AN - I've wanted to write a fic like this for a long time, so I'm going to attempt to actually plan it properly and keep it going! I based the beginning on the Miami incident. Hope you like it, and please review! Ideas are welcome! -sbk2304 (tumblr: flyingsquirrelsforever)
When everything falls apart, who can you rely on to hold yourself together? AU Brittana.
It was during May of the year 2012 when it happened. Scientists had been investigating various chemicals in a research lab in Miami, trying to find a cure for cancer and other diseases, and nobody noticed when an unknown airborne virus escaped. Seemingly harmless, it moved silently through the population like a fog, creeping into homes and workplaces leaving them none the wiser, infecting person by person. Women, men, children, no human life escaped its clutches. Days passed and there was no change, until fevers began affecting the population. People flocked in groups to their doctors complaining of breathing troubles and coughing, unknowingly passing it on in the process, and were sent away confident in the firm reassurance that it was just a new type of flu sweeping across the land. The citizens of Miami could breathe again and continue with their busy lives. That is until the first attack occurred, apparently out of nowhere.
An incident was brought to the attention of the media in which a previously well mannered man, a scientist of the research lab, attacked another and proceeded to eat his flesh in a local park. The man was unresponsive to the attempts taken to stop his attack and so was shot dead. His victim was rushed to hospital, and it wasn't long before rumours spread. Zombies, witchcraft and other theories revolving around the supernatural were the main topics spoken about by communities, sparking a panic. Authorities brushed off their worries, saying it was the result of drugs, whilst desperately testing the chemicals used in the research centre in secret. The victim died, supposedly of blood loss and infection, and within a few days most people forgot about the attack. Until said victim returned to life and viciously attacked a nurse.
By this time the rest of Miami was alerted, most of the hospital staff and patients had been attacked, and those first infected were roaming the streets, hungry for human flesh.
In a small town in Ohio, a blonde girl jumped as she was woken roughly from her sleep.
"Wake up honey, we have to go." Her mother leaned over her, her face pinched with worry. "A virus is spreading, we need to leave."
Before the girl had time to react, her mother left the room, shouting for her sister to hurry.
She slipped out of bed, confused but obeying her mother's orders. The light of the morning sun was streaming through the gap in her curtains. Pulling them open, she was shocked to see the streets milling with people. She looked at the clock. It was only 5.30. She dressed hurriedly, and with shaking hands she packed a bag and grabbed her phone. She turned to leave, when a small noise caught her attention.
She gasped and dropped to her knees, peering under the bed before hauling out a fat cat and stuffing him under her jumper. She cradled him close and ran down the stairs to join her family.
Her father hugged her and her sister, quickly explaining to them about the virus. He opened the door and immediately the sound of screams and cries reached their ears.
"What's happening?" The blonde cried, running outside.
Her mother grabbed her arm. "Get in the car, quickly."
She stared as the elderly man dropped dead on the road in front of her, shaking and foaming at the mouth. Her mother stopped also and watched in horror as he rose and began dragging himself towards the retreating group of people.
"Brittany!"
Brittany wheeled at the sound and caught sight of a dark haired girl running towards her holding a baseball bat. She flung herself into her arms, careful of the bundle in her jumper.
"What's going on Santana?" She mumbled into the other girl's hair, tears running down her face in shock.
"Brittany we need to go," Mr Pierce stepped forwards firmly, eyeing the approaching man warily.
Brittany turned to face him, wide eyed. "I'm not leaving without Santana!" Her hand gripped Santana's tightly, and was shocked when Santana detached herself from her gently.
"Britt, you need to go." She stared into the blue eyes filled with tears.
Brittany's face dropped. "What? No! I'm not leaving you!"
Santana grabbed her face in both hands. "I need to find my family." She said, tears falling down her cheeks. "I need you to be safe."
"But-"
"Brittany, I need you to be safe." Santana repeated. "I promise you, I will find you again." Her eyes stared into Brittany's.
"Brittany we need to go!" Her mother called out of the car.
Brittany nodded slowly, keeping her gaze on her girlfriend. "You promise."
"I promise," Santana kissed her softly. "I love you Brittany."
"I love you too Santana." She pulled away and headed towards the car. The cat in her jumper clawed at her viciously and dropped out, disappearing into the darkness. "Lord Tubbington!" She cried, running in the direction he had gone.
Santana caught her around the waist and hugged her tightly, pushing her firmly into the car.
