Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Alicia couldn’t sleep. It had been difficult to lately, the getting to sleep part. Instead of sleeping she wandered through whatever house they were staying in, looking at old pictures of the family that lived there before them. But her family was long gone, somewhere north to find their relatives and Alicia had gotten stuck out here on her own. The monsters that walked the street terrified her but they were unpredictable at night, hard to see and often near silent. Venturing out during the day was her only hope to find her family, if they were still alive. Tomorrow Alicia would move on to the next place with her backpack full of supplies and her ipod fully charged.

There was a sudden banging noise that made Alicia jump. It was from the back and when she looked to see what it was she found that it was just a walker that had stumbled and fallen in the neighbor’s yard. Since she had been on her own, Alicia had found herself becoming increasingly more paranoid. The lights stayed off every time she was in a new house, the only source of light was a candle every now and then, typically carrying one with her, wanting to carry more but without the weight that it added to her pack, and the candle usually stayed in whatever room she was sleeping in when it was lit- the windows and any other crack completely blacked out.

There was another shuffling noise, distant and quiet that Alicia assumed was the same possibly dead thing just struggling to get out of whatever mess it had found itself in. Alicia held up another set of photos of the previous tenants, side by side. One was of the happy couple, darker skinned, adorable in their own right. They were young, probably in their mid twenties with their hearts showing in their eyes as they kissed in their wedding dresses. One woman had her hair cut close to her head and the other had dreads that didn’t quite get passed her shoulder blades despite that her head was tilted back to meet her lover’s lips. The second photo was of their baby boy, a small smiling albino child. Albino as in his skin had no pigmentation, no tan, no redness beneath his cheeks although he may have had just a fairly light complexion. His blue eyes beamed into the camera, his teeth filled with gaps while they still grew in, his hair growing in a flurry of gloriously blonde wisps.

What happened to them, the family here before Alicia? Whatever it was, Alicia found herself worrying for the boy. He would grow up in a relatively decent world but would forever be struggling to accept the fact that this wasn’t really his home, it wasn’t really his family.

Alicia placed the photos back on the shelf above the fireplace. She began imagining scenarios of how the child lived before. Coming home from his first day of first grade and hugging his moms who had been at home worrying all day instead of working, concerned that they would have to pick him up because something happened. But he comes home and hugs them and they shower him with kisses and take him for ice cream for being good on his first day. They love him unconditionally and he loves them and it never changes. She found herself smiling at the thought, smiling back at the little boy in the photo. Alicia could still remember her first day of first grade, her teacher, the kid that picked on her in her class. The one that she became best friends with. Her teacher staring at the chalkboard when she lost her first tooth while sitting in the front row on the carpet, the woman had turned around with a smile, announcing to the class that Alicia had lost her first tooth, like the teacher herself was a psychic or a mind reader or something. But it never registered with Alicia and she still found herself beaming with a new gap in her teeth.

The memory made her smile.

But the world was beyond screwed up now. The dead were walking and the living were doing everything they could to deny that it was even a remote possibility. The sound came again, this time louder. Alicia headed back towards the kitchen opening the blinds to see that the walker had gotten itself further tangled in the fishing net that fishermen dragged across the ocean floor to catch fish. The neighbor could have been a fisherman but whoever they were they left stuff all over the place. Leaving the fishing net by the pool was a stupid idea. The walker, flailer now, smacked its head against the shed but didn’t flinch. It would be out there for a while, struggling, probably attracting a few more.

Alicia sighed, knowing that she would have to leave in the morning as quickly as possible. So she went back to the living room to pick up one of the water bottles that she had snagged from the kitchen and piled, along with the rest of the salvageable food, by the television.

There was a flash of black, darker than the black that was forced by the night, a silhouette. Alicia’s back hit the door to the basement, just below the landing. Her mouth was agape, staring into the, what appeared to be colorless eyes of someone else. She would have fought back, would have being the operative words, except she wasn’t one of the dead. It wasn’t just because there was no smell of decaying flesh or strange pigmentation in the skin. It was because the cold barrel of a pistol had been pressed beneath her jaw.

“Hey cutie.”

She was blonde and a little bit shorter than Alycia but she was gorgeous and intimidating, especially with a gun in her grip. The way she smirked was terrifying.

Alicia didn’t have anything to say to this woman. She was at a complete and utter loss for words. She could hardly think let alone form any sense of herself. A list of possible responses flew through her mind rapidly but she couldn’t pick one.

“I- what-” She took a breath and tried again, hesitating even when the woman raised a brow, her smirk continuing. “Who are you?" The blonde just stared at her for a moment with those smiling eyes. She had turned her head enough that her eyes caught the full moon’s light and sparkled blue.

“You are adorable.” The stranger dropped her gun and sidled back a few steps before leaning over and crashing on the couch. Her arm reached out for the bag of chips and she swung her legs up, crossing them on the arm of the couch. She rustled in the bag of chips, crunching on a handful.

Alicia stepped around the edge of the couch, shaking and nervous but curious of as to who this australian stranger was and how she got in. Alicia had locked all of the doors and barricaded the sliding glass door in the dining room off the kitchen. She was just hoping that she hadn’t missed anything. But the blonde was hardly paying attention.

“Who are you? How did you get in here?” The brunette asked, keeping her back to the wall and trying to keep her eyes on the woman, also trying to keep an eye out for anyone else that may have followed her in.

The pistol rested on the blonde’s abdomen, on her faded blue tank top and not her leather jacket. The gun was within reach, one of her hands, the one that wasn’t digging in the bag of chips, was a little too close to it. Alicia kept one hand close to her back, subtly looking for a weapon. Her fingers skimmed something but it was too small. If she could get to the fire poker then she may have a chance. It was still a good few feet away.

“That’s cute,” her australian accent showed a little less when she said that but that didn’t stop Alicia from shuddering. She looked up, her eyes smiling, but went back to ignoring her. “But the tough act doesn’t really suit you.”

Alicia swallowed hard, more aggravated by this woman’s presence in her momentary place of solitude than anything should could have said. Still, despite the threat of being shot, Alicia leapt for the fire poker and spun to hold it towards the intruder.

The blonde was just as fast, standing quickly with the bag of chips hitting the floor, spilling a little, and holding the pistol up towards her opponent.

“Oh, come on, cupcake. Don’t make me shoot you.” The blonde watched the end of the fire poker in case Alicia swung at her. Her hands were shaking wildly. There was no way that she would act with a weapon that heavy, especially with an untrained hand.

“Stop calling me those names.”

The brunette’s hands wavered. She was shaking, uncertain, unable to act with a level head.

The intruder adjusted her stance, ready to jump into action. “Then what should I call you?”

She stopped for a moment, hesitant because of the smirk that seemed to fade but not entirely disappear from her face. When she tried to speak she needed to stop and try again. “Alicia.”

“Put the poker down and we can talk.”

“Get. Out.” Alicia swung the poker with a wild step forward.

But her movements were just that: wild and unpracticed. The blonde had ducked beneath the swing and grabbed the poker, pulling it from Alicia’s hands. She turned back to swing her fist but Alicia was flat on her back, smacking her head against the floor after her feet had been swept out from beneath her.

All that she could think of was how horrible a way this was to go. This was the apocalypse. The dead were walking in the streets, killing their friends and family, devouring their flesh. But Alicia was here, on the floor of some random family’s home with a gun held on her and her head spinning from hitting the floor. She was going to die here where that little child had played with his Legos and toy cars. She would die without her family knowing whatever happened to her. An unfortunate end to a life that had yet to begin.

“Hi, Alicia. I’m Elyza.” The blonde knelt next to her with the gun still trained on her, unfortunately it wasn’t pointed at a place that would kill her quickly. “Mind if I bunk with you tonight?”

Alicia just stared at the sparkling blue eyes, not realizing that she nodded.

“Cool,” Elyza stood and held out her hand for Alicia to take. The brunette grasped her forearm, surprised by Elyza’s strength when the blonde nearly lifted her to her feet. “Do yourself a favor, don’t try that again.”

Chapter Text

Now Alicia couldn’t sleep even if she wanted to. She sat on the floor by the television, quietly rummaging in a bag of chips, one that Elyza hadn’t touched. Quietly, she pulled out chip after chip, examining each in the light of the single candle that she had pulled from atop the fireplace before she ate it. It was stupid, but she preferred to first eat the ones that were crinkled, or folded over before eating the ones without imperfections.

Alicia stopped for a moment to get a real look at the woman before her. Elyza had fallen asleep on the couch, her pistol in her hand, rested atop her abdomen. She was a strange woman, dressed in mostly black with her ears pierced more than just once, and a beauty mark just above the left most corner of her lip. The black leather jacket, the faded black pants, the worn black leather boots. She definitely wasn’t from around here or she would have known that black is the worst color to wear in the heat of California. It wasn’t just the way that she was dressed or the fact that her hair was vanilla blonde that seemed to catch Alicia’s eye. Elyza was outfitted head to toe with weapons.

Aside from the pistol that had been holstered at her thigh, which now rested on her stomach, she had a knife strapped to her left thigh and an assault rifle that leaned against the arm of the couch. Alicia was almost certain that she saw another knife in the woman’s boot but couldn’t be sure in this light.

She was… different, to say the least.

Something clicked then, while Alicia eyed the blonde and her belongings. Her eyes flashed to the backpack that Elyza had brought with her, now resting against the couch next to her rifle.

Carefully, with her eyes on Elyza, Alicia crouched over to her bag and lifted it without a sound, more than aware that she was about to send the rifle crashing to the floor. Just as so, she leaned back, slowly and silently unzipping the first pouch. Inside was what she had expected, a change of clothes, just another tank top and a pair of jeans along with intimates, all wrapped up together tightly. The rest was small packages of food in airtight containers and what Alicia thought was a pipe bomb but turned out to be rice in a small piece of PVC pipe, spare bottle of water with a doodle on the side in permanent marker. There were two books inside along with a pencil case. One was a plain leather bound book, nothing more than a blank sketchbook, and a real book that Alicia had thought had been made into a television series at one point. The second pouch was full of stray bullets and extra magazines.

Not surprising.

“You shouldn’t be so nosey.” Elyza said with very little grogginess in her voice but her Australian accent making her voice heavy. She didn’t point her gun at Alicia, just watched her carefully from where she lay.

Alicia stared at her for a moment. Than looked back to the bag and up again. “I’m sorry-”

“No you’re not.” Elyza sat up with a muffled grunt. She leaned her elbows forward on her knees, still holding that gun in her hand. The light of the single candle cast a menacing glow on her face as she eyed Alicia. She tilted her head to the side, reaching out with her free hand as a gesture that she wanted her bag back.

And Alicia obliged, still wary of the blonde.

“You read?” The brown haired girl met her eyes through the candle light, holding her gaze. Elyza zipped up her backpack without looking away from her new acquaintance.

“If you can count reading as being stuck on the same book for the past year and a half. Then yeah, I read. I don’t move on to a new book until I have finished the last.” Elyza pulled the book from the first pouch and dropped it on the table with a light thud. “Take it. I won't finish it.”

Alicia watched for a moment, not really sure what to make of this. But she took the book as the blonde fully weighted and closed her bag.

“You draw too?” Alicia had been keeping her voice just above a whisper so as not to attract the walkers outside. Elyza was doing the same, her husky aussie accent making her seem older than she probably was.

“Only when something catches my eye.” She smirked that careful smirk that made Alicia shudder simply by the way the shadows were cast in the light. With a book that empty, there can’t be much that does. Alicia thought.

There was a long moment of silence, nothing but darting glances from Alicia as she thumbed to the bookmarked page of her newly acquired book. Elyza had stopped on the part where the protagonist says goodbye to another character, but out of context it made no sense. The writing was good, maybe she could read it at night when she couldn’t sleep.

“Why are you out here all by yourself?” The blonde asked, curiosity keeping her eyes on her new associate. She was doing the same thing that Alicia had done to her, analyzing who she was simply by her clothing.

Unlike the blonde, Alicia seemed more open. Her brown boots fit well with her jean shorts, her jacket fitting over her tee shirt loosely, seemingly a tad too big for her, and the lightweight plaid shirt that she had tied around her waist, the way it clung loosely to her but was sprawled around her on the floor. Elyza could read her just by what she wore, as Alicia had done before. She could tell that the brunette was relaxed, mostly by the way she slouched a little when she sat cross legged on the floor, but also because of the way she made infrequent and wide adjustments when she became uncomfortable.

“I am looking for someone.” Alicia thumbed ne page of her book absently.

“Aren’t we all?” Elyza smiled with her eyes in that endearing way she had but the brown haired girl didn’t hold her gaze for long. “Boyfriend?”

There was a hitch in her breathing that Elyza took note of. “No. Family. I need to get back to them.”

Alicia stayed careful to avoid her eyes. The recent death of Matt was all too present in her mind. She was still mourning him inside, taking shallow breaths to avoid crying in front of this girl. She wouldn’t show her weakness in front of this stranger.

“Why don’t you get some rest, sweetheart.” Elyza stood and replaced her pistol in the holster at her thigh before she stretched. Alicia glared when she mentioned the pet name but she didn’t argue.

Elyza stepped into the kitchen quietly and Alicia wondered how it was that she was able to stay so quiet, she could hardly take a peek inside the woman’s backpack without making a sound. But she was tired and running low on energy. So she pulled a blanket from the pile she had gathered from around the house and laid on the couch where Elyza had lain, breathing in her faint sweaty scent from the cushions and twitching slightly in disgust. Her legs were covered with the blanket and despite her weariness and uncertainty of the woman that was her temporary guest, the last thing she saw being the flickering flame of the candle before she closed her eyes, falling asleep in minutes.

Elyza stood in the doorway, a shadow cloaked by the night. She was lost in thought, imagining Alicia’s perfect friends and perfect family, her perfect school and perfect life. She imagined this weak and sassy little child as a perfect little student with grades so good that she could skip classes and her teacher would let her. Alicia’s parents loved her and would give her anything, let her do anything because she was a perfect little angel, despite the fact that her sass would often get her into trouble. And even though she was human, there were no flaws in her.

But she was no fighter. She wasn’t cut out for this lifestyle. Alicia would be dead inside of a week if she stayed out here on her own. How convenient that Elyza had happened to be searching for a place to stay when she stumbled upon this girl.

Elyza’s eyes flickered towards the top of the fireplace, seeing the happy couple and their little boy in separate photos. Her steps were light to keep from waking her sleeping ally as Elyza picked up the photo and smiled back at the happy kissing couple. Then she sat down on the loveseat, the smaller of the two couches, and pulled her sketch book from her backpack.

Chapter Text

Alicia didn’t quite recall waking, let alone sleeping. One moment it was dark with nothing but the light of the candle shimmering in the center of the room, then the light had captured the room, filtering in from the closed shades. Alicia stretched on the couch then pushed the blanket off and sat up. It wasn’t the noises that frightened her. It was the lack of noise.

For a moment, the brunette had forgotten that there was another person here with her, although with how tired she had been, it could have easily been a dream. But the backpack that she had searched through last night was against the smaller of the two couches, open with the sketchbook on the seat, a pencil placed between two pages. But the house was clear of sounds, of people. The only thing that remained was Alicia and the smell of something from the kitchen.

When Alicia gathered her strength and stood, she moved to the kitchen and found fried peppers and onions in rice on the stove. It smelled amazing. That wasn’t the only smell. The barricade blocking the sliding glass door had been moved and the door itself was wide open, leaving fresh air wafting through the house.

Alicia ran to the door, about to close it when she noticed Elyza sitting at the edge of the pool outside. Not the neighbor’s pool, but the one just yards from the door. She was tempted to shout at the girl, but knew better.

For a moment she stood there, dumbfounded by the woman’s complete and utter lack of regard for Alicia’s safety, let alone her own. Then she noticed that the blonde had her assault rifle laying next to her, her fingers just a twitch away from holding it in her grasp. Afterall, she was fast enough.

This odd sense of normalcy creeped over the both of them. Elyza, who was sitting in her underwear, her tanktop still on and her leather jacket having slid down off the tops of her shoulders, kicking her feet lightly in the pool and being careful not to splash. Then Alicia, who stood in the sliding glass doorway, watching out over the yard as if it were her own, keeping an eye on her friend. The difference here was that Elyza was watching the walker from last night struggling in the fishing net, reaching towards them both with strangled gurgles. She just hummed a song to herself, swirling the pool water that was turning green from lack of upkeep, watching death from a distance.

The blonde held up her fingers as if she was holding a gun, not breaking in her tune as she took aim as the decaying man. She closed one eye, knowing that she wouldn’t have actually done so in a real situation. But she still pointed and with a little smile, made a quiet gunshot sound, her thumb flicking forward.

“Hey!” Alicia used a shout whisper which startled Elyza slightly, her hand falling on the gun before she looked back over her shoulder. “What the hell are you doing?”

Elyza sighed and pulled her legs out of the water to stand, water sliding down her legs. Alicia turned away, slightly flustered. It made the blonde smile even as she pulled her towel from the concrete and patted her legs dry. She dropped her towel and pulled her pants off the ground, pulling them on slowly. With her assault rifle slung over her back, she stepped towards Alicia.

“I was relaxing,” the blonde whispered, buttoning her black pants as she came within inches of Alicia. “Wanted to enjoy the sun after a quick bath.”

Alicia looked back out at the pool, now taking note of the fact that there were shampoo and conditioner bottles by the poolside.

“You bathed in the pool?” Alicia looked back at her, taking a step back and hitting her shoulder on the door when she realized how close Elyza really was.

Elyza gave a half smirk.

“Showers need electricity. Pools don’t.”

The blonde came within inches of Alicia and the closer she leaned the more unsure Alicia became. She slid around the brunette, through the doorway and to the kitchen where the fresh food awaited.

“You are welcome to come swim with me sometime.” Elyzia smiled over her shoulder when she stepped around the counter top. Alicia blushed.
With the door closed, Alicia raised her voice a little more. “You left the door wide open. What if one of those things came in here?”

The blonde let one hand caress the butt of her rifle, now slung across her shoulders. Elyza could easily kill one of the dead if they came close. But that wasn’t the only thing that had prevented that exact scenario from happening. The back fence was made of wood and the two fences on the sides were made of metal wiring. The whole area was closed off. The chances of just one getting in was very slim.

“Kill it.”

“What?” The idea of kill a human was utterly appalling to Alicia. Killing one of them was off the table. She had spent nearly a week trying to catch up to her family by avoiding them and, despite the fact that it had been slow going, she had managed to stay away from all of them entirely.

Murder.

That was out of the question.

“It isn’t that hard really.” Elyza say backhandedly. She swept her boots off the floor and sat on the counter to lace them up. Alicia was still rejecting the thought all together.

“How can you be so nonchalant about murder?” Killing still wasn’t an option. She refused to believe that this woman was capable of doing anything besides getting on her nerves.

The fact that she may have killed someone made Alicia shudder.

“It isn’t murder if they aren’t human.”

Alicia just stared at her. She had no more words for Elyza other than, “I can’t talk about this.”

She stepped back into the living room to avoid it altogether.

For a moment, both of them were left alone with their thoughts, disoriented from the conversation.

Alicia couldn’t accept the fact that someone like Elyza could kill the things that lurked outside these walls. She could draw and read. Elyza was artsy. But she dressed like she had waited her whole life for the apocalypse with a matching attitude: badassery and sass. Not that Alicia was complaining, someone could finally hold a verbal smack down with her. But killing was different. On the other hand, if she was this flippant in talking about it, the killing thing, maybe she hadn’t actually killed anything before. Elyza could easily be all talk and no walk.

The blonde, however, couldn’t get past the fact that Alicia wasn’t at all interested in her own protection. Maybe she just never had a reason to. Maybe the opportunity had never come up where she had to kill in order to survive. Or maybe she was a coward that really couldn’t hold her own in a fight, a scaredy cat with a sarcastic attitude that she played on just for show. Elyza had done anything to protect herself, it had gotten her this far. If this girl thought that she was going to make it back to her family without dying, she was sorely mistaken.

Elyza followed after, seeing Alicia throwing supplies in a backpack, even the book that Elyza had given her. The hurried way that Alicia rushed around reminded her of memories that she would rather not relive, memories of before the apocalypse took its hold.

“Aren’t you hungry?” Elyza asked, now leaning in the doorway.

Alicia stopped for a moment to look at her, eyes partially narrowed. She wasn’t angry in the least, this blonde just didn’t seem to grasp the concept that Alicia had somewhere to be. Unless the late night ass-whooping and conversation had been a dream, she remembered telling Elyza that she had to keep moving.

“Yeah. But I have to get going.”

Elyza’s eyes saddened slightly, but she masked it even faster than it could appear. “Right. Your family.”

Alicia hesitated, holding a precooked packet of gluten free rice with kale seasoning. She shoved it in her backpack along with a third bottle of water, crushing her bag of chips at the bottom.

“Yeah, my family is waiting for me.”

Elyza nodded. “I can help you find them if you want.”

Their eyes met, ocean green intercepting sky blue, and time seemed to freeze for half a heartbeat before starting abruptly. This time, Elyza looked away, not entirely sure why she asked but also well aware. She gathered herself before she spoke again.

“But, you have to promise to eat something before we go. I can’t have you passing out on the road.”

The blonde disappeared for a moment and returned with a small plate of the rice and veggies that had been on the stove. Alicia could still smell the fried onions, caramelized from the heat, and the red peppers warmed but not charred. Out of pure politeness, Alicia took the plate, carefully examining its contents.

“I didn’t poison it,” Elyza held up one hand. “Scouts honor.”

She was never a scout and, on top of that, she had no reason to want Alicia dead. What a valuable waste of poison that would have been, if she had any on hand of course.

Alicia wanted to speak but could only think: Why would she offer something like that?

Chapter Text

Alicia had grown utterly frustrated with Elyza’s constant chatter. She had been so quiet when they were back in the abandoned house, now that they were walking she wouldn’t shut up. Elyza had spent the better part of the day prattling on about some television show that made no sense in retrospect, but she had clearly dedicated a large portion of her life to it and even went so far as to memorize each episode’s plot along with some quotes that sounded meaningful but came across as gibberish to Alicia. The whole series just seemed chaotic, with a plot that even Alicia could poke holes in and she hadn’t even seen the damn show. It made for a good story despite the fact. Either way, she just nodded as Elyza went on and on about it, hearing without really listening.

There was some credit to Elyza, however. Despite the fact that this woman would not stay quiet for more than a breath, she did know when to be so silent that she could even outshine death. With a bag full of stray bullets and nonperishable foods, an assault rifle slung over her back, and the weapons strapped to her, it was a wonder that she didn’t make a sound at all. She could have worn a large set of jingling bracelets and still snuck through a graveyard in the dead of night with the only sound being an owl way off in the distance.

Alicia, on the other hand, seemed to be nearly the opposite.

As they came to a small gathering of the dead, standing erect and shuffling outside of a small cluster of stores on the main street of a tiny town, she tripped and stumbled nearly face down in front of the lot of them. Somehow she managed to roll out of their vision before they caught sight of her.

Elyza wanted to laugh. Truly, she did. But there were too many of the dead scuttling around the area. Instead, she sighed through a smile and held her arm out for Alicia to take. When they headed back out again, the brunette took note of how the other stole glances in her direction.

For whatever reason, Elyza was quiet after that. She didn’t say anything for a long while and Alicia almost began to worry. Almost. But the blonde had her reasons. If something had happened, she could have killed the freaks when they pounced. Her head was stuck in the clouds of thought, not because she couldn’t find a thought, but because she was stuck on something that Alicia had said earlier, their entire conversation in fact.

Alicia still thought that they were human, the dead that walked among them. She thought that they could be saved from their disease, that it was only a sickness and nothing more. But Elyza knew better. They were gone, their minds were absent of real thought, their desires to eat and kill were all that drove them. If something had happened, Elyza would have reacted out of pure instinct. She would have killed all of them without hesitation, just to save a girl she had just met. Even if the noise drew more to their location, she would kill them too.

But after that, would Alicia still look at her the same way?

The same way that she stole concerned glances of her features, the way she studied her new companion. Maybe she would just advert her eyes the same way that she did every time that Elyza looked up to her. Or she would leave. Just walk away without a second glance back, possibly run, screaming back and calling her a murderer. And Elyza couldn’t figure out why she cared. All of this was concerning some pathetic girl that didn’t know a gun from a grenade.

“I never got to ask you why you were out here,” Alicia broke the long silence, trying to figure out how she could discretely silence her footsteps like Elyza did. She whispered the next part, as if it was almost offensive. “All alone.”

“Holiday,” the blonde tried to wrap up her most recent history, a series of lies wrapped in a beautiful bow, in the briefest of stories. All of the memories were far too painful for her to relive, especially now. “Figure the best way to escape home was to jump the pond.”

“Exciting. Go on an adventure, they said. It will be fun, they said.” Alicia frowned bitterly, if only to get a response from Elyza. She was successful in receiving a half hearted smirk but nothing more. “Where are you from?”

“And ruin my aire of mystery? I don’t think so, sweetheart.” Elyza had returned to her old self, all sass and badass sarcasm. The brunette took an exasperated sigh, slightly annoyed by the fact that she had returned to the nicknames instead of just chattering away about that stupid television show again.

“But I have been doing all of the talking, tell me about yourself,” Elyza stole a glance at Alicia with that damn smirk and the girl blushed back. When the response didn’t come fast enough, the blonde stepped closer and nudged her. “Come on. At least tell me about this family of yours.”

There was a long moment of silence between them, nearly deafening if it weren’t for the dead thing struggling to get to it’s one leg beneath it, the other being prosthetic and dragging behind it as it crawled. They just walked right past it. Elyza had thought that maybe Alicia would have freaked out or said something about it but she was following Elyza’s lead now, she wasn’t paying attention to their surroundings.

“It’s more like a sad group of misfits,” Alicia finally admitted. Even though she knew the girl was trying to be serious, Elyza couldn’t help but hide a smile. She could relate. “There is my mom and her boyfriend, my stupid brother, my dad and his wife and their son, then some couple with their son and daughter, and some stranger we picked up along the way.”

“Your parents are divorced?” It wasn’t the question that Elyza had intended to ask but it was the one that came out. “And they brought their new significant others with them? Hell, that has to make for quite the party.”

Alicia rolled her eyes. She hadn’t even brought up the fact that Nick was a community college dropout that was addicted to heroin. Thinking about all of this now, the group that she had been traveling with for weeks, they really were messed up.

“What about you? What’s your family like?”

The question made Elyza freeze, expression dropping without her eyes falling to the ground. No part of her wanted to admit that she was an orphan, especially not one that had been traveling just reach to Los Angeles, only to find that it had succumb to a plague. Admitting that just seemed stupid, let alone a horrible conversation piece. The only reason that she was here in right now was because she was looking for a reason to stay.

Before the brunette could catch on to her sudden change in mood, Elyza perked up and smiled. “Not nearly as screwed up as yours. Kind of wish it was though. At least it would be more entertaining.”

Alicia finally cracked a smile that made Elyza smile back.

The blonde continued, trying to avoid the previously posed question. “It will be dark soon. We should find a place to crash for the night.” She motioned with a nod towards one of the dead. “They get a little more active when it gets dark.”

The sun had reached its three quarter mark in the sky which meant that sunset was not far behind. The day would be over soon. If they kept going, as Alicia wanted to do, then she would probably be struggling last minute to find and barricade where ever they were going to stay.

Instead of disagreeing, Alicia just nodded. “And where should we stay?”

Elyza eyed the back road just behind the main street. She was looking for something specific, a tell of as to what could lie inside. So many of these houses seemed similar but they all had such big differences. There was to be something of value in the larger of the house. Maybe loads of food and water, or at least something mildly entertaining. Maybe there was a portable charger that she could steal.

The blonde held one hand over her eyes, peeking through on the side opposite Alicia. She waved a finger of the other towards the houses. “Eeny. Meeny. Mineey... -” She pointed towards the largest house. “-That one.”

Alicia rolled her eyes, something that had seemed to become a frequent motion, before she realized that her new friend had already snuck up to the door. Elyza tried the door handle and when that didn’t work she knelt next to it and picked the lock. She held the door open for Alicia, waving inside.

“After you, sweetheart.”

Alicia hesitated, staring inside the well lit house and trying to see what dangerous things could lurk inside. The blonde sighed and went in, one hand on her pistol. Alicia followed staying closer to her as they explored the first floor. There was another series of pictures of the tenants, this time just a man and his daughter sharing a similar likeness. When the first floor seemed clear, Alicia headed towards the kitchen to explore for food. Cabinet after cabinet had food in it. That was the best thing about everything before the apocalypse, whenever people went to the store, they didn’t get only the things that they needed for the day, but they bought things for an entire month. There were plenty of things here and it would last for at least two weeks between the two of them if they stayed here, but Alicia needed to catch up to her family, to meet them at Grams in Oregon, their destination and place that they had all agreed upon meeting if they were to get separated.

There was more than enough food. Maybe Elyza could cook something again. The rice from early this morning was delicious, or maybe she could should Alicia how to cook it. There was some rattling coming from the attached garage that made Alicia jump, still unaccustomed to having someone else with her. She wasn’t sure whether or not to call out to see if her friend was alright, knowing that it was the exact corner that she had disappeared around.

“Shit!” Elyza growled loudly from where the crash sounded from.

Her presence made Alicia relax.

Alicia went back to scavenging, catching a lunging silhouette out of the corner of her eye. She barely had enough time to put her hands up before the dead man grabbed her and tried to pull her closer.

A surprised gasp left her chest as she struggled against the diseased man. His teeth were rotting, a stench worse than roadkill scraping her lungs as she inhaled. It’s skin was almost translucent, a faded burned fleshy color. His teeth snapped as he leaned closer, his strength immense, pulling her closer as she pushed him away. The girl tried to grab his shirt, to twist him away, but he just kept coming closer within inches of snapping at her nose.

Alicia stumbled back, almost tumbling back had it not been for the island countertop just behind her. Now she was leaning back over the counter, the slim man leaning over her. Sounds of their struggle enveloped the room.

Elyza froze in the doorway, hesitating a second too long as a hundred different things hurdled through her mind. If she used her gun, more would come. If she killed it, Alicia would hate her. But she couldn’t hate anything if she was dead. There wasn’t time to think about this.

