A/N: I've merged the first two chapters together so this would have been chapter three. Sorry for taking so long to upload, this chapter was a challenge to compile for no apparent reason. I now have this story completely mapped out so it should be concise. For those wondering about the expected length, yes it's going to be a long multi-chapter; I already have a sequel in mind! Oh and don't fret Chloë this chapter doesn't have any real other supernatural events but the next chapter should be the start of that story arc. I'll put a few warnings in place as of now: there will be character death, continued violence as well as distressing subject matters that may not be appropriate for some readers; so if you're in a fragile state of mind I don't recommend you continuing. Also thank you to the guest who corrected me over my failed spelling of Brittany which I've now changed! Now, onwards with the story…
Finding weapons in a choir room wasn't the easiest job in the world, I mean hey we could have thrown chairs at the zombies or wow I'm sure a grand piano would have come in handy. Finn had armed himself with a floor lamp and that was about as good as we were getting.
"If the glee club actually won awards we'd be in a much better position right now." Santana scowled at the group before her. This went largely ignored.
I could see by the eyes Kurt was giving Finn that he had designs for him; which suited me perfectly fine. I had always known of Kurt's sexuality. It was obvious and endearing, he deserved to be happy, and he was a good person. He deserved to live. Kurt is the kind of person that I'd lay down my life for.
"Well there's no time like the present, just be quiet and stick together, right?" As Finn spoke he wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me towards him.
I looked up embarrassed by this vulgar public display of affection when everything else around me was getting so real it felt wrong, I doubt I would have resented it so much if it were mutual; blushing profusely and looking around I caught Rachel's eye. Who am I fooling? I wasn't looking around, I was looking for her. It was one of those unexplainable moments of eye contact that is immediately overanalysed and inevitably misread. Rachel would never see me in that way, so I could not let myself become vulnerable to such fancies. Even so Finns arm around me felt like a weight.
"I'm kind of getting cold feet." Artie announced as Finn and Puck began to dismantle the barricades.
"Can you even feel your feet?" Brittany asked him in all seriousness but got only a cold look in response.
"I think we should look for survivors first" Mr Schuester spoke up for the first time, his voice lacking its characteristic confidence.
"What and make ourselves vulnerable?"
"As heartless as that was Puck, I agree; we need to get food and leave, there's no time to be a hero."
"Emma Pillsbury"
Those two simple words changed everyone's minds, not because any of us knew the guidance counsellor particularly well but because his voice was so heavy with sadness, laced with such desperation.
And so we set off down the abandoned corridors of William McKinley High School, we ignored the blood stains and the over turned tables, even worse we ignored the corpses that lay scattered through the school, lifeless, apparently too ravaged to turn. At least that's what I knew from the movies.
Upon arriving at the guidance counselling office the already sorrow filled air grew dense making it hard to breathe, the glass panes working as the frontal wall of the office were largely sprinkled with blood, the blood being on the inner-side of the glass. Inside a corpse lay lifeless, her innards having been relocated around the room. But she wasn't ginger which made the situation the slightest bit better.
"Maybe, maybe this is just… She's not here! Yes she has to be, must be alive still."
Schuster's voice sounded so determined, I looked at him in pity.
We stood in the wrecked office, it felt too hard to leave; our sense of purpose lost. Just as I was about to tell everyone that we needed to move on we heard a whimper. The noise felt like hope blossoming in my heart, following the sound to a cupboard I wrenched it open. There was Emma Pillsbury; dishevelled, covered in blood and scrubbing the same clean spot on her arm raw.
"Oh, she's the one they made me talk to when they found out I was keeping that bird in my locker." Brittany whispered to us calmly.
Schu promptly grabbed the small whimpering mess that was Miss Pillsbury into his arms and kissed the top of her head with joy written plainly across his features, he even went as far as to spin in a circle with her in his arms whispering frantically "I thought you were dead, I thought you were dead!"
I decided to let him have his brief moment of joy that I was sure we wouldn't be seeing an awful lot of in this day and age. But really Miss Pillsbury wasn't alright; she was obviously ill, mentally scared and who knew if she was injured. Miss Pillsbury had OCD, everyone knew that, how was she supposed to survive in a world like this?
We eventually made it to the school kitchen despite a large amount of false alarms and one close shave with a wandering fallen.
