Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Rating: T
Chapter 8-
The convoy pulled up to the former hotel LJ had spoken up about minutes before. He claimed there was a viable fuel source, meaning it was their best bet at the moment.
Claire cut the engine of the truck and leaned forward in her seat, her eyes swept the area for anything suspicious.
"Why is that the only thing above the sand?" Claire motioned towards the only item within miles that wasn't covered. The large metal storage unit looking to be a relatively new addition to the scenery. Alice had already set her sights on the large box; they narrowed as a painful knot twisted her insides.
"I'm not sure…..let's just make this quick." The blonde said distractedly. She threw open the passenger-side door and hopped out. K-Mart went to follow but found Claire's firm hand planted on her shoulder, holding her in place.
"Sit this one out K. I want you to stay in the truck with the doors locked, " Claire said lowly. K-Mart opened her mouth to argue but quickly bit back her protest as she saw the anxious shadow darken Claire's irises. The teen nodded reluctantly and sat back in her seat. Claire offered a very strained, yet grateful smile.
"We'll make this quick." The redhead assured her, though it sounded more like she was trying to convince both of them. She swung open the driver's side door and hopped down, slamming it shut behind her. The redhead waited for a beat till she heard the 'click' of K-Mart locking the door behind her.
'Good girl.' Claire thought in relief. With K-Mart in the truck that was at least one less distraction she'd have to worry about.
By this point the rest of the trucks making up the convoy had pulled into various positions around the area, creating almost a labyrinth in the spaces between the vehicles. Carlos, Mikey, LJ, Rebecca, Alice, Claire and a handful of others who had proven themselves to be useful with a gun had all exited their trucks and were gathering together, awaiting further instruction.
Claire glanced around once again, assessing the area and the structures around it, quickly coming up with a strategy.
"Chase we need a lookout. Head up there and cover us, " Claire said in an authoritative tone of voice. The Texan gaped briefly as he looked up at the replica of the Eiffel Tower that the convoy leader was referring too. He gave a small nod and shouldered the rifle by his side before turning to make his way over to the structure for the very unpleasant climb awaiting him.
"Mikey get the winch, I want this thing moved." Claire continued. Mikey nodded obediently and went about his task.
Alice slowly drew the shotgun from her back and lowered it, taking careful steps forward towards the container. When she neared the metal structure she turned her head and focused, listening past the commotion the others were making and tuned her heightened senses in on one area.
It took all of three seconds to confirm the nagging suspicion that had been knotting in her gut since laying eyes on the cargo unit. Alice stumbled backward in a very uncharacteristic urgency.
"Get back!" She shouted as she continued to back up till she was only a few steps ahead of the others. She raised the Mossberg with one arm and aimed it directly at the metal structure, spurring the others to act in a similar manner. Alice's sudden outburst had been followed by a paralyzing silence. No one dared to question the blonde's warning. And with good reason.
Seemingly without prompt the front of the cargo crate fell open, falling to the ground and revealed an ominous blanket of darkness concealing the crates contents from sight.
The silence was thick with tension; everyone with a weapon in reach aimed it directly at the opening. It was no surprise that more than a few hands began trembling as they gripped their firearms tightly. After five long years they had experienced enough carnage to consider themselves seasoned fighters. But none of them were prepared for what began sprinting from the dark depths of the metal crate.
The first two hulking figures charged out of the shadows growling and snarling viciously as they sped towards their targets. Within seconds the mass followed in suit, more and more of the modified undead emptied from the crate, quickly outnumbering the number of humans there to face them.
Panic overtook the convoy and the sounds of gunfire riddled the air. Some in the frontlines turned and ran for cover, leaving only a few to hold their own against the horde.
Alice aimed her Mossberg at the nearest target and pulled the trigger, reducing her victim's head to a pulpy red mess of brain matter and skull fragments that splattered onto the sand below in gelatinous clumps. The blonde cocked the Mossberg and raised it again, she took aim at an infected rushing in her direction and fired producing a similar result.
Alice growled in aggravation, knowing that she couldn't afford to take them all out one at a time. She dropped her shotgun to the ground and withdrew her kukri blades in a vain attempt to conserve ammo.
Alice whipped her head around as two more infected rushed her side by side. A wicked grin crept to the blonde's lips as she dropped down, using the blades to swipe at and sever the Achilles tendons of both the infected. However, before either of them could even hit the ground, Alice followed the strike by rising to a standing position and slashing the backs of her assailant's necks. Her enhanced strength made slicing through their spinal columns a task of little effort.
