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The Last of Us (Part I)

A Sanvers - The Last of Us/Zombie Apoclypse AU. You don’t need to be familiar with the game to read!

Alex’s old mentor needs help finding the Fireflies - an organization that’s working on a cure for the outbreak - and the young girl named Kara who is immune to the bite of an infected might be the solution. Alex is the only person with a contact in the Fireflies, an old friend she hasn’t spoken to in six years, Maggie Sawyer.

ao3

Part I: The Way It Was

The slightest creak of the floorboard woke Alex from her restless slumber.

She reached under her pillow to grasp her fingers around a knife before her eyes even opened. Another creak and she shot out of bed and launched herself at the dark figure looming in the doorway of her room.

“Alex, it’s me.”

Alex blinked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “J’onn?” Alex hadn’t seen him in a few years, but she would recognize her old mentor anywhere, even in the darkness of the middle of the night. “What are you doing here?” she asked, lowering her knife and relaxing her grip. “How—no—why did you sneak into military barracks in the middle of the night? You could be killed.”

J’onn sighed and stretched his arms over his head. Alex could hear his bones creak, his muscles tired. He was getting old, and he had been living in this world for a long time. He had a shotgun on his side, and a bow and quiver of metal arrows slung over his shoulder. He looked tired. “It’s a bit of a story, if you have the time.” Before Alex could question him further, he stepped aside, revealing a teenage girl standing behind him. She fidgeted with the sleeves of her long-sleeved shirt and gave Alex a grim smile.

Alex brushed past them and looked down the hall outside her room. Empty. With a sigh, she quietly closed the door, giving them a little more privacy. “Who is this?”

“Alex, this is Kara Zor El,” John said plainly. “Kara, this is Alex Danvers.”

“And what are you doing here, Kara Zor El?” Alex asked, addressing the girl this time.

Kara glanced up to J’onn nervously. He gave her a reassuring nod, and Kara began rolling up the sleeve of her right arm to reveal a scar that looked an awful lot like…

Alex gasped. She gripped her knife tight, pushed her back, and held it to Kara’s throat. “J’onn, why the hell would you bring her here?” Alex asked in an urgent whisper. “She’s infected!” The scar on Kara’s arm was roughly round, with teeth marks and skin ripped away. It was a bite mark.

“That’s the thing, Alex. She’s not.” J’onn grabbed Alex’s arm and lowered the knife away from Kara’s throat. “How long does it usually take for the infection to take over when they’re bitten?”

“Two days,” Alex said with a shrug. “Three tops.”

“Exactly,” J’onn said. “This bite is three weeks old.”

Alex grabbed her pocket flashlight and flicked it on, pointing it at Kara’s arm. She kneeled down next to her to inspect the scar further. It did look like the skin that was ripped away had healed over. There was no blood, nothing. It had been a lot more than three days, and here this girl stood, perfectly coherent, not starving for flesh or brains or whatever the hell else the infected wanted to eat.

“Incredible,” Alex breathed. “If I had the equipment, some samples, I could maybe reverse engineer your biology into a—a…”

“A cure?” Kara asked, finally speaking up. Alex nodded. “That’s what everyone has been telling me.”

“But nobody has that equipment anymore,” Alex said, shaking her head. She stood up from the ground, brushing off her pants. “Not since…”

J’onn stopped her with a hand on her arm. “I know. But that’s not entirely true. There are people out there with the equipment, the technology, to take this miraculous circumstance and make it a reality for everybody.”

Alex shook her head. Who would have those resources? The space? The funding? Everything you would need to create a cure. It was J’onn’s pointed look that sparked the realization in Alex.

“No,” Alex said firmly.

“Alex, do you realize how important this is?”

“Not the Fireflies. I’m not getting wrapped up in this shit again.”

“You’re the only one alive who still has a contact within the Fireflies.”

“That’s because I haven’t spoken with her in six years.”

“Alex, please.”

“I don’t even know if they’re still in Salt Lake City! They could’ve moved years ago. She could be--”

Alex couldn’t bring herself to finish that thought. She could be dead, and Alex would never know.

J’onn grabbed Alex by the arms to stop her aggressive pacing. He looked into her eyes, and Alex felt will crumble. J’onn always had faith in her. How could she fail him now? “Alex, you’re the only one I trust with this.”

