Animatus II: The Descent

Notes: Thanks for all of the reviews. They give me inspiration, so keep them coming!

Previously:

Faith sighed with relief. Suddenly, she became aware that she could feel Buffy again. When Buffy had become infected with the zombie virus, Faith had been unable to feel her through their Slayer connection. Now, however, she could feel Buffy standing beside her. Though the connection was weak, the dark haired Slayer could feel it growing stronger per second. "We need to find out where those zombies are," Buffy stated. "We've got a flashlight and, Jay, your gun has a light attached to the scope, right?" Jay nodded. "We could be hearing zombies four hallways away. We don't know. But we need to find out."

Chapter Twelve: Means of Escape:

Faith watched as Buffy moved ahead of her. The blonde Slayer held a handgun tightly in her grip, extended in front of her into the darkness illuminated by the flashlight attached to the scope of Jay's rifle. Spike held the other flashlight. Its beam danced across the walls. Despite the overwhelming feeling of claustrophobia clutching at her, Faith felt a stillness in her heart that she had not felt since she and Buffy had first kissed in the Bronze only a short time ago. Since that day, many things had happened that had catapulted Faith into a tumultuous sea of chaos and doubt. She wondered now if she had not accepted the mission to reenter Sunnydale as a subconscious desire to die so that she could have joined her presumably dead lover. She realized now how misguided that attempt would have been, as Buffy was still alive, and gratefully thanked the Powers that Be for allowing her to come so far without incident.

However, as the group traveled further down the darkened hallways of the Initiative, Faith realized that they were not safe yet. The moaning of the zombies grew louder with every step. Faith thought that she could hear their feet scraping across the floor. Sweat dripped down the sides of her face as the hallways grew hotter and hotter, as if warmed by the presence of hundreds of perspiring bodies. Faith shivered fearfully and raised her gun. The darkness loomed before them ever present and tangible. She felt as though she could reach out and touch the very oily blackness itself. With every breath she inhaled, she felt as though a sludge was creeping down her throat, choking the very life from her. The hallway had grown eerily silent.

The beam of Jay's flashlight played on the walls until it ascended upon something standing in the middle of the hallway. The group halted, their fears confirmed. A cluster of zombies waited before them. They stared dumbly at the group of living humans, their slack jaws hanging open. Spit dribbled from the mouth of the zombie closest to them. His teeth were red with blood. Faith raised her gun, but Jay put a stopping hand on the barrel. "No," he shook his head. "There's too many of them."

"What the bloody hell do you propose we do then?" Spike asked incredulously.

"Turn around and run," Buffy instructed softly.

"You just want to leave?" Spike demanded.

"Yes," Buffy nodded as the group collectively began to back away. The zombies moved forward, their eyes lighting up in a malicious fashion when they caught the scent of fresh flesh. Faith gulped and moved backwards slowly. The zombie in front of the pack stared directly at her, his murky yellowed eyes unblinking and fierce. Through the silence that had encompassed the corridor, a guttural scream issued forth from the beast staring at the dark Slayer. The wail pierced her very bones and she shuddered. She wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and curl up into a ball to protect herself from the bestial sound, but suddenly Buffy was pushing her backwards, yelling at the group to run.

Spike was the first to follow her command. Turning on his heels, he darted back into the darkness behind them. Jay followed suit, the beam of his light now dancing erratically upon the floors and walls. Buffy dashed behind him, but Faith remained rooted to the floor. The zombies began to rush at her, but her feet would not move. Her gun hung limply in her hands. The eyes of the zombie bored into her, twisting her heart with inhumanly strong hands. "Faith!" Buffy shouted as she skidded to a stop. She realized almost instantly that the former rogue Slayer had not followed her. "Faith! Move your ass!" She yelled.

Buffy's voice broke the trance that had settled onto Faith's mind. Shaking her head quickly, her eyes widened in fear. "Oh shit," she muttered as she saw how close the zombies were to catching her. Turning, she quickly ran back to her lover, who stood waiting for her several yards down the corridor.

"What the hell were you doing?" Buffy demanded as the duo continued to run. Spike and Jay lingered just ahead of them.

