AN: Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, and/or followed me and my story. If I can get to 50 reviews before monday then I'll post 2 chapters in one day. Here's the next chapter and I hope you like it = )
Diclaimer: I do not own Glee
I open the door and the first thing I notice is crying coming from one of the rooms, and most of the furniture blocking one of the doors. I then hear a frantic banging sound against one of the other doors, and I immediately know what's happened and understand why I have the gut feeling that something's wrong. Tears spring to my eyes but I push them back and slowly make my way around the apartment, making sure it's clear.
I make my way over to where Noah's trying to clear the door and put my hand on his shoulder to stop him. He gives me a confused look.
"Not yet," I manage to tell him around the lump in my throat and point towards what I assume is Shelby's room. He just stares at the door in confusion before understanding lights up his face once he hears the frantic banging, and he looks to me in sympathy.
"I got her Rae," he tells me and wraps his arm around me. I just smile sadly and lean into his embrace for a few seconds before he breaks away and heads towards her room. He opens the door and jumps off to the side as Shelby comes barreling out. He brings his bat down on her head before she can get to far and she falls to the ground. He quickly swings again to be safe, and then we start removing the furniture from infront of Beth's door.
We rush into her room and Noah instantly pulls her into his arms and starts trying to sooth her. I leave him with his daughter and go into Shelby's room and on her bed I see a sweatshirt, so I walk over to it and pick it up. I bring it to my face and notice that it smells like her, and I pull it on before I start going through her closet, looking for any kind of bags. I find two good sized duffel bags and walk back into Beth's room to see Noah looking through Beth's closet as she sleeps in her crib.
"Good job in getting her to calm down so fast Noah," I tell him with a smile. He straightens up with a duffel bag in his hand and shoots me a grin.
"I know right? I'm totally a kickass dad," he tells me with a smug smirk, causing me to laugh.
"Ok kickass dad, while you get her things ready I'm going to gather food and supplies. Try to be quick though because I want to be out of here in 10 minutes, tops." I inform him. He gives me a nod and a salute and I walk into the kitchen with a small smile on my face. It's amazing how in a time like this he can still cheer me up without even trying.
I go through Shelby's cabinets and grab all of the non-perishable and usable items I find. By the time I'm done Noah's standing in the living room with Beth in one of those kangaroo pouches, her carseat in one hand, and her duffel slung over his shoulder.
"Ready?" I ask. At his nod I sling both of my duffels over my shoulders and grab my bat from where it was leaning against the wall. I walk over to the door and crack it open to peer outside, and when I see that it's clear I step outside. I look around for a few moments and then motion for Noah to come out as well. We slowly and carefully make our way back down to his truck and I take Beth's duffel and motion for him to hurry into the truck.
I throw the bags into the bed of the truck and notice around ten or so walkers coming towards me from my left and around five from my right, so I quickly hop into the truck and order Noah to drive. As we make our way away from the apartments I breathe a sigh of relief, because even though Shelby's gone, at least Beth's ok, and I just hope that the others that we haven't reached yet are as well.
As we pull up to Noah's house I feel another pang of loss knowing what to expect when I go inside. I tell him to say in the truck with Beth, grab my bat, and head inside as quickly and quietly as I can. As I step through the front door I get the same feeling I got at Shelby's again, and I quickly shake it off, knowing what's wrong already.
"Hey Ruth!" I shout out. I listen for a few seconds before I hear a primal sort of growling coming from the second floor. "Come on Ma I know you're up there!" I shout out again as I go and stand in front of the stairs.
After a few seconds she appears at the top of the stairs and I have to choke back a sob. She stands there growling and staring at me before she begins to hobble down the stairs. I'm freely crying by now as she makes it to the bottom step and I lead her away from the stairs, because I don't want the kids to have to see her when they leave. Once I finally get her into the kitchen I bring my bat up and with a small prayer and a whispered "Sorry Ma", I swing my bat and take her down. I make sure to hit her one more time before I slide down the fridge and sob into my arms. I only allow myself to stay there for around a minute, because I know the kids heard me calling and I don't want them to worry about me.
I pull myself to my feet and sprint up the stairs to Noah's room. Once I reach his door I start knocking on it calmly and asking them to open it.
"Rach? Is that you?" I hear Kelly ask from right behind the door.
