Chapter 31: Fixed

Already the stench of the sewer was being washed away by the saturated ocean air as Alice, Claire, and Chris made for the light at the end of the storm drain. The brunette woman really did not feel well about boarding the Arcadia without the arsenal she and Chris had gathered, but it couldn't be helped. She still had her shotguns, Chris had an assault rifle and a pistol, and Claire had her pistol and knife.

The tunnel gave way to a sandy beach and Alice thought wistfully back to her second first kiss with Claire. She wondered if the redhead remembered their first. It was a memory Alice would not soon forget. The fact that Claire had kissed her with absolutely no warning or prompt whatsoever still made the brunette smile. That night, her lover had claimed that she couldn't think of anything else to entice the sun-bleached blonde into her bed; she simply had to have Alice and that was damn good enough for them both. Sex and comfort those days were hard to come by, and as beautiful strangers they each gave to the other what they themselves craved until they were strangers no more.

Alice combed the misty beach for a boat. There were a few that had run aground on the shore, but they seemed to be in complete disrepair. She kept looking, and in the distance a wooden dock went out to sea. Tethered to it was a small dark vessel bobbing in the waves.

"Let's check this one out," Alice said and they all walked to it. The boat's design was blocky, the hull was lined with tires to be used as a cheap fender, and its grey and maroon paint was corroding away. It was easily the ugliest watercraft she had ever seen, but so long as it was working she wouldn't look a gift-boat in the mouth.

Chris found keys in the ignition as Alice took the fuel cap off. She couldn't see if the tank held fuel and the deep fog made the air so saturated that she couldn't smell the familiar burn of gasoline, so she dipped her finger inside and was met with a liquid, she only hoped it was petrol. The brunette rubbed her finger with her thumb, the liquid was less viscous than water, but she smelled the substance to be sure and the insides of her nostrils burned with the fumes.

She exhaled sharply through her nose and said, "we've got fuel." Alice replaced the fuel cap and wiped her fingers on her pants to get the excess fluid off. Chris turned the key to start the engine; it turned over twice before it started up.

"And we've got power," Chris stated as he took the wheel.

Claire began to untie them from the dock and Alice sat on the left side of the boat. To redress the balance the younger woman took a seat on the opposite ledge as Chris opened the machine up. They cut through the waves less like a knife and more like the block of wood they were actually in. The ride from then on was quiet, and Alice looked on in apprehension as the fog hid and then revealed the ghost ship they planned to board.

The breeze created from the moving vessel dried Alice's clothes and hair to the point that they were only just damp, and she knew it was the same for Claire because her red hair was being lifted in the wind. The brunette could've stared at her lover forever. She felt such a connection with the woman even though they'd technically only known each other for a hand full of days. Alice ingrained the image of Claire tugging on the collar of her red vest into her mind, trying to make another memory that she could take with her no matter where the journey ahead of them led.

Chris maneuvered the boat next to a small dock attached to the Arcadia. Claire tied up the vessel as Alice jumped onto the port and held her hand out for the redhead to take. She did so and used it to steady herself as she joined Alice. The brunette held her hand out for Chris as well and he took it with a light scowl.

It wasn't that he didn't approve Claire and Alice's relationship; if Claire was happy then so was he but she would always be his little sister, and disliking whoever your sister was dating just came with the territory.

Alice was up the stairs to the deck first, followed by Claire and Chris. The topside was completely barren except for Alice's smoking plane.

"No welcome party, hu?" Chris stated and Alice nodded to the downed aircraft.

"Looks like Bennett made it," the brunette said slightly annoyed.

Chris spoke again, "let's check inside."

The two women followed him below deck and they searched the crew quarters together; moved onto the mess hall and then made their way to the command center. Every place was devoid of life, but the evacuation was recent and rushed.

"Where is everyone?" Claire asked desperately. Alice shook her head and moved over to the radio. She pressed play and the familiar transmission sounded.

"This is Arcadia-"

The brunette cut off the playback and looked at the ships controls. The fuel needle was at about 80 percent maximum and all the lights designating the condition of the engines were green.

"Fuel, power – everything's running normally," she said.

Chris was standing by a computer screen when he called the two over, "look at this. It's the ship's log. The crew launched the lifeboats three days ago."

