Quinn looks from me to Puck, trying to take in what's happening. "Santana, Blaine, Kurt. What are you guys doing here? What were you thinking? Coming back to Ohio?" Her voice is filling with frustration, but her eyes fixed on me. My expression falls, she does not seem pleased to see me.
"We came back to Lima to find our families and friends," Kurt tells her, with optimism in his voice.
How can he still be so hopeful after seeing Tina and Ryder the way they were. Quinn frowns and I immediately know the case is bad.
"Oh," She mutters. "Well let's get inside first."
"Are there others in there with you?" Blaine asks. She nods, but doesn't speak. I know she doesn't want to reveal who is dead. She looks at me briefly, her eyes are expressionless. I can't tell how she feels about my being here.
"Come on," She says, turning her eyes back to the path. "I'll show you the way in."
She leads us around another side of the building, she pulls herself onto a window ledge before pulling herself onto the low roof of one the science labs and opens a window at the side of the second floor.
"Climb up," she instructs.
"You first," Puck tells me. My hands begin to tremble as I climb on to the first window sill. Once I'm standing there I reach up to the roof and try to pull myself up. Her cold hand grabs mine and she pulls me up. Our eyes meet, she eyes me up and down as if she's looking for something or inspecting me. She frowns, confused. She squeezes my hand tightly before letting it go.
"Go inside," She whispers, there is no tone in her voice. It is just an direct instruction. Santana and Dani are next on to the roof.
"Santana," Quinn says, this time I can hear happiness and relief in her voice. "Who is this?"
"This is Dani," Santana stammers.
"Dani?" Quinn questions, before it clicks. "Oh! Your girlfriend from New York."
"And you're Quinn," Dani smiles weakly, "I've heard a lot about you."
I climb in the window, hoping they will follow.
"You have?" Quinn questions in surprise. "You better go inside, I need to help the others up."
I find myself in my old History classroom, although it is preserved under layers of dust. It obviously hasn't been used for any purpose except to enter and exit the building since the outbreak.
The others enter through the window behind me until we are all safely inside. "Come on," she whispers. "I suppose the others will be wondering where I've been. Time to give them a surprise."
She leads us out of the room, carrying her gun over her shoulder. She looks like a force not to be messed with. She leads us towards the stair case bit turns around and looks at Dani.
"You're limping," she points out.
"yeah, I just twisted my ankle or something, it's fine," Dani says, breathlessly.
Quinn nods and proceeds down the stair case towards the choir room. How typical that they would take refuge here. Music really does save lives.
"please don't freak out," Quinn mumbles to the door, I'm not sure who she's talking to. She slowly pushes it open.
"Quinn?" A soft voice asks. "you were gone two hours!"
"Come on, you know some of my searches take longer than others," she sighs, through the gap she's made in the door."
"did you find anything?" The soft voice asks again, her voice is clearer this time and we can hear footsteps coming towards the door. Behind me, Santana gasps in realisation.
"I guess you could say that," Quinn sighs and opening the door fully, letting the sight of our beloved choir room fill our eyes. It's basically the same except with bags and blankets covering the floor as well as familiar faces who gasp at the sight of us. Brittany, Kitty, Jake, Marley. They look at us with vacant expressions, trying to take in what they're seeing.
"Santana," Brittany is the first to speak. " Rachel, Kurt, Puck, Blaine."
"Hi Britt," Santana whispers. I feel her looking at me but I refuse to look back, Santana has led herself into this situation and I can't deal with it right now. I have my own confusions.
"Brittany!" Blaine exclaims, and hugs her tightly. Her face lights up and she hugs Kurt and I tightly before reaching Santana. The ex-girlfriends meet eyes. Santana's eyes are sparkling with nervousness. Brittany pulls her towards her and they hug briefly but tightly, and their expressions of relief fade away as they break apart.
The other three stand up and run towards us.
"What are you doing here?" Marley questions, they all have the same look of disbelief in their tired eyes.
"Noah," Jake breathes. The half brothers clasp hands in a low high-five.
"We came back to find survivors," Blaine answers Marley.
"Is this all of you?" Kurt asks, his face has fallen as he scans the room.
"No," Quinn replies softly and turns with a questioning face to Brittany.
