Chapter 1: New Beginnings
That had been three weeks ago and in those three weeks I had never stopped running. I doubt I would ever stop running.
After escaping the facility and fleeing into the forest I had found a small town and just outside of Toronto. I had managed to find a small weapons store inside a large sports store. But since all the guns had been taken, I had to settle with a crossbow and two machetes. I thanked my genetically enhanced genes that I was a natural at using everything.
I had long ago ditched the nightgown for black combat boots, green cargo pants, and a gray wife beater. The look was complete with aviators and a beanie with the crossbow strapped to my back and the machetes strapped to my legs. I had taken a knife and chopped off my long blonde hair to just below my ears, because it had kept getting in the way when I run and fight.
I also discovered that I was immune to the curse of the undead. I had gotten distracted and had been bitten, once, even though it had taken longer to heal than a normal wound, it still glowed gold and healed, after I had to will it to heal which I don't normally have to do with my injuries, just others. But after it was done, there had been black liquid in its place, black liquid shockingly similar to the liquid the undead would bleed when injured or killed again.
I had finally made it out of Canada and into America somehow with my internal sense of direction. I had no idea where my body and mind were taking me but I just let them do the guiding.
Somehow my body took me here: Lima, Ohio. Where the sign told me to "Please Enjoy Your Day." Don't count on it.
I turned past the sign and I was officially in Lima, which could be considered a ghost town, there was no one, dead or alive, anywhere, as far as I could tell. As I walked through the streets I started questioning how I had even ended up here in this random small town, until I saw a supermarket and started thanking all the gods I had ever heard of.
I hadn't eaten in nearly forty-eight hours and I was starving to say the least. I knew not to get my hopes up, that most of it was probably gone. Gone with the people when they had left this town or gone because the undead had destroyed it. I pried open the not-so-automatic automatic glass doors that probably hadn't properly worked since all the major power companies shut down last week. I opened the doors just enough for me to force my way in and then they snapped shut behind me.
My eyes adjusted to the ding lighting, the only actual light coming in from the windows. My nose wrinkled at the stench of decaying food and death. I instantly knew that something was wrong and that I needed to get out of there now, but my hunger got the better of my mind so I picked a random aisle and walked down it. I had picked the aisle that had possibly used to be a drinks aisle but was now just a collection of nothing. Ripped open chip bags, knocked down shelves, spilled bottles, knocked over display carts, and everything seemed to be trampled on. I quickly scanned the slanted shelves, my boots crunching over the bags of destroyed food. I sighed when I realized there was nothing here I could actually eat and that the other aisles were probably exactly the same, this place had fallen victim to scared people and the impatiently hungry undead.
I heard a crash and spun around, nearly losing my balance in my weakened from hunger state. I stared at the four undead, who were probably more than a little hungry from being trapped in this store for who knows how long. They had just knocked over a cart, and were blocking the only way out, the not-so-automatic automatic doors. I unhooked my crossbow from the strap on my back and pulled out two bolts, loading one of them in as the undead started to notice me one by one. The one closest to me took a step forward and I quickly responded by firing the bolt between his eyes. His body hit the floor and now all the attention from the other three was on me.
I started walking toward them, I knew that was the only way out and I didn't know how many there were in this building. I quickly knocked the next bolt and without hesitating, sent it through the forehead of the undead that had been next to approach me, she fell to the ground, dead for the second time.
I was close enough to the other two that I returned the crossbow to my back and drew out my machetes. I quickly ducked as the taller of the two lunged at me and swung back up, decapitating him swiftly. I spun around, faced the other one, and smiled because this had been easy. I quickly stepped toward him and, before he could do anything, I lifted both machetes, crossed them in an X at his throat and a second later, his lifeless body fell to the ground.
I sighed in relief, trying to calm my heartbeat and the adrenaline that was pumping through my body. It was a lost cause because a second later undead started wandering from each aisle of the supermarket. Our little fight must've made some noise and attracted a lot of unwanted attention. I tried to start counting but quickly lost count. I knew that when I couldn't tell how many there were that I couldn't fight and had to flee. I spun around and set to work on prying the door open again.
My hands were slipping and I couldn't seem to get the doors open this time so I raised the hilt of one of my machetes and was just about to bash in the glass when I felt pain rip through my stomach. I looked down and watched as a female undead sunk her teeth into my abdomen. I wouldn't let myself scream as I kneed her in the chest and quickly sliced off her head.
I looked up and noticed the first line of the undead was mere feet from me so I turned and jumped right through the glass doors. I landed on my side and rolled over as glass rained over me. I keep my body bent down until I knew it was over and then I hopped up and glanced over my shoulder at the momentarily stunned undead.
