"You know, if you think about it, everybody is two faced in this life."

Two women were sitting quietly on a luscious green rolling hill watching the strong breeze create ripples across the surface of a crystal clear stream. They were surrounded by mountains, trees, and a waterfall. In every direction something blocked them from view but their thoughts were far from trying to hide. It was as if the scenery before them just begged for silence and respect. It was a spot one of the women had found earlier on in the year, and a spot she often came to bask in the beauty that nature had to offer.

True, she wasn't the quiet or shy type of girl, but she cherished her solitude and in a city like Raccoon solitude was a rare thing. Especially with Umbrella agents lurking beneath every stone.

Claire drank in the sight of the waterfall for a second longer then with a burdened sigh lifted herself from the boulder she previously occupied. Jesse glanced at her through a curtain of black hair and smiled awkwardly at her. Claire raised a brow but kept her mouth shut. For the most part.

"What do you mean everyone is two faced? Sometimes what you see is what you get."

For as crazy as this peculiar brunette seemed when she'd met her, it turned out she was rather timid, deep, and sensitive-something Claire perceived as a weakness in herself. Jesse didn't seem the least bit bothered by it though.

"Like you for example," the youngest Valentine gestured, "you seem so die hard and unforgiving. Yet you're not like that, not really. After all, why else would this be your secret spot?"

Claire kicked a stray pebble into the stream, watching it splash then sink to the bottom at an alarming rate. Sometimes she felt like she was sinking to the bottom of a pit. A bottomless pit at that. There was never an end in sight, just darkness. Suddenly the rays of sunlight broke through the canopy of trees and reflected off of the water.

"The sun's going to set soon."

"Hmm." Jesse climbed to her feet, tugging her leather jacket tighter around herself. The temperature was far from being cold. In fact, there was a heat wave ravaging the city. But their current situation made her feel uneasy, made a chill run down her spine and her heart beat faster. "Right. So if you were your brother, where would you be?" The brunette asked, motioning to their motorcycles with her head.

"That's easy." For the first time that day, Claire smiled. She hated running away like some scared little girl. She wanted to be in the action, like she knew her brother would be. The only reason she hadn't headed straight into town was because Jesse had convinced her otherwise.

Jesse chuckled to herself, playing absently with her keys. "Smack dab right in the middle of it?"

"Smack dab right in the middle of it." She confirmed.

-I-

In her life before the world was… well, before it became this, Alice Abernathy was a woman of leisure. How in the world did a security guard get off lazing around all day? Her life as the head of Umbrella Security was a life of luxury. Eight figure salary, company house, vehicles, credit cars, companies,; she was living the life of a spy. And Spencer… Her life was luxurious. Fabricated. It's why she was trying so damn hard to destroy it.

Somethings though she truly did miss. Like staying bed late into the afternoon doing nothin but resting. How she wished she hadn't it for granted

As she rolled on to her side, Alice instantly missed the redhead that had fallen asleep beside her the night before. The blanket, the sleeping bag, and her back still held some remanents of her warmth and she snuggled into it. If she ignored the sound of the ocean waves crashing onto the shore, the biting cold, and the alarms going off inside her head, she could actually close her eyes and pretend she was laying in her bed, having just woken to the sound of Spencer humming softly to himself as he cooked breakfast. Or Claire…

Claire. Just when she thought she'd figured the girl out, she went and mentioned 'Valentine.' Her breath frosted when she sighed. She wanted so badly to just hide underneath the covers and stay there a little longer.

After Claire fell asleep again, she was unable to fall back to sleep as easily. Crawling out of the sleeping bag, she snuck off into the darkness and decided it would put her mind at ease if she investigated the area. It turned out, she'd landed them on a small island just off to the side of British Colombia. Twenty miles worth of land, no humans, no animals; NO INFECTION or UMBRELLA AGENTS. By the time she came back the first streaks of light across the sky announced the oncoming sunrise. She was surprised to find Claire still soundly asleep in the bag.

"Are you planning on getting up today?"

Alice opened an eye and did her best to glare. She shot upright in the sleeping bag, her face of mask of pleasant surprise. "What are you doing?"

