Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Cold. Hungry. Empty.

Elyza never thought this is how loneliness felt. Cold inside herself. Hungry for interaction. And just empty inside her broken heart.

She had been travelling for the past 3 months. And she had never felt this alone. Her muscles were aching from the constant walks. Her brain was aching from the constant planning. And her heart was aching from the constant image of perfect, chestnut curls and piercing, forest green eyes, flashing in her head.

She had chosen to leave. But now she had regretted ever leaving. She needed a group. She needed company. She needed affection. She needed Alicia Clark.

Her nightmares hadn't gotten any better. In fact, they had been getting worse now that she didn't know how Alicia was. She didn't know if she was even alive and that frightened Elyza. Her dreams would often consist of gore, screams and terror. Alicia would be shot and killed. Alicia would die slowly in front of Elyza's eyes. And now, Alicia would be strolling the streets, as a walker. She would wake up in a mess of tears and sweat.

She had set up a small camp inside a building that she had secured and cleared out. She had important things that she had to do everyday:

Monday - Clean the water tank.

Tuesday - Search for company.

Wednesday - Scavenge the area.

Thursday - Clear out any walkers within the area.

Friday - Scavenge again.

Saturday - Work on fixing her radio.

Sunday - Scavenge once again.

It was currently what Elyza would call Wednesday, but really she had no clue what the real date was, she lost track once everything started. 

Elyza was scavenging an area that she hadn't touched yet. She was just about to break into a secured shop, until she heard a high pitched scream.

Elyza shot up and sprinted towards the noise. She skidded on the floor when she suddenly stopped. There were walkers surrounding a crashed car. The front of the car was crushed on the impact when they drove into the lamppost. And Elyza could just about see, through all of the rotten heads and hands, that the two adults sitting in the front had died. She heard the high pitched scream again, which meant that somebody was still alive.

Elyza pulled out her machete and throwing knife. She threw the knife straight into a walker's skull. And sliced the head off another walker. She quickly crouched down and yanked the knife from the walker's skull. She then quickly threw it into the direction of the last walker, killing it instantly.

Elyza forced the door open and killed the walker in the driver's seat. She heard a scream of pain. She grabbed the second walker's neck, that was in the passengers seat, and stabbed it in the head.

She then rushed over to the back door and pulled it open. There was a young girl, Elyza estimated around 4 or 5. She saw the girl's arm had blood running down it, from what was a bite mark.

Elyza pulled the child from the car and sat her on the ground gently. She pulled out her second machete, which was clean. She ripped off some of her shirt and tied it around the girl's bicep tightly. She lay the girl's arm along the floor.

She whispered, "I'm sorry sweetie." And she brought the machete down and chopped the girl's arm clean off, just at her elbow. Elyza quickly pulled out bandages from her backpack and tied them tightly around the wound, which was pouring with blood. She quickly put her weapons away and grabbed the girl and sprinted back towards her camp.

The girl was crying the whole time.

When they got back to the building, Elyza placed the girl onto a seat. She placed her blade on the lit campfire, which she was glad that she had kept lit now. Once the blade was heated enough, she pulled it from the fire and walked over to the crying, screaming girl.

Elyza kissed the girl on the forehead and then pressed the hot blade across her stump, stopping the bleeding. The girl screamed louder. However, it didn't last too long as she passed out from the pain and blood loss.

The girl woke up after a couple of hours. Elyza had been preparing some food for them both meanwhile. Elyza felt terrible for the girl. She had just lost her parents (which she assumed were her parents). Then she had been bitten by one of her carers. For then the limb to get removed and then cauterized. And finally, the girl is stuck with a stranger. Elyza wouldn't blame the girl if she was terrified of her.

The girl slowly sat up from the bed, that Elyza had placed her one and started to panic as she didn't recognize her surroundings. Her gaze landed on Elyza and instantly the girl cowered into herself. Elyza slowly walked over to her with some water, which had dissolved pain killers in it and a plate of food. The girl was shaking with pain and fear. Elyza crouched at the side of the bed and placed the water and plate on the side next to the bed.

Elyza said, "it's alright sweetie. This will help you, okay?"

The girl sobbed and curled in on herself even more. Elyza softened her voice as much as possible, "your going to be alright. I will protect you now. But, I'm gonna need you to eat something. Can you do that for me?"

The girl nodded slowly and avoided Elyza's eyes. The girl looked at the water first. Elyza picked the water up and handed it to the girl. The girl took it with her shaky hand and Elyza saw how she reached for it with her other arm as well, but then remembered why she couldn't touch it. She started to gulp down the water.

Elyza said, "don't drink it too fast. Small gulps, otherwise you will be sick."

She nodded her head and took smaller sips. Elyza had a small, gently smile on her face. She handed the half-full glass back to Elyza and swapped it with the plate of food. She held it on her lap and tried to get her food with her shaky hand, but she seemed to be struggling. 

Elyza placed her hand of the girl's hand and said, "would you like some help?"

Elyza could see that she was hesitating for a second or two, until she nodded. Elyza took some of the food with the fork and held it to the girl's mouth. She ate half of the food nervously. Elyza placed the plate back on the floor. The girl kept looking at the cup. So Elyza smiled and held it out for her.

Elyza asked, "what's your name, sweetie?"

She drank some more of the drink and said quietly, "s-star..."

Elyza smiled, "that's a beautiful name, Star. I'm Elyza Lex."

The girl nodded nervously and Elyza could see her eyes dropping. Elyza smiled, "how about you get some rest?"

She lay back into the bed and Elyza tucked the small girl in. 

After a few peaceful hours of her sleep, she started to toss around. Star jumped awake. Elyza rushed over and placed her hand over her small knee, "hey Star. It's alright, it was just a bad dream."

Star started to calm down after a couple minutes of Elyza's soft words. Elyza smiled and went to get up to leave Star alone. But small fingers wrapped around two of her fingers. Elyza looked at the girl as she was pulled closer. Star lay down and tugged on Elyza's hand, "please...h-hold me..."

Elyza smiled and she got into the bed beside Star's small body. She pulled the pained girl closer to her, comforting her. Star clutched onto her shirt and eventually fell to sleep on Elyza's chest.

Chapter Text

It's been a year and a half since Elyza had found her little Star. And little did she know, Star Morgan became Star Lex. Elyza Lex's daughter. Star had just turned 6 a few months ago. And she was learning very well to live with one arm. They wouldn't stop in one place for too long. Fear of walkers and survivors, so they traveled around a lot of the time. Elyza was trying to find a safe community that Star could grow up in. She wanted Star to be safe and make friends, like normal kids, not constantly needing to fear other people and walkers. They had been traveling for the whole day, Star was exhausted so Elyza decided to carry her, instead of stopping. Elyza saw a huge fence around a town and saw guards standing in towers. Elyza took a deep breath and walked towards the gate. A sniper shot close to her feet.

"Stop right there!"

Elyza froze and tightened her hold on Star, who woke up with a jump.

Star frighteningly said, "mommy..."

Elyza kissed her forehead, "it's alright sweetheart. They just want to make sure we aren't dangerous first."

Star was still frightened, so Elyza was saying soothing words to her, trying to calm her down. She didn't realize that the gate had opened and someone had walked over to them.

"Hello! Welcome to Ar-"

Elyza looked up from Star and at the voice and she was shocked. Well, shocked was an understatement.

The girl standing in front of her was, Raven Reyes.

Raven's jaw was practically on the floor, "your...your alive?!"

Elyza beamed, "your alive!"

Raven sprinted towards Elyza and jumped into Elyza's spare arm. 

Raven squeezed her tightly, "I thought you damn died Elyza..."

Elyza shook her head, "and I thought the same about you..."

A little, shaky voice broke their embrace, "mommy...?"

Elyza looked down and saw the fear in Star's adorable brown eyes. Elyza smiled, "it's alright baby. Do you remember those stories I told you about my group?"

Star nodded, "the one with the boat?"

Elyza shook her head, "no sweetie. My first group."

Star frowned and then raised her eyebrows, "ohhhh! Yes, mommy. Why?"

Elyza smiled at Raven. Raven held out her hand, "hey. I'm Raven Reyes. The best mechanic in the whole apocalypse."

Star beamed, as Raven was her favorite from the groups and her tiny hand shook Raven's, "h-hello. I'm Star Lex, ma'am."

Raven smirked. "well hello little one. You can call me Rae. Only my very best friends call me that." Raven winked. Star had a huge smile on her face.

Elyza put her on the floor, as she was wriggling around. They started to walk towards the gate and Elyza smiled when she felt Star's small hand slip into hers.

Raven glanced at Star and saw how she was distracted looking around the camp, so Raven said, "Elyza." Elyza looked at Raven. She continued, "so she's your daughter. Did the father...not make it?"

Elyza shook her head, "her parents died in a car accident, she's not my biological child. But, she is my everything."

Raven smiled, "I'm glad you got her Elyza."

Elyza smiled back and then was attacked by many hugs. She introduced Star to everyone and they all loved her. The two Lex's decided to stay in this camp and Elyza was glad that she had all of her old friends with her. They all sat around the campfire when it was growing dark, after they had eaten dinner. Star was really interested in what Raven was talking about. 

Elyza chuckled, "seems like Star will become a little mechanic like you, Reyes."

Star shook her head, "no mommy. I want to be like my hero!"

Elyza asked, "and who is your hero sweetie?"

Star jumped into Elyza's arms, saying, "it's you! You dummy!" Elyza's heart melted as Star kissed her cheek and then fell asleep in her arms.

Chapter Text

Arkadia wasn't in a good place, months after the Lex's arrived. They had ran out of food, water, medical supplies and ammo. Elyza decided to go out to make sure Arkadia survives. Echo, Bellamy and Murphy volunteered to join her, while Raven and Octavia looks after Star.

Raven hugged Elyza, "you stay safe Princess, we only just got you back."

Elyza smiles, "I will, don't worry. Look after Star for me, please."

Raven smirks, "don't worry, Princess. Me and Star are gonna be building some extra cool stuff while your gone."

Elyza chuckled, "Raven, don't bore her too much, will ya?"

Raven grins, "I will try not to."

Elyza smiled and crouched down to Star, who was holding Raven's hand. Star had a sad and worried face. Star sniffed, "please come back."

Elyza smiled softly, "I will sweetheart, I promise." Elyza kissed her forehead, "I love you."

Star sniffed, "I love you too, mommy."

Elyza smiled and then stood back up. She turned to Echo, Murphy and Bellamy and nodded to them, indicating that she was ready to leave. They got into the truck. Bellamy drove, with Murphy in the passenger seat and Elyza sat in the back, along with Echo.

Elyza had her shotgun strapped around her back, along with her bag. She had her two hatchets strapped to her hips, a pistol strapped around her hip facing in front of her, two throwing knives tucked into her jacket sleeves, a long knife strapped around her thigh, a pistol strapped to her opposite thigh, a smaller knife tucked into her trousers' shin and finally a flip knife in her boot. Elyza was very equipped, she was ready for anything, walkers or people.

Echo had a bag around her back, along with an axe and a pistol. Bellamy had his assault rifle and a couple knives strapped around himself. And Murphy had his two pistols strapped to his hips, along with an hatchet and a few knives.

The four of them searched for a long time. They searched through loads of shops and houses, but didn't find anything interesting. Until they found a mansion on the corner of a street. They instantly get out the truck and head inside. Murphy managed to kick the door down after a few tries and he wore a proud smirk on his face as he walked inside.

Murphy skipped inside, "I'm gonna check upstairs, come on Bell, your with me!" Bellamy groaned and followed after him, having to make sure that crazy boy didn't do something stupid or get himself killed.

Elyza and Echo started to search the downstairs. They had a huge tv in their living room, along with an extremely expensive, but comfy couch. Echo searched the kitchen, for food and water, while Elyza searched further into the house. She opened the door and looked around carefully, looking out for any walkers. Luckily, there wasn't any there, so she took a closer look into the room. It seemed like a library. Elyza smiled and looked up slightly, seeing how huge the bookcases were and they all seemed sorted into sections. 

Elyza strolled around, tracing the books covers with her finger gently, until she came to one which stood out to her. The cover read 'How To Survive An Apocalypse'. Elyza raised an eyebrow, she tried to pull out the book, but it just moved slightly and then she heard a hissing sound. She turned around and saw one of the bookcases moving into the wall, revealing a secret room.

