Claire's Apartment, 8AM
Steve stood outside the apartment, holding a box with a few supplies. He knocked and grinned, waiting. There was no response, so he knocked again. He did this for about five minutes until the door finally opened. Claire stood there wearing pyjama bottoms, a plain black t-shirt, and a highly exhausted look on her face.
"Wow, Claire, I think this is the first time I see you with your hair down," he said, grinning.
Claire stared at him. "Steve...it's eight in the damn morning!" she said.
"Oh sorry, did I wake you?" he asked.
"What the hell do you want?" she asked.
Steve shoved the box in her hands, which she nearly dropped, and walked into the apartment. "Is your brother home?" he asked.
Claire sighed and shut the door, then looked at him. "If he was, you'd be dead...it's Saturday, at eight in the morning," she said.
"You said I could come over today," said Steve.
Claire blinked. "Yeah, I said that, but I didn't mean first thing in the morning," she said. She set the box on the kitchen table and headed towards her room.
"Hey, where are you going?" asked Steve.
She stopped in the frame of the door and glared at him. "Back to bed," she said.
"No! Come on, I'm sorry I woke you up, but this way we can hang out all day, right?" said Steve.
"Steve, I'm really tired and-"
"I'll run to Starbucks and get you a coffee," he said.
Claire paused and looked at him, then half-smiled. "Okay deal. Go now while I get changed, and we'll call it even," she said. She turned and walked into her room, shutting the door.
Steve ran to the door and left the apartment building, grinning. Good thing the Starbucks was right around the corner.
Claire's Apartment, 8:30AM
Steve knocked on the door again, sighing. Starbucks was always busy on Saturdays, and he hoped the delay hadn't given Claire the perfect opportunity to go back to sleep. He went to knock a second time, but the door opened right before he could. This time, Claire stood there in jeans, a red hoodie, and her usual brightening smile.
"You took long enough, I was starting to hope you got hit by a bus," she said.
Steve frowned. "I bet you'd be sad if I did," he said.
Claire grinned and stepped aside to let him in. "Wake me up at eight again and I'll be the one pushing you in front of one," she said.
Steve laughed and walked in, handing her a coffee. "They were super busy, so it took forever."
"I know, it's Saturday, and some people are freaks who actually love getting up that early," said Claire.
"Look, I said I was sorry," said Steve. "I'll never wake you up so early again, okay?"
Claire nodded. "You'd better not, the bus passes by frequently around here," she said, smiling. "So what do you wanna do?"
"I don't know, I thought we could just hang out," said Steve. "You know, video games, movies, go out somewhere, have lunch...just, whatever right?"
Claire sighed and looked at the box on the table. "So what did you bring?" she asked.
"Oh, just some juice, a few games, a remote, and soda," he said.
"Wow, you're prepared," said Claire.
"Well I would've brought something for lunch too, but I don't know how to cook so I figured maybe you could show me," he said. Claire blinked, and burst out laughing. "What?" Steve asked.
"You thought I could show YOU how to cook? Steve, you're hilarious!" she said.
"Whatever," Steve said, walking over to the kitchen table. He pulled out the jug of juice and set it on the table. "Do you have cups?" he asked.
"No Steve, I own no form of dishes," Claire said sarcastically. She took a sip of her coffee and watched Steve as he went through each of the cupboards, looking for the cups. It took him nearly two minutes before he found a pack of plastic ones next to the sink. He took two out and put them on the table next to the juice. By then, Claire had finished her coffee and was sitting on the back of the couch.
"I know you think I'm an idiot, but it would've been nice of you to tell me where the cups were," said Steve. He started pouring some juice in the cups, shaking his head.
"You never asked me WHERE the cups were, you just asked if we had some. It's not my fault you can't be specific, Steve," said Claire.
"Any normal person would answer with 'yeah, right there'," said Steve.
Claire grinned. "No, any normal person would open their eyes and see the cups 'right there'," she said.
"You suck," said Steve. He finished pouring the juice and sat at the table.
Claire walked over to the table and took her own cup, sitting across from him. "What is this, a tea party?" she asked.
"Has anyone ever told you how hilarious you are?" asked Steve.
