10. Home is where the heart is
Alice saw many familiar faces around camp as she walked. The night air was supposedly cold, considering how close people stood from each other even though there was a fire. She could feel the chill, but it did not get to her bones as it did for everyone else – she was not human, after all.
Not anymore, for that matter.
Most of the survivors – even the ones that were still a little scared of her – offered the blonde at least looks of gratitude. She saw light in their faces, hope sparkling in their eyes as she passed by.
When she stopped in front of Rain, Chase stood up and patted her shoulder before leaving them alone. Alice did not wait for an invitation; she slumped down the cracked soil, bringing her knees closer to her body as she rested her arms on them.
"How the fuck are you still alive?"
Alice grinned. "Someone had to save your ass in the end, Ocampo. So what do you think?"
"I think-" the brunette turned to look at the only face she knew in that goddamned place "-that I won't live long enough to understand all the shit that's going on."
Alice stared away, watching the fire for a moment, and then Claire's distant figure. When she looked back, the impatient frown on Rain's forehead did not surprise her.
"We were trying to bring down Umbrella."
"I remember that," Rain said. "I remember them testing shit on you, and I remember you passed out for days… Then… I took you out of the labs because they found out what we were doing… Then it's all a big blur."
"That night at the base… They tried to kill us," she said slowly. "Umbrella captured you, Spencer and Leon. I managed to escape. Umbrella killed everyone but you. They surrendered you with some kind of gas, which is seemingly a distant cousin of the substance in the P30. The bug in your chest," Alice added when Rain raised one eyebrow.
"That'll leave a scar."
"I don't think so."
Rain stared at her in disbelief and then she pulled the neck of her uniform. There were only faint red marks where the device pierced her skin before. She stared up with her eyes wide open. "What the fuck did they do to me?" She immediately went to check the wound on her thigh; there was nothing under the ripped fabric of her pants.
"You have a bit of t-virus in your system now."
"And how do you know that?" Rain demanded arrogantly.
"The screwdriver was infected with my blood," Alice said simply.
"Am I gonna turn?"
The blonde looked at her friend, and for the first time she saw fear flicker in those dark orbs. "No. But you get the benefits. Like fast healing."
"Like you."
"Like me, yeah."
"Holy shit…"
"But don't get too used to that. The effects might wear off with time; we just don't know that yet."
Rain seemed deep in thought as Alice spoke. When the blonde hesitated to continue, she glared at her with annoyance. "Want me to fill in the blanks, Abernathy?"
Alice rolled her eyes. "You haven't changed a bit."
Rain snorted, but a small smile crisped her lips as she rolled her eyes. "So, what happened next?"
"You have…" Alice's voice trailed off for a bit as she once again caught sight of Claire, wandering around camp with Becky and K-Mart on her heels. "You've been working for Umbrella since then. I have no idea what was your job, but you gave us a hard time in Nevada."
"Damn," Rain groaned, closing her eyes. She remembered that well. "You should have said something, tried to stop me!"
"I didn't recognize you either. It took me three years to get all my memories back."
"Oh now that's cheering," the brunette snorted, and Alice waited in silence as she absorbed everything. "They set you as a target. You were an assignment to us. A threat."
"Don't worry about my feelings. You know what I can do when I'm angry," Alice said with a smirk.
"You tried to kill me, bitch!" Rain snapped with a smirk of her own.
"You threatened Claire!"
"I only said she had a nice ass."
Alice stared at her friend with a blank expression. "I won't break your neck… because she does," she finished with a grin as her eyes moved involuntarily to her boots. Then she looked back sternly at Rain. "Doesn't mean you can stare or point that out," she added.
"I'm not scared of you, Abernathy," Rain shrugged with a grin, not sure if she could push Alice's buttons that much. "I heal."
"Yeah, you keep counting on that."
The brunette started to fidget with her fingernails as they talked, and Alice immediately knew something was bothering her more than she was telling. She waited patiently until Rain decided to speak.
"Alice Junior's got your guts," she blurted out.
Alice frowned. "Who?"
"Your eldest," Rain looked even more uncomfortable now as she pointed K-Mart across camp. "Some nights I had to patrol the entrance to the labs in the desert. I remember the screams."
"K's tough," Alice nodded, cringing as she realized K-Mart was only fifteen when she went through all that. "One hell of a kid."
"She almost shot me at the chopper," Rain chuckled, relieved that Alice was not judging her.
"Wish I was awake to see it," the blonde laughed. "K-Mart's Claire through and through. Wait till you meet them properly."
