When darkness is upon your door (6/?)
A/N: Hey, thanks for all of the reviews/comments. I really appreciate them. Before you read this chapter…I know you guys like Puck and while I didn’t want to kill him off I needed him out of the way…but I promise he’ll be back eventually. Keep that in mind. Oh and before you mention it I know his reasoning is irresponsible but…Chloe IS his sister so…yeah. I think that’s all I need to warn you about…I hope you enjoy the chapter! :)
A/N2: As always an spelling/grammatical errors are entirely my own. :/
Chapter 6
“Ow!” Santana exclaimed with a wince as Rachel prodded at an especially sensitive area of skin “What the fuck Rachel? That hurt!”
“I’m sorry Santana but I’m merely looking for any signs of internal bleeding.” Rachel avoided Santana’s protesting hands and continued with her tentative prodding of the Latina’s torso “It would be much easier if you would sit still and cooperate instead of fighting me on this. I can assure you that in your condition you won’t win.”
“Internal bleeding?” Brittany looked instantly worried on Santana’s other side “Could she have that?” her gaze shot between Rachel and Santana, her concern growing by the second “Do you have that San?”
“No.” Santana finally succeeded in lightly slapping Rachel’s hands away “Berry is being a drama queen as always.”
“Santana, I can assure you that I’m not being dramatic.” Rachel disagreed seriously as she stubbornly tried to keep her hands close to the reluctant Latina “If what Brittany tells me is true and the degree of force used was enough to propel you from one side of the room to the other, it is highly possible that something may have broken or ruptured when you landed in which ca…”
“Blah, blah, blah.” Santana rolled her eyes and lightly shoved Rachel away though she winced as she did so “Get off me Berry. You’re worse than my Moth…” she stopped short and wavered for a moment before shaking her head “Whatever Midget. I’m not going to die yet. If I’m going out, I’m going out with a bang, not ‘death by table’.”
Brittany whimpered at the mere suggestion of Santana dying at any time and clutched the other girls hand as tightly as she could. The blood chilling images of Santana being hurled across the room and lying deathly still on the ground were etched into Brittany’s brain like unwelcome high contrast, precision photographs. In the back of her mind she could still hear the sickening thuds of her girlfriend slamming into the table before rolling onto the cold tile floor where she had come to a sudden stop, rendered unconscious by the force of the impact.
“Britt?” Santana held back a cry of pain as she turned towards her silent girlfriend who looked like she was somewhere else entirely “Britt, are you okay?” when the blonde didn’t answer her Santana gave her hands a gentle squeeze, effectively regaining her attention “B?”
“Don’t say things like that.” Brittany pleaded, looking a second away from tears “Please San…”
Santana mentally kicked herself for her insensitive comment when she saw the beyond terrified expression on Brittany’s face “Okay,” she placed her left hand on Brittany’s cheek despite the pain it caused her already throbbing wrist “I won’t. I’m sorry Britt.”
Brittany turned into Santana’s hand and lightly kissed her palm before speaking up hopefully “Will you let Rachel check you over to make sure you don’t have that bleeding thing?” she noticed Santana was about to protest and quickly continued “For me? Please?”
Santana hesitated for a moment before she reluctantly gave into the request “Fine…but just because you asked me to, okay?” she waited until Brittany nodded with a small smile before she turned back to Rachel who was watching the exchange interestedly “Go for it.”
“It would be beneficial if you shifted backwards and braced your weight on your arms on top of the table so that your torso is more accessible. I would ask that you take your shirt off so that I can see the full extent of the damage but I imagine that you would tell me to ‘get lost’ for lack of a better term.”
“Damn right I would.” Santana painstakingly shifted away from Brittany and leaned back to rest on her right elbow “Get on with it. My left wrist is fucked up and I’m not going to be able to hold this position for long.”
“Of course….I promise to be quick.” Rachel said sincerely before she moved her hands to rest on Santana’s ribs and lightly pressed down.
“OW!” Santana exclaimed loudly as pain shot through her side “Watch what you’re fucking doing!”
“I’m sorry.” Rachel bit her lip, looking rather guilty because of the pain she had inflicted. She eased up on the pressure she was applying and moved her hand up the Latina’s torso.
“Now you’re just feeling me up.” Santana smirked teasingly despite the pain “Not that I can blame you or anything since even covered in acrylic paint, I’m still fucking smoking hot but it’s kind of rude to grope me right in front of Britt.”
Rachel’s cheeks flushed brightly and she instantly moved her hands back down, checking for any signs that Santana’s ribs were damaged “I am not groping you.”
“Sure, if you-ahh!” Santana cried out in pain as Rachel pressed down on a particularly sensitive area. “You fucking did that on purpose.”
Brittany bit her lip at the sight of her girlfriend’s pain and moved a hand to Santana’s hip, the only part of her she could reach due to their opposed positions.
“Santana, I would never purposefully hurt you.” Rachel disagreed earnestly “But I do have to evaluate the damage caused which means that I have to ensure that your ribs aren’t broken, cracked or damaged in any way by applying a certain amount of pressure.”
“Whatever.” Santana muttered, calmed by the sensation of Brittany’s hands on her “Just get on with it, okay?”
Rachel nodded silently and went back to work, consciously making her touch lighter to avoid being yelled at again.
Across the room Puck was watching Quinn as she stared silently at the trio, her expression awash with worry and something he couldn’t quite identify “You look worried.”
Quinn glanced down at him, her position atop the table giving her a slight height advantage “One of my best friends was just thrown across the room by a zombie. I think that’s enough of a reason to be worried.”
“Shouldn’t you be with them?” Puck asked genuinely confused about why Quinn was standing as far away as possible from the other three.
Quinn shrugged “Rachel seems to have the situation under control for now.”
Puck blinked in surprise at the almost robotic answer he had received but he didn’t question it, instead allowing silence to settle between them again. He shifted uncomfortably as he intently watched Rachel checking Santana over across the room, though his thoughts were somewhere else entirely.
“Do you…” Puck hesitated for a moment, wary of bringing the sensitive subject up in case Quinn reacted as badly as he expected her to. Eventually his need to know whether he was alone in his thoughts won out over his apprehension and he went ahead and asked anyway “Do you ever think about her?”
Quinn remained stoically silent and for a moment Puck wondered whether she had actually heard or understood his question. He hadn’t thought it would be necessary to mention a name because to him the subject of his question was obvious and he assumed that Quinn would be on the same wavelength.
“Yes.” Quinn finally answered, refusing to meet Puck’s gaze. Instead she watched as Rachel lifted Santana’s wrist to eye level, clearly checking for breaks or sprains “Every day.”
Puck nodded and turned back to watch Brittany, Santana and Rachel. There was no need for any more words between them. When he had asked the question all he had been looking for was the assurance that he wasn’t the only one of them thinking of their daughter.
“Noah…”
The group simultaneously looked towards the door to see Chloe leaning against the frame, her knees shaky and her complexion deathly pale. Puck immediately pushed himself away from the table and moved towards his sister while across the room Santana painfully scrambled off the table to position herself protectively in front of Brittany.
“Noah, I don’t feel g-good…” Chloe slid down the doorframe with a soft whimper before Puck could reach her side.
“Chloe.” Puck dropped to his knees next to his sister and placed his hands on her clammy cheeks to encourage eye contact “Chloe, look at me.”
The quivering brunette barely managed to lift her eyes to meet Puck’s “I feel sick Noah.”
“I know.” Puck murmured before he scooped her up into his arms. He moved over to the table he had previously been leaning against and lay her down on it as gently as possible “Could someone grab me some bandages or something?”