"I'll get him," she promised. "I'll see you soon." She slipped something into the girl's hand, shut the door and stepped back, forcing a smile.
She stood alone as the car disappeared down the road, tears falling from her eyes.
Within days after Brittany had left Lima, the virus had been isolated and died, leaving a mass of undead roaming the continent, devouring humans and infecting others through a single bite from their sharp teeth.
The remaining people were forced to learn survival skills, most acquiring a gun, bat or similar weapon in which to defend themselves against the threat previously only existing in horror films. They had to fight their moral instincts in order to kill the things so like themselves. The zombies, referred to by the survivors as the undead, were identical to the living, minus the continuous groaning and the unnerving look in their cold eyes, making it difficult to pick them off at a distance.
Most went crazy in the end, despairing at the isolation they found themselves in from others and the rest of the world, causing them to turn on each other. Some committed suicide, preferring to end their own lives rather than allow themselves to be turned into the undead. One woman in Virginia went on a rampage, leaving her companions and killing the undead in hundreds without fear for her own safety, before shooting herself in the temple. It was later found that she had been confronted by the walking corpse of her five year old son and teenage daughter, both covered in blood and eating the body of their lifeless eight year old brother as he lay in the street clutching a teddy.
After hearing the latest story, Brittany stood up and returned to her bed in the corner of the bunker, reaching up to the necklace Santana had given her when she left and squeezing the heart in her hand. It had been over a year since she had seen Santana, and the hope of ever finding her again was slowly dying. Tears fell onto her pillow as she remembered the fear in her eyes as she had forced her into the car. She clutched her phone in the other hand. It had died long ago, but she kept hold of it in the hope that if they ever reached normality she could try to contact her girlfriend.
She shifted over in the bunk as a little girl snuggled into her side. Her little sister Ellie reached up to touch her face gently.
"Why are you crying Brittany?" She asked innocently.
"I just miss some people, I'm okay El, get some sleep," Brittany blinked furiously and smiled down at the six year old. With her blue eyes and blonde hair she was the spitting image of her older sister.
"When are Mommy and Daddy coming back?" She asked.
Brittany felt a lump rise in her throat. Soon after leaving Lima, they had stopped to gather some supplies from an abandoned store, and Brittany had watched in horror as a mass of the undead had swarmed out, attacking their parents instantly.
Her father had only time to meet her eyes and yell at her to go before he was bitten. They'd only just got out of there alive.
"They won't be coming back Ellie, remember? It's just me and you now." She brushed the hair out of the little girl's face. She had decided long ago to be truthful to her, figuring that in a world where death could happen at any second there was no point in lying.
"What about Santana?" At her quiet question Brittany's tears resurfaced and streamed down her cheeks.
"I...I don't know about Santana," she whispered. "But she'll be fighting to get to us again, don't worry."
Crack!
The sound of wood hitting bone caused a satisfied smirk to cross her face as the last one hit the ground with a thud. Santana wiped her arm across her face, grimacing at the blood smeared on her forehead.
She threw her bag on her back and carefully lifted up a small holdall, and rejoined the stream, sighing contently as the water soothed her bruised skin. She had been walking for a month now, staying parallel to the stream as much as possible in order to have access to clean water. Progress had been slow, but she had been laying low to avoid attacks, and she had broken a rib before leaving, meaning she could not travel far without rest.
The group of the undead had taken her by surprise, but she had reacted quickly. She hadn't even had to resort to the gun slung across her shoulder.
She looked upstream and was relieved to see a cluster of trees on the bank. Reaching them she slowly climbed one, gasping in pain. She finally reached a spot that she felt safe in, and allowed herself to relax.
She set the holdall on a sturdy branch, and pulled the battered map out of the backpack, peering at the faded line in the morning light. A piece of paper slid off of the map, and Santana snatched for it blindly, bringing it close to her chest. She lifted it up and pressed a kiss to the crumpled photo. Brittany's face smiled up at her, and she traced her face softly before tucking it safely back in her bag. Tears sprang to her eyes as memories of the past year resurfaced.
After Brittany had left, she had battled her way through the destroyed town, searching for her family. She had woken up that morning to find the house empty, and after turning on the television and seeing the warning to evacuate, she had thought of nothing else but Brittany.
After she had left, she crept through the darkness, clutching her bat and whispering Lord Tubbington's name. She had found him growling under a bush minutes later, and dragged him out yowling. She had gone into her girlfriend's abandoned house using the key under the flower pot, and grabbed a bag to keep him in, before setting off towards her own house. Several hours later she had collapsed in tears after seeing a written message from her parents.
