This chapter is kind of weird, but I figure: what's a zombie fic without zombies, right? Happy reading!
anon #2: Ha! No, no hate yet. I reckon that's a good thing.
Minor Spoilers: Season 3
Junior Year of College
Rachel finished her second year of college with a 4.0 GPA and the start of her third year was going well. Finn was excelling in his military law classes. He decided to major in law and criminal science, and even found an internship with some of the people on his base. At the moment, he was just filing and doing random admin jobs, but he was getting to know the people there and the gist of how they worked.
There was talk around the office about new cases popping up where people were suing pharmaceutical companies for making veterans sick, but Finn didn't have access to any of those files. As more cases emerged, more people started to panic. Doctors' offices were packed with people who were trying to get prescriptions and flu shots to combat any diseases just in case they were diagnosed with this new illness. They couldn't keep up with the demand, so they were beginning to turn people away. Some areas were getting out of control; people would flock outside the doors and demand that they be seen, while others just broke into pharmacies and took what they thought they needed. It was chaos.
A government organization called Looking Glass Coalition was put in charge to find suitable treatments. They had been under the radar before all of this started to happen, manufacturing allergy and cold medications, so it was unusual that they would become the major corporation to develop the cure.
Rachel was in the middle of her playwriting class when she first heard about The Infestation, or Virus M - the official name that the government had given it. A faculty member had run into their classroom and told the teacher to turn on a radio or television. One of the students streamed the radio through their phone and plugged them into portable speakers that another student had and they all listened attentively.
Over three hundred cases have been lodged just in the East Coast alone, and, while the likelihood of this being biological warfare is very low, government officials taking extra precautions. Airports, bus and train stations, as well as subways are being monitored closely and all planes have been grounded. No one is allowed to enter or leave the country until further notice.
The origin of the disease is unknown, but be assured that the government is making sure that they explore every option to get it under control. Officials are saying that if anyone has any flu-like symptoms or notice any discoloration of the skin, they should seek medical advice. At this time, it appears that only males have complained about symptoms, but every person should be taking extra precautions.
According to our sources, Looking Glass Corporation has been working day and night to find a cure, so it shouldn't be long now before it's administered to the public, and soon, vaccines will be produced to prevent further outbreaks.
The newscast went on to say there have been signs that the disease had spread to Europe and Asia as well, but it was not yet being called an epidemic. Some of the students left the room to call their friends and families, but Rachel stayed seated and listened. She was trying to understand the gravity of the situation and understand exactly what was happening.
Health scares like this have happened before: West Nile Virus, SARS, Avian Flu. They eventually went away, or were contained. Maybe this would be just like them. After the initial panic wore off, someone somewhere would find a cure or a magic pill that would make it all go away and everyone can go back to their normal, boring, lives. There was nothing to worry about.
Two months later, over 10,000 people had been recorded as being infected. 156 people had died as a result. Out of those 156, 140 of them were over the age of 65. The symptoms had changed from flu-like to jaundice and organ failure. Before the people died, their skin had turned a yellow color and their eyes became bloodshot.
Other rumors surfaced that people with the disease became increasingly hostile and violent, but there was no proof of that. There were, however, an increasing amount of military personnel wandering the streets. The media was saying that, again, it was a precaution and people shouldn't be alarmed, but when there's a beast of a man carrying an M16A4 around like it was a paperback book, it's a little intimidating.
At the end of her class, Rachel called Finn to see if he had heard about this "Virus M".
"It's the weirdest thing; some of the guys here have been taking cases about this disease. They're saying that pharmaceutical companies actually made them sick with some of the treatments and test vaccines they've been giving."
"That's crazy. Is it true?"
"I don't know. I guess anything's possible. I'll keep an eye out and see if I can find any information."
Rachel chewed on her lip nervously. "Okay, but be careful. You know how things can get when we put our nose where it doesn't belong: strange men walk up to you and hand you vague letters from your missing best friend."
"Yeah, I know. I'll be careful. Hey, I gotta go. Talk soon?"
"Okay, sure."
"Bye, Rach."
The phone cut out and Rachel sighed to herself. She had another class to go to, but she didn't have the motivation. Instead, she went to the library and sat in front of one of the computers. She looked up everything that she could about Virus M and the Looking Glass Coalition. Something didn't sit right with her. Why would a random pharmaceutical company like that get put in charge of developing vaccines when they had no other previous vaccines manufactured?
The library was virtually empty. Most of the students had gone home after seeing the news broadcasts. It was amazing that people still got spooked by media scare tactics.
Just as Rachel was about to start reading up on the Looking Glass Coalition's origins, the power went out.
"Hello?" Rachel called out just as she remembered that doing so was a big no-no in horror films. Whenever the victim called out and started walking around, the killer would pop up behind a wall or something and stab them. She kept quiet and stood up slowly, hand on the mace in her purse. The sound of dragging feet echoed through the library and Rachel hid under a table and shut her eyes tight.
The footsteps were getting closer and she could hear a low groan. She was silently begging someone else to come into the room and save her. Something grabbed her ankle and she screamed out. Her eyes shot open and she looked straight into the eyes of her attacker. They were glazed over and almost translucent, skin as grey as a dull knife blade, teeth bared. Rachel kicked her feet out and scooted backwards; she tried spraying the pepper spray into the man's eyes, but it had no effect.
She crawled out from under the desk and started running down one of the library hallways. Tears started to fall down her face; she had never been this terrified in her life. She was about to die. As she hid behind another bookshelf – ironically, holding books on biological and chemical warfare - she could hear the sound of feet shuffling towards her. The same breathy groans accompanied the footsteps. Rachel held her purse up tight to her chest, closed her eyes, and readied herself for her impending death.
