(Chris's POV)
I hear a familiar voice and I know who it is before I look up. Alice. Claire stands and meets her, having a quiet word before bringing the first aid box to my side. I can feel Alice's eyes on me and naturally I look up to meet them. She hasn't changed all that much, apart from her clean clothes and her hair which is noticeably longer. We offer a nod to one another – she is glad I am here, and I am glad to see her too.
She and Claire sit either side of me, I note the looks they share, already familiar to their silent conversations I'm pleased to see they're still as tight as they were all those months back. Claire is checking out the cut on my arm – she and I catch one another's eye, we both know it's infected. Seconds later a bottle appears at Claire's side, and I know what's coming.
The sharp sting from the wound brings bile to my throat and makes my skin sweat! No amount of alcohol is going to ease that, but after it's bandaged I reach for it hoping to relieve some of the pain. Claire hands it over with a smirk, and I smile. Suddenly I feel more at home than ever.
I'm helped to my feet and walked towards a large white tent with one arm over each of their shoulder. Inside is a bed with fresh white sheets and a metal side table beside it with a bottle of water, a silver can and spoon. They help me to sit on the bed, sharing another one of those looks as they release their hold on me.
"Okay, I'm going to get back to…" Alice speaks, and Claire nods, there's no need for her to say more, it's clear she's giving us some space. Alice looks at me, "Glad to have you back, Chris" she says warmly and then turns and exits the tent. Claire watches her until she disappears, all the while I'm watching Claire.
"What?" she asks when she sees my quizzical look.
"Something happened between you two?" I ask, my voice croaky, my throat feels like a desert. She looks away, hesitating before answering,
"No" she says softly, now distracting herself with opening the sealed can with a pen knife. I know Claire well, I know her past interests, it isn't impossible especially considering the circumstances that she and Alice would gravitate to one another. In fact, I would have put money on it had we settled on Arcadia. But I also recognise that she is uncomfortable talking about it, so I leave it there. She hands me the open can and spoon,
"What happened to you?" she asks, "after the antivirus was released we searched for you… we searched everywhere, for weeks!"
"The antivirus? That was you?" I dip the spoon into the can of beans, take a mouthful before putting it aside and reach for the water instead.
"Alice released it," she explains briefly. Her eyes crease, she wants me to answer her first question. I drink from the bottle of water and clear my throat.
"I was taken from Arcadia, to a secret military location for questioning. Wesker wanted to defeat Alice, and I was going to help them, or so they thought. When I refused they injected me with the T-virus. I was on the brink of turning when something happened…" I look up, Claire nods,
"The antivirus is air bourn" she says softly.
"I owe Alice my life"
"We all do" she says simply and places a hand on my shoulder. "I can't believe you're here" her voice is sincere, and I smile before pulling her into a hug. I can't believe it either.
When I wake up it's dark outside, the last thing I remember is getting cleaned up and digging into that can of beans. I look down at my bandaged arm and flex my hand a couple of times, already it feels a little better. I take to my feet, feeling more stable then earlier. I reach for the bottle, take a drink before I make my way out of the tent. For the first time I'm able to look at the site, there's about 15 tents all of different sizes, and one ugly looking campervan. I smile because I know without a doubt that Claire would have picked that up, naming it a classic. There's a path between tents, lit up by flames from Tiki torches making it easy to navigate towards what I now recognise to be muffled voices coming from up the hill.
When the opening clears I spot a group of people sat around a flickering fire, as I get closer I see Claire sat with a bottle of beer on her own away from the others. She looks up at me as I approach, her white teeth catching the glow of the flames as she smiles.
"You should be resting"
"I'm fine" I say simply and sit on the log beside her. She takes a swig from her beer and then passes it to me.
"How's the arm?" she asks as I tip it back, enjoying the taste.
"Fine" I say again, I know how to tease her. She nudges me with her elbow,
"God, it's like you've never been gone" we both laugh and enjoy the comfortable silence, until I hear her sigh.
"Where's Alice?" I ask and watch her look away and take another swig from the bottle.
"She's in the house, on top of the hill" she turns and looks in to the distance behind me. I follow her eyes and see a beautiful manor house in the next field. "She likes to sleep up there," she explains. It's not exactly what she says that confirms things for me, it's the way she says it.
"And you don't?" I ask her. There's a moment of silence, she is sat with her head down, eyes on the bottle in her hands, her fingers prying at the label.
"I can't" she says, her voice tired. Now I understand, they have made a commitment to this place, to the other survivors, putting it and them above themselves. No wonder it's tormenting her.
"After all that you've been through, the sacrifice, the pain, the death, and you can't?" she stares at me, for a moment I see her question herself.
"You don't understand, it's complicated"
"No," I tell her calmly "an apocalypse is complicated, everything else should be easier after that" I watch her face soften, her mouth opens and closes. Whatever she was going to say she doesn't say it. Instead she looks towards the fire, the light flickering across her face. She takes another swig before standing.
"I'm going to…" she pauses, she doesn't want to just leave me here.
"Go" I tell her, "I told you, I'm fine" she nods, giving me the bottle of beer as she walks passed me towards the house.