Save the girl.

The weight of the man disappeared entirely, as did his hideous, decaying face. Elyza had crashed into him, sending him flying, then tumbling down through the open basement door, his limp body crashing down the stairs. Head over arms, over legs. Finally he came to rest at the bottom of the stairs, lying in a heap with a faded gurgling rising from the bottom of the stairs.

Elyza stared down at him for a long second before looking back to Alicia, now sitting who still had panic frozen on her face. Elyza crouched at her side, wiping away a splotch of blood from the shoulder of her jacket, spit from the dead. The blonde may have been a little too calm, even showing in her voice.

“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

Alicia shook her head, staring at the doorway. Elyza looked back to it and stood to slam it shut.

Chapter Text

Alicia was shaking, sitting on the couch and quietly watching nothing, her mind racing to replay the events. She took a breath to steady herself, unsuccessfully.

After what had happened, Elyza had graciously offered - not so much as offered but demanded - to explore the upstairs. She did so alone and came back with an assortment of things in hand and not a scratch on her. It put restless minds at ease, knowing that there were no other dangers in the house.

But there was still the matter of the dead in the basement. Alicia nearly had her throat torn out by one of those things. She was scared. Scared of the dead people that walked the streets at all hours of the day, scared of dying. Alicia was scared of everything that was important in this world. No. Not scared. She was terrified. Maybe she wasn’t cut out for living in this new world. But Elyza clearly was.

The blonde had just killed a human, or killed something that was almost human. She didn’t even bat an eye when he cracked his head on the concrete flooring. She didn’t blink when he stumbled part over part down the stairs. To her, it just was.

The man in the photo. He was dead now.

But what about his little girl? What happened to his daughter?

“You okay, cupcake?” Elyza asked, watching her carefully from the floor. She was restocking her backpack, taking out the old things and replacing them with new things.

For the past hour the blonde had been sorting through everything that they had found from around the house. There was a stack of cans in the corner, multiple stacks of everything from soups to assorted veggies. They could live off of this stuff for weeks. Stacks of blankets and pillows that had been pulled from beds and the upstairs closet. There was even a large supply of water bottles. Elyza had ventured into the basement to get them. Something that Alicia wasn’t too eager to do.

Alicia pulled one headphone from her ear, spinning it in her fingers while her favorite song played in the other ear. Her mind was still wandering, thinking back to life before all of this. The day that seemed to stick out the most was the day that Nick was found in the hospital. The doctors said that he was running through the streets blindly and was hit by a car, landing him in the hospital. Not only because he had something in his system, but because he was just an idiot going for a run in the early morning without shoes on. It seems like that was the day that everything had changed. The day that set all of these events in motion. The last real, normal day.

“Alicia,” Elyza was a little more firm this time in trying to get her attention. Still the girl only looked up, acknowledging without really seeing her. Alicia only snapped out of it when the blonde threw a pillow at her.

“What?” Alicia growled with narrowed eyes, finally refocusing her attention. She was no longer trying to verify past events, no longer trying to maintain a sense of normalcy by escaping to her memories, no longer trying to be sure that the things in her mind were real.

“Next time I want to get your attention I will just lift my shirt,” Elyza said and Alicia’s face flushed, her cheeks turning red.

“Don’t do that.”

Elyza smiled, glad to have finally gotten her attention. But she could tell something was wrong. This couldn’t be the same girl that had walked with her through the streets of California. At least that one had the unintentional decency to keep her entertained with her lack of understanding.

“Are you okay?” The blonde asked again. Alicia looked away, staring at her fingers as she twisted the earbud in her fingers, then to her music player, seeing that the battery was running low.

When she didn’t respond again, Elyza stood and moved to sit next to her on the couch.

“What do you think happened to the little girl?” Green eyes fell on the photo of the girl. She was similar to Alicia, her eyes brown instead of green, her skin tone a little bit lighter and her hair matching almost perfectly.

“I don’t know. Maybe she is with her mom.”

Elyza hadn’t thought about it much. But that is what Alicia’s mind had now stumbled upon a sa distraction. Talking about her family would just depress her. Maybe talking about another family would take her mind off of the memories that she was trying to cling to.

“Yeah. Maybe.” Alicia continued, pulling out her other earbud to listen. She needed a decent distraction. “You never told me about your family.”

“I’m really not the most exciting person alive.” Elyza had become an expert at avoiding questions, although she was poor at side stepping this question in particular. The blonde stood and held out her hand for her friend to take. “Come on. I have something to show you.”

Alicia stared at her hand for a moment but gladly took it after a moment if only as an assist to stand. The blonde led her towards the kitchen and all that she could focus on was the basement door until they rounded the corner to the garage. There was very little in the garage, just a lot of tools and parts that Alicia couldn’t make sense of. One corner of the garage seemed to be dedicated to sports equipment. Maybe the man that lived here had been a sports guy.

Elyza leaned against the lone vehicle in the room. A motorcycle. Alicia didn’t know one from the other, so trying to figure out the make and model was impossible. But she knew the maker thanks to the Harley Davidson plaque that was plastered on it’s side.

“Do you even know how to ride that?” The brown haired girl asked, stepping carefully over the parts on the floor.

“Of course. I used to race.” The blonde turned her head and her long blonde hair whipped over her shoulder. “It just needs a few parts. And a destination.”

Alicia wasn’t really sure what to say. If she told her the place where she was supposed to meet her family, she may just go there herself thinking that there was supplies or a safe place for her to stay. Risking her family wasn’t a good idea. Afterall she had only known Elyza for roughly a day.

When the brunette finally snapped out of her thoughts, but was sucked back in. With the remaining sunlight filtering in through the windows atop the garage door, Elyza’s eyes glowed a brilliant sky blue. With her badassery showing through her clothes, it made sense that she could also ride a motorcycle. She played the part well, intimidatingly so. The ear piercings, the glowing blue eyes, the long wavy blonde hair. Alicia thought that, maybe before this, she could have been a model.

“How long will it take to fix?” Alicia inquired, trying to blink away the fact that she had been staring at her acquaintance for a solid minute.

The blonde was staring as well. Alicia was caught in the same light. Elyza couldn’t help but stare back, She didn’t bother masking it. She just stared with a healthy smile, taking in the beauty of the timid but brazen girl before her.

“Maybe a couple of days. It's been awhile since I worked on one.” Elyza rubbed the seat of the motorcycle as if lost in thought, lost in memories. “We can stay here until then. There is plenty of food.” She stood and approached Alicia who grew uncertain. But she just passed through the doorway to the hall leading into the kitchen. For a moment, Alicia thought she heard her groan something. “Too bad the shower doesn’t work.”

Chapter Text

Alicia woke up in the middle of the night, uncertain as to why. There were no noises to be the cause. But she had a hard time getting back to sleep after that. So she lay on the couch staring at the ceiling for a long while, waiting for the subtle hum of the electricity running through the walls or the buzz of the refrigerator or the rumbling of the washing machine. All of the noises that she had once been accustomed to. All of the noises that she didn’t realize that she missed until the power went out.

The silence was numbing. The girl could have easily played music to ease the pain of that but her music player was just over half way charged now thanks to a portable charger. Dealing with the silence was the best way to get used to it. It wasn’t at all like when her family would go camping in the spring. When the weather was warm but not too warm, the sounds of the woods and animals that lived in it providing a distraction. This, pure lack of sound, absence of noise, was mind numbing. The only thing providing any sort of comfort was Elyza’s heavy breathing from the floor.

It was hard to sleep in a stranger’s bed which is why they were down in the living room, avoiding the things that the previous tenants had left behind. The nonexistent weight of that was unnecessary.

The Aussie’s breathing was comforting, her presence even more so. Alicia had spent a handful of days on her own just before Elyza had shown up. Now that she was here, despite that it had only been a little over a day, she didn’t know what she would do without her. Alicia could be dead right now had it not been for her. At the same time, there was also the matter of her reluctance in sharing her past or anything about herself. Yeah, Alicia knew that her new pal had raced motorcycles and had been obsessed with one particular television show, but beyond that there was nothing.

Alicia rolled over to look down at her. Elyza had said that she would keep watch for a part of the night and maybe she had, but she was in a deep sleep now, her side rising and lowering slowly. She had moved the coffee table and spread the remaining blankets out on the floor even as Alicia had offered her the couch. But, in the end, her stubbornness had won over and Alicia was laying on the more comfortably cushioned surface and Elyza lay on two or three layers of folded blankets with two pillows and a thin fuzzy blanket covering up to the waist of her tank top.

Why was Elyza still here? She could have stayed last night with Alicia and then just left, halfway through the night even. If she had wanted. But she didn’t. This stranger was still here, sleeping with a knife rested loosely in one hand. Why?

Alicia slowed her breathing, watching the woman on the floor next to her. Maybe it wasn’t just Alicia that was lonely for those few days. Maybe Elyza had been lonely too.

But before the thought could fully develop, the darkness sank in and she was pulled back into her slumber.

*//_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\\*

Elyza wasn’t on the floor anymore, at least not when Alicia was truly awake. In her place were two cans of food stacked precariously with a fork and can opener on top of them. Attached was a neat little post-it with curly handwriting that said ‘Eat me.’ On the blankets, Elza’s bag seemed to be spilled out, her sketchbook thrown lazily on her pillow with a pencil to mark the spot and the various food items sliding out of it.

Alicia dug in her own bag, next to the armrest of the couch, for the book that Elyza had given her. She figured now, while the house was quiet, she could start reading it. And she did, flipping through page after page as she ate the food left out for her. The first chapter was boring, slow going as the author started introducing characters. Alicia had started the second chapter, along with the second can of food, when there was a crash from the garage followed b a slurry of curses, all somehow starting and ending with ‘fuck.’

Lazily, Alicia followed the series of slurs to its source, this time ignoring the basement door and heading straight for the garage. Elyza was waving her hand, shaking off whatever it was that had just happened.

“What happened?” The brunette raised one brow, still holding her can of food with the metal fork buried in it.

There were more parts scattered across the floor than there had been yesterday. From this perspective, it seemed like Elyza was just making a mess, taking the motorcycle apart instead of putting it together. But Alicia didn’t understand any of this anyway. Maybe she was just doing what she had to do.

“I smacked my hand with the wrench,” Elyza bit her lip to keep from spitting another series of profanities.

Everything that she had been putting together, like a delicate puzzle, had been scattered across the floor. She bent to pick up screws and small pieces, bits that didn’t make sense on their own but together built a vehicle. Why the bike had been in pieces in the first place was a mystery. Unless the owner had been trying to fix it himself or, better yet, been trying to install something that had yet to come in the mail. Whatever it was, he had left a mess and, subsequently, that mess was made into a bigger mess as Elyza tried to finish what he had started.

“I’m no expert, but that seems counterproductive.”

Alicia smiled back when Elyza gave her a sour look, responding with, “Bite me.”

The brunette just smiled and cleared off a space on the homemade wooden workbench before pulling herself up to sit on top of it, still picking at whatever was left in her can. Elyza subtly watched her as she picked up screws off the concrete, thinking about how without that jacket she looked almost familiar. But she adverted her eyes the same moment that Alicia looked up.

“Do you even know what you are doing?” The girl pulled another piece of food into her mouth and eyed her friend.

Elyza stood with a bundle of parts in hand, screws and assorted bits of metal that all had names but she would never know any of them. It was then that Alicia saw how greasy and dirty her hands were, how the black sludge crawled its way beneath her fingernails and covered the fronts and back of her hands. Smudges marked her arms as well and one spot on her neck leading to her collar. Elyza brought the parts over to the workbench and dropped them down. Alicia was sure to shift enough so as not to get grease on her shorts.

“For the most part.” The blonde used the back of one greasy wrist to push her hair away from her face. Alicia stared at her for a long moment, mid bite. Her look of disbelief made Elyza smirk. “Yes. I know what I am doing. It’s like putting together those little building blocks when you are little. Just without instructions and a hell of a lot harder.”

“Comforting,” Alicia breathed back, then went back to looking at the pile of junk so as not to be caught staring.

“I will be done in a day or two.” Elyza reassured. Taking a moment to watch her.

Alicia sat quiet for a few minutes, watching her friend’s hands busy at work. The metal fragments that she played with didn’t always fit perfectly. If it didn’t, she would sigh, adjust the piece and try again. When that didn’t work, she went backwards, undoing a few steps that she had finished, that looked right, then put all of the pieces back together. Alicia wondered how the oil on her hands hadn’t caused her to drop any of the more fragile looking pieces, or anything for that matter.

“You never told me where we are going,” Elyza looked up, taking note of how the brunette was watching her busy hands. Their eyes met for a moment, neither of them wanting to be the one to look away. “A destination would help a lot.”

Alicia looked away then, taking a breath and swirling the juices at the bottom of the can after having finished its contents. Maybe, for now, it was best to lie. “Georgia.”

“Like the country?” Her flippant tone made Alicia look back up and stare back at her with the same expression of disbelief as before. Until the blonde smiled and Alicia just shook her head back at her. “I’m kidding.”

Elyza lifted the piece she had put together and pulled it over to the motorcycle, grabbing some tool and putting it in place. She stayed kneeling to admire her work, tilting her head to one side. To Alicia, it didn’t look any different than it had yesterday. Maybe it was done and Elyza had been lying, knowing that she was going to finish early and just teasing her, as she seemed to be so fond of doing. But it wasn’t done.

“Done already?” Alicia didn’t really know if it was or not. She just wanted to go, to leave this unfamiliar house and get back to her family.

Elyza stood. “Well, the tires need some air and the gas has been sitting in the tank for a few weeks, among other things, so we will see.” She looked back to Alicia who was just staring, both dumbstruck and interested in what she was saying. “You don’t actually care, do you?”

“Not really. But I figured I would ask.” The girl swung her legs away from the workbench and stood.

The Aussie shook her head, hiding a smile. “Time for a break.”

“What about the bike?”

“I will have to go get the stuff later.” Elyza stopped next to her and tilted her head, no longer hiding the smile. Alicia was momentarily flustered, reading her expression: Relax. “I’ll get you back to them. Don’t worry, cutie.”

With one oil covered finger, Elyza tapped the end of Alicia’s nose, leaving a black smudge on her skin and smiling even wider.

Even after Elyza headed back towards the kitchen, Alicia just stood there for a moment, watching her go away as she whipped off her hands on a rag. Alicia pulled the rag from next to her and wiped of the smudge. After it was gone she could still feel the warmth of Elyza’s touch on the end of her nose.

Her cheeks warmed but Alicia wiped the rag over her nose again and shook it off, following the blonde.

Chapter Text

“Okay,” Elyza came back in while Alicia was reading, a grease smudge across one cheek and plenty more on her arms. Even her tank top had been stained with oil, not nearly as bad as her arms. “Now I need a shower.”

Alicia didn’t bother looking up from her book. She was too enthralled in the world that had been created. A couple more chapters and she would be halfway through, to the point where Elyza had stopped. It was a decent read, the occasional plot hole leaving its mark, otherwise it wasn’t bad.

“Too bad there isn’t a pool in the back yard,” the brunette teased absent mindedly, unintentionally. When she looked up, Elyza was making a face. But she fixed it, smiling.

“Then we could have gone skinny dipping.”

Alicia’s face flushed when she saw the very real smile that her friend had produced. The blonde’s smile turned into a smirk as she stepped around the couch, pulling her leather jacket from her pile of things, carefully avoiding dragging the mess across her skin or getting it on her clothes. She picked up her backpack, then her assault rifle and swung the strap over her shoulders, letting the gun rest against her side, her bag against her back. It was when she headed towards the front door that every nerve went on edge.

“Whoa!” Alicia stood fast, throwing the book to the opposite side of the couch. She sprung to the door, stepping between Elyza and the wooden surface. After seeing her expression, she realized that it may have been a bad idea. “Where are you going?”

It was still adorable, how hard Alicia tried to act tough. She didn’t pull it off well but she was getting a little better at it. It wasn’t strength that the girl showed, but something else. And stubbornness didn’t account for anything in this new world. Elyza still thought that it was cute, the way she attempted to act remotely similar to her, trying yet failing.

Elyza took a step closer, her presence entirely too intimidating. All black aside from her stained blue tank that made her eyes glow. She was shorter than Alicia but was far more terrifying. She broke the tension with a smirk.

“You want to come with me?” Elyza was closer to her friend than she had been allowed. Even Alicia took a step back into the door.

“It is almost dark.”

Elyza stepped over to move away the curtain just a crack, revealing the waning sun’s light. The blonde looked back to her friend with one brow raised.

“We have a couple hours,” She could see that Alicia was nervous about going out this close to dark. Anyone would be, especially with those creatures becoming more active at night and being so unpredictable. “And we still need an air pump and some gas to fill the tank.”

Alicia thought for a moment.

If they left now, they could find the things that they needed before sundown. That was if, and only if, they could find what it was that they were looking for, if any house around here had an air compressor. They needed a plan of action before they just went out. But neither of them knew the area. There was no plan of attack, no plan to do anything. When it was just her, she went off of looks: if a house looked like it may have been owned by a large family or it had some of those telltale features of upperclass housing.

They didn’t really have a choice. If Alicia wanted to get back to the group, back to her family, she needed to leave as soon as possible. Who knows how long they would stay at Gran’s house, or if they would stay at Gran’s; if they would wait for Alicia. With any hope, they would think she was still alive.

“Do you know where to get this stuff?” The brunette finally asked, seeing Elyza raise her brow.

“Nope.” The Aussie leaned against the wall, having a rough idea of where she could get one of the items if they back tracked a little bit. The other required a gas can and that could be in any of the garages. “It's all a part of the adventure.”

Alicia sighed, slightly annoyed. “Fine.”

The girl reached for the door handle, her hand barely brushing the handle when Elyza’s hand lightly smacked the door, barely making a sound. “If you think that you are going out like that, you are sadly mistaken.”

“What?” She looked herself up and down, which gave Elyza an opportunity to do the same without having to be embarrassed about it.

The blonde rolled her eyes, and reached to her thigh, pulling out her knife and turning it so that the handle faced Alicia. When it didn’t occur to her that she should probably take the knife, Elyza nodded and waved it forward. “You are going to need this.”

Alicia took the knife, feeling how heavy it really was. It wasn’t just the very real weight of it in her palm, but the weight that the knife itself possessed. The people that it had cut or stabbed, the possible things that it could have done. All of the hypotheticals bothered her. Maybe it hadn’t done any of that. Alicia was overthinking it. She let her fingers wrap over the handle, the heaviest part of it by far. There was just one more thing: If it came down to it, if she had to kill, could she?

There was no answer. Maybe she could. Maybe she couldn’t.

“Come on, cupcake. We are losing daylight.” Elyza, pulled open the door, forcing her friend to step aside.

The streets were relatively clear with very few of those cretins polluting their sightlines. The ones that they could see were too far away to worry about and were in few numbers, three at most. They started walking back the way they came the previous day. Alicia followed quietly, trying to keep pace next to the blonde but not truly understanding where they should be going was almost hindering. So Alicia stayed almost next to her, looking around for anything that could be useful, but it seemed like there was nothing.

They passed a few houses, ending up at their first not two blocks down. The door was unlocked and, unfortunately, it had nothing that they needed. It wasn’t the first choice, more like the fourth. Elyza picked the first house on her list, one that she had noticed.

Alicia had noticed how Elyza was always on edge, always aware. She didn’t make it obvious, just subtle enough not to alarm her. But the blonde still let her eyes roam the streets, the coves next to the houses and the windows that they passed. She was so hyper aware that it bothered Alicia. Maybe something had made her that way. Whatever it was, Alicia couldn’t figure it out and knew that she couldn’t ask because Elyza would just deflect it.

This house was different, or at least seemed that way. When they went inside, the doors also unlocked, they found a little kid’s toys scattered everywhere. There was no upstairs, just the one floor and no living thing walked the house. They didn’t bother with the kitchen since they had everything that they needed back at the their temporary base. So Elyza led the way to the garage, after a brief moment of searching for the right door.

Inside was an old car, beat up to all hell and rusted through in some places while shiny and new in others. There was a freezer that could fit a body, not that one had ever been in it, and a pile of dirty laundry in a basket next to the washer and dryer, another pile of folded laundry on the dryer.

It made Alicia miss what she used to have. She wanted fresh clothes still warm from the wash, and new shoes, and running water, and real food; like a greasy burger with cheese that had melted perfectly on top, accompanied by lettuce and onions and pickles. She wanted a nice tall milkshake and a side of chicken nuggets.

“What are you thinking about?” Elyza asked, seeing how Alicia snapped back to reality at her words. She looked away when Alicia bit her lip, more focused on pulling something off of the shelf near the worn down car.

“Food.” The response was a little too honest, so much so that Alicia’s stomach growled loud enough for her friend to hear. There was a light chuckle.

She noticed a small tube leading from a device next on a separate shelf across from the blonde. The box that it was attached to was small enough that it could fit in Elyza’s backpack, familiar in shape and size. She knew that she had seen Travis use one of them before.

“What about an air compressor?” Alicia asked, looking back to Elyza who looked up for a moment before frowning.

“No electricity.” Elyza reminded her, then visibly thought for a moment. She looked to what was in her hands then back. “And if it did work, the noise would probably attract everything in the neighborhood.”

Well, she was right. Those things were attracted to sound. If the stupid box did work, then they would be stuck avoiding all kinds of creepy decaying people. They didn’t need the monsters coming after them. That was the last thing that they needed, if they needed anything.

The brunette held up a plaid button up shirt. “So what are we looking for?”

There was no response.

Alicia looked back over her shoulder but didn’t see Elyza anywhere. For a moment, she contemplated calling out her name but who knew what else would come running if she did that. So she headed back towards the living space, hoping that she wouldn’t have to go outside to look for her associate. But Alicia stopped and smiled when she stepped back into the kitchen because there, in the backyard with a fence at least six feet high surrounding the area, stood Elyza, soaking her grease covered arms in the hottub.

Chapter Text

In the early hours of the morning, before the sun rose, Elyza sat up in the darkness with her sketchbook propped on her lap. Unable to see without the sun’s guidance, she just watched her fellow survivor sleep.

Alicia had talked briefly about her group. The whole group seemed entirely dysfunctional since her mother and stepmother lived together, as did her father and her mother’s boyfriend. She had her brother and her step brother, that must be a joy. They had picked up strays before. Maybe they would let Elyza stay with them, maybe after she earned everyone else’s trust. It didn’t matter really.

All that Elyza wanted at this point was a place with real people, a place that wasn’t another foster home or an empty park bench, not someone else’s home where she would find herself staying after the world went to hell. Because that had been the hardest part of living in this new world, even if she had practically grown up here she would always be an orphan. If getting Alicia back to her family meant finding a place to stay, not with a family but with a group of people that held a relatively mutual respect for each other, then she would try her best to get her back. Even having someone here with her at her side, to keep her company, was far better than being alone. It was even better in a world where people disappeared constantly and died even more frequently.

Alicia sighed in her sleep and adjusted so that she lay on her side facing the blonde. Elyza just watched her side rise and lower slowly, wondering what she was dreaming about. In a way, Alicia reminded her of herself when she was younger, stubborn and hard headed and sarcastic, but dedicated to whatever she set her mind to. This girl had a whole life that she could have lived if the world hadn’t become what it was, a life that she deserved to live.

When the brunette shuddered in her sleep, pulling at a blanket that wasn’t there, Elyza stood quietly and pulled a light sheet from their pile. She draped it over the girl who snuggled into it, subconsciously pulling it up to her nose. Elyza reached forward again, tempted to brush away the hair from the girl’s face but stopped herself, taking a step back before dropping back to where she had sat before.

The girl in front of her, the brunette with constantly cautious eyes and a sarcastic tone, didn’t just remind Elyza of herself when she was younger, but someone else entirely. Alicia was reserved like the woman she used to know, smart - brilliant, in fact. But they had their differences, all of which stretched far beyond just their appearance.

For starters, one of them wasn’t dead. Elyza couldn’t bare to think beyond that. This time, she could do something to prevent that. She could save this girl from the world that was fighting against them. Unlike last time, she would be able to do something about it.

The memories haunted her.

The only way to escape them was by busying her mind. The blonde escaped to the kitchen to gather food, returning almost silently and leaving a short stack by the sofa with a fork on top, nestled beneath a granola bar.

Elyza sat, waiting for the sun to lighten the room just enough that she could draw again. She ate the few things that she had gathered as quietly as she could to allow her resting companion the pleasure of sleep. When the sun rose enough that the light barely fractured through the curtains against the walls, Elyza pulled her sketchbook onto her lap, all but abandoning her food.

It was almost an hour later that Alicia finally woke up and when she did, Elyza was in the garage, working on the current day’s venture. The brunette gathered the food left for her, copying yesterday’s ritual of eating as she read her book. She stopped just before the spot that Elyza had, then snatched up her granola bar and followed the light humming to the garage.

Alicia found her friend in the garage, wiping down the motorcycle’s gas tank with a clean rag. She just stood in the doorway, watching for a long second as Elyza kicked a metal part from the front of the bike.

“It looks good,” the brunette, took a bite of her granola bar, thinking that it had to be finished now. She took note of the manual bicycle pump next to one of the tires, wondering how long it took her to fill the tires by hand.

At least it looked that way. Compared to yesterday morning it looked complete. The tires were not longer deflated, the pieces that had been missing were now in place. It was like a motorcycle from a magazine, a perfect specimen for the cover.

Elyza turned and leaned back against the leather seat of the bike, looking like the average biker chick in all black and a leather jacket.

“Technically, we can leave now.” The blonde tossed the rag to Alicia who caught it and just stared, not entirely sure what to say. Part of her still didn’t believe that she could have fixed it. “If you want.”

Alicia fumbled with her granola bar in one hand and the rag in the other. She was one step closer to getting back to her family, one step faster. She could be there in days instead of weeks. She smiled nervously at the thought. Elyza could see her thinking, processing everything and she knew that she was, unfortunately, one step closer to something as well, something that she couldn’t be sure of yet.

“If you want to go now, we have to start getting packed,” the blonde stood carefully from where she leaned. “Food, maybe a change of clothes. We are going to have to stop at a gas station though, the tank isn’t full.”

Alicia smiled and Elyza was happy for her. The brunette could finally go home, get back to her mom and her mother’s stupid boyfriend. She could see her dad and her stupid ass brother again. She wanted that. Now every part of her wanted to get back to them, to smack around her stupid brother and hug her parents. The thought filled her with so much joy that she was almost shaking in an attempt to contain herself.

“Then we should start packing,” the girl was almost beaming as she turned away and headed back towards the living room, no longer worrying about the dead man in the basement.

Elyza joined her a minute later, gathering her sketchbook which had shifted placed in the room but always remained with a pencil between its pages and shoving it back into the depths of her bag. Elyza was more focussed on the essentials, food and water. Alicia dropped another small bag of chips in her backpack and zipped it up, not before gathering her book.

“You may want to put on some long pants,” Elyza stopped her before Alicia could pull her bag on to her shoulders. “And grab your jacket. It can get pretty chilly.”

So Alicia did, having to swap out her shorts for the pair of long pants that she had stashed in her bag. It wasn’t too bad outside but she imagined that the wind might chill more than just her skin if they were to be riding for so long today.

The blonde had waited for her in the doorway to the garage, her rifle strapped across her shoulders along with her backpack. She waved her hand out towards the motorcycle. “Your chariot awaits, princess.”

Alicia gave a sour look in response and took the sunglasses that Elyza held out for her. But the girl didn’t move, just stood there for a moment while Elyza lifted the heavy garage door and looked back to her.

Elyza approached the bike with a smirk, wanting to tease her friend a little more before they were forced to sit on a silent ride. “You can stand there or you can jump on the handlebars.”

Alicia sighed, looking outside to see if there were any of those monsters in their path before she looked back. “The back is just fine.”

The blonde patted the back of the seat when she swung her leg over. The bike kicked up in a roar when Elyza started it. The sound echoed across the many metal parts. Hearing it made the brunette more appreciative of her friend’s abilities. She was proving to be quite the ally in this dangerous world.

Alicia closed the door behind her, showing pure confidence as she strode over and, nearly falling over, sat on the back of the bike, being care of where her legs were so she wasn’t crushing Elyza. She wasn’t really sure where to put her hands so she just kept them at her legs. She was hoping and praying that Elyza didn’t know that she had never been on the back of a motorcycle. She also hoped that Elyza hadn’t been lying about racing these things in her past. If she had, then this could end badly.

The blonde produced a pair of aviator sunglasses from her jacket pocket, pulling them on and turning back to her ally. “You may want to hold on.”

But Alicia could hardly make out what she had said over the sound of the engine. When Elyza kicked the bike into gear, it lurched forward and Alicia panicked. The brunette’s arms wrapped tight around Elyza’s core, backpack and all as she pressed herself to the girl’s back. The insides of Alicia’s thighs gripped the outsides of Elyza’s. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she was hoping that her friend couldn’t hear it over the engine because it was all that she could hear, the only sound pounding in her ears.

Elyza couldn’t help but laugh, something that was lost to the wind as the bike took off onto the pavement and they sped down the road.

Chapter Text

For the first several minutes, which seemed to stretch on forever, Alicia clung to Elyza’s back, not even thinking about whether or not her companion could breathe. Her eyes were pinched closed as she leaned against her shoulder blade to shield her face from the wind. When her heart rate steadied enough and the weaving between obstacles was no longer disorienting, Alicia opened her eyes. Only to close them again, when the wind pulled tears from them. She pushed the sunglasses from her pocket to her nose, the ones that Elyza had handed her and tried again.

The whole world was a blur aside from whatever was ahead and what was behind them. Elyza was weaving smoothly enough that she could dodge the abandoned cars and debris in the road. She did it without thinking, without hesitation. Sidling past the monsters on the road if there were any and ignoring them just as easily. Ahead there was plenty to avoid, the road sweeping beneath the tires of the bike. At their sides the houses were pulled away in blurs, blending together in an endless array of colors in the mid day light. But behind them the street was ground out beneath them, an endless cape of things that they would forever leave behind; houses, monsters, people, memories… ghosts.