Holy shit. Fuck. Someone please help me. Fucking hell. Please...
Before the footsteps got to her, there was a thump and the footsteps stopped. The body fell in front of her and Rachel let out a gasp. An axe was embedded in its skull and its empty eyes were staring back at her. She was half expecting it to come back to life and try to grab at her, but it didn't. Peeking between the bookshelves, she tried to see who it was that saved her, but she was afraid to come out. What if it was just another attacker who was taking out the competition?
Just as she finished her thought, Rachel could hear the library door open and close. She peeked out over the corner of the bookshelf. Standing up and stepping over the dead thing, she cautiously walked out towards the door. It was still dark, but her eyes had adjusted. No one else was in the library, so she opened the heavy wooden door of the library and looked out to her left, then to her right. A figure was walking away from her.
"Excuse me," she called out, the lump in her throat caused it to come out as a timid mew. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Hey, excuse me. Please, wait!"
The person in front of her paused. He turned around slowly and Rachel realized that it wasn't a 'he' at all. In fact, she knew this person.
"C-Coach Sylvester?"
"What-, how-," Rachel was speechless, again. Absolute fear and confusion had that effect on her. "I don't understand. What are you doing here?"
Sue Sylvester looked younger than she ever had while at McKinley and still had the confidence she did while coaching the Cheerios. "Well, Baby Barbra, once I heard about this so-called infestation, I took it upon myself to become as prepared as I possibly could. I took self-defense classes, became a master at Brazilian jiu jitsu, and also learned how to blacksmith so I could forge my own weapons.
Rachel blinked twice. Was she being serious? The kids could never tell if Coach Sylvester was telling the truth, so they just assumed that she always did, to save them added confusion and questions.
"Okay, but what are you doing here in New York? I would have thought you'd be breeding a Cheerio army to fight for you."
"I thought about it, but with the amount of laxatives and diuretics that these girls take, I could snap them in half with my eyelashes. It's easier if I just do it all myself. New York seemed to be a hotspot of activity, so I came here to practice my skills. I always knew there were shifty people in this city."
Rachel nodded and the two of them stood in front of each other for a few moments. The silence was broken with a vibration coming from Rachel's purse.
"It's probably Finn. I told him I'd be home two hours ago."
"You're still with Stretch Armstrong? I'm impressed. Anyway, as much as I'd love to catch up on you and your jolly green giant, I must be off."
"We're, um, not together. We broke up before I came to New York. We still talk, on occasion. He's still in the army and is training in North Carolina." Sue never looked more bored in her entire life. "I can't thank you enough for what you did. You saved my life."
"Don't mention it. Just remember: keep your eye on the ball."
Rachel raised an eyebrow and gave one of her famous "what the actual fuck" faces. "Um... 'kay. Thanks again, Coach Sylvester."
Sue raised an arm to wave without turning around. "See you around, Fanny." The world really was ending if Sue Sylvester had just saved her from a... whatever that thing was. Zombie? She almost forgot about the text from Finn, so she unlocked her phone and read the message, but it wasn't from Finn.
Ms. Berry, there are plenty more where that came from. Please end your investigation.
"Great, just when I didn't think things couldn't get any stranger," she said to herself. She finally left the library building and started heading home.
When she got home, she put her take-out on the kitchen table. Rachel smiled at the normality that welcomed her to the apartment. She walked into the bathroom to shower, since she had been crawling all over the library floor. When she finished, she placed her laptop on the table while she ate and waited for Finn to log onto Skype. When he did, she immediately called him.
"Hey you."
Rachel let out a long breath. "You'll never believe what happened today. I was attacked by a - "
"Zombie?"
The sudden speechlessness hit Rachel again. "Am I the last person to find out about these zombies, or something? Even Sue freaking Sylvester knows about them. And can we just stop a moment and consider how ridiculous this sounds? I mean, zombies?"
Finn knew Rachel was upset because she nearly-swore. She only nearly-swore when she really mad, or when he forgot to get her extra meat with her meals - or was that leave out the extra meat? It was so hard to remember things. "Yeah, I saw some pictures from the cases at work and there were some really creepy looking dudes. They were all grey and missing skin in places, and - wait, what? Coach Sylvester?" Finn scratched his head.
"Yeah, I got attacked in the library at school and I thought I was going to have to put my overdramatic dying act to use."
"What does that have to do with Coach Sylvester?"
"She saved my life. She dug an axe into its skull and saved me." Rachel was visibly shaking now, as she remembered the events a couple of hours earlier. Finn gave a sympathetic look.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there."
"I-It's okay. I just wasn't prepared. You know how I like to be extra prepared for things. It wouldn't have been so bad if I had a sword or a gun or something. I can't exactly sing a zombie to death."
Finn chuckled at Rachel's attempt to lighten the mood. "Hey, I was thinking..." he said before a long pause. "They're building a massive military base on Staten Island to have some protection on the east coast, and I was thinking about getting transferred."
"Oh, that's great."
"Yeah, I mean, do you remember what I told you before you left for New York?"
Rachel thought back to one of the most painful moments of her life. She lost her fiancé, moved to a completely new state by herself with no comfort or familiarity, but she had Quinn a mere 80 miles away. 80 miles away might as well have been 8000 miles after Quinn stopped replying to her texts and stopped answering her phone. She had to admit, it would be nice to have someone she was comfortable around to be closer to her.
"I remember. We can discuss it more later on, okay? It's getting pretty late."
"Yeah, sure. I'll keep you updated. Goodnight, Rachel."
Rachel wondered if she should tell Finn about the mysterious text that she got at the library. She decided to wait until another day; all she wanted to do was eat dinner, get a good night's sleep, and go back to some semblance of normalcy. The zombies could wait.
