A/N: Set in Extinction with a pinch of Afterlife and a dash of Apocalypse. I've changed a few things to focus more on Convoy life. Starts with a murder of crows, will end with a helicopter leaving for Alaska.

Tips: Go watch Extinction. I especially suck at describing settings.

Chapter 2

Seems like everywhere you turn, catastrophe reigns.

Claire wasn't exactly sure why, but she felt equal parts relieved and anxious when Alice's bike pulled up behind her yellow Hummer and fell in line with the Convoy as they set out on the seemingly desolate stretch of desert road for yet another day's journey. Claire didn't like staying in one place for too long, the undead, even at their tediously slow pace, had a way of finding humans even out in the middle of nowhere. And now with the added threat of birds and even infected dogs, Claire was willing to do whatever it took to protect her Convoy.

Even if that meant putting up with the arrogant smirk of the legendary Alice, who saved Carlos and L.J and killed countless of undead in Raccoon City and thereafter. The Alice who could move objects with her mind and was stronger and faster than any human or undead. Claire resigned herself to putting up with the woman who had managed to get under her skin within the span of only a few minutes. The leader saw what she did to those birds, if Alice hadn't shown up when she had, she would've lost a lot of people. That was something Claire would never admit to the blonde woman though.

"I can't believe she's real." K-Mart almost squealed in the passenger seat, glancing back at the blonde on her BMW following behind them. "And she's so beautiful. Did you ever think she'd be this beautiful?" The teenager asked Claire who let out a long suffering sigh.

"No I didn't." She told her young companion, trying her best not to make the girl feel self-conscious about her excitement.

It was nice to see K-Mart so interested in something. Even when that something was an egomaniacal superhuman with legs for days. Claire started when said blonde pulled up next to the driver's side window. Had the leader not been used to being attacked at random by the undead, she would've mostly likely swerved and lost control over her SUV at Alice's abrupt manifestation.

Reluctantly she lowered her window and glared at the dark riding goggles Alice was wearing to protect her eyes from the harsh desert elements.

"Hey K!" Alice's crooked smile greeted the teenager first who blushed and waved at her. "Hey Red." Alice's grin broadened as Claire's glare darkened before she continued talking. "I'm sensing something up ahead. You mind slowing down?"

Claire immediately forgot about coming up with a nickname for Alice, Blondie seemed too obvious, and slowed down the Hummer, and subsequently the convoy, as Alice sped on ahead of them.

"This is Carlos. Everything okay up there?" the radio crackled in the cabin of the Hummer as the two occupant's eyes remained trained on Alice. Claire blindly reached out and pressed the talk button down on the radio.

"This is Claire. Possible threat ahead. Stay Alert." She instructed.

Six 'Roger That's' were heard before Claire noticed that Alice had stopped her bike in the middle of the road and was now holding up her hand for the Convoy to stay back. Claire obeyed the instruction without much thought. She wasn't used to being told what to do, but she trusted Alice right off the bat and that was what had Claire way more perplexed than any of the other multitude of feelings the shaggy blonde conjured within her.

Seemingly out of nowhere a large axe suddenly came crashing down, narrowly missing Alice who managed to jump out of the way in the nick of time. In the SUV's cabin both K-Mart and Claire shrieked in surprise. This was their first time seeing such a large undead creature, and one that was wielding a weapon no less. He was three times Alice's size and when another strike almost hit her, Claire sprang into action.

"This is Claire. Otto turn the bus around and ready your escape route. Chase, pull the tanker out of any possible line of fire. The rest of you, line up, stay out of the way, and let's provide Superwoman with some cover." She instructed before dropping the radio, grabbing her Mossberg and jumping out of the H2.

"Get behind the wheel K." She instructed the blonde before she climbed up onto the roof of the vehicle lifting the brim of her cap so she could have a clearer view ahead of her.

The ambulance and the army truck flanked her on either side and on the outer ends were the food and news vans. Everyone was standing outside their vehicles, weapons drawn, watching Alice get thrown around like a ragdoll. They were so immersed in the David and Goliath battle that they hardly noticed the uncharacteristically dark clouds gathering above them.

Claire had been aiming her shotgun, but Alice with her Kukri blades drawn seemed to be everywhere all at once. But no matter what the blonde did, the Axeman just wouldn't stay down. The leader watched as Alice sliced through the giant's ankle and he lowered to one knee. Alice then ran toward her bike and jumped on it, riding toward the convoy whose eyes widened in unison at the imminent threat Alice's proximity would result in. Nobody made a move though, as Claire Redfield still stood poised on the rooftop of her yellow Hummer, aiming at the fallen giant, and began firing as soon as Alice was in the clear.

The blonde brought her bike to a screeching sliding halt in front of the yellow SUV. She climbed off her BMW and Claire was surprised and admittedly disappointed that Alice had given up and actually ran away from the fight. The leader jumped off her vehicle to get closer to the Axeman herself, and very promptly found Alice's saddlebags being shoved in her arms. She frowned at the dirty blonde.

