AN: Fair warning, this is a tough chapter...I hope you all enjoy.
"Fuck!" Quinn yelled throughout the dead silent mattress store as she woke from yet another terrible dream. This time with her eating Rachel alive as the girl's screams of pleads filled her ears like a bell.
"Quinn, are you okay?" Tina asked, her eyes large and alarmed.
"Um...yeah. Just a really bad nightmare." She spoke softly, embarrassed of the fact that she woke her as well as some others as they began moving around to see Quinn. "Sorry, everyone." Quinn now said in a loud voice. "Just...a bad dream." She went to rub at her eyes before seeing Rachel's mangled face in her brain and quickly pulling her hands away.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Tina asked again, her eyebrows furrowed and a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm just a little shaken up." She replied, taking a deep breath. Just then Rachel was quick at her side, Finn and his messy bed hair walking over to her as well, rubbing at his eyes.
"I've been having nightmares too." Rachel replied. "I'm sure we've all been having them." She spoke sincerely to everyone. "A few of mine were about my dads..." Her voice faltered before she turned away, the obvious tears flooding her eyes. Quinn so wanted to get up and grab the girl, hug her and tell her things would be all right, that she was here for her.
"Yeah, I've had some pretty bad dreams too." Puck replied, getting up. "I mean, I know Sarah and my mom are safe outside of here, but...theres still that doubt. You know? I'm still scared for them."
There was silence for a few moments, the only thing being heard was Rachel's quiet sobbing, Finn stood there awkwardly, his hand on her shoulder. Quinn could only roll her eyes.
Sam was quick to Rachel's side though, hugging her tightly as she sobbed quietly in his chest. He turned to look at everyone's shocked faces before rolling his own eyes. "We've gotten really close."
"Well, that's nice and all, but we can't stay here for long." Blaine spoke for the first time in what seemed like days. "They'll probably start wandering over here soon enough once they've racked the rest of the town, which isn't much."
"What's the point?" Finn laughed, turning to all of their shocked faces. Quinn was seconds away from punching the boy. "I'm serious. What are we fighting for? We're not allowed out, they'll just wait until these fuckers kill us all off. Then what? We fought for nothing. What the hell are we even putting ourselves through? It's all for nothing. I don't feel like moving on, not when I know we're all just gonna end up dead."
"Are you an idiot?" Quinn spoke first, her snake like eyes shooting daggers at him as she got up. "You think we're just going to let them kill us and thats it? Because if so then you're even more stupid than I thought."
"Quinn, that's enough." Kurt spoke quickly.
"No, no, let me get this straight. You think we're fighting just to get eaten at the end? You actually think I'm going to turn into one of them just so the CDC can shoot me dead in my tracks? I'm going to make it out of Lima with or without you, Finn, and if you think you're going to drag my friends down with you then you've got another thing coming. If you want to stay behind and die then be my guest, but I'm not turning into one of those rotting monsters. This isn't a fucking game, there isn't some special prize for beating killing a certain amount. This is our lives on the line. You want to know what we get in the end? Another fucking chance to live." Quinn's breathing was erratic throughout the quiet store as everyone was staring at her in shock. She glanced around at all of their giant eyes minus Finn who was currently turned away from her, his fists in balls at his side.
"I'm with you." Santana spoke, standing up next to Quinn. "I want to get out of here. I want a second chance to live."
"Me too." Brittany said soon after. "The Unholy Trinity has to stick together." She smiled at both of them. Slowly everyone else began to stand up, joining next to Quinn until only Finn was standing with his back towards the girl.
"You're not going to be this stubborn, are you?" Kurt said to Finn. "You're my step brother, Finn. I'm not letting you stay here."
"I'm not leaving!" He shouted at him.
"Then you're going to fucking kill us all!" Kurt shouted at him. "Now stop being stupid and get your things together!"
Taking a deep breath, Finn turned to grab his bag by his bed, everyone else doing the same after.
This felt far too familiar to get use to, Quinn thought while she put a few of her things in the small black backpack that she had to herself. They were quickly on their way out, making a few stops for people to change into something more fitting for their "adventure" and then the hunting store below to load up on guns, ammunition and a few camping necessities which included flash lights, camper backpacks, sleeping bags to attach to the top of their bags, first aid kits, matches and tents. Then, they were on their way out, the bright morning sun piercing through their eyes.
"There's a diner about a mile from here. We can see what they have there." Mercedes said as they made their way through the parking lot, everyone agreed. Then there was silent, the only noise coming from their boots against the gravel.
