Chapter 12: Eye of the Tiger
There was a line of vehicals heading towards the entrance to the driveway. Rachel was too far away to make out much detail. She carefully set the sheet she had been hanging to dry (they had a dryer, yes, but as the weather was not yet wet, Rachel did not see the harm in hang drying items while they could, even if things would be chilly and not as fluffy -none of them knew anything about the solar system so it was better to conserve power when they could) back in its basket.
She stood, watching, then relaxed as she realized it was their people returning. She frowned as she, with one glance at Dahlia to make sure she'd be okay for a few minutes, wondered why they were back so early. Either things had gone very well, or very bad.
She handed Dahlia another toy that had fallen out of her nest, and jogged lightly to the driveway entrance.
"Nah, pretty much all the shit I got at Wal-Mart and that hunting store isn't useful unless we leave. And I'd rather keep the ammo and food and crap in there just in case." Mack was saying as she helped Quinn grab items when Rachel come up to them.
Quinn raised an eyebrow, "You really think we'd leave? Really. Why?"
Mack shrugged, then hefted more things into her arms, "You never know what's going to happen. Who expected fucking zombies? "
"How very boy scout of you Mack," Quinn said dryly.
"What can I say, I liked the uniforms."
"Is…why are you back so early," Rachel called, standing at the driveway gate, pretending she hadn't heard their conversation. Her eyes anxiously looked around, spotting Jacob, then Finn, and finally Sam lugging things to the gate. "Where is Noah?"
Quinn looked away, and Mack sighed, "Dead."
Tears came into her eyes, and she wiped them away, "I see. I will go…inform the others."
She then darted away as fast as she could, telling herself that she was just simply needing to check on Dahlia.
Dahlia cooed at her with a gummy grin, and Rachel felt a little better as she picked up the baby, but not much. Tears still streaming from her eyes, she went inside the house to inform everyone that the group was back, and they were down one more person.
"Finn," Rachel whispered knowing how badly her boyfriend must be feeling. What things they had managed to gather while out on the trip had been brought in and distributed, and they'd quickly exchanged stories of what happened while the other group was away. Understandably, neither side particularly much felt like going into great detail about their respective deaths.
"Rachel," Finn shrugged, and swigged from the six pack that was sitting at his feet. It was all he'd carried from the vehicles; she didn't know where he got it from. They were on the porch, Jacob hovering, and Blaine and Kurt having a whispered discussion.
"I need to speak to you, in private," Rachel said, her eyes darting to where Dahlia was nestled in the baby backpack Quinn had collected for her, on Blaine's chest.
Blaine, noting her look, stood up carefully, "Uh, we're going to go see about dinner," he said. Kurt nodded, and stood up with him. Jacob didn't seem inclined to leave, so, grimacing, Kurt grabbed his arm and muttered, "You too Jacob."
Ignoring Jacob's protests, the trio left the porch.
Finn swigged from the beer again, and muttered, "I really don't want to talk right now." Then he reached out, and pulled her close, kissing her with a moist, overeager mouth.
It wasn't totally unpleasant, so she went along with it for several moments, before pulling away from him. "I have something I need to inform you Finn, and it really cannot wait," she took a deep breath, and when he didn't answer her, just stared stonily at the beer in his hand, she continued, "You are aware that Mrs. Anderson is dead. Before she died, she very clearly said that I was to care for Dahlia. Naturally, I told Blaine she was not in the state of mind to make a decision like that, and eventually we agreed on a…shared custody of sorts."
"What?" He looked at her with glazed eyes, and she wondered how much he had to drink besides the bottle in his hand, and the ones littering the porch.
"Basically, I have a child now, whom I will be sharing care of with Blaine. And, of course, to an extent, you and Kurt. I feel that this is a good chance for us to gain valuable experience, and-"
"So you basically adopted a kid, without telling or even consulting me Rachel? We're supposed to be getting married, and having our own kids. Blaine can take care of his sister." He cut her off, and drank deeply from the beer.
She frowned at him, "As I was saying, I feel that I am ready to have-"
He interrupted her again, "That's the problem, Rachel. Everything's about you. Glee Club, our relationship, everything. Maybe I'm tired of it being about you, you, you. Puck's dead, my best friend is dead, his kid is here without a father now, and Quinn's…who the hell knows. I've got Beth to worry about, hell, I've got everyone to worry about, but you can't even let me relax for an hour in peace, can you? God you're so needy. " He hurled his empty beer bottle for emphasis, and it shattered in the corner of the porch he threw it in.
