The Untitled Wound

Author: GleekShip

Spoilers: Set During Season 1, but no spoilers.

Summary: Kurt does everything he can do to survive the final moments of a shooting at McKinley.

Pairings: Kurt/?

The Untitled Wound

Up until the time that something bad happens, you don't think it can happen to you. It's the kind of thing you only hear on TV. It's something that you feel bad for, but are secretly thankful that it happened to them and not you. You're happy that this one time, your drama isn't as bad as theirs. That it isn't as severe as theirs. That it isn't as damaging as theirs. But this time isn't one of those times. Out of the billions of people, it happens to you. Out of the hundreds of thousands of schools, it happens to yours. Out of all of the people that have to die, the ones closest to you are taken. It's something that you don't think you'd be able to handle, but you do when your instinct and fight for survival push you to that ledge and give you the gentle push to jump right in and fight.

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Kurt lets his head rest against the wall for that split second, his chest heaving from panic and the memory of the lud bang still in his head from a few minutes ago. It keeps looping itself in his head. It doesn't help that every time he hears someone run for their survival, a bang echoes through the building and the running stops. That's all he's been hearing for the past two hours and the sounds are permanently edged into his brain. Silence is the other thing lodged in his brain. He has a gut feeling in every fiber of his being that both will be in his nightmares for the rest of his life if he were to survive, but that could also be the gun wound as well.

Kurt lets out a shaky breath as he looks down to the water fountain that's pressed into his body. He had decided to hide in the little cubicle that houses two water fountains as it was the only place to hide in the long corridor due to all of the doors being locked or already have been opened and were now full of the bloody deceased or the unconscious and wounded.

The shot in his stomach has his blood leading a small trail to the drain on the fountain, mixing his blood into wherever the water goes. His DNA is being spread through Lima. That's the thought at the front of his mind to help ignore the pain. He was tempted to just start running and get shot so it would end, but he's not brave enough for that. His current shot was because someone had decided to save his life.

Kurt bites his lip and lets his mind think. He doesn't think it's appropriate to just lie still and die after someone had saved him the first time. He doesn't want to die, but he didn't see it as fair. He was able to name every single body that he had passed thanks to the schools size and he had come up with a count of bodies that shouldn't even exist with death yet. These people that are shooting up the school have been utilizing their time for far too long.

The last gunshot he had heard a few minutes before had sounded distant, but a lot can happen in ten minutes. Ten minutes since he had hidden in the small alcove. Ten minutes since his blood had added a bitter mixture to the sewage of Lima. He wanted to wait to hear something else, but he can't bear the thought of hearing someone else get shot. Who would it be this time? A freshmen? Teacher? Perhaps one of the already dwindling numbers of his friend group? He can't possibly watch another friend go down . . . not like he did before.

Kurt lets out a shaky breath before reaching down to the hem of his shirt and giving it a slow tug. Even the ruffle of the fabrics from his layers of clothes seem to increase tenfold with touch and twentyfold with movement. He hesitates slightly when his fingers meet his sticky blood that's molded together with the fabric, but he pushes on. He slowly brings both layers over to create a firm fold along his waist. He rolls the fabric again and creates another fold. And another, and another. He stops when he has a firm padding of fabric over his gun wound. He reaches around his back to make sure that the fold worked back there as well with the exit wound. He gives it a light pat, risking the hiss from his own lips just so he can make sure he has something to help keep blood in.

With everything that he can think of in place, he slides out from between the wall and water fountain to step out into the hallway. His sudden dizziness comes half from his wound and the other half from the blood smears and bodies in the hallway. This wasn't a high school shooting anymore, it was a massacre. A massacre that would scar this part of Ohio for many years to come. Kurt takes one slow step forward, a relieved smile on his face appearing for that brief second. Maybe there is hope. Maybe the gunmen's final shots were to kill themselves. Maybe the police have already took the other side of the school and the gunmen within it, that is if they were over there. Of course it's wishful thinking, but that's what he needs at this point to keep that smile on his face.

Another step.

The pounding in his ears override the impossibly loud footsteps that he's making with each movement. His eyes are darting back and forth, his migraine not making the action any easier. His feet have become numb after his narrow escape and the gunshot wound. All of his blood seemed to be migrating towards the two unnatural holes in his body thanks to a certain bullet.

