A/N: Hey all! I know it has been awhile since I last updated, but my life has finally settled down enough that I can focus on writing over Christmas break. This update was supposed to come earlier than it did, but my hard drive decided to take a crap on me right after I got out of school. So yeah, it kind of sucks but lucky enough I recovered my data because over half of this chapter was already written! I hope the length makes up for the MIA. Hope you enjoy, feel free to leave comments! ~TGF
Chapter Nineteen: Point Loma
The next morning was quiet. Elyza awoke earlier than everyone else,as she had been shocked awake by the feeling of falling. It wasn't an uncommon dream, but it was one of those dreams that she couldn't fall back asleep after. So she lay there, her heart beating slowly within her chest in her chest and staring up at the bland ceiling above her in wonder. Quiet, calm mornings were a time to reflect, whether unwanted or otherwise. But thinking about her old life, how a couple of months ago she was back in Australia arguing with her mom and partying at University, she couldn't help but think that her life couldn't have been any more normal or on track. Now, she was on a boat in the middle of nowhere. She was about to head onto shore again and she wasn't very sure of what she would be met with. Elyza's brain jumped back to the convenient store and freezing when she was had been needed. She didn't want to freeze, she didn't want someone to die because of her. "Elyza?" Alicia's voice was thick and gravelly with sleep. The sound of sheets rustling drew Elyza's attention. She didn't want Alicia dying because of her. The blonde turned her head and caught the bright green of Alicia's eyes. "Hmm?" "Why are you awake?" Elyza rolled her eyes, "Why are you?" She sat up and stretched her back, enjoying the relief as her muscles and bones stretched and cracked. "I don't want to be," Alicia threw the covers off of her body and sat up too, placing her feet on the ground. The sun was coming up and the small amount of light seeping through was gray and feeble. "We should be getting close to Point Loma, there's no point in going back to sleep." Elyza's eyes were unconsciously drawn to the thin line of skin exposed by Alicia's shirt riding up. She glanced away quickly, unable to keep the flush from rushing to her face. Alicia didn't seem to notice, or didn't want to mention it because she stood up and turned away.
"I'm going to shower then," she opened their bedroom door and ran a hand through her disheveled bedhead. One of the things Elyza found most attractive about Alicia was when she let her hair go untamed and wild, like when she woke up and didn't seemed to care that her hair was sticking straight up. It was cute and endearing. It was something the blonde didn't want to admit, even to herself, made her even more attracted to the brunette. But it was futile, trying to hide her budding feelings for Alicia. She was a determined and stubborn survivor of a fucking apocalypse. What wasn't to like about her? She was smart, funny, and an incredibly fast learner when it came to combat. She was empathetic, she was always understanding how people felt or thought without even asking them. Having feelings for her complicated things, it blurred the lines that Elyza had tried drawing for herself. Every time she got attached to someone, the likelihood of losing people grew. She had already lost too many. She could only assume Bellamy and the others were dead, that her mom and Wells were caught in the initial spread of the outbreak. Now here she was, in a situation that could easily lead to the death of anyone because nature gave zero fucks about who lived or died, and she was having feelings for a girl who barely knew how to protect herself. Elyza shook her head and huffed out an annoyed breath before standing up and moving around to the other side of the room. The crew of the Abigail had gotten together to provide Elyza and Aden with clothes they may have needed before being able to stop to scrounge for more. Most of Elyza's clothes had come from Alicia, Madison, or Ofelia. The majority of the clothes were ill-fitting, but she didn't mind much. She yanked on her camouflage combat pants and changed into a loose-fitting white shirt that Nick had given her. It fit better than most of the things she had acquired and she liked it. As she shifted through the drawer of the dresser, she came across her pocket knife. Elyza slipped it into her pocket and licked her lips. The gun Strand had given her was at the forefront of her mind. She glanced behind her and found that Alicia had already left the room, the sound of the shower was muffled through the walls. The weapon was only supposed to be for emergencies or immediate danger, she assumed. But this was a situation that called for protection. Without giving it much more thought, Elyza reached under the edge of the mattress and her fingers wrapped around the cold metal of the gun. She slid it out and stuffed it into the back of her pants and pulled her shirt down over it. The metal was chilly against her skin and stiff, considering it dug into her spine, but it would have to do. As she was sliding her army jacket over her shoulders and straightening the collar, Nick knocked on the door and stuck his head through it. "Hey, everyone's ready upstairs. We're going to divvy up the weapons and head to shore." "Okay, I'm on my way. Alicia's showering, though." "Stupid," Nick rolled his eyes, "she's only going to get dirty all over again." Elyza shrugged and stuffed her hands into her pockets. "She doesn't know what it's like out there. Neither do you." Nick grinned, "We'll see about that." ~ ~ ~ Most everyone was on the swimming deck when the two of them arrived, save for Alicia who was still in the shower and Ofelia who was bedridden. Madison handed Elyza a backpack filled with whatever food they could spare for this endeavor. Land was in sight, blurred by early morning dew but still there. It was fairly flat, with hills rising behind it and hiding the city lying beyond. Elyza shivered against the chill and crossed her arms over her chest, trying to push away the thoughts of what lay there. She didn't know if she was ready for this, but knew that if she didn't prepare now, she was going to get her and everyone else killed. Strand leaned against the wall by the rescue boat. He held a duffle bag in his hand and looked entirely too busy staring at the sunrise to care about what everyone else was doing. Aden moved to stand besides Elyza and nudged her shoulder, "Hey." "Hey," she smiled and placed her arm around his shoulders. Aden was the only one she was familiar with in this group and having him close comforted her. "I still don't agree with you going without me," he murmured and sent her a pointed look, "but since you have to go, promise you'll come back." Elyza licked her dry lips and nodded, "I'm coming back, there's no question of that." "Promise?" Aden cleared his throat and straightened his back, finding it difficult to express how he was feeling. "It-It'll just make me feel better to know that you'll try your hardest to keep your promise." The blonde sucked in a deep breath and turned Aden to face her directly, placing both hands on his wiry shoulders. "I promise. I'll see you tomorrow when I get back and everything will be perfectly fine." Her words seemed to placate the young boy for the time being and he nodded. "Good." "Where's Alicia?" Chris asked, tightening the straps of his backpack. "Here," the brunette called from above. Her hair was wet and pulled back into a high ponytail. She had on a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt underneath another of her plaid button-downs. Strand kicked himself off of the wall and stepped forward, brandishing his bag. "Alright, I have some…protection for you." He placed the bag on the ground and knelt before, unzipping it to reveal what was inside. He withdrew three handguns and stood. "Travis, Nick and Elyza. These are for you." He passed them around before grabbing a couple more things, a baseball bat and a golf club. Strand tossed them to Alicia and Chris. "Neither of you are trained in the use of weapons and neither of you are over eighteen." Chris glanced over his golf club, grimacing at its weight. "Having this means I have