THREE STRIKES
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the new ones that I create.
CHAPTER 3-FROM BAD TO WORSE
The horrific images screamed into her dreams, forever shattering the peace and tranquility that she had been enjoying only moments before. Where once there were images of everyone, from Gunn and Fred to Wesley and Faith, getting along very well while watching a drive in movie. Gunn was trying to explain parts of the movie to Fred while Wesley and Faith were inching closer and closer to each other, their intent readily available. Connor sat in the front seat with a full bucket of popcorn that he kept closely guarded less Lorne, who was seated beside him in the front seat; steal away a few freshly buttered kernels. Cordelia was having the best time of all, warmly wrapped up in the arms of the man slash vampire that she loved. Everything was perfect. But all that changed in an instant. The movie on the screen disappeared and in its place were bloody images of Wesley and Faith being ripped apart, their flesh torn from their bones, complete with the sickening sounds of their necks being broken. The next images that flashed across the screen were of Angel being besieged by an army of zombies, much like the ones that had just killed Wesley and Faith. Cordelia watched breathlessly as Angel cut down first one and then another, but the horde simply stepped over their fallen comrades and kept staggering towards him.
The sheer force and clarity of the dream was the main cause in Cordelia suddenly jerking awake by sitting straight up in bed, despite the pain. Even though she hadn't broken anything when Lilah had attacked the Hyperion it was readily apparent that she would be sore for a long time to come. Connor's makeshift stretcher had worked to near perfection. Now though with Cordelia confined to a bed most of the day she had begun sleeping a lot, and then it was that the dreams had started coming. But for some reason the dream this night seemed almost like she was there, watching it live as it happened. After bolting straight up in bed Cordelia fumbled around on her nightstand for the cellular phone that Angel had gotten for her for her birthday one year. When she finally got the phone to work she first dialed Angel's number. But her fears were only intensified as she discovered that she could not reach him and that the sun was just starting to peek above the horizon. Frantically she sent out a shot in the dark and dialed up a number that in truth she wasn't exactly sure was correct.
* * * * * * * *
He studied the picture of his lady love, his princess, for what seemed like forever before he put the picture back into the basket and turned back around to face towards the other two in the room. The nearly nude blonde woman had partially woken up and it was readily apparent that she had been doped up on something. Her actions, what little there were, were very sluggish. She didn't seem to have any grasp of the situation that she was in but she knew that wherever she was she didn't like it. Sensing that he couldn't help the woman at the moment the man instead made his way over to the red haired man. When he got there the man found out that the smaller man looked more to be in a daze than sick or drugged. This small bit of knowledge greatly infused the man with hope before the entire world went black again as he felt a dart, no doubt tipped with an extremely fast acting sedative slammed into the back of his neck. He collapsed to the floor, but not before hitting his head on the way down.
* * * * * * * *
The small room in the interior of Wolfram and Hart that he had been placed in was devoid of any decoration. He had been deprived of most of the necessities of life. He was so weak that he could not escape on his own even if he wanted to. It wasn't that he didn't hope to one day escape but he knew that in his condition he had no chance. He knew that his only way out was to try and convince one of the young women that came in to check on him every few days could be persuaded somehow to get a message to Angel. The only good part about the secret room, a fact that had he been conscious more often would have given him at least some small amount of pleasure out of his current predicament was that every time one of the young women came in to tend to him she had to do it completely naked. One day he had feigned to be asleep so that when two of them came in, one apparently new, he had overhead the more experienced caretaker say that the exact spell that had been cast was one so that it had a dual purpose. One of it's purposes was to keep him in a type of suspended animation, except allow him to be conscious so as his captors could gain vital information whenever they needed it. The other reason was purely security, no weapons of any kind were allowed in the room and the wording of the spell was such that any person that entered the room with any kind of clothing on would be killed on the spot. That reason was so that no one could hide anything like spell components or a hidden weapon under their clothes. He found that the spell that was holding him in almost suspended animation would every so often enact the normal functions of his body so that he wouldn't have to leave the room. The process was completely painless and the only way he knew that anything was happening was that the color of the walls would change momentarily before returning to normal. The thought of his captivity in this strange room and everything that went with it sickened him. But in his current state he could do little to change his situation. He summoned up what little strength he had been able to pool together and waited for the next visit to try and put his plan of escape into action.
* * * * * * * *
"Thanks Angel, this is just what I wanted…to be ripped apart by a bunch of rotten ass zombies…," Faith growled angrily as she stepped around, making sure to not let any one group of zombies get closer than any other.
"We're not dead yet Faith," Angel said with an angry scowl on his face as he was trying to instill courage and hope in Faith but from Wesley's words he knew that he had failed miserably.
"Well in truth you're already dead Angel…vampire remember," Wesley started to say with a small hint of fear in his voice before he leapt forward and swung his axe in a planned arc. Before Angel or Faith could react Wesley leapt back as the nearest zombie's head flopped off of its body and rolled away as the body crashed to the ground.