Claire glared at the waves of water threatening to knock her over as she did her best to balance her weight and the weight of a large, thick log over her shoulders. Two shoelaces were tied to both ends, and on both ends several large fish were strung up. "What does it look like I'm doing?" She scoffed, running away from a rather large wave that would have undoubtedly swept her off her feet. "I'm catching breakfast." She panted, stomping her way over to their campsite. She laid her catch down next to the fire pit before gracefully depositing herself on the sleeping bag. She ducked behind her hair and blushed; Alice had yet to look away. "What?" The brunette had the most curious look in her eyes. Nostalgia?

"What else can you do?" The ex security guard stretched until her back gave a satisfactory pop. Reaching back over her head with her hands, she rolled backwards and pushed herself up into a handstand. Now that her powers were gone she had to make sure she was in decent condition. Every little cut had the potential to get infected, every bruise had the potential to slow her down, every break and fracture was one break closer to the inevitable one that would leave her helpless on the floor. Her thoughts were morbid, but this was her reality.

"What do you mean?"

"You fly planes, you kick ass, you fish.. You cook." She added the last part in a teasing tone of voice. Something told her Claire wouldn't be all that fond of having her know that last bit. She seemed to have miss the teasing part however.

"I.." pale hands fidgeted with a sharpened stick in her hands. "I ride motorcycles." a shrugg. "I think."

"You think?" Alice sat beside her. After her incident within the Hive she never really bothered trying to become close with the people she met. They came and they went in the blink of an eye. Making friends was asking for trouble, becoming attached came with an almost one hundred percent chance of faliure and pain. She didn't need that. Didn't want that. Physcially she was as strong as an ox, a highly drugged, genetically enhanced ox. But when it came to her feelings and emotions she was- she was unsure. Unconfident is more like it.

However, everything seemed different around Claire. Seeing her so open and vunereable made her want to be strong and open with her. For her. I'll kick myself for this later. Right now I just-

"I'm not sure." Came the soft reply. Her fingers brushed through her flawless hair in a nervous gesture Alice recognized all too well. The girl was frustrated, angry, and scared. Could she blame her? She would have given up long ago herself but one thing always kept her going. The faces of those who lost their lives. Long ago she promised herself she would keep going if only for them. She'd yet to break that promise. "Last night I had a dream. I'm not sure if it was a dream or a memory. I saw myself in Raccoon City with this girl."

"Valentine?"

Claire's brows dipped low over her eyes. It was only now Alice noticed how intense Claire looked. As a matter of fact, if she thought about it a little bit, Claire ALWAYS looked intense, like she was always thinking. And if her frown was any indication, then her thoughts were not pleasant. "Yeah. Do you know her?"

Alice looked as if she'd been punched in the stomach. "I didn't know you were acquainted with Jill." The very name made her feel ill. Was it guilt? Something else perhaps? Whatever it was, it ate at her very soul. There was not a moment that went by without her conscious being plagued by the sight of their last goodbye.

"I'm not." Claire stated. "But apparently I knew her sister. My roommate, her name was Jesse Valentine."

Jill. "I wasn't aware Jill had a sister."

"I wasn't aware I had a brother." She grimaced. What else didn't she know? "Alice?"

The way Claire called her name, she had no choice but to turn and look at her. Once she'd thought she was heartless. Now she felt as if something inside of her was slowly tearing apart. Claire's eyes were red and unshed tears shone in them. Not for the first time in her life, Alice felt completely, utterly, helpless.

She was crying. Hot tears were stinging her eyes. All kinds of emotions bubbled up inside her throat making it hard to breathe. She felt she shouldn't be crying, not here, not with this woman.

Who else was there?

No one.

"I feel like I'm on a bad acid trip. I'm a stranger to myself and I feel so desperate. I'm," she paused and took a shaky breath, "I'm fucking terrified. I don't know what to do with myself." The tears were coming full force now. She felt weak for it, but she could neither help it nor stop it. "It's too much. It's all just too much. I remember a few things, but it's like you said before, it doesn't feel like they're my memories… Who am I, Alice?"

