Copyright: Capcom owns the Resident Evil franchise, not me.
Notices: This story contains violence and sexual content. Additionally, this story will contain grammatical or other errors. If you're feverish over the errors, feel free to privately message me about what you find and help me improve.
Summary: The Earth is flourishing, happily. But humans are endangered and on the verge of extinction after the greedy corporation Umbrella knowingly releases a viral plague. Small human civilizations survive including a moving convoy led by the strong Claire Redfield. Her solitary world turns upside down when she meets an infuriating yet mysterious woman named Alice. Claire soon learns about an underground survivor camp through Alice and heads there. However, Claire begins to secretly fear losing K-Mart, who has become her only source of strength over the years.
Feedback: redhope@redhope.net
Homepage: http://www.redhope.net
Write a Review: http://www.redhope.net/residentevil/review/oneshotform.html
List: http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/redhope/
Started: November 11, 2011
Series: One Shot
Copyright: Capcom owns the Resident Evil franchise, not me.
Notices: This story contains violence and sexual content. Additionally, this story will contain grammatical or other errors. If you're feverish over the errors, feel free to privately message me about what you find and help me improve.
Summary: The Earth is flourishing, happily. But humans are endangered and on the verge of extinction after the greedy corporation Umbrella knowingly releases a viral plague. Small human civilizations survive including a moving convoy led by the strong Claire Redfield. Her solitary world turns upside down when she meets an infuriating yet mysterious woman named Alice. Claire soon learns about an underground survivor camp through Alice and heads there. However, Claire begins to secretly fear losing K-Mart, who has become her only source of strength over the years.
Feedback: redhope@redhope.net
Homepage: http://www.redhope.net
Write a Review: http://www.redhope.net/residentevil/review/oneshotform.html
List: http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/redhope/
Started: November 11, 2011
Series: One Shot
Trigon
by Red Hope
Chapter 13
K-Mart finished collecting her toiletries and tucked them away in their bag. For a moment, she faltered from leaving the wash tub that was reserved for getting cleaned up in the morning. K-Mart's reflection stared back at her in the still water. She oddly noted how she was looking as old as she felt nowadays. She touched her cheek and couldn't recall seeing that beauty mark there before.
After a mild headshake, K-Mart broke away. She needed to get moving because the convoy would be packing camp and headed on the road again. A soft sigh came out after she considered they'd be going further and further away from Reston. But there wasn't much that could be done to change Claire's mind.
The first stop was at the Ford F-350 so K-Mart could drop off her small pouch then she planned to say her farewell to the survivors that'd been laid to rest. K-Mart knew their names, their faces, and where the convoyed picked them up. But that was it because getting close to anybody was an emotional danger. Not for even a fraction of a second did K-Mart want to imagine what would become of herself if Claire died today. She shoved those dark thoughts deep down.
After a visit at the crude memorial for the dead survivors, K-Mart helped Mikey get things done. Then she beelined through the camp, but she spotted Claire standing a few yards behind the diesel and gas tankers. Despite Claire's stern face, she was relaxed in her posture. K-Mart shifted her eyes to Alice's back and deciphered that Alice was just as calm. She prayed that meant they were trying to get along for once. Just maybe Claire would take K-Mart's advice.
Claire lost her attention from Alice to K-Mart, who paused nearly in the center of the camp. Whatever Alice was saying was lost on Claire for a moment.
Alice slotted her eyes then pivoted on her right foot. She twisted her head around and spotted K-Mart standing a distance away. What made her furrow her brow was K-Mart's odd motion of rubbing her hat brim from right to left. Claire's movement made her turn.
Claire held K-Mart's gaze across the camp. She reached up after K-Mart lowered her hand, and Claire tugged on the right corner of her ball cap.
Alice easily caught the bizarre exchange then it dawned on her that the pair had a silent communication protocol. Once K-Mart strolled off, Alice revealed a knowing grin at the convoy leader.
But Claire acted like it didn't happen and instead continued their discussion. "You can ride with us."
