Chapter 11 - Happy Endings

A/N: I promise Rain is going to play a pretty significant part in Alice's life, so those of you happy to see her, you're going to get quite a bit more of her.

To my guest reviewer, yes I am still alive, basically I got a job, and caught up in three other stories that I don't want to post yet for this very reason, and I'm trying to decide how to finish this one because my earlier plan just doesn't feel quite right anymore, but I dunno how to get the right feeling of closure, so… yes. I died. However you have spurned me to continue writing this one.

To other guest, thank you so freaking much, that was just… I'm really proud of my characters and I put a lot of work into making them feel human, so to see that you noticed, and appreciated it enough to comment just, you made my day.

Thanks to everyone else who reviews, I try not to beg for them, but they really are my life's blood.


We exited the small white room to enter an equally white hallway, but instead of the deafening silence of an Umbrella facility, I could hear voices echoing down the hall. There were three doors to my right, probably leading to more rooms like my own, and to my left, the hallway took a sharp turn. That was where Claire took me. We walked through a waiting room that had one person manning the desk, looking over some kind of paperwork. It was surreal, like we had just stepped back six years.

I held Claire's hand tighter as she led me out of the building. Clean roads, sidewalks, all of the vehicles in sight were in good repair and clean. Windows were unbroken, no boarded up holes where people had broken through, houses, a church, hell, just down the road was a middle school without fences. I could just barely see a couple of kids playing on the swings, not nearly enough for a whole school, but it was almost relieving. I turned, and saw the massive walls and let out a sigh. It wasn't a dream.

"This way." Claire said quietly, leading me away from the medical clinic.

"How big is this place?"

"I don't know, but according to Rain, they have about four hundred people living in the walls at any time, plus another fifty or so that go scavenging for supplies and survivors. I guess some things like replacement parts, and clothes are a little hard to come by."

I shivered, not from the exposure, though the air was cold. No, I shiver because this place feels wrong, nothing about it makes sense to me, it's like nothing ever happened. Everyone is smiling and cheerful and open. Everyone we passed was happy to say hello to me, waving at Claire, or even mentioning some of our people. We'd brought a big enough group that it had pretty strongly impacted the settlement.

We explored the town looking for friends, checking up on people, but I felt like I was walking in a daze. Everyone had jobs, farmer, storehouse worker, mechanic, generator technician, something. Only the guards had guns, no one drove anywhere, we all just walked out in the open, exposed to anything that could come.

Eventually we found K-mart and Carlos working together to get everyone settled in houses. Carlos telling people where to go, and K-mart telling him who would do best in which houses. As much as Claire would like to say that her little band of survivors are tight knit, they had all kinds of disputes and arguments daily. I used to amuse myself by watching the people move around one another in their cliques and bet how long it would take for one group or another to start a dispute. With K-mart in charge, it was at least possible that we could avoid an explosion for a little while.

"Hey Mikey!" K-mart called out, making the australian pause, "You're supposed to check in with Kyli in the library. She's head of communications. If you see Chase, tell him he's with Bekah's squad." Mikey nodded and picked up the pace, trotting past us with a grin and a nod. He looked happy.

"Never a dull day." Claire mumbled.

"Claire! Alice!" K-mart squealed and tackled us, knocking our heads together with the force of her hug. I hugged back, feeling a little better knowing that K was here, still being herself. She pulled away and punched my arm, "You idiot. You scared me half to death."

"I'm sorry." I opened my arms to her, knowing that she needed to be reassured that I'm still here. She took the invitation gladly, clinging to me with everything she had. "I didn't mean to K, I just, seeing Rain, it was too much. I did watch her die…" I needed her to believe me, for someone to know that I'm not delusional. Claire rubbed my back, lending me support that felt so wonderful.

"Just don't flip out on her again. Her second in command is almost as trigger-happy as you are, and she didn't like finding out that you almost shot her sister."

"Sister?" I frowned, did Ocampo have a sister that I never knew about? I guess I never really delved into her personal life all that much. If anyone had a sibling who would survive the apocalypse, and be crazy enough to go looking for them, it would be Rain. Even Chris and Claire only met up accidentally. This place is surreal.

"Yeah, I guess she and Sierra were gun nuts even before the apocalypse so Sierra holed up for a while in a couple of places, working her way through all of Rain's old posts until she found her. She's absolutely crazy, but you have to admire her determination." K-mart was beyond impressed with this Sierra, and if she's that loyal to her sister then she would know if this was a trick. Unless she's in on it too. I need to figure this out.