to get closer to those… things. I could die." "And you have unlimited ammunition." Strand smiled, "You're welcome. Just don't break anything." "Why can't I have a gun again?" "You don't know how to use it and I only have so many. Be thankful for what you have," Strand snapped. When there was no further protest, Nick and Travis proceeded to withdraw the rescue boat from its compartment and settle it into the water, tethering it to a post on the edge of the swimming deck. Alicia side stepped closer to Aden and Elyza, bumped shoulders with Aden. "Hey, kiddo, don't look so worried. I'll keep your sister safe." She winked at Elyza over his head and smirked. "Thanks," Aden glanced at Elyza too, giving her a dubious look. "She'll need it. She gets clumsy when she runs." "It's a damn good thing I was on the track team," Alicia squeezed his shoulder and went to go talk to her mom across the deck. Elyza faced Aden, "I'll be back, okay?" "Okay," Aden's voice lacked conviction. "Keep everyone else safe while I'm gone. I know you can whoop some ass with a machete," Elyza grinned and pulled the young boy in for a hug by the scruff of his neck. In the short amount of time she had known him, Aden had become someone Elyza couldn't imagine being without. Maybe it was the new situation she found herself in, but she was creating some steadfast bonds with people she hardly knew. If she didn't know any better, she would think her and Aden were siblings. Nick shouted from the boat for her to hurry up. She let the boy go and gave him a reassuring smile. "I'll see you tomorrow." "Smash some deadheads in for me, Lex." Aden called after her. "Will do, kid," she waved behind her before stepping down into the boat and taking a seat next to Chris, who was hunched over glaring at his golf club. It kind of scared Elyza, she wasn't sure if he would suddenly whip the club around at her and beat her head in. She shivered at the thought and scooted to the left as Travis started the engine. Alicia sat across from her and flashed her a reassuring smile before saluting at her, unable to speak due to the noise of the revving engine. With that, they took off towards the shore. ~ ~ ~ When they came across land, it was quiet. Elyza was accustomed to the loud noises of traffic and people wherever she went. Hearing nothing made her stomach clench and heart beat faster in her chest. Travis had killed the engine a couple of hundred yards before they hit the shore in hopes of minimizing the noise. He didn't want to draw unwanted attention from the living or the dead, but there wasn't much they could do about it. Once everyone had departed the boat, Nick and Elyza beached it along the sand near an outcrop of palmetto trees. The others grabbed out their supplies and back off once they were gathered together. Having solid land under her feet for the first time in weeks felt weird. Her equilibrium was off and lack of constant motion made her wobble and trip every which way. If she didn't get herself together soon she was going to trip and get killed by a pile of the dead. "Let's cover the boat with leaves, just in case someone's seen our movement," Alicia called out, already pulling at the branches of the palmettos to drape them over boat. Nick reached over to help and soon enough the vessel was adequately camouflaged. "Looks good to me," Travis wiped his hands on his jeans before yanking a map out of his back pocket. "We about an eight mile walk to the base, according to this map. I want everyone to stay on high alert and keep your weapons posed. "Nick, Elyza, keep Chris and Alicia between you. Weapons at the ready." He turned inland, opened the map and began heading in a direction he deemed the correct one. Elyza's heart was already thumping harder in her chest as adrenaline coursed through her veins. Her eyes drifted to the brunette nearby and watched as she glanced around uncertainly. She looked guarded and tense, as if waiting for something to jump out at her at any second. In a split second decision, Elyza grabbed onto Alicia's arm before she could get to far away. "Do you know how to use a gun?" Alicia frowned as Elyza drew the weapon from her jacket, the one Strand had given her—not the one stuffed in the back of her pants. "Uh, no." "Alright," Elyza stepped closer and held the weapon in the palm of her hand. She clicked the magazine release button on the side and caught the loaded item in her hand. "Now it can't hurt anyone because we don't have any bullets." She placed the magazine in her pocket and checked that the chamber was empty before handing the weapon to Alicia. The brunette held the weapon away from her body, she looked unsure of what to do with the foreign object. Neither of her parents felt a need to teach her anything about weapons in her lifetime, so Alicia was completely out of her comfort zone. "Alicia," Elyza chuckled, "hold the gun like a gun." She twisted the weapon until it was firmly gripped in Alicia's hand and smiled. "Okay." She began gesturing to various parts of the weapon and rambling off terms Alicia did not understand but tried to grasp onto. It was a straightforward procedure and Alicia liked to consider herself a quick study. "Shooting is going to be difficult the first time and we can't really afford to do that right now," Elyza gestured behind her at the receding figures further up the beach. "But, remember to breathe and aim with the front sight." She withdrew the gun from Alicia's hand and held it up. "I'm left handed so it'll be harder to teach you, but still—" "Elyza! What are you doing?" Nick called, finally noticing that the two girls weren't following. "Keep going, I've got this!" The blonde called back, not even turning to look at the younger man. She grabbed the magazine from her pocket and inserted it into the gun. "Now we're loaded, but the safety is on." Elyza moved to step next to the brunette and held the gun up with one hand. "I can't pull the trigger, see?" She yanked on it, but it clicked a couple of times before she stopped. "I can't empathize this enough," she said as adamant blue eyes met green, "always turn off your safety because if you're in a sticky situation where you have to make a split second move, you will forget." Elyza released the magazine again after turning the safety back on, "If you want to change your magazine, make sure the gun is de-cocked, which just means to make sure the hammer isn't pulled back." Nick watched from further up the sand as Elyza handed his little sister a loaded gun. His heart sped up in his chest at the mere idea of Alicia handling a gun and he was running down the beach before he could even register he was moving. He snatched the weapon out of Alicia's hands before she could hurt herself and wheeled around on Elyza, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He took too large, intimidating steps forward. He towered over Elyza, but she didn't back down, steeled herself for a confrontation and clenched her jaw. "I'm showing her how to use a gun, seeming that nobody else will." "That's not your decision to make," Nick snarled, shoving the blonde backwards slightly and she almost lost her footing on the slippery sand. "What if you die? What if I die? What if Chris and Travis die out there and she has nobody to help her get back to the boat?" Elyza growled, shoving her hand in the middle of Nick's chest. She stared into his fuming eyes, "Would you want her to die too? Just because she couldn't protect herself?" "Nick—" Alicia started, grabbing his bicep and trying to tear him away from the blonde. "No, 'Licia, this isn't how things work," Nick turned to his sister and peeled his arm away from her before referencing Elyza again. "She's too young—" "She is not," Elyza shot back. "This life is short now, you grow up faster and I bet you know that feeling too. You have to adapt and keep moving constantly. It isn't up to you, Madison or Travis what she or anyone else does because she can make her own decisions for herself." "What is going on?" Travis called, his voice deep and firm. It was a tone Elyza was familiar with when her dad got irritated with her and her friends for being idiots. Her eyes didn't deviate from Nick's as she watched him slowly realize she was right. His shoulder's slumped, but his jaw continued to clench and unclench, still having a firm hold