Chapter 2: Into the Hive

The nine of them swiftly walked down the giant, silver staircase, down into the very basement of the manor. Along the wall on the opposite side of the room was a large, brown train. The Alexi-5000 was written on the front of it, beneath the umbrella logo. As the train was slowly revealed to Alice, her breath shortened. Inside of the train, she knew, was Spence. The moment he were to fall out of that small closet, she would most likely want to kill him. But she had to control herself, even if she was a bio-weapon. Or, perhaps she was not that, just yet.

"The date…" she murmured to herself, thinking maybe she hadn't had a premonition, but rather, a memory.

"What did you say?" another woman demanded assertively. She was not the same tough looking lady as before, though she too looked well built, for a female. No, this woman was of Spanish ancestry, and she kept her dark brown hair in a low braid, besides two small pieces of hair hanging from the side of her face. Her eyes had a certain darkness about them that brought shivers up Alice's spine. Rain, she knew instantly. If ever there was any woman that she had loved, she knew it to be Rain.

"What's the date today?" Alice tried to say as nonchalantly as possible, although she could hear that her voice had cracked. Thinking of what had happened in the past, or perhaps what might happen, unnerved her. Looking at all of them now, Rain, One, Kaplan, J.D., Matt, Olga the field medic, Twelve, and Alfonso, she remembered all of their deaths, especially the four deaths she had had a vision of just 14 minutes ago. All the others looked at her, but she persisted to give a questioning look at them.

"Uh…" Kaplan replied, "June 18th."

"No. I mean the year." Alice clarified. The rest of the group gave her a strange look, as they all stood there next to the large, train.

"We don't have time for this." Rain said, her voice filling up the room with a hint of irritation. But Alice didn't care, she just wanted to know the date. Carlos might be alive, she thought to herself, Please let him be alive.

"Two-thousand" Alice heart jumped as she waited for Kaplan to finish what he was saying. Her hands began to sweat as she thought of Carlos. Everything about him, from his mysterious, dark brown eyes, to the way he would chuckle at everything.

"Just promise me one thing; When you get down there."

Alice tried hopelessly to drone out his voice.

"and three." She nearly collapsed with shock. Carlos was still alive. At least, she hoped. But even that tiny flicker of hope helped her. Carlos was alive, and Alice would find him. No matter what, Alice would find him.

"Let's go!" Rain persisted angrily, checking her watch. The group quickly moved onto the train, one by one. Alice was the last to get on, apprehensive that she would soon see Spence. Mixed emotions filled her mind. Half of her wanted to get on the train and tear him to shreds, while half of her did not want to go further into the hive. She knew what lied in that enormous sanctuary of death, although, she didn't want to.

As she got onto the train, she had another premonition. This time, Carlos was staring deep into her eyes.

"Alice," he said slowly, not sure how what he was going to say next, "Alice please, you've got to get out of this trance." The pleading in his voice almost made her want to cry. But she couldn't ; she was paralyzed. She was being controlled again, just like she was in Vegas. The Alice on the train, half aware what was happening, realized slowly that umbrella was controlling her in the vision. She came in and out of focus, half paying attention to Carlos, half trying to see if Spence was in the closet. The world spun out of control, and she fell to the ground. Suddenly, she was fully back on the train.

"I'm a monster." She whispered lightly to herself. She was still a bio-weapon, no matter what the date was. Matt realized that she had fallen, and in a heartbeat, helped her up. The two of them looked at each other, and Matt gave her an awkward smile. She smiled back, realizing that Matt had been the first man she had cared about here, the first that she had loved. But he had died. Or at least, that's what happened before, when he was Nemesis. But now, Alice came to realize, she had a chance to change that.

"Lie still." The medic, Olga, said. "Lie still!" Those words suddenly pulled Alice back to reality. It seemed now to Alice, that she was thinking more than usual. But then, who wouldn't, what with being in the past and having premonitions every twenty minutes. But now, she could see the truth. Spence was there.

"How many fingers?"

"Three." Spence replied hoarsely. The moment he spoke, Alice jumped. Five years of not hearing his voice, or at least, five years worth of memories, was a bit too much to bear. Almost every night, she had dreamt about him, how he left the three of them to die in that room. Although, they could have been just memories. Thoughts jumbled up in her mind, thinking of what was real and if her memories had really happened. If felt as if just yesterday, she had said goodbye to Carlos for the last time, defeated Tyrant, and was on her way to Alaska with her clones, to meet Claire's convoy. But then, she remembered, she never made it to Alaska. The plane had crashed.

"I'm missing you already."

The bio-weapons bright eyes flickered, as she tried to gain control of her thoughts. All she knew was Spence was there now. However much she wished to destroy his very soul, she had to control herself.

"Good. Now tell me your name."

"I don't know." He replied.

I know your name, Alice thought, you asshole: Spence. The reason all of the people in this train have died.