Sorry it's been so long since the last update, I took Winter Break off. I hope you all had a great holiday and a wonderful new year! xoxo
The silence in the group was more oppressive than ever.
Puck wiped sweat off his forehead. They were all tense. Rachel was even more taciturn than before. Kurt was stuck to Finn's side. Brittany and Santana were whispering to each other, oblivious to the rest of them.
Blaine seemed to have regained his composure, as well as his insensitivity.
"Jesus, how far away can this arcade be? My feet are killing me."
Nobody answered him.
"…Hello? Guys? Guys. Guys. You guys."
"Oh my god, it's like ten minutes away," said Finn.
"Was that so hard to answer?"
"We just watched two people die." Tina's eyes started misting. "Have some respect."
"Okay, Debbie Downer. I was just asking."
"Stop talking," said Quinn sharply.
Blaine glared at her. "I know it must hard for you to suppress your rampant desire for me, but just so you know, I'm not interested."
Quinn turned slowly. "What?"
"Seriously, Quinn. You're in the Danger Zone."
"I'm in the what?"
"You just have to try and move on, you know? You'll get over me eventually."
Quinn balled her hands into fists. "I would rather be with one of the spiders."
"Ouch, Quinn, that hit me right in the feelings."
"I'll hit you right in the something." Quinn pulled out her sniper rifle and looked down the scope.
"Can we not shoot each other?" Finn asked angrily.
Quinn begrudgingly strapped her rifle to her back and refused to look at Blaine.
Finn looked over at Kurt walking next to him. His expression was unreadable.
"If you need to cry again don't worry about it," Finn spoke in a low voice.
"I'm not a delicate flower, Finn; I'm not going to start bawling at the drop of a hat."
Finn was taken aback by Kurt's searing tone.
"I-I'm sorry…"
Kurt closed his eyes. "No, I'm sorry. I guess I'm just trying to substitute tears with anger. You didn't deserve that."
Finn patted Kurt's back and gave a small smile.
"So how did you learn to fire a gun?" Puck turned to see Tina walking next to him.
He shrugged. "I started going to the firing range when I was 14. Used a fake I.D. I taught myself, really. I learned about all the different types of guns through video games, mostly; they're more educational than you'd think."
"Will you teach me?"
Puck chuckled slightly. He never thought he'd hear Tina come up to him and ask him to teach her how to shoot a gun. Then again, he never thought his city would be invaded by giant spiders.
His smile fell. He never thought he'd be wondering whether his family was still alive, or his friends. He never thought he'd be walking through the streets he knew so well, distrustful of every dark corner and alley, straining his ears to hear the slightest chitter or tapping of spindly legs, the hairs on the back of his neck raising every time the wind blew.
"S-sorry, you don't have to teach me if you don't want to, I didn't think…" Tina retracted after seeing Puck's sullen face.
"No, once we get to a safer place, I'll teach you."
Tina smiled. "Thanks."
"Well we can't have you nearly gunning us all down whenever you get… too excited."
Tina blushed and cleared her throat.
"We should be almost there," she said. Puck nodded.
Kurt tried to keep his breathing even. The buildings seemed to be creeping closer and closer inward. The air was thick and smoky with fear and death. There were bodies strewn here in there on the road and in the alleyways. Kurt tried not to look at them. They were just coming out of the darkest part of the night; sunrise wouldn't be for another couple hours.
It felt like every dark space and crevice was moving, writhing with fangs and legs. Every shadow looked like it was made of spider swarms just waiting for them to come too close. Kurt shuddered.
He glanced up at Finn. He wished he hadn't snapped at him. He wished Blaine would talk to him a little more (minus the arrogance). He wished Rachel would talk at all.
He began to feel tears welling up. He wished none of this had happened and he could just have a normal Halloween and go to normal school and even get normal bullied. He would take all the punches and sneers in the world just to erase this whole disaster.
Stop it, he thought, closing his eyes. He felt ashamed of himself; he was better than this. He knew that crying and wishing would get him nowhere. He was in this situation and he was going to fight to get himself out, just like every other ordeal in his life. He was going to deal with it.
"This is it?" asked Quinn.
The Haybridge Shopping Center, Lima's other shopping mall, loomed before them.