In this cruel, unpredictable new world one would be extremely lucky to find someone. A companion. Alice never realized that. Until now. God! How lonely she'd felt before. For five long years she denied herself the one thing she'd always desired the most; someone to be there. She thought she'd found that in Jill. Then Jill went and got herself arrested. True, she did it for her. But Alice never even hesitated to escape. Needless to say, it was different with Claire. She WANTED to protect her, more so than the others.

Reaching her arm around the angry redhead's shoulders, she pulled her against her side, despite Claire's physical protest. She tensed against her, but it didn't matter. They both needed this.

"I can't tell you who you are Claire," she cooed, smoothing her surprisingly soft hair away from her face. Seeing someone so strong break like this only made the gravity of their situation that much more worse. Realistic.

In her mind she somehow managed to convince herself that it wasn't all so bad. After all, finally, she was human again. She never thought she would miss her powers. Without her powers life wasn't so dry and cut. Protecting herself was hard enough. Protecting Claire? It was fast becoming number one priority.

"Why?" Claire whimpered, once again confirming Alice's suspicions that she was a lot younger than she'd let on.

This girl led a convoy? She found the very thought of it incredulous now.

"Because I don't even know who I am anymore."

Looks like we're stuck in the same boat. The voice from her dreams made Claire shiver. It made her feel peaceful. Or was that Alice's arms around her? HER voice? It wasn't right, to be comforted by a stranger like this. But in her world, EVERYONE was a stranger. Even herself.

-I-

Alice was seated in the cockpit of her plane, her ever vigilant eyes on the lookout for any signs of life. Human life. The urgency to find someone else alive had grown over the past couple of hours due to the silence between herself and the redhead. Uncomfortable was the word she was looking for. She laughed bitterly. Who would have thought she would be living in the end of the world and feeling uncomfortable of all things because a girl refused to speak to her after a heart to heart. It was a perfectly normal reaction, or so she assumed. Claire would speak to her when she was ready.

Then why was she so restless? Her grip on the control stick was so tight it left indentions on her palms. Willing herself to relax, she witnessed the color slowly return to her hands.

Ten more minutes of this silence later and Alice was sweating. The T-Virus in her body had made her immune to emotions such as fear, concern, sympathy, and love. That wasn't a problem for her considering the last man she'd supposedly loved left her for dead in an underground facility filled with the undead. It would have been her grave. The last two guys she grew… fond of were dead now. And the woman she'd felt for was dead as far as she was concerned. Through all of this she had never broken.

Her palms were sweaty, her breath hitched, her mind was reeling with so many thoughts and one way or another they each found their way back to the redhead sitting behind her.

"Are you okay?" She wondered, taking a chance and glancing over her shoulder. Claire flashed her an uncertain smile. Funny how she didn't even think about not smiling back.

"Fine. A bit tired. You?"

Feeling relieved, Alice gave a curt nod. "Just fine." Now, she added silently. How she'd missed feeling like this, how she'd missed caring.

Claire was painfully aware of how nervous Alice seemed to be all of a sudden. She might not remember what her damn name was, but her body certainly remember what it felt like to be caressed. That feeling of someone stroking her had triggered something in her mind. She could recognize a crush a mile away. She shook her head. She didn't peg Alice for the type to have a crush. After all, crushes were for little kids or something. Right?

For the longest time she watched the ground beneath her swap from plain old dirt and sand to forests, then mountains, and finally the pacific ocean. It was beautiful and made her forgot the horror that was the remains of cities they'd flown over before. At first her hand mind wasn't capable of processing what she was seeing. Cities that were once great, magnificent, were nothing more than the foundations for some impressive sand dunes. Fire and smoke reached up towards the sky like crooked black fingers begging to be rescued. Sometimes this vile, horrid creatures became visible when Alice flew well below the recommended height. She would close her eyes and will away the images. Several times Alice caught her. Those times she would lift the plane so high into the sky the world was nothing more than a speck in the distance. When the ocean came into view, Alice dropped altitude, having figured out she rather enjoyed the sight of the water.