Elyza walked cautiously over to the room and poked her head inside. Her jaw dropped at what she saw. The shelves were stacked with all sorts of canned food and other types of food that didn't expire till many, many years after. She walked in slowly, looking at the food in amazement. She looked at the other side of the wall, it was stacked with litre water bottles. She also noticed what seemed like a huge filtering system, which could be extremely useful for Arkadia.

Elyza saw two more doors. She walked over to the one on the left, she opened it slowly. There was a wall full of medicine, weapons and all types of guns, pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, sniper rifles. There were grenades, machetes, knives ranging of all sizes, throwing knives, hatches. On another wall was just ammo. And lots of it. There was all types of ammo, for all of the guns that was on the wall.

Elyza opened the door on the right and she grinned at what she saw. It was a motorbike and a truck. Surrounded by loads of different vehicle parts, that Elyza knew nothing about and many tanks full of fuel.

Elyza skipped out of the secret room. She shouted, "come look what I've found!!"

All three of them walked in casually, probably not expecting to find this. Murphy looked in and yelled in joy, "this is awesome! Lets grab all this stuff! Come on!"

Elyza laughed and started filling her bag with the canned food. She said, "there is a motorcycle through that door." She pointed to the door on the right. "That's mine, just saying. And there is another truck, which we could use to fill with all of these supplies."

Echo smiled brightly, "hell yeah! They are gonna be so happy with all of this stuff! It's gonna last us forever!"

The four of them filled up many of the duffle bags that were in the spare truck and shoved them into it. Once all of the duffle bags were full, they just started piling everything on top of each other. They fit everything into the truck. It was full, they could hardly shut the door. They decided to stay the night in the secret room. They closed the door, making sure they were safe and all slept in the same room as their supplies.

They woke up, all four of them had grins on their faces. Echo asked, "so. How are we going to get these vehicles out of this bunker?"

Elyza's face dropped. She had no clue how they could get the truck out of the door. Murphy was in his own world, wondering around. He started pushing some buttons and the wall in front of the truck moved so there was an opening to the outside.

Murphy grins, "that works."

Elyza shakes her head in amusement. Echo took their truck. Murphy and Bellamy took the truck that had all of the supplies. And Elyza rode the motorbike.

She grinned as she placed her sunglasses in front of her eyes and started the engine. It roared underneath her and she hummed in appreciation. She took off and decided to take the long way back to Arkadia as the bike was faster and she loved the wind flowing against her as she rode.

She arrived about 30 seconds after the two trucks parked. She just made it through the gates as the doors to Arkadia closed. She slid it to the side and it stopped. She hopped off and pushed her sunglasses to her head. She smirked as Raven, watched impressed and shocked.

People started to crowd around and the four grinned to each other. Elyza opened the door to the truck and she heard many gasps. Some things tumbled from the truck as it was overflowing.

Bellamy announced, "we found a mansion and Princess here found a secret room. It was full of food, water, medical supplies, weapons, ammo, fuel, a truck and a bike for Elyza."

Elyza shouted, "we are saved!!"

All of Arkadia cheered. Elyza saw Star rushing through the crowd to get to Elyza. Elyza smiled as she picked her up and spun her around.

Elyza hugged her tightly and whispered to her, "we are safe sweetheart. This is our home."

Chapter Text

Around 2 months after Elyza, Echo, Bellamy and Murphy had found all of those supplies, Arkadia was back to it's stable state. Finn Collins - bestfriend and leader of Arkadia - had assigned Elyza to the guard tower. While, Star was told to train in the training rooms. Elyza was worried to let her train at first, because she didn't want her involved with the walker life. However, she wanted Star to be able to defend herself, from both walkers and humans.

When Star wasn't training, she was often standing at the guard tower with Elyza, hanging around with her new friends, talking with Echo and Octavia about training tactics to help with her one hand or helping Raven with something mechanical.

It was Elyza's shift at the guard tower and she just finished her dinner, so it was getting darker. She was in the tower with Bellamy, keeping an eye out, with joking about old stories. Elyza had found out that Atom had gone searching for Elyza when they get separated, but he disappeared and they never saw him again, assuming he died. Elyza tried to not to be too upset, because she knew that her brother wouldn't want her to get distracted. He would want her to stay strong.

Elyza had all of her weapons on her, along with a sniper rifle, as she was in the guard tower. Bellamy had his weapons, including an assault rifle. Elyza was looking through her sniper and that's when she saw a couple walkers come from the trees.

Elyza turned to Bellamy, "oi, Bell. Look through your binoculars. A few walkers are coming out of the trees."

Bellamy nodded and picked his binoculars from the floor, while Elyza looked back into her sniper scope. And that's when she saw that there wasn't a couple walkers. They kept piling out and out of the woods.

Elyza shouted to Bellamy, who gasped when he saw how many there were, "Bell! Go alarm everyone! Find Star!" Bellamy seemed frozen. "Now Bellamy!" He shook his head and quickly climbed down the ladders, doing what Elyza had told him.

Elyza started shooting the walkers with her sniper and then she heard a loud creaking sound. She turned her head and saw someone opening the gate. Elyza's stomach dropped, "NO! Close the gate!!"

The woman finished opening the gate and sprinted out. She seemed to have lost her mind when she heard about the horde and thought she could escape through the front gate. The woman screamed as a walker bit into her arm and another into her neck. Elyza clenched her jaw and shot the woman in the head, giving her mercy. Elyza saw two people trying to pull the gate closed, but the walkers were flooding in, preventing it from closing. The two men got piled on by walkers.

Elyza saw many of their people running around, not knowing where to go, screaming for help. This just drew more and more walkers to the middle of the camp. Elyza tried to help them, but there were way too many walkers. Elyza looked down and saw a few walkers pushing past her ladder, making it look like it would get knocked over at any second.

Elyza heard a scream. A very familiar one. Star...Elyza looked up and saw Raven, Bellamy and Star getting cornered by walkers. Star was clutching to Raven's top in fear. Raven was holding a screwdriver, standing in front of Star to protect her. And Bellamy was standing in front of them both, shooting his assault rifle. Elyza knew he wouldn't have enough bullets for all of those walkers and that he wouldn't have time to kill them, before the three of them become the walker's next meal.

Elyza quickly jumped down from the tower, landing on top of a walker, with her knife in it's skull. Elyza wouldn't let her two best friends and daughter die. Never. Elyza started slashing through skulls with her two hatchets, making her way to the trio. She spun around, killing walkers in front of her, left of her, right of her and behind her. She heard the bullets stop and that just made her kill the walkers quicker.

She heard the scream again, her head shot up and saw Raven's arm getting grabbed by a walker and it's jaw getting ready to rip a chunk of skin from her arm. Elyza pulled her throwing knife from her sleeve and threw it in the direction of the walker. Time slowed as she watched the knife spin in the air and then get buried into the walker's skull. The walker dropped and Elyza sighed in relief when she saw no bite mark.

Her relief didn't last long as she realized that Bellamy had nothing other than his close up weapons. More and more walkers surround herself and the trio. Elyza clenched her jaw, she took a deep breath through her nose, smelling the rotten flesh of the walkers around her and the copper of blood that was covering her body and the floor that she was standing in. 

Elyza picked up her hatchet from the floor, that she dropped to through the knife. She used the two hatchets to start killing off as many walkers as she could. She made a path to the trio, just in time to kill a walker that was about to grab Bellamy from behind. He nodded to her, in thanks and she nodded back to him.

She shouted over the growls of walkers, "Bellamy. You get my family to safety. I will carve a path out for the three of you. Do NOT let them die!"

Bellamy nodded and stood closer to Raven and Star. Elyza had the wall to her left and started picking off walkers to her right and in front of her. Star was behind Elyza, with Raven, while Bellamy was at the back picking off walkers that were getting too close.

They made it to a door. Elyza banged it with her fist, while stabbing a walker with her other hand. Elyza shouted, "open the door! Star is out here!"

The door swung open, Octavia was standing at the door, with two children. Octavia pulled Star in, "come on! Get in Rae!!" Raven quickly slipped in. Elyza killed two more walkers, while she noticed Bellamy was still outside with her. She grabbed him and pushed him through the door, she shouted, "O! Make sure your brother stays here! Keep Star safe and block the door. NOW!"

Elyza slammed the door shut and she could hear shouting from inside, while she was fighting off walkers. She heard a loud crash, Elyza guessed it was something blocking the door. She continued fighting the walkers. Her muscles were aching so badly, she just wanted this horde gone.

Elyza slowly got pushed into a corner, surrounded by walkers. She clenched her jaw and put her hatchets away. She spun around and jumped. She grabbed onto the roof of the hut and pulled herself up. A walker grabbed her boot and tried pulling her down. Her one hand slipped off, which made her body lower. She felt something around her boot, she looked down and saw how the walker was biting into it. Her stomach dropped, this is it. She kicked it off and pulled herself up. Once she sat on the roof, she pulled off her boot and pulled her sock off. No mark. She clenched her eyes shut. She was so tired and she thought that maybe that was it. 

Elyza turned to the side and threw up on the ceiling. The near death making her feel sick. She pulled them back onto her feet, knowing she had to kill more walkers for her people, her family to be safe. Elyza saw how most of the walkers were standing in front of the hut that she was standing in front of. She heard one of the walkers break into the door and then heard a scream along with crying. Elyza didn't realize that someone was inside the hut.

Elyza stood up and started stamping into the roof. It broke under her feet and she landed on her back. She looked up and saw a woman with a child. Elyza quickly stood up and grabbed a chair. Elyza said, "okay. I'm going to help you, but I need you to listen and do what I say." The woman nodded. "Okay. I'm going to push you onto the roof and then pass you the kid." She nodded quickly and put the child down of the floor. She stood on the chair and reached for the roof. Elyza saw how to door wasn't going to last long at all.

Elyza started pushing the woman up, as she climbed onto the roof. Elyza ran over to the boy and she picked him up. She stood on the chair, but one of the legs snapped from the weight of both of them. Elyza clenched her jaw. The door broke down and she saw walkers about to pile in. Elyza shouted, "grab the boy! I'm going to throw him up. You have one chance!!"

Elyza threw the boy up and the woman grabbed onto his hand. Elyza turned as a walker grabbed her forearm, she pulled the knife from her thigh and stabbed it. The woman pulled the boy up and she looked back over the roof, looking worryingly at Elyza.

Elyza nodded to her and then backed away from the walkers. She looked around the room frantically. There was a window. Elyza kicked a walker in the chest, making it fly back, knocking a couple more over. She jumped towards the window, her body flying out and landing into the glass shards. This got attention of some of the walkers that were wandering around. Elyza tumbled up, the glass digging into her skin.

She pulled back out her two hatchets and started killing more walkers. Elyza really wondered where the soldiers were at this time and why she couldn't hear any guns firing. Elyza made her way back to the center. She went in circles around the camp, killing off walkers when they got close to her. An assault rifle caught Elyza's eye. She sprinted over to it, while putting her hatchets away. She picked it up and pulled out the magazine. It was full. There was a dead soldier on the floor, that had bullets strapped around his body. She pulled them off his and put them around her body. She got ready to fire, but realized that the gate was still open, meaning more walkers would get through the gates.

She clenched her jaw and sprinted back to the gates. Which meant she would get cornered again. She pulled as hard as she could on the rope, making the two doors slowly close. It stopped closing and Elyza saw a walker head in the way. She yelled as she pulled harder on the rope, making the walker's head explode with the pressure and the gate closed.

She quickly turned around, got her assault rifle and started firing at the walkers. They started dropping to the floor quickly, as the bullets pierced their skulls. She reloaded twice, until she ran out of bullets. There were only 5 walkers left for her to kill.

She dropped the assault rifle on the floor. She pulled out her two hatchets. She threw one and it buried itself in between the walkers eyes. She pulled her knife from her shin and stabbed it upwards into the walkers chin. She kicked one of the walkers in the chest, and it hit into a second walker, so they were both further away from her. She shoved her last hatched into the walkers head, but it got stuck. She pulled out her flip knife from her boot and flipped it open. She gripped both of the knives in her hands. She jumped into the air, towards the last two walkers. She pushed her hands down and they hit into the walkers heads, making them collapse onto the floor. Elyza landed on her knees. She pulled her knives out and stood up.

She looked around. There were walker bodies covering the floor. And their blood dying the grass underneath her feet red. She destroyed the horde. She saved her people. Her friends. Her family.

The stench of rotten flesh and blood filling her nose. The ache of her muscles weighing down on her. Her beating heat thumping loud and fast in her chest. And the silence, it was deafening. There were no groans. Not scratching and banging on walls and doors. No snapping jaws. Nothing. It was just silence.

