I yanked my short swords out of their sheaths and slammed them into the wall. I lifted one sword and raised it a few inches above me, then repeated the process with the other sword. It was painfully slow progress, but I only had to climb a few levels this way to reach the roof. Luckily the brick wall structure was old enough that I didn't have too much trouble shoving the points into the wall.
I used my feet to help me where I could, and I made it to the roof in maybe ten, fifteen minutes. I hauled myself over the edge and let myself collapse for a few precious seconds. My arms burned like I'd stuck them in a barrel of battery acid, and the pain made me oblivious to the world around me for a minute.
"Alice," I heard a voice rasp. I rolled away from the sound, but my muscles protested at the movement and one of my swords dropped my fingers.
"Alice," it said again, and I felt fingers wind around my leg. I looked down and saw...me. Again. But unlike the last live Alice, this one could barely raise her head, let alone kill me. Her hair was tangled around her face, and blood stained her face and arms.
"Alice," she said, her voice dry. "Don't you remember me?"
"Honestly? No," I readjusted my grip on my sword. I saw something flicker in the other Alice's eyes, but she didn't let go of my leg.
"Something happened. They did something."
"What?" I said. "What happened here?"
"We were...looking for a cure. Alice and the rest of us. We didn't find anything, but Alice thought that if enough of the clones survived, we might be able to attack the Umbrella Corporation and find someone there who could help us."
"And Umbrella attacked?"
"No," she whispered. "We did. At first, a bunch of the older clones just died, just fell down where they were, nothing wrong with them. I felt it, it was like my heart was trying to stop beating, but then it passed. But then the others, the newer clones started killing the rest of us. I don't know how many are left."
"Why? What would cause that?" I asked, bending down so I could get a better look at her face.
"I don't know. It just happened so fast. It was like a switch going on or something." Her eyes glazed over for a bit, then refocused on me. "Are you Alice?" she asked.
"I don't know," I said.
"I hope so," she sighed. "Alice will know what to do." Her grip slackened on my leg. I felt for her pulse, but there was nothing there. I laid her out nicely on the floor. Another dead Alice. Another set of unanswered questions.
This wasn't making my headache any better.
I rubbed the bridge of my nose, considering my options. I stared out over the landscape the empty landscape beyond the roof. If only I had a flying car..., I thought. I turned around to survey the other side of the building. I blinked at the helicopter on the opposite end of the roof.
"That'll work too."
I jogged to chopper. It looked like it was in good condition, and knowing Dr. Isaacs, he'd probably had the thing stocked with tons of supplies in case he'd had to make a quick getaway. He had needed one, but unluckily for him, he hadn't been in the position to reach it. Luckily for me, I was.
I threw my bag into the passenger seat beside me. I hadn't ever flown a helicopter before, but I'd been in one enough to know the basic controls. Besides, it's amazing what you can manage when you have a couple hundred semi-dead beings chasing after you.
The helicopter blasted to life with enough noise to wake the dead, but it lifted off the rooftop. I had a little trouble balancing her out in the wind, but I managed to keep her on a fairly level flight path. I took one final look at the compound below me. I could see the infected scrambling around on the ground below.
"Sayonara assholes," I said, flipping them off. I turned around in my seat so I faced the window. "Now, let's get out of here."