Epilogue: Some months later…
In a small Texas town, Artemis stood on the rooftop of an old movie theater. She looked through binoculars at a mass of undead. They were heading straight for them.
"Here they come," she commented. She passed the binoculars to Claire.
Claire looked for herself. "A whole bunch of them. I'll tell the others to take cover."
Over the last few months, they had picked up survivors after creating a new convoy. There was only a dozen or so of them. Artemis got on her radio. "Alice, I hope you and Carlos are ready."
Alice and Carlos were in the abandoned parking lot, creating a complex system of nets and fences. Alice answered by radio. "We're almost done here."
"Good. We'll come to you," Artemis answered.
Claire got the survivors to a safe location inside the theater. She then joined Artemis, and they met Alice and Carlos by the fences. Their new weapons included darts filled with the cure. They tried to cure as many as they could rather than exterminating everyone. Artemis loaded darts into her Slinger as Alice prepared darts for her gun.
"What do you think?" Artemis asked Alice.
Alice loaded her gun, smirking. "It's a walk in the park."
"I'd hate to see the kind of parks you like to stroll through," Artemis returned. When she had added the serum to her blades, she leaned over and gave Claire a peck on the cheek. "See you on the other side."
"You bet," Claire returned.
Alice and Carlos merely nodded at each other. They all turned towards the onslaught of undead and went to battle. The fences and nets kept many of them back, allowing the four to cure most of them. When the nets and fences failed, they had to abandon the cure in favor of blades and live ammunition. As the dust settled, the four stood victorious on the battlefield. Almost half of the undead were cured.
"Wow! We did great," Artemis commented.
"Better than we did in Oklahoma," Carlos confirmed.
Claire checked the location of the sun in the sky. "It's getting late. Who's ready for dinner?"
"I could go for that," Alice said.
They went into the movie theater to see what rations were left. Claire poured vegetable medley into a pot and opened a small can. She sniffed it, sighing. "This might be cat food."
"Oh, I hope it's salmon flavored," Artemis dryly commented.
Claire laughed at that. "Whatever it is, it's going in the pot."
"I'll eat anything at this point," Alice said.
They heated the mix of mystery meat and vegetables over a little fire they'd made in what used to be a popcorn machine. When it was done, Claire dished out their dinner in old paper cups from the theater. She offered old popcorn butter and salt for everyone to add to taste.
"Not bad," Artemis said.
"You have to say that. Your girlfriend made it," Carlos commented as he forced himself to eat the disgusting mix.
Alice shrugged. "It could be worse. At least we have some expired theater candy for dessert. It's a miracle no one nabbed it already."
"Mmm. Five-year-old gummy bears. My favorite," Artemis replied. She saw the chocolate bars and thought of her old friend, the Hunter. She hoped he and the others were well.
"We need to go back to Nevada tomorrow morning. We're almost out of the cure," Carlos said.
"And we should check on the stones," Artemis added.
Alice nodded at that. "Nevada it is. We should try to get some sleep. It's a long ride back that way."
"I hear the IMAX theater has big chairs that recline," Carlos said. "They'd make for comfortable sleeping."
"Right. Sleeping," Artemis returned with a wink.
Carlos raised his eyebrows at Alice with a suggestive smile. Alice rolled her eyes, flustered. "Go ahead in there. I'll be right behind you."
"You don't have to ask me twice," he said with a brisk kiss. He patted Claire on the shoulder. "Thanks for that delicious dinner, Claire."
Claire gave him the finger as he left for the IMAX theater. Alice finished her food, humming. "We've been lucky that Umbrella hasn't interfered with us so far, but I'm worried they'll try to stop us if we go back to the facility again."
"We don't have much of a choice," Artemis said.
Alice couldn't argue with that. "I know. Just watch your backs when we get there."
"We'll keep both eyes open," Claire promised.
As Alice prepared to leave, Artemis couldn't resist poking at her alternative self. "What, no candy? Or is Carlos enough for your dessert?"
"You're funny," Alice replied. "Goodnight. We should leave by sunrise, so don't stay up too late…"
Alice left to join Carlos in the IMAX theater for some couple time. Artemis broke into one of the old chocolate bars, offering a chunk to Claire. They each took a bite, realizing how dry and tasteless it was, and immediately spit it back out.
"That was terrible. There must be something to wash that down with," Artemis grumbled. As she searched behind the counter, she found a single bottle of water. "Ah. Here we go. You go first."
Claire took a sip and passed the bottle back to Artemis. She watched Artemis' profile as she drank. She couldn't resist asking a question that had been on her mind for some time. "Natalie, are you happy with how things turned out?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do you wish that you'd gone back to your reality and found your wife? Surely, that would appeal to you more than fighting the undead and eating five-year-old chocolate bars here with me."
Artemis set the water aside and took Claire into her arms. "Do you remember what that doctor said to us in the facility? He said that me coming here was fate, and I think he was right. I did what I had to do to protect my world, and I don't regret it. Every decision I made has led me here to you, and that's a good thing. I know I didn't get the forever I thought I would, but you are my home now. I am very happy about that."
"Is that right?"
"Yes, that's exactly right. I told you I always let my heart decide who I'm with. You know what it tells me? That I'd rather be right here with you, choking down cat food in some post-apocalyptic world, than be anywhere else."
Claire put a hand on Artemis' cheek. "How romantic."
"I try. It's not easy in a place like this."
"You make it seem easy. You can even pretend to like my cooking with a straight face. I thought Carlos was going to hurl."
Laughing, Artemis and Claire kissed. Artemis then lifted Claire into her arms. "Come on. Let's find a quiet theater we can have to ourselves."
Claire and Artemis found a small theater to stay in for the night. Come morning, the couples and their new convoy would head back to Nevada to continue the good fight. They'd discover the stones were still secret and safe in Las Vegas, and they'd be ready for whatever was waiting for them in the Nevada facility.
They knew they could face anything that came their way, as long as they were together.
XxXxX
In the New World, the survivors of Claire Redfield's convoy had found a home in a desert town, and most of the survivors were adapting to their new lives well. Chase and Mikey did all they could to be half the leader Claire was. They'd even become fluent in the local language, teaching it to the other survivors. From time to time, the Admiral checked on them as he had promised.
The Admiral occasionally missed Artemis. Whenever he looked at the Sky Tower, he thought of her. He knew in his heart their mission had been a success, and they certainly hadn't come across anybody from other worlds in a long while.
As he stared at the figurines on his table, a sword landed in the wood. He grumbled as he pulled the sword out. "How many times do I have to tell you? Maintain your grip. It'll fly right out of your hand if you don't."
"Sorry," K-Mart apologized as she took the sword from him.
He put a stern finger up. "If you want to be on my crew, you have to learn how to fight."
"Yes, sir. I'll try it again," K-Mart promised.
K-Mart resumed her drills, training to become a monster hunter like her new friends. She wanted to help them guard the Sky Tower, as it was her way of being close to Claire and Carlos. She hoped they were doing well in their old reality. She was having the time of her life on the ship. She'd even become good friends with the Hunter and the Palico.
If the Sky Tower ever did activate again, K-Mart would be there with the rest of the crew—ready for whatever reality might come through this time.
THE END