"Don't ask," Faith shook her head.

"You do realize that this hallway doesn't go anywhere, right, Slayer?" Spike questioned. His voice echoed back down the hallway to Buffy. "The labs don't have an exit."

"We'll worry about that later," Buffy dismissed him. "We just need to find someplace safe to hide for now until we can figure out what to do."

"Someplace safe?" Spike snorted. "Look around, love, there is no place safe."

Faith rolled her eyes at his choice of words. "Just keep running, Blondie," she instructed angrily.

"The labs!" Jay suddenly exclaimed. He still carried the case loaded with the anti-virus vials in one hand, while wielding his gun with the other. "We can hide in the labs. The doors lock. Besides, there's so many of them, the zombies won't know where to look."

"Good idea," Buffy replied. "We'll barricade ourselves into one of the labs until we can think of a plan."

The group dashed down the corridors, their feet unerringly guiding them as they fled from the zombie horde behind them. Finally, they reached the last corridor, where the laboratories were located. Running over to one of the closed doors, Jay entered a code and the door slid open. The group slipped into the room and the door slid shut just as the zombies entered the hallway. "Quickly," Buffy instructed silently. "Move the lab tables to block the doors."

Dropping their guns, Faith and Jay lifted the nearest table and deposited it directly in front of the door. Buffy and Spike grabbed another and placed it on top of the first. Through the windows peering out into the corridor, Buffy vaguely could discern the shapes of the zombies searching for them. "Get down!" She instructed quietly. Faith lowered herself to the floor, reaching silently for her gun. Jay did the same. The dark haired Slayer could hear the zombie's feet shuffling on the floor. Their ravenous moans filled her ears and she slid closer to Buffy.

"You okay?" Buffy whispered.

"I hate that fucking sound," Faith replied.

"So do I," Buffy said reassuringly, grabbing the other's girls hand. She held it in her own, absently running her thumb back and forth across Faith's knuckles.

"How do you do that?" Faith asked, chuckling to herself in disbelief.

"Do what?" Buffy questioned confusedly.

"How do you calm me down like that with a simple touch? I was freaking out, but as soon as I felt your thumb on my knuckles, everything just vanished," Faith explained.

Buffy smiled. "I don't know," she shrugged. "I guess I'm just talented that way."

"I guess so," Faith agreed.

"You do the same for me," Buffy said quietly. "You always have."

"Really?" Faith asked in surprise.

"Yeah," Buffy confirmed.

"Cool," Faith grinned. Buffy rolled her eyes. A hand pounded on the door suddenly, causing both Slayers to jump.

"Shit," Jay muttered, his heart thumping wildly in his chest. The sound repeated until dozens of hands began to slap against the metal.

"They know that we're in here," Spike commented.

"No shit," Faith shot back.

"What're we going to do?" Jay asked.

"I have no idea," Buffy admitted. "Can they get in here?" She questioned.

"No," Jay shook his head. "I don't think so."

"You don't think so?" Spike asked incredulously.

"Well, unless one of them remembers the code and has the coordination and mental capacity to type it into the number pad. We haven't met a zombie that smart yet though," Jay explained.

"There's always a first," Spike muttered.

"Don't say that," Faith admonished.

"Why not?" Spike asked.

"That's just asking for trouble," she replied.

"Everybody calm down, okay?" Buffy said authoritatively. "Everything is going to be okay."

"Really?" Spike asked.

"Yes," Buffy said confidently. "I will get us out of here."

"Everything's not going to be okay," Jay contradicted her. "Diego and Mark are still out there."

"Shit," Faith muttered, shaking her head. She had forgotten about Diego and Mark with the excitement of curing Buffy.

"Diego and Mark?" Buffy asked, looking over at her questioningly.

"They were a part of our team," Faith explained. "Four of us were sent down here to retrieve the anti-virus. We split up once we got to this level. Figured we could find the cure faster."

"They went the other way down the hall," Jay added.

"You mean they went down the direction from which all of the zombies came?" Buffy asked, a sense of dread growing in her heart.

"Yeah," Jay replied sullenly.

