A/N: So are you ready for some Alicia Clarke? There might not be any serious interactions between our Lexark but I mean, its getting rolling! I hope you enjoy! I was really excited to get this chapter out! ~TGF

Chapter Thirteen: Abigail

Alicia fiddled with the cord of the CB Radio, her eyes skimming the horizon from the deck of the Abigail. She was curled up on a seat, basking in the early morning sunlight while scanning any channels for signs of life. It was a despondent job to have and one her mother had clearly invented to keep her busy.

The ocean normally held a beauty and reserved ferocity that calmed her, but today she was feeling a tightening in her gut she chalked up to her attempts at coping with the apocalypse. The serenity and normality of the emerging day would normally mean her family was going to have a relaxing day at the beach, but now it meant they were searching for a safe place to go.

There was no telling how bad land was, they were too far off shore to tell and Strand wasn't telling anyone where they were heading. San Francisco? It didn't seem like a logical choice to her. But did she really have a choice in the matter? Of course not, she was only a child and her mother was going to continue to treat her like one until the day she was dead.

"Lisha!" Speak of the devil.

"Here, mom!" she shouted back, turning towards the walkway she knew her mother was going to be coming from.

Blonde hair whipped around the corner and Madison Clark stood there, hands on her hips. Sometimes Alicia wondered why she had to look so much like her father. Her mother was so fair, they looked like they might not even be related, especially with her tanned skin and dark hair. Madison was already beginning to show signs of burning, even though she tried to stay inside as often as possible.

"What are you doing out here? You're going to burn," Madison placed her hands on her hips, a picturesque version of an annoyed mother.

Burning is the least of our worries right now, "Nothing, I just feel too, I don't know, cramped in there."

Madison shook her head, "Well, did you put on sunblock?"

"Yes, mom," the lie rolled off of her tongue almost as perfectly as her eyes did in their sockets.

Without anything else to say, her mother turned away, heading back in the direction she'd come from. Madison couldn't help but worry about her kids, the situation they were in wasn't something any of them were dealing with well. But when it came to Alicia, her daughter didn't like to talk very much. She was too independent to come to Madison if she needed to talk so Madison was forced to approach her.

Madison sighed and made her way back inside, nearly running into Strand as she turned a corner. The taller man caught her by her arms before she went tumbling backwards too far.

"My apologies, Madison, I was just looking for you," Strand smiled and removed his hands, stepping back quickly. He shifted from foot to foot, hands flitting over his clothes and picking at nonexistent lint. Madison had learned very quickly that Strand wasn't a man to sit still for very long, so she was used to his constant movement. But this was different, he clearly had something to say.

"What's going on, Strand?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest and narrowing her eyes.

Strand cleared his throat and glanced around, as if fearing being overheard. Daniel was leaning against the side of the boat, a fishing pole in his hand. He didn't seem to be paying attention to what was going on around him, but that was what Daniel did. The man acted as though he wasn't very attentive, just a simple fisherman in that moment, but he was almost certainly listening.

"Come with me," his eyes lingered on Daniel and his hand reached out to guide Madison up the stairs and into the captain's control room. He pulled her straight over to the navigation and tracking console. He pointed at a dot, "there's something heading our way."

Madison was surprised to hear that, they hadn't had any interaction with people since they'd gotten on the boat. She didn't know how far off shore they were, but they had to be pretty far since they couldn't see land. Nick and Strand were the ones who focused on navigation, Madison didn't really know much about it and was more interesting in making sure everyone around her was well taken care of.

She stared at the screen for a little longer then gestured to the other dots, "What are those? Other ships too?"

"We're not sure," Strand shrugged and stood up straighter, "could be multiple ships, or it could be some type of wreck. But they're less than five mile away, we should be able to see them if they were ships."

"Could they be under water?"

Strand shook his head, "I don't think so."

"Mom! Travis!"

While Madison had been talking to Strand, Alicia had picked up the binoculars laying by her feet to examine the surrounding ocean. Sometimes she would see dolphins or even whales if she was lucky, but she was secretly hoping to see another person. She loved her family, of course, but spending so much time with them on a boat—no matter how large said boat was—was a little frustrating and largely stifling.

