Animatus II: The Descent
Notes: Thanks for the reviews. Keep them coming!
Previously:
Buffy smiled, happy with her plan, and stepped forward. However, as she did, she saw a form pass in front of the entrance of the hallway. It stopped when it saw her, its yellowed eyes glowing in the dark. With a shrill wail, it effectively silenced the rest of the zombies. An overwhelming quiet fell over the room and Buffy audibly gulped. "Oh shit," she murmured as the zombie charged.
Chapter Six: Familiar Faces:
The zombie slammed into her before she had a chance to lift her gun. With a grunt, Buffy fell to the ground, the zombie lying on top of her. Fortunately, she retained her hold on her gun. She could smell the zombie's acrid breath as it opened its mouth and hissed hungrily down at her. Buffy flashed back to the moment on the surface when everything had suddenly spiraled out of control. She could still feel pain of teeth ripping through her flesh, the warmth of the sun on her face, and the feel her connection to Faith buzzing in her mind. Anger boiled up inside of her when she thought of all of the things that she had lost because of that one moment and, screaming with frustration, she lifted the zombie off of her chest with her legs, propelling it backwards. Aiming her gun, she pulled the trigger as the zombie scrambled to its feet and rushed towards her. The smell of gunpowder filled the air, a pop resounded through the main floor of the Initiative, and a veil of smoke covered Buffy's eyes. The smoke stung, but she watched as the zombie crumpled as the bullet struck its forehead.
As the gunshot echoed throughout the cavernous room, Buffy realized that firing her gun may have been a mistake. As the sound faded, Buffy was unnerved by the overwhelming silence that lingered around her like a ghostly presence. Picking herself up off of the floor, she groaned when she saw more pairs of eyes than she cared to count staring at her ravenously. A moan escaped the lips of one zombie, which was quickly joined by more, until Buffy felt as though she was surrounded. The silence instantly was replaced by a perpetual wail that chilled her to the bones. Tears pricked at her eyes and she pressed her hands to her ears. Running down the hallway, she entered the room and directed her feet towards a bank of computers. The zombies began to move towards her, slowly at first, but they picked up speed as she ran by them. Ducking behind the computer terminals, she tried to clear her mind to think, but found that she could not banish the famished sound of the wailing zombies from her mind. Craning her head around the desk that she was sitting behind, she saw the door to the stairwell, but a cluster of zombies stood in front of it barring the way.
She realized that, without help, she would never make it to the door. She could not shoot every zombie in the room and her exertion climbing down the stairs of the auxiliary entrance had exhausted her. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest and echoing in her ears. She wanted nothing more than to rest, but she knew that she had to continue. Scrambling to her feet as a pair of zombies descended upon her, she quickly surveyed the room, and realized that she had only one direction in which she could travel. The zombies were blocking all of the hallways and stairwells except for one corridor that stretched black and long before her. Dim, blue emergency lights lit a glowing line along the floor that Buffy followed with her eyes. The lights led to a door, but Buffy was uncertain to where the door itself led.
However, she knew that she could not fight her way to the door leading to the stairwell and, as all other options were closed to her, she propelled herself to her feet just before a group of zombies descended upon the computer terminals, and dashed across the room towards the darkened hallway. Slipping into the shadows, she skidded to a halt in front of the door. When she gripped latch, however, the door remained shut. "Shit!" She muttered, pounding her fist angrily on the door. The zombies rapidly were advancing on her. Moving over to the number pad next to the door, she quickly punched in the code that she had used to first gain entry to the Initiative. That code, however, did not work. Slamming her first on the door again, she wracked her brain to try to remember another code. However, nothing came into her mind.
Turning, she inhaled deeply, fear striking her heart at the sight of the zombies crowding into the hallway. They hovered several yards in front of her. She could see their yellow eyes glimmering in the darkness. The blue lights discolored their already pale skin, reminding Buffy that she was, in fact, staring at a group of dead people. Shuddering, she raised her gun and prepared to fire. The zombie closest to her stepped forward. She clicked the hammer back on the gun. It stepped again and she tightened her finger around the trigger. Just as she was about to pull the trigger, a metal clanking sound arose from behind her. Wheeling around, she leveled the gun as the door slid open, pointing it at a scared and tired face poking out at her from behind the metal.
"Get in here!" The woman standing on the other side of the door yelled at her. Staring confusedly at her for a moment, Buffy dashed through the door. As she past through the doorway, the woman slid the door shut, just as the zombies began to charge forward.
"Who're you?" Buffy asked, turning to face her.
"You're alive?" The woman asked.
