[started 16th March 2003, http://www.morbiddesires.com ]
A Dangerous World
By PassionFish
Twelve hours ago, Buffy Summers had been happily spending her hard earned cash on a double chocolate frothy mocha. Blissfully unaware, as she gossiped to her best friend, Willow, that the next twenty-four hours would change her life forever.
There was a war going on.
Or at least, there had been for the last six hours.
A real war this time. Not just a 'we bomb them, they do nothing to us' kind of a war, but an all out 'hey, where the hell did those bombs come from and how did they manage to land all the way over here' kind of a war.
Seven hours ago President Carter had announced that combined American/British forces were moving forward with the squedualed war. And currently, they were at war.
Seven hours ago, no one was worried.
Then, six hours ago retaliation had hit.
And war had truly begun.
Who the apposing side was, no one really knew. Just that they were big, they were bad..... and they were after us.
Everyone in Sunnydale had been relocated to 'safe' warehouses on the outskirts of the town. The idea being that people couldn't freak out too much if they were contained.
The free coffee, juice and cakes kept coming and people huddled together, hoping the next hit wouldn't be them..... Or anyone they loved.
Buffy smiled over at her mother then looked absently around the mall in which they had been placed. Apparently it had amazing foundations or something, and was more likely to withstand the aftershocks of another hit, should another hit happen.
All the shops had been closed off, but their window-lights were on. The children's play areas were wide open as were all the cafes and restaurants, giving people a place to sit.
Buffy's foot tapped restlessly, anxious to be up and moving.
"Sweetie, why don't you go have a look around, take your mind off things...I'm sure we'll be home in a few hours." Joyce's positive voice broke into Buffy's absent thoughts and she looked up at her mother. Though her voice appeared truthful, her eyes told a different story.
Not wanting to freak her mother out anymore than she obviously already was Buffy nodded, "Okay - maybe I'll see if that skirt I wanted is still up."
Joyce smiled, and sighed in relief, hoping that her anxiousness had spilled over to her daughter.
Buffy pushed back her metal chair, and set down her foam coffee-filled cup.
"Be back in a bit." She murmured perfunctorily as she left her bag, and moved to wander around the mall.
---
Children were everywhere; she didn't realise Sunnydale had this many children in its populations. And they were all excited at being up past their bedtime, few apparently realising the reason behind this phenomenon.
Buffy's eyes absently scanned the bright shop window, her eyes glazing over as she passed the seemingly endless make-up, clothes and toy shops the mall had to offer.
In huddled corners or at open restaurant tables adults sat, trying to put on brave faces for their children or loved ones. All murmuring their fear about a possible attack.... and whether or not they were really safe her; or just sitting ducks.
Everything was so bright and everyone was so loud. Her head felt like it was splitting open. She just needed some place to sit where it was quiet.
She continued to wonder, her legs bringing her further and further from the general population until she found herself right at the back of the mall.
Everyone seamed so far away as she glanced into the dark hallway in front of her.
"Neeeeeeeeeaaaaaawwwwwwwwww!"
She jumped in shock as a couple of kids ran past her, giggling and playing what appeared to be a game of airplane.
She scowled half-heartedly at them but the extra noise only prompted her to explore the darkened hallway - if only for her headache's sake.
Grateful for the quiet and dimmed lights Buffy continued down the hallway, looking for a place to sit where she could recuperate before going back to find her mom.
At the bottom of the hallway she spotted a low light at the end of corridor and moved towards, her inquisitive nature getting the better of her.
*Well, got nothing better to do. *
As she neared the source of light, she found it to be coming from an ajar door. Carefully she pushed it further open and gasped at what she saw.
The room was huge, only appearing more so by the enormous globe that sat in the centre of the room.
"Hello?" She called softly, not wanting to disturb the ambiance of the room.
When she heard no answer, she walked in a bit more. As more of the room became available to her she found her source of light.
One of the walls of the room was made solely of glass. A full moon shone brightly in the dark nights sky, giving the room an ethereal glow.
Green eyes gazed out to the starry sky, wondering how something so beautiful could be seen from such a corrupt world.
"An hour ago American and British troupes marched into hostile territory..."
"...the mayor has asked that everyone move to their allotted safe houses..."
"...everyone should stay calm...."
"...it'll all be over soon...."
With a sigh, Buffy moved from the window and smiled at the globe. Her eyes automatically sought out California; what she later thought had to be a normal human reaction to such a stimulus.
Delicate fingers reached forward, brushing over where she thought Sunnydale might be.
As her fingers made contact with the foam globe, her world dropped out from beneath her. With a half muted scream she fell into darkness....
Buffy landed with a bounce, the fall leaving her momentarily breathless. She quickly glanced around her, trying to work out where the hell she was.
Her hands grasped around blindly in the darkness, as she felt herself start to move. It felt almost like a seat-belt strap pulled taught under her. The room was dark, but there was just enough light for her to discern that she was on a conveyor belt of some kind.
Gingerly, she reached out with her hands, her fingers coming in to contact with what had to be a bumper. She checked the other side and decided that her assumption had been correct.
Suddenly, the belt took a sharp left, causing her to slam into one end. She let out a muted shriek.
