Author's Note: thank you for all the reviews! Let's see, i'll clarify some things. This story is gonna be slow. If you're waiting for zombie killing/crazy action scenes, you'll be waiting for a while...maybe. Or if they do appear it's not gonna be like intense. Uhm, Faberry might start showing up soon, who knows.
There's lotsa zombie fics popping up so I'm actually hesitant with continuing/uploading the story (though i've written the epilogue in my head already)
This chapter contains: bunches of information, lots of talking (LOTS!), Humour that might not be that funny actually. I should switch the category to Friendship/NOTHumor. its like ZWZ (zombies, what zombies?). kidding. (no, not really) ALSO: convenient plot devices and Quinn is too cool for school and Finn is ...Finn. Oh and Finn and Kurt aren't step-brothers! so they don't live in the same house. Ok? Okay. IN fact this Kurt is still enamored by Finn... yeah. let's go with that. Maybe. I don't know what i'm writing anymore.
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Quinn is sitting on the floor next to Brittany and is absently petting Charity as she watches Santana and Finn argue with occasional commentary from Rachel.
Their topic of discussion: who should be the group leader.
Everything had started when they were trying to determine what they should do and Finn had stepped up, saying that he would take the responsibility of being leader (because of him being co-captain of the Glee club and something about dragging them all into this mess even though he had nothing to do with the Cheerios staying) and he totally knew what he was doing because of his extensive video game knowledge. Santana had immediately declared mutiny and then Quinn's name was thrown out as leader instead and everything had gone downhill from there.
Quinn actually thinks there are more pressing matters at hand but she's just enjoying the show for now.
Anyways, the arguing is really mostly just Santana insulting Finn as she rebukes all his reasons and Rachel is weakly trying to support him but the cheerleader is really, really good at pointing out his flaws and it's getting to the point where Quinn almost feels sorry for Finn.
Almost being the keyword here.
Kurt is on the sidelines, trying to wait for the right moment to interject but he hasn't yet because he doesn't want Santana's wrath forced upon himself. And Puck? Well, he doesn't really care and instead keeps switching between ogling Rachel's legs and short skirt and then back to looking Santana's chest. Quinn figures he's probably having some disgusting teenage fantasy about the two brunettes and it's only confirmed when he catches the blonde's gaze and winks.
Quinn rolls her eyes in disgust and shakes her head. She then sighs softly, because she knows she needs to stop Santana soon. They're wasting precious daylight standing (or sitting) around when they could be using it searching for supplies. Not to mention the zombie they ran into earlier has her worried about their safety.
But, Quinn figures she'll let the other girl let off some steam first before interrupting. That, and she thinks that some of Santana's insults are really funny.
She's getting distracted so she turns her attention back onto Santana and Finn to determine if she'll need to step in yet. There's a small gap in between Santana being funny and just being plain mean and Quinn will join in if she thinks the other cheerleader is crossing that line.
"….okay, you just did not play the 'Captain of the football team' card right now, because Finnonence, you couldn't lead your team out of a paper bag even if there were two openings, and…"
Nope, she's still being funny so Quinn chuckles, earning her a glare from Rachel and Finn shoots her his patented wounded puppy look that gains him her own patented roll of the eyes.
"Alright!" the short singer says suddenly, clapping her hands to gain everyone's attention. Her voice echoes and seems louder due to the quiet of their surroundings and it startles everyone, including Rachel herself. She pauses momentarily as they hear her voice bounce off the walls before slowly fading away.
The hesitation is almost enough time for Santana to shoot off an insult but the shorter girl quickly continues.
"Well, I propose that instead of, ahem, resorting to immature insults," she glares pointedly at Santana, "we should rather take the opportunity to act like civilized people and decide with democracy!"
"Uh…" Finn looks confused and Santana merely gives Rachel a look, as if to say 'this is the guy you want in charge of us during an apocalypse?'
"She means we'll decide by vote," Kurt clarifies and Finn nods slowly before immediately brightening because he knows he has an advantage.
"Those in favor of Team Finn?" Rachel asks as she proudly raises her arm. Finn and Kurt join in and Santana scoffs because she already knows the outcome. The shorter brunette smiles at her boyfriend and then to Kurt as she counts their votes, but she frowns suddenly when she realizes Puck doesn't have his arm up.
