- Chapter 10 -

Alice's Story


It had been an hour since Wesker's attack on the BSAA. His troops had cleared out as well, but the building and hallways were wrecked considerably, though not irreparably. After taking care of any stragglers, Chris and Jill, despite their own injuries, had Rebecca look over everyone else who was involved in the fight, treating any wounded, before checking themselves and O'Brian into the medical wing.

Rebecca looked over O'Brian carefully, and felt sympathy pains run through her own chest at the sight of the wounds left from the P30 scarab device. Working quickly, she cleaned them with first-aid spray and wrapped them in gauze as quickly as she could before turning her attention to Chris and Jill.

Jill was injured, but not too badly, but Rebecca gasped at the sight of Chris. He looked like hell. His neck was marked with strangulation bruises, his face was bloody, and his ribs and back were almost completely black and blue. He had clearly received the brunt of Wesker's wrath, and Rebecca found it amazing that he was even conscious at the moment. She treated the wounds as best as she could, and gave him a bottle of painkillers, just in case.

Chris and Jill, however, were largely unconcerned with their injuries. Their minds were far more focused on the fact that Wesker had managed to survive Kijuju, and the intentions and plans of Alice, their mysterious savior, who seemed to have a history with their nemesis.

Wordlessly, Chris, Jill, and O'Brian dressed themselves quickly and, together with Rebecca, made their way to the debriefing room, where Alice, Leon, Claire, and the others were waiting patiently.


Chris, Jill, and O'Brian entered the debriefing room, where everyone had gathered. In addition to Alice, Leon, Claire, Helena, Rebecca, and Parker, they were joined by Sheva Alomar, who had decided to remain in L.A., at least for the short term, Keith Lumley, formerly of the BSAA's East African branch, Quint Cetcham, the group's nerdy technology expert, and Piers Nivans, a relative newcomer and expert marksman. Quint had just finished examining Alice with his Genesis scanner.

"Just as I thought," he said as he pocketed the Genesis. "This Alice chick is infected on a massive scale. Looks like the T-virus."

At the mere mention of T-virus infection, everyone but Chris, Jill, and Leon immediately drew their guns on her. Alice showed no sign of fear, having apparently been expecting this. However, Chris and Leon promptly stepped in-between them and Alice.

"Is this how you guys say thanks to the woman who just saved our asses?" Chris asked, a note of irritation in his voice.

"You've gotta be shitting me, Chris!" Piers snapped, keeping his gun level. "She's infected! You know what that means! We might as well just put her down right now!"

At that moment, Jill stepped forward and slapped Piers across the face.

"That's enough, Piers!" she shouted. "She may be infected, but she still saved our lives! If she wanted to kill us, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now!"

Rubbing his cheek, Piers realized she was right and nodded. Grumbling an apology, he sat back down, while the others holstered their weapons and followed suit.

"Didn't really need the help, but thanks," Alice said to Chris and Leon, who simply nodded before sitting down themselves. "Well, now that the cat's out of the bag, I might as well tell you guys the rest of the story."

Lighting a cigarette, Alice casually took a seat between Chris and O'Brian and began her tale.


Flashback

"As you guys already know, my name is Alice," she began, but now it's time you guys hear the full story,"

A much younger Alice, around eight years old, wandered the streets of Raccoon City in the mid-1970s. She was smudged with dirt and her clothes were ragged.

"My name was originally Janus Prospero," Alice continued. "I was born on March 15, 1969. My parents died when I was only five. I don't have any clear memories of them. I grew up on the streets of Raccoon, surviving for most of my childhood by bumming for food and a place to sleep."

Alice, now a few years older, was curled up in an alleyway at night, crying softly and covered with a simple newspaper. Suddenly, a shadow fell over her, and she looked up to see an elderly British man, dressed in a dark suit with an off-white ascot.

"I was only ten when he found me," Alice said. "An old man, British, dressed in an old-fashioned suit."

"Oswell Spencer, the founder of Umbrella," Chris said thoughtfully, recognizing the description from a portrait he and Jill had seen at the Spencer Estate three years ago.

"Correct," Alice replied.

After examining the dirty and frightened girl for a few moments, Spencer wordlessly offered his hand. Alice hesitated, then took Spencer's hand, and he led her away.

"Spencer saw potential in me. I was just a kid, had nowhere else to go. So I went with him."

An old-fashioned car pulled up in front of the Spencer Mansion in the Arklay Mountains. Spencer got out, leading Alice by the hand, and the two entered the mansion.

