The first thing Alice noticed, as she pushed through the haze of being drugged, was the pain. Her muscles had completely cramped up, the sharp pain jolting her body. As she pushed herself off the table, doing her best despite the pain, her legs gave out, as though they were jelly. It took a moment for her to fully compose herself and her new surroundings, and slowly she managed to get to her feet. A large two way mirror was on the wall in front of her, and she made her way to it in a disjointed walk.

She slammed her hand against the surface, calling out to anyone who might have been able to hear.

No response.

Turning back to the table, she grabbed one of the needles she had pulled from her own body, before disabling the door lock. The halls of the hospital were empty, eerily so. Seeing a closet, she grabbed a large coat, wrapping herself in it before studying the hall, faintly remembering the scientist's words from that morning. If both her and Rain had been put in close observation, then it only made sense that the other woman was in this same vicinity.

If she had been saved, that was.

She moved down the hall, looking into each room as she passed it. Only a handful down from her own, and across the hall, she found what she was looking for.

Rain looked much better than she had when Alice last saw her, although maybe that was just because of the white of the room that surrounded her. It also appeared that whatever system function that stopped the drugs pumping in her own body had not affected the computers that displayed Rain's stats. It took only a minute, but Alice's knowledge of Umbrella's computer security system let her break into their database, and stop the sedatives that were being pumped into her friend. Knowing it would take several minutes to affect the darker woman, Alice searched out something more for clothes, coming across a pair of scrubs that had been on a supply cart several paces down the hall.

Rain was stirring as Alice got back, and the blonde made quick work on the other lock, pushing open the door and moving to Rain's side.

The Latino woman was groaning in pain, as she drowsily surveyed the room around her.

"Wh-" her voice was slurred, as she stopped, perhaps to think of what she wanted to ask first.

"We're in the Raccoon City Hospital, I think," Alice said softly. "But something's wrong. Very wrong. We need to go."

Blinking in confusion, Rain squinted at the face next to her.

"Alice?"

"I got you some scrubs. They were all that I could find."

It still did not seem to make sense to the other woman, but after a moment she allowed Alice to help her into the clothes.

Slowly the pair made their way out of the hospital, relieved at not being alone.

Although the relief did not last long. Stepping onto the usually crowded main street of Raccoon City, they froze. Cars were abandoned, the city in disarray. Slowly Alice made her way down the stairs, staring at the destroyed city that surrounded her. A police cruiser was one of the first cars she came to, and after looking into it, she was relieved to find a rifle, which she immediately retrieved.

"What are we gonna do?"

Rains question broke the otherwise silent world around them.

"We need to find some clothes first," Alice said. "And weapons."

Definitely weapons, they both agreed internally. Rain kept Alice's pace, as she moved through the maze of cars with confidence, stopping occasionally to see if there was anything worth looting. After hitting gold with one more police car, they continued on. It was Alice who first broke the silence.

"How are you feeling?"

It was a moment before Rain answered.

"Whatever they gave me really messed with my head. Everything's still kind of fuzzy," she started. "But other than that, like new."

There was an undertone of sarcasm that Alice could not miss on the statement.

"Yeah. I know exactly what you mean."

"What do you think happened here?"

Alice paused at a cross road, looking in either direction.

"I don't know. But something tells me it has to do with what happened down in the Hive."

She started down the street heading west, and after a moment Rain followed.

"I think I knew that you'd say that," she said, catching up quickly to her companion. "I just also hoped I was wrong."

Night set in quickly as they made their way through the town. Alice steered them towards a small shop on the left - a surplus clothing store, but also a collectors shop.

"Hello?"

Silence answered them green-blue met dark brown as the two women shared a look.

Alice was the first to make her way into the store, and after a moment Rain followed, pausing to wedge a chair in the door.

It couldn't hurt to be safe. She made her way towards the clothing racks, sifting through her options with disinterest. She finally decided on a pair of black cargo pants, a long sleeved red shirt, and a black vest. She was relieved to see that there was a small underclothes section - mainly advertising the versatility of the 90/10 nylon/spandex fabric, but she wasn't going to complain at this point. She quickly changed, sliding the vest over her shirt before a small gasp of pain drew her attention to the back corner of the store.

"Alice?"

Rain moved deftly through the racks of clothes, stopping short when she saw the blonde on the ground, twitching in agony.

"Alice!"

The brunette was at her side in a moment, lost on what to do, as her first aid training was minimal at best. Thankfully after only another minute, whatever fit Alice was experiencing stopped, and the blonde was left out of breath.

"What happened?"

When the blonde had calmed her breathing, several minutes later, she slowly shook her head.

"I don't know," the blonde stuttered. "I think they did something to me in there...I don't feel normal anymore."

Rain stared at the blonde in concern.

"Are you okay?"

"I feel alright now."

Rain helped Alice to her feet, making sure the blonde could stand on her own.

"Are you almost set?"

Rain blinked at the question.

"I just need shoes."

Alice nodded, slinging the rifle over her shoulder again, as if nothing had just happened. After hesitation, Rain made her way to the small footwear display, looking at it in disappointment before settling on a pair of dark leather-ed Timberland's, looking through the many boxes until she found her size. Grabbing a pair of socks, she quickly put on the boots and laced them up. She made her way back to the front of the store, where she found Alice studying the assortment of knives though the glass.

"What are you thinking?" Rain asked, leaning against the counter next to her.

"How are you on ammo?"

Rain's hand went to her hip, where a standard Umbrella-issued Colt was holstered. Thought never her first choice, she had trained intensely with such a weapon, and knew it well. They had scavenged it from one of the police cars they had passed.

"Both mags are full."