on his weapon. "Nothing, Travis," Elyza stepped back and held her hand out, "Give me my gun, Nick." The ratty haired boy took a moment to analyze the situation, glancing between everyone surrounding him. Travis was confused, having not understood the sudden hostility between the two and Alicia looked shocked and a little scared. Chris stared at them, bored, his golf club across the back of his neck and his arms over either end. Nick handed the weapon back, "We need to get moving, we're burning daylight." Then he was shouldering past Elyza and climbing up the incline once again. Travis glanced between Elyza and Alicia for a second, seeming to want to ask something,but unable to formulate the question. He turned and ushered his son after Nick and the two girls followed in his path. They all walked in silence for a while. Elyza had her gun out and her eyes scanning, entire body on high alert for any sign of the dead. But, they were isolated enough that they didn't run into any. The beach was desolate, void of people and greenery. A sharp cliff blocked off the view of what was lying east of them. "The road should be right around this curve," Travis called from the front, gesturing to the seven or eight-foot-high sheer ledge they were skirting around. They had been walking for another solid ten minutes before they came across an area they could actually reach the road from. Having much more solid ground beneath their feet made the trek easier than before and they fell into a rhythm. The road was empty, the sound of the waves the only thing to penetrate the overpowering silence. Nick was still upset and Elyza was just hoping Alicia hadn't gotten pissed with her for picking a fight with her brother. She tried not to focus on that by maintaining high levels of alertness to her surroundings, but there was nothing to be seen. "Hey," Alicia said, falling into step next to her, far behind Nick, who was trailing behind Chris and Travis. "Thanks for all of that." "Thanks?" Elyza quirked an eyebrow, relief flooding her features no matter how collected she tried to be. "Picking a fight with your brother whilst he held a loaded gun wasn't very intelligent of me." "I didn't say it was intelligent, but I am thanking you for it. Nobody seems to really take me seriously; they still think I need to be protected from the horrors of life. But honestly, life is a horror story now, so there's no way to hide it without hurting me." Alicia shoved her hands into her pocket and turned her face towards the sun. It had grown hotter as the sun peaked over the horizon and evaporated the rest of the fog and dew hanging over them. Now the temperature was nearly blistering, except for those moments of respite that came with the cool ocean breeze. "Everyone is still stuck in…real life, I guess. They haven't adapted to what life really is now. If this infection isn't isolated to California, then we are the prey now. We may have been at the top of the food chain before, but from what I've seen, these…dead, undead, whatever they are. They're the real predators and we have to hide, fight or be killed." Elyza caught Alicia's eyes and they watched each other, their eyes skating over the other's features as the reality sunk into them both. "Guys," Chris' warning voice came from ahead. His voice was pitched slightly higher than usual, alerting Elyza immediately. She edged closer to the brunette and flicked off the safety of her gun, turning to examine their surroundings. A dead man was meandering towards them, slowly coming around a corner they couldn't see beyond. The only telltale sign from this distance was the slow, limping walk and slumped posture. Elyza paused in her spot, bring the gun up and training both eyes down the barrel of her gun, "Move out of the way!" The three men in front of her turned and shuffled out of her line of sight, coming to rest along the cliff as the dead man came closer. He was still a good twenty yards away from Elyza, but she took quick aim, sucked in a deep breath and slowly let it out while squeezing the trigger. The bang of the hammer hitting home, echoed loudly off of the rocks and Alicia jumped. A split second later the undead man was…well, dead again, blood spattering from his forehead and his body collapsing backwards with the force of the bullet embedded in his brain. Before anyone could make a second move, more came stumbling around the corner. "Shit," Nick called, jogging closer and as far around the edge as he could without getting in the dead's way. "There's like ten of them! Huddle up!" Elyza grabbed Alicia's hand and pulled them closer to where Chris and Travis were. The older man was holding the gun as if he didn't know what to do with it and Chris was waving his gold club around, hands shaking. Alicia let go of Elyza's hand, tightening both hands around her bat and standing up straighter. In that moment, was very thankful for that one summer of softball in sixth grade. Instead of wasting bullets, Elyza aimed at a couple of the dead that were further away and tightened her grip to keep her hands from shaking. They aren't alive, they want to kill you. She sucked in a deep breath to steady her fraying nerves before relaxing and releasing her breath like her father had taught her. Her finger squeezed the trigger before letting go until it clicked and aiming again. Three bullets and two of the dead were down. She shoved the gun into her jacket pocket and flicked open her knife in her pocket. Alicia had stepped forward, a couple of feet away and swung at a dead woman's head. The echoing noises of Nick's gun going off frayed even more at Elyza's nerves. If he kept shooting like that he would be out of bullets and drawing more attention to himself. "Nick! Hit something! Do you want to draw more?" She shouted, just as a grunting hiss came from her left. She had just enough time to turn and catch the dead man by his jacket and shove him away. He was military, a flab of skin hanging off of his cheek, oozing blood and infection. His hair was falling out and his eyes were a filmed, unseeing icy color. His hands grasped uselessly at Elyza's arms, teeth gnashing and breath smelling of death and decaying human flesh. Elyza nearly threw up and used all of her upper body strength to keep the thing off of her. The blood rushed in her ears and her vision narrowed to what was in front of her. The knife nearly fell from her hands they grew so sweaty so fast, but she managed to keep a firm hold. She shoved the dead man away, managing to get a little bit of space between them and stumble further backwards. Chris was beating at the chest of one of the dead on her left, in the middle of the street while Travis had resorted to his knife, in the process of following through with a kill. Elyza didn't have enough time to find Alicia or Nick when the dead man came at her again. This time she got a better grip on his collar with her right hand and held him a good six inches away from her face. He kept straining forward, desperate to sink his teeth into her flesh but that wasn't going to happen. The blonde brought her knife up and through one of those unseeing eyes, staring into them as the knife penetrated the vitreous body and sending warm liquid dripping down her arm. She kept on though, twisting and shoving the knife up to the hilt and grasping the back of the man's head to keep him there until he stopped moving. He fell backwards with a quick shove and Elyza used her boot on his chest as leverage to yank the knife from his brain. Before she could properly react there was another undead right next to her, it's head arching forward and its mouth open, ready to take a chunk out of her forearm. Thump! Right next to her head came the brute force of a bat, twisting and breaking the neck of her attacker just enough that it's head missed her. Alicia stood on the other side as the man fell dead; right next to the one Elyza had just killed. Her face was splattered with droplets of blood and her chest rose and fell quickly. The end of her bat was dosed in a thick layer of dark, coagulating blood. "Are you okay?" She asked. "Shit, am I okay? Are you? None of that is your blood right, Princess?" Alicia rolled her eyes and glanced around, but found that the rest of their attackers had been put down. Nick lay under a dead man, squirming and scrambling