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The Lost World (randomname98766789 and Orion)

As much as Alicia loved the idea of skipping class in that moment, she was not about to. Despite her rocky family situation she was very well behaved - she didn't like to miss class as it was an ample distraction from reality. Tyler was, as well. As long as she was here with him she could at least be content - and she was. While forehead to forehead she titled her face to be able to kiss Tyler.

"I love that idea," she admitted. There was very little that was more peaceful than just resting her head in Tyler's lap while he played with her hair. Touching and playing with hair was something that she loved whether it was hers or her hands in someone else's (namely Tyler's). After flashing her beloved a sweet smile Alicia adjusted her position so that she laid with her head on his lap. She was slightly sideways so that her cheek rested on his thigh but she still looked up at him. "Playy," she whined in a silly voice as she extended her arms up towards his own hair. Even if it was much shorter she still could and would touch.
 
Fuck, she was so damn adorable. Tyler smiled at the love of his life, sliding his hand slowly through her long locks. It brought a great sense of peace to him as well, leaning his own head down so it was easier for her to touch him, in return. It was such a sweet, gentle moment that the pair shared together. Tyler loved playing with her hair, twirling the strands around his fingers, gently tugging on the locks, stroking down from her scalp, fluffing it up, ruffling it, and repeating the same process all over.

“I love you, so much, Princess.” Tyler pressed a kiss onto her lips now, letting it last for just a second or two before pulling away. His friends often teased him for using such a cheesy nickname for his girlfriend, but Tyler never cared. He rather use something more unique to them than the typical ‘babe’ that most couples used. There was just something alluring about that endearing title, that he loved. Alicia seemed to enjoy it, too, so he never stopped. Soon enough, the bell from inside the school sounded, signaling that lunch was over, far too quickly. “Last chance to ditch.” He teased, knowing that his girlfriend was not willing to do something like that, so he stood up to his feet, pulling Alicia with him as well.
 
Yeah, Tyler knew her too well. There was no way that Alicia would be ditching... but she was tempted to ask him to go down to the beach with her after school. He helped her up and she used her hold of his hands as leverage to move in close, and before they got moving she kissed his perfect lips. "We're going to class - both of us. Buut-" she dragged the word out, which likely made the fact that she was about to suggest something obvious- "we should go after school. You, me and the sandy shores. What do you say? I'd rather be with you than at the hospital with Nick anyways."
 
Following the end of school that day, Tyler and Alicia shared a wonderful evening on the beach. They dispersed when it was getting late, the next day at school breeding more of the same shit – even more students and teachers were out sick. They were eventually all sent home early, leaving Tyler to retire to his empty home. That evening, Travis and Madison were out when school was released. Once the entire Clark family was back together, Travis and Madison made the decision that they were going to leave for the desert. They clearly saw something while they were out with Nick, but did not tell Alicia specifics.

That evening, Tyler was attempting to watch television, but the signal kept dropping. It was around this time that he received a frantic text message from Alicia, telling him what was happening, but she had convinced Madison to pick Tyler up, too. It was not too difficult to do so, since Tyler was practically part of the family already, so Tyler quickly packed his things and waited on the front porch for Madison and Alicia to arrive. Tyler could not reach his parents by phone call, so he sent a text to each, hoping either would respond to see if everything was alright where they were.
 
Of course Alicia had insisted that they pick up Tyler before doing anything at all. She didn't know what had spooked her family so much, but whatever it was must have been bad. Like usual no one would tell her anything though. Her mother especially liked to treat her strangely, like she was both mature enough for independence but also that she had to be sheltered. It didn't work that way, and Alicia had never been sheltered. She had witnessed her brother's chaos first hand for years after all.

She was grateful that there was no resistance to going to pick up Tyler. She didn't think that there would be, he was family at this point even if the two didn't share a name (and the plan had been to hold off on that until after college). It wasn't long before the truck had pulled up at Tyler's house and Alicia hopped out of the car within a few seconds. Moments later she was at his door step and he was waiting there on the porch for her. "Hey - any luck reaching your parents?" She asked as they reached each other.
 
