The Difference Between Us

Andrella07 & Cantholdon

Summary: There's a difference between Claire and Alice.

Rating: M – do you really have to ask why?

Disclaimer: We own nothing, but damn do we wish we did.

Reviews: Yes, please. Double that.

I, Andrella07, must thank Foxfire 141 for use of an awesome concept from which the idea for this story was derived. I also gotta say that Cantholdon is like the best person ever cause she puts up with all my crazy… RE… addictions, and amuses my insanity to no end. This is a collaborative work that will seem a bit like role playing 'cause that's essentially what is going on. I'll be writing Claire, obviously Cantholdon will write Alice. And we're thinking this is going to be a long story. Enjoy readers!

And a word from your other sponsor, Cantholdon: This collaboration would have taken place much sooner had we not thought it would trigger the end of the world. We are going to put a ton of Claire/Alice awesomeness in front of you, so be ready. I suggest getting all of your affairs in order, because we gave you plenty of warning about the possible apocalypse – I'm pretty sure its catalyst is what's below. Also, I'd like to thank my ridiculously awesome partner in crime – Andrella07, if you couldn't guess – simply for being so awesome.

Now read on and enjoy – and prepare for the impending apocalypse.

Chapter 1: One Burns, the Other is Burned

Love. That stupid word scares the shit out of me. More than when I didn't know the next time I'd find water or food or gas. More than the gruesome creatures that'll eat your heart out if you're too unaware. I don't have a heart to give. To them or her.

There's a difference between us. I would kill – have killed – to save someone, but her… it's like she'd rather die.

I wonder if she's dead already.

It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that I'm terrified to say her name, doesn't matter that my heart races when she's near, doesn't matter that when she finds my eyes on her that I'm forced to look away. Doesn't matter because I'm straight, doesn't matter because I was a leader and I know emotions compromise, doesn't matter because I can't love her.

I never wondered what I was doing, those endless hours of driving in the hot desert where open windows blew sand into your face, yet the breeze was welcome. Those dangerous raids for supplies that were needed, but not always found. I gave the convoy orders, and routine, so they didn't have to think about all that was lost. I kept them strong by being strong myself. They never got bullshit or leniency from me, and they knew it. Of course, that meant I didn't really deal in hope. I had Carlos for that kind of blind ignorance.

I shouldn't have been so harsh, but I was never one to lie to make someone feel better. I'm not saying all hope has to be a lie, but why put so much of yourself into something when there's a chance – sometimes a guarantee – that it's all for nothing?

I think someone would've said I'm cold, indifferent, aloof. I don't believe in love, and I don't believe in hope. I might… kill for them both, but she would… die.

I'll kill for you, Alice

%

Claire woke to the sound of K-mart screaming. The eclectic teen was frantic as she jumped back into the Hummer and shut the door.

"Claire!"

The redhead pushed the worn ball cap off her face and moved to the driver's side quickly. "What?"

K-mart joined her in the front as they both looked out of the windshield at the crows massing outside. The nearby vehicles and buildings were covered. Even the old telephone wires were full to the max with the black-feathered creatures. Claire's convoy was surrounded, and that was what the teen had seen.

Claire knew it was paramount to stay on the move. She was always pushing her convoy to keep ahead of the infection, knowing the slow corpses moved towards the living as if they were metal hunting magnets. This time, her group had attracted a threat she hadn't foreseen. They had faced infected creatures before, dogs seemed to do well when reanimated by the T-virus, but she'd never come across such a congregation of undead animal existence.

The redhead grabbed a walkie-talkie from the center console and brought it to her mouth. There would be no fight instigated if she could help it.

Holding the button down, she radioed her second in command. "Carlos."

"I see them," he answered back.

The man's voice was settling. Claire kept with the position the convoy had granted her and gave a terse order over the device.

"Everyone just stay in your trucks. Roll up the windows, and keep quiet."

Her mind worked for a solution, but then she was distracted by a bird that flew onto the hood of her SUV. The teen in the seat beside her looked at the bird.

"What's wrong with their eyes?"

Claire's eyebrows furrowed as she saw what the teen was talking about. She answered with disbelief.

"They've been feeding on infected flesh."

It wasn't natural for any creature to feed on other victims of the T-virus, but then again, coming 'back to life' after death wasn't natural either.

Suddenly, the crows were startled into action. A bird near the bus let out a loud caw, and Claire knew her convoy was in serious trouble. The flock went into the air, each perch abandoned as their dark wings blocked out the sun.

The time to stay silent and unmoving was past. Claire radioed again.

"Fire it up! Let's get out of here."

