Chapter Six: K-Mart

Umbrella Corporation Facility

Los Angeles

1630hrs_

"The attack on Arcadia was successful," Wesker declared over the video link. "I have sent several more captives to the base, and I trust you will take care of them."

"Yes, Father," Dryden replied, before hitting the button that terminated the communication. He turned to face Spence, who was watching him placidly. The only thing that pulsated with life was the device that was embedded on his chest.

"Bring me one of the captives," Dryden told him, staring into Spence's eyes. "Make sure they don't know where they are."

Spence nodded once and left the control room. Now Dryden was alone, save for the other officers who were tracking his father's progress through the city. Although Dryden didn't bother clearing the entire city of the infestation – he knew Wesker viewed the infected as some form of security; as long as they were surrounded and were safely ensconced in the Hive, no survivors would dare attack them – and besides, he had other things on his mind.

Just a few seconds before Wesker briefed him on the success of the attack – largely thanks to Jill and Spence's impeccable leadership skills – Dryden learned that Project Alice had escaped. Dryden had expected Wesker to seethe at him, but surprisingly his father kept a calm demeanor. Perhaps there was more that he didn't know.

The automatic doors to the control room whooshed open, and Dryden saw Spence leading a rather pretty blonde girl inside. Her hands were cuffed and her upper lip slightly bruised, as if she had been punched. Dryden raised an eyebrow and Spence shook his head.

"One of the guards hit her," he replied to Dryden's unanswered question.

"What's your name?" Dryden asked, addressing the girl directly.

When the girl didn't answer, Spence shook her slightly. She threw him a scathing look and turned her eyes back on Dryden's face.

"You look like her," was all she said, tilting her head slightly. When Dryden asked her what she meant, she merely stared at him.

"You're not going to get anything out of her," Spence finally said, after a good twenty minutes of silence had passed.

"I'm well aware of that," Dryden replied testily. "Take her back to the cell."

Spence nodded, apparently nonplussed that his superior was ticked off at him. As the doors slid closed, Dryden caught the girl staring at him before being led down the hallway.

Umbrella Corporation Facility

Los Angeles

1800hrs_

"Her name is K-Mart," Wesker replied, sliding a new pair of red tinted sunglasses over his eyes. His irises were as red as the lens, but Dryden remained unfazed. His father was still human, except that he seemed to have a tad more of the T virus in his system.

"Strange name," Dryden commented. "Wasn't it a name of a supermarket once?"

Wesker nodded, clearly unconcerned with that fact. "The important thing is that she clearly has some value to Project Alice. She helped the subject in question when she confronted me on Arcadia."

Dryden had heard every detail of his father's confrontation with Project Alice, from the way their informant had been skewered by shards of glass to the ease their 'hellhounds' had been dispatched with relative ease. "She is still a threat."

"I fear I was unable to get most of the virus out of the system, although the reader verified that there was none left," Wesker mused. "No matter. We shall acquire her soon enough. She has nowhere else to go."

"Father, we've picked up a few signals from a survivor base in New York," Dryden said after some time. Wesker turned towards him, placing his clasped hands on the table.

"And?"

"There may be a chance that she may try to make her way there," Dryden finished. He knew that Project Alice faced a long trek, and with her airplane in shambles on the deck of Arcadia, she would have a difficult time finding transportation. But based on what he'd heard, she was not one to be underestimated.

"The trek to New York is near impossible," Jill spoke up, leaning forward. "Millions of infected stand between her and New York."

"Yes, but we've clearly underestimated her before. I do not intend to make the same mistake again," Dryden replied swiftly. He knew deep down that Project Alice had heard of the survivors in New York, and would try to make her way there and regroup.

"We should not underestimate her," Dryden insisted. "How many times have we been thwarted? Project Alice appears to be fully capable of trekking across the country and meet with the survivors. She may well be on her way there now."

Wesker remained silent, but Dryden knew he was considering his words. After a few minutes, Wesker looked at him. "What do you propose we do?"

"Suggest a meeting with her and the leader of the survivors," Dryden said after a heartbeat. "Based on what we've been able to pick up, his name is Leon Kennedy."

K Mart huddled closer to Claire Redfield. She, along with the two Redfield siblings Claire and Chris, were captured by a small militia on Arcadia. Try as she might, Alice was unable to rescue them. The last thing she saw of Alice was her plunging off the side of the ship.

The three of them, along with dozens of survivors who were aboard Arcadia – albeit in some form of stasis – were herded into the new Hive, one of the last armed compounds of the Umbrella Corporation. At first K Mart feared that they would all be killed, but based on snippets of conversation from the guards, they were being held for further experimentation.

Claire placed a comforting arm around K Mart's shoulders, while Chris peered out of the barred window. Fourteen more people were in the cell with them, although none of them spoke.

"What happened?" Claire asked her softly, tucking one strand of hair behind K Mart's ear. "They didn't hurt you, did they?"

Chris threw her a brief look before looking back out the door.

"No," K Mart replied, fighting not to let her voice tremble. "I met with one of the superiors. He looked a lot like Alice, Claire. He had her eyes, I'm sure of it."

"A lot of people have blue eyes, K Mart," Claire reminded her. "Just because this bastard has blue eyes doesn't make him Alice's son."

"I know, but the way he looked at me reminded me of Alice," K Mart insisted.

"Okay K Mart, I believe you," Claire said reassuringly. "What else? You were gone for nearly half an hour."

"He asked me who I was, but I didn't tell him," K Mart muttered. "We just stood there, staring at each other."

Chris gave a soft guffaw. "Probably love at first sight."

"Chris," Claire said, frowning at her brother.

Chris fell silent, but he still seemed to be grinning. K Mart shook her head at him and laid her head on Claire's shoulders. A few minutes later Chris jumped back from the door and stood in the center of the room, his hands balled into fists.

Loud footsteps thundered in the hallway, and K Mart huddled even closer to Claire. Her heart thundered in her chest, and she wondered if Claire could hear it.

"Open the door."

The voice, now familiar, wafted through from the hallway. A tiny tinkle of metal indicated that the guard was jostling with the keys, then they heard the click of the lock. The door swung open then, and they were momentarily blinded by the bright lights.

A few seconds later however, they all saw him. He had apparently changed into more comfortable clothes, and he was now wearing rugged jeans, a blue plaid shirt that made his blue eyes even bluer, and brown scuffed boots.

"I am looking for Chris and Claire Redfield," he announced, his sharp gaze sweeping the room. "I need not say how bad things will become if the two of them will not step forward."

To demonstrate his point, he raised a pistol that he was holding to his side and shot the person closest to the door.

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, but things have been rather busy on my end. Hopefully this story will be finished before the year is out; I don't expect to write more than fifteen chapters, after all. :) Reviews are highly appreciated.