"So," said Willow eating heartily, a couple of hours later, "What kind of
meat is this?"
"Cat," said Faith, absently, concentrating on the food and trying to ignore the memory of Angel's shattered expression. She gradually became aware of a sudden silence and looked up from her plate. Oh crap. They were all staring at her in horror.
Faith opened her mouth hurriedly and started, "Uh . . . um, . . . I mean . . ."
"You, You . . . you didn't, uh . . . kill it . . . did you?" said Willow, trembling slightly and looking rather green.
Faith thought quickly.
"Of course not!" she said faux cheerily. "It was already, uh, dead when I found it, just a stray. No one's pet," she trailed off, trying not to think about the little collar.
There was a slight relaxation but no one continued eating. Faith gave them a big, forced smile. "We have to eat something. things are different now, I . . . I thought its death should benefit someone." The tense atmosphere faded a little.
"Yes," said Giles, "We have to think realistically." He gingerly took a bit and gave the others a weak smile. Slowly the others followed suit, all except Willow, who pushed her meat away, gave it to Taylor and just ate the vegetables.
They'd continued like that for several weeks, living hand to mouth. Faith spent her days trying to find food, going and finding someone's vegetable garden and a stray pet, or half-starved feral animal of some kind. The pets were the easiest to kill, coming trustingly to her, expecting to be fed and unable to cope with the different circumstances since the Apocalypse. She continued to tell the others that she was just finding dead corpses but most of them stopped asking or caring as they became hungrier and more accustomed to their new life. Willow continued to refuse to eat meat, despite the others best arguments. She began to get weaker, even though they gave her more vegetables to make up. Faith never saw Angel again; she assumed he'd dusted himself, or run away from the scene of all his memories of Buffy. She didn't see many other vampires or demons either. They seem to have all decided that no one was left alive in Sunnydale and gone to busier cities. Occasionally one or two would pass through but they rarely noticed her, and when they did, she quickly killed them. She was pretty sure that they were the only people left alive in Sunnydale.
She was wandering the streets near the Bronze, searching for some kind of meat. Animals were getting scarce as she picked them off and they became warier or starved to death. It wouldn't be long before she'd have to mention her vague idea of moving elsewhere to the rest of the group. Somewhere that used to have a bigger population, where other people might still be alive. They couldn't stay cowering in a cellar forever. She didn't look forward to the thought of their reaction to her plan. No one else had yet ventured out of the cellar, hiding there and avoiding thinking about the world outside. She couldn't blame them, most of them were still in shock, but sooner or later they'd have to face reality and find somewhere else to live.
"Faith!" Angel stepped out of the shadows. He looked haggard but seemed to have come to terms with Buffy's death. Faith regarded him suspiciously.
"I.how.where" he began. He stopped and took a deep but completely unneeded breath. "How is everyone else? I.decided that I should help you look after them. It's what.she would have wanted."
Faith gave him a suspicious look, "Are you evil?"
Angel sighed, "Would you believe me if I said I wasn't? You're just going to have to trust me. If I was evil, do you think I'd be hanging around this place, hoping to find you?"
Faith thought for a moment. He was right, but at the same time, Angelus had been obsessed with Buffy and, in the event of her death, it was entirely possible he decided to destroy all those she had held dear. In the end, the increasingly hopeless food situation made her decision for her. "Ok. I'll trust you to help me find food for the others. When I think I can trust you further, I'll take you to where the others are."
He agreed, a brief expression of surprise showing that he hadn't expected her to trust him at all.
After that, whenever she went out for food, Angel met up with her and she soon began to trust him, especially after a few skirmishes with demons, when he saved her life. She didn't mention him to the others, unsure of their reaction to him. They stayed in the cellar, still in shock , moaning to each other about the food and the conditions they were living in. Faith couldn't help feel they were blaming her, although she knew they weren't. They all continued to let her provide food for them all on her own, without offering to help. It wasn't long before she began to prefer Angel's company, even though he was usually silent and brooding.
Willow grew weaker and weaker; lying in the corner, eating little and talking about the past to Taylor, who was crouched beside her. He hadn't said anything for weeks.
