So it's entirely possible that I have the best readers ever. You guys made my damn day with your reviews! So as a reward I decided to NOT leave you with a cliffhanger as I intended (plus it's possible you would've killed me had if I had (or at least made an attempt - I have an AWESOME bodyguard, haha)). Also Alice will now be referred to as brunette not blonde, hopefully that was explained anough in the two chapters before. Anyway - do enjoy, and leave reviews.

Chapter 22: Time of Death

Where is he? Isaacs had never left her alone this long before. Then again, how would she know? She felt like a significant amount of time had passed, but she wasn't sure. The brunette was used to waking and seeing Isaacs as soon as she did so.

He'd become very proud of his Project, and he told her that every day. Project Alice lived for those words; lived to make him happy. Maybe she'd done something wrong and this was her punishment. She looked at the camera, willing Isaacs to notice her, and then closed her eyes again.

A funny thing happened when she closed her eyes. It happened on occasion. A wisp of a memory flashed behind her eyes, startling her to the point that she shot them open and stared at the ceiling. It made her heart race and her fingers twitch.

Green for the anti-virus.

A muffled popping noise sounded from outside her cell. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't imagine what would make such a clamor. She didn't think much of it; she was too worried. Isaacs must be furious with her the way he was upset when Chairman Wesker denied him test subjects for the serum. The serum derived from her special blood – the serum that made Isaacs proud of her. Maybe something went wrong with it. Maybe her blood wasn't the key like the doctor thought, but he'd never been wrong before.

Two sets of feet were suddenly running down the hallway. Isaacs doesn't run and he's always alone…like me. Project Alice's logical mind deduced that it wasn't Isaacs now at the closed door, so she saw no reason to change what she was doing. Her ears perceived more sounds and voices, but she ignored them. If it wasn't Isaacs then it wasn't worth her time.

Her cell door opened; then she heard the one thing she felt she'd never heard before. Her name – without its title.

"Alice-"

The brunette turned her head to look at the speaker, and there she was – her anti-virus. Project Alice closed her eyes against the sight. It was a good thing she was already lying down. The red-haired woman pulled Project Alice into her arms, lifting her only enough so that the brunette's cheek rested on the woman's shoulder.

In an instant, and in the warm embrace, her otherness, her title – everything that set her apart from humanity – was stripped from her. She was simply Alice, a woman who loved a fiery redhead and her silent charge. She didn't need any more than that.

Alice hugged back with intensity. The emotions of the moment threatened to overwhelm her. Then she heard K-mart's voice.

"Claire! Soldiers are coming! A whole bunch of them."

The brunette released Claire, and rose from the bed. She had only one feeling now – anger. It was time to collect her dues. The rage she'd buried was resurrected to the point where it was beyond anything she'd felt before. Controlling it was a thin line, and it was possible that not even Claire and K-mart would be safe.

Alice heard orders given in the hallway, and she brushed past Claire though the redhead tried to stop her.

"Alice, wait!" The redhead held out a submachine gun, but Alice didn't even look at the offered weapon. She strode right past K-mart quivering with rage.

In the hall was a team of sixteen Umbrella soldiers and Alice's first victims. They barely had time to aim before she sent a psychic blast through the hall, tearing apart the floor and walls to the point where it looked like a tornado had just ripped through the ship. Light from sparking wires reflected of twisted metal and broken concrete. The soldiers that had been standing a second ago were spread haphazardly amongst the debris.

Claire and K-mart emerged from the cell behind her, but the brunette kept her attention forward. Alice was sick of all the whiteness – she was so ready for black. She walked to the nearest dead soldier and roughly stripped him from his bulletproof vest; she went to another and did the same. With the onyx pieces of protection in hand she turned back to Claire and K-mart and handed them each one.

"Put it on," she said tersely.

The two were quick to follow the direct order, but Alice didn't wait for them. She charged forward, one foot in front of the other willing them to take her directly to man she owed so much. The brunette came to the four way intersection and was sure to turn left like she'd done with Isaacs at her side every time before.

Claire called out to her. "Alice wait – you're going the wrong way! The stairs are straight ahead."

"I'm not looking for the stairs," the brunette argued. "I want Isaacs." The redhead caught up to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You won't find him. He's dead."

Alice turned furiously on her heel and grabbed Claire with both hands by the collar, forcing her back hard until the redhead collided with the wall.

"WHAT?" she barked, demanding an explanation.

Claire could hardly give it; Alice was steadily lifting her up, and the pressure on her throat made her words mangled.

"I…killed-him."

"He wasn't yours to kill!" She released Claire quickly and continued on, leaving the redhead to collapse to the floor as K-mart ran to her aid.

Isaacs might've been dead, but she still wanted to see his lifeless corpse with her own eyes. She came upon the door that had always been guarded – it was open. Alice walked through it, too curious to pass up the opportunity. It wasn't a cell like she'd thought; it was a hallway that led to another open door. When she entered the far room she was hit with the stench of death. There was a collection of bodies on the floor riddled with bullet holes. Apparently Claire had killed more than she gave word to.