A wave of pain rushed over my body as I remembered my injury. "Damn it," I cursed. I had gotten cocky and with cockiness came stupidity and carelessness. I put a hand to the wound on my stomach. I knew the momentary silence wound vanish and the undead would come through the giant hole in the door any minute. I had to get away from there, there were too many undead and I didn't know if I could handle more then one bite at a time so I turned and ran.
Running had easily become part of my life and daily routine because even though they had made me run everyday at the facility, I had never run for my life before, but now, that's all I seem to run for. Back at the facility I just ran and trained every single day of my life. It was obstacle course after obstacle course. Run, jump, swim, fight, climb, and fight again. Then after that it was tests, not paper tests or running tests, but needle tests, medical tests. I was poked and prodded until my skin would bruise and then heal, bruise and then heal. It was a sickening cycle that I was glad to be away from, even if because of all that I had survived this long on my own.
I ran until I was sure that there was no way the undead could've possibly followed me. I continued with walking for a few more moments until I was outside of a school. I stared up at the brickwork of the building and at the black and red trim around in until I looked back at the double front doors. I walked up to the doors, with something that used to read William McKinley High School above them, and tried the handle, which unsurprisingly was unlocked. I pushed the door open and staggered inside, the bite wound finally getting to me, which meant it would heal soon.
As I stumbled through the halls of the school trying to get somewhere, I didn't know where, I seem to crash into every locker in this place because of the bite. Undead bites always made me a bit disoriented and clumsy. I slammed a little too hard against a locker and winced, hot pain ripping through my body. And that's when I heard it, the breaths of someone trying a little too hard to breathe quietly, the timid soft footfalls of someone trying to walk silently. The sounds were moving toward me and I knew it couldn't be the undead because they didn't even try to sneak up on anyone. I stopped moving, resting my shoulder on a locker as I waited for the person to get closer.
When the person was so close I could almost feel their breath of my neck, my body went into action. I spun around, grabbed the person's wrists, twisted them together and flipped them onto their back on the floor. She gasped out in pain as I landed on top of her, my hands holding her wrists down above her head, with her shotgun, that she still managed to keep in her hand. Impressive.
"Who the fuck are you?" The girl spat as I held her wrists in place.
"Next time you should be a little quieter when you try to sneak up on someone," I smirked as I released her arms and jumped up.
The Latina slowly rose off the ground and eyed me skeptically, "Well you seem to be alive."
"No duh," I interrupted with an eye roll.
"At least right now," she continued and raised her shotgun and jabbed me in the stomach. I winced in pain, remembering my earlier injury, and jumped back.
"The hell was that for?" I spat at her.
"You're gonna be one of them soon. Might as well kill you now before you turn and kill me or someone else in the gang." Gang? "It doesn't matter," she cocked her gun and put the tip at my nose.
"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Let's all just try to keep our heads, ok?" I rose up my hands in surrender. She gave me that look again as she slowly lowered her gun but then she seemed to remember something and rose it up once again.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just shot you right now?"
"Because I'm not going to change ok?"
"What? Are you insane?" She shouted, "You obviously don't know anything about how things work now."
"And you obviously don't know anything about me. Back up!" There was something in my tone that made her waiver and I took that moment of weakness to jab forward with my hand and dislocate her left shoulder. She cried out and dropped the gun but I managed to catch it before it hit the ground and possibly send a bullet astray. I looked back to her, she was cradling her left arm and looking at me in shock but it quickly turned to anger.
"I didn't want to have to do this but I'm about to go all Lima Heights on your skinny white ass!" She reached up into her ponytail and pulled out a small razor and raised it as if to face me in a duel, which caused me to bust out laughing.
"Would you just calm down so I can explain?"
She made no move to relax her stance so I slowly bent down and gently rested the shotgun on the ground then stood back up.
"Listen. Ok? I didn't want to have to show you this but hold on." I raised my tank top to the underside of my bra to show her my stomach and the bite wound. She looked at me like I was crazy and then down to my stomach.
"Um what's supposed to be happening?"
"Just wait," I looked down and saw the bite wound that had started to swell and willed it to heal. Within seconds, just when the dark haired girl had started to get antsy, it started glowing golden. She gasped and backed away. Warmed flooded through my body from the spot on my stomach and soon the glow was replaced with the black liquid. I wiped it off with my hands, replaced the tank top over my now unharmed stomach, and glanced up at the brunette. She was just staring at me, her mouth opening and closing like a fish.