"Yes," Buffy nodded.
"What happened to your arm?" The woman questioned, her face suddenly paling when she saw the bandage on the blonde Slayer's arm.
Buffy sighed. "I was bitten," she answered.
"Shit," the woman muttered. "I shouldn't have let you in here."
"I'm glad that you did," Buffy offered. "Look, I know that I'm infected. But I came down here for a reason."
"What do you mean you came down here?" The woman asked.
"I got bitten above the surface. I came down here because I heard there was a cure," Buffy explained.
"We've been down here the whole time," the woman said. "I'm Kate."
"I'm Buffy," Buffy said, extending her hand. Kate smiled softly and shook it.
"Interesting name," she commented with a wry smile.
"My parents had a sense of humor," Buffy returned. "So who are the we?"
"It's two of us," Kate explained, motioning for Buffy to follow her. "We've been holed up down here since it happened."
"How did you survive?" Buffy asked.
"This is Section D," Kate explained. "Section D doesn't lead anywhere. It's a dead end. I was the only one working this section the night of the attack. There was one guard posted at the door. When he saw what was happening, instead of trying to run like everyone else, he came in here and reprogrammed the code to open the door so that nothing else could get in."
"That's why the code didn't work," Buffy commented.
"Yes," Kate responded. "Anyway, we've been able to survive down here because food and water was stored in Section D."
"What for?" Buffy asked. They rounded a bend and Kate smiled, motioning down the hallway opening itself in front of them.
"For the hostiles," Kate answered. Buffy sucked in a breath. Lining the hall were cells in which paced all manner of demons and vampires.
"You're keeping them alive?" Buffy asked in disbelief.
"We couldn't just let them starve to death," Kate shrugged. "We had to cut back on their rations so that there would be enough to last all of us for a while. We couldn't save all of the hostiles, though. There are other sections. I don't know what happened to them. I can't tell you how hard it was the first day. People banging on the door. Trying to get in. It was hard not to open that door. But all of those people were infected."
"Just like me," Buffy said softly.
"You can't stay here," Kate said apologetically.
"I don't intend to," Buffy smiled. "I'm finding that cure and I'm getting out of here."
"What makes you think that you can?" Kate asked inquisitively.
"I know I can," Buffy shrugged. "I can't tell you why. I just do."
"We can give you food and water to help you," Kate said. "Hey, Paul!" She called.
"Yeah?" A man asked appearing from one of the cells. "Who is that?"
"This is Buffy. She was banging on the door," Kate explained.
"She's infected," Paul noted, nodding towards her arm.
"I know," Kate nodded.
"How'd you get up here?" Paul asked. "Were you on one of the lower levels?"
"No," Buffy shook her head. "I was outside."
"Outside?" Paul asked.
"I don't really have time to explain. I need to keep moving," Buffy said. "Though I'm not sure how I'm going to get to where I need to go."
"Where are you going?" Kate asked.
"Sublevel three," Buffy replied. "I was told that the cure might be there."
"Cure?" Paul asked.
"She thinks that there's a cure to whatever caused the zombies," Kate answered.
"You don't know?" Buffy asked.
Kate shrugged. "I just worked with the hostiles."
"I was just a guard," Paul added.
"Well, well," Buffy heard a voice say to her left. "If it isn't Buffy."
Buffy turned her head and looked over into the cell to her left, where she saw a bleach blonde vampire leaning against the wall with a smirk gracing his face. "Spike," she chuckled. "Figures you would survive all of this."
"Bloody well isn't easy getting rid of me," Spike grinned. "I'm rather surprise to see you down here though."
"Trust me, I don't want to be down here," Buffy muttered.
"You're trying to find a cure, huh?" Spike asked. "That'll be hard."
"What does he mean?" Kate asked.
"Zombies were blocking the stairwell," Buffy explained.
"And with your being infected and all that," Spike added, "it'll be difficult for you to fight your way through. You're weak."
"I realize that, Spike," Buffy growled angrily.
Spike threw up his hands defensively. "Hey, I'm not trying to piss you off, Slayer," he chuckled. "I'm just painting a picture for you."
"Why are you doing that?" Buffy asked.
"Because I have a solution," Spike offered.
"What?" Buffy asked.
"I can help you," Spike stated.
Buffy raised an eyebrow. "You can help me?"
"I'm not afraid of those things," Spike said offhandedly. "I'm a vampire. I'm already dead. I don't know for certain, but I'm bloody positive that I can't become a zombie on top of it. Don't exactly have circulation to move a virus through my blood."
"Why would you want to help me?" Buffy asked.