Brittany moved to comply with the order but she found herself held back by her girlfriend. Santana may have been weakened at that moment but there was no way in hell she was going to let Brittany approach one of the ‘infected’. Rachel noticed that Brittany’s movements had been hindered and she quickly rifled through her jacket pockets, emerging with two white bandages which she proceeded to pass to Puck “This is all we have. I thought we might need some kind of first aid in case of emergency but I thought being weighed down with first aid kits would hinder our ability to get inside safely.”
“Thanks.” Puck muttered as he took the bandages from Rachel. He tore the outer packaging off with his teeth, while he kept one hand on Chloe’s shoulder. Aware that applying any kind of pressure to the wound was going to hurt like a bitch, he placed the bandage sticky side up on the palm of his hand and without warning pressed it down against the wide wound on his sisters’ shoulder. He was minutely surprised when her only reaction was a soft whimper but he didn’t have time to deliberate whether the lack of pain was a good thing or not.
“She can’t come with us.”
Puck’s gaze snapped to Santana as soon as the blunt words left her mouth “What?”
“She’s been bitten.” Santana tightened her grip on Brittany, though her gaze remained fixed on the table across the room as if she expected Chloe to turn into a zombie and attack them at any second “We have to leave soon and she can’t come with us.”
“Santana.” Quinn shot a warning look in Santana’s direction.
“What?” Santana asked obliviously “You know that I’m right Fabray. Letting her come with us is the biggest mistake we could make right now.”
“Santana, we’re all aware of the fact that you’re right.” Rachel said as she backed up to stand at Santana’s side “But given the severity of the situation, a little bit of sensitivity wouldn’t go amiss.”
“Fine.” Santana sighed and turned to Puck “Puckerman, I’m sorry about your sister but pretty soon she’s going to turn and then she’s going to want to eat us. And since my priority right now is keeping Brittany safe…”
“Don’t worry about it Lopez.” Puck cut her off, his gaze shifting back to his sister “I get it.”
“So…what are you going to do?” Quinn asked cautiously.
Puck was silent for a moment before he inhaled deeply “I’m not going with you.”
“What?!” Rachel exclaimed in disbelief “Noah, that’s ridiculous. You have to come with us.”
“She’s my sister…I can’t just leave her like this.” Puck explained firmly “Even if she is going to turn…I need to be here when it happens. If it happens. Santana is right…I can’t and I won’t ask any of you to risk your lives for me or Chloe.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” Santana retorted “She’ll kill you.”
Puck shrugged “I can’t leave her and I can’t go with you. We’re on different missions now Lopez. I have to find a cure for this.”
“A cure?” Santana asked sceptically “What the fuck makes you think there is a cure?”
“I don’t know if there is.” Puck sighed and rubbed his temples “But I have to at least try to find one. I can’t just do nothing.”
Quinn stayed silent throughout the conversation. She was acutely aware of Puck’s dedication to his sister and she had expected him to opt to stay with Chloe as soon as they had found out she’d been bitten.
“Besides…” Puck continued quietly, his gaze shifting to Rachel for a split second “I never said that I was going to leave with you. I have things I need to do before I get out of here.”
“You know what…whatever.” Santana shrugged “All I know is that we better get out of here soon or those zombies are going to knock the door down and we’ll all be screwed.”
“We should leave through the fire exit down the corridor.” Puck said resolutely “That way we can avoid the hordes out front. The only bad thing about going that way is the car is further away.”
“Plus we don’t know how many of those things are out there.” Santana added “For all we know there could be more of them out there than there is out front.”
“I doubt it.” Quinn disagreed reasonably “If we’ve learnt anything since this started it’s that they’re attracted to noise. And with all of the noise that we made when we were breaking into this place…”
“They would have been drawn to the front.” Santana finished the sentence for her “Good thinking Fabray.”
“Are you…okay to walk?” Quinn asked motioning with her hand towards Santana who was quivering slightly on her feet.
“Of course I’m ‘okay to walk’.” Santana rolled her eyes “I’m Santana Lopez. I’m not going to curl up and d…” she trailed off, recalling Brittany’s earlier reaction to the suggestion of her dying “I’m fine.”
“Is she?” Quinn glanced at Rachel for confirmation.
Rachel who had been relatively silent for a while quickly straightened up and responded “From my brief assessment I’ve come to the conclusion that Santana’s injuries, while obviously painful are relatively superficial. She hasn’t broken, fractured or sprained anything. Even her wrist…” Rachel motioned to Santana’s left wrist which was hanging slightly limp “Appears to be only badly bruised.”
“Do you have to talk like that?” Santana asked irritably “You could have just said ‘yes’.”
“Santana, it’s important that Quinn knows all of the facts.” Rachel stated defensively “For me to omit information would be…”
“Horrendous.” Santana waved Rachel off with a roll of her eyes “Whatever.”
Rachel was about to reply when Puck spoke up cautiously “Rach? Can I talk to you for a minute?” he inclined his head to the right, indicating that he wanted to speak to her in private “Please?”
Rachel hesitated for a split second before she nodded and walked over to where he had indicated.
Quinn watched in curiosity as Puck followed Rachel across the room and they began to converse intently. Puck said something to Rachel that caused her eyebrows to shoot up in what Quinn had come to know as her shocked expression.
“What do you think they’re talking about?”
Quinn startled slightly when Santana’s voice sounded from approximately two centimetres away from her. She looked to her left to see that Brittany and Santana had approached her while she had been watching Puck and Rachel conversing. “I have no idea.” She shook her head and tried as best she could to focus on the girls in front of her instead of the duo across the room. Santana was holding tightly to Brittany’s hand while her gaze remained locked warily on the mostly unconscious girl on the table. Quinn frowned when she noticed that Santana was holding her left wrist close to her body “Are you really okay?”
“I’m fine.” Santana answered gruffly “Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m glad that you’re...you know.” Quinn admitted honestly, recalling the momentary terror she had felt when she had spotted Santana lying on the cold marble floor.
“Thanks.” Santana shot Quinn an unsure half smile.
Quinn was about to reply when her attention was captured by movement across the room. She turned to see that Puck was hugging Rachel tightly, her cheek pressed against his chest because of her small stature. Quinn frowned as she felt her stomach tighten with uncomfortable jealousy upon seeing the embrace “I wonder what’s going on with them.”
“Probably saying their goodb…” Santana began to suggest a reason for the embrace but she was cut off by a loud crash coming from upstairs “We have to get out of here.”
Across the room Rachel and Puck broke apart upon hearing the sound and Quinn watched in concern as Rachel wiped something from her cheek. The movement suggested that the Diva had shed tears and Quinn felt a strange need to provide some kind of comfort. She took a faltering step towards Rachel but stopped upon hearing another loud bang.
“Where the fuck is my gun?!” Santana exclaimed, sounding slightly panicked by her lack of weapon.
Quinn reluctantly tore her gaze away from Rachel and glanced around in search of Santana’s gun. She spotted it under the table in front of her and bent down to tentatively pick it up.
“Quinn, do not give Santana that gun.” Rachel spoke in an authoritative voice as she marched over to Quinn and pulled the weapon out of her hands “Santana, you need two hand to use this gun and since one of your hands is out of action, you’re going to have to switch with me.”
“Seriously?” Santana sceptically raised her eyebrows “Berry, that thing is far too big for you.”
“I can manage this gun perfectly well Santana.” Rachel confidently stated before she pulled the pistol she had been using from her belt and handed it to Santana, along with a fresh round of ammo.
“We don’t have time for this.” Puck had scooped up his sister and he was anxiously waiting for the girls by the door “I can hear them coming down the stairs.”
