A/N – Totally realized that there's a major gap in the last chapter. Whoops. Will, the archer, yea, he and his band of awesome had been fighting with Umbrella almost as much as with the zombies. They'd numbered a couple dozen. Anise loved them immediately and invited them home with her. At some point, I'll fill that in, but there's your temporary fix-it :P

Moving on.

...Drum roll please.

Part III:

Not All Those Who Wander are Lost.

-Tolkien

Chapter 36

Infuriatingly Wonderful

The day had started out simple enough with a plan to pull into the quiet city with their little caravan and sneak away with supplies before the local zombie population homed in on them. That plan changed when one of the more optimistic was checking his radio and heard the broadcast about a convoy approaching the same small city. Pretty exciting news. Living people were always interesting. Sometimes they tried to kill you, rape you, steal your shit, and occasionally there were even cannibals. Usually, they were just another bunch of unlucky bastards that wanted to join up to survive. Anise hoped it was the latter. Less bloody that way. Either way, she would get some exercise.

Anise left the two commandos with Bob, who was in charge of the three vehicles they were escorting to Haven. They stayed behind a few miles and let the dynamic duo scout ahead. The two siblings took their Humvee to meet with the drifter convoy, since it wouldn't do to put the whole group in danger. Once they checked the other group out and made a judgment, then they would radio Bob and let them know to join up or make like trees and leave.

Buck and the convoy had agreed on a meeting point on the town's outskirts. A storage yard and a gas station. There was sand and tumbleweeds, couple bleached out skeletons, a beat up old pickup sitting on blocks, yet little else to make it a decent ambush point. It was a good place to meet with strangers you did not want to fight. Naturally, they wanted to scope the town out while they waited, so they pulled up to the local water tower poking up out of the desert and Anise swiftly climbed to the top. She had a great view of the area and the road that the other group would be taking into town. Zombies meandered throughout the place, and there was a decent sized crowd on the far side, near what looked like a high school. Using the binoculars, she surveyed the area for any signs of living people.

She pressed the button on her headset and radioed down to Buck, who was sitting on the Humvee roof with his rifle. "Nothing out the ordinary. No signs of life, got a horde across town. If we can avoid using loud guns we should get out of here with supplies easy enough. Kinda wish we had a sniper we could set up here. Great view."

"We could ask Nate to join us next trip." Buck joked.

"I could gouge my eyeballs out too."

"That's a no?"

"Why do jackasses like him survive?"

"To screw with the rest of us?"

Anise sighed. "Ten four that."

"Just got a holler. Convoy says they're ten minutes out." Buck had the Humvee's CB radio to communicate with the others. Their personal walkies were on a separate frequency for security.

She checked her watch, 11:25. Time really did not mean the same thing it used to when people had to clock in for jobs and make deadlines or send emails. It was still handy to keep track, though. Timing boiling water, explosives, counting the seconds between noises to judge distance of approaching whatevers, and her watch even had a compass on it. She put her sunglasses back on her nose and scanned the highway. A cloud of dust a few miles out alerted her to the approaching vehicles. "Got em. Throwin up dust, can't get an accurate count. Maybe a half dozen vehicles."

The wind was picking up, so she pulled her cloth headwrap tighter to keep the sand out of her ears and nose. Dark canvas shorts and a linen top covered her modesty. Wearing long pants and shirts had always annoyed her, gave infected too much to grab onto, and her skin darkened in the intense sunlight so quickly, the meager protection they offered didn't outweigh how much happier she was with her cute outfit. A pouch of emergency supplies and canteen were attached to a hip belt, and a combat vest with oodles of pockets sat on her torso. Sturdy, well-ventilated boots, sunglasses, headwrap, and fingerless leather gloves completed her attire.

Several weapons adorned her figure. They ranged from a sturdy hunting knife, to a double handed panga machete that had a nice long handle and ended in a wicked sixteen inch blade strapped to her back. Multiple sleek throwing knives were strapped along a thigh. Another blade was nestled in a boot sheath. Kept in a belt pouch were several grenades. A Glock 37 rested in a holster on her hip, and her gloves were studded with metal on the knuckles and wrists. Old, blackened blood dirtied the edges of the metal, and the leather was soft, stained from frequent use.

Additional armor was more cumbersome than helpful these days. She generally moved too quickly for anything or anyone to get past her vicious blade. Anise still preferred her stealthier ways of dispatching infected; noise brought hordes down on their heads. Though Will had tried to teach her archery, it never stuck, but Deon's training with throwing knives had, and they were useful for quietly dispatching zombies at a distance. The gun was mostly a visible symbol of power for nervous humans, although Buck's diligent training maintained her as a decent shot.

