So I was sitting quietly in my room, contemplating when I was going to start studying, tea break struck, and I ventured so see my brother, my muse, and was delighted in hearing that he has finally watched the latest Resident Evil offering and he had a rather snappy comment. He said that number 4 was only made to indicate a number 5 was in the pipe line, and also added that some things didn't make all that much sense. I found myself agreeing with him *gasp, I know*. But he does agree that it was a good movie. So by being inspired by my muse, here goes chapter 6. Please leave your paw print in the review box. Reviews = Happy Dance :-P (I want to add that I'm not American, but South African. So if there are some words that need to be "Americanized", please let me know).
"You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." – Bob Dylan
Chapter 6
Alice did a once over on her weapons. Checking that she had just enough ammo left to not be eaten immediately, she turned to Chris. He was very quiet. Most likely thinking what he had gotten himself into, but not saying a word. "Got enough ammo?" Chris looked up and gave her a curt nod. Alice frowned. They were nearing the docks. She could hear the never ending humdrum of the undead. They hadn't spoken in the nearly twenty minutes they were off the Arcadia. 'He doesn't want to be here.' Alice told herself. She figured he tagged along because she was human again, and he thought she was fragile.
"I think you should kill the engine in about two minutes. Don't want to attract them just yet." More silence. Chris killed the engine, sticking to steering as Alice pulled out her gun. She checked the ammo count again and frowned. Again. "We need supplies. And we need them fast." The boat came to a halt a few centimeters from the dock platform. Standing, Chris drew his weapon and nodded. "Let's go then." He simply stated and got onto the platform. He held his hand out to help Alice up, which she reluctantly accepted. Her legs weren't that long.
She was barely next to him before she started moving. "We need a car. And near decent food…" Chris chuckled and Alice shot him a cold look. "I could almost kill for a burger, or a steak. Damn." They were moving away from the sounds of the undead. Instead opting for the quiet areas. It was all equally dangerous, but the quiet meant that they would hear someone, or something drawing closer. No matter what, they were almost screwed. Alice spotted a grocery store that looked remotely intact. "We should check over there." Chris turned his head, frowning.
"You know it's gonna be crawling with those things in there. But maybe, just maybe you're right. They ought to have some food." Alice nodded. "And ammo. Those stores locked up everything. And I don't think that all the weapons they had, were taken already. Which one do you want to tackle?" They walked cautiously toward the store. They were wide open. Anything on the receiving end of the gentle wind would and could smell them.
"I'll take the food." Alice grinned at the fact that she almost didn't feel the need to ask where he was headed once they were in the store. "Okay then. Guns here I come." Chris pushed the door gently open. Once they were both inside he gingerly closed the door behind them. Alice made her way toward the back of the store where the firearm section was. Spotting it almost immediately, Alice went in for the kill. It was untouched. The broke the lock easily, quietly thanking the initial training she had received from Umbrella.
Easing the door open, Alice slipped in gracefully. She grabbed a few duffle bags and started loading everything she could get her hands on. There was no need in thinking how heavy the bags would be as she continued her assault on the gun cage. "Look what I found." Chris' voice startled her, and within seconds she had her gun out and pointed at his head. "Whoa, down Dino." Chris put his hand up and shot her a smile. Alice lowered her gun and zipped up two bags. In one she had stashed guns. Big ones, small ones and ones that made the prettiest "boom" sound as the trigger was squeezed.
"I found five boxes of untouched Twinkies back there. I don't know why these weren't raided." Chris said, pointing at the three bags he had managed to fill. "We need a car. Luckily, while you were making love to those Twinkies over there, I saw a parked SUV out back. Might suggest we head for that." Chris nodded in reply, handing Alice the grocery bags, as he tried to haul the duffle bags out of the store. "Geez woman, are you preparing for the apocalypse or something?" Alice chuckled and stuck her nose out of the back door of the store.
"Clear." Alice made a dash for the SUV and found it locked, except for the trunk. Alice put the groceries in the trunk, and climbed over the back seats to open up the doors. Almost as if she could read his mind, Alice glanced back at Chris and saw him staring at her rear end. "Eyes on the target Redfield." She shot over her shoulder as the back door of the SUV opened. She pulled the bags in next to her on the back seat and started to unzip them. "Guess I'm driving." Chris mumbled, getting into the driver's seat.
"Where are we headed?" Chris asked as he managed to start the SUV, using what appeared to be street methods. "DC." Chris' head snapped back and stared at her. "Are you insane? DC looks worse than this. We got lucky, getting a store that wasn't a complete hell hole, but DC? There's no knowing what were going to find in DC Alice." Chris put his hand over hers, effectively stopping her fumbling with the zippers any longer. "It's the only way to get the blueprints on the Paris facility. I don't wanna go there and be caught with my pants down okay?" Chris sighed and turned back around. Putting the SUV into drive, he eased out of the parking area and headed in the general direction of Washington DC.
After about an hour and a half of checking, loading, rechecking and stuffing guns into places only she and Chris would know about, Alice eased into the passenger seat next to Chris. "Can I ask you something?" Alice turned to look at Chris. "Yeah, sure." Licking her lips and turning back to looking out of the window. "Who was it, you know, that did all this…?" Alice looked at her hands before attempting to answer Chris truthfully.
"His name was Spence. We were working an Umbrella cover at the Hive facility outside Raccoon City. He set it free when he thought I wanted to sell the virus on the black market. I wanted to stop Umbrella, but as usual, Spence only got the last end of the conversation. So he did something stupid, hundreds of people dies in the Hive, then he bit the dust too. That's when Umbrella came in and screwed up the fail safe plan that was meant to protect." Alice bit her bottom lip.
