Klaine Advent 2018 Day 5: Exclude

Dimension three: Apocalypse

Someone is shaking Blaine awake.

“Blaine, holy fuck. Holy fuck, please stay with me!”

It’s Wes. Blaine slowly opens his eyes and he’s hurt. He doesn’t know why he’s hurt. Suddenly, they hear an explosion and Wes basically throws himself on Blaine to shield him.

That’s when Blaine remembers what happened. Kurt and Blaine found the antique book in the Hogwarts Library and when they saw the word ‘apocalypse’ growing, they tried to run from it. Blaine even used non-verbal spells against it, but it didn’t work.

He’s in the middle of an apocalypse and Kurt is nowhere to be seen.

Wes is still lying on top of Blaine, but when the explosion dies away, he climbs up. He puts his arm around Blaine. “Come on, we’re the only ones left.”

Wes helps Blaine move. Apparently, Blaine’s leg got stuck somewhere. Blaine pretends to be confused to get information. According to Wes, this world was inhabited by groups of people and he and Blaine were from the Dalton group.

Then, the Earth started to collapse. The Dalton group had been on their way to a safe haven, but the apocalypse took many lives. Blaine and Wes are the only ones left. David died yesterday, giving his life for Wes. Wes is not over it.

Not only that, but Wes has never heard of Kurt.

The safe haven is a myth, but it’s worth a try. Wes speaks highly of a certain man named Gilbert, who salvaged a piece of land to create a safe haven. People from all kinds of groups are travelling to find it, so that they can survive.

“Wes,” Blaine says. It’s difficult to speak. “Wes, you’re hurt.”

Wes has a huge wound on his head, but he shakes his head. “Doesn’t matter, buddy. The moment Gilbert will take us in, it will have been worth it. Gilbert takes everyone in. No one gets excluded.”

“We- we don’t even know if he’s real,” Blaine says.

“I know, but it’s the only hope we’ve got left,” Wes says, “Blaine, everyone died so that we could reach the safe haven. Trent fell from the ledge, Nick shielded us from the debris, Jeff got shot… and so on. We can’t give up.”

Blaine nods. They move for hours and Blaine’s exhausted, but they have to keep going.

He has to find Kurt. There are injured people all around them. Some are weeping next to the bodies of the dead. Blaine hasn’t seen Kurt yet and for the first time, it’s a relief. What Blaine doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

Maybe Kurt’s on his way to the safe haven as well. Maybe they’ll find the book there. Wes is right: they can only hope.

They keep on moving. Every now and then they stop to eat. They’re running out of food, but thanks to the heavy rain, there’s enough water. Blaine’s bag is still filled with the clothes he took off in space. It’s useless, but he can’t ditch his bag.

“Where is this safe haven?” Blaine asks as he eats the small amount of berries. Wes had stolen them from others. Blaine doesn’t like it, but he supposes Wes had no choice.

“They say it’s in what’s left of Lima, Ohio,” Wes says.

Lima, a safe haven? Blaine wants to laugh at the absurdity, but he’s too tired.

“We’re in what’s left of Fort Shawnee, we can make it tomorrow!” Wes says and despite everything, he has a genuine smile on his face.

Blaine wakes up because it’s so loud.

Wes is sitting next to him. “Bombs!” He helps Blaine get up. “We gotta go! We gotta go now!”

They gather up all the stuff that they own (two bags and a knife each) and they run. Or at least, Blaine tries to run. His leg hurts and he can hear the bombs falling behind him. “If this is an apocalyptic world, then why the fuck are there bombs?!”

“Blaine, please, we both know about the outbreak of the wars!” Wes yells.

Great. Apparently this apocalypse caused wars. Blaine’s sorry he asked.

They move as fast as they can. Blaine refuses to look around. People are crying. Blaine tries to focus on the safe haven and on finding Kurt and that stupid book. He knows this isn’t real, but the pain is real. Blaine’s sure that if he dies in this story or dimension, he’s dead. If only he still had the magic from Harry Potter or the space gun from their space adventure. No, he only has a pained leg, stolen berries, and a small knife.

“There!” Wes points towards a small abandoned building. It doesn’t look safe. In fact, it looks like it’s about to collapse, but maybe they can hide in it for now. The bombs are getting closer.

“Why the fuck would people use an apocalypse for a war? Isn’t life terrible enough?”

“If only I knew, Blaine, if only I knew…” Wes says solemnly. They make their way to the abandoned building, but then Wes trips.

Blaine tries to help him get up. “Wes, come on, man.”

“I’m trying!” Wes says angrily, but he’s stuck in something. The ground is filled with mess and Wes is stuck. The bombs are getting closer.

