Author Note: Some of the timeline will be off for this one, but I was not planning on following the script of the Resident Evil movies, but instead using the characters you all love to create my own story line. Please, enjoy, be courteous, & review (I do take constructive criticism!)

Disclaimer: I do not own the Characters, but a girl can dream right?

Without further adieu…here comes Chapter Three

B

Update Oct-9-2015: As I prepare to add more to Calm Before the Storm I figured I should go back and look over what I posted almost two years ago to the story that started it all. This way I can make some editorial changes while also refreshing my memory on what things I left off with in the end.

Updated Dec-11-2019: I haven't created any FF in awhile, and would like to get back into it, specifically with some RE stuff. To do so, I figured I would edit some old work to try and get some ideas percolating in my head before the Christmas holidays

- 3-

- Alice -

The Arcadia was relatively quite for mid day. Many survivors were still phobic of the outdoors, afraid Umbrella drones would rain down from the sky once more. Alice didn't blame them, it was safer, for everyone, if they didn't attract attention to themselves. Despite their best efforts to bring normalcy, many were still holding out for day their lives were once again back to before. Alice made rounds of the ship every day, hoping to ease the anxiety of those aboard, but it also left them constantly afraid. Beyond the volunteers cleaning up the debris at the bow of the ship, Alice would only come across the odd small group of people in certain areas of the ship. Groups offered a sense of security, and it was familiar, most having escaped desecrated cities or overgrown forests to evade the infected.

She had made the rounds three times now, ready to call it another successful day of no suspicious activity. She had checked, double checked, and even triple checked the repairs completed by survivors handy with tools. It was a huge victory, even if most of them still coward below decks awaiting explosions. Most confided to the inside of the ship had taken up daily chores, leaving the dangerous and strategic work to a small crew of five; Alice, Claire, Chris, Luther and K-Mart. Men and Women started cooking food for survivors, washing clothes, anything to make their stay a little more like a community. It gave them hope, and that was all they needed right now.

Alice walked along the causeway under the bridge, stopping to glance up, shielding her eyes from the sun. Claire was there still, with K-Mart keeping her company for the time being, her back to the window, talking with animations in her arms like any normal teenager. She smiled, happy that the teen had found someone else to pester, and continued to the starboard side of the ship.

She circled back, feeling the ocean breeze whip at her hair. Usually Claire joined her at the tail end of her rounds, allowing them a moment together alone that would avoid arousing suspicion of their love affair. Luther was the only person who knew about them together, and it was only because he caught them kissing in the engine room. To Alice's knowledge, Chris was not even aware of his sister's affection for the same-sex, and the fact that Alice and him did not always meet eye to eye, it would be wise to keep this from him as long as possible. Today, Claire was late to relive her brother from his post, so their would be no kiss, at least not until they were alone once more in their stateroom.

Alice took the metal steps to the upper deck, ready to relieve Claire from her post to go down to the lower decks to check on supplies and the armory. Yesterday they agreed to take stock of what was missing below, for Mexico was approaching and a search and rescue mission would commence once they made port. This also gave Alice a chance to fulfill K-Marts promise and assist her with this surprise she had cooked up.

Alice stopped at the top of the stairs, taking one final deep breath, sucking in as much fresh air as possible before returning to the stale insides of the ship. The ocean was soothing, waves lapping against the hull was almost hypnotic. A group of gulls were circling the water about a hundred yards out. There was about a dozen of them, all taking turns nosediving into the ocean and scooping up fish to eat. For a moment, it seemed like the world never changed seven years ago.

Alice unlocked the door, stepping through the side door to the bridge, smiling at Claire who looked like she suffering from a headache. It was more likely she had, had her fill of the K-Mart saga.

"Hey Alice!" The teen stated as Claire's eyes perked up a bit.

"How are my two favourite ladies doing?" Alice asked, closing the door behind her and locking it once more.

"Alive, but barely." Claire replied with a wink.

"Hey!" K-Mart pouted, stomping her foot, like a sulky teenager.

Alice smiled, approaching Claire who look perturbed by something., "You okay?" She asked, touching her shoulder.

"K-Mart, can you give us a minute?" Claire said, looking at the teen.

K-Mart could tell by the look in Claire's eye she was in no mood for her rebuttal. The teen went to the door, turning back, "Five minutes," She said, holding up her palm, before exiting the room.

Alice shook her head as the door slammed shut, "I think I'll give her lunch duty for a week anyways." She quipped, the smile gone from her face.

"I don't want you on prisoner duty anymore." Claire stated, her eyes hard.