"I thought I was in love with him, at least I was half sure that I was falling for him. For a while I thanked Umbrella for making me Head of Security. But then I saw what he did, and I couldn't do it anymore. I don't remember anything before that though. It's like the gas the Red Queen pumped through the place just burned it all away. Either that, or the crap Umbrella did to me. They could have wiped my mind clean. But I don't know, and I've long since given up on trying to find out. So there, my favorite color is black, I enjoy romantic walks on the beach, I love pepperoni pizza and I drank beer. Lots of it." Chris chuckled at the last bit of her statement.
"You know, that has to be the most I have ever heard you say." Alice glared at him but couldn't hide her smile quickly enough. They fell into silence again. A comfortable silence this time. This was the most Alice had ever revealed to anybody about herself and the hand she had in this mess. Must be why she is the key to ending it all.
Alice closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Hopeful, peaceful sleep. Most likely being her last. Yes, Alice knew what she was going to do. If she could end it all, she could. Gladly. It wasn't a Mother Teresa trick at all. There were so many lives she could save, by giving up her own. Her train of thought was broken when she felt a warm hand on her knee. Alice smiled to herself. This was nice. Being with somebody who would most likely want to stop her from giving her own life for the lives of others. Alice gripped his hand and sighed, falling asleep completely. She even had a silly grin splashed on her face.
What seemed like hours later, Alice woke. They weren't moving. "What the hell?" Alice got out of the SUV, peering into the darkness around her. "Chris?" Silence met her ears. Turning toward the open door to get one of the many stashed guns, when a cold feeling ran up her back. She didn't even need to hear the sound of hunger. Alice didn't move, she only shifted her hand slowly so that she could curl her fingers around any weapon.
And there it was, the feral squeal. Alice grabbed a knife she had managed to find, spinning around and smashing the knife into the head of a zombie. It all happened so fast, even before the body could drop at her feet, Alice lunged toward her guns, pulling them out and getting ready for action. If there was one, there would be many more.
Alice heard a few shots to her right, and another squeal. Standing with her arms outstretched, Alice heard something coming closer, very quickly. Turning, she spotted Chris. He was bolting, carrying something by the looks of it. Two shots rang from her guns, shooting the two undead that were following Chris. "Get in the car!" Chris was in the driver's seat before Alice could even get the door closed. "What the hell Redfield?" Chris shoved something onto her lap, started the SUV and floored it. They were back on the road within seconds and driving pretty fast.
"I couldn't just leave him." Alice looked at Chris in confusion when she felt something lick her arm. Alice looked down at the thing in her lap. A dog. "A dog, Redfield? Seriously? You nearly get us both killed, over a dog?" Chris glanced over at her. "Well he was about to be dinner. And I'm not that cold to just leave him behind. And it's a dog. I like dogs." Alice flinched. 'I'm cold...' She scooted the dog down between her legs, onto the floor. No way was it sitting with her.
"How much gas do we have?" Alice asked. "Just under half. We're going to need to stop somewhere. And I think he needs to take a pee." Alice looked at the dog, who was staring between them. "It needs a name." Chris looked at Alice. "What do you suggest? I think dog fits, don't you?" Alice frowned. "No idiot. Call it, uh, dog meat." Chris laughed momentarily. "Well Alice, it does fit. You don't like dogs do you?" Alice shrugged. "Had a few bad experiences with dogs. Not a huge fan of birds either." Alice thought back to the Hive. She was scared shitless when she saw those dogs. "You're not exactly a fan of people either." Alice grinned. "Do you blame me? They want to eat me. I'm not a human happy meal."
Chris smiled. The atmosphere returned back to normal. "About before, I uh, I didn't mean to suggest that you're a cold person Alice." Alice nodded. "I know…" She lied. He's right. She is cold. It the only way she has gotten as far as she has. "I'm starving." Chris said. "We need to keep moving. I don't think I can manage a repeat performance. I'll get you something from the trunk."
Alice got them both and also the creepy dog something to eat. Dawn was breaking and they still bad a respectable amount of distance to cover. Unable to stop herself, Alice reached out and brushed her fingers over the dirt that clung to Chris' face. "I'd give anything for a proper shower right now." She whispered and Chris nodded. Chris pulled into a roadside gas station. "You wanna take the dog for a pee while I check for gas?" Alice nodded. She lifted the mutt and walked toward a little patch of dirt. Drawing her gun, she set the dog down.
"You better hurry." She whispered, looking at the dog as it took a leak. Alice walked back toward the SUV, and saw Chris filling up a few gas cans. "We might not get this lucky any time soon. Don't wanna be caught with our pants down, do we?" Chris winked at Alice as she set the dog down on the back seat. "If you chew anything, I'm going to hurt you." Alice stared at the dog a minute before shutting the door.
"Yeah, you really don't like dogs…" Alice stepped closer to Chris, testing the weight of one of the cans. "I'll do it. You could open the trunk for me." Chris lifted both cans and made for the back of the SUV. Propping them in next to the food bags, Chris closed the trunk. Alice turned to get back in the car, when Chris grabbed her hand. Turning to face him, Chris seemed to have taken the moment to move closer to Alice, and kissed her. It lasted for about a minute, before Chris pulled back and cleared his throat. "We should get going."
"Yeah." It was all Alice could manage. "If your dog chews anything, I'm going to hurt you too Redfield." Chris chuckled as they got back into the SUV. Starting the engine, Chris turned to Alice. "We're really doing this, aren't we?" Alice bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah, we're really doing this…"
Okay, I wanted to put this chapter in so that Alice and Chris could get a bit closer. I figured that letting them get to know each other was, well, necessary. Hope you liked it! Remember, Reviews = Happy Dance lol