After a couple of minutes of scanning, she'd spotted a shimmering she wasn't accustomed to associating with the ocean. Alicia followed the unknown object until it came into focus. It looked like a floating piece of dark sheet metal. She yanked the binoculars away from her eyes and blinked several times, trying to see the metal from the greater distance.

When she didn't see anything, she brought them back, searching for it again. She found it as it dipped and rose in the waves and caught a glimpse of something large slumped over it. Half of the sheet was tilted high into the air, ready to flip any moment from the weight on the other end.

She called her parents' names and tossed the radio to the side, standing up. Alicia hurried to the railing and a spark of hope took ahold of her stomach. More people, maybe? She hoped so, there was new information to be heard from people. Maybe they had a safe place…or maybe they needed one but it didn't really matter.

Travis and Strand came over and Alicia's mom approached from behind her, placing a hand at the base of her daughter's spine. She handed Travis the binoculars when he asked what was wrong and pointed him in the right direction. It took a couple of moments of guidance for him to see it.

When he did he yanked the binoculars away and squinted, trying to see it in the same way as Alicia had in the first place. "I think there's people on it." He murmured so quietly, it was hard to hear. He sounded like he didn't believe it himself.

"What?" Strand exclaimed and stole the binoculars from Travis. He looked through them and without guidance, found the floating device out there. He glanced at Travis once, eyes wide, "We're not rescuing them. This is my ship."

"Strand—"

"No, this is my ship," he repeated and tossed the device in his hand onto the seat Alicia had previously resided.

Until that moment, Madison had remained silent, "What if those people out there know what those objects on the radar are?"

"What objects?" Travis questioned and Alicia mimicked his look. This was the first time she'd heard about it herself.

Strand clenched his jaw, a glint in his eyes that Alicia couldn't place before it was whipped away with a straightening of his tie, "Something I saw on the radar. It's not important. We can't trust anyone right now and we especially cannot afford to waste resources on strangers."

"We were strangers and you saved us," Travis reasoned.

"I saved you because I see potential in Nick. I didn't have much of a choice. But I can't go around saving every poor soul floating in the ocean or we'll be the next ones to die." Strand shot back before turning on his heels. Clearly this conversation was over for him, but Alicia was another story.

"Mom," she pleaded, turning to face her mother who watched Strand walk away with an uncertain frown. "We can't just leave them out there."

Madison faced her daughter finally, noticing the determined clench of her jaw underneath the light, pleading tone she used. Alicia wasn't going to take this lightly if Madison refused to help her.

She patted Alicia's arm as reassuringly as she could, "Let me go talk to him, sweetie."

Alicia nodded and turned to Travis, who had taken up the binoculars from the couch and was looking out at the ocean once again. He didn't say anything to her, only rested his elbows against the shifting railing of the yacht and looking down at the water.

"Hey, what's going on?" Nick's voice came from around the corner, "I heard Alicia shout." He came into view and noticed Travis. His eyes fell to Alicia's and an eyebrow rose up his forehead as he pointed. It was a silent, what's he doing? That was easily for the younger sibling to understand. They had a very fundamental understanding of each other, sometimes it almost seemed supernatural.

"We found people," a bubble of excitement was building in the middle of her chest. Through all of the despair and hopelessness she'd been feeling for the last couple of days, she'd allowed herself to feel something a little more positive.

Nick's body seemed to tense imperceptibly. Alicia only noticed because she knew him so well, "Are they dead?"

"I don't think so," Alicia replied, "But Strand doesn't want to check."

Nick shrugged, "Maybe that's a good thing."

Alicia punched his shoulder hard, "We're not the dead, Nick. This isn't a war against each other, this is a war against the dead. We need to look out for every living human." She paused, "Idiot." She added as an afterthought to make it seem less serious.

Her brother grinned and rubbed his shoulder, "Ow and okay, let's go get them."

