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What Do You Fear? [randomname98766789 and Amaranthine]

"I love you too my prince," Alicia replied with a sweet smile on her lips. His tender touch sent a shiver down her spine and she never wanted it to end. She viewed the move, getting on to her knees, more as sexy in general than an outright sign of submission. They had only ever been in that position once before, back at the military camp when she was trying to make it clear that she wanted to taste him. She would likely grow to associate the two as time went on, but she just knew that as a general rule Bryce would enjoy seeing her on her knees in front of him. After she spoke she leaned in towards him and started cleaning his hips and upper thighs. With her face hovering close to his crotch her breath would be warm against him, and she made a point to lean in just enough to kiss the junction between his hips and legs. Then she worked her way farther down towards his knees, shins and finally his feet.

She had made a point to hover dangerously close the entire time, occasionally glancing up towards him with a knowing look. She didn't purposely go slow, they didn't know if they could really trust the place just yet, but she did put off getting to Bryce's cock just to tease him a little bit. She stayed where she was knelt in front of him and looked him straight in the eye as she started to wash him up, rubbing the cloth around his groin before finally squeezing some of the soap out of it and on to her hand in order to give him a proper cleaning with her hand. She started with his balls, one at a time, before then taking his cock in to her hand.

"I love having my hands on you," she said, still not breaking eye contact. Bryce wasn't the only one who had been starting to feel a little interested after their intimate cleaning of each other. The entire time Alicia was acutely aware of how close their bare bodies were and she was really wishing that they had the time to properly relax and take care of each other.

----

Anna didn't much like the lack of privacy either - as much as she didn't mind being around people, she still liked to know that she had her own space where she could get away from others. Sharing the infirmary with others was less than ideal, but at the same time it was better than nothing at all. Alejandro was being good enough to spare a bed to someone who was in good health and she was lucky that was even an option. Eventually they were left to their own devices and just as Nick curled up on his own bed so did she. They'd had a long day and an unpleasant one at that, so it was no surprise that she also was ready to settle down. As much as she liked being on the move when she had a goal in mind, perhaps finding somewhere to stay for a couple days wouldn't be the worst thing. Even if she hated it she would still stay so that Nick could at least recover, but if she broke free from the "go, go, go" mindset that she was stuck in after a few days on the road perhaps she could even enjoy their stay here.

Either way after curling up on her side under the thin blanket, turned to face towards Nick rather than away. Part of her was tempted to climb in to the other bed alongside Nick - and once upon a time it would have been nearly impossible for her not to. Besides her vague attempt at "boundaries" (more just trying to maintain a non-sexual distance between them because she was actively trying to avoid having to talk about her feelings or any of that), she also liked to keep her business her own. One of the things she had hated about the estate was that everyone had known what was up and quickly, before the pair had even had a chance to start figuring out what they were trying to do. The last thing she wanted was another group of nosey people around when she couldn't even say anything concrete about what was going on.

"Hey, we stay however long we need to. I'm not going to ask you to trek to the border on a bum leg," Anna assured before yawning. She wanted to get moving as soon as possible, sure, but she wasn't going to say that out loud lest Nick decide to start moving before he was actually up for it.
 
The feeling of her hand touching his balls and cock was enough to strike a match in his body. Even though her hand was covered in soap, even though she was only cleaning him, it was enough to get him turned on just like that. However, it was probably not a secret. Offering her a smile when she mentioned the fact that she loved having her hands on him, Bryce could not help but agree and concur with that statement. “Well…” Forced to pause and bite back a moan, Bryce took a deep breath, regathering himself, now focusing on Alicia, looking into her eyes. “I love it, too. I love the way it feels when you touch me.” Equally, though, Bryce loved touching Alicia. The male could only wonder how far the teasing would go. It was already becoming unbearable. Needless to say, the second they found out this place was safe, they were going at one another. Bryce was finding a time to take Alicia, to make love to her. This made him feel incredible, especially when it was combined with her kneeling in front of him. Even if she did not mean to take it towards that connotation, Bryce could not help thinking about it.

“I love you…” He whispered, still stroking his fingers through her hair. He kept this hold until she was finished washing him, only releasing her once she stood. It was almost painful to not have anything else happen, but they had no choice. “I can’t wait… to get you alone again once we’re safe.” It was not just a threat, but it was a promise. He only ended the moment by winking at her, following it with a kiss. Finally, Bryce forced himself to turn towards the shower head, allowing the water to rinse the soap off his skin.

Soon enough, it was finished. His body was clean, but that erection was still pounding thanks to her touch. It was not like seeing her naked did anything to quell those sexual desires, either. “As much as I’d love to have some fun with you right now, we should probably get dressed again, and finish checking this place out.” Clearly, Bryce did not want to be the one to suggest it, but their hands were forced here.

--

Honestly, Nick had no idea how long this would take. Sure, the prognosis told him that it would take a few days to heal. Even then, it was not the best idea to stay on it all day following when the doctor released him. Therefore, it was a tough situation. Nick knew they could not afford to stay here for long. After all, no matter where they ended up staying, it always collapsed. Perhaps being on the move was the best idea. They had done well for themselves so far. Okay, maybe not great. They had been covered in walker guts every second of the day. Nick got himself attacked by dogs. They were chased by a herd. They were chased by a group of bandits. Was being on the run that much better than settling down? To Nick, he still thought they were making it out well. It just felt nice to be away from his nagging mother and disappointed sister. They were finally alone, away from all that trouble. Nick was looking forward to the future, especially what happened with himself and Anna as they made it towards the military camp. Perhaps, then, they could finally find safety.

They both seemed to have the idea of turning towards each other in mind. After Nick pulled his own thin blanket over his body, he turned on his side as well. Their eyes were locked together, which brought a small smile to Nick’s face. Yes, he would have enjoyed this more if she was directly beside him, but this was nice as well. He felt comfortable like this, safe even. Anna had such a strange impact on him. She could be the greatest thing to happen to him, or she could feel like the worst thing that had happened.

“Thanks for saying that, Anna. I appreciate it. I’ll get better as soon as I can, though.” He knew what Anna wanted, so naturally, he would attempt to shorten the process of recovering. “Thanks for sticking by my side through all this. It feels… nice… knowing you are around again, that you have my back. You keep me sane, believe it or not.” Nick had not intended on sharing a tender moment with her, but it just felt right. He felt the need to express his gratitude for her. After all, even if they never returned to loving each other like they used to, he could be happy with this friendship they have right now.
 
Alicia adored Bryce's reaction to the way she handled him, and it felt like she would never be able to give him enough. The way he ran his fingers through her and stroked her skin as she caressed the most intimate part of his body was thrilling. Any moment that she had to pull away would always be a moment too soon and though she stayed hovered before his body for a moment after she finished washing him up, she couldn't help but let out a little while as she climbed back to her feet.

"I'll make sure you keep your word there mister," she replied as she leaned in and kissed him before allowing him to turn around and wash himself off properly. She didn't miss the way his cock stood stiff and she almost felt bad about causing that. At the same time she had a feeling that they were both going to end up aroused whether they had taken the time to play a little anyways. Alicia was aroused as well - she felt like the slightest touch would make her moan, warmth radiated from between her thighs...

She groaned as Bryce said that they should probably get dressed, and her fingers clung to his shoulders as she moved on close. "Mmm, I hate that I know you're right," she said as she raised the heels of her feet off the ground just slightly for another kiss. She was already washed off, but she too did not want to stop. At the earliest possible convenience she was going to be jumping his bones. "Fine, let's go before I change my mind. Did you grab towels?"

----

They had a way of doing that to each other - being both the best and the worst thing possible. Anna thrived in chaos though, and she had loved every second of Nick she was given whether he felt like her safe place among the storm or the hurricane that spun around her. Life had been calmer without him in a way, attachment was a deadly thing that made her feel like she'd lost control down to her bones and giving her heart to someone had felt like signing her own DNR, but even though she knew someone had made her vulnerable she had still always felt most at home with Nick close by. She knew that she was usually the problem or at least made things worse, but at the same time she was very much the kind of person who kept her word once it was given and cared for her people intensely and fiercely. It was at least a touch unhealthy, but Anna had been with people who had genuinely been terrible to her and Nick definitely did not make that list. At times he seemed like a saint.

"Mmm... Wish I could say the same about you," Anna replied, though her soft smile was accompanied by a playful scrunch of her nose, and she followed up with a wink. She would have followed up but she didn't quite know how to say you make me feel like a person without it sounding sappy... there was no way to say that without it sounding sappy. In the end she spoke, though she hesitated first again, quiet despite the fact that they were the last people still awake. "I'm glad I have you, too. I... well, shit - I'd literally be dead if it wasn't for you, so is it really cheesie to say I couldn't live without you?"

The answer to that was, of course, yes - it was a very cheesie thing to say regardless of context. Ask her if she loved someone and she'd physically recoil, but at the same time she would go and say things like that unprompted if left to her own devices long enough.
 
“I did, Princess.” Bryce responded in a quiet voice. The water was turned off, finally. He almost felt bad about using so much water. Clearly, there was not an endless supply. It was probably a waste since they spent so long in the shower. On the other hand, he had no regrets considering what they did together in the shower. He refused to apologize for it. The water used was well worth the touching, kissing, and time that they spent together. Reaching for the towel just on the counter outside of the shower, Bryce pulled his upper half of the body back inside once he grabbed it.

