Chapter 23:
A cooling breeze swirled mightily through the upper foliage of the old trees, stirring baby leaves into a twisting dance as they fluttered in response against the grey sky. Further down, birds and woodland creatures scampered in the branches, nervously skipping from limb to trunk to limb, confused as to why it was suddenly night again when, only minutes ago, the sun had been rising in its wonderfully predictable fashion. A grey, shimmering light slipped through the upper echelons, dropping down to the soil below.
If it hadn't been for the absence of singing and the two dead men in front of her, Dawn could've been in a Disney movie
[Little did she know that would all soon be closer to the truth than comfortable. Ending World-Peace? That's nothing baby, compared to turning southern California into Mary Poppins country…]
"So where is your helicopter then?"
Officer Tomlinson adjusted his nose which was threatening to fall into the side of his left cheek, and then gestured vaguely in one direction.
"Over there somewhere. We need you to help us find it"
Dawn held back her response, as the two corpses abruptly changed direction, crossing the road, and hopping over a fence into a grassy field. She trotted after them, wondering how on earth she was going to help them find a helicopter. She voiced her concern.
Lieutenant Kash maintained his rapid pace, the outskirts of Sunnydale Woods coming into view in the distance, as he began to answer her question.
"You are female, yes?"
"Yes"
"And you are alive?"
"I hope so"
"Then you'll be perfect"
Dawn gave him a questioning look.
"The demon's who killed us and stole our helicopter…" Officer Tomlinson expanded
"And my foot"
" - and his foot - are part of a world-wide evil scheme, that uses various economic and logistical currents throughout society's infrastructure to manipulate and extrapolate their sustenance at the lowest exchange rate, resulting in deprivation, carnage and job losses throughout North America, and indeed the world, that will have evolutionary repercussions in later epochs, due to an irregularity in the chain of events, events we are trying to prevent"
Dawn smiled.
"Right" She said dubiously. "And…"
"And" Officer Tomlinson continued "you're perfect to fight them"
"I thought I was just finding a helicopter"
"You are"
"but the demons will be in the helicopter" Kash smiled at her. "Really, you've got nothing to worry about"
"Absolutely nothing"
For the first time, Dawn began to get creeped out.
* * * ** * * *
"That was a dead cat…that was definitely a dead cat" Xander's voice wavered as the four hurried past a mound of moving, meowing and matted fur, dragging itself slowly out the ground.
"Well technically" Anya argued "it was a once-dead-now-reactivated cat"
"It was a dead cat, I've had experience with these things. I tend to find them in basements"
"The Orb's cycle has reached 'C'" Buffy stated.
"And people said Sesame Street wasn't educational" Giles added dryly.
The four stood at the outskirts of Sunnydale Wood's Main Visitor Entrance (this is America, people…gotta think commercialism. MacDonald's have applied for a 'Rural Quickie' Branch, but they haven't yet got planning permission), the gateway the start of a tarmac road, that wound its way through the central areas of the wood.
"Why didn't we bring the car?" Buffy mused.
"With the car, we couldn't do the inspirational group slo-mo power walk with weapons" Xander said.
"Good point"
Signaling that the others should remain where they were, Buffy walked up to the main entrance. It was quiet, a breeze gently blowing through the grey day, but Buffy felt uneasy. She hoisted the crossbow further up her shoulder, and let her gaze travel up the road, searching for signs of movement, any demonic figures, noises, a random helicopter, perhaps. But there was nothing.
"I guess we start walking" She said, turning back to the group. "We'll split up, search the wood – the demons have to be in there somewhere"
"They do?" Anya studied the wood with some interest.
"We need Willow" Xander sighed softly. "She could do a location spell, find the demons for us - "
"Go all black-eyes and veiny and try and end the world. Again"
Buffy gave Xander a small smile, as Anya muttered something about destroying her means of income. "I don't think Willow's in any position to help us"
"It's been months…and she was sorry, I know she was"
"I know she was…but these things take time, don't they Giles?"
"What?" The Ex-Librarian looked up from the flattened flower he was studying by the roadside. He stood, replacing his glasses that had been dangling between his finger and thumb.
"Willow…in England"
"Oh, yes, yes. Its not something that can be rushed"
"But I just think…" Xander sighed. There was no point arguing, it wasn't like Willow was around or able to help them. She was probably having tea and cucumber sandwiches with the Granny Witch from the coven, completely oblivious to the fact that the world was possibly going to end again. He may as well search for the demons in the old fashioned, magic-free…fashion. Without Willow.
"What's that?" Xander indicated to the flower Giles had been looking at.
"Metaphorica Anvilitae. Used to be a rare specimen, but the last few years have seen it flourishing in these parts"
"It appears to have been run-over" Anya commented.
"There is that"
"It's pretty" Buffy said, studying it. Then she blinked "Giles, it's a plant. And I do not want to go down in the history books as not saving the world because I was fuelling my geology habit at the time"
"Botany" He corrected quietly.
"Whatever. We need to find these demons and stop them. Now"
Suddenly there came the distant roar of rotating blades, the chutter of a helicopter engine, high in the grey sky. They all looked up, and around, and spotted the Chinook flying, at low altitude, directly towards them.
"Well, they appear to be here" Xander said. They watched as the Chinook powerful front beam swung round, before apparently locking directly onto their spot at the main entrance. The noise of the vehicle grew louder, and a breeze kicked up, the leaves shaking, branches swaying. Linkin Park could faintly be heard.
"That was easier than I thought" Buffy shouted above the din. Xander nodded, and the group backed off slightly, moving closer together.
