorite/Follow this story if you love it, or maybe only passively like it because eh what else do you have to do, right?
PS: For those of you who have been asking about Alicia, don't worry. The day is coming. Hopefully sometime next week will be when she shows up. Chapter 13 seems to be her lucky chapter ;) So look forward to seeing her! Or well, reading her.