"I think they're dead," Spike stated.

"Thanks," Faith muttered. "We really needed to hear that out loud."

"What?" Spike shrugged. "I'm just telling you the truth. You want me to sugar coat it for you? Fine, maybe they're still alive. Maybe they're holed up somewhere just like us, waiting for their opportunity to escape. Or, maybe a horde of zombies came along, ripped their throats out, and ate their kidneys."

"Shut up," Jay said angrily.

"It'll be a boring day the day I do that," Spike grinned. The pounding on the door grew louder and the group collectively glanced around at each other nervously.

"Now would be a good time to think up a plan, B," Faith said.

"I'm working on it," Buffy shot back, instantly regretting the harshness of her tone when she saw Faith's face fall. "I didn't mean it like that," she added softly.

"It's okay," Faith said dismissively. "You're under a lot of pressure. I get that."

"We're both under a lot of pressure," Buffy replied.

"It's just…I've always followed you, you know? When everyone picked me to lead them at the Bronze, I didn't really know what I was doing. I felt so lost, even though you were there with me, helping me along the way. I'm not a leader, B. It's just second nature for me to turn to you," Faith explained.

"I know," Buffy said reassuringly. "It's okay. Besides, you may have felt lost when you led us, but you did a damn good job. We'd probably all be dead right now if not for you."

"Even of us are," Faith muttered.

"What happened with the first van was not your fault," Buffy said, in reference to the explosion that claimed the lives of many of the survivors, including the blonde Slayer's mother.

"It was my plan. It was my fault," Faith insisted.

"You can't blame yourself for everything that happens. Hell, I could just as easily say that this whole zombie invasion was my fault," Buffy returned.

"Bullshit," Faith shot back. "This was not your fault."

"Exactly," Buffy said. "This wasn't my fault and what happened during our escape was not your fault. More importantly, Faith, my getting bit was not your fault."

Faith laughed humorlessly and looked down at the ground. "How'd you know I was blaming myself for that?" She asked.

"Because I would have been blaming myself if it was you," Buffy smiled. "That wasn't your fault either. I didn't even see that zombie coming. There was no way you could have."

"But I should have," Faith said.

"But you didn't," Buffy countered. "And it's okay. I didn't either. That's the point. It just happened. Sometimes, things just happen."

"I hate to ruin the moment," Spike interrupted, "but there's still that small matter of the zombies trying to break down the door."

"You really don't know when to shut up, do you?" Buffy asked exasperatedly.

"I absolutely do not," Spike confirmed.

"There has to be another way of getting out of here," Buffy commented.

"Other than plowing our way through the zombies?" Faith asked.

Before Buffy could reply, a sharp clanging noise resounded in the room. Everyone jumped to their feet, raising their guns defensively as they surveyed the lab for the source of the disturbance. A black shadowy figure tumbled out of a hole near the ceiling and hit the floor with an audible thud. "Ow," a scratchy male voice groaned. "Not cool."

Faith stepped forward, grabbing the flashlight from Spike's hands and directing its beam to the man crumpled on the floor. "Diego?" She asked in surprise.

Diego looked up at her from his position on the ground and smiled with relief. "Hey," he said amiably. "I was hoping that I'd run into you."

"Jesus," Jay muttered, lowering his gun. "We thought that you were dead."

"I'm not," Diego replied, picking himself up shakily. "Mark is though."

"Shit," Faith whispered.

"Will he?" Jay began, but Diego interrupted.

"I shot him in the head. He won't become one of them," he answered.

"Good," Jay stated. "Are you okay?" He added.

"I'm alright," Diego replied. "A little thirsty though. Anyone have any water?"

Jay nodded and threw him his bottle of water. Diego caught it and drank from it gratefully. "Thanks, man," he said when he had sated his thirst and thrown the bottle back to Jay.

"The vents," Buffy said, slapping herself on the forehead. "God, why didn't I think of that earlier? I'm so mentally deficient sometimes."

"What're you talking about, B?" Faith asked.

"We can get out of here through the vents," Buffy said excitedly. "I think we just found our means of escape."