The Young the Brave and the Beautiful
Chapter Five
HIGHWAY. JEEP. NIGHT. The four slayers and Paris speed down the dark highway. Lane is at the wheel. Buffy sits next to her.
BUFFY: So where are we headed?
LANE: We’re going to need some serious firepower. Our swords didn’t have any effect on Kirk.
FAITH: Got that right.
LANE: There’s a National Guard armory outside of Hartford. We’ll hit it and load up on weapons.
BUFFY: Sounds like a plan to me.
They continue to tear down the highway.
NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY. NIGHT. Sentries are on duty at the main gate. Suddenly, Lane and the girls come tearing up the drive leading to the gate.
SENTRY#1: Halt! Halt!
SENTRY#2: They’re not stopping. Open fire!
The sentries open fire with their sidearms. The girls duck in the jeep as bullets fly all around them. Lane barrels through the main gate, sending it crashing to the ground. She then swings hard to her left, roaring past a helipad, and then races for the armory, which is housed in a two story brick building. Alarms are going off everywhere.
Lane crashes the jeep through the garage door of the armory, right into the munitions room.
LANE: Okay, we have to move fast.
FAITH: I’ll say.
Outside the munitions room, a cluster of guardsmen have gathered, and let loose with sustained gunfire.
LANE (pointing to Faith and Paris): You two help me load up. Buffy, you and Rory see if you can hold them off.
BUFFY: Gotcha.
Buffy grabs a couple of M16s and she and Rory take cover next to the opening Lane punched through the garage door with the jeep.
BUFFY: Ever fire a gun?
RORY: No.
Buffy pops a clip in the M16 and hands it to Rory.
BUFFY: Easy. Just aim and fire. It’s set to automatic, so watch the recoil. Okay?
RORY: Got it.
Rory dashes over to the other side of the opening. They both crouch low and return fire on the guardsmen. A fierce gun battle erupts.
Meanwhile, Faith, Lane and Paris grab as many weapons as they can. They load up with M16s, machine pistols, a 40mm grenade launcher, a 7.62 mm chain gun, and a TOW missile launcher.
BUFFY: Hey, we can’t hold them much longer!
LANE (to Faith): Let’s take what we have and go.
Lane, Faith, and Paris hop in the jeep.
FAITH: Let’s rock!
Rory and Buffy run back for the jeep as bullets dance all around them. They dive in. Lane turns the jeep around and tears back out through the garage door opening.
The jeep takes multiple hits as they head for the main gate. A cluster of guardsmen are crouching behind a Humvee, and let loose with a barrage of automatic rifle fire. Faith grabs the grenade launcher and fires a grenade at them. She deliberately aims high, and the grenade sails over their heads, and strikes a 500 gallon fuel tank a hundred yards behind them. The guardsmen dive for cover as the fuel tank explodes in a huge fireball, sending flames hundreds of feet into the night air.
RORY: Oh, shit!
Lane roars past the main gate and they hightail it out of there and hit the highway.
HIGHWAY. JEEP. NIGHT. Lane is at the wheel. Buffy sits next to her. They race down the highway at a high rate of speed, heading north.
LANE: I don’t think we’re being followed. I think we pulled it off… Is everybody okay?
BUFFY: Yeah. I think so. You guys okay back there?
FAITH: Yeah… Man, that was close.
BUFFY: What about you, Paris? Lookin’ kinda pale there.
PARIS: Who me? Calm and cool in the face of danger.
Faith grabs the TOW missile launcher and holds it in her hands.
FAITH: I got something for you now, Kirky boy. Try this on for size.
Unbeknownst to the girls, Kirk is only a few miles to the south of them, heading in the opposite direction. He sees the fireball from the fuel tank fire. He senses instinctively that somehow the girls are involved. He turns around and heads for the armory.
NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY. NIGHT. Kirk converts from the whirlwind to his normal state. He walks up to what’s left of the main gate. He can see the grounds of the armory are in chaos, with guardsmen running around, and the fuel tank burning out of control.