"What do you have in mind?" Travis asked.

Nick's plan was to steal the inflatable boat stored away in the hull of the ship. How they would manage to avoid Strand catching them hadn't been discussed before the three of them had maneuvered their way around to the back of the boat. Alicia only hoped that they managed to get everything set up and they were too far away when Strand and Madison noticed.

Travis and Nick worked the controls and maneuvered the much smaller boat into the water while Alicia grabbed whatever supplies they would need. She found a medical kit in one of the storage compartments along with a small Ruger .38 Special caliber revolver tucked underneath an oily towel. There was never being too safe, so she tucked it into her pants after checking for bullets. Only three already in the gun but it would have to do.

She glanced behind her, but her co-conspirators were too busy with the boat to notice her hide the firearm. Strand's words echoed in her head and she felt a little safer with the slight weight of the gun digging into her spine.

"Alicia, let's go. Now." Travis called. His hand was clenched around the edge of the boat as it shifted in the small waves.

She stood up straight and grabbed the medical kit before taking Travis's extended hand. She set the kit down and settled herself onto the floor of the boat, resting her head back against the inflated sides. Nick stood at the engine, yanking smoothly at the pull cord to start it.

The engine growled to life for a second before going dead and Nick cursed under his breath before renewing his efforts. After the third time, it started and he turned, settling himself down next to it so he could control it.

Travis stood in the bow, bracing his legs at the converging point of the sides while he looked through the binoculars he'd kept with him. He shouted directions to Nick, who captained the ship away from The Abigail.

It only took them a few minutes of speeding away from the much larger yacht to coast and then stop next to the metal sheet. When Alicia finally got a good look, she noticed a boy and a girl. Both of them looked unconscious, with the girl laying over the boy, as if to protect him from whatever was after them.

The girl's face was hidden under twisted tendrils of blonde hair, but the boy's lips looked blue and he was shaking involuntarily. Both of them were soaked through completely with the chilly ocean water.

Travis leaned over and grabbed the girl by the back of the camouflage jacket, "Alicia, help." He grunted with the weight of her once he shifted her.

Alicia stood and moved with unsteady sea legs. She grabbed the unconscious girl's hands and helped Travis heave her over the edge and into the boat. The blonde didn't make a noise, but Alicia knelt down next to her, pushing her drenched hair out of her face.

Blood was the first thing she noticed, it was stained into the collar of her white shirt and still oozing from somewhere under the mess of hair. Alicia couldn't focus on her for long before the boy was pulled into the boat with a whimpering moan.

He shifted next to her, rotating on to his back as she looked to face him. His eyes were open and bright with fever, his hand found her arm. It felt like ice against her skin, but it was strong and insistent, "Elyza." The word were weak and rough, but still audible just before his head slumped back and his eyes fluttered closed. His hand went slack against her arm and fell flat against the floor.

"Turn us around, Nick. We need to get these two warm quickly. And your mother is probably going to kill me," he murmured the last part much more quietly, but Alicia still caught it because she was sitting so close to him.

She grabbed the medical kit and popped the plastic locks open before lifting it open. Plastic bags of medical supplies sat in an organized fashion within. Nothing seemed out of place but Alicia really didn't know where to start. She'd barely gotten through biology dissections without feeling sick to her stomach.

Instead of going through what she had, she grabbed a handheld towel and turned to look at the girl—Elyza—first. She brushed the faded, dirty blonde tendrils away from her neck. Alicia explored the expanse of pale skin with her fingers until she came in contact with a slick substance.

Pulling her hand away, she finally noticed the blood and tried to press the cloth to the bleeding spot. Elyza shifted a little, but Alicia wasn't exactly sure if she'd done it voluntarily or the boat jumping over waves at such high speeds had moved her. Either way, she tangled her free hand in the girl's hair to keep her head steady as she applied more pressure to the wound.

She glanced over her shoulder while she maintained pressure to look at the boy sprawled out next to her. He looked okay. There was a cut on his lower lip and a faint bruise on his left cheekbone. His left arm was curled around his hip and sticky red blood stuck to his arm. Clearly he was injured too.