"Hold on to these for me 'kay Red?" Alice grinned and winked. "I'll be right back." She said and Claire could see that Alice was far from scared or giving up. The blonde actually seemed excited, like a child on Christmas morning. Claire watched as Alice casually flung a long leg over her large motorcycle and started spinning her back wheel, revving the large bike in preparation of a powerful burnout.

Alice's goggles was hanging around her neck now, Claire observed the intense concentration on the blonde's face. She smiled slightly as she noted the familiar bracelet on Alice's arm. She too was wearing a similar one. As if sensing Claire's blue eyes studying her, Alice briefly glanced back at the redhead. The older woman smirked arrogantly as she revved the bike ever higher, causing Claire to clutch onto the saddlebags she was still holding onto just a little bit tighter.

So she liked bikes a little too much. The redhead blushed and looked away from Alice who was grinning at her knowingly, before she let go of her brakes, and with a loud screaming and leaving dark grey smoke in its wake, the bike wheelied toward the Axeman who was steadily nearing the survivors.

"That was so hot!" K-Mart shouted from the driver's side window and Claire hummed her agreement, biting down on her lip and watching in nervous anticipation as Alice neared the giant once again.

The BMW came to a sudden halt in front of the Axeman, tilting onto its front wheel and Alice spun the backside so that it hit through the large undead. He only faltered slightly as Alice found her balance on two wheels again, and started circling her opponent menacingly. The rest of the Convoy had long since lowered their weapons and stood in awe, with their leader, watching the tall blonde use her motorcycle as a weapon.

Finally Alice grew impatient at the lack of dying the Axeman was doing. She sped a few yards away from him and dismounted.

"Get ready Red!" She shouted back at Claire, who out of pure instinct finally dropped the saddlebags and lifted her shotgun assuming correctly that this is what Alice had meant. The blonde then lifted her bike by its handles and tail, spun around a few times like a discus thrower and launched the bike directly at the undead.

Claire cocked her shotgun the moment the bike left Alice's grasp and a chorus of similar actions resounded from the rest of the Convoy members.

"Fire!" The leader shouted and the convoy rained bullets onto the bike as it headed toward the Axeman and exploded on impact, sending pieces of undead giant littering the humid desert air.

"Stay back." Claire ordered as she cocked her shotgun again and followed Alice toward the mutilated undead body, to make sure it wouldn't get up again.

"Smells delicious." Claire remarked sarcastically as she came up to Alice's side.

Even if the undead managed to get up, those parts that rose wouldn't be much of a threat. Claire looked at the pieces of metal stuck in the burned flesh and sighed.

"Did you have to destroy the bike?" She asked mournfully and Alice smirked at her.

"Technically you destroyed the bike." Alice chuckled when Claire just rolled her eyes in response.

A thunderous roar had them looking up into the sky and soon large raindrops were falling down around them. Alice's grin broadened as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the cool water trickling down her face.

"Claire!" Carlos's voice gained the leader's attention where she was staring mesmerized at Alice's reaction to the rain.

She turned to her second in command and gave him the thumbs up, opting to say nothing as she directed her attention back to Alice's oddly tranquil looking features. The blonde's eyelids fluttered open and Claire was met with bright green eyes, with a slight blue ring around them.

Alice didn't seem to mind being stared at, so Claire continued inspecting her face thoroughly. This woman was not what she had expected at all. She had instantly gone from a magnificently fierce warrior to gorgeously innocent and serene. The redhead's gaze drifted to Alice's lips that were pulled into that exasperating smirk once again.

Alice hummed to herself and slowly her grin widened.

"We should get wet together more often Red." She husked seductively.

At the insinuation a variety of images flew through the redhead's mind and she blushed, huffed, swiftly turned around, and walked back to her Convoy not sparing the infuriating blonde another glance.

…..

They hadn't travelled very far that day but Claire had them set up camp regardless, as the sun lay low on the horizon. Earlier when the Convoy had set out after Alice's battle with the Axeman, the blonde was unsure as to where she would get a lift from. So instead of asking, she had remained to the side of the road and stuck out her thumb, much to K-Mart's delight, as her and Claire would obviously be the first to pass her.

Alice smiled to herself as she remembered getting into the backseat of the Hummer, her saddlebags already placed caringly on the seat next to her. Whether it had been K-Mart or Claire that had placed them there, she didn't know. The leader had blatantly ignored her for most of the trip, but K-Mart made up for it with her continuous animated chatter.

Alice now sat at her own little campfire on her bedroll, even though the Convoy had a bonfire going, where a meagre supper was being prepared. Alice busied herself with sorting through the coins she had gathered when the Convoy had come across a deserted Truck Stop earlier that day. They found nothing the Convoy could use, and Alice couldn't help but smile at how much the world had changed when the cash register full of money meant nothing to the forty odd humans she now travelled with.

