“Babe! Check this out!”
“For the love of God, Elyza, not now!”
She only rolled her eyes and turned around, effortlessly pulling a knife from where it was strapped to her thigh and shoving it through the nearest walker’s head. Spinning to deal with another one, she just had time to wink at her girlfriend before the brunette threw up her middle finger, turning away to swing her blade and decapitate another walking corpse. Minutes, and a lot of cursing later, the small horde was gone and the blonde could revert her attention to what she had seen in the car.
“Can you not at least to pretend that you take fighting walkers seriously? Is that too much to ask?” Alicia sassed, pulling her in for a rough kiss by the collar of her leather jacket before looking at the device she now held in her hand. “You found a walkie-talkie. Congratulations.”
“Yeah, a walkie-talkie and a fuckload of batteries. If we get it working we might find another one in here, and then we can be like spies!” Elyza’s eyes lit up with childish excitement and if Alicia had any less willpower, she might have smiled. Or maybe she did. Whatever.
“Alright, 007. Give it a crack.” Elyza grinned, humming the James Bond theme tune as she replaced the batteries, flipping through the channels with one hand as she leaned up against the car with the other.
“'The name’s Bond. James Bond.'” She smirked, quirking an eyebrow as she burst out laughing, setting her girlfriend off into stubborn giggles too. “'A martini - shaken, not stirred.'” She purred, all traces of humour lost in an instant as she moved to where Alicia was sat sideways in the passenger seat, straddling her in one fluent movement and ducking down to connect their lips. Pulling away, she smirked as she stared into green irises barely visible past her blown pupils. “‘Fancy a shag?’"
“I can’t believe you just quoted your way into my pants.” The brunette murmured. “I also can’t believe we’re about to fuck on the side of the road.”
“It’s the apocalypse, darling, what have we got-”
“Day eighty-three. If you hear this, I’ll never go a day without thanking God for it.”
Their moment was interrupted by a voice crackling out of the walkie-talkie, the periods of static that interrupted showing exactly how close it was to cutting out due to distance. The two girls halted, looking down towards the black object in disbelief. What were the odds?
“Do you want to answer?” Elyza offered, bringing it up to her own mouth when Alicia shook her head. “Um, hello?” She tried, looking nervously at the brunette underneath her. Nothing. She tried again. “Hello? Is anybody there?”
“Fuck- fuck, I’m sorry, I almost fell off the roof I’m on.”
“Who are you?” Elyza tried, but it didn’t appear as if the voice heard her.
“We’re looking for someone, you might be able to help. Where are you?”
“Can you hear me? I asked who you were.” Elyza frowned at the device’s silence.
“Sorry, sorry. This is Travis. We’re looking for a girl named Alicia? Tall, slim, brown hair. We got separated eighty-three days ago. Have you seen her?”
Alicia’s jaw dropped open as her eyes flickered from the walkie-talkie to Elyza and back again, reaching out with a surprisingly steady hand as her brow crumpled in incredulity. “H-hello?” She cleared her throat. “Travis? Is that really you?” She waited, holding her breath and grasping onto her girlfriend’s hand as the voice began again.
“Oh my god, Alycia, is that you? How are you- where- are you okay?” Travis stumbled over his words, and despite the tear she could feel rolling down her cheek, she laughed a little.
“Yes, it’s me, I’m fine. I’m absolutely fine. What about mom? And Nick? What about Chris, and Strand? Are they okay?” The brunette smiled widely as more tears rolled down her cheeks, not wanting to let go of Elyza’s hand or the walkie-talkie to wipe them away. The blonde smiled with her, the pure happiness in her eyes making her heart flutter.
“They’re all fine. We’re all fine. We’ve been looking for you, Alicia, we’ve looked so hard. We’re so sorry. We haven’t stopped looking. We’re sorry.” The signal didn’t allow for emotion to be heard behind the words, but she knew he was crying.
“It’s fine. I found someone, her name’s Elyza. With a ‘y’. We’ve been looking for you guys too. Where are you?” She looked up towards the blonde as she said her name, winking as she remembered the way the blonde had introduced herself.
“We’re heading to San Diego, we’re about forty miles off. We found a house, it’s safe, it’s secure. Where are you?”
She looked to Elyza as she estimated the distance. “Eighty?” She whispered, repeating it into the device when the blonde nodded. “Around eighty miles out. If we set off now we should get to you guys no problem. How do we find you?”