One was offered to Alicia, the other was offered to himself. It might have been another surprise, but Bryce had intentions of taking liberties into his own hands, using the towel he held to dry Alicia. Again, he was just looking for an excuse to touch her. At the same time, he realized that an excuse was never necessary, so it was not a huge deal. Bryce ensured that he took his time again, starting around her neck, shoulders, and arms. Eventually, he reached lower, down her chest and abdomen, drying around her legs, too. Soon enough, she was dry.

If Alicia wanted to dry him off in return, then he allowed her to do so. If she preferred that he dried himself, then he took the clean towel and complied. Soon enough, he was finally dried from the water and soap on his body before stepping out of the shower. Once they were out, he quickly grabbed all items of clothing and threw them on, hating to watch Alicia get dressed as well. “If things go well, maybe all of this will be coming off again pretty soon.” Bryce winked, leaning over to steal yet another kiss from her lips.

--

If not for the woman’s facial expression, if not for the fun they shared together in the shower, Nick might have believed that she did not feel the same way about him. However, they had now made it a few days without getting pissed at each other. Therefore, Nick felt relieved to see the joking mannerism Anna had about him. If she said this about a week ago, he might have thought it was true. Such a short amount of time could change so much. It made Nick realize just how gracious and thankful he felt right now, knowing that they were finally returning to a state of ease around one another. It brought a smile to Nick’s face. It even earned a soft chuckle from his lips as well. It had been so long since they joked around with each other. He missed that snarky, sarcastic Anna that meant well.

It really did surprise Nick when she dared make a statement as bold as she did. She could not live without him? Clearly, she was not pulling his leg. She was being genuine about it, which was even more interesting. As cheesy as it was, Nick simply shook his head. “No worries. It’s okay to be like that sometimes… I promise I won’t tell anyone though. I know a badass like yourself can’t talk that way.” Nick was teasing now, winking at her, too. “I feel the same way though.” He added, so she knew that she was not the only one.

Now, looking towards the girl, he took a deep breath. They were not on the same bed, but did that mean they could not touch? Considering the tender moment they shared, Nick decided to go for it. He looked at her, then looked at her arm. It was hanging off the bed, slightly, her hand extended nonchalantly. It was within reach. Therefore, he decided to reach across and grab Anna’s hand that was closest to him, deciding to gently squeeze her palm. “Do you mind if I hold you like this… tonight?” He asked softly, looking at the brunette across from him.
 
It was definitely not a big deal to have Bryce pull her back - but it was a welcome surprise. Alicia was all smiles as Bryce dried her up, though she did grab the towel he had used on her after he finished up to wrap her long, thick locks up. They could use the extra towel time and even then some more - she loved her hair and knew that he did as well, but getting such gorgeous locks all dried up was a task of its own that would require much more of a rub down than the rest of her body. She was more than happy to proceed to dry him off, and started by ruffling his hair out and then working her way downwards. After they were all dried off they stepped out, and Alicia was in no rush to to get her clothes back on. She didn't miss the way that Bryce had admired her body during the last moments of her nudity - because she had been giving him the same devilish, still desiring looks as well.

"I hope so," she replied as they parted from the kiss. It was only after that she finally pulled her shirt over her head, and after that she finally let her hair down. It was still wet, of course, but she was able to brush it straight before leaving the bathroom with Bryce at her side. She definitely felt much better now that she was cleaned up, but she would feel like she was in heaven once her and Bryce got a chance to be safely alone so that they could deal with the pent-up need they had just caused each other. With any luck, that would be really soon.

As she made her way back in to the main area to grab her bag, assuming that they would move on to the next room now that they were done here, she turned her head to look at Bryce. "Where did Ofelia go anyways? She left us at some point."

----

"Better not - you've already ruined my badass cred once, don't do it again." Once - more like almost every day for a year and a half, every time he had talked her in to snuggling up with him at the end of a night despite the fact that she normally hated being touched while trying to sleep, every time he'd caught her gaze from across a room and brought a smile to her lips, every time that they ended up laughing and smiling in her living room, fooling around or fucking around or any variation there of. Very few people got to see that she had a soft side and, frankly, she only realized after speaking up that she had just opened herself up to scrutiny again. Anna wouldn't have said so, it would have felt like too much of a weak spot, but she had needed him to say something back. They were just in too shaky of a spot for her to have been okay with getting silence in return. He'd never know just how much she appreciated hearing him say he felt the same way.

There was only enough space between the beds for a person to fit, so it was easy enough for him to grab her hand. One had been tucked up under her cheek, more of a pillow than the actual pillow she had, but the other was over the edge and as soon as his fingers found her palm she had curled her own around his hand. For a moment she just stared at their hands, tentatively tracing her fingers along his skin. Anna knew that he had spoken but she was torn on what to say in return - as much as she liked the soft gesture, how much was too much? It was easy to fall back in to old habits and that didn't just mean it was easy to end up getting pissed at him. Her eyes narrowed just the slightest, focused on her hand a moment longer before looking back up to Nick.

"... Okay," she conceded. She was torn between still trying to keep herself closed off and the fact that the touch was both comforting and comfortable. If he was okay with it she would leave the conversation there - she was tired anyways, and tomorrow would be a new day.
 
“Yeah, you’re right. I don’t know where she is. I don’t remember her saying anything about leaving, either.” Bryce recalled aloud. The hallway was empty without any answer from Ofelia when they called out for her. Oh well. Maybe things were alright. She was a grown woman that could make her own choices with going off on her own in this place. If she ran into trouble, she would have to deal with it alone. Together, the couple cleared out the next room, approaching one of the balconies. At first, Bryce intended on just enjoying the scenery around them. However, he quickly realized that the scenery was nothing to admire. Across the street, there was a small gift shop for patrons of the hotel to use. It was full of the infected, banging on the door. Across the way, adjacent to the balcony, and anywhere they could see – there were other infected on the balconies.

They were being drawn to something at the hotel bar. They could hear loud piano music, which was the location of Alicia’s mother and Strand. Oh fuck! They needed to get down there, quickly. These dead were getting closer towards the noise, falling from the balconies, getting up like it was not a big deal. “Princess… we need to get down there. They probably don’t even know what they’re about to be facing…”

The couple quickly ran through the hallway, turning down to the stairwell. However, shit was really getting intense. Somehow, the stairwell was now full of the infected. “Ah, shit! Hold on, Alicia!” Bryce called out, almost knocking Alicia down when he grabbed her to prevent her from running further. They needed to find an escape route, then get down to the ground floor. Everything had taken a turn for the worst. “We gotta get out of here!” He reached for the closest door, pulling it open, ushering Alicia down into another hallway. Slamming that door, he pulled Alicia into the nearest room in that hallway as the infected were starting to follow.

--

Just like that, Nick shared another adorable chuckle with his ex-girlfriend. Indeed, he remembered how it always seemed like Anna felt indifferent about these events she recalled. She was a badass that seemed to fight through life without having any expressed emotions. Nick did get that sense from her when they first met, which was why he thought it was impossible she would ever fall for him, to even ever admit that she wanted a relationship. It took a hell of a long time, but they made it to that place. It seemed like she finally got comfortable with smiling and showing some emotion around him. Nick wished they could return to those days. Looking at the girl, Nick realized she might not have been totally behind the idea of handholding. That was fine. Nick suspected as much. However, she did not make a move to release his hand nor did she request to release his hand. If she truly didn’t want it, Nick knew she would make that suggestion or just pull away. Deciding to leave the conversation there, he simply closed his eyes and let the somewhat comfortable bed send him drifting off into a surprisingly peaceful slumber for the evening.

At this point, grabbing Anna’s hand felt pointless. Within minutes, Nick had fallen asleep, which meant his arm and hand fell limply down, his arm now hanging off the bed. It might not have looked too comfortable, but Nick was sleeping just fine. Instead of being plagued late at night with intrusive thoughts, the mind was calm and collected for a change. Not only were they somewhere safe, but the attitudes and interactions were positive. It undoubtedly contributed to the peaceful state. Nick even slept through the entire night, his dreamless sleep never being interrupted once until the following morning.

It just so happened that his face was turned towards the direction of a window where the sunlight intruded. Upon waking up, it was quickly realized that last night was some of the best sleep in weeks. For another two or three minutes, he lay still in the bed, unsure of how long to rest. The decision to get up was made for him, though. Alejandro entered quietly, in case either were still asleep. Again, it was time for a cleaning and changing of Nick’s bandage. Plus, the doctor wanted to check a few vitals as well, to ensure the infection was under control. Nick did not resist, contorting his body wherever he was asked.
 
Though she wasn't about to pass Ofelia's disappearance off as nothing, it was rather disconcerting after all, Alicia wasn't too worried. Ofelia was a grown-ass woman and likely had just moved on for other rooms without her and Bryce because she didn't want to wait for them to finish up. Alicia imagined that she was likely nearby - though as they moved in to the next room she was surprised to not find her there or anywhere else on the hall either. That left the question: where had Ofelia gone? It wasn't something that they could focus on, though.