Alice was surprised, but not at what she said, it was how she said it. There sole prisoner had been a contentious issue with the crew ever since the latest raid by Umbrella. Alice fought hard to keep them alive, convincing all of them, including Claire that it was the best course of action. Yes, her reasons were personal, but at the same time, this was their chance to gain a valuable crew member, if they played their cards right. The only reason Claire sided with Alice was because she knew first hand what it felt like to be a mindless drone to Umbrella, exactly like Jill Valentine was.

"Why?" Alice asked.

Claire moved back to the large windows, keeping her back to Alice, "I've been thinking, since you told me everything this morning. Maybe she's the reason you're having nightmares."

Alice stayed where she was, not wanting to bring about another fight, "Claire, she's my only hope at becoming herself again."

Claire spun, angry tears in her eyes, "You don't have to save everyone Alice!" She spat, "I-I won't loose you to save her."

Alice went to Claire, bringing her in for an embrace, "You won't loose me, I promise." She whispered, brushing away a few strands of hair, "What they did to Jill, it's not like what they did to me. If I can get that Medusa bug off her-" She started to explain as Claire slapped her across the face.

"Stop. Stop comparing what you did for me to what she deserves from you." Claire wiped her eyes, heading for the door. "She abandoned you, she tried to kill you, and now refuses to let you or anyone else near her. I, I just want it to end."

"Claire!" Alice called, stopping the woman from opening the door, "Please, give me one last chance to prove she can change. If it doesn't work, I promise to remove myself from prisoner duty, for good."

Claire stayed silent, opening the door to K-Mart standing in the threshold, "Do whatever you want, you know where to find me." Claire said, pushing past K-Mart and down the stairs.

Alice sighed, rubbing her stinging cheek as K-Mart entered the bridge, trying not to comment on the scene she had just witnessed.

- Luther -

It was getting to be dusk, about an hour into his evening shift at the bridge, re-leaving Alice to go on her shift of prisoner duty. There were no clocks aboard and no one wore a watch. Even if someone did, it would be dead by now. How important was keeping track of time when zombies ran the world anyways? Not like you had any important meetings, or errands to run. Now they used the sun as their clock, which was starting to shift lower and lower towards the horizon, creating a beautiful orange glow on the water.

Luther turned his attention to the bridge door opening, his mouth suddenly watering at the steaming mashed potatoes, brown beans and replicate steak that tasted more like rubber than meat displayed on the metal plate in Claire's hands.

"Claire Redfield, what a beautiful face to see this late in the evening." Luther replied with a smile.

"Flattery only get's you so far Luther," Claire replied as she placed his plate down on the chart table.

"Dooley noted. What's on your mind?"

Claire raised an eyebrow, "What, Alice didn't tell you?"

"Well-." Luther began to say as Claire rolled her eyes. "Sorry." He muttered, shoveling the hot food into his mouth before he said anything more.

"You don't think she should be off prisoner duty do you?" Claire pressed.

Luther kept his head down, shoveling the food into his mouth, no matter how bad it tasted. No one could afford to be picky in the apocalypse. He could feel Claire's eyes on him like a daggers.

"I know you don't approve of it Claire, but she is the most, qualified, to deal with her." He said in between mouthfuls.

Claire narrowed her eyes, "I have complete faith that you can handle her just as well,"

Luther almost chocked on the piece of rubber steak in his throat. "Aw hell no! That lady is fucked Claire. She messes with your head and gets under your skin."

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of." Claire replied with a frown.

She got up out of her chair, looking out the window at the vast, black ink ocean ahead of them. Secretly, she wished she was out there instead of in here. Ever since Alice had told her the truth, Claire could not shake the feeling that something on this ship was the cause of it all. She had a real fear to loosing Alice, and that was something Claire, or anyone aboard, could not afford to happen.

Luther dropped his fork, getting up from his chair and walking over to Claire, seeing the sadness in her reflection in the glass. "I'll watch the bitch," He said, seeing the smirk appear on Claire's lips.

"Thanks Luther," Claire replied, turning back to her friend, "I appreciate it."

Luther went back to his food, "You know you owe me one right?" He stated, returning to his mashed potatoes.

"I didn't think this was a democratic decision." Claire retorted with a smile. She was about to leave when she turned back to Luther once more, "by the way, do you have any idea what Alice and K-Mart are up too?"

Luther cast his eyes down to his plate, shrugging his shoulders as he kept shoveling food into his mouth to once again keep him from saying anything stupid.

