"May fourth, eleven hundred hours, setting a course for Prince Rupert and British Columbia. We'll pass Vancouver, drop down to Seattle. After that, it's to San Francisco, then the rest of the western seaboard." Alice sighed. "Our passenger is still as talkative as ever."
Claire was sitting in the seat directly behind her, stone cold silent on Ben's lap.
"Whatever that thing was, it was injecting her with some sort of drug. Something that causes memory loss. I just hope the effects aren't permanent." Alice continued before she just shut the camera off.
Hours later, Claire flicked her hair out of her face, then spoke.
"You said your names... were Alice and Ben... Right?"
"She speaks." Ben smirked, while Alice breathed a sigh of relief.
"Look, I'm sorry for what happened back there. I don't know what happened... I don't remember anything... I don't even know my name..." She said sadly, looking out the side of the canopy.
"It's Claire. Claire Redfield." Alice said as she turned her head to see Claire's reaction to the news.
"Claire...?" Claire tested the name herself.
"Sound firmiliar?" Ben asked, hoping for a positive reply from the woman sitting on his lap.
"Not really." Claire admitted after shaking her head.
"You'll get used to it." Alice smirked as she turned her focus to the front.
After a moment of silence, Claire raised her tied wrists and asked. ""Perhaps you can cut me loose now?"
"We should get to know each other a little better first." Ben said with a sarcastic smirk that made Claire huff and lower her hands in defeat.
A few hours later, Alice flew the Yak52 over the once iconic Hollywood sign in the former Beverley Hills area of Los Angeles. All three of them looked out the side of the canopy and Alice muttered. ""The City of Angels."
She guided the Yak52 between the high rises of the former downtown area while recording their daily survivor's log. "May fifth, sixteen hundred hours, Los Angeles. No signs of life... Not even the undead. Some must have burnt with the city, but what about the rest..." Suddenly Alice noticed something off to the side and she gasped. ""Oh my god..."
"What?" Claire asked, confused.
"Look over there." Alice replied, banking the plane towards it.
On a distant rooftop, a man lowered his binoculars and muttered. ""Damn." He ran over to a nearby desk and grabbed a portable hand crank siren, then began to turn it.
Moments later, a man with dark scraggly hair in a suit opened a door and exclaimed. "It's a plane! It's a plane!" As two other men came out as well. One of them triumphantly said, "I knew it! Told ya they were coming!"
The plane suddenly turned away in a large arc, and the men suddenly stopped waving their arms. "Where's it goin'? Why's it flying away?" The man in the suit asked, confused.
"It's not flying away, it's circling." The man that had the binoculars said from behind him.
"Damn he's low." The taller of the other two men said as they watched the plane getting lower and lower. "GET DOWN!" He yelled as they all ducked. The plane flew over their heads.
"What the hell is he doin'?" The suited man asked as they all got back on their feet.
"He's gonna land. He's gonna land! Get all that stuff outta the way, quick!" The tall man said before they all sprang into action.
"This may get a little rough." Alice stated as she tried for another attempt to land the Yak52 on the roof of the prison below them.
"Then cut me loose!" Claire held up her hands. She was dead serious now, and Alice and Ben caught a touch of the old convoy leader in her tone.
Ben unsheathed Claire's knife and quickly sliced the ropes off her hands. He returned the blade to her since he already had two of them. "Thanks." She said as she rubbed her wrists.
"Just don't do anything crazy, alright?" Alice warned her, well aware that she couldn't defend Ben AND fly the plane.
"Nothing's as crazy as what you have in mind." Claire replied as she slid the knife into her boot temporarily.
Unbeknownst to either Ben or Claire, Alice smirked widely. She was completely insane... well... Mostly insane.
The tall man and the smaller one frantically pushed barrels and crates out of the way for the plane to safely land while the man that had first spotted the plane was improvising an arrestor cable by tying steel cables around a pillar. The tall man was barely able to duck in time as the plane flew a few feet over the roof.
The Yak52 careened into barrels and narrowly missed the few survivors before it caught the front landing gear on the improvised arrestor cable. But it wasn't slowed enough and crashed through the overhang of the roof and began to fall forward.
