Would appreciate any criticism, but I must apologise if there are any spelling and punctuation errors for I lack any applications that have spell check.

Yadda Yadda

Any ideas are welcome.

Sorry that I haven't updated the other stories, I swapped laptops and lost all the chapters. Plus school, work and cadets has begun so...little time to write D:

Excuses, excuses.


Chapter 1

Toned legs casually rested on the old, worn out dashboard of the rented moving van. The black skate shoes with tucked in laces gently swayed from left to right and tapped in rhythm with the music crackling out of the vehicles pathetic radio system, and tight, well-fitting jeans moulded into the shape of her long legs, but felt far too warm from being hit by the rays of sunlight that -somehow- creeped through the dirty windscreen. The owner of those toned and tanned limbs sat in silence in the passenger seat beside the driver, a similar figure that could only be her father, who regrettably ignored the scowl on his daughters face that had been plastered on since the start of the daunting two day trip.

The dirty blonde haired girl stared out the passenger-side door, looking past the objects flying by, not fully registering where she was. She maintained this position throughout most of the day as she ignored the forced questions coming from her only immediate family member still walking among the Earth.

Alice was at the age of sixteen so her father had decided to resolve this kind of behaviour as one of a typical teenager- stubborness, at times plain ignorance and far less tolerance than she once had. She was well aware of how she was acting right now, it was childish and it was unneccessary to treat her father this way but right now she felt that this is an appropriate way to react to the situation.

"Alice?" His deep voice was forgein to her after only listening to the soft, crackling music from the radio for so long.

She was tempted to ignore him like all the other times and kept her gaze outside, but deep inside her she was battling to reply to him, though she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of doing so. He turned her world upside down for the last time and there was no way she was going to pretend to be alright about it.

Glancing away from the road he quickly looked to his right to see her still staring. Her elbow nestled her head where the window once was and the wind gently blew her shoulder length hair across her face. The once welcoming air eventually turned murky and humid hours ago but it was still marginally better than the poor excuse of air-conditioning in this piece of crap.

Removing one hand from the steering wheel he brought it up to his face and massaged the back of his neck to relieve the building tension.

Moving from one town to another, from one country to another other year after year was obviously not a welcoming experience he must admit, but it was an inevitable part of life if they wished to keep living on a high income and staying with the dream job he worked so hard for. Not to mention it would remind them too well of the life they were running away from if they settled down.

The man was a long serving employee of the Umbrella Corporation, he never cared to boast about his occupation to anyone, even if he could, but previously being head of security for various standing secret facilities placed around Russia and now America is not something he wished to throw away to keep Alice permanently happy, even if her glares were getting unnerving.

He wasn't sure if it was the constant moving and shifting that got Alice always feeling this way, even before her brother took his own life on that unforgettable night, or if it was the intense training that he put her through since she was a young kid that turned her into this emotionless being- maybe it was the combination of both. He thought that this was something she would want since she never spoke against it. He hoped that she would one day take his place to serve and protect others with her life, he was sure this would happen, but with how things were going now it started to worry him.

The man took in a deep breath and let it all out in a huff after the lack of response from her, "Look, I know you hate having to constantly move around, Alice," She clenched her jaw and rolled her eyes as she readied herself for yet another speech from her father about the unavoidable subject, "And I know you hate it when I give you any form of lecture about anything," She had to snort quietly at being caught out on that one but swiftly kept her face clean of any emotion, "But I promise you, this could very well be the last time we would have to move again."

Alice snarled and shook her head at his words. He couldn't honestly believe the words coming from his own mouth, could he?

"And how many times have I heard that?" She snapped. The droning of the prehistoric music was now starting to get on her last nerves as she barely kept herself stable, "You've been making that promise for the last four years; that we would finally stay in one place for more than six months. But you know what? You need to stop running, Dad, you know it and I know it. Nothing on this stupid, fucked up planet is going to change what happened..." Clenching her jaw and taking in a deep breath, in attempt to settle herself, she let out her last words in defeat, "I don't want to hear this shit anymore, okay? Don't make promises to me if you can't even keep one."

It's been so long since she'd been able to have an outburst. She always imagined it to be like having a weight of troubles being lifted off her shoulders, but now she felt even worse than before. To prevent things from continuing to spiral downwards she decided to keep her mouth shut and begrudgingly returned listening to the song she never thought would have made past production. Her father too had swallowed down his own reply and forced himself to keep quiet as he accepted what she had said, and unconsciously thought over her words for the next hours to come.

Without her knowing it they had suddenly slowed to a stop in a short, paved driveway. Alice was at first confused about what was going on- brows furrowed together as she watched her father in the corner of her eye heave on the hand brake and unbuckle his seatbelt- that was until she realised that this place was to be her new home. She sat still as he rolled up the back door of the van and heard the scraping of boxes being dragged along the floor to the edge of the bed. She took her time to take her legs off the dashboard, sore from being in the same position for so long.

After taking in a deep breath of air and exhaling it all in a huff she took the opportunity to sneak a peek at the place around her. Craning her head below the windscreen and out the side windows she could see that the new house and neighbouring structures together looked like a stereotypical suburban area. It was much more extravagant than most that they've lived in despite what high income her father was earning, but she guessed long ago that he wanted to live a seemingly normal life as possible, if that made any sense. The place was much more vibrant than she first imagine, actually, strangely she always pictured the new home to be one fit for a crack dealer...

