Animatus
Notes: Thanks for the reviews. Keep them coming! I'm sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out, but I've had some problems logging in, as well as uploading documents. So once I've gotten those problems straightened out, this chapter will be up.
Previously:
"You know me, B," Faith said, pulling open the exit door. "I leap first, think later." The sunlight hit her face as she stepped outside. The afternoon was growing late and the sun was starting to sink. Faith was uncertain if they would make it back to the Bronze by nightfall. Moving to the side, she waited until the group had assembled behind her before she furtively started walking along the side of the building. She could not see any zombies, but she could hear them, and she knew that they were close. When she reached the edge of the building, she paused. Peering around the side, she could see a group of zombies wandering in the shadows several yards away. The hill lay in front of them. "Okay, guys," she whispered. "Get ready to run."
Chapter Nine: Two are Better than One:
"You've got to be kidding me," Willow muttered.
"We're j-just supposed to run?" Tara questioned anxiously.
"What happens if they catch us?" Willow furthered.
"Then they'll eat us and turn us into zombies," Faith replied exasperatedly. "But really, that wouldn't be so bad. I don't think once you're turned you really know what the hell is going on anymore."
"Ignorance is bliss," Buffy nodded.
"What's the problem?" Anya asked simply. "This is how we got in."
"You just ran down the hill?" Riley questioned with disbelief.
"A little more sneaky like," Faith defended. "But yeah."
"I don't like this plan," Willow argued.
"I don't see you coming up with a better one," Faith retorted.
"Maybe we should go b-back inside," Tara suggested. "Figure things out t-there."
"I'm starting to see why you people never left the college," Anya muttered.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Buffy asked defiantly.
"Okay," Faith said as loudly as she could without attracting the attention of the zombies surrounding them, "new plan. Riley, you take Willow and Tara up the hill. Wait for us on the other side. Buffy, Anya, and I will hold the line behind you."
"Why does Anya get to fight?" Riley asked with frustration.
"I trust Anya," Faith responded.
"And you don't trust me?" He furthered irritably.
"You're wearing a uniform," Faith said, pointing to his Initiative clothing, "for all I know, you boys started all of this."
"That's great," Willow threw up her hands, "just start blaming everyone for all of the bad things that happen. That's just like you, Faith. How do we know that this isn't somehow your fault too?"
Faith chuckled mirthlessly. "Can I shoot her?" She asked, looking over at Anya.
"Better not," Anya shook her head. "Though, ask me that again in a few minutes and I might change my answer."
"I was in a coma," Faith said, looking back at the red haired witch. "You can't start a zombie invasion if you're in a coma."
"This isn't her fault, Will," Buffy said softly. Willow looked over at her best friend warningly, but said no more.
"Can Anya even shoot?" Buffy questioned.
"Would you like a demonstration?" Anya questioned defensively, holding up her shotgun.
"No," Faith said, placing her hand on the barrel of the gun and pushing it down. "We don't have time for demonstrations. Anya can shoot. She saved my ass back in the stairwell."'
"What makes you think Buffy even wants to stay behind with the two of you?" Willow asked.
"I wasn't really asking if she did. But the way I see it, we're Slayers, and they're the enemy," Faith argued.
"You didn't really care what being a Slayer meant eight months ago," Buffy replied sharply.
"No, you've got that all wrong," Faith said angrily. "I always knew what being a Slayer meant. I lived it. You, on the other hand, didn't give a shit about what being a Slayer meant. You were fine with it so long as it didn't get in the way of your precious life, but once shit hit the fan, you were ready to quit."
"And you did quit," Buffy pointed out heatedly.
"I had my reasons," Faith stated quietly.
"What were those reasons?" Buffy asked. "I was never really clear on why you betrayed all of us and tried to kill everyone in town."
"Okay," Anya said, raising her shotgun again and stepping around to the front of the building into the full view of the zombies. "I think it's time for a little less talk and a little more action." Aiming, she squeezed the trigger. The sound of the bullet tearing through the air echoed around the silent and empty campus. One of the zombies groaned and hit the ground. The rest of the walking dead, now aware of the group's presence, rushed towards them.