“Nope. No luck at all.” Tyler responded with a disappointed tone. It was their anniversary. Each year, they took a one week vacation alone to Hawaii. However, they always called their son each day to check up on him, so it was so unlike them to not make any calls or answer his calls. It worried him – rightfully so. Tyler was never one for panicking, though. “I’m sure everything’s alright, though.” He wasn’t, but he had to feel this way. “So, I guess we should get going, then? I left them a note on the table for when they get back.”

Standing up, Tyler grabbed the couple bags he had and walked towards the truck. He tossed all bags into the trunk before walking around to get into the backseat. “Thank you for picking me up. I appreciate it.” Tyler spoke, speaking to Madison, thankful for her agreeing with Alicia. She had always been like a second mother to him. Hell, they all knew she was his future mother-in-law, and it always seemed like they did have a great relationship. So, once everyone was settled back into the bed, the car started moving to take them back to the Clarke house.
 
Even if everything was alright, Alicia would have gladly kept Tyler at her place. Given that he was basically a part of the Clark family it wasn't strange when he was around almost every day or came to "family dinners" - Madison's way of trying to make everything seem like a little less of a train wreck, especially when Nick had just reappeared. Alicia appreciated how well her boyfriend meshed with her family. She had friends whose parents had hated their boyfriend, tried to limit time they spent together and more. Her mother managed to be appreciative and friendly, and Alicia didn't have to worry about potential conflict. Everyone got along smoothly.

"Oh it's never a problem Tyler," Madison said as him and Alicia settled in to the vehicle. She took the middle while allowing him to take the window, and throughout the entire trip home she held on to his hand. Even though they had been together for years, Alicia still looked lovestruck every time she was with him. That didn't change now even though she was worried about what would come. They had to stop at home first because Travis wanted to find his son and ex-wife, so within a few minutes they were back at the Clark house. Alicia led Tyler in by the hand. "You would think that they had seen a dead body from how they are reacting," Alicia said once they were alone, unaware of just how on the ball that statement truly was.
 
Happily, Tyler laced fingers with Alicia’s hand. While driving from his home to the Clark residence, Tyler recognized how eerily quiet the neighborhood was. It was usually bustling with people walking, cars rolling along the pavement. Tonight? Nothing. It looked like every block was nearly abandoned. Damn – it must have been some heavy virus that spread if people were not even going out anymore. Soon enough, they did reach the Clarke residence. Tyler exited the vehicle with his bags, walking with Alicia towards the house. It was empty, meaning that Travis and Chris were not back yet. It seemed to worry Madison a great deal. Tyler simply attempted to block out the negativity. This panic combined with the strange absence of his parents unsettled him.

Tyler was usually not rattled this easily. Either way, the couple went up to Alicia’s room just to drop off his things. Since they were leaving, Tyler did not unpack anything. Instead, he just kept everything gathered together for whenever they left that night. Back downstairs, Tyler had the idea of just watching something on TV with Alicia while they waited. The local channels were all full of breaking news coverages, though: riots, more videos of people attacking each other, and state of emergencies. Just when Tyler didn’t things could become more morbid – they did. The power went out, shutting off any devices they could have used for news coverage. Now, Tyler was really starting to get worried. Madison and Travis knew something that they were not telling Alicia, though Nick seemed too relaxed to not know what was going on.
 
Los Angeles was never a ghost town so Alicia found that eerie was well. She was quickly becoming unnerved by a combination of her mother's behavior, the dead quiet in the streets and then once she sat down on the couch the riots as well. She huddled close to her boyfriend and didn't leave his side. Her legs were pulled up on to the couch with her knees resting against them, and her hand was on his thigh. Just as she was about to make a remark about how horrific this all was, the power cut. With evening come and past the house became pitch dark. Luckily several people here had phones with flashlights on them, so together the group was able to gather up some candles and at least get the living room illuminated.

