Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or storyline from Resident Evil. Just the thoughts swirling around my head that Alice and Claire are perfect for each other...
Angie Ashford could feel the ache in her legs. She knew this feeling all too well. Soon, the dull throb would turn into a mild burn, then, the fire would consume her blood, setting her muscles alight with searing pain.
She had only ever gotten that far once. Once when she had forgotten her lunchbox on the counter as she caught the bus for school. Mid way through the day, her knees had begun to ache. She had instinctively reached for her backpack searching the contents inside. Then she remembered setting her lunchbox down on the counter as she retied her shoe.
How could she have been so careless? She had called her father, and as always, daddy had come to save her. By the time he had gotten to the school, she had almost blacked out from the pain. He was always rescuing her.
But no one would rescue her this time. The antivirus was gone.
She knew that this day would come eventually, but she'd hoped it would've held off for just a bit longer. She would have loved to have seen eighteen. At least then she would've gotten a little time in the world as an adult. But life was cruel in a way that only time could match.
She was propped against a concrete wall. The small room was lit only by an old oil lantern that Alice had set up before leaving. The reinforced steel door was locked. She felt completely safe from the monsters outside, but it wasn't them that she had to worry about. Soon, the pain would be too much to bear. Soon, her temperature would spike, boiling her own brain inside of her skull. Soon, her body would be taken over by the same virus that, at the moment, was keeping her alive. Soon, she would be dead. And then she would rise. She would be one of them.
Alice had left her about an hour ago. She didn't know where the woman was going, but Alice was always disappearing. She would always make sure Angie was safe, away from the horrors of the outside world, and then she would leave. Angie knew by now that Alice would return. She always did. Sadness overwhelmed her.
What would Alice come back to this time?
The burning sensation was beginning deep in her bones. Like her marrow itself had somehow caught fire. Like someone had injected a syringe full of lava into her shinbones. It was only the beginning, she knew. It would get much worse before the virus actually took over.
She shifted, feeling the heat flow into her hips, crawling upward and into her spine. The ache in her back made her want to lie flat on the floor. So she did. The cool concrete almost felt good against her flushed skin, but it warmed quickly under the heat radiating from her body.
She wished that Alice would come back before the change. She wanted to tell the woman thank you. She wanted to thank Alice for all that she had done. For rescuing her from Raccoon City. For taking her in and protecting her. She wanted to tell Alice that she loved her. She wanted Alice to promise her that she would never forget their time together.
She knew she only had minutes left of her life. An hour tops, if she was lucky. She thought that when she was finally forced to come to this realization that it would have been devastating, but all she felt was mildly relieved. At least now, she wouldn't be slowing the woman down. Alice could finally get on with her plans to destroy Umbrella once and for all. At least now she could find peace.
She found herself praying to God that there was actually an afterlife, if only so that she could find Alice again, and thank her properly for all that the woman had done.
She smiled as she heard the lock clicking and the door creaking open on its rusty hinges. It seemed as if her prayers had been answered. Perhaps someone really was up there listening.
Alice walked into the room cautiously, as if she knew that something could have gone terribly wrong while she was away. Upon seeing Angie roll over however, she knelt down in front of the girl.
"Alice," Angie whispered. "It's happening."
Alice nodded. She'd known all along. Most likely she could smell the increase of the T-Virus in her blood.
"It's taking over Alice. I can feel it." She closed her small hand around the grip of Alice's pistol, pulling it from the holster and pushing it into the woman's hands. "I don't want to turn into one of those things."
Alice looked at her with a pained expression that she had never seen before on the older woman's face. Her eyes flickered to the gun in her hands before standing. Towering over Angie's small, frail body. "Close your eyes," she whispered, voice hoarse with emotion.
She closed her eyes and waited for the bullet that would end her pain. Instead, she felt Alice's warm lips on her forehead and a sharp pain in her arm. She opened her eyes and looked down. The antivirus. Her eyes searched Alice's. "You risked your life for me." She couldn't fathom what had made the other woman break into an Umbrella facility just to find the antivirus for her.
Alice smiled down at her. "What is life if you have no one to risk it for?"
Alice had bought her another year. Like her own personal guardian angel, defying God so that she could exist a little longer on this borrowed time.
A/N: Sorry for the morbid theme. Not really sure where the inspiration for this one came, but it had to be put into words or it would have stalked me like the evil plot bunny it was… Thank you for reading :-)