Animatus
Notes: Thanks for the reviews. Keep them coming! This is the second to last chapter. An epilogue will follow, hopefully this week, but most likely next week. There will be a sequel following the completion of the story. And remember, not everything is what it seems.
Previously:
"Get everyone off the vans. We need to be over that fence before the zombies reach us," Faith instructed.
"I don't know if it's going to be that easy," Jay interrupted.
"What do you mean?" Faith asked.
"If the Army set up this fence, they did it with the intent to keep the zombies from leaving Sunnydale. A simple fence wouldn't do that, not if the zombies got hungry enough."
"What're you trying to say?" Giles asked, eyeing the fence warily.
"If they don't have snipers sitting somewhere waiting to pick off any zombie that tries to climb over it, then they've got landmines set up on the other side to blow up any zombie that does," Jay explained.
Chapter Twenty-Eight: To the Very End and We'll See Each Other Again:
Faith entered a club called 'The Bronze,' with her usual sauntering confidence exuding from her like a pungent perfume. Music was pumping through the speakers and she found her body instantly reacting. She desperately wanted to dance. Scanning the crowd, she quickly located the bar and moved over to it. The thumping bass drum in the song pounded into her chest and she found herself smiling wildly. She had always loved clubs and had always loved dancing, but she had discovered during her time on the run from Kakistos that she loved both even more now that she had nothing left to lose. She enjoyed the feeling of losing control to the music and her muscles enjoyed the extra workout.
Sliding a couple of crumpled bills across the sticky bar, she smiled at the bartender, and ordered a shot of Jack Daniels. After a moment's hesitation, the bartender smiled back and accepted the money. "You're old enough, right?" He asked, though Faith got the distinct impression that he did not care how old she was.
"Of course," she answered, shifting her attention to the dance floor as he poured her drink. A crowd of danced in the center of the club. Faith could smell their sweat and arousal with her heightened senses. She also could sense numerous vampires in the club. She located the ones on the first floor with ease, allowing her eyes a moment to scan the second floor as well.
"Here's your drink," the bartender said, interrupting her thoughts. She smiled seductively at him and grabbed the glass. Placing it to her lips, she tipped it back, and let the amber liquid slide into her mouth. It burned the inside of her throat, but she relished the taste, and the pleasant, warm feeling it produced in her body. Her fingertips tingled with excitement. She had discovered that with her Slayer metabolism it nearly was impossible for her to drink enough to inebriate herself. She smiled wolfishly, however, and thought, that doesn't mean I can't try.
"Thanks," she said dismissively to the bartender and slammed the glass back down on the bar. "I needed that." Moving away, she entered the dance floor. The temperature in the club seemed to rise at least twenty degrees in the throng of people and she found that tiny beads of sweat were starting to drip down her back. As she moved her body to the music, a group of guys surrounded her, dancing against her. Though she preferred women to men, she found that either sex was capable enough to give her what she wanted.
She could feel her own arousal building as someone started grinding into her, but she soon realized that her Slayer senses were screaming alarm bells in her mind. A vampire was close. A cold dread instantly sobered her from the intoxication of the music when she realized that the man grinding against her was the vampire. Turning, she smiled flirtatiously and wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him closer. He looked like he had walked out of a disco in the '70s and had never made it home. She wondered how often he used the club to prey on young women. She also wondered where the other Slayer was; surely she realized that the club was a perfect feeding ground for vampires. If Faith had been the Slayer in this town, she would have patrolled the club every night.
"Wanna go somewhere more private?" The guy asked, whispering in her ear.
Faith repressed a shiver. "Lead the way," she replied huskily. The vampire grabbed her hand with his cold palm and led her through the crowd of dancers. As Faith let herself be dragged away, a strange feeling came upon her in the form of a low humming in her mind. It was not the same as the warning of her Slayer senses, but it felt similar somehow. Shaking the feeling away, Faith walked outside with the vampire. The cool air hit her face and the effects of the club all but washed away from her mind. She was ready.
