Chapter 26
Walking through the entrance way and into the lobby of the hospital it felt like she was in the middle of a war torn third world country or at least what she assumed one would be like from the extensive amount of educational television she has watched over the years.
There was debris everywhere. The ground covered in glass that crunched under her heel with every step she took. The guard/ welcome desk had dark brown blood stains smeared on it as well as the wall behind it, and the cashier at the gift shop was slumped over the register guarding its money even in death. Rachel kicked out her foot and watch with indifference as as the death bloated body of the red head collapsed to the floor. Well at least she wasn't a zombie. The flies and maggots kinda ruled that one out.
Quickly she cracked open the cash register and pocketed the money just as she had done at the target. Who knew if there was still any semblance of society out there after all, if so money could come in handy when starting over for their little group and if not...well it would make great kindling for starting a fire when they reached that point.
Taking her time to look around the gift shop because she was at the moment in no danger, Rachel decided to fill her rucksack with all the salvageable food she could find. They had more then enough to last her family of four plus five more for at least a year and a half to two years if rationed properly but times that by all the people currently staying at the ranch now; at least three meals a day not including those who snuck snacks and well at this moment she was not to sure of the exact math but the point was they would run out a lot sooner no matter how careful they were. So every time she went out she grabbed whatever food and beverages she could.
After that she grabbed a few gifts for the three females in her home she knew would be the most pissed at her latest adventure, figuring every little bit of ass kissing could only improve her odds. And yeah okay she was sort of stalling..again just a little bit but in her defense hospitals were creepy oh yeah and the list she had was a pain in the ass. And creepy. And she only knew what maybe six or seven of these items actually were or looked like. And creepy. And no clue where to start locating this crap. Plus ya know hospitals...creepy.
Once again she had gone and looked before she leaped and was now kicking herself over it. WTF was it about the end of the world that had her acting so reckless and as idiotic as well Finn. She snorted in self depreciation while she banged her head against the wall in front of her. Before all of this happened she was a very methodical and cautious person. She planned for every outcome, every contingency. Looked at every possible angle. Always tried to know what she was walking into. She researched and Google everything. Triple checked and cross referenced things like her life depended on it; and no when it actually did plus the lives of other people, she was acting all willy nilly.
Her fathers would be so disappointed in her.
She couldn't help it. She was just so tired. So lost. So alone. Her family was gone.
Yes she had JD. She had a somewhat adopted mother and little sister in Rita and Sarah Puckerman. She had her friendships with Brittany and Kelly and now Noah her oldest and dearest friend seemed to be back in the fold. She also had the new and somewhat surprising yet at the same time not so surprising friendship with one Miss Quinn Fabray.
The two of them had always been on each others radar, always drawn to each other like magnets that for the longest time were of the same makeup that only repelled each other harder, stronger the closer in contact they became/ Both similar in many ways: Stubborn determined, willing to do whatever they had to be on top. To be in control. Rachel was no fool, she knew the majority of their confrontations were rife with sexual tension at least on her end anyway. She always just assumed it was because they were both alpha type personalities and because of their constant unspoken competition to always try and one up the other girl. Both she and Quinn seemed to always want what the other had and well Rachel also just liked to rile the other girl up because if a calm normal Quinn Fabray was a beautiful creature to behold, then an angry confrontational Quinn? Well that was just down right orgasmic inducing hotness. So...so...HOT...
Okay so maybe she was a little masochistic. Whatever. Point is that it was like one day the doofus controlling magnet Quinn and magnet Rachel finally figured out they were holding one backwards and decided to flip it around. And just like that the two magnets drew together seamlessly the pull tho hard to deny before was impossible to ignore now. They had spent the last month slowly getting to know each other and actually treat each other kindly, to grow closer and because of that Rachel's crush or puppy love or whatever that survived all that torment and torture had grown into full on love and respect once she had finally gotten to see and know the real Quinn. The gentle, supportive, kind, caring girl that hardly anyone else had the pleasure of knowing. Rachel knew she was lucky for that and she knew Quinn had meant what she had said last night about Rachel not being alone in all of this. But still.
The loss of her dad Hiram had caused an emptiness in her. It drove thousands of tiny hairline fractures around her heart. But now. Now with the loss oh her daddy Leroy too? Her last and only real anchor and safe haven? Those fractures had grown into fissure sized landmarks and truthfully she just didn't really give a flying fuck what happened to her anymore. To tired to hold on and always stay strong. She never did have the freak out she thought she would've probably because she chose to internalize it all instead. And now with all the things about her that were changing, with her becoming this this ..thing. This freak of nature she found herself caring less and less about her own life and if she happened to go out on a task or mission one day and never make it back? Well then so be it. She would not wail and bemoan the loss of her own life when everyday she felt herself becoming less of Rachel Berry and more of this thing that was taking over her. Except...
There was last night and early this morning and every other moment big or small she had spent with Quinn. That was the root of it all for her.
Quinn.
The girl who single handed and without even being aware of it made Rachel feel alive and safe and happy and a zillion other feelings all at once that she had thought long extinct from her emotional data bank. Being with Quinn no matter how small or insignificant to the world those moments may seem, just standing by her or in the same area as the blonde no matter who else was present or what else was going on brought Rachel a sense of calm, of peace and contentment and most of all of hope. Quinn made her feel completely human still.
Maybe there was still a small solid chunk left intact among the ruins of her heart and soul after all.
Rachel quickly smiled to herself and stood up, shouldering her rucksack she approached the hospital visitors map. Enough of the Eeyore type attitude. I mean Eeyore was bad ass and all, he was so emo before emo was cool. Eh she digressed. It was time for some old school Rachel Berry.
Step 1- Emergency Room. That would be the place most likely to have the most portable supplies.
Step 2- Use spray paint to mark your route for a quick thoughtless exit if needed
Step 3- Once said supplies are found pile them on a cart or table or one of those stretcher bed thingies and leave by the door.
Step 4- Pick and move to a new section to explore
Step 5 Take a deep breath and don't spaz out over you massive amounts of creepy heeby geebies..FUCKING HOSPITALS..
When she finished her mental check list she bounced on the balls of her feet twice while cocking back the chamber of her guns shook out her head and shoulders and took a deep calming breath 'FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT BERRY JUST LIKE IN SCHOOL'
Rachel grinned heading out in the direction she plotted from the map turning a corner and blowing the head off of a reanimated rent-a-cop with her shotgun stepping over his remains singing under her breath as she went along "Ain't nuthin gonna break my stride ain't no one gonna slow me down" Snapped the neck of a geriatric that lunged from out of a room and wiped off the small amount of blood that began to trickle from her own nose. "Oh no I've got to keep on moving" She whistled the rest of her song over and over on repeat as she slowly went down one corridor after another getting closer to her destination and getting her oh fuck alarm tingling and stronger nose bleeds as she went.
Two more hallways one more turn and she would be at step one.
She was going to go in, somehow find all the crap she needed to. Kill whatever the hell stood in her and get her ass back home because she was Rachel Fucking Berry and she had a pretty blonde waiting at home surely waiting to yell at her.
So..so HOT...