Because her brother was less equipped to deal with injuries, he continued to wear armor over his linen pants and a flak vest. No longer in black, he still cut an imposing figure in khaki gear and proudly wore his SpiceKeeper badge. Twenty two years old with a full beard, six foot eight, and incredibly massive, his Herculean figure always gave others pause until they got to know him. The irony of it was that he was far less bulky than he was as a teenager. Years of desperate running and hard living had chiseled down the fluffy gym muscles to powerful whipcord.

He kept his rifle in hand and had a Bowie knife strapped to his thigh. A scarred fireman's ax rested near him on the roof while two perfectly maintained Glocks sat in holsters on his hips. A canvas hat with a linen wrap protected his head and neck, and he also wore dark sunglasses. He scratched at his beard and looked up to Anise, who was peering through the binoculars again.

There was a news van still sporting its rig of antennae. Bright yellow Hummer. Typical American schoolbus. Canvas topped military looking transport. Ambulance. Blue semi towing a gasoline tank, which she knew would immediately endear the survivors to Buck. All dusty, the windows reinforced with metal grating, front ends with grill guards, or in the case of the semi, a cattle pusher. Sick spikes twirled, attached to the rims of the bigger vehicles. The miles put on them showed, and Anise wondered when the last time an oil change was given a thought. Her mechanic's sensibilities started making a list of everything she would need to pick up for tune ups. Filters, spark plugs and wires, diesel additives, all sorts of fluids, and she sighed.

The cavalcade was slowing down to approach the gas station. Vehicles fanned out and people with guns began staking the place out.

She could make out more bodies inside a battered schoolbus with filthy windows and wondered what was in the military transport truck. The group appeared well organized as they took out the small group of infected shambling about the store. Anise figured that with so many mouths to feed, fighting other humans was a last resort with these people. She smiled at that thought. Killing living people made her heart ache, so she always preferred the friendly types.

"Might make some friends today. Let's move." She radioed.

The woman shoved the binoculars into a pouch before sliding down the ladder. Jumping in the Humvee behind the wheel, she patted Buck's thigh. He tossed down his ax and slipped into his seat as she revved the engine.

Buck picked up the CB radio and spoke into it. "Convoy, this is SpiceKeeper. We see you and are gonna approach from the south in a single Humvee. Out."

Anise lightly shook her head, Buck never used his own name when speaking with strangers. Even after four years of hearing it, the name still annoyed her.

"SpiceKeeper, we're looking forward ta meetin' you." A male voice replied.

"Roger. Over and out." Sounding professional was Buck's trademark. He grinned at the driver's expression. "This'll be fun. Haven't seen this many people in one place outside of Haven in a while. Eh, Spice?"

"Nope. Could get difficult."

"Yep."

Anise grinned. "Fuck yea!" She whooped as adrenaline pumped through her.

Heading straight toward the waiting vehicles, the dynamic duo kept alert for signs of danger. Anise slowed the vehicle as they got closer and idled it about a football field distance from the lead yellow Hummer. She panned the area with binoculars and Buck got back up on the roof, rifle ready. Counting heads, she spotted several people camped out in defensive positions. Figuring that anyone with half a brain would do the same, she shrugged and asked her companion if he was ready. Buck waved cheerily at the people watching them. "Let's do this shit," he called down.

Putting the vehicle back in gear, she slowly brought them to within a few yards of a woman standing at the fore of the group. Red hair poked out from a ball cap and aviator sunglasses flashed in the brilliant sunlight. A bright green scarf around the mouth, tanned skin, and average clothes covered the rugged woman. An impressive pistol sat on her hip. Anise did a mental inventory of the gun. Glock, like her own, a sturdy weapon with a regular mag that had a ten round capacity, quick firing, and rarely jammed.

The redhead made hand gestures and the others moved around her, Anise's eyes followed, looking over their weapons as well.

"Must be Claire Redfield, huh?" Buck muttered.

"Must be. Anyone standing out to you?"

"They all look like tough survivors. That one near Claire looks pro. Sniper on the semi."

Anise cut the engine, engaged the brakes, and stepped out from behind the wheel. She raised a hand up near her shoulder to greet the strangers. Her other hand she kept by her side, her palm facing out and empty. Appearing less hostile while still wearing her combat gear sent the message: Don't wanna fight, but I damn well can. It was a message that was echoed by the other woman. Anise stretched out her hearing. Not much except wind, steady breathing, and rustling fabric greeted her. The scent of unwashed bodies and hot engines was brought to her nose via the wind blowing at her.

"I think the bus has children." Buck whispered.