But Alicia would have to worry about that later when she had another pair of hands to assist her. She had no clue where to start when it came to treating someone for injuries, but there wasn't much to do when they were all being jolted and thrown every which way.

Alicia glanced down at the blonde girl before her. Her face was slack with sleep and she looked completely at peace in such a chaotic situation. Just looking at her seemed to quell the raging butterflies in her stomach and the adrenaline coursing through her veins seemed to ease considerably. Her heart calmed as her eyes traced over beautiful pale features. A strong jaw, rounded chin and high, square cheekbones that defined a very strong angular face framed by blonde hair that would probably radiate gold if it wasn't so wet.

The steady feeling of the boat slowing was what drew Alicia's attention back to her brother, who was calling her name. He was staring at her impatiently, waving his hand in her direction.

She gave him an irritated once over, hoping she hadn't been caught staring, "What?" she snapped.

"Help Travis get the kid out." He pointed to Travis who had said boy's booted feet in his hands and was waiting for her.

Alicia reluctantly untangled her fingers from blonde tresses and dropped the towel, but left it laying over Elyza's neck. She noticed that they were settled against the deck of the Abigail again. Ofelia and Strand stood on the upper neck, staring down at the five people in the boat. Strand had his arms crossed over his chest with a disapproving look on his face, he looked on the verge of getting angry to Alicia. Ofelia appeared confused and a little off put by the unconscious members of the returning party.

Madison and Chris stood on the lower deck, ready to help with the two deadweights and transfer them onto the large vessel. Daniel was nowhere to be seen, he was always like a silent, ghostly member of their sad excuse of a crew.

She turned away and moved so she was standing over the boy's head and grabbed him by his armpits. Together, she and Travis lifted the boy over the edge of the inflatable dingy before settling him as softly as possible on the wooden deck of the Abigail.

"Did you check for bites, Alicia?" Madison asked, a hint of condescension in her tone that set Alicia's pulse pounding wildly all of the sudden. Ever since the world had turned to shit her patience had run thin with just about everyone.

"No, mom," she tried to calm the furious shake of her voice as she looked over at the older woman, but only succeeded in making her voice sound like a growl, "I was too busy trying to actually help them."

Her mom stared at her, jade eyes dared ice blue to question her one more time. Alicia wasn't exactly sure what she would do if her mom continued treating her like such a child.

Nick's hand brushed against her arm and the staring contest between mother and daughter were broken, "Let's get the girl." His voice was low and soothing. Alicia nodded after a second, focusing on the situation at hand.

She and Nick picked up Elyza and placed her below the boy, her head nearly touching the soles of his boots. Madison moved to her while Chris looked the boy over for bite marks. He didn't seem at all comfortable with his job, but did it anyway.

"I don't see anything," he said finally, "but he does have a cut on his hip. It's still bleeding."

Travis kneeled next to him at those words, placing a hand on his son's shoulder. He examined the injury Chris pointed at, "I think it needs stitches."

"Nobody here has that type of skill."

"My father probably does," Ofelia called down, bitterness laced in her voice. She still held ill feelings towards her father's lies. That was probably why he wasn't on the deck, he knew when he wasn't wanted and was probably trying to avoid his daughter.

Alicia nodded, "Good, we need to get them inside. Now."

Strand took this moment to add his two cents, "I said they weren't to come on my ship."

Frustration and impatience thundered through Alicia's veins. The man was being stubborn for no reason. They all lived on the ship, they had all saved each other ten times over since the end of the world. There was no one leader anymore. They didn't owe each other anything, they were family. But Strand had to make this all about his damn ship.

"Strand," Madison tried to pacify the man, "they're just kids. They aren't bitten and they need medical attention. Just let us take care of them for a little bit. We can drop them off somewhere once they're healthy."

Alicia's heart dropped in her chest at the last words. Where would they drop them? Would they really decided to go their separate ways if these two survivors had a safe place of their own? Would Alicia's people decide that they could find a better place? Knowing Strand, probably.

