THREE STRIKES
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I create.
CHAPTER 4- HOPE…LOST AND FOUND
Angel knew that he didn't have very much time left. He had been able to at least momentarily rescue Wesley and Faith from the zombies grasp. But Wesley and Faith both looked well on their way to joining the zombies that were currently holding their position a few feet from Angel. From what little knowledge of zombies that he had Angel knew that if he had any chance of saving Wesley and Faith that he needed to get them out of the sewers and back to the Hyperion. But with his strength drained by the exertion of rescuing his friends and the many wounds that he had received during the battle he was starting to lose faith. The lovers had been bitten each more than once and it was readily apparent that those wounds were infected. Were he human or anything other than a vampire Angel would have been in the same position. But as a vampire he was immune to the affects of the zombie's blood and saliva, mostly. A small part of him wondered what the others would do in the event that he, Faith, and Wesley all died. He wondered if they would have the fortitude to do what was necessary and make sure that the three weren't zombies for any longer than they had to be.
Because of her being a slayer Faith was still partially awake, but at this moment she was completely delirious with fever. Mumbling to herself and to no one in particular about something that made Angel guess that she was remembering a memory most tragic. His soul cried out in fear and frustration at his inability to do anything more for his friends. He was the champion after all; he should be able to handle at least a few dozen zombies. But he had been faced with many more than that and even a champion couldn't take on that many. He knew that dawn was very close at hand and he hoped that he had remembered correctly a night many months prior in which Wesley had explained to him the strengths and weaknesses of zombies. Angel had known them before but over the years he had forgotten most of them out of the thought that he'd never have to use them. He was about to act when the zombies seemed to snap out of whatever kind of stupor they were in and continued their slow advance towards him.
* * * * * * * * *
A few months before this night Fred had forced Gunn into watching the movie The Mummy, solidly against his wishes. But now as he had aimed the car straight into the heart of the assembled zombies a scene late in the movie came back to Gunn. It was the scene where the heroes were driving a car and trying to get away from the mummy and all of his followers. Followers that bore a very striking resemblance, at least in their actions and blank stares, to the zombies that were currently in Gunn's way. Beside him Fred was screaming her head off in mostly fear, but Gunn could tell that at least a small part of her was thoroughly enjoying the charge. In the back seat Lorne was gripping the seat in front of him so tightly that his knuckles had gone white and for a moment Gunn thought that the empathy demon would pass out. By some miracle Connor had produced a few weapons, so swords or axes or anything like that but only a couple of knives and a stake. Angel's son seemed primed and ready for the fight, even though it would be his first fight against zombies. To be truthful Gunn wasn't sure how he would fare against the zombies. With the limited weapons at their disposal he didn't think that they could even come close to a total victory. Their only chance of success seemed to be to hope that they could guess the right sewer entry point and find Wesley, Faith, and Angel before the zombies made any sort of escape impossible.
They plowed through the first wave of zombies easily enough, mostly because they had been able to catch most of them off guard. But after that the car soon became entangled in various body parts and the crushing mass of the undead. Connor handed Gunn one of his knives before he leapt out of the car and soon disappeared behind a wave of zombies. Fred started to yell out in alarm at Connor's actions but her words of alarm turned into a scream as a couple of zombies grabbed her by her and began to slowly drag her out of the car. Lorne, after snapping out of his frightened stupor, quickly began trying to free Fred.
"Let go of her…she's not your type…trust me," Lorne said trying to add in his usual dose of humor to the otherwise completely dark situation as he began to pound his fists into the zombies that were attacking Fred.
"Get your hands off of her," Gunn yelled angrily as he quickly put the car into park and then tackled the zombies that were attacking Fred. Fred barely had time, after Gunn's initial attack which served to momentarily free her from the zombie's grasp, to grab the crowbar that had been lying on the floorboard and scramble out of the car. Instantly she headed towards the nearest manhole cover, openly praying that it was the one closest to her friends.
* * * * * * *
"Pylea…where's that," the red haired main asked with a confused look on his face as he looked back and forth between the two other people in the cell.
"It is not on this planet, it is another dimension, one that you would not want to visit," the man said with an almost completely emotionless look on his face as he stood up and walked over to the small window and looked out.
"This is just great, first I leave Los Angeles to get away from vampires with a soul and demons and here I am getting locked into a padded cell with a guy who says he's from another dimension," the blonde haired woman exclaimed with a great amount of sarcasm in her voice as she warily eyed the two men in the room. The red haired man started off ignoring the blonde haired woman but he quickly became interested as she spoke.
