Chapter 9 - Safe Haven
Betty didn't exactly steer clear of me after that, but she didn't go out of her way to make friendly either. In fact, most of the convoy steered clear of me. K-mart told me that while I'd been out, I hadn't been exactly hiding my powers, in fact, Jill and Chris said that I'd ruined the Jeep by throwing it, thankfully while no one was inside. It explained the nosebleeds, but I couldn't help but shiver at the carnage I could wreck, even when passed out cold.
I started sleeping on the edge of the perimeter, it was the safest place, for them. I had been an active part of the convoy for days now, and still, Betty's friends gave me weird looks, and I could always pick up gossip about my monstrous powers with my enhanced hearing. None of them argued when I would try to help, or act as a car-jack when we'd get a flat. But god forbid I wanted a conversation. Even Olivera was a little creeped out by the stories going around, I guess he really didn't remember most of what happened in Raccoon.
After dinner, I headed back to my sleeping bag, set up by the news van that Mikey slept in, he doesn't seem to mind me as much as the others do. I approached the van but I could smell that elusive scent again. "Claire," I rounded the corner, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
She jumped in surprise, "God Alice, you have got to stop doing that." She smacked my shoulder, a habit she'd picked up from K-mart. Thankfully I'd finished the healing process yesterday, all the smacking, hitting, hugging, and other friendly impacts had been more than a little uncomfortable. "You scared the shit out of me."
"Well maybe you shouldn't sneak around waiting to ambush a woman on her way to bed." I teased, gesturing to the sleeping bag, and I realized it was draped over Clair's arm.
She blushed, "That's actually what I'm here to talk to you about, you have to be freezing sleeping out here in the cold."
"No, not really." I had spent enough nights in the Canadian taigas to know that 50 degrees is not freezing. It's a happy happy warm kind of cold that keeps you just warm enough to roll out of bed, and just cold enough that you're sore and achey. With my healing, I only ever felt the pain for the early hours of the morning. "I do well enough out here."
"All alone." Claire pointed out, "Avoiding everyone is not going to solve this problem that they have with you. If anything, it'll make it worse. You need to spend time with someone."
"I do, I talk to you and K-mart, and Olivera and I are old friends, Chris and Jill well, okay I like Chris well enough." Can't say he's a genius, but he does have his devious moments, and he has a talent for finding me nice guns. "You don't need to worry about me Claire, I've got this survival thing covered."
"Oh I know that." She rolled her eyes, "We all know you're a badass, the difference is that I'm trying to teach you how to live." She grabbed my arm this time, and dragged me back to the hummer. She popped the trunk and I saw K-mart already asleep in the front seat. The back was laid down into a stiff, but workable bed. "Get in badass, there's plenty of room."
"Yes ma'am." I teased. I unzipped my sleeping bag into a giant blanket and tossed it across the back before climbing in. Goosebumps spread down my arms as I realized that Claire was following me. "I take it we're sharing?" I asked, my voice a little unsteady.
"Of course Alice, I promise I don't bite." She joked, flopping down on the mildly springy surface. "Like I said, there's plenty of room." Plenty of room for one, but with the two of us, it was a little bit closer than my over-active imagination could handle. I bit down on my lip and scooted to the the far side of the car, practically hugging the wheel well. I was hyper aware of Claire's every movement just out of arm's reach, and I stayed awake thinking about that into the long hours of the night.
Warm, everything is so wonderfully warm. I nuzzled into the shoulder in front of me. Maybe I'll just sleep in. "Hmmn" Claire hummed, I know it's her because she's the only person I can think of who can hum a smile. Claire shifted her leg and I was suddenly very aware of our situation, and very awake because of it. Our legs were tangled together, her arms wrapped tight around my waist, and my face was carefully wedged into the crook of her neck. I was surrounded on all sides by her heady scent, and it took everything in me to carefully remove her arms from around me. She frowned, but the ginger is a heavy sleeper.
I looked up to check on K-mart and she was watching me with an amused expression, "It's a good thing you guys are clothed." She whispered, "Otherwise I would need a lot of bleach."
I shot a glare at her, "Nothing happened K." I hissed, "Claire is a cuddler, that's all."
