The world didn't take long to adapt, and neither did he. The streets contorted into shambles, grass filling the cracks and pipes exposed to the naked eye being that some cracks revealed them beneath the street. The apartment buildings were another testament as to how the world was changing. Once proud tall standing buildings now were engulfed by traces of vines, and other plant life. The sky itself had changed too, morphing into a blood amber, with traces of black. Urban life ceased to exist, the only remaining life that was left was a game centering on the most primal basics of life. The food chain was permanently adapted now, and those who failed to adapt, failed to survive…
The hunter observes his surroundings. The once used but abandoned cars below him give a sort of familiarity. Surely he wasn't trying to remember, such memories weren't useful in this now cruel world. The fuzziness that accompanies him with his struggle to remember persists. There's no point, somehow deep down he knows that those memories hold little to no purpose now. The cold air brushes past him, and he lowers his head aiming his hood to the side. Focusing on the feelings that did matter.
Using his new found senses he could smell that something was off, he could almost taste the danger in the air. It was foolish to think that he was safe, in a world like this he never truly was. Safety was something that bored him anyway. The only source of fun he held onto was besting and catching prey. Lowering himself to a lower stance he gives himself an energetic jolt, sending him flying through the air into the dark alleyways. His senses never lied to him before and they weren't lying to him now, he was sure of it!
Determination fills his soul. His heart slows down to a tactical low, whatever he was looking for it must have been different. Most of the humans he sought after weren't immune, and immune survivors usually tended to be more lethal as they were always hunted by the infected more than the rest. He could sense that part of the infection was inside who ever his target was so finding them would be easy, almost missing his next jump he kicked the side of the apartment building in turn throwing him to another building where he would rinse and repeat this strategy. The faster he moved the more excited he got, his heart was quickening and he began to feel that same feeling again when he heard the sounds of shotgun blasts reach his ears. Y E S. This is what he lived for! The joy of the hunt never failed to show itself in its animalistic nature, grinning a vicious smile he set course in the directions of the shotgun shell blasts.
Alone now there was no point in letting her mind dual her into a pit of worry. Yes her chances of survival were limited, and yes here team mates could have died in the separation. Although staying here to debate whether her team mates were fine wouldn't help anything. Zoey had been cut off from her team after a boomer and a tank set after the team. The only hope for survival was to run in opposite directions with no hesitation. After several hellish minutes the hoard finally died down and she assumed she was safe enough to try and get herself back to her team mates. Staying alone was never a good idea.
Standing In the middle of the street wasn't going to do her any good so Zoey zipped back to the alley way where she and the others once were before they were ambushed. Hopefully the others survived the outburst, the idea seemed stupid at first but they've gotten through rougher situations. The ammo in her shotgun was depleted and the only firearm left was her pistol, the ammo for that was coming to a short stop too since the hoard really didn't want to give up too easy this time.
Running down the alleyway her body froze as a familiar sound entered her delicate ears. 'Was that a?' The sound was more apparent this time. There was definitely a hunter somewhere, and by the sound of that screech it sounded pissed. Her life could end right here if she wasn't careful, responding to this she whipped out her pistol. The chances of surviving a hunter alone were slim if it got a hold of you, with that on her mind she looked behind her, then back again, and then above her. The damned creature could be anywhere. Her heart always pumped faster every time there was a Hunter nearby.
Zoey sincerely hated these creatures. This was a pattern she was becoming accustomed to, Francis always alerted the witches as timid as he was, and the Hunters always came after her first, it was so god damn annoying. Perhaps it was because of her small frame in comparison to the others, this alone sent furry down her spine. She never liked the idea of appearing weak. 'Come on out you little freak'. To be quite honest, she kind of thought Hunters would have fit perfectly into the Horror movies that she would have made if she pursued that movie making career. Come to think of it, she found herself thinking what it'd be like to jump that high and to have claws like them but with human awareness/sentience.
Now isn't the damn time Zoey! It was time to get her head into the game, walking further into the alley she avoided any puddles or other form of litter in order to keep her sound levels at a safely low. The last thing Zoey needed was to step on a soda can and to have the Hunter rip her to shreds. Another screech could be heard, gripping his pistol tightly Zoey moved down the alley but more cautiously. *thud*
Zoey's eyes widen and she spun to quickly exert 9mm rounds into the hunter! If only he were there to begin with… Realizing that the thing that dropped behind her was a wood pallet she screams internally. 'FUCK! Have to stay one hundred percent frosty or else I'm dead'. There were only six rounds left in her firearm, the chances of her being able to successfully kill the thing were slim now but she'd have to faith.
