Alice focused in on the creature about 100 feet away. When she had a perfect aim, she fired, and of course, got the zombie right in the middle of the forehead. "Sorry Stevie." She muttered to herself before looking besides her to her daughter. "You alright?" She asked with a soft smile. She didn't like the fact that her daughter watched her fight to un-dead day-in-day-out but, what could she do about it? The world never was a perfect place.

Lucy nodded and beamed. "That was a great shot, Mommy!" She praised and Alice grinned and placed a kiss to the crown of her daughter's head.

"Come on, let's go see if we can get any gas out of those pumps." She said as she got up from the ground and mounted her bike whilst assisting her child to do the same.

They rode over to the gas station and parked in front of a pump. Alice tested it to see if there was anything in there and, realising it was empty, she put the pump back into its slot before giving the metre a good punch. "Damn it!" She whispered to herself harshly before looking over towards Lucy who was still sat on the bike. "Just wait here, Honey. I'll be right back-"

"No, Mommy! You promised you wouldn't leave me!" Lucy cried trying to get herself off the bike. Alice quickly stopped her by pushing her back gently.

"I know you're scared but I won't go too far, ok? It's only a small building and I need to see if there's any more food, we're running pretty low." She explained, keeping a firm hand on Lucy's shoulder. "Please do as I say, Luce. I'm not leaving you."

"Lucy looked down sadly at her hands that were clasped on the driver's seat before she looked up at her mom with misty eyes. "Ok." She whispered and gave a little nod.

"There's my brave girl." Alice whispered, tapping the little girls nose playfully, making her giggle for the first time in months. "I'll be right back." The woman assured the child one last time before making her way into the gas stations store.

With her gun at the ready, Alice kept an eye on all of her surroundings as she made her way through the store. She knew just by looking at it that she wasn't going to find themselves any extra food. The fact that half the shelves had been ripped down was a sure sign that the store had already been raided by other survivors of the apocalypse. However, Alice thought that there could be a survivor hiding out in the back room so she made her way over to door.

As she got closer, she became more wary as she heard a loud buzzing noise from the other side of the said door. Tentatively, she reached out and turned the door number only to come face to face with a gut churning sight.

Someone, she presumed the person who used to run this place, had decided there was nothing left to live for as he, or she (Alice didn't know which one as the body was so decomposed and disfigured), had decided that hanging themselves was the easy way out.

The body must have been there for months as it was covered head to toe in flies. The stench of rotten flesh was enough to make anyone sick, and Alice was no exception. She was glad she held her ground with not allowing Lucy to follow her inside.

Alice was about to turn and leave when something on the floor I. The room caught her eye. She bent down to retrieve it, covering her mouth and nose as she did so. Once it was in her possession, she took the time to study it and realised that it was some sort of diary the person currently hanging from the ceiling had left behind.

As she skimmed through the pages, Alice began to piece the fragmented pieces of information together but before she could come to any like conclusions, there was a loud shriek coming from outside...

"Mommy!"

Alice lifted her head sharply and without a second thought had darted out of the gas station's store. "Lucy? What's wrong, Honey?" She exclaimed, alarmed as she stepped out of the store and hurried over to her daughter.

"Shhh Mommy! Listen to this." The girl whispered as she turned up the portable radio that Alice had attached to the front of the motorcycle.

"This is Mikey from Claire Redfield's convoy. If there are any survivors out there please come forward. We are at the Nevada Motel. I repeat, if there are any survivors please come forward, we can help you."

Alice listened to the broadcast and as soon as it was finished she swiftly closed the lid of the radio. "It's probably old, Baby." She told her daughter as she noticed the girls confused expression at her abrupt actions.

"But what if it's not? What if there are people still out there? They might have food!" Lucy argued and Alice looked up at her sharply, sharper than she wanted to look.

"Forget about it!" She snipped and Lucy flinched back in surprise and fear. Her Mommy had never snapped at her like that and to be honest it kind of scared her. Her Mommy had never scared her before.

Realising her mistake, Alice sighed and rubbed her temple, she could feel a headache coming along. That was probably due to the facts that she had been attacked back in the radio studio and because she hadn't eaten in days. She saved most of her food for Lucy. "I'm sorry, Lucy. It's just sometimes people like to trick others." She apologised whilst she remembered the hoax call from the 'KLKB' station, the hoax call that she had fallen for.

"I'm sorry I touched the radio." Lucy also apologised and Alice sighed.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Sweetie. I was wrong to snap and yell at you likes that. You're just trying to help." Alice replied as she ran her fingers thought Lucy's soft blonde curls.

"It's ok, I forgive you." The girl replied flashing her mother a small smile .

Lucy realised just by the feel of her mother's hand running through her hair, that Alice was still same Mommy she knew and loved. She remembered sometimes when her old Mommy and Daddy used to get a little annoyed when she pestered them whilst they tried to work and she remembered she was never scared of them because she knew they wouldn't ever hurt her, just like she knew her new Mommy wouldn't hurt her now.

Alice looked up at the positioning if the sun before returning her gaze back to Lucy. "Let's look for a new place to set up camp, you must be hungry by now." She commented before mounting the bike. Once she made sure Lucy wasn't going to fall off one she pulled away, she started the engine and left the gas station in search for a safe enough spot for them to set up camp for the night.

XXX

Later that night, Alice and Lucy were by their makeshift campfire with Lucy snuggled up in a warm blanket. The little girl watched as Alice emptied their last can of food into the boiling pot. Only a little scoop of beans was emptied and Alice sighed sadly before throwing the empty can away.

'This is all Umbrellas fault! Assholes!' The older of the two thought to herself as she stirred the little pile of beans. Once she was sure they were cooked she scooped them up into Lucy's food dish and handed the dish to her daughter.