“Fuck!” Blaine says and he pulls Wes’s arm and Wes isn’t moving.

Wes looks behind them and he starts to cry. “Okay,” he says.

“What’s okay? Nothing’s okay!” Blaine yells.

Wes turns back to Blaine and he has a weird look on his face. Blaine has a bad feeling about this.

“Go, Blaine. The building might shelter you enough to survive this-”

“Wes, what the fuck? No!” Blaine knows what Wes is doing. He’s saying goodbye. Wes keeps talking but Blaine isn’t listening. He’s still trying to get Wes free.

“Blaine, please!” Wes yells, “If I’m going to fucking die, then let me have my piece!”

“You are not going to die! We’re so close. We can make it. We’ll be in Lima tomorrow, we’ll find the safe haven, we can both survive this.”

Wes shakes his head. Why the hell is Wes shaking his head? It’s as if he wants to die.

“Can’t you see it, Blaine? It was always supposed to be you,” Wes says through his tears, “We all died to protect you. From all of the Dalton group, you are the most valuable.”

“That’s bullshit, Wes!” Blaine yells and he tries not to cry. He’s still trying to pull Wes out of this mess. “We’re equal!”

“We’ve never been equal, Blaine,” Wes says sadly, “You just treated us as equal.”

Blaine doesn’t know this world. This is not his world. He has no idea of the history of this world or why Blaine’s supposedly more valuable, but he doesn’t care.

“Wes-”

“You, Blaine, are my best friend and I will always be there with you, just like the rest of us, okay?”

“Fucking- stop, Wes.”

“I love you, okay? You are supposed to be the one who helps rebuilding our land. You are the one who’s gonna survive this. I am really, really sorry for this.”

Wes yanks free from Blaine’s grip and he fishes his own knife out of his bag. He hands it to Blaine. “Take it and leave me. If you don’t, I’ll stab myself.”

“Fucking hell, Wes!” Blaine yells.

Wes holds out the knife.

Either Wes’s gonna get bombed to death or he’s gonna stab himself. “Please, take the knife, Blaine,” Wes say and he’s still crying, “I don’t want to kill myself.”

The bombs are coming closer. Blaine can see them falling. Blaine has no other choice. He takes the knife and Wes sighs in relief.

“Run,” Wes demands.

Blaine’s leg is still hurt, so he can’t really run. But he makes it to the abandoned building and to his relief, it has a basement. He stumbles down the stairs and he hides in a corner. Bombs fall on the building and the world shakes.

Blaine curls up in a ball. Wes is dead.

This isn’t real, he reminds himself. This isn’t real. This isn’t real. This isn’t real. The moment I get home, I’ll call Wes, who’s still in Thailand. This isn’t real. Wes isn’t dead. Neither is David or Trent or Jeff or Nick. This isn’t fucking real.

Yet it feels real.

He has to find Kurt and they have to get out of here. This isn’t real.

“Hey, can you hear that?”

Blaine knows that voice.

“What?” someone else says.

“I thought I heard weeping. Hello? Hello!?”

Blaine tries to speak, but instead he cries. He’s clutching Wes’s knife. It’s all that he has left. Blaine doesn’t know if he should love or hate it.

“There’s a survivor underneath the ruins of this building! Quick, get the others!”

The bombs have stopped. There’s life outside. Blaine wails till the voices are nearer.

“There’s a staircase, someone is down here!”

“Help me move this stone.”

“Jesus, this is heavy.”

“Hello? Anyone here? It’s okay, we’re here to help!”

Blaine clears his throat. “I’m here, please help me!”

“I knew it!”

“Someone’s alive. Jesus, someone’s survived the bombs!”

“First aid kit, quickly!”

“Damn, shit, this stone really is heavy!”

“Okay, all of us together. Lift on three, okay?”

Blaine hears some murmurs of agreement.

“One… two… three!”

Blaine gets blinded by the sudden light. He can only see a couple of silhouettes, but Blaine knows these people.

“Oh my God!” Rachel yells and she runs down the stairs.

“Someone give me the first aid kit!” Sam yells behind his back.

Puck and Tina run down the stairs as well and they help Rachel lift Blaine. “Sam, please, he’s bleeding!” Tina cries out.

Blaine hadn’t even noticed that he’s bleeding. He’s been too busy grieving.

More New Directions members enter the basement, but Kurt’s nowhere in sight. “It’s okay, we’re from the McKinley group. We’re the New Directions rescue team,” Brittany says and Sam starts wrapping bandages around Blaine’s head. Blaine tells him his leg hurts.

“We’re a rescue team working for Gilbert’s Safe Haven. We are so happy we’ve found you,” Santana says and Blaine almost cries again when he sees she has actual food with her.