The kitchen was seemingly untouched so we barricaded the entrances and secured the hatch that we realised could be used as an emergency escape route. We were safe (zombie-apocalypse definition of safe), we had access to food, water and a small staff toilet. And so we began collecting as much food and bottled water as we could physically carry in our backpacks.
"Is t-t-tinned food suitable to t-take?" Tina asked the room her stutter evident as it always was,
"As long as you take a tin opener too"
"Well actually, tinned food will be preserved for longer"
"And heavier" Came Pucks disgruntled contribution to the conversation.
I listened in silence as the group talked, sitting in the larder working my way through the bottom shelf.
"Hi" A gentle voice came from beside me,
Looking towards the source I watched Kurt shuffle in and sit beside me in the small space,
"Hi Kurt" I said with a small smile,
"If I may?" he asked gesturing his arm towards the shelf.
"Why not? Thanks."
We sat in companionable silence for a couple of minutes filling our bags,
"Ooh powdered milk; at least I can still have my bedtime drink"
"Oh yes, what would the world be without a bedtime drink?"
"Just a boring old zombie-apocalypse" I could hear a smile in his voice; I couldn't help but smile along.
"It's also a good job I keep my moisturizer on me, or else my nightly moisturizing routine would have been screwed up too."
"Wow, you really do have all the luck!"
"Oh no I really don't; I'll never be able to have relations on a dewy meadow of lilac with Taylor Lautner before I get fat now" I looked over at his solemn face and burst into laughter, he promptly put a hand over my mouth.
"A boy can dream right?" but soon he had his face against my shoulder trying to contain his own laughter.
Just then Finn broke our happy little bubble
"Hey guys, we've decided to stay here for the night, it's getting late and we don't want to travel through the night."
"In fact, we're considering staying here full stop. We've got brilliant supplies and we know this place." Mercedes said jumping in.
I watched Kurt's face grow increasingly alarmed.
"No, we need to keep moving, this-"
"Look, Miss Pillsbury really isn't in a state to be moved and we can use this as a base to contact our families." Noticing that our faces weren't growing any more convinced she charged on with her rant,
"Here we can gradually barricade parts of the school up and we feel safe, we've seen barely any zombies, at least we know our situation here. We can just sit it out and wait to be rescued."
Realising Mercedes was deluded I let it go, at least for the night.
"Alright, alright, I don't need you in my face. Go 'enlighten' someone else with your obvious wisdom." I said putting on my best snotty voice.
At that she strutted off looking obviously irritated. Finn leant over us and kissed my forehead (making me stiffen against Kurt) before scampering off lacking a certain amount of grace.
"Why do you do that Q, why're you so mean to people?"
I don't know why this hit me so hard, perhaps it's because I wanted Kurt to like me, wanted him to know Lucy like I didn't want anyone else to or perhaps it was simply because no one had ever asked me so straight on, looking me square in the face. I looked down at our touching knees, letting my high pony fall covering his view of my eyes. I couldn't think of a response so I just sat fighting the tears that were threatening to fall.
"Don't worry, I know that it's not really you Quinn, it's not as if I'm the nicest person to everyone is it?"
"Don't ever say that Kurt, you're perfect." I mumbled still not looking up.
From then on we sat in silence again, collecting and sifting through the pantry shelves. As I noticed people start preparing for bed I got up and found myself the biggest knife I could, I wrapped it in a dish cloth and put it in the outer pocket of my rucksack.
"Okay guys, I'm taking first watch with Mr Schu" Puck spoke to the room as loudly as he dared. I looked over, they'd positioned themselves at the door, knife's and pot lids scattered around them. Miss Pillsbury was already lying against Mr Schu sleeping. Finn approached me again.
"Hey Quinn, I found some coats in the lost and found box that have made a nice bed over there" Pointing to the far corner of the room that was out of the main groups view, I felt suddenly uncomfortable. After years of ground work, flirting and keeping Finn at just the right distance to look publically smitten but personally distant I could see it all crumbling. For God's sake I didn't even need my façade anymore, not really, not in this world. Luckily Kurt spoke up,
"Oh we'd already got a good spot, myself and Quinn were just saying how we wouldn't feel safe if we weren't in the larder, it just feels like more of a defence with all the walls around us."
"Yeah, I really wouldn't feel safe over there" I shot him my best sympathetic look,
"But I'll protect you" Finn said faltering slightly.