“Fuck.” Santana shoved the ammo into her front pocket and quickly pulled out a handful of shotgun ammunition from her inside jacket pocket “Here. It’s out of ammo.”
“Thank you.” Rachel gratefully took the offered ammunition and began to reload the shotgun in her hands.
“Alright, everyone out!” Puck whisper yelled into the room as the sound of footsteps sounded from down the hallway.
“Brittany…” Santana began as she walked towards the door with Brittany at her side. Having been forced to let go of Brittany’s hand she felt slightly more alarmed and less in control of the situation than a few minutes prior.
“Stay close.” Brittany knowingly finished Santana’s sentence and tightened her grip on the bloody bat she had picked up from the floor “I know.”
As soon as the group left the room they picked up their pace until they were jogging in the direction of the fire doors marked ‘Exit’ at the end of the corridor. They could hear the sound of heavy footsteps behind them and it only spurred them to move faster. As soon as Puck reached the double doors he kicked them open since his hands were otherwise occupied. He was relieved to find that while there were a few zombies lingering around there was nowhere near as many as there had been at the front door and he gave himself a mental pat on the back for his practical idea. He didn’t have time to linger on the thought however as he realised that he was the only one of them who knew which way to go “Come on.” He muttered before he took off in the direction of the large black gates opposite them. What he hadn’t been counting on however was the amount of zombies that were still lingering outside of the school gates “Oh…shit!” a zombie lunged towards him and he barely managed to dodge out of the way of the attack “RUN!”
Rachel and Quinn immediately sped up, the former firing off a couple of shots at zombies that got too close to them.
Santana did her best to pick up her pace but the throbbing in her side was causing her problems and it was taking all of her strength to stay standing while squeezing the trigger of the gun in her hand to keep the undead at bay “Fucking…shit!” she twirled the suddenly empty gun around in her hand and whacked an approaching zombie square in the forehead with the butt.
Brittany on the other hand had no problem with the speed Puck, Quinn and Rachel were setting but she refused to stray from her girlfriends side. Instead she lingered loyally next to Santana, knocking back any zombies that got too close to them.
Quinn glanced over her shoulder, noticed the predicament Santana and Brittany had gotten themselves into and made a split second decision. She pulled Puck’s gun from his belt and hurriedly backtracked, shooting the few zombies still lingering next to her friends.
“Come on!” she exclaimed loudly.
Brittany slid her free arm around Santana’s waist and supported her across the street, at the same time knocking back the undead with her trusty baseball bat. Having reloaded her gun, Santana was back to shooting any of the undead that Brittany missed with the bat.
As they approached the SUV Rachel shot a zombie lingering next to back door and quickly told Puck to get into the back with his sister while Quinn slid into driver’s seat. Rachel opened the passenger door but she refused to get in, instead standing on the incline of the car door frame so that she could cover Brittany and Santana’s approach. She noticed an old looking zombie lumbering after the couple and bracing herself on the top of the car she pumped the shotgun and fired, sending the creature flying backwards onto the road “Hurry UP!” she exclaimed through gritted teeth as she watched the horde of zombies moving across the street towards them. She was vaguely aware of the car vibrating beneath her feet and she realised that Quinn had started the engine “BRITTANY! SANTANA!” Rachel was aware that Santana’s injuries were slowing them down but she couldn’t supress the urgency she felt “GET IN!”
Santana and Brittany finally reached the car and Santana moved to get in first, consciously positioning herself between the infected child in Puck’s arms and Brittany who clambered in after her.
As soon as Brittany’s door closed, Rachel dropped herself into the passenger seat and slammed her own door shut “GO, QUINN!”
Quinn floored the accelerator and skilfully swerved the wheel to the left, sending the car veering onto the road.
“I can’t believe I did that.” She muttered to herself as she thought back to the sensation of the gun firing in her hand. She slowed the car down slightly, mindful of the fact that they were out of the main danger area and not wanting to the loud roar of the SUV’s engine to draw too much attention to them.
“So what now?” Santana asked slightly breathless not to mention in pain due to her run to the car.
“I think it would be wise to find a safe place to park for the night.” Rachel answered quietly “If we drive in the direction we were initially heading we should be able to find somewhere secluded enough to sleep without worrying about being attacked.”
“You can drop me off at my place.” Puck said quietly, his gaze fixed on his sister “I kind of want to get a head start on the driving. I can’t afford to waste time.”
“Puck…” Quinn looked in the rear view mirror at Puck.
“I know.” Puck interrupted before Quinn could really say anything “It’s fine.”
“Where will you go?” Brittany asked in concern, lightly brushing her hand over Santana’s back as if to maintain proof that she was still there.
“’I’m not sure…” Puck answered vaguely only to be met with three concerned stares “Look, don’t worry about me. I’ll do what I can for Chloe, do what I have to do in Lima and I’ll-we’ll meet up with you guys later, okay?”
Nobody chose to point out the fact that the country was a big place and his chances of finding them were slim to none.
“You can keep most of the guns.” Puck continued thoughtfully “I think you’ll need them more than I do and I can always go back to the gun store on my way to where I’m going.”
“Thanks.” Quinn murmured quietly before the group settled into a sombre silence. None of them were quite sure what to say due to the severity of the situation and anything that sprang to mind seemed either trivial or pointless so they settled for silence.
---
“Quinn?” Rachel whispered into the silence of the car as she stared intently at the blurry Quinn shaped form huddled against the driver’s door. It was quite dark inside of the car so she couldn’t quite make out whether Quinn was sleeping or not “Are you awake?”
There was a moment of silence before Quinn answered, her voice hushed yet sharp at the same time “Of course I’m awake. I told you to shut up with your stupid humming all of five minutes ago.”
“Okay…” Rachel mumbled despondently “I’m sorry for disturbing you.” She tucked herself further into the blanket she was covered with and closed her eyes tightly in a vain attempt to fall asleep. For a few minutes she tried everything she could think of to fall into the ever elusive sleep she needed - She tried counting sheep, running through her favourite Broadway songs in her head, she even tried listening to the sound of Brittany and Santana’s even breathing in the back of the car in an attempt to lull herself into a similarly relaxed state. Nothing seemed to help however and she had to bite her bottom lip to hold in her sigh of frustration.
“Rachel.” At the sound of Quinn’s voice Rachel opened her eyes to find that the blonde had shifted onto her right side so that she could see the Diva “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t sleep.” Rachel answered, feeling slightly foolish for bringing her distress to Quinn’s attention “It’s really nothing.”
“Did you need something?” Quinn asked as she twisted the edge of her own blanket around her fingers. She felt bad for snapping at the Diva a few minutes ago and hoped to find a way to rectify the situation “You seemed like you wanted something from me before.”
“I was just wondering if you were awake.” Rachel replied quietly with a cautious glance towards the back of the car where Brittany and Santana were sleeping peacefully. After a few minutes of Santana wincing when her bruises were pressed on and Brittany profusely apologising for causing the pressure, the couple had managed to manoeuvre themselves into a position that was comfortable enough for the Latina to sleep. Brittany was currently lying on her back in a position that Rachel was adamant couldn’t have possibly been comfortable, while Santana was lying mostly on top of the blonde, pressed against the back of the seats “I can’t imagine how Brittany could be comfortable in that position…” she murmured thoughtfully.
“She probably isn’t.” Quinn responded just as quietly “She probably figured that Santana lying on top of her instead of the seats would be more comfortable because of the bruises…Brittany is softer than car seats so it makes sense.”
Rachel exhaled slowly and turned away from the back seat. She leaned her head against the passenger seat and observed Quinn intently.
“What?” Quinn asked in response to the look, though she made no move to look away from Rachel’s gaze. She did however bite her tongue to hold back the instinctual defensive insult that threatened to spring forth.