Alice's grin shifted more into a smirk, but she let it slip because she knew how it incited Claire. She nodded and decided saying nothing was better than being smart with the convoy leader.
Claire noticed Alice's restraint, and she was thankful for it. "It's still your truck," she promised Alice. "The Hummer was pretty banged up after the Iron Maiden." In fact the engine was fried after the monster's spikes destroyed the radiator.
Alice shook her head and insisted, "It's alright." When Alice first found the yellow truck, she couldn't help picking it because it reminded her so damn much of Claire and the yellow Hummer. Just how many yellow pickup trucks had been built?
Claire nodded and debated just to walk away now. Yet she hesitated and a slight weakness entered her knees. She gathered herself and softly mentioned, "About last night..." K-Mart's suggestion about an apology echoed in her ears.
Alice struggled not to fold her arms in a defensive manner. Instead she crammed her hands into the jacket's pockets. She patiently waited to see where this would go.
"I..." Claire faltered, and her gaze flickered away for a moment. She forced her mind to open up, just for a few seconds. She focused on Alice again. "I apologize for..." Claire flexed her jaw then softly finished, "For attacking you... when you were helping us."
Alice realized her heart struck harder during those few seconds that Claire struggled to speak. She bowed her head some but peered up and saw the guarded look under Claire's brim. She realized that Claire was actually trying, and Alice needed to reciprocate in kind. She straightened up better then oddly held out her left hand.
Claire faltered at the gesture that they hadn't shared yet. She understood Alice's offer so she accepted with her left hand. She couldn't recall ever shaking left hands with anybody until now. It was a similar yet new sensation as her fingers curled under Alice's hand. Iron and steel locked together in a brisk handshake.
Alice half smiled now that they both silently agreed to work together. In the back of her mind, she suspected K-Mart would have been smiling ear to ear. She shook off that mental image after her hand was released.
"See you in the truck," Claire commented. She toyed with her hat's brim as she strolled off. It helped hide her thin smile at the progress that she and Alice were making this morning. Hopefully it lasted well beyond just today.
Around ten o'clock the convoy returned to the highway that was about fifteen minutes east from the camp. But instead of a yellow Hummer in the lead, it was a yellow Ford F-350 that had much more aggression to it. Each vehicle in the convoy was spaced out behind the other during the drive further south into Virginia.
Claire was finally situated in the truck. She'd spent half an hour before leaving the camp to get things setup the way she wanted them in the truck. She also went over it with K-Mart before they hit the road. There couldn't be any confusion later.
K-Mart was busy studying her American history that she'd pulled out of the knapsack. She didn't have the greatest focus because she was tired from a late night. What little concentration she had was broken by Claire's sudden voice.
"Do you know Carlos then?" Claire tapped the volume button down on the steering wheel. She peered through the rearview mirror at Alice. It'd been on her mind since last night after the bad conversation in Alice's camp.
Alice had her kukris in her lap since the start of the ride. She was always ready and prepared for a battle. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at Claire's profile. "Yes." She read the annoyance growing on Claire's face.
K-Mart visibly cringed and prayed this didn't rekindle the fighting. She set the pencil down in the textbook's crease. She glanced at the convoy leader and wondered exactly who Claire was mad at, Alice or Carlos. Possibly both of them would be on the shit list.
"Carlos didn't mention anything," Claire drew out. There was a rawness in her voice.
Alice decided how to handle it and replied, "Carlos doesn't like to talk about the old days." She bit in the inside of her mouth then added, "None of us do."
K-Mart's eyes slightly widened, and she twisted in the seat until she could see Alice. "Do you know Doctor Green too?" Something dashed through Alice's eyes and made K-Mart's blood go cold.
Alice struggled being open about her past that she wanted to leave behind her. "I do." She turned her head to the right and stared out the passenger window. "Carlos and I crossed paths when he came to the Raccoon City facility." She flexed her jaw a few times. "Doctor Green worked at the facility."
