They finally made it to New York without any more tragedies or major
incidents, although none of them could be recognised as their pre-
apocalypse selves. Once they'd got there, they didn't know what to do next.
They started their usual routine for when they arrived in new towns.
Together they found somewhere to stay that didn't seem inhabited, and then
thoroughly explored the surrounding area, in case they needed to make a
quick getaway at any point.
There was obviously no kind of resistance, the whole of the human civilisation had crumbled within days of the apocalypse and left behind a society that seemed to be from a really bad sci-fi film, the kind where the hero manages to save the human race with a minimum of skill or equipment, aided by a handful of social rejects most of them on the verge of a mental breakdown. Faith was not so naïve as to believe they might be able to do that. She was concentrating on keeping the last two members of the scooby gang alive, determined to keep her silent promise to Buffy. Xander was easy to protect, he stuck close to their new home in an abandoned building but Angel had a tendency to go off on long walks, wandering about the city brooding and coming back hours, occasionally days later. Ironically though, it wasn't during one of these solitary wanders that he died.
They were heading back towards their hideout after a trip to get food for Faith and Xander when Angel sniffed the air and suddenly changed direction.
"I can smell blood," he said, by way of explanation. Xander and Faith followed him down an alley, to find a girl lying in a pool of blood with a sobbing man beside her.
"Please be ok," he was saying, "Come on, wake up."
"Can we help?" said Angel. The man looked up with tears in his eyes. He pulled out a cross and threw it at Angel, who flinched and stepped back. The man took his momentary distraction as an opportunity to pick up a cross bow and shoot Angel straight though the heart with a wooden bolt. He turned to dust immediately. While Xander and Faith were still staring at the place where Angel had stood seconds before, the man pulled out a stake and another cross and stood up.
"Come on then," he said, "But I won't sell my life cheaply."
Faith and Xander exchanged glances, then Faith picked up the cross he'd thrown at Angel. When her skin failed to burn, the man looked surprised. She held it absently for a moment. Then she turned and walked away. Xander followed her. There was nothing to say.
Faith had known then that it would soon be over. One girl and a guy in a wheelchair wouldn't be able to last long in a world that had already claimed the lives of the rest of the illustrious Scooby Gang. They'd started travelling again, unable to stay still and wait for death. They both knew they were just killing time until death found them, but they kept up the pretence, telling each other that they were heading for Washington DC to see if there was any resistance there. They hadn't even made it halfway. They'd been attacked by a roaming pack of hellhounds and before Faith could fight them off, they'd tipped over Xander's chair and pretty much mauled him to death. A brief dialogue before he'd slipped away and now she was alone. She'd failed Buffy, she'd failed herself, she'd failed the world. There was nothing left for her but she was damned if she was going to provide a free meal for a passing demon. The door of the hideout was securely locked and bolted, she'd taken the time to remember everyone she'd failed, whose deaths she'd caused and now it was time. She set Mr Gordo aside, picked up her knife and plunged it into her heart.
There was obviously no kind of resistance, the whole of the human civilisation had crumbled within days of the apocalypse and left behind a society that seemed to be from a really bad sci-fi film, the kind where the hero manages to save the human race with a minimum of skill or equipment, aided by a handful of social rejects most of them on the verge of a mental breakdown. Faith was not so naïve as to believe they might be able to do that. She was concentrating on keeping the last two members of the scooby gang alive, determined to keep her silent promise to Buffy. Xander was easy to protect, he stuck close to their new home in an abandoned building but Angel had a tendency to go off on long walks, wandering about the city brooding and coming back hours, occasionally days later. Ironically though, it wasn't during one of these solitary wanders that he died.
They were heading back towards their hideout after a trip to get food for Faith and Xander when Angel sniffed the air and suddenly changed direction.
"I can smell blood," he said, by way of explanation. Xander and Faith followed him down an alley, to find a girl lying in a pool of blood with a sobbing man beside her.
"Please be ok," he was saying, "Come on, wake up."
"Can we help?" said Angel. The man looked up with tears in his eyes. He pulled out a cross and threw it at Angel, who flinched and stepped back. The man took his momentary distraction as an opportunity to pick up a cross bow and shoot Angel straight though the heart with a wooden bolt. He turned to dust immediately. While Xander and Faith were still staring at the place where Angel had stood seconds before, the man pulled out a stake and another cross and stood up.
"Come on then," he said, "But I won't sell my life cheaply."
Faith and Xander exchanged glances, then Faith picked up the cross he'd thrown at Angel. When her skin failed to burn, the man looked surprised. She held it absently for a moment. Then she turned and walked away. Xander followed her. There was nothing to say.
Faith had known then that it would soon be over. One girl and a guy in a wheelchair wouldn't be able to last long in a world that had already claimed the lives of the rest of the illustrious Scooby Gang. They'd started travelling again, unable to stay still and wait for death. They both knew they were just killing time until death found them, but they kept up the pretence, telling each other that they were heading for Washington DC to see if there was any resistance there. They hadn't even made it halfway. They'd been attacked by a roaming pack of hellhounds and before Faith could fight them off, they'd tipped over Xander's chair and pretty much mauled him to death. A brief dialogue before he'd slipped away and now she was alone. She'd failed Buffy, she'd failed herself, she'd failed the world. There was nothing left for her but she was damned if she was going to provide a free meal for a passing demon. The door of the hideout was securely locked and bolted, she'd taken the time to remember everyone she'd failed, whose deaths she'd caused and now it was time. She set Mr Gordo aside, picked up her knife and plunged it into her heart.