"Exactly when the transmission stopped," Alice reported.

Chris punched a few keys and continued, "but it says that are still 2,000 survivors on board."

2,000? Alice thought and looked at Claire who returned her gaze with uncertainty.

"We have to search every inch of this ship," the redhead commanded.

Alice and Chris nodded in agreement and the three set out to explore the hold behind the crew quarters. They walked down a large, dark hallway with flashlights out. There was a turn in the corridor and suddenly the passageway stopped at a closed door. Alice looked at the door and met a daunting white and red Umbrella logo staring her in the face.

Will I never be free of this? Alice questioned with disdain. Claire had told her that it was Umbrella behind the ship; she hadn't wanted to believe it but now she was forced to. As the three approached it, the door opened and they shined their flashlights inside until the room's lights flared up one at a time, illuminating the massive, stark-white space. The entire area was empty except for a small pedestal nearby.

"Where is everybody?" Chris asked. "I don't understand."

Alice looked around the room as she put her flashlight away, then she noticed that floor was lined with grooves and a pattern became apparent.

"I think I do. They're underneath are feet."

Claire walked up to the pedestal and picked up the electronic devise that was resting on it. The computer panel came to life in her hands and people's bios, stats, and an image of their face appeared on the screen. The redhead scrolled through them and said, "they're holding survivors to experiment on them…look, it's K-mart! She's here."

Alice picked up on the hopefulness in her lover's words, but she couldn't find the optimism within herself. "Bring them up – all of them."

The redhead hit a few buttons on the touch screen and Alice heard the hiss of pressurized air being released. The panels began to rise slowly, revealing people dressed in all white; unconscious but standing in the clear, numbered cylinders. Claire walked away from her brother and Alice, but they both followed her. The woman stopped at a canister, relief in her eyes.

"Here she is," Claire said. "K-mart."

"Get her out," Alice responded as she looked at the teenager. K-mart was dressed exactly like the others; wires were attached to her head and hands, and the scarlet spider, just like the one she'd found on Claire, stood out against its all white surroundings. It was more than probable that K-mart would suffer from amnesia like the redhead had. Claire was back to working the panel in her hands when the teenager's cell opened and she fell out.

Alice reached her arms out to catch her, and the movement of being caught caused K-mart to wake and begin struggle against the person holding her. The brunette couldn't keep them both up without aggravating her tender ribs so she let them both slide to the floor, and Claire was instantly at their side.

"K-mart! It's ok!" she tried to comfort the thrashing teen. "It's ok! K-mart, it's alight." The blonde girl stilled for a moment as Claire put her arms around the teen's shoulders. Alice watched their eyes meet and for the first time she realized that Claire finally felt complete since she had lost her memories. She didn't really understand how she knew, but she was certain that her lover now had everything she wanted. "I'll get this thing off her," Claire referenced the bug on K-mart's chest and handed Alice the computer panel as she finished, "go let everyone else out." The brunette took hold of the devise and stood up as she heard Claire say to the teen, "we're your friends and right now we need your help. Let me get this off you."

Alice couldn't watch Claire pull off the spider so she turned around and saw that a couple of the cylinders further down, instead of holding survivors, were coated in blood. The ex-project itched to have a revolver in her hand, but she settled for putting the computer panel down and walking over to explore them. Bits of torn skin and flesh were caked into the coagulated liquid on the glass. Whoever had been inside was certainly dead, but it seemed that they had struggled first. A blood trail weaved its way past a few more containers and to another set of doors. What am I up against? Alice wondered. For a brief moment she considered what would happen if she tried to recreate the inception of her super-human abilities. Would the T-virus affect her the way it did before? Would it take just one bite like the Red Queen had told her all those years ago? The line of thought was born of fear, and Alice fought to overcome it. Am I good enough? Doubt would do her no good, and it wouldn't keep Claire safe. The brunette thought back to the redhead who had been reunited with the family she'd been born into and the family she'd created; Alice tilted her head down in determination as she walked through the opening doors.

The next space was a hanger, full of Ospreys like the one she'd crashed in with Wesker outside of Tokyo. There were four black tiltrotor machines in all, and with each one she passed her mindset grew stronger until she came upon another door. When it finally opened her resolution was fixed.