Claire could tell there was more to it. But she decided not to push Alice further, for now. She understood the need to move on from a troubled past. "I'm going to shoot Carlos," she muttered.
"Claire," K-Mart softly fought. However, the leader's threat was mild because K-Mart heard the huff come from Claire. She moved the textbook and notebook off her lap and into the space between her and Claire.
Slowly Alice's gaze traveled over to K-Mart. "So why did you go by your middle name?"
K-Mart had shifted on the bench so that her side pressed into the seat and her front faced Claire's direction. She propped her left arm on the bench's back. She met Alice's curious stare and decided she could open up too. Despite she didn't have a dramatic past, she still had one to share.
"I was named after my mother," K-Mart explained. "Technically I'm Elizabeth Dahlia Case II." She slightly rolled her eyes at how fancy it was suppose to sound.
"Who was your father?" Alice posed.
K-Mart lowered her head and looked at the space between her and Claire. She peered up in time to catch Claire's raised eyebrow. But Alice's questions weren't meant to hurt K-Mart. "I'm not sure." She met Alice's gaze again. "He was a sperm bank daddy."
Alice barely masked her surprise, yet it briefly flickered through her eyes. She hadn't expected that tidbit.
"My mother was the assistant district attorney for Raccoon City," K-Mart explained. "She always said she only had enough time to either have a spouse or raise a child." She bit her bottom lip. "I guess lucky for me she chose a child." But her tone held anything but luck or happiness.
"Your mother was involved in the civil case against Umbrella," Alice stated.
K-Mart's distant look focused on Alice. She nodded and hesitantly told, "She was building the case." She fought not to get upset. The memories weren't the most pleasant and were hard to retell even after two years. "She was prepping a witness... one of Umbrella's clients, who took the T-pill."
Alice clenched her hand in her lap. Old screams and a woman's pleas filtered back to Alice, but she suppressed them, harshly.
"My mother was attacked by the client. I..." K-Mart looked away and murmured, "I don't know what happened to her."
"K," Claire softly called. She didn't like her friend rehashing such an ugly past.
But K-Mart seemed to want to get it out to Alice. She kept her head down as her racing mind somewhat slowed down. "I never liked being called Dahlia." She nibbled on her bottom lip then looked at Alice. "I wanted to go by my first name, but my mother was known as Elizabeth. I'd get mad and tell her it was my name." She shook her head and revealed, "She told me when she's dead that I could be called Elizabeth. I told her I couldn't wait for that day." K-Mart dropped her head so she could blink away the sting. "I can wait," she muttered and her voice quaked.
Claire had a worried frown. "Come on, K." She reached over and touched the teen's closest knee.
K-Mart shook her head then peered over at her friend. "It's alright." Her voice was shaky like her emotions.
Alice hands curled around a kukri sheath. She wanted to tell K-Mart things, but she held her silence because of Claire's presence. She swore she'd make it up to K-Mart later.
K-Mart cleared her throat then straightened up against the bench seat. "I got the nickname from the store." She shrugged. "That's where Claire and the others found me." Dark memories started surfacing in her, and she confessed them to Alice. "Everybody said the undead were just like... zombies, no functioning brain or thoughts." She shook her head and revealed, "But I had this one undead that stalked me." Her eyebrows nearly touched from the heavy confusion. "He hunted me down wherever I went. I hid in a K-Mart store for several days." An old shiver rippled down K-Mart's back. He still hunted K-Mart in her nightmares to this day.
"He found you," Alice guessed.
K-Mart brushed a loose lock behind her ear then nodded. "Yeah he did." Sharply her eyes cut to the convoy leader. "Only a few minutes after Claire found me."
Claire glanced at the teen, but she returned to her driving. She was carefully listening despite she didn't want K-Mart reliving the bad memories.
"He slammed into a shelving unit," K-Mart told Alice. She nodded once then murmured, "Claire saved me from getting hit by it."
Alice slightly stiffened now that she figured out where the nasty scar came from on Claire's back. She inwardly flinched at what kind of pain it probably caused the convoy leader.