Alice was a sweet woman; Claire didn't need more than half a brain cell to figure that much out. Shutting her eyes, she let the sound of the engine and the rushing wind wash over her. Up here in the sky things didn't seem quite as bad. She actually felt calm enough to risk a little shut eye, something that was nearly impossible to accomplish on the ground. The fear of these evil, flesh eating creatures stumbling around looking for a meal did not sit well with her. Every little sound alerted her and made her heart race. If Alice spoke the truth, then that meant the zombies had been around for five years plus now. That in turn meant as the leader of a convoy of survivors, she should have been more than just used to them; they should be nothing more than a small obstacle in her way.

Why was she more frightened of the idea of zombies than she was at the fact that she was drugged and kept in a state of panic for more than a year? There was something there, lingering at the back of her mind. Fortunately for herself, she was just too wiped out to care too much.

She wasn't even fully asleep when images and voices began bombarding her. She only hoped this time around her memories would reveal a little something more about herself other than the fact that she obviously loved motorcycles and had a fetish for leather.

"Hmm." Claire smirked, not that leather fetishes and motorcycles were a bad thing. I must be a total badass. Then she remembered sobbing uncontrollably on Alice's shoulder. Yeah, some badass you are Claire Redfield, some badass you-

"You're a badass." Claire commented, her grip around Jesse's waist tightening then relaxing as they cleared a curb at high speeds. With Jesse's expert maneuvering (much to her total displeasure) they'd made it clear across Raccoon City without much of a hassle. Whatever was going on, it had yet to reach as far back as the University.

Jesse grinned, knowing fully well Claire couldn't see her face hidden beneath her helmet. It was just as good because she swore to god she was blushing madly. Why did this girl keep making her blush? She'd been complimented many times by many pretty faces, how was this any different?

"You handle a motorcycle pretty well yourself." She rasped. She leaned heavily to her right, her elbow and knee nearly scrapping the pavement as she took the sharp turn. "Who taught you how to ride?"

"Chris."

"Your brother."

"How'd you know?"

"You say his name the same way I say my sister's." The brunette shrugged, "And Jill might have mentioned him once or twice. He sounds like a real winner."

"Thanks." Claire mentally slapped herself. The thought occurred to her that maybe in the midst of all this crazy crap happening, Chris might have returned to Raccoon City. Hell, he might even be looking for her. The first place he would think to look for her would be her dorm, then the University. If they moved fast enough maybe they could catch him before he left. "How long until we get to the dorms?"

Jesse frowned out of pure habit. Her grip on the handles increased, propelling them even faster down the mostly abandoned street. Something wasn't right. The news report had shown a street barricaded by cops and SWAT teams attempting to shoot down what seemed like hundreds of raging civilians. Where was everybody? She didn't bother answering Claire's question. Just up ahead on the side of the road were the buildings that served as dorms for Raccoon City University.

Before the bike ever came to a complete stop, Claire had already leapt and tucked into a roll. She landed smoothly on her feet and broke into a sprint as soon as her boots hit the ground. She ignored Jesse's calls for her to wait, covering the distance from the motorcycle to the front doors in ten seconds flat. Her heart raced as she jerked the door open and ran inside. It never occurred to her that the building was unnaturally quiet and empty until she was startled by the own sound of her boots echoing through the staircase. She paused for just a second, her breath catching in her throat.

Something similar to the sound of moaning was coming from the elevator shaft. Of course, what with this being a dorm building and all, she automatically assumed some of her companions were up to some engaging extra curricular activities.

"Get a room!" She shouted when the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. She was determined to get to her room and check whether or not Chris was there. On some level she knew this was just reckless wishing on her part. If Chris was indeed in Raccoon City then his unit would have been deployed to the scene of the crime. Sister or no sister, Chris still had a job to do. The strangest of feelings compelled her to come back to the dorms though.

In a few short seconds, Claire had cleared three floors worth of dorms made it to her floor without any in convinces, which in itself was an inconvenience. The last time she checked she lived in a building with eighty other students and prior experience told her not all eighty students actually went to class today. Finally she stopped before the door to her room.