"Spencer took me in, gave me a home, and renamed me 'Alice'," Alice recalled, a small smile on her face. "He fed me, educated me, and raised me in the old Spencer Mansion in the Arklay Mountains."

Chris, Jill, and Rebecca all exchanged looks. The Spencer Mansion. That was where everything began. That fateful night in 1998 when Wesker led their S.T.A.R.S. unit to the mansion and betrayed them all.

Alice, now a teenager, underwent a training regimen at the old Rockfort Island training facility.

"When I was fourteen, he sent me to the training facility on Rockfort Island. I was one of the best that ever came out of that facility. I joined the Umbrella Security Service when I was only sixteen."

Alice, donned in an Umbrella Security Service uniform, walked through the hallways of the Umbrella laboratory beneath Raccoon City. As she passed by the bio labs, she stopped when she looked in and saw numerous Hunters and Chimeras floating in glass tanks filled with culture fluid, regarding them all with horror.

"I didn't agree with their bioweapon research and all of that freaky virus bullshit, but I stayed with Umbrella. Spencer raised me and took care of me when no one else would. I had nowhere else to go. But all that changed when I was nineteen..."

A elderly man in a black business suit and tie sat calmly in his laboratory, speaking to a glass tank containing an abnormally large leech and caressing it. This was Professor James Marcus.

All at once, the door was kicked in, and a young Albert Wesker and William Birkin, both in their mid-twenties, came in with guns, followed by a group of USS commandos, Alice among them. Marcus barely had time to react before the group began to pump him full of lead, except for Alice, who looked on in shock.

"Spencer got paranoid when James Marcus managed to create the T-virus from the Progenitor virus. He arranged for Albert Wesker and Dr. William Birkin to assassinate him. I was part of the group that they assembled to do it, but I was the only one who didn't pull the trigger. After he died, Spencer covered it up and took credit for the T-virus's creation. That day, I finally saw Spencer, the man I considered a father, for what he really was. I swore to take the company down somehow."

Alice, now twenty-four, entered the laboratory and grabbed a briefcase marked with the Umbrella logo. Opening it, she found several tubes filled with the T-virus. She closed the case and made her way out the door.

"I tried to sneak a sample of the T-virus out and show it to the authorities, but Wesker got to me before I could. I tried to fight him, but he took me down, and he and Birkin decided to use me as the first human-derived B.O.W. test subject."

Alice, strapped to an operating table, could do nothing but struggle vainly as Birkin stuck a hypodermic syringe into her neck and injected her with the T-virus.

"I was the first ever success from it," Alice remarked, venom creeping into her voice. "All the pros of T-virus infection, with none of the cons. Even to this day, I barely feel human anymore."

Several days later, Alice was strapped to a large board. She flexed her muscles, and her restraints snapped like rubber bands. Pulling herself off the table, she took off running.

"The tests went on for days before I finally escaped. From that day on, I vowed to get revenge on Wesker, Birkin, and all of Umbrella no matter what. I kept a low profile and stayed off the grid so they couldn't track me, and helped all of you guys from behind the scenes whenever and wherever I could."

A montage of scenes ensued: Alice opening the skylight in the old Umbrella laboratory to weaken the Queen Leech and allow Rebecca and Billy Coen to kill it; planting the antitoxin to save Richard Aiken's life after he was bitten by the Yawn where Chris would find it; setting up the ingredients for both the G-virus and T-virus vaccines to save Sherry Birkin and Jill's respective lives; subtly directing Claire and Steve Burnside throughout Rockfort Island without revealing herself; helping Manuela Hidalgo escape from her father's mansion during Operation Javier; providing Chris and Jill with the information on Umbrella's Russian facility; funding the BSAA, the DSO, and other anti-bioterror organizations with money she had previously stolen from Umbrella; helping Luis Sera develop the radiation treatment to remove Plagas from their hosts; holding off Hunters long enough for Parker and Jessica to escape Terragrigia; sending Chris and Jill the information on Spencer's whereabouts; and finally sending Chris the intel that confirmed to him that Jill was still alive and in Kijuju.

"After you guys beat Wesker in Kijuju and ruined his Uroboros plan, I thought it was all finally over," Alice remarked. "I never counted on him surviving, let alone forming Neo-Umbrella. When his goons attacked Leon and Helena in D.C. with that lizard man, I figured now was as good a time as any to finally meet you guys face to face. And here I am."