"Take me to them." I commanded softly. I'll pretend it was a mental break, and I'm fine. It was shocking, I was surprised. PTSD and shit right? Who isn't traumatized by this shitstorm of an apocalypse? I'll get up in this Sierra's face, and I'll figure out what the hell is going on. Claire and K-mart will be safe, I'll make sure of it. Squeezing Claire's hand helped to settle my nerves, even more so when she smiled up at me.

K-mart didn't even knock, breezing into Rain's office like she owned the place. "Rain, Alice is up and she wanted to see you!" She announced happily.

The two others in the room tensed, reaching for their weapons and watching me carefully, but Rain just smirked. "Came to make sure I'm not a robot?"

I searched her, looking for something out of place. She had that strange expression of being angrily amused, annoyingly perfect face, her eyes practically screaming that I'm an idiot for doubting her. "Something like that." I muttered, waiting for the shoe to drop. Just because I can't spot the difference doesn't mean that it's not there.

"Hey." A short woman stepped in between me and Rain, her face contorted into what looked to be a rather permanent scowl, "You have a problem with my sister, you can fuck off. As far as I'm concerned, you're a hostile guest, and it'll stay that way until you learn how to show some respect for the woman keeping all of this together." Her anger is cute, in a zealous puppy kind of way.

"Your sister?" I confirmed, looking up at Rain who was even more amused. The leader nodded, watching her sister stand up for her with pride in her eyes. "Alice Abernathy." I offered the short woman my hand, "Don't get me wrong, I trust Rain Ocampo with my life." I looked up at Rain, the grief for her death welling up into my throat. "My problem is that I watched you get shot in the head, after you turned into one of the undead. Care to explain?"

I left hours later feeling unsatisfied. Rain recounted everything that she remembered, and it fit all of my memories, except that where I saw her die, she woke up in an Umbrella facility. That alone was enough to set me on edge, but I did my best to hide it. Instead I headed down to the weapon depot to get my assignments. Rain had said something about scavenger crew, and I can't decide if it's a vote of confidence, or a test. Probably both.

I walked into the small warehouse to see a caged in area lined with an impressive arsenal, a door in the back that sounded like it led to a firing range. Front and center was another redhead pacing in front of Chase, and a few of our convoy members with a scowl on her face. "I am your squad leader, you may call me Bekah. I also respond to indiscriminate screams for aid." The convoy members gave low chuckles that silenced when she whipped around, her blue eyes icy. "Alright, so you think you know what it's like to be out there with your big convoy, traveling in a bus all day. Guess again chuckleheads. We go in crews of ten, two cars, and an assload of weapons. Guess how often I hear those screams when my squad goes out there."

I smirked, leaning against the doorframe, she had all of them transfixed, even Chase was listening intently. The girl may not have been the most eloquent speaker, but she knew how to get your attention in a pinch, not a bad thing to have in a leader. Chase raised his hand, and the redhead nodded. "Every time." He said, his voice low and clear despite his texan twang.

"NO." The redhead roared, making all of them flinch. Her voice carried so well, I didn't doubt there were people flinching all around the compound. "I haven't heard it once, do you know why chuckleheads?" She raised her eyebrows at them, but no one was dumb enough to try answering again. "Because we are a god damn team and we follow orders. If I tell you to cut open your wrists and go running into a horde, then I DAMN WELL expect you to do just that!" This Bekah chick is definitely in tune with her inner drill sergeant. Maybe she was military before all of this.

Anders, one of the more outspoken people against my presence, turned to one of his fellows in the back of the group and muttered, "Why the hell would we do that?" For a second I thought she didn't hear it, but the grin on her face had people moving out of the way.

She stalked up to Anders, stopping when there was an inch of space between them, a grin on her face. "What is your name?" She asked, her normal speaking voice surprisingly pleasant, I expected her to be hoarse from all the yelling and posturing.

The man rolled his eyes at her attempt at intimidation, "Anders." He obviously took no stock in the woman's words, and that bothered her a lot, her fists clenching and her heart pounding. Bekah was holding back a whole lot of rage.

"Anders." She gritted her teeth in a forced smile, "Explain to the class what happens when our friends out there smell fresh blood and see a moving target?"

He narrowed his eyes at her, angry that he was being treated like a child, "They swarm."

"They swarm." She repeated, stepping back to the trail she'd worn in the dirt by her earlier pacing, "Now Anders, say we're all trapped. The vehicles are on the next street surrounded by undead. Let's pretend you're the strongest runner, and I tell you to cut your hand, and get the fuck out there. You refuse and we die. Congratulations, your selfishness killed us." He glared at her, but didn't answer.

"Why can't we just shoot them all?" Denny asked in confusion.

