Author's Note: Hello everyone! Sorry I've been MIA on this story... I've been focusing more on my other Sebtana AU fic, Thick as Thieves and even that has been ignored a little lately cos I've been so damn busy with school work. I could apologize for ages but I'm hoping you understand. I'm so sorry.

Once again, please do leave a review if you can, they give me warm fuzzies(: Thank you so, so much for reading and I hope you enjoy this installment!

Chapter Two: Acquaintances

Looks like the brainless creatures had discovered the art of opening doors after all.

Sebastian immediately pressed his back against the wall, ducking out of sight and hoping that he wasn't seen. His pistol was already in his hand, the motion of grabbing it had become second nature to him.

His heart was racing, adrenaline coursing rapidly through his veins. However, he forced himself to think things through before delving into the bloodbath. He weighed his options, considering the situation.

That Sebastian had to enter the apartment was a given – all his belongings were in there. He would have to take out the creatures, salvage what he could and go. It was just a matter of what essential items he could pack before the sounds and smells of his recent kills would attract a whole platoon more of their kind. He could never return to his home again.

"Fuck." He swore under his breath, setting the bag silently on the floor and rifling through the contents, grabbing a few magazines and stuffing them into his pockets. "Fuck fuckity fuck fuck."

Sebastian leaned his head back against the wall and shut his eyes. With a final gulp of air, he turned to face the open door. Pistol raised, he fired three consecutive shots, each one finding their targets in three Zombie skulls. The gunfire drew the attention of the rest, which raised their grotesque heads to look at Sebastian with deadened, cloudy eyes.

"I don't care what you say, my gun was faulty."

Sebastian was sulking. Just a little. Quinn was giggling at him with a condescending smile on her face.

"Of course, Sebby, of course." She cooed, wrapping her arms around his waist and looking up at him through her impossibly long, curly lashes. "We'll try again another time, then you can use the pink gun and I'll use the blue okay?"

Sebastian looked down at the pair of huge green doe-eyes face gazing at him intensely, the adoration clearly displayed in them. He could never stay upset at Quinn for long. Not when she was making that face with her chin pressed against his chest, anyway. He smirked, and squeezed her gently back, only to pick her clean up off the floor and spin her around in a circle.

She squealed in surprise, her legs kicking up behind her as she laughed. As he set her back on her feet, he held her close, refusing to release her from his hold as she squirmed and pounded at his chest with her fists.

When he finally let her go, she smacked him on the arm.

"Jerk." She scolded, though they were both laughing too hard to be bothered by it.

"Well that's what you get for beating me in House of The Dead 4." He said. "No, wait, you didn't beat me. My gun wasn't working properly."

"Yeah, yeah, for five straight rounds." Quinn retorted. "Whatever you say."

"And I say I'm right. Shall we go get lunch?"

"Of course, Mr Smythe."

"Then let's away, Ms Fabray."

Joining hands, they left the arcade smiling, never in their wildest dreams expecting that the horrors from the shooting game they had just played on a date were foreshadowing the terrors their future held.

Sebastian had to think and act fast. The creatures were converging on him, dragging their feet along the wooden floors and leaving trails of blood and bits of decaying matter.

These apocalyptic Zombies weren't the cute ones from games like Plants vs Zombies, no. These were the three-dimensional, live-action figures extracted straight from the darkest of nightmares. They were all in various states of decomposition, with pieces of dead flesh dangling off exposed bones, maggots wriggling in open, septic wounds. An array of revolting substances emitting the foulest of stenches oozed from the exposed bits of muscle and bone.

It was a nauseating sight indeed, but Sebastian was used to it. Of course, he avoided being close-range to them as much as possible, but desperate times like these call for desperate measures.

This was what he was trained for, anyway. What he had spent the last few months perfecting. The only thing the Zombies had on him was numbers – Other than that they didn't stand a chance. Before too long, ten broken corpses lay in crumpled heaps around the apartment.

Sebastian sprung right into action, running into the bedroom and yanking open the closet with more force than required. He raided through the hangers briefly, selecting a green hoodie and a black leather jacket. He layered them over his white T-shirt. He might need them wherever it was he was headed. Sebastian then pulled out a backpack from the back of his closet which was pre-packed and ready to go in case of emergencies like this. In it were some spare clothes, a few bottles of water, a bunch of protein bars and jerky sticks and a pistol identical to his usual with spare ammunition. Slinging the backpack it over his shoulder, he crossed the room in a few strides and looked out the French windows of the bedroom.