Claire shrugged. "It's been mentioned," she said, taking a sip from the juice at the same time as Steve. As if on cue, they both spat the juice back out. "Oh gross! How old is this crap?" asked Claire.
Steve wiped his mouth on his sleeve and picked up the jug. "This says it expired last month...but I just bought it yesterday!" he said.
"Where did you buy it?" asked Claire.
Steve put the jug down and sighed. "From some guy in an alley...he said it was good!" he said. Claire stared at him until he finally burst out laughing. "That was a joke," he said, "I'm not that stupid."
"Says the guy who bought a month-old jug of juice...You're supposed to check the date before buying it, genius!" said Claire.
"Shut up...Man, this sucks. I really wanted juice!" said Steve.
Claire stood up. "Well then let's go get some," she said.
"It's nine in the morning, Claire, I doubt anything's open," said Steve.
"Oh sure, NOW he's concerned about the time," she said. "Come on, loser, something'll be opened by the time we get there."
Steve sighed and stood up, headed to the door, and put his shoes on. "I doubt it," he said.
Claire put her boots on and grabbed her vest from the closet. She waited until Steve finished tying his shoes, and they left the apartment on a mission to get good, non-expired juice.
At The Subway Station
Claire sat on the bench while Steve talked to the subway workers. They'd just missed their train, so as entertainment Steve had begun kicking his shoe in the air and catching it. Of course, he'd accidentally kicked it against a wall and it had bounced off, landing on the tracks. Some people had laughed, others had gasped, but Claire just took a seat and pretended not to know him.
"Hey Claire, come over here!" yelled Steve.
She turned her head to face the other way, as though he was talking to someone else.
"Claire! Hey, Claire Redfield! You there, on the bench with the red hair and jacket! Hey!"
Claire sighed and turned to face him. "WHAT?" she said.
"Guess what! He's going down to get my shoe right after the next train passes! Isn't that awesome?" said Steve.
"That's great, Steve. Why don't you go with him?" asked Claire.
Steve blinked. "He won't let me, says the tracks are too dangerous," he said.
"...So why don't you go with him?" said Claire, walking over to him and the subway worker.
Steve laughed and threw his arm around her shoulders. "Aw, look at you all embarrassed and hateful!" he said.
"Get off me, or I'll kill you myself," she said.
The subway worker started laughing, clipping the radio to his belt. "Dude, your girlfriend seems hostile," he said.
"You know it," said Steve, smiling. He looked at Claire and regretted it instantly. His smile faded as she pushed him away, knocking him off the platform and onto the tracks.
"Hey! That's dangerous, get back up here!" yelled the subway worker.
Steve blinked and got back up on the platform in less than five seconds. He looked back down to the tracks, then glared up at Claire. "Are you TRYING to kill me?" he yelled.
"Oh come on, I didn't think you'd actually fall down there...besides, you have plenty of time before the next train comes in," she said.
"How would you know?" said Steve. He was furious, but Claire's smile seemed to be taking away most of the anger he should be feeling. "Seriously, you've got issues," he said.
"You being one of them," said Claire. "Oh and by the way, did you get your shoe while you were down there?"
Steve blinked and looked back to the tracks. "Um...no, I didn't think of it," he said.
Just then the train came into the station. People stopped staring at them and got on, hurrying before the doors closed. Claire watched it pull out of the station and sighed. "If you weren't such an idiot, we'd be on that train," she said.
Steve was watching the workers climb down carefully to retrieve his shoe. "It's not like we're in a hurry, Claire."
"You know, I could be at home sleeping, not worrying about replacing some expired juice so early in the morning, but nooooo...I have to be standing at a subway station, watching the very annoyed workers get your damn shoe from the tracks 'cause you're too stupid to keep it on like a normal person!" she said.
"So what's your point?" asked Steve. The worker climbed back up and gave him his shoe, which he started putting on.
"My point is you're an idiot and I want to get home soon," she said. Just then, all of the lights in the station went out. Some people screamed, but the backup generator lights went on and calmed them down.
One of the workers held up his radio, nodded, and put his hand up. "Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please!" he said. "We seem to be having a power outage in the entire area, so please don't panic."
Steve walked over to Claire and nudged her arm. "Cool," he said.
"Not cool, Steve. Not cool at all."
