Chapter Text
Hemorrhaging is often depicted as a gory, excruciating experience . The movies would always show the person struggling to breathe, holding on to their blood as if their mere mortal palms could deny fate's path.
As the concrete began to shift into pink, absorbing the blood pouring from her body, Elyza decided it was not as horrible as the Tarantino films she adored would have led her to believe. She fought to keep her eyes open, content with watching the sun paint the sky into colors that reminded her of home. She could feel the life pouring from her, lifting her spirit into weightlessness. It was a freedom she had never imagined before.
The heady atmosphere of relief drew a soft smile onto her features, and she couldn't imagine why she had tried to avoid this for so long. Dying was easy as pie. But of course, pie isn't all that easy, so maybe dying was as easy as breathing. She smiled again, allowing her eyes to droop closed with final images of the sunset on the Tasman Sea, the beautiful Australian sky and an angel with green eyes.
Her picturesque reverie was rudely interrupted, and when she struggled to open her eyes she saw that the angel was screaming with tears dancing down her cheeks. The Angels soft brown hair brushed Elyza's lips, and her calloused hands touched her cheeks.
Elyza frowned and reached for the ethereal creature's face, "Don't cry angel, I'll come back with you."
To her severe disappointment, the Angel appeared to grow more upset at her promise and began to scream for someone called 'fucking help me'. Elyza could hear gravel under someone's feet to her left, but she didn't want to see anyone else, only the Angel with calloused hands and green eyes.
The stranger to her left dropped next to her and spoke in what could only be described as a "freaking the fuck out but I need you to calm down so I'm trying to remain calm" tone.
"Alicia, honey, they can save her but we need to move her now."
Elyza decided she liked that voice, whomever it belonged to. Maybe it was another angel. She felt her brunette angel grip her tightly, too tightly and whisper in her ear.
"You have to hang on Elyza. I can't do this without you, you Australian asshole"
Elyza frowned, and cracked her eye open to see frantic emerald eyes full of tears.
Why did the other angel call my angel Alicia? Why did my angel just call me an asshole? That's just.... her train of thought was wrenched aside as she began to feel the pain. The Angels were moving her and it hurt.
It wasn't until she felt her back hit cold metal, and a body drop its full weight on top of her that she remembered. The memories rebounded throughout her skull, pummeling her brain with the realization that she was dying, and Alicia was going to be alone. She ripped her eyes open in the same moment she pushed herself into her elbows. The body lying on top of her gasped, scrambling down to sit on her hips. Elyzas wild eyes fell immediately onto Alicia, as she leaned off her waist and shoved Elyza back down. The sun went away with a slam, and she could only see white metal around her.
The blonde was confused, and in a terrible amount of pain, so she tried to sit up again, only to be met with a more insistent push by Alicia. She frowned and tried to speak but no words would come from her mouth, only cracked coughs and wheezes.
Alicia bent down to Elyza's ear, "You have got to stop moving. They are trying to stitch you up, we're in a moving vehicle and there are Walkers everywhere Elyza. Please stop moving, just stay here with me."
The frown on Elyza's face softened, but her confusion was still heavy on her, like a sheet had been thrown over her head so that she could hear, but only see shadows. Alicia slipped off of her hips when she stopped struggling, and laid to her right. Elyza turned her head to watch her lay down, and smiled at her worried face. She felt Alicia grab her hand from her side and watched as she brought it up to her lips. She knew the hand was hers, but it was covered in blood, and she wasn't sure why.
For the first time since she began to regain her awareness, she had the notion to review any possible injuries to Alicia. While still lying on her back she moved her eyes from the top of her chestnut hair down to her boot clad feet. She seemed to be in good shape, aside from a bruise on her forehead, and a small scrape under her jaw.
A small pink bruise could be seen near the collar of her shirt, but that one made Elyza smile. She chuckled and as she was about to attempt a line to make Alicia blush, she was interrupted by an agonizing tearing feeling in her side. She must have involuntarily expressed her pain through her features, because Alicia immediately sat up and pressed her hand into Elyza's shoulder.
Elyza's vision began to blur, and she watched the picture of Alicia swim around in her eyes. She faintly heard the conversation around her, and tried to concentrate enough to understand what was happening.
"This is the best I can do for her, but I think she's going to be fine. She lost a lot of blood and I think she may have a concussion."
Alicia's low voice came after the stranger's "What do we do? Is she allowed to sleep?" Elyza could hear the terror in her voice, so she reached out for her, hoping to grab her hand. Alicia reached back and held the outstretched hand, before turning back to the strangers.
A man chuckled, "She can sleep when we get to the compound. You all can stay there until she recovers, and then we will talk to the jefe about your arrangements, if that's what you want."
In the dark of the closed moving truck, Elyza could make out the shapes of three people, aside from Alicia next to her. The shapes shuffled away from them, further into the truck and began to murmur to themselves.
Alicia maneuvered herself so that her back was against the truck wall, and lifted Elyza's head to rest in her lap. She smiled softly down at the blonde, running her fingers through blood stained hair. Elyza smiled back, but began to drown in confusion yet again.
"Babe?" She croaked out, "What the hell happened? Who is that man? Where are we?"
The words came out disjointed and rough, but she was determined to struggle though it. Alicia gulped and closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the wall. She shook her head and Elyza could tell that she was clenching her jaw and fighting tears.
