A/N: Here is the anticipated chapter of Alicia and Elyza's first conscious
Chapter Fourteen: Alicia Clark
Elyza awoke groggily and slowly, as if her consciousness was forced to fight through the fogginess of oblivion. Her body felt heavy and her head was throbbing insistently. Fuck, what did I drink last night?
For a few blissful moments she thought everything that had happened to her up until then had been a dream. What apocalypse? She was clearly laying in her own bed at her own university after a hard night of partying.
But something was different, something felt weird. The bed was too springy and her neck ached in a way that wasn't at all familiar to her. Then it came back, everything that had happened. The undead, the death and destruction that followed her after the airport. Tears came springing to her eyes at the horrifying nightmares that were now her life.
Then she remembered the boat, the explosions and the man with the gun. Her mind ran through everything on the Freedom had led up to her jumping over the edge and falling into the freezing ocean below her with Aden tucked in her arms.
Her heart thumped in her chest but she tried to remain still, her instincts told her someone was in the room with her. The unfamiliar room that smelled like vanilla and something tart and a little spicy. Elyza allowed her senses to expand, trying to calm her erratic breathing as to not alert whoever was in the room.
Elyza heard the shifting of pages and the insistent purr of an engine. Still on a boat, she realized and her head pounded harder as she focused on the continuous motion underneath her. It would have been easy to forget she was moving, the area around her felt large, but in that moment she was too focused on it.
Grime and crust making it difficult to peel her eyelids open when she decided it was safe enough to do so. Her head was angled to the side and the first thing her bleary eyes fell on was a gun. A gun. She felt a deep in the bed near her feet shift before disappearing completely as the person sitting there shifted.
Someone was watching her or supposed to be. It took Elyza a couple of seconds to process what she was going to be doing. She thought it through, keeping her body calm against every nerve in her body that told her she needed to move and defend herself. She didn't know these people, she didn't know what their motives were or why the hell she wasn't drifting in the middle of the ocean.
Elyza closed her eyes again, imagining what she was going to do made it a lot easier for her body to do effortlessly. Pull your feet up, roll off the bed, and grab the gun, crouch and aim. The person was at the foot of her bed and not paying any attention, it would be easy enough.
Allowing herself a deep breath that made her ribs ache as her chest expanded, she jumped into action. Her feet thudded onto the ground, her hand wrapped around the light weight of the gun and pulled back the hammer spur.
Eyes searching the room quickly, they fell upon dark hair and a furrowed brow, beautiful pouty lips and smooth, tanned skin. A girl, a part of her realized, a pretty girl. The shock of the unexpected realization in such problematic circumstances caused Elyza to hesitate. Focus.
After a moment, she raised the gun, aiming it directly at the girl's chest. Eyes popped up at her sudden movement and Elyza's heart fluttered in the most peculiar way. Such pretty eyes. The girl scrambled to her feet, dropping an open book onto the floor and holding her hands up in surrender.
Her eyes were wide and shining, a vivid, bright green that reminded Elyza of those green apple Jolly Ranchers. She was young, probably younger than Elyza but definitely older than Aden. She could have been the same age as Octavia. The thought of the younger girl caused icy fingers to wrap around her heart and squeeze. Where were the rest?
Elyza cleared her throat, keeping her hand and speech steady as she asked, "Where am I?" her voice was rough and dry, nearly hoarse with lack of use.
The brunette's mouth opened and closed several times before she licked her lips, "On-on a yacht. I – we rescued you and…" she gestured to the bed on the left side of Elyza, "your brother? He said your name was Elyza."
The blonde risked taking her eyes off the brunette for a second to see that Aden was lying on the bed next to her, still unconscious. She allowed her second to survey him. When she found no signs of surface injuries she turned back to the girl.
"How many people are on this boat?"
The girl glanced at the cracked door, "Eight?"
"Is that a question or an answer?"
Annoyance flashed in those green eyes and if a gun hadn't been trained on her, Elyza was certain the girl would have rolled her eyes. But she didn't, instead, she wiggled her fingers, "Will you put the gun down? I'm not going to hurt you."
"I'll put it down when you answer my bloody questions," she tried to make it sound like a threatening growl, but Elyza was pretty sure she just sounded ridiculous.
When the corner of the strange girl's mouth quirked upwards, her fear was confirmed. "You can keep the gun, I'll answer your questions. But I don't think this is how you have a conversation with the person who saved you."
"Last time someone saved me that knocked me out and carried me out here against my will. Sorry if I don't trust you, love." The endearment slipped out through the bitterness of the rest of her words, sounding much softer even to Elyza's own ears.
Another crook of those tantalizing lips and a raise of a challenging eyebrow made her lower the gun and click the hammer back into place. "Do you have any weapons?"
