"Easy, it's all right," the redhead said, taking a step forward.
Alice didn't have much of a choice but to be easy. There were nearly two dozen red dots covering her – all but the three soldiers without helmets had guns pointed at her.
"You're going to have to come with us," the redheaded woman continued. "I'd recommend doing it willingly. Do you understand?"
Alice glanced around, taking stock of the situation. At the moment, she didn't have much of a choice but to comply. Finally, she offered a nod.
"Good," the redhead nodded as well. "Jill, Carlos."
The woman with short black hair and man with the eye patch moved forward. Each of them took one of her arms and led her after the group of soldiers that turned and filed out of the hospital. There was a fleet of black SUVs waiting outside the building.
"She's riding with us," the redheaded woman spoke again as she headed to the first vehicle in line.
"You got it, Claire," the man, Carlos, replied. He and Jill led Alice to the vehicle, getting into the backseat with her.
The redhead, apparently named Claire, was already speaking again by the time they had settled in the backseat. "LJ, radio in that we've got Project Alice. Dr. Cain is dead, they're trying to work on Isaacs. We're heading back to the facility now."
The driver nodded and got on the radio as he pulled the vehicle away from the curbside. Glancing back, Alice could see that the other SUVs pulled out behind them. "What's going on?" she asked anyone who wanted to answer.
There was no answer. The driver was still on the radio, getting confirmation that they were clear to return to the main facility with the Project.
"What did they do to me?" Alice further pressed.
When the driver finally switched the radio off, Claire turned around in the front seat to look back at the blonde. "You don't remember?" she asked in return.
"I remember some things… but not all," Alice answered.
"They infected you with the T-virus, you remember that?"
Alice was silent for a moment, thinking back. The Raccoon City Hive… she'd been a security operative there… the outbreak inside the facility. A frown creased her brow as she remembered.
"I'll take that as a yes," Claire commented. "They infected you with it directly. They wanted to see what would happen. I haven't gotten all the details yet, but obviously they succeeded-"
"- But -"
"- And I suggest that if you want revenge for what they did to you, you play along and stick with us," the redhead finished despite the fact that Alice had tried to interrupt.
"Shit," Alice swore as the Arcadia came into sight. There were a couple of helicopters already on deck and half a dozen smaller watercraft surrounding it.
"I think they know we've been bad," Carlos commented.
Jill was piloting their helicopter. She reached up to press the headset a bit closer to her ear so she could listen. "They're telling us to land… now," she announced after a voice had buzzed in over the radio. "And they don't sound very happy."
"Maybe we should have been a little quieter this time," Alice suggested.
"Because we could have managed it so much quieter," Jill replied, sarcasm lacing her voice like a deadly poison.
The blonde merely shrugged; Jill's venom didn't even faze her. As they drew closer to the ship that was their base of operations, all of them could see armed soldiers around the deck's perimeter. Whatever ranking officers that had come to chastise them were likely already waiting on the bridge.
"Ladies… time to face the music," Carlos announced as the helicopter touched down on the ship's deck. Almost immediately there were several armed agents around their aircraft.
"Back off, boys," Alice warned them as she dropped down onto the deck. The three were smart enough not to tote their weapons out. If they were getting a visit right after a botched mission, then everyone was likely already on edge.
The three of them were directed up to the bridge, as expected. Inside, they found a few familiar faces: Claire Redfield, their direct supervisor though they rarely saw her; Rain Ocampo, the biohazard containment team leader; Luther West, Claire's boss; and Alexander Slater, their liaison between the field and the Umbrella executives.
"To what do we owe the pleasure?" Jill inquired, nudging Alice – who had gotten slightly distracted when she saw Claire – along.
"This is the fourth mission where you three are the only ones to make it back alive," Luther answered. "We are concerned about what's going on once you engage a mission."
"Maybe you should be glad that your most valuable assets are coming back at all," she told him.
"People are getting suspicious and they're ready by the time we get there," Carlos added. "Word is spreading that we're going after survivors – they knew about us and why we showed up."
"Maybe you should be a little more quiet when you move in," Rain put her two cents in.
"That's easy for you to say, your targets are already mostly dead," Jill shot back.
"Enough," Alexander cut in sharply. "Don't bicker like children. We have serious issues to deal with. I'll have you know that we aren't meant to leave until we find out what exactly has happened in your last few ruined missions."
"Under whose authority?" Alice finally spoke up.
Alexander's attention turned to the blonde. "Chairman Wesker. He is tired of wasting resources and getting nothing in return for them."
Well damn, that certainly threw a snag into her plan. Anyone else, she would have argued until she got these people off her ship. Orders from Wesker, those couldn't be argued with. "We're happy to go over any questions you may have," she lied expertly.
"Good," Alexander told her with a nod. "You are to come with me for immediate debriefing, after which we will decide the best course of action." He stepped back and motioned the three field officers past him. He didn't want any interference or distraction while they were talking.
After they had filed past, Luther turned to follow them. Alexander held up his hand to stop the other man. "Alone," he said. "No one is coming in or out of this room until I am finished with them." He turned and walked into the room, closing and locking the door behind himself.
Alice, Carlos, and Jill had already sat down at the table in the middle of the room. They were on one side of the table and Alexander sat down on the other. He studied them for a long moment before speaking. "What do you have to say for yourselves?"
"Carlos mentioned earlier that these people were ready for us by the time we got there… it's true," Alice said. She was looking the younger man straight in the eye and lying right to his face. "These people were fully aware of who we were and what our intentions were… and they didn't feel like getting captured."
Alexander was always a bit unnerved by the Project's intensity; despite his best efforts to hide his discomfort, it wasn't always easy. "We are well aware that the three of you, by yourselves, could take out any threat you come across," he pointed out.
"Maybe that's why everyone else is dying," the blonde said coolly.
He wasn't prepared for such a quick comeback, especially one that came so easily. For just a moment, he was at a loss. "Recount your mission," he finally recovered.
This time it was Jill who spoke up. "Our two helicopters landed and we surveyed the area before moving forward. Alice, Carlos, and I moved forward first. We didn't get very far before enemy fire started. We engaged the enemy, but eventually the survivors managed to slip away." It was the truth, just not all of it.
Alexander listened to what Jill said before studying them once more. He was trying to detect any lies or see if there was more to this story. "Is this true?" he asked Carlos.
"Absolutely," the man answered with a nod. "And we can't exactly bring anyone back if we kill them all."
"They're only delaying the inevitable," Alice said boredly, leaning back in her seat. "We'll track them down again… and catch them."
The statement caught her two companions off guard, but they didn't let it show. Alexander, however, was actually quite pleased. "Very good. I'll speak with Chairman Wesker this evening… we'll be staying for at least another day."
"Of course," the blonde nodded. "We'd be happy to accommodate you."
Alexander looked them over before offering a nod and standing up. He left the room, not waiting for them to join him.
Jill glanced over to the woman sitting next to her. "How do you do it?" she asked.
"Lying gets pretty easy when a lot of lives are riding on it," Alice answered, getting up and leaving the room as well. She brushed past the others on the bridge, heading below deck for her private quarters. It had been a long day and engaging highly trained soldiers when they were so outnumbered definitely wasn't easy.
Though Claire was aboard the same ship at the moment, the blonde just wanted some time to herself. Besides, she was sure the younger woman would make sure her presence was known soon enough.
A/N: Reviews make my world rotate and orbit around the sun. So to prevent this writer from becoming extinct, you should review and let me knwo what you think. ;)