Mija,
If you are reading this then it is most likely we are no longer living, but if you are reading this then it means you are alive and hopefully well. The key to the basement is in the top drawer of the kitchen, down there you will find supplies and weapons; we have taken a few but left you most.
We love you Santana.
Mom & Dad
Blood trails led to the backdoor, where the bodies of her parents lay, both with bullets in their skulls. It was the hardest thing Santana had ever done, killing her parents, but she knew they would have preferred it to being undead. She had locked herself in the basement for weeks, terrified of leaving the home she had always known. To leave would be to confirm the knowledge that she was alone. She had nobody. She had scouted the town, but after being forced to kill what was previously Mr Schuester, she had given up in the hope of finding survivors in Lima.
Weeks turned into months and she packed up her supplies, stuffed Lord T into a bag, and set off. She stumbled blindly for weeks, before realising she had no idea where she was going. After a particularly close encounter with the undead she forced herself to be more aware, and before she knew it she found herself in Chicago. There she had discovered a few survivors, who had informed her that it had been eleven months since the outbreak. Eleven months without Brittany.
It was then that she first heard the daily radio broadcast, which her new companions informed her was done from New York City, in which a few hundred people lived in a compound. It was then that she had made the decision to journey to New York in hope of either finding her girlfriend or sending a message out on the radio.
So here she was, a month into her journey and settling down to sleep in a tree. By her calculations she was only a day away from her destination, considering how many detours she would have to take to avoid the undead. She had collected a map and a portable radio from her companions back in Chicago, and listened faithfully every day in hope of hearing news of the Pierces.
She reached over and unzipped the holdall slightly. Lord Tubbington poked his head out and she scratched it gently. He had slimmed down greatly, but was in remarkably good health considering he had spent the best part of a year being hauled along in a bag. He had settled down quickly enough, and soon learned not to stray far when she did let him out. He was more of a dog than a cat now, the way he came running whenever Santana hissed his name. It would have been easier for her to dump him long ago, but she made a promise to Brittany. She never broke her promises.
A few hours later, Santana awoke, stiff and hungry. The sun was now high in the sky, and looking into the distance at the towering buildings of New York, she reckoned she could be there by nightfall. She searched the surrounding area for any threat, and when she was satisfied she was alone she slid down from the tree.
Swiftly she cleaned Lord Tubbington's bag in the stream, and ate a cereal bar as she waited for it to dry.
She glanced around, whistling softly, and a minute later the cat emerged from under a bush. He dropped the remains of a mouse at her feet. She made a disgusted face, but patted him on the head anyway.
"Good boy." Her voice was croaky from lack of use. She always praised him for feeding himself, for in the current situation she barely had enough food for herself, let alone for a previously obese cat. He hopped obediently in the now clean bag, and they set off for the skyscrapers on the horizon.
Brittany reached the bunker door set into the concrete of the formerly busy New York street, and knocked 6 times. There was shuffling and a click as it was unlocked, and she hauled the door open to see her little sister smiling back at her. It was hard for Brittany to leave her all day, but she had no choice but to work in order to receive some food from the people who lived on this side of the city. She had heard that those on the other side of the city were nicer and that there were better living standards, but she simply couldn't risk taking Ellie across that distance unprotected.
She climbed down the steps and refastened the door, glancing around their tiny home. A lamp sat in the middle, giving out a small glow that gave just enough light, and five bunks were set in the stone wall. They had been lucky to find this place upon reaching New York when their car broke down, otherwise the likelihood of them surviving would have been minimal.
She shook herself out of her stupor, hugging her sister and handing her the small loaf of bread. The little girl's eyes widened.
"Can we have it all Britty?" She asked in excitement, using the nickname their father had called her before everything happened.
"We can have half," Brittany said, ruffling her hair. "We should save some for breakfast, otherwise you'll go hungry!" She tickled her tummy, trying to ignore how she could feel her little sister's ribs beneath the rags they both wore.
Ellie nodded solemnly and bounded over to the old table Brittany had found one day whilst scavenging. She set down the bread and pressed the worn down button on the old radio Brittany had managed to steal from her workplace. If you could call it a workplace.
"It says 8.49, how long left?" The girl asked her older sister.
"Eleven minutes El, leave it on while we wait so we don't miss it."