"Noah!" she turns to him and he shrugs.
"What? It would totally be hot if Quinn's leader. She can totally order me around any day—ow!" he steps away from Rachel as he rubs at his now stinging arm. She glares at him and then he raises his arm grudgingly.
"Four votes for Team Finn!" Rachel grins and then looks over to the two blondes that are sitting on the floor. "And, although the conclusion is fairly obvious, just to be fair, we'll still count the votes of those in favor of Team Quinn!"
Santana narrows her eyes at Rachel and wordlessly draws a finger across her neck. The dried blood on the cheerleader's arm makes the action seem even more menacing and the shorter girl squeaks and moves closer to Finn who puts an arm around his girlfriend in a protective gesture.
"A-anyway, those in favor of Team Quinn?" Rachel asks again.
Santana sighs and then raises her hand slowly because she thinks this voting thing is bogus, and Brittany follows the brunette's example but raises her arms while holding Lord Tubbington. Quinn shrugs and votes for herself the same way as Brittany except she's holding Charity up instead.
"Three votes for Team Quinn!" Rachel declares smugly. "So, it's decided then! Finn will be— "
"It's five votes, not three, Rachel," Brittany cuts in suddenly. "Even I can count up to five."
"Uhm, Brittany—" and Rachel wants to say something but Santana's glare stops her short.
"You totally forgot to count Lord Tubbington and Charity," the taller blonde says matter of factly.
"Yeah, you totes forgot to count them," Santana adds in, adopting Rachel's earlier smug attitude as she crosses her arms across her chest.
Quinn knows she's going to have to jump in soon because she knows Rachel's going to say something and Santana's not going to like it.
"Brittany," Rachel tries again and ignores the cheerleader in front of her. "You can't—cats can't vote."
The taller cheerleader frowns and that's the cue for protective Santana to rear her ugly head.
"Last time I checked, dwarves can't vote either! In fact—"
"OKAY!" Quinn says suddenly as she shoots up from her spot on the floor with Charity still in her arms. Things are only going to escalate at this point and they've already wasted enough time. Quinn's one of the few people Santana will listen to (sometimes) so she levels her fellow cheerleader with a look, telling her to back off. Santana growls and points her index and middle finger at her eyes and then points them at Rachel's.
"I'm watching you, hobbit," she hisses and Quinn clears her throat and steps forward.
"I have a better idea. We'll split up," and Quinn shifts the cat around and holds up a hand. "So not finished yet, Berry."
The short singer's mouth closes shut and the blonde quirks an eyebrow before continuing. "We'll settle this based on our abilities—"
In the background, Santana coughs and Quinn knows the other Cheerio is alluding to something crude because Puck laughs but she ignores it. "—on how well we gather supplies. Basically, we need to prove to the others why we'll be good leaders." She's actually killing two birds with one stone here by getting them to move and think about their situation.
Everyone's quiet as they think over the blonde's proposition. Most of them are just glad that they're finally doing something.
"Wait, so you want us to like, go around the city, and collect stuff and whoever has the most will win?" Finn asks as his brows furrow because it almost feels like Quinn is tricking them.
"Yes, Finn," Quinn sighs. "Like in those games you play, when you go searching for extra ammo and weapons, etc," she explains and Finn's eyes light up with the reference.
"Yeah! That totally makes sense! We need to search for like food and weapons and stuff," he says while nodding and Rachel gives him an unsure smile because Quinn already seems to be winning. She's manipulating the entire situation and Finn doesn't seem to have caught on.
"So, we'll lead our respective teams around the city for like, say, two hours, and then we'll meet back here."
"Wait, why two hours?" Kurt asks suddenly.
Quinn answers by pointing to the sky. "It's already late afternoon, and there's maybe 3 hours of daylight left. I don't know about you guys, but I'd feel a lot safer being inside when the sun sets."
Everyone shudders at the thoughts of being in the dark with those things crawling around and instantly agree.
"Wait, uh, but isn't that kind of dangerous and unfair?" Finn says. "I mean, my team has two guys here, uh three, if you count Kurt, I guess."
