Alice rolled smoothly up onto the graveled shoulder, somewhere on I-95. After outracing a horde of infected in D.C. only a few hours prior, she had continued south. She figured herself to be near the North Carolina boarder, having traveled at a fairly leisurely pace. She grabbed the fuel can that was secured to the back of the motorcycle, giving it a quick shake.
It hardly splashed. With a grimace, she put what was left of the gasoline, perhaps a litre, into the tank before re-securing it to her bike.
Looks like a hunt tomorrow, she thought. She noticed that the search for gasoline was indeed becoming a hunt for an ever elusive prey.
Thankfully her bike got great mileage. Unfortunately, the gas tank was much smaller than a car, so even if she could go further on the same amount of gas, she had to fill up even more.
She lead her bike down a small incline, to where the side of the road leveled out for several yards before a row of trees, not that she was too concerned with what could be lurking inside the treeline. If anything they should be concerned about her.
She unpacked one of her two bags, unrolling a thick, wool blanket, a box of matches, and a bag of beef jerky. She would need to get more food, also, although she didn't seem to need to eat very much anymore. The second bag was miscellaneous for the most part - a weapons cleaning kit, some extra knives, a map and compass, to name a few.
Setting up camp quickly, she took a few more minutes to scavenge for rocks, to make a fire pit, and wood, to be the fire pit.
An hour later, as it was finally getting dark, she had a roaring blaze going as she studied the map in front of her. She crossed off D.C., before drawing a circle at Miami, knowing that there was an Umbrella facility near it. For the past few weeks she had been doing mostly recon, without much else. Finding Umbrella's favorite places, seeing how badly the surrounding area had deteriorated. She had to admit, it looked bleak for the rest of the population.
The radio on her bike cackled, but no words were spoken. With a sigh she took a sip from a water canteen.
Just another night. The solitude was almost relaxing.
Almost.
Rain leaned back on the hood of the truck, looking around as the sun started to set. Tonight they had settled on a valley off the side of some freeway in Pennsylvania. She looked into the cab of the truck.
Austin was playing a Gameboy, or some other handheld device, Rain couldn't care more which it was. It was a saving grace, however, with a chargeable battery pack. After raiding a shopping center's electronic store, she had found a charger that would plug into the truck, allowing the boy to recharge the small device every couple of days. It was the perfect thing to keep him occupied as they settled down for the night.
In addition to the charger, they had pilfered a handful of high-end, handheld radios, which had a range of several miles.
In the bed of the truck Sarge was finishing up her nightly process of cleaning her gun and knives. It was nothing shy of ritualistic, her concentration was honed as she wiped down the weapon, before reassembling it. Aside from their raid, the pair hadn't had any reason to use their ammo, something Rain was wary of.
Too quiet for her. She internally debated the fact for several minutes, not noticing when Sarge clambered up onto the hood next to her. The other girl tapping her shoulder broke her from her thoughts. She held out her hand.
"I stole them from Austin," she offered. Quirking an eyebrow, Rain extended her hand, accepting the handful of candies.
"Thanks," she muttered, popping one into her mouth. "I've been meaning to talk to you about something."
"Shoot," Sarge responded, crossing her legs as she turned to face the latina.
"I want to stop at a garage."
The brunette frowned.
"Something wrong with the truck?" she asked, concern clear. Rain shook her head.
"No, but it wouldn't hurt to scavenge for some other tools or spare parts either, now that I think about it."
"Then what?"
Rain jerked her head to the side, sliding off the truck. Sarge followed her around to the bed, where Rain opened the tool chest, which was almost packed full of supplies. With a small 'humph' she lifted a large object, which had taken up a good portion of the chest, and was concealed in a black, waterproofed wrapping.
"I need to find a spot welder," she finally explained, as she untied the strings. She revealed what was inside of it.
Sarge stared in shock, mouth agape.
"Holy shit. Where the hell did you get a 240-bravo?"
"Umbrella," Rain answered simply, as the other woman inspected the machine gun with a child-like admiration.
"So why do we need a spot welder?" Sarge asked, finally tearing her eyes from the weapon. Rain smirked.
"Because I want to put that, here," she said, lightly tapping the roof of the cab. "We find a spot welder, we find some scrap metal to reenforce the roof, then weld that thing to it. If we get into any problems on the road, just think - I drive," she pointed to the middle panel of the back window, which slid to the side. It was big enough that any of the three could easily fit through. "You climb onto the bed and open fire. We plow right through."
"Literally a tank," Sarge mused. "So what's the plan?"
