Disclaimer! I don't own anything to do with the Resident Evil or Left 4 Dead series.

Chapter Five

The Stalker-Angel and the Medical Student

Zoey woke up a little sore. She sat up slowly, her muscles complaining about the movement. She resolved to rest at the next chance she got so she wouldn't be as sore the next time she woke up. She quickly realized that she wasn't on the floor anymore and looked at the couch she was sitting on.
'Do I sleep walk? Or did my stalker-angel move me?' she wondered. As if it was a response, heavy breathing quickly filled her ears. She looked at the end of the couch cautiously.

'It was the stalker-angel,' she thought, a small smile creeping onto her face. Zoey yawned and looked at a discarded med kit. All of the gauze and alcohol had been used up. She walked over to the person at the end of the couch. To her surprise, it was a woman. She was badly injured. The woman coughed up a little blood, a bloody hand reaching up weakly to cover her mouth. It was obvious that this woman was still human, but she wouldn't live long without proper medical attention. Zoey grabbed the remaining med kit from the desk and checked on the woman's wounds. She sighed in relief, realizing that they weren't getting worse. She changed the gauze on the woman's worst injury and sat a little further away to check on her own

Claire woke up after yet another hour. The first thing she noticed was that she was now on the couch. Her ribs felt like they were on fire, and the other girl was awake. She checked her ribs and found that the wound was stitched. She cringed again and looked over at the girl. She was tending to a fairly new wound on her leg.

Claire sat up a little bit. Zoey rushed over.
"Hey. You shouldn't be moving right now," she said softly, putting her hands on Claire's shoulder, helping to ease her back into the couch. Claire winced, clenching her teeth together. Her entire body was gushing in pain. Zoey pressed lightly on her ribs.
"Where'd you get that?" Claire asked, nodding to her new wound.
"Food run," Zoey replied with a nervous giggle, "Good thing I'm immune."
"Yeah, good thing," Claire chuckled. She winced again, clutching her side.
"What caused that gash?" Zoey asked in a concerned tone.
"It was a piece of metal. That monster didn't help much either," Claire responded in monotone.
"You mean the tank?"
"If this "tank" had huge muscles and no jaw, then yes, that thing."

The two of them were silent for a few moments.
"So… were you the one following me?" Zoey asked nervously. She fiddled with her thumbs. Claire knew that Zoey was afraid of the truth, and she was afraid to say it.
"Y-yes… I saw your friends run by. I was going to follow them, but…" she responded nervously, turning her head away.
"But…?" Zoey prompted.
"I… I noticed you were nearby… So I decided to help you out instead." Claire almost chocked on her words. She was only just realizing how much her actions made her look like a stalker. There was a second silence, more awkward than the last one.
"Th-thanks," Zoey stuttered. Claire looked at her. Her face had flushed a little, and she was looking at the floor. Claire's face felt a little hot as she turned away.

'Why am I getting so embarrassed? I do this stuff all the time. It is my job after all.' She gulped.

'Will the awkwardness end?' Zoey complained in her head. She knew that they were both feeling awkward about the situation. It was probably because in her mind, the entire situation sounded like a fan girl was writing a fan fiction about them.

Somewhere else, the fourth wall crumbles into dust for the millionth time.

Zoey heard the woman gulp.
'She's probably thinking the same thing,' she thought.
"Anyways, we should introduce ourselves. My name's Zoey Jasper. What's yours?" she said, breaking the silence.
"Claire. Claire Redfield. Nice to meet you, Zoey," the woman responded. She turned back to Zoey. A small smile crept onto Zoey's face.
"Alright Claire. We should stay here a little longer. I managed to find some of these herbs to help with that injury," she declared, pulling out a green herb. Claire seemed shocked to see it.
"Where did you get that?" she gasped. Zoey's smile grew into a grin.
"I found it outside of a grocery store. It was just sitting there in a pot. Good thing I know that it's great for healing bad injuries just like the one in your side," she stated.
"What were you? A medical student?" Claire asked, her lips twisting into a smile.
"Actually, yes. I was," Zoey snickered. She thought about how much it shocked the guys to learn how much she knew about medicine, even though she had been failing her classes. Claire's smile turned into a weak grin. Zoey knew that made the tension easier.

'Simple friendly chatter. Always works. Now all we need is a bomb to blow up the city,' she thought with a snicker. She removed Claire's bandages and crushed the herb into a powder. Claire jumped a little when she put the crushed leaves into her wound. Zoey carefully wrapped a new bandage over the gash.
"That should do until we get to Mercy Hospital. We should both get a couple more hours of rest too. The tank should be looking for us again by now," Zoey sighed.
"Sounds wonderful. And I guess I forgot to mention that I killed the tank…" Claire said. Zoey blinked a couple times.
"No wonder you're so badly beat up. You took that thing on by yourself?" she asked. Claire simply nodded.
"Whoa. Remind me never to piss you off," Zoey commented. Claire giggled slightly. She shifted her body into a more comfortable position. Zoey caught the hint and leaned her back on the couch. She sighed, pleased with the fact that Claire would survive. It seemed to her that this was still only the beginning of a long road. She looked back at Claire's sleeping body.
'I wonder how she got into this mess,' she thought, drifting silently back into sleep.