Tina nodded. "The arcade is in here."
Quinn felt a ball of ice form in the pit of her stomach. She did not want to go in there. It brought back horrible, recent memories. There were way too many places for spiders to hide, way too many shops and corners and levels. What if it was completely swarmed like the mall they had been in? Once again she felt animal instinct stirring inside her. She felt like a panther being pushed into a cage; she fought the urge to run and leave her friends behind.
Quinn ran a hand over her sleek sniper rifle. It soothed the animal; it made her feel calm and professional and deadly.
The mall was pitch dark. This seemed to be one of the areas where power had been lost.
"Blaine, do you have a flashlight or something in that bag?" asked Finn.
"I'm a secret agent, not a park ranger. Flashlights attract enemy attention; this is what agents use." Blaine pulled out some sort of eyewear, grinning.
The gadget was very high-tech looking; the eyes were covered with a sort of green material. Finn's eyes widened when he realized that it was a pair of night-vision goggles.
"Oh, that's great," Quinn smiled. "Except we can't all wear one pair of night-vision goggles, dumbass. We need flashlights."
"Relax," said Blaine. "I'll lead you guys through there and we'll find a hardware store or something and get flashlights."
Santana shook her head. "Oh, no. I am not relying on him to lead us through the dark."
"Maybe you should let me wear them," said Finn.
"I'm not relying on you, either," continued Santana.
Blaine strapped on the goggles. "It's my gear, I'm wearing it. I don't have to be helping you guys find your friends, you know. Either I wear them or I leave. Take your pick."
Nobody said anything. Santana crossed her arms and looked away. Quinn cursed softly.
"That's what I thought. Man, these things are stylish, aren't they?"
"You look like an alien," said Brittany.
Finn stared through the glass doors. This mall was much larger than the one he had been in when the spiders had come, but it still unnerved him. For a moment he could have sworn he saw a spider hurtling toward the doors, toward them, about to smash through. He recoiled slightly.
"What's the matter? Afraid of the dark?" sneered Blaine as he turned the goggles on. Finn resisted the urge to punch him square in the face.
The agent swaggered past Finn and opened the doors.
"We should hold on to each other so nobody gets lost," said Quinn. Finn grabbed Blaine's hand before he could get too far. The rest of them took each other's hands and nervously entered the building single file like a caterpillar being sucked into the jaws of a massive, hungry beast.
The darkness instantly smothered them like cold, deep smoke. Santana's breathing quickened. She clutched Brittany's hand behind her and tried to focus on that. She wasn't in a dark, frigid mall that was potentially filled with giant, deadly spiders. She wasn't searching for her possibly-dead friends and worrying about her possibly-dead family. The only thing that existed was Brittany's warm hand.
"What do you see?" said Finn softly in Blaine's ear.
"I see a forest and horses and freaking Narnia. It's a mall; I see shops, what the hell do you think I see?"
Finn clenched his teeth and gave Blaine's wrist a sharp twist.
"Ow!"
"What shops do you see?"
"There's Macy's, a Starbucks, some sportswear, a dollar store…"
"Take us to the dollar store, if it doesn't have flashlights it'll at least have batteries."
"Okay, bossy-pants."
Quinn tried to remember their order. It was Blaine, then Finn, then Tina, then Kurt, then her, then Santana, then Brittany, then Rachel, then Puck… she thought.
"What if we find other survivors?" she asked.
"We have extra weapons, we'll bring them with us," said Kurt.
Puck sighed. "I hate to seem like the heartless asshole all the time, but we have limited supplies. We're already expecting three more people, and if we have too many we won't be able to move properly.
Kurt scowled. "There's a supermarket here. We'll pick up more food. We are not leaving anyone behind."
Puck didn't object any further.
"We're in the dollar store," called Blaine from the front.
"Find some batteries," said Finn.
Tina had never felt more vulnerable. She felt like a spider fang was going to come out of the darkness and spear her at any moment, pumping venom into her veins until she collapsed, spasming and shuddering in pain until the life seeped out of her and she ended up like Jesse and Andrea. She opened her eyes wide, trying to force the light in, trying to force her eyes to adjust but they wouldn't. There were no windows in the mall and no light came through the glass doors; the streetlights were all out and no moonlight shone through the thick cloud cover. Every tiny creak and noise caused her heart to clutch a little more. Her hands were sweaty and nearly slipped out of Finn and Kurt's grasp.
