AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Suggestions and comments appreciated, as usual. Remember, the timeline is really screwed up--people should be dead when they're not, people should have long left the show, etc. etc…

Some Guesses and Answers
0 Dead; Day 2, Early Morning

Faith was in the lead of the group with Cordelia and Gunn close behind and Oz trailing the back. As she whipped the leaves and branches out of their pathway, she wondered how they would get out of here. Faith had already figured Cordy and Gunn came with the entire A.I. Team, which meant Angel was out here in this altered reality -- a good guy. And you can't have too many good guys, Faith thought to herself.

"So. Where exactly are we heading?" Gunn asked, carefully planting his foot along the pathway to prevent any slipping.

"I'm just going with it," she answered, brushing past some leaves. Even without her slayer powers, Faith felt her abilities and agility come to her easily. "If you've got a better idea--"

"No ideas here," he answered with a chuckle. "What about you Cordy? Oz?"

"Nada," Cordy affirmed.

"Zilch," Oz added, looking behind him one last time. Gunn noticed and asked, "What's wrong? Sense anything?"

With a sigh, Oz replied, "that's just it. I don't feel or sense anything."

"Oh yeah," Cordy offered. "That whole werewolf ordeal is gone. At least for now."

"I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing," Oz said.

The group continued to walk in silence, carefully looking out for any fellow survivors or trouble. Faith noticed the sun fade into it's orange glow, morning approaching quickly within the sunrise. As she stared at the sky, she didn't notice the lingering figure in front of her until Cordy called, "Faith! Watch out!"

Swiftly she broke into stance mode as the figure revealed itself.

"Giles," she breathed, loosening out of her fighting stance.

"Uh, hello Faith," Giles started, somewhat distracted. "Hello Cordelia…Oz? And…"

"The name's Gunn," Gunn said, extending his hand. "Buddy of Angel's."

"Ah!" he exclaimed. "I see. And Oz, how exactly did you…"

"No clue," Oz answered. He looked at Giles before asking, "Where's your pack?"

"Uh, a-ah…" Giles stammered. "Apparently, it seems as though someone c-casually snatched it under my nose as I was, eh, sleeping. Xander should be right behind me, though."

The group exchanged a look of worry before cautiously looking around them. Faith's eyes darted from tree to tree and plant to plant, as if she was expecting something to come out and attack her.

"Looks like someone wants to play," Faith muttered under her breath as the group continued on, looking for Xander.

Anya hummed gently to herself as she wandered the forest, oblivious to her status. A bug or something close buzzed close to her neck. She carefully swatted it away, muttering "stupid bug" before checking the collar. I wonder how these things work, anyways, she wondered to herself.

She neared an opening where the trees cleared and rocks lay gently on the ground. Anya could hear a voice, vaguely familiar, speaking out loud.

"Look at that," it said. "The sun is so pretty. Miss Edith, don't you love it…?"

Quickly, Anya hid low in the bushes. She had managed to creep away from the group she woke up in and found Giles, some blonde and the new school principle, Wood. Anya remembered taking only the pack close to Giles -- even though she liked the man, she still wanted to stay alive -- because the blonde had stirred, almost waking up. Her own pack was full of junk: just the necessary aid kit and a lamp without a light bulb. She couldn't even find an outlet to plug it into, nevertheless a valuable way of using it as a weapon.

Anya peaked through the bushes and watched closely as a strange woman with a doll in her hand swayed back and forth from Dawn and Riley. Riley leaned close to Dawn and whispered something in her ear. By the looks of the two, Anya guessed they had a plan.

"What do you want, vampire?" Riley said, showing confidence.

So she's a vampire, Anya thought to herself, shifting closer to Riley and Dawn's back while staying in the bushes. She wanted to see things from a different perspective. Former demon meets demon in the now. Could be useful.

Anya stopped in her tracks, even though they were silent. She remembered Xander suddenly and began to wonder if she should get the vampire on her side or find Xander first. Gambling, she went for trying to find the packs instead.

"I want what you want," the vampire said, playing with her hair and coming closer to the pair. "I want to find my friends. I can feel their presence…"

"Who are your friends?" Dawn asked cautiously.

Drusilla stopped playing with her hair and looked at the girl. "Well…there's mommy, and daddy, and can't forget Spike --"

"You know Spike?" Dawn said, still from a safe distance.

"Of course I know Spike," Dru said, drawling on her words. "He was my one and only."

Yuck, Anya thought, creeping closer to two of the green backpacks. Spike and her?

"Wait," Riley said. "Did you hear something?"
All three of them looked around, Dawn edging closer to Riley. Dru thought out loud: "the stars. The stars don't speak to me anymore. I can't feel their presence!"

Anya looked up at the sky, quieting down and staying still. Dawn answered Dru's outburst carefully, trying not to get the vampire angry. "I can't see any stars --"

"Of course you can't!" Dru hissed, taking a step closer. "Only I can see the stars."

You got that right, Anya said to herself. With a swift gigantic step, she managed only to take one of the packs before anyone noticed.

"Someone's playing hide and seek," Dru sung. "Didn't even invite us, Miss Edith."

Dru edged closer to Anya's hiding place. She didn't seem to notice Riley and Dawn splashing through the river, trying to find Dru's pack and run for it. As she came up to the bushes, she pulled the leaves away and looked in.

Anya was prepared. She swung her lamp right at the strange woman's face, barely missing and smacking the doll away instead.

Dru looked from Miss Edith to Anya in disgust. "You hurt Miss Edith."

As soon as Buffy felt as though her and the boy were out of range of the man with the sword, she brought herself to a casual halt and looked to her companion.

"You seem so familiar," she said, waiting for him to catch up. "What's you're name?"

The boy hesitated before answering, "It's Connor. I wouldn't have answered if I felt I shouldn't know you."

Buffy gave a small smile. "Feeling's mutual. Anyway, how do you know Faith?"

"She helped me out once." Connor looked around him and followed Buffy into another section of the woods. "Or helped us out."

"I see," Buffy answered, fixing her pack onto her shoulders. She guessed he was another street kid that Faith had kindly helped out. He did have a strange wildness about him.

"Yeah," Connor said in response. "I don't know why we couldn't get you, though. Being the other slayer and all."

Buffy's senses alerted. He knew she was the slayer and he also knew how to contact her. "Wait. Who exactly is "us"? The people who Faith helped?"

Connor fixed his pack as well and walked ahead of her. "Us? More like them. Angel Investigations or whatever they call themselves."

Buffy let her pack slide from her shoulders easily to the ground. "Angel," she whispered.