"Thanks, Finn," Kurt says sarcastically and the football player shrugs apologetically.
"…and your team is all girls and—" but before he can continue Quinn and Santana glare angrily at him and he holds his hands up in defense.
"You better not finish that thought, Hudson," Santana states dangerously.
From his side, Rachel slaps him on the arm.
"Ow! Hey, I thought you were a pacifier or something!"
"I'm a pacifist, Finn, but that's beside the point!" she yells at him, obviously insulted.
"Well, it's true! All I'm saying is that me and Puck, we're like the best chance we all have of us surviving! We have experience with zombies and—and everything else! Quinn's team is already at a disadvantage. It's obvious who's going to win! And, it's like scientific fact that girls are weaker than guys!" Finn tries to defend himself and he looks over to Puck who's shaking his head at his best friend.
"Hey man, don't drag me into this," Puck says as he takes a step back.
Finn realizes he should shut up now before he digs himself in even deeper.
Quinn narrows her eyes at Finn. "Consider it a 'handicap' then, Hudson, because you will definitely need one in order to win," she declares icily and then she hands Charity over to Santana before lifting her bag and the bag full of cat food up and shouldering it. "Try not to get killed," she states before she's turning away and Brittany is standing and then all three of them are heading back around towards the front of the school. Before they disappear, Santana makes sure to glare at them once more and then they're gone.
The remaining teens watch as the cheerleaders leave and then three turn to the tall football captain. Rachel looks livid, Kurt looks mildly offended and Puck is still standing a bit away.
Team Finn is obviously off to a great start.
"Right!" Finn says nervously as Rachel frowns at him. "So…uh, in this one game…"
\-\
They're walking and they're quiet and Santana's staring at her team leader with such scrutiny that Quinn's struggling to keep from directing her scowl at her.
Santana chuckles suddenly, because she thinks the blonde has such weird quirks. For someone who likes being in the spotlight, Quinn sure hates being watched. It's weird.
"What, S?" the blonde finally snaps and turns to look at Santana with a raised eyebrow.
The brunette shrugs and shifts Charity to a better position. The action draws attention to her arms and Quinn makes a mental note to look for a first aid kit first.
"Nothing. Just, you know, hoping you know what you're doing," Santana responds. "'cos you know how I feel about having to follow Frankenteen…it's bad enough him and that dwarf are leading Glee club. But trusting him with our lives? Hells no. If he wins, I just might have to cut someone. And by someone, I mean Finn… And by cut, I mean kill."
Quinn scoffs and there's that attitude that earned her the position of Head Cheerio making itself known. "As if you even need to ask," is all she says.
Santana nods and for once she actually feels that maybe things will be alright. Because if the blonde can still act as if today is just another ordinary day, then they have nothing to worry about for the time being.
"Alright, so wheres we headed then?" she asks curiously.
Quinn merely gestures to the building that they've been walking around as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Isn't that under lockdown?" Santana frowns.
"Yeah, Mr. Schue wouldn't even let me go back in to grab my diary," Brittany pouts because she had kept it in her locker for safe keeping from her cats and had forgotten to get it before they were ushered out for the evacuation. She and Santana had tried all the doors and windows but they had been unable to find one unlocked when they had gone back. Figgins had drastically upped the security ever since the break in last year.
Quinn shrugs. "Puck or I could easily break in," she answers and they continue to walk until they're in front of the school.
She stops and the other Cheerios do the same and Quinn gives them a sly grin as she reaches up and pulls at her necklace, revealing the usual golden cross that had been safely tucked away in her shirt. There's also something else hanging on the gold chain that catches Santana's eye: It's a key.
"But why break in, when you can just walk right in?"
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After a brief debate, Finn's team has decided to split themselves in two. Him and Rachel are heading over to his house for the bag of clothes he had left behind and Puck and Kurt are going to grab their own clothes. Afterwards, they will meet up at the Walmart located on Cable St. and are going to try and scrounge up supplies around the area. Many of the markets and stores were already emptied by the remaining citizens before the evacuation but they're hoping that some things have been overlooked. Finn's not sure what Quinn's game plan is, but he assumes she's going to the area around her neighborhood because he hasn't seen her team yet and there's only one path leading to the main stores and Finn and Rachel are currently on it. It doesn't matter though, because Finn knows he has to win. His pride is on the line now.
The football Captain frowns and then looks down at his disturbingly silent girlfriend.
The short brunette had volunteered to leave her own duffel bag near the dumpsters (they figured there was no one to take it anyways) so that she can help carry additional supplies because she figured they'll need all the help they can get.
Despite her support however, Rachel's still mad at Finn which is apparent because she keeps huffing and sighing and refuses to hold his hand as they walk through the streets. Not even the near encounter with a zombie had deterred her anger although she had clung to him in fear but had quickly moved away once she realized what she was doing.
"Rachel, I'm really, really sorry," Finn apologizes again and gives her his most pathetic look. She frowns and he continues pouting and Rachel really can't stay mad at Finn. Because if it wasn't for him she'd still be stuck in the dumpster waiting to die while the world ended.
How can she be mad at the guy who ignored his own safety just for her?
"No, I should be the one apologizing Finn. In a way, your chauvinistic comment was correct; there are in fact, many studies of the differences between the physical attributes of both female and male and it has been proven that men are indeed stronger than women."
"Uhm..?" Finn looks at her with slight confusion and she finally gives him a smile.
"Thank you, Finn, for coming back to rescue me," Rachel tells him sincerely as she steps closer to him and takes his hand.
Finn gives her his usual lop sided smile, because he's happy that she has forgiven him.
As soon as she's no longer looking up at him however, his eyes shift to the side guiltily.
\-\
Down some other streets, Kurt and Puck are heading first to Puck's house and then over to Kurt's. The smaller of the pair is struggling not to look disgusted as the football player tells him about some places where he knows they can find some weapons.
"..so I know that one lady, her husband keeps a handgun in her underwear drawer—"
"and WHY do you know what she keeps in her understand drawer?" Kurt interrupts and is looking at Puck incredulously. He just smirks and then Kurt is shuddering in disgust. "Ugh! Capital T-M-I!"
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The first thing they do when they enter the school is head over to the infirmary where Quinn uses the key to open the door and she then quickly locates the medical kit and helps Santana disinfect her cuts. She sticks some band aids on the wounds and then they're once more walking through the empty halls with purpose.
It's quiet, and their footsteps echo throughout the building and Santana is kind of creeped out but she tries to ignore it because Quinn looks fine and even Brittany seems content.
As they're moving, Brittany pokes Santana on the shoulder, startling her, but the expectant look from the tall blonde answers her unasked question and she sighs before she mumbles a quiet thank you to Quinn. Quinn smirks in response because she has always found it amusing how much Santana caters to Brittany.
"Whatevers, Q," the brunette scowls and then she's nodding to her cheer captain, gesturing to the key. The abandoned school is bothering her so she decides to fill in the stillness with conversation. "So, where'd you get that anyways?"
Quinn shrugs but doesn't reply and instead continues to lead them through the familiar hallways until they're in front of a very well-known door.
"Okay, Q, seriously," Santana says and if her hands were free she would have placed them on her hips. She is annoyed that the blonde has totally been holding out on her. They could have done so much stuff with the school's master key.
Quinn's unimpressed but gives in because she wants to keep Santana relatively happy. "Coach," is all the blonde says before she takes out the magic key once more and uses it to unlock the door.
"Hold up, Coach Sylvester gave you that key?" Santana is looking suspiciously at Quinn now and the cheerleader quirks that infamous eyebrow of hers because she swears (seriously, bad habit!) the brunette is checking her out.
"Yes…" Quinn answers slowly, unsure why the other girl suddenly looks disturbed.
"So it's true then?" Santana demands after a beat.
"Uh, that Coach gave me the key? Yes, I just said—"
"No! Not that. You know, about the rumors," Santana supplies unhelpfully and Quinn's shaking her head because she's seriously confused.
"Uh, okay what?"
"That you're Coach Sylvester's illegitimate kid."
The key drops from Quinn's fingers and if it hadn't been attached to her necklace it would have clattered onto the floor.
The blonde makes a strangled noise and then manages to shout out an indignant "What!" because she's never actually heard that rumor before.
