With the aid of the other operative, disposing of the infected faculty, and the dogs, was a short task. It was only unfortunate that Nikolai had been killed in the process.
Reuniting with Alice, however, made up for it plenty in Rain's opinion.
After the revelation that the three women were greatly infected with t-virus, and that Angie was the very reason it had been created in the first place, they all made their way back to the truck, stopping for only a few minutes when Doctor Ashford called on the payphone right outside the school. With all the details known, the group piled in the Dodge with Angie and L.J up front, and Rain, Alice, and Carlos in the back.
"So what are you about to put in me?" Carlos asked once again, as Jill sped through the streets.
"The anti-virus," Alice answered. "The t-virus was created to animate dead cells. In the simplest sense, it brings the dead back to life. In a living human it can cause uncontrollable mutation... or in the case of a little girl, help her to walk again. If the virus is kept in check with this," Alice held up the now empty vial.
"Angie's infected?"
Having come in after the fact, he had not known that anyone besides himself had been infected.
Alice simply nodded.
"The cellular growth is enough to animate the dead cells in her body, but not enough to cause mutation."
Carlos studied her intently, curious at her knowledge.
"And you're infected too?" he chanced a guess.
"We both are," Rain answered when Alice didn't.
"But we're not contagious," the blonde was quick to assure.
Jill reached back, holding her hand for Alice to take what was in it.
"Tape the story. I'll make sure people see it."
In a rare moment of emotion, the brunette offered the pair a small smile. Alice accepted the camera with a nod, turning to look at Rain, who was between her and the door.
The brunette was nodding, and Alice turned back to the camera, turning it on. Pressing the little red button, she saw the record symbol up on the small screen that she was looking into.
"My name is Alice. I worked for the Umbrella Corporation - the largest, most powerful commercial entity in the world. I was head of security at a secret high-tech facility called the Hive."
For the rest of the ride there, Alice detailed the horrors that had happened, only the previous morning. A story that only herself and Rain knew the entirety of, until now that was. When Alice offered the camera, Rain simply detailed what happened when the blonde had not been around - finding the first infected, the hour of fighting that happened when the blonde had disappeared with Matt. The loss of her teammates.
The cab had fallen into a solemn silence as they pulled up to the building that was City Hall. Alice informed everyone of a plan that only she would be stupid enough to try.
But it had worked. They made their way past the guards and up to the roof of the building. A fallen guard rose behind Alice's back, and Rain had her Colt pointed at him in a second. It was Carlos, however, who recognized that a gunshot would give them away in an instant. His knife buried itself deep into the guard's neck, who crippled to the ground.
They clambered aboard the helicopter, when Alice promptly froze.
"We need to go," she said after a moment. Rain recognized the panic in her voice immediately.
"We have plenty of time."
"No we don't," it was Rain who argued, trusting the blonde explicitly. She was the only one who went through everything that Rain had, the only one who could begin to understand.
The only one to know everything. Hell, at this point Rain would even admit that if they had just listened to the blonde sooner, they wouldn't have been in this situation in the first place, because the computer would never have been shut down, the doors never would have been open, and the workers would not have escaped. They could have returned to the surface, told Umbrella everything that happened, all the dangers of opening the Hive. And then they would have gone their own ways.
But Rain's teammates, and herself by default (for she knew if she had been there, she wouldn't have heeded the blonde either at that time), hadn't trusted the blonde then. And Rain was determined never to make that mistake again, as dangerous as it might turn out to be.
"What are you waiting for? I said take off!"
"Why the rush?"
Major Cain had effectively taken them all by surprise. Alice stared at the group she had met this past night, before looking across the roof to the hulking form of Nemesis.
"Begin."
The order was simple, and Rain studied Alice, even as she turned towards the more dangerous looking mutation. The brunette watched with reserve as Alice, despite the dramatic size difference, immediately went on the attack, deftly avoiding Nemesis's own blows. Her advantage did not last forever, though, as the other experiment got his own shots in, strong enough she was positive would have brought anyone else to their knees, in the very least.
Alice seemed only the slightest fazed, however. When Cain finally gave in, and tossed her weapons to combat Nemesis's hand crafted one, it was then when an idea finally sparked. She kicked the large form hard. Over and over, until he was impaled with a spike of metal that he himself had created. It was ironic how fate worked sometimes. Rain herself was nearly out of the bonds that had forced her hands behind her back.
Somehow, despite the distance, only Rain heard the muttering of the blonde.
"Oh Matt. I'm so sorry, Matt."
Rain's eyes lit in recognition, as she suddenly remembered what had happened right before they had both been drugged at the mansion.
'He's mutating. I want him in the Nemesis program.'
