Chapter 23: Frozen In Time

The black remote fell from Alice's grip as the Osprey was hit with shockwaves from the explosion. The aircraft's warning system kicked in a second later.

Turbulence…Turbulence…Turbulence…

The disembodied voice carried on, but Alice was too tired to give it much thought. She wasn't sure if it was the consequences of her last action or the exhaustion she felt from what she'd suffered through, but the turmoil had caught up with her. She was covered in blood, and her body was still revolting against her as the serum fought her unique infection. Every muscle was heavy and laced with fire. All she wanted to do was sleep.

It was a struggle to keep her eyes open, so she didn't. The brunette wasn't sure which way she'd fall when she passed out, but she didn't care so long as oblivion was within her reach. Her consciousness didn't slip away – it plummeted.

Alice was awake, but she wasn't near brave enough to open her eyes. She could just tell she was still in her cell; that a white infinity would greet her. Then her mind started to drift back to last time she was aware, and she remembered that she wasn't on the Arcadia any more. The brunette opened her eyes to find she wasn't on the Osprey either.

She had no idea where she was, but she was in a room. The walls were made of wood, and there was a soft bed beneath her. She looked down at herself. A blanket covered most of her, but she wasn't wearing white. Alice was in a spare set of her clothes. The familiar, black fabric was a comfort like no other.

The brunette listened, but the only thing she could glean from the cold air was silence. Alice felt deaf and blind. She sat up on the mattress. Her body moved with stiffness the likes of which she had never experienced before. There was a deep ache to her chest, and Alice recalled that she'd been shot there. She pulled down her shirt collar to see a white bandage placed over the wound. Removing the bandage slightly she saw the injury was stitched up, but it looked clean.

It took a moment for Alice to remember what that meant. One word fell from her lips when she did so.

"Human…"

I'm human, Alice thought as she dropped her head in her hands. She was human and it hurt like hell. Her selfish actions had damned humanity, and the weight of her guilt was crushing her. It was like every past mistake, every flaw, every inadequate choice all amounted to this – to suffering.

There, in the unknown room with her hands over her face, Alice convulsed once, and then again as warm liquid wet her skin. She was crying hard, something she hadn't really done for the sheer sake that she could not; she'd been too emotionally inept to release her feelings in such a way – until now. The tears made her hands shake as they remained firmly held to her face. She clamped one over her mouth to hold back the sobs she knew were coming. Her body rocked with the force as a whimper broke loose, and she put her other hand on top of the first. The brunette's wound hurt with the tremor, but it was still nothing like her emotional anguish.

Alice recalled with bitter clarity that the very hands she was trying to silence herself with were used to hurt Claire. She never should have saved me.

Suddenly the brunette heard a noise she'd come to know as danger. She whipped her head up as the fast click of nails on a flat surface grew close to the door left slightly ajar. Alice looked under her pillow for a handgun, knowing that she would've placed one there if she could have. There was nothing beneath it. She tried to rise from the bed, but it was too late. Her speed was nonexistent, and her chest ached against the motion.

The brunette didn't know why she was fighting it; she thought she should just let undead beast kill her and be done, but even a human Alice was not a coward. She painstakingly brought her legs to the edge of the bed and set her feet on the floor. Just as she was about to rise the door opened to reveal – a puppy, and an alive one at that.

She couldn't believe her eyes, and with a weak laugh she looked at the lanky mass of fur as it ran to her. The young dog was a Saint Bernard, compassion only matched by the size of its massive paws. The pup let out a whine when it reached the edge of the bed and Alice didn't pick it up.

"No," she told it. "Absolutely not. I hate dogs."

The Saint Bernard whined again, its tail lightly wagging, and already Alice knew she was lying. She sniffled and wiped at her eyes before conceding to the dog. The movement to pick it up hurt, but she did it anyway. The brown, white and black colored puppy immediately set out to lick the salt from her face as she tried everything to get out its reach.

"No, no – see this is why!"

She was finally able to subdue the dog, once she found the sensitive spot behind its ear. The brunette scratched it, and the pup collapsed onto her in content. God-damn ridiculous...only K-mart would want such a thing. At that thought Alice heard a set of footsteps. Her heart jumped and then fell at the notion that it might be Claire. It wasn't.

K-mart appeared in the door frame next, instant smile on her face.

"We were–I was wondering when you'd wake up."

K amended her comment to leave Claire out of it and Alice noticed. The teen crossed over to the bed, and the dog happily welcomed the extra attention as she began to pet it.

"I see you've met Paco." K smiled as the puppy's tail began to thump on the mattress.