"Batteries," said Blaine, stuffing a few packs into his pockets.
"Any flashlights?" asked Kurt.
"Nope. I guess this is a… flash… something."
"What the hell?"
"The witty one-liner. It's standard for any secret agent."
"Then how the hell did you make it past training?"
"Shut up, Tina."
"This is Kurt."
"Oh. Well you all sound the same to me."
Finn twisted Blaine's wrist again. "That's my brother, dude."
"Ow. Okay, if you do that again I'm gonna twist back."
Quinn expected Rachel to speak up and tell them to cut it out. She stayed silent; she hadn't made a single noise since they'd found Andrea and Jesse.
"Don't make me come up there," called Puck from the back.
"Take us to the hardware store," said Finn coldly.
"I don't know where that is, I'm not from here, genius."
"It's on the other end of the mall, I think," said Tina.
Once again the grim parade of petrified glee kids went on the move, filing out of the dollar store.
Finn's heart was pounding. He felt like he was going to puke again. His muscles were stiff and aching and he tried not to hyperventilate. He hadn't been afraid of the dark since he was eleven, but he felt it again, a hazy old memory of fear made all too familiar.
"I see it," said Blaine. Finn nearly twisted his wrist a third time before he realized the agent hadn't said anything infuriating for once. He had definitely been taking out his anxiety on Blaine since they'd entered the mall.
"We're here. Okay, flashlights, flashlights."
Quinn suddenly felt desperate for light. She couldn't take another moment of swimming through this black sea of dread and helplessness. "Hurry up," she said, hoping the panic didn't make it into her voice. Did something brush her leg? Was something slightly darker than the shadows around them rearing up in front of her?
A beam of light suddenly sliced through the darkness. Quinn blinked her eyes hard; the light was nearly blinding after treading through the dark for so long.
"Jackpot," said Blaine, giving the flashlight to Finn. They all broke out of the single-file line, their hands sweaty. Finn opened the packaging on all the flashlights, loaded batteries into them and handed them out.
Quinn touched someone's shoulder. "Is this Blaine?"
"Just be sure you don't cop a feel, darling."
Quinn turned on her flashlight and pointed it at Blaine's face.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh! FUCK! Goddamnit, Quinn, I'm wearing night-vision goggles! Son of a BITCH!"
Blaine ripped off the goggles and clutched at his eyes, falling to the floor and writhing.
"Quinn! What did you do that for?" exclaimed Tina, although her protest sounded half-hearted.
The rest of them switched on their flashlights. Finn took a camping lantern and switched it on, illuminating the store. "Much better," he said.
"…Oh God, I'm blind!" cried Blaine, squinting and blinking furiously. "I can't see anything!"
Quinn frowned. Maybe pointing a flashlight at his face while he was wearing night vision goggles hadn't been the best idea. "Is it permanent?" she asked Puck, not sure why she thought he would know.
Puck shrugged. "Do I look like a doctor?"
"Son of a bitch!" said Blaine.
"Looks like now you're in the dark and we can see," said Quinn mockingly.
"Come on," said Finn.
Kurt took Blaine's arm. He was an insufferable jackass, but what Quinn did was just cruel, not to mention dangerous. What if Blaine could never see again? Like him or not, they all knew he was a valuable force for them to have, and he wouldn't be very effective if he was blind.
"Thanks, Rachel," said Blaine as Kurt led him out of the hardware store.
Kurt pursed his lips. "Kurt."
"What about him?"
"This is Kurt!"
"…Oh. Wow, you have really womanly hands."
"Not even going to apologize?"
"Uh… no."
Kurt let go of Blaine's arm and walked on ahead.
"Oh God where'd you go? I can't see! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
Kurt took Blaine's arm again, smirking.
"The arcade is a floor up," said Tina, "let's find some stairs."
"If they were here, don't you think they'd have heard us and come to find us by now?" raised Santana, sounding doubtful.
Nobody said anything.
"…Like we said, maybe they're trapped," said Tina. "Or maybe Mike didn't want to leave Artie since he can't make it down the stairs."
