CHAPTER 10
"Anything yet?" Chris asked impatiently. Alice knelt over Claire's still unconscious body, two fingers pressed to her pulse.
"It's going to take more than thirty seconds to work." She replied, rolling her eyes.
"Well there has to be something you can- oof!"
Alice turned her head quickly at the sound of a dull thump, seeing Chris crumble to the floor. She was on her feet immediately, gun drawn and pointed forward before she could even see what the threat was.
Her eyes focused on a long white lab coat; Dr. Benner.
She flashed back to Chris, jabbing the doctor with the unknown liquid in the syringe. He had fallen, but hadn't cried out in pain, or gasped in surprise; almost like the drug had put him to sleep quickly before he could even register what had happened. Whatever had been in that vial that was now flowing freely though the doctor's veins must have a lot of accelerated healing power for him to have gotten up quickly.
Stepping protectively in front of Claire, Alice looked behind Benner at Chris, wanting to make sure he was still breathing. She felt instantly better when she saw the slow rise and fall of his chest.
Benner took a step forward, mimicking Alice's action. He looked almost the same, except for the dark circles enveloping his eyes, making it look as if he was wearing great gobs of make up on his face. It was almost comical. Alice probably would have laughed if Benner wasn't moving an arm forward, if his purplish-gray skin wasn't stretching inspector gadget style, if a strange, slimy tentacle wasn't starting to protrude from the balmy palm of his wrinkled hand.
Benner grinned at her from beneath his dark eyebrows; an evil grin that showed his over-confidence. He was going to win and he knew it. Alice also believed it as three more tentacles slid smoothly out of his palm to join the other; as if they were their own separate entities.
Chris let out a weak cough from his limp post on the floor. Alice looked over at him, and the next thing she knew, she was looking at the ceiling.
Shaking off her confusion, Alice scrambled to her feet, reaching for her gun, and realized she had dropped it when she fell. She glanced quickly around the hallway and saw it on the floor next to Claire. Alice realized she must have been knocked back at least twenty five feet from when she had been standing before. Damn tentacles.
She started forward to reclaim the compact gun, but stopped suddenly, seeing Benner moving towards her as well. It wasn't the fact that he was moving that made her stop dead in her tracks; it was that he was changing as he walked. With each step his skin got closer to a grayish-green, his eyes drooped a little more, and he was getting taller. Three large spikes abruptly tore out of his left shoulder and he howled in pain, his face a mask of rage and tempered violence.
The vicious burst of outrage from Benner seemed to spur on his mutation quicker, if that was even possible, Alice thought. What were left of his hands were now smashed together lumps of rotten flesh; five serrated claws protruding out of the ends like horrible, jagged fingers. His leg and bicep muscles had seemed to burst forth from under the now loose and peeling skin, surfacing in red gory strips that stretched and twitched.
As Alice looked at the face of the hideous, bile-inducing creature that used to be Doctor Benner, its jaw unhinged, dropping at least six inches from where it should have been, and now the tentacles from before were coming out of its mouth, reaching out slowly and waving in the air before Alice as if they were in some kind of death dance.
This time Alice saw it. A purplish tentacle; once second gesticulating with the others, and the next shooting across the hall at her, striking her side as she tried to spin out of the way in time.
Damn those things are fast, she thought. She knew that one good shot to the head point blank would take the former Benner down, his skull hadn't seemed to thicken any. The problem was now he was standing in between Alice and her gun, still moving towards her. For her.
The Benner creature let out a ferocious shriek, high pitched and rumbling at the same time, and Alice braced herself for whatever was coming.
She didn't see the tentacle, just felt it as it closed around her wrist with incredible strength. She let out a cry of disgust and tried to pry it off with her other hand, but as soon as her fingers touched the slimy, writhing appendage a second one grabbed her other hand, slamming her against the wall hard enough to make her see stars.
With both arms restrained, Alice had no choice but to struggle helplessly and watch as the last two tentacles sliced smoothly through the air to wind around her legs. She was going to die. She was reckless and unperceptive and now she would pay for it, being quartered, her body being torn apart by her limbs. She wondered how long it would hurt for.
And suddenly she felt all four tentacles tense up. She braced herself for the impact, moving her eyes up to stare defiantly into those of the ruined Doctor.
Instead her gaze met intense green eyes.
Claire was awake, holding the barrel of Alice's Mossberg against the creature's head. Alice felt a mixture of cooling relief and chilling fear for Claire.
But the redhead's eyes were determined and full of anger.
"Say uncle." She said in a stony voice, pressing the barrel tighter against the thing's skin. Then she pulled the trigger.
Alice fell simultaneously with Benner, both of them hitting the floor seconds after the gun sounded. The blonde kicked and tore at the tentacles that still held her, even though their grip had loosened. She finally freed herself and managed her climb shakily back to her feet.
Claire was already standing next to her.
"Loose something?" She asked with a smirk, holding out the Mossberg.
Alice lowered her head and laughed in relief, taking the gun back and returning it to its holster on her back. "Thanks. Hey, I thought you said next time you have to save my ass you were just going to let fate put me out of my misery?" Alice couldn't hide her grin as she spoke.
"Well maybe I decided I like your ass."
Alice waggled her eyebrows and Claire rolled her eyes.
"You know what I meant."
Alice's smile dissipated slowly as she looked over the other woman. "You're feeling okay?" She asked, noting that her regular light but healthy skin color had returned, and her eyes looked normal again.
"Yeah. Seems like a few hours' worth of napping and one little injection can cure just about anything. Are you okay?"
The reality of the situation suddenly hit Alice; not being able to get to Chris, almost loosing Claire, almost dying. She suddenly felt very tired.
"Alice?" The redhead asked tentatively.
Alice walked forward, closing the distance between the two of them, and wrapped her arms around Claire. "Don't fucking scare me like that again." She whispered, burying her face in Claire's shoulder, breathing in the scent of her hair.
Claire stroked the back of Alice's hair, then kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry. I'll try not to have any more zombie/apocalyptic play dates anytime soon."
Alice lifted her face up level with Claire's, leaning in to softly brush her lips against the redhead's. Claire swooned, the contact unexpected, and Alice moved her hands to support her so she didn't fall.
"You're a walking disaster, Redfield." The blonde said, shaking her head.
"And you talk too much." She replied, pulling Alice's face towards her own, her heartbeat flooding out any the sound in the room as her lips met Alice's again. Her eyes fluttered closed.
Alice guided Claire towards the wall, pushing her against it as she lifted the redhead's shirt. Her lips traced the lines of Claire's abs contracting and tightening under Alice's breath. Warm hands ghosted up the inner seam of Claire's legs slowly, painfully slowly, stopping before…
"Alice! Alice!" Claire was smacking her on the top of the head, trying to get her attention.
"Whaaaat?" She groaned, straightening up, but Claire was already on the other side of the hallway, kneeling over her brother, who was finally waking up.
Alice set her jaw and narrowed her eyes. This brother person was really starting to cramp her style.