(Set a few days after The Last Chapter, and takes place in the same universe as my previous fanfic, A Bottle of Whisky and a Campervan. Thanks to Laura Espinoza for all her help writing this and the others yet to come. Enjoy!)
"Have you ever won anything?" Alice asked, a hint of sarcasm and a faint grin. Claire was sat in the driver's seat of the faded green campervan, the one she found two days ago sat on a driveway, a little rusty but otherwise in immaculate condition. She glanced towards the passenger's seat, Alice had her feet up on the dash, knees close to her chest and a silver coin in her hand. She was scratching away the silver film on a handful of scratch cards that they'd collected from a busted gas station yesterday.
"Why, have we won?" she asked with a wide smile, eyes fixed on the road. Her voice held a tone of excitement despite the fact they'd never be able to claim it if they had won, and it made Alice chuckle to herself.
"No," Alice replied with a nonchalant tone, "that's why I asked". Claire let out a long sigh,
"Seriously, nothing?" She whined. She was pissed, pissed because before the apocalypse, she had her eyes on a Harley Davidson Road King, Twin Cam 103 cubic-inch oil-cooled V-Twin engine and she bought a scratch card every time she filled up on fuel with that baby in mind, and not once did she win. Something laying in the road bought her mind back, but not in time to avoid it. They both bounced as the campervan hit it, Alice managed to catch the pile of scratch cards before they fell off her lap.
"Shit, I think that one was a racoon," Claire said, glancing over her shoulder and checking her wing mirror. Alice's head swung back, searching the road behind them.
"A zombie racoon?"
"It's okay, it was already dead," Claire reassured her softly. It was day 3 post anti-virus release, they'd been travelling two days straight and Alice was starting to feel anxious about how far the anti-virus would have reached. Claire picked up on this earlier when she needed to use the bathroom and Alice held watch while she went in the bushes, before that they'd felt free to wonder without concern.
"You know, it might have reached as far as Alaska by now, Australia, Russia, England, Africa…"
"Africa?" Alice interrupted, another chuckle. "Pretty optimistic considering the amount of scratch cards we've lost?" Alice held the lost pile of scratch cards up to make her point. Claire glanced over again, her eyes catching sight of the cards before meeting her eye.
"I don't have to win a scratch card to be optimistic," she said, her voice soft, defused. She had been optimistic, and now she was sat next to Alice, and the apocalypse was over. She looked back at the road, "besides, we won our own lottery." Alice took a deep breath, remembering the fights that won them the apocalyptic war with Umbrella. Claire was right, they were alive after all.
"Out of everyone, I knew you'd make it" Alice said, a level of calmness, as if lost in thought before looking down at the next scratch card. Claire fell quiet, looking out into the dusty plans, stretching miles, lost only to the blurring heat wave ahead. She was thinking about how Alice believed she would survive, believed that she was alive before they found each other again in Racoon City. That was optimistic! Alice sighed, breaking her train of thought. Claire caught a glimpse of her, she was shaking her head. It was another duff scratch card.
"Alice, I owe you an apology" Claire said gently. Alice looked up, eyes curious. She had an idea as to where this was heading, after all, with all the sharing stories over the past few days, all the conversations about people they'd known, they'd avoided one person entirely. Claire's late lover and Umbrella operative, Doc. She hadn't trusted him from the start, and it had frustrated her when her warnings were ignored. But this was Claire, the one she relied on, the one she looked to when it got too much, and the one she owed her life to. She followed Claire's eyes towards the sun beaten land in front of them,
"You don't have to apolo…"
"I do", Claire cut her short, glancing at her, once, twice and back at the road. Alice was still looking ahead. Claire opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again, she was trying to find the right words, the ones that would make it okay. "Doc saved my life, but I shouldn't have let that cloud my judgement" she began, she took a breath, "I thought I could trust him, I hate that I was wrong about that. I can't believe I didn't listen to you." Her voice turned rigid, she was tormented by the guilt. Chris had taught her how to spot signs of deceit, to know when someone was lying, and she didn't trust easy, especially romantically. She couldn't believe she'd let her guard down, and at the expense of Alice. There was a short silence, Alice wanted to be gentle with her, she fought back the feelings, the disappointment and jealousy, and looked to her left.
"Don't beat yourself up, he was a good con" she gave her that, it was the least she could do. When Claire looked over Alice was looking down again, scratching off another card, as if the conversation was done. But it wasn't done.
"I thought you were dead," Claire spoke, Alice held the coin still as she listened, "I thought I wouldn't see you again, you, Chris, K-Mart…" there was a moment of silence between them, Claire sighed, "I wouldn't have been with Doc if I'd have known you were alive, and that you would find me again" she finished. Alice felt her heart ache. She put the cards down and turned to look at the woman beside her. The sunlight was bouncing off her face, lips, her jaw line, and her red hair, there were cuts and grazes still visible on her forehead, her neck and hands. She was wearing her white shirt, the one where the buttons strained at the chest, it was clean but was frayed in places, warn and torn from the days, weeks, even months she'd worn it. With all her flaws, her mistakes, she was always the most important thing to Alice, and the most beautiful.
"Claire, pull over" Claire managed a fleeting look, Alice was staring at her, her eyes soft and longing. Her fingers gripped tightly on the wheel, her heart began to pace, she knew that look, they'd shared it many times before. She turned the wheel, pulling the campervan onto the side of road and allowed it to come to a gentle stop. She turned the key, engine off and lifted her eyes up towards Alice. She was still searching her from the passenger's seat, lips parted, breath a little heavier than usual, chest rising and falling.
"Say it again, the bit about not being with Doc" Alice asked not trusting her own voice. Claire felt her chest tighten, felt her throat close up,
"I wouldn't have been with him, I couldn't…" she paused, her voice lost and suddenly shy. She watched Alice reach down and release her seatbelt with a click, she watched her lean forward out of her seat her eyes never leaving hers. She felt her fingers cup her cheek, and felt her lips press softly against her own. It lasted only a second before Alice pulled back, her fingertips still on her skin,
"I'm sorry too" she whispered into her and watched as smile lines deepened at the corners of Claire's mouth. She hesitated before her hand fell away, "we should keep moving," she said sitting back into her seat. Claire nodded, a wide smile still on a face and started the engine. That was probably the best response to an apology she had ever had!