Running down the alley her feet splash against puddle to puddle, running past garbage cans she becomes confused as there are two turns in the alleys to choose from. The right turn made the most sense being that they'd probably try to go around looking for her. 'This is all Francis's fault I told that idiot we should have head to the safe-room first, they're probably in there waiting for me'. Panting heavily from all the run she refuses to move further like this, and press her back against the wall.
Even if there was a Hunter it would have attacked by now. Frowning at the thought Zoey let her mind run thinking back to all the times one of those vicious creatures actually did get the drop on her. She let her head point down, inspecting her pink jacket looking at the scratches from that one time where she punted a Hunter back in which it responded by ripping flesh with one single scratch before she was able to shoot and kill it. Those things had immensely sharp claws, they never failed to scare the absolute crap out of Zoey by falling on her from out of nowhere to send their cold infected hands right into her. Hopefully the one nearby wasn't too bright, or wasn't going to waste time with her.
Luck was appearing to hate Zoey, the time for rest is over. If she had learned anything by now it was that luck doesn't exist so she should move now because resting any long would result in death. Opening her eyes she froze. Her mind couldn't register what was right in front of her, or it simply didn't want to believe that it was standing right there.
The Hunter was getting closer and… Was this who he was after? Standing on the edge of the roof, he carefully peered down to get a better look at the target. It was just some lady by herself, no a young lady. Before he was sensing at least three to five targets, but no instead there was only one. Perhaps she had gotten separated… That meant killing her would be super easy now! No, where's the honor and fun in killing one person who already seems to be dying.
It looked like it was going to be a repeat of last time, he had never brung himself to attack a human first before. Just last week he encountered a group of bikers and he was too chicken to fight first, instead he let them provoke him before he decided to head in. Still he was curious, it appeared that she was attacked by a hoard just recently due to all the bodies at her feet. He could follow her and if she attacked then he'd shoot. Speaking of the devil his eyes closely follow her fast movements like a cat that spotted a fly, looks like she was heading closer to him.
Now that she was inside the alleys it would be easy to get a pounce on her. If his animalistic senses were to make him do anything further he'd have to force himself not too. Usually if they didn't attack first, he'd toy with them playfully. His prey usually made it fun to catch them, and scaring people with his presence was always a fun ordeal. Jumping down he lifts a wooden pallet and jumps back up screeching heavily as he does so, his muscles were strong enough to carry the object with one hand while jumping it was fun seeing what his body could do.
Forming a plan now he could definitely get shot if he came at her head on. She seemed to be shocked by his earlier screech. This was his territory, safe rooms were not his, streets didn't belong to him, but the cold dark alleys were his and no one else's. The horror in her eyes was very cute, in fact it almost made him feel a bit guilty…. What was this feeling and why was it so familiar? Whatever, this was his favorite part of toying with his prey. Lifting the pallet up his claws ink deep claw marks, heaving it with all his might he is taken back by his power the thing was practically flying. It even landed right behind her, his aim was on point!
Watching her face twist in fear allowed for a small smile to creep on his face as she turns around shooting aimlessly at nothing. There's no point in this actually, all he was doing was hurting her. Seeing her run further down the path made him lower his head in shame. He knew that he was different from the other infected. There was more to him than just his instincts, but he didn't know what exactly. What made him different he didn't know, he only felt it.
His world was getting repetitive. There was a time where he would have loved this circumstance, instead all he felt was the painful realization that this form of happiness was only a farce. It was all a joke there was no happy ending to it all, it was rinse and repeat. Jumping down he eyes her back, maybe it was his time to go. Like all the other fights he had gotten himself into he would choose to let her shoot first, except this time he wouldn't fight back.
Zoey opened her eyes and froze. 'Zoey you idiot! If that thing gets on you there's no Bill or Francis to bail you out'. Her face relaxed, giving up was all she could do. The hunter stood only a few feet away, it would only take one pounce to end her life. What's it waiting for? Death was inevitable, but to see it right there, and to see it take its time was just plain cruel. The devilish creature took a step forward, 'just do it already!'
Right off the bat Zoey could tell this Hunter was different and that it wasn't going to make things easy, most likely this one learned to find pleasure in slowly kills its prey. Stepping closer Zoey naturally looked into its eyes like she would a human or common infected that came close. 'Those eyes….' Two sets of bright white glowing eyes stared back at her, his eyes were the only infected eyes that she saw glowing white instead of yellow. And to tell you the truth it horrified her even more knowing that two shadowy eyes would be the last thing she saw before she died.
Hopefully if she kept a cool composure and didn't shoot the devilish creature it would make it quick instead of slow and painful. That thought did nothing to help her keep her composure, her hands were trembling now. She always hated Hunters and to die in such a way…. 'This is it, this is how it ends… Goodbye Francis, Goodbye Louis, Goodbye Bill, I'll never forget you guys so don't forget me.'