"Wait…what did you say, a vampire with a soul…his name wasn't Angel by any chance," the red haired man said, taking a sudden large amount of interest in her words, as he slowly got up to his knees.
"Yeah…how'd you know…," the blonde haired woman stuttered out slowly and fearfully as she still wasn't sure if she could trust either of the two men in the room with her.
"He works with my princess Cordelia," the man then said with a very sad look on his face as he turned around slowly and stared at the floor. The red haired man let out a large laugh before he responded.
"Cordelia…a princess…we must be thinking of a very different Cordelia Chase," the red haired man exclaimed through small fits of laughter as he seemed to be genuinely surprised at the thought of it all.
"Maybe we are…but how do you know the princess," the man asked with a very concerned look on his face before he cast a quick glance back over his shoulder through the small window.
"I used to go to high school with her back in Sunnydale…oh I'm Oz by the way," Oz answered awkwardly, still trying to process what he'd heard, before he broke into a polite smile as he said his name.
"Well met Oz of Sunnydale…my name is Groosalag…but everyone prefers to call me Groo for short," Groo said with a very noble smile on his face as he walked over and extended his hand to Oz, who reciprocated by shaking his hand.
"Well now we know who we are…but we don't know who you are," Oz said with as calm and non aggressive look on his face as he could muster as both he and Groo turned to look at the blonde haired woman.
"You can call me Kate…but that's all for now…and I'm not shaking your hands…not yet," Kate said with a very defensive and bold look on her face as she looked back and forth between Oz and Groo.
"Nice to meet ya Kate…anyone have any idea how long we've been in here," Oz asked with at first a kind smile on his face before his look changed to a frown as he pulled himself up to his feet.
"No clue, although judging from how long my hair is we've probably been in here awhile," Kate said with an unhappy frown on her face as she ran a hand through her now middle of back length locks.
"We must escape…for I fear that Angel and my princess are in danger, we must leave this place post haste," Groo said with a ring of certainty to his voice that both Kate and Oz even if they didn't think that they had much of a chance of getting out anytime soon.
"Well when you come up with a plan…Groo…do please tell us," Kate said with a slightly mocking tone to her voice as she turned a bit and hugged the wall with her body as she appeared to try and get some sleep.
"We should wait…at least until those guys in lab coats come back, maybe we can knock them out and steal their clothes, use them to escape," Oz exclaimed with an excited glint in his eye as he smiled and walked over to begin to inspect as much of the door as he could.
"Even if that did work…where will we go…we still don't have the faintest clue where we are…," Kate interjected with a sad frown on her face, a frown that soon spread to both Groo and Oz as the two men solemnly nodded in agreement before sitting back down to ponder other means of escape.
* * * * * * * *
The young woman had been more than receptive to his plan, what little of it he told her. He had been shocked to learn that she didn't know who he was. He had learned that she had simply been ordered to help take care of him. Lindsey had found himself staring more than once and tried hard to remember to stay on the task at hand. In the back of his mind he wracked his memory to try and remember when Wolfram and Hart started hiring beautiful women like her, but he came up blank. He had told the young woman that after she got off to go to the Hyperion and give a man named Angel a special message. Luckily for him the young woman hadn't heard of Angel yet as if she had Lindsey knew that most likely she wouldn't have gone anywhere near him. As he watched the young woman leave Lindsey concluded that she was one of the most beautiful women that he'd ever seen, much to his surprise. Over the years at Wolfram and Hart he had seen many beautiful women, although most of them were women that you only trusted as far as you could throw them, much like Lilah. But for some reason Lindsey felt that this young woman was different, that just maybe he could trust her. During his time at Wolfram and Hart Lindsey had been told to not trust anybody, but Angel and his friends had helped him to see that trusting and having feelings for someone didn't make you weak but stronger.
* * * * * * * *
After leaping into the fray Connor had begun hacking and slashing at anything that moved, not really caring what part of the body he hacked into with his knife. He hadn't been injured yet and so far was questioning why Gunn and the others had been so uncomfortable about fighting against the zombies. But as the battle waged on, and his muscles began to lose their strength, Connor understood where their hesitation had come from. It seemed that no matter how many zombies he killed two or three more always took its place. Gunn had been able to free Fred from the zombies grasp but he had quickly become accustomed to just how strong the zombies were as he was preparing to slice off a zombies head but one caught his arm and held it fast. Lorne and hand to hand fighting had been a lost cause from the get go, while the empathy demon could fire a crossbow with the best of them anything other than that and he was doomed. Somehow though Lorne had managed to stay close to the car, being able to go so far as to get the trunk popped and use the first weapon that he saw to try and drive the zombies back.