As he had expected, a whole swarm of creatures were converging on the building. Close to a hundred of them, by estimate. The sun had almost disappeared beneath the horizon; the only lighting left was a dim bluish-gray shadow, which did nothing to enhance the situation.

"Shit."

Sebastian grabbed a large duffel bag from the top of the closet. He moved around the room briskly, gathering items that would be useful or held some form of sentimental value. A few T-shirts. Underwear. Another pair of jeans. A fleece blanket. Two large towels. A complete first aid kit. Extra bandages and iodine solution. His wallet. A small photo album. His laptop. A portable radio/communicator. An antique pocket watch that had stopped working years ago. A small, intricately designed, ornate locket. A grey leather-bound book, that was dog-eared and worn.

He retrieved the bag he had left by the front door and did the same in the kitchen. Tins of canned tuna and fruit. More bottles of water. A box of knives. A bag of dried fruit. Two bottles of vodka. A lightweight metal pot with a lid. A box of medication. The machine gun and a belt of its ammo from the top shelf of the pantry. A jumbo box of matches and a packet of wax candles.

Carrying the three heavy bags, Sebastian stumbled out the front door and ran down six flights of stairs to the basement. Thankfully, he was quick enough to not have encountered any creatures along the way. But they were getting closer. Fast.

Pulling open the unlocked door of his jeep, Sebastian haphazardly threw the bags into the passenger seat, shut the door and was speeding back up the stairs to the apartment.

He pulled the tablecloth off the wooden dining table and lay it flat out on the floor. On top of it, he threw the remaining bottles of water, and then began retrieving firearms from around the room. A sniper rifle in its case from under the couch. The double-barrel shotgun propped up against the verandah wall. The machine gun from under the bed. The shoebox containing three pistols from the chest set. Finally, he opened the ammunition drawer and emptied the whole lot onto the pile.

Grabbing all four corners of the sheet to form a sack of sorts, Sebastian tried to heave it over his shoulder. Tried.

Fuck, it was heavy.

In the end he resorted to half-dragging, half-heaving the sack across the landing. It was far too slow for his liking. Still, he had no choice. Eventually, he made it to the top of the stairs and proceeded to drag the sack down the concrete steps. The contents made a muffled thud down each step, with the soft sloshing of the water bottles.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

That was when he heard it. The muffled sound of garbled movement, uncontrolled scrambling. The mangled moans. Then the smell hit him.

The thumps weren't just from the weapons. They were footsteps. The creatures were on their way up the stairs, blocking his only exit. The only way past them, was through them.

So be it.

Gasping for breath and limping into the driver's seat, Sebastian started the engine and braced himself as the garage door opened. He barely heard the loud rumble of the motor as the door was being raised over the pounding of blood against his ear drums. After the fast-pace of the evening, the slow, steady raise of the metal door seemed out of place. It was like watching the curtains of a stage raise on the opening act.

This was it. The closing number. The final curtain call. Running on stage with the rest of the cast and crew, with the widest grin plastered across his face, was the male lead Sebastian Smythe. The male and female leads stepped forward to take their customary bow. Turning to face Rachel, he hugged her tight and kissed her cheek, whispering a thank you in her ear. They had yet again led the production through seven sold-out shows, proving another successful year for the school's rapidly developing drama and arts programme.

Pulling away from their embrace, Sebastian looked down at Rachel's expression and rolled his eyes. Of course, trust Rachel Berry to be teary-eyed and emotional. Though this year it was comprehensible – It was Sebastian's senior year and herefore their final year of being stage partners.

He had first gotten known her in his sophomore year. The petite, dark-haired freshman had all but strutted into auditions and after blowing everyone away with her voice, demanded the role of the female lead. Annoyed as the committee was with her diva attitude, they had to admit that she was the best they'd seen. Rachel had talked non-stop throughout the committee's discussions under the assumption that the role was hers; rambling on about the great ideas she had for the show with regard to costumes and direction and stage sets. When they finally shushed her to tell her she had gotten the role, she had responded:

"Of course. Didn't we decide this five minutes ago? Let's not dwell on the obviousness of that and move on to more important things. There are other details to discuss if the show is going to be perfect. My outstanding vocals are the biggest asset you've got so far, so you would need to work around that because featuring me is what will add massive benefits to the musical. I won my first singing competition when I was five months old. Now I need to know that my male co-star is capable of keeping up with me vocally, therefore I propose that I be present during the auditions. When would those be?"

