Disclaimer: Buffy The Vampire Slayer was Created by Joss Whedon and is property of many companies but not me. The Walking Dead was created by Robert Kirkman and the show, which is the world I am referencing in this, is shared with Production Creators Frank Darabont and Angela Kang.

Author's Note: My breaks weren't showing correctly in my 2nd chapter which led to me pulling it down and putting it all together now in hopes of fixing things in one go.

[2]

Being told there was a virus causing the living dead and seeing it firsthand were two very different things. Dawn had promised her friends she would keep an eye out, let them know as soon as the infection had reached the city when Giles had reported on it only a few days before, she didn't know it'd move so fast.

Things had happened quickly; there had apparently been a crash involving one of the delivery rigs and an incoming batch of crop, it was determined the farmer had had a heart attack in route and was dead at the scene while the driver was injured severely. The farmer's family was called to identify and be held in the morgue until their arrival, the driver in intensive care. What happened in the morgue was unclear, but Dawn heard when she arrived for her shift that they had been charged with desecration of the body and babbling about the farmer having returned from the dead.

Rather than go on lunch at her usual time, Dawn had made her way to the morgue; for the first time since her Internship had begun, she was working to keep her smile in place. The room of drawers was quiet, Dawn didn't expect the farmer's drawer to be occupied when she opened it though the stake had been dripped tightly in her fist anyway, still when she'd opened the drawer and found… that she'd been caught a little off guard. She remembered seeing them the night the gang had thrown Buffy a welcome back party that had been fraught with so much tension it could have been cut with a knife but there had been only one mask she'd been aware of and…

She texted everyone, Willow, Tara, Xander and Anya. She had Faith's number, but she remembered it had been busted on patrol recently, so she asked them to let Giles know as soon as possible since she had to get back to work. By the end of her shift she had dropped enough hints that she wasn't feeling well, going into the weekend it didn't matter much in the way of needing to call off, but in case it stretched into Monday she wanted to give herself time.

It turned out none of her prep-work was necessary, Monday morning the Governor set an emergency order: all non-essential personnel were to stay home until further notice. Movie theaters, shops, restaurants, anything that didn't have to be open wasn't open. Working at the hospital Dawn had still been certain she'd need to go in until she received a call from Dr. Williams advising that as an Intern, she was not included in the list of approved employees allowed to come in, but they would direct any patients to call her that needed assistance.

No calls came.

[Break]

The Harrison siblings never made it to the Outer Banks the next day, leaving Virginia they'd received a call from their dad checking on them as there had been a lot of disturbing reports on the news and asking them to come home as soon as possible. "Of course, Daddy, we love you."

Andrea's hands were loose on the wheel, but her shoulders and mouth had a familiar set that let Amy know she wasn't as relaxed as she had been before the call, "Everything ok at home?"

Amy nodded, head bobbing as she moved to put the cell phone back in the glove compartment, "Mom and Dad are, they're just worried. People getting sick," she lowered her gaze then looked out the window, "attacking each other."

The older sister's frowned deepened, "Just in Florida?"

Amy shook her head, the car quite a while. Andrea reached over taking her sister's wrist to squeeze gently, "Hey, we'll be fine. The beach and Charleston aren't going to go anywhere," she winked, hand pulling back to return to the wheel and trying to lighten the mood, "next year's trip."

The atmosphere in the car remained somber the remainder of the morning, neither chatting as much as they had been previously.

[Break]

Dale was staying at the Ver-El in North Carolina when the Governor forced a closure on the nearby tourist attractions, upsetting visiting families at the campground and causing issue for the permanent residents as they began taking it out on the area. The widower replenished at the RV Park's shopping mart, cupboards packed full and fridge to match before rolling out, planning to move west. If there was some kind of sickness going around, changing people, then going to a lower populated area would be the best thing and in large part the center of the country was much emptier than its coasts. All the man had managed to do was move a from one state to the next, south, due to traffic – people flooding the highways to get to their family and friends.

The Hammies continued reporting the news when the tv stations went down and it wasn't until the evening 2 days later he realized that the power was down as the sky never looked clearer over a sea of black rolled out down the mountain. Most drivers pulled over, uneasy in the inky dark, but Dale pushed on, pulling over only when he noticed the odd person in need. He'd assisted 3 flats and 5 dead batteries before he came face to face with one of them.

The car was in a ditch, back bumper dented indicating the cause of the wreck and he pulled over, flashers on out of protocol though the day was sunny and clear. White bucket hat, T shirt and khakis he hurried out of the RV, door swinging shut behind him. "Hello?"

The driver was hunched over the wheel, blood pulling over the console and into the vents of the air conditioning, "Oh sweet lord," he grabbed the handle opening the door.

The driver swung around, coagulating brown sticky on torn flesh, eyes grey. Seat belt still in place the soulless corpse reached with wide hands for Dale, the horrified man stumbling back, "Jesus, Jesus." He'd pray for forgiveness later when he'd had time to process.

Leaving the door open, the injured party still struggling against its confines, Mr. Horvath turned for back to the RV.

[Break]

Jessie and Cecily did not understand why they were not to go outback but they knew they did not like it. Dad had been gone all day and they hadn't been outside in forever and mom was being weird, quiet. They shared looks over their coloring books but didn't speak, nervous about gaining her attention when she was so focused looking out the window, fingers gripped tight around a bat.

Sudden movement, both kids looked up as their mom pulled open the door and, "Daddy!" They jumped up, running to greet him as their mom closed the door swiftly behind him, tossing both locks into place.

"How are my Munchkins?" Up high, they were held one in each arm, Cecily 's coloring more like her dad but both with his ears and grin.

"We missed you."

