Chapter 3: The Long Ride There

As the small group sat there on the speeding train, Alice began to think deeply again, emotions running wild. She thought about everything that had happened in those long, five years after the events of the "nuclear power plant meltdown" at Raccoon City. Jill, Angie, L.J., Carlos, and herself were on the helicopter that crashed, leaving only Alice behind. The others had somehow gotten away, far from Umbrella and their corrupt ways. They crashed in a distant land, the Arklay Mountains, far away from the city. Alice was the only one left, the others nowhere to be found. Soon afterward, Dr. Isaacs and his fellow employees from Umbrella found her, nearly dead. She spent days in the water tank in his laboratory, floating in the green-tinted water. Finally, one night, she woke up. Through the glass, she saw Dr. Isaacs looking at her, watching everything she did.

The train shook, obstructing Alice of her thoughts.

"Hey." Matt said, right beside her. "Are you okay?" Alice didn't answer, only gazed off into space. If she hadn't remembered him, she would've responded right away, but it was too painful to look at him. Seeing Matt reminded her of Nemesis, the monster who had sacrificed himself for her. Of course, the two were the same being, but that thought only deepened the pain. Without him, she would have never made it past Cain and his soldiers.

"You must've dozed off." He continued, ignoring her obvious rudeness.

"I was just thinking," she replied indifferently. She could not have anymore detail than that; if she had, she would've over explained herself. And one thing that she did not want to do is over explain herself. They already suspected something strange from what had happened in the bedroom.

"Oh." Matt hesitated, not sure how to go on. "I heard you work for Umbrella, also." The sound in his voice had a hint of fear. Alice knew that he was not a real employee, but rather, he was trying to take Umbrella down. She thought for a while, not wanting to admit she worked for that dreadful corporation.

"Yeah." She answered raucously.

"Well, just from one employee to another, I don't think what they do down there is very legal. I mean-" Alice cut him off.

"Neither do I. "

Matt smiled slightly, glad that she agreed with him. Maybe she's like me, He thought to himself.

Alice almost told him everything; how Umbrella was the single most corrupt company in the world, how they would soon spread an evil sickness unto the rest of Raccoon City, and eventually all of Earth, and how their small fleet would most likely die down there. Almost. But deep down inside she knew that she mustn't tell anyone, as she would be rendered a freak. Not that she wasn't one: five years of increasing telepathical abilities had had a surprising toll on her mental stability. Some days she felt as if no one in the world knew what she was going through, although, that was true. But then again, she didn't know what had happened and what hadn't. They could be memories, or they could be premonitions. Then again, she might not even be conscious right now; this isn't the first time she had a strange dream. But even if it was just a dream, it felt to her like much more. To Alice, it felt like a second chance to save everyone that she had cared about. To save everyone she had ever loved.

Carlos, I… Her own voice echoed in her mind.

Save it. Carlos's voice sounded so perfect, even as he was about to face his death.

"Can I tell you something?" Matt's voice sounded over her memory/vision, pulling her out of her thoughts once more.

"Sure." She responded quickly, perhaps a bit too quickly. But she had to know what he was going to say. Although, she had a good guess.

"I'm not really an employee." Matt said, lowering his voice. Alice pretended to be surprised, but he wasn't convinced. He looked around conspicuously, making sure that no one was listening to their conversation. "I mean, I am, but I'm trying to get evidence to take Umbrella down. You are too, aren't you?"

Alice had nothing to say but yes. He smiled slightly, half amused, and half comforted. Good, he thought, maybe you can help me.

"But I don't think you know what's down there." she told him solemnly. The moment she said this, Matt got a worried look on his face.

"What do you mean?" He worriedly asked.

"Well," Alice hesitated. She thought in her head, making sure to word everything perfectly. To tell the truth, a giant horde of bio-weapon mutants are down there are waiting in the offices, waiting to tear all of us to shreds. Of course, that's not at all what she told him.

"Why would we be riding a train to the hive in such an urgent manner? And besides, maybe there is a reason we don't remember anything. Do you even know your name?"

Matt didn't reply at first, in deep thought.

"Matthew Addison." He finally said after a long time of uncertainty. "Do you remember yours?"

"It's Alice. It's just Alice." She gave Matt a strange look, as if she had told him something that she shouldn't have. "Look, I don't think we should go down there. I don't have a good feeling about it.

"I'm sure everything will be perfectly fine." he said reassuringly, although she could hear a trace of fright in his words.

You're all going to die down here.

Alice tried hard to get the voices of her past out of her head, though she failed again.

"Maybe we should-" another bounce from the train disrupted her thoughts.

"Stop talking about it." Matt finished her sentence. He hadn't asked her; he knew that was what Alice was going to say. But altogether, the both of them didn't want to stop their conversation. Alice was just afraid she might say the wrong thing and give away her position, while Matt was just trying to comfort her.

From the corner of her eye, Alice could see Spence kept glancing at her. A disgusted feeling formed inside of her. He must've remembered what happened last night, she told herself, angry that she had done such a thing with him. Spence saw her look at him, and smiled broadly. Moving on the opposite side that Matt was on, he sat down next to her. Matt looked up, a bit protective over Alice.

"Hey." He said in his charismatic voice.

"Hi." Alice said, not making eye contact with him.

"So, you work for Umbrella?" He asked her.

It was hard for Alice to respond, the feeling still thriving inside of her. "Yeah, I guess. I don't remember much." She lied. "Do you?"

"I think. I hardly even remember what Umbrella is." He replied. Sweat beaded on his handsome face, as the train compartment was stuffy and humid.

The two of them were quiet for a long time. Nothing happened of significance. Rain checked her watch a few times, Kaplan was typing something in his laptop, and One was staring out of the shiny windows. After a long while, Spence broke the silence.

"You look cold." He had noticed that she was crossing her arms and had goose bumps.

"I'm fine." She replied haughtily. He looked at her strangely but still persisted.

"No really," He persevered, "take my jacket." Alice's thoughts ran wild, but she soon realized that she had to accept. She had to make everything the same as before, even if that meant doing things that she didn't want to. Suddenly the train stopped, nearly tipping Alice over. She looked up, her aqua eyes hovering over the windows and what was outside of them.

Just promise me one thing… when you get down there…

Consider it done.

They were inside of the Hive.