Rachel didn’t reply for a long moment, her gaze merely sweeping over the expanse of Quinn’s face as if she was trying to take in and analyse every flicker of emotion “Are you okay?” she finally asked, her expression neutral despite the worry she felt “After everything that happened today…Santana, Puck, Chloe…”
Quinn shrugged the shoulder that wasn’t pressed against her seat “I guess.” She answered vaguely “I’m trying not to think about it.”
“Is it working?” Rachel asked knowingly. She had been trying the same thing ever since the zombie epidemic had started and while it had worked to some degree there were times when everything that had happened hit her like a tonne of bricks.
“Not at all.” Quinn offered Rachel a sad smile and they fell back into silence though they didn’t shift their gazes away from each other. They couldn’t see very well because of the dim lighting in the car and Quinn found that it helped dispel most of the awkwardness the intense gaze would have usually caused.
“You feel some kind of guilt about Noah.” Rachel spoke up so suddenly that Quinn startled in her seat. The brunette on the opposite side of the car couldn’t see very well and she assumed that Quinn’s reaction was an angry rather than surprised jolt “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to overstep my boundaries.”
“No, it’s-it’s alright.” Quinn murmured reassuringly “Can you read my mind now or something?”
Rachel ignored the faux teasing tone Quinn’s voice had taken “Would you like to talk about it? While it’s true that I talk excessively, I have been told that I’m a good listener.”
Quinn leaned her head against the back of her seat and mulled over the prospect of spilling her metaphorical guts to Rachel for a few seconds.
“You don’t have to.” Rachel hurried to assure Quinn that she wasn’t pushing for an answer.
“I do feel guilty.” Quinn finally revealed, though she didn’t elaborate any further.
Rachel had known that her observation was accurate but that didn’t make the confirmation any less confusing “Quinn, while I regret leaving Noah behind I have to tell you that Santana was one hundred percent correct in her conclusions. Bringing Chloe with us would have been a beyond dangerous not to mention irresponsible move. Even Noah was aware of that and that along with the fact that he couldn’t bring himself to leave his sister is why he stayed behind. You’re not at all to blame for his decision.”
“Whoever told you that you’re a good listener lied.” Quinn smirked half-heartedly “You do know that listening means not speaking don’t you?”
“I’m sorry.” Rachel grimaced sheepishly “I didn’t sense that you were going to continue your train of thought so I took it upon myself t…” she trailed off when she realised that she was doing exactly the same thing again “Sorry.”
Quinn shook her head, surprised that she found Rachel’s babbling somewhat endearing whereas she would have usually found it downright irritating “It’s fine.” She paused for a moment, unsure as to whether she wanted to confide in the brunette “Puck staying behind isn’t the reason I feel guilty. He’s old enough to make his own decisions even if the ones he does make are stupid.”
“Then why do you feel guilty?” Rachel asked curiously once she was sure Quinn wasn’t going to add anything “I don’t see any reason as to why you should.”
Quinn licked her lips unsurely “Do you know what his reason for staying in Lima was?”
Rachel hesitated for a moment before answering “I do.”
Quinn breathed in slowly, willing her emotions to stay under control “I feel guilty because I didn’t feel the same way. I can tell that he thinks she’s still alive and I-I can’t think like that…”
“It’s okay.” Rachel sensed Quinn was losing control of her emotions and quickly interrupted “I understand why you wouldn’t want to go back there.”
“Yeah, right.” Quinn scoffed tearfully at the response she was given “You must think I’m a terrible person.”
“What?!” Rachel was so stunned by the statement that she forgot to keep her voice down. She winced and glanced towards the back seat, wary of waking the exhausted couple up. Thankfully Brittany and Santana were still sleeping soundly and Rachel allowed herself to turn back to Quinn to respond in a softer voice “Quinn, I can assure you that I think exactly the opposite.”
Quinn nodded mutely and they fell into silence, focused on their own thoughts.
“Quinn?” Rachel murmured. She waited for a moment until Quinn looked at her before continuing “I think…I mean…” she paused for a moment, struggling to find the right words “Do you want to…come over here?”
“What?” Quinn frowned quizzically as Rachel shifted towards the door, making room in the passenger seat “Why?”
While she had been unsure about posing the question Rachel was already confident that her excuse for Quinn moving closer would be effective “Because of your…issue, we both know that if and when you fall asleep you’re only going to end up over here anyway. If you come over here now, you won’t have to manoeuvre yourself over the centre console. It could hurt your back and as you know you need to be fit and pain free enough to run unhind…”
“Fine, I’m coming.” Quinn interrupted, though her tone wasn’t harsh “Just stop rambling or you’ll wake Brittany and Santana up.” She awkwardly slipped out of her own seat and moved over to Rachel’s, slipping under the blanket the other girl was holding open for her. Though she wouldn’t admit it, she was instantly soothed by the close presence of the brunette. The feeling was only amplified when Rachel tucked the blanket around her, though Quinn couldn’t help but worry about what Santana would say when she found them in that position tomorrow. That particular worry flew from her head however as Rachel wrapped an arm snugly around her waist and shuffled close to lay her head on Quinn’s shoulder.
“Comfortable?” Quinn murmured into the brown hair position directly beneath her chin.
“Not really.” Rachel admitted reluctantly “My legs feel stiff but I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable…”
“It’s fine.” Quinn reassured the other girl with a light squeeze “Do what you have to do to get comfortable. You need to get some sleep.”
Rachel hesitated for a moment before she leaned forward “Could you put your arm behind me?” she requested cautiously. Quinn obeyed without question and a moment later Rachel leaned back into Quinn’s side and slung her legs over the other girls lap, effectively curling up against her.
Quinn swallowed heavily at the rather intimate position but she had to admit that it was far more comfortable than their previous. Plus the feeling of having Rachel’s warm body close to her comforted her more than she could ever have imagined. Feeling her eyes growing heavy, she unconsciously held Rachel close, their foreheads meeting in the middle of the seat and allowed her eyes to slide shut. After a few minutes of silence she registered the fact that Rachel had yet to relax against her “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Rachel murmured “It’s stupid.”
“Tell me.” Quinn opened her eyes to meet Rachel’s, only to find that they were so close that she couldn’t focus. With a small self-deprecating smile she pulled back.
“I can’t sleep in total silence anymore.” Rachel admitted “It makes me feel like I’m somehow losing myself while at the same time allowing me to focus on things I would rather not focus on.”
“That’s why you were humming before…to stop the silence.” Quinn murmured intuitively. She was met with a nod and instantly felt awful about making the brunette stop the comforting action “I’m sorry Rach. I didn’t mean…”
“It’s okay.” Rachel interrupted with a weak smile “It was annoying you.”
Quinn didn’t answer for a long moment. The song Rachel had been humming had in fact managed to do the exact opposite of annoy her. It had managed to soothe her into such a relaxed state that it had simultaneously alarmed her into telling Rachel to shut up. She did after all have to remain extra vigilant given the situation they found themselves in. “What were you humming?”
“Just an old Billie Holiday song.” Rachel murmured in response “My Dads loved…love her and humming her songs makes me feel oddly close to them.”
“Hum it.” Quinn shifted forward and wrapped her left arm around Rachel’s torso “I won’t tell you to shut up.”
“Are you sure?” Rachel asked cautiously “If it bothers you…”
“I want you to.” Quinn whispered, hyper aware of the fact that Rachel was so close to her that she could feel her warm breath on her lips. Quinn waited for a moment until Rachel cleared her throat and began to hum softly before she allowed her eyes to slide shut. Listening to the brunette’s soft, harmonious humming combined with the sensation of Rachel being so close to her, Quinn couldn’t help but relax and it took only minutes for her to fall into a peaceful sleep. Despite her earlier alarm, Rachel managed to relax a few minutes later and she eventually followed Quinn’s lead.
