Us Against The End

Strike 1 – Ace's Story

"Yo, whassup. Wanna know who you're talkin' to? Well I'll tell ya, my name's --- uh..." He shifts upon his makeshift seat of rubble, then pulls something out from within his shirt. Silver glints in what little light shines upon them. He scrutinizes the pieces of metal carefully, before continuing his little introduction. "Name's Ace. You kinda forget a name when no one calls you by it anymore y'know? But that's why dog tags come in handy...heh..." There is a short pause, and the speaker looks kind of embarrassed about his absent-mindedness. Ace was kind of an easy enough name to remember. He 'ahems' once, then goes on.

"Well, those kinda things? Names? They didn't matter anymore then. That was then of course, when it was just the same thing day in and day out, y'know? We were either fighting for some intel no one actually cared to read, or pushing a cart full'a explosives to the other team's base. Nobody called anybody by name, because it'd be too much a hassle to remember. So we called out for each other by class instead. We listened to 'the voice above', for all I know she was just some mindless old bitch having fun giving us mindless orders. Now that I think back about it, I'm not really sure why we took her orders." He brings a bandaged hand to his chin, thoughtful. "Gave us something to do I guess."

"But it all changed on that day man. Really it did. The woman was giving her orders in that annoying tone of voice, when suddenly she was like, screaming. Screaming for 'it' to get off her. Me n' Demo, we thought it was frick'n funny man. I mean, she totally sounded like she was frick'n getting raped there and then man. An old woman. Getting raped. You would'a burst out laughing too right?" He bursts out laughing at the memory, stopping when he remembers he still hasn't finished what he was saying.

"Right."

" But of course we didn't know what that 'it' was yet. Well, of course I do now, but lemme finish the story first, will ya? So the announcer sorta ends her screaming with some gurgling noises, and well, we're like, staring at the intercom, not coz we're worried 'bout her or anything, but because she sorta hadn't finished her briefing so we didn't know what to do. So then Soldier rounds us all up like animals; y'know, he and his famous zoo and farm story, and he gives us orders on what to do. 'We're gunna capture their intel today, those damned BLUs', that's what he says, and nobody really argues with him, because at least we know what to do now, what with the announcer silenced and stuff. That, and no one wants to be hit in the head with a dirty shovel."

"So as usual, I'm the first one in, coz I'm like, the fastest outta those idiots back there, but when I entered enemy base there was like, no one there. Made my way to the courtyard where usually an Engie would'a built a sentry, but guess what? No sentry, no Engie. So I was kinda like, ooookay, damned bastard must be waiting for me in the intel room, right? Well guess again buddy, I was wrong. Yeah, I'm never wrong really, but this time was just, like, man, I seriously didn't expect an empty intel room, y'know what I'm sayin'? There was---"

"No. Frick'n. Sentry."

He repeats the words slowly, ensuring his listener can hear every single one properly, emphasizing his point by placing his hands parallel from each other in the empty space in front of him. As if he were framing up his words.

"I was gettin' really suspicious man, so I walked up to the briefcase slowly, I mean, maybe the BLUspy was waiting to backstab me right? And holy shit did I jump when a spy really materialized beside me man, I totally just swung my trusty bat in his direction, and he was like 'mead!'*[1] or some French cuss word, and I was like 'hell yeah I totally got you, you frick'n spy!' But then I looked at the spy and was like, 'oh' because it wasn't the BLUspy, it was *our* spy and man was he looking pissed. Figures he snuck his way down here for the intel as well. Though there wasn't much sneaking to do, since he confirmed that the whole BLU base was really empty. Said he checked the supply rooms as well, but there just wasn't anybody. So we decided to take the intel back to base first. But as we walk out from the intel room we hear an explosion outside, so we think those damned BLUs must've snuck into our base while we were sneaking into theirs, and technically, it makes me kinda relieved, coz the whole BLU team disappearing and all? That's kinda creepy man."

"So me n' Spy, we make it to the entrance, only to have soldier running into us screaming in our ears 'Back up!!! BACK THE HELL UP YOU MAGGOTS' And I look over his shoulder thinking he's shootin' at BLU, but y'know what he was shootin' at? People. In the two whole years I've been here I hadn't seen people other than those in RED and BLU, so it took me a while to register them as people in my head. Except they weren't normal people. Soldier was a little wonky in the head but he wouldn't shoot at unarmed civilians. So I look carefully, well, as carefully as I could while being pushed back up some stairs by Soldier, and noticed that they looked kinda...dead. Like their skin was peeling, and they had missing limbs, and as Spy pointed out, one of them was walking without a head. Y'know what the first thing that came into my mind was?"

He snaps his fingers, nodding.

"Zombies. Shit yeah frick'n zombies. Soldier backs us up into BLU's supply room, and we help him knock over the lockers so he can reach the air vent on the ceiling. Using that dirty shovel he's always carrying around he peels the vent cover off and pulls himself up. To this day I still wonder how he managed to squeeze his huge chest into that small square hole."