"Uh huh, so that wasn't you snuggling into her a few minutes ago, or that sickening smile on your face while you were sleeping then huh?" She teased, thank god she and Claire had become friends over the time we were gone. It's terrifying to think about what they could have bonded over, but at least she wasn't chucking boots at me, or calling Claire a bitch.
"No, that's how I always look." I shot back, glancing at Claire to make sure this wasn't waking her up. Her breathing was regular, but there was a small stutter in her heart rate, maybe from a dream. "You're just jealous that it's her hands all over me."
"No." K-mart stuck her tongue out, "Just grossed out by how obvious your crush is."
"All right that's it you little-" Claire's heart rate stuttered again and I launched into K-mart's chair, and opened her door, yanking her out in an acrobatic feat that I am actually impressed I managed. I trapped her against the side of the door with a mischievous glint in my eye.
"Don't you dare." She warned.
I grinned. K-mart's shrieks of laughter and incessant giggling woke up half the camp, and Claire, but she deserved every minute of it. That little turd is going to rat me out, and then she'll be my only friend in this convoy.
"Was that wake-up call really necessary?" Carlos sat beside me and yawned. He had a can of something or other.
"About as necessary as breakfast." I replied, bumping his shoulder, "Whatever happened to soldier being more efficient, and all that crap you and Nicolai used to spout?"
He shook his head, "Turns out we were full of shit, like most everyone else who thought they could survive this long." He looked up to see Claire coming over, "Hey, tell her that there's a meeting in 30 minutes."
"Uh sure?" I said, but he was long gone, Claire took his place, "Any idea why Carlos is avoiding you?" I asked, they seemed fairly friendly most of the time, and I hadn't heard anything about a fight, not that I am the most connected of people.
She rolled her eyes and pulled out a cigarette, "Him being a big baby." She muttered, her voice raspy from sleep. She patted her pockets and came up without a light, so I offered her my lighter. "Thanks." She lit up and sighed.
"Those things will kill you."
"Yeah but they're a hell of a lot more enjoyable than anything else around here that could kill me." I shrugged, I guess she has a point there, I'd say it would almost be a point of pride to be able to say that she died of lung cancer or something. "So you gonna tell me why Olivera gets antsy around you now?" Claire asked, looking over at me curiously, "Because something obviously went down between you."
I thought about it. I mean it can't really hurt, she's already aware of what I can do, even if she hasn't seen the full extent of it yet. "Back in Raccoon, Olivera and I met up as two separate teams sent in by Dr. Ashford to save his little girl, right? And I saved his ass, he saved mine, we found the little girl. Jill and LJ were with us too along with some reporter. She died before we even found the girl, as did most of Olivera's unit. Problem is, Carlos got himself bit on the arm, left bicep. It was a bad one too. The fever hit him almost immediately. So we had to drag him, and this little girl out to the roof of this hospital or parking garage or something, and we had to do it before they nuked the place."
"Nukes? I thought that was some meltdown at the power plant or something."
I grinned, "Yeah, you remember the faces on that report? Carlos and Jill were put down as terrorists trying to spread panic about the meltdown, because they're the only motherfuckers who survived it, and opened their mouths. Anyway, Umbrella was waiting for us. They shot Dr. Ashford, tried to take Angela's, the little girl, her bag. Turns out she was hiding a personal stash of the antivirus."
"What? Why?" Claire interrupted again and I couldn't help but think her confusion was adorable.
"Dr. Ashford created the virus, long story short, he made it for Angela, but her body couldn't handle it, so she had to take regular injections of the antivirus to keep it from overwhelming her system." I sighed, I missed the girl, she was sweet despite her creepy maturity. "That's when everything went to shit. The Umbrella agents there put me in a, well a dog fight really, with a friend of mine, Matt. He received a different strain of the virus, and I don't know what else they did to him, but by the end, he looked like Frankenstein's monster."
Shivers traveled down my spine and Claire reached over rubbing my back. "You don't have to keep going."
