A/N: Takes place around season 4 of Glee. Prepare yourself. There will be character death. Not only in this chapter but in the story throughout. And yes. Finn is alive. Hence why I made it season 4.

Chapter One

This was the norm.

At first, she didn't worry about anything at all. She was in an apartment. On one of the higher floors. It wasn't a big deal.

That was, until, someone close to her got bit.

He was in the hallway at the time, and when she heard him screaming her name, she knew it was bad.
Even though shooting drew more, she got the gun she had been given by an elderly neighbor, who was now gone, and used it. She had never used a gun before, nor had she ever had one in her possession. But this time... This time it was personal.
She shot and killed every single one of the monsters. Needless to say, though, it was too late for him. One bite mark on his arm, another on his neck, one on his side. The infection was already inside of him. It was already taking over.

She knelt down next to him. She remembered brushing the chocolate brown hair out of his face. She remembered the fear in his eyes. She remembered doing her best not to cry. She remembered failing.

"Oh, Kurt..." she whispered. "Kurt, I'm so sorry..."

She remembered pointing the gun to his head. Pulling the trigger. Looking away as the light in her friend's eyes died, his angelic voice to never be heard again.

She remembered sobbing uncontrollably until she couldn't cry anymore.

She remembered going back to her apartment, feeling as lonely as she did the day she got to New York. No Kurt. No Finn. Quinn. Santana. No one.

Rachel Berry had never felt as alone as she had that day.

And she was alone like that for months. She would cross days off on her calendar, doing her best to keep track. She couldn't bury Kurt—there was no land for her to dig in, and besides, with the amount of monsters and concrete out in New York City, well, that right there made it impossible. Plus, she had no resources in order to bury someone. Since they had an apartment, the young woman never found it necessary to have a shovel.
Now, she wished she did.

The sun had gone down over the city, and Rachel turned her battery radio on low. It really was her only contact to the outside world, what with New York being almost overrun. She was surprised she lasted this long. She raided other apartments that she was sure were empty for supplies. Of course, that's when she had Kurt with her. Two people were better than one. Sadly, she couldn't do that anymore. At least, the way she saw it. If she did, it would almost be a death sentence. Go into an apartment alone, with no help? She had to be fucking crazy.

Putting her long brown hair up in a ponytail, Rachel listened to the radio silently, wanting to hear any news about Lima.

"Cleveland is overrun. It is no longer safe. Get out of there as soon as possible if you can. Staying or going is nothing but a death sentence." The man spoke. The young woman bit her lip, leaning on her kitchen counter. She needed to get back to Lima. If it was overrun... She didn't know what she would do. She wouldn't be able to stand it, that's for sure.
All of her friends were there, that she knew of. Santana had gone back about six months ago to see if she could find any survivors from Glee. As soon as she did, she would contact Rachel and Kurt through a local radio station. They wanted to go with her. It wasn't right for someone to face the horde alone.

"I can handle myself. Believe me." She had told them. "I'll kill them before they get anywhere close to me."

Kurt had been the most vocal, wanting to go with her. Rachel did too, though she knew someone had to stay back at the apartment just in case.
She remembered Santana leaving under the cover of darkness, the car she had hotwired speeding down the deserted streets of New York City. She remembered Kurt pacing every day near that damn radio to hear any news. She remembered no news being reported about Ohio. And, though he had never been very religious, she remembered him praying.

"From Lima, Ohio, it is stable. The town is blocked off with a large fence. There are many survivors." Rachel stared down at the radio, her heart beating a mile a minute. "It is stable," the male voice repeated. "Now is your chance to come to safety if you're close by."

She didn't care that the radio was still playing. Rachel made herself some food and grabbed her gun, making sure it was loaded. After that, she ran out of her apartment, not stopping until she reached a car. She fiddled with the handle for a moment before slamming her gun against the glass, making the car alarm sound. She backed up as she heard groaning around her.
Rachel turned and looked, and at least five monsters had made their way from the shadows and towards her. Screaming, she reached her hand in through the hole in the window and unlocked the car, getting inside. She then looked for a key, hoping she wouldn't have to hotwire anything, before hearing a groan come from behind her. She stopped what she was doing and turned. A zombie, who was pinned back by the seatbelt, was reaching for her. It was a young boy, possibly around six years of age, and half of his face was gone. With shaking hands, Rachel raised her gun and shot the zombie in the head, killing it instantly. She screamed, shutting her eyes tightly and turning her head as she did so.

After a minute or so, she heard the groans get closer and closer to her. She had only a limited amount of bullets in her gun, and knew she'd have to get more soon. She couldn't go out there, shooting like a madman. That would be suicide. Rachel bit her lip. She'd have to hotwire this car and do it now, and then worry about the dead body in the back of the car later.
She got on the floor of the car, yanking the wires and looking to see which one was what. After a minute or so of fiddling with the wires, she heard the engine start up. For the first time in months, she felt a grin widen across her face and got back up into the driver's seat. The closest zombie was about ten feet away, and wasn't backing down. She smirked at it, flipped it off, and began driving.

She was a woman on a mission, Rachel Berry was. And when she had her mind set on something, nothing was going to change it. Not even the flesh eating monsters that surrounded her.