"Yeah, about that…" Now her friend seemed obviously upset. "I think they will hate me forever because of, you know… the boy."
Alice did not say anything, thinking about that for the first time since it happened. Back in Umbrella Prime, they were against a ticking clock as they tried to escape, and no one stayed back to mourn. She had no idea how Claire was handling it, and truth be told, she was not considerate enough to ask.
"I understand he wasn't your favorite person in the world, but-"
"He was Claire's boyfriend," Alice spat, losing her cool as her blood tingled with resentment. "Sort of. He was there when I abandoned her."
"Ah," Rain nodded carefully. She had no idea what else to say to her friend. Alice seemed to be between the cross and the sword, and if she knew Alice Abernathy the way she thought she knew, her friend was not very good at dealing with feelings. "Complex shit," Rain conceded after a minute.
When she looked at Alice, a flash of red gleamed in her green eyes, but it was gone as soon as it came. The blonde shifted uncomfortably on her spot and then offered a sad smile to her friend.
"Claire… will get over that. I'll be by her side until it heals. And I'm sure she'll eventually forgive you for that."
Rain's thoughts trailed off as she stared at the fire. She remembered Claire Redfield stopping K-Mart from shooting her, saying she was on their side. She probably did not mean it; she just didn't want the girl to become an assassin.
Alice sensed her conflicted mind. She held Rain's arm, squeezing it softly.
"You didn't do it because you wanted," Alice reassured her. "It wasn't your fault."
Rain accepted the gesture in silence, and then she muttered "Thank you. And thank you for rescuing me instead of killing me."
"So you do know I can kick your ass," the blonde said with a satisfied expression.
"What I know-" Rain said, relieved that the emotional part was over "-is that I could use some strong booze and dancers."
"Of all things, of course you wouldn't forget about the strippers…"
Rain shrugged. "What was the name of that one back in L.A? Curvy chick… had a crush on you…?"
Alice punched her arm with more strength than necessary.
"Christ!" Rain grunted, rubbing her injured arm. "You're into Red, now, I get that! No need to break my bones!"
"Stop whining, Ocampo," Alice smiled. "You heal."
XXX
"So, Angel died so that woman could play hero?"
Crystal and Kim threw angry glares at the former producer.
"Shut up, Bennett," Luther snapped at him, poking the fire with a crooked branch. "Don't act like you cared."
The man scoffed and muttered something under his breath, leaving the trio alone, probably deciding who he would annoy next.
Crystal held the basketball player's hand. Once the adrenalin was over, Luther had finally let his grief out, and now he regretted giving all his cigarettes to Jill. Angel had been his best friend for years, and it felt strange to be back to Arcadia without him.
"What do we do?" Crystal murmured. She was always bugging Angel, but she liked him a lot. Since they ran into Carlos, Alice and that bitch Jill, their lives suddenly began to spin around a convoy and a missing leader they barely knew. "You wanna gather our stuff and go?"
"No," he shook his head slowly. "It was Umbrella's fault, not theirs. We're staying. They are really good people."
"They're celebrating, Luther."
"They lost people as well," he snapped at her too. "Can't we just- Forget it."
With that, he stood up and left the confused pair by the fire, deciding to go for a walk to clear his head. What surprised Luther was finding Ada in the shadows of the nearest warehouse, just as if she knew he was coming that way.
"I know it was supposed to be the other way around, but I thought you needed it," she said, offering him a mug. Luther accepted it in silence and sniffed it briefly. He cringed.
"What the hell is that, Ada?" he scoffed. "Zippo fluid?"
"Some cheap booze they found on the storage," she offered him a soft grin. "The soldiers needed that to stand the cold."
"Jesus," Luther chuckled, covering his nose with his arm and handing the mug back to her. "We need to find decent alcohol in this joint."
"I couldn't agree more," Ada turned around, throwing it away as she sat down on a bench. He followed her, and the agent was surprised with the gesture once again. She would have expected major rejection once everyone learnt who she was and what she had done, but so far things were going well. She suspected it had Claire Redfield's finger, and that caught her off guard. After everything the leader went through, she was more decent and kind than most people Ada met in her life put together.
"So," Luther spoke, bringing her back from her reverie. "Heard there are houses around this place."
"Yes," Ada nodded. "Umbrella forced the inhabitants to leave so they could build a secret military compound."
"They didn't run away because of the infection, then."
"The cold kept the t-virus at bay. It's not as cold anymore because of all the climatic changes on the atmosphere, but I assume it's cold enough to keep you all safe."
