Before you read this story, there's another one you must read first! This is a companion fic that the author of the original asked me to write and you won't understand this if you don't read the other one. Link below:
www-fanfiction-net /s/ 8202065 /1/
Just remove the hyphens, change them to full stops and you're good to go :) give her some love, the story is amazing.
Warnings: super dooper major character death warning here, guys. Not just one, but a lot. It's not pretty. The idea for the original story was taken from the Walking Dead and various other zombie films, so if that's not your thing then don't read this. Tell me what you think!
"Morning!" Mrs Anderson sang as Blaine stumbled into the kitchen. His hand half-heartedly went up in greeting and he pulled one of the heavy chairs out from the island, slumping down over the cool marble countertop. He slung his arm over the table and rested on it, closing his eyes as his mother pulled the cord on the curtains and light flooded into the small room.
"Where's dad?" he croaked, rubbing his eye with the heel of his hand. His mom pushed the lever on the toaster down and poured two cups of black coffee.
"He had to go early," she said, stirring creamer and sugar into both cups. "Something about a jam in the printer." Blaine noticed that her voice sounded unsure. He sat up as she put the mugs on the table, wrapping his hands around the dark blue cup and sighing as it warmed his frozen fingers.
"Oh," was all he said, bringing the cup to his lips. His mom picked up the remote and flipped the television on, and the picture showed a breaking news bulletin that read "DISEASE OUTBREAK—WARNINGS ISSUED". He rolled his eyes and tuned out, focusing instead on the day ahead of him.
He was meeting Kurt at a park a few blocks away from Breadstix at 9 am to meet some of the other seniors and then they'd all go to McKinley to welcome the new Glee club members. The thought made him groan. Not because he'd be seeing Kurt—no, that thought made his stomach flutter and turn and jump with excitement—but because the new club members were, no doubt, whiny freshman Rachel Berries in training and there were other things he'd prefer to be doing with Kurt than watching wannabe after wannabe wail their way through their auditions.
"That's strange." His mother's voice snapped him out of his reverie. He looked at her frowning face and then at the television, but the report had changed to the price of gas and he raised his eyebrows.
"The price of gas? It's been the same for years, mom," he said, taking a sip of his coffee. His mom shook her head.
"The disease," she said, shaking her head. "The one that was on the news a few weeks ago. It seems to be killing people now."
Blaine made a face and took another sip, not taking his eyes off his mother. She was worrier—he knew she'd play on this for weeks now. "It's okay, mom," he said. "They'll find a cure. They always do."
They drank the rest of their drinks in silence and then after he'd put his cup in the sink, he kissed his mother on the cheek and headed upstairs to get ready.
The hours leading up to when Kurt got to the park were painful. Every time someone a car drove past Blaine's heart leapt, then fell when it wasn't his dark Navigator. Sure, he was excited about seeing everyone else too, but he hadn't seen Kurt since the night before he'd gone to New York to visit Rachel and scope out living arrangements—the night when they'd acted like it was their last goodbye, clutching at one another and kissing and just being because they knew that this was real and time was running out and it broke both of their hearts but enlightened them, too, because the future was promising and whatever else.
When he did get there, though, his heart leapt and he forgot all about the imminent separation once again. Blaine ran to Kurt and buried his face in his shoulder, smelling Dolce & Gabbana and the peach bodywash he still always used. Kurt's arms were tight around his waist and his breath was hot on his ear where he whispered "I missed you so much," and Blaine realized the separation was going to hit a lot harder than he'd originally thought.
That's not for a while yet, though, he told himself as he towed Kurt to the swings.
When everyone else arrived, Blaine had to pull himself away from Kurt just for a few minutes while he said the hello rounds. Mercedes hugged him extra-tight, and it felt strangely good to see Quinn's broad smile again. The group spent the rest of the day catching up, re-visiting old memories and talking about college, and Kurt ran his hand through Blaine's hair where it was resting on his stomach when the subject of NYADA came up.
When the sun began to set and the dew began to gather on the grass, everyone said their goodbyes. They all planned to meet at the school at 9.30 the next morning to say hello to everyone else and then spend the rest of the day sitting through audition after endless audition. Blaine was happy to know that he wasn't the only one that was less than thrilled.
When they got home, Blaine's mom began to fuss over Kurt and how much she'd missed him over the break. "It's horrible not seeing you around here anymore," she said, caressing his cheek, and Blaine rolled his eyes. "Blaine talks about you all the time."
