Disclaimer: I don't own anything. XD

Author's note: It's been a while since I wrote a fic so bear with me, okay? XP The story is set in the 3rd installment, Extinction, assuming that Alice wasn't tracked to the motel and that everybody survived the stint in Vegas.

So there, enjoy. (I hope.) :D

'Why does this keep happening?'

That was the question that popped into Claire's head as she hacked at another one of the infected. These things are supposed to be mindless zombies, so why on earth do they always seem to know how to corner them? By them, Claire meant her and Alice.

The pair had found themselves trapped on the rooftop of a two-storey apartment building, located in the middle of one of many desolate cities, surrounded by what seemed to be no less than 500 flesh-eating monsters. Lucky for them, the doors and windows of the structure were securely barred by its previous inhabitants, making it rather difficult for anyone or anything, who can't pick a lock, to get in. Their only current concerns were those few that still had the right mind to try climbing up from the outside.

Despite their current predicament, Claire was somewhat glad that it was only the two of them stuck there. She didn't want anybody else to get hurt.

Speaking of getting hurt, a sneaky son of a bitch had managed to walk up right behind Claire, grab her by the neck and poise to bite down at the exposed flesh. The sudden attack earned a pained yelp from her. Claire let go of the machete she had in her right hand, in order to grab her assailant by the collar. In a split second, she took a stance that allowed her to heave the thing over her head and slam it on the concrete floor of the roof. She quickly aimed the shotgun she had in her left hand at the zombie's head and pulled the trigger.

The sound of rupturing flesh and shattering concrete made Alice look in Claire's direction. "You okay?" The question only made Claire smirk and say, "Of course." Alice had to smile at that. Too bad her smile was absolutely no indication that she was happy. Their situation looked pretty dire to her.

Just a few hours ago, she and Claire had been chatting about petty things when Carlos approached them at their spot by the campfire to report that Mikey had noticed something lurking in the dark near one of their perimeter cameras. Further inspection revealed a few of the infected deliberately headed towards the convoy. It was disconcerting news since they had carefully scouted the area and found no indication of the undead near the place. Still, they were fortunate to have discovered the throng of flesh-eaters early before their numbers grew. It gave them plenty of time to pack up and leave before their presence was noticed.

But fate was not on their side.

As soon as the vehicles revved up, a bloodcurdling scream echoed through the air, followed by the sound of dozens of feet running towards them.

"Go, go, go!" Alice remembered Claire yelling as the horde came into full view. The transports sped away to the west leaving two trucks and four people. The remaining few were about to jump in their respective vehicles when Alice noticed something that sent a chill down here spine. "They're going to hit the convoy. " Both Claire and Carlos had looked towards the reason for Alice's statement and saw another group of zombies, much larger than the previous one, come running towards the transports from the north. "They must have heard the scream."

K-Mart's eyes had widened at the scene. "Oh my god, they're too many. Are the trucks going to survive that?" K-Mart had looked to Claire who was as distressed as she was. Before Claire could answer, the group of infected that was discovered first reminded the foursome of their existence through a chorus of that awful throaty sound they make. "Let's go!" Claire jumped into her Hummer and started the engine. But before K-Mart could join her, Claire stepped on the gas pedal and drove towards the larger mass of zombies.

"What the hell are you doing?" Claire could hear the worry in Carlos' voice over the radio. "My convoy is my responsibility, Carlos. You go follow the others." A beat later, and the passenger side's door opened and in came Alice. Alice had guessed what Claire planned to do the second she got in the Hummer and decided to hitch a ride, grabbing hold of the truck's grills. "Besides, I'm not alone." Claire raised an eyebrow at Alice. "What? I can't let you have all the fun."

Alice mentally laughed at the irony, after remembering her declaration. This was in no way, fun. The constant running for their lives, losing their friends, people they considered family, scavenging for food and other necessities, the killing, the fighting - it's become tiring actually, not just physically but mentally as well. But she couldn't rest, not yet. Not when she has already gone through so much.

