A/N: I don't know why, but the idea for this popped into my mind and wouldn't leave until I had written it down. This story is completely AU and probably absolutely ridiculous since it has almost nothing to do with Resident Evil.

A/N2: Tiny flashback in italics.

Eight year old Claire Redfield watched as the numbers on her rocket ship alarm clock changed from 1:59 to 2:00am before kicking off the blankets she had tightly wrapped herself in hours before and rolled off the bed, landing on her feet with a dull thud. She'd been trying in vain to sleep for close to two hours now but it didn't look like that was going to happen anytime soon and Claire knew it was all Chris' fault.

Chris, her older brother of thirteen had been placed in charge of her as their parents were visiting her grandmother in another town and wouldn't be back until tomorrow. Things had started out alright, they'd eaten pizza and played video games; and even though Claire lost every time she was still having fun. But when it came time for bed she wasn't the least bit sleepy.

"Well you can't stay up with me, I'm going to watch a scary movie and you're too young." He'd said.

"I am not too young. Let me watch it Chris, I promise I won't get scared." Claire begged her brother until he was forced to give in because the movie had started and he didn't want to miss any of it by arguing with her further.

Claire didn't know what the movie was called, but she had soon found out that it was scary, the scariest she had ever seen. It was about zombies and these people who had locked themselves in a mall to hide from the creatures. As they had sat on the couch watching Claire realized that she was too young, and Chris probably was too judging by the number of times he had jumped in his seat. But she didn't want him to think she was a baby so she'd remained on the couch, watching the movie from behind the hands covering her eyes, wishing for it to be over soon. And when it had finally finished Chris had insisted that they go to bed.

Claire had searched every inch of her room for zombies and kept all the lights on before climbing into bed and wrapping herself in blankets. She wished her mom was home so she could sleep in her parents bed, that always helped her sleep whenever she was scared. The redhead had remained in the same position, staring at the clock and wishing it was morning for two hours before kicking off the blankets in frustration.

"There's no way I'm sleeping tonight." She muttered to herself as she looked around her bedroom for a distraction, something that could keep her occupied until the sun came up. But as she stood in the middle of the room she heard a creak that caused her to jump back into her bed and pull the covers over her head.

She lay still for a few minutes before peeking back out again. "Come on Claire, get it together." She whispered. "You're being ridiculous, it was just a movie. Zombies don't exist." At least, she was pretty sure they didn't exist. Once again she wished her parents were home, her dad would know for sure if zombies were real. With that thought in mind, Claire realized there was someone else who would know.

She jumped out of bed once again, but kept the blanket wrapped around her this time and shuffled across the room. She stopped at her desk, opening the bottom drawer and pulling out a walkie talkie and grabbing a half-empty box of rubber bands from the top of the desk before making her way over to the window. She pulled up the glass and stuck her head outside, feeling the warm summer night air. Setting the walkie talkie onto the floor she took an elastic and hooked it on her pinky, then wrapped it around her thumb and pointer finger before taking careful aim at the window of the neighbour's house directly opposite her own, no further than twenty feet away. She released the elastic and watched it shoot across the distance and hitting the middle of the closed window. When there was no response right away Claire repeated the action four more times until a light was turned on and a small girl her own age with dirty blonde hair appeared at the window, pushing the glass open and sticking her head outside.

Claire smiled brightly at the sight of her best friend Alice Abernathy. Alice and Claire had been friends for as long as either of them could remember, and while they both had reputations at school for being tough, Claire knew Alice was the braver of the two of them. And aside from her parents and teachers, Alice was the smartest person Claire knew and the redhead was certain her best friend would know if zombies really existed.

Claire picked up her walkie talkie from the floor and waved it at Alice. The blonde nodded her head and disappeared from the window for a moment. During the day they would just yell to each other, but since it was late and Claire didn't want to risk getting in trouble for waking up Alice's parents, their radios were a safer bet.

When Alice reappeared at the window, she held up her own walkie talkie. "Hey Claire," she greeted. "What are you doing up so late? Over."

"I can't sleep and I had a question for you. Over."

"Ok, what is it? Over."

