Thanks for the reviews, alerts and everything on the last chapter! Much appreciated. Apologies if there are any grammar- or spelling mistakes.
I don't own anything.
The city had been evacuated months earlier, leaving it empty and only the groans of the living dead were echoing down the streets. Bodies of both humans and beasts mangled by the walkers littered the roads and sidewalks. Abandoned cars were scattered everywhere and blocked the streets, their placements evidence of the panic people had found themselves in when all the horror had started. The city was anything but a pretty sight.
Santana wondered what it was like in the rest of the world. She knew the nearby cities, and probably the whole country, were beyond salvation. She had met a few survivors who shared their stories with her, they told her of the walkers being an unstoppable legion of death, forcing the uninfected to leave their homes. They had travelled far and wide searching for safety. But there was none to be found.
But what was the situation like across the sea? Was Europe okay? If it was, why had they not sent any help? Or were they in a worse state than the US? Questions like these kept Santana awake at night. She wanted everyone, even complete strangers, to be alright. She did not wish for anyone to get hurt or meet a fate worse death: becoming a walking corpse. The old Santana would never have spared a thought on people she did not know. They were simply not worthy of her time or energy. A zombie apocalypse tends to change people though.
Santana has never been a scared girl either, she was by no means easily frightened. She did not even bat an eyelash when her roommate found that giant monster of a spider in their dorm room last year at college. Santana simply threw a shoe at it and then proceeded to discard the spider's remains in the trash can. Piece of cake.
But what does scare her is the silence she and Lauren are currently facing. The usual sound of dragging feet and moans they have grown accustomed to can no longer be heard. This particular alley way they are currently walking down usually holds at least a few of those fiends. But they are nowhere to be found.
"Where have all the dead gone?" Santana asks out loud.
"I have no idea, it's never this quiet" Lauren responds.
"This is giving me the creeps Lauren. Where the hell is the person we need to rescue?"
"Beiste said she's a few blocks away from the ware house. Suzy saw her run into that deserted convenient store up ahead when she was on her way back from her scavenge run. Apparently the girl barricaded the doors, but there were zombies surrounding the area. There was nothing Suzy could do."
"I'm sorry, but who the hell is Suzy?"
"Suzy, Suzy Pepper? You don't remember her?" Lauren asked skeptically.
"I can't keep track of every damn survivor in the ware house." Santana responded irritated.
"Tall girl, brunette, glasses. Likes to wear the color red."
Santana just stared at Lauren.
"She's the girl with a crush on Schuester. "
"Oh , her. The 19-year old who looks like she's 40 and dresses worse than my grandma? The Ware House Crazy?"
"Yeah, The Ware House Crazy..."
"Well, why didn't you just say so? That's way easier to remember than 'Suuuzy'"
Lauren just sighed and shook her head. She would never fully understand Santana.
They reached the end of the alley when the eerie silence was broken. Roughly 100 yards away was the convenient store they were looking for: surrounded by zombies. They were banging on the door and windows, desperate to reach what was hiding inside. Santana counted to at least 25 zombies aimlessly wandering around and brutally assaulting the building.
"Wow, that almost reminds me of Black Friday, people being desperate to enter a store" Santana stated.
"Hmm, you're right" Lauren said thoughtfully "it's fascinating to see they have one human instinct left".
"Very funny," Santana said sarcastically "so what's the plan? We found our target, now what?"
"I don't know" Lauren shrugged.
"Seriously?"
"Seriously" She stated firmly. "I thought all the preds would be gone by now".
"What the hell? Preds? Is that what you call them?"
"Yeah, everybody either calls them walkers or zombies. I wanted to feel special"
"I'm not even going to ask what it means" Santana shook her head.
There was silence between the two of them while they pondered on how to rescue the survivor. They could not just charge in Rambo-style and chop them all down, there were way too many of them. Shooting them would not be such a great idea either, the sound would reverberate through the city and only bring them unwanted attention of other zombies. Suddenly a loud cracking sound brought them out of their own worlds.
"Shit, they're almost through the door!" Santana exclaimed.
"We have to act quickly, I will run back down the alley and around the building, fire a few shots with my gun and draw them away from the store. Then you will have to get her out of there. Okay?" Lauren rushed out.
"What? No! That's equal to suicide! The sound will attract zombies all over the area!"
"Well if you have a better idea feel free to tell me!"
Santana opened and closed her mouth, almost looking like a fish on land gulping for air. She could not come up with anything else in the heat of the moment.
"Don't worry" Lauren said, "I will stay on top of the buildings, using the walkways we built a few weeks ago."
Santana sighed. "Ok, but be careful. I don't wanna have to rescue your ass too. Now go before I change my mind."
Lauren shook her head and laughed quietly. "Be cautious Santana, and get the survivor back to the ware house safely. Wait for the preds to disappear before you approach the store." With those words she turned around and left Santana alone in the alley.
Santana kept a watchful eye on the store, trying to spot any sign of life within the confines of it's walls. She saw no movement or any indication of a person being in there. The only sign was the zombies clawing at the boarded up windows and doors.
After a few minutes of pondering on how to approach the situation with the trapped survivor, several gun shots suddenly echoed down the street, effectively catching the zombies' attention. They suddenly stopped trying to tear down the boards and turned toward the source of the noise, but they were yet to move. They were grunting and moaning, as if arguing with each other whether to leave their current target and head for the shooter instead.
"Ugh, I absolutely despise the sounds they make" Santana thought, "they all sound like hippos giving birth."
Her thoughts were interrupted by another series of gun shots. This time the zombies' reacted and began walking towards Lauren's position. They were shambling forward, stumbling over each other and some were even crawling on the ground. It was an awful sight. They used to be people. People who had a life and followed routines every day. But all their emotions and thoughts which made them unique individuals were long gone. All that is left is a mindless body with an insatiable desire to feed.