Quinn watched as Rachel walked in front of her, her feet probably not use to the heavy boots she was wearing as she slowly began to limp. Her hair was an adorable mess and the backpack she carried seemed to have been bigger than her, almost like the freshman she would see every year at school. Everyone tried to give her the lighter things even though she insisted she could carry more. She got stuck with three tents, a sleeping bag, first aid kit and a pistol. The boys would have to show everyone else how to shoot a gun properly later as the kicks would knock them all out. Quinn could only laugh as she pictured Rachel shooting a gun and flying back, her small figure unable to support that amount of pressure.
"Rachel." Quinn finally said, jogging up to the girl. She noticed the puffy red eyes the brunette had been sporting as well as the dirt on the side of her cheek. Quickly she began wiping at her face, the sides of her lips turning up slightly for what looked like a forced smile. "Are you alright?" Quinn asked, her tongue now far too big for her mouth. Rachel only nodded, looking straight ahead of them now. "Listen, if you need to talk or anything...I'm here for you. I'll do what I can." Quinn spoke again, this time wiping her sweaty palms on her jeans.
"I appreciate that, Quinn." She turned to the girl's hazel eyes now, taking a deep breath and then looking down. "Thank you." With the last words she took Quinn's hand in her own, squeezing tightly. Quinn only smiled, squeezing back as the comforting hand felt warm in her cold ones. She knew this was nothing but a friendly gesture,Rachel needed someone and Quinn wanted to be that source of comfort even in this time of horror.
"We'll start heading to Columbus once we find some food. From there we'll find our way out of here." Puck said, adjusting his gun.
"That's the best plan you've got?" Sam asked, a small scoff in his voice.
"You have something better? Because I'm sure we'd all love to hear it." Puck snapped back. There was a moment of silence before Sam shook his head and continued to walk. "Now, as I was saying, we'll see what we can find in Columbus. I think I heard something on the radio the other day, there's a safe house there. If we keep walking then we should make it there within the next few days."
This is what they were living for, an uncertain safe house in Columbus, Ohio. What they would do from there, Quinn wasn't sure, all she knew was she wanted to keep her friends and most importantly Rachel safe. Everything relied on her keeping that girl safe. She needed the same comfort she was getting at this moment every day.
"What are we gonna do when we get there though?" Finn asked as they continued to walk on the dirt road.
"Tell them we are getting out. Because we will get out." Puck replied, turning to the boy.
Without much thought, Quinn began rubbing her thumb on the side of Rachel's soft hand, the girl turning to Quinn and smiling at the small gesture. That small smile made her heart increase against her chest, all she saw was Rachel. The girl she had had so many nightmares about finally here and safe.
"You know -" Quinn started out before she was interrupted.
"The diner!" Tina said with a smile and running towards the restaurant, everyone else joining in.
"What's that?" Rachel asked, their hands now broken apart.
"Um, nothing.." Quinn responded, her mouth now dry. "I'll tell you later, maybe."
Rachel smiled before turning to the restaurant and running with everyone else, the ache in her belly too intense for much thought on anything else. Quinn walked slowly behind, stuck in her thoughts and kicking some gravel along the way. It was a silent day, too silent for comfort when she finally made it to the entrance, opening the door. She thought to fuel herself up with nutritious things as they would be walking the next few days.
They had to have been walking for days from the ache in Quinn's legs but the sight of the sun told her otherwise. It was only just setting as they all walked down yet another dirt road. "We're about to come up to the Indian Lake State Park." Quinn said, her brow sweaty and her legs wobbly. "We have to stop for the night, it's getting dark and we're beat. If we're attacked then we're doomed."
"She's right." Santana confirmed. "We have three tents, we can set up right next to the lake." Santana was currently limping, obviously trying to cover the pain. It almost made Quinn wonder just how many of them were actually hurt.
"Yeah, alright." Puck agreed, turning into a small forest. "It's a short cut, it's getting pretty late and we'll need to get there as soon as possible."
After much tripping and stepping on unidentified things, they all made it through the forest in one piece until finally hitting the green grass, leading to a crystal clear lake. "You know, this would be beautiful if it weren't for the situation." Mercedes said, passing Quinn up.
They made the tents, a few laughs here and there and then a small, quick fire was started. Sitting all around the fire, they all stayed staring at the flames, the orange light reflecting in their blood shot eyes. It wasn't normal for a bunch of high school kids to go through this pain, this kind of thing could really mess a person up, and thats exactly what Quinn thought as she stared into the eyes of Finn, the bags under his eyes completely unhealthy.
