Author's Notes: First things first, thank you to all of those who put alerts on my story and left me comments. They are definitely a comment booster!
Secondly, some small things about this chapter. Quinn is aware of her feelings for Rachel, but Rachel is not yet aware of her feelings for Quinn. They are of course very much there, but Rachel may need to be hit in the face with them before she realizes them. I am a big fan of character development, so hang in there. We will eventually get to our faberry being together times! Also, Quinn's story and the beginning of her journey is up next!
Lastly, I still do not own Glee or Chernobyl Diaries, so do not sue me. All I own are my characters Hunter, Daniel, and Sophia.
Monday. Three Days Until The Outbreak -
Rachel was sitting on her bed in her dorm room talking on the phone with Quinn. After senior year, the two had become rather close friends, and since they were the only gleeks in the area, they found comfort in each other. It was always nice to have a familiar face near by, especially in a city as big as New York. The diva was flipping through the channels of her television until she finally settled on Fox. Being able to hear the Television, Quinn giggled on the line. "May I inquire as to what you find so humorous, Quinn Fabray?"
On the other end of the phone, Quinn was laying down on her bed staring at the ceiling. She was trying to desperately keep her feelings in check which was becoming more of a challenge each day the former HBIC got closer to Rachel. Never before did Quinn think she would miss the façade that she was able to pull off so often during her earlier years of high school. At least then she would be able to put on her ice cold exterior, even if that also came with the side effect of being a bitch. The sound of Rachel's television broke her out of her stupor, and she couldn't help but let a giggle escape. "Rachel, how many times a day do you watch the news? I'm sure not much could've changed from early this morning." When Quinn heard the unmistakable huff from the other end of the phone, she new that she was in for a classic Rachel Berry rant. In the past, she would've found this completely annoying, but now all she did was get herself comfortable in her bed. She even found the little display of aggravation cute. Yeah, she had it bad.
"Quinn! It is important for one to always stay updated on current events. Not only does it show that you are educated, but it is simply a necessity. How exactly am I supposed to plan for my day tomorrow if I do not know the weather? Or, what if I come across a professor who also has an affinity for current events, and I completely embarrass myself because I know nothing about what is going on in the world except for what Barbra tweeted about the previous day. It is crucial to always be prepared, Quinn."
Only when Quinn was positive that Rachel was done with her rambling, she didn't need to further rile up the starlet by interrupting her, she spoke. "Alright, alright Rae. Just breathe. Why don't you just tell me what's new in the world?"
"One moment Quinn." Rachel was completely focused on the television as one of the news anchors stood outside of Mount Sinai Hospital. He was speaking about how it appears a bacteria or infection of some sort has spread to some New Yorkers. The news and doctors apparently found it important to alert the public of the signs of the sickness, so they can get to an ER as quickly as possible. "Excuse me Quinn, but it appears as if some sort of infection is spreading throughout the city. Just in case this is another situation like the Swine Flu, I want to warn you of the symptoms that I was just told. The early stages involve nausea, disorientation, and some sort of rash that causes one's skin to peel and bleed. It sounds rather painful. I do not know why people would not use their common sense and go to the hospital at this point, but apparently it is serious if the news found it necessary to warn the public and risk causing a panic. Perhaps I will go to the campus health services tomorrow and acquire one of those face masks to ensure that I do not come into contact with whatever this may be. They do not know how the infection is being spread, but I do not want to take any chances. What if this has the potential to damage my voice? I cannot go through what I went through junior year again. That was terrifying, and I…"
As soon as the former cheerleader heard Rachel begin to panic about her voice, she knew that if she didn't stop her soon the diva could go into the full rant about her career and five year plan, which Quinn was positive she nearly had memorized at this point. So, she cut her off before she could get to that point. "Rachel…. Rachel! Again, breathe. We don't even know what this is yet. Let's just see what they continue to tell us and go from there."
Rachel rolled her eyes in response to Quinn's words. How the blonde could always be so care free these days, most would call it rational, was beyond her. "I am simply stating that I want to take every precaution possible. It is better to be safe than sorry."
"That is true Rae. I just didn't want you already thinking that you were going to become mute," Quinn spoke as she closed her eyes and attempted to keep her own frustrations at bay. As much as she had come to care for Rachel, she didn't want to have to calm her down from one of her full on panic attacks. Yes, she may have admitted to herself that she found her ramblings cute, but that didn't mean that it couldn't be exhausting when the singer flew off the handle. "Now, are you still wanting me to come visit this weekend?"
Just at the mere mention of Quinn coming to New York City this Friday made Rachel squeal with excitement. It was now half way through her semester at NYADA, and in her opinion it has been far too long since she has seen the blonde. If she was being honest with herself, she missed the other girl more than she ever believed she would. "Of course! I cannot wait until you arrive, Quinn. I have so many things planned for us to do. There is so much that I want to show you!"