On the helipad are two Cobra helicopter gunships. Kirk walks up to one. A soldier sees him and yells –
SOLDIER: Stop right there!
Kirk continues to walk towards the gunship. The soldier opens fire with his M16. The bullets bounce right off of Kirk! He fires a thunderbolt at the soldier – WHAM! The soldier is knocked back twenty feet through the air, and lands hard on the ground, unconscious. Another soldier comes running up, M16 blazing away. Kirk fires a thunderbolt at him too. He strikes him square in the chest. The second soldier is killed instantly.
Kirk gets into the Cobra and starts the engine. He takes off, flying north.
COBRA GUNSHIP. NIGHT. Kirk flies along at a high rate of speed. He scans the highway below for any sign of the girls. The gunship bristles with its full complement of advanced weaponry, including 8 Hellfire missiles, 30mm cannon, and twin 2.75-inch rocket launchers.
HIGHWAY. JEEP. NIGHT. Lane continues to race down the highway.
BUFFY: So what’s next?
LANE: I know where there are some caves in a wood up north of Hartford. We can hang low there for awhile.
They continue north towards Hartford. Meanwhile, in the Cobra, Kirk spots them as they speed along. He’s about a mile to the south of them. He closes in fast, then opens fire with the gunship’s 2.75-inch rocket launchers. The girls are startled as rocket fire erupts all around them!
LANE: Shit, what the fuck is going on!
FAITH: It’s Kirk!
BUFFY: Step on it, Lane!
Lane floors the accelerator. She roars down the dark highway. As the rocket fire continues to rain down, she takes evasive maneuvers, swerving from one lane to the next, in a desperate attempt to keep Kirk off balance.
Kirk responds by firing a Hellfire missile at the jeep.
FAITH: Incoming!
RORY: Shit!
The girls have no time to react. Fortunately for them, the Hellfire veers off course. It strikes a minivan a couple hundred yards up the highway. The minivan is packed with a vacationing family. Flaming pieces of metal, blood and body parts rain down on the girls as they race past the burning wreckage of the minivan. They continue to race north.
RORY: Oh God! Kirk just murdered all those people!
Rory starts to lose it.
BUFFY: Hang in there kiddo… Paris, get up front, and let me get in back.
They trade places.
PARIS: This is insane… Doesn’t he know if he kills us, he’ll destroy the Grail!
LANE: He probably thinks if he can’t have it, no one can.
In the back of the jeep, Buffy and Faith rush to set up the TOW missile launcher.
FAITH: Isn’t this designed for ground armor? Will this even work against a copter?
BUFFY: I don’t know. But we sure as hell are going to find out.
Buffy aims and fires. Kirk is startled to see a TOW missile shooting upwards and homing in on him. He shoots off a barrage of flares. The flares cause Buffy to loose her targeting, and the missile veers off course.
BUFFY: Damn! Missed!
Kirk, angered, responds by firing off a devastating volley of four Hellfire missiles!
BUFFY: Oh God! We’re not going to make it! Everybody jump!
RORY: Paris!
Faith, Buffy and Lane leap from the speeding jeep and land on the grassy area abutting the highway. Rory grabs Paris, and together they prepare to jump. They each have a foot on the passenger side door frame as the first Hellfire missile strikes the jeep. They feel the searing heat of the explosion at their backs as they soar through the air and land on the ground. Rory uses her body to cushion Paris’ fall.
The second Hellfire strikes a tractor trailer a quarter mile up the highway, heading in the opposite direction. It explodes in flames. The momentum of the flaming wreckage sends it careening down the highway for several hundred yards, until it finally comes to a rest. The driver is killed instantly.
The third and fourth Hellfires veer off into the woods and explode.
Meanwhile, Paris looks up and sees that Rory’s blouse is on fire.
PARIS: Rory!
Paris dives on top of Rory and tries to put the fire out. It takes her a few seconds, but she is finally able to smother it.
PARIS: You okay?
RORY: Yeah.
Up above, Kirk sees that the girls are very much alive. He unleashes the gunship’s 30mm cannon.
BUFFY: He’s moving in for the kill! Let’s go!
