<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 15px"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#99ff99">Alicia smiled and happily kissed her husband back. If she were honest, she hadn't known if she would ever get married. Before the world went pair shaped, she had considered it a few times, but had figured if it was going to happen, it would be the day after she and Jason graduated from high school. But, that never happened, since the world pretty much ended before they could graduate. But even in the midst of so much change, pain, heartache, sadness, and loss, they still found time for each other. They managed to keep each other going when they were close to giving up and just saying, 'screw it'. <br/>
<br/>
And they had managed to survive so far, and they had gotten married. Sure, it wasn't the wedding she used to dream of having, when she was a little girl. But the man she loved had been there, said his vows, and claimed her as his wife. And her mother and brother, and Strand had been there, and really, that's what mattered, over some long ago nearly forgotten whim of little girl. </span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(153, 255, 153)">"For now, we'll stay with them. And when we meet other people, we can discuss the idea again, of breaking off and staying with another group."<br/>
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"But for now, this is what we're going to do." She didn't say it out loud, but the brunette just hoped they lived long enough to meet another group of people. One that her mother didn't take over and destroy. But she wasn't sure if there was anyone that would be strong enough to stand up to her mother anymore. At least, she was worried that the group of people wouldn't be good people, if they were able to stand up to her mother, to keep the blonde from destroying everything. There had to be people out there in the world that were still good people. <br/>
<br/>
There had to be someone out there that was staying somewhere safe, and well protected, and who could change the way they did things. They just had to find those people and convince her mother and the others, that there was more to life than fighting to survive, and dying a painful, bloody death. There had to be. Otherwise, what was the point of wanting to continue to stay alive? Nothing, she was sure. Alicia kissed Jason back when he kissed her, and she wrapped her arms around his waist as she held onto him tightly. <br/>
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Not for the first time in her life, was she glad that she had met and fallen in love with Jason. He had been the one thing that had kept her going for the last several years, after her father had died. She still remembered the last thing that her father had said to Jason, before he had died. Jason had come over one Sunday, so that they could spend the day together. Her father and Jason had spent some of the afternoon watching the football game together, while she had made plans for her and Jason to go swimming once the game was over. <br/>
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The brunette had passed the living room at one point that afternoon, on her way to the kitchen for a snack, and her father had pressed pause on the TV remote as a commercial came on. The next thing he had done had surprised her. </span></span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(153, 255, 153)"><span style="font-size: 15px">She'd walked into the kitchen and stood just inside the door and watched them. And then she heard her father say that he liked the man Jason was becoming, and that he approved of the way he treated her. Knowing in that moment that she and Jason had her father's blessing to be together, had meant everything to her, and even now, it still did. <br/>
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She liked to think that he was watching over all of them, and that he was proud of the way they had all managed to survive, even if the way they had survived had been less than ideal. Every day she missed him, but she also carried her father with her in her heart. And as strange as it might seem, she even saw a few characteristics of her father in Nick, and even a few in Jason. They had all been close, after-all, before her father had died. And knowing that they were all still together, meant a lot to her. She hugged Jason tightly against her, even as a small smile came to her lips. "I need you to know, that no matter how bad things get, being with you always makes seem less bad."<br/>
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