"These things are heavier then I thought," Fred exclaimed fearfully as she struggled to try and pry open the manhole cover. Fred continued to struggle with the manhole cover, using all of her strength to try and pry it off, but it soon became apparent that she wasn't strong enough. "I can't do this…," Fred moaned with a totally defeated frown on her face as she slumped her shoulders and hung her head.
* * * * * * * * *
A hack here, a slash there, even through his onslaught they kept coming. His sword and his clothes were covered with so many different liquid and body fluids that had he been able to stop and think about if for a second probably would have sickened him to no end. The pile of permanently dead bodies started to pile up at his feet, a dismembered head here and a disemboweled body there. He had stopped even trying to keep track of how many he had laid to rest. He had managed to still stay near enough to Faith and Wesley to be able to make sure that they hadn't died yet, but he was beginning to seriously worry about Wesley. The ex-watchers skin was already starting to darken and pale. His one glimmer of hope was when a zombie had gotten a lucky shot in and been able to knock him off of his feet Angel had fallen down next to Faith and Wesley. And on his way up he had noticed that somehow the two lovers had found each other even in their current condition, with their hands clasped together and their palms together with their fingers alternating. That sight had given him enough renewed vigor to continue the fight no matter how bleak the outlook seemed.
He still wore his game face but gone completely was the swagger and surge of energy that it had brought. Now even he was nearing the point of complete exhaustion, something that he had only done a couple of times before. Throughout the fight he had formulated a plan in his mind, he had gotten Faith and Wesley close enough to a manhole cover with a ladder underneath it. In the event that he thought that he wasn't going to make it he would sprint up the ladder, throw the manhole cover off, and then use all of his remaining strength to try and push the two lovers up onto the pavement, hoping that someone would find them and know what to do.
In fact he was just about to enact that plan when he thought he heard a shout from the street above that sound awfully familiar. That first shout he blew off as his mind playing tricks on him. But when he heard a scream from above his mind and soul were convinced, the cavalry had finally arrived. He recognized Fred's initial scream instantly, a small smile curling the edges of his mouth before he lopped off the head of another zombie. Angel didn't know that the reach of the zombies extended through more than just the sewers to the streets above. He half expected that at any moment the manhole above him would be pulled off and Gunn and Connor would be there to help him and Wesley and Faith escape. Almost all of his hopes for rescue were crushed when he heard the faintest sound; one that he thought would be his death knell. Through all of the battling down in the sewer and on the street above Angel could distinctly hear Fred sniffling and starting to cry along with what she expected to quite possibly be her last words. Angrily cursing the zombies directly Angel spun around and was at the top of the ladder in seconds, hoping that he had enough time to accomplish what he set out to do.
* * * * * * * *
She had uttered her final words, or so she thought, and for at least the second time in her life Winifred Burkle was ready to die. After trying several times in vain to try and pry the manhole cover up she had given up and resigned herself to the fate that she fully expected to befall her. She had sunk down into a state of depression that she didn't expect to ever come out of. She was so deep in fact that she didn't notice that as she uttered what she thought were going to be her last words the first warming rays of the suns light peeked over the horizon and began to fill the streets.
The zombies didn't react at first, but it was only seconds later that they all stopped what they were doing and began to slowly filter out of the street as fast as they could. It was like someone had simply called them back. Connor crouched down and tried to catch his breath, fearful that the zombies retreat was some kind of a trick. When the zombies had begun their retreat several of them had been holding Gunn aloft and so he was sent crashing to the pavement below. Lorne took the opportunity to slide down the side of the car and end up sitting on the street with his back up against the back bumper, letting the suns rays warm him. Gunn was about to speak when the manhole cover nearest to Fred was suddenly thrown off and was sent crashing through a nearby storefront window, setting off an ear piercing alarm.
"Fred watch out," Gunn yelled out with a very unsure look on his face as he picked himself up off of the street and began to scramble towards Fred. Fred would have responded had not one she been very afraid and two Angel's voice shot out of the opening.
"Fred…Gunn…," Angel shouted with a combination of excitement and relief in his voice before he dropped back down into the sewer and was even more relieved to see the zombies start to slowly back away. Before he knew it Connor had scrambled into the hole and was barely able to avoid tripping over the severed body parts.
"Dad…are you alright," Connor asked with a worried look on his face as he immediately rushed to Angel's side.
"I've been better…listen I'll be fine…help me get Faith and Wesley out of here, they're in danger," Angel replied with a tired but happy look on his face as he put a hand to steady himself on Connor's shoulder and pointed to where Faith and Wesley were lying.
