Resident Evil: Resurrection

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Buckshot wasn't practical in the least because you had to reload so frequently and it usually only took out one monster at a time, but it sure as hell felt good to blast the head clean off those fuckers, so Alice kept using it. She looked down for a brief moment to stuff two new shells into the gun, but as she was doing so she heard a roar next to her and she looked up with a gasp, caught off guard in a rare moment of mistaken safety. A second roar sounded, louder than the first, and Alice's eyes went wide as the undead store clerk that had been lunging at her was shoulder checked and sent to the ground. She fired a shot directly into his face, obliterating everything from jaw up to a bright read smear in the sand, before looking up at Carlos in awe. "You..." she began, unable to find the words.



"Alice," he said urgently, looking beyond her at the swarm of creatures approaching from over a hill.



"Right, time to go," she agreed, while taking a step forward and slipping an arm about his waist. He rested his weight on her as she helped him to limp back to the truck, and she watched like a proud parent as his clumsy fingers managed to open the door on the third try. Alice helped him up into the truck and left the tasks of closing the door and buckling his own seat belt to Carlos while she dashed around the vehicle and got in on the driver's side. The truck swerved in the sand and took off with a roar of the engine but inside the truck Alice was smiling wide. "Maybe soon you can start practicing shooting them," she suggested hopefully. "Or working on your motor skills. Hold up one hand for me Carlos, and three fingers. I want to see three."



He looked down at his hands, then lifted one of them, and his fingers twitched as he strained to keep control of them, but eventually he had three left standing, his thumb and index finger bent, though not quite down all the way. His gaze became inquiring, hoping he'd pleased her with his results.



Alice nodded, "Perfect. Show me five." When his index finger and thumb straightened out for all five fingers to be extended on his hand, Alice took one hand off the wheel and placed it up against his, matching her hand up to Carlos' and feeling the slight warmth in his body. He was becoming less and less a reanimated corpse and more of a living creature with each passing week. She was taken out of her proud thoughts when she felt Carlos move his hand against hers, and she watched with astonishment as he laced his fingers through hers and curled them closed, so that he was left squeezing them firmly. Her small pale hand practically disappeared in his paw, but it felt good as he squeezed and slowly Alice lowered her fingers to return the clasping union of hands.



"Alice," Carlos rasped. Her lower lip trembled as she smiled and nodded.



They drove the rest of the way like that, through the hills and across the sands with their hands clutched together. Never in all this time had Carlos been so well behaved and calm as he was then, and when he wasn't imitating Alice and looking out over the desert for any signs of danger, he was staring at their joined hands or her, the curve of his lower lip twitching as he felt one side of his mouth trying to pull back into a smile. When he finally managed one, she didn't notice, but that was fine; the smile was more for himself than for her. Her scent filled the truck, it was a cloying combination of sweat, dried blood, unwashed hair and dirt, but to him it was a sweet musk because it was her. Strange sensations prickled along his skin and Carlos grunted once, quietly, having to look away from her before they became too powerful and he misbehaved, which made her unhappy. Whatever the cause, whatever the reason, he couldn't put into pretty words or even find a clarified definition in his own mind, but he knew that he felt better when he was touching Alice and though sometimes she caused him pain with what she did to him, when the pain was over he always felt even better than before.



The signs they passed on the roadside grew more and more frequent, and then buildings started to appear in the distance, growing in number. Soon they were in a city, and here Alice drove slower so that the engine was quieter and she could look around at each detail, window and door for signs of the living or the undead. She inspected the place she'd decided upon for a good hour before finally deciding it was empty enough, and driving up to it. This place wasn't the largest city they'd been to but it was a good size, and when they pulled up to a gas station, she ordered Carlos to stay put before hopping out of the truck and immediately going to the gas pump. She lifted one of the nozzles and flipped up a metal valve on the side of the pump, and when she squeezed the trigger to watch a splash of liquid spatter onto the cement, Alice released a sound of triumph. She put the nozzle down and hurried to the back of the truck, where she unloaded large gas cans in a hurry and began to fill them one after another. While pumping gas into the fourth one, Alice looked up into the truck and gave Carlos a smile, which made the man start, before she closed up the fourth can and started up on the fifth. This would tide them over for a long time yet, she was going to drain this place dry if she could.