K-Mart recalled the stalking undead's ugly features and even how he smelled. She trembled again and shook off the nasty recall still engrained in her memory. "I was pretty messed up when I first joined the convoy." She grinned at Claire even though the first months were hard for them both. "I was suffering from malnutrition." She turned the grin onto Alice. "And a lot of lying."
Alice slightly smirked then joked, "I guess Claire broke you of that habit."
The leader merely grunted and said nothing that wasn't already obvious.
"Oh yeah." K-Mart chuckled at the beginnings of her relationship with Claire. "She nursed me back to health." At the start, K-Mart had gone out of her way to get Claire's attention, which was quite a bad thing. K-Mart definitely understood Alice's draw to push Claire's buttons. That was exactly what K-Mart use to do and often paid dearly for it through punishments. But it was those punishments that made K-Mart into a better woman today.
"After doing the convoy's laundry for like the tenth time... I started to figure it out." K-Mart chuckled and blushed at Alice's even darker smirk. "That's also how I got to know Otto really well." She rubbed her neck for a second. "I had dishpan hands a lot."
Alice this time couldn't help a small laugh. She imagined that K-Mart probably didn't get much attention from her mother and become rebellious. Most likely Claire had to adjust for that as well as any anger that K-Mart had from the loss of family. Slowly Alice's amusement faded once she realized how personal the T-virus was for K-Mart too.
K-Mart gazed over at Claire and recalled those six months that'd been the hardest between them. There were so many fights between them, but Claire never abandoned K-Mart once. From the start, K-Mart had greatly respected and admired Claire Redfield, for her strength and skills. Yet K-Mart acted out often and constantly lied to Claire's face. Each lie was caught, so easily and Claire punished K-Mart for every one told. Slowly K-Mart began realizing how important she was to Claire, and their relationship made a complete switch. For more than a year, K-Mart had grown by leaps and bounds both as a person and friend to Claire. As a result, Claire didn't trust anybody like she trusted K-Mart. Nobody in the convoy, or otherwise, could wedge between their relationship.
"Those were good times," K-Mart murmured. She grinned at the convoy leader. "Right, Claire?"
"Oh yeah a blast." Claire shot a smirk at her friend. "I should have takin' you over my knee... it may have solved things faster."
K-Mart furiously blushed at the mental picture and quickly looked out the front window in hopes nobody saw it. "I might have liked it," she mumbled.
Claire went wide eye because she heard it so clearly. She would have hissed a comment back, but she snapped her jaw shut before it was too late. She inwardly groaned after she glanced in the rearview mirror. Alice had definitely heard it too.
K-Mart removed her hat and decided distracting herself would keep her looking innocent. She was glad nobody made a comment about anything because she would probably open the car door and jump out. She continued running her fingers through her hair then retrieved the hair tie from her right wrist.
"Not doing your make up?" Claire teased her friend. She hoped the change of topic thinned out the electric air in the truck.
K-Mart glowered at the leader. "I stopped the whole make up thing over a year ago." She held up her hands and argued, "I learned my lesson... looking sexy for undead doesn't stop them alive."
Claire laughed and patted the steering wheel at the mental picture. "It's definitely not Beauty and the Beast, K."
"Fer sur," K-Mart muttered in teen slang. She looked at Alice and noticed the relaxed air around their new friend. She slightly smiled once she realized it was true. Alice was fitting nicely into their odd yet strong friendship.
Claire took a deep breath and debated an idea lingering in her head. She shifted in the seat then glanced at K-Mart, who was putting her hat on again.
K-Mart straightened out the hat since her hair was now in a bun. She closed her textbook and placed the shut notebook on top of it. Last the mechanical pencil was hooked onto the notebook so it wouldn't be lost.
"How long did you work for Umbrella?" K-Mart glanced at Alice. Her tone was filled with curiosity like her expression.
Alice stayed calm this time and didn't let it get personal. She'd once been a faithful employee until she discovered Umbrella's plot. "A long time..." She tilted her head and added, "I came with the place."