"They'd still probably be calling for help or trying to get our attention."
Tina didn't know how to respond. "…Maybe the mall is really soundproof," she said in a small voice.
Santana let out a sharp breath. "This was pointless. We came in here and followed Blaine through complete darkness for nothing."
"I am not leaving Mike, Santana!" Tina snapped. Tears were trickling down her cheeks again.
The group had stopped moving. They didn't know whether to progress or leave. Santana raised a good point and none of them wanted to risk stepping into another spider nest… but Tina was dead-set on finding the boys, and none of them wanted to leave them behind either.
Santana looked down. "All right," she spoke quietly.
They found a staircase and ascended, their fragile beams of light dancing as they walked.
"There it is," said Puck. The arcade was just ahead, dimly illuminated by Finn's camping lantern.
"There what is? I can't see, dammit!" said Blaine.
Tina ran forward but Kurt grabbed her. "We may have a problem," he said.
As the group advanced, they saw what it was. The area all around the entrance to the arcade was curtained with clear strands about as thick as spaghetti. They weren't in any conventional star shape, they simply hung from the walls and ceiling like vines. Tina gulped. She hadn't even seen them; she'd nearly run straight into them. She shuddered to think of what would have happened next.
"What is it? I'm freaking blind, remember?" said Blaine angrily.
"Spider webs," whispered Kurt. Blaine shut his mouth.
Their flashlight beams caused the strands to glisten and sparkle like crystal. There were large cracks in the ceiling and in the walls all around them. They were the perfect size for a giant spider to crawl through.
"Come on," said Finn. "We can't get in… and if Artie and Mike were in there, they wouldn't have made it. Maybe they're hiding somewhere else in the mall."
Everyone knew that wasn't likely. This nest looked large, and it couldn't have been the only one.
"Mike?" called Tina, ignoring Finn. "Artie?"
They all held their breath.
A gentle clacking sound emanated from inside the arcade.
It was the sound of spider legs.
"Shit!" called Finn. They all scrambled to draw their guns, backpedalling madly away from the arcade.
Santana took out her shotgun and glared at Tina. "Why did you have to—"
"Tina?"
They all froze.
Artie Abrams rolled into the light, the wheels of his chair clacking slightly as they turned. Mike Chang was pushing him along.
They were all speechless. They smiled and let out breaths of relief. Tina resisted the urge to dash forward through the webs and throw her arms around the two boys. Tears streamed down her face.
"Oh my god!" said Mike, grinning. "I can't believe you guys are here! …How did you get guns?"
"Long story," said Puck.
"How did you guys survive in there?" asked Finn, incredulous.
"We hid in a maintenance closet before the spiders got to the arcade," said Artie. "There's someone else with us, actually."
A dark-skinned woman in her mid-twenties stepped into the light. Her hair was shoulderblade-length and hung in tight, bronze ringlets. Her face was round and her nose seemed just a little too small for it. "Uh… hi," she waved awkwardly, obviously intimidated by the small mob of heavily armed teens in front of her.
"This is Eva," said Artie. "She made it into the closet with us."
The teens introduced themselves. Rachel even waved slightly and said her name softly. The arrival of her two unharmed friends seemed to have warmed her a little.
"Wait." Mike frowned. "Who's that?" He pointed at Blaine.
Blaine smiled cockily, looking in Mike's general direction. He took a breath to speak.
"A dumbass," said Quinn
"Oh come on, you didn't even let me start!"
Once again Finn had to explain while Blaine and Quinn bickered. Artie, Mike and Eva's eyebrows went straight up when they heard the glee kids had an FBI agent with them.
"It's good to see you guys again," Santana's smile was genuine. "But… how do we get you out of there?"
Artie gulped and shook his head. "The walls are full of spiders. We watched them spin those webs from inside, there's… a lot of them."
"Yeah, well there's a lot of us," said Puck, "and we have a lot of guns. I say we blast them right out."
Santana and Brittany smiled eagerly at the suggestion.
"Are you crazy?" said Quinn. "We have no idea exactly how many there are. If we start making a racket we'll probably attract every spider in the mall."
Kurt shook his head. "Unlikely. It seems the spiders don't seem to have a sense of hearing, at least not in the same way we do. If they did, they would have heard us talking and come out of the walls by now."