Closing her eyes she grew silent waiting for the blow to come. Any second now? 'Thank you god!' The Hunter was gone just as fast as it had appeared. Those eyes, out of all the infected she had ever seen his were the only white ones. The reason behind that was unknown either way it made her shiver. The weird part was that it chose to spare her, infected never spared anyone! The infected were supposed to be brainless zombies that killed without thought, not mercy givers!
Whatever its intentions were she couldn't be any more thankful. Wait, what's the ruckus and commotion? Looking to the close end of the alley Zoey was deeply relieved to see three familiar faces. Things were getting rougher, but that didn't make them any less tough. Bill appeared to be wolfing down on some pills, Francis was circling in a worried type fashion, meanwhile Louis darted his eyes over to Zoey's and smiled widely at the sight of her still A-Okay.
"Get your ass over here Zoey, we gotta make it to the safe-room!" Louis called out with his hand beckoning her to run over. Eager to reunite with her former crew, Zoey booked it and took her stand between the three men. 'Man it feels good to see them again, those things freak me out'.
Bill furthered his palm into his coat pocket and pulled out his trusty lighter. "We should head down the street, safe-room should be a block or two forward." Francis led March as he was the first to start moving, the chances of another hoard coming at them were low now as they had already just killed tons of the unrelenting puppets.
"Say Zoey, how'd you make out by yourself with all those vampires after ya?" Francis profoundly asked, taking a quick glance at the stray girl. "Oh you know I just backed up into a corner and picked them off one by one." Something was telling Zoey that if she mentioned what had happened with the Hunter that they'd would never trust her seriously again. If only Hunters had a problem with Francis and not her everything would be dandy. Francis stopped and circled in place for the seventh time now, earning him a few good stares. Louis was beginning to think that Francis was getting a bit over paranoid.
"Yo motorcycle boy, what's the deal with you today?" Francis looked back to give a deadly scowl. This was no time for messing around, and that was apparent through his dead pan stare. "I saw the shadow of something real fast, moving amongst the roofs above. Watch your heads it could be a Hunter." That miracle couldn't last, of course the thing had to be stalking her. Every single one of them just couldn't let Zoey get by without having to stress out.
This apocalypse was a burden, and the Hunters were her personal problem. There was a small chance that the thing she saw in that alleyway didn't want to hurt her. Was it curious, or was it stalking her to get an appropriate kill? 'Don't be a retard, hesitating will get you killed'. Unsure of what the things motives were Zoey let her mind work back to what she was originally thinking before the hoard bombarded them.
Their main plan was to find some giant military like shelter, preferably one that had other occupants as well. Hopeful for this was all she circled around when she tangoed with the idea of reaching her end goal, the thought of actually being close to other people for a change and being able to eat fresh food was heart wrenching. Bill stopped, and postponed his smoking. This usually meant a speech was in order, or was close to coming out. Looking into his face, it was fairly visible that he saw something that tingled his spider senses.
"Francis was right there's something up there, not sure what exactly since Hunters that aren't damn fast…" Inhaling his cigarette he paused before continuing. "Zoey stay alert, those things have the hots for you for some reason." Bill joked, usually when he joked it meant he was trying to ease a stressful situation. Resuming the walk, Zoey didn't feel eased at all. Now her head was back to going wild over some hoody wearing killer. How the hell do those things always manage to get hoods anyway?
"I can take care of myself you know?" Even though if the Hunter got a pounce on her she would need the help of her team, she hated having to rely on them. It made her look weak and she was going to kill something if it happened again. "We know that Zoe, but if that thing gets on ya we'll have to shoot it off, we're a team." Francis traded, that was the icing on the cake all she wanted now was to sleep and forget everything.
"Don't worry guys the safe-room is like right here, by the time we decide to head out the thing will be gone." Lovable Louis, he always had a way of calming everybody down and looking on the bright side. Still the feeling of helplessness was still internally burned into her mind, all she could do now was pray that the thing stalking them would give up. 'I just want to get some sleep, I can't give up now, and we're so close to reaching a permanent safe zone, soon I'll never have to worry about one of these hooded freaks again.'
"Sorry guys I'm just worried about everything, I'm not sure this safe zone'll be any different from the last." The small ache in her head suggested that Zoey was overthinking all of this and just needed time to zone out. "I think I'll feel better once we reach the safe-room." Starting their path to the safe-room they all ran without stop. Hearing the comforting sound of the safe-room door slamming shut behind her, and the calming buzzing lights that she had learned to appreciate things felt well. Finally the time for some rest had come.