Anise did not need to respond. Children usually meant a tough crowd that was all about survival, not fucking over their fellow humans. Coupled with the redhead's body language, it made her smile slightly. Her eyes flickered over the group as she approached them. She stopped a yard from the lead woman and eased into a casual stance, waiting for Claire to start the conversation.

"Thought there were more of you." Staying put and pulling down the scarf from her mouth, the other woman asked.

"There are. We're the welcome wagon." Slightly muffled by her mask, Anise replied in a light tone.

Muscles flexed in the woman's prominent jaw as she turned her head, inspecting the area. She nodded once, stepped up to Anise, and stuck out her hand. "Claire Redfield. This is my convoy."

Anise grasped the hand firmly, respecting the woman's careful attitude. "Good to meet you."

Claire released her and glanced at Buck. "SpiceKeeper. Your name or his?"

"Neither. I'm Spice, he's my keeper. Team name thing. Ever read Dune?"

"No."

Anise shrugged. It didn't matter, and she wanted to get started scavenging.

"OK. Well, Spice," the leader gestured to the people around her. "This is..."

Anise interrupted her with a raised hand. "Don't wanna be rude, but introductions can wait if we're going to do a supply run. Wind's picking up. I'm sure you know a dust storm can cause issues. Already checked the place out. There's a pretty sizable population of infected waiting for lunch across town. If we're fast and quiet, we can get in and out before they notice us."

Jaw muscles on the attractive woman's face twitched. Her heartbeat picked up slightly. She probably was not used to being interrupted. "Got a point. Your group gonna join us?"

"After we work with you and decide if we like you." Being blunt was the best way to go with this woman, she figured. Buck was muttering about her being a bitch sometimes. She itched to flip him off.

Claire exchanged a look with the tall, naturally tanned man to her right. A scarf was also around his face to keep out the dust. She could make out a dark beard and hair, but his sunglasses hid his eyes. He looked like a pro, just as Buck mentioned, decked out in quality gear and holding himself and his weapon like a combat veteran. The man nodded at Claire, who turned back to Anise and spoke. "Alright. You scoped the place out? Tell us what you saw."

Anise did just that, explaining where she had seen clumps of infected as she sketched out a map in the dirt at their feet. Crouching down, she pointed out places of interest. Pharmacies, gas stations, pawn shop, grocery store, police station. Nothing too unusual had caught her attention, though she mentioned husks of burned out cars, the blocked roads, and the sniper perch that the water tower provided. Claire and her right-hand man listened intently, occasionally asking questions. Buck threw in a few suggestions on approaching the city, which Anise easily slipped into the conversation. Nobody else spoke. Anise assumed they trusted this Claire implicitly.

Respect for the woman firmly in place, she announced. "We'll follow your lead, Claire."

"You any good with that blade on your back?" The woman asked curiously.

"Just point me at a herd of undead, and I'll give you my version of a zombie blender." Mouth still covered, her mischievous smile was only apparent by the lifting of her cheeks. Several chuckles drifted on the wind. Claire's twisting lip betrayed her amusement.

"What about him?" She jerked her jaw in Buck's direction.
"He's a damn good shot with any gun, and a monster with his ax."

At the sudden attention, Buck grinned toothily just before he spat out a mouthful of sand. Anise rolled her eyes.

"I'm in the yellow Hummer. Come in behind me. Once we're on foot, you stay on my left. Keeper can provide cover from his perch there and keep you informed by radio. I've got a sniper for that water tower. My people will gather supplies. We can split up the goods later."

Anise considered for a moment, and she waited to hear Buck's opinion.

"I'm in." Her sidekick whispered.

"Sounds like a plan. Any gas here?" Their Humvee had under half a tank, and Anise tried to be optimistic as she waved at the rickety station.

Claire frowned. "Bone dry. Hopefully there's some in that town."

Standing up from her crouch, Anise sighed and stretched out her legs. "Alright. After you." She turned and headed to her vehicle where she eased into the driver's seat, shutting the door firmly. Buck remained up top, and together they watched the organized convoy file back to their vehicles and mount up. He finally gave in and tied a bandanna around his nose and mouth to keep the flying sand out. Idiot, she thought.

Claire's voice cut across the radio. "OK, everyone. Move out!"

"I like her." Anise announced after turning the engine over.

"She's cute, of course you like her." Buck playfully prodded her shoulder with his knee.

"True, but her crew respects her. She's cunning, and I don't think her convoy will try to kill us." Anise thrust the vehicle into motion as the yellow SUV pulled away.

Buck chuckled heartily and called out over the wind. "Two sets of strangers this month that don't want to kill us. Weird."