“Terrible decision on your part, really.” All she had left in her resolve was a snarky comment or two. Alex glanced over Kara, the young girl who didn’t ask for any of this. She couldn’t really get a read on her. She didn’t seem scared, though. Sad, maybe, a little lonely, but not scared. With a sigh, Alex looked back to J’onn. “When are you leaving the Quarantine Zone?”

“Tonight.”

“Fuck, J’onn, thanks for the notice. Once I leave, I can’t come back here, you know that, right?” Alex grabbed a backpack from under her bed and began filling it. Handgun, rifle, knife, whatever ammo she could carry. Iodine for water, as many rations as she could fit, a couple changes of clothes. “You know better than anyone the military is not very forgiving to deserters.”

“I trust you can take care of yourself,” J’onn said with confidence. “To be frank, I don’t know why you stuck with the military so long.”

“Turn around,” Alex twirled her finger. Both J’onn and Kara turned to face the wall, giving Alex privacy as she stripped out of her pajamas. She pulled on some firm but flexible pants and a flannel shirt. She rolled up the sleeves and laced on her boots.

“Ready to go?” J’onn asked.

“Just about,” Alex said. She stuck another knife into her boot for safe-keeping. “You realize we’re going to need a car to get through the desert, right? Last I checked they don’t just leave working cars lying around anymore.” Alex zipped up her pack and slung it over her shoulders.

“I’ve got it covered.”

Alex raised an eyebrow at J’onn. “You’ve got it covered?”

“Once we get out of the Quarantine Zone, I have a contact around Barstow. He and his partner work on transportation. We find James, we can get a car.”

Alex shook her head, but a small smile on her lips. “You sure know how to have a plan for everything, don’t you? At least that’s one thing that hasn’t changed.”

The sound of footsteps down the hall was a cause for alarm. Alex held a finger to her lips, a quick signal for them to be silent. The thud of steps grew closer, until they were right outside her door. Alex held her breath until the sound made its way past and faded into the distance.

“We have to move now,” Alex muttered. She quickly turned the lock on her door. “Can the kid handle herself out there?”

“I’m not a kid, I’m fifteen,” Kara pouted. Alex raised an eyebrow at her. “I can handle myself.”

“Okay,” Alex grabbed another knife from her dresser and flipped it in her fingers. “Can you use this?” She held it out to Kara who eyed it for a moment.

“I’d feel more comfortable with that,” Kara said, gesturing to the pistol on Alex’s hip.

“Well this is what you get,” Alex rolled her eyes and shoved the knife into Kara’s hands. “Use it well.” She looked to J’onn once more and gave him a firm nod. Alex walked up to the window, unlatched it, and slid it open. “Let’s go.”

They got out of the building and climbed down the fire escape with no problems. It was once they got past the building that the real trouble began.

Because Alex was in the military, she lived near the border of the Quarantine Zone, which made things slightly easier, but the part they had to get through was crawling with tanks and patrols and searchlights, especially at this time of night. The military didn’t like people escaping.

Alex stopped at the edge of the building and held up a fist. J’onn and Kara halted in their tracks behind her. A patrol car drove past the street with a searchlight pointing ahead of them. A few other groups of soldiers marched in their direction.

Alex scanned the blocks, trying to make out a plan of escape in the dark. In the distance was a bridge over the always shallow Los Angeles River, and beyond that, the gate that surrounded the quarantine zone. Alex placed a finger over her lips and pressed herself against the wall as the foot soldiers stomped past them down the street.

“If we go under the bridge and make it across the river, we can slip away in the park.”

“The park? Aren’t there infected in there?” Kara looked a little nervous when she asked.

Alex was about to answer, but J’onn took the words out of her mouth. “We stand a better chance against the infected than all these soldiers.”

“Exactly,” Alex agreed, nodding her head. “Besides, you shouldn’t be worried about them if you’re immune.”

Kara’s eyes were empty as she pointedly looked away from Alex, avoiding a question that hadn’t been asked.

“The park is our best shot of making it out of here,” Alex sighed. “Just follow my lead.”

Alex checked the street again, the only patrol in sight being far enough down the street that they wouldn’t be heard. She jumped out from behind the wall and beckoned for Kara and J’onn to follow. They crossed the street and ducked behind the next row of houses just as another patrol car rounded the corner and the light shone where they had been standing only moments before.

