Left 4 Dead:

Introduction

Four putrid and rotting fingers protruded from the pile of fly and maggot ridden flesh. A single fly that had perched itself over the empty thumb socket was startled into flight by the sounding of a voice.

"Hold up," the voice echoed as a flashlight fell upon the rotting pile. As lightning flashed through the darkened alleyway, an old, white bearded man in a green army jacket and hat crouched -his assault rifle in hand- and inspected the corpses more closely. Bill wiped his finger through the goo and rubbed it between his finger and thumb examining the consistency. "Ain't never seen anything like this before..."

"Jeez," another gruff voice came as Bill's eyes shifted to his right with a scowl, "Don't let that stop you from smearing it all over yourself." His was a rough and tumble biker-type, with a leather vest and pants and bare arms covered in tattoos. His head was shaven and he had a simple goatee. Francis grinned, loosening his grip on his automatic shotgun. Bill stood, wiping his bile covered hand over Francis' vest.

"They're changing," he said simply, before stepping over the rotted pile. Francis' expression turned grotesque.

"Goddamn it, Bill!" he shouted, as he wiped it off, "Oh, it stinks!" The business man next to him chuckled under his breath. He was a younger black male wearing a messed up collared shirt, loosened red tie, and brown dress pants. Louis looked like he'd just recently stepped from his cubicle for the first time.

A weak whimper suddenly sent chills up the four's spines. As they searched for the source of the cry, Bill's eyes fell upon a metal door to his three o'clock.

"Someone's still alive!" said Zoey from behind Louis and Francis. The young woman had slightly tanned skin and wore her hair back in a grizzled ponytail. Her track jacket was red, while her jeans were a faded black. Her cute face was bruised here and there, however. Bill opened the door to the darkness within, with Zoey close-by with her duel pistols at the ready. As the two lingered on the edge of darkness, Bill spoke.

"Over there," he said, motioning Zoey to turn on her flashlight. She did so, flipping on the light she had attached to her left pistol. The soft crying still rang from deep within the blackened room. Cautiously, Bill stepped in with his assault rifle at the ready; Zoey close behind.

"Hello?" Zoey called sheepishly into the dark. A more cough-like whimper was the response. She called again. As her light fell upon the bloodied tile and crudely stacked boxes, the sight of a pale, crying girl began to come into view.

"It's okay," she began, the figure gradually being revealed by her raising light, "We're gonna-" Bill quickly pushed Zoey's pistol at the ground and extinguished the light.

"Lights off!" he asserted forcefully. As the light from the outside burning dumpster began to fill the room, the pale figure sat crying before the two.

Outside, Louis stood guard with his single SMG. A sudden growl caught his attention, he turned down the alleyway as a mob of distant figures began to race wildly through the fog.

"Oh, shit!" he shouted, as Francis began to unload buckshots from his shotgun into the charging swarm, "Shit! Shiiit!" Louis rushed into the room that Bill and Zoey had inspected.

"They're coming!" he shouted as his flashlight accidentally fell upon the pale figure. The pale girl turned with her eyes burning red and she released a blood curdling cry, "What the?!"

Zoey quickly rose to her feet, "Run like hell!" Bill unloaded a few shots as he backed out of the room behind Zoey and Louis, slamming the door shut. Louis hastily braced himself upon the door as the Witch dented it from the inside. With one more punch the door was penetrated and her grotesquely clawed hand burst from the other side. Louis screamed in shock as he began to unload his SMG into the Witch's cranium through the opening. As the crowd reached the four Francis, Zoey, and Bill shot wildly into the coming crowd, shoving them back and unloading their bullets into the Infected civilians. More shadows dashed their way up the alley. Louis continued to pour bullets into the girl, shouting wildly.

"How do you like that?!" Louis yelled firing his SMG. Finally, the Witch succumbed do her wounds and collapsed. As Louis joined the firing squad against the hoard, "Stick together!" Francis shouted. A tall figure stood over the guardrails of a nearby fire escape looking down upon the four. With a disgusting, choking cough it spat its long, tentacle-like tongue into their group, wrapping around Bill and pulling him from the others. Bill shouted as he was dragged away and constricted by the Smoker, which quickly alerted Francis.

"Hang on!" he shouted as he span around and unloaded a buckshot into the creature, which caused it to burst into smoke. Bill fell to the ground as Francis rushed over to help him up. Meanwhile, Louis and Zoey were being overtaken by another swarm of Infected.

"Uh, guys?!" she called as she fired her pistols. Francis motioned for Bill to raise as he turned to his immediate left and then right, sending two different zombies to their death. He smiled as Bill stood up.

"Marry Christmas," he said lamely. More and more Infected filled the alley as Francis and Bill rejoined the gunfire. Though they were being shot down one by one, the four were beginning to be overtaken. Zoey reached into her pocket pulling forth a modified pipe bomb.

"Fire in the hole!" she shouted as she chucked the bomb down the alley. The beeping that it had been modified with gained the instant attention of the rushing zombies; who began to swarm and claw at the bomb. The four quickly took cover as the swarm was taken out in a burst a blood as the pipe bomb exploded. The blast caused Louis to stumble, but not draw his away from the helicopter that zoomed overhead. As its light passed overhead he shouted, following it out into the street as a hooded figure leaped across the rooftops.