Stepping out of the vehicle, feeling the wave of heat hit her like a tonne of bricks, she pushed close the horrible creaking door and looked up at the two storey structure- not sure what she was feeling, whether it was content or nonchalance. Surveying the property around her she started to ease up a bit more, whether she wanted to admit it or not this place felt more at home than anywhere she had been to so far, even her latest home back in Russia wasn't as beautiful as the one here.

In the distance she could hear the wailings of neighbouring kids as they slipped and slid along the tarp of detergent and water. Peeking around the van and her father busily stacking up the boxes she could see them as they unleashed large water pistols on each other and bombing water balloons over at unsuspecting adults attending their gardens across the street- who welcomed the refreshing liquid under the boiling sun. Alice smirked at the sight before her and was itching to join them in their ambush, no matter how childish it would make her look.

Deciding that this side of the street looked more than welcoming to her she walked out further to the end of the driveway, still scanning the bright and appealing houses with picture perfect gardens in front of her, and turned the other way to face her next lot of neighbours. The sight was almost identical. Hoses and sprinklers were out for the kids in their colourful bathers to enjoy themselves as the heat wave shook the city, even the adults were braving it to keep watch or to get through the daily chores.

As she scanned over the small crowds of kids her eyes rested on one particular sight before her, a sight she didn't really expect to see on her own street: a close group of teenagers, taking advantage of the portable pool filled to the brim with sparkling, clear blue water. The blue and white medium-sized pool held them as they played around- laughing and screeching- blending in with the other kids as they created their own battle cries and echoing splashing noises.

One by one she looked them over, unconsciously thinking that they would make the best of friends if she could ever meet up with them. They were a mix of boys and girls, that was all she could make out from this distance, but they all looked roughly the same age as her or maybe even older.

She blushed as she met eyes with one of the boy's and a spark of recognition erupted inside of her. Those dark eyes, that short and unkempt hair and smooth, tanned skin were so familiar yet she couldn't remember his name or where she knew him from. But the second their gazes met the boy slipped in the water and stayed still behind cover before her brain could register what happened, she didn't know if it was accidental or not but it brought a smile to her face never-the-less.

After the lack of memory of his name she was getting too tired to care any more and decided to turn away, until yet another sight made her stand still like a deer caught in the headlights. A young redhead sat alone, sunbathing in a bright red bikini on a lounge beside the pool, completely oblivious to the renovation taking place down the street. Unknowingly Alice stared longingly at the girl before her, her heart pounded in her chest as she slowly scanned her body from head to toe as the redhead gently lathered a thin layer of sunblock on her flawless skin. In the corner of her eye she watched as the same boy stepped out of the pool, taking a few paces back. Alice smirked as she watched him take a daring run and jump back inside. After impact, the once relaxed redhead yelped out at the sudden cold of water hitting her and screamed out the boy's name: Carlos.

That name was the last piece of the puzzle that she needed, she now knew who this familiar figure was. In her life she had only met one boy with the name Carlos- Carlos Olivera- back in Perrysburg, Ohio where she enrolled into the Naval Sea Cadet Corps. Her father had given her and Sergey that idea once they turned twelve; since discipline was an ever so slight problem back then, and not to mention getting along with others was not something on Alices' to do list. Let's just say Alice wasn't much of a social person back then and leave it at that. He took it as the perfect time to nudge them into the hands of more annoying adults wrapped in uniform, to be moulded into well-disciplined child soldiers. Carlos was one of the new recruits that enrolled the same day they did, both being the bottom of the pack they seemed to hit it off almost straight away.

She lost contact with him all those years ago, it must have been four years now that they last spoke. But still, even after seeing him with her own eyes, she thought it would be too much of a coincidence if this was the same boy she left behind so long ago.

Stopping herself from walking blindly over the street towards him or waving her arms in the air like a maniac to get his attention she payed close attention to the rumbling noise behind her, the other moving van had finally pulled up. The horn was blared as she turn away to see the other filthy vehicle on the curb as it settled itself half on the road and half on the lush green front lawn, she almost cringed at the sight but remembered that she was most likely going to leave this place soon anyway.

The two middle-aged men were already out of their vehicle and acted like life long professionals as they wasted no time moving things around. They started with the boxes which she eventually started helping with, since most of it was her stuff anyway and left her father to deal with the kitchen appliances. One by one they managed to get them out without any dramas and stacked them side by side into the kitchen at the end of the hall, while now and then Alice would send a glimpse back at the group of teenagers having the time of their lives while she slaved around, sweating, as she carried heavy boxes in the unrelenting heat... Once the small stuff was handled with she left the rest for the renovators to work with, since they both were getting paid for the hard labour anyway. Right now she had no sympathy for them in this heat. She was tempted to run over to pool of ice-cold water that silently beckoned her to jump in and stay 'til the day was over, but for now she would have bite her lip and force herself through it, as always.

Her father watched as Alice kept her attention over to the teenagers once she stepped away from the hard-working renovators, her back to him and hands stuffed in jean pockets. A smile managed to creep on his face as he heard a snicker escape her lips yet again at the small war raging only two houses away. Her laugh was a rare sound to his ears, and he gladly took it as a sign that things would finally turn out better for them. Taking this opportunity he walked away from his seemingly endless supply of boxes, making sure his steps were heavy to make his presence known early, and clasped a hand on her firm shoulder to bring her into a tight embrace as they looked over at the oblivious teenagers.

She flinched but relaxed slightly under his grasp as he whispered in a low voice.

"Welcome to Raccoon City."


Any review is welcome, even if it's to say 'Hi'.

I'll bribe you with a shout out?

Okay, no bribing...

:D