Chapter seven:
It took over a year to locate Carlos and L.J. Alice, Jill, and Angie had battled their way from New York to Colorado. They picked up on a transmission for Claire Redfield's convoy outside of Denver. When they responded to it, they were pleased to discover that Carlos and L.J. had joined that convoy. They agreed to rendezvous with the convoy at a small gas station off the main highway.
When the convoy arrived at the gas station, Carlos and L.J. hopped out of the tanker truck. Carlos jogged to embrace Alice. He then hugged Jill and Angie. L.J. gave them all handshakes. Claire approached afterwards. Carlos made the introduction.
"Claire Redfield, these are my friends. That's Angie Ashford. Jill Valentine and Alice. Everyone, this is Claire. She put together this convoy."
Claire nodded at the group. "Carlos says you're excellent fighters. The best he's ever seen. That's a big compliment, coming from him. We could use a hand. We're heading into Utah."
"We'd be happy to help," Alice said. "Problem is we have to stay off the grid, so we might not be able to follow directly behind you. We can stay close."
"That works fine," Claire agreed. She smirked at their battered Hummer. "Your vehicle has seen better days."
"It's gotten us this far," Jill said.
Claire nodded. "Have you checked the gas station?"
"Yeah. It's bone dry," Alice replied.
Claire cringed. They were running low on everything. "Okay. Well, we're going to keep moving."
"We'll be close behind," Jill promised.
Claire went back to the lead vehicle. Carlos hung back with a grin. "It's so good to see you all again. I knew you'd be back."
"We'll catch up at our next stop," Alice said.
The convoy moved on towards Utah. Angie decided to hop onto the convoy for a change of scenery. She met K-Mart, who was only a few years younger than her, and they instantly hit it off. Alice and Jill stayed in their faithful Hummer. They kept up with the convoy until it was time for the satellite to come overhead. When that happened, they pulled over and hid their vehicle under a tarp. They waited for the satellite to pass and then resumed course with the convoy.
They drove for hours down the highway, seeing a few scattered zombies here and there. Soon, they'd worked through Utah and towards Nevada. When they came to the Desert Trail Motel, Alice and Jill had caught back up to the convoy. Carlos and L.J. got out first, followed by Alice and Jill. They joined Carlos and L.J. to determine if it was safe to approach.
"What do you think, boys?" Claire asked via radio.
Carlos looked over at Alice and Jill. "What do you two think?"
"It looks abandoned," Alice commented.
"Don't they always?" Jill retorted.
L.J. gave a shrug. "Might as well."
"We're going in," Carlos informed Claire.
Together, the four of them went to check the motel. As they entered, L.J. had a laugh. "I'm gonna get me a room with a waterbed. Rent me a porno. Have a good old time."
"I missed you, L.J." Jill chuckled.
Alice pointed to one side of the motel. "I'll check down this way."
"I'll go with you," Carlos volunteered.
Jill gestured to L.J. "Let's take this side."
While Alice and Carlos went one way, Jill and L.J. went the other. L.J. started checking doors on one side of the hall as Jill checked the other. When L.J. found a door unlocked, he chose to investigate. It wasn't seconds later when a zombie, who used to be a cop, charged him. Jill heard the commotion just as L.J. managed to kill the zombie cop. She arrived right when a female zombie was preparing to charge L.J.
Before it could attack, Jill put a bullet between the zombie's eyes. L.J. sat on the bed, completely unharmed. He took a steadying breath. "There you go, saving me again."
"You're welcome," Jill playfully returned.
Carlos and Alice had heard the gunshots and came running. Carlos looked between Jill and L.J. "Are you okay?"
"We're fine," Jill confirmed. "How were things your way?"
"It's clear," Alice said.
They made the call, and the convoy came down to the motel. Carlos got to work setting up a perimeter while Alice and Jill helped the group look for supplies. However, there wasn't anything of use there. They had only found a safe place to camp.
That night, L.J. left to spend time in the ambulance with Betty. Angie and K-Mart continued to get to know each other over a feast of fruit cocktail and asparagus. Carlos finally had a second to stop for some pork and beans with Alice and Jill.
"So, we've been looking for you ever since," Alice finished recapping what they had been up to since she found Jill and Angie.
"I'm glad you're here. In the last six months, we've lost most of the convoy. Claire is doing the best she can to keep things running, but it's getting harder to find gasoline and supplies," Carlos said.
Alice nodded at that. "We've had trouble with that ourselves."
"We even ran out of cigarettes last month," Jill commented. She leaned in curiously. "You wouldn't happen to have any, would you?"
"Sorry. Like I told Claire, we're out of those," Carlos admitted. "It's bad enough we barely have enough food to feed these people. Now, we don't even have smokes to keep the cravings at bay. I don't know what we're going to do."
"The only option might be hitting a big city," Alice said.
Carlos couldn't believe his ears. "A big city? There's a reason we've avoided that. It's too damn dangerous."
"We might have no other choice," Alice went on.
"At least the convoy has two new warriors," Carlos smirked. He saw the way they looked at each other and chuckled. "Still together then?"
Jill put her arm around Alice's shoulders protectively. "Yeah. We're together."
"I'm happy for you," Carlos said. He then stood and gestured to Mikey's vehicle. "I'm going to check on the perimeter before I go to bed. See you two in the morning."
Carlos left them by their little fire. Alice smirked at Jill. "Still jealous, I see."
"No. Just letting him know you're my girlfriend so he doesn't get any ideas."
"He can get as many ideas as he likes," Alice said with a kiss on Jill's cheek. "I am, in fact, yours. Nothing on this planet can change that."
They moved in for a kiss as the wind picked up. A storm was coming. Everyone retreated to the safety of their vehicles. For the first time, Jill and Alice had the Hummer to themselves. Angie stayed with K-Mart and Claire, wanting to spend time with her new friend and to give the couple some space. Jill and Alice didn't waste the privacy.
After the sun was up, K-Mart was the first to wake. She heard tapping on the roof of their vehicle. When she saw the crow with the white eyes, she let out a shriek and slammed the door. "Claire, Angie!"
Claire and Angie woke to see more crows than they'd ever seen in their lives. Claire got on the radio. "Stay in your trucks. Closer your windows. And be quiet."
Angie was on her radio, the one Jill and Alice had given her ages ago. "Alice, Jill—look outside."
Alice and Jill untangled from each other in the back seat of their Hummer. They saw the crows. Jill mumbled. "Fuck me…it's Alfred Hitchcock out there."
Everyone shut their windows and tried to remain quiet. Yet, a single can fell inside of the school bus in the convoy. A crow started squawking, and the rest began to move. The vehicles attempted to evacuate the area, but the ambulance was stuck in the sand. L.J. and Betty left the ambulance and tried to jump onto the school bus. When the bus crashed, the chaos began.
"We have to do something," Jill told Alice as she leapt behind the wheel. Jill drove them down to help Carlos and the others evacuate the bus.
Someone got the idea to jump on a flamethrower, but the crows knocked them off. Flames were going everywhere, and the crows were still coming. Alice saw the flames and an opportunity. She bathed the sky in fire until every last crow was killed. Jill saw Alice drop to her knees and ran to catch her.
Everyone left alive stared at Alice in shock and horror.
XxXxX
In an underground facility in the Nevada desert, Dr. Isaacs was alerted to the spike in activity outside of the base. He smiled at the data, mumbling to himself. "Project Alice…welcome home."