She didn't realize how people started to flood out of their hiding spaces. But when she heard Star's voice, she came back to reality. Star was looking around at all the dead bodies, while clutching her teddy to her chest with her arm and her other hand gripping onto Raven's.

Elyza looked round and saw everyone looking from all the dead walkers and then back to herself. She wanted to know what they were thinking about her. Elyza guessed stuff like: Monster. Creature. Dangerous. Killer.

But then she heard their muttering:

"Our saviour!"

"Hero!"

"She saved us!"

"Brave!"

"Wanheda!!"

Elyza didn't know what that meant. More people said it along with, "it's true!", "Wanheda! Zombie Slayer!"

They started chanting, "Wanheda! Wanheda! Wanheda!"

Elyza looked at their faces, they were all looking at her with appreciation. She felt a tug on her hand. She looked down and saw the boy that she saved earlier. He was sucking on his thumb and his brown hair flopping over his eyes. He brushed it away and pulled his thumb out his mouth.

The boy said, "thank you ma'am. You saved me from those things."

Elyza crouched down, "it's okay kiddo. What's your name?"

The boy smiled, "Jaden."

Elyza smiled, "hey Jaden. I'm Elyza. Where's your mother?"

Jaden frowned, "I don't have one. Amelia found me when the things came."

Elyza was about to place her hand on the boy's shoulder, but it was covered in blood. She was covered in blood. She wondered by the boy wasn't freaked out. She asked, "so, who do you stay with?"

Jaden shrugged, "I live with some of the other children. Some babies and some are older than me. We have bunk beds."

Elyza first thought he meant with friends. But then she realized. There was an orphanage. She would have to ask Star if she wouldn't mind Jaden to live with them. Elyza smiled at him, "I'm going to talk to get cleaned up and talk to Finn. I will come find you later, okay?"

He smiled and nodded. Jaden stuck his thumb back into his mouth and walked away. Elyza looked around. There were still some people watching Elyza. Some people were collecting weapons and putting them back into their places. Some were picking up bodies and putting them outside. Some were killing off some of the walkers outside that got attracted to the gunfire. And some were hugging their family members.

Elyza walked towards Star and Raven. She smiled at them. She said, "I'm glad you guys are okay." Star rushed over and hugged Elyza's leg. Star sobbed, "your safe, mommy. You saved us all."

Elyza smiled and pulled her away, "look, sweetie. You dirty now."

Star looked at herself and made a disgusted face, "yucky."

Elyza chuckled, "I need to get cleaned up. Raven could you take Star to your shower?"

She nodded and took her to her own hut, while Elyza went to her hut. Once Elyza closed the door to the hut behind her, she collapsed on her knees, crying. It was such a rough day. She couldn't believe what had happened today. She nearly lost her home and her family. Elyza sat against the door and looked up at the ceiling. Her mind went back to Alicia. She really needed her here right now. Elyza regrets leaving, but she wouldn't have found Star.

Elyza took a few deep breathes and then got back up and went into the shower. She was glad they had heated water, because it helped relax her sore muscles.

Once she wall all cleaned up of blood, she put on some clean clothes. She jumped slightly when there was a knock at the door. She opened it and said, "hello."

The man smiled at her, "hello, Wanheda. I have your weapons." He handed them to Elyza, who put them on the side.

Elyza nodded, "thanks."

He put his hands behind him, "would you like me to clean your clothes? They must be bloody."

Elyza tilted her head, "why would you want to do that for me?"

He smiled, "because you saved my families lives. And I owe you for so much and I would try and like to help with everything I can. Please, if you would let me, I would like to wash your clothes."

Elyza said, "that would be very kind of you, thank you." She got her clothes and he took them from her with a smile. She continued, "but, you don't owe me anything. I did what was right."

He nodded, with a smile and walked away with her bloody clothes.

Elyza walked outside, after putting her weapons on and she head towards where Finn's hut was. She opened the door, without knocking and saw Bellamy and Finn talking. Elyza walked over to Finn, "where were you when the horde came in? Where were you when they started eating your people!? What did you order your soldiers to do?"

Finn crossed his arms, "I was in my hut, making sure I didn't die. My people should have gotten inside when they announced a horde. And I told my soldiers to hide."

Elyza clenched her jaw, "your such an asshole Finn. People died! My daughter nearly died!! We would have had less deaths if you told your people to shoot the god damn walkers, Finn!"

Finn narrowed his eyes, "you need to leave, Elyza. You can't use that tone to me. I'm your leader!"

Elyza scoffed, "listen here, Finn. You aren't a leader. You left your people to starve, not bothering to do anything. Making other people make decisions to save Arkadia. I made the decision to go out and find supplies, while you sat on your ass. I was part of the group that brought the supplies back, I helped build the camp up again. While you, once again, sat on your ass. I was the one who saved people, I was the one who destroyed this horde and you! You sat on your fucking ass! You did nothing. I'm Wanheda, your not in charge here!"

Finn huffed, "Bellamy, tell Elyza who is in charge."

Bellamy said, "Elyza is." Finn glared at him. "She saved us, Finn! Your a useless leader. The only reason you became a leader is because you killed one person to save a family! ONE person! Well guess what. Elyza killed so many walkers today, saving our whole camp! Everyone would have died, these walls wouldn't hold that many walkers out, Finn. All of Arkadia trust her. I trust her. Maybe you should too."

Finn shrugged, "whatever. Elyza can be in charge. But, I will be here, waiting for you to make a mistake, waiting for this whole camp to just fall. And then I will remind you how helpful I was."

Elyza smirked, "you will be waiting for a long time, Finn."

Elyza and Bellamy walked out of the hut. Bellamy placed a hand on her shoulder and shouted to their people, "Elyza is in charge! Not Finn! Now let's bring Arkadia back!"

The people around clapped and cheered. Elyza smiled at him. She walked over to Star, who was walking with Raven. She said, "hey Star. I need to ask you something."

Star said, "what is it, mommy?"

Elyza crouched down, "there is a boy, called Jaden. He doesn't have a home or a family. I'm not sure how old he is, maybe a little older than you. How do you feel, if he stays with us? In our hut?"

Star smiled, "we can be his family! Yes yes yes!"

Elyza smiled, "okay sweetie. I will go and get him."

Elyza looked around for a while and saw Jaden sitting on the floor, against a wall, holding one of Elyza's throwing knives. Elyza smiled and walked over, "hey Jaden. What have you got there?"

Jaden looked up and hid the knife, "uhm...It's..."

Elyza chuckled, "it's alright kiddo. You can keep it, I can get another one. Just be careful with it."

Jaden smiled, "okay!"

Elyza held out her hand and he took it with a smile, they started walking side by side. Elyza said, "would you still like to stay with me and my daughter?"

He looked up at her, "if you are okay with that."

Elyza smiled, "it's your choice, Jaden."

Jaden nodded and he had a huge smile on his face. Elyza led Jaden to Star. Elyza said, "Jaden this is my daughter, Star. Star this is Jaden."

Star squealed and hugged his with her arm. Jaden hugged her back happily. Jaden pulled back and asked, "why do you only have one hand?"

Star looked up at Elyza with a small smile, "I was bitten, but mommy saved me by cutting it off. It stops the infection. Mommy is a hero!"

Jaden smiled, "yeah she is! She saved me in the horde!"

Star jumped up and down, "that's amazing! How old are you?"

Jaden said, "I'm 8, how old are you?"

Star smiled up at him, "I'm 6. But! I'm nearly 7. Let me go show you our home!"

Star grabbed his hand and they ran to the hut. Elyza felt tears in her eyes. Star will have a new friend. And it made her so happy that Star called it 'our home', not 'my home'. Elyza knew Star would be really welcoming.

Raven walked over, with a smile, "you alright, Princess? It looks like you just saw five little puppies running around."

Elyza chuckled and hugged her, "I'm so glad your okay, Rae. I missed you so much before. And god...If I had lost you then...I just found you guys..."

Raven tightened her hug, "you will never lose me again. Trust me. I'm gonna stick to you like chewing gum on a shoe."

Elyza laughed, "I will just get a new shoe."

Raven nudged her shoulder, "shut up, ass. I love you Elyza."

Elyza smiled, "love you too, Reyes. Now go do something useful ass."

Raven chuckled and walked away with a smile.

Elyza walked back into her hut, to find Jaden and Star on her bed. Jaden was reading a book, while Star was clutching her teddy, leaning against Jaden, while her eyelids were slowly closing. Her heart ached. She had her daughter. And maybe a son, seeing how he feels. But...She doesn't have Alicia...She was never going to stop looking for her, she was the final piece to her family and her heart.

Chapter Text

It was around a year and a half later. Star became 8 a couple months ago, while Jaden had his birthday two days ago, making him 10. 

Jaden eventually became Jaden Lex when he called Star his sister and Elyza his mother. He fit perfectly into their family. 

He looked after Star all the time. Making sure she didn’t get into too much trouble with Raven. He had been training to fight with a couple of people; Elyza, Octavia, Bellamy and Echo. The four of them taught him how to fight and how to survive outside their camp if anything went wrong. 

While, Star had recently finished improving Raven’s leg brace, so it would help her walk better, however she still had a limp. And now the two of them were working on Star’s mechanical arm. Star was getting trained too, however they didn't do it as often, as they didn't want Star involved with the Walkers yet.

Elyza is the leader of Arkadia, their camp. All her people look to her, listen to her and respect her. Word had spread to many of the survivors outside their camp about this 'Wanheda'. The legendary Zombie Slayer. The Commander of Death. There were rumors that Wanheda was a male, that he could simply touch someone and they could die. However, the people in Arkadia knew the truth. Wanheda is a female, she may not have the power of killing with just a touch. However, she was very strong, very fast, has perfect accuracy and very, VERY human!

Wanheda is mostly known for their fighting, however they are also known for saving people and taking them into Wanheda's camp. That's why many people look for Arkadia, for Wanheda's protection. Not many people end up making it to Arkadia. They either die from Walkers or scavengers on the road that kidnap people or kill them. 

Arkadia had extended their walls, building more huts and putting down more tents. Many of the huts were more houses for newcomers or shower blocks as some huts don't have showers. All of the soldiers of Arkadia have their own shower in their hut and most of the civilians did too, however there were few that didn't have one. Unfortunately, the orphanage had more and more children living there, so they had to increase the walls. They made sure all of the children had their own beds. They asked them, if they wanted to share a room with another child or have one on their own. Many of the children enjoyed sharing a room, as they said "it's like a sleepover". They made sure each child had extra clothes, toys, books and their own bathroom. There are extra storage rooms for supplies and they also built a greenhouse with lots of different fruit and vegetables growing. The armory had increased as Raven and a few others had been making bullets.

Elyza had made Bellamy and Finn in charge of the newcomers when they got to Arkadia. Bellamy was smart and knew when someone would belong with their people. Whereas, even though Finn is a total ass, Elyza knew he could be useful to scare someone when needed. The two would search them for any weapons. Once they were all disarmed, Elyza would then see them. She would usually give them a tour and then decide if they should stay or not. Most of the time, Elyza would decide to keep them in the camp, however there were a few times that Elyza had to kick them out.

Elyza had a group of 10 go out, to search around the area for more supplies. They came back with some information about scavengers that had created a camp on one of the roads that leads to Arkadia. They had seen them kidnapping people and stealing there supplies. Apparently, they had been keeping one group for a couple days, according to one of the scavengers that they were listening to. They also found out that they were going to try and sell them.

Elyza had gone out with Bellamy and Echo. Following the road, in a tuck, that her people told her the scavenger camp was on. They had seen the tents from afar, so they parked the truck and decided to crouch in the trees instead of the road. They crouched outside of the camp, covered by bushes and the three of them were watching were the scavengers were walking around, how many guns they were carrying and where the group that were kidnapped was being held.

They sat there for a couple hours, just watching. It had became quite dark, so it would be easier for them to sneak into the camp. They had found the tent that they were keeping the group in. 

Elyza looked to Bellamy and Echo, "alright, let's go."

Bellamy took her wrist, "Princess, we don't have a plan."

Elyza smirked, "save the group." She started crouching towards the camp, pulling her hood over her head.

Echo and Bellamy looked to each other. Bell huffed, "that's not a plan! God damn it..."

Elyza snuck past one of the tents, keeping to the edge of the camp. She pulled out her knife and cut open the back of the tent. She put it away and pulled out her pistol, that was silenced. She walked towards one of the scavengers that was cleaning a gun. She crouched over to him silently. She put a hand over his mouth and her pistol against his head.

Elyza whispered, "if you say anything, I will kill you."

