A/N: Hey y'all! So like I mentioned years ago I'm updating some stories while working on some others. Gotta love the creative mind and it's decisions on what it wants to write when. Here's the remake of It Happened On A Wednesday as promised. Just like with the Twin Terrors remake there's no definite timeline on when things are goin' to be updated, but I'm goin' to try and make them at least somewhat often. Thanks to everyone who still likes to read my stories! :D
It's the end of the day on what seems to be any other normal Wednesday afternoon and I'm currently sitting quietly in the choir room of McKinley High school whilst I wait for the Glee Club meeting to start. I'm sitting next to Finn (Much to my intense but silent displeasure) as he, Kurt, and Mercedes hold a loud and seemingly pointless conversation that I'm doing my best to tune out. It's kind of difficult though seeing as Finn is talking across me as he's on my left side while Kurt and Mercedes are to my right. Artie is sitting next to Mercedes with Santana, Brittany, Sam, and Quinn sitting in the top row immersed in their own conversation, while Noah, Tina, and Mike are just hanging out quietly in the middle row. I'm starting to get a little agitated at Mr. Shue being late, again, when I finally hear his raised voice from out in the hallway.
"I said no, Sue!"
"But come now, William!" I hear Coach Sylvester demand as they both finally come into view of the choir room. Everyone quiets down as they step into the room and we all also sit up just a tad bit straighter in interest. It's always funny when they go at each other's throats. Especially when Mr. Shue flounders caught off guard at Coach's random and completely out there insults.
"No!" Mr. Shue shouts again and this time Coach's teasingly amused expression turns into a look that's better described as sour annoyance.
"Really now, William? I know that all of the chemical fumes wafting from your hair products are affecting your senses, but there really isn't any reason to yell. It's one performance for crying out loud!" She finishes in exasperation, throwing her arms into the air to exaggerate her point.
"I don't care Sue! One performance always seems to turn into more, and with the way you've treated this club since the moment we formed...No. Just n-"
Mr. Shue is cut off from his rant by a blood-curdling scream coming from the hallway, which immediately starts echoing throughout the school in what seems to be some sort of sick round, slowly getting louder and louder. I look around the now incredibly silent room and see the ashen faces of my peers with Brittany and Noah being the only other two besides myself who seem calm, looking between me and themselves in interested confusion. The teachers immediately rush back out into the hallway after a shocked look of disbelief between themselves and my heart rate suddenly triples. Please don't let it be what I think it is...I'm not ready...We're not ready...And my fathers haven't contacted me in weeks, so I don't know what all is exactly going on at the moment. I want to stand and take charge, to try and get a jump on things just in case the viciously swirling anxiety in my stomach is right, but instead I force myself to sit still and tightly wound while hoping and praying that the teachers come back okay.
I don't have to wait long however because not even a full five minutes later the teachers come rushing back into the room, slamming the door roughly closed before throwing their bodies against it like they're trying to barricade themselves and us inside the room. They also reappeared with the addition of Ms. Pillsbury, who looks like she's about to drop from a heart attack at any second now.
"What's going on out there?" I snap at my choir teacher immediately, needing to know exactly what's happening; needing to know whether or not it's finally time. "Mr. Shue?!" I demand when he doesn't answer me, just stares straight ahead while silently mouthing the questions 'What?' and 'How?'over and over again. I just roll my eyes and shake my head in annoyance at his response to this situation and quickly realizing that I'm going to get nowhere with this man I turn my attention to Coach Sylvester, who is currently not paying any of us any mind as she tries to comfort an out of her mind and completely spastic Ms. Pillsbury. "Coach? What's going on?" She just spares me a brief glance away from Ms. Pillsbury with sad and frightened eyes before mumbling almost inaudibly,
"They've risen...It can't be but they have...How?" She looks to me pleadingly for a moment for answers and I sigh sadly as she returns her attention to the hyperventilating woman in her arms. Making up my mind I stand quickly and suddenly, dodging Finn's grasp easily as he reaches out to try and stop me, and stride confidently to the front of the room. This is about to suck...hard...and I roll my eyes in agitation as I head towards the petrified teachers to try and open the door to see what's going on for myself, only to stop short when I hear Finn's annoying and panicked voice ring out through the room.
"Rachel, wait! It's not safe out there," he whines out in a shaky voice and I groan silently in exasperation. For a boy who plays so many gorey and murderous combat video games as well as contact sports such as football and basketball, he sure seems like a wimp almost literally all of the time. Between him and the adults blocking the door and refusing to let me open it I can't get out and into the hallway to check and see how dire our situation truly is, but from the screaming that seems to be dying down (no pun intended) it doesn't seem to be that bad...yet anyways...Although getting a group this large and this hard-headed to safety still seems to be quite the daunting task. Especially since the only weapon I have on my person at the moment is my smallest bowie hunting knife because it fits securely in my backpack. Plus I'm Rachel Freaking Berry. Who would ever even think?
"No shit Sherlock," I address Finn, my annoyance steadily rising while I try and think. These people are going to drive me crazy very quickly. I can tell. Especially because Finn recoils like I've slapped him and stares at me with pouting puppy eyes. Ugh. "Noah? Britt?" I call out and once I'm locked in a stare with both of them I grimace and continue. "I'm pretty sure it's happening," I tell them firmly and I see them both slip off into their heads for a moment (Courtesy of their glazed over eyes) before another loud and pained scream brings them crashing back to reality. They both straighten up with excited but terrified expressions on their faces before Noah asks me as steadily as he can,
"Are you sure Jewbabe? Like now, now?"
"I mean...I can't tell for sure," I reply back in irritation as I wave to where the teachers, and now Finn as well, are blocking the door to the choir room. "But yes. I really do beli-" I'm cut off by my phone ringing suddenly and I scramble to answer it, not even checking the caller ID in my haste but hoping and praying it was one of my fathers with instructions on how to proceed next. This isn't going according to protocol. "H-hello?!"
"R-Rachel?! I'm scared! Mom's going crazy and acting weird!" Jake whisper-cries down the line and my blood runs cold. I forgot they had an early release day today.
"Oh, shit!" I curse quietly before talking very clearly and quickly to the frightened pre-teen. "Jakob. Are you okay? Are the girls okay? Where are Sarah and Kelly?" I demand. Needing to know that they were all okay above all else. Upon hearing their younger sibling's names both Noah and Brittany stand and shift their weight from foot to foot anxiously and watch me with rapt attention as they wait for me to gather more information.
"W-we're all fine. She kept trying to b-bite us, but I managed to keep her away from us and lock us in Puck's room. I had Kelly help me push his dresser and then his bed in front of the door, and now Kelly and Sarah are locked inside his closet," Jake explains to me. I can hear the tears in his voice and can clearly imagine them running down his face. It's then that I realize that I have my own tears slowly and steadily flowing down my own cheeks, and that Noah and Brittany are now both at my side and pure balls of terrified anxiety.
"I'm glad they're ok," I choke out as normally as I can. Mama Ruth is gone...The only mother figure I've ever had on this earth is now one of...one of them. I physically feel both Noah and Brittany relax at that, but only slightly. "Where are you if they're locked inside the closet?" I question warily. I really hope he's not doing anything stupid.
"I'm sitting in Puck's desk chair next to his window so I can see out of it if I want, and I'm facing the door with his baseball bat in my hands, standing guard. I love my mama, but she's not getting to the girls if I have any say in it," he tells me with such determination in his voice that my heart simultaneously melts at his sweetness at the same time as it swells with pride at his bravery. This boy is going to do great things in the future.
"You're a great brother and friend, Jake," I tell him with a small smile on my face. "Sit tight and we'll be there as soon as possible, ok bud?" I tell him calmly. We will get to them. "Don't leave the room. For anything," I tell him firmly.
"I won't Rae...I can't believe your dad's were actually right," he whispers out sadly and my heart breaks again.
"Me either sweetie. We'll be there soon," I tell him before disconnecting the call and turning to Noah and Britt. "Noah...The kids are fine but...but mama," I try and say. I can't even get the full sentence out but they both understand. Britt sits in the nearest chair and Noah drops into a crouch where he stands before being forced to kneel with one knee on the ground. He's violently shaking and I know he's silently sobbing, so I walk up behind him and place both of my hands on his shoulders. He leans back into my legs and I can feel his silent thankfulness as he uses me to ground himself and gather his wits again. We have things to get done, and we don't have a lot of time to do it. After a few moments I help Noah stand and turn back to the occupants of the room to finally address them, only to already have all of their eyes locked intently on myself. Convenient. "I know this is going to be hard for you all to understand or grasp at this very moment in time, but I'm going to need you to trust me and listen to everything I say carefully," I tell them firmly. Mercedes is the first to scoff at me in disbelief.
"And why in the world should we listen to you Rachel?" She demands, with Finn deciding to back her up and throw in his own two cents.
"Yeah Rach. Now isn't the time to be a bossy diva, now's the time to wait until we're saved. The government has to have some kind of plan in place," he finishes, looking around at everyone with his dopey smile that he likes giving for some unknown reason.
I growl in frustration as he speaks before releasing a condescending laugh at Finn's government statement. "Finn, the government did this, and I promise you that they care more about the idiotic scientific aspects and outcome of this stupid outbreak more than the actual causalties and unrepairable damage they've just unleashed. They don't care about your safety, my safety, or anyone else's. Just theirs and theirs alone," I snap out in frustration and everyone stares at me in shock at my mini-rant.
"Why are yo-?" Mercedes tries to speak up again before a harsh look and a quick, "Shut up and let the midget speak," from Coach Sylvester has her snapping her jaw shut so quick the snap reverberates throughout the now silent choir room. The utter silence that's now fallen outside the room is quite unsettling.
"Like I was just trying to explain-Like Coach said earlier, 'the dead have risen'. I only know a few of the scientific details, I'm more proficient in the combatant details actually but that's for later, and what I do know is that yes; they're your classic Zombie. Now I hate that term so I call them Walkers. Creepies or Clowns will also suffice, and yes I know this sounds insane, and yes I will explain, but not until later because we're on a time crunch to get all of ourselves and your family members to safety," I finish, almost out of breath seeing as I didn't breath once throughout my entire rant. I walk over to a couple of mic stands in the corner of the room before pulling them apart and handing the sharpest looking ends to Noah and Brittany. "You know what to do until I come back," I order firmly and wait for their nods of acknowledgement before grabbing my offered backpack from Noah. I take it gratefully before rummaging around inside it while looking for my knife.
"Wait?! What's going on?" Quinn finally speaks up and she sounds devastated as she stares at me pleadingly.
"I-And that means me, myself...I am going to go and break into the school's equipment closet to get us as many bats as I can safely carry," I explain slowly and wait for the inevitable blow-up. Finn, and surprisingly Quinn, are the loudest two.
"You can't go out there, Rach! Zombie or no Zombie it sounds dangerous out there. You're going to get hurt!" Finn all but screams.
"There's no way in hell you're going out there by yourself Berry! Are you insane? What the fu-" Quinn snaps loudly, her face turning red in anger.
"HEY!" Noah bellows loudly in his deep voice, effectively shutting everyone and their mostly unintelligible screaming up finally. They all immediately turn towards him expectantly but he just gestures towards me with an irritated eye-roll.
"Thank you Noah," I say appreciatively and he just nods back stoically. "Now as I was saying I, and I alone, am going to the equipment room to gather some bats to protect ourselves with. We're going to need more than my knife and a few broken mic stands to help us get to the vehicles," I finish in a no-nonsense tone, turning on my heel and walking towards the door with my knife now clenched tightly in my left hand. The teachers clear away from the door as I get closer while eyeing the larger than normal knife in my hand, and I smile gratefully at them for not making this any more difficult than it already has been. I suddenly hear a chair scrape loudly before I can quite reach the door and see a flash of a Cheerios uniform out of the corner of my eye before sighing quietly and addressing Noah again. "Noah, please grab Quinn and keep her here? She's going to get herself killed." I form it as a question but Noah knows it's an order, and that's why he only hesitates a brief moment, at the death glare that I don't have to see to know that Quinn is throwing him, before wrapping her securely in his arms and dragging her back to her chair before she can reach me.
"Damn it, Puckerman! Let me go! How can all of you just stand there and let her go alone?! And you're over here acting like you're her loyal friends!" Quinn spits harshly, directing her last statement solely towards Brittany and Noah who flinch like they've been slapped. All the while Quinn is getting more and more frantic in his arms the closer I get to the door. "Let. Me. Go!" She growls loudly while stomping on Noah's foot as hard as she can, and I have to give it to Noah, he covers his whimper of pain excellently and never breaks from his blank look, all the while also never breaking his hold on his baby mama.
"Quinn, that's enough!" Brittany snaps out, and Quinn stills immediately in shock at the tone the blonde has never heard her friend use before in all the years of them knowing each other. She's not the only one either, because everyone but myself, Noah, and Santana are staring at the normally bubbly and innocent blonde as if she had grown a second head right in front of them. "Now...the only reason that Puck and I are letting Rae-Rae go alone is because you guys need us more than she does right now. Ok? She's better than Puck and I combined. She literally has to be the one to do this while we stay here and keep you safe. Ok?" Brittany pleads with the blonde to understand her and I take that as my moment to finally slip out of the choir room unnoticed. Thanks B.
I don't have the chance to check my surroundings before exiting the choir room in my haste, so as soon as I have the door completely shut I instinctively jump to my left and roll out of the way, narrowly missing a walker's outstretched hands. I jump quickly to my feet while observing my surroundings as fast as possible and assessing my threat level. There's only the one current walker and I recognize him as a senior lacrosse player that had an affinity for myself and blue raspberry slushies. I jump around him lightly and plunge my bowie into the base of his skull, aiming my knife upwards and into his brain, before ripping my knife from his body and sprinting towards the equipment closet before his now truly dead body hits the ground. I encounter two more walkers, both former bullies, before reaching the closet and ripping the surprisingly unlocked door open. I turn on the light and turn around before letting out a muffled shocked scream as a walker grabs both of my arms and tries to take a giant bite out of my face. I manage to break his surprisingly strong grip and push him away with my feet after a short and terrifying struggle. I then kick his knees out from underneath him, sending him flying to the ground and grabbing a bat off the rack as he struggles to get back to his feet.
"Come on you ugly son of a bitch," I mumble out as I wait for him to slowly stagger towards me, his left knee now completely blown out. As soon as he's within reach I swing as hard as I can and smirk as he drops like a ton of bricks with a sickening crunch. I swing a couple of more times, making sure the thing is truly dead, before turning my attention to the row of bats sitting in their racks. I scan the small room quickly before noticing a duffel-bag right next to the bat rack. It's full of baseballs so I dump them all on the floor before hurriedly stuffing the duffel as full of bats as I can get it. I then throw in a few baseballs and keep two in my hand as I shoulder the duffel-bag and make my way cautiously out into the hallway again.
I'm almost back to the choir room when I see a small group of walkers milling about in the four way intersection that leads back to the room, and I stop in my tracks. I look between the group of walkers, the baseballs in my hands, and then back to the walkers. I then shrug and decide that now is as good of a time as any to try my idea before chunking the baseballs one by one as far down the opposite hallway as I can get them, making as much noise in that direction as possible in hopes that the walkers will go where the noise came from. Much to my pleasure my plan does work, and as soon as I'm clear of the last walker I run as quickly and as quietly as I can back to the others. I'm finally only a few feet away from the choir room when I feel a presence behind me, and I have just enough sense to turn around just in time to see a zombiefied Figgins lunging for me. I side step his clumsy lunge smoothly and we dance around for a few moments before I finally bring the bat I had in my hands around into the back of his head as hard as I can. "Dang...I never liked the dude but I didn't want him dead," I mumble sadly with a head-shake before slipping my way back into the choir room after making sure he was truly dead.
The moment I'm back in the room with the door securely shut I'm engulfed in a crushing hug from three separate people. Brittany and Noah I was expecting, but the third participant of the group hug shocks me a little. It's Quinn...I squeeze them all for a moment before releasing them, lingering the longest on Quinn and releasing her last, before turning to address the room of frightened and confused individuals. "Ok you guys...I know everyone is terrified and confused right now, but we all now need to make our way to the parking lot to either mine or Kurt's vehicles, ok? It's going to be a squeeze, but it's only to my place so we've got this." I hand Brittany my keys as I'm speaking and she looks at me quizzically. I silently tell her to wait as I start handing out baseball bats to those I believe would use them the best at the moment, which is Coach, Sam, Mike, Noah, Finn, Britt, and Santana. I hand the others without a bat all a few baseballs each and chuckle quietly at their confusion as they look between me and the balls. "It's to safely distract any walkers we may come across. I'm confident we won't need them, but if we do happen to come across a small group just throw the balls in the opposite direction and try and bang the lockers and make noise," I explain as I physically grab each person and position them in a single file line as I'm handing out equipment and going through the instructions. I position everyone so that if they don't have a bat they aren't too far off from someone who does. "Tina? Can you push Artie please?" I ask as I put Mike right behind Tina.
"Sure thing Rach," she tells me quietly and I feel bad for how terrified and small she seems right now. I don't have time to dwell on that right now though, I have people to lead to safety and people to hopefully save soon. Once everyone is positioned (mostly) how I want them (I still need to position my Commanders) I continue my instructions.
"Now, Britt, you're going to lead the line," I tell her and she nods firmly. Noah (Automatically knowing this means he'll be bringing up the rear) heads to the back of the line and stands at attention while waiting for me to continue without being told. "I'm going to scout ahead and you're going to wait for my signal to advance, ok?" At her affirmative I then address Noah. "You're going to close ranks Noah. Be our eyes and ears behind us and clear out anything we may have missed. Don't get stupid though," I tell him seriously. "We need you," I finish softly and his tough as nails mask almost slips in emotion. Almost. He catches himself quickly and just nods surely. "When we get to the parking lot Brittany's going to be driving my Yukon with Quinn, Santana, Coach, Miss Pillsbury, Mike, and Tina, and then Kurt's got his Suburban with Mr. Shue, Mercedes, Sam, Artie, and Finn," I finish while turning to open the door.
"Wait!" Quinn snaps quickly and angrily before I have a chance to twist the knob and I sigh. "What are you and Puck doing?" She demands with her arms crossed tightly over her chest, her hip jutted out, and her foot tapping a mile a minute. The look on her face screams that she knows she's not going to like the answer and she's not happy about it...The fact that one woman can say so much without actually saying anything at all truly astounds me. I smile sadly at her as I respond.
"Noah and I are going to take his truck over to Shelby's to see if they're...To make sure that everything's okay...And then we're going to Noah's house to rescue Jakob, Kelly, and Sarah." I see Quinn's face crumble in absolute anguish for only a moment at the mention of her infant, Noah's face too, before they both recover and she's back to glaring fiercely at me.
"You guys had better be careful. I swear...exactly like you were just telling Puck, don't do anything stupid Berry," she snaps out before glaring at the ground and tightening her arms around her chest tighter. I want to go to her and hold her, promise her that everything will be okay, but there's no time for that now and I don't want to be making any empty promises.
"We will Quinn," I whisper before turning to the others. "Anyone or anything else need to be picked up while we're out and about?" I question impatiently. We need to move!
"M-my family? S-stevie and Sta-acie?" Sam stutters out and I can hear the tears in his voice.
"Of course Sam," I tell him gently.
"We got you," Noah pipes up from the back determinedly.
"My Papi and my little brother please?" Santana questions quietly, sadly. I want to question more about why not her mom too, but then I remember that her mom's a nurse and is most likely on call at the hospital right now if she's only asking for her father and brother. I have to stop the harsh flinch that wants to roll through my body at that thought.
"Absolutely San," I tell her seriously. She nods thankfully for a moment before breaking eye contact with me and leaning into Brittany's waiting embrace.
"My mom?" Quinn pipes up again, looking back at me with tears slowly rolling down her face now. She broke, only barely, but it still breaks my heart seeing it.
"Of course Q," I say, keeping myself steady and firm.
"Anyone else?" Noah questions as he stands tall, ready to get this over with.
"My family?" Mike questions. "I-I can't get a hold of them. My parents are out of town so Cohan is supposed to be watching the younger two," he tells us and he has to cough to clear his throat once he's through speaking.
"Gotcha," I tell him before waiting another moment for any more takers and for Britt to get herself into position. After a few seconds of silence I open the door and make sure there are no walkers before slowly making my way into the hallway. Britt knows to wait as I silently jog down to one end of the hallway to make sure it's clear, and then turn around and jog to the other end of the hallway. Once I'm sure everyone's safe for now I give the signal and they all creep to where they're next waiting point is. Artie is behind Brittany with Tina pushing him and Mike right behind Tina, and then you have Kurt and Mercedes with Sam behind Mercedes, Miss Pillsbury then Coach, then Mr. Shue, Finn, then Quinn and Noah bringing up the back. I felt safer putting Quinn with Noah, because he'd let himself die before he'd let anything happen to her. We're both kinda the same in that way.
Before the group fully reaches the waiting zone I've already taken down two walkers in the hallway next to us and I'm currently making sure the path towards the parking lot is clear. So far so good. Only about three other walkers that I can see, which are absolutely nothing to bring to their knees and take down with my trusty Bowie. The path to the parking lot is now completely safe and clear and so I slip out into the parking lot to scout it out before bringing anyone else out into it. The last thing we need is a horde to jump on us out of nowhere because of the lack of visibility.
"Quinn, wait!" I hear hissed out as I'm looking around the lot. I see a good amount of walkers lingering around and scavenging on all the freshly opened bodies currently laying all over the concrete. It honestly makes me sick to my stomach and I have to steady myself so as to not throw up my lunch as I think of a plan. There's absolutely no way to get a group as large as ours across this parking lot without drawing attention. There were just too many walkers. We need a distraction...We need...Yes!
"Give me your baseballs!" I hiss quietly as Quinn squeezes her way past Brittany and Noah to make her way outside, much to everyone else's quiet protests and displeasure.
"Wait...What?" She questions me in bewilderment and I sigh in annoyance. Isn't it bad enough that this girl is putting her life in danger right now?
"The balls in your hands. I need them," I hiss out while holding my finger to my lips and gesturing my hand around us, indicating for her to look around. The moment she does I feel her breath hitch and feel her tense so tight I'm surprised she doesn't burst. "We're okay, Q…" I soothe quietly while placing my right hand on her arm. "I just need the baseballs," I tell her again, this time moving and gently taking the three balls out of her hands. She just nods absently with a small whimper as she finally takes in the carnage going on around us. I turn her face to mine and make her meet my eyes. "Don't stare darlin'. It's not something you want to see." She just nods again and I turn away, wind up my arm, and throw all the balls as hard as I can towards the opposite corner of the parking lot from our vehicles. Like I was hoping I manage to set off two car alarms that catch all of the walker's attentions. They slowly but surely start making their way towards the other end of the lot and I feel Quinn relax just a tad beside me.
"We in the clear?" Britt pops her head out and questions nervously at hearing the alarms sounding in the distance.
"Let's move," I confirm before we all silently and quickly sprint towards the trucks. We get there in no time, thanks to Kurt and I always arriving early to school, and pile in as fast as we're able. Thankfully Kurt decided to park next to me this morning, so there was no need for us to separate. "You remember all of the codes, right Britt?" I question her hurriedly as I hang in through the currently open driver's side window. The feeling of complete exposure I have right now is daunting.
"Yeah Rae, I remember them. Just get everyone and yourself home safe please?" She pleads with me quietly with tears in her eyes. I can see her refusing to let them fall.
"I will B. I promise. You know I've got this. Now be safe," I tell her with a cocky smirk. I then kiss her cheek quickly before starting to jog with Noah over to his truck a few rows away. We reach it just as there starts to be stragglers making their way back this way from the alarms, and we both hop in hurriedly with Noah starting the giant truck immediately. We make sure the group is safely out of the parking lot and on the road heading towards my house before Noah reaches underneath his seat and pulls out two gold coupe Colt handguns and a box of full of loaded clips for them. He hands me one of the guns and then sets the box of clips on the console in between us.
"You ready for this bro?" He questions, and I can hear the excitement and terror in his voice. I take a few deep breaths before nodding slowly.
"I don't really have a choice anymore," I mumble out in annoyance as Noah puts the truck in drive and pulls out of the parking lot towards Shelby's house. At least before, all this had just seemed like a crazy Si-Fi thing our parents were into. Specifically my dads, but now...Now I'm being forced to accept the actual harsh reality of it.
The ride over is remotely smooth considering the current circumstances, so when we pull into Shelby's apartment complex lot it's easy to notice two things immediately. One: Is that it's strangely calm...Almost too calm considering what's going on right now. And Two: I have a strange but also horrible feeling in my gut. I turn to Noah and study him for a moment, realizing he may very well be experiencing the same feelings I am at the moment if his face is anything to go by. He looks like he's going to be sick.
"You ready bro?" I repeat his question from earlier back at him, hoping to elicit some kind of positive response. It works as he starts breathing again and cracks a barely there, but still there, smile.
"Let's go get our girl," he tells me somewhat confidently after clearing his throat a couple of times.
After both of us load up on clips and grab a bat we open our doors and hop out of the truck, setting our sights on Shelby's fourth story apartment. We only run into five walkers on our way up, and I'm unsure of if it's because the outbreak has just started and it's not that bad yet or if there's more at play here than currently meets the eye. Once we finally reach Shelby's door we both steady ourselves and take a few deep breaths. Noah and I exchange a bracing glance before he slowly reaches forward and grabs a hold of the doorknob. He gives it an experimental twist to see if it's open, and we both hold our breath as he pushes the front door open without us knowing what to expect on the other side.
This was definitely needed. I liked the first one but the grammar and certain parts made me cringe while rereading it. Thanks for reading! :D