TBC
A/N2: As always an spelling/grammatical errors are entirely my own. :/
Chapter 6
“Ow!” Santana exclaimed with a wince as Rachel prodded at an especially sensitive area of skin “What the fuck Rachel? That hurt!”
“I’m sorry Santana but I’m merely looking for any signs of internal bleeding.” Rachel avoided Santana’s protesting hands and continued with her tentative prodding of the Latina’s torso “It would be much easier if you would sit still and cooperate instead of fighting me on this. I can assure you that in your condition you won’t win.”
“Internal bleeding?” Brittany looked instantly worried on Santana’s other side “Could she have that?” her gaze shot between Rachel and Santana, her concern growing by the second “Do you have that San?”
“No.” Santana finally succeeded in lightly slapping Rachel’s hands away “Berry is being a drama queen as always.”
“Santana, I can assure you that I’m not being dramatic.” Rachel disagreed seriously as she stubbornly tried to keep her hands close to the reluctant Latina “If what Brittany tells me is true and the degree of force used was enough to propel you from one side of the room to the other, it is highly possible that something may have broken or ruptured when you landed in which ca…”
“Blah, blah, blah.” Santana rolled her eyes and lightly shoved Rachel away though she winced as she did so “Get off me Berry. You’re worse than my Moth…” she stopped short and wavered for a moment before shaking her head “Whatever Midget. I’m not going to die yet. If I’m going out, I’m going out with a bang, not ‘death by table’.”
Brittany whimpered at the mere suggestion of Santana dying at any time and clutched the other girls hand as tightly as she could. The blood chilling images of Santana being hurled across the room and lying deathly still on the ground were etched into Brittany’s brain like unwelcome high contrast, precision photographs. In the back of her mind she could still hear the sickening thuds of her girlfriend slamming into the table before rolling onto the cold tile floor where she had come to a sudden stop, rendered unconscious by the force of the impact.
“Britt?” Santana held back a cry of pain as she turned towards her silent girlfriend who looked like she was somewhere else entirely “Britt, are you okay?” when the blonde didn’t answer her Santana gave her hands a gentle squeeze, effectively regaining her attention “B?”
“Don’t say things like that.” Brittany pleaded, looking a second away from tears “Please San…”
Santana mentally kicked herself for her insensitive comment when she saw the beyond terrified expression on Brittany’s face “Okay,” she placed her left hand on Brittany’s cheek despite the pain it caused her already throbbing wrist “I won’t. I’m sorry Britt.”
Brittany turned into Santana’s hand and lightly kissed her palm before speaking up hopefully “Will you let Rachel check you over to make sure you don’t have that bleeding thing?” she noticed Santana was about to protest and quickly continued “For me? Please?”
Santana hesitated for a moment before she reluctantly gave into the request “Fine…but just because you asked me to, okay?” she waited until Brittany nodded with a small smile before she turned back to Rachel who was watching the exchange interestedly “Go for it.”
“It would be beneficial if you shifted backwards and braced your weight on your arms on top of the table so that your torso is more accessible. I would ask that you take your shirt off so that I can see the full extent of the damage but I imagine that you would tell me to ‘get lost’ for lack of a better term.”
“Damn right I would.” Santana painstakingly shifted away from Brittany and leaned back to rest on her right elbow “Get on with it. My left wrist is fucked up and I’m not going to be able to hold this position for long.”
“Of course….I promise to be quick.” Rachel said sincerely before she moved her hands to rest on Santana’s ribs and lightly pressed down.
“OW!” Santana exclaimed loudly as pain shot through her side “Watch what you’re fucking doing!”
“I’m sorry.” Rachel bit her lip, looking rather guilty because of the pain she had inflicted. She eased up on the pressure she was applying and moved her hand up the Latina’s torso.
“Now you’re just feeling me up.” Santana smirked teasingly despite the pain “Not that I can blame you or anything since even covered in acrylic paint, I’m still fucking smoking hot but it’s kind of rude to grope me right in front of Britt.”
Rachel’s cheeks flushed brightly and she instantly moved her hands back down, checking for any signs that Santana’s ribs were damaged “I am not groping you.”
“Sure, if you-ahh!” Santana cried out in pain as Rachel pressed down on a particularly sensitive area. “You fucking did that on purpose.”
Brittany bit her lip at the sight of her girlfriend’s pain and moved a hand to Santana’s hip, the only part of her she could reach due to their opposed positions.
“Santana, I would never purposefully hurt you.” Rachel disagreed earnestly “But I do have to evaluate the damage caused which means that I have to ensure that your ribs aren’t broken, cracked or damaged in any way by applying a certain amount of pressure.”
“Whatever.” Santana muttered, calmed by the sensation of Brittany’s hands on her “Just get on with it, okay?”
Rachel nodded silently and went back to work, consciously making her touch lighter to avoid being yelled at again.
Across the room Puck was watching Quinn as she stared silently at the trio, her expression awash with worry and something he couldn’t quite identify “You look worried.”
Quinn glanced down at him, her position atop the table giving her a slight height advantage “One of my best friends was just thrown across the room by a zombie. I think that’s enough of a reason to be worried.”
“Shouldn’t you be with them?” Puck asked genuinely confused about why Quinn was standing as far away as possible from the other three.
Quinn shrugged “Rachel seems to have the situation under control for now.”
Puck blinked in surprise at the almost robotic answer he had received but he didn’t question it, instead allowing silence to settle between them again. He shifted uncomfortably as he intently watched Rachel checking Santana over across the room, though his thoughts were somewhere else entirely.
“Do you…” Puck hesitated for a moment, wary of bringing the sensitive subject up in case Quinn reacted as badly as he expected her to. Eventually his need to know whether he was alone in his thoughts won out over his apprehension and he went ahead and asked anyway “Do you ever think about her?”
Quinn remained stoically silent and for a moment Puck wondered whether she had actually heard or understood his question. He hadn’t thought it would be necessary to mention a name because to him the subject of his question was obvious and he assumed that Quinn would be on the same wavelength.
“Yes.” Quinn finally answered, refusing to meet Puck’s gaze. Instead she watched as Rachel lifted Santana’s wrist to eye level, clearly checking for breaks or sprains “Every day.”
Puck nodded and turned back to watch Brittany, Santana and Rachel. There was no need for any more words between them. When he had asked the question all he had been looking for was the assurance that he wasn’t the only one of them thinking of their daughter.
“Noah…”
The group simultaneously looked towards the door to see Chloe leaning against the frame, her knees shaky and her complexion deathly pale. Puck immediately pushed himself away from the table and moved towards his sister while across the room Santana painfully scrambled off the table to position herself protectively in front of Brittany.
“Noah, I don’t feel g-good…” Chloe slid down the doorframe with a soft whimper before Puck could reach her side.
“Chloe.” Puck dropped to his knees next to his sister and placed his hands on her clammy cheeks to encourage eye contact “Chloe, look at me.”
The quivering brunette barely managed to lift her eyes to meet Puck’s “I feel sick Noah.”
“I know.” Puck murmured before he scooped her up into his arms. He moved over to the table he had previously been leaning against and lay her down on it as gently as possible “Could someone grab me some bandages or something?”
Brittany moved to comply with the order but she found herself held back by her girlfriend. Santana may have been weakened at that moment but there was no way in hell she was going to let Brittany approach one of the ‘infected’. Rachel noticed that Brittany’s movements had been hindered and she quickly rifled through her jacket pockets, emerging with two white bandages which she proceeded to pass to Puck “This is all we have. I thought we might need some kind of first aid in case of emergency but I thought being weighed down with first aid kits would hinder our ability to get inside safely.”
