Chapter 7 - Project Alice

Claire didn't argue after that, we got their things put together, put the Ducati in the trunk among all the supplies, and sent them off. Chris drove us along the abandoned freeway up to Provo, holding hands with his girl, and I got LJ in the backseat with me. The poor bastard was pale as a sheet, I can't blame him, I could smell the dead all around us, and we were walking straight into the belly of the beast. I will admit to being unsettled myself, putting on so much armor itself is upsetting, reminding me that I'm going to need it.

"Calm down LJ." I snapped, "You're making me nervous."

He jumped, scratching at his neck, "I dunno about this man, we out here in the middle of nuthin, puttin on these vests like we's some kinda four man army. We don't know nothin about what we're gettin ourselves into."

"Make it a one man army with backup, and you have that right. Now calm the fuck down LJ, I won't let anybody get their grubby paws on you." I replied, rolling my eyes. The man is more fragile than a child. I looked out the window, and I saw two signs. The first said 'Thanksgiving Point'. The second, only a mile or so onward said, 'Prison Area. Do not pick up hitchhikers.' "A prison?"

Chris nodded, "That way they can use the inmates for their little experiments without anyone the wiser. No one cares if a few lifers, or death row guys get poked and prodded." I listened carefully, letting the rage build. K-mart isn't here to get hurt, it's time to break loose and see what I can really do.

Chris revved the engine and we all ducked as he rammed through the chain link fence. Not a single undead to be seen, but I could feel them, teaming, likes ants swarming inside their hill. He sped through the compound until he reached the building he wanted, we were almost there when he yanked the steering wheel and stomped on the brakes, skidding to a stop right outside the door. I smiled, the antics weren't really necessary, but all three of them are trembling with nerves. None of them willing to die quite yet. It's good really, they'll fight harder.

Chris led the way into the only office building, cut off from the rest of the complex with another flimsy chain gate. He walked us inside, and that is where memory hit me like a truck.

Polished white walls, stainless steel tables. Pristine, beyond human capacity, as if it had never been touched by man. Of course, that's what it's supposed to feel like, an unearthly order, set to intimidate all who enter into obeying the laws of this place. I stumbled down the hallways looking for something human, something I could latch onto. A body, red blood spilled out across the floor. I grabbed his coat, and pulled it tight around me, wishing that it covered more of me.

I brushed past Chris, he was looking for something on the bookcase behind the warden's desk. When did we get into the warden's office? I waved my hand over the nameplate on the oak, and like clockwork, the table split in half, and a lift rose up from the shaft. "Told you she worked with Umbrella." Jill muttered.

"Shh." I shushed them all, their pounding heartbeats distracting me from what I needed to hear as we descended down the main shaft of the hive, "There are infected in here, but they're…" stronger, meaner, smarter... I can feel their violent rage from here. "Different. Grenades." I said the command and despite their nerves, all three pulled out a grenade from their pouch and pulled the pin, holding the switch down until I gave the order. As soon as we could see the gap between the lift and the walls I tossed mine out, "Fire in the hole!" They all copied my action and flinched. A count of five later and they went off, the heat searing our shins for just a moment.

"Weapons." It was gratifying, and a huge ego boost to have them yet again follow my order, until I realized that all three were so blind with fear that they needed someone to tell them what to do. "Look alive." I said, hopping off the platform and pulling a 360. Bodies everywhere, not all of them dead. I finished them off before they could recover. The white halls were stained with bloody handprints, and splatters. Most of the bodies here wore prison uniforms, but a few were wearing standard issue Umbrella armor, dragging their weapons with them despite their inability to use them.

"The control room is this way." I led them down the hall, through the familiar path. For once, I'm actually grateful that Umbrella builds every hive the same way.

I made my way to the conference room. The Detroit hive is just the same, white walls and blank faces. Couldn't Wesker have a little imagination with the construction of the hives? Optimum security measures aside, if one person learns how to survive the hive's defences, then our only chance of stopping them from storming every hive is with the Queens.

A blue tinted little girl appeared before me. "Oh if it isn't the mad hatter herself. What do you need Blue Queen? I'm on my way to a conference with Chairman Wesker."

