Living After: Book Two

Chapter Eleven: Elyza

  Elyza sat on the floor of the deserted home and put a hand to her chest, feeling her own pulse rising as her suspicions against Madison grew. She was waiting for Alicia to return from the bathroom - what had felt like an hour had only been five short minutes. She glanced over to sleeping Tasha, soaking wet in rain and blood. A long frown had found a home on her face.
  Alicia came around the corner, pulling at her jeans, "You need to use it? It isn't as bad as I expected. These homes are clean besides the carpets." She smiled and lounged back on the floor next to Elyza.
  "No," Lyza shook her head, "I don't need to go to the restroom. I need you to tell me what's happening. I can't help but feel like we are in danger here and its your mother's fault. We've lost the boys - Tasha claims some wild story of a man name Walker." Elyza put her hand out for Alicia to hold, "I thought we promised there'd be no more secrets between us."
  "It isn't a secret, there's just so many things I hadn't told you yet about Troy and the Ranch and my mother - the people. The things we've done... I'm just the same as you Elyza."
  She nodded, agreeing to everything Alicia had just said. Yes, of course they were similar in the way that they had done everything they must do to protect their people. But Madison seemed to be impulsively pursuing someone who may not even be the same man they knew months ago. "Alicia, she should never have left, knowing we'd all come after her."
  The brunette sighed, looking a bit nervous, "I'm sure she thought she could handle it alone."
  "Well," Elyza's accent thickened as she tried to stay calm, "Well, here we are. You need to -"
  Alicia cut her off abruptly to explain, starting with their journey from Los Angeles to Mexico. She told her girlfriend of the Abigail, the fire and the death of Celia at the hands of Madison. She explained the brutal things her mother had to do to keep them all going. She explained how Nick had left them to endure the wasteland - shaking her mother's entire world. Alicia admitted to doing the very same thing only months later after the fall of the ranch. She told Elyza the grizzly details of Troy's mistakes. This guy should be on medication, Elyza thought.
  She absorbed all of the new information, shaking her head at the nonsense of Jeremiah's racism and abuse towards his sons. She thought this Taqua Walker guy sounded very capable of surviving and leading a large group of people. There was something being left out, some part that she still didn't understand. Elyza cleared her throat, "So what is this shit about Troy dying? About the dam - your brother claiming Madison had wanted to place harm on him. I don't get it... It's because of what he did to the Ranch?"
  None of this really mattered, no, she wouldn't judge them. But information was something Elyza craved. Her girlfriend had spared her of the brutal details until now, probably assuming she would be angry at what things they had done. In reality, Elyza knew she had done the same.
  Alicia nodded her head in slow motion, wet braided hair falling on her shoulders. Elyza noticed how breathtaking she looked and tried to stay focused. Alicia continued on, "Yeah, that's the thing I've left out. Nick swears to us that he had some sort of weird-psychic-type-shit happen to him. He says Madison killed Troy, right in front of him. But supposedly our father granted them a "second chance". Or it never happened that way, it's Nick, who knows -"
  "So," Elyza scoffed, "She's dangerous."
  "I wouldn't call her dangerous," Alicia defended, "I don't know - she's my mom, Elyza."
  She let out a relieving sigh, "I know sweetheart, and that's why we're going to find her."

  An hour passed, the rain had swept away as it turned into the early evening. Elyza was on edge about the boys, curious as to if they made it out of the horde alive. Praying they were alright.
  Alicia nudged Tasha gently on the floor, stirring her awake. She gasped and jumped up briefly, her wide brown eyes looking startled. Normal response in this world, Elyza thought. She had watched survivors tremble over the faintest of jump-scares. Tasha rubbed sleep out of her eyes and sat back against the wall, her low voice full of sleep, "I'm so sorry guys. I was exhausted."
  Elyza nodded slowly, "S'alright, sorry we had to wake you. Nick and Troy are still out there," she nodded towards the window and handed Tasha water, "Where's Madison?"
  "We got separated. We took off after the direction Walker's truck went after running into dead at the barn," Tasha's voice trembled a bit as she gulped water, "It looked li - like she went down there for a moment. I'm sorry Alicia, I turned and I ran."
  Alicia resituated herself on the floor and Elyza put a hand on her back for comfort. "Okay, go on. We found her jacket in a home at the beginning of development. You guys met back here?"
  "We met back up at the house. She was covered in goop, like Nick, swore she wasn't bitten."
  Elyza nodded a stern look at her, on with it.
  "She changed her clothes and said she wanted to go on ahead to find Walker, that he would help us survive this winter. Victor hasn't adjusted to the loss of his arm and - and she swears we aren't safe enough. She seems paranoid. On edge. Madison told me to stay here and wait for them to come back," Tasha cleared her throat, "She didn't want the both of us to die."
  "And you let her go alone?"  Alicia spit out, "What type of plan is that?"
  "Licia," she said, "Tasha wasn't in charge. Madison was."
   Alicia shook her head. Not buying it.
   Although Elyza agreed with her, this was an awful idea, it was something she could see herself doing in the past to protect the Young siblings. Safety in numbers was something her own mother had sworn by, but in the end it got her killed. She remembered all of the times she wanted to trust strangers to benefit their trio, it always turned into quite the opposite.
  Elyza stood up and folded her arms over her chest, "I don't take risks. I don't trust people and I don't go after anyone who doesn't deserve it," she glanced down to Alicia, "I think Madi knows what she's doing and I believe she'll come back to us with people - good people. But things don't just work out the way they're supposed to - and your brother is missing. We find him first."
  Tasha stood up, "You're sure about this? Alicia -"
  "Elyza is right," Alicia talked with her head down, "My mom made the decision to go after a ghost - who knows if its even him. Someone could have stolen the tanker off of him after he left the dam. My mother could be dead.... We have to find the guys first. Before sundown."
  A cold tone filled Alicia's voice and it made Elyza nervous. She didn't want to watch the woman she loved lose her family just as she had lost her own. While she wished she could control everything and make each member of their group happy, she couldn't. Negative thoughts filled Elyza's mind, she spoke into the silence of the room, "You know, Nick's not going to like this plan at all. He's going to wish we went after her."
  Alicia flicked her butterfly knife open and peaked out the window, "He'll live."