WORLD GONE MAD ➳ FTWD

xiv. WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

pre-apocolypse
amara, aksel, james, and elias
3rd pov

When Amara walked into her home her father was sitting at the kitchen table, whisky bottle in hand, bowing his head down while spinning his wedding ring around on the counter. Amara assumed nothing was wrong until she viewed the whiskey bottle in sight. "Father, what are you doing?" Aksel refrained from making eye contact with his daughter. "You are not my little girl anymore." He chugged the rest of the whiskey and took in a sharp inhale. "Why would you say such a thing? Why are you drinking?" Amara could feel something about to happen and her stomach turned. "Forgive us, Evony." Aksel whispered to himself. Amara looked at her father in denial as the door burst open, causing her to jump. Two men entered their home wearing all white from head to toe. They looked like they could've been bodyguards with their broad shoulders and rough faces. Amara was so terrified that she couldn't even run. The men spoke of nothing and walked fastly towards Amara. "Father where are they taking me?" Amara slowly backed away from the men but knew she couldn't get out of this. And maybe, she deserved it for doing what it is she had done. All she wanted was for her mother to be at true peace. The men aggressively grabbed her by her arms and put a blindfold on her. Amara began sobbing and professing her forgiveness to her father before they carried her away. "Forgive me, father, please, please, forgive me! Why would you do this to me? Please!" She'd twist and turn in the men's grasp on her and scream until she entered a vehicle. Her father did nothing as she cried for forgiveness. Instead, Aksel walked over to the counter and reached for more alcohol.

Deeper into the night, Aksel Mayer overdosed.

Aksel hadn't seen his son that day at all, or the day before. Aksel was isolated in his own home where not only did he lose his wife, but he also lost his daughter. When Elias came home from a tiresome day of work, just wanting precious sleep, he received something else entirely. Another parent to mourn, another funeral to plan, and a little sister to heal.

"I'm home!" Elias had arrived back home from a tiring day at work. He was used to the silence of their home, especially after his mother passed, but this silence felt unnerving. "Amara? Father?" He yelled loudly as he watched the stairs for someone to come down. Elias sat his keys down and pulled out his phone to call his sister. He heart the buzzing coming from the counter. It was just laying there so he assumed she'd forgotten it. Then, he called his father. Elias listened closely for a sound, eventually hearing a faint buzzing coming from an unknown area. He went towards the laundry room that was an extension of the kitchen. Elias opened the door and the buzzing got louder. There, laying on the ground next to the washer and dyrer, was the body of his father. There were bottles and pills surrounding Aksel, but Elias didn't have time to figure out what happened. He called for an ambulance and checked his father for a pulse. "Father, what have you done?" He cried out, propping his father's body up and holding him until the ambulance arrived.



When the ambulance arrived, they confirmed that Aksel had passed away most likely due to an overdose. They took him to get an autopsy and gave their condolences to Elias. As the ambulance drove off and the lights flashed on his face, he turned around and stared at his family's house. His mother died here, and now his father. This house was full of demons. He didn't want to go back in. He wanted to burn it to the ground. Elias snapped out of his trance and realized that he had no idea where Amara went. Where is she? He thought to himself. He had called her phone and yelled out to her. Elias entered his daunting house and searched all the rooms. Then, he called James for help. "James, I need you to call me back when you get this. My dad is dead and Amara is missing, please, I need your help." Elias called Kit, too, but he didn't pick up the phone. "God damn you, Woods!" Elias screamed and threw his phone on the couch. He put his fingers through his hair and sat on the couch. He began to sway back and forth, shielding his face with his hands. It was a sorrow Elias had never felt before. Not even when his mother died. He felt so utterly alone and so hopeless. Elias knew the one person he could always come back to was Amara. Losing his parents is hard enough, but losing his little sister? Unimaginable. "Why are you punishing me?" Elias sobbed and stared into the ceiling. "I've done nothing but protect them. Why my family? What have we done?" Elias was heading towards more of a spiral in his thoughts until his phone rang. He quickly picked it up and answered. It was James. "Elias what's wrong, what the fuck do you mean Amara is missing? What's happened with your dad, are you alright?" James sounded as if he was in a car, frantically speeding. "You need to come over right now." Elias tried to control his emotions so he could keep it together and find Amara. "I'm on my way, but Elias... have you seen the news?"

"No, I haven't seen the fucking news, James, what kind of a question is that?"

"Elias. You need to turn on your tv. Now." James' voice was stern and it scared Elias a little.

Elias kept the phone on his ear as he turned on the tv and switched to the news channel.

"Multiple reports of disoriented, flesh hungry humans have been seen all around New York, San Francisco, and few other states. Police have been doing everything in their power to keep citizens safe, but nothing seems to be stopping these infected people. Doctors think a possible virus outbreak may be on the upcoming, but in reality, nobody knows what this is or what the cause is."

"James what the fuck is this?" Elias breathed heavily into the phone.

"I don't know." James said as he hung up the phone and entered his house. "Elias."

Elias turned and looked at James and then back at the tv. He was speechless. So much chaos occurred  in a single day. "You don't think its real, do you?" Elias asked.

"I really don't know what I think. But I know that we need to find your sister." 

"Right. Well, she's no where to be found. Her phone is on the counter and I've searched the entire house." Elias stood up from the couch and didn't know what to do with himself. He had no idea how he was going to process this.

"About your dad, Elias... I'm so sorry." James walked closer towards Elias, not knowing if he would want a hug. Elias contained his tears and kept a straight face. "There's no time to grieve. We have to find my sister, okay?"

"Okay." James cleared his throat. "We all last saw her the other night at my apartment, correct?" James asked. "Yeah. Except... Kit wasn't answering his phone. Do you know where he is?"

"Yes. Kit had business to take care of somewhere in Brooklyn and whenever I woke up, Kit was still sleeping. I don't think he knows anything." James sighed.

"She wouldn't just run off. Even if she had found my dad like that... she wouldn't of ran away." Elias tried to sort his thoughts out.

"I know, Elias. She would've called or come to one of us immediately." James thought more deeply and then it hit him. "Your dad... did he leave a note?"

Elias took in a deep breath. "No. I don't know why he did it, but I'm guessing he couldn't handle the loss of our mother. Even if it meant leaving his kids behind." Elias scoffed and felt an anger surge. 

"Or maybe Amara was some how involved..." Something clicked within Elias. "Um, his phone, I kept it. We can see what calls he's made." Elias ran into the kitchen and picked up his father's phone.

"Okay." James walked into the kitchen with Elias and glanced around the area for any clues. Elias scrolled through his father's calls and asked for James to retrieve his father's laptop from the living room. "Look up this number." Elias showed a number on the phone's screen and James searched it up. "Elias..." James' mouth dropped and he didn't know what to say. He turned the laptop around so Elias could view the screen. "An insane asylum? Why would he..." Elias put it all together. "He sent Amara there."  Elias looked at James in disbelief.