It took a while for the street to become clear of walkers. Santana crouched down and hurried over to the front of the convenient store as soon as it was relatively safe. She just wanted to get this over with.
She tried to look through the cracks in the boards that covered the windows, but was only met with darkness. With a sigh she tried knocking on the boards and call out "Anyone in there? I'm here to help!", she was careful as to not draw any unwanted attention. But there was no reply. Santana quickly looked left and right to make sure she would not be ambushed when a quick movement from inside the store caught her attention. She snapped her head back towards the window and peered between the cracks, trying to make sure it was not her mind playing tricks on her. Then she saw it again.
"Hello?" she called out, "please, I'm trying to help you, let me in." There was no reply, and the movements had stopped. "I'm gonna try to get in, hold on!"
Santana backed away from the window and assessed her situation. The windows and door were covered with planks and thin sheets of plywood, only the handles of the door were visible. Pulling and pushing the door was futile, it must be barred on the inside. She cursed the door and stepped back, glaring at the handle as she did so.
"There must be a way in somewhere... there has to be a back door" she thought to herself.
Nodding to herself, she moved to the side of the building into an alley and swiftly located the back door next to a dumpster. Luckily, it was not barricaded, it was, however, locked.
"Damn it" she cursed quietly, "what the hell am I supposed to do now?"
She had no skills in picking locks, and not the necessary tools needed either, and trying to shoot the door open would just be foolish. Not only would it attract zombies, the bullet could also injure whoever was inside.
She decided to go all Lima Heights on the door and try to knock it down.
"How difficult can it be? They do it all the time in the movies."
Santana placed her right hand on the door handle and pressed her left shoulder against the door. She leaned away from the door, while still holding onto the handle, and counted to three before launching her shoulder full force into the door. Not her brightest idea.
With a squeal she let go of the door and gripped her shoulder.
"Fuck that hurt! Stupid misleading movies tricking people into breaking down doors..." she grumbled to herself.
The door was not even scratched from her brave attempt. Santana glared at it as if it was her worst enemy and hoped her evil looks would burn it down. Her staring contest with the door was interrupted when the object in question was slowly opening. A pale arm clad in a blue hoodie with the sleeve rolled up appeared. But what caught Santana's attention was the other hand when it appeared a second later, holding a gun.
Fear immediately coursed through Santana's body and she instinctively raised her hands. Zombies are vicious creatures, but they are at least easy to outsmart. People on the other hand, still had the capability of thinking and using their so called brain, well most of them, and were often more dangerous than the monsters walking the streets. Santana had never stared down the barrel of a gun before, but it was surely a moment she would never forget.
"We don't need your help, now leave, before you lure any of them here." a voice suddenly said.
Santana quickly looked up towards the source of the voice and was met with the sight of a blonde girl with her hair in a loose pony tail. She had clear blue eyes, high cheek bones, thin lips and dirt smudged over her cheeks and chin. Had it not been for the fact that Santana had a gun pointed at her face she would have been stunned by the beauty of the girl instead of fear.
"I won't say it again. Leave. Now." The girl stated.
Santana was brought out of her shocked state and replied:
"No please! My name is Santana, I'm from a ware house not far from here. There are other people there and it's safe. You should come with me!"
" Do you think I'm stupid? What makes you think we would follow a complete stranger to this so called 'ware house'? As far as I know, you could lead us away just to kill and rob us."
"We? Us? Are there others in there?" Santana asked carefully.
"Brittany? Is everything alright out there?" A man in his mid-forties appeared behind the blonde girl, who apparently was named Brittany.
"The girl who was banging on the boards and yelling earlier tried to knock down the back door and is now trying to lure us to her murder house." the blonde said. She sounded annoyed.
"No no! That's not what I said at all! Please sir" Santana turned to the man "I was sent out to rescue a survivor here at the store and I really do come from a ware house where other survivors live! I'm here with friendly intentions!"
"Bullshit" Brittany exclaimed and undid the safety on the gun "now, I'm being serious when I say we don't need any help."
The man put a hand on her shoulder. "Brittany be reasonable, let's bring her inside and talk about it there. We shouldn't be out in the open like this. The zombies can swoop down on us when we least expect it." He turned to Santana and gave her a small smile when he finished talking.
"...You're right. Swooping is bad. But search her first, I don't want any surprises if we bring her inside."
"Is that really necess-"
"Burt! Just do it!" Brittany shouted.
"Okay! Okay! Just keep your voice down."
He turned to Santana and closed the distance between them in a few steps.
"Sorry, but I have to do this." he said before he bent down and began patting over her boots and legs.
The other girl still had her gun pointed to Santana's face. "Keep your hands where I can see them, and don't try anything."
"Don't worry, I'm too scared to do anything, considering I'll be going into your murder house now."
Brittany smirked. "We won't do anything if you behave."
"I found a gun and a knife. Her backpack is empty save for a bottle of water." Burt said.
"Take the bottle too! What if it contains acid and she wants to throw it at us making us faces melt away!" Brittany took a step back and widened her eyes.
"I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that." Burt sighed. "Now get inside, I'm starting to feel uneasy out here."
He went inside the store and Brittany motioned for Santana to follow suit. She still kept her hands in the air, afraid of taking them down in case Brittany would become more hostile than she already was.
No, Santana was not easily frightened, but today she had been scared twice. A new record. She hated being scared. It made her feel weak and vulnerable, only leading to people taking advantage of that. She would not admit it, but she had been terrified from the moment she and Lauren left the ware house. Then the feeling of anxiousness only grew further when she heard the door behind her being closed. She was now alone with two strangers, engulfed in darkness.
I'd love to hear what you think of it :)