The rain just kept pounding down, the occasional flash of lightening let the group know they were headed in the right general direction. But the main road they'd been following quickly turned from open farmland into bendy, hilly, wooded back roads. The darkness seemed to close around them as they picked up the pace, desperate to find some sort of shelter. The rain rustled the trees, causing everyone to jump from time to time in fear – fear that somehow they'd been followed, fear that somewhere in the darkness was a group of Infected, hunting them.

Occasionally they'd lose sight of one another for a minute; someone would go around a bend or fall just far enough behind that they couldn't be seen, someone else would realize, there would be a moment of panic followed by intense relief when the missing person was found. Sometimes these disappearances would coincide with the rain rustling the foliage and then the group would really panic. They would call out for their missing compatriot until they'd been recovered.

After what felt like ages but was really just over 45 minutes they emerged from the wooded road into a clearing with what appeared to be a high school.

"This'll work for now, just until the sun comes up," Finn said, leading them towards the front doors of the building. The doors were locked, which they kind of expected, but Puck found a nearby rock and lodged it through a window. It went crashing through, granting them access to the building. He smirked, leaned through the broken window to unlock the door, and entered the building.

"Let's hang out here until it lightens up a bit, hopefully it'll stop raining soon, and then we can try to make some more progress today. We have to get back to Lima." Kurt looked from person to person, trying to convey just how eager he was to get home without actually having to say it. Blaine pulled him into a side-hug and, rubbing his shoulder in a comforting manner, pulled him deeper into the school.

They walked as a group through the empty halls, their steps echoing eerily. The school, unfamiliar to all of them, was spooky and too-quiet. There was no hustle, no clanging of lockers or scuffing of sneakers running through the halls. They knew, of course, that no one would be around, but that didn't keep it from being creepy. Slowly they made their way through the maze of alien passages until they found the cafeteria. Mike pushed open the double doors, felt around on the wall until he found a light switch, which he flicked on, and they entered. Once in the room they spread out a bit, splitting into twos and threes.

Finn and Rachel made their way to the far corner of the room where Rachel stood, staring out the window at the rain and nothingness and her faint reflection on the mirror-like glass. Finn wrapped his arms around her from behind and pulled her close, resting his chin on her head.

"Everything'll be alright, Rachel," he said, voice soft. She nodded against him.

"I know," she whispered, "I know, but I'm scared, Finn. I'm scared for us, and for our families, and our friends. Why didn't we just stay in Lima?" Finn's face hardened slightly as he pulled back and looked at Rachel.

"Because he's our friend, too, Rachel. Because he's my brother." Rachel didn't answer. She crossed her arms and pouted slightly. Finn sighed, he knew she was just being dramatic, and pulled her into another hug.

Mercedes, Quinn, and Sam, meanwhile, parked themselves in the very middle of the massive room. They sat at one of the tables. Or rather, Sam and Quinn were on either side, with Mercedes sitting on top of the relatively small table, square in the middle.

"I hate just sitting here," Mercedes groaned. "I feel like we should be doing something."

"What are we supposed to do? It's dark and it's raining, there's no way it's safe to try and go any farther yet. And I don't know about you but I couldn't sleep if I wanted to right now. Not after what just happened," Quinn retorted. Sam groaned his consent but didn't say much.

"I know, I know, but just sitting here is driving me nuts! I feel like a god damn sitting duck!"

"Hey, it's ok," Quinn said, picking up on the undertones of fear that Mercedes was clearly attempting to bury under her anger. "If we can survive Coach Sylvester we can survive a few measly zombie things." Mercedes laughed. Sam grunted his laughter.

"Are you ok, white boy?" Sam nodded. Mercedes gave him a "boy you best not be lying to me" glare, but said nothing. Quinn silently reached across the table and slid her hand into his.

"We'll be okay, Sam," she smiled. He looked at her, eyes filled with something she couldn't quite place – sadness, maybe, and tiny hints of fear. She turned to Mercedes, exchanging a silent "what the hell is up with him?" look before returning her focus to Sam. He didn't notice.

Across the room Puck and Artie sat, with Santana and Brittany nearby. Puck held a baseball bat while Artie had a lacrosse stick. The gun they'd managed to snag from the Meijer sat not far away, but neither wanted to be the one to be responsible for it. They'd taken up camp by the doors, standing guard. Artie didn't have to say it, but Puck knew that he'd chosen this spot because he felt guilty about slowing the group down. Artie wanted to do what he could for the group and, while he couldn't run (or even travel on his own) he could stand watch, he could go down in a blaze of glory if he had to.

Brittany and Santana were sitting at a table right by the door, hands clasped, leaning into each other. Brittany's head lay on Santana's shoulder and her eyes were closed.

"Are you asleep?" Santana asked, whispering into her hair.

"No," Brittany replied quietly, squeezing her eyes shut tighter. Santana looked down at her, clearly waiting for further explanation.

"…then what are you doing?" she prompted when no explanation came.

"Wishing the zombies would go away and not hurt anyone else," she said, "now sshhh." Santana looked up and locked eyes with Puck, and then Artie, in a shared "what the fuck is going on?" glance. Artie shrugged, expressing the "it's Brittany, what do you want?" that everyone was thinking. Santana rolled her eyes and leaned back into her seat.

Mike and Tina, for their part, were sitting off in the distance, arms and legs entwined so that it was almost hard to tell where one ended and the other began. Tina was still shaken from the earlier attack of the Infected and Mike was doing his best to calm her down, but all he could think to do was just hold her tight until she stopped shaking. He couldn't force himself to spout false hope or niceties as many of the others were doing; he didn't want to lie and he wasn't sure he believed all the declarations of hope and survival the others seemed to be clinging to. So he said nothing. He said nothing and he held Tina close because she needed it, but also because he needed it just as much.

