Alice's POV
"Good thing we like a challenge." I said, eyeing the masses of zombies surrounding the seemingly-abandoned shed.
Carlos started coughing, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the sand. I grabbed his hand and leaned my head against his shoulder, trying desperately not to cry.
"Hold on. They have the anti-virus in there. Just hold on." I said.
"It's too late and you know it. Besides, you need a way to get in there and I have an idea." He looked at me, then looked away quickly. I gasped, swearing I saw the Umbrella logo flash in his eyes as he looked away.
At the camp, after he said good-bye to Claire, K-Mart, L.J. and Mikey, he walked over to Chase's tanker.
"Carlos…"
"Save it," He cut me off, "Just promise me one thing. When you get down there…"
"Consider it done." I promised the man who was a tortured shell of Carlos Olivera. To keep myself from crying, I kiss him. He didn't taste like himself, he didn't smell like himself and he drew away from me quickly, looking me deep in the eyes as if he had something important he wanted to get out.
"He's alive, you know." He said. I glanced downward before meeting his eyes, "Yeah, you know who I'm talking about. He's alive. I'm merely a clone, planted here by Umbrella to do their dirty work while they experiment on Carlos. However, those sons of bitches didn't plan on my getting bitten."
I digested this information silently.
"He's being made into an experiment. He thinks about you an awful lot for someone who's unconscious."
"Why are you telling me this, if you're working for Umbrella?" I asked, angry that someone who was basically a shell of Carlos was being put to such use by Umbrella.
"Because I'm a clone of Carlos Olivera, not Hitler. I'm a part of him, so I'm merely reacting the same way he would in this situation. Does he have one of those "hero" complexes?"
I ignored his question and smiled.
"Thank you," I whispered. He grinned even more.
"Anything for someone who's going to bring down Umbrella. My death will be avenged, thanks to you. Save the world, destroy Umbrella. My life is worth that. That's my repayment." He got in the truck, shutting the door behind him.
He drove ahead of us, giving me one last smile before driving at maniacal speed toward the never-ending wall of zombies. He flipped the tanker on its side and a few moments went by before the explosion, a terrible, fiery hero's death. We barely paused long enough to give him a salute before racing forward and crashing into the gate. Claire, L.J. and I jumped out of the Hummer, running toward the other truck where Mikey, K-Mart and the rest of the convoy were rushing out and toward the chopper.
After putting the children and the rest of the survivors into the back, Mikey stepped into the driver's seat and took a long, last look at Claire.
"I'll be back for you." He said to her before kissing her sweetly.
"Go, I'll still be waiting for you." She said, kissing him back. I never missed Carlos more than I did at that moment. A tear slid down my cheek in salute to the Carlos clone, who'd given his life for a virtual stranger that the real him loved.
Only then did it register in my head one of the most important things he'd said: "He's still alive, you know. He's been made into an experiment."
The chopper lifted into the air, dust and sand flying around Claire, K-Mart, L.J. and I as we began walking toward the old building. A flash of red from the ditch running beside it drew my attention, almost calling my name as I changed direction and headed toward it.
Agonized, gasping screams went through my head, phantom pains pierced my stomach and my breathing became unsteady and choked as I stared into the ditch. Familiar pairs of blue eyes stared unseeing through me, drenched in their own blood, my own blood. My own eyes seeing nothing. My own limbs sprawled out in awkward angles.
"Holy shit, those mother-fuckers are gonna get it for this." L.J. said from behind me. I felt Claire's hand on my shoulder.
"Come on. Let's get down there." She said. I could sense her anger at Umbrella, her eagerness to bring them down and her compassion and pity for me.
I didn't want pity; I wanted revenge. Revenge for all the lost lives, for the theft of my humanity, for the theft of all humanity.
Even more than revenge, what I wanted most, I just wanted Carlos back. This time, Umbrella was going down.
K-Mart's POV
It was a freakishly long elevator. I have no idea why Umbrella felt they needed such long elevators.