"Everyone stay grouped, we'll watch where they land and run to confront them"
"An ambush?" Xander yelled. "Is that a good idea?"
"You got a better one?"
"Actually, I think you'll find we won't need to run to confront them" Anya shouted factually.
They stared up at the light that was getting brighter, obscuring the helicopter behind it. Now the trees were bending from the force of the rotor-blades, their clothes and weapons were being whipped about (somewhat dangerously) by the wind. Xander glanced at Buffy nervously.
"I'm thinking we're going to have to move"
Buffy nodded. "I agree"
"Because it appears they're going to park right here"
Anya gave Xander a look that all but spelt out 'Well, D'uh!'.
Then the four backed away, as the Chinook landed at the Official Entrance to Sunnydale Woods (soon to be sponsored by MacDonald's).
** ** ** **
Dawn shielded her eyes as, to her left some distance away, the Chinook came into view. It's powerful spotlight skipped across the ground, casting the grey morning into something slightly less grey.
"This way" Lieutenant Kash commanded. Then, with surprisingly agility, he vaulted onto Officer Tomlinson's back, gripping his subordinate's shoulders tightly. "Go! Go, go, go!"
The two dead men in a piggyback set off at a staggering run across the field. Dawn watched them, bemused and rather startled, before taking a fresh hold on her crossbow and running after them.
"What are we going to do?" She gasped, drawing level with the piggybacking dead men. She was answered with two slightly uplifted eyebrows. Dawn nearly started shouting in frustration – no one would tell her anything! Knowing her luck, this dramatic and mysterious build up would end up being misdirection and she'd have to do nothing at all. Tomlinson disrupted her torrent of thoughts, as he observed:
"It's landing"
And indeed it was. Right there, about 400metres from their position.
They ran/staggered across the field, drawing closer to the main road that led to the wood's Official Entrance, as the wind picked up, and the din from the helicopter grew louder. Dawn gasped as she saw the helicopter abruptly descend, in a clearing that wasn't clear enough. The helicopter's blades tore through the upper branches, as the tail twitched against the trees in close proximity.
"They're gonna crash!" Dawn yelled.
The Chinook fought for balance, fought for control, wavering precariously, and then, somehow, the engines screaming, the blades a whirling blur through the grey, it touched down safely, wedged, from what Dawn could see, in a space just large enough, and no more.
"Right" Kash waved a hand. "Put me down" Officer Tomlinson let his footless superior officer slide to the floor, where he hobbled forward, standing on the conveniently elevated position within the field. From this convenient vector, he stared down the short distance to the road.
"Right, we will now retrieve our helicopter"
And with that, Officer Tomlinson grabbed hold of Dawn, pinning her arms to her sides, with abnormal strength for a dead man with half a face, picked her up, and ran towards the helicopter yelling:
"We've got an exchange! Don't shoot! Don't shoot! Pretty girl for our helicopter! Don't shoot!"
Half-wrestling to free herself from the officer's grasp, Dawn mustered enough co-ordination to also roll her eyes. She was always bait. Always. It was tiresome and rather predictable – she did have other qualities, y'know.
"Let me go!" she yelled. They were rushing down the incline, towards the helicopter, where the blades were rotating to a standstill.
"Can't do that" Tomlinson said regretfully. "This Chinook is government property. If we don't return it, we can't crash it into our own troops at a later date"
"But why do the demons want me!?"
Officer Tomlinson shrugged as well as he could whilst running downhill.
"Beats me. I just work here"
Dawn drew close to the helicopter, Lieutenant Kash hobbling after them, just as a demon hopped out the cockpit. This strange, hairy creature looked at her, then Officer Tomlinson, and then back again. Then he laughed and rubbed his hands together gleefully. Behind him, his partner in crime shuffled out the cockpit, coming to rest on the soil.
Dawn glanced worriedly around the clearing. Buffy should be here…someone who wanted to save her should be here. She wasn't bothered who. Dawn peered through the trees, letting her eyes travel up the road into the woods. Her gaze scoured the woodland, pushing through the grey shadows, before alighting on a crossbow, half hidden by the dark.
Her heart skipped a beat as she identified it.
"Oh no" she whispered. Officer Tomlinson gave her a funny look. The demons slathered and continued to look rather evil and very hairy.
Then suddenly there was a twang, and a kathunk, and a strange cry, as the demon standing at the back (temporarily named Demon B) seemed to spasm upwards and jump a little in the air. Then it fell forward, causing Demon A to side-step quickly out the way, revealing an arrow embedded deep in it's hairy back.
Everyone turned to look in the direction the arrow had come from. Through the Chinook's cockpit, standing on the earth opposite the group, stood Buffy, crossbow in hand, a small smile on her face. Then the smile disappeared as she made eye contact with Dawn.
"Buffy!" Dawn said weakly, still stood in Tomlinson's grip.
"I told you to stay at home" Buffy remonstrated.
"I decided to go for a walk?" Dawn offered.
"RAARRGGHH" Screamed the last remaining Demon, who was feeling left out and was becoming concerned that the pace was becoming too slow to resemble anything dramatic.
Buffy put her head on one side, studied the demon.
"Giles – now!" She yelled abruptly, before dashing through the cockpit, out the other side and throwing herself onto Dawn, pulling her sister (and the attached Officer Tomlinson) to the ground, as the blades kicked in, started to spin. The Chinook's engines roared, the demon roared louder, and then, in a moment of inaction that proved why he never got assigned the cheese, and instead had to kill men with odd socks, forgot to move out of the way.