A window in their room was broken as a zombie came up the side of the building to get in at them. It had smashed at it with one hand while gripping the windowsill with the other. The window had been hit so hard that some of the glass hit Cordelia in her arm. Cordelia staggered as they buried into her skin, looking down with surprise.

Lora darted away from the windows but hesitated in running for the door because it was right next to where the partitions opened up into the next room. They didn't know how many things were on the other side.

Kara opened the cupboard she was next to and grabbed a broom to use as a weapon. She ran for the zombie at the window with the broom under her arm like a lance and rammed the zombie in the chest with the brush-end of the broom, knocking it off the windowsill to fall to the ground.

At that moment Spike opened the door, with some people from around the school visible behind him. "In here," he was saying to them as he looked around, trying to determine the source of the sounds he'd just heard. "Where's Erica?" he demanded when he couldn't see her.

Lora pointed to the other room. "We're being attacked!" she cried.

Spike turned around and yelled over the heads of the humans. "Lawson, get in here and protect everyone else, I'm going after the girl." He ran through the opening into the next empty classroom. The open window was the only point of access so Spike ran to it, hearing sounds of a scuffle below.

He was only in time to see a zombie going down into a dirt tunnel, and no visible sign of Erica. The windows of the classroom were facing out into the grassed area in front of the office where they had first appeared. He saw zombies past the gates of the school; they were spreading. He didn't hesitate in jumping from the window to land on the ground, then following Erica down the hole. He didn't need to breathe and he didn't need light to see, so he had no problems with climbing through the tunnel.

888

The school desks had been stacked against the walls for open day, and Lawson grabbed a few to ram in front of the door, and asked the teacher he'd found how to close and lock the partition.

"Erica has the key," Cordelia said, her hand clutching her arm.

Lawson saw that she was injured, and looked around. There were mostly girls here, and a few adults, but he started issuing orders as if they were his men back on the submarine. He told everyone who wasuninjured to close the blinds over the windows of both rooms and stack up desks against them. While they worked he ministered to Cordelia.

"It's not deep," she assured him, as he took her arm in his hands "I got worse back in Sunnydale."

"We've still got to fix it, or you'll get an infection," Lawson said. "Is there a fist aid kit in here?" he asked the others.

It turned out there wasn't, so Cordelia got to become part of the 'sheet club', as she put it, at least until they could get out of the room to real bandages and disinfectant. Lawson ripped a shiny blue sheet down to size and pulled out the glass pieces as gently as he could. He wound the strip he'd made around her arm and knotted it. "How is that?" he asked.

"Better, thanks," Cordelia said, noting that the colour wasn't too bad of a match for her dress. How thoughtful. She smiled at his gold and now red-stained sheet. "Fashionable," she commented.

He looked down with a sheepish smile and got rid of the sheet, as the bite was no longer bleeding. "How's the injured girl?" he asked.

"Perfect," Cordelia said, pointing her out, working among the others.

"How?" Lawson asked.

"Erica was learning what she can do," Cordelia explained.

Lawson nodded, remembering the future Erica who had saved him, healed Gunn and fought like a true warrior. He hoped they could make sure she got to that point without getting her killed.

"So what do we do now?" Cordelia asked.

"We wait."

888

A/N: By the way, this triple 8 thing is because the site won't let me use asterisks to divide my chapters.

Spike could hear Erica up ahead, saying things like, "No! Let go of me!" At least she was conscious, and she didn't sound hurt. The tunnel ended in a brick lined room, deep underground. There were torches up on the walls. Up at the end of the room, about to leave through another passageway, he saw two zombies struggling with Erica, who was putting up a fight.

One had hold of her legs and the other had her torso, but she still kicked and hit at them the best she could. The one holding her upper body already had a broken jaw. As she successfully kicked off the one holding her legs, Spike ran up and decapitated the other one. Erica dropped to the ground as he finished off the one she had kicked away from her. She was a bit muddy on her arms and clothes, and she might have gotten a few bruises, but she looked all right. In fact, he could see that she was annoyed as well as frightened. He gave a small chuckle – she was going to be a fighter.

"Come on, I'll take you back," Spike said, holding out his hand for her.

"No!" Erica said forcefully, surprising them both. She took a deep breath and took his hand to help herself up. "There isn't time. The zombies are leaving the school grounds, so we have to finish this by stopping the witch before this spreads and more people get hurt. Taking me back is a waste of time, when I'd probably be just as safe with one of you."

Spike was surprised at her bravery, considering that she'd never been exposed to this kind of thing before. He raised his eyebrows, but chose not to argue. She was right, they had to finish it. As it had just been proven, the classroom wasn't that safe at the moment anyway.

"Do zombies like fire?" Erica asked, while fixing her loose ponytail.

"Not as a rule, no."

"Then lead the way," Erica told him, lifting a torch from it's bracket, "and I'll watch your back and burn anything that follows us."