They run for the adjoining woods as bullets dance all around them. Suddenly, oh God no – No! Lane is struck in the chest. She falls in a broken heap to the ground.
RORY: Lane!
Rory races back to Lane. Paris starts to but is held back by Faith.
FAITH: No! We can’t stop!
Faith grabs Paris by the arm, and they continue on towards the woods. They reach the woods and disappear into the cluster of trees.
Buffy comes running up to Rory. Buffy is aghast as she sees the mangled shreds of flesh that was once Lane’s chest. She must have taken three or four bullets hits at least.
BUFFY: Oh, God…
RORY: Lane…
Rory cradles Lane in her arms. Lane struggles to breathe.
LANE: Rory… Rory… I love you.
Lane dies in Rory’s arms.
RORY: No! God no! Lane!
BUFFY: Rory, I’m sorry for your loss. But we gotta go now.
Rory refuses to budge, her eyes filled with tears, as she continues to hold the lifeless Lane in her arms.
BUFFY: She’s dead… Grab the Grail and let’s go!… Rory, let’s go!
Kirk lets loose another volley from the cannon. A shower of bullets land all around them.
BUFFY: Rory!
Rory kisses Lane a final time on the forehead. She then takes the backpack off of Lane containing the Grail. She straps it on her own back. Rory then looks up at the sky at Kirk and yells –
RORY: You bastard!
Beside herself, Rory grabs the 7.62 mm chain gun, which had been thrown clear from the jeep. She runs with it to the middle of the highway.
BUFFY: Rory, what the hell are you doing! You’ll get yourself killed!
Rory is oblivious to Buffy. She aims the barrel of the chain gun up at the gunship. She then lets out a heartrending scream – aiiiiiieeeeeeeeeee!!! A primeval scream. A scream to raise the dead.
Rory opens fire on Kirk with the chain gun. Kirk responds by returning fire with his 30mm cannon. The two trade fire for what seems an eternity, although it lasts only a few seconds. Rory stands there, in the middle of the highway, completely exposed, as the bullets from the cannon blister all around her.
Finally, Rory hits paydirt. She strikes the Cobra’s fuselage with multiple hits. Smoke pours from the fuselage. Kirk is unable to maintain control of the gunship, and it spirals downward toward the highway. The Cobra crashes in a huge fireball about a quarter mile up the highway.
Rory stares at the flaming wreckage. Her hardened face has a look of grim satisfaction, as if a certain measure of justice had been done for Lane. Buffy walks up.
BUFFY: You got him. Let’s go.
Rory throws the chain gun down and they head for the woods. Right at the edge of the woods Rory turns back to look one last time at the burning wreckage of the helicopter. She stops dead in her tracks. A chill runs down her spine. She sees the gunship’s canopy –or rather, what’s left of it – suddenly open. Kirk steps out of the flaming debris. He looks unharmed!
RORY: Ah, no.
Buffy turns and sees what Rory sees. Buffy also sees that now Kirk is heading straight for them.
BUFFY: C’mon, Rory, let’s go.
They start running. They wind their way through the dense woods. Rory chants to herself –
RORY: How could he survive that… How could he survive that…
BUFFY: Keep going!
They quickly catch up with Faith and Paris.
BUFFY: Kirk is right behind us. Step on it!
All four of them pick up their pace. As they continue to race through the woods, suddenly Faith and Paris, who are in front, feel the earth collapse beneath them. They fall into a hole in the ground. But it’s so dark neither Buffy or Rory realize what has happened. When they reach the hole they too fall in. It’s a good twenty foot drop down.
CAVE. NIGHT. The four girls have fallen into a cave. They hit the ground hard. It takes them a few seconds to gather their bearings.
BUFFY: Everybody okay?
PARIS: Yeah.
RORY: It rained all last week. Must’ve loosened the earth.
FAITH: Looks like some kinda underground cave –
BUFFY: Shh.
Up above, Kirk approaches the hole. But in the darkness, he doesn’t see it. He walks past it, and continues on in his search for them. The four girls can hear his footsteps fading in the distance.