"Paco?" Alice raised an eyebrow. "You let Claire name him – didn't you?"

K laughed. "No! I named him."

Alice was forced to sniffle again; it hurt to speak of Claire in such lighthearted a way. The teen looked her over with worried eyes, and the brunette recalled K's injury.

"How's your arm?"

"It's fine."

Alice smiled dimly. Her blood sacrifice had led to at least one good thing.

The brunette debated whether or not to just go back to sleep. She was still tired, but that was a coward's way out, and it wouldn't save her from what she had to face, only delay it.

"How long have I been out?" she questioned.

"Four days."

Four days, and I'm not fully healed yet. Alice knew the T-virus was strong, but Isaacs's desire for a perfect serum was strong as well. She wondered just how human she really was, but finding out would have to wait. There were still other things she wanted to know.

"Where are we?"

At that inquiry the teen brightened up a little more than Alice liked.

"Resurrection, Alaska!"

The brunette shook her head. "You didn't-"

"Heck yeah, I did! I mean there's no one else here but us – well us and Paco."

At the sound of his name the dog's ears perked causing him to look dwarfed by the differing proportions between his big head and small ears. Alice unconsciously began to rub behind them again.

The teen spoke, this time much softer. "What happened to you, Alice?"

She realized that she would have to tell this story to Claire eventually, so Alice figured the girl would be good practice. The brunette swallowed once, but before she began she had one more question.

"How long were we on the ship?"

"About a month."

A month… It was a month of constantly being bled to near death, then given the chance to convalesce in an unconscious coma, only to repeat the action again and again. Still, that was no excuse to hurt Claire. There would never be any excuse for that.

"When you two were taken, I broke free from Umbrella's hold and knocked out the satellite they were using to control me. I killed some of the soldiers before Isaacs could stop me. He threatened me with your lives…so I surrendered." Alice paused to swallow. "I can't say I recall being there for a month, but I was at Isaacs's command the entire time. He took my blood to turn it into the serum he gave you."

"Your blood?" K-mart interrupted after her eyebrows drew together.

"It was the key to the serum – the only reason it worked."

The teen didn't need the details she was about to give, but she wanted to run it by the girl before she spoke to Claire. She needed some kind of indication of the reaction she could get.

"Isaacs took all the blood he could from me; it was constant. He barely let me recover before he did it again. I admit – I forgot who I was in all that pain." The brunette looked down indicating that her telling was over.

"I'm so sorry, Alice. I don't know what to say…I mean who would've thought that words could fail me of all people?"

At that the older woman was forced to smile, and K returned it in full.

"You're a good kid, you know that?"

"Oh no," K feigned annoyance with a groan. "Don't go back to calling me a kid."

"Alright," Alice chuckled. "I won't."

The brunette was like an addict. Every time the conversation turned light, she felt she had to bring it back down. Her next questions would certainly do just that.

"Where's Claire?"

"She's out right now, but she'll be back."

Alice let out a pain spiked sigh, laced with anguish and regret. "She hates me, doesn't she?"

"She doesn't hate you – she's just hurt."

"What?" Alice wanted K's last confession out of her ears; she wanted it out now. She knew she'd been rough with Claire, but that the redhead was actually hurt from it was something else entirely.

"No – no. Alice, she's fine. I meant she's not physically hurt, but emotionally." The teen looked off not really seeming to pay attention to her next words. "Well, there's some bruising, but-"

Fuck! She cut the girl off even as K-mart tried to backtrack.

"What have I done, K?" Alice didn't care if K saw her cry, so the tears fell again.

"It's not that bad-"

"You were there – you saw what I did!" The dog snuggled closer into Alice's hand, almost as if he was trying to will her back to serenity. She felt it, but it didn't work.

"Alice, Alice – take a damn breath."

The brunette nearly laughed at her own words thrown back in her face, and K smiled. Alice did as she was commanded, and let her breathing calm her back down.

When she was settled she gave the teen a comforting smile. Then abruptly the dog jerked his head up in the direction of the door. The brunette hadn't heard a thing, but she wouldn't with her old, human senses. She followed the dog's gaze as did the teen, but she saw nothing. Alice didn't realize K was armed with a pistol until she caught the girl put a hand on it from the corner of her eye.

"It's probably nothing," K said as she rose from the bed. "I'll check it out," she whispered.

"Not without me you won't," the older woman argued as she moved the dog off her legs. "Help me up."

K guided Alice off the mattress; then the brunette held out her hand for the girl's weapon.

"Hand it over," she commanded, her eyes still on the door.