"I will attempt to speak to you when you have not been drinking. I will also be awaiting your apology," Rachel said, clinching her jaw and briskly walking out the door outside.
She didn't know where she was going, exactly, just that she needed to be away from him, away from everyone right now. Tears blinded her, and she didn't intend on going anywhere specific, just not the pond or the fresh grave. Finally, branches scraping against her lightly, she came to a stop a fair distance from the house under a pine tree.
There, she sobbed freely.
Mack found her eventually.
"Didn't know you liked Puckerman that much," Mack said softly, tossing the blanket she had on over Rachel's shoulders. Then the other girl winced, "Shit, sorry. That was bitchy and he just died."
"It..I am very sad about Noah, but Finn…he.." Rachel couldn't bring herself to explain. Instead, she trailed off, wiped her eyes, and huddled closer to Mack so they could share the blanket.
They stood in silence for several minutes, before Rachel sighed, "I should have given him some time before attempting to speak to him about Dahlia."
"Maybe. But maybe he shouldn't be a dick, either."
Rachel licked her lips, "I don't know how much he's had to drink, but he would not have said anything like that to me when he was not imbibing." Which was true; last time he had a large amount to drink, he had acted the same way.
Mack looked at her seriously, "Sure."
The sat for an uncomfortable silence, before Mack said, "You know that just because there's zombies and shit, doesn't mean that you need to stay with someone you aren't happy with."
"I am very happy with Finn, I love him," Rachel said, her voice going a little high pitched with outrage that Mack would say that. It wasn't like Rachel had many options before there was flesh eating monsters killing people, to give up Finn now, when he was all she had would be foolish, ensure she spent the rest of her life totally alone, and further alienating her from her peers.
"Then why were you out here crying?" Mack sighed, "Look, just…ugh. I can't do this mushy crap, I'm sorry Rachel."
"I accept your apology."
Once more silence reigned, before Mack muttered, "I feel bad for Quinn. I know she didn't want to get back together with Puck, but she's still taking his death pretty hard."
"Beth's sake, and all the 'what ifs' I would imagine. Time will be the only thing to dull that wound." The fact that it was another life loss to the zombies, that another one of them was gone forever went without saying.
Mack snorted, "You know, I almost considered repopulating the world with him. For like half a second."
Rachel nodded, staring off into the distance, "While I love Finn, I did occur to me that perhaps he would not wish the dangers of pregnancy and childbirth on me. There was also the consideration that he would not be the best male to father my children; strictly speaking, Finn-"
Mack cut her off, "Are you trying to tell me you considered having a baby with Puckerman because Hudson's an idiot and like, natural selection or some shit? Damn."
"For half a second," Rachel gave Mack a small smile, before frowning at her, "I would not call Finn an idiot, either; it's just that there's so much to consider bringing children into this world now. Instead of a college fund, it's 'Will we have enough food for winter?' and other such harsh realities. And I feel terribly guilty that I would even consider having a child with someone not him. "
Mack shook her head, "Berry, don't have a baby. Hell, don't have a baby right now, at least, okay? For all we know the military's got this shit on lock, and this time next year you'll be back on your way to Broadway, and I'll be heading to a college I only got into because my great grand-daddy helped found it ages ago."
"I just…" Rachel was not going to admit her deepest insecurities to a girl who just weeks ago was threatening to beat her up, no matter how close they seemed, to Rachel at least, to be getting.
"I get it, I do," Mack said softly, then even softer added, "Losing a child is…it's the worst thing that could happen to anyone. Even formally happy marriages rarely survive it for a reason. You can survive your dads deaths, you could survive Hudson's. Hell, you, Rachel Berry, are strong and shit; you could survive all of our death's and live. But I'm telling you, you have a baby, only to have it die because it was some fucking zombie's dinner, or some sort of easily presentable disease we couldn't handle because there's no doctor, you won't want to live. And there won't be any five hundred dollar an hour therapists with an array of pills to get you through those worst awful first few months."Before Rachel could say anything, Mack continued in her normal voice, "Come on, let's go back inside, it's getting too cold for our blanket." Then stood up and started walking.
