It was the feel of cool metal against the nape of her neck that woke her up. That, and a calm voice.
It was surreal, really, the sound of another human voice. It felt like forever since she had heard one. Other than her own of course. In reality it had been... A week maybe? It’s hard to keep track, with the apocalypse and all.
"Sit up love. Slowly."
It was a girl, young by the sound of it and, oddly enough, Australian...? That was random. Her voice cut through the thick of her sleep like a knife and sent chills down her spine. Or maybe that was the gun. Pressed to the back of her head.
Speaking of knives, her fingers curled around the one she kept hidden in her jacket pocket. It was the only protection she had, other than a baseball bat and her wit. And the latter didn’t really help against the walking dead. They didn’t seem to care about sarcasm.
“Oy, I see that. Take it out, set it down. Then sit up. I won’t say it again.”
The gun pressed harder against her skull and she started sweating. Was this the end for her? There was no way to know. Everything was so fucked up, this didn’t even surprise her. Although, if there was a way to go out she much preferred the bullet to the bite. She had seen what the bite did and didn’t fancy it that much for herself.
So, slowly, she took the knife out and let her fingers uncurl from the handle, dropping it off to the side, just like the girl asked. Then ever so slowly, pushed herself up onto her knees.
“Hands up, where I can see them.” Out of the corner of her eye, she sees a hand grab the knife. “There you go. Just do as I say and we can get on our way. Got a name cutie?” The voice again. It was really starting to bother her.
“Alicia Clark,” Her voice was soft, steady. Unlike her heart which was beating a million times a minute. The only other weapon she had was a baseball bat and it was too late for her to try to grab it. Maybe if she had acted quicker she could have used the knife but... It was too late for that. She just had to hope for the best. If only she could get out of this alive.
“Do me a favor and stand up, yeah? Just gonna frisk you real quick, make sure there’s no funny business.” Alicia felt a hand on her shoulder and the gun slid down between her shoulder blades as she stood up, trying to balance with both hands in the air.
“You’re one to talk about funny business when you’ve got me held hostage like this,” She muttered after she was on her feet again. “Sweetheart, you can leave any time you want. Might not make it to far though.” A foot kicked between her legs, she saw combat boots. Black, worn, covered in dirt and blood.
“Spread your legs for me babe.” Alicia could practically hear the smirk on this girl’s face. She wanted to turn around smack it off of her.
“Think your tough or something? Picking on an innocent girl in the middle of the woods?” She didn’t know why she said it, but she did. It was exhausting living in this world where no one gave a fuck about anyone other than themselves.
There was silence for a moment as she felt calloused hands run up and down her legs, squeezing at her thighs. “What are you some kind of perv? You get off on shit like this? I’m wearing shorts, what could I possibly be hiding?” Alicia was convinced she was talking to herself at this point because the other girl still neglected to reply. She was humming something that sounded like a lullaby as she ran her hands up her sides, reaching around and passing over her chest lightly.
“You haven’t got anything in your bra have you?”
“What do you think?”
Silence again.
Hands ran down, over her ass, fingers felt inside her pockets and a hand pushed against the small of her back.
“Turn around. Slow. Remember I’ve got the gun.”
Alicia took a breathe. She wasn’t sure she wanted to see this girl. Like seeing her face would somehow make her more human instead of a prick who was holding her up. The gun pressed against the small of her back and she heard a click.
Slowly, she turned, eyes facing down. “Nice plaid by the way,” Hands pressed around the shirt that was tied around her waist. Fingers dipped into her jacket pockets, pressed against the center of her bra, moved down her stomach. A hand slid across the front of her shorts, pressing against the inside of her thighs and then moved again. This time poking into her shorts pockets and pulling a folded up square of paper out. Alicia panicked, lunging for it, tried to grab it from the girl’s fingers but, the problem was, faster than she could have ever thought this through the gun was resting on her forehead.