Everyone in the room had stared at her, completely dumbfounded and lost for words. Sebastian fought back a chuckle when he saw Wes' frozen expression, his mouth literally hanging open in pure shock and his gavel suspended a few inches over he table.

"The auditions for the male roles are right now, actually. I believe I'm up first." Sebastian had announced, breaking the awkward silence of the room.

Rachel had turned to him then, a blush spreading across her face when she realised who he was.

"O-of course." She said tersely, before adding "Please tell us your name and class and what song you'll be auditioning with today."

It was barely a fair fight between Sebastian and the other boys who auditioned. He was already the shoo-in for the part, seeing as he was one of the main males in the previous year's production. Needless to say, he outshone them all and got the part.

That was the first of the three years Sebastian and Rachel had worked together as the leading couple.

They had gotten along right away. Their stage chemistry was great, their voices complemented each other's well, and there was no denying that that Sebastian Smythe and Rachel Berry were the incredibly talented dynamic duo of the stage.

Off-stage, Sebastian was quick to establish and explain to Rachel that he saw her as nothing more than a little sister, as she reminded him so much of his little cousin who had died in a car crash a few years back. Upon hearing this, she diminished her crush on him and although initially a little disappointed, agreed that a mutual, platonic relationship would work best for them as actors.

Of course, shortly after their first encounter Sebastian had met Quinn and Rachel was head over heels for the school's goofy quarterback Finn Hudson, and their friendship had only grown. Sebastian was there for Rachel after every one of the many fights she had with Finn; Rachel helped Sebastian choose gifts for Quinn and pick out outfits for his dates.

Through the years, along with becoming closer to their significant others, they became closer as friends. Lovers on stage, siblings off. It worked.

So when the curtain came down on their final show, their friendship was so true that when the words "I love you" rolled off his lips for the hundredth time on that stage, it was the first time that the words were Sebastian's, not Tony's or Captain Von Trapp's or some character in a show.

Only when he absently-mindedly licked his lips did he taste the coppery tang of blood. Then he felt the numbing effect of the adrenaline fade, and pain started registering. Everywhere.

Sebastian inspected the gash above his right eye in the rear view mirror. Blood was started to congeal over the wound, but a river of red ran down the side of his face and into the crook of his mouth, which explained the blood he had tasted. A bruise was forming along his left jaw, but otherwise his face was fine.

He didn't dare to check the rest of his body just yet.

The rest of the night had gone by fairly uneventfully, considering what had happened back at Oakridge Apartments. He just drove and drove, not knowing or caring where he was headed. When the pain became too much to ignore, Sebastian finally decided he needed a place to stop. It was still dark out and he just needed someplace safe to park the jeep and shut his eyes for a few hours before the sun was up and it was safer to move on.

Finally he reached an abandoned city; he had no idea where since the signs weren't registering with him. His mind was somewhere else entirely.

The sun was just beginning to clear the horizon when he drove into the multi-storey carpark of what he assumed was once a luxury hotel. Pulling into a lot, Sebastian lugged his backpack over his shoulder, locked the jeep and strode into the lobby. Had he been in a clearer state of mind, whereby his brain was clouded in a mist of shock and exhaustion, he would have noticed some interesting details.

The coffee tables flipped over and arranged into a barricade in front of the elevators doors. The cream carpet ripped up to expose cold cement in areas. A loose wooden floorboard, something sticking out of the abyss beneath it. A broken wine glass, it's slender stem snapped cleanly in two, the carpet around in stained a deep plum.

But all Sebastian had on his mind right now was sleep. Using his torch for light, he climbed a few flights of stairs before kicking a random door open and doing a brief check to make sure it was uninhabited. The Queen bed was neatly made, the room completely untouched and pristine. Just like any other fancy hotel.

Pain and fatigue from the night's events combined in a lethal dose, and Sebastian passed out just as his head hit the cold sheets of the pillow.

"Come ON guys. I wanna hit the beach NOW!" Rachel squealed excitedly as she ran around the room collecting various items. "We have all the time in the world to unpack!"

Sebastian just laughed at his best friend's excitement, even more so when her brother grabbed her around the waist and rugby-tackled her onto the bed and proceeded to jab at her sides.

"Blaine!" She yelled between giggles "You know I'm ticklish! Stop it! Cut it out! Finn! Save me!"

Upon hearing his name, Finn dashed out of the ensuite bathroom looking extremely alarmed.

"Where's the fire?" he asked stupidly.