It was surreal.

Elyza was right, wearing long pants was best. The wind burn was enough to make her skin numb. Her jacket helped keep her arms toasty but without it she wouldn’t have lasted long. Elyza’s body was blocking most of the breeze that assaulted her. Alicia found herself wondering how the blonde had managed to stay warm herself. The breeze had pulled her leather jacket’s sleeves up to her forearms. Blonde hair pulled back into the air.

Alicia realized just how tightly she was clinging to her companion, lessening her hold almost entirely until her nerves took over once more. Again, she was wrapped around Elyza. Not that the blonde minded, she was enjoying the proximity, the closeness.

The brunette tried again, trying to steady her breathing a little more. She relaxed her thighs, no longer pressing against the outside of Elyza’s, her shoulders following. Then she took a breath and pulled her arms away slowly. She leaned back into the sissy bar, the back of the seat attached to the motorcycle.

This feeling was exhilarating. The wind pulling through her hair and whipping her skin beneath her jacket, making her feel both warm and cold. She let the wind take her breath and wash through her lungs. This freedom was something she had missed for quite some time. It wasn’t just freedom but a sense of peace. Another something that seemed to be amiss in this world. Peace. Peace in the sense that she would be safe. Peace knowing that her new friend was more of a companion than an acquaintance. Peace of mind that she would be alright.

Elyza frequently glanced to the mirrors on both of the handle bars when she no longer had arms wrapped around her core. A part of her grew nervous that Alicia may have fallen off. But the girl was still there, her face new lit with a certain something that Elyza had never seen. She was glowing, a new air about her that Elyza hoped would last. It made her smile.

With her eyes closed, head tilted towards the sky, Alicia let the sun beat down on her freezing skin. She was numb to the wind now but still felt it, her heart warming the coldest parts of her.

There was no worrying in this self created world. Moving on but no worrying. She wanted it to last forever. She didn’t want to worry about fighting the monsters that walked the abandoned streets or searching for food in someone else’s house. That wasn’t even close to living and it wasn’t the life that she wanted.

The serenity that riding on the motorcycle brought was cut away when Elyza began to slow down. It was unexpected, like the stiffness of her muscles when she tried to move for her Ipod, realizing that they had been going for over an hour. They were making good time but Elyza had slowed enough and pulled into a gas station, one with an overhang. When she turned off the engine she waited for Alicia to stand before she did herself, pushing her sunglasses to the top of her head.

Alicia rubbed feeling back into her sore legs, not realizing how hard it was to walk after being stuck in one position for so long. She had thought that bike riders had it easy when they rode but this was an all new kind of discomfort.

Elyza had parked the bike beneath the overhang, shaking out her limbs and stretching, keeping her eyes on the surroundings in case one of the monsters was nearby. There was nothing. Still, her ever cautious self was lightly tapping the butt of her gun, keeping her friend in her periphery.

“We need gas,” Elyza finally said, looking carefully to her companion. “And a map for the road.”

“A map?” The way Alicia said it sounded incredulous, a stupid question. She didn’t mean for it to be, she didn’t even intend for it to be a question. Now she just felt as stupid as she sounded.

“You know, one of those things that is made of paper that people used to use to find their way around.” Elyza’s sarcasm made Alicia smile, not quite the smile that she had seen while riding on the back of the motorcycle, but a smile nonetheless. “We need one to get to - wherever the hell it is we are going.”

Alicia thought for a moment, debating on whether or not to speak. “Roseburg. We are going to Roseburg, Oregon.”

The blonde nodded. That was a good few days away with frequent stops for gas and resting, sleep and food, whatever other essential there may be. Maybe even a few interruptions along the way if they were unlucky.

“Roseburg, Oregon,” Elyza said it lowly, quiet as if it were an ominous place. Her accent only added to the effect. So it wasn't Georgia afterall. “Sounds so quaint.”

She nodded and stepped away, putting down her bag and withdrawing a piece of tubing from her backpack, sliding one end into a truck’s fuel tank and the other into the motorcycle's to siphon gas.

“Gram lives by a creek, in a little cottage type house on a backroad. I don’t know where exactly but I know the town.” Alicia thought back to all of her memories involving Gram, walking with her through stores at a slow rate, and helping her around her home. They were silly little thoughts. “I would know it if I saw it.”

“I’m sure that I can get you that far,” the blonde looked up from under her brow with a smirk.

There was a wheeze from the hose, then a sputter. She pulled the tube out, putting the gas cap back on, and stepped away. To the storefront. Elyza stayed there for a moment, cupping her hands over a section of window and peering inside. Alicia questioned it for a moment then followed. She watched her friend for a long while. Then Elyza sighed, leaning back away from the window.

“I really want a candy bar.”

Elyza smirked and looked at Alicia. Before she could object, Elza opened the door, unlocked, and sidled inside, the brunette close on her heels. The situation felt all too familiar to entering the house when the monster had attacked her. Being closer to someone real, gave her a little more comfort. The badass at her side conforted her. Unfortunately, if something were to happen, this time there was no conveniently open door with steps leading onto the dark for the thing to be knocked down.

Maybe there was nothing in here but food. Food and water and supplies that they had plenty of at the moment.

Elyza held to her word and snagged a candy bar from just beneath the counter top display. Alicia found herself wandering around the corner of the cashier’s counter top, her fingertips gliding over the surfaces, the counter, the buttons on the register, the half empty pack of cigarettes in just next to it.

Next to the counter was a baseball bat, tucked into a small alcove. Pure wood and not nearly as heavy as it looked. Alicia held it, testing the weight in her hands while her friend watched. Elyza, opened up her her candy bar and took a bite, grabbing an assortment and shoving them in her backpack’s side pocket without taking it off. Her eyes met Alicia’s and she just shrugged.

“Keep it. They won’t need it anymore,” Elyza pulled a thin book from the side of the counter, flipping through it and pausing for a moment, then continuing. A map as she had said. It showed the surrounding states and landmarks.

Something sounded from the back of the store followed by fast and heavy footsteps on linoleum tiles. They had both heard it. More in sync than they had been before, Elyza and Alicia looked to each other, then back to the opposite end of the store. Elyza motioned quickly for Alicia to follow, and they were already racing out of the store by the time the man shouted at them. He had a rifle in his hands.

“Get the hell out of my store!” He screamed after them.

By the time the man had reached the door, Elyza had started the bike and Alicia was clambering on the back. They were gone and he was left stomping angrily in the middle of the lot, fuming over everything.

Chapter Text

They had stopped briefly about a mile away from the store they had just robbed. Alicia was shaking from the encounter still, not from fear this time but because of adrenaline. It was exciting. This whole world was exciting and she had only scratched the surface by staying in random people’s homes.

The lot that they were standing in was small, a restaurant lot, and was entirely abandoned. It was safe and free of dangers. It wasn’t clean, however. There was a lot of garbage littering the place, a bag had fallen clear of the overpacked dumpster and torn wide open, the wind pulling trash across the lot. Other bits and things had probably blown in off the streets or dumped by people as they drove by. Why they stopped here was a question within itself. But it was clearly safe here, at least for the time being given that it was a wide open space.

Alicia watched her friend trace one steady finger over a road on the map, a main road that Alicia knew well as a moving hell. The California highway was a bad way to travel, slow and agonizingly so. She wasn’t sure that it was the right path that Elyza wanted to take, but her finger only traced the one line all of the way upstate. Her finger trailed off before motioning to another line, then another and another.

“That is probably the worst route to take,” Alicia finally said without her friend so much as looking up.

Elyza was focused on their path, her fingers twisting along the routes until she hit the Oregon border. Her eyes scanned the page for Roseburg, not finding it right away. After a moment the tips of her fingers trained up through the page along three different roads before landing on Roseburg. Then she ran it again from where they were to where they were headed. She was trying to memorize the path.

“Why not go this way?” Alicia ran her fingers across the page, her pink bumping into Elyza’s hand.

The blonde looked up for a moment, about to speak but stopped herself, taking a breath and trying to start again, without luck.

“See. We can go right through the city and make better time.”

Elyza shook her head, taking another breath before she spoke. “We can’t. The city is a bad place to be right now.”

Alicia was about to object with a steady series of questions but they never left her lips. Something about the look on her face made her reluctant to ask about why they shouldn’t take the faster of the two routes. There may not have been a reason at all. Maybe the cities were really bad and the worst place to be right now is where all of the people would be.

So they took their break, stretching, then getting back on the motorcycle and heading back on their path, the one that Elyza had picked for them.

Alicia was ready to get back to her family. She wanted to see them all again. It was a homesickness that was difficult to describe. It had almost felt like she had been away from them for years but reality screamed almost two weeks. If it weren’t for Elza and her autopart know how, she may still be stuck back in that small town where they had met. Or she may be as dead as the thing that attacked her.

They passed another dead person on the road; they really were dead. Their body lay on the street, head turned away from them as they passed, dried blood having pooled on the street. Alicia just stared at the laying figure as they passed. It was still odd to see people laying in the street, odd to see the dead this close instead of just beyond the television screen when an over funded company produced a film or television show, let alone the news and their crazy antics.

Alicia had steadied her nerves while they had been riding. It was only her third time on a motorcycle, the first time being when they had taken off earlier. Still she kept her hands loosely around Elyza’s core, not really sure where else to put them. Elyza didn’t mind, in fact, it was when the girl at her back moved her hands away that she grew concerned. Often she would find herself looking back in the mirrors just to see what her companion was looking at, if anything.

The sun was at its three quarter mark in the sky when they reached the California highway. Another twenty minutes of driving and they had stopped again. The brunette pulled a small can of food from her bag, leaning her baseball bat against the bike while she waited for Elyza to hand her the can opener.

Elyza stood near a rather large dark green truck, pulling herself up onto the die of it’s empty truck bed to sit. Alicia joined her after opening her can and they sat in a moment of silence as they ate.

Ahead of them, over the barrier that prevented cars from falling from the highway, the sun was setting. It’s light cast dark shades of reds and purples over the sky. The colors blended evenly, almost impossible to differentiate from one another. Just before the setting sun, the city was cast in darkness. Plumes of smoke popped up in a few places but there wasn’t a huge fire. If there had been, there would have been a lot more smoke.

When one looked to the other, Elyza found that Alicia was admiring the sunset. Her eyes glowed lightly, a certain softness hiding there. It was different than the last time. Her little smirk was kind and wondering. Her child-like pleasure made Elyza smile. She took note of how the sun caught her hair in streaks, showing a lighter shade when the light hit it at just the right angle. She looked away before Alicia looked up.

The brunette caught her companion from the corner of her eye before she looked away, seeing her sigh and look back out to the sun. The light had caught her hair and made it glow gold. The tiredness truly showed in her face now.

“Thank you,” Alicia finally said, not looking away from her. Elyza took a breath, digging in her can of food.

Elyza looked to her, their eyes meeting. “For what?”

“For everything,” Alicia responded, swirling the contents of her can. “You didn’t have to-” Alicia stopped herself because she knew that Elyza had wanted to. She had offered again and again and she had taken the help every time. Even when Elyza had saved her life, the girl had hardly questioned it. So she corrected herself. “We could have just went our separate ways.”

“Could have.”

Alicia wasn’t sure that she had caught the words that her friend had breathed almost silently.

“I mean, I did try to hit you with a fire poker,” Alicia laughed, which made Elyza a little softer.

“To be fair, I was pointing a gun at you.” The blonde smiled when the brunette did. The way she tilted her head one way was warming.

They sat in silence for a moment, Elyza watching her companion whose expression had fallen as she swallowed hard and had become suddenly distant. Her green eyes were focused on nothing and everything, her mind falling back.

“That was only a couple days ago.” Alicia whispered, staring into her can. “It feels like it’s been forever.”

Elyza knew that she wasn’t talking about them anymore. She missed her family. It was all too clear. She wanted to see her brother again and her parents and everyone. Alicia was heartbroken in a simpler sense. All of the people in her life had disappeared all at once. Even though she may have been having a hard time with her family, especially since everything happened, she still loved them deeply.

“You miss them.” Elyza could only feel sympathy for her. She didn’t need to respond for Elyza to know that it was true, but Alicia nodded.

“Even my stupid brother.”

It occurred to her then that Elyza had never talked about her family. The woman she had spent several days with, several miles with, had yet to reveal anything about herself aside from the occasional thing. Alicia was curious. The model-esq blonde knew about motorcycles, which had come as a complete shock, and drawing and reading. But her past was a complete and utter mystery. It was odd, not knowing why she walked the way she did, how she knew the things that she knew, why she carried herself the way that she did.

“Do you miss your family?” Alicia could she Elyza almost freeze next to her, a slight hesitation that she wouldn’t have noticed having just met her, but Alicia had spent a few days with this woman. She could tell.

The blonde bit the inside of her lip. “Sometimes.”

Thinking back, there was really only one person that Elyza truly missed. It wasn’t her parents back home, the ones that had abandoned her, or her many foster families. It was the girl, that had been more than just a friend to her. That was the person she missed. Someone mildly innocent like Alicia, someone sarcastic and gorgeous and annoying as all hell, but loving and compassionate like nobody’s business. That side was one that only Elyza had seen and she loved her for it.

It was all that she wanted to say, Alicia knew. Because it was hard for her to even think about her own family whether it was for two minutes or two seconds.

“Melbourne.” Elyza said and Alicia wasn’t sure that she had heard it correctly. The blonde looked up to her, the fading sun reflected in both their eyes. “I’m from Melbourne, Australia.”

“That sounds… quaint.” Alicia smirked and Elyza smiled back at her.

Maybe, the blonde thought, their little trip would be worth it. Not just so that she could get Alicia back to her family, but maybe so that she didn’t have to be alone anymore.

Alicia was the first to look away, finally breaking their stare when the dying light had pulled down far enough that its sparkle no longer glimmered in her eyes. “We should try to find a place to stay.”

There was nothing around for a half a mile in either direction. Yeah there were buildings directly off the overpass that was the highway but they couldn’t simply climb down. They would have to drive and it wasn't worth the wasting of time.

“We’ll stay here.” Elyza motioned towards the bed of the truck.

The brunette thought for a moment. It was tall enough that they wouldn’t be able to see them if they walk by. It wouldn’t be the most comfortable place for them to sleep, but they had found themselves doing a lot of things that they had never done before.

Elyza tossed her car over the edge of the barrier to the streets below, listening for the clanging of the metal against concrete before she swung her legs around into the bed of the truck. It was entirely clear of anything, the gate pulled up to give them cover all four sides. Aside from the dust that lay inside, there was nothing.

“Go ahead. I’ll keep watch.”

Alicia smirked on the side opposite her companion before following that order, also tossing her can far over the barrier.

Elyza did as she said, keeping watch over Alicia as she slept soundly on the rough surface. A deep sleep for the most part. At one point she twisted and turned a little too abruptly before settling with heavy breathing, one arm tucked beneath her head.

“You will see them again.” The blonde whispered.

Chapter Text

They had stopped again, this time by a large department store. It was the only one that stood in this town but it sold everything under the sun; home decor to locally made dog food, but mostly it sold clothes. They had to pry away the automatic doors to get in, the inconvenient lack of electricity made it difficult but once they got them open the doors stayed that way.

Again, Elyza led the way with one hand on her pistol and the other on the butt of her rifle, and again Alicia let her, staying close to her with the fingers of one hand wrapped tightly around the knife she had been given. It had become something of a safety net since Elyza had handed it to her, but she still kept her bat in her free hand.

“Why are we here?” Alicia asked, her fingers brushing a heavy winter jacket on the clearance rack. Winter had ended months ago.

“Shopping,” Elyza smiled in a devilish way that was only made more sinister by the light of the skylights.

Alicia still wasn’t sure as to why they were here. There wasn’t much food aside from the vending machines by the registers and the glass had already been shattered, someone or many someones gathering supplies for themselves most likely. Elyza had picked something up from the counter where a few candy bars remained, but she continued on towards one section of the store.

“Pick whatever you want,” Elyza grabbed a new pair of black pants, cleaner than the ones that she was currently wearing. “I’m buying.”

Alicia rolled her eyes and Elyza laughed, a humbling sound that made the brunette look away, a smile on her face. She didn’t look up right away, “Is that why we stopped, to grab a change of clothes?”

Elyza thought for a moment as her fingers brushed the sleeve of a shirt on the clothing rack, something that didn’t seem like anything she would wear, let alone have in her closet pre-apocalypse. There was a glow of remembrance in her eyes, memories that made her heart warm. Their eyes met and that glow didn’t quite disappear.

“I know that I haven’t showered in days, but I am pretty sure I am not the one who stinks.”

Alicia made a fake horrified expression and Elyza huffed a laugh until her friend turned and grabbed the nearest object, throwing it hard. Elyza ducked and hid behind the nearest clothing rack, peeking her head up.

The brunette’s expression dropped for a moment when a terrifying thought kicked it’s way through her mind. “And if any of those things are in here?”

Elyza leaned forward on the metal rack in front of her, that damn smirk hinting on her lips as she analyzed Alicia’s expression. “Don’t die.”

The blonde gave a light smile, clearly in a good mood. But Alicia just rolled her eyes as her friend began searching through the clothing section, eyeing the black clothes more than anything else.

Alicia stepped away, anxiety making her heart beat harder as she listened for the sounds of anyone other than Elyza or herself. If as a comfort, the brunette dropped her backpack, keeping her knife in her belt and her bat tight in her grip.

The clothes here were pretty nice. At least the quality was decent. There was a stack of jeans that were acid washed that were light weight. There were two pairs that were in her size and she grabbed a pair for later. Despite that it was relatively hot outside, Elyza had been right, the wind when they rode on the motorcycle was cold. Still, Alicia gravitated towards the muscle tanks and grabbed one, snatching another tee shirt that she would shove into her backpack for later. There was no point in bothering with shoes at the moment. She didn’t need them, at least not right away.

Between the isles of stainless steel racks, Alicia glanced around, then stooped low to look under the clothes for anyone. There was nothing, no one. So she dropped her ba quietly and looked around again before leaning her bag against a two way shelf and changed. She had finished pulling her shirt on and tied her plaid flannel back around her waist when she caught Elyza changing from over the racks.

Her friend was turned away from her, changing her pants, then her shirt. From what she could tell, Elyza had pretty much just swapped her black ensemble for a new one. She did add a plaid button shirt in red, grey, and white which matched her now black tank top. She didn’t keep the black pants, instead exchanging them for jeans with small holes in the thighs and knees. The leather jacket stayed, now being pulled back on her shoulders as she gathered her things.

It was still a wonder as to why the blonde had stayed this long. She didn’t need to be here, she didn’t need to help Alicia, but she was.

“Spying on me?” Elyza asked, blue eyes meeting green. Alicia blushed and looked away, picking up her backpack and baseball bat.

“No. I just…” she didn’t really have an answer for that question. So she took a breath. “I was just thinking.”

“Well, don’t hurt yourself.” Elyza snapped her belt on, the clicking of the metal as she adjusted it echoed in the empty store. Alicia moved towards her as she clipped the thigh holsters around her legs. “And don’t worry, modesty isn't really my best feature.”

There was a pause before the brunette shook her head. “Now what?”

Elyza pulled a gray windbreaker from atop a rack of clothes, holding it up, then tossing it to the side before grabbing another. “Take this. It’s better than your jacket.”

For a moment she felt offended at the comment, but it passed and Alicia took the jacket.

The blonde smirked again. “Even after the world ends you still try to look fashionable, huh?”

Alicia rolled her eyes and grabbed the nearest object, a pair of gloves hanging from a hook and threw them, not hard but they hit Elyza and she reacted. Before Alicia could blink, the blonde pulled clothes from either side of her and threw them, then ducking behind a small shelf. Neither of them could hold back after that. The brunette pulled stuffed animals off the shelf next to her, throwing them wherever she saw a flash of blonde hair. Elyza responded by throwing whatever was at hand, listening for laughs as she dodged the attacks.

The blonde gathered pairs of socks like they were snowballs, crouching as she slid between racks of clothing, trying hard not to laugh as she knew that it would give away her position. Alicia avoided every hard edged object that her hands fell on unless he intentionally missed. One was a child’s toy. When she threw it, there was a loud series of crashes that followed. A part of her hoped that she hadn’t hit her friend but the other had secretly hoped that she been hit.

Alicia dove behind a small shelf when something flew past her. She tried to gather whatever was near, her fingers wrapping around something. But she stopped when she heard it. Or the lack thereof. There were no sounds, no squeaking of shoes on the floor, no laughs as they dove away from whatever was flying through the air. And carefully, Alicia stood, seeing nothing.

“Elyza?” Alicia whispered loudly.

No response.

Panic flooded Alicia as she looked around, the girl that she was relying on was nowhere to be seen.

Elyza had disappeared. There was no sign of her as she had faded between the stacks of clothing. The brunette found herself hurriedly gathering her things and trying to find her friend. Even when she caught up to the place where she had last seen her friend, she still didn’t find her. Elyza had disappeared behind a tall shelf and now that Alicia was standing in the place that she had last seen her, there was no sign of her associate.

There was a groan from behind her, making the brunette’s muscle tense and freeze. She would have to kill it, to save herself from whatever was behind her. What about Elyza? Where was she? Did the monster get her?

Strong hands grabbed her shoulders and Alicia jumped, turning with her baseball bat ready to swing, freezing only when she saw Elyza standing there with the stupidest of grins on her face. A sigh pulled through her.

“That wasn’t funny.” Alicia scolded, her shoulders falling.

Elyza laughed, a laugh that melted Alicia’s heart and made her smile in return. The blonde pulled a little plastic silver tiara embedded with fake jewels from her side, propping it on top of Alicia’s head and fixing it just right.

“Don’t worry, princess,” Elyza nudge just beneath the girl’s chin with a gentle finger. “You won’t get rid of me that easily.”

Relief flooded Alicia, knowing that her companion was still with her and not like the monsters that walked the streets. It wasn’t until just now, when she had thought that Elyza was missing or gone or dead, that she realized how much that she needed the company. Alicia needed this woman, not just to help her get back to her family, but to keep her company. And, even though Alicia didn’t know it, Elyza needed her too; needed the friend. This girl had quite possibly become the closest thing to family that she had in a long time.

Chapter Text

The ride wasn’t as cold this time. It was far more comfortable with these new clothes, warmer yet light enough not to overheat in California’s late afternoon sun. Another smart decision on Elyza’s part, especially with the windbreaker. It was as if all of this had come from experience instead of just common thought.

Alicia had been right as well, essentially. The whole highway was horrible. Elyza had to weave methodically through the cars and their opened doors, just as she had yesterday. This section of highway was far worse than the previous ones. Yet, somehow, the blonde managed to find gaps for them to slid through with enough room on either side of them. The woman was a skilled driver, it was entirely undeniable; sly movements just as when she walked or moved. She was steady and unthinking, responding with actions that were purely instinctual.

It was… amazing.

The road was clearing up ahead where an ambulance rested facing sideways in the middle of the road, a fire truck turned in a nearly similar way. They passed a charred car as they drove by, seeing that the entire thing had been burned to a crisp. There weren’t any bodies, at least none that they could see, but the smell of burned rubber and melted metal were still present. Even when they passed, the wind pulled the scent with them for a short while.

Alicia held the music player in her hand as they rode along the highway, her free hand on Elyza’s waist just to keep herself steady as they bobbed and weaved. She had gotten better at leaning when Elyza did, her body following the tilt of the bike. The battery on her Ipod was at twenty five percent. If she wanted to save it, she would have to wait until they found some other way to charge it. A shame really, she could use a little road trip music.

The brunette could see the focus on her friend’s face whenever she looked in the mirrors on either side. Though unable to see her eyes beneath the silver tinted aviator sunglasses, she could tell that the woman was uniquely aware, as if she had some sixth sense. What Alicia didn’t know, was that every time they leaned one way or the other, every time the brunette’s touch faded for even the slightest of moments, Elyza’s eyes absently looked to the mirrors to be sure that Alicia was okay. Pure concern that the brunette would never know of.

It was almost a distraction from the danger that was miles ahead of them. ‘Almost’ being the operative word because Elyza did see it, nearly slamming on her brakes when she did. The sudden jolt forward slammed Alicia’s chest into Elyza’s back, their head nearly hitting one another. For a moment, the brunette struggled to get a grip on her Ipod, shoving it in her jacket pocket and zipping it closed so as not to lose it.

“What the hell?” Alicia growled, adjusting to back up on the bike again.

In the mirror, Elyza’s expression seemed frozen on the road ahead. It was an expression akin to fear, if the woman was capable of such an emotion. She was terrified of something that she saw up ahead.

“Elyza?”

“Shit.” Elyza had breathed the single word but Alicia wasn’t sure that she had heard it. The blonde’s eyes flashed to the mirrors but her friend was more concerned about her than what she could see.

The motorcycle switched off and Elyza leaned back to sit straighter.She pushed her sunglasses up on her head with a solidly heavy breath.

“We need to find a different route.”

“What? Why?” The path that they had chosen was a clear one, it was the one that Elyza had picked. The clear path that avoided the city.

With a small gesture that Alicia’s eyes followed to the highway ahead, the brunette understood. At that point, Elyza needn’t say anything else. Far in front of them, was a wall. Not just a wall but a wave that pulled and moved, enveloping things in its path as it slowly rolled towards them. A herd… no, a horde of decaying people stumbling and shuffling between the barriers of the highway.

Elyza was right about the city after all. It must have been too crowded for them all. They had seen a few of those monsters walking by themselves as they were riding, a handful together here and there when they weren’t on the highway, but they had managed to steer clear of them. They couldn’t avoid this many, there was no chance that they could. If they drove head first into that they would drown in a bloody wave of bodies. And staying here wasn’t an option, they would just as easily be carried off by those things or killed even. They could still go back. They had time.

“We need to go back,” Alicia’s heart started pounding in her chest and she hoped that Elyza couldn’t hear it. Panic was starting to overcome her.

It nearly stopped altogether when Elyza responded with, “We can’t.”

The blonde was panicking too, she was just better at hiding it. Instinct was taking over. The instinct to act.

“The nearest off ramp is almost a mile away.” Elza swallowed hard. The brunette didn’t understand. “By the time we get there it will be sunset. Then we have to find a place to stay for the night, someplace fortified.”

Had an ocean of rotting humans not been steadily rolling in, Alicia may have thought that Elyza truly did have a sixth sense, but her mind was racing too fast for her to process real thoughts.

The sun had already begun dipping below the buildings, casting long shadows across the ground around them. If they stayed here too long, the horde would be right on top of them.

Inside, Elyza was just as panicked as Alicia, her heart rate unnaturally steady considering the danger that was approaching them. She needed to think of a way out of this, to save the both of them from what was coming. Her head whipped around, looking for something, anything that could protect them. Without waiting for her companion, Elyza leapt from the bike, carefully making her way through the cars and trucks - towards the horde. Just ahead was exactly what she was looking for.

Alicia was close behind, having left the motorcycle in the street between two cars. Her baseball bat was no longer sticking out from her backpack but was in her hand. Despite having the weapon in her grasp, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to fight off all of them. More importantly, she doubted that Elyza had enough ammunition to murder all of those people - to save them.

Elyza had stopped next to a white stretch limousine, practically untouched by anything. Thankfully, it was unlocked when she pulled on the handle. The brunette took notice.

“What are you doing?” Alicia hissed, looking down the road. They were getting closer. They needed to do something. Soon.

The blonde tapped the window to bring attention to them. “Tinted windows. Most limos have them.” The brunette was still worried and Elyza could tell. “They won’t be able to see us in the dark."

Alicia looked back to the end of the road. “Let’s just hope that they haven’t seen us yet.”

Elyza waved her hand in towards the door, feeling that the fading day’s heat had dissipated. They could spend the night in the car and not worry about dying from the heat. It was the safest plan they could think of and the only plan that they had. If going back wasn’t an option, and neither was going forward, they would have to stay in the limo for tonight. Hopefully, just the night.

Alicia took a step forward, about to duck inside the limo but stopped. The blonde was showing a little too much worry, looking back down the road towards the approaching horde.

“If you’re wrong-”

Elyza met her eyes. The thought had occurred to her. If she wrong about this they would both end up dead. That was one thought that was enough to make them both hesitate.

“I know.” The blonde breathed.

Chapter Text

It felt like hours, days even. It was a painful silence and a far more painful wait. Alicia was clutching Elyza’s knife, her knuckles whitening. A knife was easier in a small space. The bat, which now lay on the floor of the limo, would have been problematic. Elyza was sitting with her back against the cab, her rifle on her lap. She was tense, they both were.

Alicia leaned forward from where she sat, trying to see if the monsters that they were hiding from were getting any closer. As soon as she leaned close to the window she could see shadows being cast across the ground by the waning sunlight. Then came the grinding sound, the growling as they approached. They were absolutely terrifying from any distance. As they started stumbling past the tinted windows of the limousine with faces drooping and decaying. One tripped and slammed its head against the side of the car.

The sound made Alicia jump. What would have been a shriek was cut short when Elyza threw herself forward, clapping one hand over her companion’s mouth. Alicia was more startled by the latter, the blonde pulling her close to her chest, a light shhhhhhh pushing over her shoulder.

That short noise was still loud enough that a couple of them stopped and looked around, continuing on a moment later.

“Deep breath,” Elyza said at less than a whisper. She could feel Alicia shaking in her arms, fear. “We can talk but we have to whisper.”

Rather than trying to say something through Elyza’s fingers, the brunette just nodded. So the blonde slowly let her go and leaned back. Alicia was trying to process everything, her mind still racing, her body still shaking, her instincts screaming at her for not running when she had the chance. Now she was trapped with the same woman that had been helping her.

Alicia sat back in the far corner while Elyza crouched in the middle of the limousine, eyes narrowed. She was so tense, they both were. But Elyza…

Muscles bunched, one hand on her pistol, the other holding a knife that had appeared out of nowhere. She had put herself between her companion and the only two entrances that led to them. Elyza was ready to react, to attack.

“They better not scratch my bike.” The blonde growled, her aussie voice growing deeper and more terrifying, scratchy and low. Somehow she managed to raise her voice enough that it remained a whisper but was still quiet enough that the monsters outside couldn’t hear.