"Yeah Kel it's me. Open the door please?" I ask her and a few minutes later the door opens and the kids jump me. I hold them all close to me before letting them go and walking downstairs.
"Rachel," Sarah whines out from Jakob's arms, wanting me to hold her instead.
"Sorry baby girl but Jake has to hold you right now. I'll hold you later I promise," I tell her with a small smile. She pouts but nods her head. I help them into the truck when we reach it and Noah releases a relieved breath.
"Sam's?" Noah questions as he pulls out of his driveway.
"Sam's," I agree in a tired tone.
As soon as we're stopped in Sam's driveway I hop out and cautiously make my way towards his house. I notice the front door's slightly ajar and my heart drops into my stomach in fear as I slowly push it open. I listen for any type of movement as I slowly make my way around the first story of the house. After I find nothing I slowly make my way upstairs, and begin to look in every room.
In the second room I look in I find Sam's mother being munched on by his dad. I swallow back the bile that rises into my throat and slowly make my way behind him. I slip in some blood on the hardwood and the sound causes Sam's dad to look up at me. He scrambles up and rushes towards me as I quickly try to get to my feet, but the blood on the ground causes me to keep slipping. The walker jumps on top of me and I use my bat to keep his teeth away from my face.
After a few minutes of struggling and a few close calls I finally manage to get my feet between me and the walker, and I plant them on his chest before kicking him away from me. I'm finally able to scramble to my feet and just barely manage to swing my bat at him before he reaches me again. Once I make sure that both him and his wife are actually dead I continue looking through rooms.
I finally reach the last room in the house only to find it locked. I knock on it forcefully and hear two screams come from inside. "Stevie? Stacy? Guys it's Rachel," I call out to them. I hear them scrambling towards the door and then I have another armful of kids. I hug them back for a few seconds before leading them outside and into the truck.
"Sam's going to be ecstatic," Noah says as he pulls away from the house and heads towards Santana's.
"Yeah I know," I tell him with a smile. "There's virtually no space left in your truck though so hopefully Dr. Lopez has a car we can use." Noah glances behind him for a second before turning back to the road and nodding his agreement.
When Noah pulled into Santana's neighborhood I let out a low whistle. "Damn dude, I had no idea Satan lived in a place like this."
"Babe, her dad's a Dr," Noah tells me like it's the most obvious thing in the world, which in all honesty, it kinda is.
"Right, ok. This is one of the last stops, thankfully, cause it's going to get dark soon and I really don't wanna be out while it's dark," I tell Noah as he pulls up to Santana's house. "'Kay you know the drill, keep the truck running and stay in the truck no matter what," I remind him as I get out and make my way to the front door.
I try the door when I get there to find it locked, so I pull out my bobby-pin and pick the lock. Once I hear the click I quickly slip inside and shut the door back, and I take a few moments to just stare at the inside of Santana's house in shock. I mean don't get me wrong I'm pretty rich myself and our houses are around the same size, but I'm shocked because she's always going on about being from Lima Heights Adjacent.
I finally snap out of my thoughts and try the first door on my right, only to be surprised when it doesn't open. "Hey, is anybody in there?" I ask as I knock on the door. After a few seconds of waiting I hear a lock click and the door swings open. Well damn, that was easy. I walk inside to see a tall hispanic man, a boy around eight, and Mrs. Fabray. Wait, Mrs. Fabray? What the hell?
"Mrs. Fabray? What are you doing here?" I voice my thoughts without the profanity.
"Hello Rachel call me Judy, and I could ask you the same thing," she counters.
"I'm here to save you guys," I tell her with a cocky smirk. They look confused so I elaborate. "Everyone's at my house right now where it's safe. Noah and I are going around and getting as many relatives as we can. Mrs.- I mean Judy was going to be our last stop, but seeing as you're here then now we can head home."
"And you said everyone's safe?" Dr. Lopez questions.
"Yes sir, now if you don't mind, it's going to start getting dark soon," I tell them trying to hurry them along.
"Right, yes, ok, but do you mind if I grab some of my medical things first?" Dr. Lopez asks me.
"Not at all sir." He starts going through drawers and a closet and placing things into a bag, and a few minutes later he's ready to go. I lead the way back outside and stop short at the door because there are around fifteen walkers surrounding the truck.
"Go get in the car," I order them while pulling my gun out.
