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.

[7]

The ground broke under the front tines of the banana-colored tiller, long swaths of turned soil left in its wake behind the sweaty woman. If there was one thing Anya would not have imagined herself doing it was physical labor; muscle aching, leg cramping, dirt covering labor. This should've been a Xander job.

Exasperated, the blonde stopped mid stride to rest and check her progress. The landscape between the fencing surrounding the Armory and the blockade that separated the field from the factory district had been cut. It had taken a full day to clear the grass with a rolling mower a few days ago between Xander, Jonathan and herself which was when she had decided that her husband would need to find the tilling contraption to do the second half of the job as they had no horses to pull trenches.

Perspiration trickling down her temple, Anya rubbed the salt water from her skin with her forearm and straightened her gloves over the callouses forming on her hands. Xander and Jonathan were making their way around the blockade, taking out the dead residents attracted by the machinery's noise. While the cars and cement blocks slowed the dead down to make killing them easier, it was still a large job for just the two of them. Twice during the day they'd taken a break to prevent any others from being attracted and give them a chance for the hordes to be thinned. Though they still had plenty of hours ahead she was done, and she waived signaling as much. Both dark haired men ran over after the last few bodies had been put down for good, breathing as heavy as she was,

"What's up? You ok?" Xander's dominant hand was thickly stained the color of rust, but his other hand was cleaner, and he used it to run along the back of her neck and down her arm, feeling the skin shaking there.

Anya nodded, fighting the pout that would normally make its way across her lips, "I'm stopping. No more today."

Johnathan frowned, looking back at the dead they'd taken care of, "We can handle these guys," he looked back at her unsure of the issue, "if that's what you're worried about?"

"Of course, I'm worried," snapping the ex-demon folded her arms, too grossed out with both their stickiness to tuck herself into Xander's side, "It's enough for today, can we just go in?" Looking up at Xander she pleaded, trying not to point out the things she wanted; that he'd nearly been bitten a dozen times, that Jonathan's reach wasn't as a longas her husband's and he had several of the dead pulled across the blockades to kill them, that it was hot and she just didn't want to anymore today.

Xander agreed, letting her go in, only turning back to Jonathan when she'd just the door behind her and shaking his head at the other man's indication they could go longer. "She wanted to stop at our first break, she's trying."

[Break]

Two days on the road and they'd yet to make it halfway to Fort Benning but with the backtracking they'd needed to do to get around the dead or traffic jams it wasn't surprising. On the plus side, the car that Spike had found for them to travel by was a great improvement over sleeping in trees for safety, and coming equipped with a tape deck it had made the hours pass by smoother. Humming along to one of the same 8 songs that had been on repeat for the past few hours, Dawn pressed her foot on the brake as the car ahead slowed down. Shifting behind her, Spike turned in the backseat, "Things ok?"

Passing the white SUV, Dawn caught site of the it's dead driver and looked around at the other cars that had begun lining either side of the highway. "Looks like another jam," neck stretching, Dawn tried to get a better view ahead of the creeping Volkswagen, but it didn't look promising. Mentioning she thought they would need to stop right before it happened, the young woman reached for the walkie to clip back onto her belt from its place in the cup holder, "I'm going to see if they need help. Could be a chance to get more supplies."

There was silence in which Dawn was sure Spike was nodding in the dark before he moved again to get comfortable, "Careful out there."

Jogging to the front of the line, Lori and Carol were already being followed by their kids as they headed out into the junkyard, others of the group going off in their own directions as well. Glenn and Dale spoke at the front to the line, leaning over the open hood of the RV, "Anything I can do?"

"Glenn here is going to work on getting us back on the road, you're welcome to join me as look out if you want." Shaking his binoculars for emphasis the older gentleman welcomed her assistance, but she shook her head,

"I trust you. Looks like Rick has your back too anyhow," not far from the two of them Rick stood in full uniform, hat shielding his gaze from the sun. "Anything specific we need to be looking for?"

Lips pursing, Dale shook his head, brows raising in a facial shrug. Dawn nodded, turning to face the cars again as she heard Dale shuffle off in the direction of the back of the RV to climb the ladder on its rear. Ahead Lori an Carol were talking, Sophia and Carl drifting around a vehicle, Darryl was certainly somewhere but she didn't see… "Where's Andrea?"

Shane thumbed in the direction of Dale's vehicle, "Putting her piece back together, getting in some practice." Assessing, Rick's partner hooked his thumbs in his jeans, chin coming up, "You got anything to defend yourself with?"

Dawn shook her head, commenting about a lack of comfort with guns and drew his attention instead to the LIPSEY delivery van they'd come to a halt behind, "What's in there?" Mountain spring water was written under the blue and yellow lettering of the Georgia based brand,

Shane setting his weapon along the back bumped to lift one of the doors with a long whistle, "Glenn, were we short on water?"

Looking up from his work at the sound, Glenn turned his head in time to see the 20 jugs of water the other man had found, laughing as he watched him open and pour the liquid over his head, "Save me some!" Turning the flathead quickly he bounced on the balls of his feet, anxious to get done.

"It's like being baptized man!" Shane's whoops carried around the open space, leaning into the open door as he continued drinking the temperate provisions.

Seeing as most of the cars on this side of the highway were already being searched, Dawn swung her legs over the guardrail and jogged across the median to the opposite side to search. So busy going through an abandoned Ford, Dawn only just sensed the figure behind her before spinning around, dropping her findings to snatch at the screwdriver. The biker of their group held a finger to his lips, directing her body down with a hand on her shoulder, gaze urging her to look behind her.

Milling through the parking lot, the dead moved slowly on the opposite side of the highway where the group had been a moment ago. Chest tight, Dawn gripped tighter on the handle of her weapon, counting the number of them. There were so many, she looked back at Daryl who seemed to be focusing a little ahead of the horde where a dark head could be seen moving bobbing up and down over a white sedan, "T-Dawg."

