Author's Note: Hi. If you're waiting for the Faberryness you'll be waiting for a while because zombieeeeees.
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All in all, Quinn doesn't consider the situation to be as dire as she thinks it could be. Sure, her and her closest friends and other miscellaneous people are now stuck in the city that just this morning the government had labeled as 'problematic'. And sure, the power generators are already on emergency shut down and running water is lacking due to the possible contamination of the nearby water reservoirs and treatment plants. And sure, most of the south western parts of Lima have been partitioned off due to the numerous amounts of infections and there are additional lines of barricades all over the city blocking pathways and—well, things just aren't as bad as they possibly could be. At least they're all relatively safe and relatively healthy.
For now, anyways.
Quinn and her companions are silent, each lost in their thoughts as their meander and zigzag through the allotted unblocked areas of Lima. In her mind, she's already making a mental of list of things they all need to do in other to survive: look for supplies, look for weapons, look for shelter and ultimately, look for a way to escape. She has a clear idea of where to find most of these and this is one of the reasons why she's not as concerned about their safety as she should be. The only thing she's unsure of is their method of leaving the city. Most (if not all) of the remaining cars have been turned into makeshift metal barricades and it will be hard to find a still operative vehicle on such short notice. They might have to venture into the unsafe areas and search for one there, but Quinn figures they'll cross that bridge when they get to it.
A buzzing sound on her right interrupts her thoughts and she shifts her eyes over to Kurt who had all but jumped at the sound. He gives a nervous laugh because he's already second guessing himself on joining them and reaches into his pockets to pull out his phone.
Quinn wonders who it's from but doesn't care enough to actually check and instead turns back to her thoughts. She can hear Kurt tapping quickly at the keys as he types out a reply. There's slight movement to her left but another buzz distracts her temporarily and then her own phone is buzzing inside her bag.
She's about to reach over and grab her phone from the side pocket when Santana suddenly shoots out an arm and pulls Brittany back. The movement startles Quinn momentarily and she's about to ask what happened when she realizes that Santana is still staring straight ahead. Quinn quickly turns her attention over to what has the other Cheerio distracted.
There, ambling slowly in a drunk like gait is one of the rumored infected that had started this whole mess in the first place. Even from their distance, they can see its pale pallor and abnormal appearance as it shambles on aimlessly. Its clothes are torn rags and its limbs look broken and there's something so wrong and unnatural about the way it looks that Quinn has to suppress the sudden urge to shudder in disgust.
They all stand, frozen in horror and maybe with a little bit of fascination because this is the first time any of them has actually seen a zombie. The infection had started weeks ago but quick military intervention and established guard posts had kept the public generally safe from the undead threats. Until today, that is.
"Q," Santana's voice is a hoarse whisper and Quinn notices that her own throat feels a bit dry. "I thought… didn't they say they isolated most of them in the southwest…?"
Quinn nods slowly because she knows that there are barricades located all around the city for a reason. The stations have only been abandoned hours ago in preparation for the evacuation and this area they are currently in is far enough from the supposed 'zombie hotspot' that they shouldn't even be seeing a zombie until hours from now, especially with all the roadblocks in place. Things are seriously not adding up and maybe problematic is the new understatement of the year.
"Yeah…" Quinn answers unsurely and now she thinks that perhaps she should be more worried about their situation.
"Okay… so what do we do?" Kurt harshly whispers. "He's—it's—whatever that thing is, is getting closer!"
Quinn licks her lips nervously. From her peripheral vision, she can see Brittany tighten her grip on Lord Tubbington and Santana doing likewise with the smaller white cat in her arms.
"Let's just go around it," she finally decides. "It's moving pretty slow—and it seems like it's the only one so far…we should be able to ditch it easily."
Another buzz sounds off suddenly and they all jump slightly at the interruption. Even the zombie seems to have zeroed in on the noise because it's movements abruptly seem a bit more concise and Quinn swears (though she knows she shouldn't) that its head had swiveled to their direction and she's not sure if it actually still has eyes but she can almost feel it's gaze on her.
"Come on!" she says sharply, and her voice breaks their dazed stares and they're all moving to the left and giving the infected creature a wide berth.
Almost as if it has sensed them through its sightless eyes, (they're empty black sockets, Quinn notices) it suddenly throws itself to the side in a desperate lunge. It's not even close to touching any of them, but the action itself is enough to scare everyone and Kurt lets out a high pitched shriek which causes Brittany to scream and Santana barely manages to hold onto Charity as the cat almost shoots out of her grasp and then Quinn is urging them to move faster.
"Go, go, go!" she orders and they all take off running.
Left in their dust, the zombie groans pathetically after them and slowly tries to crawl its way back to its feet.
