I don't own nor will I ever own any of the characters from the Resident Evil films. Any events in the proceeding fanfiction are, simply fiction and are used without any gains other than people's enjoyment of it.

This IS a femslash/lesbian fanfiction. Pairs are: K-mart & OC. And perhaps Claire & Alice depending on where the story goes.

Chapter 3: -

'So, any clues on who could do that?' Chris asked, standing in the control room with his arms crossed and eyes boring into the ex-project's.

Alice shook her head. 'Another Umbrella project, maybe?'

After finding nothing on deck other than dead soldiers, the trio had decided to retreat to the control centre and see if it gave any clues. No such luck was made, leaving the siblings and ex-project stumped.

'I'll head a search team, see if we can find anything.' Pushing off of the wall, Claire jerked her chin at the tanker's wheel. 'See if you can set us a course, Chris.'

'Will do.' He saluted his baby sister. 'Any ideas where we headed?'

Looking between the darkening sky and the controls, Alice suggested, 'Where someone needs our help?'

'The whole fucking world needs help.'

'Then start on the coastline and work from there.' Pushing off of the wall, she jerked her thumb to the doorway. 'I'll go help Claire.'

Left to decide a path, Chris ran a weary hand across his eyes. 'L.A it is.'

K-mart gripped the handle of her rifle in clammy hands. Memories lacking, she glanced from one strange face to the next, knowing the fear in their eyes reflected in her own. She had felt familiarity when the redheaded woman saved her from the submerged chamber, but no names had resurfaced after the hurried introduction.

Even holding a gun seems familiar. She thought, recalling the undead she had knocked out with the butt of a sawn off shotgun.

'K?' Claire watched the teen with a concerned frown. 'You okay back there?'

Realising she had lagged behind her search party, K-mart flushed and hastened to catch up. 'Yeah, yeah I'm fine.' Shifting uneasily under her green eyed stare, she pointed to the aisles between the cargo crates falling away into shadows. 'Has anyone been sent to check there?'

Claire frowned and motioned for a group of four men. 'You, go take a look.' She tossed one a walkie-talkie. 'Keep the line open in case something happens.'

They nodded, hefted their guns and hurried to complete the sweep as quickly as possible.

K-mart watched them go, her brown eyes conflicted. She wanted to follow Claire, walk with a semi-familiar face and know she'd be safe. But something about the darkness, the queer silence piqued her curiosity.

'K?' Claire stood in the doorway leading to the upper levels, having already sent the rest of the search party ahead. 'You coming?'

'Yeah…' She shook her head to clear out any rebellious thoughts and approached th eex-convoy leader.

'Come on, lets see if we can find something to eat.' Slinging an arm around the girl's shoulders, Claire refrained from voicing her concerns.

K-mart stiffened but didn't remove the limb.

What did they do to you kid? Claire wondered, recalling the months spent alone, terrified and practically feral at the abandoned airfield. Just having the girl walking along side her gave her a sense of what she now classed as normalcy. Adding in finding Chris after over half a decade gave her a feeling she hadn't had in so long. Happiness.

'You know what's strange?' Not expecting an answer back from the computer, she ploughed on. 'I know my name, my age, what I'm capable of and even where I'm made. But how to interact with other people? So not good.' Shaking her head with a chuckle, she leant against the wall and threw a ball against the other side of the cargo crate.

For the past six hours, she had watched the kidnapped passengers pass through the bowels of the tanker, familiarising themselves with the once fatal ship and irradiating any Umbrella leftovers they could find. Though, after a resilient three hours of searching, looting and eating, the passengers had retired to the crew's rooms and took a much needed sleep.

Only three remained awake, lounged in the captain's suite, as they struggled to come up with a plan. Unfortunately the computer lacked speakers and left the project wondering what on earth was running through their heads. Maybe they were wondering what to do now with over two-thousand passengers.

'Plus a rebellious project.' Hearing her raspy voice echo in the starkly lit room, she caught the ball on its tenth return and threw it. After an hour of throwing and catching, her sensitive ears had gotten used to the dull ring of plastic on metal.

'But what I don't get, is how come I woke up now? Surely daddy dearest would know I have no intentions of following his orders, no matter the cost. So why bother?'

The computer provided no answer, continuing its monotonous bleeps and whirs.

'You know, you're not that talkative.' She threw the ball again, as a movement on one of the cameras caught her eyes.

In a blink she was inches from the screen, zooming in on the lurking teenager. Blonde hair shrouded by a worn hoody, the girl held a gun in one hand a flashlight in the other.

'Well hello, who might you be?' Watching the girl creep through the crates with a wary curiosity, she couldn't help but feel pulled towards her.

