AN: I had to split this chapter up into two because holy cow it was a long one. I hope you all enjoy and I apologize for my absence I've been really busy lately. Thank you all for being so patient!
What day was it? Wednesday? Sunday? Quinn didn't know. The mental calendar in her head had stopped keeping track a week ago, the day Mercedes...
She was walking, still, as they always did. She wasn't even sure if they were going in the right direction anymore, it felt as though they had been walking for months with little to no results for anything. She could tell they were all beginning to get a little restless.
"I'm exhausted." Finn said, his voice tired and dry. He had been dragging his gun along the dirt path for the passed mile in a half. The sun had been beating down all all of them since noon and she was sure they were all severely burnt.
"Yeah, tell us something we don't know, dude." Sam spoke, his gun placed firmly in his hand. Sam hadn't been the same since the day Mercedes was attacked, his face was hollow, sunken in like a skeleton and he no longer possessed the little bit of child-like attitude he still had from the start. It was like walking with a ghost, but worse because there was a living human in there...somewhere.
Turning to Rachel, Quinn felt the tug in her chest as she saw the girl slowly fall more and more behind, the strength to keep her gun up now falling terribly low. Her face no longer had her dark tan but instead was pale, yellow even, and her limbs weren't as strong as they had been a day or two ago. Stopping, she waited for the girl, each step she took causing Rachel to wince.
"You alright?" Quinn asked, her voice filled with concern.
"I feel really weak, Quinn. I can't keep going." Rachel spoke, finally stopping to catch her breath. Quinn let the girl drape a hand over Quinn's shoulder before she began walking quickly back to the group. She was practically carrying Rachel by the time she got there as her feet were dragging in the dirt road.
"Puck, we have to stop somewhere." She turned to the petite girl who now had her eyes shut, her hands barely hanging on to her gun. "Something's wrong with Rachel." Puck looked from both of them before nodding, gritting his teeth, he began looking around everywhere, desperate for some kind of clue.
"I know where we are." Blaine said, furrowing his eyebrows. "I mean, I think I do. We're right outside Zanesville." Everyone stared at him with faces of 'Why are you telling us this, Blaine.' He rolled his eyes and turned to Kurt. "Zanesville, Kurt...Remember?" He asked, through gritted teeth. Kurt furrowed his eyebrows, trying to remember what in the world Blaine was talking about before the shorter boy leaned in to his ear and whispered something. It must have worked by the way Kurt blushed and nodded. Every memory he had had before the outbreak happened, before his dad, was completely shot from his brain. He could remember nothing of his old life, or maybe it was that he didn't want to remember. How could he forget?
"Right. Zanesville." Kurt said through a small breath.
"Will you spit it out, Lady Lips?" Santana said, fanning Rachel with her hand while Quinn tried pushing her hair out of the way.
"My dad bought a small house right outside of Zanesville. Maybe eight years ago?" Kurt said slowly, recalling the memories before continuing, "My mother was fond of the place so he decided we would take a visit there every spring. Since she died he only ever did payments on it. The last time I was there was about six months ago when Blaine and I went on our small road trip." He looked down, hiding his red face from the rest of the group.
"Do you know where it's at?" Tina asked, shielding the sun from her eyes.
"Yes, I do, actually. I'm certain once we come up to the cemetery, it'll be on the left." Kurt replied, making his way over to Rachel. "Can you make it through another thirty minutes, Barbra?" Kurt asked, squeezing Rachel's hand tightly. Rachel could only nod.
"Let's hurry. Please." Quinn spoke, adjusting Rachel slightly so that she hung at a more comfortable angle. Puck took Rachel's bag and Sam took her gun, both of them swinging the objects over their backs.
"Can someone try to figure out whats wrong with her while we look for this place?" Puck said, walking along the street.
"What's hurting, Rach?" Quinn asked, rubbing her arm softly.
"I'm weak. I can't do anything. And thirsty." Rachel replied lazily, her stomach trembling against Quinn's side. Quinn had no choice but to carry the girl now, picking her up from underneath her knees and holding her bridal style. She surprised even herself with the strength she had, but Rachel being the weight of a feather helped as well.
"Weak? What was the last thing you ate?" Quinn asked, looking at the girl's sunken face as she wrapped her arms around Quinn's neck. Her heart began to flutter.
Not the time, Fabray.
"I couldn't eat anything but the bread when we had food. I'm vegan, Quinn. Remember?" Rachel asked, opening her eyes and looking up.