Food continued to get scarcer and Faith and Angel went outside the city to the woods to shoot squirrels and hares and anything else they could hit. She became certain that at some stage they would have to move on, but avoided mentioning her plan to the others, not wanting to face their objections or whining. They had all grown a little strange, spending all their time huddled in the cellar, rarely speaking.
One evening, Willow was too weak to manage the thin soup that Oz had made for her and later that night, she slipped into unconsciousness. They all sat round her for the next few days, trying to feed her water but they couldn't stop her dying. Her death was like a slap round the face and it roused everyone to activity. They decided to buried her in the nearest cemetery and, for the first time, everyone left the hideout to attend. As they stood round the grave, saying goodbye, Faith looked round at them all; Giles looking about 20 years older than he should, Taylor was a silent shadow, the others were pale and withdrawn and she knew something would have to be done and that she would have to be the one to do it. That evening, she gathered them into the group that had once been so close and explained her plan.
"I think we need to go somewhere else." Before they could raise their objections, she rushed on, "The food here is pretty much gone. I've wiped out the vegetable patches and the meat is not going to sustain us for much longer. We need to go somewhere else. A big city, where others might have survived, somewhere further from the hellmouth that might have been spared some of the.horror. Unless we go somewhere else, we're all going to end up like Willow."
This statement was greeted by shocked silence. Obviously, no one else had even considered leaving Sunnydale.
Eventually Xander spoke, "You're right. We've all cowered in this hole for long enough. It's time we did more than that; it's time we rebuilt our lives. It's what Buffy would have wanted. Maybe.maybe Willow would still be here if we'd stopped wallowing in misery and made an effort."
Faith was surprised. Xander had been one of the last people she'd expected to support a move.
"I'll help you find food tomorrow," he continued, "We've all been letting you do everything for too long and maybe the two of us will have a better chance of finding enough food."
She gave him a grateful look. At last someone had noticed her efforts! She refrained from mentioning that having Angel help her hunt hadn't made much difference and elaborated on her proposal.
"My plan is to head to LA and see if we can find any life. There could be loads of people left alive. There may even be some kind of Resistance movement we could join, I don't know. If there's nothing there, we should travel east, towards New York, stopping at all the major cities. If we can't find anybody," she paused at the thought that they were the last people alive, "We should go somewhere we can start afresh, like the middle of a forest where we can be hidden and there'd be plenty of food."
Silence followed her statement again. Everyone had been silent for so long, they'd forgotten how to have a discussion and they all had resisted thiking about the rest of the world. Most were nodding at her idea though, until Oz started speaking. Willow's death had hit him hard; he'd spent the last few days sitting by her and holding her hand.
"And you want us to just follow you and wait for you to cause our deaths, like Willow and the rest of society? Well, you can count me out." He got up and strode outside.
Faith sat in shock for a moment; she hadn't expected such a violent reaction against her.
"He's just upset. He'll calm down soon and see you're right," said Xander, reassuringly. Faith gave him a grateful look which turned to horror as a scream came from outside. Everyone ran outside to find Oz in a vampire's arms, being drained. Without thinking, Faith staked the vampire, but it was too late for Oz.
She shut her eyes and clutched Mr Gordo tighter. Buffy wouldn't have let Oz die like that. She'd have protected them all and moved them sooner, made sure they were all fine. She shook her head. There was no point in comparing herself to Buffy. She'd been in charge and now they were all dead. She'd done her best and yet it hadn't been enough. Now the only thing left for her to do was to remember them.
Oz's death persuaded the others that they needed to move soon. When Faith started to plan it, she realised they would need Angel's help. Which would mean telling the others about his part in keeping them all alive, and trusting him enough to reveal their hiding place to him.
They'd taken it better than she'd thought. There was no shouting, screams of hate or tears and no one tried to stake him. They seemed angrier with her for keeping his presence a secret. They seemed genuinely relieved that one more part of their old lives had survived, even if it was in the form of a vampire. Angel also seemed pleased to see everyone, although it had become increasingly difficult to tell one emotion from another with him these days. After they had cleared out the cellar, Faith had got them all ready to leave the town and their memories behind. They decided to walk: a car was too conspicuous and besides, there wasn't a whole lot of petrol around. As they passed the Welcome To Sunnydale sign, there was complete silence. No one commented on its buckled, scorched appearance.