"Well, I didn't want to try and get work done with just a 13 year old to post guard." To be honest, she would have felt fairly comfortable if she were by herself, but knowing that there was a teenager who now depended on her changed everything. "Now that you're here however, we can do it. Thing is it'll probably take the better part of a day of non-stop work, if not longer."
"Which is dangerous in it's own right," the brunette agreed. "Do you even know how to weld?"
Rain rolled her eyes.
"You kidding? I grew up around engines. I was an mechanic when I served, before Umbrella recruited me. I know my way around a garage."
"I didn't know you were in the military."
Rain nodded.
"Six years. Would have gone more, but Umbrella got me before I could re-up."
"So you got any idea where we'll find a garage?"
Rain shook her head.
"We'll have to scout out a few, clear them and secure the area. If we can get the truck inside, we can barricade ourselves in. You still post lookout on the roof or something, we can just plow any infected over when we leave."
Sarge nodded at the plan.
"Tomorrow then?"
"Tomorrow."
It was agreed.
Finding herself optimally functioning on just three hours of sleep, Rain let Sarge take the first watch, sleeping much easier with an actual human guard as opposed to bubble wrap. At the end of her three hours, they switched, and the younger girl got a solid five before they were up, fed, and on the road again, Austin having slept straight through the night. He was relaxed easily next to Sarge now, who had taken to the window seat, as they mostly successfully played a game of go-fish.
It was with some relief that Rain noticed the growing affection between her two companions. She had been concerned for the younger teen initially, when he had withdrawn into himself, but the young Italian seemed to bring some life and energy back into him, adopting the role as an older sister.
Nearing midday, they finally came upon a promising looking garage. It was a stand alone building, connected to a small, single leveled townhouse, but otherwise isolated on the side of the highway. Several broken down vehicles littered the lawn in front of it, and Rain pulled in, stopping far enough away from the structure to be safe.
"Stay here," she ordered the pair before hopping out of the car. She saw Sarge take out her handgun, studying the surroundings in interest.
After a thorough search, about fifteen minutes, Rain decided that the building was clear. She moved from the house, securing all lower windows and doors, before heading into the garage, also securing the much heavier door behind her. She opened the large door that would let the truck roll in, before doing just that. Door shut again, there was a small loft with a large panel of glass. Oddly fitting for a lookout, as well as an adequate light supply.
"This is perfect," Sarge commented. Rain shrugged. Perfect would be if there were a back lookout, too, but she figured that Austin could perch at the top of some of the shelving, looking through the much smaller window to the back. She explained her plan, and Austin jumped at the chance to help, carrying his own borrowed handgun up to his lookout, where he promptly settled in with the game device, occasionally looking up to check out the window as he mainly listened through the cracked glass.
Likewise, Sarge took her own lookout spot in the loft, having a good view of the entire front yard. There were two more smaller windows to either side, allowing some more light but not a whole lot of visual. Despite this, she frequently leaned over the railing, peering out to either side.
After a few minutes of searching, Rain found exactly what they needed. With a mask and gloves, she promptly got to work. True to her estimate it was several hours later, just as the sun started to fade, when she finished. She lifted the mask, wiping at the sweat with her gloves. She put the welder aside, before taking a seat on the tool chest.
After a few minutes of rest she finally spoke.
"Anyone hungry?"
Getting two positive responses, she gathered up the strength to rise from her seat, fetching three cans of food from the chest.
"Come on then."
Her companions returned from their lookout spots.
"Still clear," Sarge said, accepting the can of raviolis. She popped the lid off, using her own metal spork that she had carried through her two tours. Austin accepted the spoon that Rain handed him with the can, giving her a happy smile.
"My favorite," he said, popping open his own can and digging in, not caring that it wasn't heated. With a shrug Rain started on her meal as well, as the three settled down.
"I figure we can test the weld job in the morning," Rain said after a few bites. "Hang out here for the night, then head out."
"We shooting stuff?" Austin asked with interest. Rain smirked as Sarge outright laughed.
"Probably not kiddo," the younger woman answered. "We don't have so much ammo that we can waste it. We'll just check how well it can rotate and see if the welds will hold."
Rain nodded in agreement.
"Should be fine, but better safe than losing it halfway down the road," she agreed. Though disappointed, Austin was still interested. They finished their meal with minimal chatter, mostly the younger pair.
"Hey, get some sleep," the Italian said after Rain yawned again. "Don't worry about watch, just take over when you get up. I can nap in the car tomorrow."
Austin was nodding readily, eager to be any help.
"Yeah, we can hold down fort for one night."
With a lazy grin, Rain simply nodded at the idea. It didn't take much to persuade her at this point.
Looks like she was getting extra sleep tonight.