"So what do we do?" asked Brittany.
Everybody whirled around as Tina gave out a small yelp. Her wrist had brushed against a strand of webbing, which was now stuck to her arm. She was just about to yank it away when Kurt clamped down on her forearm with surprising strength. "Don't. Move. An inch."
Tina's mouth went dry. It took everything she had not to twist out of Kurt's grip and wrench off the strand. It felt like acid burning into her arm; she just wanted to pull and tug and struggle until it came off.
"Blaine, do you have any gloves?" Kurt asked softly.
"Yes. I'd be able to get them for you too if my eyes freaking worked."
Santana rolled her eyes and rooted through the duffel for the gloves. She handed them to Kurt.
"Stay absolutely still, Tina. Don't move a muscle." He slid the gloves onto his hands and carefully grasped the strand in his fingers. They stuck instantly.
Very carefully he began to pull it, trying to peel it off of Tina's skin. She was shocked at how tightly it clung to her. Kurt's eyebrows were pressed together and he was biting his lip in concentration. He slowly tugged at it and little by little, it began to come unstuck.
Everybody held their breath. This was taking a very long time. They all waited for Tina to sneeze, for Kurt to slip, for something to happen that would catch the strands and send the spiders charging in.
Half of the strand was actually off now. Tina winced as it pulled at the tiny hairs on her arm. A trickle of sweat made its way down Kurt's forehead.
Finally she was free. She fell backward and let out a huge breath of relief. Kurt slowly eased one hand out of its glove, which was still stuck to the webbing and set it down slowly. He took the other hand out.
His fingers were sweaty. The glove slipped out of his grasp.
"No!" he cried sharply.
The glove fell, still attached to the strand. It caught and the strand began to vibrate.
"Oh god," whispered Tina. They could actually hear a soft buzz coming from the strand as it quivered.
"What?" said Blaine. "What's that noise?"
"We need to get through this webbing," said Quinn, dread rising in her voice. "I say we just shoot our way through it."
Kurt shook his head. "Spider silk is one of the strongest substances on the planet. That would never work."
"Also, we would appreciate you not shooting guns in our direction," said Mike. Artie was looking around frantically, waiting for the spiders to come. Eva just stood completely still, looking terrified.
Finn looked at the ceiling. "What if we shot at the foundations? Take out the part of the ceiling where the strands are anchored?"
They all looked at Kurt. "I don't see why that wouldn't work," he said. "But we need to hurry before—"
They all heard it. They fell dead silent. The mall seemed to get even colder as the scratching noises began to sound inside the walls.
It multiplied and got louder until the whole plaza was filled with the sound of spider legs scratching and shuffling as they made their way toward the cracks in the walls.
"Go!" cried Finn, aiming his gun at the ceiling.
Santana, Brittany, Puck and Quinn turned around and aimed at the cracks, ready to start firing as soon as the spiders came pouring through. The less talented fighters began firing at the ceiling, with the exception of Tina who once again started panicking.
She pushed between Brittany and Santana and once again began shouting.
"COME AND GET IT YOU FUCKING PUSSIES. YOU WANT A PIECE OF THIS, MOTHERFUCKERS? MAKE MY GODDAMN DAY!"
Mike stared in disbelief. "Tina?" he said, his voice drowned out by the sound of gunfire.
Finn's plan was working. As their foundation crumbled, the strands were beginning to fall in a heap on the floor.
Poor Blaine had no idea what was going on. His pistol was out and he was stumbling around, waving his arms around himself frantically. His hand found Kurt's shoulder and he clamped down on it hard.
"Oh god, what's happening?" he whimpered. Kurt was surprised; the boy looked genuinely terrified. His breathing was heavy and his eyes stared off past Kurt's head. Kurt holstered one pistol and put his hand on Blaine's arm. "There are some spiders headed our way. Just try to stay close, you'll be okay."
Blaine let out a breath. "Thanks, Brittany."
"Oh, for God's sake—!"
"We've got company!" yelled Quinn from the back.
Finn gulped as the sounds of gunfire got even louder, this time with a bone-chilling chittering thrown in. He didn't look back; the webs were almost completely down.