Kurt's eyes widen as he almost slips on a pool of blood. His arms fling out and he manages to grab onto the top of the lockers to prevent his fall. He's not one hundred percent sure, but he thinks he let out a yelp and that's the weird noise that now echos through the hallway. Kurt steadies his breath and body at the same time while refusing to look down at the body whose blood he had slipped on. He doesn't want to add another name to his permanent memory of people that he's seen dead. He sighs and tells himself to think of his happy place. To think -

Kurt smiles as he sits down at the piano, letting his fingers dance across the many white keys and the limited black ones. He feels so at home here in the auditorium. So many of his high school landmarks have happened here and his last high school one will happen here as well, his graduation.

He slowly adds pressure to one key before doing the same to another. A few more downward motions of his fingers and he's playing his normal song. The one that makes him happy. Kurt smiles at the thought of his comfort song, but his smile falters slightly. His ears twitch when he realizes that he's not playing his usual song. This one is much more slower, full of sorrow and melancholy. Oh the pain. Kurt can feel the ache that comes from playing this song, almost like he's playing a song from a thousand funerals that are being smashed into this moment.

I open my eyes

I try to see but I'm blinded by the white light

Kurt looks up at the voice, ignoring his uncontrolled fingers playing that song that he wouldn't want played. He sees Mercedes slowly walk to the middle of the stage, her eyes shut and her fingers interlaced in front of her. Kurt wants to get up and look at her, but he can't move and he can't stop playing. His bottom lip quivers when he notices a trail of liquid seeping out of her hair and onto her white diva shirt.

I can't remember how

I can't remember why

I'm lying here tonight

The next voice surprises him. He had barely heard Mike sing, but here he was, walking across the stage to stand by Mercedes, but seeming so far apart. The boy is much paler than usual. Some breeze hits the boy and Mike's shirt moves so Kurt can see a huge chunk of the shirt and Mike's body had been blasted away, lost. Kurt wants to say something, but someone else speaks up.

And I can't stand the pain

And I can't make it go away

No I can't stand the pain

Santana makes her way down the stage to take her spot next to Mercedes, singing her heart out.. The girls face is paved with blood, but it doesn't seem to disturb her. Through her strapless dress, Kurt can see the missing skin and deep hole within her skin right where her heart should be. Kurt can feel the tears leaking from his face, but he still can't say anything to comfort himself now.

How could this happen to me

All three people on the stage start singing in unison. Each voice brings certain element that makes the song sound great, but haunting at the same time.

I made my mistakes

I've got no where to run

The stage slowly becomes darker as the trio up front start to tremble.

The night goes on

As I'm fading away

I'm sick of this life

I just wanna scream

Kurt watches just like he did in real life. He watches as each of them recreate their deaths in his happy place. He first watches Mercedes get jerked back, her head first. A trail of blood follows the bullet hole that struck her in her head. Her body lands with a thud, a pool of blood surrounding her head and a trail of blood going up the stage that followed the bullet until it had burned off. Kurt realizes that he's watching them in the order that he had seen them die. He was with Mercedes at the time, along with most of the glee club, when the shot took them by surprise. They were all in shock until they hear another gunshot.

Kurt has no time to mourn or react from his shock as Mike goes to jump to the side, but then he is jerked back as well as the shot from the more powerful gun tears a hole into his stomach. The boy is quickly on the floor, sprawled out with his face still in a look of determination. He had quickly tried to protect Tina and that second shot that they all heard was another death shot that ended the life of Mike Chang.

Santana suddenly drops down and tries to get into a fetal position. She screams when her arm is jerked up, tears streaming down her face. A dark chuckle echoes through the room before Kurt watches Santana's chest and heart explode from the metal tip of a gun that had been pressed there. You would think that Santana would have fought back, but shock and the little girl inside of her had made her want her to cry. Kurt had learned that some tears that are left in your eyes when you die can still fall out and make your death look even worse.

Kurt is left alone with the silence and gun shots echoing throughout his mind. He's left alone, his fingers however keep playing the sombrous song, waiting to be finished. Kurt lets out a shaky breath before finishing the chorus.