As they stepped out on to a balcony the pair became acutely aware of what was happening outside. At first she didn't think much of the scenery - she could hear the piano playing (badly) but other than that the view was nice... until the first body fell - and then a second. It was at that point that her eyes narrowed in confusion, and as the third one joined the group of very much not dead infected now on the ground with easy access to her mother, she follow its path. That was when she caught sight of the infected trying to get out through balconies, obviously lured in by the loud ring of the piano from the ground floor. Her heart sunk straight in to her stomach.

"Mom!" She yelled, praying that her calling out would catch the blonde's attention before the dead did. She didn't pause, though. There was no time to hesitate and she grabbed Bryce's hand immediately and the pair ran from the room to get to the stairwell. Thanks to Bryce, she didn't continue to run in to the stairwell, but they couldn't get the door properly shut without risking getting bitten. They escaped in to the nearest room and Bryce slammed the door behind them. Alicia's first thought was to try to move the furniture, secure it further - but was that really something to worry about? They were trapped in a room, several floors up. It wasn't like they could just hop the balcony and probably get out without injuries. "Fuck," she cursed, which showed the seriousness of what was going on. "What are we going to do? We have to get down there, my mom-" she had started to ramble and was a little louder than she should have been, but she caught herself and went quiet as a panicked expression took over her face.

----

Nick passed out first - and as his hand went limp Anna's fingers tightened around it to keep holding on just a little bit longer. She was tired, ridiculously so, but for a few minutes she couldn't do anything other than just keep her heavy-lidded eyes on Nick's peaceful form. She didn't much like being left to her own thoughts but there wasn't much that she could do about it. Her expression may have stayed neutral, almost content, but inside she was stuck in a train of thought that she was just getting her hopes up for nothing, It was too soon to say that anything good could come because, by nature, she wasn't a good person. She didn't deserve good people - and she split so hard on the people around her that when she was happy with someone, they may as well have not had flaws in the first place. He seemed absolutely perfect, especially as he laid there peacefully. She almost felt inadequate.

She wasn't sure at what point she passed out, but next thing she knew the creaking of the door had startled out of her slumber. Even when trying to be quiet those doors were loud, and combined with the fact that she wasn't good at sleeping when sober, Anna had never been in too deep of a sleep. Being an easy startler was nothing new, Nick would have experienced it any time he was less than perfectly careful around her when she was sleeping, but confusion and unfamiliarity immediately took over her expression. Everything seemed foreign, and it wasn't until her head swiveled around to see where the noise had come from and caught sight of Alejandro's face that she clued in to where she was. Only then did her body relax and she rolled back to where she had been before, facing the wall and also Nick. She saw his eyes peeking open but hers were still wide, and she offered him a good morning smile as she tried to urge her heart to relax once again.

Alejandro started to work on Nick, but Anna wasn't feeling quite ready to do any talking. She stretched her body out as Alejandro did some checks and started cleaning up Nick's leg again. By the time he finished up she had finally sat up and she cocked an eyebrow a Alejandro as the man secured the bandage. "So how's it looking doc? He losing the leg?" She was, hopefully at least semi-obviously, joking.
 
Clearly, Alicia was rattled. Thankfully, Bryce had a Ph.D in keeping Alicia happy, calm, and satisfied. Attempting to calm her down now, though, was a challenge. Since the brunette was getting loud, too loud, Bryce cupped his palm over her mouth to quiet her down. “Shhh….” Bryce whispered calmly, looking into her deep, green eyes. “Princess, I know. We’ll get to your mother. We’ll figure this out. I just need you to stay calm for me, alright? Stay quiet, too. We already got these infected on our ass outside this door. Let’s not make things worse.” Sighing, he wrapped his arms tightly around her back, pulling her against his chest. “Just breathe for me, alright? Take deep breaths. It will be okay. I need you, Alicia. We’re going to get through this together, but we need to keep ourselves together.” Again, the voice was sweet, soothing, and gentle. Then, their noses were nuzzled together, one hand now cupping the side of Alicia’s face while the other squeezed one of her hands. After spending two minutes allowing Alicia to compose herself, Bryce finally pulled himself away from the girl. It was not that it was desired to pull away, but it was necessary.

It was time to figure this shit out. The couple spent a few minutes together, waiting. There was no chance that the infected would simply leave them alone, but they needed to wait for an opening. Unfortunately, it was easier said than done. On multiple occasions, Bryce attempted to open the door, peeking out until another infected lunged towards them, preventing them from escaping. Another half hour later, they managed to make a break for it, but were quickly cornered. The only opening they had was towards an elevator shaft. Reaching down to grab Alicia’s hand, he looked towards the infected cornering them, looking right back down to the shaft. They didn’t have a choice.

He took a leap of faith, jumping from the edge, landing onto the shaft. The pair landed with a thud, causing Bryce to groan out. Thankfully, they did not miss, or the pain would be much worse. One-by-one, the infected started toppling down from the edge of the elevator, Bryce glanced towards his fiancée and then looked upwards. “Alicia, get moving. See if you can shimmy up the cable. We’ll figure out something when we reach another level. I’m right behind you, Princess.”

--

Returning the gesture, Nick offered the brunette a smile. Looking at her for a few seconds, Nick only diverted his attention away when the doctor began speaking to him. “No, no. I don’t think that he’ll have to lose the leg. He’ll be ready to be on the move again in a few days. Keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn’t do much. The more he stays off the leg, the better it’ll be for him. I’ll be back in a while to check him again.” Alejandro’s work was now done. The wound was cleaned, the bandage was reapplied, and Nick was given a small pill to help with the inflammation. Once that was over, the doctor walked out of the room, leaving Nick to slowly pull the pants back up over his hips. It was tough getting the material over the bandage, but it was finally doable. Once he was ready, Nick pushed himself up into a sitting position on the bed. Even though he needed to stay off the leg, it was not a great idea to stay completely bedridden. After all, it was necessary to keep working the leg, to ensure he didn’t lose any stability or strength.

“Want to go for another walk? I’ve been asleep all night. I think it’ll be good to get some walking done after all.” The male murmured, looking towards the girl. “We could grab some breakfast as well, if you want. We can spend the rest of the day exploring. When they both stood upright, Nick took the lead from the infirmary. The pair spent a few minutes wandering through Colonia until they reached a small, open field. There was a little girl crying. Naturally, he decided to approach the girl. For whatever reasons, children got along well with Nick.

Recalling the island with the Geary’s, Willa and her brother did seem to attach well to Nick. It was not even planned, as to why children were drawn to him. It just happened. Before being able to ask what was wrong, the attention was drawn to a more central part of the camp. There was a man in the bus, presumably the girl’s father. He entered a closed field of infected that were surrounded, basically sacrificing himself for whatever reason. Alejandro was the man organizing it all, apparently. Nick was absolutely mortified at the sight.
 
Initially the hand to her mouth had just made her feel a little more startled, but then Alicia was quickly able to calm down. Between Bryce's affectionate, careful touch and the way that he spoke in a low, soothing tone she was able to relax to some degree. Obviously being outright calm wasn't a viable option, no one would be able to feel perfectly comfortable when trapped in a room with the dead in the hallways and no way to get back to family, but at least she was able to relax enough to think straight. Luckily, she was able to avoid the point of hyperventilation as well. After the couple minutes spent huddled together closely, they had to start waiting it out. Alicia had peered out the peephole every couple minutes, quiet as the actual dead. It seemed like more and more kept coming, but after a while the crowd started to thin. They were able to find a chance to get out of the room - but then they had to find a way out of the hall.

There was no avoiding the infected after the door closed behind them. There was a bit of space between them and the nearest of the dead, but almost immediately rotted heads turned towards the pair. The only direction they could go was further down the hall until they were cornered, and the pair shared a glance as they stood before the elevator shaft. There was no where else to go, so Alicia squeezed Bryce's hand tightly before taking the leap of faith. Luckily there wasn't far to go - but that also meant it wasn't far for the dead to follow.

"Stay close please baby." Alicia knew that there was no way she was going to be able to talk Bryce in to going first so it was easier to just start climbing. It wasn't easy, but she kept going in an attempt to get to the next floor and potentially find a way out. What if the next floor was infested as well? What if there was nowhere to go? She couldn't focus on that as her heart was racing, but the sweat on her palms was also making things slippery. She swore she was about to slip as more of the infected neared in, when a human face broke her sight and reached out and grabbed out towards her.

----

Once Alejandro walked away, Anna was more than awake enough to get up. When he suggested that they go for a walk and find breakfast she shrugged the thin blanket off of her shoulders and urged them back far enough that her bones cracked before straightening up and climbing to her feet. There had to be food here somewhere, right? Over the last few days they'd pretty much worked through both their food and water supply so her stomach was starting to feel it. Just because she had a low appetite didn't mean she had none at all. "Yeah, that sounds good to me," she said, and she had even offered him a hand up before they walked out the door. Yesterday they hadn't looked around too much - a cursory glance of the nearby area before retiring to clean up and then settle down. Given that his bite was fresh and they had been on the move for so long, it made sense for them to take it easy. Now? Provided that Nick was up for it, she didn't mind taking a longer trip today.