Lucy took the dish and looked into it sadly before looking up at her Mommy. "Aren't you going to eat any Mommy? You didn't have any yesterday or the day before that." She said concerned and Alice sighed.

"You have it, Honey. You need it more, don't worry about me, I'm fine." She reassured her daughter. If anything happened to Lucy, she didn't know what she would do. She didn't see any future without Lucy in it.

Lucy took a little of the beans onto her spoon and ate it and after a while she put the dish onto the ground and pushed it towards her mother. "I'm full, you have it Mommy." She lied.

"You're not full, Baby, now eat your beans." Alice insisted before pushing the dish back towards her daughter.

"No thank you, I'm full and kind of tired. I think I'm going to go to sleep." Lucy said as she pushed the food back towards her mother. Before Alice could even protest, the girl got up from her spot by the fire and made her way over to her makeshift bed.

Alice sighed again and looked down at the beans. If she was honest with herself she was starving and she knew she had lost weight as her clothes, which used to fit her snugly, were now pretty big on her. But...she couldn't eat her daughter's food. If a mother really loved their child, they would sacrifice anything for them...even their last bit of food.

'She wants to look after you just like how you look after her.' Her subconscious told her and, realising it was right, she decided that it would be ok to eat the food...just this once.

Once she had finished the beans, Alice reopened the notebook/diary she had found back at the gas station and began to flick through the pages.

There were notes on a radio transmission that mentioned a safe haven in an Alaskan town known as Arcadia and there were also pictures and maps of the said state. The woman couldn't tell when these diary entries were made but she wasn't going to lie and say she wasn't curious. If she felt that there was a possibility that her daughter could have some semblance of a normal life she was going to jump at the chance.

No child should have to grow up around pain and destruction.

Alice knew her daughter was scared out of her mind and she knew that she was just trying to put on a brave face but, she was her mother and mothers knew when their children were afraid. Anyway, she knew this lifestyle was having a negative effect on her child. Almost every night, Lucy would awake abruptly from a nightmare. She would try not to scream but due to the fact that Alice likes to hold her in her arms for her own reassurance, she felt it when the little girl would startle awake. It would be hours until Lucy would stop whimpering to herself before she finally succumb to exhaustion only to return to a restless sleep.

Not much could break Alice but having to watch her daughter suffer every day and night shattered her heart into tiny, un-fixable pieces.

Alice blinked rapidly to rid herself of the onslaught of tears before slowly and quietly making her way over to her now "peacefully" sleeping daughter. She snuggled under the thick blanket they shared and wrapped her arms protectively around the petite and fragile frame as she buried her face into Lucy's hair before placing a loving kiss to her head. "Night, Baby Girl." She whispered into her ear softly as she tried to settle down for the night.

She hoped that tomorrow they would find some food or they were going to starve to death.

XXX

Alice was having a nightmare which wasn't at all shocking. It was to be expected with the amount of horrible things she had seen throughout this whole infection scenario. However, this nightmare was different, instead of her fighting just random zombies it was people she knew. It was Rain, and Matt and Jill, even Angie and Carlos but, worst of all, Lucy was amongst her un-dead friends.

The thing that scared her the most was that in her nightmare, her gun was pointed directly at Lucy's head as the girl stumbled towards her. In her dream, Alice clamped her eyes shut, unable to look her now un-dead little girl in the eye, as she finally pulled the trigger.

Alice woke with a start and looked around to see the madness she had created due to her nightmare. Large rocks and boulders were hovering in mid air but once Alice had controlled her breathing and her heart beat slowed, that all changed.

Everything that was floating suddenly descended back to the ground. Ironically, the only thing that got ruined was hers and Lucy's mode of transport. The motor cycle. 'Shit!' Alice thought.

"Mommy?" A timid voice spoke up from beside her. Lucy had heard the loud crash as the bike was crushed under the boulder and it had consequently awoken her.

Alice sighed and settled back down onto her back whilst the little girl snuggled into her side. "It's alright, Honey, go back to sleep." She soothed as she ran her fingers through the smaller blondes curls.

"I can't. Can you...sing me a song?" Lucy asked uncertainly. Her Mommy didn't seem like the type to sing but she remembered how hearing her old Mommy sing always helped her fall asleep. Maybe if Alice sung it would help her.

Alice thought for a moment in stunned silence. She didn't do singing, she was pretty sure she couldn't sing but...if it would help her child she was willing to do it so, she sung the song she remembered her own mother singing to her when she was a child.

"Hush little baby don't say a word,
Mamas gonna buy you a mockingbird.

And if that mockingbird don't sing,
Mamas gonna buy you a diamond ring.

And if that diamond ring turns brass,
Mamas gonna buy you a looking glass.

And if that looking glass gets broke,
Mamas gonna buy you a billy goat.

And if that billy goat don't pull,
Mama's gonna buy you a cart and bull.

And if that cart and bull turn over,
Mama's gonna buy you a dog named Rover.

And if that dog named Rover won't bark,
Mama's gonna buy you a horse and cart.

And if that horse and cart fall down,
You'll still be the sweetest little baby in town."

By the time she had finished the lullaby, Lucy was breathing evenly and playing with Alice's hair. That immediately told Alice she was sleeping. The child liked to either rub the blanket or, as in this case, as alice was holding her, she would fiddle her soft short hair. Alice believed that this was Lucy's way of comforting herself and she found this trait adorable. Life would be perfect if it wasn't for this stupid un-dead, end of the world, nonsense. As well as getting Lucy to safety, Alice now had something knew to worry about.

How the fuck were they supposed to get around now?