Chapter 3

"It's whole body was on fire, it smelt so bad. Finn was so proud of himself, his aim on that Molotov cocktail was spot on," Puck was telling Santana about his favourite zombie kill when Quinn returned.

"You two stay in the car and don't say a word." Quinn told Rachel and Kurt as she got out of the SUV.

Rachel crossed her arms over her chest indignantly while Kurt just nodded from the seat behind her.

Puck helped Santana off the ground as Quinn approached them.

"Santana is coming with us, we just have to make a pit stop first," Puck informed Quinn. Quinn beamed at the news, pulling Santana into a hug.

"I wouldn't have left without you, I would not have left your side," Quinn whispered into her ear. Santana hugged her back, but looked towards the duo in the SUV unsurely.

"I gave them rules, they aren't allowed to speak to you unless you start a conversation with them first and they aren't allowed to get the others to speak to you for them. I wont let them pressure you into any conversation you don't want to have and I don't expect you to forgive them and no one is going to force you to."

"Thank you," Santana told her gratefully.

"Lets get this show on the road, shall we?" Puck asked, motioning back to the car. "And yes, you can ride shotgun." he opened the front passenger door for her, forcing Rachel to move to the back.

"Pull into this alley on the left," Santana directed Puck after fifteen minutes of driving. Puck took in his surroundings; there were a few dumpsters, a couple of crates and a really bad smell. From what he saw there were no door ways to the buildings on either side.

"Please tell me you don't live in a dumpster," Quinn asked her, screwing up her nose at the putrid smell.

"As if," Santana rolled her eyes as she got out of the car. "Are you coming or are you staying here?"

"We'll come, we can help you collect your things," Quinn offered.

Santana nodded.

"I can ask Rachel and Kurt to stay here if you aren't comfortable with them coming with us," Puck told her.

"No, they can come too. There's still a lot of zombies in this area, its safer for them to come with us."

The small group watched in awe as Santana climbed onto the dumpster and pulled a rope, revealing the pull down ladder of the fire escape over their heads.

"Come on, hurry up," Santana told them with a smirk at their shocked faces.

They all climbed up the rickety ladder following her closely.

"Why didn't we use the from door?" Santana heard Rachel ask.

"No questions from you," Quinn told the small singer in a tone that more resembled a growl.

"It's okay Quinn, it's a valid question. Once I cleared the building I blocked up all the ground entries and windows. Zombies are stupid, they wont figure out how to pull the ladder down." Santana answered, as much as she didn't want to talk to either of her former friends she didn't want Quinn or Puck to pick sides or cause any awkward situations. They had all survived this long together , she didn't want to be the cause of any divide between them.

"That's smart," Puck admired, it was a totally safe building. He hadn't seen anywhere that was this secure in a very long time.

"Not just a pretty face," Santana smiled at him as she reached the top landing and climbed onto the roof. "Mind the mess," Santana warned them as she stepped over a reel of hose. "I haven't bothered tidying up here in a while."

The group looked around the them in amazement. In one corner was a water tank that Puck assumed was a back up tank for the building, attached to it was a garden hose that lead to a small rooftop garden that was stocked with more fruits and vegetables than he had seen since the end of days.

On the other side of the roof was a sheltered area with an outdoor couch and dining area with a large BBQ to the side.

Quinn noted the pack of cigarettes and alcohol on the table. "You started smoking again?"

Santana just shrugged her reply.

"Is that sniper rifle? Where did you even get that?" Puck asked with a large grin as he admired the large gun resting on the edge of the building. His gaze followed the trajectory of the weapon and spotted at least a dozen dead zombies spread across the road.

"Yeah, I was searching through the building looking for supplies. One of the tenants must have been into some crazy shit, they had a few guns, some drugs and more cash than is useful in an apocalypse. It was all just lying around. I figured it was perfect for up here, makes for good target practice," Santana told him. She was proud of her skill with the sniper, she never missed a shot now.

"I'll bet there's atleast a dozen dead Z's down there." Puck was awed.

"Jesus!" Quinn gasped as she followed Puck to the edge and looked down to see what he was talking about.

"I have an idea and you don't have to agree, but just give it some thought," Puck said.

"Just tell me," Santana told him impatiently, she had an idea of where this was going.

"Instead of you coming with us, can we stay with you? This building is a lot safer than the house we are staying in."

"You don't have to say yes," Quinn told her.

"You guys don't have a safe place? Of course you can stay here, had I known I would have offered earlier. There is plenty of room and I have plenty of supplies, it would be stupid to not stay here," Santana assured them.

"Thank you, who wants to come back with me to get the others?" Quinn asked the small group.

"I'll come," Rachel replied. She didn't particularly want to stay with the looks Puck had been throwing her way.

"I'll stay if that's okay?" Kurt asked. Santana replied with a small nod of her head.

"I'll stay too," Puck told them, even though it was pretty obvious that he wasn't going to leave Santana's side anytime soon.

"Okay we'll be back in a couple of hours. Is all your stuff together?" Quinn asked the boys. Both replied with a yes.