for purchase to get out. Travis helped roll the man off of him and they clasped hands before Nick got to his feet. His shirt was covered in dead man blood. It stuck to his clothe and was already drying to his skin. "Is everyone okay?" Travis called, scrambling over to check each of them for wounds. His eyes wandered over everyone, searching the blood spots for possible bite marks before he was satisfied that nobody had been injured. Chris wiped some blood off of his cheek, the golf club hanging from his right hand, "That was…something else." He was staring at one Elyza assumed he had killed. He watched it intensely, as if anticipating it coming back to life so he could beat back into submission. Their eyes met for the briefest of moments and Elyza was certain she had seen a manic glee in his. Of course, it could have just been post battle adrenaline but to her, it looked like he had enjoyed killing these things. "No kidding," Nick grimaced, pulling his shirt out and away from his body. "Anyone have an extra shirt?" "I do," Travis pulled the backpack from his shoulders and opened it. He withdrew a t-shirt and tossed it to the boy who was already shirtless. Nick changed quickly before Travis referenced them all, "We need to keep moving if we want to get to the base by nightfall." ~ ~ ~ They heard the walkers it before they saw them. Chris picked up the noises first. They were distant and alerted them to the presence of the dead within the area. Hissing, groans, and the noises of movement sent a shiver down Elyza spine. "Do you hear that?" Chris called quietly. If they were approaching infected, then he didn't want to draw attention to them. The group stopped to listen and the instant Elyza heard it she tensed. Growls and hisses of agitated dead just around and over the top of the ridge. "We must be getting close, stay on alert." Travis called behind him and everyone heeded his words. The tension rose as they all scanned their surroundings for any signs of a potential threat. Less than ten minutes later they discovered their first car, not long after there were more. Some of them had been in accidents while others had been stuck in traffic and had decided walking was their best bet. Buildings came next, some were short and squat, cars congesting their lots and a few straggling dead moseying about. The group avoided them, using the cars as barriers and protection until they came across the single gas station within whatever small town they had stumbled upon. "We should go in and see what we can find." Nick suggested. "There could be some medical supplies." "The likelihood of that is slim. We should get to base first and then check on our way back. There's clearly been a lot of people here already," Elyza argued, spotting movement through a dusty window and wondering how infested the place may have been. "If we go all of the way in and raid the naval base we can hit places we think will be good supply spots on our way back." "Good idea, Elyza," Travis nodded, "we keep moving and get into the base, it shouldn't be much farther up the road." Their surroundings didn't change much but the amount of cars sure did. During the initial epidemic people must have thought being on a military base would keep them safer and tried to escape San Diego by retreating to less populated areas. But they had been wrong, based off of the lack of noise and living people. There were very few trees, but most of them were shrubs and barely over four feet tall. The grass was browning from lack of rain and the sun made it nearly impossible to think of anything else except a nice, cool bath. But finally the gates of the Point Loma military base came into view and the group stared at it. "We're going in there?" Alicia asked, eyes wide and fingers fiddling with the grip of her bat. Elyza glanced at Travis, whose eyes were wide with horror. "Nick and I can go." "You can volunteer yourself, but I'm not going in there." Nick protested. Countless waves of the infected were on the other side. Most of them were oblivious to their presence but the view nearest to the gate were reaching through in hopes of a warm meal. They looked alive, most of them seemed uninjured, while other undead looked as though they had gotten their throats slit or bullet wounds and died of blood loss. "Let me see if I can find a better way in," Elyza holstered her gun, shoving it into the waistband of her pants and stepped forward. She reached up to grab at the notches in the wall. It was at least eight feet tall, but it seemed to surround the entire compound. If she could get a better vantage point they would have a better idea of what they were dealing with. Nobody helped her and she was teetering on the foot-wide wall before Alicia began to protest. "No! What are you doing? Get down from there! What if you fall?" She threw her hands up and rushed to stare up the wall at the blonde woman. Elyza sat down and extended her arm, "Hand me your bat?" "What?" Alicia frowned, slightly outraged at being ignored. "No! Get down here." Elyza rolled her eyes and open and closed her hand. "I'm going to scout the base to see what we're up against. I'm not going inside; I'm just going to stay on the wall. Please?" Alicia let out a huff of frustration before extending her bat up. "If you die, I'm going to kill you." The blonde smirked and got to her feet, straightening her jacket. She winked and twirled the bat around. "Don't worry, Princess. I'll be right back." "You better be." Elyza took off after that, jogging on the wall but crouching low to make for a much smaller target if there was anyone wanting to hurt her. What she saw from her new vantage point struck fear into her heart and she began to think this mission was going to be a failure. There were tents set up within the main courtyard but hundreds of covered bodies lay in organized lines along the front steps of the main building. They were stark white against their surroundings and the sun struck off of them and nearly blinded Elyza. Her heart sank further into her stomach when she realized the extent of the devastation as she kept moving. More bodies were lined against the edge of the compound, a pit dug nearby with remains burned and buried beneath rubble. Even more of the dead were aimlessly walking, some had their faces buried in a decomposing body, making for a horrifying sight indeed. Elyza felt the images ingrain themselves into her memory and when she tried to blink they stuck around behind her eyelids. Any hope of discovering her friends and family again…any hope of going back to Australia was instantly wiped from her mind. There was no hope left. Whatever the human race had done to deserve this sort of devastation and death, they were paying it in full. She wondered what she had done to deserve this. Had she not appreciated what she had in her life? Had she taken her mum and dad for granted? She must have or she wouldn't be here. She kept moving and tried to focus on the task at hand, but the only thing she could think about was how she didn't want Alicia to see this. The girl was too young and innocent to be forced to endure this view. Maybe she was thinking like Madison about it, but that didn't change the fact that she wanted to protect Alicia any way that she could. A thump drew her from her thoughts and she glanced down. An infected man was standing on a double stack of bodies and his fingertips nearly reached the edge of the wall. Elyza jumped back, nearly slipping off of the cement wall and falling backwards the eight feet to the hard ground below. She yelped as her stomach dropped, before she recovered her footing. She rushed further down the wall, taking a corner and rushing away from the dead man following the scuffing noises of her boots. She kept moving until she felt safe enough to take a deep breath. This far away, she could see another entrance on the far eastern side of the compound, separated by another gate. Houses were lined on either side of a simple two-way road. The area looked deserted and even more fencing surrounded it. Elyza wasn't sure whether or not it was completely clear of infected but still, it was a chance to scrounge up some supplies. With houses came prescriptions and she could only hope that one of the soldiers living there had been taking antibiotics for something or other. She scanned