“Thanks.” Puck muttered as he took the bandages from Rachel. He tore the outer packaging off with his teeth, while he kept one hand on Chloe’s shoulder. Aware that applying any kind of pressure to the wound was going to hurt like a bitch, he placed the bandage sticky side up on the palm of his hand and without warning pressed it down against the wide wound on his sisters’ shoulder. He was minutely surprised when her only reaction was a soft whimper but he didn’t have time to deliberate whether the lack of pain was a good thing or not.
“She can’t come with us.”
Puck’s gaze snapped to Santana as soon as the blunt words left her mouth “What?”
“She’s been bitten.” Santana tightened her grip on Brittany, though her gaze remained fixed on the table across the room as if she expected Chloe to turn into a zombie and attack them at any second “We have to leave soon and she can’t come with us.”
“Santana.” Quinn shot a warning look in Santana’s direction.
“What?” Santana asked obliviously “You know that I’m right Fabray. Letting her come with us is the biggest mistake we could make right now.”
“Santana, we’re all aware of the fact that you’re right.” Rachel said as she backed up to stand at Santana’s side “But given the severity of the situation, a little bit of sensitivity wouldn’t go amiss.”
“Fine.” Santana sighed and turned to Puck “Puckerman, I’m sorry about your sister but pretty soon she’s going to turn and then she’s going to want to eat us. And since my priority right now is keeping Brittany safe…”
“Don’t worry about it Lopez.” Puck cut her off, his gaze shifting back to his sister “I get it.”
“So…what are you going to do?” Quinn asked cautiously.
Puck was silent for a moment before he inhaled deeply “I’m not going with you.”
“What?!” Rachel exclaimed in disbelief “Noah, that’s ridiculous. You have to come with us.”
“She’s my sister…I can’t just leave her like this.” Puck explained firmly “Even if she is going to turn…I need to be here when it happens. If it happens. Santana is right…I can’t and I won’t ask any of you to risk your lives for me or Chloe.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” Santana retorted “She’ll kill you.”
Puck shrugged “I can’t leave her and I can’t go with you. We’re on different missions now Lopez. I have to find a cure for this.”
“A cure?” Santana asked sceptically “What the fuck makes you think there is a cure?”
“I don’t know if there is.” Puck sighed and rubbed his temples “But I have to at least try to find one. I can’t just do nothing.”
Quinn stayed silent throughout the conversation. She was acutely aware of Puck’s dedication to his sister and she had expected him to opt to stay with Chloe as soon as they had found out she’d been bitten.
“Besides…” Puck continued quietly, his gaze shifting to Rachel for a split second “I never said that I was going to leave with you. I have things I need to do before I get out of here.”
“You know what…whatever.” Santana shrugged “All I know is that we better get out of here soon or those zombies are going to knock the door down and we’ll all be screwed.”
“We should leave through the fire exit down the corridor.” Puck said resolutely “That way we can avoid the hordes out front. The only bad thing about going that way is the car is further away.”
“Plus we don’t know how many of those things are out there.” Santana added “For all we know there could be more of them out there than there is out front.”
“I doubt it.” Quinn disagreed reasonably “If we’ve learnt anything since this started it’s that they’re attracted to noise. And with all of the noise that we made when we were breaking into this place…”
“They would have been drawn to the front.” Santana finished the sentence for her “Good thinking Fabray.”
“Are you…okay to walk?” Quinn asked motioning with her hand towards Santana who was quivering slightly on her feet.
“Of course I’m ‘okay to walk’.” Santana rolled her eyes “I’m Santana Lopez. I’m not going to curl up and d…” she trailed off, recalling Brittany’s earlier reaction to the suggestion of her dying “I’m fine.”
“Is she?” Quinn glanced at Rachel for confirmation.
Rachel who had been relatively silent for a while quickly straightened up and responded “From my brief assessment I’ve come to the conclusion that Santana’s injuries, while obviously painful are relatively superficial. She hasn’t broken, fractured or sprained anything. Even her wrist…” Rachel motioned to Santana’s left wrist which was hanging slightly limp “Appears to be only badly bruised.”
“Do you have to talk like that?” Santana asked irritably “You could have just said ‘yes’.”
“Santana, it’s important that Quinn knows all of the facts.” Rachel stated defensively “For me to omit information would be…”
“Horrendous.” Santana waved Rachel off with a roll of her eyes “Whatever.”
Rachel was about to reply when Puck spoke up cautiously “Rach? Can I talk to you for a minute?” he inclined his head to the right, indicating that he wanted to speak to her in private “Please?”
Rachel hesitated for a split second before she nodded and walked over to where he had indicated.
Quinn watched in curiosity as Puck followed Rachel across the room and they began to converse intently. Puck said something to Rachel that caused her eyebrows to shoot up in what Quinn had come to know as her shocked expression.
“What do you think they’re talking about?”
Quinn startled slightly when Santana’s voice sounded from approximately two centimetres away from her. She looked to her left to see that Brittany and Santana had approached her while she had been watching Puck and Rachel conversing. “I have no idea.” She shook her head and tried as best she could to focus on the girls in front of her instead of the duo across the room. Santana was holding tightly to Brittany’s hand while her gaze remained locked warily on the mostly unconscious girl on the table. Quinn frowned when she noticed that Santana was holding her left wrist close to her body “Are you really okay?”
“I’m fine.” Santana answered gruffly “Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m glad that you’re...you know.” Quinn admitted honestly, recalling the momentary terror she had felt when she had spotted Santana lying on the cold marble floor.
“Thanks.” Santana shot Quinn an unsure half smile.
Quinn was about to reply when her attention was captured by movement across the room. She turned to see that Puck was hugging Rachel tightly, her cheek pressed against his chest because of her small stature. Quinn frowned as she felt her stomach tighten with uncomfortable jealousy upon seeing the embrace “I wonder what’s going on with them.”
“Probably saying their goodb…” Santana began to suggest a reason for the embrace but she was cut off by a loud crash coming from upstairs “We have to get out of here.”
Across the room Rachel and Puck broke apart upon hearing the sound and Quinn watched in concern as Rachel wiped something from her cheek. The movement suggested that the Diva had shed tears and Quinn felt a strange need to provide some kind of comfort. She took a faltering step towards Rachel but stopped upon hearing another loud bang.
“Where the fuck is my gun?!” Santana exclaimed, sounding slightly panicked by her lack of weapon.
Quinn reluctantly tore her gaze away from Rachel and glanced around in search of Santana’s gun. She spotted it under the table in front of her and bent down to tentatively pick it up.
“Quinn, do not give Santana that gun.” Rachel spoke in an authoritative voice as she marched over to Quinn and pulled the weapon out of her hands “Santana, you need two hand to use this gun and since one of your hands is out of action, you’re going to have to switch with me.”
“Seriously?” Santana sceptically raised her eyebrows “Berry, that thing is far too big for you.”
“I can manage this gun perfectly well Santana.” Rachel confidently stated before she pulled the pistol she had been using from her belt and handed it to Santana, along with a fresh round of ammo.
“We don’t have time for this.” Puck had scooped up his sister and he was anxiously waiting for the girls by the door “I can hear them coming down the stairs.”
“Fuck.” Santana shoved the ammo into her front pocket and quickly pulled out a handful of shotgun ammunition from her inside jacket pocket “Here. It’s out of ammo.”
“Thank you.” Rachel gratefully took the offered ammunition and began to reload the shotgun in her hands.
