Salvation, Chapter 4
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Mika & the team of scientists cheered & high-fived each other, even Wesker looked happier then anyone had ever remembered seeing him. Dr. Mika's serum made from Alice's blood had allowed his body to finally win for war against the T virus, the 'cured' zombies had been set loose to 'disinfect' the world's population of undead inhabitants in a reverse of the initial infection. At last the end was near…. & it was a promising end for a change. "Sir, there is one problem." Dr. Mika said feebly to Wesker, who did a sharp one eighty to face him, Mika swallowed hard, seeing his nervous reflection in Wesker's blacked out shades. "Project Alice… she isn't regenerating her blood supply anymore, her vitals are no longer improving. It seems as though she is 'tapped out', for lack of a better explanation." "Do we have enough of the serum made?" "Yes, sir, the undead should transmit it on their own, but we have enough to finish the job if they do not." Mika replied, "Then store her away, no use wasting Umbrella funds on something that has been such a problem for us if she is of no use anymore." Mika & his scientists exchanged glances, they found it peculiar for Umbrella to be uninterested in salvaging something they had sunk so much of their money into, but he didn't get to the position that he was in this outfit by asking questions… he just did as he was told.
As they approached the Umbrella facility, the Washington branch, a sickening feeling came over Carlos & he stopped dead in his tracks, causing the succession of convoy survivors to bump into one another. "What the hell, Carlos?" Claire said indignantly as she pushed her hat off her face. "We have to hurry!" He said, ignoring her outburst as he broke into a run, the others followed without questioning him. Carlos didn't have to check every inch of the facility, something was pulling him toward an area in the back of the building where Umbrella kept their more… unstable experiments. They leapt down from the AC vent off the wall into a damp, clammy room with a moist cement floor & a high, flat ceiling. The room was lined with containers fairly similar to the ones that used to house the lickers. Carlos slowly made his way to one at the end of the row in the rear of the room, he wiped the condensation off the small viewing window, his heart was now racing so fast that he could no longer decipher the individual beats.
The lifeless face of Alice was barely visible against the condensed glass. "We have to get her out of there!" Carlos said as he stuck a crowbar between the lock & the door. "Uh…. Excuse me, but I have a better way." Stella said as she pushed in front of them with a tablet in hand. After what seemed like an eternity, the hatch popped & the door slowly opened with a rusty, protesting groan. Cold, foggy condensed air with a musty underscore met them as it escaped into the room. Carlos reached forward & gently scooped Alice into his arms, taken aback by how cold she was to the touch. But, at least she was still breathing. "I cant believe that Umbrella isn't stopping us." Claire said as they shimmied up the latter of a manhole to the street level. "If they aren't, that isn't a good sign… it means that… they probably think she… won't make it." Stella said, Carlos felt his stomach come to reside in his feet upon hearing that. She couldn't be dead, she just couldn't. A lump formed in his throat at this thought. "Lets get her back to the Arcadia & see what we can do, I'm not going to make any promises." Stella said.
"How is she?" Carlos said, unable to keep the vibration out of his voice, rising to his feet as Stella emerged from Alice's room in the hospital wing of the Arcadia. "Same, I don't understand it, the virus is still present in her blood, same as it has always been, but it isn't regenerating her like it should be. There is no reason why it shouldn't; they didn't give her anything to negate it. Its like she doesn't want to get well or something." She said as she rubbed her forehead, she looked exhausted. "I'm sorry, Carlos. I've done all I can. The rest is up to her now." "C- can I sit with her?" He asked, his deep voice was uncharacteristically small, Stella gave a small smile as she waved him the ok.
"Alice." Carlos whispered as he pulled up a hard, metal chair next to her bedside, & took her hand in his, careful to mind the IV's she was hooked to. She looked like she was sleeping, so angelic & innocent, free of the worry, stress & anguish that came with this new world they lived in, controlled by Umbrella. A light bulb of thought went off in Carlos' head perhaps that's what it was, she just didn't have the will to go on living anymore, tears trickled down his rugged, handsome face as he squeezed her hand. "You think that you & your friends would be better off if you were dead… but you're wrong. We need you….. I need you, I can't … can't … go on without you. Alice…. Please…." He choked out as tears ran down his face, he put his hand over her heart & closed his eyes. A warm glow began illuminating from beneath his hand, weather he was aware he was doing this or not was unclear, his eyes remained tightly shut & his head bowed… he was praying, an uncommon sight these days. Most people had given up the hope & faith it takes to inspire prayer, accepting the fact that they were already in hell. There was an old saying, "when there was no more room in hell, the dead would walk the earth." Perhaps it was man's punishment for fucking things up. But he didn't understand why Alice was dealt such a shitty hand, she had, of course in his opinion done nothing wrong, but he supposed that it was Umbrella's way of punishing her for betraying their secrets… or trying to.
"What if she doesn't make it?" Stella said as she, Claire & the gang waited outside the ship's medical ward, Claire shook her head as she took a long drag off her cigarette. "I don't want to think about that, Carlos has been through a lot…. I know that everyone has been through 'a lot' but with Carlos its different because we all love him. If she doesn't make it, it might be the straw that breaks the camel's back." Claire said, her voice cracking, her hair hiding her expression as she studied the floor. Stella heard the Arcadia groan as the water shifted under her, the tide must be coming in; her vocalizations seemed to mirror their feelings. Suddenly, a shockwave shook the entire ship, it came from the direction of the medical ward.
"W-what the fuck was that?" Kmart said as she joined Claire, Stella & the others at the door to Alice's room. "See for yourself… & watch your mouth!" Claire scolded her, Kmart took in an excited breath as she saw Alice awake in bed, Carlos was passed out on her chest, Alice put her finger to her lips, asking them to stay silent, she wanted Carlos to wake on his own so they could reunited properly. The rest of the gang nodded as they closed the door to give them their privacy. Carlos opened his eyes, his surroundings were foggy & unrecognizable he lay back for a moment, then, Alice's voice entered his conscious. "You know, Carlos, I have you to thank, I gave up on myself, thanks for not following me on my self-pity streak." She said, he couldn't see her face, but her voice was unmistakable; deep & sexy with a hint of mystery. Not something one would expect coming out of a woman so feminine & petite. he wasn't sure if it was the sound of her voice in his mind's ear or what but something jolted him quite rudely from his dream, his vision cleared & the smirking face of Alice came into focus. They both leapt forward & embraced, Carlos was unable to keep the tears back any longer & sobbed uncontrollably into her shoulder.
"So that's it? Its all over?" we can just buy a house with a white picket fence & shit?" Claire said. "I don't think it's that simple, there is still the subject of Umbrella." Carlos said. "I think we should go get em'." She said with a menacing grin.