"Can I ask why you're not including yourself on that?" Luther arched one eyebrow.
Ada merely smiled at him and shrugged. She never planned on staying; she didn't even count on the fact that she would still be alive after Project Alice put her hands on her.
"I'm sure you could help Alice keep us safe here," Luther said again, almost as if he was thinking along the same lines. "You know everything about Umbrella."
"I only wish I could forget what I know."
"I promise you I'll find decent drinks," Luther winked at her as he stood up. "They help to forget a little. Good night, Ada."
She waved with a faint grin that disappeared once the man turned his back to her. Ada definitively needed to sleep. She was so tired that she could barely think about her next move, and usually she was a woman with a plan.
"And if you decide not to stay-" Luther showed up again, startling her "-keep the jacket. To remember me by."
"Thank you, Mr. West," Ada positively smiled this time, hearing him scoff at the formal use of his name as he walked away.
XXX
"So Alice and I had clones?"
Chris shoved the last bite of his meal into an already full mouth. "Yeh," he grunted.
"You didn't have one?" K-Mart asked again, wrinkling her nose to feign disgust at his lack of manners.
"Not that I know of."
"Well, guess one of you is already a crowd."
"What's that supposed to mean?" he said with a coy smile.
"You're such a waste of space, Chris," she snorted, setting apart vegetables she didn't like much. "You're rude, you snore… And you definitively drool too much around Jill," she added once she lost his attention to the brunette, who just walked into the circle hand in hand with Carlos.
Chris snapped his neck to stare back at the girl. "What?"
"Oh give me a break, everyone knows that!" K-Mart muttered, avoiding his narrowed eyes. "No need to play dumb with me."
He fell silent, catching the strange look on her usual joyful face and the strangled tone of her voice. It took Chris a few moments until it finally hit him.
Chris watched the blonde girl now clumsily playing with her food so she wouldn't have to look at him. He frowned, scrunching his brain as he tried to figure out what to say to her. For a second he thought he was imagining things, and that Alice had grown a little too overprotective around her, but K-Mart's wounded profile was just a bit too obvious.
He was definitively not ready for that.
Chris Redfield was absolutely clueless about those things, and he had no idea how to handle a crush – especially if it involved K-Mart, who he loved to no end. It was the first time he felt unprepared for something.
"Maybe you're right," he grunted after what seemed an eternity. K-Mart turned to stare at him, hesitation covering every beautiful trace on her face. "Maybe I'm a crowd."
She chuckled bitterly, wearing a brief smile that was not convincing either of them. "I was just kidding, you know."
"I'm not," he replied with a crooked grin of his own. "I'm not… I don't…"
"You what, Chris?"
"I'm not the right guy for any of that shit," he pointed his chin to Jill and Carlos with forced arrogance. "Good thing I have you to keep me busy."
It was K-Mart's turn to look absolutely surprised. She couldn't believe he was actually ignoring Alice's murderous warnings – she was sure the blonde had already threatened him.
Chris shrugged. "I'll be the nice uncle that comes over for dinner and that covers for you when you get drunk or… when you get your first boyfriend and shit."
K-Mart let out a laughter that expressed everything but amusement.
"God, you're slow," she snorted. Nice uncle was way below the belt.
"I have the time of the world to figure shit out, K," he grinned down at her. "What's the hurry?"
"None at all," K-Mart smiled weakly at him, suddenly noticing she liked his tired eyes anyway. "You should get some sleep, Uncle Chris. You're too old for post-midnight talks."
He laughed softly, but he felt an odd pang on his chest as the young woman walked away. Chris hated the disappointment on her face, and he hated even more being the cause of that. However, he knew he did the right thing; after all, what could be more normal than unrequited love and loads of drama in a teenager's life?
XXX
"I'm still bulletproof, right?" Rain asked nervously once she noticed Claire Redfield coming their way.
"She's not gonna shoot you!" Alice said with a surprised frown.
"Dude, she's got a rifle!"
"Everyone's got a rifle! Just relax, okay?" the blonde scoffed with annoyance. "And don't say anything stupid. Don't say anything at all," she added. "Let me handle it. He-hey!" Alice stuttered with a goofy smile, standing on her feet and clumsily pulling the redhead closer. "Everything okay?"
"Yes,' Claire smiled with a small frown, not exactly sure about why Alice was into this sudden rush of affection for her in front of everyone. "This place is amazing, isn't it?"
Rain stood up as well, but instead of nervous, she felt hesitant, torn between laughter and concern. Alice was being ridiculous. And God, how whipped a person can be?
