Nikolai Burnside: Yup. And depending on how long I am grounded, who knows when the next one will come. Evil parents...
xbiteme04x: Maybe now you will be happy. XD
Shadow Megaman: It isn't easy, though...
Echo in the Wind: Yuppers. Sure did.
Russ Valentine: I'm a busy gal. Cut me some slack, please.
Sun Jian: ROFL. Well, glad you like it.
Chapter 7: Unexpected Friend
Danielle felt her heart skip a beat. "How can you be sure?" Rebecca asked, finally finished. "I mean, there are no visible bite or scratch marks, and the airborne version would have dissipated by now. Those are pretty much the only ways to contract the virus."
Alice strode over to Danielle, pulling up her right arm. At its crook was a small red dot. Around it, the skin looked inflamed. That was where she had been feeling the itch that continued to grow worse. "You forgot one other way. Injection."
She swallowed hard, looking at the others. Rebecca seemed worried, and Barry had an angry look on his face. "How long has it been like this?" the medic asked, staring intently into her eyes.
"Umm… A while… I blacked out when Nemesis attacked… My arm's been like this since I woke back up…" She thought of the blonde haired man in the black sunglasses from before. Was he the one who did this to her?
Rebecca seemed to grow even more worried. "This isn't good at all. There's no telling how long you've been infected…" She stood back up, looking at Alice. "We have to find something to help her, like an antidote of some sorts. I'm not about to let another person, especially a kid, die because of Umbrella."
Alice's expression softened a bit. "All right, then. Have it your way. It's possible that they are hiding a sample in one of their facilities. The only one I know of is the hospital where I woke up… I'll take her with me and search."
"What!?!" Danielle shouted, eyes widening. "Me go with you!? No way! You said I should be killed!!"
The two S.T.A.R.S. members looked at one another. "Well…" Barry began hesitantly, looking at her. "It would probably be safer if you stayed with Alice. With that Nemesis creature stalking us, it would be pretty dangerous to hang around the S.T.A.R.S."
She stared at the two of them in disbelief. They were really going to leave her with some crazy lady who wouldn't hesitate to shoot her if she had to. "Don't worry about it," Rebecca said, giving her a reassuring smile. "You'll be just fine."
For some reason, Danielle couldn't bring herself to believe that.
"You don't have to be afraid of me, you know."
"Who said I was afraid of you?"
"Well, you sure did act like it back in the warehouse."
"I wasn't afraid. I just don't like the fact I have to be stuck with you."
Alice smirked. "Whatever you say. But what your friends said about sticking with me was right. It would be safer."
Danielle snorted. "Right, being stuck with the woman who said I should die is safer. You must be loco or something. I bet you wouldn't hesitate to shoot me right now."
"If you changed into a carrier right now, then yes, I wouldn't hesitate. If we manage to find the vaccine at the hospital, then you might have a chance."
She stared down at the pistol in her hand, gripping it tightly. "Might" was the word she was really worried about. Her parents did a lot of research on this virus, and Danielle only saw a few papers on it. She was a lot smarter than what her mom and dad thought in the first place, so she was able to figure out what the virus did. And there was no way she wanted that to happen to her. She shuddered a bit, remembering the shambling corpses of the citizens who had attacked her when she first entered the city. And to think she might become one of them…
A hand rested gently on her shoulder. Danielle looked up into Alice's eyes, and saw a sympathetic look on her face. "I know how you feel about this. I've been going through the same thing."
"Y-You have…?"
"Yeah. I didn't tell the others about this, but since you're in the same spot as I am, I guess it's safe to tell you. I used to work for Umbrella. But the T-Virus escaped and infected everyone in the underground labs. The rest of the story would take too long to explain, but let's just say Umbrella captured me and used me in their experiments."
Danielle felt anger boil up inside her. "Infection with the T-Virus…"
Alice nodded. "For some reason, it's not doing to me what it did to all of these people in Raccoon. I'm guessing Umbrella was trying something new with their virus… But that doesn't really matter. What matters is that we find the anti-virus for you."
When she looked into the woman's eyes, she saw that she actually cared for her. Just like the S.T.A.R.S. members did… This was the first time anyone gave a care about her. "Thank you," she whispered, smiling a bit.
Together, the two of them approached the entrance to the hospital, ready for whatever lay ahead of them.
((A/N: Um, sorry if this chapter is tacky. I had to write in secret, for I am supposed to be grounded from my computer.))