"Shit! Anya!" Faith yelled angrily.
"Riley, take Willow and Tara up the hill," Buffy instructed.
"So we are following my plan," Faith smiled.
"Too late for anything better now," Buffy commented. She and Faith joined Anya, shooting zombies as they backed slowly up the hill. Riley, Willow, and Tara ran, pausing only when they reached the crest. The two Slayers and the ex-vengeance demon stood halfway down, forming a tight line, and shooting everything that came at them.
"It's not like we even asked that much of you," Buffy said over the cracking of the guns.
"What are you talking about?" Faith asked, glancing over at her in confusion. She took two steps back, stopped, and reloaded. Anya did the same.
"I asked you why you turned on us," Buffy reminded her. "And I said, it's not like we asked that much of you."
"Yeah, you're right," Faith nodded. "You didn't ask that much of me. Maybe that was the problem."
"That doesn't make any sense," Buffy shook her head.
"Didn't you ever stop to think that maybe I just wanted to be part of the gang?" Faith asked, aiming, and shooting what had once been a young man with messy hair and glasses in the head.
"You were one of the gang," Buffy defended.
"No I wasn't," Faith said heatedly. "If I was one of the gang, you wouldn't have let me live in that shitty motel room by myself. Do you have any idea how I even got the money to pay for that place?"
"How did you get the money?" Buffy asked curiously.
"You don't want to know," Faith shook her head. "Let's just say that the landlord came up with an arrangement."
"Is this really the best time to be talking about this?" Anya asked as she fired two shots. They were moving continually up the hill, though their progress was slow. They knew that it was not necessary to shoot every zombie that they saw, but once they started, they did not want to stop. Riley, Willow, and Tara had retreated further down on the hill on the other side, where they were more protected from both the advancing zombies and any stray bullets that might have come their way.
"I think this is a perfect time to talk about this," Buffy replied. "No better time in the world."
"I didn't have anything," Faith continued. "You know that I had to steal money from vampires before I slayed them? That's how bad it was. I barely ever ate. If that had been Willow, or Xander, you would have done something. But it was me and you didn't care."
"I did care. I do care," Buffy shouted over the crack of her gun.
"Bullshit," Faith replied instantly.
"I cared…care about you Faith, but you were always so distant. You would never let me in. You're right, if that had been Willow or Xander, I would have helped them. But they would have asked for help. I tried Faith, but you didn't give me anything to work with," Buffy countered.
"You're right," Faith said softly. "Maybe I didn't ask. Maybe not with words. But you could have looked deeper."
"You know, we can blame each other all you want, but it's not going to solve any of our problems," Buffy reasoned.
"What will then?" Faith asked. They had reached the top of the hill. The zombies had only followed them so far, but upon seeing their comrades fall, they had lingered behind, failing to chase after the three women. Faith, Buffy, and Anya stood at the top of the hill, breathing heavily from the excitement of their escape, as their guns lay silent and smoking at their sides.
"I don't know," Buffy replied sadly.
"But something can," Faith pressed.
"Something can," Buffy nodded. "I just don't know what that is," she said, looking over at Faith, and meeting her eyes. For the first time, Buffy saw the other girl, perhaps as she really was – scared, alone, and desperate for companionship. Then Faith looked away.
"That went well," she murmured, looking down at the bottom of the hill, where a collection of zombies had gathered, staring back up at them.
"We're not going to make it to the Bronze in time," Anya said, glancing up at the sky. The sun was rapidly falling towards the horizon.
"We will if we hurry," Faith replied. The three women jogged down the hill, meeting the others at the bottom.
"They're not following you," Tara pointed out.
"I guess they got the idea that chasing humans with guns isn't such a smart move," Buffy noted.
"They figured that out, huh?" Faith said thoughtfully.
"What?" Anya asked, looking over at her.
"I wonder how smart they really are," she said. "Some of them stumble around aimlessly, while others, like the ones down there, chased after us. They figured out that we were dangerous. I just wonder what else they can figure out."