Quinn was horrified. There were spiders of every shape and size streaming out of those cracks. There were just so many of them… The others needed to finish off the webs fast. They needed every gun they could spare right now.
"YEEEEEEAH! GTA, MOTHERFUCKERS!" screamed Tina as she began to fire her machine gun.
Brittany and Santana walked slightly forward for maximum shotgun effectiveness. Puck stared down the sights of his battle rifle, his face carved out of stone. Quinn looked into her scope and tried to line up a shot.
What am I doing I'm not trained to use guns I barely even know how this thing works… She closed her eyes. This was not the time for self doubt.
She opened her eyes again and fired. She missed. Dammit. Goddamnit.
The animal was back. She wasn't calm. She wasn't professional. She wasn't deadly. She was a scared, trapped animal. The only thing she wanted to do was dash away and claw at the walls until her nails were shattered and her fingers were bloody. She just wanted to get out. She just wanted to get away. She wanted to throw down the sniper rifle and just get away.
That's when the funniest thing happened. A Sue Sylvester spider appeared. Its head was light yellow, like blonde hair, and its red-and-white markings looked almost like a tracksuit.
If I have a pregnant girl doing a handspring into a double layout, the judges aren't going to be admiring her impeccable form, they're going to be wondering if the centrifugal force is going to make the baby's head start crowning.
Quinn scowled. "How's this for impeccable form?" She raised the gun, aimed for only a moment, and fired. Sue Syl-Spider was thrown backwards, hemolymph spurting out of its head.
Puck looked at her quizzically. "Uh… pretty good, I'd say?"
Quinn ignored him.
Get out of my house.
"You can't control me anymore, Daddy!" another spider went flying.
"Uhm, Quinn?"
We have to break up, I don't date fat chicks.
"Fuck you, Puck!" another spider.
Puck stared at Quinn. She cleared her throat. "Sorry," she said sheepishly.
Finally the last strand tumbled down from the ceiling. Kurt, Rachel, Blaine and Finn made their way into the arcade over the ceiling rubble, careful not to get stuck to any of the webbing. They set the bag down.
"Any of you know how to fire a gun?" asked Finn. Artie and Mike shook their heads. Finn looked at Eva.
"Do I look like I can fire a weapon?" she asked, holding her hands up.
Finn shook his head. "You learn quickly." He opened the duffel bag and the three newcomers looked through it. Mike took out two Uzis. Artie found a large pistol. Eva looked completely terrified and uncomfortable. "I don't even know what any of these are called," she said. "I don't even know who any of you are."
"Just take a pistol or something small," Finn said. He turned to face the spiders.
The blood drained from his face. There were more than there were in the gun shop. Or on the way to the gun shop. Santana and Brittany's recklessness had turned into franticness. Puck's stone face was beginning to crack. Quinn was shouting nonsense. Tina's swearing had turned into one long yell.
"Everybody get into the arcade! We can funnel them through the door!" Artie called. He tried out the pistol and gasped as the recoil actually rolled him backwards a little.
All of them backpedalled through the arcade double doors.. They fired again and again but the spiders' numbers didn't seem to be thinning.
Mike was to be doing alright with his Uzis. His aim wasn't great but he was keeping them mostly under control. Eva was holding a single pistol at arm's length with both hands. She fired, looking more horrified than ever. Luckily accuracy wasn't much of an issue since the entire plaza floor was carpeted with flailing legs and dripping fangs and hairy thoraxes.
Santana thanked God for the arcade doorway. Without it they wouldn't have lasted ten seconds. The thick wall of spiders squeezed into the doors and got tripped up in the tangle of webbing. They were easy to pick off as they were struggling to get through. The smaller ones were more troublesome since they could climb over the others and into the arcade, but the glee kids were holding their ground. Take that, you cocksuckers, she thought savagely. This is what you get when you mess with my town. With my family. Nadiejodecon mi familia. She pulled the trigger on her sawn-off and grinned as another spider came apart in a mess of limbs and blue slime.
The spiders were beginning to come through. The teens (and Eva) were forced deeper into the arcade. A spider the size of a rhinoceros scrambled over the others and into the store.