Xander gave both his girls kisses before setting them down, the pack on his back heavy and he unloaded it onto the couch under the window as soon as he set them down. Anya still waiting more patiently than she would have years ago, letting him continue, "I missed you, and guess what I got?" Skittles were produced for each of them, one sour and one sweet, a large hand over each head, "Now take these and give your mom and me a minute."

The twins ran back to their table, mom's quietness and dad's earlier absence forgotten.

Anya stepped into Xander's waiting arms as soon as their kids were seated, fingers grasping at the black of his thick sweater, "I thought something had happened to you." The weight of his fingers on her back was comforting, the sensation of his hand running over her spine soothing, "I didn't know what to do."

Lips pressing a quick kiss along the top of her head, Xander moved his chin to set over the gold of her crown, "Got stuck at the construction site. There'd been an accident, geeks were everywhere, I took care of them."

Anya lowered her voice, glancing at the girls and back, arms wrapping in front of her defensively, "There was one out front yesterday, that manager at the Double Meat Palace."

The name tag flashed in his memory, "Timothy?" Anya's face indicated this was not important, "You took care of him?" His wife nodded an affirmative, "Ok, so we're ok."

"Xander…." She bit her lip, uncertainty filling her face as she looked at their girls and back to him. They'd talked about it before, as soon as Giles called, leaving the Hellmouth but neither had been sure if it was the right call.

"An-"

"We aren't safe Xander." Firmer now, a mother's certainty. They'd stayed when everyone else had left; Willow and Tara for a Wiccan Retreat that had turned into something longer, Dawn gone to school with Spike following after years earlier. They were the only ones guarding the Hellmouth, no magic other than a few basic spells and no Slayer since… When Faith was released from jail she was called to Cleveland under Giles' tutelage, the retired Watcher reactivating only at Faith's behest.

Xander tried not to let it bother him, the old insecurity he was the weakest of the group, Buffy'd smack him for the thought if she was here, but he reminded himself that they were the ones that were trusted with guarding the place. They were the two with enough wits between them to manage things even if they weren't Supernaturally inclined to do so. No matter what else was going on in the world, the Hellmouth was still under their feet and was still a threat, even if other things were happening, "I'll find us another place," he pasted on a grin, "Shouldn't be too hard…" half the towns gone anyhow.

[Break]

The two-lane road had been at a standstill since 3 and it was creeping on 5 o clock when people started exiting their vehicles to stretch their legs. A few of the surrounding vehicles had their radios left on low to continue playing the emergency broadcast urging people to stay off the streets and travelers to make their way to the nearest refugee camp followed by a long list of locations. Lori fanned herself with one of the pamphlets from Shane's glovebox, windows down as she stared unfocused at the back of the light-yellow Cherokee SJ, her attention drawn back to it as short haired waif of a woman put down the tail end of it.

"Mom, can I go?" Carl perked up from the back seat, pointing out the little girl that appeared at the woman's side in a pink halter vest over a white T around his age.

Lori studied the two strangers before glancing at Shane who shrugged minutely, leaving it to her. The woman in front of them was pulling out an afghan, she and the girl moving in quiet tandem to set up a comfortable placement on the back end of the car and Lori nodded, unbuckling, "Yeah, let's go say hey."

"Alright!" Carl popped open the backdoor, dropping out of the Jeep Wrangler and running over the family on half-numb legs, "Hi!"

The woman turned around quickly, thin hand raising to her chest a moment before smiling, "Well hello there and who might you be?"

Before the young boy had a chance to answer his mother was behind him, "This is Carl, and I'm Lori, Lori Grimes." Lori took the woman's hand as it outstretched in habit to meet hers.

"Carol Peletier and this is my daughter," the strawberry blonde at her side stayed right against her, sneakers shuffling as she started and then stopped from moving, "Sophia." She wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulder, squeezing, "Say hi Sophia."

A quick nod, the girl moved her own arm around her mom's waist as well, "Hi."

Nervously chuckling, Carol looked sheepish in apology, "She's shy. It's been a lot, this last week." She covered the girl's ear not pressed against her side whispering, "We saw them, them, when we were leaving town." she shuddered and then as if sensing the man behind her, spoke a little louder, "We wouldn't be here if not for my husband Ed."

The man behind Carol was stocky with a surly look to his face, suspicion evident in his eyes as he took in the interlopers, "Can I help you?"

"I'm Lori, my son was hoping he an Sophia-"

Ed laughed at the long haired brunette, teeth grinding together behind a tight lipped line, "No offence, but I wasn't talking to you."

Lori's brows shot up, Carol's earlier sheepish small smile freezing in place while Sophia seemed to melt further behind her. Before Mrs. Grimes could respond Shane was at her side, a strong arm reaching out for a shake that was ultimately ignored until he dropped it, "Carl here was hoping for the chance to talk to someone that didn't find the Hubble Telescope as a good topic of conversation."

No one spoke a moment before Ed's gaze dropped down to the kid, "That's a shame, that was a big event in history for us." Carol's eyes moved hesitantly around the group, reaching to touch her husband's shoulder who allowed it,

"Ed's brother was in Iraq during the Gulf, it was one of the few things they were able to talk about while he was in the service." Shane thanked Ed for his sibling's service, leaving off passing it on with the realization that may not be possible during the current situation. Feeling the moment begin to drag Lori shifted on her heels to say something when Ed acquiesced,

"I suppose they can play a few games if they don't go anywhere, and you watch them." He moved back to the front of the car, pulling a pack from his shirt pocket, sitting on the hood of the vehicle the farthest he could be from the group without walking away.

A look passed in silence between the 3 adults before Carl broke the tension, "Sooo… is that checkers?"

Sophia looked back at the board game tucked amidst the other options of Clue and Sorry! nodding, "Yeah." Pulling it out to set on the bed the back of the vehicle made, "Do mind being red?"

Carl lit up, "Sure."