"Living in a world so cold,wasting away!
Living in a shell with no soul, since you've gone away!
Living in a world so cold, counting the days!
Since you've gone away,
you've gone away!"

Three Days Grace - World So Cold

She was gone.

Cordelia wasn't in the hospital anymore, all hope was gone. She wasn't going to recover, and neither was the world. Everything was going to stay in shambles, and there wasn't anything Angel could do that would change that. He could fight for the rest of his life, and nothing was going to change. He was only one man, and he couldn't make a difference like that.

All hope was gone.

Angel laid down his sword next to Cordelia's grave, shocked that it had even survived this chaos. Her tombstone still stood, not even chipped. Her name fully shown in the dim light. He brushed his hand over it, making sure it was truly there. Anything could be playing a trick on his mind. But there it was, the same underneath his hands as it had been before all of this. Before everything had crumbled around him.

The world had crumbled.

The sky was dark with ash and only fire lit up things enough for people to see. If there was any people left, they wouldn't even be above ground. They'd be in the underground caves that he'd set up. Those were the lucky ones. The rest had been killed by the monsters that roamed the streets, not even having a chance. The bodies laid strewn across the rubble, the faces etched with the fear that had been there when they'd died.

All his fight was gone.

Angel was exhausted, and wished he could leave it all. He could never do that. He had a duty here, and one he wasn't going to leave. He needed to change things, and even if he wasn't making a dent, he was doing something. He was taking monsters off the street one at a time. He was saving the people who remained. It was going to make some difference someday, and at least he saved some people. Even if all hope was gone, he could never stop fighting, no matter what. Even if all of his fight was gone, he would never stop fighting.

He would see her again someday.

Angel really did believe that he would get his redemption, and he would see Cordelia again someday. He wasn't sure if he would end up in hell, but he knew that he would see her if only a short time. If he died human, her could be with her forever. That was what she believed, and now he was starting to believe it to. He had to. It was the only thing that give him the will to get that far. To not die a vampire. Dying human was what he wanted, and he wished to get that. He could never dream of not getting that.

That was all for now.