"Are zombies real?" She asked, then a second later added, "over."

"I don't think so, why do you need to know? Over."

"Chris and I watched a movie about them and I was just wondering. Over." Claire didn't want to admit that she was scared, but suspected Alice already had figured out the reasoning behind her question.

There was silence on the other end for a few minutes and Claire watched Alice disappear from the window again. "I'm coming over. Over." Alice said before the line went dead. The blonde returned to the window with a long jump rope with a metal pipe tied to the end and Claire knew immediately what was about to happen.

The redhead dropped her radio and shook off her blanket, getting ready to pull her friend inside. She watched as Alice eyed the tree that was rooted in the space between their two houses and tossed up the metal pipe while keeping hold of the other end of the jump rope, a satisfied smirk appearing on her face when the pipe lodged itself in the crook of a strong branch high up on the tree. The blonde tugged on the rope experimentally, making sure it was secure before climbing out and sitting on the window sill. Claire held her breath and crossed her fingers like she did every time Alice pulled this stunt, and watched as her friend kicked off from the window and swung Tarzan-style from her house to the redhead's.

The first time Alice had tried this manouevre over a year ago she fell and broke her wrist but they'd told her parents the injury had been caused by falling out of the tree, not by swinging from it. Claire thought that would be the end of it, but Alice had turned out to be quite the daredevil and hadn't given up until they had perfected the system. Claire herself had never tried it, but she was always the more sensible of the two best friends and had no desire to break any bones.

When one of Alice's hands grabbed onto the redhead's window sill Claire immediately did her part in pulling her friend inside the house. Alice was still clutching the jump rope with one hand and once both her feet touched the floor she closed Claire's window, trapping the rope so it would be available for her return swing home.

"You know, I could have just let you in the front door." Claire spoke in a loud whisper, not wanting to wake her brother.

"This way is more fun, you should try it sometime Claire." Alice responded with a smooth grin.

"No thank you, I remember the cast you had to wear after the first time you tried it."

The young blonde merely shrugged before crossing the room and flopped down onto Claire's bed. Pulling herself into a sitting position she patted the space opposite waiting for the redhead to join her and Claire climbed back into her own bed, sitting cross-legged.

"So you and Chris watched a scary movie and now you can't sleep?"

Claire blushed in embarrassment at how childish it sounded. She was eight years old now and didn't want people, especially her fearless best friend thinking she was a baby. "I've never seen a zombie movie before, I didn't know what to expect."

"I've never seen one either, was it really scary?" Alice asked with genuine interest, as if they were discussing a new game or toy.

The redhead nodded. "Yeah it was," she admitted and was happy when Alice didn't laugh at her.

"And your mom let you watch it?" The blonde's forehead scrunched in confusion.

"No, she and dad are visiting my grandma and won't be home until tomorrow."

Alice's eyes hardened and the redhead noticed her friend's clenched fists. "Then this is all Chris' fault. Some babysitter he is."

"I'm not a baby!" Claire protested and Alice immediately relaxed her stance, her eyes softening.

"I know that, it's just... Chris is an idiot."

Claire giggled. "Yeah, he is." She picked at the sheet on her bed absently, avoiding her friend's gaze before admitting the whole truth. "I'm too scared to go to sleep Alice," her voice so quiet the blonde had to strain to hear the words. "But if I call my mom she'll find out we were watching something we weren't suppose to." When Claire finally dragged her eyes away from the bed and looked at her friend she found only understanding in the blonde's gaze.

Alice hopped down from the bed and moved back toward the window. Claire thought for a fleeting moment that her friend was going to leave but Alice merely picked up the discarded blanket and returned it to the redhead. "Here, you're going to need this."

"For what, I can't sleep Alice!" Claire stifled a yawn through her protest causing Alice to grin.

"Yes you can. I'm going to stay with you and then sneak back before my parents wake up." Claire almost giggled again when Alice puffed out her chest proudly. "Don't worry Claire, I'll protect you from any zombies!" The blonde then turned off the bright overhead light, leaving the room in only the dim light provided from the beside lamp. Alice climbed back onto the bed and sat up against the headboard. She picked up Charlotte's Web from Claire's night table and then looked at the redhead expectantly. "What are you waiting for? I know you're tired." She patted the space next to her and Claire quickly scrambled across the bed and dove under the covers, pulling the blanket up to her chin.