She cleared her throat. Alice turned abruptly with a look of I–told-you-to-let-me-handle-it, but Claire merely held an inquisitive gaze towards her.
"Uh, Claire, this is my friend, Rain," Alice hurried to speak, moving her worried eyes from one woman to the other. "Rain, this is -"
Rain swallowed hard when Claire moved past the blonde, disentangling their connected hands. She walked up to Rain and stared deep into her eyes. She didn't say anything for a full minute, until a coy smirk crisped her lips.
"For two of the most badass women on Earth, you both act scared for shit," Claire said in an amused tone, stretching one hand to Rain. "Claire Redfield."
The brunette took one step forwards and clasped her fingers around hers. "Pleasure to meet you."
"So I heard you and Alice are like… BFF's, or something."
"You're making us sound very gay," Rain scoffed. "But yeah, we're friends."
"Well, I'm glad you could make your way back into Alice's life. I'm sure I can use you to blackmail this silent woman with her dirty little secrets."
Rain let out an evil chuckle and grinned broadly, searching Alice's flustered face. "I like her, Abernathy. Definitively a keeper."
"Guess you're on team Claire already," Alice grunted, finally relaxing. "I'll give you two privacy so you can conspire against me all you want. And Ocampo," she had one dangerous frown creasing her forehead. "Don't forget our little conversation. I'll hunt you down and kill you."
Claire and Rain watched the blonde walk away with a strut, and then the leader turned back to the former Umbrella agent. "BFF does sound a little gay, everything considered - like what just happened. What's up with this amount of love and tenderness between the two of you?"
"Ah that," Rain smirked. "That's because she doesn't want me staring at your ass," she squeezed her lips shut once she realized what she had just said. "I mean, we were just talking about your ass, and… Shit, that's not coming out right, is it?"
Claire had her arms folded across her chest and a look of mirth on her face. "No, it's not," she conceded. "But I see why you get along. You both are terrible with words."
Rain laughed briefly, but then her expression got a shade of darkness that Claire was all too familiar with. "I'll try anyway," the brunette said looking straight into her blue eyes. "I wanted to say that… I am very sorry."
Claire swallowed hard. She was still digesting the fact that Mikey died by her hands, but once again, her sense of reason and humanity overcame her crushed heart. "I stopped judging you the moment you took the controllers of that chopper and brought us safely here without even knowing us," she confessed softly, which caught Rain a little off guard. "I'm grateful for what you've done."
"I didn't do anything, I just-"
"You took one life, I know," Claire interrupted her. "But you saved the rest of us. And that always gets into account in this convoy, so… Make yourself at home, Rain."
Rain barely managed to react. A lump in her throat was the last thing she needed in that moment, but Claire didn't seem to be waiting for any response.
"And promise me you won't stare at my ass when I turn around," Claire added as an afterthought. "Unless you don't care about the shape of your nose."
Rain laughed wholeheartedly now. "Can't make any promises. But hey, I'll be discreet," she added as Claire rolled her eyes. "And don't forget to tell Abernathy she's a lucky bastard."
"How much did you talk about my anatomy, exactly?"
The brunette held Claire's amused gaze and decided not to say what she actually had in mind. It was just that she wasn't used to have extremely caring people around her, and Claire's kindness was just a lot to take in – in a good way. She merely shrugged. "She's the silent type, so not much. So, any idea where I can find a bathroom in this place? Like, I really need to whiz."
Claire pointed at the warehouse's direction, where she knew there was at least one toilet cabinet, and shook her head as Rain walked away as fast as her bladder let her. She seemed to be a funny version of Alice, and well, she could get used to having more of that.
XXX
Alice walked around the circle of survivors, hands in her pockets as she distractedly savored the idea of Claire not repeating the Ada Wong episode and trying to strangle Rain. Her girlfriend actually liking her best friend was one bit of normalcy she had not expected in her life.
She blinked in surprise when someone stood up right in front of her. Alice looked down to find a pair of familiar gray eyes.
"Hey," she said with a grin.
Jill sighed and couldn't help a smile as she noticed her friend perfectly healed. "You look…"
"Less scary?" Alice offered.
"If you'd do us all a favor and combed this hair of yours, yes."
"Claire likes it," the blonde shrugged, patting her wild locks softly.
"It's like a constant sex hair," Jill snorted, until she caught the smug expression on Alice's face. "What?"
"Nothing. So, how's your arm?"
"Stings only when people remind me of it."