K-Mart chuckled at the seeming joke and easily recalled exactly when the Umbrella facility opened up in Raccoon City. "That was like in the early 80s." She'd checked into stuff about Umbrella after the litigations and civil suites started up. She shook her head and argued, "You would have been born around then." From her guess, Alice had to be in her earlier thirties right now or maybe even younger.
Claire narrowed her eyes and studied Alice through the rearview mirror. She picked up on Alice's rather honest tone while K-Mart thought it was a joke. "You're serious."
K-Mart 's grin melted away, and she shifted to Claire then hastily returned her wide stare to Alice. "Are you serious?" Several different ideas raced through her mind.
Alice hesitated but honestly replied, "I was twenty when I started at Umbrella." She glanced at Claire and explained, "That was in 1982."
K-Mart gaped and realized that it was true. Suddenly her mind did the easy calculations, and she blurted out, "You're fifty-two!"
"Yes," Alice huskily agreed. She was smug at the shock on K-Mart's face.
Claire released a low breath and began absorbing that a fifty-two year old women, who looked thirty or even late twenties, was in the back of the truck with them. All that made sense was that the T-virus had something to do with it.
"Apparently the 'timeless' part of the T-virus is real," Alice mocked.
"Wow," K-Mart breathed out. Her fascination in Alice was heightened now that she realized Alice was much older. She shook off her dazed expression and asked, "So the virus... de-aged you?"
"Basically." Alice folded her arms in her lap. "I suspect that since humans are in their prime by their late twenties to thirties then that's why it reversed my natural aging process." She trailed her stare over to Claire, who had been rather silent.
"That's amazing," K-Mart murmured. She was still grasping the concept. "I wonder if that makes you immortal then." She fooled with her hat's brim and started thinking in different directions.
"Possibly," Alice softly replied.
K-Mart was seriously thinking it over, but there weren't any definites about Alice's future aging, if any. She slightly bowed her head until Alice's renewed voice made her look up.
"What's your story, Claire?" Alice had side glance at the convoy leader's profile.
Claire moved in the seat after Alice brought up the uncomfortable topic that she knew was coming at her. K-Mart and Alice had shared their pasts, and now it was Claire's turn. She grabbed her hat's brim and pulled on the left side a bit.
"I was a mechanic," Claire started, carefully. "I worked on antique cars and some motorcycles."
K-Mart knew tidbits from Claire's past before the apocalypse but she'd never pried either. Perhaps now she'd gain a few more pieces that would explain how Claire came to be today. Despite Claire's hardened, thick skin it'd been there before the apocalypse and only been building up since then. K-Mart was positive of that part.
"It was a small shop," Claire softly continued. "I was just starting my AMT certificate." She barely caught K-Mart's confused expression so she defined, "Aircraft maintenance technician certificate."
"Wow," K-Mart softly breathed out. She hadn't known that about Claire.
"Can you fly?" Alice checked.
Claire shrugged and answered, "Not legally, no." She slightly grinned because legally didn't matter now, but she explained, "I hoped to get my private ticket after my AMT."
K-Mart was highly interested and carefully listened to Claire tell more.
"I wanted to start my own airplane maintenance shop later but..." Claire remembered her dreams that'd died with the rest of humanity. Now surviving the day was priority on the list.
Alice was curious about something that'd been in the back of her mind since she met Claire. She mentioned, "I've heard your last name before. I'm not sure why."
Claire nodded, and grimness tainted her features now. "My father." She glanced at Alice in the rearview mirror. "Maybe you met him." She went back to studying out the front window. "He worked at Umbrella's Raccoon City facility." She shrugged and softly added, "He was a maintenance guy there... for like eight or nine years."
Alice jogged her memory, but she didn't really know the maintenance department much other than a select few. The last name, Redfield, was vaguely familiar yet didn't ring any major bells in her head. She certainly knew the employees in the security teams and many researchers in the labs. "What was his first name?"