“Head down on the interstate and we’ll pick you up. I’m so glad we found you, Alycia. Be safe.”
“We’ll be right there. Bye, Travis.” She switched off the walkie-talkie, letting out a huff of air as she shook her head in disbelief. “Am I dreaming? Fuck, I must be dreaming.” Elyza bent to kiss her again, stroking her cheeks with her thumbs and smiling.
“We’re gonna find your family, babe.”
---
“I’m nervous.” She admitted, spinning a knife deftly in one hand.
“The other day you played tag with a walker. Why the fuck are you nervous?” Alicia scoffed, throwing up a piece of dried fruit and catching it in her mouth, before offering the packet to the girl sat next to her.
Elyza shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s like… your family. And I don’t know whether they’ll like me. I’m not exactly Miss Perfect.” She tossed the blade this time, catching it in her left before throwing it to her right again.
“My dad’s dead, my brother’s a drug addict, and I had booked my plane ticket to New York before I knew I was accepted into Columbia. We don’t know the meaning of normal.” Her tone was light, but bitter. She threw another piece of mango into her mouth. “Besides, why does it matter whether they like you?”
“Because it’s your family, dumbass. And you’re my girlfriend. It’s kind of a big deal, if you haven’t noticed.” Elyza poked her in the arm before going back to twirling her knife between her fingers.
“Well, I don’t care whether they like you. I like you. And if they can’t be grateful for the fact that you literally saved my life, I’m not sure whether they deserve to like you.” Elyza blushed as she felt chapped lips press against her cheek. “Now let’s go make an entrance.”
---
Music blaring, they screamed along to the 80s music that was on Elyza’s iPod (it was either that or vulgar rap music), Alicia looking behind every so often as they attracted a good number of walkers from the sides of the road, tapping the blonde on the shoulder when it got to around twenty or so.
“Babe! Stop, we’ve got enough.” The bike halted, the two girls stepping off as they grinned at the horde approaching them. “I’ll take the right, you take the left?”
“Ah, you know me so well.” Elyza pecked her lips before pulling a knife out and throwing it directly between the nearest walker’s eyes. “Jackpot.”
“Cute.” She shot back, before drawing the sword strapped to her back and plunging it in the rotting eye socket of another undead. “I prefer my encounters up close and personal.”
“Do you now?” Elyza waggled her eyebrows playfully, easily killing another two before bending to yank the knifes from their heads. “I prefer you up close and personal.”
“That was truly terrible.” She laughed, before decapitating one to her left. They went on like this, spinning and slicing and shouting occasional pick-up lines at each other until the entire crowd of walkers were lying on the floor, neither girl flinching at the stench they had grown accustomed to over the time they had been together.
“Not bad, babe. Let’s go find your family.” Elyza stole a kiss, strolling towards the bike whilst twirling her gun in her hands. “Wanna drive? Licia?” She turned to find her girlfriend squinting at the slight hill they were about to drive over, gaze focused on the roadside where a cluster of people were gathered.
“No need. I think they found us.”
---
“Holy fuck.”
“Language, Chris.”
“No, Travis, you have to see this. Did someone lace my canned beans?”
“Nick, don’t be so- oh my God, that’s not- is that- Travis, honey, is that Alicia?”
“Looks like your little girl isn’t so little anymore.”
“Strand, not the time.”
“Am I seeing things? Who’s the blonde?”
“Travis said her name was Elyza. With a ‘y’. Ofelia, you should be resting.”
“Daniel, will you come with me to collect her?”
“No need, Madison. I think your daughter has that taken care of.”
The Salvadoran tilted his head towards the two girls climbing onto the motorcycle, with, to her mother’s horror, Alicia sat in front ready to drive.
“Please, dear God, tell me my girl isn’t about to drive a motorbike.” Madison clutched onto her fiancé’s arm, eyes closing tightly as she heard it roar to life. “She’s seventeen! Oh my God, they’re going too fast, they’re going too fast-”
“Madison. Please, calm down. By the looks of it, your daughter has everything under control.” Daniel pointed out as the bike came hurling at them - quickly, but no doubt easily handled. The group waited in silence as the girls came closer, breaths held inexplicably as the bike slowed to a stop and Elyza stepped off, chivalrously offering a hand to Alicia before standing together awkwardly, hands still linked between them as the group in front shamelessly scanned them up and down.