She nodded, folding her arms, "I'm afraid the conference has been postponed. Your new security measures are required in the Raccoon City facility. Your second in command will oversee the upgrades in this facility."

I bit my cheek to keep from lashing out at the smug little child. Of all the Queens, Red and Blue are the worst, smirking and acting beyond their parameters. Wesker gave them too much freedom. "By whose command?" I snapped.

"Chairman Wesker himself. He wishes to do a personal inspection of the Raccoon city facility by the end of the week. If I were you, I would move quickly." She replied, her voice calm, but I could see the hint of a smirk on her face. If I could I would decommission every single one of those bitches. If a single AI goes rogue, all the hives would go down.

"Of course." I muttered.

"Alice what are you doing?" Jill grabbed my shoulder and I slammed my elbow at her on reflex. She ducked under it and aimed her rifle at me. "What the hell is wrong with you Alice?" She demanded, her aim firm, but her heart racing.

What was I doing? I looked around. Bodies in front of us, but I don't remember shooting. Blood painted the walls. I checked my rifle, the safety is still on. "I don't know. Something is wrong. We need to get to that control room now."

Jill didn't move an inch, and upon further inspection, I realized that LJ and Chris were following her lead. "How do we know this isn't a trap? You could be back under Umbrella's thumb. Damn it Chris I told you taking her along was a bad idea."

"I'm, they're not.. No one is controlling me." Yet anyway. I could feel something tickling my mind, like more memories, but I'd never had such intrusive episodes like this, only my dreams had ever affected me this strongly. "And if they are? That control room is your only hope. All the hives are the same, their information shared over a network controlled by the queens, and hopefully, this compound's queen is distracted by the infected. But how long do you think that will last? We have to move now and hope for the best, so you'd better shoot me, or get that goddamn gun out of my face Valentine."

She hesitated, and finally lowered her gun. "Just keep your eyes open, and show us the damn room." I nodded, unsettled by the visions myself.

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as we neared the door to the control room. Behind me, I could hear LJ's hands shaking his guns making metallic clicking noises as they trembled. I looked back and put a finger to my lips before turning back to the door. One deep breath later, and I pushed open the door to hell.

With only a second's notice to think, I charged in, yelling at the top of my lungs, drawing all attention to me as I shot in every direction. Infected all around me, their eyes bottomless pits of black. My bullets weren't half so effective. It took two, sometimes three bullets to make them lie down, and it was all I could do to keep the roiling mass of gnashing teeth off of me. I spun in all directions, emptying clip after clip into the monsters. The echoes of gunfire mixed with the roar of the beasts, creating confusion that the flashes from the tips of our guns only enhanced.

The final click of empty clips set my heart to racing. There were still more coming at me from every side. They seemed to be springing back up from the ground, or rushing in like water into a funnel. I pulled out my automatics and began the same dance again, running through the schematics of the building, trying to figure out how they were all getting in here. Finally it clicked. The service elevator, they were boiling up through it, too many of them pushing and shoving through for it to matter if they fell.

I pushed to the elevator, but the direction cost me. Where before I was dodging and dancing, letting the crowd push me where they would so long as I escaped injury, pushing in a certain direction had a price. Bony fingers clawed through my flesh, leaving long scratches down my arms. Bruises where they tried to bite through my armor, and breaks that I could only hope would heal quickly. I made it to the elevator and didn't stop moving.

I threw a pair of grenades into the shaft and started moving with the crowd, racing towards the door where I could barely see Chris, Jill, and LJ keeping the area clear.

The explosion at my back pushed me forward, off my feet as my stomach sank to my toes. I watched in horror as LJ's head jerked back. I fumbled for my guns, but I'd dropped them, all but the shotgun strapped to my back. LJ grabbed Jill's arm and yanking it, her rifle sweeping the whole crowd as he bit into her flesh. Her eyes went wide. No sound reached my ears, I don't know what she said, but she slammed the butt of her rifle into his head and then kicked him in the pelvis, sending him flying back. She turned back to the crowd too soon, needing to keep the remaining infected at bay as they rushed her and Chris.

LJ charged, but this time at Chris. He must have made a hell of a noise because Chris turned, too late, he turned and opened fire on LJ as he was knocked to the ground, the infected man's teeth sunk deep into his chest. Chris opened his mouth in a silent roar, and struggled to get his gun in position.