Mind racing, as quite obviously Mack had just shared something very personal with her even if Rachel very much doubted the other girl would admit to it, Rachel knew she had a lot to think about as she stood up and went to catch up to Mack.
Finn, to his credit, did apologize the next day.
She accepted it.
She knew that perhaps she was too forgiving, but he was correct; she was needy and overly centered on herself.
She decided to not bring up having a child or sex, however. Finn would attempt to get her alone every so often, but they would do nothing more than kiss. She had found, to her annoyance, that he would only attempt to assist with Dahlia if he had been thoroughly kissed beforehand.
She told herself that it would be inconvenient and difficult to have intercourse with the lack of a private area to do so without interruption -or Jacob Ben Israel lurking.
Maybe she was punishing him.
Or maybe she was too scared to take that final last leap, and give herself wholly to another person. And certainly, Mack had given her reasons to rethink her decision to have a baby. So she was giving herself time. It was not a choice made lightly.
Quinn stretched out, the long dress she was wearing covering her sprawled out legs. Beth was next to her, happily scribbling on some paper and babbling nonsense to her teddy bear.
"Hey Monkey, " she said, giving Beth a smile, "What are you drawing?"
"Bear!" Beth said, then resumed her scribbling. Quinn gazed at her daughter, feeling…not exactly happy, but content.
It had been over three weeks since they had arrived at the cabin. And nearly three weeks exactly since Puck had died, she realized sadly, looking at Beth, then a quiet Sarah who was reading on a pile of pillows next to Beth. Santana and Quinn did everything they could to reassure Sarah that they would always be there for her, and that had seemed to ease Sarah's sadness a fraction. Everyone was mourning in their own way, and Sarah was no different.
Nothing of note had happened except for the occasional radio message they picked up; so far it was just the same repeating message that said the same thing they've been hearing. Not that they got radio messages that often, they were deep in the mountains after all.
Emma was their default leader, but she hadn't really been good for much besides cleaning, and somewhere along the way she had become the cabin's maid, as Finn and Jacob just openly whittling in the living room could attest to. Neither boy made any attempts to contain the mess, knowing that Emma would see it, and deal with it quickly. They weren't the only ones who were taking advantage of Emma's problems.
Quinn was fairly certain Terri was the only one who bothered to clean up after herself every time she made a mess. Which was surprising, given how much Terri disliked Emma, and just, Terri in general, but when Quinn had questioned her about it, Terri had surprised her.
Terri paused, setting the dish she had been washing down. Clearly surprised at the question, she put her hands on her stomach, said "Partly, I pity her. She's not well, Quinn. Can you imagine having the problems she does, then the world suddenly turning into a bloody, unsafe germ fest? Partly, we're the only adults here so I am attempting to be friendly, if not friends with her.. And…we both loved Will. She doesn't have anything but memories. I'm pregnant with Will's baby, so I'll always have that piece of him," Terri said, "Always," she muttered determinately.
Quinn nodded, she understood Terri, "Shouldn't you say anything to the rest of them Terri?"
"Me?" Terri's voice was clearly shocked.
"Yeah. You're the other adult here?"
"Oh sweetie. If I wasn't pregnant, I might. But I am, and I'm simply not leadership material anymore. I could make them listen to me, maybe but I'm not totally sure of that. And well, I…I think if she didn't have a constant mess to clean up…yes, she'd be a little less stressed out, but I truly believe she'd start trying to clean the trees or something." Terri looked down sadly, "I'm hoping she'll kinda…snap out of it, and go back to normal. But without Will…maybe if she had gone with her family…"
"Did her family go to a base?"
"No," Terri gave a little laugh, "She told me they went to a 'ginger only' underground bunker, and her parents refused to allow Will to come with her, so she went with him. She hadn't expected her parents to say yes, but then again she didn't think Will would leave you kids anyway."
Quinn sighed softly to herself. Everyone had gone a little nuts. Maybe it was the freedom; free from school, thoughts of college, thoughts of adulthood, no pressure to do anything you didn't feel like doing. Really the only thing they'd done as a group was set up a watch system, and mostly that had been Finn's idea.
She'd read the books she'd brought back with gusto, making notes, and discussing things with whoever would listen long enough. Usually Brittany. Santana had little patience for that sort of thing, and she felt bad about talking about it with Mack, even if Mack had noticed and said she was fine if "Quinn wanted to talk about that parenting crap".