“Alright, everyone out!” Puck whisper yelled into the room as the sound of footsteps sounded from down the hallway.
“Brittany…” Santana began as she walked towards the door with Brittany at her side. Having been forced to let go of Brittany’s hand she felt slightly more alarmed and less in control of the situation than a few minutes prior.
“Stay close.” Brittany knowingly finished Santana’s sentence and tightened her grip on the bloody bat she had picked up from the floor “I know.”
As soon as the group left the room they picked up their pace until they were jogging in the direction of the fire doors marked ‘Exit’ at the end of the corridor. They could hear the sound of heavy footsteps behind them and it only spurred them to move faster. As soon as Puck reached the double doors he kicked them open since his hands were otherwise occupied. He was relieved to find that while there were a few zombies lingering around there was nowhere near as many as there had been at the front door and he gave himself a mental pat on the back for his practical idea. He didn’t have time to linger on the thought however as he realised that he was the only one of them who knew which way to go “Come on.” He muttered before he took off in the direction of the large black gates opposite them. What he hadn’t been counting on however was the amount of zombies that were still lingering outside of the school gates “Oh…shit!” a zombie lunged towards him and he barely managed to dodge out of the way of the attack “RUN!”
Rachel and Quinn immediately sped up, the former firing off a couple of shots at zombies that got too close to them.
Santana did her best to pick up her pace but the throbbing in her side was causing her problems and it was taking all of her strength to stay standing while squeezing the trigger of the gun in her hand to keep the undead at bay “Fucking…shit!” she twirled the suddenly empty gun around in her hand and whacked an approaching zombie square in the forehead with the butt.
Brittany on the other hand had no problem with the speed Puck, Quinn and Rachel were setting but she refused to stray from her girlfriends side. Instead she lingered loyally next to Santana, knocking back any zombies that got too close to them.
Quinn glanced over her shoulder, noticed the predicament Santana and Brittany had gotten themselves into and made a split second decision. She pulled Puck’s gun from his belt and hurriedly backtracked, shooting the few zombies still lingering next to her friends.
“Come on!” she exclaimed loudly.
Brittany slid her free arm around Santana’s waist and supported her across the street, at the same time knocking back the undead with her trusty baseball bat. Having reloaded her gun, Santana was back to shooting any of the undead that Brittany missed with the bat.
As they approached the SUV Rachel shot a zombie lingering next to back door and quickly told Puck to get into the back with his sister while Quinn slid into driver’s seat. Rachel opened the passenger door but she refused to get in, instead standing on the incline of the car door frame so that she could cover Brittany and Santana’s approach. She noticed an old looking zombie lumbering after the couple and bracing herself on the top of the car she pumped the shotgun and fired, sending the creature flying backwards onto the road “Hurry UP!” she exclaimed through gritted teeth as she watched the horde of zombies moving across the street towards them. She was vaguely aware of the car vibrating beneath her feet and she realised that Quinn had started the engine “BRITTANY! SANTANA!” Rachel was aware that Santana’s injuries were slowing them down but she couldn’t supress the urgency she felt “GET IN!”
Santana and Brittany finally reached the car and Santana moved to get in first, consciously positioning herself between the infected child in Puck’s arms and Brittany who clambered in after her.
As soon as Brittany’s door closed, Rachel dropped herself into the passenger seat and slammed her own door shut “GO, QUINN!”
Quinn floored the accelerator and skilfully swerved the wheel to the left, sending the car veering onto the road.
“I can’t believe I did that.” She muttered to herself as she thought back to the sensation of the gun firing in her hand. She slowed the car down slightly, mindful of the fact that they were out of the main danger area and not wanting to the loud roar of the SUV’s engine to draw too much attention to them.
“So what now?” Santana asked slightly breathless not to mention in pain due to her run to the car.
“I think it would be wise to find a safe place to park for the night.” Rachel answered quietly “If we drive in the direction we were initially heading we should be able to find somewhere secluded enough to sleep without worrying about being attacked.”
“You can drop me off at my place.” Puck said quietly, his gaze fixed on his sister “I kind of want to get a head start on the driving. I can’t afford to waste time.”
“Puck…” Quinn looked in the rear view mirror at Puck.
“I know.” Puck interrupted before Quinn could really say anything “It’s fine.”
“Where will you go?” Brittany asked in concern, lightly brushing her hand over Santana’s back as if to maintain proof that she was still there.
“’I’m not sure…” Puck answered vaguely only to be met with three concerned stares “Look, don’t worry about me. I’ll do what I can for Chloe, do what I have to do in Lima and I’ll-we’ll meet up with you guys later, okay?”
Nobody chose to point out the fact that the country was a big place and his chances of finding them were slim to none.
“You can keep most of the guns.” Puck continued thoughtfully “I think you’ll need them more than I do and I can always go back to the gun store on my way to where I’m going.”
“Thanks.” Quinn murmured quietly before the group settled into a sombre silence. None of them were quite sure what to say due to the severity of the situation and anything that sprang to mind seemed either trivial or pointless so they settled for silence.
---
“Quinn?” Rachel whispered into the silence of the car as she stared intently at the blurry Quinn shaped form huddled against the driver’s door. It was quite dark inside of the car so she couldn’t quite make out whether Quinn was sleeping or not “Are you awake?”
There was a moment of silence before Quinn answered, her voice hushed yet sharp at the same time “Of course I’m awake. I told you to shut up with your stupid humming all of five minutes ago.”
“Okay…” Rachel mumbled despondently “I’m sorry for disturbing you.” She tucked herself further into the blanket she was covered with and closed her eyes tightly in a vain attempt to fall asleep. For a few minutes she tried everything she could think of to fall into the ever elusive sleep she needed - She tried counting sheep, running through her favourite Broadway songs in her head, she even tried listening to the sound of Brittany and Santana’s even breathing in the back of the car in an attempt to lull herself into a similarly relaxed state. Nothing seemed to help however and she had to bite her bottom lip to hold in her sigh of frustration.
“Rachel.” At the sound of Quinn’s voice Rachel opened her eyes to find that the blonde had shifted onto her right side so that she could see the Diva “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t sleep.” Rachel answered, feeling slightly foolish for bringing her distress to Quinn’s attention “It’s really nothing.”
“Did you need something?” Quinn asked as she twisted the edge of her own blanket around her fingers. She felt bad for snapping at the Diva a few minutes ago and hoped to find a way to rectify the situation “You seemed like you wanted something from me before.”
“I was just wondering if you were awake.” Rachel replied quietly with a cautious glance towards the back of the car where Brittany and Santana were sleeping peacefully. After a few minutes of Santana wincing when her bruises were pressed on and Brittany profusely apologising for causing the pressure, the couple had managed to manoeuvre themselves into a position that was comfortable enough for the Latina to sleep. Brittany was currently lying on her back in a position that Rachel was adamant couldn’t have possibly been comfortable, while Santana was lying mostly on top of the blonde, pressed against the back of the seats “I can’t imagine how Brittany could be comfortable in that position…” she murmured thoughtfully.
“She probably isn’t.” Quinn responded just as quietly “She probably figured that Santana lying on top of her instead of the seats would be more comfortable because of the bruises…Brittany is softer than car seats so it makes sense.”
Rachel exhaled slowly and turned away from the back seat. She leaned her head against the passenger seat and observed Quinn intently.
“What?” Quinn asked in response to the look, though she made no move to look away from Rachel’s gaze. She did however bite her tongue to hold back the instinctual defensive insult that threatened to spring forth.