"They're in the faculty lounge," Brittany replies. "They're going to be so happy."
"Come on," Quinn says with knitted brows. There's something she doesn't want to admit to us.
She leads us back through the cold, empty corridor to the faculty lounge at the end of the hall. Through the glass in the door I can see four older figures inside. Quinn opens the door slightly so only she can see inside.
"Quinn," A woman's voice says. "You're back. The others were worried."
"I'm fine," Quinn sighs frustratedly. "I found some people."
"What? In Lima? Where were they?" A stern male voice demands to know, it is not a voice I recognise. I stand on my tiptoes to try to see over Quinn's head and find out who is inside but the small height difference between us stops us from doing so.
"Trying to break into the school," Quinn answers nonchalantly.
"Well did you chase them away?" The man asks bitterly.
"No," Quinn answers, I can almost hear a smirk in her voice as if she takes pleasure out of frustrating him.
"You brought them inside, didn't you? Lucy, what have you done? How stupid can you be?"
Lucy? Nobody calls her that. I don't who she is talking to but I don't like the tone he is using to talk to Quinn, I'm scowling at him from behind Quinn's back.
"I think the others might disagree with you on that," Quinn replies sharply and steps aside.
There are three inhales of shock which are echoed by our own. It's hard to believe that this is real. I freeze and take in the shocked faces of the three women that I recognize, Carol, Maribel and Shelby. My mouth opens in incredulity.
Carol slowly stumbles her way up from the chair she has been sitting in. She walks in our direction with an outstretched hand aiming for my cheek. Her cold palm meet my cheek.
"Is this really happening? Rachel?" She whispers and looks into my eyes.
I nod and the tears begin to spill down her cheeks. "I can't believe this, I was so scared I've never see you again. Maribel, Shelby, come here."
"Lucy," the stern looking man calls. I recognize his face but I can't remember who he is. "Who are these people?"
"Hush Russel," Carol commands. "These are our kids."
She moves from me to Kurt who is trembling with joy beside me.
"Kurt," She cries and almost smothers her stepson in a warm embrace.
"Mama?" Santana croaks , taking a step towards her mother who is standing in front of us, her head turned to the side in confusion.
"My baby," Maribel cries and takes her daughter in her arms before breaking down. "Mi carino. What are you doing here?"
"We came back Mom," Santana sobs and she begins to cry uncontrollably. "Mom, I missed you so much. I was so scared Mom."
"Me too baby," Maribel replies stroking Santana's hair affectionately. They hold on to each other as if they may never see each other again.
"Rachel," Shelby finally says from her chair. Her sorrowful eyes meet mine. She looks tired, weaker and older than the last time I saw her. Stressed even.
"Shelby," the reply that comes isn't from my mouth.
"Puck," Shelby answers and slowly raises herself from the table.
"What are you doing here?" He asks. "I went to find you in New York. I looked everywhere. Where is she? Where is Beth?" That would explain all those ventures he insisted on taking by himself. He really had been looking for Shelby and Beth.
"She is sleeping," Shelby answers quietly, but she looks nervous around Puck, as if she's afraid that he'll take Beth from her.
"Hey!" The man in the room shouts, standing up abruptly. "You're the son of the devil who impregnated my daughter. Aren't you?"
"Leave him alone Russel!" Quinn snaps fiercely, her face fills with anger. Her father glares at her.
I look to Quinn as a painful expression fills her face. It can't have been easy for her. Living with the child she gave away and the father who abandoned her for being pregnant. Her gaze meets mine and I can see the pain in her eyes before she quickly breaks the contact. I don't know her father but I have no respect or no willingness to try to respect him either. I don't understand what sort of father can treat their daughter the way he has treated Quinn. I clench my fists in anger.
"What are you doing here?" Puck repeats ignoring Russel.
"I came here to find Rachel," She answers, catching my full attention.
"Me?" I ask.
"I wanted to congratulate her on her show, I had meant to do it for some time but I decided I would give her some time after the show had finished, I know myself you need time to breathe after a show has finished. So I called by your apartment, but Santana told me you were in Lima for the weekend. So I decided I needed some time away from the city and went to Lima to surprise you but by the time I got there, you were already gone home."
