Dawn is dead. I killed her.

Faith stumbled back from Dawn's lifeless body, her head half a foot away, eyes still open and bloodshot. Lifeless. She turned to look up at the sky, her heart racing, and her tears continued to roll down her cheeks. Death was never easy to deal with and it made her feel numb. She stumbled back a few more steps, the sound of her boots crunching on the gravel roof echoing loudly all around her.

She shook her head as she yanked open the steel down and descended down the narrow set of stairs. They'd been in the abandoned storage warehouse for two weeks, give or take a day. It'd been the only place they'd been at for months where it felt safe. Food had been scarce for months, but they'd always managed to barely scrape by, living on a plant-based diet and rain water that they collected that was never enough to quench their thirst. Always hungry, always thirsty. Always tired, always sore, always dirty.

Faith pulled back the plastic that hung over the doorway and walked into the small, dimly lit room where the others sat on blankets spread out on the dusty wooden floor. Candles burned, most of them near the end, melted wax keeping them in place on the crates they sat upon. She sat down heavily on her makeshift bed and wiped at her tear-stained cheeks. She couldn't look at any of the others and the silence in the dimly lit room was deafening.

Dawn is dead. I killed her.

Tears stung her eyes as she moved to lay down on her side, her back to the others, her face to the wall. She knew she had to tell them. They deserved to know. They had a right to know. Yet, the words escaped her as she felt like she was drowning in her own grief.

Just faintly she could hear the sounds of the infected three floors down. She closed her eyes tightly, swallowing the lump that grew in her throat. They were no longer alone, no longer as safe as they'd been the night before. It didn't matter how many times they killed the infected that found them, more just kept on coming, night after night, day after day.

They'd never be safe again.

Faith wiped at her tears, willing them to stop. Crying was for cowards and those who were weak and she was none of those things. She'd never be any of those things. She sat up as she heard the others start to gather what little weapons they had managed to grab at the last place they'd been that'd been overrun by the infected. Faith pulled out her longbow and the bag of bolts she had lying next to it. She slung the bag over her shoulder and checked over the longbow carefully, her eyes drifting across the room to where Buffy was wiping down her broadsword's blade and admiring the shine in the candlelight.

Dawn is dead. I killed her.

Aside from Angel, Dawn was the first of them they'd lost and as far as anyone was concerned, making it eight months and still be alive was probably some kind of a record. Aside from Giles breaking his leg four months ago, they hadn't even really sustained any serious injuries along the way, at least nothing that Willow couldn't heal with a little bit of magic, or slayer healing couldn't deal with over the course of a couple of days. What Faith just couldn't understand was how Dawn had gotten bit. When had it happened? Did it happen that day Faith had found her roaming around the barren parking lot going through a handful of rusty cars looking for supplies?

Faith inhaled slowly and deeply, her eyes meeting Buffy's in the flickering candlelight. She knew she had to tell Buffy that her sister was dead. She had to tell her sooner rather than later. Surely she'd noticed the fact that Dawn had gone up to the roof and hadn't come down yet. Surely.

"Counted about a dozen," Kennedy said as she pushed back the plastic and nodded towards Buffy. "The barrier is holding. Barely. Not sure how much longer it'll take before they get past it."

"Okay," Buffy said as she lowered her broadsword, the tip reaching the ground. It was far too big for her size, but it'd been effective enough. More so than the scythe had been at first. "Willow, go find Dawn. I need you two to stay here and—"

"Buffy?" Faith stopped her and she felt the lump in her throat grow bigger. She walked the short distance towards her and she was unable to hide the tears that filled her eyes.

"Where is she?" Buffy asked tightly. "Where is Dawn?"

"I—I'm sorry, B."

"No," Buffy whimpered as she dropped her broadsword to the floor, the sound echoing through the small room. "No, please…"

Buffy stumbled backwards, her eyes blank and filled with tears, her hands shaking as she turned to face Xander who rushed towards her and wrapped his arms tightly around her. Faith couldn't stop the tears from falling as she watched Buffy break down in Xander's arms, the pair of them falling to their knees together, clutching on to one another.