the fence line, wondering if there was any way to get in without having to climb the wall. The fence was pointed at the end and would be difficult to climb over so using the thick cement wall would be the simplest way to get through. Scanning her surroundings once again, she tried to think of something better…something more effective than just raiding houses. This base was a godsend, but only if they were capable of navigating it. There had to be weapons, resources and medical supplies that would turn any doctor into a giddy mess. But there was no way to get to those supplies if they weren't capable of getting through the overcrowded grounds. It was almost impossible without being killed themselves. With a sigh, Elyza sat down on the wall and slid off, landing on the soil with a resounding thud. She wiped the dust off of her shirt and began heading back in the direction of the others. Alicia was pacing back and forth when she appeared. Nick had told her to calm down, that Elyza was capable of scouting for them by herself and that she shouldn't worry so much. But Alicia couldn't help it. She couldn't help but wonder if Elyza wouldn't come back. When she spotted the blonde hair from behind the shrubbery, relief flooded through the brunette so intensely she couldn't resist her reaction. Her feet were moving before she could even think and she was throwing herself at Elyza. She wrapped her in such an intense hug she even shocked herself. Elyza huffed, barely catching the brunette, "Woah! Hello, Princess." She might have been shocked and a little taken aback, but she instinctively wrapped her arms around the younger girl. She sucked in a deep breath, the scent of freshly washed hair and a woodsy body wash invaded her senses and she felt herself relax. "Sorry," Alicia finally withdrew when Elyza put her down on her feet. She brushed her hair out of her face and then smacked Elyza on the shoulder. "You don't do shit like that." "What did I do?" Alicia rolled her eyes and opened her mouth before she realized Elyza was smirking at her, a challenge sparkling in her eyes. "Shut up. Don't do that again." "What did I do?" "You just… put yourself in danger. Don't do it again without taking someone with you." "I was well protected, Alicia. Your bat was there to keep me safe," she propped it up. "Thank you, by the way." She held it out to the brunette who took it without another word. Someone cleared their throat from behind the two girls and they both suddenly realized they had an audience. The three boys were looking at them oddly, as if they had grown second heads or something. Nick looked as though he thought Alicia was some sort of alien from another planet. They stood there in silence, staring at each other before Elyza pointed in the direction that she'd come from. "I think I found something promising." That drew everyone's attention back to the situation at hand. Elyza explained the suburban looking compound and how empty it seemed as they walked. Travis seemed to believe that it was a better, safer bet than delving into the overrun base. It was probably the only reason he agreed to the plan. in the first place. Nick helped boost everyone up and along the cement wall before Travis helped him up by grabbing his arm. Chris was already on the other side of the metal fence by the time Alicia jumped down with a grunt. Elyza was next to her almost instantly, straightening her jacket as she always seemed to do when she moved so much. "Time to scavenge." Nick grunted after dusting off his pants. "Now I know how vultures feel," Elyza wrinkled her nose and pulled her handgun from her waistband. "Oh well, nobody's going to be using this stuff," Chris's voice was full of an unnecessary amount of attitude Elyza didn't like at all. She walked a little faster to stand next to him, "Still, all of this… well, someone owned it and cherished it and we're going to take it. Show a little consideration for the people that have died because of all of this, yeah?" Chris didn't respond but his expression grew more clouded and his heavy eyebrows pulled tighter together. Elyza didn't stick around long enough to hear a response, if there was any. She moved ahead, to stand beside Travis who seemed lost in thought as he stared at the abandoned, picture-perfect homes before him. They were all two stories tall and most of them looked like they had come right out of a traditional middle-class family movie. Clean and neat, some of them with nice looking cars right out front. "I think we should split up; we'll cover more ground that way." "Good idea." Travis nodded, "We'll split up into two groups—" "Three. Nick and Alicia, you and Chris, I can go on my own." Elyza crossed her arms over her chest, "I'll take the houses along the back, T-stretch if you guys will take either row. If we're fast, we can get done by midday." Alicia was the first to protest the plan. "You are not going alone. What if there's something in a house and you get killed?" "Then I'll die alone." Elyza winked, "Quit worrying so much, Alicia. I'll be fine." "Yeah, she'll be fine." Nick assured, "She's probably the most trained out of all of us." "That doesn't mean she can't die," Alicia rolled her eyes and gave her brother a patronizing look. "It means she's least likely to die," Nick amended and took interest in his gun, checking the clip before slipping it back in his gun. Alicia reminded silent so he continued. "Alicia and I'll take this stretch." He gestured to the left side of the road. "Guess that leaves dad and I with the other one," Chris stated. "Let's move." He was strutting down the sidewalk in record time. His shoulders were hunched and he held the golf club like a sword, stretched out in front of him. "Make sure to grab necessity, not what you want," she warned Nick and Alicia. "Antibiotics and food supplies that don't consist of fish, I know." Alicia rolled her eyes again, "I'm not an idiot, Lex." Elyza winked once more and saluted her. "Later, princess." She turned her back to the brunette and jogged up the street. She passed Chris and circled around the first house she was going to hit before testing the front door. Of course, she wasn't going to have any luck and was forced to pick the lock on the slide glass door in the back yard before slipping inside. The backdoor led directly into the dining room, the kitchen to the left and open with a central island. Elyza's eyes scanned the area, finding it stuck in a time and place that was long gone. Kids toys lay on the floor and strewn about the living room and a basket of laundry had been tipped over on the kitchen table. She strained her ears, trying to hear any noise she could without moving. When there wasn't a single sound, she stepped into the kitchen. The oven was closest to her so she grabbed a pan from the drawer beneath it and slammed it against the stovetop. The sound echoed through the house and Elyza cupped her hands around her mouth, "Hey! Anyone home?" Once the echoes faded, Elyza stood tensed and straining to hear any indication that she wasn't alone. Her hands gripped the handgun tightly in anticipation of a fight. When nothing happened for a solid minute she decided that it was safe. The other gun was still pressed tightly to the base of her spine. It comforted her to know that she had something she could use as backup just in case. Elyza edged forward and heard the floorboards creak underfoot. She placed the frying pan onto the counter and brought her weapon up, holding it ready for any potential threats. She was almost certain that there wasn't a zombie in this house, but that didn't keep her from being cautious. With one more look around she moved into the living room and headed up to the second floor. ~ ~ ~ It was like being able to step into a place frozen in time. As if someone had taken a picture and allowed Alicia to step into it. There was a laptop left open - dead but open - and a pencil lying on the counter next to a pad of paper with a partial grocery list written down. There were a couple of phones lying on tables and one still plugged into a charger. Alicia tried to avoid looking at the photos, finding the evidence of a family everywhere she looked. It was impossible not to, though and she felt for this family. She didn't know where they were or what had happened to them, but the thinking of