I look to Santana who bites her lip. "I'm sorry, I completely forgot," she says. I turn back to Shelby with widened eyes. I'm in utter shock, she wanted to congratulate me? "You came to my show?"
"Three times," she admits. "Rachel I can't even tell you how I proud I was." Her eyes begin to tear up and mine imitate.
"The first time I watched you I was so amazed by the beautiful young woman you have become. You were breathtaking. I had to see it again, and then hearing everybody cheer for you, I just wanted to shout to the rooftops: that's my daught-"
She stops before she finishes the words trying to read my expression. I'm confused, taken aback. She never wanted to have a relationship with me, so why is she starting now? What has caused this?
I look around, realizing something is not right.
"Wait," I say profoundly. "This is all of you?"
Carol and Maribel nod with faces filled with fear, they already suspect what my next question will be.
"But Carol," I whisper, as my body begins to go numb. "My dads, you said they were with you."
Kurt looks up in confusion, "Carol, where's Dad?"
Carol hangs her head and begins to sniffle. She is crying again but this time it isn't with joy. She looks up and wipes some of the tears from her face. The expressions around her have turned sullen too.
"We had some problems getting here," She whispers weakly. Blaine, who is now holding her helps her sit down on one of the chairs. "Burt and I had planned to leave with your dads and along the way we met Quinn, Maribel, Brittany and Russel, trying to fight off zombies. They were outnumbered and of course we got out to help them. We didn't have enough weapons to defend everyone so Burt, Hiram and LeRoy tried to create a diversion so we could escape. Burt and Hiram, they got bitten." Carol stops and tries to breathe amid her sobbing. "They told us it wasn't safe for them to be around us anymore and they made us promise we would let them put their life in their own hands. They wanted to die human, not monsters."
Everything inside me shatters. I can't feel my pulse anymore, my heart has broken, again but this time, I don't know how to fix it. "What about LeRoy?" I stammer.
"He said he couldn't live on without Hiram," Carol answers me confirming my worst fears. "We tried to stop him, but they made us promise we would take care of ourselves, that we would escape this and find you kids. They died together Rachel and they told me that if and when I found you, to tell you that they died happy and that they loved you more than anything in the world. And Kurt, your dad, I didn't want to live without him either, but he made me promise I would find you. He wasn't going to let me break it. And it was our intention to find you ids, but we couldn't get out of Lima. It was too dangerous, espeicially with just two guns between us. I'm so sorry."
"But what about the others?" Blaine stammers. "Artie? Sam? Our friends and families?"
Quinn shakes her head. "We never found any of them. Kitty, Jake and Marley just happened to be hiding here when we arrived."
"No!" Kurt shouts angrily before breaking down. "No! Dad!" Blaine quickly takes him into his arms, restraining him.
Carol sobs louder at his reaction. Meanwhile, I'm too numb to react. I'm just an empty shell. I need Quinn but she's too far away. She hasn't welcomed my presence, leaving me presume that I have nothing and nobody left in this world. My dads, my best friends, they're gone.
My head begins to spin and a knot begins to form in my stomach making me feel nauseous. "Rachel?" Quinn's voice asks. "Rachel."
I look up, and see two of her. I take a step forward towards the door, I want to run away from here, from everything. But my knees buckle in from underneath me and I fall into a black world of nothingness.
I wake up with something cold and damp pressed against my forehead. My head is spinning in pain. "Ow," I groan, and try to adjust my eyes to the bright sunlight shining in from a window at the side of the room. I try to sit up but I am gently lowered back down.
"Woah, take it easy," a gentle voice tells me.
"Quinn," I breathe.
"Are you ok?" She asks, I look into her hazel eyes, they're duller than I remember. She's holding something to my forehead.
"What's on my head?" I ask. "Where am I?"
"It's a wet rag," She confesses, taking the red piece of cloth away from my forehead, it was the best thing we could get for your head since we have no ice. I really hope you don't have a concussion because our first aid supplies are very limited."
"How long have I been out?" I wince.
"Only a few minutes. We're in the nurse's office," she tells me. "Puck helped me carry you, he's outside the door."
I sigh. "Of course he did."
"You look different," She tells me. "Older, fiercer."