"Faith?" Giles said quietly as he placed a strong, firm hand on her shoulder. "Was she…"

"She was bitten," Faith replied, her eyes still on Buffy and Xander although it was hard to see through the blurry tears. "I—I had to. She came to me."

"You did what was right."

"Did I?"

Giles nodded as Faith turned to look at him and he gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze before dropping his hand. "Yes," he said quietly as the sounds of Buffy's cries of anguish filled the small room and the sounds of the infected three floors below grew louder. "We must take care of the problem downstairs. The barrier won't hold on for much longer."

Faith nodded as a few more hot tears fell. She turned back to look at Buffy and watched as she pulled herself free from Xander's tight hold. He struggled to keep a hold of her, but she was too strong for him. She took a few staggered steps towards Faith and grabbed her by her shoulders, forcing Faith to stare into her grief filled eyes.

"When?"

"Not that long ago."

"D—did she have much time left?"

"No. The fever already kicked in, B."

Buffy gripped on to her tightly before they both slid their arms around one another and held on tight. Faith held on to her, feeling her body shudder and shake as she cried into Faith's neck. Buffy didn't let go for a few moments and neither did Faith. She just held her, knowing it was all she needed in the moment.

"Buffy? Faith?" Giles called out, his tone filled with alarm. "We must move now."

"Give them a minute, Giles," Xander said gently.

"We don't have a minute!" Kennedy yelled as the loud crash of the makeshift barrier falling to pieces echoed up the stairwell. "Guys, come on!"

"B?" Faith gently nudged Buffy back and cupped Buffy's tear stained face gently with her hands. "It's better this way. Nobody would've wanted to see her become one of them."

"I know," Buffy said quietly and she inhaled deeply. "I know."

"Guys?" Kennedy called out as the others already began to descend down the stairs. "I'm all for having a moment, but do ya think it can wait until after we deal with the problem downstairs? We have to go now!"

Faith's hands fell from Buffy's face as she bent down to pick up her longbow and pulled a bolt out of the bag. She swallowed hard and followed Buffy to the stairwell to join the others. Faith loaded the longbow and pulled back as she moved to the front of the group and led the way down to the second floor landing. From there, she had a clear shot of the barrier as it was being pushed down and when the first sight of one of the infected came into view, she fired, watching the bolt slice through the air and it cleanly pierced the infected in its head. The screams echoed through the stairwell and it fell into a heap and she wasted not a second more, loading in another bolt and taking aim.

Faith cleared as many as she could before they moved past the barrier, made with old filing cabinets filled with rocks and dirt to add some weight. She was running out of bolts and she paused to remove the six she'd fired from the second floor.

"Hey, Kennedy," Faith said quietly as she stood at Kennedy's left and they looked out over the large, mostly empty floor, the main room in the warehouse. "You sure you counted a dozen?"

"There were only a dozen when I was down here not even ten minutes ago."

"Gonna have to get your eyes checked or something, girl, cos that?" Faith said as she nodded her head towards the horde that was moving towards them. "That is more than a dozen. More like three dozen, if not more. Get in formation! Nobody moves from more than two feet away from the group!" Faith yelled as she raised the longbow and took aim at one of the infected that were moving towards them quicker than the others.

She blinked as she focused her aim and although it was dark, she focused on her strength, her slayer senses and she inhaled slowly, her fingers slipping over the end of the bolt, letting it slip easily as she exhaled slowly. The instant the arrow pierced the skull of the infected, they moved forward at full tilt. Ready to attack, to defend their temporary home even if just for that night.

They weren't going anywhere until the morning when it was safer to travel. They weren't going anywhere until they'd had proper rest. And they weren't going anywhere until they burned the bodies of the infected they were killing.

And they definitely weren't going anywhere until they'd buried the body Faith left up on the roof. Dawn.

Dawn is dead. I killed her.