the unknown made her feel worse. This family had been forced from their home and could have been trying to survive like she was. Or they could have been dead, blindsided by the apocalypse. Hopefully they hadn't even known what happened and they had died oblivious to the true horrors they could have experienced while they were alive. Nick cleared the main room and the first floor while Alicia took the stairs slowly. The power was completely out so the first landing was shrouded in shadows. She could see framed pictures on the wall. This time, though, Alicia couldn't resist looking, the temptation was too great. It was a family of four. The kids were young, a boy and a girl, all smiling wide while their parents stood behind them. Both adults were dressed in military uniform, perfectly pressed and formed. The boy couldn't have been much more than twelve while the girl was younger, maybe a little over eight. They were blonde, taking after their father in that sense while most of their features were vaguely of their mother. A pang shot through Alicia's chest and she felt tears prick painfully at her eyes. "Alicia?" Nick called, "Clear?" She shook her head and licked her lip, promising herself to avoid looking at anymore pictures. "Yeah, I'm going." She called back softly. As she took the next step she heard the hissing and groans of an aroused zombie. Her entire body tensed and adrenaline flooded her veins so quickly it made her hands tremble. She glanced down and tightened her grip on her bat. I've done this before, she thought, I've killed these things before. But that didn't stop her from thinking about this family and the possibility that the zombie upstairs was likely one of them. "Alicia!" Nick called, but he was already taking the stairs two at a time until he was standing next to her. His eyes traced over his sister before finally settling on her eyes, "Are you alright?" "There's one up there," she nodded in the direction of the second story. "Oh," Nick assumed she was just afraid to go up there herself and wanted her brother there to protect her. He stepped up onto the second landing and glanced down at Alicia, "stay here, I'll take care of it." She felt stupid for being afraid. She'd done this before, she shouldn't be afraid now. She took a deep, settling breath and forced her hands to stop trembling, then took the final few steps up to the second floor. Nick was already in the far room, in search of any signs of danger. He was moving methodically, while Alicia tuned her ears to listen for the hissing she knew would tell her where the zombie was. Thump thump thump. It was coming from the left side of the hallway. The carpet beneath her feet managed to muffle the noise of her approach, but when she turned the doorknob and opened the door, she knew this wasn't going to be easy. The sheets on the bed were pink and there were barbies laying strew on the ground. It was like stepping into another picture, she was going into a little girl's room that defined her in most ways. The little girl clearly liked pink and her parents spoiled her rotten with pretty much anything she wanted. There was a barbie dream house pressed up against the far wall, open with dolls sitting in various positions. Alicia would have killed for one of those dream houses as a kid and felt a pang of sadness in her chest. The thumping started up again and she surveyed the room once again. The closet doors were bulging out periodically and the zombie within must have caught her scent because it was going absolutely wild. There was a rubber band double tied around the knobs on the wooden doors, which was barely keeping the dead contained. "Alicia!" Nick called from the doorway. He opened his mouth to say something more but paused when he caught sight of the closet. "Stand to the side and open the door. I'll kill it." He pulled a knife from its sheath at his waist and gestured for Alicia to stand parallel to the door. She moved and glanced at Nick for his permission to open the door. When he nodded she yanked the rubber band from the door and the next few seconds were so chaotic she wasn't really sure what had happened. The zombie burst through the door and Nick must not have expected a little girl of eight to attack him. His body straightened up and he stared in shock as it stumbled towards him. Her shirt was drenched in blood and her hair was matted to her skull. Her skin looked dehydrated and was clinging to her bones. She looked like she could have easily been broken in half if someone put in minimal effort in doing so. She plowed into Nick so hard he tripped and fell backwards onto the bed. Alicia's feet felt cemented to the ground, her body frozen as adrenaline coursed through it once again. She watched helplessly as her brother wrapped his hand around the little girl's throat and threw her off. He scrambled to his feet and held the knife out in front of him, to keep it between himself and the zombie. Alicia swallowed hard and watched as Nick played a game with the zombie. He didn't want to kill this girl, it was obvious in the way he kept dodging and hitting instead of going in for the kill. If someone didn't do something soon, the zombie would get in the lucky shot and Nick would be dead. She tightened her grip on the bat in her hand and stepped forward. The little girl was honed in on Nick so she didn't see Alicia coming from behind her. With her aim true, Alicia squeezed her eyes shut and swung the bat forward and felt rather than heard the impact of the wood hitting the girl's head. Keeping her eyes tightly shut, Alicia swung again and when she felt the resound crack of hitting another body. She felt tears prick at her eyes and squeezed them tighter, a sob tightened her stomach and came out in a strangled cry. Nick's arms came in contact with her skin and forced her to stop. He pried the bat from her hands and pulled her body against his. Alicia didn't open her eyes, she couldn't, but her body collapsed on itself and she cried. She cried because she was frustrated; why did this have to happen to her? What had she done so wrong that she deserved to live like this? What had any of them done? What had this little girl done to deserve to end up as a dead, bloodthirsty monster? It just wasn't fair. "It's okay, Licia'. It's okay." Nick whispered, his breath hot in her ear. "We'll get through this. Breathe." He kept whispering soothing nothings in her ear as she calmed down. Her head hurt and her body shook but she felt better. It felt like her chest had caved in and she sucked in a deep breath. It had been hours before she finally pulled out of her brother's embrace. "Are you okay?" He asked, eyes shining with concern. He brushed a strand of her hair out of her face and caught her eyes. He was a little freaked out at Alicia's reaction, he had never seen anything so violent out of his calm, stoic sister before. This life-this world-was changing her and he didn't know if he liked it. She was supposed to be going to college and having a successful career, not struggling to survive when she was only a teenager. Alicia sucked in a deep breath, she trembled so hard Nick felt it as she stepped out of his embrace. Her eyes were red and puffy but she avoided looking at him directly, opting to duck her head. She avoided the spot where the girl lay and skirted around it. "I'm fine. We need to check for medicine. If you see anything we could use, grab it. We have to keep moving." Every time Nick tried to approach her after that, it seemed as if there was a wall between them. Alicia kept her distance and went through the motions of searching primarily for antibiotics with Ofelia in mind. She avoided pictures and anything personal, deciding it was completely logical to leave everything where it was if she didn't need it. When they didn't find anything except topical creams for some type of infection, a couple of tubes of makeup and a small first aid kit with anti-bacterial cream they gave up. They didn't find much else at the other houses they hit. Their sweeps were silent unless they were shouting that the rooms were clear. After their row of houses were done, the sun was halfway through its descent in the sky. They had spotted Chris and Travis on the opposite side of the street once and after a disappointed shake of Travis's head they discovered none