The doctor's body however, was not among the dead. Alice paused when she saw the corpse of an undead chained to a wall. So you were what they were keeping back here, the brunette thought. She was about to go back when she heard something stir behind her. Alice assumed foolishly that it was one of the survivors; she didn't react as fast as she should have.

Her neck stung as a needle was driven into her flesh. She pulled the syringe out, and looked at it in her hand. The plunger was completely pushed down, whatever liquid that had been in it was now in her. She crushed it in her grip and let it fall. Then she turned to see Isaacs leaning against a table, he was bleeding profusely from two wounds in his shoulder and one in his side, but he was still alive.

Isaacs was smiling like a fiend, but so was she. Her flesh began to burn at the point of entry, but she ignored it.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you doctor." Alice let her smirk fall, and lowered her head to glare at him.

She lifted a finger to accent her words. "You know – someone told me that the average human can survive losing forty to fifty percent of their blood," the brunette gave him a probing glance, but Isaacs raised his chin in defiance as she approached him. "If I had to make an educated guess I'd say you're close, which is really too bad." Alice struck out and grabbed him by the throat, squeezing only enough to keep him in place. "I so wanted to bleed you dry myself."

He started to laugh.

"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you. I'm about to make your death a million times more painful."

Isaacs was not bothered by the threat. "I always knew I'd find death at your hands, but I also knew our fates were connected."

Alice chuckled as she looked off. "You're losing it Isaacs. All that science has gone to your head."

"Even so, you are my Project."

She met his eyes at the title, and he continued.

"I created you, and now - I've destroyed you."

The brunette couldn't ignore the burning any more. It was hot like a gasoline fire, almost as if the fuel was her blood and the flame was racing to get to her heart. She tightened the hand around Isaacs's neck.

Alice spoke through clenched teeth. "What have you done?"

"I injected you…with-the-serum," he choked out. "Couldn't-have…done-it…without you."

The serum – Alice had forgotten. All the torture her bloodletting had been done for was to make a cure, and now it had been used against her. No matter; Isaacs would still find death at her hands or more specifically with the pressure that was filling her skull as her blue eyes dilated.

"Wait," he sputtered. "I have…a-parting gift. A choice."

Alice cut her focus short as the man raised his hand. A black remote was in his hold.

"The code to purge this facility is 7-9-5."

She didn't take the device, but she did smile as the pupils of her eyes expanded again.

Isaacs began to struggle in her grip. First one drop of blood fell from his nose, then another. The red liquid cascaded down his chin, and began to surface beneath his eyelids spilling out like the man was in tears. The warm fluid dropped onto her hand as Isaacs's ears and mouth bled. His face twisted in agony until he died. Alice released him and let his body fall to the ground.

The pain of her vendetta brought her to her knees as she clutched her pounding skull. She gasped, too overtaken by pain to hold it back. When she recovered slightly she let her hands slide down her face. The right one smeared the doctor's blood on her skin and mixed it with her own blood that dripped from her nose. She crawled to Isaacs, and took the remote from his death grip.

Slowly Alice rose from her knees. She'd gotten her revenge, but at what cost?Her anger had gotten the best of her, and Claire had been the one to suffer for it. What have I done?

When she made her way back into the hall Claire and K-mart were nowhere to be found, but gunfire sounded to her left. She ran to the four way intersection, and saw a sign for the stairs at the end of the left corridor. Alice took the stairs three at a time climbing two flights as her burning heart pumped with adrenaline.

There was a single body at the entrance to the second floor, and another three in the hall when she opened the door to it. She continued to stay on Claire's trail, following the dead Umbrella soldiers like a bloodhound. It seemed the two survivors were making their way to the Osprey hanger. Alice prayed desperately that she could catch up before they were outmatched.

Luckily it wasn't far. She turned a corner and found herself face to face with a giant door, the Umbrella logo painted in vibrant red and white a few feet above her head. The symbol seemed to stare down at her – to judge her for all she'd done as creators often do.

She waited for the door to open, and was greeted with more stark-white space. Alice ran on unconcerned that it seemed an empty room. The brunette was suddenly at another door, the one she knew would lead her to the hanger. When it opened she saw Claire and K-mart running towards the nearest airship.

Almost as if she knew she was being followed, the redhead looked behind her. Their eyes met, and Alice froze; the message in Claire's green eyes said one word clear as day – monster. It was more than enough to make her turn back around as she grimaced with anguish and clenched a fist.

An upwards of twenty Umbrella soldiers rapidly entered on her heels, and she heard the engine of the Osprey start. Alice didn't have any time to focus on the soldiers individually so she sent a psychic blast before they could fire on the aircraft. The force jostled her brain, but it also decommissioned the opponents. The brunette realized her powers were seriously compromised by the serum invading her altered blood. If she had to do that again, it was likely she would fail or she wouldn't survive.

Ten more soldiers appeared, and began to shoot at the Osprey and at her. She wasn't concerned with herself even as two shots found their mark on her body; one in her right forearm, the other grazing a thigh. She would happily die to make sure Claire and K-mart got safely off the ship. Alice sent another psychic wave, tearing more of the structure apart, but leaving a few of the men alive.

