Chapter 7: Infected

Alice was long practiced in refueling her plane, so it took no time at all. In order to stay on target they needed to be headed towards Vancouver by 1400 hours. Technically Alice didn't need to be anywhere at any predetermined time, but having a schedule and sticking to it made her feel secure. It gave her life structure amidst all the chaos.

The taller woman was starting to wind down from the stressful situation in the garage when Claire was attacked. It was obvious to Alice that the redhead needed to be trained in self-defense if her memories of how to do so would not return. Claire probably wasn't in the best state of mind to begin, but they had time to kill.

"No time like the present," Alice said to herself then made a motion to Claire. "Come over here." Claire left her place leaning against the plane and walked towards Alice. "Attack me," Alice demanded and turned her back to the shorter woman.

Claire stopped in her tracks confused, "What?"

Alice looked over her shoulder and replied, "I'm going to teach you how to defend yourself, so you'd best get a running start."

Claire seemed to think it over.

"Unless you'd like to rely on me to save your ass all the time." Alice turned her back away smugly, and the comment goaded the redhead just as she hoped it would.

Claire charged her and just as she was about to tackle the taller woman, Alice deftly moved to the side and the redhead fell to the ground.

"Lesson one: don't defend yourself from what you can avoid…and lesson two: act – don't react."

Claire picked herself up and dusted off her jeans; she was humiliated but she understood the message. Only the smart survive.

"The only way to kill someone who's been infected is to severe the spinal column; shoot them in the head, break their neck, you get the idea." The ex-project was coldly efficient in her mannerisms and the way she spoke about killing. "Keep in mind that the undead aren't sensitive to pain; they are completely mindless in everything except their need to feed."

Alice readied herself for another attack by holding out her left arm and nodded to Claire, "Grab me."

This time the redhead approached apprehensively but took hold of Alice's forearm. The second Alice felt Claire's grip tighten she took her free hand and pried away Claire's thumb, causing her to lose her hold of the arm while Alice explained what she was doing.

"The undead like to grab, the best way to get out of it is to pull at the thumbs." When Claire's hand was completely removed Alice grabbed Claire's shoulder forcefully, "Your turn." The redhead successfully dislodged Alice like the taller woman had shown her.

"Good, now hold your arms up like this," Alice positioned Claire's arms so that she could better parry any incoming attacks at her torso or face, "Don't let me get a hold of you." Alice reached out slowly at first and her arm was swatted away easily; she tried again and again picking up speed and intent, but Claire blocked her every effort. Even if Claire didn't remember the motions to defend herself, her body did. It had been the same for Alice when she was trapped in the Hive.

Suddenly the ex-project wasn't just trying to grab Claire she was actually attempting to land blows on the smaller woman; after that the clash became equal parts of give and take. Neither one of them could get any hits in, but Alice wasn't giving it her all.

Minutes passed and Alice could tell that the redhead was tiring because she was on the defense, and her parries were becoming sloppy; such fatigue in a fight could result in a serious injury. So she decided enough was enough. Dropping to a crouch, she spin-kicked Claire's legs out from under her. The redhead landed with a thud and a sharp expulsion of breath. What Alice heard next surprised her; she'd kind of excepted Claire to be upset that she'd been knocked on her ass again, but Claire was laughing.

Alice timidly offered her a hand up, and was so caught off guard that she couldn't stop the smiling redhead from taking hold of her hand and pulling her on the ground next to her. Claire's laughter was full out, legitimate, and infectious; Alice couldn't help but laugh alongside her.

They only stayed like that for the better part of a minute, but it was a moment of joy unrivaled by most of Alice's happiest memories.