"This is all too weird," she said to Tyler as she stood at the archway between the kitchen and living room. "I asked my mom what's going on but she won't tell me. The sickness, the riots - now this. We're not even near downtown where they're happening. I'm getting a really bad feeling, Tyler."
 
Around this time, Madison received a frantic phone call from Travis. He found his son and his ex-wife, but they were trapped during the riots. They had to hold the night out in some family’s home in the city while they waited for daylight. Madison told her daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend that they were not leaving tonight. Travis wanted them to go without him, but she refused to leave. Therefore, she told Tyler and Alicia to make sure everything was packed, ready to go. After double checking their bags and illuminating the house with candles, Tyler found himself back onto the couch with Alicia.

He could sense that these things were making her nervous – it had the same impact on Tyler. So, he just wrapped his arms around Alicia from behind, holding her, his lips pressing soft kisses down her shoulder. “I don’t like this either. I don’t know what’s going on. I wish she’d tell us exactly what she knows. This would make things so much easier.” Tyler murmured, even now getting fed up with the lack of knowledge. He needed to know what was going on so he knew what to do and how to protect Alicia to the best of his abilities. “I just want to hold you right now. Whatever this is, we’re going to be alright.”
 
With all the trouble going on Alicia wondered if maybe they should leave now. Given all that was happening, by the time morning came they may not have been the only people with the idea to leave, and could get stuck on congested traffic. They wouldn't leave without Travis though and she could respect that. After all, there was no way she would have left without Tyler. Had Madison refused to go grab him, Alicia would have walked her ass to his place and back and nothing would have been able to stop her. Luckily that wasn't a choice that she had to make.

After settling back down on the couch, Alicia let out a sigh. Tyler wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and the young woman used that as a chance to lean in to him. "Please do hold on to me," she said. If he wanted to do that then he was more then welcome. Nothing would be more comforting to her in that moment - and nothing ever was. "Maybe after we get moving we'll find out a bit more. Until then... I guess all we can do is stay here and wait for the power to come back." It wasn't long before board games ended up suggested.
 
During the board games, Tyler stuck close to Alicia. One hand was used for the game, the other used to rest somewhere on his girlfriend: her back, her thigh, her hand, her arm – anywhere, really. The game was running smoothly, the disaster outside now quieted down until Nick made the suggestion that Travis might not come back. Madison wanted to hear nothing about that, but before they could discuss anything else, there was a noise at the back door. It sounded like scratching and banging, which alerted everyone. Tyler, feeling like he needed to take the protective role, decided to approach the door himself.

Call it paranoid, but Tyler packed his hunting knife when Alicia told him what was happening, before Madison picked him up. It sounded like shit was going south, so, in case the need of a knife should arise, he packed it. Plus, it held sentimental value since it was the first knife he owned, given to him by his father. “Everyone… just stand back.” Tyler muttered as he pulled the door open to see that it was just a german shepard. Just as he opened the door, the dog ran inside. It was covered in blood, but it was none of its own. What the hell happened out there?
 
When Alicia first saw the dog she did think the blood on it was its own. It didn't take long for her to realize that it wasn't injured though, and after that happened she too was wondering what was happening. Madison and Nick again seemed like they knew what was going on, but still no one was saying anything to the youngest residents of the house.

"Kids - go over to the Tran's. We need to get their shotgun." Madison had peeked out the window and it seemed that something was going on to put her on edge. The Trans had been Nick and Alicia's babysitter when they were children, and she still thought fondly of the older couple.
 
Upon entering the neighbor’s house, it appeared abandoned. If Madison was telling them to get a shotgun, then things must have been desperate. It took a few minutes, but they managed to find a shotgun and several shotguns shells. Tyler’s father was a police officer, he often took Tyler hunting, so Tyler probably knew his way around weapons better than anyone else. The last thing that Madison wanted was to put that burden on the kid, though.

Despite that, Tyler made a point clear – if something was endangering people that he considered family, especially the love of his life, he would do anything to protect them, so he felt better if he controlled the gun. Therefore, Tyler kept the gun as they were about to dead back, seeing someone enter their house.
 