Buffy sits down and reclines against a rock face, exhausted.
BUFFY: I think he’s gone. We should be safe for now.
Paris glances across at Rory. The moonlight filtering through the hole provides just enough light for them to see. And Paris sees that Rory is carrying the Grail.
PARIS: Ah, no, Rory…
RORY: Paris… Lane didn’t make it.
Paris embraces her wife, comforting her.
RORY: Poor Lane…
PARIS: It’s going to be okay, hun… Lane was a good person. She died a hero, protecting the Holy Grail. If you're going to go, I guess that’s the best way to do it.
Paris brushes the tears from Rory’s eyes. She, Rory and Faith sit in a circle around Buffy. All four girls look deadbeat.
BUFFY: I hope you’re not offended, seeing how Lane was your best friend and all, but does anybody have anything to eat? I’m starving.
FAITH: Hey, me too.
Rory takes off her backpack and starts unzipping some of the side pockets. Finally she finds something.
RORY: Got some Korean soy protein bars.
BUFFY: Hey, I’m not too proud. I’ll take it.
FAITH: Same here.
PARIS: I guess it’s better than nothing.
Rory tosses each of them a bar.
PARIS: Aren’t you going to eat, hun?
RORY: No. I can’t.
BUFFY: You really should. We don’t know when we might get a chance to eat again.
RORY: Look, don’t tell me what to do. You’re not my friggin’ mother. Or my wife. Jeez.
BUFFY: What’s that’s suppose to mean?
FAITH: Hey, let’s everybody calm down…
Rory looks like she is ready to explode.
RORY: Lane can’t be dead… She can’t…
PARIS: It’s going to be all right. I promise you. You know I would never lie to you. Right Rory?
Paris kisses her on the lips and wraps her arms around her. Faith stands up.
FAITH: Hey, I hear something.
BUFFY: I don’t hear anything.
PARIS: I hear it too.
FAITH: I’ll check it out.
Faith takes off down one of the cave’s dark passageways. A minute later she returns, dripping wet.
FAITH: There’s an underground spring. The water’s good. And it’s cool too. Check it out.
BUFFY: Paris, why don’t you check it out.
Paris rises and joins Faith, and they disappear down the passageway. Buffy rises and sits next to Rory.
BUFFY: Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that.
RORY: No. You were right.
Rory grabs one of the soy bars and starts chowing down.
BUFFY: Man, you were something back there with that machine gun. Don’t worry. We’ll find a way to defeat Kirk. Of course, I don’t exactly know how yet…
RORY: I’m not worried about that.
BUFFY: What is it? Lane? She meant a lot to you, huh? How long have you known her?
RORY: Since we were five years old.
BUFFY: Damn, that’s a long time… You know, the human heart is a strange thing. I mean, to carry around a secret like that for that long…
RORY: What secret?
BUFFY: You know what secret… Look. I’m not going to say anything to Paris.
RORY: There’s nothing to say. When Lane… When Lane said that she loved me, she meant as a friend.
BUFFY: If you say so.
RORY: You should be one to talk. What about you and Faith?
BUFFY: What about me and Faith?
RORY: How long have you carried your little secret around with you? Both of you?
BUFFY: What the hell are you talking about?
RORY: You know what I wish? I wish a lot of things, actually. I wish all this would go away and I wake up and find out it was all a bad dream… But one of the main things I wish is that for once, people would be honest. There are so many secrets and so many lies. Even the secrets have secrets and the lies have lies. And I wish for once, for one sad, pathetic, infinitesimal second, it would all stop.
Rory takes off the necklace around her neck. Attached to the necklace is a ring. She unfastens the ring and hands it to Buffy.
BUFFY: What’s this?
RORY: That’s the engagement ring I gave Paris when I proposed to her. She was kind enough to give it back to me after we got married. I always carry it with me as a reminder, because that ring changed my life. I can’t even imagine the hell my life would be like right now if I hadn’t had the courage to ask Paris to marry me.
BUFFY: Why are you giving it to me?
RORY: I think we both know the answer to that.