Alex backed up to the brick wall leading to the backyard. “Kara, here,” she whispered, and kneeled down to give her a boost over the wall.

Once Kara was safely over, J’onn gave Alex a boost. He was able to get over himself.

They made their way through a few blocks of houses, waiting for their moment once patrols had passed them, and crossing the streets, until they reached the river.

“Are we going to have to swim across?” Kara asked. “I can’t swim.”

“You can’t swim?!” Alex scoffed. “You should know how to—nevermind. It’s fine. It’s summer, so it probably won’t be much of a river.”

“We just have to cross this street and climb down. Do we have any rope?” J’onn asked.

“I do,” Alex said, reaching into a pocket in her backpack to pull out a coil of rope. “Just, give me a minute.”

Alex sat cross legged on the ground, in the shadows, watching the patrols pass. After about a minute, Kara spoke up. “Are we going yet?”

“Shh. Hold on.”

It was another three minutes later, after another patrol had passed, that Alex stood and spoke again. “It looks like there’s only three separate patrols circling this area. Based on my knowledge of patrol routes it’s a small area of only a few blocks. Between patrols, we have only thirty-seven seconds at worst to get down. At best, forty-nine seconds. We have to be fast, and we have to be quiet.”

Alex fell into silence again as another patrol car rounded the corner and drove past.

“We all go at once. Just run. I’ll tie the rope on the edge of the bridge. Kara, you’ll climb down first. J’onn, you go next. I’ll go last. I can hold them off if they start coming after us. Any questions?”

Kara shook her head and gave Alex a thumbs-up. It was…endearing.

“Alex, I really think you should go first with Kara,” J’onn said.

“Not gonna happen.”

Another patrol rounded the corner and made its way down the street. Alex glared at J’onn, and he knew there was no arguing with her.

“On my mark,” Alex whispered. The patrol passed the alley between their houses, but the soldiers weren’t paying any mind to their surroundings. They inched down the street. Thirty feet, forty feet, fifty feet. Alex waited until they were out of earshot. “Now,” she finally gave the signal.

All three of them took off running.

Across the street, five seconds.

Tying the knot, nine seconds.

Kara began to climb down. J’onn followed shortly after her. Twenty-five seconds. Thirty seconds. Alex hopped over the ledge and began her descent. Thirty-six seconds. She was halfway down.

Please don’t come yet, please.

Forty seconds. Alex glanced down to see the other two safely on the ground.

Forty-four seconds. Her feet touched down.

The light from the next patrol car shone down the street. Alex, J’onn, and Kara ducked into the shadow of the bridge. The patrol rolled down the street. Didn’t stop. Didn’t signal.

J’onn sighed. “We did it.”

Just as they were all basking in their moment of relief, a siren wailed throughout the Quarantine Zone.

“Shit,” Alex cursed.

“I thought they didn’t see us?” Kara frowned.

“They didn’t,” Alex said. “But they must have realized I’m missing. We have to move, now. Stay in the shadows.”

Alex sprinted across the chasm. As she predicted, the river was currently a trickle of a stream, only a few inches deep. They were easily able to hop over the water and continue their cross for the cabin.

The sound of footsteps signaled soldiers mobilizing on the bridge above them.

“No sign of her, ma’am.”

“Search the area. She won’t be getting out of here alive.”

Alex overheard orders from the bridge and gulped. This was going to be a lot harder than she wanted.

They had crossed the chasm of the river and back up the sloped sides toward the top. They were only maybe a hundred feet from the border, but between them and the border were dozens of heavily armed soldiers. They just had to get the gate open, and they had to get through it. How they would do that, Alex had not a clue.

They ducked behind the edge of the bridge, still blending into the shadows, using an overturned car for more coverage.

The gates themselves were currently closed and heavily guarded. Alex spotted the button to open the gates and an idea crossed her mind.

“J’onn, how good are you with that bow?” Alex asked.

“Pretty good.”

“Good enough to get a rock over the fence?” J’onn gave Alex a questioning look. “If we make some noise out there and they think we’re already out, they’ll open the gates to get to us. I’ll shoot the controls so the gates stay open and we can make a run for it.”

“That’s risky,” J’onn said.

“I know.”

“Let’s do it.”