"Alex... Alex Redfield," Claire revealed. After Alice's slight headshake, she wasn't surprised that Alice wasn't aware of her father. Her father was a quiet man, until he came home. "He use to work at the Raccoon City Hospital before Umbrella. That's where he met my mother."
Now it dawned on K-Mart what Claire always meant that Claire's mother had taught her a few things about healing. "Was your mom a doctor or nurse?"
"Nurse," Claire replied. She shifted in the seat and propped her left arm on the windowsill. She leaned her head against her hand. "She was killed when I was thirteen... drunk driver creamed into her then fled the scene."
"Oh my god," K-Mart whispered in horror. She hadn't known anything about Claire's parents until today. Quickly it started making sense why Claire was troubled after such a childhood. "Did they catch the guy?"
Claire lifted her head and nodded at K-Mart. "He was found guilty... out of jail in a couple of years." She shrugged. But memories continued flooding Claire, and it twisted her stomach a great deal. "My father didn't take it too well." Briefly her eyes fluttered after her father's constant drunken spells escalated to the point that he became violent with Claire. Sharply those ugly memories were locked down again, and Claire silenced the screams and yells from her past.
"What happened to him?" Alice gently asked. She sensed Claire's inner turmoil and hoped her voice would break the spell for Claire. But instead Claire grew much darker to the point that Alice regretted her question.
K-Mart gripped the seatbelt across her chest and slightly leaned away from the convoy leader. The amount of anger rolling off of Claire made K-Mart recoil in fear. She'd never seen Claire this way and realized how deeply rooted and old the anger was in Claire. It caused K-Mart's heart to race and her breathing to increase each passing second.
Alice shifted forward some yet wasn't sure what could be done to calm Claire. She curled her fingers tighter around the kukris until Claire's lips slightly parted. Alice clung to each word Claire drew out so slowly.
"I killed him."
K-Mart's next breath was audible then she closed her eyes. Claire's three words repeated endlessly in her heart and stirred a pain in her. She forced her glistening eyes open once Claire's voice was renewed in the small confines of the truck.
"After the initial outbreak, he was at work and... had to fix some damaged equipment in a lab." Claire heard Alice lean into the rear seat. She took a deep breath, which soothed the anger that'd raged to the surface earlier. "I don't know what equipment or what was in the lab." She cleared her throat, which helped take away the last of edge in her tone. "But the next day he called out sick."
Alice let out a low breath then guessed, "He was infected."
The convoy leader ran her fingers across the hat's brim then dropped her hand to the steering wheel. "I got home from work about an hour before he turned." She didn't need to explain the rest about his attack then Claire finally put the bullet in his head. Within a few hours, Claire hopped onto her motorcycle with her most valuable belongings and took off. She didn't return home and escaped Raccoon City because she foresaw the pending doom.
K-Mart rubbed her brow and some part of her didn't wish to know this about her friend. But a larger part of her was glad to have a glimpse into Claire's past. Despite nobody wished to discuss what'd happened, K-Mart knew the impact it had on each of them now. To this day, K-Mart often hoped to see her mother's face in the next new crowd of survivors they picked up. And she still saw that same undead's stalking face on every undead that attacked them.
Alice leaned her head against the headrest. She swallowed hard after she soaked in how greatly Umbrella and the T-virus impacted each of them. She briefly shut her eyes and recalled her battle in the facility to stop Umbrella. But she and her team were just too small compared to Umbrella. If she'd known sooner, she could have done something about it ahead of time.
"I'm sorry... for what happened back then," Alice murmured to the pair. She gradually opened her eyes, which dulled to a pale blue from her surfaced emotions.
Claire rolled her shoulders slightly. She didn't need an apology, from anybody. That damn bastard of a father deserved to be shot in the head, Claire decided long ago. She continued shooting him over and over again in her nightmares.
K-Mart shook her head and turned forward in the seat. Initially she wasn't sure why Alice was sorry until she figured out Alice was bothered by her failure to stop Umbrella's plans. She tugged her hat's brim hard so her face was somewhat hidden from sight. There was nothing to say, and instead she curled up next to the door. Her wild thoughts wore her out within half an hour and put her into a restless sleep.