"Okay, mom, thanks," Blaine said, gripping Kurt's hand. "We're gonna go downstairs for a bit. What time's dad due home?"
His mom looked at her watch. "About 7."
"Four hours," Blaine said, smiling slightly. "Excellent."
He ignored the look they got from his mom as they basically sprinted downstairs, still hand-in-hand, and Blaine was thankful that his mom hadn't agreed to the door-stays-open rule that his dad had put in place. He didn't mean to make it slam so hard when he kicked it closed, though.
The rest of their night was spent with the two of them closer than close, especially during the times they were alone. Even at dinner their ankles were wrapped around each other's and Kurt was even bold enough to place his hand high up Blaine's thigh when Mr Anderson had gotten up to answer the phone. Blaine had a hard time looking his parents in the eye after that, and he hoped it wouldn't be too suspicious when he asked if they could skip out on dessert. With an unsure yes from his mother it was back downstairs, tongues and buttons and zippers and tangled limbs and noiseless cries until they were both panting and sweaty and Kurt decided it was time for a shower and then bed because they had a big day tomorrow and they needed their energy. Blaine whined in protest when Kurt slid out of the sheets, followed him to the bathroom and made sure to lock the door behind him as Kurt turned on the hot stream.
When they all got to the school the next morning, everyone cheered and Mr Schue's ridiculous assignment for the week was forgotten as everyone got up to welcome the seniors back. Brittany hugged Blaine tight and told him how good it was to have him back, much to Kurt and Mike's amusement.
When the commotion was over, Kurt sat down and Blaine followed, and the early nostalgia washed over him as last year's Glee Club memories came back.
They all sat and discussed ideas for Sectionals, sang a little, threw some song choices around and shared ideas, and for a moment, everything seemed the way it used to be. Blaine forgot about how long he had left with Kurt and how long they'd have to be apart and pretended that they were graduating together at the end of the year and Kurt was here because he had to be, not by choice.
Some songs were sang and tears were shed—mostly by Tina—and after a while, the choir room door opened and a familiar face made their way in. Although, it wasn't really familiar. It was blank, disoriented, and made Blaine's blood run cold.
"Hey Sugar," Quinn said with a smile. "Where've you been?"
The girl didn't answer.
"Sugar?" Quinn said again. Blaine noticed that her eyes were closed and her head was slightly to the side. She seemed to stumble over nothing and her arms dangled almost lifelessly by her sides.
"Sugar, stop playing around," Artie said, and rolled towards her. That was when it started.
Sugar's eyes snapped open and they were blank, unfocused, a filmy white colour. Before Artie could say anything, the girl in the frilly pink dress had lunged forward and sunk her teeth into the boy's neck. Kurt's grip on Blaine's hand tightened.
Puck was the first one to react, jumping up and sprinting to the savage girl. He grabbed her around her torso and launched her across the room. Her fragile body hit the doorframe and she slumped, but it didn't phase her. She began to move again, shakily, a vicious snarl rising up her throat.
Artie was bleeding out in the middle of the floor. Artie. Blaine let go of Kurt's hand and jumped the steps to him, pulling his chair out of the way and kneeling down next to him, trying his hardest to remember his sixth grade First Aid training. He pressed his fingers to the open wound on Artie's neck, wincing as he felt the hot pulse of blood running over his fingers.
"Get an ambulance!" he cried. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kurt fishing around in his pocket for a cell phone.
That was when they noticed the screams coming from the hallway; not only screams, but groans, pleas, and cries of mercy. What was happening?
Blaine looked over his shoulder for a split second and saw Puck struggling to stun the once-was Sugar, but to no avail. It was the first time he'd seen Puck in a losing battle. Quinn picked up a chair, and Blaine looked away as she brought it down on the other girl's back. The sound was sickening.
"What the hell is going on?" Mercedes cried. She was still sitting in the corner next to Santana, who was holding Brittany in her arms and stroking her hair and whispering reassuring words into her ear. Her eyes were filled with utter terror.
"What do you mean you have no ambulances?" Kurt shrieked into the receiver. "Where the hell are they?"
The tears that had been pooling in Blaine's eyes brimmed and fell down his face as Artie began coughing up blood, and he squeezed the hand he didn't realize he was holding. "You're going to be fine," he said brokenly. "Just hold on."