Kurt pointed both of his pistols at the giant and began shooting. A couple of shots actually hit it in the abdomen and it hissed. Blaine was still clinging to Kurt's side. Kurt couldn't imagine what he must be feeling. To be completely in the dark, unable to defend yourself or even see what's happening, to be completely dependant on your friends for your very survival... it must have been petrifying.
The giant lunged at Puck and its fangs only caught his shirt, ripping it open. They miraculously didn't touch his skin. Puck fell backwards and the giant reared for another strike. He closed his eyes and braced himself for his final moments, for the razor sharp fangs and the white-hot venom that would end his life. He just wished he could have helped his friends more…
Tina stepped over him. "SUCK MY DICK."
Her machine gun tore apart the spider's midsection at point-blank range. It hung for a moment, then collapsed on top of both of them, stone dead, its fangs coming nowhere close to them. A rhino-sized spider, however, does have quite a bit of weight to it, and they were both pinned to the floor.
"A little help?" wheezed Puck.
Quinn and Brittany pulled the two of them out from underneath the giant. Tina had passed out.
Puck caught his breath, thanked the girls and surveyed the battlefield. More and more spiders were making it through. Santana looked like she would have murdered her own mother if she had been trying to get through the arcade doors. Rachel's face was blank except for a small frown, like she was solving a math problem. She was slowly getting used to her SMG.
Finn was starting to do some good damage with his carbine. He wiped sweat off his forehead. Mike was still having accuracy problems and Artie was struggling not to get blown backwards by his pistol, but bullets were bullets. Eva was looking away, her eyes screwed shut as she fired. She obviously was not cut out for combat. Blaine was still stuck like a frightened barnacle to Kurt's side. Kurt himself was keeping his face calm and his breathing even as he fired into the mass of spiders. Quinn and Brittany had rejoined the fray; Brittany was battling maniacally by Santana's side as usual and Quinn was sniping from the back. Puck dragged Tina to safety before picking up his battle rifle and rejoining his friends.
It wasn't going well. Already Brittany could see another Rhino Giant making its way toward them from the far side of the plaza. There was just no end to the stream of spiders and they were going through a lot of ammo. She clutched Boris the Shotgun a little tighter.
She wondered if Santana was scared. She wondered if Santana ever got scared. She was so good at obscuring her emotions, even when it was just the two of them.
Of course she gets scared, thought Brittany, it's not like she's a robot or something.
Then she frowned and took a closer look at Santana. Once she was satisfied there were no gears sticking out of her she blew yet another spider to messy smithereens, giggling. She swung Boris like a baseball bat, sending a spider cartwheeling into the air. She stomped on a smaller spider's head, squeezing venom and hemolymph out of its fangs.
"This is just like those carnival shooting games," she grinned.
"Exactly, Britt." Santana pivoted to the other side of Brittany and executed a perfect roundhouse kick into a spider's eye. "Just like the shooting games."
They were getting pushed farther and farther back. They were nearly halfway into the arcade now and rapidly losing their funnelling advantage. If they got cornered against the wall they were doomed.
"We need a better plan!" cried Kurt.
Finn and Puck exchanged a quick look, reading each other's minds. They began pushing over the game machines, creating obstacles for the spiders. It slowed them down only slightly; the machines were easily climbed over.
"Cover us!" shouted Finn.
The other kids (and Eva) pushed as hard as they could to keep the spiders back away from the boys. Finn and Puck groaned and strained as they lifted the machines and stacked them on top of one another, eventually forming a wide chest-high wall. The rest of the kids (and Eva) dragged Tina behind the wall then hopped over and fired from behind it. Suddenly keeping the spiders back became much easier. Brittany and Santana took the sides to stop spiders from coming around the cover.
The new barrier was a good improvement, but it wasn't a game-changer. They were getting exhausted and the spider horde showed no signs of thinning.
"How big is that maintenance closet?" called Quinn to Artie as she reloaded her sniper.
"Definitely not big enough for all of us, and definitely not strong enough to hold all of them off," he replied.
Mike moved around them to try and get a better position. As he did so he tripped over Blaine's duffel bag and landed on his back, sending the contents of the bag sprawling. As he scrambled to get back up something rolled by his hand.
A smile spread across his face as he took the object and stood up. "Look what I found!" he shouted, holding a grenade in his hand.
