Chapter 9
Puck, Finn, Rachel, Mercedes, Tina, Brittany and Kurt had been walking for about two hours. They were all insanely worried about Santana and Quinn, but they knew they would look after each other. Brittany hadn't spoken since she'd left Santana, everyone else silent for the most part. They couldn't believe that this was happening to them, a group of choir kids from Lima on a hiking holiday. The one thing they plan to do out of state and it turns into a nightmare. 'Do you think they're okay?' Brittany suddenly whispered, her eyes still to the floor.
'Yeah, I think they are Brit.' Puck replied, keeping an eye at the front of the group.
'But the men we saw coming down the hill, they haven't come after us.' Brittany pointed out.
'So you think they went after Quinn and Santana?' Rachel asked, Brittany just nodding.
'They're smart Brit, if they need to hide they will, if they need to run they will.' Tina assured her, squeezing her hand.
'Yeah and what if they get caught? What if they have to fight?' Brittany looked up, her cheeks stained with tears. 'Santana can't fight any more, she can't take it.'
'Hey Brit, my girl has some claws, okay.' Puck said. 'Quinn will protect her, you have to just stay positive.'
'Positive.' Kurt laughed. 'Okay.' He said sarcastically.
'Come on man, we're all sorry about Blaine.' Finn said, still cradling his broken wrist. 'But we have to focus on getting everyone else out alive. We can mourn properly when we're safe.' Kurt looked at his brother and nodded.
'And right now we have to figure out where we are.' Rachel said. 'Maybe if we could see better.' Rachel thought, looking around at the trees.
'What are you thinking Berry?' Mercedes asked.
'Just that if I could get up there, I could see better. See if we're close to anything.'
'No, I'll do it.' Finn said, studying the trees.
'Finn you have one hand, and I'm not as much of a princess as Puckerman makes me out to be.' She grinned at him. 'I can do this.' She looked at Finn, who nodded.
'Okay, I'll be right down here.'
'Yeah, and you better catch me if I fall.' Rachel joked, grabbing on to the lowest branch and pulling herself up. She continued climbing until she felt the air cool around her, with wind rustling the leaves on the branches and swaying her. She was glad she was small, otherwise she wasn't sure she would have been able to keep her balance. She pulled on a branch above her and it snapped, a small scream escaping from her throat before she composed herself. She was standing on a thick branch, clutching the tree and breathing heavily until she continued. One final step up and she was as far as she could go.
'Rachel,' Finn called up to her. 'Rach, what can you see?' He asked.
'Erm, not much.' She admitted, shouting down so that she could be heard through the wind. 'Wait….' She squinted, pushing her long hair out of her eyes.
'What is it?' Tina called.
'Something, a building.' She smiled, this could be the spark of hope they needed. A telephone, or a car, anything to help them out of this.
'Great!' Puck called, up. 'Now get your ass back down here.' Rachel made a note of the building's position. It was in the direction they were heading anyway, but now at least they knew what they were looking for. She climbed down carefully, stopping occasionally as the wind blew harder, until she could see the ground and her friends all standing around the base of the tree. She stopped one final time, hearing something.
'Guys?' She said worriedly.
'What is it Rachel?' Mercedes asked, but before she could respond something shot past her face, embedding itself in the trunk of the tree. An arrow.
'Holy shit!' She cried, stumbling and falling backwards. She tried to grasp onto anything she could, any small branch but in her panic she couldn't do it. 'Finn!' She screamed, falling to the ground and watching the branches fall past her. She couldn't bear it so she screwed her eyes tightly shut, not wanting to know when she would hit the ground. A few seconds later she was on the floor, but there was someone under her. 'Finn?' She panted, breathing heavily and re-opening her eyes.
'I got you.' He soothed, also breathing heavily, and stroking the back of her hair.
'Finn.' She repeated, 'We have to go, we have to….' She tried to stand up but a sharp pain shot through her, her back taking most of the impact when Finn caught her.
'Woah, Rachel, you okay?' Puck asked, steadying her as Finn got up behind her.
'Yeah, I'm fine, we have to go.' She yelled, tears running down her face.
'Why, what happened?' Kurt asked, looking all around them to make sure they were still alone.
'That freak, the one with the bow and arrow.' She sobbed, Kurt tensing at the mention of the monster that killed his true love. 'He's here, he's somewhere.' She looked around, still crying. 'He shot an arrow at me but he missed. I just lost my balance.'
'You're sure you're okay?' Mercedes asked again.
'Yeah, I swear, and if we keep going the way we were we're going to find another building. There might be a phone or something.'
'Great, lets go then.' Finn said, watching around them as they began to continue on their way.
'You okay San?' Quinn asked, one arm wrapped around Santana's waist and the other holding onto the Latina's arm as it draped over her shoulder. 'Santana?' She repeated, when the brunette didn't respond.
'Fine….' She whispered, her eyes closing and opening every few minutes. She was exhausted and didn't know how much longer she would be able to keep going.
'Santana.' Quinn's tone said everything, Santana leaning into her further.
'I know Q,' She whispered. 'But we cant stop….. Not yet.'
'Santana we have to, if you pass out when we're still walking, I wont be able to carry you. We'll be stuck out in the open. I think we need to find a place to stop.'
'Quinn…' Santana started, but the blonde cut her off.
