We made it to my house without a hitch. Well, Mr Schue had to run over a few more of those 'things' but no real problems. But now, as I walked into the living room after changing out of my Cheerios uniform and into practical clothing, I saw everyone slumped on the couches and feeling both physically and emotionally drained.
"Did you see him?" Rachel whispered as I took a seat next to Brittany on one of my couches, her knuckles white from clenching her hands together in her lap. We all looked at Mr Schue expectantly, wanting the answer to the question we'd all been afraid to ask.
Mr Schue blew out a breath of air rubbed a hand down his face before looking up at us, "I'm sorry guys, whatever these things are got him."
I hadn't thought that the energy in the room could get any worse. But, as I'd learned today, it can always get worse. I felt something inside me cringe at the idea of one of the people who'd been an essential part of my life just being gone. Yeah, I hated him for outing me but he wasn't a bad person. Just like the rest of us, he had his good and his bad and I did care about him; even though I tended not to show it.
My pain was nothing compared to some of the others though. Rachel began sobbing and Quinn quickly pulled her into a hug, whispering something in our resident diva's ear as a few tears of her own fell. Kurt was buried in Blaine's chest, his body shaking but no sounds coming out. Puck sat by himself and had that far off look on his face that a person got when they just didn't know what to do anymore.
"Mr Schue, what're we gonna do?" Mike asked quietly, his eyes wide and reflecting how lost he was feeling him. Next to him Tina nodded, as if to say she had the same question.
"Lets just try to keep level heads," Mr Schue said, trying to sound strong once more. "I know that what's happened so far is awful but we don't know how bad this thing has gotten. For all we know people are in the process of containing it right now and it'll be over in a few hours."
"Turn on the news," Sam suggested, pointing over at the large flatscreen mounted on my wall. "I bet we can learn something."
Without another word I jumped up and grabbed the remote on the coffee table, quickly moving to sit back down next to Brittany. I flicked on the tv and felt relieved to find CNN was running the story.
Well it's seems that this viral outbreak originated in Lima. We're not sure how it started but we do know that this is the stuff of movies that no one ever expects to actually happen. Based on what we've been told the people infected are almost like, well, zombies!
The anchorman shook his head and laughed in disbelief and shock.
We haven't been able to get a hold of anyone in Lima since the initial report was sent out that something went wrong in a hospital. All we know is that people should stay inside and do not try to help the infected. We hate to sound harsh saying this but as of now those people are lost causes. The infection is transfered through blood and saliva and apparently those infected are biting people and that's how it's spread thus far. That's all we know for now but we have people working on finding out more so check back in for updates. If anyone out there is watching in an affected area; sit tight, stick together, and stay away from the infected because we don't know the extent of what they can do just yet.
I muted the tv as it went into a commercial break, tossing the remote back onto the coffee table. The reporter was trying to keep people calm but I could tell that he thought things were only going to get worse.
I knew this were only going to get worse.
My dad has always been a practical and smart man. He wouldn't have poured all the money into making the house so secure if he didn't feel like it was truly necessary and based on what I heard in the message he left things had already gone completely to hell at the hospital. In my opinion, it would be getting worse everywhere in no time.
"Has anyone gotten a hold of family?" Brittany asked as she stared at her phone in her hands.
"My dads are out of town for a law conference in San Francisco," Rachel muttered. Her eyes were all puffed up and red and she was gripping Quinn's hand like it was the only thing holding her to the earth.
"I haven't, but then again my parents don't live in Lima," Sam offered up. I'd forgotten that he was staying with Finn and Kurt ever since his parents said he could come back for school. Him and Rory both were lucky enough to have parents who weren't right in the middle of this, hell Rory's parents were oceans away from it.
"My dad was at the hospital," Mercedes choked out, her face was scrunched up and I knew she was trying not to cry. "Him and my mom both for dental stuff and they left me a message that sounded a hell of a lot like goodbye."
If Mercedes parents at the hospital she was probably right about that. I was glad that Wheezy had Sam to keep her sane for the time being. Any other time I probably would've cracked a joke about seeing them pressed up against one another like they are now but even I know that the time to be petty is over. This is my house and I'm the one in charge of keeping people safe, even I'm not cruel enough to tear people down at a time like this.
Besides, I secretly think her and Sam are kind of sweet.
Everyone else was still in a state of not knowing what was happening with their loved ones and the worry was painted on their faces. At least Mercedes and I knew our parents were dead and didn't have our minds in some sort of grief limbo. Brittany's fidgeting next to me told me that she was miserable at the moment.
"Oh my God," it was Quinn who spoke up again first after we had tallied our knowledge of families. Her face dropped and her eyes widened in fear.
"What's wrong, Quinn?" Mr Schue asked, looking panicked by her sudden change in demeanor.
"Beth," she choked out before going into what I could only describe as hysterical crying. "What if this infection got to her and Shelby? Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God..."