At some point in her memory, Cain had moved from beside her to in front of Alice, where he was explaining everything to the blonde. Gritting her teeth, Rain hid her grin of success when she finally freed one hand, before tearing the plastic band off her wrists fully, let it fall to the ground as she kept up the appearance of still being bound.
"Don't you understand? Somehow you bonded with the t-virus on a cellular level. You adapted it, changed it, became... magnificent."
As Cain said all this to Alice, Rain had to wonder what that meant for her. She had been greatly infected as well, she had almost died even. Exactly what did that mean for her?
"You are not mutation, you are evolution. Why can't you see that? You're special. You are the future. Just imagine what you can become, really become, if you join me."
Alice was not to be persuaded, however, even when it resulted with her on the other side of Nemesis, machine guns trained right at her.
The rounds all missed however, and it took Alice a moment to realize that she had not been the target, despite the orders. It was then that Rain jolted to her feet, taking out the guard closest to her first, before moving down the line near the chopper. Carlos and Jill both finally got out of their restraints, joining her in the assault. At some point in the fight, no one had noticed exactly when, L.J found his way into the helicopter, where he had disarmed the pilot and taken the seat. It was with great pleasure that he knocked Cain down, as his companions quickly joined him on the chopper.
Outside, chaos was still reigning over all else. Bullets flying in almost every direction, Rain was low crawling her way across the building top, safely avoiding all the rounds flying overhead.
When the helicopter exploded, however, they're was much more to worry about. The brunette tucked into herself, rolling out of the way as large pieces of metal rained down around her. She glanced up just in time to see Alice get knocked down by a stray piece of rotor blade.
No. Alice.
"Alice!"
Angie echoed her shout, as Rain got to her feet, sprinting the short distance to the blonde. Angie was beside her just a few seconds later.
"Please," the little girl begged. "You have to get up."
"Alice, you're alright. You're gonna be fine," Rain reassured the blonde, who seemed to be in shock but otherwise still conscious. Briefly her gaze lifted, looking towards the lone surviving helicopter. The blades were already spinning, signs of the imminent liftoff.
"Angie get to the chopper," Rain ordered, managing to stay calm. "We're gonna be right behind you, okay? Get there and be ready to go."
The little girl looked to the brunette, before nodded. She got up, running back across the roof. Rain got to her feet, reaching down to help Alice up, supporting her weight easily before making their way to the helicopter. Carlos met them at the door, helping Alice to the seat next to Angie.
"We gotta get out of here," L.J yelled back from the front of the vehicle. "Everyone grab a seat!"
The command was obeyed instantly as the chopper finally lifted off the ceiling. Rain however, ignored the demand, muscling Cain to his feet, keeping her face impassive as she stared him down. "Ah, yes, Rain...my other pet. You are just a wonder at all."
The brunette did not particularly care what he meant by that, however. She pushed him violently out of the door, and despite it only being a few feet to the ground, there was a sicking crack of bone breaking. Rain watched with a morbid interest as Cain was quickly taken by the hoard of infected. Lifting out of the building's range, Rain finally took an empty seat.
The just in time for the nuke to pass them by. They were hardly clear of the city walls when it detonated, creating instant turbulence.
"Everyone hold on."
But there was no need for the warning. Everyone but Rain had been securely strapped into a seat. One of the several tools had come loose from the wall, and it flew towards Angie at a frightening pace. Alice threw herself forward, however, letting it impact her stomach.
"Alice!"
Rain let go of the strap she was holding onto, reaching for the blonde.
Just then the chopper started to spin out of control. It careened in a circle, and the momentum threw Rain across the small cabin, into the wall of tools.
She was sure several of them cut up her back, probably drawing blood, but she didn't care. It was with one particularly violent swivel, however, that Rain was torn from the wall, and launched from the helicopter as it continued it's rapid decent to the ground. It was the last thing she knew.
Several hours later Umbrella personnel finally found the crash sight. The chopper had been abandoned, though a tarp had been used as a cover for Alice, out of respect. Doctor Issacs crouched beside the body studying her almost tenderly.
"Fetch the medical team. What about the others?"
"We only found one, about two hundred metres that way," the worker said, pointing down river, where the rocks seemed to multiply with the current. Gracing him with a sharp nod, Doctor Issacs went to check it out, welcomed by the crippled form of Rain. Her neck had been broken in the fall, and blood lightly tinted the small pool of water that she was half submerged in.
"When the med group gets here, make sure they get them to the Springfield facility. Both of them, stat. Run tests for everything," Doctor Issacs ordered the crew. "The rest must have survived. It's a pity, but they'll turn up eventually, one way or another."
Three weeks later, Project Alice seemed to be physically recovered. Her eyes snapped open, confusion evident at the liquid vat she was submerged in. When it had been drained, she was helped to her feet, as Doctor Issacs tested her basic reactions, pleased at the knowledge she had retained.
