Eat or die

Summary: Abandoned in a post-apocalyptic world, Rachel is ready to end her life. Until she meets her new travel companion, Quinn. Zombies. Supernatural!AU. Faberry.

Rachel swept her eyes over the rooftop she was sitting on, over the edge and across the post-apocalyptic scenery. The sight of blackened buildings and ruined streets would be her very last view and the not-so-distant moaning of zombies would be the last sounds to grace her ears. It was her fault; she'd insisted her friends leave her behind with her leg in such a horrid state. One incident with a machete and she was left with a nasty gash that made it impossible for her to run. And running was required to get to their truck in the parking lot. She knew from experience that she'd keep up the group, which would eventually lead to even more causalities. It was the survival of the fittest.

That, and she had a feeling that the wound was starting to infect.

She turned her eyes on the gun in her lap. At least she'd go out with a bang. It was nothing like the metaphorical bang she had always envisioned, before the world went to hell, but it sounded like heaven compared to a dozen zombies gnawing on her bones.

With a sigh, she settled on her decision. While her life hadn't been perfect, she'd lived with as little regrets as possible. Now she was offered an as graceful way out as the situation allowed her and she was going to take it.

With the end of her life in sight, she was doubly surprised to see the blonde woman standing in front of her when she looked up. Her first thought went to the undead having made their way onto the roof, but she was sitting against the only entrance up to the deserted place. The woman also looked nothing like a walking corpse. In fact, she looked the cleanest and most well fed than any other person Rachel had met in the last year – which, granted, weren't that many, but still.

"Are you okay?" the woman spoke, looking worried as she took a few steps closer. Rachel could only look on in incomprehension. The blonde looked so untouched by all the misery that was going on around them that she had trouble confirming she was real. In the pink hoodie, casual jeans and black leather boots, she looked lost in the environment, out of context.

The woman stopped, barely a few feet away from her. She was suddenly sporting a confused expression. "You're not a zombie, are you?"

This finally snapped Rachel out of her daze. She shook off the confusion. "No. No, I'm not."

The woman smiled and closed the distance between them, kneeling in front of the brunette. Rachel took a moment to wonder if maybe she had already shot herself and an angel had come to get her.

Kind, hazel eyes darted down to her bloody leg and the gun in her lap. "Were you going to kill yourself?" she asked, having the nerve to glance up at her in a mildly disapproving fashion.

Rachel scoffed at this. "What else is there for me?" She looked down at her one way ticket to permanent relief. "Recuperation time longer than a day spells out a very painful, drawn out death, and in case you haven't noticed, I'm kind of low on everything, including proper supplies."

The woman relented with a vague nod of her head, then leaned forward into her personal space and became serious. "I want to offer you a deal." When Rachel's only reaction was to flatten herself into the door she was sitting up against, she continued, "And you can't back out of it."

Rachel blinked. "Okay?"

"I'll take care of you if you take care of me." She purposely let her eyes drop to the ruined jeans.

"That sounds awfully ambiguous," Rachel muttered hesitantly. At an expectant raise of the eyebrows, she relented. What else could she do? Arrange a bargain with her gun to hit her straight in the pleasure center of her brain? "Alright, you have yourself a deal. Though if I'm eaten alive, don't think I won't spare any energy in trying to come back to haunt you." Despite her words, she held out a hand.

The woman laughed, shaking her head. Short, shoulder length hair bounced as if she just came from a stylist appointment. "Fair enough," she agreed, reaching out to shake Rachel's hand. "What's your name?"

Rachel barely had the time to notice how cold the woman's hand felt to the touch before she had already retracted her hand. "Rachel."

"Well, Rachel." She stood up, taking off her backpack and ditching it next to her on the ground. "I'm going to find some things for your leg." She took a few steps in a random direction, away from the only exit Rachel thought the roof had, then seemed to remember something and turned to make eye contact with the other woman. "Try not to kill yourself while I'm gone, okay?"

