Burning Up

Escaping Umbrella (Again)

Alice could hear the gentle rush of water.

She could hear flames crackling.

Up above, birds flocked into the early morning sky.

She attempted to sit up and found that she didn't have the strength. Every last square inch of her body was hurting. Burning, aching, stinging, the works.

Somebody was approaching. Alice could sense it before she could even pick up on the sound of boots navigating across stones.

A shadow crawled across the ground, steadily encroaching on where she lay.

Sharp talons dug into the skin of her jaw, drawing blood. Her head was turned up to face their owner. She didn't appear human. Not at all, but Alice recognized the tattered red fabric hanging from her neck. She knew the blend of dark brown and pale blue in those eyes, but she couldn't find a hint of recognition in them.

"...Rain..." Alice croaked. "I'm sorry." She was feeling so much damn guilt for this whole mess that it couldn't be contained any longer.

Yes, the Umbrella Corporation was responsible for stealing the T-Virus from Dr. Ashford for their own use.

Yes, Spencer Parks tried to steal it next, releasing it into the ventilation systems in the Hive as he was making his escape.

But if Alice had simply... been more careful when meeting with Lisa, then he never would've overheard and gotten the chance to pull what he did. It was never a good idea to meet so close to the mansion, never a good idea to trust him.

Hell, if she had caught on quicker, if she had grabbed that fucking gun before Spence did and trapped them in the lab, then they could've gotten back to the platform and acquired the antivirus much faster.

They could've left before the hazmats showed up and avoided a lot of this.

Matt would be fine. He would still be alive.

Rain would be fine. She wouldn't have turned into this.

If Alice managed to grab her before she reached Yuri, she wouldn't have turned into this.

If she managed to get the pilot to take off before Cain showed his face...

Tears blurred her vision. "God, I'm so sorry I failed you..." She failed everybody.

Rain didn't appear to understand what she was saying, nor did she care. Rows upon rows of sharp teeth sunk into Alice's throat.

Everything went dark.

Alice found herself floating in tangible nothingness. She couldn't tell you how long she had been doing so. She had no true sense of time. It could've been years or seconds.

Something began to draw her away, urging her back into the realm of consciousness. She desperately clung to it.

When she finally snapped awake, she found herself in an incredibly unpleasant reality. She no longer understood her nightmare, which now felt so, so distant. Not for the first time, she didn't know who or where she was. A thick fog clouded her brain, swirling with panic and confusion.

She...

She didn't feel right. And not in the way she instinctively knew she used to. The vague sense of foreignness—of wrongness deep within her core was gone, instead replaced by a subtle thrumming throughout her body.

She was trapped. Surrounding her were the glass walls of a large tank. A respirator was stuck in her mouth. Numerous needles attached to medical tubing were sticking out of her skin, pumping her full of god-knew-what. Metal braces affixed to her shoulders and lower back held her in place.