"Good," Alice nodded absently minded, looking around to check where K-Mart and Becky were. She let out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief when she found them sitting with Chase and a small group of kids. "That's good."
"God, look at you," Jill followed her stare and watched the girls too. "You don't need to worry anymore, Superwoman. You'll have what, endless decades to be with them?"
Alice turned back to her friend with a sad expression. "But they won't. I'll be the last man standing when all of you…"
She never finished her sentence, and Jill let the silence linger. She was not going to convince Alice that being immortal was not a burden. Instead, she slipped one arm around her waist and held her friend for a brief moment.
"Where's Carlos when we need him to tell a joke?" Jill grunted in frustration.
The blonde chuckled softly, pressing her cheek on Jill's hair as she took her in a one arm hug and then let go. "I'll need more than a joke from him."
"Really? What is it?"
"Find a way to shut your mouth next time you have sex outside my window. You're fucking loud, Jill."
Jill glared at Alice with an indignant expression on her face, and then she slapped her arm. "And here I was, worrying myself stupid about you!"
Alice burst out laughing and the sound caught Carlos attention. He came towards the two women, but the blonde held Jill back and dragged him away with a smirk.
"What's going on?" Carlos asked.
"Look, I know you're a gentleman and all, but there are a few techniques I really have to pass on to you. It's the only way we can ever be neighbors, Olivera."
XXX
Most of the convoy had disappeared inside the warehouse, finally indulging in the comfort and the idea of having actual beds - military bunks were luxurious if they compared to their conditions a few years back. Claire was inside too, saying goodnight to the girls, so Alice and Chris were the only ones left sitting by the fire.
As they remained in silence, the crackling noises sounded slightly louder than before. Now that they had no war tactics, escape routes or any other rescue mission to plan, Alice and Chris sat gruffly in front of each other, like in-laws meeting over Thanksgiving.
And as if they needed it, the silence about K-Mart was aggravating the situation even more.
"Think there are any lakes in here?" Chris asked, poking the burning logs with the tip of her boot.
"Probably."
"We could go fishing some time."
Alice looked up at him with a frown. "Do we really have to do this?" she waved her hand indicating them and the ridiculous family moment they were having.
"God, no," Chris sighed in relief.
Alice shook her head as she picked a cigarette from her pack.
"It's kinda cold in here," Chris muttered.
"We're talking about the weather?" the blonde grunted. "What?" Alice spat harshly when he started to laugh.
"You're a crowd too," he said, shrugging again at her look of confusion. "Anyway, we should discuss relocating everyone to the actual town, right?"
"Right." Alice was glad he could come up with something that didn't involve talking about how closely related they were now. "Chase told me there are houses in there."
"We're gonna have to wait till morning to see it, but my guess is that we'll only need to clean up the place and have people adjusting in there. After years sleeping in cars and motels that smelled like feet, I don't think that'll be a problem."
"Yeah, sounds 'bout right to me."
Claire came outside and walked towards them at slow pace, wearing a blanket around her shoulders. She sat down next to Alice and hooked her arm with the blonde's. Chris pressed his lips and got on his feet.
"And that's my cue to leave. Night, girls."
"Night, Chris."
"What's got into him?" Claire asked with a confused expression once he got inside.
"Guess we're moving backwards," Alice shrugged. "We got along fine at first and now we're going to be awfully nasty to each other. The overprotective brother and the girlfriend that screwed up too many times."
"God, you're so cute," the redhead chuckled. "Come on, bed's cold and I want you to have some sleep."
Alice pulled Claire closer to her. "Nice try, Redfield, but I'm not gonna have sex with you."
She heard the leader snort. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"The kids are right next to us and you're hurt, in case you forgot that." Claire was just about to melt and let a stupid smile crack her lips, when Alice just got back to being Alice. "When we're settled, I promise you the whole town will know what we're doing."
Claire turned to the blonde with her eyes narrowed. "I'm not screaming just because you wanna get back at Jill."
"No," Alice shook her head with a cocky grin as they reached the warehouse and she opened the metal door for Claire to go first. "You're screaming because I'm gonna make you."
"Pig," the redhead hissed, smiling in spite of herself.
XXX
Claire was still sleeping when Alice came back inside their dorm. She went out with the girls to make sure they had breakfast, and then decided to come back for the leader. Chris and Luther were recruiting people to go scavenge Arcadia, and Alice was sure the redhead wouldn't want to miss that.