Bekah started pacing again, her scenario amusing, "Now," She raised her eyebrows at him, and he mumbled his name, "Denny makes a good point. We can't we just shoot at our only escape route home, filled with gas and explosives and our ammunition?" Denny winced, "It was a good idea. No, we need to move that crowd, and by the time I'm done with you all, you'll be well trained in hand to hand combat, and sharpshooting. So when Anders refuses to do his duty, I volunteer." She pulled out her knife and cut her hand open in front of them, a dangerous maneuver for someone planning to go out among the infected. "Someone tell me what I'm doing here?"

"Confusing them, riling them up." I said, stepping forward, earning a few sneers, but mostly respect. "The blood and running both get them too excited, they trip on each other trying to get to you, it makes them easy targets. Quite a few still make it to you though." She couldn't know that I had done just that before, in very similar situations, but it was nice to see she was being realistic.

"Exactly. Anders' choice to not go means he doesn't trust the unit. When I run out there I don't expect you to tell a pretty story about my heroics. I expect you to shoot the motherfuckers who make it near me, and don't shoot me in the damn face when I start beating the piss out of them. Our two best shots keep me clear, while the rest of you would hoof it to the cars, dispatching anyone in your way. Then you grab me on the way out. We check for bites, and we move on." She said it in a matter-of-fact way, but Bekah was still pissed, glaring daggers at Anders who didn't seem to be affected much, but he did get what she was saying.

"Join the ranks." She said to me with less sharpness. I did as I was told, amused by all of this showmanship. It's effective, but nothing more than a group bonding exercise. "Now that we understand each other, I expect discipline, and obedience. When we are in these walls you do whatever the hell you want, I am not your mother." A flash of annoyance in her eyes was all I needed to see that she had been treated as a proper CO more than once, wanting her permission for everything short of shitting. "Outside these walls you can be sure of two things."

She raised her fist in the air, all eyes on her. One finger went up, "First, you will do everything I say without question short of cutting your goddamn throat and know that there is one hell of a reason for it." A second finger went up, "Second, you can trust me when I say that I have never lost a single member of my squad on a scavenging hunt." She looked over each of us, appraising us for our strengths and weaknesses. "Dismissed. I want you all to hit the gym, we have a shooting range and hand to hand classes, pick one and go at it until you want to puke, then switch."

I raised an eyebrow, quite the claim, and even more impressive was that all of them were so caught up in it, that they followed her orders, walking out into the street. I waited until they were all gone to speak with her. "You ever been in that situation?" I asked curiously, watching her bandage up her hand.

She snorted, "Once, it was funny as hell until I was told to hold still and my squad leader smeared her blood on my cheeks. She smacked me on the ass and told me to get running, I just about wet myself."

We chuckled at the image together, "Rain?" I asked curiously.

Bekah pursed her lips against the smile threatening to get through, "Maybe. How about you? You don't look as green as those ones did, save the texan on the end. He's a little grim, but at least he knows what he's up against."

I nodded, "Chase has been with the convoy for a long time." I couldn't remember how long Claire had said, but he was part of her inner circle and that meant seniority and experience. "He's a good man, great sharpshooter too."

The redhead nodded, seeming to take note of that. "You didn't answer my question."

Persistent. "I was there at the first outbreak. I've been alone most of the time since. Usually I would use a dog or a hunk of meat to draw them out, but it was never quite as effective as Rain's demonstration." I replied quietly, "She went a little bit crazy in there with me, but then, Ocampo always was a bit crazy."

A smile graced the redhead's lips for just a moment, reminding me of Claire's brief smiles. With a little work, the two could be sisters. "Still is. Meet me in the garage in ten, we're going on a raid after we get you suited up."

I raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything, if she is smart enough to recognize that I don't need training, then she's smart enough to know that some people are not going to like trusting me out there. I just nodded and did what I was told. Most of those ten minutes were spent trying to find the damn garage, and once I did there were two squads, twenty people including myself, gathered around the armory accepting weapons and passing them around to each other. I nudged my way through to see it was Rain herself passing out guns. "You always this itchy around the guns?"

Rain smirked, "Only with you around blondie. What'll ya have?" Her gear suggested more than just armorer, she was going with us on this trip.

"Kukri's, sawed off shotguns, my ammo bag, and those Uzi pistols over there." I gesture at the small SMG's and Rain nodded, retrieving it for me. She didn't seem the least bit tense about me gearing up for war, and that bothered me, I tried to kill her and here she is trusting me with her life. She may not know what I'm capable of now, but I was no pushover even without my memories, yet here I am being accepted into this compound almost without pain.

We loaded up with weapons, body armor, and ammo and split into the four cars. Rain, and Bekah were the only ones I recognized from the compound, but that didn't matter as much as Rain's implicit trust that I was going to let her live. That alone made me itch to do something. Rain Ocampo is not a trusting woman.


A/N: just FYI, happy ending does not mean finished.