"We can't all go to sleep." Sam said, the silence being broken again. There really wasn't much to say in a time like this. "At least two of us have to stay up so each of them can keep the other awake." He said again. "I'll stay up, I can't really sleep right now..." He went to look up at all of their faces, tears brimming his eyes. Quinn knew it was about his brother and sister, Stacy and Stevie. They were "missing" but she knew for a fact they were long gone as the elementary school was quick to be infected.
"I'll stay up with you." Puck said after no one else volunteered, the tire in their eyes extremely prominent.
"No, dude. You go to bed. You've done enough." Finn finally said, getting up and patting the boy on the back. Puck smiled and agreed.
"I was hoping someone would say something."
The sleeping arrangements weren't hard, wherever you were close to that was your tent. Quinn was quick to follow Rachel as they both plus Mercedes made their way in one tent, each of them falling on the hard ground, two sleeping bags in there already.
"Take them." Quinn said, pushing both to the two girls. "I'll be okay." She smiled before turning around. Their supplies were limited, but she was happy simply because the brunette was right next to her, in the middle, sleeping soundlessly. Slowly, the faint snores brought her into her own dreams.
She was with her mom, happy, everything was perfect as it had always been. The only strange thing was the long blonde locks that draped over her shoulders as it did her earlier years of school. She was laughing and talking with her mom, the familiar, warm smile on her face. Everything was normal and so real, too real. Until suddenly a dark cloud came, washing her mother from her view. Terrifying screams filled her ears and...loud gunshots that were close. More screams, feminine screams. Terrified.
Suddenly she woke in a cold sweat, the only thing she could see in the darkness was a figure shaking in the corner of the tent, holding her mouth shut and breathing heavy as muffled sobs came through her closed hand. Making eye contact with the brown, puffy eyes, she saw Rachel push her finger up to her hand covering her mouth, signaling her to be quiet. Loud screams were heard yet again. That was only when she noticed Mercedes's absence.
"Wha -" Quinn started before Rachel tackled her quietly to the ground, her salty tears decorating Quinn's face.
"Shh-hh-h." Rachel sobbed still, the screams more terrifying than before as Quinn heard a large amount of growling. Rachel was shaking on top of Quinn and only then did it hit her.
"Mercedes?" Quinn mouthed, her tongue suddenly too large for her mouth as her blood turned cold. Rachel only sobbed out more, covering her face in Quinn's jacket as the screams slowly faded, the growls no longer as close as before.
After ten minutes of Rachel sobbing into Quinn's chest, Quinn patting her back gently as tears ran down her own cheek, they finally saw the sun rise, slowly. Picking her head up, Rachel turned to the zipper door.
"They're gone." Quinn heard Kurt's voice from outside the tent falter towards the end. "And so is sh -" His words were cut off by his own sobs into someone, she assumed Blaine's chest like Rachel had been previously.
"I fell asleep...I think she went to go to the bathroom but I still fell asleep. I wasn't suppose to, she should have woken me up!" Kurt cried, the boy's whimpering breaking Quinn's heart.
Getting up slowly, she braced herself for the scene she had yet to see. "I asked her to watch with me when Sam and Finn went to bed." Kurt sobbed more. "And I fell asleep on her."
Slowly unzipping the tent, Quinn saw their campsite just as they had left it, blood free. Puck and Sam were both out by the lake, tending to a sick Tina who was throwing up relentlessly. Turning, she saw Santana hold Brittany who was too crying hard, coughing at the tears stuck in her throat.
Finally, she saw it. Th blood splattered across the green grass about thirty feet away from their campsite. A pistol was thrown a few feet away from that which too was covered in blood, there were remains of Mercedes loitering the floor. Without warning Quinn let the sickness run through her body, vomit coming out of her mouth and straight on the floor below her. Rachel was quick to grab at the short hairs that shaped her face and held them back as the girl emptied her sick on the floor. Tears filled her eyes as her stomach released tiny spasms. Drool dripped down from her mouth and a bit of snot fell from her nose.
The only thing able to calm her down was the warm hand on her back, rubbing her soothingly. "It's going to be okay, Quinn." Rachel whimpered out, huffing in air through her own small breathing spasms. "We'll all get through this." She said once more with a small squeeze to her back as Quinn stayed in her position, her hands on both her knee caps, bent over.