Chapter Nineteen.

Seras walked down the road in the direction Carlos had come from, noting his puzzled expression. When she felt she was a safe distance away, she turned. Alice had followed and was standing two meters away.

"You're the one that wants to fight, you go first," Alice said.

"I don't want to fight," Seras said. "Just say the word and we can stop before we begin."

"I don't buy that Umbrella would give their enemies any equipment to do anything with. And it's a little convenient that you all seem to know each other."

Seras frowned. She really was going to have to lay one into Alice. She hated starting fights. "Alright…" she said, remembering how she had been attacked by surprise and how Alice had held a knife to Integra's eye. She darted forward and dipped to the left as if to punch with her right arm, or come up with her left, but instead dropped lower and swept at Alice's feet with leg.

Alice kicked into Sera's kick, connecting her toe where the spot Seras's foot met her shin. Pain lanced up Seras's leg and she was knocked off balance, turning and falling forward onto her stomach. She was getting to her feet when Alice came around to her right and kicked her in the side hard enough to knock her into the air and onto her back.

Through the pain, Seras noticed the sun was shining in to her eyes. It wasn't blinding her, but it was unpleasant. Suddenly it was blocked out and a weight was on her chest. Alice had sat down on her and was now sending well-aimed punches to her face.

She saw stars as fist after fist crashed into her jaw, cheek, and eye. Thinking became difficult and reluctantly, she let her blood take over and control her body, trusting it wouldn't do anything lethal or use her extra powers.

Seras felt her long legs come up and her knees wrap around Alice's mid-section. Being a vampire, her legs were stronger then most, and she gripped the woman easily, throwing her backward.

Not letting go, she rolled forward and was sitting on top of Alice. She began punching at her head, but Alice was ready and blocked. Seras punched twice more and then quickly struck hard at her stomach, connecting solidly.

The wind went out of Alice in a loud oof and her arms reflexively covered her stomach as she tried to curl up. Seras took the opportunity to punch her in the chin hard enough to send her head back, striking the pavement. She hammered the bottom of her fist down onto Alice's side, above her kidney and stopped.

Alice's eyes had rolled back into her head and she seemed unconscious. Seras stayed on top of her, in case she was faking it to get a surprise attack. After she didn't move, Seras got up as the others rushed over. Jill had joined them with a first aid kit.

Seras stood back and rubbed her jaw, letting it heal. She felt a small twinge of hunger in her stomach, and felt bad about being able to recuperate so quickly; it seemed unfair. She wondered if Alice's mutations allowed for the same healing.

Alice was taken into The Bus by Jill, Leon, Claire, and Carlos. Yumiko went in to, leaving Integra, Heinkel, and Seras outside.

"Now what?" Heinkel said.

"I'm willing to forget the whole thing," Seras said. "Just realize, we're not your enemies anymore. Umbrella and Wesker are the only ones we should be fighting."

"You were defending your ally," Integra said. "Commendable, but we are your allies, too."

Heinkel had picked up her pistols and holstered them. "If you say so," she said. "Will Umbrella know you've removed the explosives?"

"They'll know the surveillance equipment is gone," Integra said. "The other concern is that we don't know the extent of the bugging, or their control over The Bus."

"I guess we'll find out when we turn it back on," Seras said. "I'm going inside, the sun is killing me."

***

Jill and Leon had removed the bugging equipment along with the semtex. There had been enough in the walls of The Bus to blow it halfway to the moon. Thinking it might be useful, they loaded some into the back.

Seras crawled under The Bus and plugged it back in, noting that there were loping figures down the highway near the exit to the town they had come from. "Lock up," she said, climbing aboard and shutting the hatch. "Company."

Jill's console began beeping. "Looks like the phone is for us," she said.

"Answer it," Integra said.

Jill pushed a button on the panel. "What is going on?" Wesker's voice came sounding through the cabin. "You had an extended power outage."

"Once again your shoddy workmanship has come back to bite you, Wesker," Integra said. "We've removed the bombs and the bugging devices, plus the remote control. We own The Bus now, and you'll be happy to know that we have Alice in our possession."

Wesker said nothing for a long time. Seras thought he had hung up, but he finally spoke. "What is the meaning of this?" Wesker said flatly.

"It's simple," Integra said. "We're getting you before you get us. Don't pretend you weren't going to do just that, there's no one to convince."

Again, silence for a few extended moments. "You want the truth?" Wesker said. "Quite frankly, it would have been too much trouble to kill you, and quite possibly more satisfying to allow to live and see the dawning of a new age, courtesy of Umbrella technology. The looks on your faces after we snatched victory from the jaws of defeat would've been more exquisite than your death throes ever could be."

Seras could tell he was fighting to hold back anger. It meant they had succeeded in getting one over on Umbrella, but it also meant he would want revenge and it unnerved her.

"I'll still settle for death throes," Wesker said. "If you're big plan is to steal off with the vehicle and defend the remnants of humanity, I truly do pity you. I might not even waste my time sending forces to kill you, as it will happen eventually. However, if you're plan is to make a vaccine on your own terms, then I'll be waiting for you here. The coordinates for the Nevada facility are in your map logs. This is the only place on the continent you'll be able to do it, and maybe even the world. Either way, you'll come to regret this decision."

They all heard the connection cut off. "He sounded mad," Ashley said.

"And unless he's playing games, we've removed his controls on The Bus," Integra said. "That only leaves…" she looked over at Alice, who was now conscious and lying on a bunk. An ice pack was resting under her head and she had a black eye.

"A deal's a deal," Alice said. "And for what it's worth, I can see you're no friend of Wesker's."

"So we're all friends here, then?" Claire said. "No more fighting?"

"No more fighting," Heinkel said. "Yumie will behave if and when she wakes up, I'm pretty sure."

Yumiko smiled nervously as all eyes fell on her.

"I think we aught to roll back and get hooked up with the Hummer, and Alice's bike," Carlos said. "It's cramped in here and there's no need to let them go to waste."

Leon threw The Bus into gear and turned it around. Seras sighed and rubbed her eyes. She had been up all day and would be up longer while they cleared the area of zombies and pumped gas out of the stations underground tanks. Knowing she wouldn't be able to fall asleep at night, she briefly thought of napping while the rest worked, but knew she wouldn't allow it.

"Tired?" Jill asked.

"I don't care what happens," Seras said. "Tomorrow, I'm sleeping."

To be continued…