Brittany had tried hard to teach her little sister basic things like time and counting, but it was difficult to find time when most of her day was spent either luring the undead away from their little haven or working to earn food.
Every day at 9 there was a short radio transmission from those on the other side of the city who had found access to an old broadcasting studio. Every day they gave directions to the apparent place of safety, but Brittany was unable to leave, fearing for her little sister's life. She could barely protect herself, let alone the fragile skin and bones of her sister.
She cut the bread, giving Ellie the bigger half, and turned up the volume expectantly.
Silence fell for a few moments, before it crackled into life, making them both jump.
Hello fellow survivors,
Today is the 14th June 2013.
Number of undead killed today is 23. It is slowly decreasing day by day, so we can only assume that we are slowly winning! Today we have had no more additions to our tiny population over here, but we are ever hopeful that eventually all survivors can make their way to us.
Brittany stared at the wall as she listened to the usual directions given, and her heart sank. No more additions to the population meant no Santana. Every time they had a new survivor, the person had given a short introduction and called out for their family members, and Brittany was praying for the day when she would finally hear Santana's voice. She wouldn't be dead. She couldn't. Impossible.
She focused her attention back on the radio.
So that is it for today, we'll be back tomorrow and until then, keep fighting!
The voice died and the sound of the national anthem blared softly from the small black box.
Ellie clapped her hands at the encouraging message, and looked at her older sister.
"Britty?"
Brittany looked at her with glassy eyes, and then gave her a watery smile as she stood up.
"Come on then, bedtime." She picked her up carefully and laid her down in her bed. She tucked the old sheet around her, and prepared to tell her the same story she had spoken since their parents had been killed. At first it had been a mechanism of coping, of being able to visualize a world where the undead did not exist, but now was she simply enchanted by the imagination of her mother, who until she died had told this story every night to the sisters.
She opened her mouth to begin, and was startled by the crackling of the radio. Ellie sat up in her bed. "What's going on?"
Brittany shushed her and moved over to the table to listen.
Sorry for the interruption of the anthem, but we have just received reports of a survivor headed this way. Our snipers have been watching, and they appear to be alive! We shall update more when they get here, so stay tuned.
The voice went silent, and Brittany turned to Ellie with wide eyes, trying desperately to squash the hope rising inside her for fear of jeopardising fate.
"Let's get you asleep," She tried to settle her little sister, but she shook her head vehemently.
"No! I want to listen!"
Brittany sighed. "Okay, fine, but after that you sleep."
They sat side by side on the bed, gripping each other's hand for comfort. Brittany crossed the fingers on her free hand, and subtly crossed her legs and toes. It was a thing she had done since she was little, and she figured it couldn't hurt.
After long minutes of silence, the radio came back to life once more.
Hello, as promised here I am with an update. The broadcaster's excited voice was heard. She's here! Do you have a message for our fellow survivors?
Brittany listened with bated breath, clutching the heart hanging from her neck.
Yes, my name is Santana Lopez. I'm looking for Brittany, Brittany Pierce. Is she here? At the compound? Her voice sounded weary and tired, but was full of hope.
Ellie gasped and began chattering animatedly, but Brittany clamped her hand over her mouth. "Shhh!"
The broadcaster's voice returned. No, I don't believe we have a Brittany. Would you like to give her a message if she's listening?
Yes. Brittany, if you are out there, I won't stop looking. I will search every day for you, and at nightfall I shall be here at the compound. I'm hoping you can make your way here, but if not, I will find you. I promise. Her voice cracked and went silent.
Brittany stared at the radio, shocked. Ellie watched her impassive face uncertainly.
Suddenly Brittany leapt off the bed and swung the little girl round in her arms.
"She's alive! Santana's alive!"
Ellie laughed hysterically as she was set down, watching her older sister dance around the tiny bunker.
Brittany paused in her actions and skipped back over to the bed.
"Let's sleep, El! The quicker we sleep, the quicker we can find her!" A massive grin split across her face, and she dropped a kiss on her sibling's forehead.
Ellie lay down obediently and closed her eyes.
Brittany leapt onto the battered old mattress that served as her bed, and tucked the oversized jumper around herself. She couldn't stop smiling.
"Tomorrow," she whispered.
Tomorrow she would find Santana.
So there's the first chapter, I hope you liked it! Please review!
Thank you very much to my beta - Totally Unicorn. Go read her amazing Faberry story - 'Where Dreams Are Made'!