"Nothing," Riley replied. "They can't figure out anything. They're just animals, beasts. They're not smart, they're just lucky. Look, you said that we needed to get moving. I'll lead the way."
Riley turned and began to walk. Willow and Tara followed closely behind him with Anya trailing behind them. Buffy and Faith looked over at each other and sighed. "I guess we're bringing up the rear, huh, B?" Faith smiled sarcastically.
"Don't sound so enthused," Buffy quipped.
"You know, I gotta wonder," Faith said, "why didn't you try to lead them out?"
"I did," Buffy said gravely. "It didn't go so well."
"How do you mean?" Faith asked.
"We had three others with us," Buffy stated. "Now we don't. Thus, it didn't go so well."
"But you didn't try again?" Faith questioned.
"Those three people I didn't know. But Willow, Tara, and Riley, I do know. They're my friends. I care very deeply for them. I wasn't about to risk their lives to come out here and maybe find out that there was nothing left."
Faith nodded. She could understand Buffy's reasoning, even if she did not agree with it. Nothing sounded worse to her than being trapped in a dorm room with three other people while hordes of zombies gathered outside of the front door. Sighing, she focused on the long walk ahead. Giles would be happy to see Willow, while Joyce would be ecstatic to see her daughter again. Faith had only planned so far as her rescuing of Buffy. Beyond that, she knew little else. The Bronze was a safe place to stay. It was stocked with food and water. The zombies could not get in through the two well guarded entrances. Yet, the food and water would run out eventually. Faith wondered what was happening outside of Sunnydale – if the zombies had been stopped and the rest of the world was continuing on as if nothing had happened, while Sunnydale was ravaged and destroyed, or if the human race had failed to restrain the zombies and the rest of the world was just as dead and broken as the small town.
"You seem deep in thought," Buffy remarked.
"Happens sometimes," Faith murmured.
"What're you thinking about?" The blonde Slayer asked.
"Where we go from here," Faith answered slowly.
"What do you mean?" Buffy questioned.
The younger girl sighed. "Do we just wait at the Bronze until we run out of food and starve to death? Or do we try to get out of town and see what's left of the world?"
"I don't know," Buffy admitted. "The thought of leaving scares me. I don't want to leave and find out that everything's gone."
"But what if it's not?" Faith said urgently. "What if it's just us?"
"If it was just us, someone would have sent help," Buffy said firmly.
"I don't know," Faith shook her head. "Maybe not."
"Why wouldn't the government send help?" Buffy asked.
"It would be too much of a risk. They couldn't nuke Sunnydale without devastating after effects to the surrounding areas, including Los Angeles. They can't send the army in because they know what happened with the Initiative soldiers. It spread too quickly among them. The last thing they need is to add to the problem. Why not just quarantine us from the rest of the world and wait," Faith reasoned.
"Wait for what?" Buffy asked interestedly. She had never known Faith to be a deep thinker; however, she was starting to understand that there was more going on inside of the younger girl's mind than she had previously known.
"The zombies to starve to death," Faith concluded. "Everything needs something to keep it going. Vampires need blood. People need food. They need flesh."
"Once they run out, they'll die…again," Buffy fumbled.
"Something like that," Faith nodded. "That is, unless the rest of the world really has been taken over and we aren't quarantined. In which case, we're pretty much fucked."
"That makes me feel better," Buffy muttered.
"That's what I'm here for," Faith smiled. Looking worriedly into the sky, she frowned. The sun was almost parallel to her and they had just reached the town. The Bronze was still several blocks away.
"You know," Buffy said softly, "we had our problems – some big problems that may never go away. But I'm glad you're here."
"It's like you said, B," Faith nodded, "two Slayers are better than one." Smiling over at the blonde Slayer, she picked up her pace, urging the others to do the same.
Buffy lingered behind, watching Faith lead the group. Faith had never been a leader, but something seemed to have woken up in her when she awoke from her coma. "Two Slayers are better than one," she whispered. "But that's not why I'm glad you're here."