"What happened to them," Connor asked with a very confused and alarmed look on his face as he bent down next to Wesley, almost afraid to touch him.
"The zombies bit them, if we don't get the antidote into them quickly enough they'll both turn into zombies before nightfall," Angel answered with a very serious and almost scared look on his face before he rushed over and bent down next to Faith, who was still mumbling incoherently.
"What happened," Connor asked with a serious scowl on his face as he picked Wesley up as best he could and started to drag him back towards the ladder.
"We came down to investigate…see if we could find anything, but all we found was the zombies," Angel said with a grave look on his face as he picked Faith up in his arms and marveled at how small she now seemed.
"We had to fight them to…Cordelia called us and told us where you were," Connor said with a strained look on his face as he started to struggle to lift Wesley up the ladder with him before Gunn stuck a hand down through the open manhole and helped to pull Wesley up. Angel hung his head a bit in sadness and shame as he heard Fred's shocked and worried gasp.
"Cordy…how did she," Angel started to ask with a confused and worried look on his face as he got to the bottom of the ladder and then helped Connor and Gunn get Faith out of the sewers as well. He would have followed Connor up the ladder had not the sun's rays already started to filter in through the open manhole.
"I'll tell you on the way back to the hotel," Gunn interjected with a very serious look on his face as he stuck his head down through the open manhole.
"There's no time…Gunn you get Faith and Wesley back to the hotel, have Fred drive Wesley's SUV back to the hotel, and Connor…you go with Lorne…use his contacts and get some of the antidote," Angel commanded sternly as began to dust some of the dirt and grime off of his clothes.
"Why do I have to go with…," Connor began to say with a look of tempered disgust on his face as he stopped on the top rung of the ladder and looked back down at Angel.
"Because I'm doubting that Lorne will just be able to waltz in and ask for the antidote, you'll probably have to fight for the antidote, and Wesley and Faith are far more important than your distrust of Lorne," Angel responded with a very fatherly look of resolution on his face as he fished around through the bodies and recovered both Wesley's axe and Faith's sword.
"What about you…," Connor said with a grim look of acceptance on his face as he used his free hand to take the weapons from Angel and lay them up on the street.
"I've got a few things to check on down here before I return to the hotel, tell Cordy not to worry about me, I'll use the sewers and then the tunnels," Angel said with a somber look on his face as he used the sleeve of a zombie to wipe the blood from his sword.
"You sure man, you don't look so good," Gunn added with a concerned look on his face as Connor fully got out of the sewer and Gunn looked back down.
"I'll be fine…I'm already undead remember, some blood and a good nights sleep and I'll be good as new," Angel said with a weary smile on his face before he nodded his head one final time and headed off down a dark passageway.
"Do you really think he'll be okay," Connor asked Gunn with a genuinely concerned look on his face as he stood up and dusted off his jeans before he helped Gunn carry Wesley over to the car.
"He has to be, because with Wes and Faith out of action for awhile he's the only champion we got…present company excluded of course," Gunn replied with a very concerned frown on his face as he and Connor softly sat Wesley down in the back seat and buckled him in.
"See you guys back at the hotel," Fred said with a very unsure frown on her face as she looked kind of like she was about ready to pass out before she swallowed hard and walked off to find Wesley's SUV.
"Ooh…she doesn't look so good," Lorne exclaimed with a solemn and worried frown on his face as he held one hand beneath Faith's head and used his other hand to check her pulse.
"Angel said that she'd be fine if you and Connor could get the antidote," Gunn said with a little or no emotion in his voice as he walked back towards Lorne while Connor looked on with an unhappy look on his face.
"He did huh…well he's right about that, if we get them the antidote in time they'll be fine in a few days, but some of the scars will stay for the rest of their lives…nasty side effect of the zombies venom…," Lorne said sadly as he lightly brushed some hair off of Faith's face.
"Well then you two had better get started," Gunn said with a hurried look on his face as he bent down and picked Faith up before taking her back to the car.
"One more thing Gunn…make sure to keep those two together, when you get back to the hotel find a bed big enough for them both, if they're together the whole time it'll help their recovery," Lorne said, while holding up his hand as if to emphasize his point, as he frowned sadly at Wesley buckled up in the back seat and Gunn buckling Faith up in the back seat beside him.
"Will do…see you two back at the hotel," Gunn said with a serious look on his face as he closed the trunk, after replacing the weapons, and then jumped into the front seat of the car. Within seconds the cars engine roared to life and with a final tempered wave Gunn took off back toward the hotel.
"Come on kiddo…let's go get that antidote," Lorne said solemnly with a sigh after Gunn disappeared from view.
END OF CHAPTER 4