They didn't get far, though. Anna heard the child's cries before she caught sight of the little girl. If it wasn't for Nick she probably would have walked on by - she didn't have a maternal bone on her body to the point that the little girl's cries were almost irritating. Nick did much better with kids, though - always had, even when he didn't try. In the past there had been a couple of moments where she had almost felt bad about the fact that she didn't want to reproduce because she knew that in theory, in a life where he cleaned up and he tried not to be like his father, he could have made a damn good dad. He stopped, tried to calm the girl - Anna knew that he barely knew a lick of spanish but the word papa and a finger point was all that was needed. Obviously, thing seemed a lot less irritating when she realized that the kid had a genuine reason to be upset. In the distance they could see the man walking through the bus and in to the horde outside the fences, and she glanced to Nick with a look of utter disgust.

"What the fuck?" She exclaimed and then grabbed the fabric of Nick's shirt to urge him to keep moving. She wanted to go and figure out what was going on. Had they walked in to some sacrificial death camp or something?
 
Indeed, Bryce remained close with Alicia. The male was right behind his fiancée, shimmying with her every inch of the way. If something went wrong, they were both fucked. However, Bryce felt confident with Alicia going first. If she slipped, he could hopefully grab her. When they reached safety in an upper level, she would reach it first – that was the idea. Little did he know that one of these “safe” levels were actually not so safe at all. Just as surprised as Alicia was when a female voice called out, Bryce still felt thankful for it. The older woman pulled Alicia from the shaft into a safe place. Bryce followed, climbing a few more feet so he was out of reach from any of the dead. At this point, the woman was not acting hostile. Instead, she helped pull Bryce in as well. Since this woman was not from their little group, it was obvious that they were right: people still inhabited this hotel. Was that good? Was that bad? Bryce thought it was too early to tell, but he did feel thankful that she helped him and Alicia. At this point, Bryce was breathing heavily, feeling overwhelmed. “Thank you so much for helping us. My name’s – “ The cordial thing to do was introduce oneself, right?

Well, that was the plan until the woman cut Bryce off. “Where is he?!” She demanded, quickly growing aggressive. Having not seen it before, Bryce was surprised to see the older female grab an axe, hoisting like she was ready to attack. Of course, Bryce quickly grabbed Alicia, pulling her behind him to shield her with his body. What the fuck was she talking about? Who was she referring to? Who did she think Bryce and Alicia were? What the hell happened at this hotel?

“What are you talking about? We don’t know anything about anyone that is at this hotel…” Bryce explained, attempting to remain calm. Although he did still have one of the handguns tucked in his waist, it was not his preference to go for it. After all, she might actually attack if he reached for it. “We just got here with some other people, okay? We don’t know anything about where anyone you know is. I promise…” Bryce added, which seemed to somewhat satisfy her as she slightly lowered the axe, but not fully yet.

--

Even though Anna was urging Nick to keep moving, he could not look away. The bus entrance was full of people, too. Everyone was watching, but nobody was doing anything about it. The man walked right into the infected and was attacked. Nobody did anything. Nobody tried to stop him. The girl was now sobbing, clearly upset from watching her father die right before her eyes. Damn. Nick thought his father’s death was rough. He could not imagine watching his father die right before him as a young child. Poor girl. “What the fuck is this?” He muttered, not to Anna, but just to himself more than anything. What kind of place was this? What was the point? Nick was confused, but he had so many questions. He wanted to walk over there to see what the hell had happened. On the other hand, Nick wanted to keep moving and mind his own business. They were guests here. They were not staying for long. If they were not bothered, then was seeking this out really any of their business? Nick was at a crossroads here, but the crying girl really impacted him. No child should go through that. It was wrong.

Nick spent the next few minutes trying to comfort the girl, but there was not much that could be done. In the end, the girl ended up wandering away, so there was not much else they could do. Nick turned to face Anna again and frowned. “I guess we should get moving… maybe we should check this place out a little more.” He murmured softly, looking deep into her eyes. “I don’t know what the hell just happened, but we need to be careful.” So, they started walking deeper into the community, just looking around at every location.

Eventually, they made a full circle, now passing near the infirmary again. He peeked inside to see Alejandro working with a man that had seemingly been bitten, giving him some kind of injection and hope. While they were standing around, one woman flagged him down by one of the women working at the infirmary. It seemed like she wanted a hand or two.
 
Alicia initially felt grateful to the stranger, as disheartening as it was to find out that the hotel was in fact occupied by others. There was no time to focus on that when their options had been accept the help or wind up in a big mess. She didn't move from the entry way to the elevator shaft until Bryce was pulled free as well, and even then she didn't go far. She didn't get the chance to - Bryce hadn't even finished thanking the woman before she had raised an axe to them like they were enemies before they even had a chance to say that they were not. She started to scream, accusing them of having someone she knew. Obviously, the pair had no idea what was going on or who this person night be.

Luckily, Bryce's words seemed to suffice... ish. The woman at least lowered the weapon a bit and they were able to start figuring out what was going on. It seemed that one of her family members had gone missing and she suspected that her and Bryce were involved in it. She still wasn't entirely convinced that wasn't the case, but Alicia started to talk. "Look, we're looking for people too. My mom and some friends are down in the lobby, and we need to get down there. They could be in a lot of trouble - maybe your nephew is down there too? We could help you."

----

Anna didn't force him to move. One thing she had appreciated about Nick was his heart - maybe sometimes he fucked up a bit but his intentions were always good. He was not about to walk away from someone that was hurting, let alone a child. She wished she had that kind of heart, one that ached to soothe the suffering of others, but unless she truly cared for someone her affection and comfort was forced at best. She knelt down and talked to the child, for once making use of the fact that Molly had made her bilingual, but overall she didn't find out too much. She was barely fluent, especially given that she had been seventeen the last time she tried to have a proper conversation in another language - and it didn't help that anything the child said was muffled by her cries.

Later on, she didn't mind helping out that the pharmacy. Even though she was rather bothered by what she had seen earlier in the day she figured it was best to stay under the radar and just do as they were asked to. They could just go along with things until Nick was healed up, and then head out - hopefully without trouble. Anna was cautious after what she had seen earlier but she wasn't speaking up. For a little while they helped out there before taking bowls of bandages towards the water, as they were asked to get them cleaned up. They tried tap after bottle after jug and all seemed to be running dry until Anna turned a tap along the wall - which spat out brown water. She was on the verge of getting frustrated when a familiar voice, Luciana's, called out.

The water would just make things worse was about what she said, which Anna had already realized. Then Luciana asked - or more demanded, it was obvious that they didn't have much a choice - that they followed. Anna was put on high alert. "Be careful," she whispered to Nick. "She wants us to follow."
 
The trio had a compromise: Elena, Alicia, and Bryce would lure the infected out of the stairwell to find Madison. Elena explained that her nephew, Hector, was taken hostage by the wedding party guests because she has the keys to every room and floor inside the hotel. If Elena helped them clear the stairwell to find Madison, Bryce and Alicia would help her find Hector. Bryce, at least, promised to uphold his end of the bargain. It took a few minutes, but the trio finally had an idea. Of course, Bryce wanted to volunteer to take the most difficult, dangerous job. It sounded crazy, but they figured it out. Elena and Alicia would lie in the shadows while Bryce lured the infected from the stairwell, into the hallway, and into a room. Once everyone was inside, the door was going to be closed. Then, Elena and Alicia would help Bryce scale across the balcony towards the other side to safety.

Before doing this, he hugged Alicia as tightly as he possibly could. They shared a kiss, and Bryce promised her that he would be safe, also making sure that she promised him the same thing. They were going to figure it out together. When all parties agreed on the plan, it was time to begin. From there, Bryce sprinted towards the balcony and closed the sliding door. Looking towards the other balcony, Bryce took a deep breath. This was going to be fun as hell. Now, it was time to scale the balcony. Bryce pulled himself onto the very thin ledge and began maneuvering his way towards the other side, ready to jump across as soon as he was close enough.

--

Yeah, it did not much seem like they had a choice. Luciana was demanding that they followed her. Deciding there was nothing they could do, Nick nodded to Anna. “Alright.” He whispered quietly, walking beside his ex-girlfriend. Even if they were following Luciana, he was not going to let his guard down. They eventually reached the field of infected to exit Colonia. Before doing anything, they needed to cover themselves and camouflage themselves in infected blood (again). Nick knew that was how it was heading when she pushed down one of the infected she killed and started to slather it on herself. Nick looked to Anna, knowing she was probably going to hate this since she had just gotten it washed off her body not too long ago. Even then, it mattered very little. It was something they needed to do if they were going out. It could always be washed off again later.

When the trio were finally finished lathering each other in the blood of the dead, Luciana led the way. Nick asked obvious questions. “Where are we going? What is our plan? Why did you want to take us with you?” Sadly, Luciana was not in the mood for answering questions. Instead, she simply told Nick to keep his mouth shut. The only answer she offered was telling him that Nick and his friend were the best choices for this run since nobody would miss them. It made Nick wonder even more what they were doing, but they were already here. Plus, Nick owed Luciana for helping him. She and the men with her did not have to stop, take Nick in, and give himself and Anna a place to stay. It was the least he could do, after all. “Are you familiar with anything?” Nick decided to ask Anna since they were so close to Tijuana. She had no idea If she had ventured down here before, if she knew where the hell they were, or anything on the subject because Nick still wanted answers.
 