(Eight and a Half Months Ago…)

Faith tapped her foot on the metal footboard of her bunk, listening to the silence that filled D block. Night was the only time she found the silence, but it wasn't comforting and it was never for very long. Hundreds of women in hundreds of cells, murderers mostly, woke throughout the night screaming, their nightmares chasing them, haunting them, over and over again.

She'd been in there for three months and according to the shitty calendar she walked past in the cafeteria every morning, it was September now. If it wasn't for that shitty calendar donated by a local insurance company, she would've lost track of the days months ago. Not like it mattered. Twenty-five to life, no chance for parole because she'd escaped. That was her punishment along with the first month in the Hole. It took her that first month to come to peace with that, to stop feeling guilty because she'd done it for a good cause. Two good causes. Not like the Warden or the State would ever believe her that she'd saved the world twice since she broke out. None of that mattered.

Nothing mattered anymore.

Angel stopped visiting and she'd given up trying to call him a few times during the week. Not like she could try calling him now, her phone privileges had been revoked indefinitely when she tried calling him the last time and got so angry when he didn't pick up she ripped the phone clear out of the wall. Angel had been her rock before and now she was truly alone, rotting away in Stockton Women's Correctional Facility, her home cell number forty-four in cell block D.

"Jesus, don't they ever fucking shut up?"

Faith closed her eyes as her cellmate shifted in her bed below hers. Screams pierced through the silence of the night followed by the guards on the nightshift banging on the bars, an impassive way of getting them to quiet down. She felt the bottom of the thin mattress being poked up from below and she leaned over the edge to look down at her cellmate, a woman in her late sixties who had been in there since she was thirty-two, serving two life sentences for killing her husband and her lover. Her name was Brenda Arenski, but she liked to be called Aren. Faith had watched her kick some poor woman's teeth in when she called her Brenda by mistake. A mistake Faith knew she'd never make herself, slayer or not. That woman was far more dangerous than half the things she'd ever fought and killed and she wasn't gonna make an enemy out of her either.

"Lehane?" Aren hissed as she kicked at the bottom of Faith's mattress again.

"What's up, Aren?"

"How the fuck you sleeping through that noise, girl?"

"Ain't," Faith shrugged and she laid back on her bed and stared up at the cement ceiling as the screams grew louder. "Ya got a smoke I can bum?"

"What'cha gonna trade?"

"A favour," Faith replied and she laid there, unmoving, listening as she heard Aren shuffling about beneath her. She fought the tight smile that curled over her lips as Aren held a single hand rolled cigarette up by her shoulder. "Thanks."

"You get caught, don't you drag my ass to the Hole with you, girl."

"Pretty sure with all that noise, chances the guards'll bust me for smoking are slim to none."

Faith slipped off her bunk, cigarette between her lips and she pulled out her package of matches she'd stashed under her mattress. She lit the cigarette as she stood by the window, nothing but a hole in the wall with a couple of bars, but it was better than nothing, better than a window that could never be opened. Fresh air was fresh air no matter what.

She barely took a second drag before the screams became louder, more panicked and desperate. Faith turned her head and watched Aren groan as she got up from her bed and walked to the bars. She grunted as she strained to see down the corridor and let out a frustrated grunt.

"See anything?"

"Can't see shit."

Faith watched her snatch the magnetic mirror off the metal wardrobe and held it out between the bars, angling it to see where the screams were coming from. Faith took another drag, the screams sending chills down her spine, her gut telling her that this was different than any of the other nights. These weren't screams caused by nightmares or a fight, these were screams of death. And it chilled her to her core.

The alarms went off as the cell doors were unlocked and slid open, but the lights stayed off and there were no shouted instructions from the guards. Just screams. Only screams.

"What the fuckin' hell is going on here?" Aren asked as she stepped away from the open cell door.

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

Faith shook her head and quickly took a few more drags before putting half the cigarette out on the cinderblock wall. "Don't just walk outta here, Aren."

"Gonna stop me, girl?"

Faith just glared at her, a stern, serious look in her eyes as she walked sideways past her and stopped short of the open cell door. She stepped back when a handful of prisoners ran past the cell, screaming, most of them covered in blood and whether it was their own or someone else's, Faith knew there was something definitely wrong about what was happening.