Without much thought given, the project opened one of the draws in the wall and pulled out a fresh black tank-top and a pair of baggy shorts. 'Lets see if you're so curious after meeting me,' She murmured, straightening out the clothes on her athletic frame.

With a few buttons pressed and a voiced command, the front of the crate slid aside and let the project step outside for the first time in months.

I shouldn't be doing this. K-mart thought, jumping each time the tanker groaned or creaked. Pressing the handgun closer to her chest, she leant against a red crate and peered around the corner.

She knew the moment she watched the men walk away, that she couldn't allow them to investigate the area alone. She had to too. Though, after waiting until everyone was asleep or otherwise occupied probably wasn't the best idea, she couldn't bring herself to regret it.

Not until Claire or Alice found out.

Just thinking about her saviours made her wince.

'You finally realising a pretty girl like you shouldn't be wandering alone at night?'

Startled by the voice, K-mart shriek and fired at the nearest shadow.

'Now this is why you don't let girls wander alone, they end up trying to shoot an unsuspecting bystander.' She wouldn't admit it, but the blonde's aim was remarkably good, just clipping the metal at her shoulder.

Relieved that it wasn't a zombie, nor taking any chances, K-mart danced her flashlight around the immediate area. 'Well why don't you show yourself, then I won't have to shoot you…oh.' The beam of light landed on the crate opposite her, revealing the raven haired girl.

Grimacing, she shielded her eyes with an arm and asked, 'Would you be so kind, as to lower that? Kinda blind here.'

Pointing the light to the floor, K-mart kept her gun aimed at the taller girl's chest. 'Who are you?'

'I'll tell you mine, if you tell me yours,' She retorted, leaning against the crate with a lazy smile. Hands in her pockets, she couldn't help but appreciate the girl's body beneath the borrowed shirt and jeans.

Unsettled by the girl's intense look, she retorted, 'I asked first.' She raised the gun a fraction. 'I won't hesitate to shoot either.'

'Think I'm an Umbrella agent?' She scoffed and gestured to her shaggy hair and clothes. 'Think they'd hire the likes of me?' Make me would be more like it. But she refrained to say it aloud.

'I-I asked for your name.' Her confidence dwindling, she suddenly wished she was back in her shared room and sleeping the horrors away.

Smelling the girl's fear, she spread her arms and took a step towards her, trying to keep a friendly expression. 'Alexis Delaney, but I prefer Alex.'

'K-mart.'

Alex arched an eyebrow but made no comment on the name. 'So…what brings you out here when everyone else is asleep?'

'Are you an Umbrella operative?' She repeated guardedly.

'Err…no.' Noticing the girl's finger twitch on the trigger, she said hastily, 'I'm a part of the crew, well was, until some douche bag went all cannibal on us and everyone fled. Left me behind.'

Her British accent becoming clipped with every word, K-mart mistook it for grief and lowered the gun. Something about the girl's angular features and clear gaze made her believe her. But not trust her.

'So, find anything interesting on your walk?' Alex asked, after a lengthy silence passed with the blonde's eyes trained on her. She's quite hot under all that suspicion and man's clothes. She thought, stifling a smile.

'Uh, no.' Shuffling her feet, she briefly wondered if someone had heard the gun shot. If they did, they'd be here by now.

'Oh.' Nodding to herself, Alex cupped the back of her neck. 'Well this isn't awkward in the slightest…'

K-mart smiled, amused by her childish frown and mumblings. 'So what did you?'

'Huh?'

'Oh the ship,' K-mart elaborated, 'What did you do on the ship?'

'Oh.' Smiling sheepishly, she rocked on her heels. 'I used to work on the engines, make sure everything was ticking over perfectly.'

'Oh. Did you, uh, know what they were doing?'

'To the passengers like you?'

K-mart nodded, holding tightly to the handgun.

'Uh…not really, no.' Liar. 'If I stepped out of line then I would've been added to the menu. As a result, I holed myself up in one of the crates and tried to avoid anyone connect to Umbrella.' Alex hated lying to the blonde, but didn't dwell on it, when hurried footsteps approached.

'Then I think I need to take you to Claire.' Raising the gun to point at Alex's chest, K-mart offered an apologetic smile. 'Sorry.'

'No need.' Rounding the corner with twin Glock handguns aimed at Alex, Claire positioned herself in front of K-mart, never taking her eyes off of the project.

Alex gulped, as Alice came into view, a Mossberg trained on her head. The moment she looked the older woman in the eyes, she couldn't help a gasp of recognition, stifling it to one of fear.

The ex-project hesitated a fraction of a second, faced with a gaze so similar to her own when she was infected. The inner turmoil, self-loathing and hate boiling beneath the surface.

Alex watched the women before her and gulped. 'Uh…hi?'