Artie's eyes widened. "I really don't think you want to—"
It was too late. Artie had already pulled the pin and flung the grenade across the room.
"Take cover!" bellowed Puck. They all crouched behind the wall of game machines as an explosion rocked the room. It was loud. It was louder than any gunfire. It shook their very bones inside their skin and made their heads rattle.
When they stood back up the battlefield was very different. A massive chunk of the spiders had been torn apart by the shrapnel. The other Rhino Giant only had half its legs left, and was now flopping uselessly on the floor.
Brittany grinned. "Do it again!"
They ducked back down. Mike searched for another grenade, pulled the pin and tossed it back over the cover. Another blast shook the arcade, this one nearly toppling their cover. "Careful!" said Puck. "Aim farther away."
"Why didn't you tell us you had grenades?" Kurt asked Blaine. "They would have been helpful a while ago."
"Well I can't exactly see what it's like in here. I couldn't tell if they'd be a good idea or not."
Finn frowned. He hoped Blaine hadn't been permanently blinded.
Rachel peered over the cover. There were less than half as many spiders as there had been before. Now that they didn't form a solid carpet anymore, however, she could now see what was coming towards the arcade.
"Guys," she said, her voice shaking with fear.
They looked over the cover to see what looked like a rapidly moving pool of tar headed toward them. A pool of tar with thousands of scurrying legs and clicking fangs.
"We need another grenade," said Quinn urgently.
Mike scanned the floor. "I don't see any more!"
"There should have been at least three grenades in that bag," said Blaine, looking in Mike's direction. "Find it,"
Mike got down on his hands and knees to search for the grenade.
Brittany and Santana finished off the large spiders while the rest of the fired at the swarm with their longer-ranged weapons. It was like trying to dig a grave with a teaspoon; every bullet would down a few spiders and open a tiny hole which would be filled in almost immediately. The swarm never got any smaller.
Rachel looked back at Mike who was frantically looking for the grenade. Eva had joined him. If they didn't find it soon then the swarm would be too close and it would be too late to use it. The cover would be no use against the swarm; they could easily climb through the gaps between the machines. They would all be as good as dead.
The spiders drew nearer. Mike and Eva still didn't find the grenade. The swarm was only twenty feet away now. Mike and Eva still didn't find the grenade.
"Got it!" cried Eva, standing up from behind one of the machines with a grenade in hand. She tossed it to Mike. "Duck!" he screamed, throwing the grenade right into the heart of the swarm. They all got behind the cover.
Mike's eyes widened.
"Oh god."
"What?" said Artie.
"I forgot to pull the pin."
They all stared at him in silence. Nobody moved.
"…Oh god," whispered Finn.
Then Mike smiled. "Gotcha."
This time the explosion send them tumbling to the ground.
All but a few of the small spiders had been destroyed by the grenade. The rest were easily dispatched via shoe heels.
"I swear," said Finn to Mike, "if you ever pull that joke again I'm using you as cover."
"I thought it was pretty funny," said Blaine. They ignored him.
"Come on," said Mike, "If I hadn't found those grenades we'd all by screwed right now. Show some appreciation."
Finn smiled. He wasn't really angry, of course. Somehow they had managed to survive. Again.
Puck winced. "I think I may have cracked a rib under that spider," he said. "And I need a new shirt."
Quinn marvelled at how tired she suddenly was. Her entire life had been crumpled beyond recognition in less than twenty-four hours. She hadn't slept in ages. The battle had taken so much out of her. She could see every one of the other teens (and Eva) felt the same.
"We need to rest," she said.
Kurt nodded. "We can't sleep though. We have to find Mercedes; we can't waste too much time."
"We'll find coffee here in the mall," said Artie.
"Um," Eva spoke up. "Is it… is it alright if I stay with you guys? I don't think I'd make it out there on my own." She looked at them nervously.
They turned to Puck. All of them remembered his comment earlier.
"Of course," he said without hesitation. "We'll get some more supplies here."
Eva smiled. "Thanks," she said, brushing her hair away from her face.
They all leaned against the makeshift cover, drained, bruised and soaked in blue slime.
Tina sat up groggily and rubbed her eyes. "What did I miss?" Then she frowned. "Did I tell a spider to suck my dick?"