Faith couldn't move quick enough to stop Aren from storming out of the cell, following the others who had ran past moments before. Faith grit her teeth and waited. Waited for what, she wasn't sure, but the screams were getting louder and closer. Whatever she was going to do, she'd have to decide quickly.

"Jesus," Faith gasped as two inmates jumped into her cell. "What the hell is going on out there?"

"Wouldn't believe us if we told you," the shorter one gasped and she turned to the woman next to her.

"That bitch bit me! Can you believe she fucking bit me? What the hell is wrong with her?"

Faith moved to look at the woman's shoulder, hoping to find a set of fang marks to make this whole mess a hell of a lot easier to deal with. But there were no puncture marks, instead the bite looked to be completely human and was bleeding profusely. Faith grabbed her spare t-shirt off her bunk and ripped it up, quickly moving to tie a torquinet around the inmate's shoulder as best as she could.

"Keep the pressure on the wound," Faith instructed the shorter one, grabbing her hands and placing them over the scraps of t-shirt she had placed over the wound. "Now tell me, what the hell is going on out there? Whatever it is, trust me, I'll believe you."

The shorter one shook her head as she stared wide-eyed at Faith. Fear filled her and from what Faith could remember of her, she'd be one of the ones most of the others in D block avoided crossing paths with. A small woman with a lot of rage who usually carried a shank and wouldn't hesitate to use it. But the woman standing in front of her now was a stark contrast of the woman she normally was. Whatever was happening out there, Faith knew it was bad.

"Come on, tell me," she urged. "Tell me so I know what I'm fighting here."

"Fight? Why would you fight something like that?"

"Come on, Lisa," the wounded one muttered. "Don't you know what she is?"

"What?"

"She's a slayer," she said and she looked over at Faith with a faint smile, her eyes glassy but not from tears, from the life that was slipping away from her. "They're not vampires. Inmates. Two cells down from ours, one turned on the other, started eating her—and not in that oh so pleasurable way," she laughed bitterly. "The guards tried to stop her, but she turned on them too. Whatever is happening, whatever she is, it's not a vampire. It's something worse."

"Lisa, is it?" Faith said as she looked at the shorter one. "Look, I know ya got a shiv—"

"I ain't giving it to you."

"No," Faith shook her head and she could hear the screams again. Louder. Closer. "Use it to protect yourself and her," she said quickly. "And get the hell outta here, alright?"

"What about you?"

"I'll be right behind ya."

Faith smiled sweetly at the two of them, a smile that faded quickly as she urged them out of the cell and in the direction Aren had gone to follow the others. Faith cracked her knuckles as she watched them hurry down the corridor and around the corner.

And she waited. She had to see. She had to see what was doing this and how bad it was. She had to wait and see if she could fight whatever it was, to stop this from getting any worse. Her hands shook at her sides as two guards ran past her, a third staggering to catch up, badly injured and bleeding profusely.

"Get the hell outta here, inmate!" The guard screamed at her, blood splattering from his lips and he gasped as he fell forward onto the ground, hitting it hard, unmoving.

Faith swallowed hard as she grabbed his baton off his belt and held it tight. Overhead the lights, the backup lights, flickered continuously and she waited. Her hands were still shaking, but she wasn't scared. Everyone in the whole prison was terrified and she was the only one who was strong enough to fight. She couldn't be scared. She was a slayer and it was time to be one again.

Faith moved towards the source of the chaos, deep inside D block. The screams were fainter now as most of the inmates had fled for their lives. Every cell that Faith walked past, it became more grim, more apparent that whatever was attacking them, was killing them in one of the most gruesome ways she'd ever seen. Throats ripped out, stomachs sliced open, their insides pouring out. Lifeless eyes staring at her, mouths open in a silent scream.

A low growling came from behind her and she backed out of the cell she'd wandered in. She turned slowly, gripping the handle of the baton tight in her right hand. What she came face to face with looked like a cross between a vampire, with the razor sharp looking teeth that were dripping with blood and flesh, and still part human, aside from the eyes which were completely white.