I shook my head, I can do this. I told her about how they made me kill Matt, and Nicolai, and Yuri, and I had my gun aimed at Angela's head when Jill tazed me, and took the chopper. We sat in silence, and I didn't have the heart to break it. Everyone I knew before is dead, everyone I know is going to die, all except me. I'm invincible, and I'm going to be in this hellhole all alone. A glowing cigarette appeared before my eyes, and I took it, inhaling the the heavy smoke, flavored with tar and nicotine. I gave her the butt back, letting the smoke out slowly. "And then there was one."
Claire took one last drag on the dying ember before smashing it in the sand. "Come on, we have a meeting to get to."
"We?"
"Yeah I think you could use the extra work."
The bus lurched into motion and I grabbed the strap Mikey had riveted to the roof, just long enough to steady me really. Once we were fully in motion I knelt back down on the quickly warming roof and pulled my rifle to my shoulder, looking out for anything in motion. K-mart, standing in the sunroof of the Hummer, was doing the same thing, as soon as Claire had suggested that we needed some roving guards, I had grabbed K-mart. Girl genius really pulled through, and between the two of us, we kept the stragglers from being anything more than smushy speedbumps. Towards the hotter hours of the day, K hid inside the hummer, and Carlos hit me up on my shiny new radio, asking if I needed a break. He really needs to work on his jokes.
Stayed up there all day, eventually the concerned voices on the radio bothered me, so I turned off the sound. I could still hear them trying to reach me, I could even hear Claire muttering under her breath through the open sunroof. From her, someone who had seen my pain, it was endearing. The others needed to back off, and K-mart? She never once asked if I needed a break, just kept a running chatter while she took out her targets, even though I couldn't respond to it, she understood my need for something other than the wind in my face.
I stayed on top of the bus after everyone pulled in to stop, tossing down what little camping gear was stored in the nets up top, it was general consensus that every vehicle had the staples of life, just in case. The view was nice, I could see Carlos setting up the perimeter, Chris and Jill huddled over their cozy little fire, and Otto flirting with nurse Betty. I was considering setting up my sleeping gear up on the roof when I heard my name on the breeze.
"Alice isn't what they say she is." K-mart's sweet voice was of course the one to be saying my name, defending it. That kid has a loyal streak a mile wide.
"Calm down Marty." The woman sounded confused, and I was too, "Nevermind, that sounded weird as hell. Let's just stick with K-mart." I looked around, careful not to let the roof creak and give me away. "I'm not letting anything happen to Alice on my watch."
"And what about when your shift is over huh? You just going to let them walk over her? You and I both know she isn't going to say a word about it to anyone, she'll let them insult her and tell lies about her until they burn her at the stake for being a witch, and that doesn't bother you?" K-mart hissed, her voice brimming with betrayal. I clenched my teeth, where the hell is she? And who the hell is upsetting her so much?
"Of course it bothers me!" The woman snapped and it clicked in my head. Why is K-mart blaming all of this on Claire? If anything, I would have thought she'd be thankful for the chance to help, or for getting me to stop sleeping outside, it was an argument that K still hadn't won with me. "Alice saved all our lives with the provisions she gave us. Without her this whole convoy would have been dead, let alone the weapons, information, and the protection she's provided us with. Without her we never could have turned North. I would do anything to repay her for that."
I blushed, feeling bad for intruding on them now. When it was just an argument, I didn't feel bad at all, but that's a lot of gratitude for someone who would let all of them die just to protect the ones I care about. I stood, and jumped off the bus silently, not wanting to know where they were. I walked into camp and joined Chris and Jill by the fire. People came and went, heating up food, enjoying the warmth, or just wanting to chat with the others gathered there.
I cleaned my guns, and sharpened my knives. They were the only possessions that mattered to me, so I made it a point to keep them in working order. I was almost finished with my SMG's when a familiar scent washed over me. "What's so important about going North Claire?"