"Uh. What... What was that?" She managed to gasp out.
"Look I'll explain it all later. Let me see your shoulder." I stepped forward, my hands rising to her shoulder, but she quickly stepped back and raised the razor inches from my face.
"You just saw me heal from an undead bite, do you really think I won't be able to heal from a razor cut?" I rolled my eyes. Wow this chick is really hardheaded. She stared at me with her calculating look and slowly lowered her arm. Good. I stepped forward again, reaching for her shoulder, but again she quickly stepped back.
"Trust me," I practically growled from my impatience.
"I don't trust you, I don't even know you and you just fucking healed yourself and I have no fucking idea what's going on!" She shouted while failing her arms and nearly slicing through my cheek.
"Calm down. Ok? Let's just start over. Hi. I'm Quinn and you are?" I stuck out my hand in greeting. She hesitantly grabbed my hand and shook it saying, "Um hi. I'm Santana."
"Nice to meet you Santana," I smiled.
"Uh. Nice to meet you too." Her hand fell to her side and I raised my hands to hover right above her shoulder and then glanced at her eyes, silently asking for permission. She nodded and I gently rested my hands on her shoulder. My hands started glowing as I willed her shoulder to heal. Soon we heard a pop, she winced and it was over.
I removed my hands and she rolled her shoulder a few times and then flexed her arm. Santana looked up at my in amazement and then mumbled something that sounded like a 'Thanks'. I opened my mouth to reply when we heard footsteps around the corner. I spun around and unsheathed both machetes strapped to my hips as Santana reached down and picked up her shotgun. We raised both our weapons and tensed, side-by-side as we waited for whoever, or whatever, it was to turn the corner.
The steps got closer until the figure rounded the corner of the school hallway. A tall, unarmed blonde girl, who was the owner of the footsteps, stopped when she saw our weapons. Santana relaxed next to me and lowered her gun with a sigh. The blonde looked at me questioningly and then turned to Santana and a smile stretched across her face.
"Sany! I've been looking everywhere for you! Mike called a meeting and everyone is supposed to be there. Oh. Who's this?"
"Hey Britt Britt." The Latina ran forward and embraced the blonde giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before answering her question. "That's.. Uh.. Quinn. She's a survivor that found her way here."
"So she's gonna stay with us? Are we gonna have another roommate?"
"Well I don't know about that Bri-"
"Of course I'll stay with you," I interrupted with a smile. The blonde squealed in excitement and then skipped over and hugged me tightly. It would be interesting to be with other people again.
"Uh Britt? It's Britt, right? Air please?" I managed to gasp out as she squeezed my ribs.
"Oh yeah. Sorry." She pulled away and smiled. "Yeah. Well Britt is my nickname. My name is Brittany S. Pierce, not to be confused with Brittney Spears." Her smiled drop to be replaced by a look of determination. Come on, we have a meeting to go to."
I sheathed my machetes and Brittany grabbed my hand and then Santana's, who had strapped her gun back against her back, and dragged us down the hall.
She finally stopped running in front of double doors with "April Rhodes Civic Pavilion" engraved above them. Santana stepped forward and knocked four times then stopped and knocked two more times. The doors opened enough for us to slip past. Santana grabbed Brittany's hand and disappeared inside. I took a deep breath and followed them in, the doors clicking shut behind me.
I found myself in what I assume used to be an auditorium. The seats had been ripped out of the floor and shoved against the wall with the cushions removed from them to be set up as makeshift beds along the slanted floor.
Santana and Brittany had moved up to sit on the floor of the stage at the front of the auditorium where a group had already gathered. They all started whispering amongst themselves until a tall Asian boy called for order and they quieted back down.
"Ok so before we begin does anyone… Yes Brittany?" The blonde, who had been waving her hand in the air like a maniac, squealed.
"We made a new friend today. Didn't we San?" She glanced over at the Latina who replied, "Well, not exactly a friend, but-"
"Who?" An Asian girl, who had been sitting next to the Asian boy asked.
I cleared my throat and everyone turned to look at me. It was intimidating, to say the least, everyone up on stage looking down at me, so I started to nervously shift from foot to foot as I waited for someone to say something. Suddenly everyone started talking at once saying everything from "Who is she?" to "She's kinda cute." to "Is she a spy?"
"Quiet guys!" the Asian boy shouted then turned to the newcomer, "What's your name?"
When everyone had indeed quieted down I spoke, "Quinn."
A tall boy with a dopey grin smiled over at me, "Well if you are staying, Quinn, you can always sleep in my bed there's plent- OW! Kurt!" he glared at the boy that had just slapped his arm, Kurt who replied, "Stop being perverted and I won't have to hit you!"