How could this happen to me

His voice rings out, all alone. Kurt goes to try and stand up to pull away from the piano, but he spots the next person coming into the room. It's -

Kurt lets out a shaky breath as he reaches the first corner. He can feel his heart pounding between his ears, making his eardrums sound like they're on the verge of combusting. He uses one shaky hand to hold onto the cold concrete corner before he peers around it's chipped edge. More bodies are the first thing he notices. Blood too. For a better depiction, imagine a slaughterhouse. That's the close Kurt can come to describing the horrid corridor. Luckily for him though, it's all in the clear there, at least of shooters. Kurt lets out is umpteenth shaky breath before stepping into the hallway.

Sadly, he doesn't know how many crazed maniacs have roamed these halls recently, talking about the ones that brought the guns. To have caused this much damage, this much life loss . . . it had to be a group. Right? It's just insane that one person could just kill and kill. Yes it's insane for a group to do it, but that means that there's some influence or cult-like thing that's manipulating a group to do this. Plus it means, if Kurt's hopes were to be high, that one will get cold feet and attempt to help the case by getting help. Somehow.

Kurt eyes the bodies on the floor. He's still recognizing names, names of people that he'll never see moving around again. Names he'll never want to say again in fear. It doesn't help that this is the first time that he's made it to this side of the school since this thing had started. He had been hiding out in the hallways for the most part. He's afraid of the classrooms because of the damage within. It's too intense for him to want to enter them, let alone to hide until help comes. It seems that every 20 minutes or so the police and SWAT outside would use a bull horn to yell something at the attackers, but nothing else has been done. For hours now, he's been locked inside, bleeding to death for the last bit of it. The police aren't doing anything to get into the school. He doesn't even know if anyone has made it out to spread the tale of the event within.

Kurt is halfway down the hallway when he starts thinking of his eternal gratitude/hatred for someone. He had been pushed aside, he should be grateful, but he's not. He's still living in this hell and his body is slowly running out of blood to boot. But he was pushed, so he's at a mixture of feelings. The sad thing is, he only saw a glimpse of his savior before more bullets were fired again and he was pulled away by his only surviving friend. So there Kurt and his savior were, being drug in opposite directions by friends, but Kurt wanted to go back. He wanted to hug or hit his savior, but that would be for later, assuming he survives of course.

At this point, he's not sure if anyone will survive. The gunmen seem set and determined on destroying everyone inside the building. Sure he had seen a few stragglers running around after he lost his last friend, but they just keep running. Where to? Kurt has to chuckle softly. All of the doors leading out of the school seem to be guarded for the most part, which explains why Kurt was still walking around in circles for help. Help that's not likely to find him anytime soon.

Kurt is about halfway through this corridor when he stops. One sound. It's that one sound. Kurt starts hyperventilating as he hears the calm walking footsteps that mean death is just around the corner. Kurt leans against the wall and tries to -

Kurt is back, but it's no his happy place anymore. He's paralyzed as he watches Finn slowly walk onto the stage. His hand is looped in that of Becky Jackson's. Finn has a huge hole in the front of his chest while Becky's has the top part of her head blasted off. Kurt cringes at the memory. Finn slowly pulls Becky up to where Mercedes was standing, stepping all over her corpse in the process.

Everybody's screaming

I try to make a sound but no one hears me

Finn's voice is so broken that Kurt cringes and finally his fingering of the keys falters before correcting itself. Becky's voice is so soft that it shouldn't carry anywhere, but he still hears it and has to fight back tears. He remembers their death as well. Finn had made Becky hide behind him so he could talk down the gunman. The shot had went through Finn's chest and hit Becky in the head. Both of them went down together. If the shot didn't get Becky, then she would have either suffocated or died of a broken neck. The girl wouldn't have been strong enough to get Finn's body off of her and most likely no one would have stopped to save her life in sacrifice of their own.

I'm slipping off the edge

I'm hanging by a thread

I wanna start this over again

Kurt prepares himself for the next set of deaths that he had witnessed. This time it's Matt. Kurt never really knew the boy, but that doesn't mean he should with him are Jacob Ben Israel and Lauren Zizes. Those three were unlucky enough to be at the front of the lunch crowd when everything had started. Matt was walking silently ahead of everyone as they made their way back to the classrooms. Lauren had spent her lunch in the AV club room while Jacob was in the newspaper editing office. Both of them had stepped out and met their tragic and unnecessary fates. Matt is the one carrying the song as the other two stay mute. All three share a stream of bullet holes across their chests.