"And so do you," I reply. "You cut your hair, why?"
"I got frustrated one day," she answers before pausing.
Her face falls and she stares at me, profoundly.
"What is it?" I whisper.
"I just can't believe you're here. That you're alive."
"Well that makes two of us," I sigh.
"Rachel, I'm sorry about your Dads," She whispers. "They were honestly two of the kindest men I've ever met. I know it can't be easy for you but maybe you can take some consolation in the fact that they died together, when they were happy and that they loved you so much."
I sigh. I know Quinn can;t fully understand what it feels like to lose a dad, she has no relationship with her father and has never felt any true love from him.
"I came to Lima hoping to find so many things." I whisper. "But they're all dead."
"Everything you came looking for?" She questions.
"Yeah," I mumble.
She gazes into my eyes before suddenly pulling my neck towards her. Her lips meet mine, in a passionate, warm kiss which emanates a strong force of desperation. and longing. But I can't help but kiss her back, I run my hands through her new short hair, I feel safe in her embrace.
"Quinn!" I gasp as she pulls away from me.
"I'm sorry," She whispers, edging away from me. "I just needed to make sure that you were real, that you were here. I'm sorry, don't mad with me, I've, I've just missed you so much Rachel. I needed to feel what that felt like again."
I raise a hand and she stops stammering. "Why are you apologising? Aren't you mad with me?"
"Mad with you? Yes I'm mad with you for coming all the way to a place like this, the most dangerous state in the USA! Couldn't you pick from any of the other 49? You put yourself in so much danger. But even so, why would that stop me from kissing you?" She raises an eyebrow before she recalls. " Because of that day? Rachel, I thought you didn't want me anymore."
I look up at her with tearfilled eyes. "No, I do, Quinn, I'm sorry I was just confused and scared, but Quinn please, you have to forgive me.I want you, no I need you Quinn Fabray! I love you."
Her eyes fill with tears. "You do?"
I nod silently. I can see her brave face break down as she chokes up.
"You don't know how long I've been waiting to hear you say that," She replies. The affection from her kiss has begun to take effect inside my body, I can feel part of me come alive again. Quinn actually wants me.
"You don't know how long I've been waiting to say that," I tell her. "I came here to find you, so I could tell you but then you looked angry when you first saw us, I thought you didn't want me here. I didn't know what to do."
"You came all the way to Lima to find me? Rachel you idiot you could have been killed."
"I'm not the only one," I whisper. "Puck has come for you too."
"Puck? But I don't want him," She frowns. "Oh crap, I never told him, he doesn't know."
"No, Quinn he has really changed, he is not the same guy we knew in Glee Club and the small fraction of a heart that he has, it only beats for you. I was so scared that he'd shoot me if I told him."
"Don't worry," She whispers, grabbing my hands, "I'll tell him."
"Be careful," I whisper.
She pulls me closer to her and plants a kiss on my forehead. "You know you've had me so worried this past month, I'm never going to let you leave again." She smiles. I have just pulled away when Dani opens the door, a small, content smile on her face.
"Rachel are you ok?" She asks, her face looks pale and sick.
I nod and smile.
"Quinn, you're being called for outside," She informs Quinn. My face falls, I don't want her to leave, I want her hear by my side, indefinitely.
"By who?"
"Russel?" Dani answers in a faint voice. I can see bead sof perspiration gathering on her forehead. She limps over closer to us.
Quinn rolls her eyes. "What does he want now? Rachel, don't move, I promise I'll be back in a few minutes. Dani, you can look around for some supplies for that ankle if you want."
I watch sadly as Quinn exits the room, I'm not willing to lose her ever again.
As soon as Dani and I are alone she tugs on sleeve gently as she hoists herself up on to the bed I am sitting on.
"Rachel," She whispers. "I need to tell you something." She's out of breath but something in her eyes tells me that something is seriously wrong.
"What is it?" I ask in a fearful voice, a look of pain comes over her face as her eyes well up in tears. She rolls up the leg of her trousers and throws off one of her heavy boots , revealing a blood-soaked sock. I look at her in horror.
"Dani?" I question but I know what's wrong before she even rolls down the sock to reveal the deep bite mark in her ankle.