"Fuck…" Faith hissed under her breath as she backed away from the thing that was now focused completely on her.

And whatever it was, it was wearing the standard prison uniform, but it wasn't human. Not anymore. Two more came up from behind it, teeth razor sharp, their eyes nearly white, one still had some colour in them. Faith gulped loudly as she slowly backed away. The first one snarled and snapped at her, moving like a wild, diseased animal, its movements jerky and rigid.

Faith swiped at it with the baton with as much force as she could and the sickening crunch of the skull being crushed inwards almost made her lose what little she'd eaten hours earlier for dinner. It fell hard to the ground and Faith turned on her heels and started to run, the other two giving chase immediately. She ran down the corridor and turned the corner, her prison issued shoes skidding along the smooth concrete floor. She scrambled to keep upright as she reached the main gates to cell block D and found them wide open and deserted.

Faith grabbed the gate door and tried to pull it shut. Like the rest, it was electronically controlled and nearly impossible to close without the switch of a button. Nearly impossible. She could feel the sweat rolling down the side of her forehead as she pulled the gate shut, not completely, but enough to keep the two things trapped inside D block while she got the hell out of dodge.

Sirens started to blare loudly through the building as she made her way to the intake corridor that connected every cell block and the main building. She passed dozens of inmates that were huddled on the floor, most of them wounded and bleeding and scared for their lives, probably the most scared any of them ever had been. She looked around for Aren, but there was no sight of her, and there weren't any guards either. She continued moving, not stopping even when a few of the inmates grabbed at her pant leg to try to get her to stop, to help them.

Faith turned another corner and followed a handful of uninjured inmates to the room where all their personal belongings were stored while they served their time. She watched from a few feet away as two of them tried to get the door open while a third tried to pick the lock with a bobby pin. Faith shook her head and pushed her way to the front of the group.

"Move," she said gruffly as she pushed the three inmates away from the door. They grabbed her arms and she easily shoved them off of her. "You wanna get in here or not?"

"It's locked."

"Is it?" Faith couldn't help but grin as she grabbed the handle and yanked on it hard, the doorknob and lock snapping. She kicked the door open with her foot and made a flourish as she stood to the side and let the inmates scramble inside. She grabbed one of the older ladies, someone she knew that knew Aren.

"I—I haven't seen her," she stammered, fear shining brightly in her crystal blue eyes.

"Are you sure?"

The woman nodded frantically as Faith let her go and she scrambled after the others inside the room. Faith groaned loudly and turned around, heading back in the direction she'd came from. The sirens still blared loudly through the prison, drowning out the cries and screams that echoed throughout the corridor. As the sirens faded out, Faith fought to get past the rush of inmates that came running in the opposite direction and when push came to shove, she had the upper hand.

Two guards came running for her, pinning her up against the wall as they struggled to take the baton out of her tight grip. She fought back without remorse. She needed a weapon, any kind of a weapon to defend herself and that was all she had. She elbowed the one to her left with her elbow, hearing the crunch of his nose being broken and she twisted out of the hold the other hand on her.

"Get back here, inmate!" The guard screamed at her as he took off running after her.

Faith turned another corner, her shoes skidding across the concrete and she came to a sudden stop as she stared down at the long smear of blood trailing down the middle of the corridor. Like a bloody body had been dragged off. Gripping on to the handle of the baton tighter, she followed the trail, moving slowly, her eyes trained on the trail of blood in the flickering lights and she was careful not to step in it. It came to a stop at a utility closet that was only partially closed and with the tip of the baton, she nudged the door open slowly.

"Oh fuck," she gagged as she stumbled back.

She was definitely going to lose her dinner now. Inside the utility closet was Aren's bloody body and she wasn't alone. Two inmates were hovering over her body and as the lights flickered again, one lifted its head from Aren's neck, a piece of flesh hanging from its mouth. It snarled as it stared at Faith with its white eyes and she took another step back as the guard that had been chasing her grabbed her from behind.

"Let me go!"

"Come on, get the hell outta here, inmate," he shouted as Faith struggled against him.