J’onn found a sizeable rock on the ground and attached it to one of his sturdy arrows. It was heavy but he was strong. He aimed over the fence and fired.

The arrow whizzed through the air, past the unsuspecting soldiers on high alert. It soared over the fence and into the distance until CLACK! The arrow snapped on impact and the rock clattered across the ground, echoing through the night, just enough to sound like footsteps.

For a moment, the air was dead silent. Alex held her breath in anticipation.

“SHE’S OUTSIDE!” someone yelled.

“QUICK, OPEN THE GATES!”

“GET HER!”

The button pressed open and groups of soldiers went rushing out to find the person that wasn’t there. Alex loaded her rifle and peered through the scope, waiting for a clear shot. Once people stopped blocking her line of sight, she focused on the gate’s mechanism, and fired.

The crack of her gun rang through the night, startling the soldiers. They didn’t know where it came from. “On my mark,” Alex whispered. She loaded her rifle again and set it up to get a shot in at one of the guards on the watch tower.

The guard peered into the night. He caught sight of her as soon as she locked onto his head. “THEY’RE INSIDE!” he called. “BY THE BRIDGE! THEY’RE IN—”

BANG.

Alex pulled the trigger, and the bullet went right through his head. The guard slumped backwards and fell out of the tower, his body hitting the ground with a soft thud.

Heads turned in their direction, finally spotting them behind the car.

“RUN!” Alex called.

She jumped over the car, slinging the rifle to her back and pulling the pistol out of her holster. She fired a few shots at the soldiers coming at them. One, two, three guys go down.

“CLOSE THE GATES!” another voice called.

Alex kept running, zig-zagging through the storm of bullets heading their way. She looked back, just to make sure Kara and J’onn were behind her. J’onn had Kara close to his side his shotgun ready if anyone got too close. They pressed forward.

Someone pressed the button to shut the gates. They creaked and sputtered but didn’t budge. “Fuck!”

Alex shot him.

They were nearing the open gate. Twenty feet away. Ten feet away.

That’s when they heard it. A loud, inconsistent, clicking sound, and heavy, quick footsteps.

“CLICKERS!” one of the soldiers called.

“Shit,” Alex cursed. She quickly sliced the throat of a guard running at her and jumped over his body before blood could even hit the ground. “We have to get into the park. The trees will give us some cover.”

As soon as they left the gates, an infected came running out of the tree line toward the ruckus. This guy sprinted, his face was deformed with weird growths, and he emitted a weird clicking noise. Several others followed quickly behind, and they seemed only focused on where the most noise was coming from.

J’onn let off a shotgun blast from behind them as one of the soldiers got close to Kara. His body flew backwards, wrecked. Immediately, one of the clickers’ heads turned in their direction and made a beeline for J’onn and Kara.

Alex quickly grabbed a rock from the ground and chucked it at the clicker’s head just as J’onn was fending it off. It froze for a moment, stunned. Alex rushed forward and stabbed her knife into the back of its head. She threw the body to the ground, away from them.

“Are you okay?”

J’onn nodded. “Thanks for that. Kara, let’s go.” He pushed Kara in front of him. Alex grabbed her by the hand and retreated to the trees while the soldiers were left to take care of the rest of the clickers.

A few men went down, but they were quickly able to take out the clickers. A group of soldiers pulled the gate shut manually from the inside. The ones who remained outside looked around once the infected were no longer a threat.

“They’re in the trees!” someone called. “FOLLOW THEM!”

With that, Alex took off in a dead sprint. With J’onn and Kara following quickly behind. They ran and ran and ran, but they could still hear the soldiers in the vicinity, hot on their trail. They ran until they reached a street, and an old, run-down building.

“Quick,” J’onn urged. “Inside!”

Alex ran toward the entrance and kicked open the door. She ushered Kara inside first, and J’onn closed the door behind them.

They walked down the hall into a room that looked like sort of a multi-purpose auditorium. There was a stage and basketball hoops and overturned chairs. Kara picked up one of the chairs and sat down to catch her breath.

Alex looked out the window. They hadn’t quite caught up yet, but she could see the distant glow of their flashlights. It was only a matter of time.

“They’ll find us soon,” J’onn said. “You two need to get out of here.”

“What do you mean the two of us?”

“I’ll hold them off as long as I can, but you must get Kara to safety.” J’onn stood up and grabbed his shotgun, a grim look in his eye.