She laughed at the way Rachel rolled her eyes before disappearing behind the tiny building that was the staircase.

It took a moment, and more than a few glances at the backpack carelessly deposited next to her, but Rachel realized that there was a possibility she may be able to postpone her death, if even by a few hours.

With every few seconds that passed by, a wave of incredulousness washed over her, so she settled on hugging the foreign backpack to her front; a definite reminder that she had to hold on for the mysterious stranger.

Rachel rolled her eyes at the thought.

Her big bang could wait.

By the time the stranger returned, the sun was already high up in the air. The blonde was holding a plastic bag with supplies and it wasn't until Rachel got curious that she realized she could've searched through the woman's backpack in the time she was gone.

"I see you kept your end of the bargain," she said airily, as if it wasn't the end of the world and they were discussing the weather.

Rachel smiled feebly in return. "If you turn out to be a cannibal, I'm going to be seriously disappointed that I have."

The blonde chuckled at that, and settled down in front of the other girl. She either had no sense of personal space, or had forgotten about social etiquette, because she always seemed to sit a little too close. She pulled out the items she brought with her and Rachel's eyes widened as she saw the two oranges being offered at her. She must've been staring on incredulously, because the mystery stranger practically pushed them into her arms. "Take them. They're yours."

She didn't need to be told twice and then she was practically ripping into them with shaky hands. "I take it back," she said quickly. "If you are a cannibal, this is one hell of a way to go." Once she had the fruit peeled enough and had her first taste of fresh fruit in what seemed like forever, she was sure her taste buds – scratch that – her entire body must've had an orgasm. She was vaguely aware that the stranger released another chuckle at her drawn out moan. "What's your name?" she asked through a mouthful, set on demystifying the woman.

"Quinn," she replied. "Quinn Fabray." There was still a small smile on her face, and despite every alarm bell going off in Rachel's head, she decided that she liked Quinn Fabray.

"Well, Quinn," she started as the aforementioned girl started pulling out two bottles of water. "I…" She faltered. She hadn't had this much luxury in what seemed like forever. "Are you sure you're not going to offer me to some obscure God?"

"No, nothing like that," she answered with another amused chuckle. Rachel got slightly worried when the smile died down, but wisely kept her mouth shut until the woman proceeded. "Rachel, I'm a vampire."

If the giant ERROR message hadn't popped up in her mind, Rachel would've probably laughed right about now.

"I'm only telling you because you humans do such stupid things when they think they're being deceived, so I'm saying this now." Hazel eyes looked straight at her. "I'm a vampire and I'm taking care of you because I can and it's inhumane not to, but also because—because I haven't fed in a really long time and I get so goddamned hungry."

Rachel's jaw slackened, and she was pretty sure she was gaping. There was a moment of complete and utter incomprehension, but then again, they were currently surrounded by hordes of zombies, so why couldn't vampires exist either? The fact that she wasn't already dead and being taken care of instead was reason enough for Rachel to like her. No painful death equaled good. No painful death and eating like a queen equaled mindblowingly awesome. So she simply shrugged. "Okay."

Quinn gazed at her, trying to gauge her sanity. "Are you for real?"

The brunette took a big bite from the orange, delighted as her mouth filled with sweet juices. "Granted, I'm having issues believing your story," she said, not bothering with proper dinner etiquette. "But regardless, I'm eating my first orange in months and you're promising protection. Right now, anything's better than a bullet in the brain, and your alternative is simply divine."

The vampire stared a little longer. "You're serious," she half asked, half stated. Rachel gave her a look as she continued to inhale the orange. "Okay then." She reached out for Rachel's leg, then, and despite the woman's easy acceptance of the story, she still pulled back. Quinn rested her hands on the floor in front of the brunette and gave her an amused look. "We can do this in two ways. Either you let me fix you up with these bandages and alcohol," she held up the white plastic bag pointedly, "or I heal you right up."