"Are you going to stay awake all night?"

Alice nodded and opened the book. "I've done it before, it's not so hard."

Claire didn't know if Alice was just saying that to make her feel better or if it was the truth. The redhead had never stayed up the whole night before so she had no idea if it was actually easy; though she suspected it wasn't as she was desperately trying to keep her eyes open at the moment. "You don't have to do this Alice." She said through another yawn, though she really didn't want the other girl to leave as she was still a little scared.

"Sure I do, that's what best friends do." The blonde spoke absently, as if what she was doing was no big deal. But to Claire it was a big deal.

"Well you're the best best friend anyone could ever have." Claire stated and felt her face flush when Alice looked up from the book, but the blonde didn't comment on her words. Claire decided to just go to sleep before she embarrassed herself further. "Promise you'll wake me up before you leave in the morning." Alice nodded again. "Goodnight Alice."

Alice looked away from the book again and smiled at the redhead. "Night Claire, sweet dreams."

And Claire did have sweet dreams. Dreams of Alice punching Chris in the face and a T.V law banning all zombie movies from being shown ever again.

She woke only a few hours later to the sound of her bedroom door being opened. Keeping her eyes closed Claire assumed it was just Alice but a moment later she felt the bed dip next to her and feet padding across the floor, followed by hushed voices.

"Alice, what are you doing here?" Claire recognized the voice right away, it was her mother. But instead of running to her like she would have a few hours ago, the redhead continued to feign sleep, wanting to hear more.

"I couldn't sleep. I have this recurring dream about dancing pigs. My parents say I'm too old to sleep in their room and I didn't want to be alone, so Claire let me sneak over. I hope that's alright Mrs. Redfield, I don't want Claire to get in trouble."

Claire had no idea what 'recurring' meant but her mother seemed to be appeased by what Alice had said. She also liked how Alice was making sure to take the blame for sneaking over, especially since it had been the blonde's idea in the first place.

The young redhead was distracted from her musings by her mother speaking again. "Of course dear, just make sure you get back home before your parents find out you've gone, we don't want them to worry."

"They won't be worried." Alice assured Mrs. Redfield. "But I promise to go home first thing in the morning." The woman nodded and was about to exit the bedroom when Alice once again spoke up. "Why are you home so early? Claire told me you weren't going to be back until later."

Claire heard her mother chuckle softly. "Don't tell Claire but Chris apparently stayed up to watch a scary movie and it's given him nightmares. He called a few hours ago begging us to come home because he was so scared."

It took all the redhead's control to contain her laughter and not giveaway the fact she was awake and eavesdropping on the conversation between her mother and best friend. A moment later she heard her bedroom door open and shut, and she knew her mother had left. She rolled over in the bed and moved the covers out of her way enough to sit up. Alice didn't look surprised to see the redhead awake and smirked with amusement.

"How about that? Looks like you and Chris were having the same problem."

"Serves him right," Claire huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "I noticed he didn't tell her I watched the movie too. He doesn't want to get into any more trouble."

"Well at least this way you won't get in trouble either." Alice countered as she climbed back onto the bed, and Claire realized she had a point.

"You don't have to stay now that my parents are home." Claire said, taking a second to yawn. "You can stay if you want though, either way I don't mind."

Alice rather picked up the copy of Charlotte's Web that had lay forgotten since Mrs. Redfield entered the room. "I want to finish the book first if that's okay. It was finally getting good and I want to know what happens with the pig."

The redhead rolled her eyes as she crawled back down the bed and beneath the covers, her eyes already drooping shut of their own accord. "Whatever Alice." She couldn't understand how Alice had managed to stay awake all night, or why she would rather stay and read a book then go home and sleep. But in the back of her mind, even though her parents were home Claire still felt safer with the blonde laying beside her; and the redhead knew that no matter what, as long as she had her best friend she wouldn't be scared of anything.