“I’m not leaving you,” Alex said firmly. She stood up with him and tried to grab the gun from his hands, but instead he grabbed her arm.

“Alex,” he whispered. “Please go.”

Alex’s eyes grew wide in fear. “Where is it?” she asked him. “Where is it?!”

“Where’s what?” Kara asked.

“Why don’t you show her?”

Alex glared at J’onn, but he removed one hand from his back pocket to reveal a nasty bite mark on his wrist.

“J’onn,” Alex sighed. She felt her eyes burn as tears threatened to spill.

“You need to go,” he said firmly. “Now.”

Before he could protest, Alex placed her hands gently on J’onn’s face and pressed their foreheads together. She closed her eyes. She felt a single tear trickle down her own cheek. J’onn wiped it away.

“Be safe, Alex.”

The voices of the soldiers grew closer.

“Let’s go, Kara,” Alex muttered, leading her out the back door.

Kara said nothing, but her eyes glistened.

As Alex closed the door behind her, she took one last look back at J’onn. He pulled something out of his bag and winked at her.

As the door closed behind them, Alex took off running, Kara close behind her. They climbed up the hill behind the building and watched as the soldiers poured out of the trees and into the building. They heard yelling, scuffling, and a few gunshots. Then, silence, for a moment.

Kara let out a sob. Alex put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We have to go.”

They began to run up the hill again, when suddenly…

BOOM!

The ground shook beneath their feet, throwing them off balance. They looked back to find the entire building in flames, the result of an explosion.

Only a few, injured soldiers fled from the scene. The rest were either already dead or trapped in the flames. Alex let her lips turn up in a small smile. “Thank you, J’onn.”

Alex and Kara navigated through the thick trees of the park for a few days. They couldn’t move at a quick pace due to the abundance of infected in the woods. Their best plan of action was to sneak their way past until they were out of the park, so it was slow progress.

Once they made it out of the trees and back onto the road it was a little easier. It was mostly empty, save for a few scavenging animals. The abandoned shops made it easy for them to restock on supplies. Most stores had been picked clean long ago, but they were usually able to find something useful when they went looking.

Once they got out of the park and the air was (mostly) clear of infected, Kara grew much more comfortable than she was in the silence. And the girl asked a lot of questions.

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-two.”

“How long have you been a soldier?”

“Ten years.”

“How many people have you killed?”

“A lot.”

“How long did you know J’onn?”

Alex hesitated a moment when Kara asked this. “A long time,” she said with a sigh.

“What are the Fireflies?”

Alex stopped in her tracks and threw her hands up in exasperation. “Do you ever stop asking questions?!”

Kara shook her head. “No.”

They had been walking for two days through abandoned city, and Kara’s incessant questions had only ceased when they were sleeping, eating, or fighting the occasional infected. And this girl could eat a lot. They had already burned through about twice as many rations as any normal person would consume.

They were nearing the San Bernardino Mountains, looking for a good place to pass through quickly and safely. There was a highway through the mountains and it looked only a couple miles away. They could get to the road by nightfall, make camp, and pass through the mountains in the morning.

They continued in silence for a while, but Kara was not a patient person either. “So?” she asked. “What are the Fireflies?”

Alex sighed and wiped some sweat from her brow; they had been walking a long time, and the sun burned hot today. “The Fireflies are a rogue organization. They’re trying to end the outbreak, find a cure, but their methods are…not exactly traditional.”

“What do you mean by that?” Kara asked.

“They’ll do whatever it takes,” Alex explained. “And they don’t care who gets hurt along the way.”

The highway was close now, only a short walk out of the neighborhood they were currently in. Alex scanned the houses to find the least dilapidated structure on the street for them to make camp in for the night.

Alex turned the handle and it opened easily. She and Kara quickly slipped inside and closed the door behind them. After Alex cleared the house to make sure it was free of infected, she dusted off the couch and offered the spot to Kara, making up her own little nook on the floor to sleep.

“Who do you know in the Fireflies?”

“What?”

Alex had laid down and was beginning to dose off when Kara’s question jarred her awake once again.

“J’onn had said that you knew someone. In the Fireflies.” Kara braided her hair as she explained, not looking at Alex as she spoke. “That’s why we came to you. Because you know where they are.”