Buffy stares at the ring, her face hard and implacable.
RORY: Buffy, be honest with yourself. You and Faith belong together, just as me and Paris belong together. You can have what me and Paris have. And after all you’ve been through, you deserve to be happy. Ask Faith to marry you.
Buffy needs time to absorb what Rory has just said. What a shocker!
RORY: What?
BUFFY: I don’t even know what to say.
RORY: Who says you have to say anything? You just get down on one knee and ask her.
Buffy starts to laugh – nervously.
RORY: I know how you feel. Me and you are the same.
BUFFY: How?
RORY: Expectations that people have. That you’re suppose to fit this conception of what people think you should be. See, there’s a lot you don’t know. You don’t know who I am, do you? Of course, you couldn’t know.
BUFFY: What do you mean?
RORY: I’m America’s golden girl. See, I come from a very wealthy family. So does Paris. Paris and I are actually very wealthy.
BUFFY: Oh? So you and Paris got money?
RORY: Oh, yes… Anyway, people have this conception of what America’s golden girl should be: beautiful, smart, go to a nice Ivy League school, marry a handsome guy, and sail off into the sunset. My mom, she had all those expectations lumped on her, and she got pregnant with me when she was sixteen, and that kinda blew all those expectations away. And when I fell in love with Paris, it was like déjà vu all over again. And I have a feeling it’s the same with you. You look like you grew up in the suburbs, nice house, mom, apple pie, the whole bit.
BUFFY: Kinda.
RORY: Plus you’re the slayer: Upholder of truth, justice and the American way. But falling in love with another woman, let alone Faith, doesn’t fit that image, does it?
BUFFY: Not exactly.
RORY: But Buffy, you can’t let that stop you from being happy. I’ve learned that love is the most precious thing we have. Something that should be celebrated no matter where we find it. Don’t let Faith slip away from you, Buffy. If you do, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.
Rory pauses for a second, trying to gauge Buffy’s reaction.
RORY: Look, I want to apologize for what I said in the trailer. I had no right to say those things –
BUFFY: No, you were dead on. Since I first became a slayer, my life has been nothing but death and pain and loss. It’s been a long time since I’ve been truly happy. But when I’m with Faith, it’s different. I fight it so hard, but she does make me happy.
RORY: Well, there you have it.
Buffy stares down at the engagement ring.
BUFFY: So you really got down on one knee?
RORY: Yep.
BUFFY: But… Shouldn’t we wait? I mean, shouldn’t we get to know each other better?
RORY: Oh, please. You two look like you know each like the back of your hand.
BUFFY: Yeah, we do… Oh, this is so crazy… Suppose she vomits on me or something?
RORY: She’s not going to vomit on you. As a matter of fact, I have it on good authority that she would be very receptive to a proposal from you.
BUFFY: Oh, God. You didn’t talk to her did you!
RORY: No. But Paris did. Let’s just say that Faith made it very plain that she has very strong feelings for you.
Buffy continues to look at the ring, reflecting. Paris and Faith walk up.
RORY: So what’s up with you two?
PARIS: There’s a whole network of caves. We were just exploring.
FAITH: Actually, we were skinny dipping. Right love?
RORY: Hardy, har, har.
BUFFY: We should get some sleep. At first crack of dawn, we’re outta here. I don’t want to be down here when daylight hits and Kirk finds this place.
Rory takes Paris by the hand.
RORY: We can sleep by the spring. And you can skinny dip for me.
They leave.
BUFFY: We can sleep here.
FAITH: Okay.
Faith curdles up across from Buffy. Buffy rises and sits down next to Faith. Faith raises an eyebrow.
FAITH: What?
BUFFY: Um, I don’t want to freak you out or anything… Faith, could you hold me?
Faith stares into Buffy’s eyes. She then focuses downward, to her nose then her lips. Faith cracks a half smile. She has the look of a woman who knows their whole lives have been leading up to this moment.
FAITH: Sure.
Faith wraps her arms around Buffy. The warmth of their bodies together sends a shock through both of them.
BUFFY: Hold me tighter.