By now, Rachel had reached for the second orange. She paused in her peeling of the fruit. "What do you mean?"

"As a vampire, I can heal wounds if they're small and fresh enough," she explained, sniffing the air briefly. "And by the smell of it, you must've gotten wounded not long ago."

The way her clear eyes trailed over her wounded leg made Rachel feel slightly uncomfortable, but she refused to squirm. Then it hit her. Small, fresh wounds caused by vampires usually involved biting, so… "Does this healing involve the combination of my leg and your mouth by any chance?"

Quinn's eyes shot up at the comment, but then she averted them in an almost bashful manner. "Yes," she muttered.

Rachel beamed at her own cleverness, continuing the process of eating the second orange. "Does it hurt?"

Quinn adopted her previously amused look, now tinted by something akin to fascination. "No." She observed the girl as she popped in a piece of fruit. "I've heard it's quite nice."

"Then go ahead," she said, propping up her leg with some difficulty until it was bent at the knee. "It's been killing me since the very first moment."

The blonde's eyes twinkled, slowly trailing down along her body. "I can see how you survived this long."

Rachel looked up, the question written across her face.

"You adapt fast," Quinn remarked, worrying her lower lip between her teeth, unknowingly baring her fangs to the other woman. It looked like she was holding herself back as she reached for the hurt leg with forced calmness. The removal of the bloodied rags that bound Rachel's legs didn't happen without a few winces and hisses, but afterwards, the diagonal slash was revealed. It looked deep and painful, blood seeping freely without the wrap.

Rachel became slightly worried at the hungry stare. "When is the last time you… fed?"

Quinn blinked once, twice, before raising her eyes with the greatest difficulty. "Sorry?"

"When is the last time you fed?" she repeated.

"Oh, um… Oh goodness, I don't know, a month maybe?" She furrowed her brow, a brief glance downwards betraying her anxiousness. Rachel noticed with some morbid fascination that the clear hazel color of her eyes was replaced by the black of blown out pupils.

"I don't know how I've survived so far," Rachel muttered to herself, and patted the thigh of her wounded leg. "Do it before I change my mind."

Quinn nodded tersely, her hands immediately shooting out to rip off the offending lower half of her jeans. The sudden, rather loud rip startled the brunette into thinking her flesh was being torn, but she was relieved to find out otherwise. Quinn went on unhindered, throwing the dirty piece of cloth that used to be Rachel's jeans to the side. If she'd been in any coherent state of mind, she would've probably commented on how surprised she was it hadn't already infected. Instead, she lifted the wounded limb with steady hands as far as was comfortable for the other woman, and leaned down.

Rachel had expected a sharp sting despite the reassurance – any kind of pain, really – but was pleasantly surprised to feel a cool numbness spread through her calf at the first tough of lips. There was something decidedly erotic about the way Quinn ran her tongue along the enflamed skin of her wound, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Soothing, cool lips and tongue were easing her pain in the most wondrous of ways and it was all she could do not to rumble in pleasure.

The image of Quinn reverently cleaning all the blood from her flesh was almost a poetic sight to behold. A twisted, beautifully morbid sight, but a sight nevertheless. She was slightly worried when that mouth strayed to the deepest part of her wound, but when it made contact, things only got better. Despite that it felt as if the vampire had been sucking on ice and was spreading the coolness to her via a rather unconventional method, a rush of warm tingles erupted from beneath those heavenly lips. The coolness stayed around the wound, creating a strange fizzy feeling as the flesh started to knit together, but the warmth spread and spread until it was seeping into her upper thigh. While it was one of the most comfortable feelings she had experienced in quite a while, she began to panic as it trickled higher towards her heart. She may not know how exactly things worked, but she did know that it felt bad and that her gut feeling had saved her more than once.

"Stop!" she said hurriedly, with a violence she hadn't meant to use.