Letting the eighteen year old keep the gun when there was a grown adult in the house didn't seem like the most logical choice, whether Tyler had insisted or not. Regardless, Alicia felt safer just knowing that her care was in his hands. After all their time together she knew better than anyone that he would do anything and everything to protect her. She was still worried, of course, and that only amplified as a figure entered her house.

"What's going on?" She whispered, concerned about what was going on. Perhaps they were better off staying out of sight for now, and whoever it was might leave. It could have also been Travis, but she hadn't heard any cars pulling up and there was just the one body. If it had been Travis, he would have had others with him. "Should we check it out or stay back? If someone just walked in to my house, I'm not sure I want to be in there."
 
Through the window, the small group watched as they debated on a course of action. Just as they were wondering if it was Travis, they heard and saw a vehicle approaching. Then, it was obvious, Travis could not have possibly been inside the house. Travis emerged with his son and ex-wife, other strangers on the bed of the truck. Madison did not want Travis to walk in on anything dangerous, so she decided they should try to warn him.

They all ran inside to see a horrible sight: the neighbor they once knew looked quite disfigured and ill, attempting to attack Travis, to literally take a bite out of him. Tyler’s hands shook as he raised the gun, but was informed by Travis not to fire. That did not last long, because the unknown man from the truck grabbed the gun and fired a shot. It blew off half of the infected’s face, but it kept moving towards them until a second blast was fired, practically exploding the head.
 
Alicia had seen the videos in class of men being shot and then still rising to their feet. This man, once her neighbor, had survived a shot to the head and then got back up to keep walking towards them. It was in that moment that her mother's nerves started to make sense. This wasn't an isolated incident. This was what had been on that video, what the riot was about, and most likely what had made her mother so sure that they needed to flee immediately. Alicia's first feeling was that she was going to puke, but she managed to hold that back. From her spot behind Tyler's body she clung to his shirt.

"Oh my god," she managed to gasp as she stared wide-eyed at what had just happened. It was only moments later that she was able to look away and towards Travis and the unknown people who were now in her house.
 
Since Alicia was behind him, Tyler turned to face her. “Come on, Princess.” He whispered, figuring it was best to not look at the carnage. Grabbing Alicia’s hand, Tyler tugged her alongside him as they reached the living room, only releasing the grasp to take another seat on the couch. Meanwhile, he could overhear the conversation in the other room. Basically, the people that were sick, were not sick in the normal sense of the word. They were dead – it sounded like it was impossible to be the reality, but Tyler realized that it was.

Travis dragged the body out of the house after it was decided that Daniel and his family were going to stay the night until his cousin could pick them up tomorrow. Things were finally settling down, so Tyler thought now was a good time to suggest they head on up to her bedroom. “Babe… we should probably go upstairs, get some rest. We’ll have to leave early in the morning.” What could he even say right now, to make things better?
 
There was little that could be done in the scheme of things now. Alicia had been exposed to the dangers that her family was trying to keep from her whether they wanted her to know or not. As shaken as it made her feel, she was better off knowing what was being faced. Without that knowledge, how was she supposed to figure out how to get through it all? Regardless Tyler was right. In that moment there wasn't much to do besides wait for morning to come so that they could get out of the city.

"You're right," she agreed as they started to walk upstairs and towards her room. He had been over a million times by now, so her house may as well have been a second home to him. "Come on, let's go up. It's late and there's not much else we can do right now."
 
Gripping one of Alicia’s hands, Tyler gently tugged the girl forward. The sensation of their palms touching sent a chill down Tyler’s spine. Today’s brush with death made him feel eternally grateful for surviving. There was no telling what tomorrow brought, but at least he made it through another day – as did Alicia. On the wooden steps, Tyler led the way, hanging his arm loosely behind his body to stay connected with Alicia. Once at the top of the staircase, the duo turned to the right, walked by a couple doors, then reached her bedroom.