Another worker came down the station stairs shaking his head. The first worker noticed him and nodded. "Also, our station doors have automatic locks that can't be opened at the moment, kind of like an elevator. It won't take long for the manual override, so please don't worry, get comfy, and we'll be back up and running in no time," he said. People seemed relaxed enough by his tone, which meant he was doing his job pretty well.
Claire sat down and leaned back against a pillar. "Great. Just...great," she said.
Steve sat next to her. "Are you claustrophobic?" he asked.
"Just a bit, but that's not the point. Once the power's back on, can we just skip the juice and head back home?" she asked.
"Are you seriously that tired? Well, that's fine. We could grab another coffee if you want?" suggested Steve. He looked at her and smiled.
Claire looked back to him and couldn't hold back a grin. "As long as it's your treat," she said.
She looked around again, and Steve hoped she wasn't getting nervous. She didn't really seem like the type who would, but he wasn't sure. He decided to help lighten up the moment. "Hey, what do you think caused the power to go out?" he asked.
Claire looked back to him. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I think it's a government thing. You know, something bad happened on their part so they shut off all the power and gave up on the town!" said Steve.
"Something bad like...?" asked Claire.
"Oh come on, you've watched movies and played video games! I think it's an alien invasion," he said. Claire laughed, which sounded relieving to Steve.No panic there, he thought.
"Don't be stupid, the power wouldn't go out due to aliens. I think it's an apocalypse," she said.
"Like Armageddon?" asked Steve.
Claire grinned. "Not really, but it would be awesome if Bruce Willis showed up now and busted through those damn electric locks!" she said.
"Pft, you're such a girl," said Steve.
Claire elbowed him. "What? He's awesome! Anyways, I meant more of a zombie apocalypse anyways. A viral spill that's causing people to die and come back as flesh-hungry brain-dead monsters! It could happen, you know," she said.
Steve laughed. "You think?"
She nodded and looked across the tracks at an old lady who was coughing. "See her? She's got it. The virus is going through every part of her system as we speak, and in no time she'll drop dead, wake up, and start eating people on the platform," she said.
Steve looked at the lady. "And with every bite, the virus spreads. Man, you've got quite the imagination," he said, grinning back to Claire. Behind her, he saw a little girl leaning against another pillar, looking their way with a shocked look on her face.
Claire noticed him looking and turned. The little girl was almost in tears. "Hey, I was just kidding," she said, smiling.
"I don't want monsters!" said the little girl.
Her mother rolled her eyes and looked at Claire. "Nice going, she'll probably be crying all day now," she said. She pat the girl on the back and sighed. "It's not true, so don't even think about it."
Claire glared at the lady. Steve, on the other hand, grinned. "But it IS true, lady! Above ground right now, people are eating each other, and almost everyone's panicking! We're lucky to be down here, maybe the only thing keeping us alive is an automatic lock on a door!" he said.
"Stop that," said the mother.
Steve stood up. "But once the manual override is done, we're in serious trouble! Those backup lights won't last forever, and we'll all be in a completely dark mess, not able to see the zombies as they eat those around us!" he said.
"Steve, calm down," said Claire.
People around them were mumbling, starting to freak out. Everyone was watching Steve, and Claire noticed the little girl was hiding behind her mother, crying. The mother's eyes were on her. "Make him be quiet right now or I will," she threatened.
Claire sighed and pulled at Steve's sleeve. "Steve, stop it, you're making people upset," she said.
A man stood up. "Upset? He's probably right! We can't let those doors open, they'll get us!" he yelled.
His panic made many others panic, and some people were pacing around as though deciding if they wanted to run out of the station or jump on the tracks.
Claire stood up, holding her hands out. "Hey, this is all just a joke, there aren't any monsters or zombies anywhere...he just likes making up stories!" she said.
"Mommy, I'm scared!" said the little girl.
"Wait here, I want to see these locks myself," said the mother. She got up and started following some people up to the exit.
"But mommy!" called the girl.
The mother turned around and sighed. "Sherry, stay here and be quiet," she said. The girl stayed against the pillar as her mother disappeared up the stairs.
Claire shook her head. "Steve, look what you've done! Everyone believes you, though I can't understand why, and now we'll have a full-blown panic in a subway station," she said.