"Give me your gun," Faith said as she broke away from his hold, startling him. "Now! Give me your fucking gun or those things are gonna come after us next!"

"What the hell is wrong with them?"

"Give me your gun!" Faith yelled at him and he stammered as he struggled to pull his gun out of his holster and instead of giving it to her, he took aim at the two former inmates snacking on her cell mate in the utility closet. "Aim for the head."

"Why the head?"

"Just fucking do it or give me the gun and I'll do it myself!"

Faith moved out of the way, watching as the guard blinked past the sweat the rolled down his forehead and into his eyes. His hand was shaking for a moment before he inhaled sharply and pulled the trigger, three shots ringing out, the first one missing completely, the second getting the one that was already moving in the chest, the third in its head, square between the eyes. He pulled the trigger again, but no shots rang out, just the sound of the chamber being empty and Faith groaned loudly as she shoved him out of the way and swung the baton at the one that suddenly came charging at both of them.

She didn't stop bashing the baton into the head until it lay on the floor, lifeless. She grabbed the guard by the front of his shirt and shook him to snap him out of it. He whimpered as he dropped the gun to the floor and stumbled backwards and that's when Faith noticed it. The bite mark on the back of his neck.

"You're on your own now, man!" She said as she backed away from him quickly before turning around and running back down the corridor.

Screams started to echo down the corridor and she didn't stop moving. She just kept on running until she reached the room where the other inmates were scrambling to find their things—and things that didn't belong to them, fighting with others over who got to claim it as their own. Faith pushed past the group and wiped at her sweaty forehead with her sleeve. She scanned the boxes that lined the shelves, looking for her prisoner number. She felt a wave of panic hit her as the screams started to get louder again, but then she saw it, her box and she snatched it off the shelf and rooted through it. Everything she'd had on her when she turned herself back in was inside, including the dagger still sheathed inside her right boot that the guards never found when she'd stripped in that dingy little room three months ago.

Faith moved quickly, stripping out of her prison uniform and into her own clothes. A pair of faded black jeans, a tan coloured tank top and her blue jean jacket. She pocketed her silver cross necklace and pulled out her knife as two inmates rushed at her from behind.

"Give us the knife."

"Screw you," Faith hissed as she kicked one away from her and grabbed the other by the front of her t-shirt. "Get the hell out of my way."

"Or what?"

Faith clenched her jaw as she gripped onto the knife handle. She inhaled sharply and let it out quickly as she let go and quickly grabbed the baton off the floor. "Take this. Aim for the head."

"Yours or theirs?"

"What do you think, smartass?" Faith rolled her eyes and she shoved the woman away from her.

Faith knew she had to get out of there. It wasn't an option. It was stay and become another victim once they overpowered her, or run. Run to save her life. With a frown at the woman who had tried to take her dagger from her, she moved quickly, finding her way out of the room through the window at the front that lead to the administrative office. From there she knew there were two ways out. The loading bay and the front entrance. It was one or the other and both were of equal distance away.

To her right she could hear not screams of terror, but whoops of joy as dozens of inmates fled from the prison and out into the night. Faith went left, towards the loading bay and to where she had hoped she'd be able to leave, to run, without being held back by anyone wanting to tag along. Anyone that tagged along would just end up dead. Faith couldn't fight for all of them or anyone but herself. Yet, she should've known the loading bay wasn't empty and she knew she shouldn't have been surprised to see Lisa, the short inmate that had stumbled her way into Faith's cell earlier, trying to hot wire one of the transport trucks.

"Looks like you made it out alive," Faith said as she stood at the open doorway, watching as the woman tried and failed to get the truck to start with a key. "That won't work."

"What?"

"It's a transport vehicle. Government made and owned. Pretty sure they rigged it up so it can't be jumped by say a fleeing inmate who managed to find a way to the loading bay without being stopped."

Lisa groaned as she slipped out from under the dashboard. "What then? You suggest we run? Do you know how many miles we are from anywhere, huh?"