"What an idiot" Sebastian thought, averting his annoyed gaze to the floor while Quinn let out a nervous giggle and placed a hand on his chest as she sensed his change in mood.

Sebastian had never really approved of Finn. He felt that Rachel deserved so much better than the gangly, dumb jock who didn't appreciate her. He had left her heartbroken so many times, and Sebastian was always left to pick up the pieces over Barbra Streisand movie marathons and countless tubs of Ben and Jerry's. But somehow, on the rare occasions that they were not fighting, Finn managed to make his 'sister' happy, so he tolerated him for her sake.

Still, Sebastian was far from pleased when Rachel announced that Finn would be joining him, Quinn and Blaine on their short summer getaway.

The introduction of Finn into the scene had quickly changed the mood of the room. Ceasing the evil laughter, Blaine stopped torturing his sister and straightened his shirt formally, walking back towards Sebastian and Quinn and crossing his arms across his chest. The abrupt loss of everyone's happy laughter left the air ringing with strained silence. Rachel seemed to have sensed this. She smoothed the creases of her dress and pushed up off the bed, skipping over to Blaine and giving him a peck on the cheek. He couldn't help the small smile that crept up the corners of his lips and used his free arm to give his little sister a small squeeze around the shoulders.

"Okay… so, the beach?" Quinn had piped up to break the silence.

Everyone agreed in a mumble, except Finn who insisted on staying in the hotel room and watching America's Funniest Home Videos. Rachel looked disappointed, but nothing was going to dampen her excitement of being on a beach vacation with her brother and best friends.

Before too long they were all set and ready to go. Sebastian and Blaine decided to just leave their shirts in the room, draping towels across their bare shoulders and adorning shades, and waited by the door in their board shorts.

Quinn and Rachel slipped light sundresses over their swimsuits and accessorised with floppy hats and sunglasses. The girls had grown really close over the past few years after Quinn had overcome her initial apprehension at Rachel spending so much time with her boyfriend. However, it hadn't taken her long to understand that Sebastian and Rachel would never be anything more than friends and the girls had become inseparable since.

Happy as they were to be enjoying their last summer together before Blaine and Sebastian left for college, Sebastian, Blaine and Quinn couldn't help but notice the lingering, disappointed glance Rachel had thrown towards her buffoon of a boyfriend laughing stupidly in the room.

Sebastian saw the light from behind his eyelids, felt the generated heat a light bulb against his left cheek.

Light bulb… Electricity! He hadn't found any electric source in months.

His eyelids flew open, only to blink back shut sharply from a blinding light shining right at him.

"Jesus Christ." He swore, trying to rub his eyes and get his vision back. When he felt himself unable to move his hands towards his face, he looked around in confusion to find that his wrists were bound to the headboard of the luxurious queen bed. And he was naked, save for a pair of dark boxer briefs.

"What the fuck?"

Sebastian was wide awake at this point. Slowly, the events of the past night flooded back to him. The Zombies attacking his apartment. His injuries –he really felt them now, sore and stinging as ever. Driving blindly into the night. Falling asleep from shock and pain and exhaustion.

But none of this explained his current situation: In a deluxe hotel suite, which was lit up with electric lights, the bedside lamp inches from his face. The curtains were slightly drawn, and from what he could see, there was a huge rainstorm outside. This was confirmed by the low rumble of thunder. Or was that his stomach? He was positively starving. There was no clock, and the grey sky provided no indication of time. The room looked clean and untouched, his backpack thrown in the far corner. His long legs were tangled in the sheets, his wrists secured to either end of the headboard, exposing his bare chest. He didn't like how vulnerable he felt right now.

Experimentally, Sebastian tried shifting his right wrist. Every part of him hurt and he grimaced when the small movement caused waves of pain to throb through him. Damn, whoever did this to him knew their knots – there was no way he could wiggle out of those bonds. He involuntarily let out a small groan of pain when an especially hard tug hit a nerve.

When he heard the humming coming from the bathroom, Sebastian fell dead silent. The voice was melodious and sweet, yet jazzy and rich. It was also strangely familiar. He knew it from somewhere, but the fog in his strained mind refused to clear and it hurt too much to think right now.

He found he didn't need to think after all, for the person whom the voice belonged to stepped out of the bathroom and into his plain sight.

"Santana?"

"Hello, Sebastian."

Author's Note: Ta-dah! I apologize for any mistakes... it's late and my mind isn't quite thinking straight right now haha. Do point them out so I can correct them though! Thanks again for reading (: