Disclaimer: I do not own Glee
Warning: There is character death in this chapter, although it isn't very graphic, but just in case it bothers you, you can skip past it.
Chapter 7: The Escape
Two weeks later...
Mercedes was roughly shaken awake from her deep sleep on one of the air mattresses, next to Tina, by a hand on her shoulder. Blinking her eyes open, she met the scared face of Hiram Berry.
"What's going on?" She asked, sitting up and looking around, noticing the other parents waking up the New Directions.
Hiram sighed, trying not to cry. "The vampires are here. They're going door to door, pulling out all the humans, and taking them who knows where. You all need to run. Go to this address." He said, shoving a piece of paper into her hands. "They run a shelter for humans and vampires escaping the war. Now go, take all the New Directions and don't look back." He told her, before darting back upstairs.
"What do we do now?" Brittany asked, sounding scared, Santana's arm around her girlfriend's shoulder.
Mercedes sighed. "We run. Just like Hiram said."
"You all need to carry me." Artie insisted, turning to the New Directions, who stared back at him in shock.
Tina looked at her best friend, confused. "But Artie, you never want to be carried. You always say its too embarrassing."
"I know." Artie said, nodding. "But we wouldn't make it far with this wheelchair, and I value living more then a little embarrassment."
Rachel gestured for them to follow her. "Come on," she said, climbing onto the ledge next to a small window, with the help of the chair next to it. "This window comes out into my backyard."
"Mercedes, look at the address first." Mike suggested. "We don't know if you'll be able to read it outside."
Unfolding the piece of paper Hiram had given her, Mercedes stared at it. "0206 South Oak Lane, Manhattan, New York City." She read off. "We're going all the way to New York?" She asked, shocked.
"No time to question it." Puck said, grabbing his phone and bag, as gunshots echoed in the distance. "Just time to run."
Quickly, the New Directions climbed up the ledge and out the window, Finn pushing Artie out onto the grass in front of him. As soon as they were out, they took off for the woods, Rachel sparing one last glance at the home she lived in her entire life.
Hiram ran back up the basement stairs and into the living room, where all the parents, Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury were standing. "They're free." He gasped out, Leroy pulling his husband into a tight hug. "Our children are fine."
The parents let out a sigh, but their relief was short lived, as a loud knocking came from the front door.
"By the order of his majesty, Sebastian Smythe, open the door." A voice called.
Gesturing for the other parents to stay there, Hiram and Leroy walked over to the door and opened it.
"Can I help you?" Hiram asked the vampires, who were standing in front of the door in full tactical gear, politely.
The vampire in front gave them one glance, before his face turned stony. "Are there any other humans in this house?" He questioned.
Hiram and Leroy glanced at one another, before shakily nodding.
"How many?" The vampire demanded.
"Twenty one adults." Hiram told him.
The vampire nodded. "And are there any vampires in the house?"
"No." Hiram said, shaking his head.
The vampire seemed satisfied, stepping backwards. "All clear!" He yelled.
Hiram and Leroy sighed in relief, but their relief was short lived, as one of the vampires tossed a ticking bomb into the house, before slamming the door.
Hiram stared at the bomb in shock for a second, before screaming. "There's a bomb, get out!" He jumped out of the way, tackling Leroy as he did, just as the bomb went off and everything went dark.
Several hours later, Mr. Schue came to, coughing at the smoke. He pulled himself off of the ground, glancing at the rubble around the building. He couldn't see the parents at all, they were buried under the rubble. He moved away from what he knew was Emma's dead body, wiping away the tears that threatened to spill out at the thought of his girlfriend, before picking his way through the ruined house.
"Hello? Is anybody there?" Mr. Schue called softly, in case the vampires were nearby, listening.
A cough sounded from near the door. "Over here." Called the voice of Hiram Berry.
Hurrying across the rubble, Mr. Schue made his way towards the voice, stopping suddenly at the sight. Crouching next to the rubble, bloodied and bruised, but mostly okay, were Hiram and Leroy.
"Did you find anyone else?" Leroy asked.
Mr. Schue shook his head. "No, they're all dead. We're the only ones. We need to get going." He said, pulling the two men up. "Who knows if the vampires are going to come back."
Hiram nodded. "We'll go to New York City. Its where I sent the kids. There is a shelter there that I heard about, that's taking in vampires and humans displaced by the war. Apparently it used to be a school for vampires and is now run by the old government."
"What are waiting for?" Mr. Schue asked, facing the rising sun. "Let's go."
"What do you think it will be like there?" Tina asked, several hours later, breaking the silence the New Directions had been walking in the entire time.
Mercedes shrugged. "I don't know, but hopefully they'll be able to help us."
"This is not the way I thought I would be going to New York City." Rachel said, sighing. "I always thought I would be going after graduation, with Kurt and Blaine, to be on Broadway."
All of the New Directions smiled sadly at the thought of their dead friends. "What do you think they would do if they were here right now?" Mike asked.
"Kurt would be freaking out about how he lost all his designer clothes." Rachel said, laughing.
Mercedes smiled. "And Blaine would be trying to reassure him everything was okay, with those puppy eyes."
"I miss my dolphins." Brittany commented sadly, and they all went quiet again.
Five minutes later, Quinn broke the silence again. "Do you think they would be together, if they were alive today?"
"I hope so." Mercedes said, smiling sadly. "It was always painfully obvious that they liked each other."
Puck scoffed. "It was so sappy. But I miss them, and their sappiness."
"We'll make it to New York." Rachel said, determinedly. "If not for us, then for Kurt and Blaine."
For once, Mercedes couldn't be annoyed at the girl's ambition. "I hope so, I hope so."
Eight days later, even Rachel found her optimism wearing off, as the New Directions still didn't find themselves in New York City.
"How much longer?" Santana groaned. "I don't think my legs can take this any longer."
Tina nodded. "Agreed."
"Guys, look!" Finn called, having run ahead. "I can see the city."
Mercedes and Rachel grinned at each other, before running up to where Finn was pointing, the rest of the New Directions lining up on the ridge. Down below them, part of downtown Manhattan still in flames, was New York City.
"Come on." Mercedes yelled, running down the hill, a spring in her step. "We're almost there."
Jeff and David exited Dalton Academy, heading for the gate. In the three weeks since the war had broken out across the world, thousands of refugees, mainly children, had flooded into Dalton, desperate for safety. The Andersons had taken them all in, and Dalton, which had ten floors, was unable to house them all. Instead, they had taken over the two surrounding brownstones. The original Dalton brownstone was kept for the high school students, with vampires and humans living on the same floor, although girls and boys were separated by floor, unless they were mates. The other two brownstones became homes for the middle and elementary school children, and the parents respectively.
The original Dalton vampires, and any other vampires that felt up to the task, served guard duty at the gate surrounding the little safe neighborhood they had managed to create, with the help of the House Guard. And some even went on spy missions out of the gated walls, to find out information and rescue more refugees.
"You stay safe." David told Jeff, as he hopped up onto the guard tower, grabbing the gun that was kept there to protect against any attacks.
Jeff laughed. "You tell me that every time David. I'll be fine."
"Its because I'm worried about you." David said, sincerely. "You're my cousin, Jeff. I can't lose you."
Jeff smiled at him. "I promise, I'll be fine."
Pulling his mask down over his face, Jeff slipped out of the gate, knife in hand. There would have been a time when he would have scoffed at the all black ensemble he was sporting, but that time was long gone now. Even though it had only been three short weeks since Sebastian declared war on humanity, the time had changed him, had changed all of the Warblers at Dalton.
Ducking through the streets of New York, Jeff kept an eye out for anything suspicious, whether it was Sebastian's forces, or refugees. Rounding a corner, his jaw dropped at the sight in front of him.
"Where do we go now?" Tina asked, as the New Directions ducked through the streets of New York.
Mercedes shrugged, glancing down at the slip of paper. "Well, we're in downtown Manhattan, but I don't know where this address is. Hopefully we can find someone friendly to point us on our way."
As if on cue, a person came around the corner. They were dressed in all black, from their shirt down to their shoes, and wore a mask, almost like a robber's mask, that was black as well, making it impossible to tell their gender. They stopped at the sight of the New Directions, staring at them almost in shock.
"Can you help us find this address?" Mercedes asked them, holding out the piece of paper.
The masked person took on look at the address, turning around the way they came, and gesturing for the New Directions to follow them. Shrugging, Mercedes followed, the New Directions trailing behind her.
Jeff could not believe it. After all these years, there were the New Directions, standing in downtown Manhattan. Their presence confirmed the fears that he, Nick, Wes, David, Blaine, and Kurt had had since the war broke out three weeks ago. Sebastian had gone to Lima, knowing that's where they were from, and hoping to kill their friends and family.
It was no surprise that they were heading for Dalton. The Andersons had advertised the shelter very thoroughly. Remaining silent so they wouldn't recognize his voice, Jeff gestured for them to follow him. He knew they would figure out it was him eventually, but he didn't want them to freak out in the middle of Manhattan.
They were only one block away from the gate, when shouting rang out behind them. "Get back here human scum!"
Jeff turned around, spotting three of Sebastian's goons, swords in hand. "Fuck," he muttered, not caring if the New Directions recognized his voice anymore. "We're almost there!" He yelled.
Mercedes looked up in surprise when the masked person spoke for the first time, obviously a teenage boy. Although his voice sounded familiar, she couldn't place it. Running faster, she spotted the metal gate, somehow knowing, that's where they were going.