Alex rolled over on the floor and propped her head in her hand, looking at Kara. “It’s a long story, kid.”

Kara sat up from the couch and crossed her legs, grinning at Alex. “I’m not that tired.”

Alex laid back on the ground, the palms of her hands under her head as dozens of memories flitted through her brain. “Her name is Maggie,” she sighed.

“Get off your ass, Danvers!” Maggie laughed. “Or I’ll beat you again.”

Alex flicked her hair out of her face and grumbled. It was their daily routine—not just for her and Maggie, but everyone in their military compound. The training course. And for some reason, Alex always struggled with scaling the fucking wall. “Then you win again. Fine.”

“Come on, I’ll give you a boost.”

Alex still sat, sprawled on the ground, her butt sore from the six-foot fall. She looked up, and Maggie stood above her, the sun framing her head like a halo. She smiled with that dimpled grin and held out a hand. Reluctantly, Alex reached out and grasped her friend’s hand, and Maggie pulled her up to her feet with a firm grip.

“Come on,” she muttered, and knelt down, lacing her fingers together in a support for Alex to easily step onto and clamber up the wall. Alex sat on the top and smiled back down at Maggie.

“Thanks,” she said.

Instead of answering, Maggie gave her a mock salute.

Alex laughed and jumped down to the other side of the wall, landing on her feet.

“What was that?” Alex heard a muffled voice from the other side of the wall that was distinctly not Maggie. “You know you shouldn’t be helping other recruits, Sawyer. And you know what happens when you break the rules.”

“I’m sorry sir, it won’t happen again—”

SMACK.

The sound of a hand hitting a cheek pierced the morning air.

Alex gasped. She was frozen in her tracks, she couldn’t move, she couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t even scale the damn wall and come to her rescue.

“It won’t happen again.” Maggie’s voice was weaker this time, less confident. “Sir.”

As the footsteps grew distant, Alex waited for Maggie to scale the wall herself. She didn’t come as quickly as Alex thought she would. Maggie seemed to linger for a moment on the other side of the wall before she heard a scuffle of boots against concrete as she climbed over and hopped down, landing on her feet next to Alex.

“Maggie,” Alex whispered, reaching out a hand to touch her cheek.

Maggie swatted her hand away and jogged ahead. “Shame on you, Danvers,” Maggie said. “I even gave you a head start!”

Alex chased after her and quickly caught up. “Maggie, I—”

“Not now,” Maggie cut her off. She gave Alex a pointed look that said, later. “Right now, my only focus is whooping your ass at the rest of this course. Can’t let the rest of the loser recruits catch up to us.”

And with that, Maggie ran ahead, leaving Alex in the dust as she leaped over hurdles and ran toward the rope climb. Alex shook her head and chased after her.

They were the first to the locker rooms before lunch. Maggie’s cheek was red by now. She rummaged through her locker for a towel and a change of clothes. Before she could disappear into the showers, Alex grabbed her by the wrist and slammed the locker door shut.

“Maggie,” she whispered, and traced her knuckles along the red mark on her cheek.

“Alex, don’t,” Maggie sighed. “I’m fine.”

“You shouldn’t have helped me,” Alex frowned. “I was fine.”

“How would I resist helping such a beautiful woman?” Maggie asked with a wink.

“Don’t joke, this is serious!” Alex glared at her.

Maggie shrugged and took a few steps away from her, toward the showers. “No, it’s not. It’s normal. I know it, you know it, everyone here knows it.”

“Just because it’s normal doesn’t mean it’s right.”

“Of course it’s not right,” Maggie said. “Why do you think I helped you up? If I hadn’t it would’ve just been you instead of me.”

“I’d rather it have been me,” Alex replied, shrugging her shoulders.

“Don’t say that.” Maggie shook her head, but her eyes never left Alex’s. “Please.”

Alex pursed her lips as she studied Maggie’s face. Her eyes were dark and concerned, her eyebrows furrowed, her lips curled into a frown, but her dimples were still there.

The door flew open as the other recruits filed into the locker room. Maggie quickly jumped away from Alex and into the showers, leaving Alex alone in the hall of lockers as the other women shed themselves of their sweaty, dirt-stained clothing.