It took two hours of unloading, filling and loading the gas cans that took up most of the room in the back of the truck before Alice filled the truck itself and was satisfied that they were hauling as much gas as they could take away with them. She waved a hand to beckon Carlos out of the truck before hurrying into the convenience store in the gas station, poring over what was left on the shelves eagerly. There were no sensations of danger or bad feelings in this place so Alice was confident it was safe to bring Carlos out as she rummaged through cans, filling a large sack at her side. When he joined her, he watched what she was doing for a while, before approaching the shelves and starting to select cans as well. Alice paused and watched Carlos then as a change in roles while he picked out cans. She marveled at his skill; he had enough thought processing in his brain to watch and see that she was picking only vegetables and fruits and ignoring things like canned noodles and beans, and now he was picking them out on his own and putting them into her sack. Realization struck her then as she reached out and grabbed his wrist, stopping him from getting another can and causing him to look at her. "I haven't been giving you enough credit," she said suddenly. "If you have this kind of reasoning, process of elimination and urge to be useful, you've come a lot further than I thought you have. Carlos, you know my name. Say something else. Say anything else." She ripped open the peel-off lid of a can of sardines and sniffed them once before nodding in approval at her marvelous find and holding it out for him to eat. "Fish," she urged. "This is good for you and it's meat; you like meat. Eat."



The pain and struggle in his face eased some as she seemed to abandon her command for him to speak with her, and Carlos accepted the tin, digging his fingers into it and scooping the chunks of tiny fish into his mouth hungrily. He ate like a wild creature still, beads of oil and little bits of fish trickling down his chin and arm as he shoved it in his mouth, but this was still an improvement from when Alice had to be the one to put the food in his mouth for him. It was only when there were two little fish left that Carlos paused, swallowing what was in his mouth, and looked up at Alice again. She was watching him eat the rare treat, and something in his gut twisted. He paused, and held out the tin to her. With some strain, and feeling a headache pounding at his temples, he uttered, "Alice. F-fishhh." The delight on her face was reward enough but Carlos was determined as he pushed the can at her, wanting her to have some as well.



"No, you eat it," Alice said with a nod, putting a hand over his - again those warm tingles rushed over his skin, he liked it when she touched him, it was comforting - and she pushed the tin back to him. "You need it more than I do. I would be happy if you ate it all Carlos."



He did not need any more convincing; not only had she turned away his offer of good food, but she had also said she would be happy if he ate it, and he was more than eager to do things that made her happy, so the last two fish were slurped up quickly before he dropped the tin on the floor, causing a loud rattle to echo in the building, and he resumed going through cans to find the ones she wanted. He didn't notice the way she was smiling at him while he did his best to be useful.



From that moment forward, every waking hour or so at least, Alice urged Carlos to speak new words. Sometimes there was no change at all but frequently he surprised her with two or three words at a time. His headaches were coming back, and he felt an itching, aching sensation in his mind of memories trying to claw back to the surface, but they just wouldn't come yet. Now and again something inside him would speak up and tell him that this was a gun or that was a boot, and he would repeat it, which made Alice happy. The little flashes of images in his mind were confusing but telling her about them in his own feeble way seemed to please them both, and over the next week their time together had been spent less with training him in motor skills and more with his mind. By the seventh day, he could string together weak but understandable sentences, and finally he could communicate with Alice on some level other than grunts and stares. That night, as they laid out their campsite and Carlos fed branches into the fire helpfully, he watched her take out the familiar gun and put it to her own arm. For the first time Carlos noticed the pain on her face while her blood was being removed, but when she lifted her head and looked at him she appeared almost eager while approaching. He held out his arm for her and she put the gun to his inner arm this time, then pulled the trigger. "I'm going to up the dosage," she said suddenly. "We're going for two shots at once today Carlos; I think you can handle it now." The vial was filled a second time from her other arm, and Alice pressed the muzzle of the transfusion gun to Carlos' upper arm, pausing for only an instant before pulling the trigger. The immediate choked sound of pain from Carlos wasn't a surprise, but when it didn't stop but seemed to get worse instead, Alice's calm expression tightened.



"Carlos?" she inquired, drawing the gun away and watching him carefully.



"Agh... AAAH!" He lifted his hands and clutched his head, screwing his eyes shut and letting out a scream. Alice put the vial and weapon away, then hurried over to Carlos, putting her hands on his shoulders.



"Carlos, what's wrong?" she urged, wishing he would use some of the words he'd learned to help her help him.



He released another scream and tore away from her, struggling to get up onto his feet and staggering a few paces while shaking his head. "No!" he bellowed. "No, no!" It felt like a set of claws had pierced through his brain and were slowly prying his skull open as images, words and memories came flooding back to him.