With a pistol in each hand, Alice aimed and fired at the heads of every zombie that had made its way up the building, from left to right. Eleven shots later and both magazines were empty. To make things worse, she had no ammo left on her. "Shit." Alice hurled one pistol after the other towards a zombie, that had successfully stepped foot on the roof and started to rush towards her, effectively delaying its charge. She dashed towards it and then kicked at its midsection, returning it to the throng below. "Hey!" Claire pulled Alice's attention from the horde on the ground and tossed her a revolver. "Try not to lose that one, will you." They exchange smiles. "I'll do my best."

Despite her previous misgivings, Claire has been grateful to have Alice around. It wasn't just because Alice was a great fighter, but ever since Betty died, there wasn't really anyone else she could talk to. There was K-Mart, sure, but she always felt like she was talking to a little sister. There was Carlos, too, but he isn't a girl. And there are some things that a girl can only talk about with another girl. Like-

Claire wasn't able to finish that thought as she watched a huge chunk of metal fly over them only to land back to the ground below, barely missing the edge of the roof. "What the fuck?" Both Claire and Alice rushed towards the side of the structure where the thing started its journey. There they saw a huge brute making its way towards the building. It was slow, but if the UFO was any indication, that thing was strong. A helpless feeling washed over Claire for the second time since they left the camp site.

The first time Claire felt helpless that day was when Alice turned to ask her, "Do you have a plan?" They were still in the truck that time, still recklessly speeding towards the mass of zombies. Claire stole a glance at Alice while shrugging her shoulders, "You?" Alice raised her eyebrows at Claire, "Hey, this was your idea."

Claire heaved a heavy sigh. Yes, it was. She trained her eyes towards the horde. What they needed was a distraction. And what better way to do that than with explosives. "Grab the dynamite. I have a few in the back. If we can make it in between the horde and the convoy we can blow a ditch and hopefully force those sons of bitches to change direction." Alice started rummaging for the explosives, "Got it." Claire took a deep breath and pushed on the gas pedal as far as it could go.

When they caught up with the convoy, Alice opened her door and made her way to the truck's roof, "Just a little bit more!" With the transports at the left and the horde at the right, Claire swerved the truck slightly closer to the convoy. "Alice!" Carlos had caught up with the convoy and watched Alice ignite the dynamite. Alice spared him a smile and a glance, lifting the explosive in her hand in a gesture much like a toast. She then stood up from her perch on the truck's roof and flung the dynamite as far as she could towards one end of the mass of zombies. In no time at all, they heard an explosion, followed by another, and another, and another one. Alice had successfully created a groove almost as wide as the army of infected.

Just as planned, the pack had stopped dead in their tracks. But the problems don't stop there. The few zombies that had been following them since the camp site had surprisingly caught up with them and had their eyes set on Claire's truck, and now, so do the horde they had stopped.

"What is it? Your plan worked, let's go!" Carlos radioed Claire once again when he noticed that her truck had slowed down and was turning east. Alice had come back in the truck and readied her guns. "They saw us, Carlos." Claire said as she watched the infected follow them from her side mirror. "We're going to lead these things away, and hopefully meet back up with you guys." "I'm going with you." Claire shook her head, "No, you have to stay with the convoy. Keep them safe." Carlos sighed, "Alice, come on." "Claire's right, you have to stay there. Don't worry about us; we're a lot tougher than we look." There was silence on Carlos' side and then, "I guess we'll see you later." "Yeah," Claire proceeded to shifting gears and sped up once again.

Unfortunately, after a few seconds, the truck started slowing down. The gas tank was empty. On reflex, both Claire and Alice looked behind them to assess how far the zombies were. Too close. But they had no choice but to run. They grabbed what weapons they could carry and jumped out of the truck, and dashed towards the nearest structure they could find, which was the apartment building they were currently standing on.

Alice had cleaned out the barrel of the revolver Claire had given her, while Claire fired off the last of her shells. Both were sore and panting, and had now let go of their firearms. Alice unsheathed her twin swords and made her way to the middle of the roof. Claire followed suite, brandishing her machete. The girls caught each other's eyes and without words knew that they were thinking the exact same thing.

'Now what?'

So what do you think? Good enough to continue? R&R please. :)