Alex had wanted to speak with Maggie at lunch, but she couldn’t find her. In fact, Maggie seemed to have disappeared for the rest of the day. She wasn’t present at any of their afternoon training, or at dinner, and when Alex arrived back at their room, she was still nowhere to be found.

Was she…? No, she couldn’t be dead. The Quarantine Zone was secure. There’s no way any infected would have gotten inside. Unless she was outside for some reason.

Alex shook the thought from her head. Maggie had no reason to be outside the Quarantine Zone. She was fine. Alex was just overreacting.

The doorknob to her room turned and Alex jumped out of bed. When the door eased open to reveal dark hair and that dimpled smile, Alex flung herself across the room to wrap her arms around Maggie. “Where the hell have you been?” Alex asked. “I thought you were dead!”

“Miss me?” Maggie laughed. “It’s been like six hours.”

“It’s been seven and a half hours, actually,” Alex muttered into her neck.

“Alex, I need to talk to you about something.”

“Not that I’m counting.”

“Alex, I—”

“You didn’t even say anything, you just disappeared.”

“Alex, I’m leaving!”

Alex slowly brought her hands back to her sides and took a step away from her. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m leaving tonight,” Maggie said. “And I want you to come with me.”

“I—I don’t understand,” Alex stuttered. “What are you saying?”

Maggie took a deep breath. “I’m joining the Fireflies.”

Alex scoffed. “Excuse me? Did you just say what I think you said? Maggie, we’re trained to kill Fireflies. They’re a—a radical group, a threat to society.”

“So is the military!” Maggie exclaimed. “But the military is only trying to keep order. The Fireflies are actually trying to do good. Find a cure. Fix this whole mess. And Lillian thinks I can help.” She sat down on her bed and sighed. “Do you even remember what it was like? Before?”

Alex sits down next to her and shrugs. “Not really. I was so young.”

“I remember pizza,” Maggie muttered, looking down at her feet. “It was so good.”

“I remember my dad playing piano,” Alex said. “He would have me sing along.”

Maggie chuckled and bumped her shoulder. “I didn’t know you sing, Danvers.”

“Not anymore.”

A silence fell between them. Alex could hear her own heartbeat in her ears.

“We could have that back, you know.” Maggie’s voice was quiet, hesitant, unsure of how Alex would react. “The Fireflies want to bring that back.”

Alex nodded and turned her head to look at Maggie. “I get that, I really do,” she said. “But I can’t go with you. My mother is here. My life is here.”

Maggie’s eyes glistened. Alex had never seen the other girl cry before. “I understand,” Maggie sniffled.

There’s a first time for everything.

“When do you leave?” Alex asked, dreading her own question.

“Soon,” Maggie said. “I shouldn’t even be here right now, but I needed to see you before…” She sighed. “There’s two groups leaving tonight. I’m supposed to be in the first.”

“Where are you going?”

Maggie shook her head. “I’m not supposed to…”

Alex placed a hand on Maggie’s cheek and turned her head to look at her. “Maggie, please.”

Instead of saying anything, Maggie leaned in, brushed her nose against Alex’s, and kissed her. Alex gasped in surprise, but Maggie’s lips on hers, her arms wrapped around her—it’s all Alex has ever wanted. She kissed back, but only for a moment, because as soon as she did, Maggie pulled away, wiping the tears from her eyes, standing up from the bed.

“Salt Lake City,” Maggie muttered. “There’s a Firefly research facility at St. Mary’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.”

Alex reached out, grasped Maggie’s hand in her own, and laced their fingers together, wanting to hold onto this for just a moment longer. Maggie gave her hand a squeeze. She leaned down and kissed her once more, soft and brief.

“If you ever need me,” Maggie whispered against her lips. “That’s where I’ll be.”

Alex woke Kara before sunrise so they could get an early start on the long journey ahead of them. They made their way onto the highway and into the pass through the mountains. They made quick time, trekking through with ease, not crossing paths with any infected. By the time they had crossed through the mountains, the sun was high in the sky.

They rounded the last bend of the highway to see flat, barren land stretched out before them as far as the eye could see. The scorching sun burned their skin, hurt their eyes, and dried their mouths.

“Are we in Barstow yet?” Kara asked.

“That’s another few days, at least,” Alex explained with a frown. “It’s a long journey ahead. You ready?”

Kara shrugged. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Good.”

Together, they walked off into the desert sun.

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