A minute growl sounded beside her, gruff voice low, "Too damn big to fit under the cars." That was an understatement, it would take a lot of clearance for the ex-football player to squeeze beneath an undercarriage. The only option would have likely been the 18-wheeler that was on it's side which was unfortunately doing no one any good in that position.

Watching the group ignore the number of corpses in the stalled cars, Dawn thought of the way the walkers ignored Spike, "Camouflage." At his look she moved around the car, keeping her knees bent to stay down as she whispered, "He needs camouflage."

Inspired, the man took off, gesturing for her to stay in place and out of site as he hurried back to the opposite side of the road.

[Break]

"If I don't make it back, run back to the highway, back to the others. Straight the way we came." Counting to 50, Sophia held tightly to her doll, fingers clutching the cloth toy tight in her left hand, "Keep the sun on your left shoulder." Rick's voice was far off now, egging the monsters on after him, the splashing as his legs stumbled through the water harder and harder to hear. When it had been 10 seconds since the last time she'd been able to hear him the girl crawled out from the underbrush and pulled herself up the steep bank.

Chewing her lip, she looked up the hill, the direction she thought they'd come was further up, past the bare branches of the low trees. Wavy bangs obscuring her view, she pulled her headband off and placed it back again, trying to tell if she was right before she left the creek bank. She hadn't been paying attention when she'd escaped but it was pretty straight, just -

Rustling sounded, goosepimples breaking out along her skin, the humidity suddenly gone as she felt a cool rush up her spine, shadows twisting on the ground surrounding her. Mouth running dry she hesitated to clear it, not wanting to make a noise as she peered around her, she was sure if she called out someone from the highway would hear her, maybe her mom, but she felt even more certain something else would get there first. Clutching her doll closer she stayed still and then under her feet the earth shifted and she took off, sprinting into the brambles.

[Break]

The little girl was missing, run off into the woods some hours ago with the Sheriff and Redneck still in the looking for her as he waited in the car. Dawn had filled him in once the herd had passed, the minutes of their passing agonizing as he'd waited to be able to call his companion. The hours ticked by slowly, listening to the back and forth of wheels creak under the weight of the metal frames they carried, people pushing them in neutral. Several times the trunk was popped open as Dawn loaded one thing or another, occasionally mentioning her findings. Once Bitty Buffy was accompanied by the remaining child of the group, who must have started to open the door when she'd admonished him to his surprise,

"We're all doing our part, it's not fair he's just sleeping." The kid had a point, if he really had been sleeping and human, he'd think he was a jerk too. Their voices moved off a bit as Dawn lead the boy away,

"It's not that Spike wants to stay in their Carl, he has too. You know how you go to the beach and if you stay outside to long you get a sunburn?" The pause indicated some form of nonverbal answer which she followed, "Well Spike gets that way with any light, even for a tiny amount of time."

Considering the kid tried to poke holes, "What about when it's cloudy?"

"Sometimes when it's really cloudy he's ok, or if he's all covered up, but it's safer to stay inside until it's dark but that means that when he does get up, we can rest 'cause Spike can take watch for us." The soft sound of hair shifting indicated a nod before soft foot falls and a fading shout of, "Dad!" indicated a return of the search party.

From the two thick heartbeats it was clear their search hadn't been successful.

Later pink to purple, the daylight bled from the sky, sun dipping below the tree line. At the tail end of the line of cars still serving a purpose on the gridlocked highway, the back door swung open, the last man of the group rolling out. Taking in the evening air, Spike noticed the sullen atmosphere, the group divided. Sidling up to the closest person, he questioned, "Take it the girl wasn't found?"

Wavy blonde hair shook a negative, Andrea sighing, "Not yet. Rick wants us to wait to resume the search tomorrow." By the tone of her voice she didn't agree, her arms swinging to her sides as she turned to look at him with cool grey eyes, "You rested enough for watch?"

Another person implying he wasn't doing his part, probably the one the kid heard it from if he had to guess. Spike stopped the sneer before it fully formed, instead reaching for one of his smokes only to stop himself and push the pack back in, "I can, but I think continuing the search would be better."

"What, you see in the dark?" the sound carried a small laugh, but it was better than the eye roll he'd been expecting.

Sharp cheek bones drew out the man's grin, "I'd need to, to keep watch too wouldn't I, pet?"

"Don't call me pet," ponytail falling in a mess as she let it down, the woman turned away from him to keep look out in his absence, "and don't get lost out there."

[Break]

Walking back and forth across the room, the brunette worked out the problem in her head, hands raised in front of her counting her fingers though no words passed her lips. As far as she could determine she and Willow should have been able to leave already; her girlfriend's arm was closed and whether she could cast or not she certainly could have directed their magick when pulled together. As it was, they could float miniscule objects but had trouble casting anything significant correctly, their combined ability waning to the point she suspected the past few days messages hadn't actually made it to their intended recipients. As the focus of her thoughts entered the room, she took her remaining hand in hers, pressing her lips firmly against hers in a quick kiss that warranted surprise and a small chuckle,

"Well hello to you too," the red head smiled, green eyes alight with pleasure until she noticed the seriousness of Tara's expression, "What is it?"

Glancing at the charm above the door that ensured their conversations were private, Tara ran her hands up the other woman's arms and over her shoulders and down again squeezing, "I am going to be a few." The nerves twisting under and along her skin caused her stutter to reappear, the woman pushing through the tick, refusing to say right back. Head tilting down she communicated silently, Meet me at the drive.

"O-okay?" More question than statement, the younger witch watched Tara slip out the door, glancing around the room for what she could possibly carry.