"Where are we going?" She asked innocently.
"Just back here, baby," the vampire said, pointing to the alley next to the door. "I just want to get to know you better is all." Faith played her part and walked into the darkened alley with the vampire, letting him position himself in front of her as he backed her into a chain link fence. When his face morphed into the visage of his inner demon, she smiled. She nearly laughed at the confused look on his face. She imagined that most, if not all, of the girls that he brought out to the alley screamed in fear at the sight. Faith, however, was not most girls.
"Sorry," she said unapologetically. "But I'm not who you think I am."
"Who are you then?" The vampire asked, backing away slightly.
"The Slayer," Faith snarled.
"But you're not her," the vampire stated confusedly. "She's…"
"Blonde?" Faith asked, smirking. "Unfortunately for you, there's two of us." Lashing her fist out, she caught the vampire in the face. He stumbled backwards, but quickly recovered. Grabbing her, he twisted her around, intending to crush the life out of her. Faith felt his arms pressing into her sides and grimaced. Her ribs had not entirely healed yet. The door of the Bronze flew open as she saw a group of people dash out into the night. Hearing the sounds of struggle in the alley, they started into the darkness. Faith smirked when she saw a short, blonde girl leading them, holding a stake in her hand. Snapping her head back into the vampire's face, Faith strode forward. The vampire stumbled backwards, holding his broken nose.
"It's okay, I got it. You're, uh, Buffy, right," Faith asked jovially. "I'm Faith." The vampire came up behind her again, but Faith turned and slammed her fist into his midsection. He doubled over and she lifted her knee up into his chest. "Can I borrow that?" She asked, grabbing the stake from Buffy's hand before the other Slayer could answer. As the vampire charged at her again, she slammed the stake into his heart. He stopped, his eyes wide with surprise, and he burst into a cloud of dust. Faith turned back to the other Slayer and eyed her for a moment. She was cute. "Thanks, B," she said, noticing the flabbergasted look on Buffy's face at her new nickname, "I couldn't have done it without you." Faith walked past her, noticing that the older girl's eyes followed her closely, resting on her ass. Faith smirked. Sunnydale was going to be more fun than it had seemed.
………………………………….
"Up and over you go," Giles said, helping one of the woman survivors over the fence. "Watch your step."
"Watch the ground closely," Jay instructed. "The mines will look like mounds. Anything that's not flat, avoid." Jay stared intently through the fence at the second fence shimmering in the distance. He thought that he could see guard towers built into it every couple of dozen yards. He wondered if there were soldiers manning them now, watching them trying to climb the fence through the lenses of sniper rifles. He shivered, wondering of they would know that they were humans, not zombies. The woman climbed over the top of the fence and started to descend.
"Tara?" Giles asked, turning back to the blonde girl. "Are you ready?"
"Y-yes," Tara said, nodding. Willow gripped her hand tightly and pulled her close for a quick kiss.
Against her lips, she whispered, "I'll be right behind you, okay?"
Tara nodded again and stepped forward. Wiping the nervous sweat from her palms onto her jeans, she gripped the fence, and started climbing. The other woman dropped to the ground on the other side and moved over to a group of people that had already completed the climb. "You're alright. Just don't wander too far," Jay shouted to them.
"I think I see one of the mines," the woman said. "Right there." She pointed to a circular, raised mound on the road and Jay nodded.
"That's what you want to avoid," he stated.
Tara dropped to the ground on the other side of the fence and Willow started climbing. "Jay!" Faith yelled from where she was standing behind the van. "How's it going?"
Jay watched Faith run over to them. Sweat was running down the sides of her face and her hands were blackened and burned from hot gunpowder. "One more civilian, then Giles, you, Buffy, and me," Jay replied.
"Okay," Faith nodded. "Hurry it up. The zombies are closer. Once Giles is over, shout to us."