"That's sixteen rounds?"

Rain nodded.

"Yeah."

"We don't have many slugs for the rifle," the blonde added. There was a pause of silence before Alice moved suddenly, slamming one elbow onto the counter top.

The glass shattered. The sudden sound jolted Rain, but she managed to control her outward reaction.

"Take your pick. We definitely need to find more guns, but until then it wouldn't hurt to have backup," Alice explained, as she picked out a pair of matching throwing knives. Testing the weight, she nodded her approval, quickly managing to fit them onto her outfit. Rain reached though the shards of glass, grabbing a large combat knife that folded into itself. She clipped it at the waist of her pants.

"So how we gonna get our hands on weapons?"

Alice thought for a moment.

"I have an idea," she said slowly. "But it's only a possibility."

Rain looked around to the dark store.

"I think all we have left are possibilities," she admitted for the first time. Alice's piercing gaze studied her for a moment.

"That's probably true. Follow me."

They made their way out of the store, feeling just a little less lost than they had previously. Though not a frequent visitor of the city, Rain quickly realized where Alice was headed. Two blocks later they stared up at the ominous building that loomed over them. The Raccoon City Police Department had definitely seen better days. Most of the windows were either cracked, or full out shattered, and the door looked like it had been blown right off the hinges.

"Are you sure about this?" Rain studied the building warily, and Alice shot her a sideways glance.

"How many other choices have we got?" Alice replied in kind. "They have an arms room for both the entire PD, and the city's S.T.A.R.S unit."

"Good point," Rain agreed finally, looking to the building once more. "Well... you only need two people to clear a room," she added lightly, before her training kicked in. Grabbing the Colt, she quickly made her way up to the door, stepping behind the brick wall that surrounded the frame. Fatal funnel her mind supplied readily.

Alice had staggered herself behind Rain, holding the rifle at what the brunette immediately recognized as a 'low ready' stance. Good. She did know something about urban warfare.

Holding up one hand, Rain let it drop, and Alice maneuvered easily around the brunette, sweeping the room with both the rifle and her eyes. Rain was in right after the blonde, stepping to the other side of the door frame as she gave the room a once over as well.

"Empty," Alice was the first to speak, keeping her voice hushed. Rain nodded.

"You know where that room's kept?"

Alice nodded, motioning for Rain to follow her. Like the rest of the city they'd encountered thus far, the police station seemed to be empty, as they cleared each room leading to the small, well secured armory at the back of the building. Nevertheless, Rain still kept guard as Alice quickly broke into the room and started sifting through the array of weapons. It was nearly ten minutes later when she returned.

"Happy birthday," she said dryly, placing an MP5K on the counter next to Rain. The brunette's face lit up, for the first time in a while, at the familiar sight. Her's was long gone, lost this morning at some point during their escape from the underground facility. Two hundred-round magazines, fully loaded, accompanied it.

"Thanks," she said, hoping that the blonde would not be offended at her curt reply. Alice did not seem to notice as she made a second trip into the room. Holstering the Colt, she put a magazine into the sub-machine gun, grinning at the familiar sound. Another Colt, as well as four more loaded magazines, joined her new collection.

Alice herself had grabbed two Sigs, each with an extra magazine, two matching machine guns, and more slugs for the rifle. It was then that Rain realized that Alice felt more comfortable with many weapons, as opposed to herself, who was more than secure with only one and a backup.

The blonde was arming up as if she were about to face an entire army alone. After a moment of contemplation, Rain figured she probably had the right idea, as she looked back up to the dark room.

Still empty but for the pair.

It was nearly twenty minutes later that both former Umbrella employees made their way cautiously out of the police station, looking around the three way intersection, trying to determine which direction would be best.

"There's a parking garage, about three blocks that way," Alice nodded ahead of them. "There has to be something there we can use."

"Well then, let's go."

They made it to the garage in good time, and Alice had been right. They came across two motorcycles almost immediately, and figured they would be the best choice to maneuver through the countless wreckage that was now the city.

It was Alice who lead the way. They had been driving for only fifteen minutes before the blonde pulled up short, turned towards a large church that was nearly a block down the way.

"What's up?" Rain called over the engines. Alice shook her head, pointing to the large structure. There were countless numbers of infected people, banging and clawing at the door.

"There's something in that building. Like that monster from the lab."

Rain shuttered as she remembered the Licker, a sense of dread filling her at the thought of more.

A scream carried over to them, followed by several gun shots.

"And there are people too," Rain unnecessarily pointed out, not liking where this was headed. "Uninfected."

"We gotta-"

"I know."

She pressed her lips together, looking from Alice to the church. A large semi, which at one point had been transporting cars, was stopped at just the right angle to propel them through the stained glass window, if they could get enough momentum.

Alice was already driving down the street, in the opposite direction. After a moment Rain followed suit. Alice had flipped the visor on her helmet opened, studying the brunette as she lined up her red bike directly next to the blonde's silver one.

Rain couldn't see the smile on her companion's face, but her eyes expressed plenty.

"I'll race you there," the green-blue eyes sparked as they teased her. Revving the engine, as she held the clutch, Rain didn't speak to answer the challenge. With a laugh, Alice flicked her face shield down once again.

Five seconds later they were driving full speed to the truck.

So, next will be the second part of Apocalypse, only cause I already an idea in my head for after it...it will start to be more original then. After the next one, it'll be a handful of chapters until Extinction, which I don't have planned out at all, so yeah. That's when the updates will grow apart. What can I say, I'm a busy kid. And yes, I changed where they got the guns from... I mean, how many surplus stores have a fully stocked weapons display? Seriously.

- Shannon Riley