Alicia shook her head, realizing now that her fingers had wrapped so far around the hilt of the knife that her nails were digging into her palms. She swapped hands, deep grooves being left in her skin. So she shook out her hand and rubbed it on her pants in a sad attempt to rub away the pain.

After several long moments, Elyza finally sat back, moving to the free side of the seat next to the brunette. She didn’t relax, just misplaced her unease to a spot slightly closer to Alicia. The relocation was mildly frustrating, especially since Elyza couldn’t stop flicking the safety on her pistol. Safety on. Safety off. It was annoying, but not something worth commenting on. So, instead, she watched the slow moving wave just outside the chassis of the car. But the longer they sat there, the more questions that Alicia thought of.

Elyza was well versed in the ways of survival. Not a single thing she had said so far had been wrong, aside from thinking that one house was safe when it definitely was not. The blonde could fix a motorcycle and race and shoot a gun, not that it had been fired yet to her knowledge. She had known where to go and what to do when they got there. How she had so much experience was beyond Alicia, but she had a certain understanding of the world that the brunette just didn’t have. What was more intriguing was how she knew all of this. There was no figuring how, just that she knew.

Alicia bit the inside of her bottom, trying to think of a way to phrase the questions that she wanted to ask.

“What are you thinking?” Elyza had beaten her to the question, her thumb no longer flicking the safety of her pistol. In the faded light her blue eyes reflected little of the glow. Yet, the shine in her eyes was still noticeable, shimmering back into Alicia’s.

She could feel it, the blonde’s cautious eyes watching her even when she wasn’t paying attention herself. The brunette was stuck fumbling for words now, thinking of something, anything to say other than questioning her friend about her past. She just found it strange that this woman had yet to share anything real about her past after the brunette had shared bits and pieces of herself.

“We have been traveling together for a few days,” Alicia lowered her voice halfway through when the groans from outside had become quite for a brief moment. Elyza just nodded, unsure of what to say as a decent response, but the girl continued. “But I don’t know your last name.”

It was a peculiar question, a filler as Alicia had nothing else to say that didn’t seem offensive.

“Does it matter now?” Elyza held question in her eyes, though she had nothing to ask. It was more questioning why she wanted to know, why hearing the name was so significant now that the world had all but ended.

“I guess not.”

Alicia tilted the knife, resting it in her hands and spinning it nervously. There was no reason to be, no reason to ask a pointless question.

There was a long moment of silence, or something close enough to silence given that the walking decaying humans outside had gotten louder. They kept bumping into the side of the limousine unintentionally, making several banging noises as they did. It was nerve wracking and the only things keeping her mind off of it was coming up with pointless questions to ask her companion.

It wasn’t like Elyza could do any better. In her mind, questions raced but didn’t stick. The girl had family, she had living relatives that could keep her safe when she got back to them. She had a life before this, a life with people that cared about her. Somehow this girl had ended up on her own and was still struggling to get back to her family. How it happened wasn’t much of a concern. Elyza was more concerned with what her plans were, amongst other things.

“How did you end up on your own?” The blonde finally asked her question, eyes curious, the girl finally looking up.

But she looked down again. “I ran away.”

That made sense to Elyza. She had wanted to avoid her family and, from what Elyza understood, she had good reason. A screwed up family was a screwed up family. If you see one, you have practically seen them all.

This was Alicia’s chance to say something. Now that she had an opening, she could finally ask the question that had been burning a hole in her mind. Phrasing it was a problem.

“What about you? How did you end up here?” Alicia watched Elyza freeze, almost in time with the banging of one of the dead outside the car. This wasn’t the first time that Alicia had asked, the question was clearly difficult. Maybe rephrasing was a better strategy. “I mean, Melbourne to California? That is quite the jump.”

“Yeah.”

It was the only thing that the blonde could say. There was nothing else. Not because she didn’t want to say anything, although that could have possibly been a factor, but Elyza had been flooded with memories that she had been avoiding for too long. They rushed back to her and she shook her head, keeping her eyes in her lap.

“What was it like? Australia, I mean.”

Alicia wasn’t giving up. She had finally found a crack in the armor that her companion had been displaying this entire time. If she could chip away just a little bit, even just a little at a time, maybe she would reveal something more about herself.

Struggling for a response, Elyza opened her mouth, closing it again when there was a sharp banging noise that disappeared just as fast as it had come. Managing to gather herself, she took a breath.

“It was nice. My parents used to take me to the beach, the Gold Coast, when I was little.”

Her mistake was in speaking in the first place because now her mind was bombarded with things that she didn’t want to remember. Things that haunted her and gave her migraines if she thought about them for too long. Spending time on the coast with her mother, following her dad across the sand, watching her friends surf the waves of just off shore. It had been a long time, but they were all so vivid, not to mention relentless. But she couldn’t stop them now.

Alicia knew this was the time to listen, not just because she knew very little about this woman, but because she had been lost in thought like this before and understood that the memories needed to be the only thing comforting her right now.

“It wasn’t so different from here. The people were nicer. The cities were cleaner.” She couldn’t stop, knowing that she had to keep her voice low. Elyza shook one thought from her mind, unintentionally moving on to the next. “My… It was nice.”

She trailed off, finally managing to regain control of herself, to realize that she was saying things that she didn’t mean to say. Alicia watched on as Elyza’s heart visibly fell in her eyes and her mask hid her emotions once again.

“Then why come here?” The same moment that she asked was the same moment that Alicia regretted saying anything.

“Holiday,” the word was repeated but it sounded less than real this time. Elyza grew more distant but managed to look to her companion.

She had drawn the line in the sand and Alicia would have to respect that. The fact that she didn’t want to talk about it made her weary but concerned. Maybe, just maybe, she would reveal it on her own time.

Alicia pulled her backpack from the seat next to her and dug around inside, pulling out two granola bars. Gently, she reached out to the blonde who was no longer looking at anything in particular. Her eyes were just focused on the rear window across from them. So Alicia tapped her shoulder with the granola bar to get her attention. The what seemed like a sudden snap back to reality, was followed by glazed eyes. Yet Elyza took the snack, their fingers brushing one another’s, and her gaze seemed to perk up.

The brunette pulled her legs up onto the seat, almost curling up into a ball. She was still focusing on the things outside despite her wandering mind.

“Do you think they will wait?” Alicia chewed her granola bar, trying to decide what she would do in their situation.

“Why wouldn’t they?” Elyza hadn’t imagined that this would happen. If she was trapped in this car with Alicia, it was best not to unnerve her. But revealing who she was, opening the door to her past, it wasn’t the best option. Then again, she couldn’t comfort her if she was worried because she was concerned about whether or not they would be okay in the morning.

Alicia shrugged. Maybe Nick would convince the rest of the group that they should leave Alicia behind or maybe the group that they had picked up along the way would just take over and lead them somewhere else. There were a hundred different things that could have happened before she got back to them

“I don’t know.” Her voice faded.

There was a long pause between the two of them. Elyza stared out into space absently. She wasn’t quite thinking of the situation at hand, the current danger that they were facing and, miraculously, managing to avoid so narrowly.

A part of Elyza had hoped that they could get to Oregon and that would be the end of it, no detours or stops from imminent danger, just a quick ride to their destination. But a setback was a setback. Now that they were sitting here with the air in the limousine growing stale with each breath and the sounds from the outside growing in strength, she felt as though she had expected more. Being stuck in here meant that they had a chance to get closer to one another, at least emotionally. Unfortunately, the goal of trust was pulling away as they both seemed to be unable to convey it without waiting for the other to do the same. One of them had to take the first step forward.

“I was adopted,” the blonde whispered, aware of but now ignoring the shuffling outside. She kept her eyes low, twisting the snack in her hand and adjusting her grip on her pistol with the other hand.

Alicia couldn’t help but stare. She didn’t know what to say.

“That’s why I am here. I left my foster family.” Eliza was deadly serious, her voice falling below that of a whisper as she looked up.

Her eyes seemed to be filmed with a sorrowful silver in the early moon’s light. Alicia didn’t have anything to say. Not even an ‘oh.’ But revealing that now, it did make sense. So much about her made sense now.

Alicia tried to find the words, she stumbled over sentence after sentence, trying to pull words together coherently. Her lips moved but nothing came out. Asking what happened, how it happened, wasn’t the right thing to say. Finally she found words; the wrong words. “I’m sorry.”

Elyza shook her head.

“What matters now is what happens in the next few days or weeks, months or years. That is what we need to think about. The past isn’t important anymore.”

Chapter Text

She couldn’t sleep again, not because of the walkers outside of the limousine because they had moved on long ago, but because she was concerned. Elyza had revealed something about her past that was hard for her, probably one of the hardest things that she had ever gone through; something that had consumed her whole life. But it had also revealed so much more about herself in saying those words.

Everything that Elyza had done suddenly made sense - most of it anyway. The guns and motorcycle racing thing made no sense, unless one was just some items that she had picked up and the other being a hobby that was just indulged by her foster parents. Or maybe it was something that her real parents had encouraged. By leaving her foster family, no matter how long ago that was, she was able to gain some strain of knowledge on how to survive on her own. Elyza was practically prepared for this before it even happened.

Alicia wasn’t equipped to handle this. All that she had was her sharp wit and tough skin. Picking up a gun was difficult enough, pulling the trigger was something different. Elyza had her knowledge, her experience. Staying with her was the only thing that Alicia could do.

That was the something that was keeping her awake. She needed the blonde rogue who was staring out the tinted window.

Elyza had been looking off in one direction for a while, her grip light around her gun, her free hand across her abdomen. Her mind was wandering. She seemed sad, or maybe she was just thinking. Possibly because of what she had said earlier. That wasn’t anything to be ashamed of though.

When the blonde turned back to her, Alicia closed her eyes, pretending to sleep. Elyza adjusted her pistol in her hand, quietly thinking and letting her fingers run over the detailing of the gun that she could hardly see. Her mind was wandering but to the not so distant past. The last person that she had traveled with was before the world went to hell. The difference between the two wasn’t entirely too significant but the last girl was just like Elyza in a sense. The most prominent of the differences was that Elyza had fallen hard for the last girl.

She sighed lightly. With one hand, the one not holding the weapon, she traced one of the two necklaces that hung around her neck, the one closest to her collar. It was a small rectangle with an upward facing arrow on a black adjustable cord. As her mother had told her, it was a viking symbol for ‘warrior.’ Her hand fell to the necklace that hung lower, hidden on a leather cord beneath her tank top. This one was a cog piece made of bronze with a slight golden finish. She couldn’t remember where she had gotten it, but it was her favorite of the two. Both held significance in her eyes.

Elyza tucked the latter back beneath her shirt and leaned back into the seat. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes, listening to Alicia’s breathing as she fell back asleep.

When Alicia woke up hours later it was because of the heat. A cool wind blew in through the open door of the limousine and Elyza was no longer next to her. She must be outside and if the door was open it meant that she was close. Alicia trusted that she wouldn’t leave her, not now.

The sun was pretty high in the sky already. Alicia hadn’t realized that she had slept for so long. It was a wonder that Elyza hadn’t slept that long instead. From what she had observed, the blonde very rarely slept and when she did it was for a short period of time. If she kept putting off sleep then she would end up killing them on the motorcycle.

But Alicia stumbled out, nearly tripping over a lost sneaker. There, on the car across from the limo, she found Elyza laying on the hood of a red Jeep with one knee propped up as her foot rested on the windshield, her ankle resting on her knee. Her fingers tapped the hood of the car absently as she bounced her leg with her eyes closed.

“Hey,” Alicia realized that they were on the bridge and fell back into her cautiousness. She looked up and down the street, spying nothing. Well, nothing that moved anyway.

“Morning.” Elyza opened her eyes, peeking over at her friend. She swung her legs over the side of the Jeep and stood. “Did you eat yet?”

“Uh, not yet,” Alicia admitted, shrugging her backpack on her shoulders. The reason for that being that she didn’t have a lot of food left. They had stopped to eat yesterday but they hadn’t stopped to gather real supplies.

“Neither have I.”

Elyza hadn’t, having eaten the last of her real food about midday yesterday. The last thing that she had eaten was that granola bar that Alicia had offered her last night. She did have some things in her bag and turned back to it, reaching in one of the side pockets and pulling out a name brand candy that she had snagged from the broken snack machine, handing it to Alicia.

“Here. It’s all that I have left.” That wasn’t entirely true. Elyza did have gum left in her bag, but that wasn’t something worth sharing. At least not right now.

Alicia took the snack and followed her blonde friend as she stepped away, heading to where they left the motorcycle. Elyza had already known what had happened, she had come over here before Alicia had awoken, just in case. But it had come as a shock to the brunette, who sighed heavily and fiddled with her snack.

The motorcycle had fallen when the horde of walkers had stumbled through, the handle bars tilted at a strange angle and a definitive scratch along the visible side. The second is what annoyed Elyza the most. She didn’t want to think about what the opposite side looked like.

“You didn’t set it back up?” Alicia asked, clearly confused.

Elyza knew that the girl was ignorant to these things, but she couldn’t really have said that without hearing herself.

“It is about three hundred pounds, if not more.” Elyza stepped around to where the leather rested against the concrete. She dropped her backpack a good few feet away so she wouldn’t trip trying to get leverage. “I may be strong but I am not a superhero.”

The blonde gestured and Alicia took that as a sign to help. So she flung her bag back towards the limo, her bat which was sticking out halfway, made an odd sound when it hit the car. Then she stood on the side opposite her companion, ready to pull it towards her.

Elyza was right, the bike was too heavy. With their combined strength it still took them almost ten minutes of struggling to get the bike right side up. Alicia had even slipped once, her foot nearly getting caught beneath the tire. Thankfully, Elyza had managed to steady it and flip out the kickstand to keep it upright. She pulled the large book type map from her bag opening it up on the seat of the bike.

“How much farther do we have to go?” Alicia picked up her bag and joined Elyza as she shifted her rifle closer to her.

“I’m not sure.” The blonde flipped to the page that she had dog eared, a pamphlet also marking the spot. She spotted the place that she had marked with a red marker, thinking that it had to be a little less than a hundred miles. “A day or so. If we don’t stop we might be able to make it by sundown tonight.”

“And with stops?” Alicia stood next to her companion, their shoulders touching.

Elyza let her come close to her, swallowing hard as she stared for a moment. Collecting herself, she looked back to the map. It all just seemed like a bunch of random, inconsistent lines for a quick second until she found the California-Oregon border.

“Well, we need supplies,” the blonde reached over and used the heel of her hand to wipe off some of the dust from the meter that monitored the gas. “And gas. Once after we get off the highway and again after we pass the border.”

“We’re so close.”

It came across as a whisper but Elyza had heard her say it. She watched the way Alicia touched the page, trying to remember street names from when she was little. Even after the blonde had circled the large area that was Roseburg, she couldn’t remember what street it was. If they got close, she was sure that she could recognize some of the streets, at least the things on or near the streets.

Alicia sighed and Elyza close the map, putting it back into her backpack. “We’ll get as far as we can today.”

It wasn’t long before they were heading back out. Alicia was comfortable enough with her companion’s driving that she could just sit on the back and shift her hips when the bike leaned in one direction or the other. She enjoyed these rides, especially when Elyza hit the gas hard when they crossed large open spaces. When Elyza crossed carefully through the cars, she maneuvered them down the ramp, turning fast before they hit a large dump truck. It was the only moment that Alicia felt the briefest moment of panic since she had first gotten on the bike.

The town that they zipped through was practically silent. There were a few of those monsters shuffling around but they were easy to avoid. The bulk of them had probably disappeared with the horde that had passed last night. Why they had left was still unclear. A majority of them could have come from the city, it would explain the numbers.

Elyza had pulled off the road of this new town to a mom and pop shop. There were only two cars in the small lot. The larger of the two was a truck that Elyza had managed to drain of gasoline. Alicia just watched, sitting on the back of the truck as she swung her legs. Her stomach growled a little too loudly, making her bite her lip and try to hide it. She was really hoping that Elyza hadn’t heard that.

Unfortunately for Alicia, she did. But instead of saying something, she just hid her face and smirked.

“Can’t we just stop in one of these places for food?” Alicia crossed her legs but continued to swing them. She was getting hungrier with every second that passed.

“We shouldn’t stay in one place too long,” Elyza pulled the tube that they had been using to siphon gas from both tanks and dropped it into a plastic bag, putting it into her bag. The blonde’s stomach growled just as loud as Alicia’s and the girl laughed. Elyza just made a face, smiling, then checked the map one more time before shoving it into her backpack. “We’ll stop again soon.”

Alicia flipped through the book in her hands, closing it, then flipping through it again. The pages shuffled in her hands while she held the binding.

“Do you want to drive?”

Elyza looked up finally, not entirely sure what to say. She dropped to the ground, still holding her book.

“I don’t know h-”

“I can teach you,” Elyza held the bike handle and patted the seat.

Alicia shook her head. She really didn’t want to try. If she screwed up they would be out of a ride and, more than likely, would have to find a hospital - not that there would be any doctors around to help them. On the off chance that she didn’t crash, she still didn’t want to drive. She had no confidence in herself to stay on the road, let alone maneuver as easily through trash and debris.

“Come on.” Elyza held out her hand but her friend still hesitated. After a moment, the brunette tucked the book in her backpack and handed it to Elyza, who strapped it to the back of the motorcycle’s sissy bar.

“How...”

Elyza raised one brow and looked back to the motorcycle then up to Alicia. Carefully, she swung her leg over the bike, trying not to kick her companion. She just stared at the gauges and the handle bars.

“First, turn the key,” Elyza motioned to where the key sat in the ignition and Alicia complied. She swallowed hard when it roared to life. “Now, put your hands on the handlebars.”

The brunette didn’t move. She was just as nervous as when the decaying humans passed them last night. There was no reason for her to learn this. If Elyza was going to stay with her, then she could drive and if she left, then she could just walk just as she had before.

“It’s like riding a bicycle with an engine. Just relax,” Elyza put her hand on her friend's shoulder but it did nothing to help her. The brunette was about to look up to Elyza when she sat at her back. “I will help you.”

Elyza could feel how ridged Alicia was. She was tense and terrified of what was going to happen. When the blonde reached around her sides and held the handle bars. Alicia reluctantly followed her lead, placing her hands just inside her friend’s, the touch mildly comforting. Just as a courtesy, Elyza kept her foot on the clutch, the other on the ground but ready to jump to the brake while Alicia just kept her feet on the pegs.

“Just turn the right handle to go forward.”

Alicia was a little more concerned about the brake. She didn’t want to kill either of them, not when she was this close. The brunette adjusted her hand to turn the handlebar, just as Elyza had said. The bike lurched forward too fast, dragging Elyza’s boot against the ground. Immediately, she reacted, her opposite foot kicking the brake. Even after their heads collided, Elyza’s forehead smacking the back of Alicia’s, Elyza steadied the bike.

Elya lied. It was so much harder than riding a bicycle and she didn’t even have full control.

The brunette had already let go, her head pounding, her surroundings spinning momentarily. Elyza laughed, pulling her arms back to relax and resting one hand on Alicia’s shoulder. When she turned to look at the blonde she noticed the faint red spot near her temple. She smiled back at the blonde’s laugh just as it was fading.

“Uh, okay.” Elyza’s expression was warm, her eyes reflecting the light held by the cloudy blue sky. “How about we try that again. Just, a little bit slower this time.”

Chapter Text

The weather had taken quite a turn. Days in California were typically hot and dry with rain being minimal at best. It was moderately enjoyable, occasionally humid. It was never like this.

When the sky had first opened up there was nothing but a drizzle. But on the back of the motorcycle, especially at high speeds, or any speed, it was painful. Even through the jacket that Elyza had so graciously picked out for her, Alicia felt the droplets on her arms and face. The sky grew darker and darker until wearing her sunglasses made it seem like night was imminent. Now that the rain was coming at a steady beat, it felt like she was swiss cheese, the droplets drilling into her as if they were bullets. She couldn’t imagine how Elyza felt since she was taking the brunt of it.

Even she couldn’t stand it. Last time that Elyza had rode a motorcycle in the rain she practically crashed. If Alicia hadn’t been new to riding, and she back half of the bike hadn’t just fishtailed almost uncontrollably, she could have kept going. But it did and Alicia was now clinging on to her a little too tightly, not that she minded.

They had to stop now. The rain was picking up, coming down harder and harder. Elyza pulled the bike up to another lot, one that was behind a rather shady looking building. When they stopped, the rain didn’t seem too bad. But Alicia was already soaked through her jacket and her skin was freezing. Almost as soon as Elyza had pulled into the lot she had parked and the girl behind her had all but disappeared.

Alicia sprinted to the nearest building, ducking beneath the small awning and turning back to see Elyza strolling through the rain. The blonde had pulled her sunglasses down and let them hang from the collar of her tee shirt. With the rain draining from the clouds, her hair had gone from loose curls to straight. Even she was soaked but she still enjoyed the casual saunter through the rain.

“There goes the leather on my bike,” Elyza reluctantly stepped beneath the awning, motioning to a sign next to the door. It was an elegant spot, well decorated but unkempt, not unlike everything else in this town. The main door had a broken glass window which was a little unsettling. “Good spot.”

When they opened the door to they found a long hallway that led to another door. This one wasn’t broken but opened with a turn of the door knob. It meant that they didn’t have to remain entirely too quiet but they also needed to worry about someone that may be inside. That was the main concern, not whether the monsters were inside but if there were other people in this building, people with guns.

It was a relaxing space, wide open and dotted with few statues, paintings decorating the walls: a museum. The ceilings were high, skylights allowing for the light to come in but few windows along the walls. The walls were wide, even a second story that could been seen from the floor, a walkway around the edges of the room. One could even see the separate spaces where rooms attached to the pathway above.

“I didn’t think that there were museums around here,” Alicia looked around the space, stepping slowly with her wet shoes making the occasional squeaking noise.

Eliza just shrugged in response. Even she was left speechless, at least for the moment. Her eyes were flicking between each painting and sculpture, pieces that she had never seen before and things that were inspirational. It was a beautiful place.

Alicia stopped in front of one of the sculptures. It looked like bits and pieces of garbage thrown together just thrown together. Slowly she stepped around to another side, still not seeing it until she stepped to the side with a plaque. It was a focus piece, according to the card. If you looked at it the right way, you could see what the artist really wanted you to see. From the right perspective, the intended perspective, it was a large cat leaping from the ground to some place high up. It was intriguing.

“Elyza.” Alicia didn’t have words to spare for the piece. It was… something. She looked across the room, thinking that her friend had disappeared again, then back over her shoulder. “Elyza?”

She had been drawn away by one of the many paintings that hadn’t been defaced. It was a small piece, easy to miss. When Alicia saw what it was that she was staring at, it was of a horizontal painting of a cityscape surrounded by a dense forest. Seemingly decrepit, the entirety of the city was dark, lit only by the melting candle in the foreground and the moon at the peak in the background above the mountains.

“Whoa,” the brunette stared at the painting for a long while. This one was more beautiful than the sculpture that she had seen.

Elyza had been staring at the painting, briefly taking a moment to memorize the pattern as if it meant something. Now she was watching Alicia and her widened eyes. There was a spectacular amount of wonder plastered on her face. The hint of a smile that pulled at her lips was enough to make the blonde hide a smile of her own.

“Of all of the beauty in the world, there is nothing more beautiful than death, and for those who have left us, this lone flame burns,” Elyza had finally pulled her eyes off the painting and looked at the plaque. The card beneath it was a brief line. “It isn’t signed.” She took a step closer, looking a little more carefully at the painting, looking for a mark that the painter may have left but there was nothing.

“What does it mean when an artist doesn’t sign their name?” Alicia asked, not intended for it to be a joke or a riddle.

“They are either incredibly noble, or incredibly stupid.” Elyza wanted to reach out and touch the painting, thinking better of it.

Alicia’s stomach growled loudly then. The two of them looked to each other, Elyza raising one brow. They had stopped earlier and picked up supplies, just before the rain had started. They had even stopped and ate a little before the decaying people popped out of the woodwork and they were forced to move on.

“Hungry?” Elyza asked with a smile. She reached out to poke her in the stomach and Alicia flinched back. The blonde was smiling.

Alicia rolled her eyes and shuffled over to one of the many soft couches that the museum had to offer. It was gray and in sight of the painting that Elyza was so fascinated with. She dug inside her bag for the smallest can of food, using the can opener of the utility knife she had acquired. Elyza pulled off her jacket, still sopping wet and sat next to her, still gazing at the painting.

“You should take off your jacket.” Elyza’s words sounded like a come on, one that surprised Alicia enough that she nearly choked on her food. Elyza rubbed her back as she coughed. “Do I need to give you CPR?”

“No,” her breath fell just short. The brunette’s one word made her eyes water and her throat go dry. “No, I’m fine.”

When she looked to her companion, Alicia noticed real concern on Elyza’s face, genuine concern. The brunette realized that it was probably best that she take her jacket off. She was still wet from the rain, her jacket keeping the cold to her skin. So Alicia did as she was told, taking off her jacket and dropping it over the arm of the couch.

Elyza noticed it then, the tattoo on the girl’s forearm. It looked like a rose, simple in it’s design yet elegant in fashion. Absently, she rubbed the side of her neck where the broken infinity symbol had been imprinted in her skin.

“You’re not much of an art person, are you?” Elyza whispered, still staring at the painting that she had been so focused on.

Alicia thought for a moment. Matt had liked art, enjoyed it so much more than he let on. Even the tattoo on her arm was something that had had drawn, something that she had traced over with a makeshift tattoo needle to keep him in memory. He was the only reason that she had kept art close to her but never would she be good at it herself.

“Not really.” The brunette put down the now empty can. She wanted to continue with something about Matt, but the words wouldn’t form. Preserving his memory meant talking about him, but talking about him was painful.

“And this?” Elyza gently let her fingers run across the pattern on Alicia’s arm. When she didn’t flinch away from her touch, the blonde continued. “Why the rose?”

The question made Alicia hesitate. She knew how to respond, how to answer properly, but the thoughts hurt too much. Saying anything would hurt. Matt was a part of her now, forever engraved beneath her skin, a firm reminder of who she used to be, who she was. She didn’t want to say anything that would be degrading to he was.

“Just a memory.”

The blonde gravitated towards the symbol at the back of her neck. She had plenty of those as well. All things that she wanted to simultaneously forget and remember, and some that she would never let go.

Elyza nodded and stood up.

She was clearly interested in the artwork around them, whether they were sculptures or paintings, masks or photographs. Alicia knew that she was an artist by the sketchbook in her backpack, even if it was empty. Whatever she used to draw, there had to be something here to remind her of it or, at the very least, give her a little inspiration.

“You’re the artist. What do you think of all of this?” Alicia watched as the blonde looked around, her eyes scanning one thing then another.

Elyza glanced back. “I don’t know. I haven’t drawn in a while.”

“Why not?”

She shrugged, thinking about all of the things that she had drawn in the past. The rogue ran one hand through her messy, wet, windblown hair with a smirk. “No inspiration I guess.”

“So you carry around an empty sketchbook?”

Elyza smiled when a thought popped into her head. “Well, you could model for me.”

The brunette started to smile but it turned into a smirk as she looked down and back up again. “Maybe some other time.”

The blonde’s eyes lit up in the dark sunless space. She was smiling, not even bothering to hide it. “That’s alright. I can wait.”

Alicia huffed a laugh when Elyza came to sit next to her again. When the brunette looked back to her, the sparkle in her eye was enough. Admittedly, she was embarrassed, finally looking away with the smile still there. She would never admit it, but Elyza really enjoyed her smile. It was warming in a way that she hadn’t experienced in a long time.

Chapter Text

Alicia talked in her sleep. She mumbled a few things but they weren’t coherent. Her whispers were cute, only every other word making sense. It was just a series of hushes and long breaths until real words came out. The one word that came out that Elyza caught was, “lost.” She wouldn’t remember when she woke up, the blonde knew that much, still it was good to see that Alicia was finally getting a good night’s sleep instead of tossing and turning.

When Alicia had awoken she found that Elyza was sitting in the middle of the floor with her sketch book in her lap, staring at the painting that she liked so much. Her mind was a hundred miles away.

The subtle shifting noises that Alicia made when she moved on the art museum’s sofa drew Elyza’s mind back to reality. She shook her head to clear the thoughts away and looked back to her companion.

“Morning.”

The brunette wasn’t the biggest fan of mornings, but now that she was awake it was going to take a long time to get back to it. So she swung her legs over the side of the sofa and ran her hands through her hair. The girl’s eyes were still adjusting to the sunlight and her mind was trying to race to life. Alicia just sighed in response, wanting to speak but her voice was still too groggy to manage the words.

It was then that Alicia noticed the pile of snack foods near their backpacks. It was all kinds of snacks from honey roasted peanuts to an assortment of flavored chips. There were even brand new bottles of water stacked around Elyza’s assault rifle, a few being various kinds of soda.

“I raided the concession stand.” The blonde nodded towards the stockpile of food. She looked back to her sketchbook, seeing the marks on the paper. “Pick whatever you want.”

So Alicia did. She slid off of the edge of the couch, being careful of the rifle as she grabbed an armful of food and a second bottle of soda. With the food wrapped in one arm, she sat down next to Elyza on the floor, passing a bottle of diet soda and spreading out the snacks for her to pick from. The blonde took note but continued thumbing her pencil in her hand. She only looked up when Alicia sat down next to her, their shoulders touching one another.

Elyza looked to the brunette but before she could comment, Alicia spoke. “We have been traveling together for almost a week and I have hardly seen you eat anything.”

It was genuine concern in her voice and it was more than welcome. It was also slightly unsettling, at least to Elyza. Being on her own for so long left quite the hole in her heart. When people cared about her, it was almost… scary. Far more off putting than the idea of an apocalypse.

Elyza opted not to speak. Instead she accepted the concern and closed her mouth, taking a small bag of chips and the diet soda that had been picked out for her. She wouldn’t tell that she hadn’t eaten before Alicia had woken, purely to be polite. She didn’t want the crackling of a plastic chip bag to wake her friend.

Alicia caught a glimpse of the page of that Elyza had opened to. For a moment, she was left entirely speechless by what she saw.