She watched her for a long time, observing the bright color of her hair as beams of sun entered the room. Claire looked so much younger in her sleep that Alice immediately remembered their first night in the desert. She had mostly watched Claire sleep, and as standoffish as she had intended to act, Alice found it almost impossible to keep her eyes off Claire.
She felt pretty much the same now, just as if Claire was a magnet, only with the difference that she could finally stay with her. They weren't 'nothing' anymore.
Claire squirmed slightly. Alice stood up from the chair and started to look around the place for an excuse to let the redhead sleep just a bit more. She saw Claire's messed clothes in the corner and went to collect them. As she shook her jeans to get them disentangled from Claire's dirty socks, something metallic fell from its pocket and rolled away behind the locker.
Swearing under her breath, Alice got down on her knees and stuck her arm under the cabinet. She was caught a little off guard when she clasped her fingers around it, and she was definitively frowning when she pulled her arm back and confirmed her suspicions. Wondering whether it had a pair or not, Alice fumbled for Claire's jeans again and found the matching item.
The blonde sat down on the floor and put both objects on her stretched palm, noticing that one of them was slightly bigger. That one was probably hers.
"Alice?"
Alice stood up quickly, shoving them into her back pocket as she hushed to Claire's side. The redhead had a weak smile when she saw the blonde.
"Hey."
"Hey," Claire whispered, closing her eyes for a moment as she spared lazily.
"Sleep well?"
"Like a rock."
Alice grinned down at her and offered a hand. "Come have breakfast. We're going to check Arcadia after that."
Claire took it and immediately Alice pulled her close to a fiery kiss that lasted long enough to get both women out of breath.
"Is that your way to help me be patient and wait till we find a two bedroom house?"
Alice chuckled as she watched Claire pick her clothes and change. She didn't stare long, or she would break her resolve of giving Claire the proper treatment she had promised.
After everything she went through, the last thing that woman deserved was a quickie against a jammed locker. She deserved a comfortable bed, to be carefully undressed and to be pleased in any way Alice could think of, and nothing less.
It was sunny outside, and only a few people were still in food line. The redhead was surprised when she spotted Ada helping Crystal serve breakfast to the convoy members.
"Good morning," the leader said as she received a cup of coffee and some bread with jam from the younger woman.
"Hi," the brunette smiled hesitantly. She hadn't been properly introduced to Claire yet, and she was not very sure of what to say to her. "I'm Crystal Waters."
"Thank you for your help," Claire said, holding her gaze. "I'm really sorry for your friend. He seemed to be a very good person."
"He was," Crystal nodded, fumbling with the jam lid. "But I guess his sacrifice was worth it."
Claire followed her stare and found Becky running around with the other kids, all of them screaming frantically as K-Mart chased after them. She turned back to Crystal and offered her an appreciative smile. When the young woman excused herself to serve the next person in line, Claire locked eyes with Ada.
The former agent had planned to sneak out in the first hours of the morning, but somehow more people liked to wake up early and she simply got caught up with the food and some hungry kids. Now Ada seemed ready for a bullet, but all she got was a genuine nod of approval from the leader. "Glad you're staying," Claire said. "Your coffee is way better than hers," she tilted her head softly to indicate Alice, who waited patiently next to her.
The blonde scoffed but Ada grinned, the first time she actually demonstrated any emotion. She looked somewhat relieved, and Claire was sure that it was the right decision. Carrying a weapon, Ada was probably as lethal as Alice, but who was she to deny a silent request for a second chance?
She squeezed Alice's hand and looked out for their girls, running under the sun without any concern or fear. If that was her reward for being a righteous leader, Claire would never hesitate to be anything but her old self – a young girl full of dreams and compassion for those who needed her in their darkest hours.
XXX
Arcadia was not a beautiful village cut out of some landscape magazine. Half of it was destroyed by nature, time and lack of care. Most houses were barely hanging in their structures, and the last inhabitants didn't storage food or any other kind of supplies. There wasn't such thing as a beautiful square with a fountain. They would have to start from scratch.
Only now Alice could fully appreciate what Claire's convoy was made of. They were strong, faithful and passionate people. Maybe it was Claire's influence over the years, but all the sacrifices she made for them were finally about to pay off. Alice wondered how underfed people could be so resilient and restless, and then she remembered what she had seen that night. They had hope, and most importantly, they believed in what they were doing.
Alice's services were mostly required at the beginning, when entire houses had to be ripped off the ground to make room for new buildings. They would probably need her again when it was time to settle roof tiles, but now she was free to wander and plan the general structure of their town – where to build sentry boxes, what kind of armory people should be allowed to have at home, and any other stuff related to security.