Carlos? Carlos. Carlos... Carlos! Carlos?! Car-los! Caaaaaarlos? ...Carlos!



Hundreds of people, hundreds of faces, looking at him, saying his name, screaming, laughing, crying, begging, gasping, dying... "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!" He stumbled a few paces forward then lost his footing, landing on his side in the sand and thrashing as he clutched his head and screamed. The blackness and static inside his head that he'd grown accustomed to as it blocked him off from most of his thoughts and memories was dissolving, and everything was coming back too quickly. His childhood, his years in school, training to join STARS, the academy, Yuiry and Nicholai, his friends, his family, Umbrella...



Alice.



Dark eyes snapped open and for just a few seconds the pain stopped while he looked up at her as she stood over him, her shadow blocking the harsh sunlight above. Alice, he remembered her, what she was, what she'd done, what she could do, where they'd been together.



The kiss...



Just promise me one thing. When you get down there...



Consider it done, she'd replied immediately.



And then... and then...



His death.



The moment of peace was over; Carlos released a scream like none other he'd ever released before, thrashing and whipping about on the sand. She was doing something but he couldn't see what, she was touching him, trying to get hold of him. Her hands finally caught hold of his vest and she yanked him forward, slamming their foreheads together though he barely felt it. Her hands lifted and he could feel them trembling against his neck before they grasped the back of his head tightly, her nails biting into his scalp as she continued to press her forehead to his and stared down into his eyes even though his were closed.



It was then that he felt her inside of him, like fingers of pressure within his brain, probing deep until she could see what he could see. He didn't know how she was doing it but the swirling flames of sheer agony licking at the insides of his skull were restrained one by one and forced to subside, putting each in their place like filing drawers into place on a cabinet of millions. Alice was trembling atop Carlos, both of their bodies still in the desert sands and no more sounds coming from them. Somebody watching them from the outside and having no idea what was going on inside would have perhaps thought them dead, Carlos' mouth stuck open in a silent scream and Alice's eyes wide open as tears of blood began to streak down her cheeks and drip onto Carlos' face. One after another after another thousands of doors were slammed shut inside his mind, the attacking memories put in their place for when they were called upon, and then the source of the chaos was found: the memories of his own death and his life leaving his body. These memories were not something a mind or body could handle, they were causing him to go mad and releasing every thought and feeling he had ever had as though he was permanently trapped in the final second of life when your entire history flashes before your eyes. Alice felt the hot rush of pounding blood in her head as it started to trickle from ears and nose as well and she used every last ounce of strength she had in these strange powers she wasn't sure how to define, and with a mental thrust of will she slammed those final doors shut, and these ones she sealed permanently with all her will.



Carlos gasped and lurched suddenly, brought back to reality in the desert as his eyes opened wide and he sat up. He looked down at the dead weight shifting atop him and felt a cold sweat break out on his skin at the sight of Alice. Her eyes were open but they were deadened, and there was blood running down her face from every orifice, her mouth open slightly. A flash of a memory... Alice with that same glaze over her eyes, laid out on a boulder by the waterfall, dead. "No!" he cried out, struggling to stand and pick her up. Carlos lifted his head when he heard a groan nearby, and the hairs on the back of his neck rose when he realized that their screaming had attracted a lot of attention. Abandoning the campsite, Carlos opened the truck door and shoved Alice inside, then got to the driver's side. He slammed the door shut and locked them both before looking at the keys in the ignition and the pedals on the floor. His headache made his vision blur for a moment as he tried to recall how to use one of these things, and he touched his fingers to the keys, turning them urgently.



The truck heaved and choked as it tried to start, and he felt panic starting to rise as the first creature reached the truck and started to bang at the window beside Alice, roaring and pressing its face to the window. "Alice," Carlos called out desperately, looking over at her as he tried the keys again and the truck sputtered and coughed. "Alice!" Carlos looked up in fear as a third and fourth monster approached, all of them banging at the truck, rocking it, slamming their fists against the windows. Carlos pushed all the pedals and turned the keys again and again, pressing buttons and pulling knobs and trying to move the long stick he'd seen Alice move around while she drove to change the car from going forward to backward to staying still. His heart leapt up into his throat as he heard glass shatter, and Carlos looked up in time to watch one of the monsters reach into the truck cab and grab at Alice, starting to pull her out through the window. "ALICE!" he bellowed desperately.









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