The graphite markings on the paper were identical to the ones that had been painted just ahead of them. The candle melting in the foreground had already been shaded and Elyza had started filling in the background. The outline for the rest of it had been drawn to near perfection, but there was no color, just shading. It was realistic and beautiful. But Elyza felt sheepish when she realized that her companion was watching. Even so, she didn’t close the book, just left it on her lap, trying to hide a part of it with her forearm.

“I thought you didn’t have any inspiration?” Alicia held down one corner of the cover to keep it from bouncing. She just wanted to see how detailed it was. The fact that she had done that in just a short time was amazing. It had taken Matt hours to complete some of his artwork. But she had done this in just a short time. To be fair, it may be several more hours before she finished.

Elyza shrugged, then nodded towards the painting on the wall. “It’s not like I can take it with me.”

“True.” Alicia pulled a bag of chips open, taking one before opening her bottle of soda. She looked up at the painting when the woman next to her placed the sketchbook on the floor in front of her, marked with her pencil.

The blonde tried her hardest not to look famished as she ate, having to constantly tell herself to slow down as she ate. It wasn’t hard when her thoughts kept pulling her away. She need to tell Alicia the news, the unfortunate news that would set back their schedule.

The two of them had been making pretty good time on their way to Oregon. Another day and they would reach the small town where Alicia’s grandmother lived. That day wouldn’t be today, but they would get there by tomorrow. Then she would get to see her family again and Elyza would have fulfilled her promise to her new friend.

“We won’t make it to Oregon by tonight,” Elyza admitted, thinking it best to simply get it over with. Alicia stopped mid bite and looked to her. “It rained until early this morning. The roads are slick.” When their eyes met, Elyza could tell that she was try not to show any disappointment. “We need to let them dry a bit.”

The pain that Alicia tried to hide was a little too much. She had to look away. The blonde placed one hand on her knee to comfort her, squeezing her gently.

“Tomorrow. I promise.”

There was a long moment of silence between the two of them. Elyza wasn’t sure if she had damaged the brunette’s trust in her, the belief that she could help beyond just being a traveling companion. That wasn’t it. It couldn’t be. No, it was just too hard to think about. They were so close. A few days walk or a short wait then a long drive. It didn’t matter. Alicia could wait a little while if she had to, it would make the reunion with her family that much sweeter. But it would be a painful wait.

Alicia stood when her lower back started to bother her. She had eaten four small bags of chips, Elyza keeping pace with her, which had drained their small crummy stockpile quite a bit. They still had food for the rest of the day, through to tomorrow afternoon at most but they couldn’t push it. This was the end of the world after all.

The blonde woman had put her sketchbook away, packing up the rest of her things. She was a little worried about her companion who had gone quiet, sitting in deep thought on the couch.

“I didn’t know that you were in that house,” Elyza admitted as she zipped up her bag. Alicia finally looked up, their eyes meeting. The was just trying to get her attention, but the comment was enough to spark a conversation. “When I broke into that house, I didn’t know that you were in there.”

Alicia blinked. She hadn’t thought about that in a few days. Now that it was a topic of conversation, she began wondering how the blonde had managed to get inside in the first place.

“You didn’t?”

“Nope.” Elyza stood up. She paced a little, her loose blonde curls bouncing with each step. “I was just looking for a place to stay. The door was locked and the windows were covered so I climbed in through the basement window.”

That is how she had done it. The night that Elyza had stumbled in to her life, not so much as stumbled but materialized, she had wondered just how she had done it. That night, Alicia had barricaded the doors and locked all of the windows. She had locked herself into the house securely enough that she wouldn’t have to worry. But Elyza had managed to pop up like a gopher, out of the ether and entirely unexpected.

“You didn’t think that there was a good reason for that?” After getting to know her, Alicia found that Elyza was a planner. There was no way that she could have been that reckless, just bumbling into a house that was barricaded.

The woman sat down next to her on the couch, shrugging. “I did. But I was more concerned about the creepy crawlies in the dark.”

Alicia smiled at that, returning the one that the blonde had offered. Elyza nudged her shoulder with her own, a failed attempt to get her to laugh.

“I did that to keep the creepy crawlies out.” Alicia smirked and the woman seemed mildly offended by the comment.

“Are you calling me a creepy crawly?”

That comment recieved a laugh that made Elyza drop her hurt facade and smile back. The distraction was enough, just as she had hoped it would be. She had successfully managed to take Alicia’s mind off of her family and the fact that they were a little behind their makeshift plan.

The large museum space seemed to come to life with the brunette’s little laugh, washing away the spray paint and marks that had been left by vandals weeks before.

“You didn’t think that anyone would be inside?” Alicia had collected herself enough to ask, her smile still radiating in the space.

“I was hoping not. But there you were, staring at those photos on the mantle.” Elyza thought back to when she was the brunette after coming up the basement stairs. She could remember it well being that it happened nearly a week ago.

Elyza had carefully opened the door at the top of the basement stairs, being as quiet as possible in case anything was just on the other side. There was nothing but that didn’t stop her from keeping her pistol tight in her grip. On the other side was an empty kitchen, void of life, void of food. Instead, she saw a single flicker from a candle in the other room, something that she hadn’t noticed from outside.

“At first I wasn’t sure if you were one of them or not. So I waited for you to come back from the kitchen-”

“And then you jumped me.” Alicia finished, making a sour face.

“Well I still wasn’t sure if you were one of them or not.” Elyza admitted, but her smirk turned mischievous and she nudged Alicia’s arm with her elbow.

“If I was one of those things, I could have killed you.” Alicia furrowed her brow, trying to make a point that went right over Elyza’s head as she shrugged off the comment.

The blonde stood up and stepped around so that she was standing in front of Alicia who was now looking up at her. Elyza held out her hand to help Alicia up.

“So, I took a chance. Besides-” Elyza pinched the brunette’s chin lightly with her thumb and her forefinger. “- you’re too cute to be one of them.”

Alicia blushed when Elyza smiled and stepped away. She looked after the blonde, watching her prep her pack. The brunette just swallowed hard, looking away. When Elyza turned back, she held up her friend’s backpack for her to take. But she still caught the hint of a smirk that Alicia was trying so hard to conceal.

Chapter Text

“You aren’t falling asleep back there, are you?” Elyza pushed her sunglasses up on her head, tilting the motorcycle to the side and flipping out the kickstand.

In all honesty, Alicia had been nodding off as they rode. The air was cooler after the rain and, despite the light humidity, it was cooling to her skin even beneath the jacket. But it was enough for her head to bob with her eyelids fluttering. She wasn’t too tired, but she was so relaxed that her mind had slowed. Elyza had stopped because the girl’s touch against her back was fading every now and then. She stopped out of fear for her safety.

The brunette swung her leg off the back of the motorcycle, stretching her stiff limbs. Her mind was sluggish from the ride and stretching was the only way that she could bring life back to her body. “Why did we stop?”

Elyza looked over to a sign on the side of the road, just behind a car. The sign read ‘Welcome to Oregon!’ in curly white cursive writing on a blue background. Alicia just stared for a moment, almost surprised that she hadn't noticed before. Elyza smiled heartily, leaning back against her motorcycle.

“We're almost there,” Alicia smiled, then pulled it back.

They were almost there. It meant that she was so much closer to seeing her family again and reuniting with them. It meant being around people that she knew. It meant that she would be safe. She could relax a little more. But what if they didn't show up? What if her family didn't make it? What if she never saw them again?

“We should make it before sundown,” Elyza fiddled with something in her hands, a small piece of paper or a cord that she had pulled from something. But Alicia couldn't tell.

“If I can remember where she lives,” the brunette mumbled and Elyza barely caught it. That was the one downside, that the two of them may not make it to their destination at all.

“Even if you don't know, I'm sure we'll find it.”

The blonde’s words were only slightly reassuring. It wasn't the way that she had said it, more like the way that she was holding herself, distant. Alicia had noticed it a while ago but it seemed that Elyza was growing more distant the closer they got to Oregon. Now that she was here she seemed almost nervous.

Alicia adjusted her backpack on her shoulders, the baseball bat weighing it oddly on the one side. The blonde finally looked up, her classic smirk hinting on her lips.

“The longer it takes to find, the more time we get to spend together.” Elyza threw whatever she was fiddling with to the ground. Alicia rolled her eyes, subconsciously producing a smile.

When they managed to get back on the road, after Alicia had collected her mind and managed to wake up a little more, they headed over the border into Oregon. The ride was getting steadily slower as they got closer to Roseburg. They did stop once more so that Elyza could look at the map but they continued shortly after. They wove through the streets, not a single car on one, nor on another. But Elyza stuck to their planned route, expertly weaving around cars and the monsters that reached out towards them. She made it seem easy. But Alicia knew differently.

They managed to get close to Roseburg, miraculously ending up on a street that Alicia recognized. Her head whipped around when she saw the corner store that had a blue awning above it. It wasn’t main street, but it was something. Her grandmother lived off of an avenue nearby.

Alicia tapped Elyza on the shoulder and pointed towards the small store. It was right next to a hardware store. Her grandmother used to go there all of the time so they could grab snacks for a lazy day in, but that was years ago. It was a small place, but maybe she would remember something else.

When the blonde had swung around towards the small building, she pulled up onto the sidewalk. Alicia had swung off and stood, her legs sore from lack of movement. The large glass plate that provided the door was smashed inwards. She didn’t recognize it right away, but slowly the memories of walking up and down the small, short aisles were coming back to her. It was thoroughly vandalized, garbage on the ground and things scattered around.

“You know this place?” Eliza asked, pushing her sunglasses back up on her head when she came to stand by her companion. She watched the memories pass across her eyes when she didn’t speak, the solemn expression being the only indication.

Alicia nodded, stepping through the doorway with extreme care, looking to both walls on either side of her just to be sure that the immediate area was clear. The blonde took notice, but said nothing. She let Alicia step inside, then followed, her boots crunching on the broken glass and unsettling the brunette slightly at the sound. Yet, she stepped away, her mind leading her towards a particular place in the store.

She remembered it now, Alicia. It was a small business run by an elderly couple, a mom and pop store with a small assortment of treats. Early on Monday Mornings they made fresh pastries for the commuters which always turned out beautifully. Gram would freeze some for the week sometimes or just save them for special occasions. But even frozen and weeks old, they were still good. The woman would give Alicia free pastries because her gram was close friends with woman.

She remembered wandering up and down the isles, playing with the small cars with tiny price tags and anything that she could reach. Nick would always be drawn to the more violent of the toys. Gram would yell at him every now and then, especially when he tried to venture to the back stock room.

“The Douglas’ used to own this place,” Alicia finally said, running her fingers over the glass counter top that the pastries had rested beneath. The front of it had been smashed to bits, shards glittering on some of the remaining brownies and cookies. “They were an older couple that my Gram was friends with.”

“Hmm,” Elyza hummed. She was holding a dollar bill that she had picked up off the floor, something that seemed utterly useless now. She let it fall to the floor in favor of an eye catching magazine.

“My Gram used to bring my brother and I here,” the brunette pulled one of the stale brownies from the glass casing, the texture familiar but clearly unedible. “They used to make the best pastries.”

Elyza peeked up over the top of the shelving. She was concerned for the girl but didn’t show it. She just didn’t want to lose sight of her. Alicia was clearly lost in memory, moving as is she was being pulled around the small store. Her fingertips brushed shelves and dusted off items that she clearly wasn’t paying any attention to. When she stepped past Elyza to get down the aisle, their backs to one another, Elyza buried her eyes in the magazine but looked up when she passed.

“What are you doing?” Elyza finally asked, sliding the magazine onto the shelf with a quiet bang. She raised one brow when the girl finally looked up.

There was a long pause until Alicia stopped, staring back out through the broken glass door. “Trying to remember how we got back to my Grams.”

“You may have a better time once we get back on the road.” The blonde stepped around her, heading towards the back room in hopes of finding something of more use.

A quick look around the back wall revealed a rather large pile of cardboard stacked by a back door. The other side was a bathroom, the door held open with the inside entirely darkened by the lack of light. But it wasn’t the sight that drew her closer, it was the sound. The closer she got, the louder it became. Then the smell, but Elyza couldn’t stop herself. She covered her nose but wouldn’t dare cover her eyes from what she saw in the shadows.

Inside was a body. It was mangled and from the neck up, the head almost entirely missing. Blood had pooled around the floor, soaking every surface through and through. Even with the dim light providing little help, she could still make out the slightest bit of curly gray hair in the darkness. In what remained of her blood soaked palms, there lay a shotgun. She had to have been dead for weeks. Then there was the letter that she couldn’t bring herself to read. At first Elyza didn’t know what to do.

Slowly, the blonde stepped back, swallowing the disgusting taste in her mouth and breathing out heavily as she sidled back in hopes that it would be enough to rid her senses of what she just witnessed.

“I think we should head further down main street.” Alicia said. Her eyes were on the packaged gag toy in her hands. She dropped the object on the ground, sighing when she looked to her friend.

Elyza wiped at her nose again, suppressing everything that she had let cross her face as she tried not to gag. “We’ll head around the block then.”

Telling Alicia, especially if her grandmother knew the woman, was a bad idea. There was no telling how she would react. So Elyza kept her mouth shut, trying not to think about how she was about to vomit all over the floor and Alicia’s shoes. But the girl didn’t notice. Elyza still led her friend outside, away from the gruesome scene.

The blonde pulled out her drink and took a quick swig of water, then held out her water bottle for her friend to take. Alicia had finished her’s long ago and gladly accepted the drink. Her eyes trained down the street, lost on something Elyza couldn’t see.

Alicia nodded in that direction, remembering the building on the left corner but nothing beyond it. “I think I know the way.”

The brunette handed back the water bottle which Elyza took another drink of to wash down the bile in her throat. The blonde nodded and swung herself back onto the bike. Alicia pointed towards the road that she had noticed and found that she recognized a few of the things on the street.

Their progress was slow, as it had been for the past day and a half but it was steady. More than once, Alicia stopped her companion and had her turn around. It was when Elyza pulled the bike around for the fourth time that Alicia recognized the street as her grandmother’s.

“Wait.” Alicia pulled back on Elyza’s shoulders, more than ready to leap off the back of the motorcycle if she didn’t stop.

The woods surrounded the home on three sides, the driveway long enough for six cars despite the house itself being only enough for four people at most. It was a white house with green old school shutters. The roof was dirty with branched and leaves from the closer of the trees. Outside, there was a lush garden with various flowers that stretched down a near unused brick path and surrounded a white wooden gazebo, decrepit but not quite rotting.

Alicia looked around the yard, her memories coming back to her. Small things. Stupid things. But she remembered with a smile and Elyza watched her expression change to happiness in the mirror of the running motorcycle. But her expression dropped quickly when she looked at the driveway and realized just what that meant. The brunette’s heart fell as she swallowed hard.

She knew what it would mean, Alicia knew that the single vehicle in the driveway was her grandfather’s, one that hasn’t been driven in years. But when the words left her mouth, Alicia’s heart ached with a certain pain that she had never felt before.

“They aren’t here.”

Chapter Text

“Are you okay?”

Elyza’s fingers brushed Alicia’s arm. Even under the slightest of touches Elyza could feel her shaking. But the brunette shrugged her off.

“They should be here,” the pain in her voice was a little too prominent. “They should have been ahead of us. They-”

Elyza knew how that sentence was going to end without hearing the rest of it. But this was the sad truth of this new world. Things happened that they couldn't control. Whether Alicia’s family was gone or here, dead or alive, they couldn't change it. Maybe they would show up days or weeks from now. If they walked it would be a long time.

“Alicia…” The blonde's expression fell to worry when her companion grew uncharacteristically fierce. It was when Alicia stepped forward a little too fast that Elyza grabbed her arm, not letting go when she tried to shrug her off this time. “Whoa, hold on. Where do you think you’re going?”

“Maybe they’re inside-”

“No, I’m not letting you go in there like that.” Her iron grip was replaced by her position in front of the girl and her all too serious expression. She wasn’t moving even when the brunette made a sound akin to that of the dead walking around them.

Alicia’s eyes narrowed, her eyes no longer focused on her grandmother’s house but on the woman in front of her. “You think I’m too emotional?”

“That isn’t what I meant.”

With a careful breath, Elyza pulled her pistol from the side of her thigh, being absolutely sure that the safety was on, and handing it to Alicia. She gingerly took it by the grip and swallowed hard.

Elyza knew that she was, in fact, too emotional and she knew that handing her a gun wasn’t the best idea, but she wasn’t going to allow the girl to walk into a house knowing that she may not be able to protect herself. She would stay close to the girl this time instead of splitting up. Even if there was no danger, and even if Alicia knew the layout of the house, there was still the off chance that something could go wrong. If that was even a possibility, Elyza didn’t want her to be defenceless.

“Just don’t point it at me, okay?” The blonde said jokingly and Alicia finally looked to her.

The gun felt heavy in her hands, not just physically but as if this woman had also handed her a large amount of responsibility. It was enough to take her mind off of her family and the people that they were traveling with. The question was: could she use it if she had to?

Alicia nodded, unsure of what to say or do for a moment. Then Elyza stepped aside, her hand on the stock of her rifle as she waved towards the house. “After you.”

And so they went, Alicia leading the way. She didn’t knock on the white wooden door, just opened it slowly with the knowledge that her grandmother had never locked the door after moving to this tiny town. She would have shouted out to her gram but Elyza gave her a look that told her not to.

The brunette hardly remembered the last time she had been here, mostly she just remembered the trips that she had taken to the creek with her brother. But the house was familiar in sense. Alicia could feel her way around, starting with the living room. It was an old sort of modern, not unusual but not entirely different. Dark couches lined two walls with coffee tables at either end of both and a tall plant reaching towards the ceiling next to the longer of the two. One wall had an old wooden fireplace while the other had a large television standing on a table. Through the living room to the kitchen was all of eight steps. It was less modern but not quite rustic. The half bath beneath the stairs was empty, Elyza had made sure as they passed. But she nearly missed Alycia’s first steps up the staircase and rushed to catch up.

It was when she got to the top of the stairs and found all of the doors open, the three bedrooms were empty and the bathroom was as well. There really wasn’t anyone here. Not even Alicia’s grandmother.

The brunette shifted as if she were about to fall and Elyza stood just so in case she were to fall back down the stairs.

“No one’s here,” Alicia whispered. The hand that held the gun was at her side, her finger hovering a little too near the trigger.

Elyza needed to be the leader now, something that didn’t work well with her naturally reckless behavior. But she truly felt bad for this this girl which left an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach. They had been traveling together for roughly a week, keeping each other company was easy. But taking care of someone wasn’t in Elyza’s repertoire.

“Come on.” The blonde brushed Alicia’s wrist with her fingertips, not receiving any kind of response. “We should check the rest of the house again.”

Alicia blinked back tears of frustration. She wanted to scream and break things. More importantly, she wanted to hug her grandmother and her family. She wanted them back. She didn’t want to be alone anymore.

Somehow, despite everything that was fighting against her deep inside, Alicia turned and followed the blonde back down the stairs to the kitchen. Their shoulders brushed briefly, aggressively, but Elyza stayed close to her even when she just leaned against the countertop. She was keeping a close eye on the gun in the brunette’s hand but focusing more on the way she moved and her reluctance to do so, her subconscious more interested on the possible dangers that could still lurk inside. Alicia took a breath but held the pistol loosely in her hands.

Her rifle now slung over her shoulder, the blonde took a breath to speak. “We can stay here and wait for them.”

The tears in Alicia’s eyes seemed more prevalent now but she still fought them back, not wanting to cry. “And what if they don’t show? What then?”

Their eyes met and Elyza could almost feel the pain that her friend was feeling. The blonde didn’t know this feeling and, if she did, she didn’t remember it well enough. Afterall, she was an orphan. Alicia had grown up with her brother and an otherwise unnatural family from what she understood, but that also meant that the girl had no concept of what it meant to lose them. She was all alone in a savage world without a family that she had relied on for so long, and Elyza knew that it had to be hard for her.

“Then…” The blonde thought for a long moment, taking a slow breath. “Then we’ll go East. A little adventure never hurt anyone.”

Alicia huffed out a laugh, pushing her soft hair back over the top of her head. “Can we just stay for a couple of days?”

Elyza nodded. She adjusted her rifle strap on her shoulder so that it was more comfortably situated in her hands. “I’ll be right back.”

Alicia watched her friend step away, disappearing around the corner. She took a breath and turned to look out the back window into the yard. The grassy lawn stretched out for quite a span until the land fell down out of sight. Trees lined the lawn, swirling behind the small barn and around to separate this section of land from the neighbor’s. The little garden that her grandmother had, the one that her grandfather had built just for her, was almost flourishing. But it was there in the garden that Alicia spotted the small black seat which drew her through the back door.

The chair was tucked beneath the overhanging branches of a bush in her grandmother’s garden. The wheels were locked to keep it from moving, facing the edge of the yard. What really pushed Alicia’s tears over the edges of her eyes was when she saw the faded blood trail leading further away along the concrete, disappearing into the grass. She couldn’t stop it then, the sobs didn’t come but the tears did.

Elyza watched from the doorway, seeing how much the girl truly cared about her family but being unsure how to react. And yet she was pulled forward by her feet, resting her hand on the brunette’s back and letting her cry.

Chapter Text

The blonde was keeping a close watch on her friend now that she had finally realized that her life was falling apart, or already had. Alicia had been throwing around different emotions but hadn’t cried since she had been outside. The brunette had already gone through sadness and anger, now the depression was hitting her. Her mind was spiraling but her thoughts didn’t come. Elyza just made sure that the girl was within her line of sight, even as the blonde opened another cabinet.

Elyza caught herself on a shaky breath as she thought back before all of this. A tear rolled down her cheek and she brushed it away when she saw Alicia heading back towards the door.

It was a difficult thing, knowing that everything you cared about was gone.

“Does your grandmother have any real food?” Elyza asked when the door finally opened. She looked to Alicia who just seemed… hollow.

The brunette just made a slow and shallow gesture towards the pantry but Elyza had already looked. Whatever food she had found she had put there. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much in the pantry. Enough for five days tops and that was just the assortment that hadn’t gone bad. Everything in the refrigerator was rotten and the stench of months old food was still floating around in the air.

“I already checked. We have enough for a few days if we eat sparingly.” Elyza watched her friend just stare off, not paying attention to a word. So the blonde stepped forward and tapped her arm. “Come on. We’ll go next door and see if they have anything.”

Despite her reluctance, Alicia let the blonde drag her out the back door and around the garden. The brunette didn’t even feel her touch against her wrist, not until it was absent as they walked side by side across the lawn.

“Vegas.”

Alicia looked to her, if not out of curiosity, then confusion. She shook her head, not entirely sure that she had heard the single word.

“We should go to Vegas.”

She had heard it that time and fixed her eyes on Elyza’s. The blonde was walking casually with just her rifle slung over her shoulder and one hand in the pocket of her leather jacket, the other a little closer to her knife. To Alicia, it was as if this woman had no care in the world as to what was happening, just that whatever it was had past. The brunette shook her head in an attempt to clear away some of the fogginess swirling around inside her brain.

“What?” Her voice almost cracked.

Elyza hummed a response. “I’ve never been.” Her eyes came alive. “We could hit some casinos and drink whatever we want. With no one there, it will be like an alcohol buffet.”

Alicia almost had a tick of something other than depression flicker inside of her. But her voice remained less than neutral and her tone had fallen considerably. “Sounds like a great way to die.”

“You have a point.” Elyza frowned. “What about the Grand Canyon?”

The brunette shook her head again. “A big crack in the Earth, really?”

“You are really hard to please.” The blonde caught her eye for a moment before she went back to looking at the ground, her step slowing ever so slightly. “How about New York?”

“Doesn’t New York have the largest population? Would we even get close?”

Elyza was glad that her friend had finally started forming sentences, but was less happy that the girl was also poking holes in her travel plans. Maybe if it didn’t work out here, they could travel around on the motorcycle, venturing across the country like a couple of renegades. They could visit places that neither of them had been and do this that they had only dreamed of when the power was still on.

“New Jersey?” The blonde offered but Alicia made a face that she couldn’t help but smirk at.

“Those people are angry all the time. They are probably worse now.” Alicia thought for a moment, trying to think of places that she had never been before, which wasn’t hard. She hadn’t been many places. “What about Florida?”

“Why Florida?”

Alicia shrugged, her eyes back on the ground. “I don’t know. I’ve never been.”

Elyza took a breath, thinking about what would be best in terms of survival but what would also be fun. Maybe Florida. But they could go anywhere, do anything, be anyone they wanted to be. They could even travel back to California and raid every famous person’s house along the way. It would be quite the adventure.

“Florida.” The blonde shrugged with a little more life in her shoulders that the girl. “That can be our destination. But we can make some stops along the way.”

Their eyes met. Elyza couldn’t help but notice the twitch of a smile at the corner of her mouth. Alicia dodged her stare when she ducked beneath one of the many tree branches that created a wall between the properties.

The neighbor’s property was a little larger but the house was smaller. It was a single story home with a smaller garden. The back door was wide open, which immediately set Elyza on guard. Her hands drew to her rifle. Alicia was a little slower, the pistol that she still held was shaky until she realized that it was her hands that were shaking. Breath after breath wouldn’t steady her nerves, so she stepped closer to Elyza in hopes that her companion would notice her lack of focus.

Elyza was guarded, careful when she stepped around the grill and onto the patio. It was dark inside despite the sunlight. What really caught her eye was the subtle trail of blood that was hardly noticeable. It was old, faint if anything, and there was no clear direction to it. They both took fast breaths with each step inside.

The room opened into a large living space that was separated from the kitchen by a large wooden table and, just beyond that, an island countertop. The room was so open that it was almost shocking to not see a beam holding up the ceiling. There was one short hall that led to what Elyza could only assume were the bedrooms. The trail that she had been fearing seemed to disappear in the lack of sunlight which she considered both a good and bad thing. Unfortunately, with Alicia in her current state, Elyza couldn’t just send her off in any direction.

“Stay here.” It wasn’t much of a command but Alicia followed it, barely seeing that her companion had already taken to the stubby hallway. As delayed as it was, the brunette nodded and stepped around the small space.

There were few photos and even if she did look at them, their images didn’t process. Alicia was too wrapped up in her own thoughts at the moment. She was still shaky and it seemed like no matter how many deep breathing exercises she tried, they weren’t working. Alicia wasn’t just upset. She was angry and sad and all of those feelings that people associated with the dark. But it was so numbing that she didn’t feel it. They were just emotions and it just… was.

Alicia let her mind wander, her limbs carelessly carrying her around the space. Not once did she feel her legs hit the coffee table or the edge of the couch. There was just the touch of fabric or wood, then it was gone and she was mostly numb again. She shook her head, still fighting the fog.

It was when her mind finally gained some semblance of recognition that it finally occurred to her why they had come here in the first place. She flung open one kitchen cabinet above the countertop, finding plates and assorted dishware all of which she was tempted to smash. The next cabinet had glasses for the most part, moderately fancy ware on the higher shelves. Alicia still wanted to shatter all of it. She took a breath, spinning fast to find another cabinet but froze where she was.

She should have noticed. She should have heard at the very least. But she didn’t. There on the floor was one of the rotting monsters. It was female, Alicia knew that much but it wasn’t just that. She snapped her jaw a couple of times when she noticed the girl, the sound being nothing more than a low clacking. The tiredness in her eyes, the subtly low groans and growls were practically nonexistent. The woman rolled to her stomach, flailing in her own blood and the blood of a mangled animal. When she reached out, her hand wrapped around Alicia’s ankle. She didn’t move.

The brunette hadn’t realized that she was holding the gun towards the woman on the floor. It took another long moment of staring, watching the dead woman try to get closer. Her other arm had been bent at an awkward angle, preventing her from crawling properly.

“Alicia?”

Elyza had finally come back into the main area, seeing her companion standing with her gun pointed downward. In a fraction of a second she was at the girl’s side, pulling her back by a single stumbling step before she was shrugged off.

The blonde wasn’t entirely sure what to do. “Alicia. Hey. You don’t have to do that.”

Alicia’s eyes were vacant, empty. She was just standing there. Elyza could react, could drive a knife into the chest of the woman that was lying on the floor, she could shoot her through the eyes with her rifle. But Alicia didn’t need to see that. Sometimes Elyza wasn’t sure that she needed to see it.

“I know her.” The words themselves were hollow and forced a chill to run down Elyza’s spine. The faint recognition in the girl’s eyes was enough for her to know what she was going to say before the words fell through the air. “She’s my grandma.”

There was no resemblance between the two of them, especially not now. The elderly woman on the floor had faded silvery hair, newly stained in bits and pieces by the blood of an animal. The same blood, presumably, covered her shriveled hands and clothes, hiding the veins beneath her graying skin. The woman’s skin was loose but strangely taught over her cheeks, making the hollows that lie there more prominent.

Alicia’s grandmother reached out again and the brunette held the gun back up, pointing it directly at the dead woman’s head, right between her vacant eyes.

“Alicia.” Elyza couldn’t pull her attention away from what she was currently focused on. Slowly, carefully, gently, the blonde rested her hand on Alicia’s forearm. “You don’t have to do that.”

Their breathing was matched, even and shallow. The girl’s mind was racing, flashing back through memories of her past with the woman on the floor. Times when she would go over her gram’s house and walk with her grandmother by the creek until her brother antagonized her enough from the water. Gram would call her on birthdays and send her money with handwritten notes. She had been quite the poet. One memory in particular from just a few years ago, the most recent.

Alicia pushed it all back, the memory of visiting her Gram after she fell on the bottom steps. It was years ago but Alicia had visited her in the hospital with her father. Her Gram ended up not needed the wheelchair entirely. But she never fully healed and ended up using it around the ground floor of the house and dragging herself up the stairs to get to bed at night.

The thought made a tear roll down her cheek on the side Elyza could see. Her fingers slid to Alicia’s wrist, about to reach for the gun. Then her eyes glazed over, hardening as the tear reached her jawline.

“Ali-”

The only thing that filled the room just after was the sound of the gunshot and the smell of gunpowder.