That caused the brunette to laugh, "No, you have my gun. It probably wasn't smart to put it right next to you."
"Probably not," amusement crept into Elyza's voice and her shoulders relaxed considerably. The girl's laugh was melodious and the sound instantly eased some of the tension in the room.
The brunette lowered her arms and moved slowly, her eyes resting on the gun still lazily resting in Elyza's hand. She lowered herself into her chair at the end of the bed as gradually as possible, trying not to spook the woman with the gun.
"Can we agree to be civil?" she asked, resting her elbows on her knees.
Elyza nodded once before allowing her gaze to explore the room further. Two sleek, twin sized beds with impeccable gray sheets and furniture that was curved, glossy and modern. Rich. She licked her lips and looked back at the girl, she was dressed in a simple black t-shirt with some type of beach design Elyza couldn't see. She had jeans and white sneakers on, but there was little sign of a hiding spot for weapons.
She realized her own nudity when the girl's eyes kept drifting down lower than her face. She stood in the middle of the room in just her underwear and bra, "Where the hell are my clothes?"
"You were freezing and unconscious, we needed to get you out of your wet clothes," the girl replied matter-of-factly. She nodded her head to the dresser next to her where a set of clothes were folded neatly. "I found those for you, I'm not sure if they'll fit though. You have," her eyes drifted down to Elyza's chest before flitting back up nervously, "a larger chest than I do."
The way she cleared her throat and those green orbs drifted over her made Elyza's entire body buzz. She'd never felt this conscious of her own body before. Every cell seemed to scream at the amount of attention she was receiving, it made her heart pound uncomfortably hard in her chest.
"Like what you see?" she blurted, great fucking time to flirt, Lex. "I mean," she continued before things could get too awkward if the stranger replied, "will you grab them for me?" she asked, wrenching her eyes away from the magnetic green ones to look over at Aden.
The brunette stood, still maintaining a stubborn, ridged posture but still managed to move fluidly without making it seem like she was doing something that could cause Elyza to shoot her. She grabbed the clothes, a pair of gray pants with rips in the knees and a loose looking long-sleeved t-shirt.
Elyza risked placing the gun beside her on the bed she had vacated to pull the snug pants on. Then further risked it by taking her eyes off of the brunette to pull the shirt over her head and yank it over her upper body. "Ah fuck," she winced, her hand instantly going to her neck where the sting of a cut suddenly throbbed at her movements. She pulled the sleeves up to her elbows.
"Yeah, you got shot. My mom thinks it needs stitches."
"Great," she replied sarcastically, looking at the blood on her fingers. "Just bloody fucking great."
"Where are you from?" the brunette asked, curiosity winning over her reasoning to just play it cool and allow this to play out the way it was going to.
Elyza shrugged and avoided the question by asking her own, "How's he doing?"
"He's got a wound on his hip, I haven't gotten a good look at it. But he's been shivering, my dad thinks he might have gotten sick. He told me your name was Elyza, right?"
The blonde clenched her jaw and wiped her bloodied hand on the sheets with a grimace, "I guess," she grumbled, "are you the medical expert on this boat?' she asked dubiously, giving the young girl a once over.
A sharp chin jutted forward and up at the doubtful and accusatory tone, "No, I'm not. But we have to get by somehow." There was a hard, defensive edge to her voice.
Elyza turned away from her, "How long have we been here?" she tried to think back to those last moments on the ship. Had Raven and the others gotten away safely? Could they have been too close when the explosion had gone off? Were they dead?
"A couple of hours, no idea how long you were in the water though."
Elyza began pacing, her mind was running too fast for her to stay still. She ran a hand through her hair and realized that it was grimy and full of salt. With a grimace she rubbed her hands together to get rid of the filmy feeling. Her throat was dry and her entire body was throbbing.
"I'm going to get you something to drink," the brunette said after a couple of seconds of silence, "don't go anywhere, nobody knows you're awake yet."
"Wait," Elyza called out after the door pulled open, "what's your name?"
The brunette tensed and turned to face her, "Wow, you can be civil?
Elyza rolled her eyes with a huff, realizing that she was probably being an asshole. But it didn't really matter because surviving meant being an asshole, "Sorry, I didn't realize civility was relevant after the apocalypse occurred."
The strange girl crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall, next to the open doorway. Her eyes caught Elyza's before they rolled, "I was wrong, you can't be civil."
A part of Elyza felt kind of sorry so instead of responding with another sharp comment she went for something a little more appropriate, "I'm sorry. My name is Elyza Lex. Thanks for saving my life. What's your name?" She stepped forward and held her right hand out between the two of them.
"Alicia Clark, and you're welcome. Though, I am starting to regret it, right about now," Alicia retorted, she didn't hold out her hand. Instead, she turned away, slipped out of the room and closed the door behind her with a resounding click.