"I don't think you guys should come back in the dark, it's too dangerous," Santana told them, worried.

"We'll be okay, we have a two way radio back at the house. Puck do you have the other one or is it in the SUV?"

"I have it," he answered, pulling the over sized walkie out of his back pocket.

"Keep that on and we'll radio back every hour, how does that sound?" Quinn tried to reassure Santana who still looked nervous about them leaving so late.

"Okay, but every hour on the hour."

"Done," Quinn told her as she pulled her into a hug. "We'll be back as soon as we can."

"Wait, do you want to take my car as well to bring back your supplies?" Santana asked.

"No, its okay, it should all fit into the SUV. Thank you though," Quinn replied.

"All your supplies fit in one car?" Santana questioned.

"Yeah we have about a month worth of stuff. Well we better get going,"

"Be safe," Kurt told them as the two girls stepped back onto the fire escape and began climbing down.

"We will, see you all soon," Rachel told the group staying behind.

Once the girls disappeared from sight Puck turned to Santana "So how about a tour?" he asked in an attempt to distract the her from her worries about the girls leaving.

"Uh, yeah sure, follow me." Santana led them down the stairwell and to one of two doors the next level down.

"I only really use the rooftop and this level," Santana explained as she led them into the apartment. "This is where I sleep and eat. Most of my supplies are here, but everything else I keep across the hall." She flicked the light switch on in the main area to reveal an open plan penthouse apartment. To the left was a living area with the basics; a couch, a coffee table and a TV and to the right was a kitchen and dining area.

"You have electricity? What? How?" Kurt asked shocked.

"I thought Quinn told you not to speak?" Puck asked with a scowl.

"Puck its okay, I don't want you guys fighting because of me. Kurt you can ask me questions about the apartment and stuff but nothing personal, you lost that right," Santana stated.

"Thank you and for what it's worth I really am sorry," Kurt told her.

"So electricity. Apparently this is one of those newer buildings that were made to help save the environment. There are solar panels up on the roof behind the water tank. It works the lights and power points, but I think the hot water system ran through the main grid because I don't have hot water, but atleast I have running water," Santana explained.

"That's so awesome," Puck said in amazement. "The only lights we've had are torches and a fire."

"Fuck that, I guess I've done pretty well then."

Puck laughed, "You've definitely hit the jackpot on this place."

"Beats the place I was staying," Santana muttered.

"Where was that?" Puck asked. Not really knowing if he could handle knowing where his friend had been forced to stay.

"I was sleeping on the back seat of a sedan I'd found after I'd left the couple that helped me. I found this place after I'd had enough of the car. This building was too good to walk away from."

"How long have you been here for?" Kurt asked.

"About a month and a half, I think, I haven't really been paying attention to the calendar."

"Fair enough," Kurt replied.

"You guys must be hungry. Do you want something to eat?" Santana asked them as she felt her stomach rumble from her own hunger.

"Nah it's okay, we can wait for the others to come back, I don't want you to waste your supplies on us," Puck told her.

"That's stupid, they aren't just my supplies, I'm not going to tell you to keep my stuff separate from yours," Santana replied as she opened one of the bedroom doors revealing an abundance of food.

"Jesus Christ Santana!" Puck exclaimed. Both his and Kurt's eyes bulged at the site in front of them. What once was a bedroom was now full of boxes of food, ranging from chocolate to dried fruits to muesli bars to soups. What ever Puck could imagine was in this room.

Santana smiled as she picked up a bag of dried apricots and popped a piece into her mouth. She was aware that she had quite a stock pile and was doing well for herself. "I'm not sure what happened to the people in this town but most of the shops were still intact when I got here. I figured most were evacuated or they all change pretty quickly. Help yourselves to anything, there's more across the hall too and there is bottled water in the kitchen."

"What else could you have?" Puck asked as he stuffed his face with a packet of chips.

"First aid kits, guns, more food and some small gym equipment. I couldn't move much from down stairs but there are some apartments with treadmills and exercise bikes if you want to use them."

Santana led them to the next apartment, pointing out the 'GYM' that housed a punching bag and a few lighter weights, the first aid kits and where she kept her weapons.

"All these aren't from that apartment are they? There are so many here," Kurt asked, picking up a small hand gun and looking it over.

"No, there was a gun store a few blocks away. Most of these are from there," Santana explained. "So this is it really. The rest of the apartments are pretty much untouched, so if you want to go down and pick a place to stay can feel free. I only took food from them, but you'll have to turn the power on for the floor that you pick, I turned the mains to save on power. I'm going to head back upstairs and relax for a bit," Santana told them. She wasn't used to being around people and as excited as she was to be with her friends again, she needed a moment to take everything in. "Can you make sure Quinn checks in like she promised?"

"Sure. Thanks again for taking us in," Puck thanked her. As much as he didn't want to leave her side he knew she needed time to herself.

Kurt nodded his gratitude.

Santana smiled as she turned and went back upstairs while the boys headed down.