*Okay, Buffy, you can do this.*
In the background she could see silver glints of light, and she closed her eyes as one felt like it was rushing towards her.
She tried to continue giving herself a pep talk. She managed to calm herself enough to settle cross-legged, in order to balance herself on this ride. A noise sounded in front of her, and she looked up only to let out a terrified scream as, what appeared to be, two trains zoom by her on opposite sides.
Positive that she was about to hit them, Buffy hugged her knees to her chest, closed her eyes, and dug her fingers into her legs, bracing herself for the impact.
Twenty seconds past before she slowly opened her eyes, unharmed. Her head spins, surveying the room to see if the trains were still there -but they weren't- making her wonder if she imagined it.
*Come on, Buffy, just 'cause you're insane, no need to go crazy!* She rolled her eyes at the ridiculous sentence.
She felt the conveyor belt slow to nearly a stop and scrambled to her knees. "That’s it!"
She tried to stand up, but screamed in a gasp as she dropped onto a third conveyor belt. In an attempt to grab onto the edge to stop herself moving, she finally noticed that she seemed to be going downwards.
She fell again, this time off the conveyor belt landing on a beanbag in what appeared to be a children’s shop. It was dark, but she could see the outlines of, what appeared to be, tables of toy boxes and large, human-sized, mannequins.
Buffy stood, moving slowly, wary of an attack. Her hands instinctively formed fists as she ventured further into the room. Her heart rate accelerated, as did her breathing.
*Exit. Exit. Exit...there!*
There was a light at the other end of the 'shop'. She saw a door and rushed for it.
Halfway there she was knocked down by an unseen fist.
Buffy tumbled to the floor, skidding back on her backside to get as far away from her attacker as possible.
Her jaw sill zinging from the hit she pushes herself to her feet, just in time to block another hard punch. She kicked out with her stronger right foot, smacking him across the face with a well-placed round-house kick, sending her attacker to the floor.
He groans as he recovers, shaking his head.
In a rush of fear Buffy grabbed the nearby display unit; sending it crashing down on his head.
Shards of glass and pieces of broken toys flew up into the air, some hitting her face, but she ignored them. Her attacker was down and safety was only a few more meters away.
She continued to move to the door, wary of another attack, as her heart-beat sped up to what had to be unhealthy heights.
As second figure stepped in front of her, Buffy had to squash her instinct to scream.
Prepared, she smashed her fist into his face. His head moved with the blow, but he didn't stagger, and Buffy winced in her head as she realized this one wasn't going down as easy as the first.
She backed up, just narrowly avoiding a sharp kick to her solar plexus; feeling the air rush around her, giving her a heady feeling. She grabbed a nearby stand, sending sheets of glass to his feet. A shard bounced up, slicing though his protective mask and into his cheek.
Even in the dark she could see the blood well up and heard him mutter, "You bitch, you'll pay for that."
She saw the knife being drawn and panicked; refusing every karate-instilled self-defence mechanism she turned and ran. He ran after her, knocking her legs out from under her. Before he could pin her arms she slammed her fist in to his face, and as luck would have it on the same side that had been cut. He grunted in pain and made a grab for her wrists.
She squirmed underneath him, kneeing him in the balls. Hard.
He groaned loudly in pain, giving her enough chance to escape his hands and kick him off her.
She felt the hand with the knife slice through her upper left arm, and tears welled up in her eyes at the sudden pain as she cried out, stumbling a little.
She crawled away from the obviously insane and furious attacker.
In a flash of black and white a third figure entered the room. The adrenaline continued to pump through her wounded body, as she prepared her self for another attack.
The third wasn't after her. Within seconds the second figure had been knocked out cold. The knife fell uselessly from his hands, landing audibly on the floor.
Buffy scrambled to her feet. She cocked her fists, trying not to wince at the cut in her arm. He held up his hands in mock-surrender, "Don't worry, love, I'm not going to hurt you."
"Who are you?" she demanded, her fists tightening.
"Name's Spike, maybe we could continue this chit chat outside of enemy lines?" He indicated the still prone soldiers. "They won't be out for long."
As if on cue the shutter-door Buffy had earlier noted as her only means of escape started to come down. The third figure, Spike, swore at this and grabbed her hand, rushing for the door.
Buffy yelped in surprise, trying to grab her hand from out of his grip.
"Come on, pet. Wanna be sushi?" Buffy looked up to where he'd indicated and frowned. Slowly realization hit, and she too ran for the door. The walls were coming down on them.
There was barely a meter of space left between the thick metal shutter and the floor, as Spike shoved Buffy through it. She crawled quickly to where he was, grabbing his hand and pulling him through just as the doors sealed the gap.
Buffy quickly let go of his hand and scrambled to her feet. "Okay, what is going on here?" She shouted at him, her eyes flashing angrily at the all-in-black clad man.
Spike opened his mouth then rolled his eyes, as several similarly dressed men walked into the room.
"You're about to find out." A man behind her answered and she spun to search out the voice.
The unknown man's words were the last thing she heard before she slumped to the floor, unconscious.
Coming Soon…….Chapter Three - Explanations
Series // StandAlones // Contact // Updates // Nominate // Join Mailing List