So I try to hold onto a time when nothing mattered

And I can't explain what happened

And I can't erase the things that I've done

No I can't

The next voice is one that he doesn't want to hear. It was the last close friend to him that he'd seen alive. Tina comes limping out on the stage, a trail of blood leading from the back of her calves. Kurt did try to stop when she was shot in the legs, but she started sobbing uncontrollably and used her last bit of strength to push Kurt forward. She didn't save him the first time, but she had given him more time to fight. His last look at her was watching her spit up blood as a round of bullets were fired into her back. Kurt can see the blood seeping out of Tina's body from either side.

How could this happen to me

The bigger group of people sing their parts together. Kurt finds himself cringing as he's able to distinguish each voice from the others.

I made my mistakes

I've got no where to run

The night goes on

As I'm fading away

Kurt really wishes that his fingers would stop playing, that the song would just stop. The world needs to stop.

I'm sick of this life

I just wanna scream

Kurt shuts his eyes and cringes as he watches the deaths be recreated again. Every jerk, every blood splat, every whimper of pain . . . he watches them all go down. Kurt can't help himself from finishing the chorus again.

How could this happen to me

Kurt chokes on a sob and -

Kurt moves as quickly and quietly as possible and lies on the ground. Even if he isn't dead, he knows he looks close enough to it. He shifts to the wall and tries to mimic one of the bodies that he'd seen earlier by curling up slightly. Many people he saw had tried getting into the fetal position for protection, but their bodies have uncurled somewhat after death. Kurt squeezes his eyes shut, but then lets them relax slightly.

Another step.

Kurt goes completely limp. He's been playing the part of the I'm-Better-Than-You façade for so long that playing one limp body should be the least of his problems when it comes to this impromptu exercise. Impromptu meaning necessary and exercise meaning do it now or you're gonna die. Very simple.

Another step.

More steps.

Steps. Kurt's tempted to open his eyes at the sounds. He hears multiple footsteps walking slowly around the hallway. He can hear each of them shuffling. The clanking of guns are louder than ever. This is it. Here is the brigade of gunmen going through the school to see their kill for the day. Kurt can't help the whimper that bubbles from his lips.

His heart stops.

His breathing stops.

He stops.

He-

Kurt watches this time as a stampede of dead people walk up onto the stage. Everyone that he had seen die: Quinn, Artie, Rachel, Brittany, a countless amount of teachers including Mr. Schue and Coach Sylvester. The stage is flooded and Kurt almost gags on the unholy stench that fills his nose. The deceased opens their mouths, but Kurt finds himself singing the end.

I made my mistakes

Kurt feels himself being lifted up from the piano. He tries to thrash about, but it's useless as the bodies start dropping. His happy place doesn't exist anymore.

I've got no where to run

It probably never will again.

The night goes on

As I'm fading away

Kurt closes his eyes so he doesn't have to witness the deaths again, but he still hears the thuds of the bodies dropping.

I'm sick of this life

His vision is suddenly bright, no more darkness.

I just wanna scream

Kurt wants to give up so much now, but he isn't ready to. If this won't be his happy place anymore, then he needs to find some place in reality. He's not going down without a fight.

How could this hap-

Kurt feels the hand on his shoulder as he's turned around and strikes his hand out. The guy in the suit recoils slightly.

"We got a live one."

"What?" Kurt's eyes dart around as he pushes himself back against the set of lockers.

In front of him are a large team of guys in black bulky suits with the words SWAT across them. A group of them had already continued down the hall, checking bodies at random. Kurt is brought back to the attention of the guy in front of him.

"It's alright kid. We got everything under control."

Kurt can't help the fact that he snorts. That's got to be the most ridiculous thing that he's heard all day. The guy doesn't look amused, but he does look down to see Kurt's rolled up shirt and the blood stained all around.

"Hang in there kid. We'll have someone in here soon to help you."