"Yeah, shh. Try to rest, alright?" Quinn said, waiting a while until Rachel closed her eyes and her breathing was even. "She's starving." Quinn finally told the group. "She has the symptoms. We have to get nutrients in her body as soon as possible." A large weight fell into Quinn's stomach as she wanted nothing but to be close to the girl, help her.
"I got her, Quinn, I work out like every -" Finn started before Quinn shrugged him off.
"I got her. Your workout is nothing compared to what coach Sue had us do. Besides, where were you when she was lagging behind? You were too busy complaining."
"Uh, the last time I check I was her boyfriend." Finn replied.
"And the last time I checked, we're in a fucking apocalypse. Do you think I give a shit about your relationship status?!" Quinn bursted.
"Hey!" Puck angrily whispered towards both of them. "If you two don't shut the fuck up you're both going to get us killed." With that he turned back around and continued to follow Kurt and Blaine in front of them.
Quinn held on to a now sleeping Rachel that much tighter. Or at least she hopped she was sleeping. There was no way Finn would get his hands on her. Not now, it was the only time she had to be close to her. Sure, she was probably freaking everyone out with her sudden fondness of the girl, but it wasn't sudden. It had always been there, Quinn just never felt the need to show it until now. They could die any day. The thought brought shivers down her spine as she quickly through that concern away for now.
The walk was just as quiet as ever, no one having the particular need to talk. The sun slowly began to set as they made their way passed the town cemetery. Quinn couldn't have been more thankful for it either as her arms were on fire. Rachel was small, yeah, but Quinn wasn't a body builder either but she would rather carry the girl than have her in Finn's arms even if she knew the boy would be able to do it with ease. Throughout the walk she snuck little glances at her, blowing air in her face to keep her cool and blocking her from the sun to protect her from sunburn even f it was too late. It had been longer than thirty minutes by the time they had finally reached the small house.
"There are only three bedrooms and two baths upstairs, but it's fully furnished and my dad always kept an emergency box in the basement. Blaine, you can figure out how to turn the lights on, ri -" Kurt was unable to finish his sentence when he saw Puck turn around quickly.
"No." He said plainly. "We can't have light attracting anything. It has to stay dark, we'll find some candles or something if we need them."
The house was small, that was very true. It was a two story with only a small garden in the front but a large forest in the back. As they slowly approached it, Kurt noticed the oil stains by the garage. His dad always had to be working on something. His heart felt weak, Blaine put a comforting hand over him.
"Can we hurry?" Quinn asked, her focus on the girl in her arms still. Kurt only nodded as he made his way up to the door. Reaching above the door frame, he pulled out a key and stuck it in the lock.
As they all walked in, cautiously, they noticed the place had been untouched by anyone, everything looking as good as new, it smelled wonderful, like fresh baked cookies. It was the best thing any of them had smelled in a long time.
"Quiet." Puck told them before turning around. "We're still not sure if it's safe. I'll check the upstairs with Finn. Tina, you and Kurt go to the basement. The rest of you check this floor."
Everyone was off. Quinn turned to the couch and set Rachel down gently, her head on top of a nice looking pillow. "You feeling okay, Rach?" Quinn asked, getting on her knees and pushing hairs aside from her face. The girl didn't answer. "Rachel." Quinn said again, furrowing her eyebrows. "Rachel!"
"I'm fine, Quinn." Rachel replied in a small voice. Quinn took a deep breath before going to sit on the edge of the couch.
"Good."
"Here. Give her this." Santana approached both girls and handed Quinn a banana from her bag. "Potassium and all that good stuff. I brought a lot of them from the mall, I have some other snacks in here, too." Along with the banana, Santana had a few candles in her hands. She set three big ones on the table and held on to two smaller ones.
Quinn began to slowly feed Rachel bits of the banana, forcing it into her mouth. Brittany and Santana could only watch, their hands held tightly together. Slowly, Rachel began to gain color back into her face, her eyes opening slowly. Getting two more bananas, Rachel ate them with ease, the food making her feel better than she had felt in the last few days.
"Good?" Quinn asked with a smile. Rachel only nodded as she finished the last banana.
"I would have given it to you sooner but I didn't want us to have to deal with your puking ass if it happened. That can happen with starvation." Santana said simply, still fidgeting with both candles.
"Glad you're feeling better, Rach, but I'm gonna go find some food for all of us now." Blaine said, fixing the knife he had in his hand.
"Not alone you're not." Puck replied, coming down the stairs. "Me, you, Finn and -"
"Me." Tina said, coming up from the stairs.