Chapter Text

Alicia couldn’t sleep. Her mind was worrying for her family and reeling from the fatal decision that she had acted upon. Her hands were still shaking. The ghostly weight of the pistol in her hand still seemed so real that it was hard to sit still and just relax.

At first she had laid down in one of the spare rooms after darkness had drowned the sun, but now she was struggling to do it again. There was no light to read by and Alicia didn’t want to light a candle. There was no point. She preferred to stare out into the darkness lain against one wall and just listen to her own breathing. The feelings were eating her alive, gnawing until she couldn’t sit still anymore.

When she stood from the bed, the brunette’s legs felt weak. She wasn’t entirely sure how long she had been sitting there on the soft surface but it must have been quite a while. Being upright made her legs even more sore than when she was riding on the back of the motorcycle.

Alicia followed the path of her grandmother’s house, avoiding all of the pictures that hung on the walls and the places where some no longer hung. The ones that still hung didn’t hold a single still moment of the her family. In fact, there were very few photos still hanging at all. Maybe Elyza had taken them down, knowing how they may affect her friend. A part of her wanted them back, to see the faces of her family again, but she couldn’t bring herself to find the photos now. The memories hurt too much. The ones that had lined the short hall that led to the bathroom and other bedroom were gone, now even their frames were left. It was both depressing and refreshing.

Elyza wasn’t downstairs when Alicia had finally restored enough feeling in her legs to stumble down that way. She had assumed that the woman had stayed down there since she had seemed uninterested in the one free room. Maybe she had left, leaving Alicia truly alone. The thought made her mind spiral further downwards.

The blonde was still concerned about her friend. She had heard Alicia get up and had left her door open just a crack in order to keep an eye on her. When the noises of movement faded, she followed her down the steps, watching her light a candle on the coffee table before she crashed down onto the sofa.

“Can’t sleep?” Elyza asked, standing in the doorway.

Alicia wasn’t even surprised by her sudden appearance, just looked up with tired eyes that were swallowed by the darkness. She shook her head and pushed her hair out of her face. Her head was starting to hurt. “No.”

“Do you ever sleep?” Elyza was trying to get her to smile with humor despite knowing that it wouldn’t work.

“You’re one to talk,” Alicia’s voice sounded tired, exhausted. She hadn’t slept in what felt like a week. The day had been long and painful, both emotionally and physically exhausting. It had given her more than one headache.

“Hmmm, I thought you knew.” Elyza smirked and moved to sit next to her on the couch, only a few inches between their legs. Her voice raised but stayed close to, but not quite at, a whisper. “I’m a vampire.”

Alicia smiled with just her lips, a smile so brief the it was almost lost to the dark. She had turned her eyes away, her fingers running over one another anxiously.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong or do I have to bite you?” Even without the smile Alicia knew that she was just prodding. Elyza was just being a friend. “Is it-”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Alicia whispered.

There was a moment of silence.

Elyza knew what she was thinking, even if that something was nothing. It had happened to her as well just after this had all begun. But she had gotten over it. As much as one could. It was part of the reason as to why she didn’t sleep all that well.

“I’m sorry.” Elyza smirked voice fell to that of a whisper and her face grew solemn. It was the memories now that fell on her. “But you know there was nothing you could have done.”

“I know.”

It was the sound of Alicia’s voice, the slightest of cracks that caught the blonde's attention. That sorrow is what she understood.

The brunette continued, the pain in her voice growing more evident as she spoke. “What if my family- what if they ended up like that? What if they never make it?”

“They will.” It wasn't so much of a promise as it was a reassurance. If Alicia believed that there was a chance that her family could make it then she wouldn't lose hope, and hope had become increasingly rare.

“What if it’s just us?” A darker thought fell upon her and her mind started spiralling again. “What if we are the only one’s left?”

Elyza didn’t want to think about that. She had been alone long enough to be comfortable with that feeling and hated it from the start. It was something that this girl didn’t need to be stuck with. Knowing that she couldn’t do anything about her family was disconcerting but true. Elyza had no way of helping her aside from just being here with her.

“Come on, cupcake. You can’t honestly believe that.” The blonde tried to catch her attention. When Alicia finally looked up there was just sorrow and a light layer of fear behind her eyes.

“But if-”

“No more ‘ifs.’” The blonde swung her arm around her friend’s shoulder, trying to comfort her. Alicia just relaxed into her side, a pain rising in her chest and the sorrow nearly bubbling over in her eyes. “They will be here and you’ll see them again. Maybe not tonight or tomorrow or even a week from now, but you’ll see them again.”

Alicia finally met her eyes, seeing the crystal blue shimmering back at her in the dull candle light. It was comforting, her touch and her openness. She could see the strength in her features and felt safe sitting next to her.

“How can you know that?” Alicia whispered, her mind still reeling through the bad.

“Because, if this world has taught me anything, it’s that death is not the end.” Elyza thought for a moment, seeing the hint of pain flashing over her friend’s eyes. “But I’ll be damned if I wake up looking that ugly one day.”

Alicia smiled. An image flashed before her of the blonde as one of the dead. She still looked like a model, maybe a little more tired with bags under her eyes and holding her shoulders at an angle. Otherwise, she looked the same. She was blonde and blue eyed and a little shorter but healthy. Even in her mind Alicia couldn’t imagine her with the dead eyes that her grandmother had.

“My last name is Lex.” Elyza said with a gentle smirk. It wasn’t as sinister as her go to smirk.

“Clark.” Alicia’s smile faded a little but it still pulled at the corners of her lips.

“Alicia Clark,” Elyza squeezed her arm. “Cute.”

The brunette rolled her eyes but leaned her head of Elyza’s shoulder. Her touch was comforting, even when she was teasing.

“Elyza Lex sounds like a stripper name.”

Alicia smiled despite how tired her voice had sounded and the blonde laughed, her shoulder raising ever so little. Elyza pulled her a little closer, easing the girl’s woes but also trying to comfort herself. She wasn’t ready for what may come or what may not, neither of them were. But right here, right now, they were keeping each other safe and sane with poking and prodding.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. If they don’t make it, I’ll still be here.”

And that thought was more than enough to comfort her.

Chapter Text

Elyza was the first one to wake up. Her side felt like it had been twisted and her left shoulder was stiff but moveable. Somehow she managed to tilt her head around just enough to spot the source of the weight on her left side. The candle must have burnt out long ago but she could still see Alicia’s sleepy face resting against her arm. Not moving meant that she would get a few more hours of rest at most but it also meant that she would wake up with a pain in her muscles from lack of movement. A small price to pay.

She needed the rest. She knew that Alicia hadn’t been sleeping well even when she wasn’t keeping an eye on her. The girl hardly slept anyway. Neither did. Living this way was difficult. In a span of just a few hours their lives had been turned upside down and torn them to pieces.

Alicia’s breathing was light and calm, feathered evenly against the blonde’s shirt. Her eye twitched, as did her brow, ever so slightly. At some point during the night she had pulled her legs up onto the couch. Now she made a small noise that came from the bottom of her throat. The noise was adorable and just made the young brunette more attractive. If only for her, the blonde wouldn’t move.

Elyza just smiled, a light and tired thing before she laid back against the pillow that still held the stale scent of old lady.

It was when Alicia woke up hours later that she felt both safe and stiff. She blinked back the fogginess covering her eyes and picked her head up to see Elyza with her free arm crushed beneath her head and a pillow. Even when she was asleep she seemed like a short model.

The brunette pulled herself up, stretching her shoulders with one being more sore than the other. Her legs didn’t hurt when she stood up, not like last night. She wasn’t tired anymore, physically or emotionally despite the fact that what she had done still weighed heavily on her. She just felt lighter now.

So she wouldn’t wake her friend, Alicia headed towards the kitchen. She ignored the view outside of the windows no matter how beautiful the wilting garden was. As quietly as she could, the brunette drained a bottle of water and snagged a bag of chips. The latter wasn’t nearly as quiet. Still, it was quiet enough that she didn’t wake her. As she crunched her way through a quarter of the bag, Alicia found herself thinking that it was a good thing that her friend was sleeping, finally. Mostly because she thought the blonde only slept for minutes at a time.

Elyza held herself with a certain exhaustion instead of the wakefulness that she usually had. She shuffled into the room and Alicia gave a half smirk at her disheveled appearance. One hand ran through her blonde hair as she sat down and pulled the bag from Alicia’s hands.

“Good morning to you too,” Alicia ate the one chip that she had managed to hold on to. Elyza looked up from beneath her brow, reaching back for another chip.

“I hate mornings.” The grogginess in Elyza’s voice made her rough Aussie accent sound even deeper. Her eyelids were heavy. She was tired, exhausted because that was the longest night’s sleep that she had in a long, long time.

She kept crunching on the chips while Alicia stood and grabbed another bottle of water, handing it to her friend before sitting back down.

“Thanks.” Elyza tilted the bag towards the brunette who smirked again and pulled back a handful of chips. “So, what’s the plan for today?”

Alicia’s brow furrowed and she blinked back confusion. “What do you mean?”

The blonde leaned back in the chair a little and stretched, pulling one leg beneath her on the chair. “Well, we have been on this grand adventure for about a week and now we have reached our destination. So, what do we do now?”

Alicia hadn’t thought about that. Her sole focus was getting here. Now that she was, she wasn’t quite sure what to do. What made it worse was that she had expected to end up here and for her family to be here waiting for her. She expected to be with them now. They were supposed to be here. But Elyza was here. She wasn’t truly alone.

She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“Well, don’t look at me. I have no clue either. I’ve been following your lead since day one, cupcake.” Elyza took a long swig from the water bottle and put it down, spinning the cap in her fingers.

“I don’t want to go anywhere in case-”

“Yeah. Right. Well, I need something to do. I can’t just sit inside for a whole day or I’m going to go crazy.” The blonde squeezed the cap so tightly between her fingers that it shot out over the table and made a quick snap against the wall.

“There is a creek at the edge of the property. You can finally take that bath that you wanted.” Alicia offered. Elyza’s eyes perked up, her brows raising.

“Now there’s a thought.” She smirked, looking off for a moment then back to Alicia. “Skinny dipping in the woods. Care to join me?”

Her cheeks turned rosy but Alicia’s smile hid it well. “In your dreams.”

Elyza smiled as she stood, yawning before she spoke. “Oh, sweetheart. My dreams are far more erotic than us just splashing in some water.”

The blonde’s boots just dragged on the floor as she turned and sauntered away. Alicia just stared after her as she disappeared up the stairs. Without feeling it, Alicia’s cheeks brightened redder and redder, a subtle smile splitting her lips. But the thought that passed to her made it fade quickly.

Was that just her personality or was she flirting?

Elyza stumbled back down the stairs a moment later, her feet moving so fast that she nearly fell down the last few steps. “Okay. First, we need real soap.” Elyza dumped two separate bottles of shampoo and conditioner on the table. “I’m all for a nice shower, but I’m not going to walk around smelling like old lady.”

Alicia shook her head as she tried to for thought to combat this ever so minor problem. Then a laugh huffed in her chest. “Raid a house or two. I don’t know.”

“Oh, come on.” Elyza’s voice fell to a whine. It was strange to see on a fully grown woman, especially one that had such a badass personality. “You’re not going to make me go alone, are you?” Alicia shook her head, about to speak. “Yeah, I know. You want to stay. But waiting around here is going to drive you mad.”

Elyza held out her hand.

“Let’s go, cutie.” After seeing the expression on the brunette’s face, Elyza smirked. “We’ll stay within eye shot.” She held up her free hand as if she were promising. “Scouts honor.”

Alicia tried not to laugh, the grin on her face faltering. But she took the blonde’s hand and let her pull the girl to her feet.

“Okay. Fine.” The brunette watched Elyza’s eyes light up, the smirk and way she watched carefully.

“Good.” The blonde spun on her toes, grabbing her backpack off the countertop and turned back to Alicia. “Uh, fair warning though. I was never a scout.”

Alicia laughed. An adorable little noise that made Elyza’s heart melt.

Chapter Text

“There is a fire pit outside, you know.”

Elyza was laying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling with one leg bouncing over the knee of the other. She wasn’t paying any attention to anything. Alicia had been on the couch for over an hour, reading the book that she had been gifted with and processing her thoughts from the day. Elyza had sat down after putting away their assorted findings. This was the longest that she had sat still in a long time and it had only been twenty minutes.

Her mind was abuzz with thoughts, unable to contain them all within her head with the energy flowing out through her muscles. The blonde just let it out through stupid questions and stories and pointless, not quite existential, questions.

“You still have time to go down to the creek.” Alicia shifted her book enough to see her friend lying on the floor. Elyza’s eyes were open but she wasn’t focusing on anything. She just studied unseen patterns on the ceiling fan.

Somehow, she shrugged her shoulders against the carpeted floor. “Yeah, but it will be dark in about an hour and I’m not the fastest bath taker.” The blonde stretched her arms over her head, her shoulders pulling in a wide arch. “You don’t have to eat cold food though. You can heat it up over a fire in the pit.”

“I could.” Alicia pulled the book back in front of her, continuing where she left off from.

“Damn, this is practically banter between widowed housewives.” Elyza rolled across the floor and pulled the book down to see the brunette’s face. “You’re boring.”

“Thanks.” The sour tone wasn’t nearly abrasive enough to deter her. So, Alicia tried to pull the book from between the cushion and her friend’s grasp but she just held her hand firm. Alicia narrowed her eyes.

“Do something.”

“I’m not a dog, Elyza.”

Elyza gave a short hum as she thought. The way her eyes moved over her face made Alicia a little uncomfortable. “Some kind of animal, just not a dog.”

The brunette wasn’t sure if she should feel insulted or not. “Are you always like this when you’re bored?”

Elyza shrugged again, snatching the book away and dog earring the page before she snapped it shut. The brunette sighed heavily, shaking her head at the expression that Elyza shot back at her. “I bore easily. I can’t help it.”

“Then try meditation,” Alicia shot back, snatching her book away from the blonde again. She ran her fingers over the edge to find the page she was on. “Or yoga.”

“Sit and do nothing or-” Elyza pulled the book away again and leaned close to finish with a whisper. “Sit and do nothing. Are you trying to put me to sleep?”

“If it will get you to stop talking.”

Alicia sat up on the couch and reached for the book again but the blonde pulled her arm back behind her. Elyza stood slowly with a pout on her face.

“You’re mean.”

“You’re like a fully grown four year old.” Alicia narrowed her eyes and stood.

The two of them were face to face with just a slight height difference between them. One was poking fun, trying to entertain herself in the face of boredom. The other was still trying to figure out her friend, trying to understand why she acted the way she did and why she was so intolerable at times. By no means were they opposites, nor were they similar.

“And I’m just as cute.” Elyza smiled. Alicia’s expression showed a moment of disgust before she grabbed her can of food and pushed her way around the blonde, through to the kitchen. She continued with a whisper. “Well, that wasn’t a no.”

Elyza had been right, it was getting dark fast - probably because they were farther north than just L.A. It was also getting a little colder at nights. It was strange though because the jacket that the blonde had picked out had kept the cold away from her skin. Elyza peeked around the corner before following her friend and looking out the window with her. She leaned close over the brunette’s shoulder.

“What are we looking at?”

Alicia spun, staring directly back at the woman. “Did you start a fire?”

“Yeah, like thirty minutes ago.” Elyza looked over the girl’s shoulder through the window outside. The bonfire that she had started was dying slowly. “How else was I supposed to heat up my food?”

Alicia just stared back, dumbfounded. The same woman that had been helping her survive for the past week was now going to get her killed all because she wanted a hot can of corn beef. No amount of food, whether it was a two years supply or a single can, was worth their lives. Luxuries like that would be great but not at a cost that great.

“Put it out. That’s going to attract them.”

Eliza shrugged again. “I’m sure if it attracts anything, it won’t be here in bumblefuck nowhere.”

The brunette shook her head. “What is wrong with you?”

She thought for a moment, a ruse in fact, then the blonde gave the slightest hint of a smirk. “Well, my therapist says I have repressed sexual tendencies-”

“That isn’t what I meant.” Alicia’s voice dropped to a whisper instead of raising to a scream. And she wanted to scream so badly. Elyza’s constant talking and restless behavior was starting to drive her insane beyond all reason. “But that does explain a lot.”

The blonde frowned. She knew that the fire needed to be put out. With a sigh, she stepped around the girl and headed for the door. “Fine. As you command, princess.”

When she had gone outside, Alicia let out a sound of frustration from deep within her gut. It sounded like a growl but didn’t have quite the push behind it. Then she turned and head back towards the living space, looking for where Elyza had dropped her book.

The blonde had put out the fire the safest of ways, pushing the ashes from the bottom over the flames and smoldering logs. What she should have done after was douse it in water but there was no point in wasting something that precious and she didn’t want to go down to the creek in the dark. Being in the woods in the dark, especially with those things walking around, was a bad idea. When she was done, Elyza headed back inside, not finding her companion in the kitchen, but instead in the living room. She was back to reading already.

Alicia was curled up on the couch. She had gone back to wearing shorts, a pair that she had left here some time ago, and was no longer wearing her shoes. Elyza, however, still had her boots on at all hours of the day. The brunette watched her sit down on her grandfather’s old navy blue recliner, but her eyes shot back to the book when she looked up.

Elyza didn’t understand her, not entirely anyway. She knew that Alicia was young and sassy, not still impressionable in any way, but stubborn as all hell. The girl seemed like the type to push hard enough to get her way if she wanted. Maybe that stubbornness is what had gotten her in this situation in the first place. Elyza didn’t understand much more than that. She knew that the girl hadn’t grown up rich, the way she frowned at the, now useless, price tags in the department store made that much clear. Then there was the fact that her grandmother lived in a place like this.

The blonde made a weird sound that was a mix between a groan and a growl. It was aggravating how she would get attention. She really was like a grown child.

“What now?” Alicia asked from behind the book. She didn’t even bother dropping the book to ask.

“I need something to do.” The blonde was staring at the television which was turned off, then looked at the two candles that were flickering on the coffee table. That was another thing that confused her, Alicia’s obsession with candles.

“Didn’t I just give you a list?” Alicia rested her elbow on the arm of the couch, letting her head sit on her palm.

“You’re list is boring.”

Elyza was pouting but stopped as soon as Alicia sighed and set her book down in her lap. The way that she looked, so relaxed, so human, made Elyza smirk.

“You are a pain.” Alicia finally said.

The blonde stood up. “It’s how I entertain myself.”

“By annoying the shit out of me?”

Elyza moved to sit next to her on the couch. “If I have to.” Alicia gave a hard shove against the woman’s shoulder but Elyza was smiling as she rocked back towards her.

Alicia smiled when she spoke, but didn’t mean what she said. “I hate you.”

“No you don’t.” Elyza countered, her lips pulling to the sides. “I wouldn’t be here now if you did. Besides, I may be annoying but you won’t kick me out now.”

“Really? What makes you think that?” Alicia leaned her head back on her palm, tilted at just the right angle so that the light of the candles accented her cheekbones. It was made even better by the smirk she was trying to conceal.

Elyza didn’t try to hold her own back. She let her eyes light up. Then she twisted her body enough to almost fully face Alicia, the girl’s toes tucked beneath her thigh. The blonde used her arm to support herself against the couch.

“I have a theory.” It wasn’t a well thought out theory, but the more that the girl spoke, the more Elyza could figure it out. “About you. A couple actually.”

Alicia sat up, no longer resting her head against her palm. “Okay. So, spill. What is this theory of yours?”

The blonde took a breath, trying to gather her thoughts so that she could say everything properly. It was all a jumbled mess before then. But now that she was looking at the younger girl, it all made sense.

“One-” Elyza tapped the brunette’s shin with one finger. “-You are afraid of the dark. It would explain the candles that you carry with you. Two-” She moved her opposite hand to tap Alicia’s forearm where the tattoo showed. “I think whoever gave you that, was someone incredibly important to you.” Alicia went a little more stoic but didn’t move her arm away when Elyza had left her fingers there. She leaned forward on Alicia’s knees, tilting her head to pull back her attention from her guarded self. “And lastly, you won’t kick me out because you have crush on me.”

The last one sparked a reaction, along with a short, yet surprised, laugh. “What?”

“You have a crush on me. That’s why you won’t get rid of me.”

“You wish.” Alicia was blushing, a sight that was barely noticeable in the dim light. Elyza was watching her eyes fall down into her lap but noticed how she still didn't pull away from her hands.

“Maybe I do.” The comment made Alicia look up to meet her eyes, the shadows covering the intent behind Elyza’s words. Her hand slid down to Alicia’s, her fingers running over her’s. “But you won’t know until you ask me out.”

Alicia wasn’t entirely sure what to say. She was dumbfounded. Not just dumbfounded but speechless. There was no correct response to that that wasn’t sarcastic. She could try to defend herself but she had a feeling that her companion’s sharp wit would just cause her even more trouble. If that was the case, then speaking wasn’t worth it.

“Well, you’re right about one thing.” Alicia let her smile come back slowly as she leaned forward enough to catch the blonde’s attention, not that she didn’t already have it. “You are annoying.”

Chapter Text

“Oh, come on, cutie. You really don’t have one?”

Alicia stepped over a branch that twitched beneath her opposite foot. The leaves crunched beneath her feet with each step and, oddly enough, the birds still chirped and tweeted as they walked. It was all so comforting, relaxing. It was easy to forget everything with this kind of peace looming over her.

“Nope.” The brunette kicked a stone that shot out in front of Elyza and over the edge of the cliff, falling down into the creek. She pushed her hair out of her face, adjusting the knife in her pocket. “What does it matter now? It’s not like we can watch movies anyway.”

Elyza shrugged, looking back over her shoulder as she did. “And we may never again. I don’t know, just a thought.”

The brunette looked to her, not seeing a hint of remorse for the old world in those solemn words. She was just quiet with wandering eyes, her head on a swivel. She was very careful, aware and vigilant. It was strange. No one from Alicia’s group had been like that, save Strand who was just paranoid and out of his goddamn mind, and maybe Ofelia’s father who was more or less the same.

The hill that they were walking on was a steep drop off on one side and a slope up or down on the other three. As Elyza had said, they were just looking for a deep enough place. There was little to no way to spot a deep pool from this distance above, so they were just walking to find a decent point to descend. They were on a downward path now, the trees thin enough to see through, tall and thin.

“We’re going pretty far.” Alicia looked back over her shoulder as they walked downward on the slope, the house no longer visible. It was making her nervous, anxious if anything. The farther they went, the less likely she was to see her family arrive at the house. The farther she was away from them.

Elyza could see her concern. “We’ll be fine. You afraid that I am going to steal you away?”

That wasn’t it at all. Alicia just didn’t want to miss seeing her family. Sure, she had left a note, discretely because Elyza had been poking fun at her before they had left on this little venture, but she still wanted to get back to them. They were all that she had as a reminder to the life before all of this. Yet, she was able to force the steel through her voice and fake her mild joking smile.

“I’m not afraid of you if that’s what you’re implying.” Alicia raised one brow.

Elyza stepped from one large flat stone to another. She stopped on the last one, tilting her head and smirking back at her companion. “You’re not? Damn. I need to step it up.”

The blonde jumped from the stone and continued her way down the slope. Alicia was close to her, watching her calculated steps. Elyza stepped up to the small mud ledge that dropped down to a wide shore before melding with the water. The woman took a step out and leaped down the foot and a half drop then turned back to the girl and held out her hand.

“What?” She asked, seeing the way that Alicia was staring back at her with the slightest hint of a smile.

“You know, now that I think about it,” Alicia reached down and took her hand. The Aussie supported her with just her one hand to help her down the short incline. When her feet hit the ground, she smiled back at the woman. “You do come across a little like a kidnapper.”

Elyza rolled her tongue in the corner of her mouth, shaking her head. “It’s the jacket, isn’t it?”

“Could be.” Alicia led them this time, no farther than the water’s edge but further back along the way they came. She knew that Elyza was following by the sound of her boots crunching on the tiny rocks.

The blonde looked down at her leather jacket, pulling on the ends of the zippers. She pouted at her appearance thinking that maybe they needed to raid another store again soon. She whispered, “But I like this jacket.”

Alicia laughed, her smile lighting up her face enough that it distracted Elyza from her path. She liked that smile. It made Alicia look both young and alive. It meant that she was okay, that she was human. That was the most important thing. As long as Alicia was okay, it meant that Elyza didn’t have to worry about her.

They walked a few more yards before the land started to disappear into the water. They managed to get lucky though. At the very end of this path was a deep pool, lightened by the sun through the tree branches.

“Perfect.”

Elyza dropped her backpack on the stones and Alicia sighed, moving to sit on a large root that had sprouted from the edge of the cliffside, one that was close to the water. The blonde seemed oddly eager about this bath in the creek. She was all too excited to perform such an insignificant human ritual. It was just something so benign and ridiculous that she couldn’t help but smirk.

The blonde pulled her pistol from her leg holster and held it out for Alicia to take. She took it gently, keeping her finger off of the trigger. She then unclipped her holster from her leg and her belt, then dropped it with her backpack as she pulled out the soaps that she had packed.

“Are you sure you don’t want to join me?” Elyza looked up to her friend, smirking but remaining focused.

“Positive.” Alicia was now just analyzing the gun, trying to imagine where she got it from. It hadn’t occurred to her. The rifle had been the bigger question.

The brunette flinched when a flash of color crossed a little too close to the edge of her vision. When the towel struck her, she dropped it to her lap and glared back at Elyza. She just smiled, pulling another bottle from her bag without looking.

“Hold that.”

Alicia knew that she was just seeking attention. But, damn she was annoying. She just shook her head and rolled her eyes, hanging the towel over a root for when the woman was done. Elyza then stripped. Not just in the middle of the woods, but in front of Alicia. First her boots, trying to balance on the sharp and uneven stones. When she took her pants off, the brunette swallowed hard and looked away out of consideration.

The blonde was keeping an eye on her, watching her cheeks flush then turn bright red when she looked away. It was so easy to make her flustered, so easy to make her uncomfortable. But she was stronger than she knew. It had been two days since she had to kill her grandmother, but she seemed fine, on the surface at least.

“You can look.” Elyza smiled when the brunette met her eyes. Even then she still seemed uncertain. “I’m not modest.”

The blonde pulled her shirt up from the bottom and Alicia promptly looked away at the sight of her abdomen. “So you said.”

Alicia held the pistol loosely in her hands, looking back the way they had come from to see the empty woods. It felt like it had been a long time since they had seen one of the dead walking anywhere. It was a bizarre change from the city where they stumbled left and right, both literally and figuratively. It could have been because of the country setting that they now found themselves in. The ones migrating out of the city had been the worst. As long as they didn’t come north, the two of them would be safe.

While she stared down at the pistol, weighing it in her hands, Elyza let out a sound that made her look up in surprise. It was like a mix between a shrieking fox and a dying cat. Her hands were curled into fists and her skin already starting turning pale white as she waded further into the deepest pool of the creek.

“Cold?” Alicia asked, not realizing that she had laughed until she felt the vibrations in her chest. The smile that split her lips made her forget that Elyza was still in her underwear.

The blonde glared back at her over her shoulder, taking slow steps into deeper water. “It’s fucking freezing.” She kneeled down in the waist deep water, shivering as she did. Her hope that she would become numb to its icy temperature seemed impossible but came slowly anyway. "Shit.”

Alicia was still smiling, watching Elyza’s already pale complexion become even more so the longer she sat in the creek. “That’s karma for yesterday.”

“Screw karma. Karma’s an asshole.” Elyza growled back. She shivered for a brief moment until her body grew used to the temperature. The more she moved, the more the cold set beneath her skin.

“If you stay in there too long you might get hypothermia.”

“It’s not that bad.” It was bad, not bad enough to cause hypothermia, but bad nonetheless. Unfortunately, if Elyza admitted that, she would probably get an ‘I told you so’ and that was something that she wasn’t in the mood to hear. “It’s just, colder than I thought it was.”

Alicia smiled again. “Mmhmm. Right.”

Elyza ducked beneath the frigid water, letting it soak her hair and chill the last of the warmth in her skin. The cold also drew the last of the breath from her lungs and she found herself coming up for air with a light gasp, unable to stop shaking for a moment while her body readjusted again. Her knees scraped the bottom lightly, kicking up silt and whatever else clung to the creek floor. It was peaceful, she thought, with the birds chirping and the wind pulling through the leaves. Now, if only she could get her companion to join her.

“You’re still welcome to jump in with me.”

Alicia had gone back to looking at the pistol, studying it’s features and curves. “And again, the answer is no.”

The way she said it made Elyza narrow her eyes and swim forward enough that the water didn’t pass her shoulders. “It’s really not that bad. Come on. Jump in and I’ll keep you warm.”

She smirked at that but it wasn’t enough to get her to move. “No thanks.”

Elyza was getting determined. She pushed back towards the deeper part of the water again. “Come on.”

“No-” The blonde cupped her hand and swiped a wave of water towards the girl that didn’t quite reach her. Then another that hit her ankles and settled on her shoes. “Elyza. Stop it!” The next couple were larger. Alicia leaped to her feet, not fast enough to stop the last of the waves from soaking her back. “Jesus, that is freezing.”

Eliza laughed. The girl had gone far enough that Elyza couldn’t reach her but felt the water soaking through to her skin. She shook at its touch. But that isn’t what made her freeze in her tracks.

“Told you. Now come on. Jump in.”

Elyza ran her freezing fingers through her soaked hair, watching the girl look around. Now that it wasn’t a problem, Elyza was genuinely enjoying the water and swung her arms back and forth to make small waves, that being the only way that she could feel the water past her numbed skin. Alicia still wasn’t paying her any attention.

“Alicia, I will drag you in by your greasy hair if you don’t-”

“Shut up.”

Her harsh response made Elyza grow semi-serious, confused if anything. But Alicia was all too stone faced for it to be a joke. A shudder ran down the blonde’s spine and it wasn’t from the frigid water. The fact that she was staring off with distant eyes was utterly concerning. Something was wrong.

Elyza pulled herself from the water, grabbing the towel and wrapping it around her torso as she pulled her pants up her soaked legs. She didn’t bother with her socks, just pulled her boots on without tying them. “What is it?”

“Just shut up.” Alicia listened carefully.