"What is the last thing you remember?"
Elyza thought slowly, trying to patch together her memory. "I remember being in the bed of the truck, we were almost done driving for the day. Nick was with me, Travis was driving and you and Madison were in the cab. Daniel, Ofelia and Chris following in that station wagon I found."
Alicia nodded and sighed, "There was a horde, but I don't think you ever saw it being in the back. They came out of nowhere. Travis tried to avoid them but we hit a few and ended up in the sand on the shoulder. He lost control and the truck flipped." She was fighting tears now, so Elyza gripped her hand tighter. "I don't know how you did it, but you managed to push Nick out and away from the truck. Everyone in the cab was fine, we crawled out with scratches but that's when I found you." Her tears were falling without hesitation now, sobs wracking her shoulders.
Elyza reached out and pulled her down to lay beside her, and did her best to hold her without moving too much. She wanted to tell her everything was going to be okay, she wanted to tell her that she had saved her life again. All she could get out was a soft whimper, as her own tears began to fall with Alicia's. She felt Alicia's arms wrap around her and pull her face into her chest. She could hear the girl's sobs slowing as she kissed the top of her head.
"You can sleep now 'Lyze, they said you're gonna be okay." Alicia sighed into blonde hair, letting her last few tears dry on her cheeks. "Everything is gonna be okay."
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The smell of rot intermingled with antiseptics flooded Elyza's nose as she trudged her way into consciousness. Slowly, she cracked her eyes open, adjusting gradually to the bright fluorescent lights above her. When she tried to sit up, a sharp pain in her side forced her back down on to her back. She groaned and gritted her teeth, trying to gauge her surroundings without moving.
She was wrapped in scratchy blankets on a cot, in a room that appeared to have been a gas station turned clinic. She could see other beds around her, all empty. There was a light on the other side of the room that flickered every few seconds, and the room was filled with the humming sound of the running refrigerators. The table next to her cot was overflowing with bloody bandages, that she hoped did not come from her.
She couldn't bear to breathe the smell of blood any longer, so she forced herself up on to her elbows. The pulling sensation in her side was constant, but barely bearable. She sat up further and pushed the blanket down, pulling her shirt up at the same time. The gash on her side went from just above her hip to right beneath her ribs. The stitches were crude, but they held together as she moved. Further up her torso was a deep black and purple bruise blooming across her ribcage, making it a strain to breath comfortably.
She gritted her teeth and swung her legs off the bed, determined to evaluate her injuries fully. Her feet touched the cold tile and she stood, one hand grasping the bloody table and the other holding her ribs tightly. She was able to take three steps until she could no longer bear the pain and she leaned on to another cot.
"Elyza!"
The blonde grimaced when she heard Alicia's voice from behind her, irritation apparent in her tone. She slowly turned herself to face Alicia, but the other girl was approaching quickly to hold her waist. She offered a half bashful smile and shrug instead of trying to speak. If she spoke she knew Alicia would hear the strain in her lungs as she tried to grit through the pain of what was most likely broken ribs.
"You're not supposed to be up. You broke three ribs!" Alicia said as she slipped her arm around Elyza's waist, guiding her back to her cot.
"Hah, knew it." Elyza mumbled quietly. She allowed Alicia to guide her back to her bed without struggle, and cooperated when she pushed her shoulders to lie down. The blanket was once again around her, but this time Alicia pulled up a chair and rested her elbows on Elyza's bed.
"They said you shouldn't speak much, because of your ribs. Before you start asking all the questions I already know you're going to ask, I'm going to just try to explain everything. No talking Elyza, only listening, okay?"
Elyza smirked and said, "Okay princess."
Alicia frowned and huffed, "Babe I literally just said... You know what, nod for yes shake your head for no. Keep your mouth shut."
Even in the amount of pain she was currently in, Elyza felt giddy watching Alicia's exasperated features work themselves around her worry and irritation. She smiled and nodded, giving in to Alicia's demands.
Alicia nodded back, her frown softening into worry as she began telling Elyza their situation.
It took her a while to explain everything but in the end Elyza understood that their truck had been flipped, she was thrown onto the asphalt along with glass and a spare tire to the chest. The car holding Daniel, Ofelia and Chris smashed into a guard rail when Daniel tried to avoid hitting Elyza and the truck. Ofelia and Chris were the only ones to crawl from the car. There were people scavenging the area that heard the crash, and rushed to help. One of those people saved Elyza's life with his veterinarian equipment, and now they were at their compound with 30 other people. Alicia told her that she wasn't completely positive that the people could be trusted, but they were safe for now.
The amount of information taken in, in such a short amount of time was exhausting for Elyza. She slowly rolled on to her right side, leaving pressure off the cut and bruise on her left, and patted the bed for Alicia. The girl seemed hesitant, but complied and carefully crawled in to face her. Elyza closed her eyes and smiled, humming in contentment. She was still in more pain than she realized she could stomach, but the smell of Alicia around her, and the feel of her hands softly petting her hair, made it a little better. She allowed herself to drift off again, knowing when she awoke this time she would be fighting to get out of the bed. She was grateful for these strangers, but she didn't trust them and she didn't want to remain indebted to them. For now though, she could sleep, and allow tomorrow to be miles away.