"Tina, are you sure?" Kurt asked, a little worried.
"Positive." Tina confirmed. "I want to help."
Once the three of them had left through the back towards the forest, Santana and Brittany both called dibs on one of the showers. They made their way up the stairs quickly before anyone could say anything, the candles held tightly in Santana's hands still.
"You can go, Quinn. You're probably exhausted." Kurt said, a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Actually...Rachel, you need a bath. You need to get that stuff off of you. Then when you get back, hopefully they'll have the food ready." Quinn said, trying to wipe her face from the dirt she had.
Nodding, Rachel made her way towards the stairs, all eyes on her. "Um, Quinn?" She said, stopping on the second step. Quinn looked up eagerly. "I need someone to watch the door for me, incase anything happens. Could you -"
"Yeah. Yes. I -" Quinn sputtered, quickly going to where Rachel was currently standing, grabbing their backpacks on the way.
"Grab a candle? I'd prefer not to hit my head on something."
"Oh, right." Turning around, Quinn saw Kurt pushing a candle in her direction. Smiling, she took it from him and followed the girl up the stairs, her heart beating with each step. What did she want her to do? Did she want her to wait outside the door? Help her get...undressed? Quinn wouldn't think about that because it wasn't happening. No. She was terribly happy Finn went to go hunting. Besides, she was there to watch the door. You always had to have a buddy with you wherever you went, Puck told them that when this first happened. That's all Rachel was doing.
"So...do you want me to like make sure you don't faint or.." Quinn asked, only half joking.
"I just don't want to be alone. The buddy system seemed like a good idea." Rachel spoke as they finally got to what looked like Kurt's bedroom, Santana and Brittany were quick to take the master bedroom's shower.
"Oh, yeah. Of course. I'll just wait in Kurt's room. You know. Look through his things." Quinn joked with a smile, turning around, she went to lock the door in his room when she noticed the lack of a lock on the bathroom door. Privacy was very scarce so she took it when she could.
"You can come in, Quinn. I'm very comfortable with my body." Rachel spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world as she walked through the bedroom's bathroom door.
Quinn's hands became clammy and her heart increased. She had to pull it off, she had to make it look like it was no big deal. Maybe it had to do with seeing the woman you've been in love with since Freshman year naked. Yeah, that might be it.
"Yeah. I don't mind." Quinn said, surprised at how calm her voice was. She followed Rachel into the bathroom, the candle clenched hard in her hand, turning her knuckles white. She shut the door behind her now the only light coming from the large window next to the shower and another one by the sink. Setting both backpacks down in the corner, she spoke."I'll just light this." Quinn fumbled in her pockets before finally wrapping her fingers around the small lighter she carried. Suddenly she heard the shower start, causing her hands to fumble a little with the damn thing.
"Are you okay?" Rachel asked from the curtain.
"Yeah, this thing just isn't -" Rachel's hand covered her own and slowly Rachel flicked the lighter, an orange flame coming from the tip.
"Better?" She asked with a smile.
"Yeah..." Quinn tried her hardest to tear her eyes away, Rachel's hand moving slowly to the wick and lighting the candle, illuminating the bathroom with the light. "Thanks."
Nodding, Rachel turned and began shedding her clothes, slowly her tan skin filling Quinn's mind with wonderful thing. The small bruises on her back that she longed to kiss, the dirt all over her that Quinn would wash away. It had only just occurred to Quinn that she was staring and quickly she drew her eyes to the window, pulling the drapes back and looking outside.
"Looks like it's about to rain." Quinn said, breaking the silence.
"You don't have to stand there." Rachel said, naked from the curtain as she let her leg inside. Quinn refused to turn around in fear of her jaw dropping to the ground.
"Do you want me to wait outside?" Quinn asked, gulping.
"I want you in here." Rachel's voice was simple as her whole body finally got inside the bath.
"The...shower?" Quinn's ability to stay calm was now long gone as she turned only to see Rachel's leg disappear into the shower.
"Theres no use in wasting water when you're already in here. You carried me here, I think we're passed the stage of caring. We're friends, Quinn." Rachel replied, moaning softly at the way the hot water hit her aching body.
Quinn nodded, removing her shirt, pants and every other item on her body slowly. They were friends. Friends totally did this, helped one another out, carried them, saw them naked. She had seen Santana and Brittany naked all the time. It wasn't a big deal.
"Alright, I'm coming in." Quinn warned, her hand shaking violently against the curtain. She took a deep breath before pulling back the curtain.