Chapter 23 – I Hate it When That Happens


Riley hung over the side of the Initiative boat that was carrying him and the rest of his team back to Fuego from three days of shore leave. Carmelita had forgiven him for associating with the Slayer and come over to Isla Vista to make up for lost time. Riley had the hangover to prove it.

To his surprise, a large group of civilian boats surrounded the dock at the main entrance to the compound, which was used for offloading big shots and vampires. He grabbed some binoculars from the private who was navigating the boat and focused on the dock. A bunch of civilians and a television camera crew and a bunch of soldiers holding them at bay with rifles.

What the hell was going on?

He directed the private to navigate the boat to the west side of the island, away from the civilians, and enter the base there. He didn’t know exactly what was going on, but he was going to be ready. This might just be the chance he’d been waiting for. The chance to show his stuff and get off this retched island full of vampire filth.

***

Joyce signaled to the SPIT group to light their candles and hold up their signs. Joyce held up her own sign. ‘Demons are People, Too,’ it said.

The reporter stood with her back to the compound, and preened in a mirror, while the crew from the Isla Vista television station recorded a video clip of soldiers from the Initiative running out of the compound to confront the group.

“This is Perqui Thimmig-Rounce from KISS-TV in Isla Vista. Tonight, the Society for the Protection of Indigeneous Terrestials is picketing the military installation at Fuego. With us is Joyce Summers, the head of the Sunnydale chapter of SPIT. Joyce, what is SPIT?”

“SPIT is a new organization,” Joyce said, “dedicated to the preservation of demon life and their native habitats. Demons, or terrestrials, as we prefer to call them, are persecuted because people don’t understand their importance to the ecosystem and the natural, global balance. We’re holding a candlelight vigil here at the Initiative installation in Fuego tonight to bring this important issue to the attention of the public.”

Perqui shifted to the center of the camera viewing area and nudged Joyce to the edge.

“Joyce, why Fuego? What’s so important about this site?”

Joyce held her candle close to Perqui’s bleached blonde hair, forcing her to step back to avoid having her hair go up in flames on television.

“The Initiative is holding terrestrials in this facility and performing inhumane laboratory experiments on them. We’re here to ask the government to release the demons and return them to their natural territory. Demons are a terrible thing to waste.”

***

The halls inside the Initiative fortress were uniformly gray and uniformly confusing. Xander led the way as they shuffled past the soldiers guarding the door and left the green mist behind.

Xander studied a blueprint of the Initiative compound, turned it upside down, then sideways. Finally, he pointed. “Vampires this way.” He folded the drawing and tucked it into his combat vest.

Buffy took a deep breath. Dry, non-moving land was much better than bobbling around in a boat. “Let’s find Thomas. Walk slow. We’re being watched on the security cameras and we don’t want to arouse their suspicion.”

An internal security alarm blasted an ear-splitting siren. “Warning – Intruders in Sector Eight – Warning …. Warning ….”

“Sector Eight would be us. Suspicion aroused, let’s run,” Xander said.

They raced down a long hall. Buffy saw a security camera homing in on them. She chucked a wooden stake at the camera. The camera shattered and the red light went out. Once Buffy disabled the electronic eye, they ducked into a utility closet, moments before they heard the pounding of boots in the hall.

Buffy pulled out a walkie-talkie liberated from Sunnydale’s Army base and fooled around with the dials until she found the frequency used by the Initiative soldiers. She handed the walkie-talkie to Xander.

Xander hit the open line button. “Intruders heading to the loading dock in the west wing,” he said. He hoped there was a loading dock or a west wing. The blueprints were confusing.

They listened as the soldiers responded and left the area, their boots stamping. Buffy peaked out of the closet door. The hall was clear. They ran to the vampire holding area.

The holding area was carpeted and contained numerous doors, like a hotel. They located Room No. 12, the room Aspen had shared with Thomas, and Buffy tapped on the door.

“Thomas?” she said in a soft voice, hoping his vampire hearing would let him hear her without alerting the soldiers or any of their high-tech snooping devices. “I’m Buffy. Aspen sent me.”

“I can’t open the door. Can you get it from the outside?”

Buffy opened the door with a rough twist of the knob. The knob broke off taking a large chunk of the solid wood door with the handle. The door swung open.

“I hate it when that happens,” she said. She dropped the handle on the floor.

Thomas peered out. “Is Aspen all right? Can you help us get out?”

“I’m here to take you home and she’s fine. Let’s go. We’re going to round up the others. There are boats outside the compound to take everyone off the island.”

Buffy went to the next door and grabbed the handle to destroy that door, too, when Xander stopped her.

He located the security pad for all the doors in the hall, punched in an access code and flipped a switch and unlocked all the doors. “Presto Change-o. Nothing up my sleeve, or under my Urban Camo Hat.”

The vampires came out of their rooms and milled around. Their vampire faces all popped out at the smell of fresh humans, but none of them made a move to attack.

“Their kind of pathetic looking,” Willow said. “Like Spike when he was living with Xander in the basement.”

“Yeah, let’s feel sorry for Spike and a bunch of bloodsuckers,” Xander said.

Willow motioned to the vampires. “Let’s go, vamps. Pick a buddy, hold hands and let’s go. The boat back to Isla Vista leaves in fifteen minutes.”

Several vampires growled at the buddy notion, but allowed Willow to herd them down the hall to the dock.

“Who are you?” Thomas asked Buffy as they hurried back to the entrance.

“Vampire Slayer, The. Look it up sometime,” Buffy said.