I promised zombies, and zombies you will have. A tyrant, actually, but y'know. I finally sorted out this thing! So this is sort of AU in that Alice has been with the convoy for a few months and Betty and Carlos are alive, but the outbreak is still a thing. The first chapter is a bit action-y, but I had to include it for the rest to make sense and I quite enjoyed writing it. There's more Clairice coming up in the next two chapters - some angst, some fluff. There are brownie points if you can tell me what Tyrant this is and which game I stole it from.
I hope people enjoy this, and feel free to drop me a review or a PM for any reason.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Resident Evil movies or games or any of the characters from either.
Even over the vehicle's thundering engine, Alice heard it before she saw it; a loud, resonating thumping, like the heavy feet of an elephant or perhaps a rhino, and laboured breathing, as if whatever was rapidly approaching was having trouble holding its own weight. She gestured for the redheaded leader to stop the Hummer as she surveyed their surroundings, searching for the source of the unsettling noise. Claire complied with a small frown, cutting the rumbling engine and turning to Alice, her eyebrows knitting together in concern.
Alice paused before giving the woman a heads up to what the hell was going on. "There's something out there," she murmured vaguely, her voice calm and collected despite the anticipation that caused goose bumps to rise on her skin. As much as she hoped it was just an elephant or a rhino, common sense told her otherwise. The Umbrella Corporation's experiments had pretty much eliminated the chances of discovering life; survivors were few and far between, and in the last 3 months, the convoy had only received a handful of calls for help, most of which they'd got too late. Even before the outbreak, your chances of finding a live elephant or rhino roaming the dusty plains of Nevada were not massive. No, this was something else entirely.
"Hey, Claire, what's goin' on up there? Everything ok?" Carlos' anxious voice came through the tinny radio, shattering the silence in the Hummer. A look of irritation flashed across Alice's face for a second before she became masked and unreadable again. She loved the guy, she really did, and hell, he'd been a best friend to her since the Raccoon City shit went down, but for someone who had been through the worst hell imaginable, he could be incredibly naive sometimes.
"Just keep quiet and don't start your engines until Alice or I give you the go ahead," Claire told the convoy, her voice level and authoritative despite the pang of worry stirring in her stomach. Whatever was out there was making Alice worried, and that meant it was bad. The redhead searched the blonde's face for the slightest sign of anything, but her face was neutral and unrevealing as ever. She mentally damned the woman for being so unreadable all the time before deciding it was probably better that way; Alice had been through hell and chances were it wouldn't do anyone in the convoy any good if they knew what she did.
"Fuck," Alice cursed under her breath as she finally saw the cause of the unsettling sounds. She glanced at Claire quickly before her eyes returned to the approaching monstrosity. "Turn the car around. We need to get out of here fast," she ordered, watching the beast with calculating eyes. What the hell was it? Must be some kind of tyrant, she thought. Those Umbrella bastards never know when to stop, do they?
Fast approaching was a towering, beefy hulk of a monster. Its bald head was chiselled and square, its cheekbones protruding like those of a hunky sportsman. A vicious looking snarl was plastered on its face and its eye-sockets held milky white orbs. The monster's slate-grey body was that of a world class body builder, except that parts of it were horribly mutated. Great herculean arms, that almost looked as if they were made of rock, were tensed by its sides, muscles rippling and veins bulging. At the end of one was a huge, meaty club that could definitely do some damage. The other had bloody, serrated claws as long as his upper leg instead of fingers.
"Turn around!" Alice barked, distracting the redhead from the sight of the brute. She felt a slight twinge of guilt for shouting at the woman when she was probably just as scared as any of the other survivors, but if that's what it took to keep them alive, so be it. It did the trick. Claire snapped out of her fearful trance and stomped on the gas pedal, throwing the car forwards and spinning it round a complete 180, sending them back the way they came and, more importantly, away from the creature.
"Turn around fast. We're going back the way we came. Keep your weapons ready and your windows rolled up," Claire commanded down the radio, glancing out the back window to check the others were following. Next to her, Alice leaned forward out of her chair, looking around them for the menace and visibly bristling. The blonde's messy hair fell across in her eyes, giving her the look of a wild animal that matched the dangerous look in her eyes, and Claire shuddered, although whether it was from fear or from arousal, she wasn't sure.
It had been weeks since Alice's last good fight, and her body was begging for it. Adrenaline rushed through her veins and the virus screamed in her blood, making her muscles coil and her heart quicken. Her hands balled into fists, nails digging into her palms, and she worked on keeping the virus at bay, tensing and relaxing each muscle at a time while still keeping an eye out for the mutant.
Over the radio came LJ's shocked cry of "Motherfucker!" before Carlos spoke up. "Claire, what the hell is that thing?" Fear and confusion bled into his voice that he was so obviously trying to keep level. Alice felt Claire's expecting eyes on her and spoke quietly.
