The Seeker

Chapter 2: Interrogation

"Hey."

Kate lifted her head from the head rest of the passenger seat, raising her eyebrows at Isabelle.

"You okay?" she asked, glancing in the rear-view mirror at Buffy, who was snoring lightly, her face pressed up against the window and her cheek flattened comically against the glass. Isabelle's eyes then darted back to the girl sitting beside her. 

"I'm fine," Kate said flatly, raising her eyebrows. "Why?"

"Back there, I thought you were going to kill that psycho," Isabelle said, returning her attention to the road ahead of them. The headlights of the Impala lit up the pavement; the highway was deserted, but they were still on edge. The Seekers could have called for back up before everything went to hell, so they weren't safe yet.

They were never safe.

"I should have," Kate said glumly, folding her arms tightly over her chest. "He was going to kill us. Or probably do something a lot worse. Guys like him...the whole world is better off without them."

"You speaking from experience?" Isabelle asked, arching an eyebrow.

Kate only pursed her lips slightly. "How far is this place of yours?" she asked instead of answering the question. 

"Couple of hours," she replied, not pushing the interrogation further. In the rush of things, she had almost forgotten she'd only known Kate--and Buffy too--for a few hours before they'd been chased into the woods by the Seekers. During an alien invasion, you just tended to rely on any humans you happened to bump into while on the run from body-snatching parasites. "We'll have to stop along the way for some gas and supplies. I know that's risky--they're probably keeping an eye out for us, so I was thinking you or me could walk to the nearest town while the other stays with Buffy and the car. And our friend in the trunk, of course."

Kate nodded. "I'll go. I hate waiting around for something to happen, so I don't mind."

"Good," Isabelle muttered, her hands tightening on the wheel. "I wanted to talk to it anyway."

Kate frowned slightly, looking troubled, but she didn't say anything else until the distant lights of a town crept over the horizon they were speeding down the road towards. Isabelle calmly pulled the Impala off the road and backed it skillfully up into another thick grove of trees before she cut the engine.

Kate scooped her crowbar up off the floorboard before cranking open her door, and the squeaking metal made Buffy wake up with a start.

"What's going on?" she asked sleepily, but she tried to look alert as she blinked urgently at Isabelle behind the wheel. "Are we already there?"

"No, there's a town about three miles from here," Kate answered her. "I'm heading in for some supplies. I'll be back in an hour tops."

She climbed out and Isabelle followed her to the back of the car, while Buffy watched them wide-eyed through the rear window. 

This is it, Walker told Luke as they listened to the sudden movement around them. It's now or never.

Wait, what? What are you planning? Luke demanded harshly. No, don't do anything stupid. The fact that they didn't let that psycho in the woods kill us means they don't want to hurt us.

Luke, you're kidding yourself, Walker snapped back.

Kate yanked open the trunk and Walker jerked his head around to stare at her. "Alright, space boy, here's what's going down," she said coolly as she yanked the gag out of his mouth. "My friend Belle here is going to ask you a few questions. You're going to tell her what we want to know and then we'll send you on your merry way. If you don't..." she looked over her shoulder at Isabelle, who pointedly pulled her gun back out from the waistband of her jeans. "Well, let's just say you'll wish we had left you in the woods with our good buddy Marcus."