Blaine and Kurt stood off in the shadows; Kurt observing the others, Blaine observing Kurt.

"They're scared," Kurt mumbled, turning to Blaine, who he found to be standing far closer than he'd expected. Not that he minded.

"So are you," Blaine pointed out, taking Kurt's hand and pulling him even closer, removing what little distance remained between the two. "Are you ok?" Kurt looked at Blaine, eyes wide and betraying the various emotions he'd been trying desperately to curtail the past few hours. Blaine never broke his gaze, holding eye contact and smiling in a way that told Kurt everything would be okay.

"Yeah," Kurt whispered, suddenly breathless, "yeah I'm fine."

"You sure?" Blaine asked, raising his hand and resting it gently on Kurt's cheek. Kurt nodded and closed his eyes at the comforting warmth emanating from Blaine's hand. "Good," Blaine breathed, face so close to Kurt's that his breath tickled Kurt's skin. Kurt's eyes fluttered open and met with Blaine's, whose stare was suddenly different. There was an undeniable want in Blaine's stare and Kurt couldn't stop himself, not when either of them could die at any moment. He lent forward, no more than a fraction of an inch, and pressed his lips to Blaine's. Blaine was still for a moment, but then kissed back, pulling away after a moment and resting his forehead on Kurt's. "What was that?" he asked, a laugh evident in his voice. Kurt shrugged.

"Hey, the world is ending, gotta live in the moment," he replied, a smile spreading across his face. Blaine, too, smiled, laughed a little, pressed another kiss against Kurt's lips, and then pulled back, lacing his fingers through Kurt's.

Across the room Mercedes nudged Quinn, pointing towards the couple in the shadows. Artie nudged Puck, nodding his head towards the two, Tina and Mike smiled at the boys and then each other. Even Finn and Rachel noticed Blaine and Kurt, small figures in the reflection on the glass, moving together.

They all milled around the cafeteria for a bit until finally Finn addressed the group.

"The sun's coming up," he said to no one in particular, but loudly enough for everyone to hear.

"And the rain stopped a while ago, too," Mercedes added, looking towards the wet but clear horizon visible through the windows.

"We should get out of here," Kurt added, finishing the thought that no one wanted to be the one to voice. As badly as they wanted to get back to Lima, as horrible as they felt just sitting there, none of them really wanted to venture out into the open again. Slowly, however, they each nodded their assent and began to gather by the back doors to the cafeteria, the ones that opened not back into the desolate school but onto the barren and menacing landscape ahead.

When, finally, the supplies were re-gathered and everyone found their way to the doors Brittany looked at each of them, puzzled.

"Wait," she said, eyebrows knit, "where's Sam?"

She was right, of course. Sam wasn't standing by the doors. Instead he remained where he'd been sitting since entering the cafeteria. His head was in his hands and he muttered, almost too quietly, that he wasn't going with them.

"What'd he say?" Mike asked, looking to the others.

"I said I'm not going with you," Sam repeated, louder, clearer. He lifted his head and looked to the group. His voice was flat, emotionless, as he added "I…I think I'm infected."

The effect of the word was instantaneous. The entire group clattered towards Sam, each voicing their disbelief and their confusion and various voices vehemently demanding that Sam continue with them. Sam jumped back from the group, threw up his hand in an attempt to keep the crowd at bay. They stopped in their tracks, slowly grew silent.

"Wh-when?" Finn asked, not sure how to respond to the situation.

"In the woods. I, I dunno, I thought I heard something, off in the distance, and I stopped to listen, to see if I could hear anything. I don't know why I did it; maybe I thought it was someone who could help? Anyway, whatever, it's not important why anymore." He paused, clearing his throat and gaining control of himself. His eyes traced down to the inside of his left arm, which he'd been holding almost continuously since entering the High School. There, just under the cuff of his shirt, was a deep crimson gorge in his arm. How any of them had missed the steady flow of blood from his arm onto his now-soaked shirt was incredible, and they each felt horrible for not noticing earlier.

"Sam," Quinn said, tears streaming down her face, falling steadily from her eyes. She didn't bother to wipe them away. "Sam, no." He looked up, met eyes with her, apologized without words. I love you he mouthed, before sitting down again.

"You have to go, guys, you have to leave me here." No one moved for what seemed like ages before, finally, they turned to go. As they reached the double doors and pushed them open, greeted by the steadily-lighter sky, they turned back one last time, though no one spoke. They pushed forward, out into the yard, and walked for a minute before, finally, Santana spoke.

"Hold up," she said, voice quiet but firm. Everyone stopped and turned to her. "Give me that," she said, grabbing the gun from Mike, who'd been chosen to carry it for now.

"Woah, hey, Santana, what are you doing?" Finn asked, pushing through the group until he was face to face with her.

"What I have to," she replied. "You lot keep walking, I'll catch up." She said.

"You're not going anywhere alone," Kurt said.

"I'll go with her," Mike said, guessing what Santana planned and knowing she would need someone with her after. "You guys go on," he added, pushing Finn gently in the direction opposite from the cafeteria. He nodded and guided the others off.

"You don't have to come," Santana said once the others were out of earshot.

"You can't be running around alone," Mike replied as he started following Santana back.

A few minutes later, the school growing steadily smaller behind them, the group was stopped in their tracks as a single gunshot rang out through the still Ohio air. Quinn let out a strangled sob and collapsed into Finn's arms. They decided to wait there for Santana and Mike.

Once back with the others the greeting Santana received was not a warm one.