Alice watched as the two bodies fell to the lifelessly earth at her feet. Her ears picked up on another attacker behind her moments later; she turned in a split second, jamming both blades into the chest cavity of another undead. She pulled the weapons down, cutting past and destroying organs and dead tissue of the man's chest and stomach before yanking the blades out and slamming one of them into his fleshy neck. The blade only got about halfway through, but it was enough. The undead slumped to the ground, falling away from the blade without Alice having to bother pulling it free.
The blonde let out a ragged breath, expelling the fire out of her lungs. Her kukris were coated with thick, congealed blood that plopped to the sand in noisy clumps, speckling the gold jelly-like smears of crimson. Alice felt the adrenaline surge through her veins in an intoxicating wave. Though she hated to admit it, something inside her relished the fighting, craved it even. She caught a glimpse of another few undead zeroing in on her position, they rushed for her mindlessly. The dark part of Alice swelled with a malicious glee, eager for her next victims to close in.
At a distance, Claire was being pursued by three attackers of her own. She turned and fired, downing one with a clean headshot before turning again and continuing the chase around one of the trucks.
Mikey, having seen Claire being followed, fired a few rounds at the undead running after the redhead, none of which came anywhere close to a kill shot. The undead spun around, its attention redirected to the Aussie. Mikey cursed under his breath and went to shoot again only to be greeted by the hollow 'click' of an empty mag.
"Oh, fuck!" He went to rummage through the pockets of his cargo pants to retrieve a spare magazine. In his distraction however, Mikey failed to notice a second undead barreling towards him. The man tackled Mikey, throwing him off guard and sending him to the ground sprawled on his back.
Broken, jagged teeth sunk into the exposed flesh of Mikey's throat, sinking in deeply and clamping down, cutting off the man's startled gasp into nothing more than a strained, wet gag. The undead tore away, ripping with him a mouthful of flesh, immediately sending Mikey into a state of shock as he felt his own blood spurt up from the wound and spatter the underside of his chin.
The Aussie tried again to cry out, but was unsuccessful as powerful jaws continued to chew away hungrily at the inner-workings of his throat. The agony was long past by this point as Mikey moved beyond the pain. Blood began pooling in the back of his throat. He coughed, spilling the warm, thick fluid over his lips and trailing it down his chin and neck. Mikey's eyes slid shut as the pull of unconsciousness became his final comfort.
Claire sped around the same truck again, thinking she had heard Mikey yelling for her over the chaos. The redhead shot an undead running past her in the forehead without breaking her pace and slid up and over the hood of the fuel truck, using the large tire as a point of trajectory.
She had hoped to find Mikey in some sort of attempt at regrouping, but instead was met with the site of two infected feasting ravenously on her deceased friend's corpse.
"No!" Claire screamed frantically. She aimed and fired a few shots, managing to down only one of the undead and hit the other in various areas on his back. She rushed forward and finally downed the second undead when she was only a few feet away. The redhead looked down at Mikey's blood covered mouth and what little was left of the young man's throat. The scream of another convoy member forced Claire to tear her gaze away from the Aussie's body and start moving again. She'd mourn for her friends when the others were safe.
On the other side of the convoy Carlos smacked the barrel of his PM-98 and attempted to pull the trigger, however the gun refused to fire. He tossed the jammed weapon aside in disgust and dove under the truck at his back, rolling out the other side. Scrambling to his feet, Carlos drew his Taurus P292AF and broke into a sprint, taking out three infected in his path with practiced aim. He rounded the front of the truck, running headlong into LJ, nearly toppling them both over. LJ cried out in surprise, raising his custom desert eagle frantically. Upon seeing that it was Carlos however, he quickly lowered the expensive piece.
"Man, I almost plugged you! What the fuck are these things?" LJ exclaimed. Carlos used the time to eject the current clip from his pistol and slid in a fresh mag.
"I'm not sure. They're not like the other infected. They're strong, fast…"Carlos trailed off trying to catch his breath.
"No shit! These ain't normal ass zombie motherfuckers! So where the fuck did they come from?"
A hand shot out from underneath the truck, grabbing hold of LJ's calf. One of the undead that had followed Carlos underneath the vehicle had crawled its way up to the front. LJ cried out in surprise as the strong arm yanked him off the balance and dragged him underneath the truck with the help of a second pair of hands. Carlos immediately dropped to his knees, hearing an agonized scream erupt from LJ as one of the undead sunk its teeth into his thigh. Carlos aimed at one of the attackers but found he couldn't get a clear enough shot without also hitting LJ.