Rachel didn’t reply for a long moment, her gaze merely sweeping over the expanse of Quinn’s face as if she was trying to take in and analyse every flicker of emotion “Are you okay?” she finally asked, her expression neutral despite the worry she felt “After everything that happened today…Santana, Puck, Chloe…”
Quinn shrugged the shoulder that wasn’t pressed against her seat “I guess.” She answered vaguely “I’m trying not to think about it.”
“Is it working?” Rachel asked knowingly. She had been trying the same thing ever since the zombie epidemic had started and while it had worked to some degree there were times when everything that had happened hit her like a tonne of bricks.
“Not at all.” Quinn offered Rachel a sad smile and they fell back into silence though they didn’t shift their gazes away from each other. They couldn’t see very well because of the dim lighting in the car and Quinn found that it helped dispel most of the awkwardness the intense gaze would have usually caused.
“You feel some kind of guilt about Noah.” Rachel spoke up so suddenly that Quinn startled in her seat. The brunette on the opposite side of the car couldn’t see very well and she assumed that Quinn’s reaction was an angry rather than surprised jolt “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to overstep my boundaries.”
“No, it’s-it’s alright.” Quinn murmured reassuringly “Can you read my mind now or something?”
Rachel ignored the faux teasing tone Quinn’s voice had taken “Would you like to talk about it? While it’s true that I talk excessively, I have been told that I’m a good listener.”
Quinn leaned her head against the back of her seat and mulled over the prospect of spilling her metaphorical guts to Rachel for a few seconds.
“You don’t have to.” Rachel hurried to assure Quinn that she wasn’t pushing for an answer.
“I do feel guilty.” Quinn finally revealed, though she didn’t elaborate any further.
Rachel had known that her observation was accurate but that didn’t make the confirmation any less confusing “Quinn, while I regret leaving Noah behind I have to tell you that Santana was one hundred percent correct in her conclusions. Bringing Chloe with us would have been a beyond dangerous not to mention irresponsible move. Even Noah was aware of that and that along with the fact that he couldn’t bring himself to leave his sister is why he stayed behind. You’re not at all to blame for his decision.”
“Whoever told you that you’re a good listener lied.” Quinn smirked half-heartedly “You do know that listening means not speaking don’t you?”
“I’m sorry.” Rachel grimaced sheepishly “I didn’t sense that you were going to continue your train of thought so I took it upon myself t…” she trailed off when she realised that she was doing exactly the same thing again “Sorry.”
Quinn shook her head, surprised that she found Rachel’s babbling somewhat endearing whereas she would have usually found it downright irritating “It’s fine.” She paused for a moment, unsure as to whether she wanted to confide in the brunette “Puck staying behind isn’t the reason I feel guilty. He’s old enough to make his own decisions even if the ones he does make are stupid.”
“Then why do you feel guilty?” Rachel asked curiously once she was sure Quinn wasn’t going to add anything “I don’t see any reason as to why you should.”
Quinn licked her lips unsurely “Do you know what his reason for staying in Lima was?”
Rachel hesitated for a moment before answering “I do.”
Quinn breathed in slowly, willing her emotions to stay under control “I feel guilty because I didn’t feel the same way. I can tell that he thinks she’s still alive and I-I can’t think like that…”
“It’s okay.” Rachel sensed Quinn was losing control of her emotions and quickly interrupted “I understand why you wouldn’t want to go back there.”
“Yeah, right.” Quinn scoffed tearfully at the response she was given “You must think I’m a terrible person.”
“What?!” Rachel was so stunned by the statement that she forgot to keep her voice down. She winced and glanced towards the back seat, wary of waking the exhausted couple up. Thankfully Brittany and Santana were still sleeping soundly and Rachel allowed herself to turn back to Quinn to respond in a softer voice “Quinn, I can assure you that I think exactly the opposite.”
Quinn nodded mutely and they fell into silence, focused on their own thoughts.
“Quinn?” Rachel murmured. She waited for a moment until Quinn looked at her before continuing “I think…I mean…” she paused for a moment, struggling to find the right words “Do you want to…come over here?”
“What?” Quinn frowned quizzically as Rachel shifted towards the door, making room in the passenger seat “Why?”
While she had been unsure about posing the question Rachel was already confident that her excuse for Quinn moving closer would be effective “Because of your…issue, we both know that if and when you fall asleep you’re only going to end up over here anyway. If you come over here now, you won’t have to manoeuvre yourself over the centre console. It could hurt your back and as you know you need to be fit and pain free enough to run unhind…”
“Fine, I’m coming.” Quinn interrupted, though her tone wasn’t harsh “Just stop rambling or you’ll wake Brittany and Santana up.” She awkwardly slipped out of her own seat and moved over to Rachel’s, slipping under the blanket the other girl was holding open for her. Though she wouldn’t admit it, she was instantly soothed by the close presence of the brunette. The feeling was only amplified when Rachel tucked the blanket around her, though Quinn couldn’t help but worry about what Santana would say when she found them in that position tomorrow. That particular worry flew from her head however as Rachel wrapped an arm snugly around her waist and shuffled close to lay her head on Quinn’s shoulder.
“Comfortable?” Quinn murmured into the brown hair position directly beneath her chin.
“Not really.” Rachel admitted reluctantly “My legs feel stiff but I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable…”
“It’s fine.” Quinn reassured the other girl with a light squeeze “Do what you have to do to get comfortable. You need to get some sleep.”
Rachel hesitated for a moment before she leaned forward “Could you put your arm behind me?” she requested cautiously. Quinn obeyed without question and a moment later Rachel leaned back into Quinn’s side and slung her legs over the other girls lap, effectively curling up against her.
Quinn swallowed heavily at the rather intimate position but she had to admit that it was far more comfortable than their previous. Plus the feeling of having Rachel’s warm body close to her comforted her more than she could ever have imagined. Feeling her eyes growing heavy, she unconsciously held Rachel close, their foreheads meeting in the middle of the seat and allowed her eyes to slide shut. After a few minutes of silence she registered the fact that Rachel had yet to relax against her “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Rachel murmured “It’s stupid.”
“Tell me.” Quinn opened her eyes to meet Rachel’s, only to find that they were so close that she couldn’t focus. With a small self-deprecating smile she pulled back.
“I can’t sleep in total silence anymore.” Rachel admitted “It makes me feel like I’m somehow losing myself while at the same time allowing me to focus on things I would rather not focus on.”
“That’s why you were humming before…to stop the silence.” Quinn murmured intuitively. She was met with a nod and instantly felt awful about making the brunette stop the comforting action “I’m sorry Rach. I didn’t mean…”
“It’s okay.” Rachel interrupted with a weak smile “It was annoying you.”
Quinn didn’t answer for a long moment. The song Rachel had been humming had in fact managed to do the exact opposite of annoy her. It had managed to soothe her into such a relaxed state that it had simultaneously alarmed her into telling Rachel to shut up. She did after all have to remain extra vigilant given the situation they found themselves in. “What were you humming?”
“Just an old Billie Holiday song.” Rachel murmured in response “My Dads loved…love her and humming her songs makes me feel oddly close to them.”
“Hum it.” Quinn shifted forward and wrapped her left arm around Rachel’s torso “I won’t tell you to shut up.”
“Are you sure?” Rachel asked cautiously “If it bothers you…”
“I want you to.” Quinn whispered, hyper aware of the fact that Rachel was so close to her that she could feel her warm breath on her lips. Quinn waited for a moment until Rachel cleared her throat and began to hum softly before she allowed her eyes to slide shut. Listening to the brunette’s soft, harmonious humming combined with the sensation of Rachel being so close to her, Quinn couldn’t help but relax and it took only minutes for her to fall into a peaceful sleep. Despite her earlier alarm, Rachel managed to relax a few minutes later and she eventually followed Quinn’s lead.
TBC