"Well," Santana shrugs. "You're both blonde—"
"Brittany's blonde! There's a bunch of people in the school that are blonde!" Quinn retorts loudly but she doesn't care that her voice is now carrying across the halls because Santana's absolutely crazy.
"..and Coach actually likes you. Like, you two both scarily get along, and you're kind of similar—"
"Yeah, totally," Brittany agrees.
"So people were saying you're her kid, or whatever," Santana concludes and Quinn doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.
She decides to go with irritation instead.
"Okay, first of all, no! You've met my mom!"
"Irrelevant," is Santana's response.
"And second of all, if anything, Coach would be like, the-person-who-is-not-related-to-me-but-I'd-consider-her-my-crazy-aunt-with-the-bunch-of-cats kind of person, except, you'd replace her cats with trophies and yeah she'd be the-person-who-is-not-related-to-me-but-I'd-consider-her-my-crazy-aunt-with-the-bunch-of-trophies," Quinn says and Santana doesn't look convinced and even Brittany looks skeptical.
"How long has this rumor been going on anyways?" she asks instead and Santana and Brittany glance at each other before turning back to their captain.
"Since High School started?" Santana questions the taller blonde.
"No way, I think they started after Q transferred here. Remember, someone mentioned they saw her talking to Coach and Coach was smiling or something?" Brittany says and Santana is nodding.
"Yeah! I remember that!"
"Okay. OKAY," Quinn shakes her head then takes a calming breath and slowly exhales. She looks at the other two cheerleaders and then sighs again before turning to the door. She twists the knob and then pushes the door open to Coach Sylvester's office.
"Look, I'll explain everything but let's go in first and start getting ready," she offers and Santana shrugs and then nods and her and Brittany both follow the head Cheerio into the room.
"Okay, so you know how my dad is in the military," Quinn starts off but she stops when Santana shakes her head and Brittany doesn't say anything. "I mentioned this when I transferred here back in 8th grade?" she asks. "It's one of the reasons I moved here in the first place?"
The other two cheerleaders stare blankly at Quinn and the blonde swears (she should really stop that) the cats are looking at her with pity on their little faces.
"Wow, okay then," Quinn rolls her eyes. Some friends they are. Even after two years… "So yeah, my dad is in the military and mom wanted me to at least have a real 'high school experience' or however she phrased it. She convinced my dad to request to transfer to the base in Ohio because it's both his and her home state. By convincing I mean she threatened for divorce and dad caved and we moved," the blonde explains as she continues to lead the other two through the office and into the back.
"But you live in a house," Brittany says and Quinn nods.
"Yeah, dad is living on-base but mom and I are living in my grandparent's old house since she wanted a normal life or whatever. It took a lot of convincing i.e. blackmail, but the commute from the base to Lima isn't that far so dad finally agreed," Quinn says offhandedly. She actually prefers it being just her and her mom. Her dad is entirely too overbearing and he makes Coach Sylvester seem like a teddy bear sometimes.
They're now standing in front of the largest display of trophies that their Coach has in her office.
"Ok, so… what does that have to do with your crazy Aunt?" Santana asks and Quinn glares at her before she unlocks the glass display and slides it open. She's quiet as she reaches up and grabs one of the smaller trophies, twisting it to the right before kneeling down and moving another trophy to the left.
"You know Coach's weird stories about the war and stuff like that?" the blonde asks instead as she stands up and pushes the biggest trophy on the middle shelf back. There's a click that surprises Santana and suddenly she's not so sure Coach is that crazy anymore.
"Well," Quinn continues to explain as she reaches forward and then the wall attached to the display is sliding out, revealing a hidden door from behind. "Half of her stories are lies peppered with truths here and there," she says and then stops as she turns to look at Santana.
"She is a part of the military though, and that's how I met her and why we get along so well. She knows what it's like, growing up, moving from base to base, so I guess we just clicked, or whatever," Quinn shrugs and then she turns the door knob and swings the door open.
Santana's eyes widen at the sight before them and she almost drops Charity but the cat meows in protest and she remembers to keep her arms up.
"Ay Dios Mio," the brunette whispers and Quinn grins.
"She's also an avid gun collector."