"Cat," said Faith, absently, concentrating on the food and trying to ignore the memory of Angel's shattered expression. She gradually became aware of a sudden silence and looked up from her plate. Oh crap. They were all staring at her in horror.
Faith opened her mouth hurriedly and started, "Uh . . . um, . . . I mean . . ."
"You, You . . . you didn't, uh . . . kill it . . . did you?" said Willow, trembling slightly and looking rather green.
Faith thought quickly.
"Of course not!" she said faux cheerily. "It was already, uh, dead when I found it, just a stray. No one's pet," she trailed off, trying not to think about the little collar.
There was a slight relaxation but no one continued eating. Faith gave them a big, forced smile. "We have to eat something. things are different now, I . . . I thought its death should benefit someone." The tense atmosphere faded a little.
"Yes," said Giles, "We have to think realistically." He gingerly took a bit and gave the others a weak smile. Slowly the others followed suit, all except Willow, who pushed her meat away, gave it to Taylor and just ate the vegetables.
They'd continued like that for several weeks, living hand to mouth. Faith spent her days trying to find food, going and finding someone's vegetable garden and a stray pet, or half-starved feral animal of some kind. The pets were the easiest to kill, coming trustingly to her, expecting to be fed and unable to cope with the different circumstances since the Apocalypse. She continued to tell the others that she was just finding dead corpses but most of them stopped asking or caring as they became hungrier and more accustomed to their new life. Willow continued to refuse to eat meat, despite the others best arguments. She began to get weaker, even though they gave her more vegetables to make up. Faith never saw Angel again; she assumed he'd dusted himself, or run away from the scene of all his memories of Buffy. She didn't see many other vampires or demons either. They seem to have all decided that no one was left alive in Sunnydale and gone to busier cities. Occasionally one or two would pass through but they rarely noticed her, and when they did, she quickly killed them. She was pretty sure that they were the only people left alive in Sunnydale.
She was wandering the streets near the Bronze, searching for some kind of meat. Animals were getting scarce as she picked them off and they became warier or starved to death. It wouldn't be long before she'd have to mention her vague idea of moving elsewhere to the rest of the group. Somewhere that used to have a bigger population, where other people might still be alive. They couldn't stay cowering in a cellar forever. She didn't look forward to the thought of their reaction to her plan. No one else had yet ventured out of the cellar, hiding there and avoiding thinking about the world outside. She couldn't blame them, most of them were still in shock, but sooner or later they'd have to face reality and find somewhere else to live.
"Faith!" Angel stepped out of the shadows. He looked haggard but seemed to have come to terms with Buffy's death. Faith regarded him suspiciously.
"I.how.where" he began. He stopped and took a deep but completely unneeded breath. "How is everyone else? I.decided that I should help you look after them. It's what.she would have wanted."
Faith gave him a suspicious look, "Are you evil?"
Angel sighed, "Would you believe me if I said I wasn't? You're just going to have to trust me. If I was evil, do you think I'd be hanging around this place, hoping to find you?"
Faith thought for a moment. He was right, but at the same time, Angelus had been obsessed with Buffy and, in the event of her death, it was entirely possible he decided to destroy all those she had held dear. In the end, the increasingly hopeless food situation made her decision for her. "Ok. I'll trust you to help me find food for the others. When I think I can trust you further, I'll take you to where the others are."
He agreed, a brief expression of surprise showing that he hadn't expected her to trust him at all.
After that, whenever she went out for food, Angel met up with her and she soon began to trust him, especially after a few skirmishes with demons, when he saved her life. She didn't mention him to the others, unsure of their reaction to him. They stayed in the cellar, still in shock , moaning to each other about the food and the conditions they were living in. Faith couldn't help feel they were blaming her, although she knew they weren't. They all continued to let her provide food for them all on her own, without offering to help. It wasn't long before she began to prefer Angel's company, even though he was usually silent and brooding.
Willow grew weaker and weaker; lying in the corner, eating little and talking about the past to Taylor, who was crouched beside her. He hadn't said anything for weeks.