She hugged her arms tightly across her stomach and began rocking slightly in her seat. For a minute I honestly thought she was going to be sick but Rachel quickly scooped Quinn up in her arms and held her, returning the favor from when she had been crying over Finn. I looked over at Puck to see that all the blood had drained from his face and he was a ghostly pale. He just alternated between looking at a distraught Quinn and looking at Mr Schue, hoping the one adult in the room would magically be able to make this okay.
But, the look on Mr Schue's face told us that he was just as lost as we were. We were all feeling a serious lack of power at being so helpless and I for one was feeling absolutely terrible about it.
I've always hated that feeling of having everything out of my control. It's all I felt when hiding who I was in the world and I'd only just gotten that control back.
"We have to get her," Puck was shaking his head as if to say there was no other option. "We have to get her and Shelby here so they can be safe."
"Puck, dude we can't leave," Sam said firmly to his friend. "Call Shelby before you do anything irrational, for all we know they're out of town."
"Call, right," Puck took a stabilizing breath as he fumbled around in his pocket to pull out his phone. His hands were visibly shaking as he dialed the number and pulled the phone to his ear. We all waited on a bated breath, listening as the ringing softly echoed from his phone.
"Puck, thank God," Shelby's voice came through the phone sounding completely and frightened.
"Are you okay? Where are you? Is Beth safe?" Puck fired off the questions with a shaky voice while Quinn practically hung off the edge of her seat in anticipation.
"Puck, I-I-I don't know what's happening. I went outside to get the mail and this person bit me! I feel sick and my head hurts and I don't know what this is!"
"Shit," Puck muttered away from his phone before pulling it back to his ear. "Shelby, I need you to listen to me and not question anything I say. Promise."
"I promise, just tell me what's happening."
"Go put Beth in a safe room and look it from the inside, close the door behind you so you can't get in," Puck said in as serious of a tone as he could muster.
"What the hell? Why?"
"Shelby just do it!" Puck pleaded. "You don't have much time, just do it and get as far away from her as you can while you're still you!"
"What do you mean while I'm still me?"
"Shelby you're fucking infected!" Puck was crying now, for the first time all day. It had finally become too much for him and he couldn't contain it anymore. "There's no time to explain, just keep Beth safe so you can't hurt her. I promise I'll come get her as soon as I can and she'll be safe."
"Are you telling me I'm gonna die or something? Or start acting like whatever the hell my neighbor was?"
"Yes!" Puck shouted indignantly. "I was trying to sugar coat it but apparently that's not working so you're basically going to become a-a-a-a... a goddam zombie. I don't know just do this thing for you daughter Shelby. We'll come save her and I promise I'll make sure she never forgets you and what you're doing for her now if you listen to me."
"Oh God, I-I feel really sick Puck."
"Save Beth," Puck reiterated. "I'm sorry Shelby, I can't thank you enough for being a mother to Beth but please just save her while you still can."
"I.. okay. Please just get her and don't let her forget me."
"Thank you, Shelby," Puck breathed in relief.
"Goodbye, I guess."
"Goodbye, Shelby," Puck breathed out heavily and snapped his phone shut before burying his face in his hands and letting his body wrack with sobs. As Puck cried himself out, Quinn stood up determinedly and looked to the group.
"Well come on, we have to get her."
"How?" Tina asked, earning a death glare from Quinn that quickly made her elaborate. "I mean obviously we have to but what's the plan? Just charge out to Shelby's and hope for the best?"
"The longer we wait the more infected there will be," Rory spoke up for the first time since this outbreak had happened. "Shouldn't we try and round people before there's too many sick people wandering about?"
"Rory has a point," Blaine agreed. "If we leave now we can get to Beth and check our houses to."
"I think you guys are right about now being better than later, but what do we do when we're looking through a house and an infected person comes at us?" Mr Schue asked. "We can't go out there empty handed."
And that's when I remembered my dad's voicemail; he left me the passcode that metal door in the basement. That means there has to be something that would be useful to survive this, right?
"Guys, my basement," I said, getting everyone's eyes on me. "My dad built this room that I've never been in and he told me the passcode in the voicemail he left me. Mr Schue, Blaine, come check it out with me there's got to be something useful in there."
Without waiting for anyone else to speak, I stood up and headed down towards my basement with Mr Schue and Blaine hot on my heels. I took the stairs of the basement two at a time and hastily flicked on the light switch before practically flying across the room to the metal door that I'd been perfectly content to ignore until now.
Please for the love of God let there be something useful in here.
I took a deep breath before reaching out the input the code into the keypad on the wall next to the door.
5724.
A slight hissing echoed throughout the room and before I knew it the door was sliding open, much in the way that the front gates surrounding my house did. As the door clicked into place, lights inside the room flickered on and illuminated the pristine, white, and surprisingly large space before us. The three of us stepped in and could only marvel at the what we were seeing.