In his distraction Carlos had not seen an infected man making his way towards him as the ex-soldier tried to save his doomed comrade.
Carlos sensed the movement just seconds too late as the undead fell onto him, knocking his gun from his hands. Carlos immediately planted his palms firmly on the shoulders of the man and forced him away as the undead lunged forward, its mouth looking to clamp down on any flesh within reach. Carlos grunted against the strain, the creature was several times stronger than the fiends he was used to dealing with and the fact that they were faster made it even worse. The sounds of LJ's dying screams mingled with the snarls and growls of the man on top of him, and filled Carlos' ears.
He tried to force the man off him again, looking between the undead and his pistol just inches away. If he timed it right he might be able to reach it. The infected man lurched forward again, its mouth gaping open wide as it drew closer and closer to Carlos' throat. The ex-soldier tried to push him away but found that resisting the massive creature's body weight along with the thing's strength was too much for even him to handle.
A gunshot rang out and suddenly the monster was deadweight against Carlos' chest. The man slumped over, lifeless, allowing the ex-soldier to finally push him off. His eyes followed upward and fell on Rebecca, in her hand was a smoking Heckler and Koch USP-9, while the other was extended forward to help Carlos back to his feet. Carlos took the offered hand and was pulled up by the young woman.
"Are you alright?" Rebecca asked in concern. Carlos nodded, unable to suppress the exhausted, yet relieved smile from reaching his lips as he considered the gruesome end he was just moments from experiencing seconds before.
"Yeah…..Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you." Carlos said. His eyes lingered on Rebecca's momentarily before he leaned down to retrieve his pistol.
"We need to find Claire and the others." Carlos said, and then broke off into a sprint with Rebecca close behind.
Alice, still broken off from the others, had fought her way up the stairs of a building, trying to save the convoy members who had fled up them for refuge. The blonde pulled one of the undead off a woman that was being mauled and made quick work of snapping its neck with her bare hands.
Alice growled angrily after seeing that she was too late to save the woman's life. She bent down and quickly went to retrieve her kukri blades when a glint caught her eye. She turned her head to see a metallic shine that was coming from the roof adjacent to the building she was currently in. Whatever it was moved out of Alice's sight. But it was too late, the blonde had already retrieved her blades from the corpses of the two undead she had downed moments earlier and made a break for the open balcony.
She stopped at the ledge overlooking the area; three remaining undead were blocking her path to the other building's entrance. Alice tucked her bottom lip between her teeth and let out a shrill whistle, effectively gaining the interest of her three targets. She flipped the blades into a specific position in her palms and leapt down from balcony, breaking into a full on sprint the instant her feet touched the ground.
She met two of the undead midway towards her destination and shot her fists forward, the razor edges of the blades followed the path her hands took and were embedded horizontally in the two undead's faces along the bridges of their noses, slicing deeply into the soft tissue of their eyes.
Not bothering to stop and retrieve her blades, Alice drew her twin LDA pistols from their holsters and wasted no time in downing the third and final undead, all while never slowing in her race to get to the other rooftop.
Leaping over the corpse, Alice threw herself at the door of the other building nearly taking it off its hinges. She darted up the stairs, taking them three at a time, a pistol clutched tightly in each hand. Within a minute Alice had reached the door to the roof and swung her leg forward, bashing it in.
The blonde stepped out onto the cement walkway, her eyes fell on the black Umbrella helicopter resting on a small launch pad across the roof from where she stood. Alice's grit her teeth at the set up she had lead the convoy into.
She took a few more steps forward and felt movement disturb the air next to her. Alice shot an arm out, blocking a roundhouse kick from her unseen attacker. She caught the woman's leg and pulled her in close enough to clamp her hand around the assailant's neck in a crushing grip. However, as soon as Alice laid her eyes on her attacker she shoved the woman to the cement forcefully, her blue eyes widening in surprise.
Jill glared up at Alice, quickly getting back to her feet, dusting herself off. Her once shoulder-length, raven hair was now a long, flowing mane of light blonde pulled back into a loose ponytail.
A glint coming from Jill's chest caught Alice's attention; she glanced down at the strange metal spider latched onto the woman's upper torso. The two locked eyes again and slowly began circling one another.
"Jill," Alice greeted tonelessly.
"Project Alice….we've been looking all over for you." Jill spoke through a dark smirk as if berating a child who had been hiding from a parent.