Flashback Over


The group sat in silent awe as Alice finished her story. After a few moments, Chris broke the silence.

"So why do you need us?" he asked. "You seem pretty capable of handling them yourself."

Alice sighed. "I'm strong, but I'm not invincible," she said. "Even I can't take down Wesker and his flunkies by myself. You -all of you- have been able to handle yourselves in situations like this. Together, we can stop Wesker for good. But we still need more manpower."

With that, Alice pulled a folder out of her coat pocket and slapped it on the table. "These files are all dossiers about people who've been through stuff like this," she said. "I've been keeping tabs on these people. All of them are able to handle themselves, and will be valuable allies in this fight."

Chris took the files, and everyone started looking through them, seeing several familiar faces and names: Carlos Olivera, a Hispanic mercenary who helped Jill escape Raccoon City; Bruce McGivern, a US-STRATCOM agent who stopped Morpheus D. Duvall from launching T-virus missiles; Ark Thompson, a private detective and personal friend of Leon's; Chris and Jill's old comrade Barry Burton; Alyssa Ashcroft, an investigative reporter who survived Raccoon City; Jim Chapman, a former Raccoon City subway worker; George Hamilton, a surgeon who worked for Raccoon General Hospital; Cindy Lennox, a waitress-turned-medic from Raccoon City; Kevin Ryman, a former member of the Raccoon Police Department; Yoko Suzuki, an ex-Umbrella employee; Mark Wilkins, a security guard and Vietnam veteran; Crispin "Dee-Ay" Jettingham, the leader of Spec Ops Echo Team; Caroline "Willow" Floyd, knife specialist of the Spec Ops; Sienna "Party Girl" Fowler, the sniper of Echo Team; Lawrence "Shona" Kimbala, a scientist and virologist; Erez "Harley" Morris, Echo Team's medic; Marissa "Tweed" Ronson, ex-member of the U.K.'s Secret Intelligence Service; Manuela Hidalgo, who had aided Leon during Operation Javier; Angela Miller, who had aided Leon and Claire during the Harvardville incident; and Sherry Birkin, now a government agent and member of the DSO along with Leon.

The final entry, however, was a young man whom Chris didn't know, but thought he looked familiar. He had shaved red hair, blue eyes, and a prominent scar on his left cheek. His name was Jake Muller.

"Who's this guy?" Chris asked, pointing at the photo of Jake. Alice looked at the picture.

"Jake Muller, a mercenary in Edonia," she said. "He's your old buddy Albert Wesker's son."

Everyone gasped collectively at that revelation.

"When he was still with Umbrella, Wesker had a fling with an Eastern European woman and left her before the kid was born," Alice explained. "Jake grew up never knowing his old man, and got work as a mercenary to provide for his mother. Unfortunately, she died shortly after he entered the business."

"Poor kid," Claire murmured. "But what makes you think Wesker Jr. here will help us?"

"He's a merc, Claire. One of the best at what he does," Alice replied. "He'll do any kind of work for the right price. We just need to compensate him."

O'Brian stood up. "Okay, people, you all know the situation," he announced, taking charge. "Wesker's back, he wants revenge, and he'll do whatever it takes to kill us and take over the world. We need to track down as many of these people as possible, and see if they're willing to help us. Then we need to find out where Neo-Umbrella is stationed. I'll let you guys decide how to do that. Now move out!"

The group quickly left their seats and dispersed.


Author's Note:

For those of you who don't know, I've decided to include a list describing which characters in Alice's files are from which game(s) here:

* Carlos Olivera: Resident Evil 3: Nemesis

* Jake Muller: Resident Evil 6

* Sherry Birkin: Resident Evil 2

* Bruce McGivern: Resident Evil: Dead Aim

* Ark Thompson: Resident Evil: Survivor

* Alyssa Ashcroft, Jim Chapman, George Hamilton, Cindy Lennox, Kevin Ryman, Yoko Suzuki, and Mark Wilkins: Resident Evil: Outbreak

* Barry Burton: Resident Evil 1

* Manuela Hidalgo: Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles

* Angela Miller: Resident Evil: Degeneration

* Crispin "Dee-Ay" Jettingham, Caroline "Willow" Floyd, Sienna "Party Girl" Fowler, Lawrence "Shona" Kimbala, Erez "Harley" Morris, and Marissa "Tweed" Ronson: Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

Please R&R. Could be a while before I update again.

Until next chapter...