Alice remained quiet in the back. She waited until K-Mart was asleep then she spoke to Claire in a low voice. "You going to continue south?"
"Yes." Claire kept her attention on the highway so she wouldn't hit any abandoned cars on the road. "Then go west."
"How far south?" Alice softly asked.
"Maybe Georgia or the Florida panhandle." Claire was curious about Alice's questions. "Why?"
"You don't want to get too close to Florida," Alice advised, "Especially the panhandle." She moved her head to one side. "There's an Umbrella facility in Tallahassee."
"Seriously?" Claire muttered in annoyance. A headshake showed her raised irritation, but she curved it and asked, "Any suggestions? I wanted to get past the mountain range and stay in the south."
"You could go towards Tennessee," Alice offered.
Claire pursed her lips then recalled, "Route 81 runs right into Knoxville."
"Go further south from there," Alice gently agreed. She wasn't sure of Claire's ultimate plans with the convoy, but she'd leave that for later. It was enough they were discussing a route without getting into a fight, like last time.
Claire fell into a comfortable silence. She checked on K-Mart and hoped her friend was getting some half decent rest after their long night. She tapped the music volume up but mentioned, "I hope you like eighties."
"It was all the rage in my twenties," Alice joked.
Claire couldn't hide the slight grin that came over her. She was reminded of Alice's more than doubled age compared to Claire. "You've been roaming the countryside since you escaped Umbrella?"
Alice brushed her nose for a second then nodded. She looked out the passenger window. "There's no reason to settle down."
Claire slightly hummed at the concept of settling down. It was laughable to her because there wasn't any safe place left on the Earth. She didn't care if the underground facility in Reston appeared safe because it was only a matter of time before the virus infiltrated the damn place. Good luck to those fools then.
Alice was glad that the convoy leader didn't continue the discussion. She wasn't in the mood. Her mind was busy with thoughts of K-Mart. She ran her fingers up and down a kukri's sheath while she considered her options. She needed to talk to K-Mart, alone. She tapped two fingertips against the sheath after she made her decision. Hopefully what K-Mart learned tonight wouldn't break the teen, but Alice felt that K-Mart had a right to know.
Once her eyes slipped shut, Alice continued thinking about her pending future. How long could she ride with this convoy? What was she planning to do with them? She'd made promises to K-Mart and Claire. She would uphold them. Yet just within twenty-four hours, Alice already smelled the change between Claire and K-Mart. The pair had been close before, but now they seemed in tuned with each other on another level. Alice recognized it, especially in K-Mart. How quickly people changed and even more so with death biting at their heels. Somehow, Alice felt like she missed her chance and that was the plot of her seeming never ending story.
The Ford F-350 jounced after it rolled off the back road just outside of Rural Retreat, Virginia. Claire was sitting upright and noted that both Alice and K-Mart woke up from their naps. She was grateful because dusk was bearing down on them, and she wanted more eyes. The truck drove slower then paused at the mouth of a dark field surrounded by thick woodland.
"Are we going in there?" K-Mart stared at the field caressed by the sunset.
Claire breathed deeply and stared coldly at the farm field.
"Claire, what we waiting for?" Carlos radioed.
Claire grabbed the radio and replied, "Give me a second." She released the microphone. She switched on the high beams and revealed more ankle high grass. "I don't like it," she muttered. A click of the talk button, and she ordered, "I saw a marker on the highway for a gas station a mile down this way. We'll continue down to it."
K-Mart sunk into the seat again and decided not to ask what was wrong. Like other survivors, she fully trusted the convoy leader's instincts that constantly saved their asses. She swore that Claire could smell the undead a mile away sometimes.
"Undead?" Alice asked. She didn't have the normal prickled hair and hot blood that warned her of undead.
"No." Claire was watching her driving down the barren road. "Something else." She shrugged and guessed, "Maybe wolves or bears... I'm not sure."