Beth was now very clingy to her; Quinn was proud at how much progress they've made in the last few weeks, even if she was a tiny bit annoyed that now, her whole life seemed to revolve around Beth. It helped distract her from the things she didn't want to think about. Her parents. The zombies. What was happening with the rest of the world. Whether they should attempt to go out and get more things they might need. Rachel.
She hadn't really even thought about Rachel, she realized with a start, as the other girl came in the living room, holding Dahlia. At first it had hurt too much to think about Rachel, and then Quinn had settled into a routine and there just wasn't room for the want, the need, the ache that came with allowing herself to think about Rachel Berry, let alone making stilted conversation about inane things.
There were bags under Rachel's eyes, she was dressed simply in a dress that probably came out of the pile of clothes Emma had deemed acceptable to keep, maybe even the same suitcase as the dress Quinn was wearing. Rachel looked like a nap and a shower would do her good.
"Finn," Rachel asked tentatively, "Could you perhaps take Dahlia? I need some time to myself, to rest and bathe."
Finn frowned, then looked at Rachel meaningfully. He dropped the knife and piece of wood on the coffee table, stood up, and stormed out, a beady eyed Jacob following him.
Rachel sighed.
As she started to leave, concerned, Quinn said, "Hand her to me Rachel, I'll take her."
Rachel looked at Finn's retreating back with a small frown, then she sighed, "Oh Quinn, thank you, but you have Beth, and it wouldn't be fair…although it wouldn't be fair to ask Blaine or Kurt to watch her, they were on watch last night."
"I'm mostly doing it for the rest of us Rachel, you need a shower," Quinn said, smiling to soften her blunt words, "and you may as well have a nap too."
Quinn stood up, and stepping lightly around Beth, went to Rachel and held out her arms. Rachel handed Dahlia over, and said "It's almost time for her next nap, maybe I should just keep her until then, and try to squeeze in a shower while she's sleeping?"
"No. I'll put her down with Beth, she'll be fine Rachel," Quinn held Dahlia close, and turned away from Rachel. She was clearly done talking to her, and hopefully Rachel would get the hint that she should just go already. She heard Rachel give a soft sigh, and say "She already ate, her schedule dictates that right now is Baby Brain enrichment time, singing to her would be sufficient, as I neglected to bring down her toys," then with one last look, left.
Of course Rachel had Dahlia on a schedule. And of course there was baby brain enrichment penciled in.
Quinn sat down carefully next to Beth, "Hey Monkey. This is baby Dahlia. A dahlia is a flower," Beth looked Dahlia with only mild curiosity, babbled something to her bear, (Quinn wanted to giggle as she suddenly imaged Beth gossiping about Dahlia with her teddy bear), then started poking the other stuffed animals piled next to her, clearly done scribbling.
Quinn started softly speak singing "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" figuring that was educational enough, as she put Dahlia on the floor. Wobbly, Dahlia scooted away from Quinn on her bottom towards the pile of stuffed animals near Beth.
Quinn grinned a little, imagining how much Rachel would have thrown herself into 'Mommy n' Me' classes if things were normal, everything from yoga to swimming to horseback riding, probably, if they had an option.
She could just picture Rachel enthusiastically saying "But Quinn, if she doesn't start horseback riding now, she won't get into a good kindergarten!"
Her grin turned into a frown as she realized, that if things were normal, Rachel wouldn't have Dahlia, and she certainly wouldn't be trying to convince Quinn of anything…except maybe rejoining New Directions.
Rachel yawned, and pulled the towel wrapped around herself tighter. She had taken a twenty minute nap, then indulged in a quick lukewarm shower. She did feel a little better, though.
She wished things between her and Finn weren't so off. They were out of rhythm. She wondered if perhaps she'd gave in and had sex with him, they'd be more in sync. They had gotten very very close almost a week ago, even though there were thin walls between them and the others, and anyone could enter the room at any moment, Rachel had let the heat of the moment get away from her.
Rachel had been on her menstrual cycle, and even just mentioning that it'd be extra lubricating to Finn had grossed him out so much he wouldn't touch her for two days, not even begging her for oral or hand stimulation which he had taken pushing for the last week (she assumed he had given up on sex entirely for the moment). She had told him to grow up, and likely he was still upset at her for that on top of everything else.
But honestly, he could stand to mature a little bit.