"We? Never took you for an Umbrella lapdog. I'm disappointed," Alice taunted. Jill sneered and lunged forward, throwing a left hook at Alice who easily side-stepped the attack, but went on to trade a few more blows with the blonde.
"What's that thing on your chest?" Alice asked, still maintaining a provoking lilt to her voice in hopes of riling the blonde woman even further.
"Wouldn't you like to know. You'll be wearing one soon! " Jill threw another roundhouse kick Alice's way, and managed to graze her abdomen. Alice, unfazed by the blow, used the time to grab a hold of Jill's wrist and locked it in behind her back. She then hooked an arm around Jill's shoulders, forcing the blonde into a choke hold.
"What are those things down there?" Alice growled into Jill's ear. She applied some pressure to the blonde's wrist, straining her shoulder and wrist joints painfully to emphasize her question. Jill chuckled.
"Modified undead test subjects. Dr. Isaacs was attempting to domesticate them. As you can see the results were a little less than desirable," Jill spat. Her tongue gently darted out and prodded her newly acquired split lip, her smirk grew.
"Haven't lost your touch I see." The blonde muttered bitterly. Alice strengthened her hold on Jill, pressing her wrist harder into her back to keep her in place as the blonde tried to struggle against her hold.
"But then again-"Jill smirked. She stilled in Alice's arms, no longer attempting to pull free. "-neither has she."
Before Alice could even process the words spoken too her, a figure slammed into her from behind, sending all three women crashing to the ground. Alice landed hard against the rough surface of the roof; the cement scraped the skin of her palms and cheek painfully.
Alice quickly recovered, rolling back and kicking up to her feet in time to see her new enemy doing exactly the same. Her blue eyes widened as they locked onto an identical set.
Her doppelganger looked back at her coldly, eyes narrowed into a menacing stare. Like Jill, the clone was clad in an Umbrella Soldier's uniform. Her double also adorned the same spider-like device latched onto her chest.
Jill gave a hand signal back towards the helicopter and suddenly the pilot started the engine. She then looked to Alice, her eyes narrowed into a determined stare.
The clone lunged at Alice without warning, throwing a vicious sidekick, and following up with a few lightening-quick jabs that Alice barely avoided. The clone spun again and dropped to the ground trying to sweep Alice's legs out from underneath her. Alice leapt in time to evade the attack. As soon as she landed she dodged a spinning backhand by grabbing the clone's wrist and flipping her over her shoulder. The clone fell to the ground, gasping as the impact winded her. Alice went to land another blow, but was forced to abandon the strike in favor of dodging the knife Jill had pulled and was trying to stick her with.
Alice evaded the blade and kneed the blonde in the ribs before she could regain her composure. She then threw out a well-aimed kick at the blonde's wrist. Her foot sent the long blade soaring through the air, and landed too far away to be of any more concern at the moment.
Jill growled in frustration and went to elbow Alice in the face. The clone, having recovered finally, darted back to her feet and was seconds from planting her knee into Alice's solar plexus.
Alice managed to block Jill's attack and land a right hook into the blonde's jaw. However, the clone's attack slipped past her defenses. The air rushed from Alice's lungs as a rock hard knee slammed into Alice's chest with bone shattering force. Against Alice's will, she fell to her knees as the pain exploded through her mid-section.
The clone hit again, following her attack with a powerful downward elbow strike to the back of Alice's neck, and sending her face-down onto the pavement.
"Get her in the chop-" Jill was interrupted by a handful of gunshots coming from the doorway leading to the rooftop.
"Alice!" Claire shouted, firing another round.
"Get her in the chopper!" Jill ordered forcefully, drawing her berretta from her belt holster and began to return fire, forcing Claire to take refuge behind the nearest cover.
The clone reached down, grabbing the collar of Alice's duster and began dragging her towards the chopper. She got only a few paces forward before Alice jerked away from her grip and kicked the clone's legs out from under her.
Alice hurried to her feet and closed the distance between herself and Jill to jab the pre-occupied blonde in the stomach before grabbing the weapon from her hands and smacking her in the face with the butt of the gun.
"Claire – get out of here now!" Alice shouted over the roar of the helicopter.
Another loud shot sounded and Alice's eyes widened. She turned to see her clone back on her feet and holding a pistol in her hand nearly identical to Jill's. A slight stream of smoke crept from the gun's barrel.