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By the time they reach McKinley, they're all breathing hard and the extra bag Quinn is carrying feels like a sack of bricks and the strap is digging painfully into her shoulder. She wants to drop it but refrains from doing so because she's sure Santana will do something to her if she does. The constant metal clanking has already given her an idea of what's inside, but she stops herself from checking the contents until they've reached their actual destination.
The sight of the familiar red bricked building somehow calms their nerves. The panic starts to recede as they slow down to catch their breaths and they're soon heading over to the back where the dumpsters are. Santana is sure she'll need to pry off Charity with a crow bar and Brittany still looks scared and Kurt is pale and Quinn is still glancing behind her but the immediate threat is gone (for now) and there's a collective sigh of relief all around as the sight of Finn and Puck helping Rachel out from the trash cans greets them when they round the corner.
Their sudden appearance surprises the short brunette and she loses her footing and is slipping back into the container but Finn has a strong hold on her and keeps her from falling in. Within moments, he's helping lift her out and settling her steadily to the ground right next to Puck. Rachel hugs Finn almost immediately and watches as the Cheerios and Kurt make their way towards them.
As soon as they're close enough, Quinn stops and lowers her bags onto the concrete and rolls her shoulder. There's a red mark from the pressure of where the handles dug into her shoulder but one quick glance at Santana's arms that are lined with multiple bleeding scratches stops Quinn from commenting. Those cuts will need to be disinfected and now that the adrenaline is fading, Santana is scowling and Quinn decides not to further irritate her friend for the time being.
Rachel finally detaches herself from Finn's embrace and she gives Puck's arm a squeeze which earns her a wink and all three step closer to the new arrivals.
Brittany decides to sit on the floor and settles down while maintaining a grip on Lord Tubbington. She's looking worriedly at the scratches on Santana's arms but the other cheerleader shrugs and instead holds out Charity to the taller blonde. The cat immediately leaps into Brittany's arms and then her two family members are nestled safely in her lap.
Rachel clears her throat as her eyes shine with unspoken gratitude. Quinn can almost feel the waves of disgust rolling off from Santana so she decides to ignore the scene in front of her and instead squats down to the bags on the floor. Kurt is fixated on his phone and he's frowning at the screen and the only ones who are paying attention to Rachel at this point are Santana, Finn and Puck.
"I just—I just wanted to thank you all—" Rachel starts off but Santana is scoffing and rolling her eyes.
"As if, Berry. We definitely did not come here to save you," she snaps out.
Rachel is undeterred however, and continues as if the other girl hadn't interrupted. "Regardless of your intentions, the mere fact that you are all here, instead of at the evacuation area speaks otherwise."
Quinn tunes out Santana's harsh rebuttal as her curiosity finally gets the best of her and she reaches over and unzips Brittany's Cheerio bag. Kurt, who notices the action, glances over to the blonde and they both peer inside the bag when it's finally open.
Quinn blinks and Kurt can't help the small chortle that escapes from his mouth.
There's at least 100 or more cans of cat food inside.
"Lord Tubbington only likes that one brand," Brittany says quietly from where she's petting both her cats on the floor. "And he doesn't like to share. He and Charity fought once over food...Never again."
Quinn nods hesitantly before her eyes automatically look over to Santana because she's wondering what's inside the bag that she's still carrying. Before she can ask however, there's that text message alert sounding off once more and Kurt is back to looking at his phone. Almost immediately after, Quinn's own phone buzzes, followed by Rachel's and then Finn's and then Puck's.
Brittany's phone goes off as well, but it's not heard because it's still back in her room under the clothes she hadn't packed and likewise Santana's phone buzzes from its spot right beside the blonde's phone.
The arguing stops and they all glance at each other wearily, feeling the unspoken sense of dread before reaching for their respective phones. Quinn moves a bit so that Santana and Brittany can see as well when she notices that they don't have their phones.
It's a message from Mercedes, addressed to them all:
'We tried everything to delay them and Mike and Matt even tried leaving the bus but they wouldn't let them out! You better get your sorry butts over to Indiana soon! We don't know how but we know you'll think of something.'
'We'll never forgive you guys if you get yourselves killed! New Directions is now missing 7 important members, yes, even you Rachel, and we won't be complete until we're all reunited. Everyone wishes you guys and gals good luck and don't forget to take care of each other because we're family!'
'P.S. Mike and Matt say to kick some zombie butt and something about head shots'
It's a heart felt message that suddenly brings to light the dark situation that they've actually thrown themselves into.
Quinn frowns suddenly as she notices something. "Hey, you guys hear that?" she asks quietly.
Everyone is still silently rereading their message even as they listen to the sounds around them.
"Uhmm, I don't hear anything…?" Brittany finally replies and there's a sharp intake of breath as Rachel realizes the implications.
"Yeah, exactly," Quinn murmurs as it quickly dawns on the others.
There's silence in the background and it's quiet enough to hear a pin drop.
The emergency sirens are finally off. Which means the power is off, which means the city has officially been abandoned.