Blaine had been by far, the busiest of them all during the day, (it seemed like he was everywhere, and she wasn't quite sure he didn't have a couple of identical twin brothers running around) and Rachel didn't feel right infringing on his sleep for him to have a turn with Dahlia at night, especially since he usually had a watch duty -that did not stop him from insisting on having his turn at night. Especially with Kurt helping him. Now that they had a routine established, it was easier then the first few nights anyway.
He took her a few hours during the day as well and normally that was enough but today she was extra tired. Likely her limited sleep catching up to her or she was catching a cold.
It was quite nice of Quinn to take Dahlia.
An image of a happy, carefree Quinn holding Dahlia, Beth looking intently at the infant in her mother's arms, came unbidden to Rachel. It was a lovely thought, and it was a shame her drawing talent was lacking, otherwise she'd be tempted to put it down to paper for generations to see.
A little shiver went through her as guiltily, she realized that was the first time she'd thought of Quinn as Beth's mother without thinking about Shelby first.
She was still day dreaming when the door to their room opened. She turned, expecting to see Tina or Mack.
It was Jacob Ben Israel.
Rachel scowled, and wrapped an arm around herself to assure herself the towel wouldn't fall.
"Jacob, I certainly have no idea why you would think you could just come in here," she glared at him.
Jacob shrugged, "No rules," and looked her up and down in a way that made her want another shower.
"There are certainly rules, Jacob Ben Israel. Leave right now," Rachel hoped he hadn't heard the thread of fear that laced her harsh tone.
"Relax Rachel, I'm not going to hurt you. That'd ruin any chance I'd have of making beautiful, smart, talented Jewish babies with you," Jacob said, actually looking a little hurt she'd think that, and stepping away from Rachel and towards her open suitcase, which laid on the bed, piles of clothing next to it. She had yet to actually unpack it, and had meaning to do so today, hence the piles of clothing.
He poked through her pile of underwear, and disgust went through Rachel as he said, "So listen. You need help with the baby, help Finn's not giving you and Anderson's too busy being wonder boy. I mean, I'm sure he'd add that to his plate, happily, if you weren't too nice to make him do his share. I'll help for a pair of your underwear a week. Three hours a day. It's not like I'm doing anything else." At Rachel's look, he added, "I'm good with kids! Before the blog was making money I'd babysit to earn cash."
A part of Rachel…a very small part, wanted to agree. It was just underwear, and she…well. She wanted some time to herself, to shower and get some sleep and perhaps read or bring some order to kitchen. Time she didn't have to constantly hover over Dahlia, worrying or wishing. And maybe, just maybe, she could spend some of that trying to mend the cracks in her and Finn's relationship.
Instead, she glared at him, "No. Get out."
Jacob gave her a smile, "When you change your mind, it'll be two pairs a week. Or maybe I could touch a boob."
He went to the door, pausing only to take another long look at her towel covered form before turning back. As he reached a hand to the knob, it opened.
The Mack came in, and stopped short when she saw Jacob. One look at Rachel, clad in a towel, had Mack glaring at him.
"What are you doing in here? Man, it's been a while since I beat someone up and I'm a little rusty," She said, glaring at Jacob, and not letting him out the door.
"Just telling Rachel we owe it to our religion to make beautiful talented intelligent Jewish babies, plus I could satisfy her way better then Finn could," Jacob said, a little sweaty. Obviously he was scared of the Mack. Not that Rachel blamed him, she was a little scared of her too.
The Mack looked him over, then stepped aside without a word.
Jacob made for the door, when the Mack reached out, and hit him solidly. He had a shocked look on his face as he stumbled to the door, and the Mack growled, "Drop them."
The pair of underwear Rachel had taken off before her shower fell from Jacob's hand. Rachel stared at them, slightly horrified, but mostly grossed out. How on earth had he grabbed those without her noticing?
"Don't come back in here, ever. Don't so much as look at Rachel, either, creep. Or else I'll use you as zombie bait when we finally go back out for supplies. It's not like anyone would miss you," She sneered, shoving him out the door. Rachel had a glimpse of blood going down his face, his glasses bent and his eye already starting to blacken as Mack closed the door.
"Surely you didn't need to be so violent Mack?"
