Primitive

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xx. NINE .xx
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It's a long walk home carrying Buffy. She might be a lightweight, but dead weight is dead weight and my arms are going numb. I'm huffing and puffing pretty loud by the time we hit main street and Xander helps me lay her down on a bench so I can rest for a minute. Luckily the area's pretty empty. Most people seem to be taking the back roads on their way out of town. I slump onto the stoop and light a cigarette, and he sits next to me, pulling a bag of Skittles from his pocket and popping a few in his mouth. I look at him, amused.

He shrugs. "Have food, will travel." I put my hand out and he pours some in, and suddenly I realize that I haven't eaten since whatever that thing Buffy killed in the desert was.

"What are we gonna do?" I say softly, picking out the orange ones and giving the rest back to him. "I didn't think we were gonna win before Buffy went all Clan of the Cave Bear. But with her out of comission, I don't think we even stand a chance."

Xander sighs heavily and starts handing me more orange Skittles. "I don't know. The First has Bringers, and Turok-Han, and.. evil, on its side. We have.."

"A bunch of scared little girls, a retired Watcher, a Wicca School dropout, and a cranky ex-con who, by the way, hasn't showered in two days."

He smiles and pats my back a little. "I noticed the last part."

I whack him in the arm and draw my knees to my chest, resting my chin on them and closing my eyes. "We're screwed, aren't we?"

"You could say that." His voice is a little shaky and I open my eyes quickly to see a Turok-Han headed our way. I scramble to my feet and back up quickly, shaking Buffy's shoulder.

"Buffy.. B, come on. Get up. We gotta go." But she's totally out. "Shit. Xander, get her home!"

I leave her sleeping on the bench. I hope I can provide enough of a distraction for Xander to get her home before the Turok-Han gets tired of beating up my corpse. I take a running start and fly at it feet-first, my heel damn near bouncing off its chest before I hit the ground on my back.

The thing growls at me and grabs me by the throat, squeezing. Well, that was a lot less successful than I was hoping it would be. My vision gets a little blurry and starts to darken around the edges as its claws dig into my neck. I kick my feet uselessly, tearing at its hands with my nails, but it doesn't even seem to notice. It pulls me closer, still squeezing my throat, and sinks its teeth into my neck.

I start crying and all I can think is please, god.. please.. don't let it make me one of them. I'd rather be dead than undead. Anything but that. I guess it's true what they say, there are no atheists in fox holes. Cause right now I'm praying to any god that'll listen to just let me die in peace, and not be turned.

The dark closes in, and I give up. I hear Xander screaming my name from far away, and I close my eyes, letting go, my feet stilling as I relax and let myself float away.

Suddenly, I'm released, and I hit the ground hard enough to rattle my jaw. Instinctively I try to pull myself up to see what happened, but I only manage to roll onto my side with a groan of pain. I open my eyes, and through my blurred vision I see hands wrap around my chest and pull me further away from the street where the Turok-Han is facing off with..

"Buffy!" I gasp weakly, my voice sounding strange and gritty even to my own ears.

Xander pulls me onto my feet and puts his arm under my arms to hold me up. "Faith, look."

I look closer, my vision clearing a little, and can't believe what I'm seeing. Buffy's tearing into the Turok-Han like it's a turkey and she's armed with and electric carving knife. She rakes her nails across its face, and it howls in pain. It grabs her by the throat, but she quickly flips out of its grasp and jumps at it again. They fall to the ground, rolling across the pavement and growling at each other as Xander and I watch in shock. Buffy rolls the thing onto its back and wraps her hands under its chin, grabbing its head and twisting it clean off.

She lands directly on the street as it dusts beneath her and quickly pulls herself to her feet.

"Whoah," Xander whispers. I try to nod, but my head swims with the effort. The lack of oxygen and blood loss, combined with pure exhaustion, finally gets to me. I lean into Xander, letting him hold me as I pass out.