Alice stole a glance back at Claire before sputtering slightly; she felt stray droplets of blood fall from her lips as the pain began to set in. Warm, sticky fluid slowly began soaking her shirt and leaking down her back and chest from where the bullet had torn a hole through her lithe frame. Her lungs grew heavier with each breath as the crimson fluid slowly filled them, each breath was an agonizing task.
Alice heard nothing, not even Claire screaming her name from a few yards away as tunnel vision set in. Suddenly the silence was pierced by a sharp ringing sound that filled her head as the ground grew closer and closer. Her knee's hit the rough surface first followed by the rest of her body.
Claire loaded another clip into her glock at a maddening pace and rushed forward. Rage and panic laced her blood, drowning out everything else around her as her eyes locked onto the blonde laying face down a few yards ahead of her.
Alice had just been shot in the chest right before her eyes. Bringing to head an emotion Claire had carefully kept muted for months now. At that moment, she was no longer just gunning for the people who may have been responsible for her brother's disappearance. She was protecting someone she loved.
Claire watched as the two blondes leaned down again and continued to drag Alice back towards the chopper, she raised her glock and fired multiple times. To her luck, one of the bullets hit, piercing one of the attacker's in the arm. The blonde Claire had shot stiffened, dropping Alice back to the ground and turned for the first time to face Claire. The redhead's eyes widened as they fell on a familiar pair of icy blue eyes, glaring back at her venomously.
The clone gave the redhead a cold, amused smirk and drew her gun again, firing a shot at Claire. The redhead braced herself for the pain of the bullet tearing through her skin but found that it never came.
'She missed?'
Claire opened her eyes and gaped at what she saw. The bullet was barley six inches from piercing her abdomen; however, instead of continuing forward it was suspended in front of her. The redhead looked past the bullet to see Alice's dilated pupils zeroed in on the bullet, a small rivulet of blood slowly leaked from her nose as she struggled to concentrate on the bullet. Her pupils shifted slightly and she whipped her head in Jill's direction, sending the bullet into the blonde's shoulder faster than Claire could follow with her naked eye.
Jill cried out in shock and clutched at her injured shoulder as blood began to steadily gush from the wound. She too released her hold on Alice, letting her drop to the cement. Jill's face paled immediately as the pain washed over her.
"We're leaving!" Jill yelled over the noise of the helicopter, her hand still clutching her shoulder as warm fluid leaked between her fingers. She was losing too much blood. The clone would heal before exsanguination became an issue. She, however, would be lucky to get back before going into shock.
The clone gave the blonde a reluctant look before sending her a curt nod. The two strode over to the helicopter that slowly lifted from the landing pad within moments of them getting on.
Claire didn't bother watching the chopper fly away, her eyes locked onto Alice who was still face-down, lying in a small pool of her own blood. The redhead dropped her gun and ran over to the woman's side and knelt down, wasting no time in gathering Alice's lithe form into her arms.
"No...please, no..." Claire whispered over and over again, feeling the prickle of hot tears begin to burn her eyes and flow down her cheek as she cradled the blonde in her arms. Alice's glassy blue eyes strained to focus on Claire's as wet noises clouded each pained breath attempted.
Claire brought her hand to Alice's cheek and used the pad of her thumb to gently brush away the thin rivulets of blood from the corner of the blonde's lips and what had leaked down onto her top lip from her bleeding nose. Her skin was ice-cold to the touch, spurring a heart-wrenching sob to escape Claire's lips. She felt Alice's body slowly losing heat and strength as the trembling of her form grew weaker and weaker with each passing moment.
"Come on. Stay with me, Alice. Please…" Claire pleaded with her desperately. She leaned over and pressed her lips to Alice's forehead, then moved them down to meet her lips tenderly. She placed several more short kisses to the blonde's icy lips before pulling away to see Alice's glazed stare looking back at her. The pain in her blue eyes seemed boundless at that moment and it broke Claire's heart.
Claire took the blonde's hand in her own and squeezed it. She felt Alice return the gesture weakly.
Alice took in another short, cloudy breath, followed by a few more pant-like attempts at forcing air into her lungs before giving in to the agonizing heaviness weighing down her chest. The air rushed from her body in one long, painful sigh. Her heart gave a few last, dying attempts at beating before stilling completely.
Alice's body went limp in Claire's arms. The blue eyes lost all means of focus and turned to stare aimlessly up at the sky, vacant of any spark of life.
To Be Continued….
A/N: YES! I Killed her! MWUAHAHAHAHA! *gets shot and falls off chair*
Alice: *yelling from off screen* No she didn't!
(Come on guys, bare with me.)
