Disclaimer: Let it be known that I do not own Resident Evil, nor do I own "The War of the Worlds" by H. G. Wells from which the name Beth and a few of her characteristics were taken.
I hope you all enjoy this truly wicked chapter.
Chapter 4: Estimated Arrival
"So, where are we headed?" We? Alice questioned as she looked out at the road in front of them. Did I just say that…and mean it?
"Northeast," Claire replied. "K-mart and I were about to leave anyways."
"Where to?"
"Alaska. It was K-mart's idea actually-"
"How did she tell you?" Alice interrupted, not forgetting that the three words spoken to her were the only ones the girl had ever said since Claire found her.
"She wrote it down for me, planned the whole damn thing." Claire grinned as she shook her head. "Smartest kid I know," she said and glanced in the rearview mirror to look at the embarrassed teen. The woman fished out the red notebook Alice saw earlier, and handed it to her.
The worn pages opened easily to Alice's inquisitive eyes. The map she'd seen before was the southeast section of Alaska; hastily scrawled notes littered the edges remarking on ideas of travel time, alternate routes and destinations. Other pages were full of logistics; of the reasons why going north was pertinent to survival.
Some of it was past Alice's knowledge. The blonde knew about guns, martial arts, and survival; things like life's role in maintaining Earth's climate and what the planet would do to compensate for the near extinction was beyond her, but there was one note Alice understood. Underlined and in all capital letters was a statement on the bottom of a yellowing page, it read: THE UNDEAD WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ATTACK IN WINTER – THEY WILL FREEZE.
It was a thought Alice had before, but she'd never had any use for it. An entire season of 'vacation' must've seemed like Heaven to the two survivors, even if it was followed by a thaw in spring.
The time and effort that had been put into the journal, coupled with K-mart's knowledge, was impressive, but that's what you did at the end of the world. You developed skills, educated yourself; Alice was less into learning and more about adding flair to her murderous arsenal.
The blonde handed the book back to Claire after a few more minutes of examination.
"It's a sound plan."
"So you'll stay?" Claire asked.
Alice caught K-mart's move to attention in her side mirror.
"Yes," she nodded and the girl's teeth shone brightly through her unrestrained smile. Alice looked at Claire for her response, but before she could give one the blonde added cruelly, "I never said how long."
"I know," Claire said, her voice even.
The blonde turned her gaze back on the land. The elevation before them was rising and evolving into craggy mountain passes with sharp bends, slopes, and climbs in the neglected pavement. There was no doubt in her mind that many of the roads that would take them to their destination the fastest were crowed with impassible obstacles. Years of un-cleared rockslides, erosion, and general ware of pavement would make traveling by vehicle difficult – difficult, but not impossible.
Then there was the question of supplies. Alice didn't know what the two survivors had in the ways of resources, but she didn't have any cold weather gear to speak of. The blonde would need it on the trip to Alaska…if she even stayed with them for that long, but what else did she have to do?
She could still hunt the infected if she traveled with the pair, and then a thought occurred to her. They would make perfect bait. The larger the group of humans, the more attention they received from the undead. Alice could use that to her advantage; she had no qualms whatsoever about the possible sacrifice it might require from her new acquaintances. The blonde, however, was confident that she could keep them alive long enough for them to continue to be of use to her, and if things didn't work out that way…well, it was no skin off her back; just like it wasn't three months ago.
"I think I know a way," Alice said to the younger woman. Her soft features brightened with hope as Alice continued to speak. "The undead want flesh above all else. If someone were to-" Am I really going to do this? Alice questioned. The woman's brown eyes were transfixed on hers; she was devouring every word. Alice had only to give her a slight push. Yes, yes I am. "If someone were to try and distract them…" The blonde put concern on her face by drawing in her eyebrows, releasing an angst ridden sigh and biting her lip; the stranger was eating out of the palm of her hand. "Everyone else could get to safety."
The woman looked down but Alice already knew she was at her beck and call. "I'll do it."
Alice smiled falsely.
"But you have to promise me," she continued. "Promise me you'll do what you can to keep them safe."
"I will, Beth," Alice lied. "But what are you going to do?"
"I'll never be able to make it through the doors without them coming in. No, I'll have to do something else…"
Alice looked up to entrance of the bell tower and Beth followed her gaze.
"The bell tower," the dark-haired woman said like she'd just had an epiphany.
The woman was ironically hell-bent on sacrificing herself in a church. Some kind of saint, she must've been. Saint? Hardly. Another coward, Alice thought as she looked at the Beth. Too afraid to do what's necessary to save her own life.
The woman smiled kindly at the blonde and the rest of her group approached them both. Beth took a minute to explain her plan and the night grew older.
"It's the only way," she said her voice full of conviction. Her three companions, two men and a pregnant woman desperately pleaded with her to reconsider.
Alice tried to remember how she'd gotten herself into this situation in the first place. She'd been asleep, not merely asleep; she'd been unconscious from a serious bout of drinking when this group of survivors had interrupted her newfound haven. The Roman Catholic church was more grandiose than even a few of its ancient counterparts in Italy. Its arches a tad more dramatic, its stained glass windows a little more colorful, and its cross just somewhat overbearing; it was as if the American West was trying to prove itself to the religious leader in Rome. The blonde saw it simply as a building; she had no patience for fine architecture, and even less for religion.