The guy growled and pulled out a knife, he slashed it behind him. She managed to move out the way, however it caught her hip, slicing it open. She quickly pulled the trigger, killing the scavenger. She caught the body, before it dropped on the floor, to make sure it didn't make a noise. She pulled him out of the tent and lay him on the ground. 

She crouched over to the second tent, that she knew was where the group was being held. She cut open the back of the tent. She saw the group sitting on the floor, their hands tied tightly behind their back and bag over their heads. There were two scavengers standing inside the tent, one with a pistol and another holding an axe. She remembered seeing two more outside the tent, both carrying guns and knives.

Elyza crouched past the kidnapped. Elyza knew they felt her presence, as she heard some of their breathing increase and they all huddled together more and away from her. Elyza pulled out her hatchet and one of her throwing knives. She threw the knife into one of the scavengers' neck and slammed the hatchet down into the others skull. The first one gurgled on his blood, attracting the men outside.

Elyza sighed, "shit..."

She heard one of the men cock his gun. And then two of them opened the tent flap. The man raised his pistol, "put the weapons down."

Elyza scoffed, "you don't command the Commander of Death."

The man with two knives in his hand said, "Wanheda..."

Elyza smirked, knowing the men can only see beneath her nose, "bingo."

She threw her hatchet sideways, cutting the guy with the twin knives' head off. She quickly pulled out one of her knives and stabbed it into the second guy's shoulder. He chocked on his blood and his finger squeezed the trigger of his gun, shooting Elyza in the thigh. 

She grunted, trying not to make too much of a noise and drove the knife in deeper, killing him. She pulled it out and then stabbed it in his head, making sure he doesn't come back into a Walker.

She heard people enter the tent where she cut into it. She quickly turned, raising the scavenger's pistol. However, she lowered it when she saw Bellamy and Echo. She pulled down her hood and dropped the gun back onto the floor.

Echo saw the blood dripping down her leg. She rushed past the group that were still sitting on the floor. She applied pressure onto the wound, "shit. Wanheda, you okay?"

Elyza nodded, "all good here. Just a bullet in my thigh, don't worry about me."

Echo snorted, "just shut up and let's get these people back to Arkadia and get that bullet out."

Elyza nodded. Bellamy started pulling off their hoods, one by one. And one by one, Elyza recognised the group. Daniel Salazar. Ofelia Salazar. Chris Manawa. Travis Manawa. Madison Clark. Nick Clark. And finally...Alicia Clark.

Elyza locked eyes with shocked, wide green eyes. Elyza clenched her jaw to stop herself from rushing over and hugging her. She could tell by the anger in her favorite green eyes, that she would probably get more than a slap to the face.

She turned away and picked up her weapons. She sat against a table and pulled out one of her small throwing knives. She put it into her bullet wound, hissing when it poured more blood out. She pushed up the bullet and it popped out of her thigh. 

Echo and Bellamy turned back towards her when they finished cutting their wrist binds and taking out their gags. Echo groaned, "why did you take out the damn bullet now? Fucks sake, Wanheda. Couldn't wait a couple minuets?"

Elyza shrugged, with a smirk, "calm your tits, Echo. I'm a professional now."

Echo chuckled, "whatever you say, Doc."

Elyza laughed, but suddenly frowned when she saw a wound on Echo's hand. She quickly limped over and took her hand. There was a huge knife hole, going straight through her hand. She quickly ripped the bottom of her top and wrapped it around her hand. She asked, "you okay, Echo?"

Echo smiled and nodded. Elyza smirked, "good. Now let's get all your asses in the truck."

She looked to her old group and they still seemed shocked about her presence. They all hopped in the truck. Elyza sighed knowing she would have to deal with her old group when they got back. And...She would have to deal with the wrath of Alicia.

Echo got into the driving seat, while Elyza got into the passenger. Bellamy and the rest sat in the back. Echo looks towards Elyza and can tell she is upset. She places her wounded hand on Elyza's thigh, which is the uninjured one. She squeezes it softly, telling Elyza she is there if she wants to talk. Elyza smiles at her, squeezing her wrist softly, knowing what she means.

Alicia was observing the whole interaction from the back. She feels so much anger for Elyza leaving. However, she feels so much relief that she had found her again and that she is alive. She also felt lots of jealously bubbling inside her, of Elyza and Echo, thinking that the two may have a thing together. But, she does remember Elyza telling her that she was extremely close to all of her friends.

Once they reach Arkadia, the group looks out of the truck's window in awe. They see the huge 'Arkadia' sign at the front of the camp. All their jaws drop when the gate opens, revealing a huge camp, full of people.

They hopped out of the truck. Elyza walked through the gates first, followed by Echo, Bellamy and her old group. Elyza got the wind knocked out of her as she got tackled into a hug. 

She lost her balance due to her injured leg, ending up on the floor, with a small body on top of hers. Elyza's old group were getting a small tour from Echo and Bellamy.

Star shouted, "your back!"

Elyza smiled and hugged Star tightly, "told you I would be, sweetie."

Star leaned back, putting more of her weight on her thigh. Elyza hissed in pain. Star jumped up, "what...? What happened...?"

Elyza smiled, "don't worry, I'm alright."

Star looked in concern, "b-but...But what if I hurt you..."

Elyza said, "I'm safe. I'm here, aren't I?"

Star smiled and nodded. Elyza got up and looked around, "where's your brother?"

Star shrugged and looked around, with a small frown, "he was with Octavia. He should be here..."

Elyza smiled when she saw Octavia and Jaden, walking side by side, followed by Raven, who were walking towards her. Jaden's face lightened up when he saw Elyza and he sprinted over, "mom! Your home!"

Jaden hugged Elyza tightly. Elyza chuckled, "I'm home. Have you been looking out for Star, while I was gone?"

Jaden nodded, "Auntie Raven was with her, while I was training with Auntie Octavia."

Elyza ruffled his long hair, "good good. Just making sure you look after you sister."

Jaden smiled and looked at Star, "I always do, don't I dork?" Jaden pulled Star in close to him and kissed her forehead. Star pushed him away with her one arm, "ew! Get off! You smell!"

Elyza laughed, "rough training with O?"

Jaden smiled, "I'm doing so much better, look!"

Jaden pulled out Elyza's old throwing knife and threw it over Elyza's shoulder, aiming for a far wall. Elyza didn't want to risk someone walking into it, so she caught it mid air. Elyza said, "not here, Jaden. We don't want any injuries, buddy."

Jaden looked around, noticing how many people were there, "I'm sorry, mom."

Elyza held the knife out to him, "it's alright. Just be careful of others-"

"ELYZA"

Elyza clenched her jaw when she recognised the voice. Finn. She turned to find him stalking towards him, "what do you want, Finn?"

Raven and Octavia pulled Star and Jaden away, knowing Elyza wouldn't want them to see any arguments as it could get heated.

Finn growled, "you can't just let rodents from the streets in my camp!" He pushed her shoulders aggressively. Elyza moved slightly, as he wasn't as strong as her.

Elyza raised an eyebrow, "your camp? From what I remember, I'm in charge here."

Finn growled, "well you shouldn't be!"

Elyza frowned, "why?! I wouldn't let my fucking people fend for themselves against a horde of walkers!"

Finn clenched his fists together and swung at Elyza. Elyza caught his fist and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him closer. Elyza growled in his ear, "if you step out of line again, I will banish you from Arkadia."

Finn narrowed his eyes. Elyza shouted, "do you understand me?!"

Finn clenched his jaw, "yes, Wanheda."

Elyza pushed him away and he stumbled backwards. He narrowed his eyes, huffed and walked away.

Elyza walked over to the newcomers, "Bellamy will show you to your rooms. If you wish to share a room, please inform him. There are showers in the room and spare clothes for you to wear. If you are hungry, go to the dining hut and take as much as you want. If you need anything, just ask for me."

Ofelia wrapped her arms around her neck, "talk to me Lyze. I know you aren't feeling good now we are here. Just talk, okay?"

Elyza nodded. Ofelia moved away and smiled. Elyza looked at them and smiles softly, getting smiles back. However, when she reached for Alicia's eyes, they were stuck on her thigh, with concern in them. Elyza frowned and looked down, seeing blood pouring from the wound and through the cloth that she wrapped around it. Elyza was slightly relieved that Alicia was still concerned about her. She needed to talk things through with her soon.

Elyza turned and walked away, but stopped briefly when one of her friends, Simon stopped in her path. He said, "Wanheda. Would you allow me to clean your clothes and weapons? And I will fix the hole in your trousers."

Elyza held in a small smirk, knowing the small game that they play, "yes. I want them done, before I sleep. If I do not get them before, there will be consequences."

Simon lowered his head, "of course, Wanheda."

Elyza smirked when she heard a small chuckled from Simon. He hugged her tightly. Elyza smiled, "it's good to see you again, Simon. How was your trip?"

Simon shrugged, "it was good, actually. We gathered more fuel and more cans of food."

Elyza smiled, "that's great! I'm going to get cleaned up, catch up with you later."

She walked past him, but turned when he said, "wait, Princess."

Elyza said, "yeah?"

Simon smirked, "just let me clean your shit for you."

Elyza chuckled, "only because your forcing my hand here, Simon."

Simon laughed, "obviously. Now hurry with your shower!"

Elyza chuckled, "sir, yes sir."

Simon shook his head in amusement and walked the opposite way to Elyza. He noticed one of the newcomers, Alicia, watching the two of them. He titled his head curiously, but then walked away.

Elyza got undressed, leaving her dirty clothes and weapons on the side, next to the door, for Simon. She got into the warm shower and sighed. She pressed her head against the wall and squeezed her eyes shut. Just hoping that her interaction with her old group will go down well. And the conversation with Alicia won't end too badly.

She knew she had to talk to her very very soon.

Chapter Text

Elyza finished her shower, feeling more refreshed and her muscles felt more relaxed. She wrapped a bandage around her bullet wound and put on some of her spare clothes. She noticed that her dirty clothes and weapons were gone, meaning Simon had began cleaning them.

She limped towards the medical tent. Octavia was sitting down, getting her forehead stitched up. Elyza raised a curious eyebrow, "what happened to you?"

"Jaden is getting better, you know," Octavia looked at Elyza and smirked, "he's damn fast."

Elyza chuckled and felt pride in her chest for her son becoming more skilled with fighting. She limped to one of the beds and sat on the edge, waiting for one of the doctors to stitch her leg.

Elyza smiled when she saw Niylah walking up to her. Elyza said, "hey Doc."

Niylah used her charming smirk, "what did you do this time, sweet cheeks?"

Elyza shrugged, "oh yano, it's just a scratch."

Niylah chuckled, "yeah, yeah. Just take off your damn clothes."

Octavia snorted from over the room. The two turned towards her questioningly. Octavia raised her eyebrow, "don't you have the hots for the brunette out there?"

"She definitely had the hots for the new brunette, I've seen her heart eyes already."

They all turned towards the entrance to see Raven, leaning against one of the poles that holds the tent up, with a smirk on her face. Elyza scoffed, "whatever assholes. You already know that nothing will happen..."

Octavia and Raven turned to each other with a sad expression, wanting their best friend to have more happiness. Niylah had an frustrated and jealous expression, as she thought Elyza liked her still. 

Elyza pulled down her trousers to her knees, while Raven and Octavia wave goodbye to her and walked out of the tent. 

Niylah and Elyza started making small talk, mostly Niylah flirting shamelessly with Elyza. While she was cleaning and then stitching up her bullet wound.

Once they were finished, Elyza pulled up her trousers. She winced when it stretched her stitches. Elyza smiled at Niylah sweetly, "thanks Niy."

Niylah smiled, "no problem Lyze. I'll patch you up anytime." She winked and kissed Elyza's cheek.

Elyza limped over to the tent entrance, it was getting darker. She looked around for her children and smiled when she spotted Star jumping on Raven's back. Elyza shook her head in amusement, when Star was hanging on with her one arm, practically strangling Raven.

Star squealed when she fell over Raven's head and tumbled to the floor. Elyza started limping over, laughing at the two. Star looked up and grinned at Elyza. She shot up and Elyza crouched down as she got hugged tightly.

When they pulled apart, Star was jumping up and down on the balls of her feet, "me and Auntie Rae finished some more of the filters for our camp, mommy!"

Elyza smiled brightly, "that amazing! I'm so proud of you, sunshine." Star puffed out her chest, feeling proud of herself. Elyza chuckled and asked, "could you find Jaden for me, please? I need to keep off this leg as much as possible, sweetie."