Despite that Rachel had hardly moved at all – which was a miraculous feat of itself – Quinn flinched back a good feet at the command. Dangerously alert eyes stared straight at her, and for a moment the brunette was taken aback with how feral she looked, hunched and ready to strike.

She was officially convinced that the vampire held true.

"Quinn?" she tried carefully, almost afraid to make any sudden movements.

With what seemed to be a great deal of difficulty, the vampire blinked away the rougher edges of her somewhat extreme condition. "What?" It was a simple question, but it was spoken with so much unintentional authority that Rachel almost offered back her leg – which was now practically healed, with only a thin pink scar to show for it. Her frightened state must've showed, because Quinn then closed her eyes and seemed to take a moment to reign in the beast. When those eyes opened back up, Rachel was very pleased to be met with hazel irises. "Too much?" she asked, sounding much more like the young adolescent woman she was.

Rachel let out a relieved breath. "Yes." She hesitated, not sure how to continue. "Is it supposed to feel like that?"

"Like what?" The blonde took a noticeable effort not to breathe, and her remarkably immobile state unnerved Rachel, but she pressed on.

"Like you're slowly taking command of my body and telling it to feel all kinds of pleasurable things instead of what should surely have been unholy, scorching pain."

Quinn quirked a smile at the description. "That sounds about accurate."

"Well okay then," she said with a chipperness that was entirely inappropriate for the situation, then moved to get up as if a vampire sucking the life into her – the irony didn't go past her – was a daily occurrence. "We should probably remove ourselves from the premise and obtain a better hiding place."

Quinn, perhaps looking as surprised as Rachel should have been, took a moment to shake the cobwebs from her mind before agreeing.

Rachel moved to the edge of the roof, partly fascinated by the painless effort it took to use her previously incapacitated leg, but mostly focused on the next important task at hand. She glanced over the edge of the roof, taking in the long way down and the horde of zombies scrambling at the bottom. They were no doubt attracted to the ruckus they made this morning and were hanging about mindlessly. "Though how we'll get away from this place is a mystery," she said, sending Quinn a meaningful look.

The woman in question was in the process of donning her backpack when she realized the hint. "I ran," she answered as she came to stand next to the other woman. At the insistence of Rachel's questioning expression, she added, "And jumped."

"What, so you'll carry me as you free run through the city?" she asked in mild disbelief.

"Do you have any stuff with you?"

"You're serious?" Rachel asked. Quinn looked around as she searched for some kind of rations, easily avoiding the question. The brunette sighed. "Since I'm not a greedy dead woman, no. Not particularly." She looked down at the gun in her hand. "Though they were graceful enough to lend me the malfunctioning weapon."

The vampire, adopting a sympathetic look, took it wordlessly and chucked it over the edge of the roof. "You won't be needing that." Then, with a considerably lighter demeanor, added, "I'll take you to the closest safe house I know." And before Rachel could properly process what she meant, hands were already at her knees and shoulders, suddenly carrying her. Her own hands had shot out to stabilize herself on Quinn's shoulders, locking them in a somewhat awkward half embrace. It was nowhere near as intimate as the Soul Sucking (as Rachel had so graciously dubbed it in her mind), but a little strange nevertheless.

"Is this the part where you tell me to hold on?" Rachel asked somewhat skeptically, her arms tightening around Quinn's neck nevertheless.

Quinn almost snorted in reply. "If you like." She shifted their weight until she was comfortably holding her. "I'm hardly going to let you fall just because you're not holding on properly."

"Good." Rachel looked up at Quinn when they didn't immediately move, surprisingly unbothered by their proximity. "What are you waiting for?"

Once again Quinn shook her head in amused disbelief, but otherwise didn't say anything as she leapt clean off the ledge and onto the adjoining building.

Yes. Yes, I have gone crazy.

There is plot for the next chapters. Messy, gory plot. But should I not find any inspiration to continue this, then I can stop right here and claim it was a somewhat pointless oneshot.

I'm ashamed to admit I updated this in the hopes that reviews would motivate me to write (better).