The safe haven, it’s real. Blaine feels relief. Wes has been right.

At the thought of Wes, Blaine starts to wail harder. “My friend, he’s out there… he’s…”

Santana shakes her head solemnly. “I am so sorry, we’ve only found bodies. There’s no sign of life in this area.”

There’s no sign of life. Wes really did die out there.

“Do you remember who you are and where you’re from?” Tina asks.

“Blaine Anderson, from Dalton group,” Blaine answers and he really hopes it’s enough information.

“It’s okay, Blaine from Dalton,” Santana says soothingly as she runs a hand through Blaine’s hair, “You’re safe. We’ve got you.”

“I’m going to give you a sedative so that we can move you to the safe haven. This is going to hurt,” Sam says.

Blaine’s already hurt.

When Blaine wakes up, he’s hallucinating. After all, Kurt’s sitting next to his bed.

“Oh my- you’re awake!”

This hallucination seems very real. Blaine smiles. Let him have this before he’ll get sucked back in this apocalyptic reality.

But then, the hallucination takes Blaine’s hand. Blaine’s pretty sure hallucinations aren’t supposed to be solid. Then again, he’s never had previous encounters with hallucinations.

“Blaine, can you hear me?” hallucination-Kurt asks ,”It’s me, I’m real.”

Oh, Blaine would love to believe that. But then Kurt starts touching his face and maybe he is real.

“Kurt?” Blaine asks and Kurt bursts into tears.

“Jesus Christ!” Kurt sobs, “I woke up in an apocalyptic dimension without my fiancé. Then, Rachel tells me that I am part of the New Directions rescue team or what not and that I am medic. Good thing I know some basic stuff Carole taught me, so I haven’t blown my cover. I’m just here, surrounded by hurt people, when suddenly you get dragged in.”

Then Kurt starts shaking him.

“Do not ever worry me like that again, Blaine Devon Anderson! What the hell happened to you? Sam said something about you crying in a basement and bombs?”

Blaine tries to speak, but at the thought of Wes, he starts to cry. Eventually, he manages to say: “We have to get the fuck out of here! We can’t- we have to go. I am so sorry for suggesting we’d stay in different dimensions. You were right all along, we have to go home!”

“None of that now,” Kurt says and he wipes away Blaine’s tears, “This is not your fault.”

“We need that book!”

Kurt nods. “No worries, I have it.”

“You do?”

“Yes, it’s been in this safe haven for ages. No one knows what it is, except for me.”

“You should’ve gotten out of here as soon as possible,” Blaine says, but Kurt shakes his head.

“And leave you? To quote Mercedes: hell to the no. I did already put my object on the page. It is a stupid stethoscope. I haven’t been able to figure out your object.” Kurt helps Blaine sit up. “We are getting out of here right now.”

Blaine tries to get out of the bed, but Kurt stops it. “I’ll get the book. I haven’t lost it out of sight ever since I got here. Sam mentioned that you have problems walking, so please stay here.”

Kurt leaves the hospital room but he returns quickly. He’s holding the book. Blaine hates it.

Kurt flips open the book. Blaine can read the word ‘apocalypse’ and underneath the word is an image of a stethoscope. Next to it is an outline.

It’s clearly supposed to be Wes’s knife.

Blaine burst out in tears. Kurt’s worried so Blaine tells Kurt what has happened and about how this knife belonged to Wes.

“He’s dead, Kurt, he died saving me. He died to get me here!”

Kurt wraps his arms around Blaine. “It’s not real, Blaine, it’s okay. Wes is still chilling in Thailand. This is not our reality. This is not real.”

“But it feels so real,” Blaine sobs, “You should’ve seen the look on his face when he realised he was going to die. And we were so close! We almost made it. The New Directions rescue team found me, for Christ’s sake. That’s how close we were.”

Kurt lets Blaine cry, but after a while he asks: “Do you still have the knife?”

Blaine has no idea, but he nods towards his bag. Someone put it on the nightstand next to his hospital bed.

Kurt rummages through the stuff in Blaine’s bag. He first finds Blaine’s knife, but Blaine shakes his head. It’s the wrong shape anyway. Then he finds Wes’s knife. Someone must’ve put it in Blaine’s bag and Blaine’s forever grateful.

He watches the knife disappear into the page and a new word starts to form on the next page. A part of him doesn’t want to look. He can’t take it anymore. He closes his eyes.

But he’s also eager to move on to the next dimension. It can’t be worse than this one.

“Famous,” Kurt reads out loud, “What does that even mean?”

Blaine opens his eyes. There’s indeed a new word, namely ‘famous’, and it starts to grow.