The tall man sprinted faster than the others and spectacularily leapt nearly four feet up to grab the rising tail and weigh it down just as the cable snapped. They all pushed the plane away from the edge as the occupants shut down the engine and prepared to get out.
Alice slid back the canopy and stood on the left wing, staring at the assembled survivors. Her large arsenal of weapons in full view after having removed her coat.
"Nice landing." The tall man said. He was wearing a black sleeveless shirt and track pants with a pistol shoved in the front of them. He had a tattoo on his arms and a small charm on a necklace.
"I think technically it's called crashing." Alice said sarcastically as Claire slid back the canopy and climbed out.
"Luther West." The tall man offered his hand to Alice after she hopped off the wing as Claire was climbing out behind her.
"Alice." Alice offered, then glanced at Claire. "That's Claire."
"Luther West, pleasure to make your acquaintence." Luther offered his hand to Claire, who ignored it and hopped off the wing.
"How many people do you have in there?!" The suited man asked when he noticed Ben's also heavily armed profile emerging from the plane.
"Luth..." Luther began, but Ben silenced him with a glare.
"I'm not deaf." Ben stated flatly as he remained standing on the wing of the plane.
"Ben... Play nice." Alice warned as a woman wearing a blue tank top and jeans came over and started to introduce herself.
"Hi, my name's Krystal..." Her words were cut short as the suited man interrupted her.
"No, no, no! Enough with the introductions! So, you're here to help us, right?"
The smaller asian man and Krystal also began rapidly asking questions as well.
"You're getting us out?" "You've come from Arcadia?"
"What did you say?" Alice asked, and Krystal repeated her question.
"You've come from Arcadia?"
"What do you know about Arcadia?" Alice asked as Ben finally stepped off the wing, assessing the surrounding rooftop with a highly practiced air.
"They said they could help us!" The asian man said.
"There are other survivors, civilization and safety!" Krystal said as well.
"Infection free!" The asian man added.
"So they sent you, right?" The suited man asked, smiling hopefully.
"No." Ben stated flatly as he stood guard at Alice's shoulder.
"But there are others out there, like you?" The asian man asked.
"It's just the three of us." Alice said as she shook her head slightly.
"There's to be no rescue?" Krystal asked, her voice heartbroken.
"I'm sorry..." Alice said sadly. All three of them turned and walked inside the doors that they'd first came from, leaving Alice, Ben, Luther and the last man near the plane. "Sorry." Alice said to Luther.
"Look, don't take it so bad, they had their hopes up." He said as the last man slid over the wing.
"They thought you could take them to the promise land. Angel Mortieze. That was some fine flying." The man said as he offered his hand to Alice, who shook it, then he offered it to Ben, who cooly ignored it.
After checking over the plane, Luther approached Alice as she tested the propeller. "So what's the prognosis?" He asked.
"She'll live." Alice replied. "You know, I have the strangest feeling that I know you." She said as she leaned on the front of the plane.
Luther smiled. ""Yeah, I get that a lot. You a sports fan, huh?"" He asked. ""You like basketball?"
"Mmm... Not really." Alice said with a slight smile.
"No? Oh... Well maybe just a fan... Of fine time pieces." Luther gestured to the left and Alice followed his gaze to a large billboard across the parkway. It depicted Luther with a watch in hand and the words 'Star Power' above his head.
"Yeah, Luther here is our resident superstar." Angel joked as he approached them and crossed his arms.
"So, tell me about Arcadia." Alice asked as Ben came around the plane and stood at her shoulder. "What exactly do you know?"
"Just what we heard from their transmissions." Luther replied.
"We've been receiving their broadcasts all week. Food and shelter, safety and security. No infection." Angel explained when Alice raised an eyebrow.
"We'd thought they'd sent you." Luther said as he rubbed his neck. "We've been launching flares for days to get their attention."
Alice shook her head in confusion. ""Flares? Who's gonna see flares from Alaska?"
"Alaska?" Luther and Angel said as they looked at each other.
"Arcadia, it's in Alaska, a town, or so we thought." Alice explained, but Luther raised his eyebrows.
"Town? I don't think so."