The Mack turned and looked at Rachel like Rachel had grown another head, "He was stealing your panties. Your used panties. Berry, you can't let creeps get away with stuff like that, 'specially now that there aren't cops to keep the cowardly ones from doing bad shit. Now I'm gonna have to tell Santana and-"
"Oh please don't tell Santana. It's humiliating, Mack." Rachel said, pleading.
"I've gotta tell her, Quinn, and Sam at least. What if Jacob decides that one of the girls would be an easier target then you Rachel? First it's panties…then who knows what. We really need to organize another supply run, how much formula do you have for the kid? We can ditch Jacob there," Mack mused, stomping to her messenger bag, and pulling out a tattered notebook.
"I find it unlikely Jacob would move onto one of the kids, Brittany perhaps, but he has always been mildly obsessed with me," Rachel sighed, "I have sufficient amounts of formula for the next month at least, perhaps two. However, I loath to use one of the brands of formula as it gave Dahlia a rash, so a trip to town in the next few weeks would be nice, but there is rash cream so it's not yet vital." She started pulling out clean clothes to get dressed.
Mack scribbled in her notebook, then frowning, said, "You ever ask Quinn about borrowing one or her adoption books?"
Rachel beamed at Mack, pausing in pulling on her dress, and said, "Not yet, but I will soon. I think I am doing a well enough job adjusting Dahlia to my care; she is young, and I imagine that helps quite a bit. It would be nice to have several books to reference, health books in particular would be beneficial as well."
Mack snorted, "If I get you any baby health books Berry, you'll immediately think Dahlia has every symptom for everything."
Rachel laughed, "Perhaps! Although I like to think I would be more level headed then that." Rachel finished dressing, and turned her back towards Mack, who zipped up the dress for her silently.
"Mack, " Rachel turned, looking at the other girl seriously, "We're friends, aren't we?"
The Mack looked at Rachel, raising an eyebrow. Rachel suddenly wished she had kept silent, it was foolish of her to need verbal confirmation, when they had been getting along so well before. She had ruined what they had, she was demanding and needy and-
"'Course we are Berry. You think I just let anyone ride with me, or share my room, or hell, talk to me?" The Mack said, giving Rachel a grin, like she knew what Rachel had just been thinking. And maybe she did, The Mack, for all her refusal to talk about "mushy crap" was quite intuitive.
"Let's go get some grub, Rachel. You can make that vegetarian stew again, me 'n Tina both thought it was pretty tasty," Mack walked to the door, still holding her notebook and pen.
"Finn did not care for it, but perhaps I can make enough for us, and Quinn as a thank you for watching Dahlia, " Rachel suggested, grabbing a Kent State University hoodie to wear she had snagged at Mack's insistence from the suitcase collection of clothes, even if it was rather large on her. But it was chilly out, and it was warm.
"Finn's an idiot, no offense. If you do that, you should make enough for Santana, Tiffany, Brittany and Sarah too, since it's Quinn's turn to cook for them today," Mack said, closing their door, "Man I wish we had locks. What the hell, I'll add that to the list to, be it wouldn't be hard to get some from the houses around here at least," she put the notebook against the wall, and scribbled it down.
Rachel sighed as one of the rolled up sleeves on the hoodie unrolled, ignored the insult to Finn, and said "Perhaps add safety pins to the list. Although maybe I should just get a hoodie that is sized correctly to me."
Mack dropped the pen and notebook on the floor, and held Rachel's arm, and started rerolling the sleeve for her. "You know why I suggested you grab this hoodie, right?" she asked.
Confused, Rachel said, "I had assumed it entertained you to see me in clothing much too large."
"Nah," the Mack dropped Rachel's arm after a glance at the other one to make sure the roll was tight, and picked up her notebook and pen, "That's only part of the reason. It's getting cold, and it'll be easier to wear Dahlia in a sling or backpack under the hoodie to keep her warm. Shared body heat. 'Specially if we gotta leave here."
Rachel swallowed, "That is a good reason, thank you Mack. Do…you think we'll have to leave?" She wanted so desperately to ask Mack about her baby, or even Quinn, the curiosity was great. She resolved that at five years of friendship, she would ask Mack herself; at one year, she'd ask Quinn.
Mack shrugged, "There's you know, zombies around, so who knows what the hell will happen. And I'm liking the anarchy as much as the next person, but eventually we're going to run out of good food or toilet paper and things are gonna get crazy. You think the arguments are bad now, with everyone making their own food and stuff, wait till we're down to three rolls of toilet paper in a hundred mile radius. I'd rather get outta here before then, find somewhere else."