"—on the boat, Alicia."

"Huh?" she glanced at her mother, who was looking at her expectantly.

"Help me take the girl inside. She's still bleeding."

Somehow, during Alicia's musings the rest of the group had come to a conclusion she wasn't sure of. Chris and Travis were already hauling the boy up the steep stairs to the upper deck carefully, making sure they wouldn't slip. Strand and Ofelia had disappeared already and Nick was pulling the dingy back up onto the ship to put back into its alcove.

Alicia nodded to her mother and grabbed Elyza's shoulders. She was still out cold and weighed enough for Alicia and Madison to struggle with her as they grabbed arms and legs. It took several hot minutes to get the girl into an empty room with two twin beds pressed closely together.

They passed Chris in the hallway, who gave her a narrow-eyed glare for no reason at all. When they entered the room, the boy was lying on one of the beds and Travis was pulling his shirt over his head. The boy's skin was pasty white but held slight definition of muscles for such a young kid.

Madison and Alicia put Elyza on the free bed.

"We need to get them warm," Travis said. "Take off her shirt and pants, then wrap her in a blanket."

Madison followed instructions, peeling off the girl's army jacket, then her red stained tank top and finally her boots and pants. Once she was only in her bra and underwear, Alicia untucked the impeccably made bedsheets and wrapped them over the blonde. She stuffed either side under the unconscious girl's hips, leaving her looking like an overstuffed burrito.

Alicia glanced over at the boy, feeling a sense of protection and the need to make sure Travis was doing everything right.

"She's still bleeding," Madison murmured from beside Elyza. She was leaning over her and brushing the blonde hair way from the girl's neck. "I think she's going to need stitches too."

With a deep breath, Alicia made her way over to the girl, leaning over to examine the wound. It was still bleeding, but not so badly that it would be worrying. But the cut was a long, even laceration that extended along the tendons of her neck, nearly grazing over her earlobe. It was uncharacteristically straight, normally when someone had such a long cut it wasn't so perfect. "What could make it that straight?" she mused silently.

"A bullet," Nick's voice came from the threshold of the room. When Alicia glanced up, he was leaning against the door, his head resting on the wall. His eyes were on her, but his next words were for Madison and Travis, "Mom, Travis, Strand wants you guys."

"What about—" Madison tried to protest.

"Alicia's got it," he grinned at Alicia, his dark eyes challenging, "She can take care of herself. They're unconscious."

"But what if they wake up?" Travis asked, "I don't think it's safe."

Nick rolled his eyes and made an impatient noise in the back of his throat, "If they attack her she'll scream and we'll know, right?"

"Yeah, I'll scream," Alicia replied reluctantly. She would definitely not be screaming.

"Good," Nick pulled away from the door and grabbed something on the other side of the wall. "Here," he brought it around and set a chair against the wall at the foot of Elyza's bed.

Alicia went over and sat down, glancing at her parents. The insistent pressure of the revolver in the back of her pants reminded her that she did have a weapon and could take care of herself if the need arose. But she had a sense that she wouldn't be needing protection.

Both Travis and Madison looked at the teenager dubiously, they didn't think she'd be able to take this type of responsibility. Honestly, she'd been taking care of herself for years. Her mother had always been too worried about where Nick was or what Nick was doing or if Nick needed to go back into rehab to really worry about what her daughter was up to. She was the invisible child, always in the background and taking care of herself.

"I'm fine, mom," she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. To prove she was really at ease, Alicia plopped her sneaker covered shoes on Elyza's bed.

Both of the adults couldn't seem capable of coming up with an argument and followed Nick out of the room. Her brother closed the door and left her alone with the two unconscious strangers. Their breathing was steady and it was only a matter of time before they woke up.

Alicia pulled the gun from her waistband and placed it on the nearby bedside table before retaking her seat. Now we wait.

A/N: Thoughts? Feelings? Did I get the FearTWD characters written well? Love it? Hate it? Let me knooooooooow! ~TGF