Eyeing the vehicles following behind their Humvee, Anise started considering the logistics of getting such a large group all the way up to Haven. They had never guided so many at once. There were a lot of natural things that could go wrong, and Umbrella assholes could sneak in and wreak havoc. It still made her head spin that people would be dumb enough to remain loyal to Umbrella's idiocy after they had created the T-virus, kidnapped people to continue experimenting with it, and spent obscene amounts of resources hunting down and failing to capture or kill Anise. She sighed and pushed thoughts of idiots aside.

A town this small would not hold enough supplies to get them all the way up north and through the Rocky Mountains. Another, much larger city would have to be braved for adequate provisions eventually. Several choices ran through her mind, depending on what route they would be taking. She thought of Flagstaff, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Carson City, Boise, Denver, and many more places along the way. Each had their own inherent dangers: infected, mutant experiments, Umbrella operatives, autumn weather, topography, and other survivors. Vehicles would need maintenance and something was bound to get fucked up.

At the water tower, two guys in a truck pulled away to serve as sniper and lookout. The convoy continued closing in on the city center, running over desiccated corpses and pushing aside abandoned vehicles. Anise did not like the idea of all the vehicles in the city at the same time. Claire had argued it was the most efficient way of gassing up, getting bodies to move things quickly, and it kept them from getting separated. Good points, valid and reasonable. Anise still didn't like it, thinking maybe she was just too used to working with handfuls of people at a time.

Their next stop was at a massive truck stop that looked in halfway decent shape. She put the brakes on and popped out of the vehicle to begin slicing her way through the local undead population. Buck's suppressed rifle softly reported his efforts. Members of the convoy began pouring out of their own transports to quietly clear the area and pillage supplies. Anise took up her promised position on Claire's left flank, the right flanked covered by the dark man from earlier, his own silenced gun expertly handled. The gun wielders downed infected with remarkable efficiency, wasting little ammo. Anise was properly impressed.

Reaching the storefront, where the windows were smashed and the convenience store shelves were thrashed. Old blood spatters covered an entire wall and half the ceiling behind the cash desk. Shuffling in the back caught Anise's attention, and she moved silently to clear the rest of the building. Inside a locked store room with one barred window, she heard more zombies. She dispatched the former employees and turned to leave. Without warning, a mutated housecat leapt down from a shelf, catching her by surprise, and sinking its oversized teeth and claws into her arm. She wrestled with it for a moment before she shoved a thumb in its thankfully normal jaw to loose its grip enough to fling the beast across the room. It crashed into wire shelving, causing product to fly off noisily.

Claire stepped into the large storeroom, gun at ready. "What happened?" She demanded.

Anise ignored her, searching frantically for the small terror amongst the mess of dusty products. Barely before the cat launched itself at Claire did Anise hear its almost silent footfalls. As the beast was leaping, Claire was obliviously watching Anise, who was twisting her body to launch her machete. The convoy leader saw the woman's motion and aimed her pistol at Anise. Just as she pulled the trigger, the machete impaled the beast through the chest, pinning it against the wall next to Claire's throat. Anise almost completely dodged the bullet that came speeding at her, but it still cut open her shoulder.

The right-hand man had entered the scene just in time to witness the enhanced woman's perfect throw and yelp of pain. Trapped against the wall, the undead beast was flailing and hissing, a gruesome post-apocalyptic wall ornament. Claire flinched away from the reaching claws, while the man stood gaping at the spectacle. Anise crossed the room, drew her leg up, and crushed the small skull with her heel. After yanking the weapon from the aluminum wall, she flicked the handle. The now truly dead cat slid from the blade. She twisted her other arm to inspect the damage. "Dammit. I hate getting bitten." She groaned, "And shot at."

"Happen often?" Claire's eyes were bulging out. In her world, people didn't survive to bitch about being bitten more than once. It was a fairly common reaction to Anise.

The enhanced woman shrugged. "Enough to be irritating. Shit fucking itches when it heals."

Claire managed to blink and grin. "Sounds like something Rain would say."

Anise's complete, undivided, and violent attention became focused on the the convoy leader. She stepped aggressively into her personal space and stared down into her green eyes. "You know Rain? Where is she?" Her voice was hard with the drill-sergeant command tone that had proven so useful over the years.

The shorter woman's jaw muscles rippled, pupils dilated, and pulse took off while her hand flexed on her gun. "Why the hell you wanna know? You Umbrella?"

"Claire." The right-hand man gripped his leader's shoulder. "She's not Umbrella. Anise would never work with those bastards." He pulled the scarf from around his face and took off his sunglasses, his eyes focusing on the enhanced woman. "You remember me, right?"