"Thank you Wesley…that's very helpful…but how many are there," Angel asked as he furiously tried to rack his brain to try and figure out a way that the trio could get out of this encounter alive. Unfortunately every scenario that he had hurriedly come up with ended up with only him making it out.
"Does it matter," Faith shouted back with a look of a little fear on her face as she feigned left and then went right, swinging her sword and decapitating a couple of zombies that had gotten to close for comfort.
"Guess not," Angel said with a sigh and shrug of his shoulders before he charged into the nearest train of zombies and hit them hacking and slashing with everything he had. At first he tore into the group, killing most of them in his path. But as he kept churning through the column he soon discovered to his amazement and horror the column seemed to stretch on as far as the eye could see.
"This isn't working…there's too many of them," Wesley exclaimed angrily as he had to wrench his arms and then axe out of the grasp of a trio of encroaching zombies. Even though they tried to keep it form happening Wesley, Faith, and Angel soon found themselves becoming separated by the sea of zombies. Wesley was having some luck with his axe but he soon began to run out of room to swing the axe as the zombies that attacked him began to back him into a corner, literally. Angel was having a better time of it than Wesley, thanks in large parts to his being a vampire. Angel found it easy to kill the zombies; however it seemed that for every one that he killed two more filled its place. Faith was having an even harder time of it then Wesley. Her slayer powers, although giving her the strength to go on and stay standing, in the end were negated by her lack of height. Most, if not all, of the zombies were easily taller than Faith and at times Faith would get her sword stuck in a zombie's neck as she tried to lop it off.
"Wesley…Faith, hold on," Angel shouted more out of an effort to bolster the trio's sagging spirits than to actually help them as a scream of pain ripped through the tunnels.
"Faith…," Wesley howled in rage and pain as out of the corner of his eye he saw Faith scream as the zombies closed in on her and after knocking her sword away and then a particularly nasty looking zombie take advantage of the situation and sink its teeth into Faith, right at about where her neck met her right shoulder. From that moment on the logical sections of Wesley's brain ceased to function. With the strength and determination of a wild man Wesley began to hack and slash at everything that moved as he feverishly tried to make his way to Faith, who was quickly disappearing underneath a sea of zombies.
"No…," Angel shouted in shock and worry as he saw the latter part of what Wesley had seen and instantly went to the aid of his friends.
Wesley had begun to make his way towards Faith, whom he could still see parts of as she flailed helplessly for her life under the crushing weight of the zombies that seemed endless. He was almost upon her when he tripped over the downed body of a zombie and fell to the floor hard, splitting his chin open in the process. He tried to get back to his feet but Wesley soon found it impossible to move very far and was about to try with all of his might when he felt the sharp teeth of a zombie first dig into his upper left thigh and then into his right side. With howls of pain Wesley still struggled against it all, no longer caring if he lived or died, only caring that he could save Faith. He was able to stretch his right hand out and his fingertips briefly brushed pasts Faith's fingertips as the two lovers tried desperately to reconnect to help each other. But soon the wave of zombies pulled the two apart and the last look that they shared before their vision was blocked was of complete fear and love in each others eyes.
Seeing first Faith and then Wesley go down under the sea of zombies Angel knew that the chances of them winning this battle were going up in smoke. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't keep the advancing army of zombies off of him, collecting more than one ghastly bite mark. Through the din of the battle Angel's enhanced hearing was useless, as he couldn't distinguish between the sounds that the zombies were making and those if any, that Wesley and Faith were making. In his soul he knew that he couldn't lose two of his best friends both in the same night, and not like this. Giving up all hope of winning the battle as simply human, Angel slipped into his game face and charged the zombies holding Wesley and Faith. His intent was to either save them both or die trying, because he knew that if he could only rescue one then the survivor would be as good as dead for the loss of the other.
* * * * * * * *
The man awoke to find himself, the more than half naked woman, and the red haired man all lying in a padded cell with only one small window to the world on the door that was almost impossible to detect. He still didn't know who either of the two people were but he swore outright that he wouldn't leave this place without them, no matter what it cost him. He was relieved to see that none of the three were restrained in any way and they all seemed to be more or less alright. He didn't know how long he had been out but he guessed that it had been some time as the wounds that he had noticed on himself and the other two were completely gone, not even a bruise remained.
"Nnh…where am I…who are you," the blonde woman asked slowly, as she was lying on her side with her head pointed away from the door, as she started to pick her head up off of the floor and look around.
"Do not worry, I will not hurt you," the man replied as he cautiously made his way toward the woman, hands outstretched in front of him, palms up.
"Yeah right, that's what they all say…keep your distance or I'm warning you I'll…," the woman said with an angry scowl on her face that the man could tell hid more than a fair amount of fear.
"You'll what…run away…sorry but it looks like we're all stuck in here, whether we like it or not," the red haired man said as he pushed himself up off of the floor before yawning.
"We need to stay calm…but what exactly is this place, I have seen nothing like it before," the man asked with a confused look on his face as he focused his attention on the padded walls.
"You're joking right…," the woman replied angrily at first before she looked down and noticed just how much she was showing and instantly clammed up as she covered up what the small bits of clothing that she was wearing weren't.