It was time to run. Claire started the Hummer with ease and pulled out of the sandy desert lot outside of the motel to lead her convoy away from the danger. The tanker pulled up behind her, but Claire had yet to see the bus, news van, ambulance, and Army truck join the escape.

She was just about to check her mirror again when K-mart yelled, "Claire!"

The redhead's eyes whipped to her side mirror. In its reflection, she saw that the bus had rammed into a pole and was being hounded by crows. The crashed vehicle held most of the people she was in charge of.

"Damn it!" she cursed and turned the Hummer around. She radioed her subordinates with calm haste.

"Mikey, Carlos. We have to evac the bus."

"You got it," Carlos answered back.

Both the Army truck and the news van beat her to the bus. Claire watched as Carlos pulled out a long, metal grate to connect the back of the bus to his vehicle. The redhead left her Hummer running as she went to help empty the bus of its passengers. The birds continued to swoop overhead, their cries were deafening, but Claire shouted above them as people filed past her on the makeshift bridge.

"Keep moving!"

Mikey and Carlos provided cover fire, but it wasn't enough to keep every life from being lost. Not by a long shot. People were thrown from the platform and eaten alive when the crows landed on top of them.

The bus was nearly vacant when a man climbed to the top of the Army truck and started the flamethrower kept there. Claire saw, and didn't order him to stop, though she hadn't ordered him to start either. The controlled fire did well against the manic birds. Right until the man was pitched from the vehicle by a torrent of crows.

A girl had fallen from platform to avoid the infected creatures. Claire was about to call out to her to come back when she saw Carlos break to get her. The fire above her head made a wide sweeping arc, and the ex-Umbrella soldier only had enough time to enfold the girl in a tight embrace before the hot flames consumed them both.

Claire gasped in horror as the girls screams mixed into the sound of the flapping wings and cawing beaks. Even Carlos could be heard as he groaned in pain. The only mercy they were granted was that the flames were just as efficient in killing people as they were killing birds.

The redhead's sense of responsibility went into overdrive. She'd mourn the loss later. Right now, people were counting on her. Everyone that was still alive from the bus was in the Army truck, but she had to stop the flamethrower. Claire climbed up the vehicle with no fear that birds around her could tear into her back at any moment.

Mikey took the wheel and began to drive away before Claire made it to the roof. The nozzle of the flamethrower dipped dangerously low when he turned to pull out of the motel lot, catching the canvas-covered side of the truck on fire. Claire was one handhold away from making it to the top when the fire engulfed more than the tarp.

It raced to the gas line of the flamethrower that was also connected to the vehicle's gas tank. In less than a second the truck exploded. The shockwave threw Claire back as metal, plastic, and bodies were blown apart. Her only saving grace was the thick piece of warped metal that blocked her from most of the heat even as it landed on top of her.

The redhead knew she was bleeding, likely burning, and losing consciousness. But she also knew she'd failed those she'd sworn to protect. Claire had expected to hear screams, at least then she'd know someone was still alive. There were very few as the cry of the crows drowned out everything else. The pain, the death, the sense of disappointment… it all flew away as if on the wings of birds.

#

There are a few small words that made – and still do make – people do stupid things. The most popular of these trivial words are love, trust, and hope. Alone, these words are meaningless, just some letters strung together like everything else. When attached to the emotions that they represent, they are more than just words – they are thoughts and actions, for better or worse.

While wandering the wasteland on my own, I burned away these words and everything they represented. I simply didn't need them, because I was on my own. There was nothing more and nothing less than myself.

From those ashes, however, I can feel the embers spark back to life. A phoenix is waiting, threatening to burst forth with more strength than it has ever had. There's fuel being added to the slowly building fire, and I have no control over the source – it's a fiery redheaded woman.

She's lost so much; I can see it in her eyes. Is something else in there, just waiting to be found? It still seems too early to tell. I won't push. I won't pull. I won't pry. I'll simply be here, and here is where I'll stay no matter what. Patience is a virtue I never knew I was so familiar with.

Giving into emotions is dangerous in this world – it was even before the T-virus took over. I don't think I have much of a choice in it this time. She blindsided me and I didn't even know I took the hit for a while.

I have seen the absolute worst that mankind is capable of; the evidence is all around us. Whether it is fortunate or not, I've also seen the good that is built into people. Even in their darkest hour, everyone is capable of greatness.

Once upon a time, love and hope were things that people died for.

There's a difference between us. Claire - you might kill for someone, but I would die for you.

#

Alice woke with a start, bolting up into a sitting position with a Nite-Tac pistol in hand. Her assumption was that whatever had woken her was some form of a threat. Instead, she found that she was the threat.

Her motorcycle was suddenly crashing to the ground, breaking apart upon impact. This was hardly the first method of transportation she'd unwittingly murdered. She heaved out a disgruntled sigh and dropped back onto the blanket beneath her.