"Where else would we go?" Rachel followed Mack down the stairs, frowning.
"I dunno. Military base, maybe. Or just find a town that hasn't been completely looted, and stay up in a bank or something. Maybe we'd start where Quinn and I last heard from Shelia, and go from there."
The Mack stopped short in the middle of the stairs, and turned around, "Look Rachel, don't worry about it right now. It'll be a long long time until we'll have to leave here, if we have to leave at all. Forget I said anything, okay?"
Rachel let out the breath she was holding, and nodded. Satisfied, Mack said, "Let's go check on the kid, and go get started on that stew. You're gonna need my help if you're making enough for seven, and it's gonna take a while, so I bet we can get some sun while it cooks. "
Quinn was sunning herself out on the blanket she had put down on the deck for her and Beth. Beth was rolling a ball back and forth to Tiffany, looking very concerned every time the ball was in Tiffany's possession. Every now and then Quinn would have to gently remind her to roll the ball back to Tiffany.
The sky was clear, with no cloud threatening rain for the first time in days, and it seemed like everyone was outside enjoying the sun.
She could hear Blaine chopping wood, and his and Kurt's voices to going back and forth, even if she couldn't make out what either boy was saying.
Tina was sitting on the steps talking in low tones with Brittany while they both took turns holding a string for Lord Tubbington to bat at. Rachel was sitting next to them, and alternated between talking to them, and talking to Dahlia who was scooting around happily.
Mack and Santana were playing B.S. at the patio set with Sarah, Kyle, Stevie, and Stacy, and making the kids giggle with their playful trash talking to each other. The loser, out of the two of them, apparently would have to be "it" first in the game of freeze tag they were going to play later.
Finn and Sam were throwing a football back and forth, Jacob, his eye black and swollen, the cut on his face bandaged with a hello kitty Band-Aid, was watching them, and flinching exaggeratedly every time Finn or Sam would pretend to throw the ball to him.
Quinn basked in the sunlight, and peacefulness. It was a nice change of pace from the arguments and tension that had been in the cabin. Somehow they had become divided up by room, in some sort of mini tribes so it was nice everyone was getting along and being happy for once. Maybe it was the sunlight. Quinn was sure she had read something, once, about lack of sunlight making people moody.
Quinn's eyes were half closed, and her lids were starting to feel heavy. She was starting to consider taking a cat nap when all good feelings flew out of her as Blaine and Kurt start shouting.
Wide awake now, she sat up. Blaine and Kurt were running towards them, Blaine dropping the axe, as they dashed to the rest of the group.
Behind them, Quinn could see figures looping awkwardly towards them.
"Six..or seven, " Blaine said taking a few deep breaths, "But they're slow."
"I think they broke the fence," Kurt added, turning to stare at the figures in disdain.
Swallowing, Quinn stood up, hitching the long skirt up with one hand and tucking it into her underwear. It looked dorky, but the last thing she wanted was to trip over the dress.
"Get the kids in the house, us guys will take care of 'em," Finn said, puffing up a little with pride, "This is why we have people on watch. Who knows what would have happened if Kurt hadn't been out there."
Quinn decided not to argue, or point out that Blaine was out there chopping wood anyway, and scooped up a protesting Beth, then grabbed Tiffany's hand. Tiffany cowered next to Quinn, obviously picking up that there were monsters near, even if she couldn't see them from her height.
Santana and the Mack both glared at Finn, obviously not happy at his words. Santana's knee was a lot better, even though Quinn knew it still hurt and would take more time to heal completely, but that didn't stop Santana from wanting to "Smash some zombie skulls" as Santana put it.
She led Tiffany to the door, Beth feeling heavy in her arms. Rachel and a now crying Dahlia behind her.
Once they were all in, weapons were collected, distributed, then the door locked, Quinn relaxed a tiny bit, but that didn't stop her mind from flashing through all the what ifs.
What if no one had been out there, and those things had gotten to the house without anyone noticing.
The kids played in the yard by themselves, or with just Brittany out there with them (Tiffany was still clingy with her older sister, but not nearly as much as she had been. Quinn assumed it was just because kids easily adapted to stuff. Hell, she thought ruely, so did teenagers).