She cussed, "Alice one of these days you're going to have to tell me how you do that." I smiled, scooting to the side on my little log, it wasn't much of a chair, but it was something. I felt myself let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding in when I felt the gentle heat of her body warming my side. Claire shook her head, a couple of loose strands of hair falling from her ponytail, "We caught some chatter on the long range receiver, something about food, safety, and no infection. Some place up in Alaska, K-mart mentioned that you had been heading in that direction yourself before she got hurt, and it just, made sense. With all the provisions we have, we have more than enough to make it all the way up to this Arcadia place and I was just thinking and I really feel like-"
I put a finger on her lips, smiling softly, "I get it." She shut up and watched my hand as I tucked the loose hairs back behind her ear. Claire blushed, swallowing loudly. She is so adorable, so beautiful. I pulled back my finger slowly, realizing that I had left it on her soft lips. The woman must go through chapstick faster than her cigs to have such silky lips. I leaned down and kissed her. She kissed back, her lips moving against mine, experimenting with what she liked.
I could have sunk into her embrace and never come up for air, but Claire didn't deserve that, she deserves so much more than me. I pulled away with a soft sigh, regretting the loss immediately. "It's late." I murmured, not wanting to look at her, "You should get some sleep." I listened to her leave before I let my shoulders sag. I heard someone approach behind me, and I bit my cheek, "I'm not in the mood Jill." For the first time in weeks I felt exhausted, worn to the bone.
Jill ignored me and sat beside me, picking up my guns to examine them. It was a nervous gesture, and it meant she wasn't going to leave either. I waited. "Why push her away? She obviously makes you happy." She didn't look at me, but the frown on her face emphasized her confusion.
I set down my knife and whetstone with a sigh, "Why do you care?" Sure, I'm a little petulant, I'm human.
"Because in a universe not too far away, we used to be friends Alice." She replied, sounding annoyed.
I scoffed, "I remember there being a couple of fans and a metric ton of shit between here and there."
Jill snorted, "What a way with words. You kiss your girlfriend with that mouth?"
"Claire isn't my girlfriend."
"She wants to be, even Chris sees that, and I dunno if you've met him, but he's not too good with his gaydar."
"Oh my god you did not just say that." I tried to stop it, but I laughed, "Even before the world ended that was not a thing Jill. You've been spending too much time with K-mart."
"Shut up." She gave me a hesitant smile, "That kid is attached to you at the hip, and would not shut up while you were passed out. Everyone's been catching her lingo like a cold." She teased, "Even Claire said something was groovy over the radio last week."
I cackled, "Oh my god I wish I had been paying attention."
"It was pretty hilarious." Jill agreed, setting down the guns, and looking over at me. "...She's sweet on you too if that's what you're worried about."
I nodded, "I know that… It's just," I sighed, "What we saw in that base? That was in my head, and who knows what else they put in there. Even with K-mart around I wasn't entirely myself." I bit my lip, "I don't ever want her to question her trust in me."
Jill scuffed her foot in the dirt, "You don't want her to be the one with the taser next time." She didn't say it like a question, and we both knew she was right.
"If you love them let them go." I mumbled, quoting god knows who.
"That's a load of shit and you know it. She can't know to come back if she doesn't know what the hell you're feeling. At this rate I'm going to have K-mart intervene, and we both know how awkward that will be." I winced, she was right, K would do everything in her power to make it as weird and uncomfortable as possible, "So just go, go let her know how you feel. However you end up doing it, just… Be clear. Claire likes to be in the know." She bumped my shoulder.
I stood up slowly, looking down at Jill who had been staring into the fire for the majority of our conversation, "When did you stop being a bitch?"
"When I remembered that you're human too… And we all fuck up." Damn, that's the closest thing to an apology I've ever heard from her mouth.
I gave her a small smile, "See you in the morning." She nodded, watching the flames as I packed up my gear and stowed it on the roof of the bus. The Hummer was dark, and I could hear the slow heartbeats of K and Claire inside the vehicle. My apology could wait until the morning. I climbed into the back of the Hummer as quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb either of them, but as soon as I laid down Claire had rolled over and wrapped herself around my waist.
She gave a soft hum, and sighed, the tension leaving her shoulder. Her heartbeat slow and steady, I wonder what she's dreaming about. I brushed her hair back from her face and planted a gentle kiss on her cheek. "What am I going to do with you?" The answer is obvious. I'm going to get her to the settlement in Alaska if it's the last thing I do.