Alicia hated the idea - but at the same time she couldn't think of anything better. With the stairwell blocked they were effectively trapped on the floor, and there was no way that they would get out without clearing things out first. It killed her to have to let go of him - no amount of promises would make her feel completely happy with what was about to happen. Bryce stood in front of them, acting as a distraction while the girls slunk in to one of the rooms. At that point the stakes started to raise as there was no going back. Alicia and Elena moved as quickly as possible to pull the sheets off the bed but it never seemed fast enough. As Alicia hovered at the sliding door to the balcony, poised to pounce, her nerves felt like they were on fire. She was virtually screaming at Elena to hurry up, and as soon as the woman had the sheets off Alicia was already out the door.

Then Elena handed one end off to her, and she called to Bryce as Elena secured their side. Once everything was good to go, luckily just in time as she could see the dead hitting the floor right behind Bryce's feet, she kept her arm held out. If Bryce slipped she wanted to be able to grab them - and though he didn't slip she had her hand on him as both a safety precaution and a comfort thing. Provided that all of the infected had followed Bryce in to the next room over, and the fact that they were falling on to the balcony, the hallway should be clear by now. That was only the second thought in her mind - the first was helping him over the railing as soon as she could and then pulling him in to a tight hug.

"Are you alright?" She asked, needing verbal confirmation that he wasn't hurt. Only after finding out that Bryce was okay would she be willing to walk out in to the hallway and see if their plan had worked.

----

Anna didn't like the way that Luciana spoke, bossing them around and then blatantly calling them expendable. She couldn't judge much, though - as much as that remark made her want to wrap her hands around the latina's throat, Anna where Luciana was coming from. Luciana would rather lose people who weren't her own rather than those she had come invested in, just like Anna probably would have let everyone die if it meant keeping Nick or Molly, the only two people who she really gave a fuck about, alive and safe. She didn't really like having to mask herself in the blood of the infected again, but after spending several days coated in it she had started to get a lot more adjusted to it. As much as she grimaced, she didn't do much more about it. As long as she could keep Nick close by and have an eye on him, she would feel at least somewhat okay with things.

"No fucking clue," she admitted. Anna had absolutely no idea where they were, all she had really known was that there was supposed to be a military base back on the American side of the border - she'd never even left Los Angeles before the infection came. She hadn't been thinking far enough ahead to figure anything out, and had pretty much just planned to go north through the city and hope for the best once they hit Tijuana. Of course, now she at least knew they were getting close - the city was visible in the distance from a vantage point inside of Colonia.

The walk was... tense. Luciana was obviously on the mission and Anna wasn't any more relaxed. Anna didn't say too much because she wasn't interested in Luciana's attitude (ironic consider her own, but also because of her own), which didn't help the tension any. In the end they pulled up in front of a large warehouse like building and Luciana started speaking in Spanish to the armed men out front. Anna hovered back, keeping to Nick's side. "Man... This is gang territory. We really shouldn't be here."
 
Talk about an adrenaline rush! It was not a good rush, at least until he safely reached the other balcony. Grabbing Alicia’s hand, the young man found himself with two feet on solid ground again. Turning to watch the infected fall from the balcony, it seemed the plan must have worked. Before he was able to think about the plan, Alicia had plans of pulling him into her arms. Despite being pressed for time, Bryce would never deny Alicia’s touch. They hugged it out for a few seconds before Bryce pulled away. “I’m fine, Princess. Are you?” Of course, it might have been a dumb question. She was not the one pulling death-defying stunts on the ledge of the balcony, but he still wanted to ensure that she was safe. Once both members of the couple were safe, the trio left the hotel room.

The hallway was clear. The stairway was clear. Hell, that plan actually worked! Bryce was satisfied with the result. When they finally made it to the ground floor, the first stop was the banquet hall. It was here Elena admitted something gruesome. She locked a group of wedding party guests inside once the infection broke out. She tried to contain the illness. Yeah, that was a good reason for some people to have a vendetta. Upon reaching the hotel bar, the doors were shown to be barricaded. The herd of infected were pounding on the door. “It doesn’t look like it can hold for very long.” Bryce mentioned, seeing as how the doors looked weak. At this point, they were still standing in the lobby.

Bryce was sure they needed to get rid of this problem first. After all, if they were caught off guard with these dead flowing into the lobby, well, they were fucked. Unfortunately, Madison was nowhere to be seen. Surely she and Strand managed to get away when the infected flowed into the hotel. Before they had an opportunity to react, another group of strangers appeared. They were holding a hostage – it appeared to be Elena’s nephew. She was telling the truth as the man held a gun to Hector’s head, demanding the keys as they stood near the hotel bar.

--


Well, shit. Neither Nick nor Anna knew a damn thing about their surroundings. It was a dangerous game to play. If things went south, they had no clue where to run. No longer were they controlling their own destiny our journey. It was in the hands of Luciana for now. It better be worth it. The secrecy did make him quite worried, too. Why was it needed? The only time Nick spoke was in the midst of walking down an abandoned street. He asked Luciana about the man that sacrificed himself back at Colonia. “They dying sacrifice themselves to the dead, and once the dead are gone, the world will be renewed.” As if that comment didn’t fuck with his mind enough, the comment about Alejandro being bitten and surviving did. “That’s impossible. Nobody can do that.” Nick argued. “You’re wrong. I saw it myself.”

When Luciana said that, Nick shared a glance with Anna, showing how odd this sounded. It made him question these people more than before – Nick was now quite skeptical of these people, but he was intrigued at the same time. What if it was true? Could it be possible that some were immune? They finally reached what used to be a supermarket. It was now run by a group of gang members, holding assault rifles and various weapons at the door. At Anna’s comment, Nick agreed with her quietly. “That’s right… why the hell wouldn’t she let us know what we’re walking into?”

Luciana was speaking to the leader. Nick thought he heard her say something about ‘Marco’, so that must have been his name. Nick’s Spanish was not very good, compared to Anna. Since most spoke in that tongue, he asked Anna for translations when she could offer. The only thing he understood was that the deal they had was usually for two shopping carts, but is now for one. Luciana gave the man a bag of medicine and was given one cart, so the trio was finally allowed into the supermarket, but not without some disparaging glances.
 
"I'm fine love," Alicia replied as Bryce let her know that he was okay. "Much, much better now that stunt is done with." One last quick kiss and they were able to get moving - and the plan had worked. The hall was clear as was the stairway, and they were able to make it down to the ground with ease. Elena took the lead - she knew the way much better. She also had a dirty little secret it seemed - there definitely were people here and they would be pissed. Alicia had little time to be pissed, but now she was desperately hoping that they would not run in to those people at any point in time.

After getting in to the lobby they were left with an empty room. One way or another her Mom and Strand had gotten out - or they had gotten somewhere and gotten bitten. Frankly, Alicia had already been terrified that they were going to find her dead or risen, but now that fear as only amplified. They also needed to find a way to deal with the infected separated from them by only one door. As if that wasn't enough of a thought consuming things, when the group of people showed up wanting the keys to the hotel Alicia's first thought was to metaphorically throw Elena to the wolves. Whatever Elena had done wasn't their problem and every moment they spent plotting things out was just another second shorter before the dead would break through the door and overtake all of them.

She was a compassionate person, though. She was not about to throw a woman to her doom. As her gaze flicked back and forth between the precious barricades on the door and the group of strangers looking to be righted, there was only one good call: Elena had to hand the keys over. There was no time to do anything else. "Do it, Elena. Give them the keys, it's the only way you're getting your nephew back."

----

Anna didn't have nearly enough trust in anyone to be okay with this and she couldn't help but be on the edge - especially after Luciana had to go and say that someone, Alejandro specifically, was immune. That was bullshit - it had to be. The infection was so insidious that people could die without a bite and still turn in to one of those things, so surviving one sounded impossible. Some people just needed to believe in something, though. Without there being a bigger reason for the shit that happened in this world, some people would be hopeless. Anna was not one of those people, though - she was okay with the fact that there was no bigger meaning or importance to life, that death would come one day.

With Luciana taking the lead, Anna was able to hang back at Nick's side, translating what she could though her comprehension of the language was nowhere near perfect. They were brought a cart as Luciana handed over a bag of pills - which was immediately what caught her attention. An addict was an addict, after all - and now she could barely focus beyond thinking about if there might have been more back at Colonia... and what they were. It only took a half-second of eye contact with Marco for her to break her gaze, though, and quickly follow after Luci.

"I don't know... Be careful, okay? As if I didn't feel bad enough before now..." She spoke in a hushed whisper to Nick as they walked in to the building. They were greeted with aisles and aisles of stuff - food, water, medicine. Obviously, the gang presence in the city had taken control of the vast majority of supplies - the apocalypse had just given them more power. She didn't know what exactly they were looking for so she just followed with her hands in her pockets. The less she touched the better, presumably - she didn't need to look behind her to feel the eyes burning in to the back of her head.
 