Buffy watched Faith run over to where Jay was standing. The zombies were close, too close. Shifting her attention to the horde of zombies running towards her, she aimed her gun, and squeezed the trigger. A dead woman in a business suit fell to the ground as her head exploded. Buffy was about to shoot again when a sound to her right caught her attention. Turning, she saw a teenage boy rushing at her. One of his arms flapped uselessly against his chest, ripped to ribbons below the elbow. A sinking feeling caused her heart to turn cold in her chest when she realized that she would be unable to swing her gun around to her new attacker in time to stop him.
He slammed into her, knocking her to the ground. Her head snapped back into the concrete of the road and stars exploded in front of her eyes. She managed to maintain her grip on her gun, however. A sudden pain flashed through her and she repressed the urge to scream. Looking down, she stopped breathing. The zombie was latched onto her arm. Blood was pouring out of the wound. White, hot pain propelled her to action and she lifted the gun, slamming it into the back of the boy's head. He fell off of her, giving Buffy the time she needed to aim and shot. The boy's head exploded in a thousand tiny, bloody pieces, which rained down on her like a summer downpour. Grimacing, she wiped the blood away from her face and pulled herself into a sitting position. Cradling her injured arm, she watched as the blood seeped out of the wound, running down her forearm, and dripping from her fingers onto the ground.
"Fuck," she muttered. A bitter sense of loss filled her as she realized that she was infected. Looking up, she saw that the horde of zombies was still running at her. Anger filled her heart as she pulled herself to her feet, tightened her grip on her gun, raised it, and started shooting.
She did not notice when Faith joined her, firing measured, controlled shots at the zombies. "Everyone's almost over," the dark haired Slayer announced. "It's almost time to go."
"Okay," Buffy said absently as she reloaded her gun with her last cartridge of ammunition. She continued shooting until she heard Faith telling her to stop.
"Come on," Faith said, grabbing her clean hand, and pulling her around the van. Buffy looked down at her gun, realizing that she had only one bullet left. She laughed bitterly, knowing what that meant.
Faith reached the fence first. Tucking her gun into the waistband of her jeans, she grabbed the fence, and started climbing. She did not realize until her feet hit the ground on the other side that Buffy had not followed her. She stood on the other side of the fence, gazing up into the clear, blue sky for a moment before she realized that she could smell the smoke of the second g van still burning being carried through the wind. She could see the fire raging out of control. Her eyes fell on Buffy, who was staring at her numbly through the fence, gripping the metal rings with her hands, and she noticed the blood running down the blonde Slayer's arm.
"Buffy?" She asked confusedly.
"You have to go," Buffy stated.
"What happened?" Faith stepped forward.
"It's too late," Buffy smiled sadly. "You have to go."
"I can't leave you here," Faith replied, panic filling her heart. They had come so far. She had saved them. But none of it meant anything if Buffy was not with them.
"I love you," Buffy whispered, her voice anguished and pained.
"Don't say that," Faith shook her head, wiping angry tears from her face. She could feel someone walking up behind her, but she ignored the person's presence.
"I love you, Faith. Don't ever forget that, okay?"
"Stop saying good-bye!" Faith yelled furiously.
"This is good-bye," Buffy reminded her gently.
"I can't live without you, B," Faith said pleadingly, allowing the tears to run freely down her face. She moved forward to touch Buffy's hand, but someone pulled her back.
"We have to go," a voice whispered in her ear. She recognized it as Giles'.
"Get her out of here," Buffy instructed, nodding a good-bye to her Watcher. Giles smiled sadly.
"We'll see each other again," he promised and pulled Faith away. Faith let him push her along. Turning her head one last time, she saw Buffy standing by the fence with her gun in her hand and a horde of zombies closing in on her. Then she ran. She ran the anger out of her body, letting the rage dissipate through her legs. Her tears dried against her face. She ran until she felt nothing and then she heard the gunshot. It was over.