Rather than dwell on the snarky Alicia Clark for longer than was absolutely necessary, Elyza stepped over to Aden who was still lying unconscious on the bed next to hers. He was wrapped in the comforter but his forehead was glistening with sweat even though his lower lip trembled with chills.
Elyza unwrapped him from the sheets and jumped a little when she realized he was almost naked, besides a pair of boxers. She didn't concentrate on it though, only trailed her eyes over his body in search of injuries. Her attention drifted to the oozing wound at his hip.
It was long and thin, a graze of some sort that wasn't coagulating properly. The comforter was slowly saturating with Aden's blood as it dripped over his hipbone. If the bleeding kept up he could easily go into shock, depending the amount he had lost already.
Elyza grabbed the comforter and dabbed the edge gently against the surroundings of the wound. Once the general area was clear of blood that was quickly being replaced, she noticed the intact skin around the injury was burned and that it really needed to be cleaned out.
Other than that one wound, there was no evidence of any life-threatening injury. Several bruises and surface lacerations covered Aden's torso, but besides that, he was fine. His body began shivering suddenly and his lower lip trembled.
Out of curiosity, Elyza placed her hand over his forehead. It was damp, sweaty and hot. Scalding hot. Too hot for it to be remotely healthy. He was sick.
The door clicked open causing Elyza to jump at the sudden, unexpected noise. She turned and found Alicia struggling with a pitcher of water, a plastic glass and a large red plastic box. Elyza hurried over when she nearly tipped the water over and grabbed for the pitcher.
"Woah, careful there, klutz," Elyza smirked and set the pitcher on the bedside table.
Alicia just sent her a glare before handing her the glass and then setting the plastic box on the vacated bed, "I brought the first aid kit. Now that you're awake we should probably clean your wound."
Elyza poured herself a glass of water and stared at the gun laying on the bed while bringing the cup to her mouth. The amount of anxiety and nerves running through her veins was beginning to take its told. She wasn't sure if she really cared of Alicia decided to grab the gun and aim it at her. She was too tired, too sore and just too done.
She finished drinking the glass with a happy sigh and filled the cup up once again. This time, she didn't drink from it, but moved over to stand next Alicia, "I can take care of that, I just need a mirror."
Alicia looked up from the box to stare at her in disbelief, "We don't have a mirror in here and you're not going out there," she pointed towards the door, "until the rest of the crew decides that it's safe enough."
"Oh, am I a threat?" Elyza raised an eyebrow and smirked at the huff of annoyance that escaped Alicia at her teasing tone. Instead of keeping her eyes trained on the beautiful girl next to her, Elyza grabbed an unopen bottle of alcohol and a package of gauze pads. She ripped it open and ignored the protesting noise that emanated from Alicia.
"Did you wake up and immediately grab a gun and aim it at me?" Alicia asked rhetorically and snatched the items out of the blonde's grasp. They stared at each other for a second longer than necessary and the air in the room became thick with tension. They stared and Elyza nearly got lost in the forest of green before her.
Alicia broke eye contact first, pointedly looking at the bed. It was a silent command, sit down. Elyza grumbled under her breath about stubborn, pretty girls before slouch against the bed.
The brunette opened the alcohol and poured it onto a pad, then stepped closer. She placed the bottle down and her empty hand came up to delicately brush the blonde hair at Elyza's neck. "This might hurt," she mumbled before pressing the wet pad hard against the wound.
Elyza winced, but forced herself not to screw her eyes shut, "I know," her voice came out strained and nearly broke with the last word. The stinging and burning was intense enough to bring tears to her eyes, but she forced them down. She wasn't about to look weak in front of a stranger.
"So how did you get this? My brother says it's a gunshot wound."
"You have a brother?" Elyza evaded, bringing her hand up to rub at her nose to have something to do.
Alicia let out a breath, making it clear that she knew what Elyza was doing, "Yes, and a mom. You have a brother too, it seems."
Elyza glanced at Aden, he was shivering again, even though he'd been wrapped up again. Her heart tugged in her chest painfully at the idea of him in pain. He wasn't her brother, but there was still that feeling that she needed to protect him buried in her gut. Would it hurt of Alicia thought they were related? Maybe it would make them seem less threatening. They did look alike, blonde hair, pale skin and blue eyes.
"Yeah, he's the only one I have left."
Alicia's hand moved to cup at the opposite side of Elyza's head and she removed the pad. She dabbed at the wound a couple more times, removing any dirt or blood that was still stuck in the wound. Every movement hurt, but Elyza was determined not to look weak. She couldn't afford to seem like she was in more pain.
Her ribs ached with every breath and the only things she was capable of thinking about were Aden, sleep and where her friends were. There was a sharp headache developing behind her eyes from dehydration and her neck was throbbing.