"Shit…" the die hard redhead muttered hotly under her breath. The door appeared to have been kicked in. The doorknob was still in tact, but the side of the door was splintered and so obviously forced. She swallowed hard, wishing she hadn't left her gun inside of the room. Usually she carried the old school Smith & Wesson on her person at all times. Running late for class this morning however, she figured she could drop by and grab it during her lunch break. Being the sister of a well known STARS agents made for a very interesting life. Every once in a while a psycho would break free and come looking for revenge at her doorstep. The last guy that actually made it past the threshold had a bullet shaped hole permanently etched into his face.

Narrowing her eyes, Claire lightly tapped the door with the tip of her boot, creating a space wide enough for her to squeeze through undetected. All these years of dealing with the aftermath of Chris's missions had made her an excellent hand to hand combatant. Her stealth skills were amongst the best of the STARS ranks (compliments of Chris Redfield) and her gun skills were not to be trifled with. She was one mean lean ass kicking machine. Hand her a motorcycle any day and she would leave mouths wide open. At the moment, a good old fashioned baseball bat would serve her purposes.

Her body tensed as she took a step inside of her room. Whoever broke into her room had no intentions of being smart about it. Drawers were over turned and emptied, the contents laying on the floor in scattered heaps. Her vanity mirror lay shattered into a million little pieces on the ground. They obviously weren't very smart; they'd cut themselves on the broken mirror and left a puddle of blood to stain through the standard white carpet of the dorm. She made a face at the crimson liquid, her eyes following a trail that led to the kitchen.

"Fuck," she breathed, the muscles in her legs coiling, ready to spring. Her fists formed tight fists at her sides. Whoever broke in wasn't expecting her back so soon because they were currently rummaging through her refrigerator like animals. Back tracking, Claire prayed her gun was still in its proper place. Yes! The college girl hissed, her gun was safe and sound right where'd she left it. Her body angled towards the kitchen, legs set into a deep crouch, she leaned to her side and fumbled with the blankets and pillows on her bed until her fingers met the cold, comforting metal of her weapon. Snatching it up she quickly aimed it towards the shadow that had appeared by the door and pulled the trigger back.

At once the noise in the kitchen ceased. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her head. He or she had head her. Spreading her legs to shoulder width, she waited patiently, finger on the trigger ready to bust some caps shoulder the intruder wish to deal with this in a less than civilized manner.

"Look buddy, whoever you are, I have a gun in my hands so just come out slowly and we'll deal with this like mature people." She had to admit it, her voice gave away none of the unease she felt. She wished she'd left one of the lights on in her room. The entire place was covered in dark shadows save for a bit of sunlight flittering through the open window in the kitchen. Her eyes narrowed at the sound of dragging feet. The intruder was making his way towards her at a very slow pace. Maybe this guy was smart and wouldn't put up a fight, she would hate to have to explain to the dean why there was another body in her room.

The inturder dragged his feet as he made his way painfully slow from the kitchen into the small area designated as the dining room. His entire body was shrouded in darkness but not even that was enough to keep the bile from rising in Claire's throat when she set eyes on the bloody gash on his head. He took another step and stumbled slightly.

"Hey!" She barked, gesturing with the gun, "Stop right there." He took another step, intent on defying her. "I said stop right there!" Another step. Then another. And another. His body was completely in the room now. Even in the dim light Claire could see with every step he took he left a trail of blood behind him. The burning in her throat was becoming unbearable. "I said fucking stop!" She called one last time. Then she promptly opened fire.

The man groaned and fell to one knee. Claire expected him to scream and curse and foam at the mouth; the slug went clean through the kneecap. Instead the man made a noise that resembled that of a dying animal's and bolted to his feet. Claire moved to shoot again but he was way faster than should have been possible. Her breath left her lungs in a whoosh as the man rammed into her and knocked her to the floor. This up close and personal, it was hard for the suddenly horrified Claire Redfield to miss the ghastly, sunken eyed man pinning her to the floor.

She froze.

His face was white as a sheet, his eyes were glazed over and just… empty. It was as if the light had gone out. There was no longer a soul residing within in this man. The noise he made as his gnashed his teeth in an attempt to bite her face confirmed as much. Her strength began leaving her body as her mind reeled. This couldn't be! They didn't exist. It wasn't possible!