When Elena relinquished the keys, Hector was released. However, these particular group of strangers did not seem willing to end the battle just yet. Instead, the guns were still aimed this way. Clearly, there was a great deal of animosity towards whatever Elena had done. It was risking Bryce and Alicia’s life, too. Therefore, a split second decision was made. If Alicia had not moved for it first, then Bryce took the honors. After all, the men holding the guns appeared ready to fire. The door barricading the infected was suddenly opened, allowing the infected to swarm the party guests. Bryce backed Alicia up from the door once it was opened. The majority of the infected decided to seek out the party guests that were forced to abort the mission and run. For the few infected that came this way, Bryce had his knife out, easily sinking the blade into the rotted heads that attacked.

Soon enough, there was an opening for Bryce and Alicia to reach inside the bar. This was the moment of truth. They could possibly find Madison and Strand here. If they did, it meant the two individuals were likely not alive. If they were gone, there was a better chance they made it out alive. Bryce could not imagine what it would be like for Alicia to find her mother in a state like this. It was heartbreaking enough for him, but it would leave her with no blood-related family since Nick had abandoned her.

At first, Bryce felt his heart sink to his stomach. There was a long-haired blonde in a flannel shirt. Upon further inspection, though, the infected woman was not Madison. Other than that, there was no trace of her mother as the group of four worked on clearing out the rest of the hotel bar. Obviously, there is no chance to take out every single infected, so right when they were about to get cornered in the bar, Elena informed them of an underground tunnel they could use, pushing open a door near the back of the bar that led right into the tunnel system.

--

For the most part, Nick followed alongside Anna, keeping his hands in his pocket, too. The last thing they needed was either being accused of stealing. Luciana had the mental list of what supplies were needed. It made Nick wonder why they needed to join her as well for this. She told them jack shit about what they were doing, where they were going, or what they needed. The pair was literally useless right now, just looking around the supermarket and hoping that one of these gang members did not decide to get frisky with their machine guns. Plus, Nick did not appreciate the way some of these guys were eyeing Anna. Again, he had no right to feel that way. It was not like they were an item or in any relationship. Yet, from years of practice and feelings, it was only natural that he felt this way. Before Anna, Nick had never been a jealous guy, but she changed something within him. It was no secret that Nick wanted Anna all for himself.

As they were walking, something did catch his eye, though. It was a candy bar. Thinking about it, Nick started to reach for it, but finally stopped. In that moment, he remembered the crying girl. What kid didn’t like candy? It wouldn’t bring her father back, but maybe it could make her day a little less shitty. Nick did have a way with kids. He had no business being as good with them as he was, in his mind.

So, he placed the candy bar into the cart, being scolded by Luciana immediately. “Put that back. Only take what we need, Nick.” She uttered,, making Nick huff in response. He did take the bar out, and placed his hand over the shelf like he put it back (until neither Anna or Luciana were looking). When nobody looked at him, he quickly shoved it into his back pocket, figuring not much harm would come from just taking a small candy bar.
 
Seeing that blonde body was perhaps one of the most terrifying moments of Alicia's life. After moving through the now-opened doors, Alicia had been praying to lay eyes on her mother, even if she was dead but in that moment where there was the chance Madison could actually have been taken down? Alicia was outright mortified. Luckily it wasn't - but that didn't leave her much less shaken. However, given the fact that neither Strand or her mother were there, the pair likely had gotten out in time. That was, technically, a good thing.

They followed Elena in to the tunnels - and so did the infected. The ran until they hit the end and they were left with no choice but to pound on a locked door and hope for the best. "Come one! Please! If there's anyone then help us!" She begged as she slammed against the door. They were cornered and the infected were nearing in quickly.

Not a moment too late, the door opened just as she went to pound again.

----

Anna also wondered why in the world they were needed. Backup? Witnesses? Someone to hold the people here accountable? It wasn't like they were allowed to do anything - they had no idea what Luciana even wanted and were just trailing around like lost puppies who were barely allowed to speak. Then Luciana had the gall to snap at Nick like he was supposed to know what she wanted and that ticked Anna off, to say the least.

"What do we need then anyways?" Anna asked, obviously missing Nick sneak the candy bar in to his pocket. Though they didn't know it one of the men, however, [had seen it. "Water, medicine, food - not snacks. Things that would actually be useful," the latina replied - basically: don't touch shit. But hey - at least now they knew what to actually look for! After a while they (read: Luciana) had grabbed everything that they needed and it was time to head back out. The pair were ushered by Luciana to follow her out of the building, presumably back to Colonia.
 
Thank God – it was Madison and Strand! They were pulled into safety (well, not really safe, but relatively safe for now). There was not much time to explain who Hector and Elena were. Instead, the couple just explained that these two strangers had helped them escape the infected-filled hotel bar. Now that they had a second to themselves, Bryce simply wrapped his arms tightly around Alicia, pulling her head against his chest. After such a close brush with death, it was only natural that he wanted to hold her tight, to ensure that she was fine, that she was no hurt. With all the chaos happening around them, it had been somewhat difficult to ensure that Alicia kept safe while trying to keep his mind functioning amidst the chaos.

After the reunion, Madison was informed about Ofelia’s absence. She wanted to look for the other woman, but Bryce was certain that she fled. Both himself and Alicia did not hear her say anything about leaving. They were not facing any threats at the time when she disappeared. It was fruitless to search for her. Taking stock of their supplies, everyone realized they barely had anything to go on right now. Their bags did not hold much food or water. Unfortunately, even though the main part of the hotel had food they could use for months, the party guests were controlling everything, which meant they could not access them.

It was Madison’s idea, even though she knew that these guests had their weapons aimed at both Bryce and Alicia along with the other two not even an hour ago, to approach them and request some sort of truce, to help each other out. Bryce was not too sure how he felt about it, though.

--

While walking through the supermarket, Nick happened to find a group of dazed junkies camped out. It took a junkie to know another, usually, and the entire group looked like they were using the supply of Oxy that was brought to them. Among them was Marco, but he was not using. Instead, he offered some of the medicine to a woman that was in the circle. Presumably, considering their similarities in appearance, she appeared to be his sister. Plus, their actions did not seem like they were a couple, so that was just his first assumption, but Nick kept his own thoughts to himself for now.

Eventually, it was time to go. Nick was certain nobody had seen him snatch the candy bar, so he was not even worried about it right now. The shopping cart was full of the items Luciana deemed necessary, so it seemed like a good haul. However, it did not last. The sound of running footsteps towards the trio could be heard. By the time Nick was turning around, it was too late. One of the gang members tackled Nick onto the ground, pinning him down. The candy bar in his back pocket fell out, revealing what the issue was seemingly all about. Damn. All of this over a candy bar?

At that time, Marco walked out after being told someone was stealing. In Spanish, he informed the pair of on-lookers that thieves that stole from this place lost their hand. Nick was still being pinned down, now by two men, his arm outstretched for the machete that Marco was brandishing, approaching the male on the ground.
 
For a moment, Alicia was properly able to rejoice about reuniting with her mother this time. However, there was still things to do - like find a way out of here or at least find a way to get supplies now that the hotel was in the hands of the guests. Obviously, it had been appropriate when they had earlier thought there would be people here. As everyone talked Alicia clung to her fiance's torso. She was shaken - but injured, thankfully. She was more thankful that he wasn't hurt either, and that her mom was alive. Instinct told her to look out for herself first, but that was something she couldn't do. Her family, Bryce included, mattered so much more to her than anything else in the world, especially nowadays.

"I don't like this plan," Alicia said to Bryce after they had talked about trying to negotiate with the guests. They'd held a kid who couldn't be much other than herself hostage, pointed weapons at both herself and her fiance. Alicia didn't want to trust them with anything - but what other choice was there? Ofelia had fled with the truck and it wasn't like they could carry enough to last them, especially with no idea where they might move next. It was just the four of them now, less than half of what the group had started with.

"It's terrible. But... At the same time I don't see what other choice there is. We need to find a way to survive and if we try to leave without supplies then we're going to be doomed."

----

It was after seeing the group of junkies that Anna had realized exactly what was in the bag... which just made Anna immediately curious as to if there would be more waiting back at Colonia - can't show a junkie what they fiend for without catching their attention, after all. It was a lot easier to ignore the cravings when there was nothing in sight but even then there would always be that itch, the desire to search out for something, anything that could fill the craving. There was a reason that addicts were so prone to relapse, after all. While she was rather on edge from that point on, she did her best to keep it to herself - though with a single look towards Nick he would likely be able to see exactly what she was thinking.

That just made her all the more relieved to walk out, though her relief was short lived as suddenly the boy beside her was being shoved to the ground. As quick as she was to move, to lunge towards the men who dared to touch Nick, a gun was aimed straight at her head and then nearly instantly her wrist was grabbed and she was yanked backwards so hard she fell to her ass. Luciana had been the one to touch her, which was probably a good thing considering she'd just tried to go for an armed mafioso. She yelled in Spanish, simple enough that Anna understood it - "are you an idiot?"

"He's the idiot right now," she returned as she tried to clamber to her feet. Luciana still had a hold of her which stopped her in her tracks and she froze up there, glaring at Nick because he couldn't just leave the damn candy bar behind.
 
Madison and Strand decided they would approach the main part of the hotel alone. In case something went wrong, she wanted Bryce, Alicia, and the other two somewhere safe, also providing slight overwatch. There was no arguing with the blonde even if anyone wanted to. They approached the hotel and called the groom’s name. Surprisingly, they were allowed inside rather easily, once they relinquished their weapons. Seeing the pair enter unarmed made Bryce uneasy, but he was certain they knew what they were doing. Inside, they met with Oscar and Ilene, hoping to work out a truce, allowing the two groups to stay at the hotel together.