As the doors opened slowly, Alice, Claire and L.J. cocked their guns and aimed, scanning the perimeter with their eyes. Our eyes were met with total devastation. It was almost completely dark, except for a few back-up lights which always stayed on. Shelves were toppled, glass vials shattered on the floor, wires dropping from the ceiling, shooting sparks.
"What the fuck happened here?" Claire whispered incredulously.
Alice lowered her weapon slowly, her pretty blue eyes searching the room before she closed them momentarily. She was obviously thinking. I shut my eyes when I was thinking, too. It was strange; I'd never seen anyone else do that before, even back when the world was still alive.
Her eyes shot open as she whipped around and pointed her gun at a little girl who appeared to have materialized out of nowhere.
"I didn't mean to startle you." The girl said in an accented voice that reminded me of Mikey, "I am the Artificial Intelligence for-"
"Yeah, I know what you are." Alice said acidly, "I knew your sister. She was a homicidal bitch."
"My sister computer was merely following the most logical path for the preservation of human life." The girl said, not looking insulted at all, but she was a computer; I guess I shouldn't have expected much from her.
"Yeah, kill a few, save a lot." Alice sat down, clearly preparing for a lengthy conversation. Claire, L.J. and I sat down in various places around them.
"What happened here?" Alice asked, looking around.
"Dr. Isaacs returned in an infected state. He was bitten by a creature that had been treated with a newly-developed serum…a serum derived from your blood." The girl spoke seriously, watching Alice closely for her reaction. Alice's face showed surprise and sadness and confusion.
"My blood?"
"Dr. Isaacs correctly deduced that a cure could be made from your blood."
"My blood is the cure for all this?" Alice's eyes sparkled with unshed tears. I leaned against her legs, hugging her around them. She looked at me and smiled softly.
The girl watched us silently.
"You two really are a lot alike. Dr. Isaacs was correct." She said. The four of us stared at her in confusion.
"What? Why would Isaacs be talking about the similarities between Alice and K-Mart?" Claire asked. The girl just smiled.
"Why don't you ask him yourself? The resulting infection from the bite has caused uncontrollable mutation. He went psycho a few hours ago and destroyed the laboratory. I have him contained in the lower levels, but I can't keep him there forever. Get your answers from him if you can before you defeat him. If you have any remaining questions, I will answer them." She said.
"Where's Carlos?" Alice asked, standing up suddenly. The girl seemed delighted she had asked.
"Project Olivera is the lower levels. I couldn't let him out without risking releasing Dr. Isaacs. If he's still alive, he will be down there." Alice turned to head to the doors, the rest of us following her. The girl de-materialized, her face appearing on a computer screen as the doors opened. We walked through and stopped as the girl called, "Good luck!" Then, the doors shut and everything was dark again.
Alice's POV
"Be on the alert." I said, once the doors had closed, "We don't know what's down here."
"What do you mean, where's Carlos? Carlos is dead, Alice. We just saw him die." Claire said forcefully, as if to ensure he was dead to herself.
"That wasn't him, was it?" L.J.'s eyes lit up, "That whole thing was some fucked-up Umbrella project."
"Right. That was a clone of Carlos and before he died, he told me Carlos was alive, brought here to be an experiment."
L.J. jumped up, laughing.
"Son of a bitch, he's alive!" I smiled at L.J.'s exaltation.
"I'd know if he was dead; I'd feel it. However, before we can find him, we'll have to find Isaacs."
"He'll be a pushover for you. I mean, you're you." I grimaced at that.
"Were you not listening, L.J.? He mutated." Claire told him, her voice edging on near-hysteria.
"L.J.," I asked, "Do you remember Nemesis, from Raccoon City?"
L.J. shuddered visibly.
"Unfortunately. Why?" he asked before stark horror became apparent on his face, "No. shit. He can't be worse than that."
"Not just physically worse, either. He's not gonna be under Umbrella control; he's doing this for his own personal gain." I whispered, seeing a greenish glow emanating from a room a little way off. I hushed the group as we walked toward it.