It was there. The sounds. It had no clear direction but Alicia knew it could be close. There were people. They were shouting and jeering. It faded in and out, disappearing altogether for brief moments then reappearing loudly. It sounded like a group of kids, at least it did from this distance, but there were older voices mixed in as well. They were people, not the dead. They had to be. But from this distance, with their voices muffled but loud, no clear sentences being formed by a single one of them, it was hard to tell their ages or how many there were.

“Is that…” Elyza stepped up to the brunette’s side, staring off in the same direction, her eyes flashing to the girl when fear covered her eyes.

After a moment of silence between them and pure utter nothingness from the woods, no echos or twittering birds, Alicia whispered, “There are other people out here.”

Elyza’s moment of peace had passed and reality hit her again. There was no safe place from this tortured world.

Chapter Text

Alicia was biting her lower lip so hard it looked like it was about to bleed. She was shaking and not from the freezing water that Elyza had splashed her with. She was genuinely fighting herself on this decision and it concerned Elyza more than when she had killed her grandmother.

“Leesh,” Elyza’s hair was still soaked from the water. She hadn’t felt the air reach her now freezing skin until now but she was so worried about Alicia that it didn’t matter what she felt. “We can go-”

“No.” Her voice was firm and final despite not hearing the opposite end of the argument. Whatever Alicia was thinking about it was tearing her apart inside. “We aren’t going.”

Alicia’s mind was reeling. Her voice wasn’t shaky but she could feel her muscles trying to vibrate on a higher frequency than the rest of her. This decision was making her head hurt. It couldn’t be them though she knew that, Alicia knew. If that was true, then why did her gut tell her to go?

Elyza reached out for her, brushing Alicia’s forearm. The action still didn’t get her attention, not well enough anyway. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Alicia sighed, looking to her friend with heavy eyes. She looked older for some reason, not just like the girl that Elyza had traveled with and come to know. It was an almost unsettling difference. “If it was them, they would be here. Not out in the middle of the woods.”

That was some pretty level headed thinking for a girl that was so uncertain, so distraught. It was also incredibly true. Alicia had a hard enough time remembering where this place was on her own and she hadn’t been in this house in so long. Her family should have remembered better than her. But Alicia was right and they both knew it. If it was her family, they would be here at the house, not out in the woods. Even if had been a couple of days, that didn’t mean anything if they were dead.

“What do you want to do then?” Elyza asked, leaning back against the countertop next to her companion. Her pistol was back at her thigh and, as much as she didn’t want to use it, her fingers itched in anticipation.

The brunette shrugged, not sure how to answer. But she looked back to Elyza, taking a breath. “Stay here, I guess. If it is, then they will come here. But if it isn’t my family, then they shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“Whatever they decide isn’t really our problem,” Elyza said. She noticed how Alicia let out a breath when the thought didn’t continue, as if she was thinking the same thing and Elyza had merely confirmed it. “But, if they try to break down our door, I’ll shoot them in the face.”

“I’m sure they will be twice as friendly with an extra hole in their head.” Alicia mumbled sarcastically.

The blonde was just happy that she seemed to be calming down, finally. It had been about an hour since they had gotten back to the house and the girl had been trying to convince herself not to go see who those people were. Elyza hadn’t said anything for a majority of it, relishing in the fact that she had finally said more than a handful of words.

Elyza smiled, nudging her with her elbow. “You never know. There’s a lot that you can do with another hole.”

Alicia stared at her, stared at the smile and the raised brow until she stepped away and disappeared around the living room corner. The brunette shook her head, wanting to laugh but it came from somewhere in her chest, dry and nearly out of existence.

She followed Elyza into the next room, finding her lying on the floor again. Alicia had noticed that she had a weird obsession with being in the middle of everything, laying in the middle of the floor, dragging Alicia into the limousine when the horde stumbled across the highway. It’s like she wanted to be the center of everything without the dangers that the new world brought with it. She had to be the center of attention.

Alicia grabbed the book from the end table, holding it low. “I’m done with your book.” Elyza looked up to her, flinching when the book landed on her abdomen. “I finished reading it this morning.”

The brunette plopped down on the couch, wanting something else to do now that she no longer had her book. Elyza sat up, flipping through the pages quickly before flipping it to the page that she still had marked, the page that she would no longer get back to.

“I’ll never finish it. Was the ending any good?”

“Can I spoil it?” Talking like this, a casual conversation, it felt normal. It felt like the world wasn’t actually falling to pieces. It felt like they had known each other for years. Elyza shrugged a response, gesturing for her to continue. Alicia leaned forward on her knees. “It’s depressing. The leader dies and the whole thing falls into chaos. No one gets a happy ending.”

“Just like the real world.” Elyza pawed the corner of the book absently, suddenly solemn but pushing it down, hard. Just as fast as it appears, it’s gone and Alicia meets her glazed eyes. “That kind of sucks. Now I don’t even want to read it.”

She threw the book to the side, frowning. Alicia watched her for a moment as she laid back down on the floor, pushing her wet hair off to the side.

“Do you think we should leave?”

The blonde rolled her head to see the brunette but didn’t say anything, not right away. For a moment they held each other’s eyes.

“I thought you wanted to stay.”

“And I still do, I just-” Alicia thought about her family and how they wouldn’t leave her. She thought about Nick and how he would be pushing her buttons right now or doing something stupid, something that Nick would always do. Then he would piss of Chris enough that he would turn his head slow and show an impassive stare. The two of them would launch into a silent argument of expressions. “-I don’t know if it’s safe with those people out there.”

“You want to go say ‘hi’ to the neighbors? We can throw together a welcome basket.”

Elyza smirked when Alicia narrowed her eyes.

Maybe going to meet them wasn’t such a bad idea. If the other people knew that they were here, they would stay away, give each other space. Knowing that they had set boundaries could make it easier. Then there was the flip side to that coin. If they were bad people, then maybe they should just stay hidden. If they crossed paths they would have to deal with it eventually. If they ended at odds, then Alicia would soon rather leave than be shot.

“I’m serious.” Alicia adjusted her elbows on her knees. “If they end up here-”

“They won’t make it past the front door.” Elyza wasn’t very comforting but she was serious. The blonde was dead set in protecting this girl, for more than just the obvious companionship.

“Are you offering to protect me?”

Elyza closed her eyes, kicking one leg up on top of her opposite knee and letting it bounce. “What do you think I’ve been doing this whole time? I wasn’t searching all of California for the most attractive brunette. That was just a plus.”

Alicia was sure that was a compliment, positive, but didn’t know how to take that because everything she said seemed to come across a little too forward. She was still questioning if her friend ever heard herself speaking or if it was all just white noise.

“If you're asking my opinion,” Elyza sat up again, all serious, all too aware. “I think we should go.”

She had her own reasons for leaving. Way back when, Elyza had been an orphan and technically she still was. She had spent a majority of her time moving from place to place, her social workers giving up on her all too often, the system giving up on her. Traveling had become her life, criss crossing California ever since she had gotten here. Elyza didn’t think staying here was a good idea, not because of the people that may possibly threaten their safety, but because she didn’t want to. It didn’t feel right. By now, in the average world, Elyza would have moved on. But here she was.

Alicia wasn’t sure about leaving. Their safety was threatened now that there were more people and she knew all too well that anyone and everyone was unpredictable. “We’ll stay couple more days.”

Chapter Text

The door to the wood burning stove closed and Elyza flinched. The smoke had just spit in her face. Alicia had been right to tell her not to use it in the first place, it had been a while since someone had burned anything in it. With a little hope, maybe after a little while it would stop spitting smoke into the house every time she opened the door to put another log on. It would have been better to just follow suit from the other night and heat the food over the fire pit outside but according to her companion, that would attract their neighbors. So, inside it was. The glow of the fire being the only thing that was providing light and heating the

“I think I am going to need another bath.” Elyza made a face, fanning the smoky air away from her face with her hand.

“You had one yesterday.” Alicia sat next to her on the floor, trying to run the can opener around the top edge of the cans. “You don’t need another one.”

Elyza was going to comment on the fact that Alicia had yet to take one, but decided it was best to keep her mouth shut, save this for another moment. The girl handed her an open can and Elyza set it off to the side with another. The fire needed more time to heat the surrounding stove, only then could they eat a warm meal.

“It smells like a house fire threw up on me.” Elyza frowned. The smokey smell was bothering her enough that she was willing to complain to go down to the creek again.

Unfortunately, it was dark and getting colder inside. The creek water was close to freezing, but the air now was so uncomfortable that they would need light blankets even if they laid out here in the living room. Elyza looked to her companion, her eyes shielded by the shadows. Even though the fire glowed bright, lighting the room and providing warmth, Alicia was still slouched in a way that made her seem as though she was folding in on herself, cold or chilled to the bone.

With one hand, Elyza pushed the first can up on top of the woodstove.

Alicia smiled absently, her tired mind working hard. “Do you ever do anything other than complain?”

“Of course. I’m cooking right now, aren’t I?” Elyza put the second can next to the first, her eyes glowing in the light when she looked to her companion.

Alicia’s face became playfully serious. “You put a can on top of a hot metal box.”

“I should get extra points for not burning myself.” The blonde smiled back without her lips parting. Alicia just laughed and leaned back against the couch. “And I only complain when I want to get your attention. You were doing that frowny thing-” Elyza gently brushed her fingers over the girl’s face - “where you get those cute little lines right there.” Alicia frowned again. “Yeah. That one.”

The brunette pushed at her and Elyza smiled, watching Alicia pull herself onto the couch. “You’re a pain in the ass.”

It was weird. This back and forth. It almost reminded her of Nick. Elyza was more of a pain but wasn’t as much of a nuisance as her brother. The blonde was playful, independant, caring. Nick was only one of those things. Elyza was different. Somehow she managed to bring light to the end of the world.

Now that Alicia was thinking about it, about her family, she missed them all over again. Her life had practically revolved around keeping Nick out of trouble. Then it was all about staying safe, not screwing up, keeping herself alive - keeping everyone else alive. She was the one that kept them sane, helped them see the light of their stupidity. Despite all of that, she still loved her family. They were her rock, the thing that kept them sane. She wasn’t prepared just yet to let them go.

Elyza pulled both cans from atop the stove with an oven mit covering her hand and put them both on the brick platform that it sat on, just to cool. The blonde could see Alicia thinking, quietly, deeply. She moved to sit next to her companion on the couch.

“We’re going to need more wood if we want to keep the fire going tonight.”

“Or we could just throw some old crap in.” Another strange moment where Alicia’s mind seemed oddly clear. She had a way of doing that, remaining eerily aware in the face of all emotion. It was peculiar to say the least.

Elyza just stared at her for a moment. She understood the necessity of the situation. With those people outside and the dead walking around, there was no way to gather wood in the dark, not safely. Alicia could have been truly honest, thinking of the best, or she could be falling back into that distraught mindset again.

She had one other thing that she knew may work and she dug into her pocket to find it. “Well, what about this?”

Elyza held the sliver of paper in her fingertips, rotating it in light of the fire. Alicia recognized it as a picture of herself, pocket sized and all. It was from when she was younger. The brunette didn't remember when it had been taken but she knew it was long ago. It was any wonder how her grandmother had obtained it. Maybe her dad had sent it for the holiday or something.

“Where did you get that?” Alicia’s eyes widened as she looked at it, her mind spinning just to figure out when the picture was taken and for what reason other than her parents wanted another memory. It was good to see that life had sparked back into her eyes. Elyza was just pushing her now.

“Do you think I could keep it?” The blonde just looked at the photo, turning it so that Alicia could see it a little better in the light.

It wasn't an embarrassing photo. Just one of when she was younger, a lot younger. She still had the little bit of pudge in her cheeks that all kids have when they are little. Her hair was curlier then and almost covering half of her face. Her eyes were so much bigger back then, or so she thought, and her teeth still had gaps in them.

“What?” Alicia was embarrassed of her younger self and it showed a little in her voice. “Why would you want that?”

Elyza smiled. “Just look at it. You were so cute back then.”

“You are not keeping that.”

“Of course I am.” Elyza had that mischievous glow to her profile that Alicia had finally begun to recognize. Now she was starting to both hate and love it. “Just look at those chunky little cheeks.”

Alicia felt her own cheeks turning red. “Elyza. Give it to me.”

“Uh, no.” Elyza was purposefully playing on the facade of a four year old. Not only was it amusing, but this was the most interaction that she had gotten out of Alicia throughout the entire day. If she was going to be in this slump, then Elyza would just try extra hard to pull her out of it. “I think I am going to hold on to this. Maybe put it in my wallet.”

Alicia reached for the photo. “Don’t you dare.”

The blonde was fast enough to pull away from her just before her fingertips touched it’s edge. “Or what?”

“Give. Me. The. Photo.”

Grinding out the words didn’t mean anything. Elyza didn’t feel threatened in the least, mostly because Alicia’s voice couldn’t back up the vague threat that she was trying to convey. She just sounded tired, not angry or vindictive.

“But your cheeks are so pinchable.” Elyza waved the photo a little until Alicia tried to snatch at it again. This time, the blonde leaned farther away, holding it behind her at a decent distance. She used her free hand to squeeze Alicia’s cheek. “They still are too.”

The brunette froze for a second, her cheeks bright red as she stared at Elyza in the flickering light. The smile of the blonde was second to the fire in lighting up the space.

“Why do you want it anyway?” The words finally came to her as she leaned a little farther away, almost back to the distance that they had started at. Flames still burned beneath her cheeks. Maybe embarrassment or uncertainty.

“I don’t know.” Elyza pulled the photo back in front of her, the smile having yet to fade. “It’s a cute photo.”

She tilted it in front of Alicia, an inanimate dance of her younger self staring back at her. It was oddly disorienting. She shook her head and pulled the photo from the woman’s hand. She seemed strangely disappointed. It was false of course, but it came across as real and Alicia almost felt bad for taking it away from her. Almost.

“Aw, come on. But you’re so cute.”

“Stop it.” Alicia pulled the picture away when her friend reached forward for it. “Don’t make me hurt you.”

Elyza leaned close enough that she was invading Alicia’s space. But the blonde just smiled when she froze, her hand still reaching for the photograph. The girl just met her eyes, green shining into blue and blue sparkling back. The light of the dancing flames was casting sinister shadows across both of their faces, highlighting the best parts. They just stared back at one another, one with a smile, the other with uncertainty.

Elyza whispered, “You know, the tough act is so adorable that it’s kind of a turn on.”

The blonde dipped her hand around to the opposite side of her companion’s neck and pressed her lips to Alicia’s in a movement so familiar yet so disorienting. Elyza’s lips were light to hers, gentle unlike the woman behind them. She pulled against her bottom lip, breaking for the briefest of seconds then meeting again.

Alicia didn’t pull away, hardly breathed until she realized that her mind was growing increasingly foggy. Even when she did take a breath, it felt like the fog would never clear. The brunette could feel Elyza’s breaths, light and even each time she took one in or let another out. She couldn’t pull away, not because she couldn’t, but because she didn’t want to. Even though her mind told her to stop, it felt… right? It felt like it was something she needed.

Suddenly the fire felt too hot and the air felt too cold. Elyza’s lips against her’s felt too soft while the touch on the side of her neck felt too distant. Her mind was, what felt like, clouded but was in fact clarity. Still, even though the action had lasted what felt like a century, it had been just a few moments. With an odd reluctance, Alicia leaned her forehead against Elyza’s, keeping her at bay.

Alicia had a tear streaking down her cheek and Elyza caught it with her thumb just as it reached her jawline. “First time I’ve moved a girl to tears.” Elyza smirked but Alicia’s green eyes were just staring back at her, farther than she would like the girl to be. “You’re even more attractive when you cry.”

Her lips twitched, a smirk then a frown, back to uncertainty. The brunette’s head was still fighting the fog, accepting the clarity. Her eyes drifted downward to where Elyza’s hand rested on her’s, her thumb tracing the side of her forefinger. “I- I don’t-”

“You’re not about to tell me you aren’t gay, are you?” Elyza smirked, pulling at Alicia’s collar. “Because I don’t think I have ever seen a straight girl wear that much plaid.”

She couldn’t help but release a light laugh at that, just now realizing that Elyza’s knee was touching her’s, just now seeing how close they were. She sure did know how to push the situation. “I just-” Elyza waited for an answer, disappointed when she heard it. “I- I’m not ready. Not yet.”

“Well, that wasn’t a no.”

Elyza leaned forward and kissed her again, almost surprised when she didn’t flinch away. It was even more shocking that she kissed back. As brief as it was, she wanted more, knowing that she couldn’t. Elyza smiled after and leaned back a little.

“I’m still going to keep this.” The blonde held up the photo between them. Alicia hadn’t even felt her take it. Elyza’s fingers still brushed over the brunette’s, Alicia finding that their fingers were nearly interlaced. “That's alright, sweetheart. I’m a very patient person.”

Chapter Text

Alicia had made a promise all those months ago. It was a promise that she had intended to keep. Of course it had just been a promise to herself, but it was important to her nonetheless. Now it was nothing. It was just a symbol that Alicia could trac on her arm. It was a memory that meant nothing now. Seeing it saddened her but there was very little emotion left behind it. Now the tattoo was just a memory, permanently sewn beneath her skin.

If Matt were here, he would tell her not to worry, that everything would be okay, that her family would be here today. But he wasn't. Elyza was and, even though she was horrible at comforting Alicia and her racing mind, the girl had never felt safer than she did with her.

Even while the blonde slept, she seemed oddly aware, as if she could leap into action with her eyes closed, not that she didn't do that while she was awake. She rested with her knife or her pistol close by. This time it was her knife, lying just above her head on the coffee table. Her blonde hair fell beneath her chin to leave her face to the fire. Only one of her exposed piercings glowed silver in the light, the other two pulled into darkness by their black colors. Her sketchbook lie on her stomach, a pencil between the pages, one hand draped lazily over it. Alicia watched it rise and fall with every deep breath.

She was unique, if anything. Elyza had something that Matt didn’t. It wasn’t just that she was female, maybe that she was such a mystery. Alicia knew that she was adopted, that the woman was practically a loner with no one. But… what else did she know? Elyza had given up nothing from her past. Alicia didn’t know anything about her, not really. Asking seemed like a bad idea, especially since she had avoided the topic for the past week and a half. There was no way to figure her out.

The fire started flickering, casting the shadows in strange extended images across the walls and floor. It had died considerably, making the room look like something from a decent horror movie. The entire room was half enveloped by darkness, the rest held in the glow of a warm light.

Alicia tried her best to keep quiet as she pushed one of the last of the thick tree branches into the fireplace. They would need something else to burn for the rest of the night but that was Elyza’s problem now. The two of them had resorted to taking turns watching out at night, especially with those people poking around in the woods. When Alicia’s turn was up, she would wake her friend and Elyza would take are of the fire and keep watch.

It was after thirty minutes that the fire lulled her to sleep on the couch, her tiring mind finally coming to rest. The blonde woke slowly, her skin nearly frozen even beneath her clothes, the discomfort waking her.

The fire was just a glow from beneath the coals. With a reluctant sound, Elyza sat up, her sketchbook sliding to the couch. She managed to stoke the fire back to life, then push one more branch back on to the embers. The fire would take a while to spark back into its glow. Elyza wouldn’t sleep until it did.

Meanwhile, she sat back on the couch opposite her companion. Her sketchbook fell to the floor, the pictures inside spilling out from the pocket attached to the back inside cover. There was a number of them, only one standing out more than the others. Elyza gathered them, stopping on the one that she had stolen long ago, before meeting Alicia, before she had left southern Los Angeles. Elyza just sat back, the glowing fire barely illuminating the glossy polaroid. There wasn’t just one either, there were four, three of which she had managed to ignore until the last. Elyza took a breath, choking down memories, and pushing the photos back into their place, Alicia’s going last.

The fire started to die again and Elyza pulled the last of the logs that they had. There were two more large branches that she could throw on, but it seemed better to save those for the morning so they could heat their food. The night would be cold without it. The blonde dragged a blanket from the back of her couch and carefully put it over Alicia’s sleeping form. She shivered into the cotton for a moment before settling down, her breathing still heavy.

Elyza laid back on the sofa, pulling a thinner, lighter blanket over herself, turning towards the brunette and watching her breathe before she fell asleep.

In the morning, it was Alicia who was up first, trying to stoke the fire back to life with some old newspapers that she had found. In her attempts to keep quiet, she had unknowingly awoken Elyza, who was just watching her from the couch and pretending to be asleep every time she looked over her shoulder.

After many long minutes of force feeding the dying embers old ink soaked paper, Alicia sat back, ready to accept defeat.

“You need to let it breathe.” Elyza mumbled from the couch, her eyes still closed, pulling the blanket up to her chin.

Alicia looked back to her for a moment, seeing that the woman wasn’t even paying any attention. For a moment, she wasn’t even sure if she heard was real or not. But she took the advice nonetheless. In another minute the fire came to life with sticks and paper. It glowed for a long moment, long enough for the first large tree branch to catch and start burning.

“Thanks.” Alicia looked back for a moment, seeing Elyza blink back sleepily. Then she just made a noise akin to a groan and pulled a pillow over her face.

It was moments like those that bothered Alicia. As if she saw this whole thing as normal. They were scavenging supplies almost daily, eating food from cans, running from the dead that walked the streets. This was far from normal. But she just didn’t seem to care. Elyza wasn’t cold or emotionless, she was happy, maybe just happy to be alive. But this was something that bothered Alicia, not because she purposefully remained unnerved in the face of danger, but because she seemed so used to all of this. Even after months of being on the move with her family, Alicia doubted that she would ever feel the same.

“What’s for breakfast?” Elyza’s voice came muffled through the pillow. This time when Alicia looked back, she had lifted it just enough to see the brunette.

“Uh, mixed vegetables and beans.” Alicia responded, pushing the remnants with a thin stick. The branch was still burning fairly well so she threw the last of their wood on the fire to keep it going, closed the door, and pushed both of the cans of food on top of the metal covering. “It’s all that we have left.”

Elyza sighed and sat up slowly, the pillow falling to the floor when she stretched, squeezing out a yawn. She swung her legs off the side of the couch, pushing her hair out of her face. “We can go for supplies later.”

Alicia didn’t say anything. She was too tired to respond or argue. The food was warming steadily, she could tell when she held her hand over the tops of the cans. “As long as we can stay close.”

Elyza held her tongue, not wanting to say the immediate thought on her mind. She rolled her eyes while Alicia’s back was turned. “Even if we go somewhere else, it will only be for a while.”

The brunette was still solemn, checking the food again.

“Leesh, stop worrying. They’ll be here.”

“You don’t know that.” There was a hint of anger in her voice that was a little surprising to hear. Alicia sat on the couch, disheveled and annoyed. She wasn’t mad, just frustrated. A part of her was still focused on Matt and the tattoo on her forearm. It was a memory that was no longer polite, but was now haunting her. Even as she covered it with her free hand it was still burning her palm.

Elyza could see how she was trying to keep herself together. She didn’t want to say anything that would make her mad. “This isn’t about…”

“No.” Her response was fast, defensive. Alicia finally looked up to her, her green eyes young and tired. “I just don’t want to go too far.” She paused and Elyza waited for her to continue. “Those people are out there- they might not be friendly.”

Elyza knew that isn’t what this was about. She was scared, nervous, focused on something else. “No. They may not.” Alicia looked away from her. There had to be a number of things bothering her. “But we can’t keep searching these places. Old people don’t have a lot of food.”

There was a gunshot from outside, distant from the sound of it. The two of them looked to one another but Elyza was standing in the next second, her hand on the pistol at her leg. By the time Alicia stood, the blonde was at the door, covered by the wall but looking out the kitchen window to see if they were in eyeshot. There was nothing, at least not from this angle. Elyza took a breath, pushing her pistol back into her holster as she caught Alicia’s worried eyes.

The blonde let her shoulders drop, relaxing as much as she could. “Let’s hope they are shooting at the dead and not each other.”

Chapter Text

Alicia grabbed a handful of stale cereal from the box she was holding, gulping it down and reaching for the box of granola bars which she took and shoved in her backpack. They would be good for snacks while they stayed at the house.

Elyza was off exploring the rest of the house, just down the hall. She had ventured through the first room, finding a wide assortment of men’s clothes, none of which were hung but instead dropped in a box in the closet. The rest were all women’s clothes, nicely folded and taken care of properly, packed away in the drawers of a dresser. The drawers of the dual nightstands were far more entertaining; toys upon toys, and not the kind that children played with. Elyza just smirked at the sight, rolling her eyes and venturing on.

The other room down this hall, aside from the bathroom, was an office which clearly hadn’t been used in a long time. But there were things in there that still drew her attention.

Alicia’s backpack was stuffed with things that they could use. It was a little heavy and would probably slow her down if she needed to move quickly, but it was enough to last them for a few more days at the very least. Hopefully, Elyza had found something helpful as well, not that either of them were hurt, but the chances were greater now and it didn’t hurt to be prepared.

With her friend still venturing through the home, Alicia decided it best to go look for her. Elyza didn’t exactly seem like the type to scream if something were to happen. Hopefully nothing had.

She walked passed the door, backtracking only a little and peeking into the office. Elyza sat in the large wheely chair, heavily cushioned. Alicia only spotted her by the top of her blonde head. The backpack pulled on her shoulder in a way that almost hurt and she adjusted the pack which, in turn, made an odd jangling noise.

“What are you doing?”

Elyza spun in the chair, one leg pulled beneath her and her sunglasses pulled back to her eyes from the top of her head. She smiled and looked down to the object in her hands, running her fingers over it.

The guitar made a relatively loud strum, in key. It was an acoustic guitar, nicely tanned wood with thin strings.

“Really?” Alicia narrowed her eyes, glancing momentarily at Elyza’s half filled backpack sitting on the desk. Her response was less than fantastic when she started running her fingers over the guitar strings, soft sounds reverberating in the wood.

The blonde released a light laugh that had been hiding behind her teeth. “Nothing wrong with taking a break.”

“You are going to do everything possible to get us killed, aren’t you?”

Elyza frowned. “It’s a guitar not a drumset. I know how to be quiet.” She stood, the strap of the guitar swaying when she did. Elyza pulled the backpack from the desk, swinging it over her shoulders and pulling the guitar strap over it. Alicia rolled her eyes.

“If I die because of you, I will haunt your ass.”

Elyza smiled at that, her shades hiding her sinister eyes. “Hun, you can haunt any part of me you want.”

Alicia bit the inside of her lip and turned away, not wanting to show her reddening cheeks. Elyza was still smiling even as she followed her companion out and down the hall. Even though she knew that the brunette was was trying to hide a smile by the way her cheeks pulled.

When they stepped back outside, the air was a little warmer. It wasn’t quite mid day, nor was it evening. Elyza had suggested that they walk down the street a little bit instead of taking the motorcycle, which they did. Since Alicia was back to worrying, there was no point in having her worry about whether they were attracting the dead or the living. They only needed to concern themselves with food at the moment, that was the priority.

The brunette found herself missing the wind on her skin, the pull of it through her hair. She wanted to be back on the bike just to feel some sense of freedom, some sense of peace. That is all that she wanted. But with everything that was happening, the lack of food, her friends and family possibly pushing daisies, and the people that were out there, she knew better than to taunt fate. If anything were to happen, whatever it was would not end well.

Elyza’s fingers drummed on the side of the guitar as they walked, a light drum beat to an unrecognizable song. Alicia glanced over at her as they walked, Elyza’s aviator glasses blocking her eyes as they walked, the combat knife close to her free hand. She hadn’t brought her rifle with her, something about maneuverability over power or some nonsense like that. The blonde just didn’t seem to care about anything, not just the fact that the dead were walking but the fact that they had little food. For once, Alicia wanted to see things through her eyes, see why she didn’t seem to care about anything that was happening.

The thing was, Elyza did care, just not about the seemingly important things. Whenever Alicia wasn’t looking at her, she would glance over at the brunette to see if she was okay, sane. She just never caught her eye.

“You ever wonder how this happened?” Elyza asked, looking to one of the dead who was munching on some poor dead animal.

Alicia looked over, then to Elyza. “No. Not really.”

“Really? You don’t wonder how all of this happened?”

“No. I just kind of assumed it was some evolving virus or something.” Alicia kicked a stone beneath her feet as she walked.

“Could be.” Elyza thought for a moment. “Or it could be some type of waterborne thing. Or something like malaria.”

“Let’s hope it’s neither of those things.”

There was a long moment of silence as they walked past a perfectly good house to raid. Then another and another. They had probably walked about half a mile to get to the one that they had first raided. Now they were on their way back, as per Elyza’s instructions. The point was to raid away from their own house first, opposite the direction that the other people were potentially in. Avoiding them altogether was the best way to avoid a conflict.

Alicia looked to her friend again, seeing that she was now preoccupied with one of the dead that had yet to notice them. It was staring at a tree, or through it. But Elyza was still cautious, still aware.

“Where should we head next?” Alicia asked, whispering now that they were close to another house but it wasn’t.

Elyza nodded towards a house not too far down the street. “That one. Should be plenty there.”

The brunette didn’t want to argue, not just because it seemed like a good option but because it was the best option. The place looked similar to a small mansion. Two stories, practically hidden by the trees well enough that it looked like a small cottage, a large open yard all the way around. From the second floor, anyone could see anything out to the surrounding treeline, almost exactly like the house they were staying in.

They got the the door quietly, one older dead man stumbling through the yard with his back to them. Alicia just stood by while Elyza picked the lock, looking out towards the treeline. When it was opened, Elyza waved inside.

So Alicia went first, Elyza close behind her, keeping a close eye on her companion. Her hand rested on her knife until they snuck through to the kitchen. The cabinets held stockpiles of food. Even the pantry was overstuffed. Alicia was quick to adjust and pull cans into her associate’s backpack.

“How long do you think we can keep doing this?” Alicia asked.

Elyza was lightly strumming the strings of the guitar so that they made a gentle hum that wasn’t loud enough to hide the clinking of cans. “Doing what?”

“Moving. Stealing.” Alicia pulled another can down from a shelf of the pantry, turning it in her hand. “What are we going to do when these places run out of food.”