Quinn was positive that she could see Rachel sitting on her bed absolutely overcome with excitement and lightly clapping her hands in that moment. The thought caused a small smile to adorn her face. "Then, I will see you Friday afternoon. You will be picking me up from Grand Central station, right?"
"Yes, Quinn! Your train arrives promptly at five pm which gives me approximately an hour and a half to meet you after my last class. It works out perfectly." Rachel looked at the time and gave out a small sigh. "Sadly, I must cut this conversation short. If I do not practice my piece for my vocal lesson tomorrow morning, I am positive my professor will have my head. She would give Coach Sylvester a run for her money when it comes to being strict, but I cannot say I mind. I always accept a challenge."
Quinn looked at the time on the screen of her phone and knew that she should get some of her work done as well. "Yeah, I should go too. My paper on my opinions about the standards of today's society is not going to write itself unfortunately. I'll talk to you later Rae."
"Goodbye Quinn! Four days!" With that, she ended the phone call, and as always she was smiling thinking of none other than her friend, Quinn Fabray.
Thursday. The Day of the Outbreak -
It was a day like every other. Yes, everyone says that about the day something terrible happens, but it was true. When Rachel woke up that day, she did not think that in a few short hours she would have to fight for her life. The past months in New York City were amazing while she was attending NYADA. The experience was everything that she had hoped it would be and more. That day, the petite singer woke up at seven in the morning, so she could prepare for her theater appreciation class which was at nine. Rachel went through her routine without any problems and was out of her dorm building by eight thirty.
As Rachel walked towards the building where her class was held, she could not shake the unnerving feeling that something was going to go drastically wrong that day. She wasn't sure what would happen exactly, but she knew it would not be good. Rachel always firmly believed in her sixth sense, so for the rest of the day, she determined that she would be on guard in order to be prepared for whatever was to come about. She had no idea that what she would be facing was the possible end of the human race.
Everything happened so quickly after her class. Once she was dismissed, Rachel packed up her bag, and then began heading out of the classroom. It wasn't until she entered the main lobby of the building that she heard a horrible scream. That was the moment when all hell broke loose. In the blink of an eye, panic set in amongst the people around her. Everyone began running in all directions, pushing and banging into Rachel in the process. The petite girl still had no idea as to why everyone was so terrified, but as she turned around towards the glass doors of the building, her question was answered. Outside there were people running away from other people who at a first glance appeared to be normal, but when she took a closer look she realized that the other people looking as if they were sick. What was happening? Was there some sort of sports event that caused a riot? The singer knew nothing about athletics, but she did know that New York was well known for this baseball team or something or other. When Rachel saw one of the sickly people bite into the neck of a New Yorker, Rachel knew that something was not right. Last she checked, cannibalism was not a new and upcoming trend.
Rachel quickly ran to the nearest bathroom in order to collect her thoughts and make some sense out of the events she had just witnessed. As soon as Rachel entered the bathroom, she internally rolled her eyes at herself. Honestly, what was it about bathrooms that made them her safe haven and go to place? She quickly shook her head to dismiss these thoughts. Now was not the time to psychologically evaluate herself. The singer tried to rack her brain to see if any of this made sense. Suddenly, she remembered the infection that the news had spoken about three days ago. The sickly people did look more pale than a usual human would appear, and their skin was not in a condition that would be used for a Dove lotion commercial. Could this all be from some infection? No information has been released about the disease since she last heard about it. In fact, the news appeared to purposely be avoiding any discussion about the matter. What was happening? Rachel Berry needed answers, and she was determined to get them. With new determination and her head held high, Rachel walked out of the bathroom and back into the crowded hallway.
All of the people were causing such a commotion and panic around her, that she quickly decided that she would use their irrational thinking to her advantage. The fact that she acted so calm and in control is something that will later cause her much confusion, but at that moment it appeared that Rachel's body quickly went into survival mode. Rachel stayed calm and quickly made her way down the east hallway of her building which would lead to another exit into a back alley. Rachel quietly moved towards the door, looked out of the small window the best she could, and once she determined that no sickly people were near by, Rachel pushed the door open as quietly as possible.