"No…where I am from there is nothing like this…," the man replied with a small look of awe on his face before he proceeded to pat the padded walls, as if looking for a way out.
"Where are you from…the moon," the woman asked with a mocking tone to her voice as he pulled herself up into a seated position against the wall. Until she knew more about the two men in the room with her she wanted to keep them both where she could see them and keep as much distance between them as she could.
"No…Pylea," the man replied with a small amount of nostalgia in his tone as he sat down and regarded the confused looks that other two people in the room were giving him.
* * * * * * * * *
After the end of their not so nice discussion Lorne and Connor had both reluctantly returned to the pier and sat down on opposite benches. Gunn sat beside Fred with his arms around her and a calm but happy look on his face. The pair barely noticed when Lorne and Connor had returned. The first one to notice was Fred, but all her reaction was to send a warm smile Connor's way, one that he most definitely did not return. Fred was about to ask him why when her cell phone rang. Reluctantly she untangled herself from Gunn's arms and sat up straight as she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and turned it on.
"Hello…Cordelia what…wait you're talking to fast calm down…you have to slow down," Fred stuttered out awkwardly as she answered the phone and then tried to calm down an obviously frantic Cordelia on the other end.
"What's wrong…is Cordelia okay," Connor asked suddenly as he almost jumped to his feet with an extremely concerned look on his face.
"I'm sure she's find kiddo…she's probably just calling so that we'll pick something up for her on the way back to the Hyperion," Lorne replied with a bored frown on his face as he looked out toward the ocean and reveled in the soft wind that blew against his face.
"I didn't ask you," Connor said angrily as he stood up and took a few steps towards Fred and Gunn.
"Easy Connor…," Gunn said firmly as he held a hand up in front of him as if he expected Connor to take the phone from Fred.
"Okay Cordy…don't worry…where did you say…the corner of eighth and Franklin…they're what…zombies…oh no…okay we're on it…we'll hurry…bye," Fred stammered out nervously as the look on her face steadily went from bad to worse and then to almost petrified before she hung up the phone and swallowed hard.
"What is it, what's wrong with Cordy," Connor angrily demanded as he brushed Gunn's hand away and looked ready to strangle Fred or explode if he didn't get an answer.
"She's fine Connor…she just had a dream, a nightmare really, she said that it was a vision from the powers…that Angel, Wesley, and Faith are in deep trouble and will die…tonight, if we don't save them," Fred replied nervously as she slipped her cell phone back into her pocket and edged away from Connor.
"Well then pumpkin…what are we sitting around her for, let's vamoose," Lorne exclaimed with a sudden burst of bravado as he jumped to his feet and clapped his hands together.
"I agree…let's go," Gunn said very authoritatively as he stood up and pulled Fred up with him before he pulled her quickly towards the car as Lorne scurried past them and Connor followed. After everyone climbed into the car Gunn fired the engine and tore off away from the pier.
"Do you know where you're going," Connor asked with a very apprehensive scowl on his face as he watched the buildings go by.
"Eight and Franklin…yeah I know where that is…not the nicest part of town though, don't know why the hell they went down there…," Gunn answered with such a worried look on his face that it sent shivers through Fred's body as she hoped against hope that they'd be in time.
"What good are we going to be against the zombies without weapons," Connor said with a look of annoyance on his face as he looked away from Lorne.
"Angel always kept some weapons in the trunk, he never wanted to be anywhere without at least some type of weapon at his disposal, but I'm not sure how much we'll be able to do…if those things can take out Angel, Wes, and Faith then…," Gunn replied with a growing look of concern on his face before he shook his head and pressed the accelerator down even further, not caring what the speed limit was.
"How are we supposed to stop them right…," Fred said meekly with the worry in her eyes clearly evident before she pointed out a street to Gunn and he made a sharp corner, and came very close to spinning out, before gunning the engine and tearing off down the street.
"We don't need to stop them, we just need to get our friends away from them, with the sun coming up the zombies won't be around much longer," Lorne interjected with a very serious look on his face as he took off his coat and loosened his tie.
"You mean they burn up like vampires do in the sunlight," Connor said with a confused look on his face that was tinged with a small but steadily growing amount of fear. No matter how much he acted like he didn't really care what happened to Angel it was clear to everyone that he was just as worried as they were.
"Unfortunately no…sunlight just weakens them severely, they avoid it like the plague," Lorne said with a deep sigh as he sat back in his seat and began to roll up his sleeves. They had gone a few more miles further when Connor was about to ask something but almost flew out of the car when Gunn suddenly slammed on the brakes.
"What did you do that…for…," Connor started to ask very angrily before he looked up and saw the reason that Gunn had stopped so suddenly. Less than fifty yards in front of them was congregated what looked to be an army of zombies, seemingly waiting for something to happen.
"Oh no…what do we do now," Fred squeaked with a very frightened look on her face as she began to shake and her eyes grew wide.
"We save our friends," Gunn said very forcefully before he readied himself and aimed the car right into the heart of the mob of zombies and pushed the accelerator all the way to the floor.
END OF CHAPTER 3