of them had been very lucky. There didn't seem to be any other infected within the compound besides the one Alicia had killed. "We should go check on Travis and Chris, see if they need any help." Nick suggested once they exited their final home. Alicia felt off the entire time and was in desperate need to escape this reality. She didn't know how to, though. She didn't know how to feel normal after what she had done. The sound of gunshots drew her from her thoughts. It wasn't just one gun, it was multiple, going off at nearly the same time. Alicia's heart lurched into her throat and she took off in the direction Elyza had taken before she could even think about it. "Alicia!" Nick shouted, taking off in the opposite direction. "I'll be back!" She tossed over her shoulder. More gunshots rang out, allowing Alicia to track the sound better. She came across the house where the noise was loudest and rushed inside. She took the stairs two at a time when she heard loud commotion, as if someone was falling. "Elyza!" She shouted, her voice cracking when she didn't find the blonde. "Down here!" Elyza called, her voice hoarse and weaker than usual as it came from somewhere downstairs. Alicia rushed down until she came across a door leading down into a basement. The blonde was sitting at the top step, her shoulders slumped forward in a position of defeat. "Elyza," Alicia breathed in relief, "are you okay?" she reached out and gently pressed her fingertips into Elyza's shoulder after resting her bat against the wall. The older girl was holding her gun tightly in her hand with her wrist pressed tightly against her forehead, eyes closed. Alicia didn't want to spook her into accidentally turning the weapon on her. When she didn't get a response, Alicia settled onto the step next to her in silence. She would wait until Elyza wanted to talk. The blonde didn't move for several moments, sitting in the same position. When she did, it was to place the gun on the lower step. Alicia noticed them shaking and wanted to reach out, to try to help her in some way. "I had to," Elyza breathed, gesturing further down the stairs. "Had to what?" Alicia's voice was soft, coaxing while she tried to pull Elyza from whatever place she was in. The blonde couldn't formulate a response though and gestured down the steps vaguely. Alicia stood and took the stairs slowly down into the drafty, humid basement. She didn't specifically know what to expect, but knew there was going to be something she didn't want to see. The lighting was dim, only one narrow slit just above ground in the far right corner, but Alicia really didn't want to see this scene in revealing light. There were three bodies, two large and one much smaller-small enough to be a toddler. All three of their heads were bloody and nearly unrecognizable with a bullet-sized hole in their foreheads. A man lay with his head on the bottom step of the stairs, facing down, blood from his head dripping slowly onto the cement. His hair was matted, thin and patchy in some places. A woman lay further away, flat on her back as her unseeing eyes stared above her. Blood slowly dripped from her forehead, over the curve of her nose and down her cheek, her hair covered most of her face. The child couldn't have been older than four and was slumped against the wall nearest their mother. From this distance, Alicia couldn't tell if it was male or female and didn't want to get close enough to find out. There was a dark matting of blood dripping onto the child's shirt that she could see from this distance, it made Alicia's stomach roll. Elyza had been forced to do this. She turned quickly and ascended the stairs again, crouching in front of Elyza to catch her eyes. "Hey, you had no choice." Elyza's blues were shiny and bloodshot, she looked utterly disgusted with herself. She squeezed her eyes shut and dug the heels of her palms into them, trying to stave of the tears that weren't stopping. "Why don't I have a choice?" She breathed, there was an obvious frustration in her voice which made it crack as her emotions got the better of her. Alicia leaned forward, eyebrows furrowing as she furiously tried to think of a way to make her friend feel better. She reached out and pulled Elyza's hands away from her face and murmured her name until she had her full attention. "I don't know why any of this has happened. All that matters is that you're alive. You and me and...all of us, we'll carry all of these deaths...all of the horrible things we've had to do to survive with us forever. But they'll make us better." Elyza scoffed and tried to pull away but Alicia firmly turned her face back until blue met green again. "I'm serious. All of this...there's a reason. There's a reason for all of this death and destruction and there's a reason for why we're still alive. You are here to live and to live we have to survive." Alicia's thumb lightly brushed over the curve of Elyza's cheek, ghosting over the beauty mark above her lip as she spoke. "I had to do it too...a couple of houses over." Elyza's eyes were wide with something Alicia would have called wonderment if she hadn't known better. It made her stomach twist in a pleasurable way and she couldn't help but notice how soft Elyza's lips looked. She hadn't even felt this way with Matt, at least not so intensely. Just the thought of him made her heart clench painfully and she didn't want to think about the way she had found him. Back then she had been so naive. She hadn't known what was going on and wasn't capable of wrapping her brain around it either. Now though, she was painfully conscious of the death that came with life being so unpredictable. Anyone could die at any moment and Alicia was lucky to still have her family. "I'm sorry, Licia," Elyza's voice was soft and her fingers on the inside of Alicia's sensitive wrist brought her out of her thoughts. She withdrew her hand completely as Elyza continued. "You're right, we're here for some reason." Alicia licked her lips and nodded, pulling her eyes away from Elyza's lips. "Of course I'm right," she tried to play it off with an eyeroll and a smirk. Elyza let out a soft laugh, though it seemed to come a little harder. But the somber mood was finally broken, neither of them felt as lost as before. "Alicia? Elyza?" Nick called from upstairs and broke them from their moment. It took all of her willpower to pull her eyes from her deep blue eyes; she felt like she was drowning in them. It wasn't a feeling she particularly hated, it just made it hard to focus and felt like she had cobwebs in her brain. "We're down here!" She shouted before grabbing Elyza's hand. "Come on. They don't need to see this." The two of them met the three boys in the living room. Chris was dappled with blood splatter and Travis's eyes looked vacant, as if he was in shock. "Are you guys okay?" Nick asked, though his attention was mostly aimed at Alicia. "We're fine," Alicia didn't let go of Elyza's hand and when she squeezed it, Elyza felt even more self-conscious about it. She spotted Chris sending her a weird glare and Nick giving her a sideways glance. She withdrew her hand and avoided looking at Alicia when she gave her a questioning look. She made it look like she was adjusting her jacket before crossing her arms over her chest. "Did we find anything?" Travis asked, his voice was hollow and filled with exhaustion. "Not anything that will help Ofelia on my end," Elyza reported, "Though I did find several elements that could make a good first aid kit and help treat injuries." Everyone agreed that they had had no luck finding antibiotics or medicine strong enough to help Ofelia's blood infection. Elyza didn't know what else they could do, this was their best bet and yet it seemed to be a dead end. They all agreed that they couldn't go back empty handed, they didn't want to leave Ofelia in that position, yet they couldn't think of anything they could do. "We could go into the military base." Alicia suggested. They were still standing in the living room, mulling over their options. Travis shook his head, "No. That place is infested with the dead, that's too dangerous." "Travis-" "No, Alicia," Nick agreed, though his jaw ticked as if he was upset he was forced to agree with Travis in any way. "It's too dangerous, maybe there's some place nearby." "This is the only