His free hand twisted the doorknob, pushing open into the private space. The door was immediately closed once both parties had entered the room. Releasing a shaky breath, Tyler gave Alicia’s hand a gentle squeeze. “I don’t know about you, but I could sure use some cuddling right now.” A playful smile spread on his lips at the comment, it was time to forget the bad, remember the good, and hold onto each other underneath the sheets.
 
This room was just as much Tyler's as it was her own, and Alicia was more than happy for them to be able to settle down for the night in there. With the door closed behind them she was able to shed her clothes. She was the kind of person who generally preferred to sleep nude or at most in her underwear, but with Tyler around and the knowledge that they would have to be up bright and early (so Madison would likely end up having to wake them), she settled with a t-shirt and some loose shorts. The shirt was Tyler's once upon a time, but she'd claimed ownership of it a while back.

"Oh you're not the only one," she said to him as she grabbed a hair tie off of her desk so that she could keep those long, dark locks of hers as tame as possible as she slept. By the time she hit the bed she was already, and at that point she held both of her hands out towards Tyler. "Come on, hold on to me. I can always some more of you."
 
While Alicia undressed, Tyler followed the girl’s lead. Soon enough, the only clothing items covering his body were boxers and basketball shorts. If it were an option, Tyler would have slept nude, too. However, it did not seem like the greatest idea, considering the circumstance. Without hesitation, Tyler accepted her hands, allowing himself to be pulled onto the bed taking notice of the brunette’s attire,. It always warmed his heart whenever Alicia was spotted with a shirt that used to be his.

At this point, Tyler lost count of how many shirts it totaled, but it was never a problem. Once settled in the bed, Tyler decided to lay flat down on his back. An arm was extended for Alicia to use as a pillow if she wanted, waiting for her to get situated. It was her choice – she could dictate the cuddling position. Tyler supported whatever decision she made as cuddling was never a chore for him. Once they were both comfortable, Tyler planted his lips on Alicia’s forehead. “I love you, babe.” He whispered in a soft tone, nuzzling as close to her body as possible.
 
A hum escaped Alicia's full lip's as Tyler's made contact with her forehead. It was a soft and affectionate touch, and one that she was very happy to recieve. Alicia was in a spooning night tonight, and like most times when that happened she took the little spoon. It allowed her to be encased in her boyfriend's hold and kept so close that every inch of their bodies was in contact. It was intimate and protecting, and Alicia never felt more safe than she did in Tyler's arms. There was nothing more that a girl could ask for - besides for there to be no undead walking about. That was something that she was going to have to get used to if it didn't get under control. She really, really hoped that wouldn't be the case though.

In his arms, she had turned her head so that she could look at Tyler's face. As he told her that he loved her a soft smile formed on her lips, and she used his closeness as an opportunity to kiss his cheek. "I love you too," she said back as she pulled her lips back away - but only far enough for her to be able to go in for his mouth. This had been a stressful day, especially towards the end, and because of that she just wanted to be able to keep Tyler close.
 
It felt like there were a million things Tyler worried about: the infected roaming the streets, escaping into the desert, the safety of his parents – so much was rocketing through his mind. However, all stress materialized into nothingness when his arms wrapped around Alicia, especially when she kissed him and said those three magic words back. Immediately, his lips were reaching to make contact with hers. Once their mouths were touching, Tyler slipped his tongue slowly inside of hers, playfully dancing and wrestling for a few minutes. Once the passionate kiss ended, Tyler ducked his head down to kiss Alicia’s shoulder and neck, unable to get enough of her. She was the perfect distraction in that moment. Tyler finished it all with a kiss to the back of her head, his body pushed as far against Alicia’s as physically possible. It was his favorite cuddling position.

“Do you want to get some rest, or do you want to talk?” Tyler was fine with either option, but he wanted to hear Alicia’s preference. If she just wanted to get rest for their big day tomorrow, then so be it. If she wanted to talk about what they had seen and heard, then they would try to make sense of everything. For Tyler, he only cared about having Alicia in his arms. Whatever they did after that, he would be fine.
 
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