I can't believe I've been living above this.
Guns. Tons of guns. Both the long side walls were lined with guns along with shelves upon shelves of what I'm assuming is ammunition. Towards the back was what looked to be dehydrated meals as well as at least a hundred of the kind of large water bottles that you'd use in an office water cooler. I would be lying if I said the feeling of safety and relief I had from knowing we could access this was wonderful.
But then I realized something else.
This was a lot of stuff.
And, as I've said, my dad was a practical man who would never spend beyond the necessities.
Based on the sheer quantity of stuff in here I knew that my dad thought that if this thing broke out it would be serious. This is the amount of stuff you have when you're in something for the long haul. But, now isn't the time to lose my shit over that because we need to get ready to roll while there are minimal infected outside.
"Guys," I said, still slightly shocked at what I was seeing. "Each of you grab a gun and some extra bullets for yourself. Grab a little extra to bring upstairs so everyone has something."
Mr Schue and Blaine just nodded, evidently also in awe and not in a position to object to anything I told them to do. I looked around and decided to keep to grab a pistol, ignoring the bigger guns on the wall that quite frankly made me feel uneasy.
We should probably save those for when the density of infected increases.
For now, we'd probably be okay with smaller guns. I for one am hoping we won't have to use more than a few bullets in our search for family members.
The three of us were able to quickly load up and weapons and head back upstairs, leaving the door to the supply room open behind us because why the hell not. When we re-entered the living room everyone jumped a little in their seats at the sight of the weaponry we were loaded with. I was tempted to laugh at their flinching but didn't because of the motto I'd adopted within the last few hours.
There's a time and a place for everything, and it's probably not during some insane viral outbreak.
"Um, where the hell did you get that?" Sugar asked with her mouth practically hanging on the ground.
"Apparently my dad was anticipating this happening and seriously stocked up the basement with weapons and other stuff," I explained, putting all the extra guns on the coffee table in a haphazard pile. Mr Schue and Blaine did the same while keeping a pistol each for themselves.
"So, is there a plan?" Artie asked and I nodded.
Even though I didn't have a plan and was totally improvising.
"Alright, I'm gonna be harsh with you guys. Who has family who they still have a chance of reaching and actually is in Lima right now?" I asked. Everyone raised there hands except for Mercedes, Rory, Rachel, and Sam.
"Okay so we have a lot of stops to make," I muttered and scratched my head. "Who here would really rather not have to potentially shoot a gun at something?"
Rachel, Brittany, Mercedes, Artie, Rory, Kurt and Sugar hesistantly raised their hands.
"Okay, so you guys are definitely staying here to hold down the fort," I decided. "Right now, I need everyone to write there addresses down on a piece of paper so those of us going out know where we should be checking out."
I looked around the room and quickly saw a yellow legal pad and pen and got it circulating from person to person. Quickly enough, it ended up back in my hands and I cringed internally at the sight of so many places we had to head. Thankfully, Lima wasn't the biggest place ever so this would probably only take a few hours. But then again, it was already seven at night and a few hours dragged on a lot longer at night than in daylight.
Not to mention we were all pretty exhausted, but this could not wait.
"Okay, so everyone who's willing to shoot something needs to grab a gun from the table and follow Mr Schue to the bus. Keep your phones on you so we can all be in touch with the people staying and lets roll," I said as authoritatively as I could. Considering I'm Santana Lopez that wasn't much of a challenge.
As everyone coming on the expidition grabbed their weapons Brittany stood up and pulled me into the kitchen and away from everyone else. She didn't say anything at first and just pulled me into a tight hug, holding me firmly flush against her.
"Be safe," her breath ghosted my ear and made me feel a reassurance that not even the gun tucked into my belt could. I nodded against her neck and squeezed her back.
"I'll be back for you," I promised. "And I'll try to find your parents, just sit tight and stay calm."
She nodded back against the top of my head before swooping down and planting a firm kiss against my lips. I sighed into it happily before breaking away, not willing to let myself get caught up in Brittany when there was a serious task I had to get to. I gave her hand one final squeeze before turning around and walking out of the house with the rest of the people coming with me.
Soon enough Sam, Puck, Quinn, Tina, Mike, Mr Schue, Blaine, and myself were back on the bus with Mr Schue in the drivers seat as well as a list of addresses taped to the dashboard.
"Shelby's first, right?" he called back to us.
"Definitely, we actually know she's there," Quinn said firmly. I couldn't decide if the fire burning in her eyes was a good or bad thing. For now, I just hoped that it was a fire that would fuel her in a constructive way.
Mr Schue okay'd the plan and gunned the bus to life. I'd grabbed the remote clicker for the gate from inside and was thankful that I was able to stay on the bus rather than running out to manually punch the code into it. As the doors slid open, I remembered another tidbit of my dad's voicemail.
"Aim for the head guys," I called out to everyone. "If you need to shoot, aim for the head."