"Hey, I was just kidding...man, they're so gullible," he said. He went to the bottom of the stairs. "It's not true! Everything's normal up there!" he said, but there was no point. He could hear them banging on the doors. He looked back and saw a subway worker talking to Claire. "Great," he said.
"I don't think so," said Claire, "it's not my fault."
"You and your friend started this, so once the doors are unlocked I need you both to stay here until we contact the authorities," said the worker, standing in front of her with his arms folded.
"But that's not fair! We didn't make the power go out, we just started talking!" protested Claire.
"I was trying to keep everyone calm to avoid panic, but when you two started talking it did the complete opposite. Now, we have a panic on our hands and it's your fault, so again I'll need you both to stay here until I contact the authorities," he said.
Claire rolled her eyes and leaned against the pillar. Steve walked over and looked at them both. "Are we in trouble?" he asked.
At the same time, the worker said "yes" and Claire said "no", which confused Steve.
"We haven't committed any crimes or broken any laws, so you have nothing," she said.
The worker pointed to a sign that said "do not cross" next to the yellow line. "See that? It clearly indicates that nobody should go beyond the yellow line, and your friend here was ON the tracks," he said.
"Yeah, but I pushed him so it wasn't intentional," said Claire.
"Oh, well then I can use 'attempt at murder' as a reason?" asked the worker.
Claire was about to keep arguing, but the lights went back on. The doors were unlocked, and those who didn't leave the station stood around to wait for the delayed train, going on with their business. Claire and Steve had to sit in the station and wait for the police to arrive.
"Hey Steve, have I ever told you how much you suck?" asked Claire.
"A few times, yes," said Steve.
"Well this time I really mean it...you suck."
"Noted," he said, grinning. "Man, I'm so bored! How long does it take to get the police down to a subway station?"
"Depends on the police," said Claire.
At the station stairs, two police officers showed up and called the worker over. Claire couldn't see them, but she recognized the voice and sighed.
"Great timing, officers!" said the worker. "I really didn't know what to do with them."
"We didn't get a full briefing, so I'd like to know exactly what happened," said the voice of the cop.
The worker explained the situation from the start, and once he finished the two officers started laughing. "That's not a crime, sir," said the female officer. "It's just plain stupid."
Claire leaned her head against the pillar, shutting her eyes.
"I think we're off the hook," said Steve.
"Nope," said Claire.
Steve looked at her and blinked, a little confused.
"Well do me a favour and take these kids out of here, will you? They've been nothing but trouble since they got here," said the worker.
"Will do, sir," said the officer. "Come on, kiddies, let's go!"
"No, I think we're fine right here," said Claire.
"Let's not do this now, please. Come on," said the cop, more seriously now.
Claire stuck her head around the pillar and looked at him, grinning. "But, there are zombies and monsters up there!" she said.
Steve got up and walked over, but Claire stayed where she was. "Yeah, that's hilarious and all, but if you don't get your ass over here right now, I'll feed you to the zombies myself," said the cop.
Claire grinned and walked over as well. "Sorry Chris," she said.
He shook his head. "My own sister, nearly arrested for scaring the shit out of an entire subway station. I don't know if I should be embarrassed or proud," he said.
"We were nearly off shift anyways," said his partner, Jill.
"So can we get a ride home?" asked Claire.
"No, you can walk and think about what you did," said Chris. He got punched on the arm and looked at Jill, sighed, then nodded. "Okay fine, we'll drop you off. I don't know where Steve lives though."
"He's coming over," said Claire.
Chris laughed. "No seriously, where does Steve live?" he asked.
"I already told you, he's coming over."
"Not today, no," said Chris. "I won't be home until later, and I'd rather he go home."
"Chris, I'm nineteen, you can't tell me who I can or can't hang out with. Steve's coming over and that's final," said Claire.
"I don't care how old you are, you're not the boss here I am, and I say what's final or not!" said Chris.
"I'll buy you a coffee too," said Steve.
Chris looked at him, smiled, and looked back to Claire. "And I say Steve's coming over! And THAT'S final!" he said.
"You're such an ass," said Claire as she walked towards the parked police car. Chris laughed and followed, with Jill and Steve at the back.
"Such a happy family," said Jill. Steve laughed.