Extra sleep ended up being just five hours total, but it was more than she had gotten in a while. Sarge took the last three as her sleep before they set out their plans. The outside was still clear - in most cases it took more than just a day for the infected to find you, usually two, or three if you were lucky, but Rain had been concerned all the same.
Finally up, and not worrying about a strenuous watch, Rain tested the security of the welds. The machine gun didn't budge. She swiveled the weapon on the tripod, satisfied that it moved almost fully to either left and right. With a grin, she laid the waterproof cover over the weapon, securing it at the barrel and butt, as well as once towards the middle, satisfied with it's protection.
The group ate a light meal before heading out of the garage, Sarge promptly falling asleep with her head leaned against the window. Austin surprisingly had stayed up almost as long as the younger woman.
He was also passed out, using Sarge's shoulder as a pillow. Rain allowed herself the faintest smiles of contentment.
The world could go to hell, but some things would never change. The pair dozed for several hours, waking finally when Rain stopped for a late lunch. After their day of excitement, being back on the road, driving aimlessly, was almost depressing.
It was nearly a week later when their routine changed once again.
They had been driving through Texas when they came upon a smoking car. Rain slowed as they approached the vehicle, as a bespectacled man waived them down. His companion was furiously waiving a rag at the smoking engine.
"I never thought I'd see another car," the man said when the group stopped. He was somewhere in his young twenties, not very tall, with a slender build and chocolate-colored skin. He had on a pair of well worn jeans, and a dirty polo - not that Rain had any space to talk. She was fairly sure none of her crew had done a shred of laundry in weeks. At least, she and Austin hadn't, that was for sure.
"Well, belt's shredded," the other man said, aiming a vengeful kick at the front bumper of the sedan. "Great."
In perfect contrast to the first guy, he was tall and heavily muscled, tank top showing just how muscled. His hair was light, arms tanned from the sun. A large tattoo snaked around his arm right arm, a rather unoriginal viper.
Austin, Sarge, and Rain all shared a look.
"Where you headed?" the latina asked finally, taking charge.
"Away," the first said. "Everything went to hell."
"We figured it was best to get the fuck out of dodge," the second added, wiping his greased hands onto the towel he had previously been fanning the engine with.
It didn't help.
"I'm Jayson," the black guy, now known as Jayson, said. "This is Noah."
The bigger man didn't say anything, just looking at the group with irritation, especially when Rain forwent the introductions and wandered over to the slightly less than smoking engine.
"You were way overdue on your oil change," she pointed out, noting the black sludge that covered various bits of the engine. "I'd say the belt was just the last straw. I'm surprised this thing was still running."
"What the hell do you know?"
Rain turned her even stare on the man, who at least had the decency to shift.
"Cars," she said flatly. "If you want we can give you a lift to the nearest dealership. I'm sure they're not gonna miss any vehicles."
Its not like anyone would be there, she left unsaid.
"That would be great-"
"What's the catch?" Noah cut Jayson off.
Rain shrugged.
"Caravan? Safety in numbers, and all that. And I'm sure none of us are going to turn away extra eyes. What else do you got?"
"We have some food and supplies," Jayson answered easily, not having the same problem that Noah did.
"Yeah, and tech-geek here has his own personal electronics store," Noah said, none too nicely. Jayson rolled his eyes.
"Just my mac, a charger, a couple other things."
"Where the hell do you find use of a charger?" Sarge asked. "There's no electricity."
Jayson smiled a boyish grin.
"It's solar powered. Top of the line. Works for iPods too."
Sarge stared, before whipping her gaze to Rain. The latina quirked an eyebrow as Sarge nodded her approval of the pair. Austin mimicked her decision, though not quite for the same reasons.
Rain sighed.
"Get what you have, toss it in the bed," she ordered. Jayson was more than happy to oblige, retrieving a small duffel and a rather sophisticated backpack. Noah grabbed his own gym bag, as well as a bucket of what they later discovered to be the food and supplies - non-perishables and some toiletries. Noah doubled back for an aluminum baseball bat, not wanting to leave his only weapon behind. Sarge slid open the back window when they took off down the road again.
"So, either of you know how to use a gun?"
Another movie tangent (just a few months away!) - Rain, Carlos, and One are going to be colones? Sweet...much better than that flashback idea. Sorry for the wait, but hey...I've been getting little sparks of inspiration, so there's one thing, right?
Anyhow, I guess if it's not apparent, our focus is going to be more on Rain and crew for a bit, at least until the reunion. Not to say Alice will be completely wiped out, because let's be serious, how would that even work? However, she doesn't seem to have much of a story line between movie 2 and 3, just being alone on the road, so I guess we'll see where that goes.
- Shannon Riley