Alicia’s casual suburban style had completely disappeared, being replaced with black jeans, a white tank and a leather jacket, almost identical to the girl by the side bar the leather gloves that covered the blonde’s hands and the different placement of their weapons. Both girls had knives strapped to each thigh, and a gun holstered to their hip - on the right for Alicia, and the left for Elyza, and nobody could miss the sword that was strapped to the former’s back.
“Fuck, Al, where did you get a sword?” Nick was the first one to break the silence, laughing slightly as he pulled her in for a hug, ignoring Madison’s chiding at his choice of words.
“God, I’m so happy to see you alive.” She spoke, words muffled into his shirt as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. Pulling back, she spotted her mother wiping tears from her eyes, and she smiled softly and hugged her next. “I missed you, mom.”
“I missed you too, baby.” They stood in each other’s embrace for a while, savouring the warmth they felt at seeing the other alive and well after so long, until Madison roughly grabbed her shoulder’s and fixed her with a glare. “But what the hell do you think you’re doing riding a motorcycle? And deliberately attracting a horde of walkers? God, you could’ve been killed!”
“I’m sorry, mom, it was just a bit of fun. We didn’t think we’d see you for another half hour or so.” She explained, shrugging before seeing the look in Madison’s eyes and wincing.
“‘Fun’? You call that ‘fun’, Alicia? What part of standing in the middle of man-eating dead people is-” She was cut off by Elyza stepping forward and tapping her daughter on the shoulder, tipping her head forwards and to the left a bit.
“Seriously? I had at least another ten seconds.” She rolled her eyes, puling a knife out of the strap on her thigh. “And why can’t you do it?”
“Yeah, but your family look like panickers.” She turned to face the rest of the group. “No offence. Besides, you have better aim.” She smiled cheekily at the brunette, who just rolled her eyes again, oblivious to the confusion of the others.
“So now you admit it. Travis, duck.” The man just frowned in bewilderment, making no move to do as he was asked. “Alright then.” Alicia shrugged, before pulling her arm back and throwing the knife, narrowly missing Travis’ head, who yelped and looked at the young girl in disbelief.
“Alicia! What the hell do you think you’re-”
“Look behind him before you whoop my ass, mom.” She said nonchalantly, bumping shoulders with the blonde next to her who was wearing a proud smile. “Seriously, I don’t hate Travis that much.” She murmured as she watched the group look between the corpse and her, no doubt in awe of the knife that was protruding from the centre of it’s forehead.
“What- how-” Madison stuttered, looking at her daughter as if she had grown two heads. “Who are you?” She turned to Elyza, who only grinned.
“Elyza Lex, at your service.” She stuck out her hand, wincing when she realised it was covered in blood. “Ah, uh, I’ll save the formalities for later.”
“Madison Clark. Thank you so much for getting my daughter back to me safely, I’m sorry if it was an inconvenience.” The blonde woman brought her in for a hug anyway, allowing Elyza a clear view of Alicia’s offended expression. Her mouth opened as if she was going to protest, but the blonde subtly shook her head and mouthed ‘let me’.
“Honestly, Mrs Clark, it wasn’t a problem. Her presence was much appreciated. It gets lonely out there, you know.”
“I’m sure we can arrange someone to escort you back to your group, and you can take your weapons back as well.” Her mother gave her a tight-lipped smile as she looked over all the things Alicia had strapped to her.
“Alicia is my group, Mrs Clark. And those weapons are hers, ma’am.” She shot the brunette a smirk upon remembering the day they had acquired them. What could she say, she couldn’t resist the younger girl with knives secured to her thighs. Legs for days. Alicia blushed at the memory, turning away, but not before her mother caught sight of the rouge covering her cheeks.
“She stays or I go, mom.” Alicia drawled, challenging Madison with a quirk of her eyebrow. “If it wasn’t for her, I’d be dead. You’re not repaying her by sentencing her to death.”
“I’m perfectly capable of-”
“Lyz, shut up.”
“Right. Death sentence. There’s a walker coming up the hill. Want to wait?” Elyza nudged the brunette, jerking her head to the corpse stumbling slowly, but surely in their direction.
“Chances I can get it from here?” Alicia was already reaching for a blade, but the blonde just swatted her hand away.
