Living After: Book Two

Chapter Seven: Elyza

  "I never thought we'd come to Mexico,"  Marie bounced along side Elyza through the deserted streets of Tijuana. "I never thought I'd have a sister." She bounced in front of Elyza and grinned. Her black oily hair flung in front of her face and she reached down into her pocket for a red ribbon to tie it back with. She was so immature for her age.
  "Stop messing around Marie," Blake laughed, "We don't have time for this."
  "I'm not your sister," Elyza muttered, "How many days has it been?"
  Blake shrugged his shoulders and looked up to the sun, covering his eyes with long filthy fingers, "Its been four days... I lost track of time. We need to find something soon. Take some more water. At least we have water."
  Elyza shook her head, save it for the kid, she thought.
  "I feel great," Marie skipped ahead a ways and smiled to them, "We'll find something soon."
  Elyza felt genuine concern for them, nowadays food was scarce. Everything seemed taken or ruined here in the wasted areas of Mexico. There had been talk of a bazaar in this city, but they had seen no signs of such things yet. Marie needed food and she needed it now. Her hyper mood was odd and had Elyza thinking the worse. They all had to stay conscious and focused.
  "There's a gas station -" Marie said, "Maybe there's something there. Shall we?" She reached a slim hand out to her brother and he took it, following her forwards into the city.
  "What makes you think there's a thing in there? Seriously? It could be dangerous."
  Blake looked back, "It's dangerous not looking."


  Elyza knew that Alicia didn't want them going into a factory building at night. She knew it wasn't the brightest plan they'd ever came up with, but remembering they had a home to protect made Elyza anxious. It made her strong. She needed to bring home ammunition if they were to survive the winter months ahead. She would do whatever it took to protect them.
  "I can go ahead, seriously, why don't you all just stay back?" Elyza asked, knowing their answer, but she figured she would try it anyway. Alicia scoffed at her and didn't say a word.
  "Yeah right," Blake said, "We're all coming. Nick is already outside finding a - a dead one."
  "You don't like that, huh?" Alicia laughed, "Neither does Troy. Nick acts like its nothing."
  Elyza peeked over at Alicia, she seems fine, everything is fine.
  Nick returned to the back entrance of the bus with two infected. He was already covered and heaving, out of breath from killing them. They all gored up and planned to go inside of the building. Elyza tried not to let the blood cover bother her, what a clever idea it was.
  Blake lead the group ahead through a vacant parking lot to the front entrance of the towering building. He turned to Nick, "There's bound to be walkers inside of here. Look how big it is."
  "When did you start calling them walkers?" Elyza asked, unsheathing her knife to pick the lock. It wasn't a good sign that the door was locked, everything that had died inside, stayed inside.
  "That's what Tasha calls them," Blake said.
  "You see, that's the thing here.. We both have people to get back to," Nick looked around and lowered his voice to a whisper, "Why are we doing this- We should just go back."
  "I thought you were brave, Nick," Elyza said. Click. The lock slid open.
  "My sister is going in there. I'm brave, I'm just not stupid-"
  "Are you saying our plan to get ammunition is stupid?" Blake stepped towards Nick and puffed his chest a little. Nick didn't seem intimidated at all. Elyza wanted to roll her eyes at Blake's anger coming through in a stressful situation. He was bound to get riled up sooner or later.
  Fucking men. "Stop. We're in, lets go Blake. Quick sweep."
  Alicia opened the door and nodded to Nick, "Just let it go. There's probably something in here we'll need." Elyza wanted Alicia by her side, that's where she belonged, but, she always had leadership qualities her brother lacked at times. She could keep this group together if- if something happens to me.
  Elyza clicked on her flashlight and scanned the long building. There were tents on one side where a camp had been, it looked untouched. The right side of the building seemed full of boxes and shelving. She ushered the group along to the tents first. They had already discussed walking in silence. Hopefully the blood cover would be enough to mask their scent from the starving dead that may live here. Elyza could smell rot and gun powder. She knew they weren't alone. Tattered books scattered the floor along with blankets and clothing. Elyza watched Nick stuff his pack with a few books. Harmless.
  The large infirmary tent at the end of the line seemed promising. Elyza made a quiet noise and motioned to Alicia that she was going on ahead while they looked through smaller tents. She crept up alongside the flap door, her dark grey knife held high above her head. She knew that she could handle anything that may be inside. She tapped her knife on the concrete floor, listening for a moment before going in. She saw crates in the corner. Ammunition.
  Shuffling came from the opposing corner and Elyza froze, noticing a tall dead man in the desk chair. He stood up and walked two large steps her way, chomping his teeth in the direction of noise. Elyza saw that he had a rifle on his back and army clothing. He was a soldier. She stepped back and tripped it with her boot, stepping on his chest before shoving her large knife through skull. Warm blood fell onto the floor in deep puddles. She still wondered how they felt so warm after being dead for so long. She recognized things like this, her doctor mind was trained to.
  "Thank you," she whispered with a smile. Elyza stripped him of weapons and stood over the crates, "Please have something. Please." She flipped open the crate just as Blake came into the tent. "Oh my god, oh my god-"
  "Are you okay? I heard -" Blake came into the tent, "Are you bit?" He looked to Elyza and then down at what she was looking at. His jaw dropped, "Oh, that easy, huh." He looked over to the dead man on the floor. "He died protecting his stash? Why is this still here?"
  "It can't be that easy. But-" Elyza found herself at a lost for words. There were two crates full of ammunition in front of them. She picked up a box and shook it, shotgun shells. A new machete for Troy. Why was this here?  Blake had a good point. A locked building, hiding in the dark, full of exactly what they needed. Elyza blinked her eyes, "Are you seeing this?"
  "I see it," Blake laughed, "Fill your bags. This is kind of like that gas station. Remember?"
  Of course she remembered.