"Help!" her voice cracked under the pressure of the man's cold, dead hands wrapping snuggly around her throat. With a sick certainty, Claire realized she was going to die…

Tucking her legs in towards her body, she pushed with all her might and managed to put a little space between herself and the reanimated corpse on top of her. It was all she needed. Wiggling her foot around, she planted her heavy boot against the man's chest, squeezed her abs and gave a monster shove. The creature wailed as it launched into the air, flying back several feet before being stopped by the wall that separated the living room from the dining room. Claire, too amazed and shocked by what she saw, noticed a little too late that the creature had already recovered and was charging right for her.

Her head snapped to the side, her hands patting the floor around her in search for her gun. Her heart pounding, blood boiling, she looked up and felt the biggest wave of desperation wash over her.

The corpse launched itself into the air, hands spread and mouth wide open displaying decaying, maggot infested teeth. Her stomach lurched and her heart dropped. This wasn't the way she pictured herself dying.

A shot rang out, echoing through the desolate halls of the building. The creature gave a final pitiful shriek before its head seemingly implode on its shoulders. Black blood splattered all across the room staining the walls, furniture, ground, and ceiling. When his body hit the floor it resembled a whole lot of ground beef absently discarded.

Claire's eyes flew open as she scrambled away from the mess, whimpering and shaking. Setting eyes on her savior she never thought she would be this elated to see Jesse's striking grey eyes on her.

Jesse inhaled deeply, willing herself to calm down before shoving her own gun into the holster around her chest. Kneeling beside the redhead, she gripped her shoulders and stared her straight in the eyes. "Claire… are you hurt?" She spoke slowly and clearly, the girl looked to be in shock.

"wh-wh-what is that THING?" She panted, shaking her head at the very sight. "what is it?"

"I need you to take a deep breath and calm down." Jesse instructed. She'd seen this before. Some people didn't handle surprises as well as others. Some people went completely insane, lost their minds. For reasons she didn't quite understand, she hoped Claire wasn't one of these people. But she couldn't be sure. "Were you injured?"

Claire stared at the collected brunette for what seemed forever. It felt as if everything were passing by in slow motion around her. "I… I'm fine." She managed to say, though she felt the distinct sting of a sprained wrist. "Jesse, what's going on. What is that thing?" her eyes flew to the pile of mutilated flesh on the ground. She just barely made it to turn her head away before the contents of her stomach emptied out on the ground.

The 21 year old music major pressed her back against the wall and slid down until she was seated beside her equally stunned roommate. "I have no fucking idea. But it-it isn't human." Her adrenaline was beginning to wear off. She shoved her violently shaking hands into the pockets of her leather jacket. "It's not human."

-I-

(CPOV)

When I awoke it was not unlike the last time. My clothes were drenched in sweat, my heart felt like a warm drum inside of my chest, and my thoughts and emotions were so twisted I feared there was no hope to ever escape from the knots. It took me a few minutes to gather my bearings but I managed to calm myself down enough to take a peek around.

Alice was nowhere to be seen which put an unshakable sense of dread upon me. Judging from my dreams I can probably assume (correctly) that I was a real harass back in my day, one of those tough chicks that rides motorcycles and picks fights with hordes of guys and evades the cops. One bad to the bone chick. Then why do I seem so fragile? Even then. Why does waking up alone make me feel like I've a knife made of ice embedded deep within my chest?

Stretching out my sore, stiff limbs, I climb out into the pilot seat, slip the top off, then climb out and onto the left wing. We've stopped again. Obviously. Only this time, Alice chose a hell of a spot to land us in. I can't believe I slept through this! We parked on top of some building in a wasteland of a city. The roof is all broken up and whatnot. Several people run to greet us as I leap off of the wing and join Alice.

A muscular, sporty looking black man in a muscle shirt and track pants is the first to greet us. He extends his hands to Alice, putting what I guess he thinks is a charming smile. "Luther West." He introduces himself.