Even though no deal was reached, Madison provoked the other group enough to give her the keys so they could clear the hotel of all infected. She explained that she hoped by getting rid of all the infected, it might give them the chance to cooperate and live together without any hostility. Madison and Strand did both return, unharmed, so that was a good sign. Alicia, Strand, and Bryce were grouped together, beginning a sweep of the hotel. They would go room by room, killing any infected inside. After each few kills, they would drag the bodies of the infected to the beach.

Soon enough, other party guests began helping. Bryce was standing beside Alicia, now having dropped yet another body down, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “Fuck… we’ve spent the entire day doing this and we haven’t even finished the first floor yet. Even with the others, this is going to take us weeks. It’s too dangerous, too. I wish there was an easier way.” Bryce mumbled, not really thinking that there was another way that Alicia might know. “Oh well, guess we should get back to it. We want to clear as much out as we can before dark. We still have a couple hours.”

--

In the beginning, Nick remained calm. Believe it or not, there was a plan since he was caught. However, he lost his cool when Anna was touched, pushed to the ground, with a gun aimed at her. “You better not touch her! I will fucking kill all of you!” He shouted, squirming on the ground, attempting to break the hold. For almost an entire minute, it was a shouting match until Marco quieted everyone down. The leader was frustrated with this scene, ready to take Nick’s hand and move on. Once Nick took a few breaths, he finally composed himself, thinking he knew how to wiggle out of this one.

“Translate for me.” There was a smirk on Nick’s face, eerily calm for a man that was about to lose his entire hand. Whether Luciana or Anna translated, he did not care. The reason he did not direct this right at Anna was because he knew her Spanish was not flawless, so there was a chance she might not understand what he was saying. Either way, he basically told Marco that he would ensure the oxy supply from Colonia stopped, which meant his sister would not get her fair share. He demanded to be freed and to have a second shopping cart for the trio. They could take their business elsewhere, and even if they found a substitute, it would not be nearly as good.

Since family was important to Marco, Nick told him how her sister would be without the supply, that she was going to wish that she could turn instead. After it was all said and done, Marco told his boys to release Nick and begrudgingly agreed to offer them another cart of water, just like Nick had demanded if they kept their business here. And, he kept the candy bar, of course. When they had both carts, the trio began the trek back towards Colonia. Nick was satisfied with himself, but Luciana appeared furious right now.
 
At least they weren't immediately kicked out and were being given a chance. It was grueling to try to go room by room in order to clear the hotel of its infected, but thankfully they at least had the chance to. Within hours Alicia felt exhausted, though - each of those bodies was upwards of a hundred and twenty pounds of dead weight, and it wasn't like she was going to "leave it to the men". She wanted to play her part, after all. Eventually she was just tired and they wanted to take a break - Alicia stood along the sandy shores of the beach and stared out at the water for a moment before she stepped forward.

"Mm, one more minute," she whined as she slipped her shoes off and stepped in towards the shallows, the cool water soothing the ache of her feet after being on the move for so long. It was at that point, as she was about to turn back and get ready to go back inside, that she caught sight of a warning sign along the framing of the pier. She leaned in a little bit to be able to get a better view of what it had to say. Riptide.

If she hadn't seen that, she probably would have agreed that there was no easier way - however, now she had an idea. Alicia turned to Bryce after slipping her shoes back on, and drew his attention towards the sign with a pointed finger. "I think there is an easier way my love - look at that. If we can find a way to get them down the pier, the ocean might be able to take care of them for us. What do you think?" She knew it might sound unreasonable but she wanted to put the idea forth anyways. It would be much, much better than trying to do clear the place one by one - the hardest part would be trying to lure all of the dead towards the pier.

----

Anna had a hard time staying still throughout the encounter, she wanted to at least be able to get over to Nick. However, Luciana did not let go of her arm - which was a good thing, because the man with the gun kept it pointed at her throughout the entire exchange. Even after she was allowed to stand back up, she still wasn't released and well, Luciana was stronger than she was. Anna left the translating to the latina, though throughout the exchange it didn't seem like Marco and the others were going to give in. Eventually they were allowed to leave, and the first thing that she did was move in so that she could pull Nick rather aggressively away from the men.

"Asshole," she said under her breath after they had gotten the second cart filled and were on their way out. "A fucking candy bar was in no way worth risking yourself like that. I would rather personally throw the child over the fence than have you pull that kind of shit."

The walk was tense, though - much more so than on the way there. Luciana was fuming, and she was constantly looking back behind her as if she expected someone to be there. As they were about to turn on to a side road, one that would take them almost straight to Colonia if Anna remembered correctly, the latina outright stopped.

"Have they followed you before?" She asked.

"No - but I also didn't have dumbass gringos trying to steal and attack them before. You're both idiots."
 
Waiting for Alicia, Bryce watched the brunette with soft eyes. She was gorgeous, even doing something mundane like this. Before they returned, Alicia called his attention. She had an idea – a plan that would rid the hotel of the infected much quicker than what they were doing now. It made since. The riptide could take all the infected out to the sea. “Princess, that’s a wonderful idea. We should get the others to help. Maybe we can get this done before sundown.” Bryce thought it was an excellent idea. Walking towards the brunette, he pressed a quick kiss onto her lips. “I love you. You’re so smart, babe. It makes me so jealous.” The male chuckled after stealing one more kiss from her sweet lips. It was always like this. Alicia was so smart, always helping Bryce with any schoolwork or even applying to college. He always had admired how smart she was.

After returning to the hotel, Strand, Madison, Elena, and Hector were informed of the plan along with everyone else that was willing to help from the guests section of the hotel. Elena brought the group to one of the foyers that would connect all three main parts of the hotel. It made Bryce happy that everyone agreed with his Princess’ plan. It was a great idea. They could truthfully get this finished without having to put themselves in extra danger. Plus, it helped that they would save time, too.

Basically, they needed to channel all the infected onto the foyer, to lead them onto the pier. Outside, Bryce was partnered with Alicia (surprise), Both phones still functioned, so the two young adults would play music on their phone as loudly as they could to draw the infected outside, to follow them. Others were inside the hotel, opening all the doors to each those hotel rooms to release the trapped infected. While doing this, Bryce got an idea. “You know, babe – we could play some music once this is all over with. We could have our own little dance, you know? I think that could be something fun for us to do.” Now that Bryce thought about it, he realized that was something they hadn’t done before – dance together. Considering the romantic that he was, Bryce was surprised it had not come up sooner. It might have been odd to suggest now, but he thought it couldn’t hurt to have some fun together when they were safe.

--

Clearly, Anna did not understand what Nick was doing. She might have known it was a candy bar for the little girl, Maybe it was not worth the risk to anyone else, but to Nick, it was important. Why? Well, that was not a clear cut answer. However, Nick felt the pull to do this, so he did. No questions asked. It was obvious that Luciana was worried about them being followed. Even if they had never followed her before, this was not a typical situation she encountered. However, it seemed like they were safe so far.

When there wasn’t silence, Luci was yelling at Nick. Surprisingly, the male did not respond. He was in no mood for any arguing with anyone. When they returned to Colonia, Nick stopped by the pantry to help drop off the supplies they returned from the supermarket with. The haul was impressive, especially with the cart full of water. This was going to help this community out immensely. Still, Luci was pissed. Not only was she upset with Nick, but she was upset with Anna for lashing out like she did. Even after Nick stopped by the young girl to give her the candy bar, the Latina had one more thing to say. “Nick, don’t ever do that again. Anna, I’m not risking you getting us killed again. You should probably stay here next time.”

Nick could talk his way out of the shitty situation he got himself into. Anna could not do the same since she lashed out physically against people with guns. She was not welcomed to join them anymore. Either way, even if she wanted to argue, Luci was not having it. “Alejandro needs to speak with both of you. Come and follow me.” She ordered, walking them towards one of the nearby trailers.
 
"Absolutely. Let's go talk to the others and see if we can make it work, it would be so much easier to try to get them all in a round or two, not to mention it would be a lot easier on our bodies. We shouldn't be exerting ourselves so much, we never know when we'll need the energy." Alicia kissed her fiance back and then they started to walk towards the hotel to suggest her idea to the others. Alicia didn't consider Bryce dumb by any standards - they just had different things that they excelled at. While she had helped him with school work and book smarts over the years, he had also helped her stay in shape and look after her body to the best of her ability. While she was never as intense about it as he had been, Bryce was still the reason that she had any upper body strength at all (which had just come in handy, given they had been dragging all of the bodies out).

In the end, everyone agreed that her idea had potential and they were all given jobs. Their phones working wasn't quite the fluke - they'd been able to charge them back at the estate (for the sake of music, given that texting and calling was no longer an option) and since then they had very little reason to turn them on. As they waited patiently on the dock Bryce spoke up, and Alicia turned to look at the man beside her. Like always, he had a wonderful idea. "I like that idea - but we have to make sure to keep enough power on them to have a wedding dance... and we have to pick a song for it, too."