  Marie stood behind Elyza as she picked the lock, looking over her shoulder. The sun was hot and it took a toll on you when you hadn't eaten in four days. This gas station may be a first stop in many during their stay in Tijuana.
  "Do you think the bazaar is real?" Marie asked her brother.
  "I wouldn't get your hopes up," he said, "People like to talk."
  The lock slid open and they snuck into the gas station. Blake always insisted on breaking glass, busting into buildings. Elyza wanted to preserve the buildings that weren't blown up or burnt out. She felt like respecting things brought a sense of normality for Marie. When she had to rob survivors on the road- Blake took her off to sit and wait. She handled the food situation on her own for quite some time, but there weren't any people here. They hadn't seen anyone for weeks. 
  Marie held her brother's hand and a small pistol in the other. The three of them started searching shelving for anything edible. Coming up with nothing, Blake circled around the counter and found a door hiding behind it, "Hey, there's a door here. Elyza. Stuff is behind it. Wanna give me a hand?"
  "I'll keep watch," Marie said, "I'll stand here while you two go in."
  Blake shouldered the door and the two of them shoved it open. Two infected where on them in seconds but Blake took both of them out with his hunting knife. Grinning at Elyza with blood on his face afterwards, "I got you, man. Now lets see," he scanned the room with a hopeful look.
  "Those boxes -" Elyza pointed to an area with a cot. Blood soaked the floor but there were two boxes, untouched on top of the small bed. People had died fighting for these supplies.
  "Marie, it's safe," Blake said. Marie walked in with her gun up. She looked so tough. Elyza smiled and nodded to her, she wanted her to feel important. She turned her attention back to the boxes and tore one open with her knife. Elyza shook her head and smiled, inside of the box was cans of raviolis. Inside of the other were canned cherries and fruit mix.
  Marie's favorite.


  "This is exactly like that-" Elyza said. She was cut off by an odd noise from outside of the tent, "You left Alicia and Nick alone! What are you-" Elyza worked faster, stuffing the last of the ammunition into her pack and then Blake's. Her face flustered with worry. "Your pack is full. It's going to be heavy. We need to get back to them, now."
  "They can handle themselves- what's the big deal?" Blake looked back at her, concerned and then jumped up to the opening of the tent, "Lyza- Lyza! That noise. They're coming-"
  Elyza rushed out of the tent and saw Alicia waving to her from the other end of the camp. Nick killed an infected and pulled his sister backwards towards the exit. "Wait!" Elyza ran towards them, "Alicia, we're coming!"
  "Elyza, run faster!" Alicia spit out before her brother covered her mouth with his hands.
   She couldn't figure out why they were so frantic. Why are the dead so loud if they're just coming from behind us?  She ran faster, keeping Alicia and Nick in her sight. Suddenly, dead filtered through the middle of the tents. Blocking her from reaching the end, "Alicia!"
  "Elyza! Elyza-"  Alicia lunged forwards and then Elyza's vision was cut off by a sea of bodies.
  They turned to the sound of Alicia's screams and Elyza panicked, yelling to get their attention, "Nick - Take her out of here!  Hey! Hey, over here!" Elyza shot two bullets into the group of infected. "Come on assholes!" She shot into the air, "Follow me."
  Blake skidded to a stop behind her, "Shut up - what are you doing - Are they dead?"
  "No they're not. But the infected have blocked our exit - time to move. Go back the other way. Now," Elyza barked orders to him and he acted. They were thick and falling all over each other, must have been hiding in the dark. They cut right through the tents in that short span of time. There had to be a reason why this building was locked and untouched - and this was it. There was a horde inside of the old factory. Tents crumbled under rotting men and women as they wandered towards her voice. Elyza snapped back to reality and ran after Blake. Her heart thudded in quick beats as her mind wondered the worst types of things. Alicia is fine. They made it out. They're fine. Don't look back. They're following you.