"Sorry baby" I then stood up onto my toes and gave him a peck on the lips, I knew defeat when I saw it and quickly took my bag back over to the larder with Kurt. Catching a glimpse of Rachel curling up against Puck as I went, at least Puck had the weapons, she was safe enough.
With Kurt holding me I managed to get a few hours of much needed and unexpected sleep. Unfortunately we were woken rather abruptly…
A shrill scream pierced through my dreamless sleep, the type of scream one only hears in a horror movie. Sitting bolt upright I grabbed my knife out of my pocket and looked straight to Rachel, she was okay. I let myself have a brief second of relief and then continued frantically looking around for the source of the noise that was turning my stomach: Brittany. Brittany was sitting looking absolutely terrified, in the next second Santana had launched herself on top of the hysterical girl.
"Britt! Britt! It was a dream honey! Shhh shush, it's okay, you're okay." Within minutes Brittany had regained some sense of normalcy.
"Comforting as that is stick figure but we are most definitely not okay!" Mercedes harsh voice sliced through the room.
"There was no need for that"
"Excuse me!"
Within seconds the room was a babbling mess, I looked over desperately at Kurt whose expression must have been identical to mine.
Standing up I raised my voice above the chaos "Am I the only one who thinks every fallen in the proximity heard the scream and that your babbling is helping them home in nicely?"
"Shit"
"What should we do?"
For Christ's sake I'm head cheerleader not an army cornel.
"We gather weapons and move" Kurt's voice barked out coming up to stand beside me.
For the next couple of minutes the room was reduced to bedlam again, people weaving between each other in a frantic rush to arm themselves.
"Kurt, don't you need to get something?" I asked as I noticed him standing watching over the chaos.
"Don't you worry about me Q, just get armed" I didn't question him; instead I picked up a second large knife.
We moved out and through the corridors swiftly and quietly, the zombies obviously weren't very fast because none had turned up yet.
"Don't you think it's weird that we haven't come across a single zombie?" for that Finn received multiple cold stares.
A fresh scream filled the silence; it sounded like it was coming from the adjacent corridor.
"We're right here, we have to help them" Rachel's whisper was quiet and tense.
"We are not heroes."
At that moment I turned around at the squeak of shoe on lino to see a horde of the undead approaching us from behind.
"We don't have to be heroes."
Everyone followed my gaze turning around. That's when the real screaming started.
And so we faced them like a utensil equipped -if a somewhat outnumbered army.
The corridor was swarmed with the undead. It felt like a grotesque echo of that very morning, each face giving me all their attention but instead of thoughts of jealousy or desire they had thoughts of hunger and my death, if they even had thoughts at all.
Mercedes was the first to be attacked but Kurt thrust himself between her and the in-flight zombie slashing it down skilfully –including a couple of from what I can tell unnecessary twists and swirls- with sai swords. Yelling out "I knew I'd get to use these babies" with a look of what can only be described as excitement.
I couldn't let my bewilderment distract me for long though because within the next few moments the mass of fallen were upon us; clawing and climbing over each other to get to us. Shoving my knife into the closest fallen's temple I didn't let myself concentrate on the tingle of guilt, instead I glanced around quickly to find Rachel, I needed to get to her; I needed to protect my tiny Jew. I didn't expect to see a pile of the fallen in front of her, still very much 'alive' but withering for some unknown reason. As I slashed my way towards her I realised she was spraying the fallen in their eyes with bleach and had made the floor slick with fluid, however I didn't have a chance to marvel in her brilliance because a cry like no other I had ever heard was filling the corridor.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Mr Schu's scream sounded so raw that I found myself nauseated with fear, like a demon was clawing through my stomach.
Not able to take a moment out to understand this scream I charged at the fallen in front of me more viciously than I had ever done anything. Hatred pulsing through my veins like pure acid I slashed their eyes and then pierced their skulls, forcing myself forward into them with my knives and my hatred I gathered all of their attention; soon every one of the undead wanted me. Kurt was beside me in a second and everyone else seemed to be backing us or pouncing on the strays. As hard as we pushed, as much hatred as we exuded, as many as we killed the crowd was still growing instead of decreasing. We were going to die, of that I was sure. But we were going to die fighting.
Just as our strength was dwindling, just as we were being pushed back as the stories always go, our hero arrived.