- Alice -

She rocked back and forth in her chair, digging at the grime under her fingernails with the tip of her hunting knife. A pistol rested in her lap, the muzzle pointed in the direction of the cell that was about five feet away. It was only a precaution if she was able to somehow made a miraculous escape. Something Alice believed was highly unlikely. The holding cell was in the very underbelly of the ship, hidden away from the survivors as best as possible. It was decided that Jill's presence on board was on a need to know basis, not wanting to invite an unnecessary panic. The cell itself was of Umbrella design; clear, Plexiglas walls in the shape of a giant cube that was at least ten feet tall, sat in the center of the room. The white tiled floor surrounding it was lit up, bathing both of them in a fluorescent glow. There were breathing holes in the walls, and a narrow slat in the thick, steel door to pass food trays through.

Inside the cube was a cot with a grey tweed blanket, a pillow, a metal toilet, and a small table and chair. Privacy was a privilege, something Alice knew all too much about. The cell was not designed to keep criminals at bay, it was an over-sized test tube, for scientists and Umbrella officers to watch over the transformation of people into monsters.

Every time she came down to check on Jill, Alice cycled through the same questions, hoping repetition would finally cause her to break. Every time Jill gave the same, snarky responses, the red glow of the Medusa bug pulsating in time with her breathing. Everyone believed Jill was a lost cause, that they should just eliminate her now before Umbrella comes looking for one of their own. Alice refused to let that happen, Jill was her only connection to her life before meeting up with Claire in the Nevada desert. They were the only two survivors of Raccoon City that she still knew were alive, and damn if she'd just leave her to rot. Especially when she knew what needed to be done to break the Umbrella curse, it was just a matter of figuring out how to do it. Whatever Umbrella had done to her, she had become a supreme fighting machine, a person that even pushed Alice to her limits. She couldn't do it alone, which is why tonight she asked for some back-up.

Chris opened the door as Alice slammed the legs of her chair down on the floor, the sound echoing through the room. He walked over to her as she got up, slipping the knife into the sheath on her hip.

"Did you get what I wanted?" Alice asked.

Chris pulled out a cloth from his back pocket, unwrapping the tranquilizer gun and four rounds. "It took awhile, but I finally found it buried in the supply room." Chris replied as Alice took the gun, pulling back the chamber to load in the rounds.

"Only four rounds?"

Chris shrugged, "All I could take without alerting suspicion. Do you think it's enough?"

Alice released the slide with a satisfying click, locking eyes with Chris, "Let's hope so." She hid the gun in the waist band of her pants, walking towards the cell.

Jill had her back to them, sitting on her bed, her head bowed down to the floor. For the past two days she had gone silent. No matter what Alice said, Jill would just give a blank, hard stare in return. The glow of the Medusa Bug could be seen in the reflection of the glass, taunting Alice.

She turned back to Chris, nodding with her head to be ready.

"You're sure this is going to work?" Chris asked.

Jill got up, suddenly interested in what her captors were doing."What do you two want?" She snapped, breaking her vow of silence for the past forty-eight hours.

"So, we're talking again are we?" Alice chided, hoping to keep her focused on her eyes, and not her removing the gun from behind her back.

"Depends on what's in it for me...Project Alice."

Normally Alice would cringe at being referred to by the name Umbrella had branded her with, but what she was sure Jill didn't know, or failed to care about, was that she was infection free. It was the only thing Wesker did for her before she blew him out of the sky. Alice remained quiet, focusing on Jill's blue eyes, hoping to catch a glimpse of the real Jill trapped deep down inside. It was useless. Nothing was going to change until they got that bug off of her.

"Ready?" Alice said.

Chris nodded, which Alice knew Jill would turn towards, giving her, her moment to react. She placed the mussel of the gun in the slat in the door, firing off the four tranquilizer rounds before Jill had a chance to evade. Two hit her in the thigh, the third in the stomach as the fourth and final one hit her in the neck. Jill quickly clawed at the rounds, but wasn't fast enough as she started to stumble backwards, falling to the floor. Whatever was in those rounds was potent, and it appeared the more she fought the drugs coursing through her, the fasted they acted.

Jill was able to pull the one from her neck, her eyes unable to focus on the metal tip stained with blood, vision doubling. Her eyelids started to feel heavy, as she watched Alice and the male captor enter the room and approach her. She wanted to fight back, to resist whatever it was they were going to do to her, but her body was unwilling to move.

The last thing she saw before she slipped unconscious was Alice removing the knife from her hip holster.

T.B.C.