Right now she was taking a break. It had been really frustrating to keep her anger under control and not to kill Bennett. He mostly complained about how everyone held something against him, and claimed fervently that he should own some potent firearm, just in case.
"I don't actually feel safe in this place," he grunted, loud enough to be heard by anyone that was within earshot. "What if one of you decide to kill me in my sleep?"
Alice wasn't taking a break, actually. She was grounded. Claire had seen the flash of red in her eyes and dragged her out of the group of survivors and away from Bennett before she did anything stupid.
"Walk around and clear your head," she said to Alice.
"He looks at K-Mart in a very creepy way," Alice spat disgruntledly.
"K-Mart is not even around right now, Alice," Claire retorted, trying to sound stern but looking absolutely charming with that annoyed face. "Take a break, seriously. But don't go too far, it's house picking today."
Alice rolled her eyes, because she had already planned something to distract herself with the free time she was given. "You can do that without me, Claire. Private but not isolated. Next to Jill's. With a doghouse for Rain-"
Alice frowned as a chunk of brick swooshed past her left ear, missing it for inches. She looked at Rain with arrogance. "That's all?"
"Jesus Christ, Rain!" Claire yelled. She turned to Alice, who stopped smirking at the same second. "Go ahead, I can't have you two that close all the time. And don't you dare leaving me alone to choose, you are helping!"
"Okay," Alice nodded, observing the way Claire's cheeks were reddening. "I'll be here."
"Thank you," Claire sighed; she was ready to argue, and the blonde's immediate agreement caught her off guard. It got to her nerves the way she didn't manage to stay mad at Alice as long as she wanted, and it got to her nerves even more the fact that Alice was perfectly aware of that. "I'll see you later."
"I'll see you," she nodded again, smiling briefly at the redhead, not exactly sure if she wanted to leave her side. But as much as she felt prone to keep her rage at bay just to mingle with the other survivors and stay near her, there were things Alice had to do.
Claire didn't seem to notice her hesitation – if anything, she looked suspicious that suddenly Alice did not put up a fight. When Claire turned around, Alice went towards the sheds and took a shovel she had seen there the other day. The Umbrella soldiers probably used them to dig trenches, but she had a different purpose in mind. With the heavy tool resting on her shoulder, Alice climbed a small hill and observed the flat area ahead of her.
It would suffice. She forced the shovel against the hard ground, pressing one foot on the side to add her weight to the pressure. The pasture was already cracked, and after removing large chunks of barren soil, she found layers of slightly humid earth. In a few minutes, she had managed to dig two shallow graves.
Alice turned her duffel bag upside down and shook it; she stared intently at the items on the ground and started to make her selection. The empty vial of anti-virus she found on Jill's car went to the first hole. She covered it silently with earth. On the second hole, she cast a military wristwatch someone picked for her among the survivors' belongings, and covered it too.
Alice sat down on the cracked field for a while, the sun burning her arms and the back of her neck. She picked two flat rocks and carved them with a blunt pocket knife– the first name still gave her nightmares, and the second would probably trouble her sleep just as bad.
Alice squinted as she blew the dust from the last inscription; she even wrote his name right. She knew her eyes were probably red with raw anger, but it had nothing to do with the fact that she hated Mikey. She hated herself for not being fast enough to save him.
Her chest and her back were sticky, and her face glistened with sweat. She had dust everywhere – the thread lines of her wife beater, her jeans, her face and the edge of her ruined fingernails. As she placed each tombstone on its rightful grave, Alice hugged her knees and kept staring at her work.
It wasn't a masterpiece, but it was just a way to put things so she would never forget. She fished the rings out of her pocket and played with them distractedly as she watched the sunset. She rubbed her filthy thumb insistently against the words engraved on the golden surface, hoping one day they would wear off.
Alice heard footsteps against the gravel and immediately she stuffed the rings back into her pocket. Luther sat down next to her a few seconds later, and his eyes were on the graves.
"Who's Angie?"
The blonde merely shrugged, not exactly in the mood to talk about her. "How did you find me here?" she asked instead.
"Followed the puffs and grunts," Luther answered with his usual smile.
Alice refrained from rolling her eyes; she was just getting used to Carlos' constant good mood, and she didn't believe it was possible to have more than one person like that in the end of the world. And there was Luther to prove her wrong.
Unfazed, he gestured towards the shovel. "Can I borrow that? Might dig one for Angel as well."
"Sure," Alice nodded, avoiding his piercing gaze. She was still working on dealing with other people's grief, but sometimes she couldn't take much of that. The blonde was ready to leave him, when he called out her name.