Star nodded and ran in the direction of the training grounds. Elyza got up weakly and took a step towards her hut, however the pain in her thigh caused her to collapse. Raven's hands shot out to help her, but Elyza held up her hand, "I'm fine...I'm fine."

Raven nodded and took a step back to let Elyza try and get up on her own. Elyza let out a huge breath when she managed to get onto her feet. She limped slowly over to her hut, around half way, her leg collapsed again and fell onto her one hand, while the other clutched her thigh.

Elyza weakly said, "Raven..."

Raven had been trailing behind, just in case Elyza needed her. She got one of her arms and wrapped it around her shoulder and helped Elyza to her hut.

Once she got to the door, she turned and hugged Raven tightly, "thanks Rae." Raven smiled and kissed her cheek, before leaving to her own hut.

Elyza lay on her bed and got under the covers, waiting for her two kids. They ran through the door, smiling and both jumped on the bed, either side of Elyza. She put her arms around the two and after a while, the three dozed off.

When Elyza woke up, Jaden and Star were already gone. She figured that Jaden was training early with Octavia and Echo, while Star was helping Raven with something mechanical.

She got out of bed and put on the clean clothes that Simon must have brought back during the night. She got her boots and jackets on and then walked towards the food hut. 

She grabbed her food and sat at her usual table. The wood had many carvings into it, as Elyza would sometimes spend her time when eating drawing into it.

Elyza jumped and dropped her knife, when someone slammed their tray onto the table, besides Elyza. She turned her head and gulped when she saw Alicia standing there angrily. 

Alicia growled, "Elyza Lex."

Elyza sighed, "Alicia..."

Alicia sat down, "so. Are you going to tell me why you left me and my family to die?"

"I didn't leave you to die, Alicia...I knew...I knew you were save, before I left."

"You still left! You left me, Elyza."

Elyza swallowed thickly, "can we people talk somewhere privately?"

Alicia narrowed her eyes, "why? So your people don't realise how heartless you really are?"

Elyza shook her head, "I just want to tell you the truth, without people listening in..."

Alicia glanced around the room and saw many people who were sitting around. She nodded and the two of the walked into Elyza's hut. Elyza walked in first and kept her back to Alicia, trying to take deep breaths.

Alicia crossed her arms, "are you going to talk, or stand there and stare at the wall all day?"

Elyza sighed and turned around, "what do you want to say, Alicia? I'm sorry? Because I am. I'm sorry for leaving you without a proper goodbye. But, I'm not sorry for actually leaving-"

Alicia interrupted, "you don't regret leaving?! Leaving me?! What the fuck Elyza! I thought you loved me..."

Elyza said, "I did! I do, Alicia, I still do. But if I hadn't left, I would have never met Star, she would be dead right now. I would have never met my friends again, after I thought they were dead. I would have never met Jaden, who I saved in a horde. The horde that would have killed all my people, if I wasn't there to save them. I love you Alicia, I really do. But, I know that you won't forgive me for leaving...Maybe you never will...But I want you to understand that I left...Because I was scared of you...Scared of you dying...Dying like everyone else in my life...I...I couldn't handle that..."

Alicia had tears in her eyes, while she listened to Elyza. She opened her mouth, but the only thing that came out was, "I..." And then her face hardened and she walked out of the tent without a single glance at Elyza. 

Elyza sighed when the door closed and she fell to the floor, burying her head in her hands, tears running down her cheeks.

She spent a few hours crying alone, when she decided to go back outside.

She met up with Bellamy. They hung out for hours and hours, basically all day. They sat against the wall of Arkadia, watching their people walking around. 

Bellamy said, "so, these people that were brought in earlier. You said they were your old group?"

Elyza nodded, "yeah...I really didn't expect to see any of them after I left."

"You don't feel guilty about that do you, Princess?"

She looked to her left, at Bellamy and didn't say anything. He raised an eyebrow, waiting for an answer. He sighed, knowing that her silence was a yes. He said, "you know you can't feel guilty about it. If you didn't leave them, then Star-"

"-Star would have gotten killed. I know, I know. I love my little girl. I wouldn't change my decision to leave...But I think she deserved a proper goodbye. Told her all of my reasons, about how I was in too much pain and I just couldn't handle another person leave me..."

Bellamy wrapped him arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. "She will forgive you, Lyze. We both know it. You love her and she loves you."

Elyza mumbled, "she probably doesn't love me anymore..."

Bellamy shook his head, "Princess. I catch her looking at you all the time. In the truck when we first found them, when Echo was comforting you, if looks could kill, god Echo would be a goner." He chuckled at himself and continued, "when Star and Jaden were talking with you, she was extremely surprised that you had kids, which would make sense, but she was looking at you with such adoration. She stares at you with love. Trust me."

Elyza chuckled, "if I didn't know any better, it sounds like you have a little crush on her, stalker."

Bellamy nudged her with a laugh, "shut up, Princess."

She giggled. And her face lightened when she saw Alicia walking around camp, looking in awe. Bellamy smiled at her, "you should talk to her."

Elyza shrugged, "I already have..."

Bellamy raised his eyebrows, surprised, "what did you say to her?"

"Well, I told her how I didn't regret leaving, but only the way that I left. Told her that Star, Jaden and everyone here would have died."

Bellamy nodded, "and? What did she say?"

Elyza frowned and looked at the ground, "nothing...She just...Walked away."

Bellamy said, "she probably needs time to process everything, Princess. She probably thought that you were dead after all this time."

"Yeah, I know..."

Bellamy squeezed her shoulder, "come on. Food time."

Elyza smiled and took his hand to get up. She went to get Star and Jaden for food, however when she got into the hut, she got distracted when she saw a piece of paper on her bed.

She picked it up and her heart dropped, it said:

We have your little girl. Come save her. You have until sundown. Green patch in the forest, North of Arkadia. Only bring yourself.

-F.C

Chapter Text

We have your little girl. Come save her. You have until sundown. Green patch in the forest, North of Arkadia. Only bring yourself.

-F.C

Elyza closed her fist around the note and felt angry tears in her eyes. F.C. Finn Collins.

Elyza rushed and placed a few of her weapons in their spots. She didn't have time to grab all of them, as she needed to save Star from getting hurt, because of Finn.

She rushed out of the hut, bumping into someone on her way to the exit. Elyza fell to the floor. She looked up and saw Alicia looking down at her with her brows furrowed in concern when she noticed Elyza's red, teary eyes.

Alicia opened her mouth to say something, but Elyza rushed up and walked past Alicia. Alicia watched curiously as Elyza sprinted towards the gate and ran outside. She assumed that Elyza was going to blow off some steam, by killing Walkers or practice training.

Elyza sprinted as fast as her injured leg could, to the place where the note said. A few minutes of sprinting and she came across a green patch inside the forest. She saw three people and Finn, who was wearing an evil smirk on his face.

Elyza slowly walked over. She looked around, but couldn't see Star anywhere.

Elyza shouted, "where is she?!" Finn just smirked. "Where the fuck is she?!"

Finn shrugged, "she's safe. At Arkadia. Don't worry about your little girly. Your the one we want."

Elyza turned around and saw three more people coming up to her. Finn chuckled, "if you kill the Commander of Death, you become the Commander of Death."

Elyza clenched her jaw, "the fuck! Seven verses one? That's not fucking fair, Finn!"

Finn grinned, "I don't play fair, Princess."

Elyza pulled out her silenced pistol and dagger, waiting for the first person to attack. The first man - she recognised as Dan - lunged at her, raising his own dagger. And another from behind, called Jessy, raised her axe. Elyza jumped towards Dan and slid her dagger into his throat, before he could cut her. While, she turned to the side and shot Jessy in the head. Her body and axe dropped to the floor.

Elyza didn't notice a third man - James, one of Bellamy's best friends - kick his boot, straight into Elyza's gun, making it fly somewhere into some bushes. Elyza reached for her throwing knife on her thigh and she threw it towards James and it dug into his head.

Three dead, four to go.

She pulled out her twin hatchets. She jumped at a fourth attacker and she brought both of her hatchets down and cut his head clean off. She went to attack a fifth, however she was yanked backwards by her top. She panicked when she heard growling behind her. It was Walker Dan. She twisted the Walker off her and she quickly kicked the fifth guy's knee cap, causing a horrible popping sound and him screaming in pain as he fell to the floor. Elyza flipped the Walker over her shoulder and on top of the fifth guy, causing the Walker's attention to be onto him. The Walker bit into his neck, blood flowing over the Walker's face.

Elyza found herself distracted by how sick she felt killing these people. Finn kicked her in the chest. She flew backwards and gasped for air. She pulled out her knife and weakly pushed herself up and went to attack the sixth guy. He kicked Elyza's knife. Elyza pushed forcefully on Finn's shoulders, he fell backwards and onto the floor as he tripped over a dead body. Elyza quickly jumped onto the sixth guy's knee, flipped over his shoulder and held him into a headlock. She twisted his neck and heard a crunch. She squeezed her eyes shut at the sound.

She suddenly fell to the ground, as a Walker grabbed her foot. It went to bite her thigh. Elyza kicked it in the jaw and then wrapped her thighs around it's head. Elyza squeezed tightly and she looked over to Finn, who was dealing with two Walkers with her knife. She yelled and she squeezed tighter and it's head exploded.

Elyza rushed up, but didn't expect Finn to be so near. She gasped, some blood spilling from her mouth. Elyza looked down and saw her own knife stabbed into her stomach and Finn's fist wrapped around it tightly, her blood covering it quickly.

She looked back up into Finn's eyes. She never knew her old best friend would be like this. He was extremely important to Elyza, he was always there for her. Her rock. Her everything. She remember looking into the soft, brown eyes of her bestfriend. And now...She's looking into unfamiliar, brown eyes of a killer.

Finn looked down at the knife and quickly back up at Elyza. He didn't know what came over him. He didn't know why he was so hungry for power. He didn't know why he stabbed a knife into his best friend.

Finn whispered brokenly, "Elyza..."

Elyza felt tears running down her eyes as she went through all their happy memories. She saw the sudden change in Finn. The realisation of what he had done. And now. She is looking into the same loving eyes as before this apocalypse. They were full with guilt and regret.

They both stared into each other's eyes. Trying to figure out what had happened all this time.

Neither of them noticed a Walker coming up to them. They only realised when a pair of teeth dug into Finn's neck. 

"No! Finn!!"

Finn pulled the Walker off his neck and used one of his knives and stabbed it into it's temple.

He pulled his hand up to his neck, where blood was poring out. Elyza sobbed, "Finn...No..."

She ignored the pain from the knife and grabbed him tightly. He looked at her and shook his head. They leaned on each other as they walked to the direction of Arkadia.

Finn collapsed against a tree and sat against it in defeat. He looked up with tears in his eyes, "I'm sorry Elyza..."

"No. Finn. Don't give up, come on. We can fix you!"

He shook his head, "you can't...It's...Too late now..."

"Don't do this to me, Finn! I just got you back!!"

Finn grabbed his necklace and yanked it off his neck and held his hand out weakly to Elyza. He sobbed, "I'm so s-sorry...For-Forgive...Me..."

Elyza held the necklace tightly, tears roaming down her cheeks. She had immense pain in her side, but she couldn't think about that right now. She was so focused on Finn. Her childhood best friend.

"I forgive you...For everything..."

Finn nodded and slumped his head against the bark, "thank...you..."

Elyza held his hand tightly, "I love you...I love you, Finn..."

Finn smiled weakly. It wasn't an evil smile that she had seen for the past couple years. But, it was the old, soft, loving smile.

"I...Love you...Too...Princess..."

His smile slowly dropped and his head dropped to the side and the hand she was holding, fell weak in her palm. "No. No. No!! FINN!!"

She pulled a small dagger from her boot. She slowly stabbed it into his temple. "May your spirit rest easy..."

She kissed his forehead gently and closed his eyes. Even if he tried to kill her, he was her best friend. She never wanted this to happen.

Elyza weakly stood up and limped back to Arkadia, tears roaming down her cheeks. She held the knife in her side with her hand, as the pain was becoming unbearable.

She stumbled through the gates. She heard people shouting for Bellamy, Raven and Arkadia's doctors. People started to crowd when they saw her state. She saw Alicia pushing though the crowd of people. Alicia saw Elyza then. All Elyza's colour was gone as she lost too much blood, which was all over her face and stomach. Alicia covered her mouth with her hand as she let out a sob.

Elyza locked with green eyes, she whispered, "Alicia..."

And then she fell to her knees and onto her side. She saw Alicia getting held back, as she tried to get to Elyza. And then she saw nothing...It all went black.