Faith does so. A lone tear streams down Buffy’s cheek. Faith wipes the tear away. She gently caresses Buffy’s cheek.
Buffy clutches the engagement ring tightly in her fist.
BUFFY: Faith, I have something I want to ask you. Something really important. But first I want to…
Buffy stares into Faith’s eyes. She moves her head forward, her lips almost touching Faith’s lips. Faith closes her eyes, ready to receive Buffy.
Buffy moves still closer, ready to kiss her. Their lips are just a hair’s breadth apart. Just as they are about to kiss, a deep rumble roars through the cave. Dirt from the ceiling streams down. Buffy and Faith break apart. Buffy tucks the engagement ring in her pants pocket.
BUFFY: What was that?
FAITH: I don’t know. Could be an earthquake.
BUFFY: Well, I sure as hell don’t want to be down here if there’s an earthquake.
Paris and Rory come running up.
PARIS: Word: We don’t have earthquakes in Connecticut.
FAITH: It must be Kirk.
WOODS. NIGHT. Kirk stands on the outer edge of the woods. He faces the woods. To his back is a subdivision of homes on the outskirts of Hartford.
Kirk fires a thunderbolt into the woods, and still another, and another. The ground shakes.
KIRK: Come out, come out, wherever you are, ladies.
Kirk scans the woods, and seeing no sign of the girls, he turns around, facing the subdivision.
KIRK: If you want to flush out the cockroaches, just turn on the lights.
Kirk rears back both his hands and – SWOOSH! - fires two massive energy balls into the subdivision. The energy balls land and explode – BOOM! BOOM! Two square blocks of the subdivision go up in flames. The entire night sky lights up.
BACK IN THE CAVE, the explosions from the energy balls cause the ground to shake violently.
BUFFY: Ah, jeez, this thing is going to cave in!
They run up to the opening. Buffy grabs Faith, and they leap up through the opening and land in the woods. Rory grabs Paris, and leaps up through the opening. They land safely in the woods above.
Even through the dense trees, they can see the orange glow of innumerable fires in the distance.
FAITH: What the hell…
They race towards the fires. Within minutes, they clear the woods and stand on a hill overlooking the subdivision. They stare, unbelieving.
BUFFY: Oh, God.
PARIS: There must be three or four dozen houses on fire at least.
RORY: We’re talking hundreds of innocent lives. Even Kirk wouldn’t go this far. Would he?
FAITH: Yeah, he would. To draw us out into the open.
BUFFY: He wants the Grail back. I guess he doesn’t care what he has to do to get it. C’mon, let’s go help these people.
They race down the hill to the subdivision.
MEANWHILE, on one of the streets of the subdivision, Kirk walks along slowly, pleased with his handy work. All around him conflagrations rage. He stops in his tracks. He turns to his right and looks up and sees in one of the burning houses a young girl, not more than twelve, trapped in her second story bedroom as fire rages all around her.
The girl takes a chair and breaks the bedroom window. She dives out, and lands on the roof. She rolls down the roof, sails through the air, and lands hard on the ground. Part of her nightgown is on fire. She sees Kirk and calls out to him for help. Kirk doesn’t move a muscle.
She rolls on the grass trying to put the fire out, but it continues to grow in intensity. Finally, her nightgown bursts completely in flames. The girl is engulfed in fire. Her heartrending screams fill the air. She somehow manages to stagger to within three feet of Kirk. She burns to death at his feet.
Kirk kneels down next to her. He pokes at the burnt flesh.
KIRK: Poor creature. How could you deign to think that I, a former Grand Master of the Knights Templar and world ruler, could care about your pathetic little life to consider it worth saving?
Kirk spits at the charred corpse in contempt. He rises. He waves his right hand in front of him, summoning a cloud of smoke. In the cloud appears an image of the city of Hartford, and its population of tens of thousands. Then there appears the metropolis of New York, with its vast teeming millions. Then an image of the globe itself: billions of people, from all races and cultures. Kirk stares at the globe, an unquenchable hatred in his eye.
KIRK: You will all die.