"Sir, her stats are rising. Increased cardiovascular, increased brain activity."
"What do you mean?"
As the puzzles fell perfectly into place, Alice fixed the doctor with a piercing stare.
"He means that my name is Alice. And I remember everything."
Doctor Issacs turned towards the voice, interest peaked. Alice grabbed the pen from the lab tech, and swung it to his face, stopping just a hair from penetrating his eye. With the threat looming right in front of him, he didn't even think to try and defend the blow that made him collapse to the ground. With an uncanny ease, Alice fought her way through the entire room, before making her way to the main hall.
The security guard had managed to hit the alarm, before he felt a piercing pain in his head. He swiped at his face, as blood was pushed, by an unseen force, from every visible opening - eyes, ears, nose and mouth.
He died almost instantly.
Stepping out the front door, Alice froze at the array of weapons pointed at her. Seeing the people who climbed out of the car behind them, however, reassured her that everything would be fine. A strange sensation overcame her body as they left through the gates.
Alice had a nagging feeling that everything had only just begun.
"Where's Rain?" she spoke for the first time. The car was silent, and Alice looked around.
"Well?"
"We never found her after the crash," Carlos finally said. "We looked everywhere near the sight, but she's gone Alice. There's no way she could have survived such a fall, and and there was no way for us to find her. We had to clear out before Umbrella got there."
The numbness that she had felt when she hadn't known anything returned, as she allowed her mind to stop processing, turning to stare blankly out the window.
Rain. She had been there through the whole incident at the Hive, and through the whole journey at Raccoon City. And now she was lost in a crash, one in which everyone else had survived. How did that even make sense? Alice had to wonder, once again struck by the irony that was life.
"The infection has swept through Illinois," Doctor Issacs said into the speaker as he watched the video in front of him. "I'm due to be evacuated in just half an hour."
Nearly a month and a half after the attempted damage control at Raccoon city, they had failed, and the t-virus continued to spread, quickly sweeping it's way across the continent.
"How are our girls?"
"Project Alice has managed to somehow evade our location signals. She fell off the grid weeks ago."
"How?"
Doctor Issacs could only shrug.
"She is a very unique specimen. The t-virus bonded with her blood, not changing her, but charging her. Her reflexes, cranial activity, senses, everything has been boosted by a tenfold. There's also indications of seismic activities, we don't know much about it, but we do know she killed one of the guards... through a camera. The possibilities are endless, we simply cannot know what she is capable of."
"And the other?"
"The infection has affected Project Rain, but in a drastically different way from Project Alice. The t-virus seems to have altered her DNA itself...her blood has mutated, but her body hasn't."
Though dark glasses covered his eyes, the interest from the man at the other end of the video chat was clear on his face. Doctor Issacs eagerly went on to explain.
"Her blood composition closely resembles that of someone infected, but it doesn't appear to be fighting for control over her body. We believe it was because she had been so close to death when the anti-virus was administered...her blood had already started to mutate, but the anti-virus stopped it, putting her body in some sort of Limbo. It's quite magnificent, really. Aside from the blood, her stats and reflexes remain the same, well honed from years of the best training. There does seem to be an increase in sensory functions, however, but we've only really been able to document hearing in her current state."
Doctor Issacs paused for a moment.
"I cannot be positive on this, you must understand, but I believe that any infected she comes upon will pass her over. They're naturally drawn to fresh blood and flesh, and for all biological purposes, Project Rain is one of them. She had just retained normal organ functions and brain activity, it's absolutely fascinating to study."
The man on the screen inclined his head.
"Is that all?"
"If I am correct on that theory, then I can only deduct that the t-virus will no longer affect her. Her blood had already mutated. It's possible that more t-virus could alter it more, but her body has already adapted to the mutation's presence; she can function with it, perfectly fine. I don't believe that she will ever die, unless killed, and even then...well, we cannot be certain of what would happen. Would the mutation continue, or would it simply... die out with her?"
It was met with silence.
"You will be here shortly."
Doctor Issacs nodded his affirmation.
"Good. I want all of this written out."
"What about Project Rain?"
"How are her stats?"
"As far as we can tell, she's fully recovered. It took longer than Project Alice, but that's simply because her molecular structure is so much more complicated, more unknown."
There was a pause of silence on the other side.
"Good. Perhaps we can see just how accurate your hypotheses are."
So, I'm sorry that I've ignored greatly the details of what happened during Apocalypse, but you have seen the movie, correct? It's mostly the same... I don't want to write out the whole thing again. You can just watch it of course! Anything that did changed, I wrote, so you're all set. Anyhow, I have work to do today, and almost zero time for writing during the week, so I cannot be sure when the next update will be, but I'll be working on it. Peace.
- Shannon Riley