Chapter Text

It was black. Everything just black.

She heard noises. Sounded like screams. She felt hands grab her arms and legs. And then felt like she was flying. She couldn't feel any weight. She felt free.

And then everything went blank.

-

More voices. She felt like she could recognise them. But, she couldn't tell.

And then everything went blank.

-

"Please, don't leave me, Elyza..."

That voice. It was so sweet. So angelic. She knew who that voice belonged to...Alicia...She wanted to wake up, to tell her she wasn't leaving...

And then everything went blank.

-

"Mommy! Wake up, Mommy..."

"I love you, Mom...We hope you can hear us...We hope you are okay..."

'I'm here,' Elyza wanted to shout. She wanted to tell her children that she could hear them. Tell them that she was going to be alright. But...Even she didn't know if that was the truth...

And then everything went blank.

-

It was bright. Everything...So bright.

She heard voices nearby. She felt a presence on her leg, something pushing on her. Laying on her? She felt grounded. She felt like she couldn't breathe, but...She felt so...Alive?

And then everything...Didn't go blank...

Elyza frowned. This was the part when she would go blank again. But, it didn't come. Everything stayed bright. She still felt something on her leg.

She looked down and saw brown. Brown curls, covering her leg. Alicia.

Elyza opened her mouth to talk...She needed to say something...But she just coughed from a dry throat.

The brown mess jumped awake. And Elyza saw how messy her hair is. How red and puffy her eyes are. How stained her cheeks are with tears. The black bags hanging under her eyes. She looked like a mess. But, she always looked beautiful.

Alicia stared in shock for a second. Minute? Hour?

"Elyza...Y-Your...Awake?"

Elyza went to answer again, but the answer Alicia got was just more coughing. Alicia picked up a cup that was near where Elyza was laying. She held it to Elyza's mouth and she sipped the water.

Elyza smiled weakly when she pulled it away, "thank you..."

Some fresh tears escaped Alicia's eyes, "I didn't know if...If you would wake..."

"I'm awake..."

Elyza clenched her hand, when her fingers itched to wipe the tears from Alicia's face.

"We need-"

"I'm really-"

They both chuckled as they talked over each other. Elyza sighed, "I'll go first...Just...Please listen?"

Alicia nodded. Elyza took a few deep breaths and then started, "I'm really sorry, Alicia. I really didn't want to leave, back then...I...I love you so much! I know you obviously don't feel the same after I just left you...But I just wanted to say...I'm so so sorry about everything...I don't ask for your forgiveness, because I know I don't deserve it. I'm sorry-"

"I forgive you!"

Elyza's mouth was open in shock, "w-what...?"

Alicia looked at her hands on her lap, "I forgive you...For what happened. I thought through it. I hadn't looked at your point of view and how you felt and what you was going through. I'm really happy that you found your friends. And Star. And Jaden. I know that they mean the World to you. And that's why I understand that you don't regret leaving. Do I wish you stayed? Of course. But, I wish that you would have told me what you was going through and would have let me help you. But, I guess I am happy with how things are turning out. With us meeting again. I don't really enjoy that you are in here...But...I think we can be okay? If....If you would let us...Happen again? If you want..."

Elyza smiled when Alicia finally lifted her head. She said, "I'm so grateful that you understand...Thank you, so much. And yes...I would like this to happen again."

Alicia smiled and then looked down. Elyza noticed how Alicia's eyes were stuck on the blood covered bandage and the blood covered ripped shirt. She seemed lost in thought.

"Alicia. You okay?"

Alicia shook her head and looked back up, "what if...What if you died...And I hadn't even told you that I forgive you...And that I hadn't told you that I was selfish...Selfish, because I was angry that...Angry that you didn't take me with you!"

Elyza's eyes widened, "hold on...you wanted...What?!"

Alicia sighed and rubbed her face in her hands, "I wasn't supposed to say that..."

"I figured..."

"If you just asked...I wouldn't have hesitated to say yes."

Elyza sighed, "I know."

"Then why didn't you?"

"Because it was dangerous. And you have a family to be with. Alicia, you don't know what kind of Monster this World has made me, while I was away..."

Alicia frowned, "your not a Monster!"

"Alicia...I have killed so many people..."

Alicia shrugged, "yeah. But, most of those were Walkers."

Elyza shook her head, "I know. But, I have killed people. Lots of them..."

Alicia sighed, "you protect people...You saved me! Your not a Monster."

Elyza looked at her lap, as she wanted to stop with this topic. She asked, "how long has it been?"

Alicia said, "you've been out for around a week and a half now..."

Elyza nods and wonders how long Alicia had been sitting with her for. She opened her mouth to ask, but a yawn came out instead. She turned red in embarrassment.

Alicia's lips lifted slightly, "I don't know how you are tired after sleeping for so long. But, rest. I'll be here when you wake."

Elyza smiles and closes her eyes. She quickly drifts off to sleep in seconds.

-

Elyza's wrists were tied to a chair. It was tight. It hurt.

She looked around confused and then saw Alicia, with a gun to her head. She can't make out the face of the attacker, the hood covering most of his face.

Alicia looks frightened as she looks into Elyza's eyes. Elyza aggressively fights the rope, but they feel too tight. She is screaming for the attacker to let Alicia go.

She keeps tugging and tugging. Screaming and - BANG.

Blood pours out of Alicia's stomach and she walls weekly to the floor. Elyza tugs on the rope and it comes loose quickly. But she doesn't think about that. She also doesn't think about how the attacker suddenly disappeared. Her focus is on Alicia. 

Elyza lifted Alicia's body and lay her onto her knees. Alicia had tears running down her cheeks. Elyza is sobbing over her.

Elyza cries, "don't give up on me..."

"I'm not..."

Elyza sobbed, "you're going to be okay...Please Alicia...Please be okay!"

Alicia coughs and some blood escapes her mouth and drips down her chin. Elyza holds her body closer. 

Alicia whispers weakly, "I...I love you..."

Elyza sobs, "I love you too! I love you so much!"

Alicia then feels heavy in her arms. Her eyes are so dull. And her chest isn't rising and falling...

She gone.

Elyza shakes her body slightly, "Alicia? Please! Don't die on me!"

Elyza jerks awake and looks down at her lap. Alicia isn't there. Elyza sobs, "Alicia...No..."

"Elyza. Its okay! It was just a dream."

Elyza's head shot towards the voice and saw Alicia sitting there. Elyza pulled Alicia to her body and hugged her tightly, while crying into her neck.

Elyza eventually calms down and pulls away. Alicia is looking at her with concerned eyes. Alicia doesn't mention it and Elyza is thankful. "Your little ones have been asking for you constantly. Now that your awake, they can't wait to see you."

Elyza smiles, "could you send them in, please?"

Alicia smiles. She squeezes Elyza's hand and walks out the tent.

A couple seconds later, two brown blobs of hair came rushing to her. The two of them jumped up to her. Elyza held in a groan of pain when she felt one of their knee's dig into her stomach.

Elyza hugged them tightly.

"Your okay, Mommy!"

"You look better now, Mom."

Elyza smiled at them both, "I'm okay now, sweetie. And thank you, Jay." She chuckled slightly, "have you both been good for Auntie Raven and Auntie Octavia?"

Star smiled brightly, "Jaden is getting better with his training! I've seen him, Mommy! And and and! Me and Raven have nearly finished with my arm!"

Elyza said happily, "I'm very proud of you both. I will be out of this bed later, for dinner. For now, how about you two go and annoy Bellamy? And I will see you both later?"

They both hopped off the bed. Star kissed her cheek and Jaden kissed her forehead.

Elyza called out before they left, "could you ask Alicia to come back in please, sweethearts? She is the pretty one with the green eyes."

Jaden smiled, "will do, Mom."

Star grinned, "I will tell the pretty one, with the green eyes, that you want her." Star chuckled to herself as she walked out.

Elyza rolled her eyes and smiled as her kids left. A few seconds after, Alicia walked in with a smirk on her face.

Elyza narrowed her eyes, "what did she say?"

Alicia giggled, "pretty one with green eyes? Why thank you, Elyza."

Elyza chuckled, "oh shut it. You are pretty! And you have green eyes! Hey! Stop laughing at me!"

Alicia put her hand over her mouth to try and stop her laughing. "It's just-" Some more giggles, "-pretty? Green eyes? Elyza, your daughter stared-" A few more giggles. "-Your daughter stared into some random persons eyes for like five seconds, trying to figure out if they were green. And then, she just shrugged and said 'your pretty. My mom wants you.' She was so confused! Oh my..." Alicia took a few breaths to calm down. "I had to walk up to her, she had brown eyes, Elyza! Dark brown eyes!"

Elyza burst out with laughter, "that's my daughter, for ya."

Elyza thought in her head, how perfect this moment felt. She had Alicia with her. Alicia laughing with her. She had her back and she was never letting her go again.

Chapter Text

Elyza was sitting at the table, eating food with her friends. She had Bellamy and Alicia sitting next to her. Besides Alicia, was Ofelia and then Chris. And in front of Bellamy is Raven and Star in front of Elyza. Jaden sat next to Star, with Octavia next to him, who had Nick on the other side of her.

Elyza was smiling and staring at Alicia, as she talked to Ofelia, Chris and Nick. She then got hit in the head with a chip. She turned to look at who had hit her and saw Raven smirking at her. 

Elyza looked confused, "what?"

Raven raised an eyebrow, "our Princess is in luurrrvvvee!"

Elyza threw a piece of apple at Raven, which hit her in between the eyes, causing them both to burst out with laughter. Raven said through her laughing, "asshole." To which Elyza just smirked at her in reply.

They were all talking for a while until Ofelia asked Elyza, "where's Atom?"

Everyone suddenly went silent and Elyza tensed up. She turned to Star and Jaden and said, "how about you two, go and find Echo?"

They both smiled at her and went off to find Echo, outside of the dining hut. Elyza stumbled on her words until she just turned to Raven, "R-Rae...?"

Raven gave Elyza a small smile and explained, "a couple months before Elyza and Star came to Arkadia, there was a horde. It was way bigger than the one Elyza fought off...There were hundreds of Walkers. It was insane! And we all got split up. Me and Octavia. Bellamy, Echo and Jasper. Murphy, Monty and Niylah. Wells and Finn. And then Atom on his own. It took us all a few weeks to find eachother again. However, we never ended up finding Atom. We left notes and clues everywhere for him to find us, but we didn't find any clues for where he is and if he is even alive..."

Ofelia frowned and looked at the table. Chris then spoke up, "you said something about Wells? Who's that?"

Elyza took a deep breath, "he was one of my best friends. Well...He still is I guess. But, Atom's disappearance had hit him hard. We all knew that Wells had a soft spot for my brother. Well, we all knew that Wells loved Atom, more than just a friend...The fact that Atom saved Wells' life during the horde, which caused him to split from the rest of the group, made him blame himself."

Nick said, "but, that wasn't his fault."

Elyza sighed, "trust me, we all know that. I love my brother and I know he would never blame Wells for what happened. We have all tried to tell him that, but I just think he lost it. He's different."

Bellamy said, "we all want Atom back. And we all want Wells back too..."

Elyza took a deep breath and then stood up, "excuse me." And then she walked out of the dining hut.

She only just made it into her hut, when she collapsed onto the ground against a wall, crying and struggling to breathe.

'One, Two, Three, Four...Come on, Elyza...Breathe...Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three.'

Elyza didn't notice that the hut door had opened. She didn't notice that Alicia was talking to her.

However, she did notice when Alicia gently took her hand and placed it over her chest so Elyza could copy her breathing. Alicia said softly, "that's it, Elyza. Just keep following my breathing."

Once Elyza had calmed down, which had took a few minutes, she took Alicia in her arms and hugged her tightly. Alicia rubbed her back up and down softly. 

Elyza sobbed into her shoulder, "I can't do it..."

"Hm? Can't do what?"

Elyza said, "this...This life...I...I can't do it!"

Alicia pulled back and held Elyza's head in her hands, "I know...It's a lot...But you have to keep going Elyza."

Elyza shook her head, "why?! I act strong, but I'm just so weak! I lost my parents! I had to kill Finn! My best friend isn't himself anymore! And...And I've lost my brother!" She dropped her eyes to the floor.

"Elyza...Look at me, please."

Elyza looked up, tears running down her cheeks. Alicia said, "you can't give up. You know that you don't want to give up. Elyza, I know that you have lost so much and I'm so sorry. But, just think about the things you still have. Raven, Bellamy, Octavia, Star and Jaden! You can't give up on-"

"And you? I...I have you, right?"