Tina's terrified wail could be heard across the room. Brittany was starting to freak out, so Santana held her tighter.
"We need to leave the school," Quinn said, and Blaine was surprised at how calm she sounded, considering she had just killed one of her friends. Or, what used to be one of her friends.
"Leave? I think it's best if we all stay here," Finn spoke up, cowering behind the piano.
"Are you not listening? Seeing what's going on? People are being killed here. Look at Artie, Sugar."
"You were the one that killed Sugar," Finn said, beginning to raise his voice. Blaine squeezed his eyes shut.
"Did you want her to kill someone else, Finn?" Quinn yelled back. "That wasn't Sugar! I don't know what that was, but that definitely wasn't her."
Artie stopped choking and began to hyperventilate, taking short stuttering breaths. "Guys!" Blaine called out, taking his hand off the boy's neck. Everyone stopped yelling and turned towards the two, and Artie's breaths got shorter and shorter until he stopped moving altogether. Blaine stood up and looked at the blood on his hands, stomach churning. He closed his eyes and then started when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Quinn. She began to lead him over to the chairs and gently sat him down, pulling some tissues out of her purse and wiping his hands with them. When he opened his eyes, Blaine saw that her cheeks were wet with tears and she was worrying her bottom lip between her lips, fighting back sobs. Blaine sat still as she cleaned his hands.
"Guys," Mercedes said after a minute of silence. "Artie isn't dead. He's moving."
"Do not go near him," Quinn warned, dropping the tissues onto the floor. "Stay where you are."
"What are you talking about? He needs help," Mercedes snapped back. Quinn jumped up and tentatively walked over to her.
"That isn't Artie—"
"What do you know?" Mercedes said, pushing Quinn out of the way. I glanced at Kurt, who was staring in worry at the situation.
Mercedes bent over to check if Artie was okay. It was true—his arms were twitching, and his eyes were wide. The second Mercedes got close, though, he rolled over and bit into her forearm. Everyone gasped or screamed or cried out, but it was too late.
"Mercedes!" Quinn screamed. "I told you to stay back!"
"We need to go," Santana sobbed, and no one disagreed. Artie was left snarling and growling on the ground, still unable to move. Sugar lay motionless in the middle of the room. Blaine grabbed Kurt's hand and stuck close to him as they ran through the bloody and deserted halls of McKinley high, trying not to look at the mutilated bodies that lined the floors. Some of them seemed like they were moving, same as Artie, and that just made everyone move quicker.
When they were out in the carpark, Quinn began barking orders. Everyone was to go back to her house, share cars, and no one gets left alone. Blaine and Kurt piled into Kurt's Navigator, Kurt in the driver's seat, and they held hands tightly the whole way back to Quinn's, which seemed like forever. They were behind Puck and Finn who were behind Quinn, Santana and Brittany, and the rest followed behind them. They passed a few people that looked lost, and Blaine didn't want to think about what they could be. He just kept his eyes to the floor and tried not to focus on his bloodstained hands. Kurt was saying something that he didn't register.
Finally they were at Quinn's house. Kurt was straight by Mercedes' side, checking the wound on her arm. It was bleeding but didn't seem too bad. Mike went to find a bandage in the kitchen. After making sure everyone was there, Quinn switched the television on and flipped through the channels. Each one was empty—New York, Chicago, Washington; no one was reporting, though the cameras were still rolling. Then the screen went blank, making everyone jump in their seats. A flash of red, and then a panicked face was centre-screen. Puck turned the volume up as he began to talk.
"Citizens of the United States of America, if you are watching this you are safe. You have time—precious time that others lack. 2 weeks ago the CDC was informed of a virus that was causing intense fevers and bleed outs, slowly resulting in death. 78 hours ago, we were informed the virus had mutated. The current virus, dubbed the "Z Virus" by internet fanatics, is on the loose. Transmission is through drinking tainted water sources or through direct physical contact with an infected host. Infected hosts will bite and ravage the uninfected; if bitten, you're considered an infected host. These creatures are hostile, unforgiving, they are no longer considered sentient, no longer your friends or family. Survival is now our main concern. The CDC will report any further findings on all available TV and Radio channels."
Mercedes was softly sobbing on the couch next to Finn. Blaine looked at Kurt, Kurt looked at Blaine, and no one spoke for a long time.