And with that, Kurt is left alone. That stampede of feet is echoing down another hallway, another death area. Kurt slowly looks around. Things seem to be brighter in this area now that he knows he's getting help. Unfortunately it's the SWAT's duty to clear the school and make sure it's safe before they take care of the survive occupants. Screw it.

Kurt presses a hand to his wound and takes in a deep breath. With his other hand, he turns over and props himself up on all threes. He stands back on his knees before slowly getting two his feet. He's not waiting for help to come to him. That will make him seem like a victim. He hasn't been a victim for a long time now and he's not going back.

Kurt stumbles forward. His breathing may be uneven, he may be bleeding a bit too much to be considered well, but he's fine in his eyes. He's survived. That's what this is about, right? Surviving the improbable events that could happen to anyone. No. It's about surviving life. Not that others couldn't survive, but that he was given a chance.

Kurt turns out of his current corridor and stops. At the very end of the seemingly endless hallway, the doors are open. It's sad since he used to never like going outside, but he'll take it. His walking quickens, as does his breathing. Is there a chance he'll pass out? Sure, but he needs to get out. His happy place isn't in his mind or the school, at the last the choir room, but outside. A place where he can keep on walking.

Who survived? It's the last stretch for him before he can start putting this tragedy behind him, but his mind is still going. He hasn't seen Karofsky's body, so maybe he did. Miss Pillsbury too. At this point, he had only seen one surviving member of his friends, and they also happened to be his savior the first time around. He really hopes his savior was a survivor as well.

The light seems somewhat bright after seeing blood and being distressed for so long. At about halfway down the hallway, he can see a large crowd of people outside; from news people and concerned families, to some of the survivors and the police. Kurt knows he's spotted when he hears a few people cry out. He has only moved a few more feet when he sees a group of people moving into the school. He sees police on the watch while a stretcher is pulled in for him.

He can't help the small that befalls his lips and the relieved chuckle that's manage to survive this long. Before he can collapse, he feels several hands on him, lifting and falling. Kurt's never noticed how some of these cushioned stretchers can be, not that he's been on many. But he's a boy, he's experimented a few times on them when he had to go to the hospital for shots or something. It's nice and smooth too. He's quite happy that the stretcher only slips a few times on the blood pools, otherwise he'd end up throwing up.

The natural light from the sun is suddenly in his eyes. He takes in a deep breath of the untainted air, at least compared to in the school, and opens his eyes to see the blue sky and the clear day. A roar of relief is hear from his right and he looks over. A good distance from the school are some police that are preventing people from getting any closer, and beyond that is his family, his father. Kurt manages a half-smile and that makes his father more determined to make it through the perimeter that the police have set up. Kurt wants to run to his father, but he can't. His father looks ready to kill to reach his only son, and Kurt would gladly join in with this bloody battle if it means that he gets to share on last hug, one last share of wide words with the only person on this earth that he loves. Is it too much to ask for the police officers and medical personnel to get out of the way and let he and his father have one last moment together. They both need it, crave it. It's a bond for him having the best father that anyone could want and him trying to be the best son that he can be.

Kurt moves his head back into the former place so he can see the sky again. He promises that he will see more of the sun if he has anything to say about it. Call it survivors guilt, or a possible concussion causing him to make promises that he might fail at keeping, but this is what he wants at that moment.

"Kurt."

Kurt's eyes widen slightly at the voice, his saviors voice. He turns his head to the right and sees his savior on a stretcher similar to his own. He opens his mouth to reply, but an oxygen mask is suddenly slipped over his mouth. Kurt would consider fighting, but he can't feel it in himself anymore. He looks down at his arm and finds it much paler than usual. A pool of his own blood is already forming around his hand. Kurt straightens his head out again and a small broken smile appears on his face. He's pretty sure that he's crying as well, based on the small pool of liquid building in the corner of his eyes. It's the end.

I must be close . . . to death. This is it right? My body is bleeding out, becoming weaker. Everything seems brighter too. Hmm. I guess this is the end. At least I made it out. I . . . I-I made it. I . . . I . . .

So that was part 1. Part 2 will hopefully be as long and continue on from here. Let me know if you think it's good or not. Can't wait to hear what you think.

The song is Untitled by Simple Plan