Soft, warm fingers seemed to move off of their own accord when they moved to tangle at the base of Elyza's neck. Short fingernails scratched lightly at her scalp absentmindedly. Tendrils of electricity seemed to spark from those fingertips and relax every nerve in Elyza's body. Her eyes fell closed and her attention shifted from the discomfort in her neck to the soothing motions in her hair.
Moments later, Alicia's voice jolted her out of her hazy state, "Better?" her tone was soft and nothing like it had been before.
Elyza cleared her throat and sat up straighter, making her back ridged and forcing Alicia's fingers to fall down to her shoulder. The brunette allowed it to happen with a twitch of her mouth, "I'm going to put a bandage on it, okay?"
A curt nod was the only affirmation she needed before the warmth of her body left to lean over the first aid kit. Elyza watched, enthralled by the little movements of the brunette before her. She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear that got into her eyes. She shifted from foot to foot. Her eyebrows wrinkled together as she focused and she worried at her lip subconsciously.
Alicia's head jerked up and their eyes met. Elyza turned away quickly, clearing her throat again and reaching for the glass of water she'd left on the bedside table. She sipped at it because she didn't know what to say to the stranger before her.
Soft hands once again tilted her head to the side so Alicia could see the cut better before skin-safe tape and another, clean gauze pad was placed firmly over the injury. "There, that should do it for now."
"Thanks," Elyza jerked to her feet, brushing Alicia out of the way of the kit and went through it. She searched for what she needed. The alcohol, something to stop the bleeding and something to cover the injury with. After she had everything in her arms, she elbowed Alicia out of her way.
The younger girl stepped back and watched her work with deft fingers. The way she ripped open the packaging and the deliberate movements thereafter indicated that Elyza knew what she was doing better than Alicia did. There was a composed urgency to the way Elyza moved, like she had been born to lead in stressful situations that other people would normally lose their heads in.
Elyza carefully cleaned Aden's wound, even though it continued to bleed. But she had found a tube of blood clotting accelerant she hadn't even known existed until she saw it. She carefully doused her hand in alcohol before applying the cream over the wound. It covered her finger in blood but she really wasn't worried about it. She wiped her hand off on the duvet and went to cover the wound in the same manner that Alicia had covered hers.
Once that was finished, she turned to Alicia, who had been watching, "Do you guys have any medicine? Maybe a cloth I could use to get his temperature down? He's sick."
Alicia nodded, "Yeah, but I have to warn you. The rest of this crew… my family too, they don't really take well to strangers. Most of them didn't even want to save you two. So just…forewarning."
The clipped way she spoke and the shifting of her eyes and feet made Elyza skeptical. She was normally very good at reading people, she prided herself on that ability. Alicia looked like she was hiding something, but the blonde really couldn't tell what it was.
"Alright…can I keep the gun, then?" She raised her eyebrow questioningly.
Alicia scooped it up quickly from the bed where it had remained and shoved it into the waistband of her pants. A small, mysterious smile curled at her lips, "To be completely honest, I don't think I'm supposed to have it. So no, you can't. But we won't hurt you. I promise."
The brunette slowly backed towards the door, her eyes on Elyza the whole time, "Stay here, I'll be back." She held up her finger, indicating that she should sit down once again. Elyza didn't move though.
"I'll be here, Alicia," it was the first time that name had ever slipped from her lips, but it felt good on her tongue. The way the three syllables flowed into a single word sent shivers down her back, but she masked it with a smile. "No worries."
Alicia only nodded before she was gone and Elyza was left alone with her "brother" on an unknown vessel in the middle of nowhere. Well, the middle of somewhere. The Pacific Ocean. But how far away from land? Were they anywhere near LA anymore? Where were they heading?
Too many unanswered questions swirled in her mind, along with a set of green eyes she couldn't quite understand. Instead of thinking about the bigger picture, she focused in on Aden. Elyza slid down to sit against the bedside table stuffed between the two twin beds. She moved her hand up and grabbed ahold of the limp, clammy one hanging off of the side of the bed.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, there was nothing she could do now. She had absolutely no control over the situation. She was on someone else's boat and wasn't exactly sure what they were going to do with her.
Would they kill them? From what Elyza could tell from Alicia, it didn't seem like it. But people did crazy things to survive and the two of them were a risk that not many people would be willing to bet on. Humans were violent, flawed creatures that—when given the chance—will devolve into that same violent instinct when their survival and loved ones were act risk. So they might be rescued, only to be killed if it benefited someone else.
But we won't hurt you. I promise.
For some mysterious reason, Elyza found herself trusting the strange Alicia Clark who had risked her life to save a stranger's. If someone would do that, how bad could the rest really be?
A/N: Thoughts? Feelings? Did this go as well as you thought it would? What are you expecting from the upcoming chapters? Let me know! I love hearing from the readers! ~TGF