The teen bent to her will with an easy trust, and gave her the pistol. Alice was instantly at home with the metal in her hand. She broke away from K's support and took lead. The place was completely foreign to her. The interior was poorly furnished, but the wooden walls were inviting.

K spoke up quietly behind her. "Seriously Alice, this place doesn't have any infected. It has life. I mean, we found Paco here."

The words weren't as comforting as Alice thought they would be. If there were no undead to fight, what purpose would she have? Where would she turn when the anger got to be too much? Claire's face tortured her mind, but she'd die before she hurt Claire again.

Still, the brunette kept expecting her blood to sing as they checked the cabin. It was a weird way to take a tour of the structure, but she did see everything. K's room, where apparently Claire had been staying with the girl, proven by the blankets and pillow on the floor; next was the bathroom, living room, small dining area, and finally the kitchen. The house was empty, whatever had alerted the dog was gone or had never been there in the first place.

"I told you it was nothing," K said.

Alice still wasn't satisfied. She walked to one of the windows in the living room and looked out. The cabin was surrounded by woods, at least on this side, but it was a beautiful day. The sunlight was scattered by the few leaves still on the trees outside and spliced by the needles of large, green pines. The brunette suddenly felt wetness on her left breast. She looked down, her wound had been opened; she could see the blood staining her clothes even blacker than they already were.

"Shit," she cursed.

"What is it?"

The brunette ignored K's inquiry. Alice put pressure over the wound. She tried to tell if the exit point was bleeding as well, but she couldn't feel any of the warm liquid on her back. It seemed she was only bleeding from the entry. It wasn't much, but she'd need to change the bandage, and maybe even reset some stitches.

Alice turned back to the teen, and K-mart gasped at the blood staining the brunette's hand.

"Jesus Christ, Alice!"

The older woman laughed. "You sound just like Claire."

"Good!" K responded and began to guide Alice back to the master bedroom. "Maybe then you'll listen to me when I tell you to get back in bed."

Alice rolled her eyes at the instruction, but she ended up letting K help her change the bandage when they got there. The damage was really very little; not enough that any stitches had to be pulled out and redone, just enough to cause some surface bleeding.

The brunette didn't stay in bed much after that, much to K's displeasure, but Paco's good fortune. He received a fair amount of her attention. She tried to pawn it off that she was just too bored to not pet the dog, but really she found it incredibly soothing. Alice was still very weak; the month of torture, the bullet wound, and the serum at battle with her blood didn't allow her to remain up for long periods of time, though she did pace when she could. It was nearing nightfall, and Claire had still not returned. Alice was beyond worried; she was frantic.

She was back to pacing, Paco watched her from the bed. Suddenly his head jerked up from resting on his paws. Alice saw the reaction and immediately withdrew a pistol K had given to her after she returned the teen's. The near extinction of her superhuman abilities was already beginning to wear on her. She wasn't used to being human; she wasn't used to being weak.

Alice was done waiting for Claire to appear. K-mart was in the kitchen making food, and while the brunette was starved, she was craving one thing much more. The teen had said earlier the Claire was checking out an abandoned town about two miles back. She put the gun in her waistband and snuck out of the house, knowing full well that K-mart would never let her leave. The evening air was approaching freezing, but normally she wouldn't have needed a coat so she didn't bother with one. She was surprised to see the Hummer parked out front however. K had also said that Claire had taken the SUV to go there. Alice walked up to the vehicle, but no one was inside it.

The brunette wondered when Claire had returned. She never heard the vehicle pull up, though she had fallen in and out of sleep when she wasn't petting the dog, or pacing. It suddenly struck Alice that maybe Claire didn't want to be found. She sighed as she set her elbows on the hood, and once again, put her head in her hands. It was a move of utter defeat that seemed frozen, but only for a moment.

Soooo...Who loves Paco? Haha, damn mutt just had to be there. Some of you may know that Alice actually did have a dog name Paco in the Extinction screenplay. It wasn't a Saint Bernard (its breed was never given, it was some kind of small dog/ball of fur, but adorable none the less), but they're living in Alaska so I thought it was fitting. Let me know what you guys are thinking with reviews yeah? Oh and an update on the whole 'when is the end of this story coming?'... I can tell you now that there are at least 2 chapters left, and I'm freakin' stoked for the next one. I kinda have this amazing paragraph that made me a bit of a mess when I wrote it...I may have cried a little...Not that it's anything bad - you guys need to calm down. haha. They were happy tears. Man, sometimes I can just go on... You know what shuts me up, and makes me update faster, so you know what the hell I'm talking about? REVIEWS!