place…" Elyza trailed off and ran a frustrated hand through her hair. "Unless you want to go into the city...and that's more dangerous than the base." "We're not going into the base and that's final. I don't want to report back to your mother that one of you died." Travis huffed and turned to take a look around, "We need to find a place to hole up for the night before we head back tomorrow." "This place seems fine to me," Chris shrugged, already eyeing the couch. "No," Alicia blurted before Elyza could even open her mouth. "The place next door would be better." "Why?" Nick raised an eyebrow, "They're all the same." "Just listen to me," Alicia huffed and was already on her way to the front door, leaving the rest of the group to follow in her footsteps. None of them really had a choice. Travis and Nick shared a dubious look before shrugging and following Alicia out of the house. The sun was already beginning to to fall beyond the horizon. With winter coming the nights were longer and the days were waning. A chill was seeping into the air and the sky was colored with pinks and purples. They trudged their way into a house Elyza had already cleared. Everyone hesitated in the entryway, unsure of what to do. It felt too invasive to just make themselves at home, especially since the people who lived there were most likely dead. Chris was the first one to say something, "I'm going to sleep upstairs." "Chris, that's not-" "Not what?" Chris turned. "Appropriate? They're dead, dad. And I don't want to sleep on a couch or floor. So yeah," Chris shrugged and whirled around again. "Goodnight!" Travis shook his head and glanced at the other three. "I'll go with him, I guess." He commented before trailing his son. Nick shrugged and wandered into the living room, where a comfortable-looking couch was. "I call this couch!" "Fuck you, Nick." Alicia called. "Hey," Elyza said, in the family room where there was a large corner couch that stretched wide enough to seat more than six. "This looks badass." Alicia ducked around the wall and her eyebrows rose. "Share with me?" "You want me to sleep with you?" Elyza smirked and raised a curious eyebrow. The snarkiness and teasing eyes made Alicia's mouth go dry but she tried to ignore it. "You sleep in the same room as me all the time. Can't be much different." Elyza chuckled and tossed her bag on the ground and settled onto the leather couch. She sighed with relief before slipping her shoes off. The horror of killing that kid...of seeing it want to kill her...of watching how its innocence and humanity had been devastated by the horrors of the apocalypse. "Hungry?" Alicia asked, pulling her bag off and collapsing next to Elyza. She opened one of the zippers with food in it that her mother had packed for them. There was some dried beef jerky and a package of saltine crackers in her bag. The crackers were crushed and her water bottle was only about half full, but it would have to do. Elyza reached into her bag and pulled a similar package out, though her bottle had less water in it. "I can eat mine, thanks though." She took a sip of her water and cracked open her bag of crackers. They sat in exhausted silence, both of them mulling over their days in their heads and wondering if they would ever be able to get over it. Elyza always wanted to be a badass, especially when she was younger and her dad was teaching her all of these things for the first time. Now, she wasn't sure if she wanted to have all of these skills her dad had taught her. The only thing she could think of to make herself feel better was knowing that she could protect the people she cared about. "You're thinking very loudly," Alicia said after a while. She was stretched out along the other end of the couch with a pillow tucked under her head. Travis had come down awhile ago with a pile of throw blankets and pillows and Alicia looked cute bundled up underneath them all. Elyza was still sitting in vaguely the same position as she had been for the last hour. Her brain had been somewhere else for so long her body felt stiff and sore. She glanced up at the brunette and her lips twitched into a smile, "I'm sorry." She stood and stretched her back until it popped and rubbed at her eyes. Now that she was moving she realized the sun was pretty much down and the house was silent. "Don't be sorry," Alicia murmured and watched Elyza through intent green eyes. "So I've been thinking…" she trailed off and sat up, running a hand through her hair. "Oh no," Elyza rolled her eyes, her voice growing cautious. "That's never a good thing." Alicia gestured for her to sit down next to her. "Ofelia needs medication and Travis is too afraid or cautious or whatever to let anyone go into the military base. I get that it's dangerous and I get that someone could die. But Ofelia could die too...I would rather risk my life for her than just let her die." Alicia spoke slowly, as if trying to put the words together properly and trying to convince Elyza at the same time. Elyza knew exactly what she was saying and understood it. Travis just didn't want anyone getting hurt, they were all so young. Elyza could put two and two together and figure out what Alicia wanted to do. She didn't want to voice it so she carefully formulated a response, "What are you thinking?" "I think we should do it." "What about Travis?" "He doesn't have to know," Alicia lowered her voice conspiratorially and scooted closer to Elyza. "We can do it. If we can get to the medical center, the medicine shouldn't be too hard to find." If Elyza was looking at the bigger picture, she would have to agree that Alicia was right. Doing anything they could to treat Ofelia's infection would be the best way to go, but Elyza didn't want to think that way. She thought of the risk Alicia was going to be at, she thought of the likelihood that she would get killed. If they did this, her head wouldn't be focused on the task at hand, it would be focused on getting Alicia out of there safely. "I don't think that's a good idea," she concluded after a moment. "You could get hurt." Alicia made a weird growling noise in the back of her throat and slouched against the back of the couch forcefully. "Everyone doesn't want me to get hurt. But you said yourself I can make my own decisions. So if you don't go with me, I'll go alone." "I'm sitting right here, you can't sneak past me," Elyza chuckled. "Well, I'll find someway. You have to sleep at some point. If you don't go with me, I'm going alone," she reiterated. The fire in her eyes made Elyza real back a bit. Alicia was completely serious, her jaw was clenched and head held high in such a way that nobody would be able to change her mind. She could be stubborn when she wanted to be, but only because she truly believed in what she was doing. If Elyza kept telling her no, then she would find a way to go on her own. If she went on her own, there was a much larger chance that she was going to get herself killed. "Fine," she begrudgingly relented, "I'll go with you. But get some sleep. We'll leave before everyone gets up." Alicia stared at her as if she had grown a second head. She had her arms crossed over her chest and light bags under her eyes from lack of sleep. She looked exhausted but a smile still spread across her face. "Thanks." Elyza only nodded, though she had this weird feeling in the pit of her stomach. She didn't know if it was nerves or a feeling of foreboding, but she didn't like it and it put her on edge. "Hey," Alicia must have caught onto her shift in mood and laced their fingers together. Her voice softened considerably when she continued. "I'm going to be okay. You don't have to worry about me." "Yes I do," Elyza sighed and squeezed the hand intertwined with hers. "You're important to everyone here and none of us want to lose you." "I'm not going anywhere, Elyza. I'll be fine and you'll be there to keep me safe if you're so worried about it." Alicia tried for a reassuring smile but it only succeeded in making Elyza want to kiss her. It was nearly impossible to resist the urge to lean in and kiss that smile right off of Alicia's face. She wanted to, God did she want to, but Alicia wasn't looking for that right now. That was blatantly obvious. "Get some sleep," Elyza stood and moved back to her side of the couch, settling down. "I'll wake you when it's time."