A/N: To all the reviewers- thank you so much! I still don't own anything. But did you hear? They're writing an official Glee book! Lemme know if you want the link to the website.

Chapter 4

Mr. Schue wasn't sure quite what to do- scream? Cry? Break something? In the end, he went to school, suffered through his Spanish classes, and headed down to Principal Figgins' during lunch. And of course, I'm sure you all know who else was there, playing devil's advocate.

"This is insanity!" Sue exclaimed. "It's dead! You can't possibly let it back in the school."

"She's certainly not dead," Mr. Schue protested. "At least, not any more."

"Sue, there are more and more different biotic people every day," Figgins said. "We cannot pretend like this isn't happening."

"Exactly. She's just a 16 year old girl who wants to go to school!"

"It's devil spawn," Sue said dismissively. "Worm food. It shouldn't be allowed to walk among normal people. It's stench certainly can't be good for my cheerios."

"She doesn't smell!" Will snapped angrily, turning to Figgins. "Please, sir."

"Alright. We'll try it. But any trouble and she's out of here."

"Thank you."

Artie went to class. He took notes. He answered questions. He went to lunch and ate with Kurt and Mercedes. Not one of them spoke. He went back to class. Turned in his homework. Rolled down towards Glee. He did everything he was supposed to, smiling when it was appropriate, even laughing once or twice. His paralysis had given him practice on acting like everything was fine while inside, he was breaking apart. Every time he laughed, he wanted to cry. Every time he spoke, he wanted to scream. Overall, he just wanted to curl up in a ball in his closet and not come out.

Kurt wasn't doing too much better. He was too upset to even wash his hair last night. Mercedes seemed to understand- she skipped her math to go to science with him. The teachers didn't care. They stayed together the whole day, physically and mentally leaning on each other. They offered to go with Artie but he simply shook his head, turning and wheeling away without a word. The two friends just exchanged a glanced and linked arms, needing to know that they had each other.

Rachel was teary the whole day, falling asleep in three different classes. She was fragile, much more so than the others had guessed, and this had pushed her over the edge. Finn rescued her right before fourth period, pulling her out of the hall ways and to the bleachers where a blanket and pillow were arranged. He sat with her until she finally fell asleep for real.

Puck was a machine of destruction, slamming anyone who dared to get in his way into the walls hard enough to break something. Quinn followed him around, cleaning up anyone he beat up too badly and trying fruitlessly to calm him down. Brittany and Santana ditched the whole day, locking themselves in the storage closet in the girl's locker room for a teary make out session. Mike ditched, too, and Matt tracked him down up on the school roof with a bottle of beer and a cigarette (he had drank before, but never smoked).

However, every one of them made it to Glee practice. When Mr. Schue entered, they were sitting mostly silently, several faces still tear-stained. As he took his place at the front of the room, he wondered at the curve balls life seemed to throw at him. Only two days ago, he had been standing right in this position to tell them their friend was dead. And now he was standing here to tell them she was back.

"I'm sure that you've all heard to the living impaired," he said. "Or maybe you know of them as differently biotic."

"You mean zombies?" Mercedes asked.

Mr. Schuester shook his head. "That's a derogatory term," he said. "But yes, essentially. Do you know how many there are?"

"Over 500," Puck answered. "Right?"

"Yes, though they aren't exactly sure. Well… this is almost as difficult to say… Tina's back."

Silence. Immediate and total silence. Several mouths fell open.

"What… what are you talking about?" Rachel croaked.

"She came back. She's alive for a second time."

"Where is she?" Mercedes asked, blinking hard. "She's not going to like, jump out of the closet, right?"

"No. No, she's at my house."

"Why?" asked Quinn.

"Her parents were… unable… to deal with this, right now. I reenrolled her McKinley. She'll be back soon-"

"She's coming back?" Santana demanded. "A zombie, here at McKinley?"

"Not a zombie," he corrected. "A friend. And she would like to come back to Glee, but she told me to ask you first. We can take a vote." He had hoped that they would all accept her, but thinking about it, that was too much to ask of them. They were only kids themselves, really. Hopefully enough of them would want her back. "All in favor of her coming back?"

Mike's hand was the first one up, Rachel's only a heartbeat behind. After only slight hesitation, Kurt and Mercedes nodded at each other and put their hands up. Quinn put her hand up, too. Brittany put her hand up, but Santana angrily hissed in her ear and she lowered it again. Mike turned to Matt. "What the hell, dude?" he demanded. "You and Tina are friends!"

"No," he said flatly. "You and Tina are friends. I don't have anything against her, but the thought of someone dead dancing and singing with us… it's just wrong." Santana nodded, but Mike, eyes sparkling with tears at his best friend's betrayal, rose and moved down to sit next to Mercedes. Finn was last to raise his hand.

"All against?" Mr. Schue asked, chest tight with relief. That was more than half of them. But then he saw something that tightened his chest for a different reason.

Santana raised her hand. Puck raised his hand. Matt raised his hand. Bittany didn't move, staring down at the floor. This wasn't a surprise. But over on the far side of the room, Artie raised his hand.

"Artie?" he asked quietly. "This is Tina we're talking about."

"No," Artie said wearily, shaking his head. "Whatever the hell that thing is, it isn't Tina." Without another word, he turned and wheeled away, leaving Mr. Schuester to wonder how he was supposed to tell the dead girl that the boy she cared about the most was the most against her.

A/N: Goodness. Now. Just one more thing... please review!