It made her want to throw up to think about the zombies coming up and eating the kids, so she stopped.
It hadn't occurred to any of them that there was any danger from zombies in the woods, or that enough zombies pilling up could break any of the fences. Finn had only suggested a watch because it sounded cool and like something Puck would have suggested, she was a hundred percent sure.
Even if someone had suggested the idea, no one would have really known what to do except put more people outside watching when the kids played. None of them had really thought they had anything to worry about out here.
Well, Quinn thought, looking at the faces of everyone waiting in the living room, her gaze finally settling on a worried Rachel trying to settle a now screaming Dahlia, they were wrong.
Santana stuffed another bite of the stew Rachel had made into her mouth. As she chewed, she could grudgingly admit it was pretty good. She grabbed another slice of fresh bread, and shot Kurt a smirk when she saw him looking at their meal, and obviously comparing it to the...calling it food would be too nice, that Blaine had made them, Jacob, and Finn for dinner.
Good to know Wonder Boy had his flaws after all, she thought, taking a bite of the bread Mack had made after she dipped it into the broth.
She been naturally wary when Rachel had popped into their room and informed them as a thank you to Quinn she'd make their room dinner.
"This is really good Rachel," Brittany beamed at Rachel, and it made Santana smile as she ate her dinner.
"Thank you Brittany. I could not have done it without Mack's assistance; she is quite good at mincing."
Mack shrugged, and lazily said, "All of you remember I'm great with a knife. "
There was a small pattering of laughter, before the sounds of eating resumed.
Santana grabbed another slice of bread, put some butter on it, and handed it to Sarah who smiled, and started eating it, copying Santana's bread dunking motions exactly. Santana took another bite of bread dipped in the broth, and gazed languidly around.
Terri was patiently helping her nephew cut up the veggies and steak the pair of them and Emma were eating. Sam had made his siblings a simple meal of mac n' cheese with frozen vegetables tossed in it. Santana took another bite of the stew, and decided that there was no reason they couldn't start making food with Sam and his siblings too. Hell, it was pretty stupid of them all to make a bunch of separate meals in the first place, but whatever, Santana wasn't in charge. They'd figure something out eventually.
"So I said to her," Mack was saying, and Santana started paying attention as she ate, "That if she wants do it, whatever. But she had to do it outside of the car. That changed her mind right there," Mack finished with a grin.
"Santana do you think Coach Sue is okay?" Brittany asked.
"Tots Britts."
Quinn nodded as she fed a spoonful of broth to Beth, "If anyone is doing alright, it's Sue Sylvester."
"Sam," Stacy's tiny voice asked nervously, "I left my stuffie outside can you get her? I'm scared..."
"Sure thing Stace," Sam grinned, and caught Santana looking at him, winked at her as he got up from the table.
"So you guys wanna play that game after dinner," Finn asked over the table loudly, mostly to Sam.
Sam shook his head no, and said, "Nah, not tonight," as he left the room. There was a chorus of no's which made Finn frown, and resume eating his dinner with a glare at the plate.
Santana ate the last bite of soup, and set her spoon in the bowl. Yawning, she lazily stood up and started limping around the table collecting plates. Yeah, Ms. Pillsbury is going to wash the dishes, probably, but that doesn't mean they can't help her out a little by collecting them.
Sam rushed into the room, wild eyed and panicky, as with a quick glance at his siblings, he blurted out, "There are car's coming up the driveway,"
Santana almost dropped the plates she was holding. All the sound in the room disappeared as they stared at each other.
"Do you think that's more Jones's?" Tina asked quietly, a little eagerness in her question. Santana understood that; they hadn't found Mercedes's body, so there was a chance the girl could come strolling up to them one day, alive and happy to see them.
"Will they make us leave?" Sarah said, already looking close to tears. Santana limped over to her, and wrapped an arm around her, then she bent down and whispered, "Even if they make us leave Sarita," Santana didn't call her Baby Puck or Lil' Puck anymore, "we'll be okay. I promise," which seemed to comfort the younger girl a little even as Santana's mind raced. They had earned this place of safety, they had made it safe and people died to do so. They wouldn't give it up easily.
"Seriously you guys, a lot of cars. Like over a dozen," Sam said stepped further into the room.
"Let's go see," Finn stated, with a worried look on his face.
They walked to the gate as a group.