My shotgun finally came free. I ripped it from the holster and took a shot at LJ before the explosion slammed me into a wall. Darkness warred with the gory light until rotting hands ripped me from the wall, and I kicked the legs out from under my attackers before breaking free of their holds. I ran for the doorway, pulling out my knives, the only weapon I had left, and took slices at the raging monsters as I broke for the door. I tackled two of the infected standing in the doorway, my knives slicing through their spines with ease.

I stood and turned on the dozen or so beasts that remained after the blast and dispatched them with a nearly mechanical speed and efficiency. All I could do as my knives sliced through flesh and bone was replay LJ biting into the only allies I have in this godforsaken hole. By the time I was finished, I was breathing heavily, and for the first time in a long time, I had broken a sweat, the liquid pouring down my face and body, washing away some of the gore, but making some of it far worse.

I closed my eyes, not wanting to turn around. I had to, it was my fault this had happened, I should have known LJ was infected. "Are you okay?" I heard Jill ask.

Oh thank god. I turned and opened my eyes. "I'm alive, is Chris..?" Dead. The word I'm looking for is shot by my hand because I didn't have time to aim.

He gave me a weak smile, "A little holier than before, but good. Nice shot, I was sure you were gonna kill me when I saw those barrels pointed at me."

I nodded, returning his wan smile. I wasn't going to tell him I thought the same thing. I walked over to LJ's body, searching for the bite. There, on his right shoulder blade, they'd gotten him from behind. "Selfish." I sighed, grabbing his pistols and shoving them in my holsters. He won't need them where he's going.

"You should leave." A black tinted child appeared in front of us.

"SHIT!" Jill jumped, emptying a whole clip into the hologram.

"That isn't going to work." The Black Queen informed him. "I am only a holographic representation of the security system of this hive." She looked to me and frowned, "Project Alice, this facility is compromised. As an asset of Umbrella, I am required to urge you to leave now."

"I am NOT an asset of Umbrella." I snapped.

She rolled her eyes, "Regardless, I urge you to leave, with the knowledge that the four bottom-most floors are swamped with subjects suffering from a new strain of the t-virus, and the effect upon your system is unknown."

I narrowed my eyes, "And above that?"

"The remaining soldiers who inhabited this facility before the outbreak."

I rolled my eyes, "I told Wesker you were a liability, giving me information isn't like you. What do you get out of this?"

She huffed, folding her little arms over her fake chest. "I cannot initiate full lockdown until all personnel are out of the building. Chairman Wesker believes that the Red Queen's actions were the cause of the outbreak, not yours."

I sneered, "Well at least he learned one thing." I stalked through her image, "None of you bitches can be trusted." I walked to the lift, planning on taking us down to the laboratory when her face appeared on the elevator screen.

"If you evacuate the facility, I will give you the antibody for your friends."

"Too bad knave." I snarked, throwing her old moniker at her. The AI's hated the damn Lewis Carroll references. "I already know where it is."

The girl smiled at me and I felt a chill go down my spine, "How about the satellite controlling the chip in your head?" My mind went blank and I felt the blood drain from my face. Jill and Chris brought up their weapons to point at my head and I couldn't blame them. "The chairman has been influencing your mind for weeks, trying to see what you would notice."

Weeks. The rage, the bloodthirst. Nearly overnight I had become the perfect killing machine and I didn't question it? I went from rusty, to peak performance. God damn it I was too relieved to be able to protect K-mart to see what he was doing. "Where." I demanded.

"Evacuate the Umbrella forces, and I will tell you." The little girl replied smugly, the video turning off.

"We have to get them out." Chris replied simply, reaching past me to hit the button. I didn't have the energy to stop him. "Here, you'll need this too. I know you have a habit of losing your weapons so I brought an extra." He put the fully automatic assault rifle into my hands.

"You seem awful chipper for someone who just got bit, and is now racing to tell the enemy to go to safety." I muttered, envious of his calm. His total acceptance of everything that had happened.

He shrugged. "It seems fairly straight forward."

I pinched my nose, trying to stave off a migraine. This place is seriously damaging my calm.