"Open the fucking gate!" Jeff yelled, spotting David sitting on top of the guard tower. His cousin looked up in surprise, firing the gun and hitting all three goons, before jumping off of the tower and pulling the gate open.
Mercedes jumped when the gunshots rang out, before spotting a figure jump off of the tower and pull the gate open. "Come on!" She yelled, darting through as the rest of the New Directions followed her. The masked boy and the figure slammed themselves up against the gate, shutting it closed. "Are they dead?" She asked, concerned, noticing the three fallen bodies outside.
"No," said a familiar voice, and Mercedes looked up in suprise to see that the figure was none other then David Thompson, Blaine's cousin, that she hadn't seen in two years. "You have to cut off their head to kill a vampire. They'll be knocked out for a while, and wake up with a pounding headache, but they'll be fine." He turned to the masked boy. "I told you to be safe out there, and what did you do? Go out and almost get yourself killed."
The masked boy tore off his mask, revealing the face of Jeff Sterling, one of Blaine's other cousins, who shrugged. "That wasn't my plan either D, but things happen." He turned to the New Directions. "Come on, you made it this far. You might as well actually make it to Dalton."
"Is Dalton the name of the shelter?" Mercedes asked, hurrying to follow him.
Jeff nodded. "It used to be an all-boys vampire boarding school, but when the war broke out, the old royal family turned it into a shelter for humans and vampires displaced by the war."
"They figured they didn't need to hide anymore." David said, shrugging. "So why not use it as a place to keep people safe."
Mercedes nodded. "Makes sense. How did you two get here?"
David and Jeff looked at each other hesitantly. "Its a long story." Jeff finally said, leading them up the steps of a brownstone.
He pushed open the doors to the building, leading the New Directions inside. Mercedes looked around in shock. They had stepped into a large lobby, with corridors stretching in every direction. The furniture was all a rich, deep mahogany, with velvet cushions on the chairs. A grand, spiral staircase stood in the center, leading up to the second floor, which was visible through the balcony, and contained several more corridors. The decor around the room gave the entire place a Victorian feel. And everywhere you looked, were people, bustling around. There were mostly teenagers, both girls and boys, walking around, but there were some children and adults as well.
Thad looked up from where he was walking past the staircase, a book in his hand, as per usual. "Hey David, Jeff!" He said, waving to them, before his eyebrow raised at the New Directions. "I see you found more refugees."
David and Jeff were interrupted from saying anything more, from shouting that occurred on the second floor.
"I can't take this anymore, Wesley Jeremiah Montgomery!"
"Well, I can't take this either, Tabitha Felicia Adams!"
"I'm breaking up with you!"
"Well, I'm breaking up with you too!"
"Good!"
"Good!"
Wes emerged from a room to the right of the stairs, Tabitha Adams, his on again, off again girlfriend right behind him. She was a beautiful vampress, with long, wavy, brunette hair that came down to her butt and large brown eyes. As Wes went to step on the stairs, as if in slow motion, his feet came out from under him, and Wes fell head over heels down the stairs, Tabitha right behind him.
David winced as he watched his cousin tumble down the stairs, finally landing at the bottom, with Tabitha right on top of him.
"This is your fault Wes!" She screeched, jumping up. "You got your friends to butter the stairs to make me fall. We're over! I'm leaving!" She announced, stomping out the door.
Wes simply groaned in response from his position on the ground. "You okay Wes?" David asked, sticking his hand down to pull Wes up.
Liam and Luke peeked out from behind another door in the hallway, their bright red hair sticking out against the wall. "Oops."
"That was."
"Intended for."
"Thad." They finished in sync.
Thad looked up from the book he was reading. "You what?"
"Oh shit!" The twins eyes widened. "Run!" They yelled, taking off down the hallway.
David shook his head. "Those two are something else."
"Did I hear banging?" Nick asked, from the top of the stairs, and started to take a step down the staircase.
Jeff looked up in concern. "Nick no!" He yelled. "The twins buttered the stairs, you'll fall."
"That's what happened." Nick said in realization, pulling his foot back. "They're still in there, since I'm guessing you're looking for them."
David shook his head. "I can't believe they're still in there."
"Who's in there?" Mercedes asked, confused.
"The two people we are taking you to see." Jeff said, heading for the stairs. "Come on. If we go slowly, we'll be able to get up the stairs.
The New Directions shrugged, but followed him, slowly making their way up the stairs. After what seemed like an eternity, but was really ten minutes, they reached the top.
"Took you long enough." Nick joked, giggling when his mate stuck his tongue out at him.
Jeff led them down the stairs, and towards a door that was partially jarred, pushing it open and leading the New Directions inside, who's jaws dropped at the sight. Standing in front of a table, with a map of New York on it, push-pins in different locations, was Blaine Anderson. And sitting on the table next to the map was Kurt Hummel. The two people the New Directions thought were dead for the past two years.
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