"My name is Alice."

"I want him in the Nemesis project."

"My name is Alice."

"Fight him."

"What makes you think I care?"

"My name is Alice."

"Three hours ago."

"Today is your lucky day."

"Carlos."

Alice shuddered as she felt reality slowly seeping back into her mind. She silently took stock, letting memories of the situation that landed her here creep back into her consciousness. Her head hurt, but it seemed that there weren't any wounds that needed tending to. There had been screams, and then birds, a great surge of pain, and Carlos.

Someone was sitting close by.

Not Carlos.

Alice opened her eyes.

The first thing she saw was a ceiling. Not that of a motel or a house, but of some kind of vehicle. But after spending most of her nights sleeping under the stars, a roof of any kind was a surprise. She brought her hand up to scrub her face, but her eyes were drawn to her wrist. She rolled over, and discovered that she was on a couch. How odd, to have a couch inside a vehicle. Alice frowned as she made eye contact with her silent companion. She was young, with long blonde hair and sad eyes. Those eyes made quick contact with Alice's before darting down toward her newly acquired jewelry.

"Does this belong to you?" Her voice sounded raspy to her own ears, and talking seemed to only make the pain pounding through her skull intensify.

"I gave it to you last night. For luck." Last night. Alice closed her eyes, remembering the searing pain and the fear that coursed through her. But it had been worth it, as was the danger she was currently putting this girl in, because she had saved Carlos. She refocused on the girl.

"So what's your name?"

Alice sat and talked to Kmart for close to 20 minutes. She felt sorry for the girl, one so young to be living in such hell. She should be out having fun with her friends, not fighting for her life, and the lives of the precious few friends she had left. Much as she liked her though, Alice forced herself not to get attached. The leader of the convoy, if they knew anything about protecting their people (and based on the fact that Carlos was one of the members, she was guessing they had a very astute leader) Alice wouldn't be allowed to stick around for long.

She wouldn't let herself stick around long anyway. She had to protect them, the last few survivors. And Carlos, she had to protect Carlos.

"Where are the others?" Alice asked. Kmart looked sad.

"At the funeral. We lost 7 today. Not the highest number in one sitting, but there are so few of us left…"

Alice reached out and placed a comforting hand on Kmart's shoulder. "Why don't we go join them?" Kmart gave her a guilty look that she quickly hid by looking down. Alice gave her a sad smile. So the convoy did have a good leader; they weren't letting her out of their sight. "Come on."

Alice stood, helping Kmart to her feet at the same time. Once on her feet, another wave of pain swept through her aching skull. She closed her eyes for a moment waiting for the pain to reduce to a manageable level. She let go of the girl's hand, and together they walked out into the dust.

After an understanding nod from Alice, Kmart headed straight for her friends, many of whom had tears in their eyes. Alice caught a glimpse of LJ, crouched in front of a fresh grave, weeping. Her eyes continued to sweep the crowd until they connected with those of Carlos. She wanted to so badly to run now, before she could cause anymore damage, before she had to hear how grateful everyone was to her, but they just couldn't let her stay, before she had to feel the pain of rejection, and worse, the horrible feeling of herself agreeing with them.

She watched as Carlos reached forward and tugged on a woman's arm. She seemed reluctant to move from her front row seat to the grief. He tugged again, this time placing both of his hands on her arms as though comforting her, telling her he was sorry for pulling her away from her family when they needed her. Alice struggled against the jealousy she felt twisting in her stomach. She was too dangerous to have a family, too dangerous to deserve a family. Especially one that included Carlos. The redheaded woman reluctantly turned to follow him and the two made their way toward her.

"Alice this is Claire Redfield. She's the one that put this convoy together."

"Thanks so much for your help." She reached out to shake Alice's hand. Her shake was firm and decisive, the shake of a leader. Alice returned the shake reluctantly, looking like a dog about to be kicked. She always hated this part.

"Claire!" Someone from the convoy called, and Claire quickly made her apologies and left. Alice felt something akin to hope bubble inside her, but as she was leaving she made eye contact with Carlos. Alice knew that look, the one that meant, "Watch her. Something happens, it's on you." It was a look that told Alice not to get too comfortable. Claire Redfield was a busy woman; she would deal with her unwanted guest later. Besides, she needed to keep Carlos on her good side, if that meant allowing him to keep his pet a while longer, so be it.

Alice watched Claire go before her eyes returned to Carlos, who was smiling.

Carlos.

He began walking, angling his body toward hers. He was talking about the convoy, their numbers, the trials they faced staying alive. Her heart ached for him, almost as much as her head. But despite the aches, and the words of despair, he was still smiling, and her whole body hummed with excitement. It was Carlos.

"Alice what happened to you?" She looked at the ground. "Why did you leave after Detroit?" She began shaking her head. That voice, it sounded so curious, but she could sense the underlying hurt. 'Why did you leave after everything we had been through? After we had saved you? When you knew I loved you?' She knew what he was really asking. It tore at Alice's heart as she opened her mouth to respond, trying to answer his verbal questions as well as his silent ones, causing as little pain as possible.

"I didn't have a choice, they were using me." Funny how it had been so simple then, the decision to leave. She had known it would hurt, herself and her friends, but she had just known, that is what had to be done. Now, standing there looking into his eyes, full of hurt and confusion and longing, she couldn't think of anything strong enough to pry her away from this man, including herself.

"What do you mean?" She heard the worry in his tone, the fierce need to protect her, just like he had protected that little girl.

"They were tracking me. I couldn't be around you, any of you. I would have gotten you all killed." He looked to the ground, and her heart began aching again, this time for the pain she had caused. She saw it in the set of his jaw, his stance. 'We could have protected you. We loved you.' She pushed forward with her explanation, trying to distract him from his guilty thoughts, thoughts that made her feel just as guilty.

"That's why you disappeared." He was trying to understand, but the hurt was still there, the sting that came with her departure, as if saying they weren't good enough. But it hadn't been them, never, it had been her.

"Broke into an Umbrella facility, and hacked into their computers. Downloaded the satellite trajectories, and stayed off the grid."

"Enough of the world ended, why stay out there alone?" She could see him struggling, struggling with why she hadn't come back to them, to him.

"It's just safer if I'm not around people." Around you, she silently added.

"Why'd you come back?" And then that smile. That was the reason she came back.

She smiled back, but tears began to fill her eyes, and he quickly gathered her into his arms.

She breathed a sigh of relief as he held her. This is why she came back. She closed her eyes and tightened her grip.