Anise inhaled deeply. Who the fuck was he to know her name?

She tried to match that scruffy face to ones from the distant past, and her voice dropped to a whisper, "Carlos." Stepping out of Claire's space she smiled widely, dragging aside the cloth from her own face. Sunglasses came off so she could get a proper look at him. He looked pretty good after the harsh years, although he was developing little crow's feet around his eyes. "How's the arm?"

"Good, no thanks to you." Sticking his unarmed hand out, Anise grabbed it to shake.

"Fuck that." Her body crashed into his for a needed hug.

Laughing, they pulled apart. "That giant out there must be Buck?"
"Yep. Never could get rid of him."

"SpiceKeeper." Carlos shook his head, smiling. "Shoulda known it was you two."

Claire coughed, not appreciating being left out.

"Sorry, Claire. This is Anise Barrows, Umbrella's antithesis."

The woman choked, whether on learning Anise's identity or Carlos using a big word, Anise couldn't quite decide. "Holy shit. That's..." She cut off mid-sentence, her face becoming a picture of seriousness. "Trouble. Let's go." Claire pivoted and jogged from the room, her hand pressing her radio button to respond. Anise heard the distant sniper rifle reports. "Talk to me, Chase."

"Can you hear our radio?" Carlos asked as they followed her out.

"Yea. Mutant experiment. Hooray." Anise snarked. The sniper's perfect head shots were not even making the monster flinch, and it was heading directly for the vulnerable convoy. Stealthy maneuvers were abandoned as people realized they were a sitting target. Feet tromped across concrete and sand, jogging with what little they had managed to scrounge. People were making beelines to their vehicles per Claire's orders. Her little militia group was ordered to set up and defend the convoy until it could leave. An engine began to rumble. "Buck," she radioed. "Hear about the trouble?"

"Affirmative. Lots of big guns showing up out here." The man was hidden from view so she trusted his report.

"Perfect. You know the drill." Anise stepped out of the store into the wind and sunlight, her sunglasses already back on. She pulled up cloth to cover her mouth, keeping sand out of her lungs.

"Stay here. Cover your ass."

"Don't worry, I'll let you play next time."

"You better. Out."

Gunfire, yelling, and growling sounded in her ears. She hopefully surveyed the area for Rain, assuming the soldier had stuck with Carlos over the years. Failing to locate the Latina, she moved to help with the incoming threat. A child stumbled next to her, dropping his crate of goodies and an infected woman fell upon him. Anise dispatched the foul smelling creature before pulling the boy up. A throng of zombies burst from a nearby building and aimed for the children running to the bus. With the main firepower taking on the mutant, Anise shouldered her machete and ran to intercept the dangerous swarm. Several minutes and a new garden of dead bodies later, she cast her sights and ears around to check on the convoy's evacuation.

Most of the non-fighters were on board, the schoolbus was just missing a driver. A man shot down a zombie between himself and the door, then hopped into the driver's seat. Doors shut, and the big yellow bus started to move. Anise nodded when the man raised a grateful hand at her for keeping the horde from overtaking the bus. The sounds of the battle with the mutant drew her attention. She caught her first sight of the big ass monster. It looked like a gorilla on steroids mated with an armadillo, that offspring mated with a spider, and then that ugly ass offspring took more steroids.

Four insect legs sprouted from a humanoid pelvis. Two misshapen arms bulged with muscle. One arm ended in four foot long talons, the other in a giant crablike claw. Mottled armor covered its torso and crab arm, while its exposed skin looked acid burned, a nauseating orangish-purple color. Its burly neck poked out from the armor and had fleshy spikes on the sides and that continued up and over its skull. The jaw had two sets of nasty mandibles, one jutted from the neck and acted almost like another set of arms. The second were like oversized fangs on the sides of the massive mouth. Canine teeth, each several inches long, rounded out the creepy, piss-her-pants-terrifying monster. She shrugged, just another sweaty workout was ahead of her.

The woman's eyes next fell on a sight that had her heart skipping and her breath catching. Rain, her gorgeous, strong, irritable, infuriatingly wonderful Rain, was unloading the magazine of her assault rifle into the creature and barely managing to evade its nasty claws. She ducked through a narrow opening into the remains of a burned building. Thick concrete walls would hold the oversized monster out for the moment. It slammed itself against the obstruction and tried to force its body in, while lashing out with its talons. The cracks appearing everywhere proved the obstacle would not last long. The room, more like an alcove, was just large enough that the talons cut gouges into the floor mere inches from Rain's body. She was trapped.

Anise growled deep in her chest and flew into action. This time she would not be too late!