Kurt turned to me, "Sorry sweetie, he's just stupid." "Hey!" "Anyways, that's Finn, I'm Kurt, this is my boyfriend, Blaine," he gestured to the boy with excessive hair gel next to him who nodded at me, "That's Dave next to Blaine. The boy that seems to be in charge is Mike and the girl sitting next to him is Tina, his girlfriend." The short Asian girl waved at me, "Sitting next to her is Mercedes. You apparently already know Brittany and Satan." "Watch it!" Santana interjected. "And the short girl over there with the loud mouth is Rachel," Kurt finished but Rachel quickly protested, "I don't have a loud mouth!"
"Now she knows all our names so she has to stay," Brittany clapped in excitement.
"Whoa hold up," Mike said carefully, "There are already a lot of us and the bigger the group the more the undead are attracted to them and besides we don't even know if she wants to stay."
"Exactly."
"We don't even know her."
"She could be a spy or a serial killer."
"I wouldn't mind staying," I quickly spoke up before everyone's talking would get too loud, "It would be interesting to be in a group again."
"Where are you from?" the Asian girl, Tina, questioned.
"Toronto," I said the first place to pop into my head besides Lima. And then everyone started talking at once again.
"Canada?"
"That's awesome!"
"Did you bring some bacon?"
"Like she has bacon dipshit."
"Say 'about'."
"Guys!" Mike silenced them, "This is why we never get anything done!"
Kurt, ignoring him, turned to me again and asked, "How long have you been alone?"
"About three weeks."
"Whoa, dude," Finn said, "How'd you survive so long alone?"
I shrugged, "I guess I just picked up skills from my previous group."
"What happened to them?"
I started to open my mouth to reply with a lie but as if sensing the uncomfortable atmosphere surrounding me with answering the question, the short brunette, Rachel, decided to pop in the conversation, "She could be a valuable addition to the gang and we shouldn't leave people alone with how everything is now."
Mike seemed to mull it over in his head before coming to a decision, "Ok let's take a vote. All in favor of her leaving right now?" Dave, Mercedes, and Santana put up their hands. "All in favor of her staying, helping us, and learning more about her?" Everyone else's hands went up, Brittany even put up two hands and scolded Santana for voting against me. My eyes, however, were on Rachel, and her eyes were on me. We were in our own little world, lost to the others for a few moments where she tried to figure me out and I just got lost in her deep, chocolate brown orbs.
"Ok then, it's decided, Quinn stays!" There was some cheering, led mostly by Brittany, who had run off the stage and hugged me, while Santana tried to smite me with her eyes. I looked up at Rachel over Brittany's shoulder to see her clapping and giving me a soft smile that I happily returned. "Meeting over!"
Everyone slowly made their way off the stage and over to their own little makeshift beds, Brittany leaving me to follow a grumbling Santana.
"Hi."
The short brunette from earlier smiled as she greeted me. It was that sweet soft smile from before that I could get used to seeing on a daily basis since I was staying.
"Um. Hi." Did I just say um? Am I nervous? I'm never nervous! "Thanks for, you know, standing up for me back there and all, it means a lot especially since you don't even know me." Wow could I sound more like an idiot?
"Oh it was no problem. They had no right to ignore your pleas and completely try to outcast you like that. No one deserves to be cast out, especially in a times like these when we need to stick together against the rising numbers of the undead." I just smiled at the short girl's ramble.
"I haven't formally introduced myself, I'm Rachel Barbra Berry, but you can call me Rachel," she stuck out her hand.
"Hi Rachel, I'm Quinn." I grasped her hand in mine and shook it. Our hands dropped and I missed the contact instantly for some reason but I shook my head and the feeling was gone. She opened her mouth to say something again but was interrupted when the excessively tall boy, I think Finn was his name, stood up and addressed Mike, "So that was an interesting meeting but we never actually talked about tomorrow."
"Oh right, tomorrow, we start cleaning up this place, doubling patrols, and packing for New York City," Mike said with a smile while everyone cheered.
"What's in New York City?" I whispered to Rachel.
"A safe haven, it's been declared undead free," she replied back, a gleam in her eyes.
Mike continued, "Everything in our preparations for New York should go smoothly, as long as those undead freaks stay in that supermarket we trapped them in."
"Oops."
First official chapter! Thanks for all the feedback from the Prologue, hoped you guys like this one.
A lot of stuff happened, what do you guys think? Press that review button :)
I'll update from now on with a new chapter every week so thanks for reading and see you next week!