She had thought that the place might have a generator, but she also didn't want to put any faith in being able to use one. For now it was just easier to assume that they had what they had and that was that - not to mention that phone charging was a luxury rather than something that they needed.

----

Luciana was pissed, Anna was pissed - pretty much the only person there who wasn't pissed off was Nick and he was just ignoring the girls given that they were both in a mood. Like usual he didn't see the problem with what he did and Anna almost couldn't blame him when she saw a smile on the kid's face after he handed the bar over to her, but that was only almost. Like she had said, she would have chosen to throw the girl over the fence herself if it kept him from doing something stupid and risking his life. Frankly she was still considering it, but that wasn't the kind of thing that she would say out loud. Nick seemed happy enough to be able to help the kid, but he had always been the one who with the soft heart and fondness for people. Anna didn't really like children (actually, Molly's unborn baby would have been the first that she had been around as an adult had things been a little different) or get along with women or... well, anything. Besides a small handful of human beings she really wouldn't care if the rest of the population just all died.

She was seething a little less by the time that Luciana returned - apparently deciding that Anna was a flight (fight) risk but then also in the same stream of thought implied that she was going to take Nick back out there. That did not suit Anna at all - mostly because she knew Nick and that he would probably feel obligated to help out now that he had drawn attention to the place and compromised its safety. "Good luck with that - you're not taking him out there. It's not happening," she replied in that snarky I don't care for any of your bullshit tone that she had. Luci just shook her head in response, obviously unimpressed. Anna had already formed her opinion of things (Luciana was a pain in the ass, Nick had no instinct for self-preservation and she wasn't letting her injured ex-slash-current lover back out there without a fight.

They had to get moving, though - Alejandro was... easier. She put her hands back in her pockets and walked along, though she looked towards Nick and spoke in a hushed tone (still tainted with the fact that she wasn't pleased) before they reached the pharmacy. "Think he's gonna want to yell at us too?"
 
As they infected were led out of the hotel, Madison was utilizing a metal spoon and metal bowl to create more noise. The blonde walked a path, bringing the dead towards the foyer. Soon enough, all individuals met up together on the foyer, each leading their own little herd of the infected towards the foyer. At this time, all infected were finally joined together in one place, which was exactly what they wanted. All infected were gone from the hotel, now on the foyer. It was here that Madison took the lead, taking this pack onto the pier. The appearance of the herd terrified Bryce. He could not believe how many there were. If they went through the hotel, taking each one out individually , it would have taken forever. Plus, there were so many here that it was likely they would have had some loss of life. The hotel was close quarters, and they were quite outnumbered.

Bryce and Alicia were in charge of driving the zodiac out to the pier. Madison would jump into the water and climb aboard. Thankfully, the couple reached the edge of the pier right before Madison jumped, so their timing was perfect. Now, they were going to see if this plan of Alicia’s worked. He had faith in it, especially since it was his fiancée that had the idea. Of course, the herd followed Madison into the riptide, jumping into the water. Almost immediately, it started carrying the dead out to the ocean. Grinning broadly, Bryce had to steal a celebratory kiss with the brunette as they were parked a safe distance away, staying there with the motor running until the entire herd was lured into the water.

Once the deed was finished, the trio rode triumphantly back towards the shore. Already there, the wedding guests were on the shore, clapping for them. They had spent the last months terrified of going in different locations of the hotel because of the infected, but these new people had already fixed that problem. It was safe to say that Alicia’s plan helped bring some peace into these two opposing groups, for the moment, at least.

--

“Alejandro doesn’t seem like the type of person to yell. I think a lecture’s not out of the question.” Thinking about what Luci said, Anna was right. Since Luci and those men saved Nick, since Alejandro helped Nick’s injury, and they were given somewhere to stay at Colonia, he felt obligated to help. What kind of man would he be if he did not? She was right about his tenderness. Nick had a gentle heart, but it often got him into trouble, especially these days from sneaking off the Abigail to run and errand for Strand or risking his left hand just for a candy bar to make a little girl smile.

This world was probably best for those people who did not have hearts, who only cared about surviving and nobody else. Nick could never be like that. It was quite impossible. Even though he did not act like he cared about his own family, he did. Even though he left them alone, Nick still wanted the best for his mother and sister. He just figured they would need to figure things out themselves. Madison was destroying everything they found, Nick could not watch it anymore. So far, there were no regrets about leaving.

“I hear you almost started a war today, over a candy bar.” It was the first thing Alejandro said once the pair walked inside. Indeed, he was not shouting, but he was displeased. “Her father died today. I thought she could use something, anything – some comfort. Not everything can be about death.” Alejandro explained that comfort was just a supplement for faith, that comfort did not help anyone. “This is a test. The dead are walking toward their final resting place. And when they leave, when the world is washed clean of death, we the faithful will remain. We have been chosen. We will outlast death.”

It was a strange response, but Nick still did not comprehend the way Alejandro was thinking, about outlasting this. “You are welcome to stay, but if you ever put my people in danger again, I will feed you to the wall. Now, I must get ready to preach to the people. You are welcome to join in the audience if you like.” Nick noticed the scar on his shoulder, the bite Luci talked about. He wanted to ask more questions, but kept silent as himself and the brunette left the trailer. Curious, Nick wanted to check out what the man had to say in this little preaching event he had going on.
 
Alicia was terrified the whole time as well. If one little thing went wrong, if someone so much as tripped, then someone could die... and the whole plan would go wrong. There was an enormous amount of the dead coming their way - Alicia almost thought it could rival that first horde they saw while still at home when the military quarantine fell. She ran towards the boat along with Bryce and hopped in, letting him take control of the engine so that they could make their way towards the jumping point. Her heart raced in her chest so hard she could feel her pulse all the way in her toes as she watched her mother step backwards towards with the horde in tow. Come on, come on, come on - Madison paused close to the end and waited so that the infected could catch up and they would stand as good a chance of getting them all over the edge as possible. Some stragglers would be okay, but the fewer the better.

The waiting was probably the worst part. Alicia yelled at Madison to jump and then as soon as the blonde did the boat was driving over. She helped her mother get on to the boat and they hovered for a couple minutes until the horde was over the edge. As soon as everything was over and done with, the first thing that Alicia wanted to do was celebrate with her fiance. She kissed him hard - a cheeks between the hands kind of kiss followed by several more to his cheeks. As they made their way back to the shore Alicia was grinning and everyone seemed to be pretty happy that this plan had worked. They pulled up on to land and the first thing Alicia did after gaining her footing again was go in to hug Bryce tightly. The smile on her face was angelic, her happiness radiating in to her bright green eyes with the kind of light that only someone with hope could have.

"I'm so glad that worked," she said as she rested her head against his chest. She squeezed and held on tight, breathing in her lover's scent and the comfort that he offered her. After a moment like that she rose on to her toes in order to kiss him once more. "We did good, we did really good. The place is actually cleared out now, and I'm pretty sure we just got on the good side of the guests here. Maybe this hotel can work out after all - I want it to. WIth a group here... it's much more manageable than if it was just the four of us. I'm a little scared to have hope that something could actually work out, but I want to. We deserve a home."

----

"I'm with you on this one man, a candy bar as not worth it," Anna chimed in as if her trying to lunge at armed mafia men was somehow not as bad if not worse. Overall, she thought both of the men were ridiculous. Nick was out risking his life for others without even being asked, and Alejandro was one of "the faithful". Anna had never been the kind of person to be big on faith or fate or some higher power - there wasn't a reason for the things that happened to people beyond the fact that humans as a species were shitty. If there somehow was? Well, then it was the kind of power that didn't deserve to be followed. She found it ironic that Alejandro said comfort did not help anyone when the concept of faith was nothing but an attempt to quell the ever-lurking question in the minds of some that there was nothing beyond this world.

She hadn't been paying attention to the bite wound on Alejandro's shoulder, though. She had been more focused on just getting this conversation over with (and scanning the room in hopes of finding out where Alejandro kept that Oxy stash that she now knew was there) so that they could leave, and she had to fight not to roll her eyes as the man said he had to go preach to the people. Luckily, at that point they were able to leave. Throughout all of this, throughout pretty much every moment since they had left the supermarket, Anna had stuck pretty close to his side - and that didn't change now. She didn't really care what Alejandro had to say but she was an inkling curious and she could tell that Nick wanted to check it out so together the pair went along.

Luckily they could hover at the back of the room, and Anna kept barely a couple inches between their bodies as she leaned against the wall. At times she leaned towards him just enough that they touched or hovered her hand subtly against his lower back - casually touchy stuff that was very much a part of their old norm but wasn't quite part of the new just yet. After everything that happened she just really wanted to keep him close. She quietly translated what she could, hopefully enough to get the jist of things, and after a while it was finished and while she wanted to duck out early, she didn't move until Nick did. By the time that they left it was dark out, and she walked casually back towards the pharmacy/infirmary where they were still staying - hopefully not for much longer lest Nick decide to risk his life again.

"That was... interesting." It was pretty easy to tell that she didn't actually care that much. "Seems kind of culty though - charismatic leader with a 'sign' he's been chosen, overly devoted followers, the idea that if you just have faith you're chosen and will survive the end. Gotta say, I'm not going to miss this place when we leave. Should probably try to sleep for the night though yeah?"
 
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