Alice gave a nod and understood the leader's concerns. She rested in the seat and waited for the gas station to arrive in the truck's headlights.
Within a minute, the truck approached the lonely gas station at an intersection. The F-350 parked in the center of the intersection and shined its lights on the gas station. So far nothing was moving around in the crumpled parking lot or beyond the broken windows in the small store.
"Carlos, get the recon team ready." Claire hooked the radio to her hip after her hail. She planned to go in too. She jerked the truck into park then peered back at Alice. "You mind staying with K-Mart?"
Alice expected to be attached to the recon team, and Claire would stay with K-Mart. Once the mild shock faded off, she nodded and decided to get into the front.
Claire looked at her friend in the passenger seat. "You got the drill?"
K-Mart nearly rolled her eyes. At least she was asked this time instead of being put through the rundown. The glovebox dropped open, and she retrieved the Glock.
Claire accepted the silent answer then got out of the truck. She left the door partially cracked, but she waited for Alice to step out next.
Alice came off the running board and slammed the rear door. The kukris were in her left hand. She studied the convoy leader's intense features.
"If anything happens to her..." Claire finished her warning through her eyes.
Alice already understood that Claire was showing a significant amount of trust by leaving K-Mart in her hands. But that trust had been well earned by Alice repeatedly protecting them already. Yet Alice still dipped her head and whispered, "I know."
Claire accepted they had an understanding so she brushed past and went to the rear of the truck for the M4 carbine.
Alice peered over her shoulder and watched Claire's confident stride, which caused a warm tingle in her belly. She quieted it then climbed into the driver's seat after she tossed the kukris into the center of the bench seat.
K-Mart held the Glock in her lap and kept staring out the front window. She was on watch for any movement around or within the gas station. "She give you the 'anything happens' death threat?"
Alice smirked at K-Mart's keen insight. "Yup."
K-Mart looked over at Alice and grinned. "Well... welcome to Claire's little tiny ass circle of trust." She pointed at her chest. "That includes me." She pointed at Alice next. "You." Then pointed a thumb over her right shoulder just as the truck's tailgate slammed. "And that carbine."
Alice actually laughed at the last part. From her peripheral view, she caught sight of that carbine in Claire's hands as she walked past the pickup truck.
Alice put the window down enough so she could get the scents in the air. She only smelled nature and nothing undead. She decided to leave it open so she could smell or hear anything.
K-Mart curiously watched the recon team sweeping into the parking lot. Like always, the convoy leader was in charge and gave silent orders with hand signals.
Alice silently admired the leader's tactics and careful precision on the outside sweep. If she didn't know better, she would have believed that Claire was a natural at security checks. But once the team entered the gas station, Alice's attention drifted over to K-Mart.
After a few seconds, K-Mart detected the older woman's eyes on her so she met it. She could tell something was on Alice's mind, and she tensely waited for it to come to light.
"There's something we have to talk about," Alice revealed.
K-Mart bit her lower lip and looked away. She softly asked, "What about?" Most likely it had to do with this morning's talk or maybe even Claire.
"You," Alice simply stated.
That reply startled K-Mart a lot. She blinked and furrowed her brow at Alice. "What?"
Alice sighed and placed a hand on the steering wheel. "There's some things you need to know." She had a slight frown. "I'm going to make camp outside the perimeter." She gazed out the front window again. "We can talk in private there."
K-Mart blew out a low breath and couldn't hold back the nervous bubbles deep in her stomach. "Alright." She wasn't totally sure how she'd swing it because Claire had such a habit of checking on her. A few options came to mind, and she have to figure it out after dinner. But that paled in comparison to what Alice could possibly have to say to her. She rubbed her brow, and it did nothing to work off the creases.
Alice released a sigh and offered nothing else. Now wasn't the time because once K-Mart heard what she had to say then K-Mart would probably need a few minutes to herself. If Claire caught K-Mart upset thanks to what Alice had to say, they'd all be in a huge fight again.
This was between Alice and K-Mart, only.