She didn't stay in the position for long. Dawn was soon approaching and the blonde figured she might as well get an early start since she would now be walking. After a few moments of self-pity, Alice got herself up and gathered up the small amount of supplies she carried with her. The saddlebags were removed from the broken remnants of her bike so she could carry them.

The first rays of dawn peaked over the horizon as she kicked dirt over the fire to put it out. When everything was finally situated in an acceptable manner, she set off on foot with the bags slung over her shoulder. Walking was far from ideal, but she didn't have a choice.

It never took long for the sun to be scorching, but despite the heat layers of clothing were necessary. The virus had proven that it could keep her going in just about every circumstance possible, but she didn't want to rely on it. Her abilities were good in a pinch, but some small part of her still believed she was more than the infection; some part of her still wanted to prove it.

The sand dunes all looked the same, each bleeding into the next as the haze from the sun's heat set the whole landscape before her ablaze. Desert days were a dangerous thing, but they had yet to best her.

Alice listened as the grains of sand shifted beneath her every step, how some of them were propelled forward each time she lifted her foot. It wasn't much for entertainment, but it was something to concentrate on. She didn't know how long she'd been walking when the reverberating echo of an explosion reached her ears, disrupting her concentration on the sand.

Her attention suddenly went to the direction that the sound had come from. Sand dunes affected her view, but she could see a large black mass gathered. She started walking in that direction, steps hastened with a bit of urgency. The sight was a perplexing one until she figured out what the mass was – a flock of crows.

The flock had to be infected; there was no other explanation and that thought spurred her on faster. The black birds were scattering as she approached, getting close enough to see the smoke billowing. Cresting the sandbank, Alice was shocked by the scene of carnage the sprawled out before her.

From what she could gather, a fairly large group of people had stopped at an abandoned motel to stay for the night. Their stay had obviously outlived their welcome. Bloodied, mangled bodies littered the ground, having been picked apart by the infected scavengers. At her vantage, she could see no signs of life.

Against her better judgment, she made her way down the sand dune and into the wreckage. The smell of blood, smoke, and even burned flesh invaded her nostrils in an overwhelming tidal wave. It seemed that everywhere she looked, there was another body. It didn't look like these people had any warning. Considering their attackers, she probably wouldn't have seen it coming.

For the second time that day, a Nite-Tac was in her hand. She knew that if any were able, they would rise because of the infection passed on from the crows – and she was ready to end that unfortunate existence.

Briefly, the thought of how horrible a death like this would be had crossed her mind. To be pecked apart, eaten alive… it was a horrible notion – so it was quickly cast aside.

The blonde wandered through the destruction. It was disheartening, such a large group of people had made it this far, only to face such a gruesome end. There were some corpses still clinging to the weapons they'd died with, others petrified in varying stages of anguish. She came up to a still running, yellow Hummer – its door ajar. It took no time at all to make the decision to shut the vehicle off; if she could save the gas it would provide her a new mode of transportation. Inside, she saw what had once been a young woman, likely a teenager now mangled beyond recognition. There was a colorful, what seemed to be woven wire bracelet still intact around a bloodied wrist.

Alice steeled herself as she shut off the SUV and continued on. Yes, this was a tragedy, but she couldn't let it get to her. People died, it was a fact of life.

She approached the remains of what she assumed had once been a large supply truck or something of the sort. That was the explosion she'd heard. The blaze was still going in it, but she could see there had once been people in there. Perhaps the fire had been a less painful death than one by the crows.

Her steps suddenly halted as she picked up on another sound. The fire was roaring and she could still hear the fading cries from the crows, but there was something else. Picking through all the background noise, she singled out what had caught her attention: a heartbeat.

Someone was still alive.

Alice dropped the saddlebags and moved forward swiftly as she holstered her pistol. The sound of the heartbeat led her to some of the wrecked truck, which she pulled aside effortlessly. The first sight to greet her was red hair, followed by the rest of the woman it belonged to. The woman was unconscious, but that was to be expected.

She pulled the redhead from the wreckage and carried her to a spot that offered some shade from the sun. After carefully laying the woman down, Alice retreated to get her bags, but was quick to return. As she took off her duster and bundled it up as a makeshift pillow, she looked the other woman over for signs of injury. There was a cut on her head and a few burns, but it didn't seem like there was anything major – which was nothing short of miraculous.

Alice carefully slid her bundled coat under the woman's head. She reached over and opened up one of her bags, pulling out a canteen. Without even second guessing herself, she used some of the little water supply she kept on herself to clean up the woman she'd found.

Though she didn't know when the redhead would wake up, Alice wouldn't just leave her like this.