She tried to focus again, but it was too much. The brunette couldn't gather the effort. As the men staggered to their feet, Alice fell from hers. She crawled to a body nearby, and with her free hand grabbed a submachine gun. One of the men fired at her and she returned it. He collapsed to the floor all his bullets inaccurate. Alice dispatched the second before he could do likewise, and rose to one knee. The final man however, fired once before she killed him. His nine-millimeter shot tore right through the left side of her upper chest.

She fell backwards, and was hit with a view of the sea. The hanger door had been opened and the wind from the rotor blades picked up immensely, signaling time for takeoff. Alice knew she was done. There were no more enemies to fight, and both Claire and K-mart were about to be safe from Umbrella – and from her – forever. All Alice had to do was make a decision.

The blood left her body much quicker than any time Isaacs had stuck her with needles, but somehow the physical pain was much less. The same could not be said for how hurt she was over what she'd done to Claire, and the fact that she'd never have a chance to make it right.

Alice could still hear the propeller blades and feel the wind from them, but it made her wonder why Claire hadn't taken off yet. The brunette tried to roll over from her back and look at the Osprey, but mid-motion an arm wrapped beneath her torso, another under her legs. It was obvious who it was.

"No, Claire. Leave me," she begged.

The redhead picked her up anyway and cradled Alice against her. Claire carried her silently to the Osprey, and just as they got in a new team of soldiers erupted into the hanger. Their shots ricocheted off the machine as Claire set her down. Alice watched the redhead sprint to the controls.

K-mart was at her side and putting pressure on the wound in her chest with what looked to be a torn up bit of parachute. The blood soaked the fabric, but its flow was slowing. Then they were nearly pitched backwards as the Osprey was rocketed out of the ship.

Alice was so tired, but it seemed the T-virus still in her veins had other plans for her. Her wounds were gradually healing though it was taking much longer. She'd thought she was going to die. Alice accepted that, but for some reason Claire saved her. The brunette couldn't figure it out; she was too exhausted to anyway. When the aircraft seemed to steady, K helped her up so they could sit in the chairs along the inner Osprey wall. The teen had yet to release Alice's hand. The brunette smiled lightly at the girl, but it wasn't returned.

She looked K-mart over; the teen seemed fine until Alice caught sight of blood staining her sleeve.

The brunette found the strength to speak. "K? Are you hurt?"

The teen bit her lip, and pulled her hand out of Alice's. Claire was suddenly approaching them.

Alice looked at the unattended cockpit, and Claire subdued her worry.

"We're on autopilot." The redhead kneeled before the girl, now completely ignoring Alice and speaking again. "Let me see."

The brunette watched as K held out her arm. Claire gently pushed the sleeve up, and Alice's heart plummeted at what she saw. Gruesome teeth marks were indented and torn into her skin. She realized that it must've been the chained undead that had caused such a wound. Then she remembered why. Isaacs had made an inoculation; surely he'd given it to the girl before.

Alice spoke up, desperately wishing. "The serum-"

Claire cut her off viciously. "Didn't work. The bastard injected both of us with it, but was only able to test it on her." The redhead swallowed, and added a quiet command. "Look at her."

The brunette did. K was paling, her skin was wetting with sweat, and she had circles under her eyes. Still, something was screaming at her that Claire was wrong. She had to be, but Alice hung her head with pessimistic knowing. Then she remembered something, and began to laugh with relief.

"No," she met K's hazel eyes. "You're fine. I never sensed your infection – so you can't be infected."

"What?" Claire asked hopeful.

"The serum is working," Alice explained. "It's just running through its course."

The redhead seemed soothed by this; she was close to crying her relief. Alice saw a tear roll down her check, and she was so tempted to wipe it away. Claire did it before she had a chance, and got back to her feet.

"I have to go back to the controls."

Claire walked to the cockpit, but as she did so Alice spoke to her with a smile.

"Didn't know you could fly this thing, Claire."

Without even turning around Claire responded, animosity in her voice. "You don't know a lot of things."

Stupid, Alice chided herself, and let out a heavy sigh. She was ready to just drop her head in her hands, but one of them was still clutched around something. The brunette looked at the black device as she recalled Isaacs's last words.

The remote along with the code he gave her would obliterate the Arcadia. All of its crew, soldiers, and scientists; all records of research, but more importantly it would terminate every last ounce of the serum that saved K-mart's life. Alice had to decide quickly before any of the other Ospreys were launched after them.

Entering the numbers meant their complete safety and just that much more revenge for her, but it also meant the end of the vaccine that could save humanity. Isaacs had given her this choice. She didn't understand why, but the fate of mankind was in her hands – and her hands alone.

The brunette punched in the code, and K-mart watched her curiously. Before she confirmed the entry she looked up to see the redhead. Claire was sitting at the controls, gaze straight ahead.

I think this may be the most evil thing I've ever done.

Alice hit enter.

The redhead was right; she was a monster – but she was Claire's monster.

So y'all are happy I didn't kill K or Alice right? I mean who would kill a main character? psh - not me...never... ;) And just so you know this story is winding down (I think). I can't imagine there will be many chapters left - maybe I'll just do an epilogue because I seriously consider this the end.