Faith shrugged nonchalantly as she backed up into the office, ignoring the dead guard slouched on the floor. She quickly scanned over the board behind him, once filled with keys and only a few left hanging and two on the floor below. Choosing at random, she plucked the set of keys off the board. She glanced down at the guard and nudged at his body with her boot. Dead. Definitely dead. She knelt down and eased his gun out of his holster, wondering briefly why the hell some of the guards had guns and some didn't. She searched through his pockets and found two clips full of ammo and she slid the gun into the back of her pants and pocketed the two clips of ammo in her jacket pocket.

Faith stepped out of the office and turned to face Lisa, but she wasn't where she'd been just moments ago. Faith didn't call out for her, instead she just took a few steps forward and knelt down on the ground to pick up the shank that lay by the transport truck's open door. She moved quietly to stand up straight, her ears picking up the faintest sound of growling and slurping. Taking each step with caution, she walked around to the back of the transport truck and a hand flung over her mouth as she forced herself to back away. She blinked a few times before peering around the back of the truck, watching as three inmates feasted on Lisa's thrashing body, her mouth open in a silent scream as her throat was ripped open.

She had to get out of there and she had to get out of there now. Whatever was happening, it was infecting any of the inmates that were bitten and they were turning fast, too fast to be vampires, to fast to be anything else other than what they were. Faith backed her way to the driver's side of the truck and reached in, slipping the key into the ignition as she kept her eyes on the shadows coming from underneath the truck. Nothing happened when she tried to turn the key and she pulled it out, her eyes quickly scanning over the loading bay for another vehicle.

She moved too quickly, not as quietly as she should've been moving and as the growling and snarling got closer to her, she knew she had no time to waste. Of the four transport trucks that were still sitting back there, she had a choice. She just hoped whichever one she chose was the right one because she definitely didn't have any time to waste. Choosing the furthest one and the one closest to the chain link fence that had been destroyed and run over, she yanked open the door and slammed it shut, locking the door as two inmates jumped and clawed at the door, blood streaking over the window as she struggled to find the right key to slide into the ignition.

"Aha!" Faith laughed as the engine roared to life. "Adios, motherfuckers!"

Tires skidded across the pavement as she pulled out of the loading bay and drove over the destroyed fence. She turned right and headed down the long road that led to the highway, not once looking back as she pressed the pedal to the metal, the truck flying down the pavement towards the guard station at the very end of the road. She closed her eyes as she crashed through the gates on the left, the ones on the right blocked by four police cars, all destroyed and deserted.

Her heart was racing as she skidded onto the highway, heading south to LA.

Faith groaned loudly as she collapsed on her makeshift bed. Her shoulder was dislocated, again, and the pain was almost too much to bear. But they'd cleared the first floor in record time and they hadn't lost anyone during the fight. The only one injured was her and that was a good thing. The less injuries they sustained as a whole, the better chance they had at surviving another night. She struggled to pull off her jacket, her dislocated shoulder making it nearly impossible to without screaming out in pain.

"Let me," Buffy said quietly as she knelt down behind her, helping her sit up fully before easing the jacket off of her. "How bad is it?"

"How bad ya think?" Faith said through gritted teeth. "Give me a hand, will ya, B?"

"Dislocated it again?"

"What can I say, this shoulder's a bitch sometimes," Faith chuckled dryly and watched as Buffy moved around to sit in front of her. "Just give me some leverage here, B. I'll pop it back in myself."

Buffy doesn't hesitate to place a firm hand on Faith's shoulder and with a hard shove towards Buffy and an audible pop, she sighs in relief as she shrugs her sore shoulder, moving it around, feeling the pain become less and less. Faith nodded a silent thank you as she laid back on her bed, her eyes lingering on Buffy for a moment before Buffy rose to her feet and walked over to her own bed, sighing sadly as she laid down and curled up for the night.

Faith knew she wouldn't be able to sleep and she knew the nightmares of the night things broke out in the prison would haunt her again. Just like they did every night. Only now she had yet another nightmare to join it and all the others. Dawn.

Dawn is dead. I killed her.

…before she could kill all of us.