Date: June 12, 2012 Characters: Cooper Anderson, Quinn Fabray Location: Lima Warnings: None. Will add if needed. Summary: Cooper finally returns to Lima and runs into Quinn.
As Cooper drove past the sign reading LIMA CITY LIMIT, he let out a sigh of relief and pressed down a little harder on the gas pedal. He wasn't home free yet, not by a long stretch, but he was at least in Lima. He'd made it this far, and he was determined he'd make it back home to his family.
He'd lost count of how many days he'd been traveling. He didn't even know what day of the week it was. He had hesitated for a day or so once things started getting really bad, but he knew he needed to get back home so he left with a duffel bag full of clothes and toiletries and all of the non-perishable food he had in his apartment. It wasn't much, but it had kept him alive so far.
The drive was long and rough. Staying alert and keeping fed and stealing weapons had all taken a toll on him. He was sure he smelled and looked completely gross, but he was alive and that was more than he could say for a lot of people.
Speaking of people, the city was unusually dark and quiet. Houses were dark and boarded up, and no one was outside. It was one thing to see that in the middle of the country, and it was another to see it in the place where he had grown up. He worried a bit about the noise of his car, but he shrugged it off quickly since it had gotten him this far and there wasn't much he could do to change it anyway.
He thanked his lucky stars that he didn't run into any zombies (he still wasn't used to using that word in a non-joking manner), and he finally turned onto his street. He pulled into the driveway behind his mom's car and killed the engine. After taking a moment to make sure it was safe to get out, he grabbed the gun he kept on the passenger seat and went inside, using the spare key hidden under the flower pot.
"Hello?" he called quietly once the door was shut behind him. He stood still, waiting for some sound to break the silence, but nothing did. "Hello?" he asked a bit louder, starting to move around. He checked the living room and the dining room and then the kitchen. There was no one there. Heart starting to pound, he took the stairs two at a time and checked every room upstairs. Still no one. "Hello?!" he called one last time, not willing to believe that the house was empty. He ran through every room again and then checked the attic and basement, finally collapsing onto the floor when he realized he had been everywhere and it finally sunk in that he was the only one in the house.
He took his phone out of his pocket and pressed the power button, willing it to come to life even though the battery had died somewhere around two thousand miles ago. He pressed it again and again, but nothing happened. He let out a strangled growl, throwing the phone against the opposite wall. This couldn't be happening. His family was safe. His dad and his mom and his brother. They were all safe. They were living somewhere else. This wasn't happening.
His mind ran through the possibilities. None of the neighboring houses had seemed occupied when he had driven by, but then he remembered his mom talking about visiting Judy Fabray on the next street over a few times years ago. Wasn't her daughter in glee with Blaine? Maybe they'd gone there. It was worth a try, and Cooper wasn't going to give up until he found them.
He left the house, locking the door behind him out of habit more than anything. He decided it would be safer to go by foot than to start his car up again, and he may have cut through a few yards, but he made it quicker than he expected. He walked up to the door he was almost positive belonged to the Fabrays and knocked four times, swallowing down hard over the lump in his throat.