"Just keep up then," Spike answered, and walked down the passage.

She followed him through a few passageways, but they didn't encounter any more zombies. They were probably all above ground.

"This place is really outdated," Erica commented. "I mean, even when Australia was settled, and when the nuns came, they didn't have to use torches like this. They had lanterns and lamps and stuff at least, and most of the nuns got electricity. I mean, who built this place? The Munsters?"

Spike didn't comment.

There were no doors, only archways leading into smaller chambers or more passageways. Around one corner they bumped into Angel. He looked annoyed that Erica was there.

"Have you found her yet?" Spike asked about the witch.

"No," Angel replied, still giving Erica a strange look. "It's like a labyrinth in here. What is she doing down here?"

Erica got annoyed. "She got kidnapped by a couple of zombies that got in the classroom, and then decided to make herself useful."

"Let's just get this done," Spike said to Angel, gesturing toward another corridor with the axe. Erika wasn't about to wait for approval; she walked through first. Angel hurried to keep her in sight, and Spike followed.

"She did say she'd be drawn to trouble," Angel muttered warningly to himself.

They entered another large chamber. At one end was a cushioned chair raised on a dais, and on either side of the chair was a passageway, each leading off into the darkness somewhere.

Erica had her torch held over her shoulder like a baseball bat ready to strike, gripping it with both hands. Angel had Spike's sword from the roof, and Spike still had the axe.

"An audience?" a voice said. "I haven't had an audience in centuries."

From the left passageway came a zombie, and from the right walked a woman, middle-aged and wearing a light grey smock over a black dress. She raised her hand as the vampires ran for her with weapons raised, and Spike and Angel were flung back against the wall. The torch was torn from Erica's hands from an invisible presence. A bubble-like shield appeared in front of the vampires, and Erica was cut off from her protectors. They could see her and she could see them, but she couldn't hear what they yelled at her. She looked nervously back at the two enemies.

The zombie had stayed in it's place by the chair. The witch beckoned to Erica as she sat in her chair. "Come here, little girl." Erica took a step back and shook her head. She clenched her fists and bent her knees, trying to stay ready for anything. The witch raised her eyebrows and gestured to the zombie.

He approached Erica as the vampires beat their fists and weapons against the bubble without success. The zombie rushed at Erica so she sidestepped it and kicked it in the torso as it passed. She kicked at the back of the knee, forcing it down, then she grabbed its shoulders and kicked it in the spine at the base of its neck, as hard as she could. Even though it was strong, it was still only bones held together, and she decapitated it.

She was turning around to face the witch when the woman gestured again. Erica grabbed at her throat as she rose into the air and levitated toward the witch. "Tch, tch, tch." The witch rebuked her as Erica was brought close enough to face her. "Now, lets have a look at you," she said, standing up and circling around Erica. "So, this is the girl who would free me?" she commented, "Feisty, perhaps, but powerful?"

While around the back of Erica, she put her hand up between the girl's shoulders. "Ahh, there it is," she said, moving her hand down the spine. Erica grunted as she struggled. The witch went to her chair and drew a long knife from beneath the cushion. "Be good child," she said, "and I might not have to kill you. I simply need some of that blood. I'm sure those vampires could sympathise with that?"

She raised the knife as Erica started going limp. Erica's hands dropped to from her throat to her sides, so the witch decided to act fast before the girl choked to death. She raised the knife up in front of Erica, preparing to cut into the veins on one of her arms. Erica's legs came up to wrap around the witch's shoulders and she grabbed the knife. Before the witch could cast another spell Erica rammed the knife into her face.

Erica dropped to the ground as the witch screamed, and the vampires were freed. Angel ran up and decapitated the witch as Spike picked a heavily coughing Erica up off the ground. The walls shook as the magic holding them together faded. Spike threw Erica over his shoulders and they ran back the way they had come. The tunnels were the only thing that was stable – the zombies had made them, not the witch. The vampires got there in time as the rooms behind them caved in.

When they got above ground they saw the zombies falling over and burning to ashes where they lay. Spike put Erica down on the ground, where she sat up and massaged her throat with her fingertips. "Why didn't you run?" Angel asked her.

"Give her a minute," Spike protested.

"I figured I wouldn't get far," Erica replied, getting to her feet and coughing a couple of times. "Besides, from what Cordelia said, I'll have to get used to this sort of thing, and learn how to deal with it."

Angel sighed. She was right. "Just don't get reckless."

"Oh, no," Erica agreed, "I'm not about to go running into life-and-death situations just because I'm supposed to. I'm not fond of getting bruised." She smiled. "I try to pick my fights carefully, but this time I just knew there was no alternative." Angel nodded.

"So now what?" Spike asked Angel.

"Let's go get Lawson and Cordelia," Angel said, "we're finished here."