After exiting the building, she walked quietly but quickly in the direction of her dorm building. The tiny brunette never in her life thought that she would be prepared for what appears to be a medical warfare of some sort, but she was never in her life more thankful for her decision to memorize every possible route she could take to her classes from her dorm than she was in that moment. The fast pace walk was filled with a lot of contemplation for Rachel. If the sickly people were biting other humans, it could be assumed that the virus was transmitted through some sort of DNA transfer. This entire situation left the vegan Rachel Berry with a very horrifying revelation and difficult decision. It would appear that the nonviolent, petite Rachel would have to fight in order to survive. She would need to perhaps take a life in order to keep her own. Just as Rachel came to this conclusion, she passed by a store that sold hunting equipment. She saw some men jumping out of the door carrying as much ammunition and weapons as possible, and Rachel figured that she might as well follow their lead just in case. Since her separation from Finn, Rachel no longer has a man who can be her lead. Now, she is going to have to learn how to be her own knight and try to do the best that she can.
Rachel walked into the store and saw that most of the major weapons have already been taken from the store, but as she scans the store she sees something that very much catches her eye. Her eyes land upon a bow along with some arrows. During her times at sleep away musical camp when she was younger, she had taken a few classes of archery, but the bows that she dealt with were never as advanced as the one she was eying. Not having much time to debate over this, Rachel grabbed the blue bow, put the strap of it around her shoulder, took an arm guard off of the wall, grabbed as many arrows as she could, and then put them in a brown arrow carrying bag which also went over her shoulder. She then grabbed a duffle bag from the shop and filled it with some small women's cargo pants, under armour shirts, a gun holster belt, an FS Herstal FNP-9, a Walther P99. , ammunition, a hunting knife, and then threw some more arrows in the bag. After she grabbed everything that she thought could be useful in this time of crisis, Rachel left the shop as soon as she heard another scream.
Just as she left the store, she turned to her right and saw one of the diseased people coming straight towards her direction. Rachel didn't think twice before she turned and ran as quickly as she could. Luckily, being a dancer as well as a singer meant that she had to be in very good shape along with good breathing control, so she had the stamina to continue at the fast pace until she made it to her dorm. She had to take many back alley ways and zig zag multiple times, but she had finally made it. She swiped her student ID card to allow her access into her building, and as soon as it opened, she closed it to ensure that none of the infected could get in behind her.
It appeared that there were only three or four girls in the building which Rachel knew was not a good thing. If the other girls did not arrive before dark, the likelihood that they survived this horrible ordeal was very slim. Rachel went into her dorm room, and that is when the state of shock wore off. Everything hit her like a ton of bricks. She dropped her equipment, and then just fell onto her bed. When her face hit her soft pillow, the first tear fell which was soon followed by a full on sob. Rachel's petite body fiercely shook from the intensity of her crying until she finally was able to get a hold on her emotions. She then turned on the television to see if the news could tell her anything about what caused this, and luckily there was a news broadcast just beginning.
This is Fox news with Jane Gooding and Jorge Sanchez. We interrupt your scheduled television programming to bring you an important update on the virus situation. It appears that the infection is an attack from a radical scientist who believes that the human race is currently doing more damage to the world than giving anything back to it. He believed that it was his duty to assist mother nature protect the world by whipping out the biggest threats and offenders of the maltreatment to the planet. This is what is believed to be the root of the disease that is now threatening the lives of civilians everywhere. This is all we have to offer at the moment. We will attempt to keep you updated as much as possible during this time of crisis. You heard this here first on Fox news.
Her thoughts immediately wondered back to Lima and her fathers. She needed to know if they were alright. Had the virus made it all the way to Ohio? Were they safe? A million and one questions soared through her mind. Then, Rachel immediately switched gears and remembered Quinn. Connecticut was not far away from New York, so it was of course possible that the virus had reached her. Her mind immediately filled with dread and worry. The diva pulled her phone out of her bag and attempted to call her fathers first, but it was no use. Many people must be trying to do exactly what Rachel was in this moment which was clogging the servers. The only way she could know how they were and let them know that she was okay was for her to make her to find a way back to Lima. Rachel's mind briefly wondered about the other members of her second family, New Directions, but she quickly pushed that thought aside. The thought that she may have lost some of them was as well too much for her to bear at the moment. If she was going to get to Lima and survive all of this, she needed to focus.
That night, Rachel raided the vending machines in her dorm for food to hold her over for a few days. She also still had food in her mini fridge and around her room since she had luckily gone shopping two days before all of this had happened. For the next three days, Rachel practiced her aim and learned how to use her weapons by practicing a bit in the basement of her dorm buildings where the laundry rooms were. It wasn't long before Rachel grasped the concepts of all the weapons. Thanks to her determination and constant need for perfection, Rachel's aim was soon impeccable. She felt secure when she held the bow in her right hand and the sharp arrow in her left. The fact that she could fire and take down a threat from long range with much more accuracy than a pistol didn't hurt either. Now, all Rachel had to do was wait for the perfect opportunity to make her move towards Lima. Rachel Barbra Berry was for now alone, but she hoped that not everyone she held close was gone.