“I’m not getting your knife when you miss. Sorry, you were saying?” She turned her attention back towards Madison who seemed puzzled at the interaction.
“How can you be so calm?”
“You learn to be. No point scaring yourself shitless every five minutes.” She shrugged, but grimaced when she saw the expression on Madison’s face. “Sorry. Aussies are almost as bad as the Brits. You can probably hit it now, babe.” The pet name slipped out carelessly, Elyza only realising what she said when the older woman’s eyes widened and an eyebrow quirked menacingly. So that’s where she got ‘the look’ from. Honestly, if knife throwing didn’t work out, she was pretty sure Alicia would’ve been able to sass the walkers to death.
“‘Babe’?” Madison repeated, and Alicia muttered a light ‘fuck’ under her breath before turning to where the walker was approaching and almost effortlessly lodging her knife in it’s head, accepting the praise that came from Daniel at the perfect aim.
“You know us Australians, pet names for everything.” Elyza chuckled nervously, scratching the back of her neck with one hand and looking desperately towards Alicia, who just winked and went back to showing Chris and Nick her sword. “Honestly, I call my gun buttercup sometimes. No need to worry, Mrs Clarke. Now, if you’ll, uh, excuse me, I’ll go and grab Alicia’s knives for her.” She scurried off towards the two corpses before Madison could say anything else, and instead she turned her attention towards her daughter, walking closer as she explained something to her avid audience.
“Yeah, these are best for throwing,” She patted her thigh. “But this is what I use if they get too close and I don’t have time to grab my sword.” Alicia pulled one side of her leather jacket apart to reveal a dagger slipped into a makeshift sheath - but that wasn’t what caught Madison’s eye. Oh no. She focused on the three bruises that were lined up on her daughter’s collarbone, and the teeth marks placed where her shoulder met her neck, conveniently on the other side of her body to the rest of her group. She would be worried if they weren’t so obviously made by the blonde currently rummaging through one of the bags attached to her motorcycle.
“Sorry, Licia. Can I borrow you?” Her lips were drawn in a tight smile as her daughter shot her a confused look, but she complied nonetheless, turning just in time to catch Elyza’s eye and share a tender smile.
“For what? I was just getting to the pistol, that’s the fun part.” She joked, earning a disapproving look that turned into an undistinguishable one. “What’s up?”
“What’s going on with you and ELyza?”
“What? Nothing. Jesus, mom.” Alicia rolled her eyes, lying disturbingly convincingly.
“Then I assume the bite on your neck is from a friendly walker?” She raised an eyebrow as her daughter quickly blushed, shifting uncomfortably as she looked around for help. Or Elyza.
“I- it’s not- um, we’re- she’s not-“ She trailed off, mouth opening and closing helplessly. “I’m sorry.” She blurted out finally.
“Sorry for what?”
“Uh. Because- um, she’s a girl? And I didn’t tell you when you met her and she rides a motorbike and she taught me how to shoot?” She asked more than answered, hands nervously tangling together as her gaze strayed to a worried Elyza hovering just out of earshot. She gave a subtle shake of her head, and the blonde went back to whatever she was doing. Madison almost smiled at how protective Elyza was over her daughter
“Honey, I don’t care that she’s a girl. I’m a little hurt that you didn’t tell me but I do understand. Everyone else was there and you didn’t know how they’d react. The motorbike and the guns will have to be discussed, I’m afraid, but I’m not mad.”
“Thanks, mom. Um, I like her. A lot. Yeah.” Alicia looked down to her boots, scuffing a bloodied toe against the grass. Madison didn’t miss the light blush creeping over her face and the slight smile playing at her lips.
“I’m glad. You should talk to her, she looks like an anxious little puppy.” Alicia laughed, looking to where Elyza was perched on her motorbike and staring wistfully towards them, ducking away when she saw two pairs of eyes staring at her.
“Okay. Can you tell Travis? I don’t want to.” Her words were uncharacteristically shy, and her mother smiled and wrapped her in another hug.
“Sure, baby.” They stood for a while, before Alicia pulled away and turned towards Elyza. “Alicia?”
“Yeah?”
“Please remember that you’re only seventeen.”
“Why would I have to?”
“Those marks on your neck aren’t fooling anyone.”
“Oh my god, mom. Shut up. Please. Shut up, oh my god.”