"We need to find food Claire!" Slater shouted at the leaders' back where she had been walking to her precious Hummer and the redhead halted right in front of Alice to turn and face the man stalking after her.

"I know." She gritted out tensely clearly battling to remain calm.

Alice sat up straighter, watching the interaction with unmasked interest.

"Then do something about it." Slater challenged.

Claire's chest was heaving, a red flush spread up her neck and she looked as though she was about to explode. A few members of the Convoy had gathered around the two, but none seemed surprised at the edgy interaction.

"We will send out scouts in the morning as we had just discussed in the meeting. If you had a problem with that plan, why didn't you raise it then?" Claire's voice was strained and her whole body was visibly bristling with antagonism.

"It's not so much the plan I have a problem with, but recently I have come to doubt your capabilities as a leader." Slater stated with a smug grin.

For some reason Claire seemed to relax at hearing this. Her shoulders slacked and she crossed her arms over her chest and looked at her challenger with blatant amusement.

"Really? This again? You still want to lead this Convoy even though nobody trusts you to do so?" She asked him.

"I think I will be much better at it than you." Slater told her. "But tonight I wish to nominate someone I think is a lot better suited to the task than either of us." He spoke casually and then turned to Alice whose eyebrows shot into her hairline in surprise.

She said nothing as the icy glare she received from Claire and the shock of the statement momentarily stunned her.

"She can clearly protect us better, and I'm sure that she would've found food by now. Just step down Claire, and let someone more competent take the reins for once." Slater stated with blatantly false empathy.

Alice watched as Claire actually seemed to consider his proposal and scowled at the redhead for giving up so easily. Claire Redfield would clearly do whatever was needed to protect her convoy, even if that meant handing over her leadership to someone she deemed worthy.

"I hate to interrupt this little mutiny." Alice's gruff voice broke into the eerie quiet that had fallen around the campsite at Slater's proposition. "But I feel I should clarify that this convoy is nothing more to me than a bucket of chum thrown into shark infested waters. A group of humans this large is bound to attract a lot of undead and I'm just here to kill them. That's all." Alice emphasized and leaned back against the rock at her back like she was relaxing into a recliner. "Please continue though, I haven't been this entertained in years." She smirked at both Slater and Claire's very different expressions.

The man stared at her in shock. Why he thought she would back him up, Alice didn't know. Claire's darkened features weren't a surprise at all.

"And you're nothing more to us than a rabid pit-bull we keep around as a guard dog." Claire seethed indignantly.

"Touché." Alice conceded with a smirk that had Claire's hackles rising again, but the redhead turned her ire toward Slater instead.

Slowly and methodically Claire started disarming in front of the increasingly nervous looking man.

"I'm sick and tired of you challenging my authority around every corner like a little bitch. You think you can protect this Convoy better than I can Slater? It takes a lot more than knowing how to shoot a gun or throw a punch, that's for sure. But let's start with the basics." Claire told him as she handed her weapons to K-Mart.

"You and me. One on One. Hand to Hand. First one to knock the other unconscious gets to lead this Convoy." Claire challenged.

Slater looked apprehensive and glanced anxiously at the crowd that had formed around them. Alice too examined the expressions on the Convoy members' faces. None seemed particular upset at Claire's bartering with the Convoy. Most stood smirking at Claire's challenge and others were glaring angrily at Slater.

Alice folded her arms and readied herself for the show.

She wasn't disappointed as the leader ducked at the sucker punch Slater threw out of nowhere and her first blow broke his nose sending a satisfying pop crackling through the cooling night air. Alice watched Claire dance expertly on her feet, showing off both a natural and professional fighting ability. A knee went up into Slater's stomach and another hit him in the throat.

Alice noticed that Claire wasn't even using her full strength. Instead she seemed to be drawing out the fight to humiliate her aggressor. She could've easily knocked Slater out already; the idiot couldn't block to save his life.

"Aw put him out of his misery Red!" Alice shouted in her raspy voice feeling the need to show where her allegiance lay in the match up and it elicited a pompous smirk from Claire, who promptly kneed Slater in the face, knocking him into oblivion.

Loud cheers went up from the rest of the Convoy and Claire did an elaborate bow before she turned on her heel and continued on her original route toward her Hummer.

"God I've been wanting to do that forever." Alice heard Claire whisper to K-Mart who was walking next to her giggling and handing the leader back her weapons.

Alice chuckled to herself and sat up again, taking hold of her own weapons to start cleaning them as the rest of the crowd dispersed.

No one came to Slater's aid.

A/N: Obviously the Axeman first appears in Afterlife at the prison. I'm not sure where I heard the term, if that is what that particular undead is actually called or if I read it in someone else's FF. If anyone knows which author coined it, please let me know so I may reference him/her next time.