Alicia brushed Elyza's tears from her cheeks, with her thumbs, "of course you do. I'm always here for you."

Elyza nodded, "t-thank you..."

Alicia hugs her tightly, letting Elyza to calm down some more. She eventually says, "come on. Let's get you into bed."

Alicia helped Elyza change her clothes and then put her under the blankets of the bed. Alicia kissed her temple and went to walk away, however was stopped when hesitant, gentle hands wrapped around her wrist. "Stay with me...Please?"

Alicia turned around and looked at Elyza, "but...What about Star and Jaden?"

"They won't come in. Only if one of them has a nightmare. And most of the time now, I find them both cuddled together."

Alicia asked, "and if they have a nightmare and want you?"

Elyza shrugs, "then they come in here and we hold them. They know you, don't worry."

Alicia frowns, "do they? I haven't really spoken to them."

Elyza smiles, "I've told them many stories about you. I can just tell them who you are. They will trust you. Believe me. Please, stay?"

Alicia smiles, "only because your forcing my hand here, Elyza."

Elyza chuckles, "whatever, just get over 'ere."

Alicia got into the other side of the bed and shuffled closer to Elyza. Elyza wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled their bodies closer. Alicia smiled and tucked her head under Elyza's chin. 

Alicia mumbled, "goodnight, Lyza."

Elyza kissed her forehead, "goodnight, my love."

Chapter Text

Elyza had woken up to brown curls covering her face. She moved her left hand to move the hair, however her hand was trapped. Elyza frowned and moved her right hand, which wasn't trapped and moved the curls out of her face. She looked down and saw Alicia's leg curled between her own and her arm wrapped around Elyza's waist, which explained Elyza's trapped arm.

Elyza smiled and used her right hand, to tuck some hair behind Alicia's ear. Alicia started to stir. Elyza chuckled as Alicia yawned into her neck, "mornin', sweetheart."

Alicia moved her head away from Elyza's neck and smiled at Elyza, "goodmorning."

Elyza chuckled, "I forgot how much of a cuddlier you were."

Alicia looked down and she blushed, "I'm sorry!"

Alicia went to move, but Elyza just kissed her forehead, "don't be sorry, it was comfy."

Alicia smiled and lay back down and onto Elyza's chest. Elyza giggled, "back up. I've got to check on Jay and Star." Alicia shook her head and dug her head deeper. Elyza chuckled, "come on. Up, up."

Alicia huffed and rolled off of Elyza to let her up. Elyza got up and smiled at Alicia as she walked out of the room to look at her children. Elyza smiled brightly when she saw Jaden and Star cuddled up tightly. Elyza walked back into her room and found Alicia had fallen back to sleep. Elyza laughed and nudged Alicia in the ribs, "time to get up." Alicia huffed and pushed Elyza's hand away. Elyza smiled and poked her again, "there's bacon." Alicia rolled over and sat up, "bacon?" Elyza laughed, "gosh, your worse than Raven."

--

They went to breakfast together and slowly more of their group joined them. Jaden had asked Elyza and Alicia to watch him train. Alicia was quite shocked to have been asked, but she happily agreed.

Elyza and Alicia sat on a bench, while Octavia and Jaden trained together. Alicia said, "he's very good with those knives."

Elyza felt proud and replied, "he is. We have trained him with most of the weapons we have. Next we train him with guns and how to disarm someone who is pointing a gun at you."

Alicia nodded, "would you teach me some things?"

Elyza smiled and turned her head to look at Alicia, "of course I will."

Elyza turned back to Jaden and Octavia. She smirked when Jaden knocked Octavia's sword out of her hand, floored her and then pointed his twin daggers at her throat. Her smirk only grew when she heard Octavia say two words, "I yield."

Jaden jumped up with a huge smile on his face. He ran over to Elyza, "mom! Did you see that?!"

Elyza chuckled and caught him when Jaden jumped at her for a hug, "I saw, sweetie. I'm so proud. You were amazing!"

Jaden smiled and then looked at Alicia, "hi Alicia. What did you think?" Alicia smiled at him and said, "you were very good. Way better than Octavia."

Octavia gasped as she walked over, "hey! I heard that!"

Elyza, Jaden and Alicia chuckled.

"Hey Lyza!"

Elyza turned and saw Echo coming towards them. Elyza jogged over and hugged her tightly. Echo chuckled and pulled away, "little Jaden is doing really well."

They both laughed when they heard "I'm not little!"

Elyza said, "he is getting much better. Oh! How's your hand?"

Echo raised an amused eyebrow, "shouldn't I be asking how your doing? I mean...Look at ya, Lyza."

Elyza chuckled and nudged her shoulder, "just answer the damn question."

Echo smirked, "it's healing. But, seriously, how are you?"

Elyza shrugged, "I'm going to be honest, everything hurts."

"Well, I'm not surprised."

Elyza smiled and then pulled Echo over to Alicia. Elyza said, "Alicia, this is Echo, one of my best friends. Echo, this is Alicia...my...erm…"

"Girlfriend. I'm Elyza's girlfriend."

Echo chuckled when Elyza grinned. Echo held out her hand, "it's nice to officially meet you, Alicia." Alicia shook her hand, "pleasure to meet you too."

--

It was later at night and Elyza and Alicia had just walked into Elyza's hut after have dinner. They were staring at each other once the door closed. Elyza gazed down at Alicia's lips and then back to her green eyes and found that Alicia was staring at her lips.

Elyza placed her hand on Alicia's cheek and then slowly leaned in, giving Alicia the chance to back away. However, Alicia smiled and shot forwards to close the gap, surprising Elyza. Elyza sighed into the kiss as it was so gentle and loving. She smiled and then backed away, as they both needed to remember their need for air. They leaned their forehead together, eyes closed and were grinning like fools.

Elyza said, "I'm so glad today happened this way."

Alicia giggled, "me too, Lyza."

There was a soft knock at the door, causing Elyza to groan quietly. She pecked Alicia's lips and went to open the door. Bellamy looked at Elyza and then to Alicia. His eyes widened when he realised that he interrupted something as Alicia's cheeks were red and both their lips were slightly swollen. 

He ducked his head respectively, "Wanheda, my apologies for interrupting."

Elyza pushed his shoulder slightly and snorted, "Bell, just stop being so formal."

He smiled as he lifted his head, "I need to speak with you, Elyza."

Elyza nodded, "it's alright, Bell. You can talk in front of Alicia."

Bellamy smirked slightly, but then went serious again, "our scouts have reported a growing group, close to the edge of our safe zone."

Elyza nodded, "you have marked this on a map?"

Bellamy nodded. Elyza turned to Alicia, "coming?" Alicia smiled and followed Elyza and Bellamy into a hut, which had a huge map lay out on a table.

Bellamy pointed to the area, "this is where their camp is set up currently. There were reports that they don't stay in one place for too long."

Elyza nodded, "how many people have our scouts counted?"

"Around eighty."

"Soldiers?"

Bellamy said, "around fifty are soldiers. The rest are regulars: farmers, builders, you get the point. There are quite a lot of children there too."

Elyza's heat shot up from the map, "are they treated well?"

Bellamy nodded, "it seems like a friendly camp."

"Alright. I will go and take some guards with me and talk to them."

Alicia had finally spoken up after staying quiet and listening, "are you sure that's a good idea?"

Elyza said, "if they aren't a threat then there should be nothing to worry about."

Alicia frowned for a second, "can I come with you?"

Elyza's eyes widened, "I don't know..."

"Please, Elyza."

Elyza sighed, "okay. But, please, do what I tell you. If you get hurt because of me-"

"-I will do what you ask, Elyza."

Elyza smiled, "thank you."

Alicia smiled and pecked her lips sweetly, causing Elyza's smile to grow.

Chapter Text

Elyza turns to Bellamy, "would you like to join the team?"

Bellamy nodded with a smile, "obviously."

Elyza smirked, "good. I'm going to ask two more. Alicia, wanna join me?"

Alicia nods.

The two walk towards a hut. Elyza knocks on the door and they wait. Echo comes out with a smile, "hey Lyza, Alicia. What's up?"

Elyza said, "we are going on a trip early in the morning to check this camp out. You in?"

"Count me in."

Elyza smiled and then Alicia followed Elyza to a different hut. They did the same; knock and then wait. Octavia appeared at the door, "come to brag about your little muffin?"

Elyza snickered, "muffin? Really? I mean, he really did beat your ass. But, we've come to ask if you wanna join me, Alicia, Echo and Bellamy to check out this camp, early tomorrow?"

Octavia shrugged, "whatever." She smirked, "as long as you stop bragging about the muffin."

Elyza laughed, "he is not a muffin, Octavia. But, sure yeah, we'll see."

Octavia smiled and shut the door. Alicia turned to Elyza with an amused smile, but a confused expression, "so. Does that mean she's coming?"

Elyza chuckled and wrapped her arm around Alicia, leading her into a different hut, "yeah, she won't miss it. She loves the outside world."

Alicia frowned and points behind her, "our huts back there." Elyza's eyes widened and accidently blocked the rest of the sentence out. All she focused on was the 'our hut'. Alicia poked her shoulder, "hey. Lyza. You there?"

Elyza shook her head and had a blush on her cheeks, "sorry. What did you say?"

Alicia smiled at her and repeated, "where are we going?"

"Oh. To Raven and Murphy."

Alicia nodded, "are they living together?"

"Yeah. They have been together for a while. Perfect for eachother. So sarcastic and annoying."

Alicia chuckled.

Elyza knocked on the hut's door and they laughed when they heard, "I swear to god, I'm going to hit someone with a potato if I get disturbed again," from Raven.

Raven opened the door, "what the fuck do you want?"

Elyza laughed, "no need for that attitude Reyes, I'm your best friend."

Raven smirked, "just tell me what you want, Lex, so I can pounce on my boy in there. The quicker you talk the faster you can give goddess over here orgasms,"

Alicia went red, but Elyza just laughed, "oh shut it. Your embarrassing her. Anyways, I need you and Murphy to look after Jaden and Star tomorrow."

Raven chuckled, "yeah yeah. Why? What's going on?"

"Going to check out a camp."

Raven said, "I'll keep an eye on them. Now shoo, I need to see Murphy."

Elyza smirked and wrapped her arm around Alicia and then walked back into their hut.

As soon as the hut door closed, Elyza pushed Alicia up against the wall and kissed her. Alicia gasped but kissed her back. Elyza wrapped one hand around the back of her neck and the other went down and cupped her ass. She squeezed and Alicia opened her mouth to let out a moan. Elyza took the chance to then enter her tongue, to which Alicia accepted. 

Elyza put her thigh in between Alicia's but Alicia backed away and gently pushed Elyza's thigh away. Elyza took a step back, "I'm sorry...Did I make you uncomfortable?"

Alicia smiled and stepped forwards, planting a small kiss on her lips, "no, babe. Just, not yet...Is that okay?"

Elyza smiled at her, "that's fine with me. I don't want to push you."

Alicia kissed her cheek. She took her hand to drag them into their bedroom. They both changed their clothes and got into bed. Alicia turned to face her and smiled when Elyza was already looking at her. Elyza pulled her close to her body and drew small shapes on her back. The two of them slowly fell asleep in each other's arms.

They both wake up early. Alicia gets dressed and puts a couple weapons in their places. She looks over at Elyza and chuckles to herself when Elyza is putting loads of weapons in different places. They have their breakfast and then they head to the front gate.

Echo, Octavia and Bellamy are there waiting. They all head out onto the road for their trip. It takes half the day, until they see the camp. The sun is still burning down on them from above and Elyza was quite annoyed by how hot it was.

Elyza pulls up her hood, to cover her face and the five of them walk closer to the camp. They see many tents set up everywhere and there are loads of trucks everywhere, which Elyza guessed is how they travel with all their people.

"HANDS IN THE AIR!"

Elyza gives her people a slight nod and they all raise their hands. Three guards walk over to them, with guns pointed towards them. 

"What do you want?"

Elyza said, "I want to talk to your leader!"

"Take your hood down!"

Elyza huffed, "and why would I do that?"

"So we can see your face!"

Elyza growled, "and who are you to give orders to the Commander of Death?!"

The guards lowered their guns and fell to one knee, looking at the floor, "my apologies Wanheda. We have heard of your bravery and strength. We didn't mean to offend."

Elyza smirked to herself, "no worries. Please, rise."

The three of them got to their feet but keep their heads lowered slightly and their guns pointed to the floor. Elyza wraps her arm around Alicia, pulling her to her body, "this is my Heda. If any harm comes to her, then I will kill you all."