  
  Blake and Elyza were huddled behind empty shelving in the shadows of the factory. It had been ten minutes since getting separated from the others. The blood cover had kept them hidden for the most part, but both of them were sweating nervous. Blood ran down the sides of Elyza's arms. It was coming off. Blake rubbed his brow line and sighed, "The bloods coming off."
  "I know."
  "What's the plan?"
  "I don't know B," she bit her lip, "Give me a God damn minute."
  "We don't have a minute," Blake looked over his shoulder to the moans, "They're right  there."
  "Then be quiet," Elyza hissed, "We're going to have to start a fire."
  "What if we can't get to the front exit?"
  Elyza jumped against the shelf as a dead one wandered around the corner towards them, she stuck one finger up to her mouth, shushing Blake. Her instincts kicked in and she stood up, swiftly grabbing the dead woman and shoving her knife up the back of her neck. Barely causing any noise. She slid back down onto the floor by Blake, "There's cardboard in a heap by their feet. Give me the flare. Nick and Alicia would have brought the bus around to another exit. There has to be an emergency exit."
  "What if they didn't make it out- Elyza-"
  "Get out the flare gun and grow some balls, Blake. Put on your fucking pack. Let's go."
  Blake rolled his eyes and submitted, grabbing the flare gun from his hip and loading it with their only hope. He had one shot to make. Elyza held a flashlight over the shelf and counted down for him, "One, two, three." Poof.  He shot towards the ground. The flare hit in front of it's target and spun away from the cardboard. Blake looked at Elyza with pleading eyes. He missed. Shit. Shit. The concrete isn't going to catch fire. Elyza wiggled the beam of her flashlight across the floor by the burning flare. A walker wandered towards it, kicking the flare with it's feet. It spun in sparks across the floor and into the cardboard, igniting it almost instantly. They can be useful for some things, Elyza thought to herself. She smirked and put the flashlight in her mouth, mumbling to Blake, "Let's go. Towards the back. Follow me."
  The dead stimulated and distracted by the fire would buy them some time, but if there wasn't another entrance, Elyza was out of options. She couldn't wait around for Alicia to save her even though she knew she'd find a way eventually. Elyza lead Blake towards the back of the building. Her flashlight flickered in pitch black. The smell of must and rot was thick back here. She ran her hands along the back wall, there has to be a back entrance. Elyza stumbled and fell over something. "Woah, woah, you alright?" Blake said, helping her up, he almost fell himself.
  "Yeah, I tripped-" She shook her flashlight and it came back on, revealing a heap of bodies on the floor, "Oh my god-" Elyza then realized there was a large metal door on the wall. It was a sliding garage door, the type you would see on a loading deck. This must be where semi-trucks parked to load up when this place was functional. "Blake, they all tried to get out here - They all died here. We're going to die here. Blake, I'm so sorry I -"
  "Stop, stop," Blake grabbed her arm, shaking her a bit. He took the flashlight and shined it on the door, noticing it had a lift mechanism. He lowered his voice, "There's a chain, I can lift this, we can get out. We can do this Elyza. We didn't find all of this ammo for nothing." He smiled, reassuring her and went to work inspecting the door.
  "The dead will hear you, the chains are too loud."
  "It's the only way Elyza," Blake was sweating profusely, Elyza noticed something on his face: fear. "I'll have to hold this up while you slip out. You'll get out. Like you said, the back entrance is the only way-" Elyza took in what he was saying. She shook her head. How will he get out?
  Blake put his hands on the chain, taking a deep breathe before he heaved the door open, or tried. To their surprise, the door shook. Bang. Bang. "Lyza! Elyza are you in there-"
  I'd know that voice anywhere. "Alicia, you're alive," Elyza's heart sank into her stomach.
  "Wonderful reunion, keep your voices down," Blake said, looking nervously at the darkness behind them. The fire was slowly dimming. Blake pulled down on the chain and the garage door creaked and whined up a few inches, letting moonlight into the dark. Blake eased it back down, "Too loud. You'll go under as soon as I get this pulled up. Don't look back."
  "Blake, I won't leave you -" Elyza shook her head. Her pack was full, he would have to pull it up a ways to let her out. "Blake, I will not leave you. This isn't how we do things!" She didn't realize the volume of her voice. The man she considered a brother was playing the hero, he couldn't do this. He stared at her in silence, a stern, valiant look on his face. There was no saying 'no' to him.
  "Elyza, we can't open the door. Can you come out the front? Elyza? Why are you crying?" Alicia's voice came from outside of the door, but where was Nick? Was he okay?  Time slowed down and Elyza found herself stuck thinking about what would happen next. She wouldn't allow Blake to sacrifice himself for her. 
  "We can't get out the front Alicia," Blake yelled back, "I'm opening the door. The walkers -"
  Moans came from the dark, the fire hadn't been enough for very long. Emotions always get the best of you and you find yourself raising your voice while you should be silent. "They're already here," Elyza said. The dead pushed a shelf over and caused more noise. The horde was turning.
  Blake pulled the chain, the large metal door flew up, he held it there, "Go, go. Now!" His voice sounded strained, he lifted it up a few more inches. The sliding metal made loud, cringing noises, calling the roamers their way. 
  In fight or flight situations, the adrenaline overcomes you. Elyza was underneath the metal, scooting her body out before she even realized Nick was at her feet, holding the door up with Blake on his knees. She heard moaning beside her and turned to look, seeing legs. The dead.
  "Come on, Blake,"  Nick said, "Your turn."
  Elyza rolled sideways and jumped to aid him, pulling up under the door with Nick. She heard Blake let go of the chains and everything got heavier, pushing them both down. Nick groaned and pushed back up against the door. Blake pulled himself out under on his back, his long figure hardly fitting before dead pulled at his feet. Nick let go of the sliding door and it fell down, landing on arms. Blake flopped back onto his pack and looked up at the stars. Nick sat next to him and both of them laughed to each other. They survived because of working together.
  Hugging someone after thinking you've lost them is almost a gift. Its something you never imagined would happen again, a surprise ending to the tragedy you just experienced. She had envisioned dying and never seeing Alicia again until just moments ago. Elyza caught her breath only for a moment on the ground before realizing she needed to see that Alicia was okay. She looked up to see her standing right at her toes. Long brunette hair pulled back into a ponytail, covered in blood.
  Alicia helped her up off of the ground and smiled, "They came out of no where-"
  Elyza pulled her into a hug, ignoring what she said about the roamers. She didn't care. "Looks like I can trust you to always come for my rescue. I don't need it very often, you know," Elyza joked, trying to pretend she was fine. It had been a long night. Elyza picked her pack up and shook off memories from an hour ago when the horde surrounded Nick and Alicia. "I'm so glad you're okay. I thought I had lost -"
  "I thought so too," Alicia's voice cracked and she wiped a tear from her cheek, "Everything's okay," she kissed Elyza, "I'm glad you didn't give up. Please don't ever give up on me, on us."
  She put her head on Alicia's shoulder, hugging her tighter in the dark, "I won't, I promise."