"It's a tyrant. Umbrella injected the T-virus directly into human flesh, and that's what happened. The bastards wanted to create the perfect soldier. Even after the world went to hell, they didn't stop experimenting," she revealed. Her days working as Head of Security allowed her some insight into the experiments before she herself became an Umbrella test subject. She heard someone heave a disbelieving breath before swearing quietly down the radio, though she wasn't sure who the voice belonged to. Alice glanced at the redhead to gauge her reaction, but her face was hard and unreadable, the face of a leader who didn't want to show her fear or discomfort.
Thudding sounds of increasing volume grabbed Alice's attention again, and she twisted round in her seat to see the tyrant gaining on them. This time there was no way Claire would be able to do something to throw it off their trail. She would have to do something herself. The virus in her blood lit up like a fire and sent an excited thrill down her spine at the thought. She leant down, grabbed the weapons she'd removed and laid by her feet while they were driving and quickly holstered them.
"Claire, keep driving. Take the convoy away from here and keep them safe. I'll catch up with you once I've taken care of this," she directed, throwing the Hummer door open and jumping out. Not waiting to hear the leader's no-doubt disapproving reply, she set off at a run towards the monster, sawn-off shotguns in hand.
"Pick on someone your own size!" she shouted, firing several bullets into the creature's head. The tyrant looked dazed for a second before spotting its attacker and abandoning the trail of vehicles to pursue her. Alice smiled softly. The tyrants were all so easy to work out. Umbrella really needed to improve the attention span of their experiments.
The tyrant bellowed as Alice fired more bullets into its flesh but it didn't falter. The bullets seemed to have no effect on him. Alice cursed, holstering her guns and unsheathing her kukri knives. Spinning them in her grip, she ran forwards to meet the creature. He lunged clumsily for her, but Alice was quicker, leaping and somersaulting over his head, slicing at the tender flesh of his throat as she went. Crimson blood sprayed the desert sand, indicating that her blades had hit their mark, and Alice landed neatly behind the creature. If he had had proper hands, he might have clutched at his throat, but as it was, he could only let it bleed and try to keep from sustaining any more injuries.
Before the tyrant had a chance to turn around, Alice vaulted onto its back, wrapping her legs around its strong abdomen and snaking one arm around its chest to keep herself on top of it. Her other hand clawed at the cuts she'd made before, tearing at the skin to reveal a bloody mess of muscles and veins. The creature beneath her cried out and she felt the sound vibrate in his throat. The blonde's mouth twisted into a grin and she dug her slender fingers deeper into his neck, feeling the warm blood spill out over her hands. The virus inside her rejoiced; this is what she had been built for. When Umbrella had taken her and messed with her body and mind, they had been turning her into the perfect soldier, equipped with strength, agility, speed, power, quick thinking, mental abilities and a thirst for the kill. She was a killer – the perfect killer.
No, Alice thought. I'm more than that. I can be more than that. I will be more than that. She had to cling to whatever humanity she had left. She had to kill this tyrant and then return to Claire and the convoy. They needed her, and she needed Claire.
She landed on the ground with a thump, sprawled on her back on the hot sand. A large fist came down on her before she knew what was happening, and she cried out as white hot pain shot through her body, a loud crunching noise filling the air. The fist came down again, but she rolled away before it struck her a second time. Her torso protested as she rolled, and sand crept into her clothing. Alice coughed violently and blood rolled down her chin before dripping onto the sand. She groaned and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand before quickly rolling away from a third blow.
Alice knew she couldn't carry on like this. She had to do something or she would be beaten to a bloody pulp by this bastard. It appeared neither bullets or severe injury would take him out, so her last option was complete obliteration. It was a long shot and it would definitely be painful for her as well as the beast, but she had no other choice. Panting, she forced him away with her mind, throwing him a good 50 metres. He crumpled to the sand like a rag doll, but he would no doubt be on his feet again soon.
Shutting her eyes, she focused all her energy on building a force big enough to blow this guy to pieces. Her body felt hot, hotter than the desert sun was making her, even hotter than the burning sand below her. The heat increased and her mind felt as if someone had put a bullet in her brain. Fire roared behind her eyes, scorching her skull and eating up every inch of her as she clutched desperately at consciousness. All she wanted was to slip into blissful oblivion and let the monster have her, for she had been fighting for so long and it had got her nothing, but she willed herself to just finish this before doing so, if not for herself, for the younger redhead.
Alice felt a trickle of blood spill from her nostrils, the liquid cool in comparison to the heat she was feeling. She moaned as the inferno inside her reached its apex and her eyes flew open, forcing the blaze out of her body and at the tyrant, who was beginning to approach the blonde again. The energy hit the monster, throwing him backwards and engulfing him in white hot flames. The beast screamed as the angry fire made quick work of its tough exterior and began to eat away at the tender muscle and tissue beneath.
The frazzled blonde heaved a weary chuckle as the monster dropped to what was left of its knees, roaring and choking, a slave to the raging inferno. She heard his raucous cut short as his vocal chords were incinerated. A second painful shove at the animal, and it was torn to pieces from the inside; its spinal column shattered and its brain burst inside its cracked encasing. Alice's smile faltered as the consequences of the second mental wave of strength hit her like a train. Her vision swam, her focus frayed, and she was somewhat aware of a woman's panicked voice nearing as her grip on consciousness slipped and she was plunged into serene darkness.
