They'd all split up almost three hours ago. It was a new system they were trying out, with groups of two to cover the most ground possible though going out alone was ideal if the area seemed safe enough.
The last time was in a small residential community a couple weeks back, but today, in a town that was deemed small enough, individual exploration seemed like the best idea. Everyone had different things they were looking for but "anything that could be useful is welcome," Travis had said before they all set off.
Normally, Alicia loved exploring alone. Though she'd rather go with Elyza, her mom always seemed to partner up with her before Alicia's eyes even had the chance to look in Elyzas direction. She figured it was because her mom had caught them together, twice, in a rather compromising position but what did she expect? When a girl like Elyza Lex is as attracted to you as you are to her, any alone time spent doing anything else would be a real tragedy.
But today, Alicia hated the fact that she was exploring alone.
She hadn't realized she was lost until it was too late. She tried to retrace her steps to no avail, and wound up in an empty parking lot in the middle of a field. Knowing that it was around the time the others would start heading back to base, she was a mixture of worry and exhaustion. "Could things get any worse?" she spoke aloud, pinching the bridge of her nose when she felt raindrops starting to fall. She took the walkie she had and tried to shield it from the rain under her shirt while planning her next move.
For the moment the group only had two walkie talkies, which were rotated person to person on every trip. When she first realized she was completely and utterly lost, she felt relieved to know she had a walkie but was not relieved to know that of course, her mother had the other walkie today. How was she supposed to show her that she could do things for herself when she couldn't even keep track of the streets she had been walking down?
"I'll be hearing about this for weeks," the young girl muttered under her breath, closing her eyes. She knew she would likely catch a cold if she stayed out too long, and it was starting to get dark so she did what she knew she had to. Reluctantly, she pressed the button on the walkie and began to speak, "Alright listen, I'm okay I just need your uh...help with something."
She could faintly hear her mom on the other end, but it was all static. "Damn rain," Alicia thought while trying to dry the walkie as best she could.
"Hello?" she tried again and this time, finally heard a response.
"How can I be of service, sweetheart?"
Her eyes shot open and she gripped the walkie tighter, "Elyza?"
"The one and only," her voice purred through the speaker.
"I thought my mom had the walkie today?" She was as grateful as she was confused.
"She was supposed to, but she left it for Travis instead who seemed to have forgotten it. I saw it right before I left and figured I'd grab it and, seeing as you need help, I guess I made the right decision," Elyza explained. "So, what do you need help with?"
"Promise you won't laugh?" Her mom would have lectured her for weeks, but being the butt of Elyza's jokes was just as bad.
"Cross my heart."
"I'm...well I'm, sort of...a bit...lost?" Alicia said quietly.
Rather than the joke she was expecting to receive, she immediately felt a shift in the air as Elyza responded,
"What? Shit, Alicia, why didn't you say that sooner? It's almost night fall."
Before she could respond, she heard some rustling in the background as Elyza's voice cut back in, "Okay what's the last thing you remember seeing? And don't just say some trees or a stop sign. What's the last thing you really saw?"
The now serious tone in Elyza's voice made Alicia begin to panic, realizing how bad this could actually become. "What's the last thing I really saw?" she thought to herself.
"I saw a diner. It was a horrible shade of pink and then I saw a mailbox next to small field of sunflowers a few blocks down. I think I took a right turn on that street, with the mailbox? I don't know, I'm really not sure," Alicia responded as more rain drenched her.
"And where are you now?"
"A parking lot, in a field. There's nothing around here, no houses no street signs. Fuck why didn't I pay more attention?" Alicia said more to herself than the girl on the other end
"Hey, hey, don't do that. I'm going to find you, okay? I'm coming," Elyza responded softly.
"Should I wait here or should I go find somewhere with an address?" Alicia asked.
"Alicia just-" before Elyza could finish talking, the walkie died. She tried pulling the batteries out and replacing it with new ones, but it was soaked with water so there was nothing she could do.
Now unsure if she should try once again to retrace her steps or wait, she decided to wait in the empty lot and prayed Elyza would find her soon.
*
After about half an hour, she saw headlights coming down the street that led to the parking lot.
"A car?" Alicia thought. The only person with a car, and the keys to that car, was Travis. As the car entered the lot she noticed it was smaller than the SUV they had obtained a few months ago. Suddenly the realization dawned on her that maybe it was someone else, a stranger, but before she could run away and look for a safe spot to hide, the car had stopped and the passenger side window rolled down,
"Come on, then," Elyza's voice called through the rain.
Running to the car, she hopped in as fast as she could and was met with immediate warmth radiating from the car and the girl in the drivers seat.
"Oh god, Alicia, your hands are freezing and your lips are turning blue," Elyza said with worry as she rubbed the younger girls hands in her own. Now, the cold she had felt for the past hour had suddenly disappeared.
"What?" Elyza asked when she noticed Alicia staring at her.
"You found me," she said, her voice a mixture of relief and wonder.
"I told you I would," the blonde said with a smile on her lips. "Oh and, I got you this," Elyza said as she pulled a small sunflower out of the pocket of her jacket.
"I could've been dying, and you stopped to pick me a flower?"
"Whenever someone stops to pick flowers for someone else, my people say thank you," Elyza replied smugly.
"Thank you, Elyza," she said as she placed a kiss on the girls knuckles. "So, where'd you get the car?" Alicia questioned.
"What, you don't like it?" The older girl joked.
"I found it right when the rain was starting. Took me about ten minutes to hot wire it but this baby has enough gas to last a while. Figured we could make the most of it before it runs out, plus the heater is nice after a long time without any."
"Didn't know you could hot wire a car. That's really impressive actually," Alicia responded around a smile of her own.
"Thanks, cutie. And here, take my jacket, your shirt is soaked through," she said as she took off her favorite leather jacket and passed it over.
"Now, let's get back before your mom has a stroke," Elyza said as she put her hand on the stick shift to put the car in neutral. Before she could, Alicia's hand was on hers, stopping her movement.
Looking right at her, Alicia slowly took off the shirt that was sticking to her skin.
"What are you doing?" Elyza said with a smirk now gracing her lips.
"Making the most of it," Alicia said innocently.
Without anything more than a quirked eyebrow, Elyza reached over cupping her cheek, and pulled the girl in for a rough kiss. Quickly pulling her over the center console, Alicia was now straddling Elyza as their kisses became rougher and faster, filled with urgency and desire.
The rain was still falling around them, drops harshly hitting the roof of the car with cold air just outside the windows that were quickly fogging up. She knew she should be freezing but with Elyza under her, kissing her newly exposed skin, Alicia felt like she was on fire.
*
When they returned to base, they quickly lied about where they had been for so long and blamed coincidence on the fact that they both arrived back at the same time.
They decided not to tell anyone about the car they'd found. They wanted it to be their get away for as long as they could have it, until they were set to leave for the road again.
Even with her eyes cast down Alicia knew her mom was staring daggers into her, knew she could see the hickeys that were becoming deep shades of purple on her neck. But as she held Elyza's hand a little tighter under the dinner table, she couldn't find it in her to care.
She felt young, she felt alive.
She had never been more happy to be lost, and to be found.