'No Santana. We're stopping. For a couple of hours max, but we need to.' Santana nodded, licking her lips and swallowing harshly. It only just dawned on her that Puck had the only back pack left. She didn't know where the rest of their supplies were but she and Quinn had nothing. She would give anything for a bottle of water right now.
'Look.' Quinn said after a few moments. And Santana couldn't believe her eyes.
'Is that a…'
'A stream.' Quinn smiled. It was hardly anything, a small trail of water running down from somewhere, but it was hydration. And they needed some. 'Come on.' Quinn hauled Santana over and helped her down onto the floor.
'Thanks.' Santana said, wincing as she tried to reach down to the water. She put her hand into the liquid and something in her relaxed. She wasn't sure why but she felt calmer.
'Santana?' Quinn said. 'San!'
'What?' The brunette snapped out of her trance, opening her eyes and looking into the green ones in front of her.
'You can drink it you know.' Quinn smiled, looking at the Latina's hand just resting in the water. Santana smiled.
'I'm enjoying the moment Q.' Quinn rolled her eyes.
'Fine, weirdo.' Quinn laughed, Santana following suit moments later, and then they both lent over and scooped water up with their hands. When they had both had enough to drink Quinn walked round to stand behind Santana. 'Come on.'
'What are we doing?' Santana groaned, finally comfortable and sitting down.
'We're moving. This place has no cover.'
'Fine, get me up.' Santana lifted a hand towards the sky and felt Quinn latch onto it, pulling her up. Santana's face contorted in pain as Quinn took up the same position as before.
'What hurts the most San?' Quinn asked, taking a few steps forward with the Latina.
'Erm, my stomach I guess.' She admitted, Quinn nodding as they walked and her worry increased.
'Okay, well when we find somewhere safer I'll have a look, see if we can do anything.'
'Thanks Q.' Santana said quietly, making their way carefully through the trees. About half an hour later they found what they were looking for. They had started walking down a hill, the green getting thicker and the sky darkening. Quinn turned round to look back up from the way they came and she noticed something in the side of the hill.
'San, come this way.' She said, pulling the brunette around and heading across the hill instead of down it.
'Is that a cave?' Santana asked, looking cautiously at the hillside.
'Something like that yeah, come on.' She walked them over to it and stopped at the opening. 'Looks okay for a few hours.' She said, studying the inside. It wasn't deep but it was under cover, anyone looking for them would have to go down the hill and come back up, so they couldn't be seen from the direction they came in from. Quinn led Santana inside, placing her down on the floor and leaning her back up against one of the muddy walls. The blonde then let out a long breath and sat beside her.
'So…' Santana started, adjusting her position slightly so that she was comfortable.
'So…' Quinn echoed, both girls looking at the other. Santana felt her eyes start to mist over, quickly turning her head from Quinn and composing herself. 'Do you want to talk about, about what happened?' Quinn asked tentatively. Santana simply sniffed, shaking her head and playing with the sleeves of her hoodie.
'Santana…..' Quinn placed her hands over the brunettes, causing the Latina to look back at her.
'I… I couldn't fight him Q….' She whispered, staring vacantly into Quinn's eyes. 'I….' She began again but a sob escaped her lips, Quinn tearing up as well so she gently pulled Santana over, lying her head down on her lap.
'I know.' Quinn whispered, looking down into Santana's eyes. Big brown eyes looked up at her, but they were hollow. They were full of fear and unknowing, and it broke Quinn's heart.
'He was so strong….. He wouldn't stop.' Santana said, a tear rolling down her cheek and onto Quinn's jeans. 'I just let him…..'
'Santana, stop right there.' Quinn said angrily. 'You didn't let him do anything.'
'But Brit…' Santana said, still crying. 'She had to watch, she… she told me she loved me and just to look at her. Only her.'
'She does love you Santana. She wasn't going to let you go through that on your own.' Quinn told her, Santana nodding and wiping her face. She winced again, Quinn noticing and asking what was wrong.
'My side.' She sniffed, wiping her nose. 'He kicked me really hard, it.. It hurts.' She whispered.
'Okay, let me have a look.' Quinn said, moving her hand to the bottom of Santana's shirt. She noticed the Latina's breathing quicken as she got closer to touching her. 'Santana, what's wrong?'
'Nothing, nothing just do it.' She assured her friend.
'Okay.' Quinn whispered, Santana closing her eyes as she felt the blonde lift the material from her body.
'Shit.' Quinn said gently, trying not to sound too panicked.
'What? How bad is it?' Santana asked, lifting her head slightly with worry now filling her face as Quinn looked down at her.
'There's a lot of bruising San, I think maybe you have a broken rib or something. It looks…' She stopped. 'It looks bad.'
'Okay.' Santana said, her head falling back onto Quinn's lap. The blonde pulled her top back down over her bruises and then moved her hand up to Santana's hair line.
'This one looks pretty bad to Santana.'
'Yeah, but I think all the other pain has numbed out my headache.' Santana smiled, trying to make a joke but the blonde wasn't buying it.
'This cut keeps leaking, you might need a couple stitches if it doesn't stop.'
'Yes Doctor.' Santana grinned, Quinn finally giving in and smiling with her. A few moments of silence passed, Quinn stroking Santana's hair and both girls listening to their surroundings. 'Quinn?' Santana broke the silence after a couple of minutes.
'Yeah San.' Quinn said, looking down over her.
'I'm.. I'm scared.' She whispered.
'I know.' Quinn smiled, leaning over and planting a kiss gently on her friend's forehead. 'Me too.'