And now she had to look at her attacker. Who, and she thought this begrudgingly, was really quite beautiful. Which made the situation all the more frustrating. Blonde hair, blue eyes, black leather jacket. Those were the first things she noticed. Apart from the gun planted between her eyes of course. Scanning up and down, she noticed a belt that holstered a small arsenal of weapons. Pistol, revolver, hunting knives, a wicked machete. She had a rifle slung across her back for fucks sake. Where did this girl come from? Ripped up jeans and a white tank that dipped just low enough for her to get a great view of her cleavage, not like she was looking or anything, and enough cuts and scrapes to last a lifetime. Her hair was caked with muck and blood, just like her boots.
“Heard of a shower?”
The blonde ignored her.
“What’s so important about this? It’s like, what, a photo?” Her attacker struggled to unfold it with one hand, flicking the corners until it came open. “Family portrait. Cute,” She pushed it back into Alicia’s pocket. “So where are they? The family? Are you on your way back to camp? A supply run maybe?”
“Lost them about a week back. We got separated by a pack of walkers. There was nothing I could do. I’m on my own now.” Tears stung at her eyes but she wouldn’t let them fall. She set her jaw and glared as hard as she could at the blonde in front of her, hoping that maybe her gaze would be enough to make her turn and leave.
“That’s a shame, really. You’re too cute to wander the apocalypse alone. It’s not safe out here. Bad people in this world, you know?”
“Do you always flirt with the people you rob?” Her glare intensified, if that was even possible.
“Cheeky, I like that. Wish I could keep you around, but I’m a bit of a loner. You understand, don’t you?”
Alicia snorted, rolling her eyes.
“You know, you could be a bit more amicable about this. It’s not like I’m going to kill you. It’s a dog eat dog world out there and I’ve got to do what I can to get by. Or, person eat person world if you think about it.”
She giggled at her own joke, but Alicia remained silent. She didn’t want to speak anymore.
“Anyways, where’s your shit? Is that bag it?” She motioned to a worn backpack sitting at the base of the tree Alicia had chosen to sleep under. The brunette nodded, still refusing to speak.
“All clammed up now? Nothing to say? No retort about how karma’s a bitch and the walkers are gonna eat my face? Really?”
Alicia kept her mouth shut and the blonde didn’t wait for her to reply. “Now comes the nastier bit of our business, see I’ve got to take your stuff and, unfortunately, you can’t follow me. But I can’t leave you defenseless and tied up. It’d be such a waste to let the walkers get you. So here’s what I’ll do.” She pulled a zip tie from one of the pockets of her jeans. “Put your hands up, around that branch there,” She motioned with the tie and Alicia did as she was told, heart racing faster. This was bad. When the zip tie was fastened around her wrists, the blonde took a step back as if to admire her handiwork.
“Thought you weren’t leaving my tied up and defenseless?” Alicia spat out because, really, she was starting to get scared. It was either get shot by this Aussie bitch or get eaten by a walker and she thought she might enjoy the former a bit more. In fact, she was sure she would.
“I’m not, but keep talking and I will.” The blonde picked Alicia’s knife up off the ground. “Now I’m gonna hand this to you, and when I’m out of sight you cut yourself loose yeah? We both go our merry ways alive. Sound good?”
Alicia nodded, stunned. This couldn’t be real. How was she supposed to cut herself loose? She had barely used the thing.
She watched as the blonde grabbed her bag and pawed through it, quickly assessing her haul. “That’s it? You’ve got, what, plaid shirts, a phone and your charger, that’s real savvy, and some canned goods. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. How have you survived this long??”
She sounded dumbfounded, as if the idea of her living in this world was absolutely outrageous. “All this effort for basically nothing. You’re lucky I like looking at you.”
“Fuck you,”
Her words hung in the air between them, and she saw the other girl’s eyebrow raise, as if she was impressed that she had said it at all. Then, as if nothing had happened, her assailant pressed the knife into her hand.
“I’m Elyza by the way. Elyza Lex. Good luck. May we meet again.”
And then she was gone, just like that.