“When it comes to that, we’ll figure it out.” Elyza strummed the guitar again, slowly, now staring out the window.

But she didn’t want to just sit back and think on it. Alicia wanted to know what they would do then. It would be quite a while before they ran out of houses to raid but it wasn’t something that she just wanted to sit back and watch.

“Were you serious about traveling?”

Elyza looked back to Alicia with just a glance, refocusing on the outside world. Her voice was solemn, understanding. “Of course. But only if you want to go.”

“When we run out of homes, maybe we could head east,” Alicia filled the last of the backpack. She looked up to Elyza who seemed oddly distant, staring out the window. “We could take the motorcycle and just go with whatever we have. Just head across the country.”

“Alicia-”

“It’s what you wanted too, right? We could head to Florida or South Carolina. Some place far away from here.”

“Alicia.” Elyza’s voice was a little more firm this time, stopping Alicia in her tracks with just her gaze. “I love your optimism, hun, but we really don’t have time for this.”

The words alone were enough to confuse her, the brunette’s brow pulling together until she stepped up to the window. When she saw what Elyza had, her stomach fell, urgency rising in its place.

The blonde pulled her backpack over her shoulders in one fast movement, then grabbed Alicia’s arm and dragged her to the side, back through the doorway. Alicia just let her eyes train on the window for a moment longer, thinking back to months ago. It almost felt like it was a repeat of those events, only this time she didn’t have her family with her. She had Elyza.

Chapter Text

“Fuck.”

Alicia had been thinking the same, only internalized, as Elyza threw her towards the closed door that they had entered through not long before. She didn’t argue when the blonde had grabbed her, nor did she say anything when she saw the impending threat approaching. But her breaths came faster, her heart pounding harder, her mind whirling, all at the same moment that Elyza had grabbed her arm.

From the second that she had leaped from the top step of the porch, her skin touching the fresh air, to the moment that her feet hit the tall grass, her heart had almost stopped. Her bag felt almost weightless, her thoughts so clear, her mind telling her to run even though she wasn’t quite sure why. When she took that stumbling landing a little too hard, it was the realization that hit her - fear pushing her. It was then that the steps came a little more quickly and she was sprinting across the open field that separated the trees from the house.

Elyza was close behind her, feet moving just as fast. Alicia was moving just fast enough to stay just ahead of her. Even with the easy twenty pounds of food and supplies weighing her down, the brunette moved fast. What Elyza didn’t expect was for her to slide to a near stop which sent them crashing into each other, Elyza hitting her shoulder hard against a tree while Alicia fell sideways in the leaves.

“Wh-”

“SHHHH!” Elyza hushed violently as she dropped next to her on the earth, almost pushing her flat with her free hand. It was when she looked up that she noticed the threat that they had been running from - no matter how briefly.

Back on the porch, a man burst through the front door. He scanned the treeline opposite them, then looked in their direction which made the two girls freeze where they were. Another man came from the doorway, also scanning the trees. The second looked angry, fed up or concerned or both. He pulled the first’s attention back to him and they both dropped head long into frustration. With a visible, aggrivated sigh, the second pulled up the rifle that he held and pointed. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger and the elderly decaying man that had been stumbling through the yard dropped with a loud BANG!

Alicia covered her own mouth, but Elyza still pressed against her side, a hand on her forearm. She closed her eyes when the man fell but she couldn’t wipe the immediate image from her mind. He had been looking off to one side, turning to them when they had run past, yet he still hadn’t seen them. One moment his distant eyes were looking in their general direction, dark skin turned gray with purple and blue undertones, eyes white and pupils dark. Then a corner of his skull fractured into bits and pieces, blood and bone breaking the fresh air. He was gone then. Nothing, life or death or whatever it was that made him move and breathe and hunger. He went from life… or whatever it was… to nothing. Just another of many bodies lying on the earth.

The blonde watched on, seeing just another thing fall, permanently dead. But it was the men beyond that which made stare. The first swung hard against the second who just smiled a crooked smile and shrugged his shoulders. But they stayed on the porch for a moment, talking. They both adjusted the rifles that they held as a third came from inside. This one grabbed one by the jacket, anger in his voice that could be heard from the treeline, and shook hard before pushing him away, then pushed past the first two and down the stairs.

The brunette made a noise akin to someone choking, if that person was choking in fear. Elyza looked to her, seeing her turn almost green. She wanted to comfort her companion but couldn’t bring herself to pull focus from the threat that was still looming over them. So she pulled herself up from the cold ground, grabbing Alicia and bringing her up as well.

“Come on,” the blonde tugged her back away from all of it. “Alicia. We need to go.”

So Alicia swallowed hard and nodded. Elyza pulled her forward again, pushing her friend to run again. Again their feet moved the earth, and again their breaths became harsh. Hearts pounding and blood rushing through their veins. Alicia was finding it hard to breathe when her eyes caught sight of the road through the trees. She slowed, Elyza right by her side. But she had to stop.

“I think I am going to be sick-” Alicia heaved and Elyza side stepped when she leaned in her direction.

“Uh, not on me,” the blonde side stepped again when the girl met her eyes. “I just found these boots.”

The brunette looked at her, eyes narrowed, the feeling of sickness halting for a long moment. She shook her head, wanting the sickness to fade faster than it was. Then she saw what was in Elyza’s hand and it disappeared altogether.

“Why the hell do you still have that?” She reached for the guitar but Elyza pulled away, a smile hinting at her lips.

The blonde pulled it up into her hands, strumming a quick cord and then walked off with that damn smile being the last thing to follow, almost as if nothing was wrong, like they hadn’t just run half a mile in one direction. Alicia’s heart was still pounding but her head was clear and she wasn’t feeling nauseous or lightheaded from the run. But the image of the man’s skull bursting apart stay trapped in her mind.

“You coming?” Elyza turned on her toes, her breathing still a little thick as she walked. She slung the guitar over her shoulders, her backpack. Alicia sighed and followed.

Elyza knew her way back, for the most part. She knew the general direction and she followed the generalized path that they had taken to get to where they were. So she went, leading them along through the trees along the side of the road to stay concealed from whatever dangers may lurk there.

“I think it is safe to say that we should avoid them,” Elyza was spinning a small switchblade in her fingers.

Alicia didn’t even know that she had another knife. She had another brief moment of nausea that disappeared quickly. She swallowed hard to be rid of the bile in her throat. “No kidding.”

She was watching Alicia carefully again, seeing the small ticks that she tried to mask, the small things that Elyza had begun picking up on. Miniscule things, twitches at first; subtle, subconscious things. But she had gotten good at reading Alicia and seeing the things that she tried to hide. It was the fact that Alicia was practically a ghost now that made her concerned. The green had vanished but there was still her paleness that made her usually warm complexion less so.

“Are you alright?”

The question was normal but it still caught Alicia off guard, and she blinked a few times before she took a hard breath and nodded. “Yeah.”

“Liar.” Elyza dug in her pocket and pulled out a small rectangle, handing it to Alicia who seemed confused at first. “What? Don’t tell me you never had gum before. Go on. The mint will settle your stomach.”

So Alicia took the packet and pulled a piece out, dropping the garbage in the leaves and handing it back. Elyza took a piece as well, taking a deep breath and looking up through the trees as they walked.

Now it was Alicia who was staring. She could see Elyza the way that she had seen her for the past week. She was dark, as always, lacking the distance that she had been forcing between the two of them. Elyza came across as comforting. It was odd to see. But she was so aware that her subconscious movements were entirely nonexistent. Alicia couldn’t read her.

“How can you be so…” Cold? No. that wasn’t the right word. “That didn’t bother you?” It was like what happened to that man, the fact that they were moments away from dying, didn’t strike her at all.

“Maybe in another life,” The blonde shrugged, stepping up onto a rock outcropping that raised her up above Alicia. “But not anymore.” She looked out over the road in both directions, seeing a few dangers but none of them close enough to be a problem. Then she dropped down, her backpack and everything inside rattling. “I’ve seen a lot of shit. It wasn’t the first and I bet it won’t be the last.”

Alicia watched her step out towards the small clearing separating them from the road. She followed but it occurred to her then, in a moment out of context and absent from their present situation, that she had been seeing Elyza all wrong.

All this time Alicia had been separating herself from Elyza. Not just emotionally but through their pasts as well. Thinking back through all of the shit that she had endured over the past several months it finally clicked that they were the same. She didn’t know much about Elyza, much less her past, but the way she spoke - almost as if it haunted her, even when disguised by her flippant tone - it made it all sound painful.

But she didn’t speak right away, just weaved her way around one car along the same path that her friend was taking. Alicia even found herself planting her feet in the same placed that Elyza had.

Finally she wrangled the words buzzing in her mind. “Like what?”

“Hmmm?”

They were back in the woods, under cover of the trees and their dragging shadows.

Alicia tried to catch herself, keeping her eyes on Elyza but making sure to stay aware of the path ahead of them. “You said that you have seen a lot. So, like, what? What did you do before this?”

The only hint that she received was Elyza’s sudden, sharp breath in and glance towards the falling sun. It was the thing that gave her away.

“Traveled mostly.” She raised one brow as she tilted her head towards Alicia. “But it got more exciting after all of this.” She waved out back towards the road, then ahead to the side street that their destination laid on. “Well, not exciting, but more eventful.”

“And nothing else?” Alicia watched Elyza’s steps exaggerate, a smirk pulling at her lips again.

“I got to see new things, explore some pretty cool places.”

She looked through the trees, lost in thought. It was something that Alicia hadn’t seen from her. It was an entirely different kind of presence. She was distant but not in the way that she had been. Elyza was relaxed and it was something that she had thought the blonde had been almost incapable of. Seeing her shoulders drop and her face relax as she recalled whatever is was, she gave off an aura of ease.

“You must have met some pretty interesting people then.” Alicia offered.

The moment she said it, she noticed the twitch in Elyza’s eye and saw her smirk falter. It disappeared in the time it took Alicia to blink. Then the blonde was back to her old self, looking at Alicia with a light, nearly invisible glaze over her eyes.

“No one comes to mind.” Elyza raised one brow and side stepped a tree to lead them back out into the open, right along the side street.

But Alicia had this overwhelming feeling that it was a lie.

Chapter Text

She couldn’t get back to sleep. Not after she had awoken just before sunrise. Alicia put another log on the embers and rested back against the couch, pulling her blanket up to her chin. She rolled her head just enough to look at Elyza on the opposite couch. The blonde was lying on her side with a pillow fitted well beneath her neck. She wasn’t wearing her leather jacket, not to sleep, but the blanket draped over her was only pulled up to her waist. Her leather jacket was in a pile on the floor next to the couch.

Her breathing was heavy, her eyes fluttering for a moment before they settled again and she shifted a little. Elyza only ever seemed to be at peace when she was asleep and that brief moment on their hasty walk back.

Alicia sat up, still watching the blonde as her breaths came one after another. As much as she wanted to sleep, Alicia’s mind was wandering to everything else and the only way to ease it was by getting up and walking around. She limited herself to the inside, mostly because there was the dangers of the outside, but she stayed as quiet as possible, venturing no further than the kitchen. It was there where she stayed. There was no point in pulling out a chair or it would screech on the floor tiles. So, Alicia stood for a while, pulling her backpack from the floor to the table.

It was empty, empty of the important things at least, just as she had left it. No food or water, they stored all of that in the pantry. But she still had a few knick knacks and small things that she couldn’t bring herself to get rid of, insignificant trinkets and maybe some trash. But there was nothing interesting in the bag.

She sidled to the doorway of the living room, silently wishing that Elyza was awake in hopes that her chatter could provide some sort of entertainment. Unfortunately, she was still sleeping, lying just as she had been.

So Alicia sighed, about to find something else to occupy her time. She did, snagging a book from one of the upstairs rooms and reading through half of the first chapter with a granola bar in her hand. It took another hour for Elyza to full wake up into her typically blooming self. Not a full hour for her to wake up, that happened thirty minutes after she sat down. It took a while longer for her mind to come to life. But it only took the briefest of moments for her to shuffle into the kitchen, grab a box of cereal, and shuffle away. It was a few minutes later that Alicia went in to check on her and found Elyza curled up on the couch with her blanket wrapped around her shoulders, digging deep into the cereal box.

“Good morning,” Alicia said, with a response of a sleepy glance which was quickly blinked away.

“There is nothing good about mornings,“ Elyza said groggily, another handful meeting her lips. She chewed slowly until she was done, then met Alicia’s eyes. “We should go on an adventure.”

Her first thought, of all things, was another life or death experience? She really was trying to get them both killed.

With an incredulous inflection, “An adventure?” Alicia took a sip from her water bottle and moved to sit on the couch across from her friend.

Elyza nodded, stood up drowsily and sat next to her. “Yes. What’s life without a little adventure?”

“So that adventure from yesterday wasn’t enough for you?”

“Look around, cutie.” The blonde waved her arms around the room, then tilted the mostly empty box towards her. “We can have adventures everyday now. I figure I should let you pick today.”

Alicia snatched the box away, reaching for a handful. “Let me pick?” That sounded stupid, even on her own lips. “You know that I just want to stay here.”

“We’ll leave a note.” Elyza didn’t inspire confidence and she could tell by the way that Alicia wouldn’t look at her. “We’ll leave two notes.” She leaned over and nudged her companion. “Come on. We’ll go somewhere else today. ”

“We have enough suppli-”

“I’m not talking about supplies.”

Alicia was almost taken aback by the semi-stern tone in Elyza’s voice. But her expression was soft, kind. It wasn’t intentional, cutting her off or the light snap of her voice. Elyza took a short breath and bit the inside of her lip - she needed to back track.

“We could do something else.”

There wasn’t much else to do. With the world in the state that it was, there was nothing more to do other than lie around or gather supplies. If they were in a larger group, they could talk to other people or figure something else out. T was easier with a group because there was always something to do in a group. But Alicia was concerned about her family, she had little to no other interest and Elyza- well, Elyza only had one concern.

“Like what?” Alicia watched Elyza shrug.

“Well, that’s up to you.” The blonde rolled a little closer, her shoulder bumping against her companion’s. She snatched back the box. Alicia almost managed a pout but stopped herself. “And, as much as I love our brief, one-sided, yet intimate conversations, I will forever be bored out of my mind if I have to just sit in here.”

Alicia thought for a moment, trying to remember what was in any of the surrounding towns. There was the creek that she played in when she was younger, the mom and pop shop that her grandparents had frequented, the arcade that her brother had tried many times to convince her of being the opposite of a waste of time. What else was there…

“I think I might know of one place.”

Chapter Text

“Come on.”

Her voice was encouraging but it didn’t make climbing up the water tower any easier. In fact, she could hardly hear anything over the blood rushing in her ears and the wind that was whipping against her cheeks. She could feel her hands clamming and bars she was gripping onto seemed as if they themselves were leaking slime. She had to take a break. It took wrapping her elbows around the bar, closing her eyes, and taking slow deep breaths, swallowing hard.

Why did she agree to this? She hated heights.

The first of the two easily swung herself to the top of the water tower, crawling a few paces to one side to give her friend room when she made it up. Unfortunately, the other was struggling to make it up the last few rungs, having to stop again and swallow whatever bile was rising in her throat.

When she reached the top, her limbs felt weak but she still managed to scuttle back towards the dome, leaning back against the white structure.

She swung her legs over the edge, letting them dangle in the air. Alicia looked to her companion. “Of all things, I didn’t think you would be afraid of heights.”

“I’m not afraid of heights.” Elyza said with a weak hint in her voice. Her mouth was dry even as she tried to swallow back against the fear and the shaking in her limbs. Nerves trying to make their way out.

Alicia rolled her eyes, a smile breaking through her lips. “Really? Because I am pretty sure it isn’t the wind that is making you shake.”

Elyza’s nails were digging into her skin on one hand. If her palm was bleeding, she couldn’t tell. It wasn’t the heights that terrified her, but it was the fear of falling from this height. That’s why she wouldn’t go near the edge. As long as there was a decent distance between her nearest body part and the drop.

“It’s really not that bad Elyza,” Alicia wanted to smile at the crack that was clearly showing through her friend’s thick armor, but she couldn’t. Elyza didn’t seem terrified, just a mix of wary and overly cautious, a weird combination that produced the lightest layer of fear. So, Alicia held out her hand, tapping Elyza’s knee to get her attention. “Come on.”

It took a long moment before the blonde even allowed her eyes to flicker away from the metal edge to Alicia. Yet, she took the brunette’s hand and, though appearing to do so willingly, hesitated in pushing herself forward. It was when Alicia tried to pull her hand away that she found Elyza’s hand gripping her’s more tightly when she let her legs drop over the side. She could feel the blonde’s shaking lessening from the start.

The two of them sat there for a while, Alicia holding Elyza’s hand for a while, her grip lessening just as he shaking had. It took a moment for her to notice, but Elyza wasn’t actually looking at the ground, just at the horizon. Over the tips of the trees and the late afternoon sun. Occassionaly she glanced to the buildings in the town, but mostly just watched the horizon. It was just so peaceful.

“Wh-” Elyza’s voice cracked and she mentally kicked herself and tied again. But calmed when she was more focused on the fact that she was holding Alicia’s hand in her lap. “Why did you want to come up here?”

The brunette shrugged.

“I like the view.” But, the way she said it wasn’t entirely believable to either of them. “When we were younger, when we would come up here to visit my grandparents, my brother would hang out with some guys. Sometimes he would come up here and smoke by himself. I used to just sit up here with him; make sure he didn’t get into trouble.”

“You sound like a good sister.”

She nodded. “Yeah. He didn’t always think so.”

Eliza squeezed her hand, her shaking forgotten, concern replacing it.

“I don’t remember much from when I was little.” Elyza admitted, allowing a hint of her past show through. “I do remember going to the Gold Coast though. We would go to the beach, explore the shops. I can remember going, but I don’t know when I was there last.”

“Is that why you don’t talk about it, you don’t remember it?”

Elyza nodded and felt Alicia squeeze her hand back.

“I like it better here anyway.”

The brunette raised a brow. “You prefer people with blood streaming from their eyes better as opposed to Australia?”

The blonde felt a brief and light laugh leave her. “No. I liked Los Angeles and going out at night; parties and getting to meet people. That is what I liked.”

Alicia understood that. She didn’t usually do a lot outside of being at home, but she did enjoy it when she did. She understood that desire.

They sat like that for a moment, watching the sun fall in the sky, occasionally stealing glances at one another while the other wasn’t looking. In the short time that passed, Alicia realized that she was no longer comforting Elyza, but just holding her hand.

“We should probably get back before the sun sets,” Elyza reminded, now looking down at where their hands were joined in her lap.

Alicia had a sudden thought that was both mean and entertaining. “Am I going to have to help you down?”

She received a half glare, half smirk in response.

The brunette snaked her hand away from Elyza’s and pushed herself to stand. There was the sudden rush from just standing. The feeling of falling had long since gone but she leaned against the railing, looking down. Elyza felt increasingly sick just watching with the curious thought of what she would do if Alicia slipped. Her palms began sweating again.

Alicia held to the railing but walked along the side of the dome, right along the pathway. Through the small holes in the steel beneath her feet, she could see the ground so far down beneath. Seeing the small town stretched out along one side of her and the woods along the other side, there was almost a definite line between the two, carved out by a single road. When she saw Elyza still staring down at the ground beneath her feet. She looked a little white outside of her already pale complexion.

“Here,” Alicia reached her hand down again to where Elyza sat. It took a long moment, Elyza still watching the distance. “You can see farther if you stand.”

“I’m not scared.” Elyza said, the usual steel in her voice returning. “It’s perfectly natural to not like heights.”

But when Elyza stood, she only saw passed Alicia briefly to the open air and the ground that met it. She felt the sudden head rush, felt the blood rush through her ears. The earth spun a little too fast for a moment.

Alicia could feel a little laugh rising in her chest. She just found the whole situation entertaining. “The badass Elyza Lex is terrified of heights. Who knew?”

“Maybe I just pretended to be so I could hold your hand.”

There was a short pause. Alicia smirked when she saw how wobbly the blonde really was.

“If you grip that bar any tighter you may break it.”

Elyza pulled her free hand off the bar, realizing that it was a mistake when she could see the ground beyond, grabbing back onto it immediately but not as tightly. Alicia bit the inside of her lip.

“You okay?”

Elyza took a short breath and looked out towards the surrounding area. Alicia was right, she could see more and it was beautiful with the setting sun. Trees hid many of the houses but you could tell where they were by the large gaps between the foliage. The town, however, stood out clearly, maybe about a mile or so away.

“Yeah.” The blonde was overtaken by the beauty of it all. But she felt so much better with Alicia being there, holding her hand again.

“Thank you.” Alicia whispered, something so quiet that Elyza wasn’t quite sure that she heard it. Even Alicia was sure that the wind had pulled the words away. But there was something more she wanted to say, not really knowing why that she had dragged her companion to the top of a water tower to say it. “I know you didn’t have to help me. You probably had something else- I’m really glad I met you Elyza.”

And she just smiled in response, wanting to say something yet unable to. But it was shocking to Elyza when their hands parted and instead Alicia wrapped her arms over the blonde’s shoulders. At first, all that she could think of was falling backward off the water tower yet, when that didn’t happen, Elyza hugged her arms around the girl’s waist, everything surrounding them entirely forgotten.

“Thank you. For everything.” Alicia said.

The side of her head was next to Elyza’s, skin chilled. They could each smell the faded shampoo in each other’s hair and Elyza wanted so badly to just stay like that despite knowing it, most likely, wouldn’t last. And yet, Alicia whispered another set of words so light right against her ear that they too were nearly taken away by the wind. Then she kissed the blonde’s cheek, something warm against her cold skin and she stepped back.

“We probably should get back to the house.”

And with that, the brunette was kneeling down, headed back down the ladder.

Even though her fear would normally have overtaken her, everything seemed so distant, farther than the setting sun beyond the treeline. She was calm, overwhelmingly so. Her usually cautious behaviour had also gone because she was focusing on one thing: what Alicia had said. And the cold chill beneath her cheeks was warming as the distance between them grew. With a breath, she was able to collect herself, no longer needed to prepare for the climb down.

Those words still lingered, whispered against her skin.

“Maybe someday.”

Chapter Text

Elyza sat with her eyes facing the sky, peering through the curtains. It was a clear night, the stars shimmering in the dark. She was thinking about the peck on the cheek, something that she had been thinking about since it happened and something that made her heart skip a beat while a smirk pushed between her cheeks. Her eyes stayed away from Alicia who was sleeping across the room, lest she turn and she catch the girl staring back. But that wasn’t the only thing that she was thinking about.

The conversation with Alicia was brewing in her mind. Elyza really couldn’t remember her family but she remembered the Gold Coast. Their faces were blank masks similar to if they were sculpted out of clay or blurred images on the cover of a magazine to give a false face to a ‘Who Dunnit?’ article. Even though that was a long time ago and she knew that it should no longer matter, all that she could think about was them. She had no siblings to help her figure out the things that she forgot - or did she? Maybe she had a sibling somewhere. Or maybe not. Maybe one had been born after she had long since gone. Even if she did, he or she may not even be alive anymore.

She may be an orphan without a family, adopted or otherwise, but she still thought about them every now and then. The only real family that Elyza ever had was- no. It wasn’t the time or place to think about that. It was too much to suffer through again.

The fingers of one hand traced a spot on the back of her neck, a familiar figure eight; an infinity symbol. She still remembered the day she got it.

Way out in the distance, what sounded like miles away, was a sound akin to the cracking of a single firework. As far away as it sounded, it still pulled Elyza out of her thoughts, sitting bolt upright and getting to her feet a moment after. Elyza immediately turned to the brunette, who hadn’t flinch in her sleep in the slightest.

The sound was terrifying for, not just the sole reason that it was a gunshot, but because loud noises drew those monsters. With no lights on in the house they were in, it didn’t stop the slow-walking half-dead people outside from being a little too close to the dwelling. When she silently sprung to the kitchen to check the door, she watched one dead man looking towards the sound. He began shambling towards that direction. Another appeared after the first had gone into the shrubbery. That one took longer to cross the yard, yet managed to do so even with a gaping wound in her leg. Elyza was simply relieved that they were avoiding this house all together.

The blonde snatched a water bottle from their stash in the kitchen and headed back to the living room. She stood back from the window, not sure she wanted to see the potential horde stampeding through the distant street. Elyza took a sip from the water bottle about to sit down when Alicia stirred next to her on the sofa.

A quiet moan escaped her before her eyes fluttered in the dim light. “What’s- What’s up?”

Elyza shook her head. “Couldn’t sleep.” She held the bottle out for Alicia, who was too tired to ask what exactly it was or why she should be drinking it. Yet she took a few sips and handed it back, nearly letting it slip from her fingers. “Get some rest, hun. I will wake you when it is your turn to keep watch.”

The brunette rolled to her opposite side, pulling her blanket up to her chin. It took a few minutes but her breathing eventually fell back into her deep breathy sleep.

It was hours later that Alicia woke up again, sun beaming in her eyes from the open curtain. But it wasn’t the sunlight that had awoken her. At first she thought it was an alarm of some sort but it was too soft and close by to be an alarm of some kind, her tired mind confusing the sound with something else.

She didn’t say anything, just watched Elyza where she sat on the floor, strumming on her guitar so lightly that the melody was just a whisper. She was entranced in the way her own fingers moved on the strings, messing up only once and stopping to correct herself with little effort. Alongside the notes, she was humming the tune of what she was playing, the key only slightly off as if she was whispering the lyrics to herself. She was so focused on what she was doing.

“Why?” Alicia’s tired voice asked, her eyes now struggling to focus in the morning light.

Elyza was almost surprised that her companion was awake, choking on the tune that she had been humming for the past several minutes. When their eyes met, Elyza seemed almost guilty, as if she had been caught red handed. But it was brushed off just as quickly.

“You take forever to wake up.” Elyza half groaned. She then looked away, back to her fingers as she strummed a little more.

“You were supposed to wake me so I could keep watch.” Alicia lectured as she pushed herself to sit up. She took the water bottle from beside the couch and drained it, realizing how empty her stomach really was.

Elyza shrugged but continued strumming. “Figured I should let you sleep in.”

It was true. She couldn’t sleep last night because of the thoughts wracking her mind. She just kept thinking about her family, the ones that she didn’t remember. All last night her mind had tried to put pieces of her past back together, to no avail. Of course, she did remember her many fake families and temporary friends but not her real family. And when she tried to recall her real family… nothing. Not one memory of who they were or what they looked like.

Then there was the gunshot. Whoever those strangers were that moved into that other house, they were quite active. Shooting at night, however, was not a good idea. Why they had done it was beyond her. But she didn’t want to disturb Alicia while she slept.

“How long have you played?” Alicia asked. She was stuck in the same trance that Elyza had been, watching her fingers dance along the guitar strings.

“I don’t really remember.” Elyza’s aussie accent grew faded and distant when she tried to remember, although her playing didn’t falter. She refocused quickly. “But it’s been awhile since I have played. Kinda surprised myself. Thought I would be a lot worse.”

Alicia’s mind jumped to a quick retort that was too good to pass up. “Yeah. You sound pretty good for an alarm clock.”

The blonde looked up but didn’t tilt her head; to poorly conceal her smile if nothing else. Her voice came back sarcastic. “Thanks .” Then changed to it’s normal hearty tone. “If you think you can do better, be my guest.”

Alicia just stared at her, shocked that she was able to keep the solitary mortified expression behind her eyes. “With my clumsy hands? I don’t think so.”

“It’s not too bad. I could teach you.”

That was a horrifying thought. Her playing the guitar. “Remember the last time you tried to teach me something? I nearly crashed your motorcycle.”

The brunette picked up the food that Elyza had placed next to her couch. Just one of a handful of somethings that Elyza would never be tired of doing. It was the post apocalyptic equivalent to breakfast in bed - or breakfast on the couch.

“True, but that was a half ton vehicle. This is an instrument.” The blonde held it up a little. By Alicia’s unwavering expression and the shake of her head, she could tell her the girl was having no part of this. It fell back to her lap; defeat, and she pushed it aside, pulling a box with a faded label from the side of the couch. “Alright. Fine. Monopoly, or rummy?”

The cards and the board game was just another something that she had done while sleepless. Between her efforts of trying to get back to sleep after the gunshot and debating whether or not she should wake her sleeping companion whilst playing the guitar, she had gone upstairs and explored the bedrooms again. Alicia’s grandmother had kept a journal in an all too neat cursive script that Elyza hadn’t been able to decode and a series of prescription pills hidden in the back of the drawer of her nightstand. Under the bed had been an incredibly old game of monopoly, probably a first edition which she didn’t even think existed. The cards were shoved in the bottom of a blanket chest in one of the spare bedrooms, long since forgotten.

Alicia smiled. “Can I eat first?”

“Who would I be to keep a princess from her meal?”

The brunette stifled a laugh as she popped the pull tab on her name brand ravioli. The scent of the room temperature food wafted up to meet her, making her stomach growl with anticipation. “Monopoly.” Alicia dug out a small square and savored the flavor. “And, if anything, between the two of us, you are the princess.”

“A leather clad princess riding her Harley?” The blonde scoffed. “A knight in shining armor, maybe-”

“No way. There were a few times that you nearly got me killed. A knight protects her queen, they don’t put them in danger.”

Elyza laughed and Alicia tried her hardest not to join in. The sound of it was enough to make her heart lift in her chest. The blonde’s sarcastic tone returned a moment after and her expression fell into the same. “We are getting dangerously close to chess euphemisms and I will have no part of that.”

Alicia couldn’t help but laugh at that and in the process, nearly spit ravioli on the floor.

Elyza loved hearing that sound. “Just for that ‘princess’ comment, I am going to smoke you in rummy.”

“I wouldn’t bet on that.” The brunette had regained herself and the two of them locked eyes for a mere second.

The smiles that were spread across their faces, the joy pressed to the corners of their eyes, it fell away. Mute horror made them both stiffen, propelling Alicia to her feet. Elyza looked to the floor between them, having forgotten about it entirely. It was when the sound came again, the second gunshot in less than a minute, that both of their hearts had nearly stopped. It wasn’t because they both had recognized the sound for what it was, but because both sounded as if they were only a block away.