The group had burst into the building, undead on their heels. They found Alice resting on a pew, and even though they tried to wake her she only came to when her blood began to sing, and that was what had brought her here; to the woman who was planning to jump from the bell tower in order to distract the undead with her flesh allowing the others to escape.
"Just because that woman seems to think so –does not make it true!" The taller, bearded man argued.
Alice tried to keep her face from showing her amusement. She'd been the one who'd convinced the woman to jump; just a little suggestion for her own entertainment. The blonde hadn't thought the woman would be stupid enough to actually consider it. Her martyrdom was pathetic.
"I'm doing it, and you can't stop me," Beth said. "Alice has promised to see that you make it somewhere safe."
The blonde realized that it was time for her to nod; she kept with her act and did so.
Approximately ten minutes later the martyr was taking to the ladder of the tower and Alice was climbing up behind her. When they reached the top, wind entered through a large window and slightly swayed the heavy, brass bell back and forth.
"I'm scared Alice," the woman confessed, but the blonde felt no pity.
I wonder if I'll have to push her…
Alice gave no reply to Beth; she simply walked to the eastern window and looked down at the infected trying to find a way into the church. Beth came up next to her and looked down as well. It was a vertical drop of almost thirty feet straight into the waiting undead. Alice would've survived it and had she actually been trying to help she could have; she could have done many things.
There was no way the girl would live. Alice tried to predict what would happen. The woman would jump, maybe land on some open ground, break her legs – maybe her back or neck, maybe much more. The infected would swarm, tearing her limb from limb in seconds. The noise of the feeding and the smell of fresh blood would attract the rest. It would clear the entrance for moments; hardly enough time for the survivors to escape. That was where Alice was supposed to come in. The plan was that she'd give them cover as they retreated into the night.
It would not happen that way, however. Yes, Beth would jump and die, the survivors would run for it – they wouldn't get far. To Alice it was a game and she'd loaded the deck prior to playing.
"Do you believe in God, Beth?" It was meant to be a joke, but the woman's chocolate colored eyes met Alice's and her eyebrows pursed slightly in consideration. Beth took hold of the question and made it so that the blonde was driven to know the answer.
"I have to believe in something."
Alice didn't have enough time to know what to make of the statement. Beth climbed up onto the window sill and her black hair was sent about her face in the high wind as she glanced again at the packed area below her. She was steeling herself for the leap and Alice was steeling herself against laughter.
"Ok," Beth resolved. "You can go downstairs now and get the others ready to leave."
"Wait," Alice said and the dark-harried woman looked back at her in concern. "How will we know when to go?"
Beth thought for a moment, and gave Alice the answer she was leaning towards. "I'll yell."
You'll scream, Alice countered and stepped out of the moonlight as Beth turned back to face the open air.
She was certain that the woman thought her gone, but Alice waited in the shadows to see if Beth would actually jump. The blonde was itching to check her watch, but she refused to peel her eyes away; too afraid that she would miss the deed if she did.
Alice watched as Beth's chest inflated with a deep breath. The blonde held her own, biting the inside of her lip in anticipation. The dark-harried woman kept the air for a few moments and just like she said she yelled.
"Go now!"
Beth threw herself from the sill leaving only a clear window for Alice to race to. The blonde collided with the raised edge and looked down. The woman's broken limbs were bent and warped abnormally. She'd landed on an open piece of concrete, the undead were on her like flies on a bloated carcass, and just like Alice thought – she screamed.
Her painful cries were not to be the only screams of the night. The survivors foolishly left at Beth's order even though Alice had never met back up with them. They were easy quarries, and now it was time for the blonde to mind hers. Once again she was at the top of the chain. The undead preyed upon humans, and tonight she'd preyed upon them both.
It had been hours since Alice looked at her watch. She'd been content watching the landscape before them. A few miles ago, the two survivors had a small, Spartan meal of carbs and protein followed by the consumption of a few supplement vitamins. Again Alice refused; she had no worries from things like vitamin deficiencies that led to disease. Her immune system was far more competent than it had been in her previous life.
They'd just passed the Colorado/Wyoming border and by the sun alone, Alice knew it was nearing the time that she needed to be hidden from the satellite. According to the small device attached to a clip on her belt the satellite had been switched to the B route. There were five different routes total, all calculated to be the most efficient means to survey Earth.
Normally, she would find some place to hole up and remove all evidence of her presence. There was nothing she could do about it this time, not without giving information away to Claire. Still she was relatively protected by the hummer, so long as no one thought to track the vehicle.
16:30:27. A few more minutes and the satellite would hopefully be gone. Alice looked at her watch again, this time trying to be discreet but failing.
"Why do you do that?" the redhead obviously to Alice because K-mart was asleep in the back seat.
"Do what?"
"Check the time." Alice didn't answer, so Claire went on, "it's seems pretty unnecessary."
"Things are not always what they seem."
Claire rolled her eyes at the blonde's cryptic reply. "That hardly answers my question."
"What makes you think I care?"
"You're a real bitch, you know that?"
Alice looked at Claire and watched as the redhead kept her demeanor perfectly cool. It was clear that she didn't care in the slightest that she might've pissed Alice off. The blonde broke out into twisted laughter at the woman's blatant disregard causing Claire to smirk.
Wow Alice, I did not know you had that it in you...I think we all know I'm not talking about the laughter...*gulp* Sorry the chapters are getting shorter, I'm not really sure why. Please review, it truly encourages me to write more considering I was suffering from a good amount of writer's block until I got a message from Foxfire141 (thanks again btw). Hope to hear from you soon readers!