"We're over here! We're not infected!" he shouted as he ran into the street. However, the chopper took no notice and flew on. "Dammit," Louis kicked in disappointment. A figure hung from the corner of the building behind him. In an instant it launched itself at Louis, pinning him down and beginning to tear at his torso with his razor-sharp claws. Louis' SMG was knocked from his hands as the Hunter pounced him and he could only block helplessly with his arms as it clawed. Zoey tackled the special Infected, causing it to stumble. She quickly followed up, shooting her dual pistols into its chest viciously. Louis span around, whipping out his pistol and shot the Hunter directly in the head. The downed Infected fell upon a car, setting off its alarm. As the ringing filled the streets, Bill rushed up to the vehicle.

"Oh, this is gonna get bad..." he sighed, readying his assault rifle. As huge, disfigured shadows fell upon a distant building, the screams and grunts of the surrounding hoard signified their coming. The four readied themselves as the zombies slowly began to surround them; climbing the fence behind them, streaming from the alleyways, turning the corner. Within moments the Survivors had been surround. However, far down the road, a violent roar filled the street. Suddenly, a car was flipped down the street, wiping out Infected and crashing through the fence behind them. The hulking Tank crushed its way through the swarming zombies, knocking them to and fro and slamming them into the ground. The four began to back away from the charging hulk.

"Run or shoot?" Louis asked nervously. The Tank was just before them, smashing its way to the front lines of the swarm. "Run or shoot?!" Louis shouted, clutching his SMG.

"Both!" Bill answered beginning to unload his assault rifle into the charging beast. Louis quickly followed suit as the Survivors fell back into the alleyway across the street. As they fired wildly upon the Tank. They rushed down the alley and turned a corner, taking out what zombies they could as they ran from the hulking Infected. Louis looked up, finding a glimmer of hope.

"Get to the roof!" he shouted, pointing at the fire escape. Francis stopped, urging the others to go as he began to unload his shotgun into the oncoming hoard. The other three reached the ladder. Bill and Louis covered Zoey as she rushed up the ladder from the opposing zombies coming down the alley.

"Come on! Come on!" Francis taunted, waiting for the Tank to turn the corner. As it did he began to unload his gun furiously. However, it simply smashed its way through the common Infected in front of it and backhanded Francis into the wall. Bill turned, watching as the Tank lifted its huge fists to crush his fellow Survivor. The Vietnam veteran rushed in with his assault rifle, shooting the Tank in the face and disrupting his attack. As Francis crawled out of the line of fire, the Tank quickly retaliated and swung its arms right. Bill ducked under the attack and the hulking Infected smashed through the brick wall beside him. As Louis and Zoey fired from above, however, the Tank tore a chunk of concrete from the wall and chucked it up the fire escape. Louis narrowly dodged the slab and it just missed Francis as he climbed the ladder. Bill backed up to the ladder and narrowly missed being struck by an Infected. Zoey killed it with a head shot from her pistols. Bill looked up.

"Go! I'll hold them off!" Zoey cried as she unloaded on the Infected below. While Bill climbed the ladder, the Tank was just behind him. Vehemently it leaped for the escape, just missing Bill on his way up. However, the fire escape began to give way as the Tank desperately attempted to climb after the Survivors. Bill made it to the second level as his companions fired from above. Finally he reached the top, however, the Tanks next attempt to climb finally pulled the escape from its bolts and the metal staircase began to collapse. Bill just managed to climb the ledge of the building, as Zoey remained on the escape firing at the up and coming Tank. With one final go, the Tank grabbed the floor on which Zoey stood and began to take down the whole staircase for good. As her back was bashed on the railing, Zoey dropped her second pistol. Desperately, she ran up the sloping platform and leaped towards the roof.

"Francis!" she shouted gravely, realizing she wouldn't make the jump. As luck would have it, Francis grabbed her hand and pulled her up; with not a moment to spare. The Tank roared as he fell to the ground with the fire escape collapsing upon him and crushing him underneath. Louis supported Zoey as Francis pulled her over. All of them were panting heavily and gasping for their breath. As the sat and collected themselves, Louis brightened considerably.

"We made it... I can't believe me made it!" he turned to his companions with hope. Bill sat before him on a step below, lighting up a cigarette.

"Son, we just crossed the street," Bill said, sitting for a moment to enjoy his cigarette. He pulled the cigarette from his mouth and released the smoke. "Let's not throw a party 'til we're out of this city..." Bill stated solemnly as he rose.

The four Survivors arose from their seats and under the blue tarp that sheltered part of the roof. Hopelessly sprawled over the roof of the building were the letters "SOS". The four had been left in a city crawling with Infected, with little to no hope of survival. With little ammunition and no contact with the outside world; the four Survivors had been Left 4 Dead...


A/N: I hope this has intrigued you to read on. This is the introduction to my Left 4 Dead novelization. I'll be covering the game all the way from No Mercy to Blood Harvest (I'll even cover Crash Course) and will connect all campaigns in Left 4 Dead into one single narrative. Everything in the story will be based off the game and most of the things the Survivors will say will be taken from their actual programed voice clips. I hope you'll enjoy what is to come because there is a lot of ground to cover for our four Survivors!