"Hey Alice?"
"What?"
"Is Claire alright with-?" he tilted his head to point Mikey's grave. "I mean, I see her bossing people around, and I know she's tough, but… he died in her arms and shit, man."
"She'll get over it," Alice spat; she was just embarrassed because she did not manage to stutter a word about Mikey so far.
Once again, Luther didn't look like he minded the harsh treatment. "He said to Claire… To tell you that you had to take care of her and the kids," he said, standing up and moving away to start digging a third grave.
Alice shoved her filthy hand into her pocket and felt the rings, to make sure they were still there. She stared at the earth one more time and then stood on her feet, dusting her jeans as she walked downwards the hill and to the village.
Why would you turn out smart only a second before you died, boy?
XXX
"Do I have to put you in the corner to do some thinking as well, Rain?" Claire asked with both hands on her hips.
Rain shrugged, offering the redhead an innocent grin. "C'mon, you can't deny I'm fun to be around."
"You're dangerous to be around," Claire spat back, suppressing an urge to laugh that was killing her. "You're a terrible role model for children, you know, they'll start thinking it's okay to throw stuff at each other!"
"You live around Alice and you have the heart to say that about me?"
"I have faith I still have time to right you," Claire explained with a sigh, turning to Rain with a smile. "Alice's a lost cause."
"I like my bad reputation, so… Thanks, but no thanks."
Rain was so not the cold assassin Claire had expected. It was even weird she had this impossible ability to make her laugh at the most inappropriate moments. The redhead chuckled, shaking her head as they both went back to work. Rain was crushing old bricks with a pickaxe and casting the shards into a pile, from where she picked the largest to throw at Alice, and Claire was fixing a polished door back into the old hinges of a house.
Her brother was at the top of a ladder, removing the remnants of wires and a street lamp's pole from the roof of another house, Rick and Ernie shouting instructions from below.
Carlos and Jill were somewhere else, sorting out the weapons Alice classified as safe for amateurs earlier that week – they were doing the inventory and the control of each bullet and, Claire was sure, making out in the sheds when they had some free time. They usually walked around camp trying to comb their disheveled hair with their fingers.
It didn't take long for K-Mart to show up leading a group. Chase had found cans of painting inside the sheds – red and white, obviously. The curse had come full circle.
Claire dropped the hammer the second she spotted Bennett hurrying to talk to K-Mart. He was very creepy, and she knew Alice was right about his obsession with the blonde girl. Claire quickly ate up the distance between them; she had no idea where Alice was, but she would make sure she'd send Bennett away before he got killed – because she knew Alice was a master at sniffing and hearing things from far.
However, before Claire had time to get close enough, K-Mart came to a halt and placed a hand on her hip in a perfect impression of the redhead.
"You're welcome to help us, but I'm gonna shove this up your ass and make it come out through your mouth if I catch you stalking me one more time!" she hissed, gesticulating frantically with a rusty can of white painting.
His jaw dropped and his eyes bulged a little bit as he tried to stutter an excuse. The man ended up by chuckling nervously and leaving the scene before everyone had the chance to see the famous producer Bennett Sinclair get scared to death because of a teenager.
K-Mart passed by them with her chin up, acting unfazed. Chris mouthed That's my girl from the top of the roof, giving her the thumbs up, and just then the blonde grinned proudly at herself.
"Well, they do grow up…"
"Told ya," Rain muttered, approaching Claire, watching the teen as she folded her arms. "Alice Junior. Oh and there comes Kickass Senior-"
Still slightly perplexed, Claire turned around and saw Alice coming their way in her gangly strut, covered in dust, her green eyes the only bright color she had on her. She looked put out somehow, but she offered them a brief smile. At first, Claire thought Alice was just being Alice again, but then she really caught the tension in the lines of her tanned face.
Rain left them alone and immediately Alice clasped Claire into a strong embrace she was not expecting. The blonde held her possessively, but all she sensed was protection. And a bit of sorrow.
I am sorry. The words danced along the lines of her lips, but she never said it. The leader held her back as strongly as she could, and the unspoken It's alright made its way to Alice's ear.
When they pulled away, Claire looked up at the blonde's filthy face.
"You need a shower," she said with a glint of mischief in her blue eyes.
"But first-" Alice shoved her hand into her pocket nervously. The rings were still there "- we need a house." She looked around the village and then back at Claire with the most beautiful smile the redhead had ever seen. "Found anything interesting, Redfield?"