"Because I don't particularly relish being stuck down here in this cell. Seeing as to how I'm not getting out any other way, I'm willing to help you out if you'll help me," Spike explained.
Buffy looked over at Kate. "Are you okay with this?" She asked.
Kate sighed. "He's chipped so he can't hurt anyone. I don't see a problem with it," she answered. "And he's right. If you want to get to that stairwell, you can't do it by yourself."
"What about the two of you?" Buffy asked, nodding towards Kate and Paul.
"I think we're gonna stay here," Paul answered with a confirmatory nod from Kate.
"How do I know that you're not going to betray me once we get out there?" Buffy asked, glancing back at the bleach blonde vampire.
"You don't," Spike shrugged. "I guess you're going to have to trust me."
"Try again," Buffy said dryly.
"I can't get out of here by myself," Spike sighed. "I don't know any of the pass codes for the doors."
Buffy thought for a moment and nodded. "That's good enough."
"We can give you some food if you need it," Kate offered.
"Do you have any blood packets?" Buffy asked. "I have enough food, but for me. Not for Spike."
"Plenty," Kate nodded. "The emergency generator kicked in when he lost power. We lost some of the blood, but some of the refrigerators kept running."
"I'll get them," Paul offered and disappeared into another room. He came back out several minutes later with a bundle of blood packets in his hands. Buffy accepted them and stowed them in her pack. Moving over to the cell in which Spike was being held, Kate punched in a code and the door slid open. Spike stared at the opening warily for a moment before striding forward. He paused at the threshold, anticipating a shock when he stepped over the barrier. However, when he moved forward, nothing happened to him and he smiled.
"You ready?" Buffy asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be," Spike shrugged. "Are you ready?"
"Every minute that passes is another minute that I'm closer to becoming one of those things," Buffy shuddered. "So yeah, I'm ready."
"Good luck you guys," Kate offered. "I hope you find what you're looking for."
"Yeah," Paul agreed.
"If we do," Buffy said, looking back at them, "we'll come back for you."
"We'll see you then, I guess," Kate said uncertainly, watching as Spike and Buffy moved back to the door.
Buffy paused before she punched in the new code to open it again. She could not hear the zombies outside of the door. "I hope they've moved on," she muttered.
"And if not?" Spike asked.
"We'll fight our way through."
…………………..
Sweat poured down her face as she gripped the rope between her hands and carefully lowered herself into darkness. She could hear Diego moving above her. Mark and Jay were climbing down behind her. They had pried open the elevator doors in the frat house and had begun rappelling down the elevator shaft that led to the main floor of the Initiative. Breathing heavily, she focused all of her energy and concentration on climbing. Her muscles strained in her arms, begging for a reprieve from the constant work to which they had been subjected. "Bottom!" She heard Jay call up from somewhere beneath her. She heard the metallic shuffling of Jay fiddling with his gun. A beam of light welled up through the darkness and his voice rang out again. "Clear."
Faith sighed with relief. She wanted nothing more than to reach the floor and steady herself on solid ground again. She found it completely unnerving to be lowering herself into darkness without any indication of what waited for her at the bottom. She heard Mark's feet hit the floor. "Glad that's over," the soldier muttered. Faith reminded herself that she only had a short distance to climb before she would join her group on the ground.
"How're you doing Diego?" She asked, her voice echoing up through the elevator shaft.
"I'll be much better once I hit the ground," Diego ground out between clenched teeth. Faith smiled. Apparently, Diego had some issues with height. He almost stopped and turned around once he had a chance to glance down the elevator shaft and into the complete blackness that awaited them.
"Me too," Faith replied softly. Finally, her feet hit the ground and she sighed with relief.
"Faith," Jay said, smiling and nodding over to her.
"Well, that's over with," Faith murmured. Diego joined them several minutes later. Faith repressed a chuckle when she saw his face. The man looked paler than death. Wiping sweat from his brow, he shook his head.
"Sometimes I wonder why I took this job," he stated.
"To help the world?" Mark smirked.
"Be all you can be?" Jay joked.
"Maybe you're just a little slow," Faith added.
"Thanks, guys," Diego rolled his eyes. "I feel better already."
"Let's get this show on the road," Mark said as the group collectively turned to face the closed elevator doors in front of them.
"What're we going to see when we open those doors?" Diego asked.
"I don't know," Jay shrugged.
"But it probably won't be good," Faith noted.
"Are we ready for this?" Mark asked.
Faith smiled and nodded. Diego shifted and nodded slightly, his eyes set and determined. Jay simply raised his gun. Mark nodded and moved over to the doors. "Opening on three."