   The drive home was long and boring. Elyza joked that the roamers were giving them a break after what they had been through that night. Nick had fallen asleep in one of the seats behind them. His hands were torn up from the metal door and Elyza told him to rest. They all had been through horrors that night, Elyza and Blake especially. Blake was silent the entire ride home, still driving as fast as the bus allowed him to.
  Blake flashed the headlights as he rode up onto their settlement. They had a system in place and someone must be on guard, even at this time of night. Someone would be expecting them. A loud whistle came from behind the gates. Madison.
  "I knew she'd be the one waiting," Alicia said, "Maybe, spare her the gory details. Just for tonight at least." Elyza nodded a yes and entwined her hand in Alicia's. She didn't want to talk to Madison, or anyone for that matter. She wanted to sleep.
  Madison unlocked the gates and let them in, running to the driver side window, "What happened? You're late." She looked wired, maybe even a little drunk. Alicia wasn't surprised. 
  "Just had some trouble with the dead," Blake said, "We're all tired. The camp is clear."
  "Great. I knew you all could do it- Okay, come on in and have some tea," Madison sent them off down the drive as she locked the gates. Elyza wondered if Alicia would tell her about what she had done to that man on the road. She had to kill him, he would have shot at them. She wondered if that mattered to Madison. A pit of guilt fell in her stomach, realizing that she could have gotten Alicia killed today. She can't take chances like that anymore. Luck runs out.
  Nick woke up and realized they were home, "Fuck," he scratched at his hair, "I fell asleep that entire time?" Alicia laughed at him and he smiled a sleepy grin. He was out of the bus before any of them and Elyza knew exactly where he was going. She knew because that's where she wanted to be: in bed with the person she loved.
  Alicia reached her hand out to Elyza, "I've got your pack for you. Let's get off this smelly bus."
  We made it home.