Alice's eyes are quick and effective but I don't miss the way they roam over this Luther guy. She gets this little half smirk on her lips and a look in her eyes that I can only describe as intrigue. "Alice."

"Luther West." He says again, offering his hand to me. I glare at him and shove past him. I don't like him. I hear Alice say something in my defense. "That was a nice landing." He remarks, his feet kicking loose dirt and gravel around.

"I think technically it's called a crash."

Alice and Luther continue talking amongst themselves ignoring the others' questions interrogations. A pang in my chest stops me dead in my tracks. This is the first time I've been around so many people since I woke up from drug induced trance. My body stiffens with this realization. I don't trust anybody around. Any one of these people could turn on a dime and become a potential threat to me. To Alice. My hand automatically reaches for the gun tucked away in the waistband of my pants.

No…

The Claire in my dreams always has a gun to protect herself with. This Claire doesn't even have a knife. I have nothing to defend myself with should anything happen. I have nothing but my hands and a faint hope that Alice will come through with the promise she made me.

I guess these dreams are somewhat helpful. I found out something about myself today: I hate having to depend on other people. But more than that I hate not being able to defend those around me, those I deem important.

My eyes tick over to the pale brunette several feet beside me. This is the farthest I've been from since we met. I instantly miss her. God! How did this happen? What does this even mean? And did I mention I really, REALLY don't like Luther West?

-I-

"Chris isn't here." Claire mentioned after she was certain she wouldn't vomit. Her stomach still felt like the wash cycle but it wasn't as bad anymore. "He must be at the station."

Jesse gave a weak nod. "We probably should have checked there first. I noticed it was too damn quiet when I came in here. The students that were here probably got evacuated by the police." She pushed herself to her feet, offering her hand to Claire, "We should head that way."

Claire gratefully took the hand and stood up as well. "Whoa," she breathed, her vision going black. Her knees buckled beneath her but Jesse was quick to straighten her. She found herself pressed against her roommate's chest, their combined heavy breathing tousling their hair.

"Are you sure you're okay?" The brunette looked every bit as concerned as she sounded, making Claire feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Fine," she smiled weakly, taking a step back. "I'm fine now. Thanks."

"O-okay." Jesse relented. She spun on her heels, shoving the door open. "Let's go."

Claire followed behind her, only sparing the faintest of looks over her shoulder for the pile of rotten meat laying on the ground. Was it her, or was Jesse blushing madly? It was probably just her, why would Jesse be blushing anyway?

"Wait a minute."

Jesse said nothing, simply waited at the door, refusing to look at the redhead. She was absolutely smitten Claire. So what else was new? Once or twice she mentioned Claire to Jill over the phone. Her older sister always found the need to tease her about her situation. Jill thought it was so easy to just walk up to a girl, say hi, and run back to bed together. Well maybe it was. For Jill. For Jesse it was totally different. Leaning against the doorjamb, she crossed her arms over her chest and her right ankle over the left, adopting her classic rebel pose. She watched as Claire turned on the TV.

'Well James I can assure you while some of us out there might be skeptical I am forced to speak my mind.' A reporter said gravelly, her voice strained.

'And what is that?'

'Quite simply, it seems as if the dead are rising.' A pause. 'In the book of Revelation it speaks of the dead and how they will rise and walk the earth. James, we're looking at the end of the wor-'

A black brow rose, skeptical. She was trying to keep her cool but all these people and their opinions were starting to affect her. An infection? The dead rising? "What do you think?"

Claire crouched and took her gun from the floor. She cocked the weapon and held it pointing upwards, a glint in her eyes that quite frankly made Jesse feel oh so small. "The dead will rise, Jess. And you and I? Well hell, you and I are putting them back down in the ground."

-I-

AN: Hey guys, hoped you enjoyed this chapter. I think I mentioned this before but if I didn't, I'm using bits and pieces of the movie, bits and pieces of the games and novels, but most of it (like 70% of this) is what ever my warped little mind comes up with. I would appreciate some ideas as to what you guys would like to read next, I always enjoy incorporating some of the reader's input into my fics just so ya know. Thanks. RR.

Cheers!