"I forgot my keys," Dr. Lopez tells me, his voice laced with panic. I just pull out the keys that I swiped from a bowl on the table by the door, and hand them to him.
"Now go please," I order them again.
As soon as they sprint for the car I shoot one of the walkers farthest from the truck. This catches all of their attentions and they all start to make their way towards me. I continue shooting as I begin to walk the opposite way towards the bed of the truck. I look behind me towards the road to see around thirty of them coming from the right as I make it to the truck. I hop into the bed and reload after hitting the roof to tell Noah to drive. After making sure the others are following us I relax and keep an eye on my surroundings.
As we pull into my neighborhood I keep an eye out for walkers, and when Noah pulls into my yard by the front door I do a quick sweep of the area before jumping out if the bed and helping the kids out. I grab Beth's carseat and walk towards the front door, still keeping my eyes peeled, and type in the code to raise the metal shutters from the front door only. Once they're completely up Brittany opens the door with a mega-watt smile on her face, and I return the smile before handing her Beth and going to keep watch as the others make their way inside.
Once they're all inside I walk to the bed of Noah's truck and pull out the duffels. I sling them over my shoulder, take out a random walker that appeared from the side of my house, and walk inside and to the kitchen.
I set the duffel bags down on the floor and open the fridge, grabbing a chocolate and a strawberry milk out, and collapsing into a chair at the table. Not even two minutes later Sarah comes wandering into the kitchen and climbs into my lap, just like I predicted. I open her strawberry milk for her and take another drink of my own as she snuggles into my arms.
Around ten minutes later, when things have calmed down from the reunions, Noah walks into the kitchen and sits with us for a few moments before breaking the silence.
"We need to know where to put everybody," he lets me know and I give him a nod, stand up, place Sarah on my hip, and walking into the living room.
"Ok guys," I say to get everybody's attention. Once they're all listening I give out the sleeping arrangements. "Noah and Britt, you have your rooms, Judy and Quinn can take one of the guest rooms upstairs while Dr. Lopez can take the other. I also have a few beds in the attic and Finn, Kurt, Emma, Will and Sam, that's that's where you'll stay. Mike and Tina there's an office next to the bathroom that has a pull out bed in the couch, you guys'll stay there, and Artie and Mercedes, both of these couches pull out as well." Everyone nods as they get their sleeping arrangements and most of them wander off to check them or the rest of the house out.
"Do you mind if I cook dinner?" Judy asks me as I sit down on the couch for a few seconds to try and get Sarah to sleep.
"Not at all Judy, but please don't feel like you have to," I tell her with a smile while rocking Sarah back and forth. I can tell the three year old's tired but she's fighting it.
"Oh no sweetie, it's the least I can do after all you've done."
"Well in that case thank you," I thank her with a grin.
"No need to thank me Rachel," she tells me as she walks into the kitchen.
"I think I'm going to go and help her," Dr. Lopez says as Quinn sits next to me on the couch, a sleeping Beth in her arms.
"Hey," she whispers to me.
"Hey back," I whisper back. She smiles at me for a moment before turning serious.
"Thank you," she tells me, and even though she's whispering I can tell she's trying to hold back tears.
"There's really nothing to thank me for Quinn," I tell her but she just shakes her head at my words.
"There is though. I mean you brought my baby and my mom back, along with Sam's siblings and Santana's papi and brother," she tells me, like it's the most amazing thing ever. I just chuckle slightly and shake my head.
"It was nothing, really." She rolls her eyes at me and shakes her head again but stays quiet this time. After a few minutes of us sitting here in silence Britt walks up and offers to put Sarah in my room since she's asleep.
"Thanks B, and after you're done with that can you find Noah and you guys meet me in the basement please?" I ask her.
"Sure thing Rachy, we'll be right there," she says as she walks upstairs.
"I'll be back in a bit," I tell Quinn as I get up and head down to the basement. I walk over to where I keep some extra clothes and change out of the god awful argyle and skirt, throwing on some short-shorts and a muscle shirt. I then walk over to my gun cabinets and pull out my custom made sold gold desert eagles and their harnesses. I strap the harnesses to my thighs where they go and slip the guns into place.
"Sup boss?" Noah asks as he and Britt walk downstairs.
A bunch of thanks to you for reading. Please review, it'd be greatly appreciated. Hope you enjoyed! = )