"Of course, Wanheda. We would never dream to harm your Heda."

Elyza nodded, "good. Now, bring your leader here."

The guards nod and walk away.

Alicia was shocked, "wow that was-" Echo raised her hands in the air, "-fucking awesome!!"

Elyza chuckles. Alicia asked, "why did you want their leader here?"

Elyza shrugs, "it's out in the open. Nobody can sneak up on us and kill us."

Alicia nods with a smile, "that's smart."

Elyza smiles and gazes into her green eyes. She is so caught up in them, that she doesn't realise their leader is here. But when she hears three gasps, she frowns, Alicia also seems confused, so she looks over to the leader. Elyza looks over and her jaw drops.

Short, black, poofy hair. Dark, blue eyes. His chin which has a slight stubble. But he looks different. Now there's a scar going down his forehead, across his nose and onto his cheek, ending at his jaw.

"Bellamy? Octavia? Echo? What...?"

His voice...It's the same as before, but seemed deeper.

Elyza shakes her head in disbelief, "A-Atom...?" Elyza tugs off her hood, showing her bright blonde hair curling onto her shoulders.

Atom gasps, "E-Elyza...? Oh my god..."

Chapter Text

Atom had come to visit Arkadia and then decided to stay, bringing his people too. Wells had been extremely surprised and didn't believe that Atom was really there. However, after a few hours of Atom going through some of their memories, Wells finally believed that it wasn't a hallucination. 

Wells had become his old self again. Happy, energetic and loving.

Wells had started to hang out with his old friends again. He apologised to Elyza over and over again for ignoring her and being unlike himself. However, Elyza forgave him and told him that he didn't have anything to apologise for. She understood why he did it. She blocked herself out of the world when she lost her father - Jake.

Wells and Atom spent lots of time together. And people weren't surprised when they were told that the two of them kissed after the first week of Atom coming back.

-2 Years Later-

Atom and Wells had loved the idea of having a child. They were totally in love and now they wanted another member of the family.

They had walked - hand in hand - to the orphanage in Arkadia. They were glad that the kids there had been given lots of attention and love, thanks to Elyza - who had made sure they were all comfortable. There were quite a lot of children and babies in the orphanage, due to little to none available protection to prevent pregnancies.

The two were walking around and had come to the newborn section. They walked in and instantly got drawn to one child, who was looking up from their cot, giggling at the hanging rockets hooked to the ceiling. 

They walked over and smiled at the child and then at each other. Atom and Wells looked at the side of the cot and saw that the gender of the baby was a boy. 

Atom grinned, "he's so perfect. Look at his big brown eyes!"

Wells chuckled, "I love him already. Finny, little Finny."

Atom turned his head and smiled at Wells. He then turned back to the baby, "little Finny."

Wells gently picked the baby up in his arms, "hey, Finny. Me and Atom will give you a nice little home."

Atom went to caress his small cheeks with his finger, however Finny caught it with his hands and wrapped his tiny fingers around it and giggled. 

Atom and Wells had the brightest smiles on their faces when they brought him to their hut.

-3 Years Later-

Wells was walking into Finny's room and smiled happily when he saw Atom holding Finny in his arms. Finny looked towards the door and saw Wells. Their little boy waved his small hand and his long, dark ginger hair flopped over his big, brown eyes and he giggled. 

Atom looked towards the door and grinned when he saw Wells, leaning against the doorframe. Wells walked over and put his arm around the taller man's waist and he leaned his head against his temple, as they both looked lovingly down at Finny.

Chapter Text

Niylah was known as a player. She never caught feelings for another person. However, it all changed.

When Atom brought his people to Arkadia, a gorgeous girl caught her site. Her jaw had dropped open and she just stared at her, unable to go over and say something. Jenny caught her gaze. She chuckled and walked away, leaving an embarrassed Niylah behind.

Niylah had watched as Jenny caught loads of attention from both girls and boys. However, it came to a shock when Jenny denied them all. Niylah felt like she would also get denied if she went up and spoke to her. But, one of the days, Jenny had come over to her and they started talking for hours. 

It took them 3 months to finally date. It was a first for Niylah, as she would only hook up. 

After a year of the two dating, they broke up after a stupid fight, which left them both heart broken. Elyza had comforted Niylah and convinced her to fight for her love, fight for Jenny.

And so, Niylah did just that. She went to Jenny and they talked through their problems. Niylah had told her that she loved her. To which Jenny happily said it back and they kissed - getting back together.

They were still together after 5 years. Totally in love and living together. They had both discussed children, however they both didn't want any. They worked on the scout team together, madly in love.

Niylah had found love for the first time and she loved every moment of it.

Chapter Text

It surprised many people when Monty and Jasper told people that they were dating.

Many people thought that Jasper was head over heels with Octavia Blake, however it seems that they all got it wrong. Jasper was actually head over heels with his best friend - Monty.

Jasper was often with Octavia because one - they are really close friends, and two - he would go to her for advice on how to ask out Monty. 

Jasper had told Monty about his feelings, however Monty told him that they were just friends and he didn't return the feelings. Jasper accepted that, even though he was heart broken.

They ended up drifting apart for a few months, as Jasper felt upset and awkward around him. He had no clue how to act now. 

It took them a while, but they did end up being best friends again. (Thanks to their group always forcing them together and hanging out together.)

It had taken two years for Monty to admit to Jasper that he returned the feelings and that he was just scared of what the outcome may be if they started dating. But after Monty had witnessed some people get killed by Walkers, he didn't want to wait any longer.

After around two/three weeks, Monty had been the one to kiss Jasper first. And that's when they finally told people about them dating.

Around 5 years later, the two of them found a young girl crying in the corner of Arkadia walls. They found out that her parents were killed by the Walkers and she had been alone for a long time. Monty and Jasper were both confused and had asked if she was living in the orphanage, to which she answered no.

Monty asked her, "would you like to come live with me and my boyfriend Jasper?"

The girl - Alice - looked between the two and nodded with a cute little smile on her face. Monty and Jasper had found out that the curly, brown haired girl was 7 years old. 

Alice is now 10 and it was the first time that she called Monty and Jasper her dads. Monty and Jasper were extremely happy and they both loved their girl and each other.

Chapter Text

Many people knew that Ofelia had a crush on Atom for a long time. But, when she saw how happy he was with Wells, she knew the two loved each other, so she moved past her feelings.

She spent more time with Nick and she slowly realised that she had feelings for him. She was confused at first, because she knew that she still liked Atom.

She thought about it for a while and came to the conclusion that she could like both Atom and Nick.

Nick had never admitted to anyone that he had a long, long, long crush on Ofelia - which slowly turned into love, even though the weren't dating.

He was quite nervous when he spoke to Ofelia about his feelings. But, what shocked him, was when he was rambling, Ofelia just grabbed the collar of his jacket, pulled him towards herself and smashed their lips together.

That's when their relationship started.

They had been dating for two years and Ofelia's father - Daniel - had been bitten in a horde. He was protecting Ofelia, but that caused him to get bitten. And Ofelia was the one who put the knife into his head to stop him from turning.

She had mourned his death for a long time and Nick was always there for her.

They had discussed children, and thought it would be suitable to have a child in around 5 more years. 

They were both extremely happy and in love with each other.

Chapter Text

Octavia had always found Chris annoying. He was cocky and flirted with Octavia often.

However, Octavia had started to like it and they got into a relationship relatively quickly.

They were secretly dating for a while and then they found out that Octavia was pregnant. That's when they decided to tell their friends.

Bellamy struggled to accept it, however after a long conversation with Echo, he supported her and eventually accepted Chris.

The two of them were happy and in love, however it didn't last long. Because, in the horde, Chris had gotten bitten as well as Daniel. Octavia held him as he slowly died and then prevented him from turning into a Walker.

She was extremely upset, however she had all of her friends to look after her and she couldn't wait to have her baby.

It was a few months later and she gave birth to a baby boy. She called him Chris Jr. 

CJ grew up having big, brown eyes and short black hair, with small freckles covering his cheeks and over his nose. He grew up into a smart, sweet toddler and Octavia couldn't have been happier with her child.

Chapter Text

It was over 2 years since Atom came to Arkadia. And Raven and Murphy had tried for over 3 years to get pregnant. They were ecstatic to find out that she finally was.

Murphy had made sure Raven had everything she needed all the time and he was extremely protective when she was pregnant.

They went to the medical hut to find out if the baby was healthy. What came as a shock was when the doctor told them that they were having twins. 

Raven later gave birth to two boys. And Murphy stayed by her side the whole time, grinning like a fool.

The twins were now 2 years old.

Ethan Murphy-Reyes. He has long, light brown hair and dark brown eyes. He's the goofball of the two.

Johnathan Murphy-Reyes. Short, dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. He's the more serious one of the two.

They were two complete opposites, but you could never separate them.

Raven and Murphy loved their family and they were so happy with how their boys turned out.

Chapter Text

It had been a year since Atom came to Arkadia, and Bellamy and Echo decided to adopt a child from the orphanage. They both walked in and looked around for a while and a young boy, with short, curly blonde hair and bright green eyes caught their attention.

They had found out that the boy turned 8 years old a few months ago and that he's called Taylor.

Bellamy and Echo talked to Taylor for a while - who had recognised them both from the soldiers. He was very drawn to the adults and felt really excited to talk to them. Bellamy and Echo asked if he wanted to come home with them. 

Taylor instantly said yes. He grabbed his teddy and the three of them went to Bellamy and Echo's hut - now Taylor's new home.

He instantly settled into his room and loved his new parents.

Around two years later, Echo gave birth to twins. A baby girl and a baby boy.

Willow Blake. She has brown hair and brown eyes. She was the first one to be born of the twins.

Luka Blake. He had darker brown hair and brown eyes and a few freckles on his cheeks.

It had been another 4 years and Echo had given birth to another child a year ago - who was a boy and they named him Josh Blake. 

Taylor is now 14. He kept his hair short and his blonde curls had stayed on the top of his head. He is best friends with Jaden Lex - Elyza and Alicia's child. 

Willow is now 4. She has long brown hair that Echo puts into braids. She clings to her twin brother Luka a lot and they spend most of their time together.

Luka is now 4. He has spikey, dark brown hair. He also clings to his twin - Willow. They are inseparable. Where one goes, the other follows.

Josh is now 1. He has curly, black hair and dark brown eyes. Freckles cover his face. He looks exactly like Bellamy and he is also very smart. He seems to like Taylor the most, as Taylor doesn't scream or cry when Josh puts his fingers in his curly hair and tugs on them.

Bellamy and Echo find their family perfect. They adore their children so much.

Chapter Text

Alicia had become Jaden and Star's other mother very quickly. They accepted her with Elyza, they accepted her in their home and they accepted her as their mother.

Alicia had the biggest grin on her face when they called her 'mother'. Elyza had asked why she was smiling. When Alicia answered her, Elyza jumped in her arms with a squeal.

Jaden had turned 15. He has improved so much in his fighting. He could now use guns too. His choice of weapon was still the dual knives, however he always keeps lots of different weapons attached and hidden around his body.

Elyza and Alicia allowed Jaden on the supply team. They trusted Bellamy and Murphy to look after him, even though they knew that Jaden could fight on his own now.

Jaden had also found someone, called Ruby, she is also 15. Jaden skipped into the hut one day and slammed open the door and shouted, "Ruby is my girlfriend!" Ruby is a cute, shy girl and Elyza and Alicia have met her a few times and they definitely like her.

Star had turned 13. Raven had attached the robotic arm that Star and Raven had been working on. They have upgraded it many times to make it the best. Elyza had started to help train Star as best as they could with her arms. Elyza and Alicia were very proud of how far she had come.

Elyza and Alicia both knew that it would take a few more years of training Star until they would let her join the scout team. However, when they asked what she wanted to do, Star said she wanted to join the supply team or stay with Raven and "build some cool stuff."

2 years after Atom came to Arkadia, Elyza and Alicia had adopted a baby boy from the orphanage. They named him Copper. He is now 4 years old and is so adorable. Copper is quite shy with strangers, however is quite confident with Elyza, Alicia, Jaden and Star. 

Jaden and Star look after the young boy all the time and they both love him. Copper has shiny blue eyes and short hair, which has small black curls on the top of his head, while the sides were short and shaved.

Elyza and Alicia both love their three kids so much. They have been planning to adopt another from the orphanage in a few more years. But right now, they have everything they need.

They have each other, their best friends and the most perfect little family.