Sue Sylvester.
And boy did she know how to make an entrance; we heard her yodeling but a moment before she jumped into the din, two fire extinguishers at the ready. Screaming "DUCK" which we all complied with immediately, she proceeded to 'extinguish' so to speak the fallen, coating them all in the thick white substance.
"NOW RUN"
And we did, oh how we did. However after a few moments we realised Mr Schu and Miss Pillsbury weren't with us. Turning back we saw Mr Schu leaning over Miss Pillsbury's limp body, hearing our shouts at him he looked up with glazed eyes.
"She's dead." His voice was completely void of emotion.
"It's confused their senses temporarily but we need to go" Coach called out urgently.
Puck and Finn had to drag Mr Schuster away, there wasn't time to mourn and there weren't the facilities to take her body. We needed to leave.
Somehow the school corridors had taken on the effect of a labyrinth. We moved agonizingly slowly and it was seemingly hours until we burst out of the fire escape which effectively set off the fire alarms; great now the school was a great big target and we were in between the fallen and it.
Hurriedly we found a nearby abandoned house to take cover in, it was temporary, very temporary but we needed to fix our wounds and sort our loses. We barricaded ourselves into the kitchen, living room and adjacent bathroom. Will settled into a corner of the living room sobbing gently, Tina and Mercedes set up in the kitchen with a first aid box they'd found and a supply of water, going over everyone's injury's –Puck had suffered a large cut to his forearm but everyone had gotten off pretty lightly all things considered. No one was bitten, thank God. Not that we even knew if that was how it spread, it could be the air for all we knew- and I hovered, looking around at my friends but not really seeing.
"Q" Coaches voice didn't have its usual air of confidence
"Yes coach?"
"I'm leaving, I need to go, my sister… Well what I wanted to know was if you wanted to come. We'd make it. This lot" she waved a hand towards the rest of our group "don't really stand a chance, but we could make it Q."
I was touched, I had never felt so touched in all my life.
"I- coach I can't, I can't just leave them. They need me; I need to protect them with everything I have."
Coach gave me a look that I'd never before seen on her features; it resembled a mixture of love, pride and respect.
"You're nothing like me. You're better. Sure I'm as smart as you are and every bit as pretty, but somehow you're slightly less evil, and I admire that. I admire you Quinn Fabray."
I couldn't respond, I wanted to say 'thank you, you mean a lot to me' but the words swelled up in my throat and I couldn't seem to get them out.
"I really need to get to my Jeanie. Just- stay alive Q"
With that her emotions closed off and she faced the room with a very Sue-like smirk.
"I'm going now that I'm done saving your arses. I've got a condo in Boca waiting for me and my sister."
"Wait- I was wondering how did you- where were you before you got to us?"
Sue gave Rachel a meaningful look,
"My mastery of camouflage is the only thing that kept me from being court-marshalled after that My Lai misunderstanding"
"Well, thank you."
"That's alright Jew but don't expect it again."
She turned walking towards the exit,
"Oh and I would say your hair looks like a brier patch. I keep expecting racist, animated Disney characters to pop up and start singing about living on the bayou, but I don't think William's in quite the state to appreciate it."
Sue looked over at Mr Schuster's curled up form sympathetically.
And then she was gone. Gone to find her heart.
And everyone continued their tasks.
And the air seemed to completely leave the room.
I made it to the toilet before the tears started to fall, sitting on the toilet-lid I let my backpack fall to the floor. I couldn't create any coherent thoughts about my distress or anything for that matter.
For the hundredth time this week I let myself think about it, I opened my backpack and unzipped the inner pocket taking the small white stick out. The small white stick that was my undoing, that sealed my fate. The small white stick with its two little lines that told me there was a little person growing in my belly.
A/N: I'm not very happy with this chapter, things just didn't want to assemble like I would have ultimately desired. But this was a beast of a chapter so I hope the length somewhat makes up for the quality? As if that makes sense. Just so you know this fic is my absolute baby. Also I'm just going to put it out there that I really appreciate every review so thank you to those of you who have. Oh and ShadowCub what would be the fun in them playing it safe? But spoiler alert they are leaving the school proximity. Lastly I think everyone should check out Mandithegleek, she's amazing.
What are your opinions: on the pregnancy, plot guesses and expectations?
I absolutely bet no one can guess the whole plot.