Food continued to get scarcer and Faith and Angel went outside the city to the woods to shoot squirrels and hares and anything else they could hit. She became certain that at some stage they would have to move on, but avoided mentioning her plan to the others, not wanting to face their objections or whining. They had all grown a little strange, spending all their time huddled in the cellar, rarely speaking.
One evening, Willow was too weak to manage the thin soup that Oz had made for her and later that night, she slipped into unconsciousness. They all sat round her for the next few days, trying to feed her water but they couldn't stop her dying. Her death was like a slap round the face and it roused everyone to activity. They decided to buried her in the nearest cemetery and, for the first time, everyone left the hideout to attend. As they stood round the grave, saying goodbye, Faith looked round at them all; Giles looking about 20 years older than he should, Taylor was a silent shadow, the others were pale and withdrawn and she knew something would have to be done and that she would have to be the one to do it. That evening, she gathered them into the group that had once been so close and explained her plan.
"I think we need to go somewhere else." Before they could raise their objections, she rushed on, "The food here is pretty much gone. I've wiped out the vegetable patches and the meat is not going to sustain us for much longer. We need to go somewhere else. A big city, where others might have survived, somewhere further from the hellmouth that might have been spared some of the.horror. Unless we go somewhere else, we're all going to end up like Willow."
This statement was greeted by shocked silence. Obviously, no one else had even considered leaving Sunnydale.
Eventually Xander spoke, "You're right. We've all cowered in this hole for long enough. It's time we did more than that; it's time we rebuilt our lives. It's what Buffy would have wanted. Maybe.maybe Willow would still be here if we'd stopped wallowing in misery and made an effort."
Faith was surprised. Xander had been one of the last people she'd expected to support a move.
"I'll help you find food tomorrow," he continued, "We've all been letting you do everything for too long and maybe the two of us will have a better chance of finding enough food."
She gave him a grateful look. At last someone had noticed her efforts! She refrained from mentioning that having Angel help her hunt hadn't made much difference and elaborated on her proposal.
"My plan is to head to LA and see if we can find any life. There could be loads of people left alive. There may even be some kind of Resistance movement we could join, I don't know. If there's nothing there, we should travel east, towards New York, stopping at all the major cities. If we can't find anybody," she paused at the thought that they were the last people alive, "We should go somewhere we can start afresh, like the middle of a forest where we can be hidden and there'd be plenty of food."
Silence followed her statement again. Everyone had been silent for so long, they'd forgotten how to have a discussion and they all had resisted thiking about the rest of the world. Most were nodding at her idea though, until Oz started speaking. Willow's death had hit him hard; he'd spent the last few days sitting by her and holding her hand.
"And you want us to just follow you and wait for you to cause our deaths, like Willow and the rest of society? Well, you can count me out." He got up and strode outside.
Faith sat in shock for a moment; she hadn't expected such a violent reaction against her.
"He's just upset. He'll calm down soon and see you're right," said Xander, reassuringly. Faith gave him a grateful look which turned to horror as a scream came from outside. Everyone ran outside to find Oz in a vampire's arms, being drained. Without thinking, Faith staked the vampire, but it was too late for Oz.
She shut her eyes and clutched Mr Gordo tighter. Buffy wouldn't have let Oz die like that. She'd have protected them all and moved them sooner, made sure they were all fine. She shook her head. There was no point in comparing herself to Buffy. She'd been in charge and now they were all dead. She'd done her best and yet it hadn't been enough. Now the only thing left for her to do was to remember them.
Oz's death persuaded the others that they needed to move soon. When Faith started to plan it, she realised they would need Angel's help. Which would mean telling the others about his part in keeping them all alive, and trusting him enough to reveal their hiding place to him.
They'd taken it better than she'd thought. There was no shouting, screams of hate or tears and no one tried to stake him. They seemed angrier with her for keeping his presence a secret. They seemed genuinely relieved that one more part of their old lives had survived, even if it was in the form of a vampire. Angel also seemed pleased to see everyone, although it had become increasingly difficult to tell one emotion from another with him these days. After they had cleared out the cellar, Faith had got them all ready to leave the town and their memories behind. They decided to walk: a car was too conspicuous and besides, there wasn't a whole lot of petrol around. As they passed the Welcome To Sunnydale sign, there was complete silence. No one commented on its buckled, scorched appearance.