"Anyway, he helps Spy up and Spy does likewise for me, so the three of us are all squashed up in the frick'n tiny air vent. Down below I could hear those people-zombie things bangin' on the supply room door. So we start crawling forward, and then Spy starts demanding answers, and Soldier's all 'the Nazis*[2] have come back from the dead!', which isn't really much of an answer so the Frenchie shuts the hell up. As we're crawling along I say that this is kinda exciting y'know, coz it is! Real life zombies, least I think that's what they are, just like in all those zombie games we play back in base. Except this is the real thing man! But as I was gettin' all excited and stuff, Spy starts asking about the others, I mean, there's nine of us, right? But now we only got three. And then Soldier says the last he saw them was back at our base, where the zombies, 'or Nazis' as Soldier put it, started pouring in from a hole in the supply room wall."

"And then it wasn't so fun and exciting anymore."

He stares at his feet, suddenly melancholic.

"Coz y'know, I came all the way from Boston, from a pack of eight. Ain't nothing so special no more about you when you had seven elder bros who were similar to you. But with those other eight people at RED? It was different coz I was the fastest man, and I could leap where they couldn't. Made me feel special, y'know? And after living with them for two whole years, they sorta became my new pack, y'know what I mean? They were a little odd here and there, crazy more like it, but they were my---what's that word again? Oh yea, family. Crazy, but still family..."

He scratches the back of his head, and adjusts his cap.

"That just sounded frick'n mushy man. Sounds like what someone outta a crappy soap opera would say. Damn, what is wrong with me. So where was I?"

He thumps his baseball bat on the ground, forming tiny dust clouds around his feet.

"Oh yea, air vent right? Right, so we kept crawling on and on and on, and Spy insisted on smoking and I was like behind him, so I was coughing my lungs out and trying to bat the frick'n Frenchie in the ass, when suddenly the floor gave way and I was falling. Crashed into some hard machinery. Stood up and rubbed my ass to find Spy sniggering at me, he was all 'I know what you where trying to do with zhat bat' that bastard. So I look around and we're in this factory kinda place. Never knew that the vents from BLU's place would lead here, y'know? When I signed up for this RED vs BLU business I was transported in a vehicle with no windows or openings, so I couldn't really see where I was being taken. Seemed the others were the same, too. Thought we'd be surrounded by desert and sand, y'know. But there we were in a very much modernized factory."

"Let me tell you this first though, that factory was frick'n old. I knew that I should'a been careful when I heard some creaking noise from the ceiling, but nooooo---Spy had to totally pick a fight with me about his suit---okay, so it *was* because I wiped my dusty hands on it, but that was to get back at him for laughing when I landed on my ass!"

"Anyway we were walking, arguing, just following Soldier's lead, y'know? When the WHOLE FRICK'N CEILING just crumbled ON US. Like, holy shit. Usually one of such fine finesse such as I would have totally been able to dodge that kinda thing, but just to remind you, I was arguing with King of the hissy fights, so I just went down with the rubble man. Second fall in a short period of time, said much about my luck huh? Didn't break anything though, but looks like the rubble has piled up so high I can't climb back where I came from. I hear two voices then, Soldier screaming for headcount above me and some angry sounding French from the other side of the rubble. So Soldier was up where we were, while Spy was down there with me, but on the other side of the rubble. "

"We were separated early into our game man. And c'mon, everyone knows you should never separate in some possibly zombie infested area right? This was seriously some shit luck we were having man. After lots of screaming and shouting since we couldn't quite hear each other properly, what with all the rubble, we decided to meet back at the factory's entrance. I mean, it must have one, right? So I hear Soldier crashing the butt of his rocket launcher on the ground, which probably meant he was doing his salute, and then a tapping on the other side of the rubble. 'Whatevier you do, remember zhat you are une Scout, oui?'

'Zso keep running.'

Not the brightest encouragement if you ask me, but coming outta Spy's royal hole, it was golden, man. I waited for his and Soldier's footsteps to fade out before taking the trek outta this---uh, wherever I'd fallen. Dunno how long I was walking, I took Spy's advice and burst into little sprints whenever I heard something that resembled the undead, no, no, I wasn't frightened, I was just taking Spy's advice okay? But I finally reached the end of the tunnel. Wasn't any bright light or cheering crowd awaiting my arrival, but hell, at least the air was fresher."

He takes a deep breath, as if wanting to confirm this conclusion, nodding when he felt it was true.

"And what's the first thing I see? That's right buddy, I see you! And I really could've used some water, so I drank some outta the bottle in your hands, a little stale, but still water none the less. I really gotta thank you pal, for the water."

"And for listening to all this man."

Scout pats the smooth white of the skull, before tossing it into a shallow hole he'd dug in the ground.

"Least I could do for you is this, buddy. Rest in peace!"

He covers up the hole, patting the soil flat with his makeshift shovel; a wooden plank, and stuck the bottle in to mark the grave. Picking up his bat and swinging it over his shoulder, he propped a leg up upon a concrete slab and surveyed his surroundings.

"Now where's that frick'n factory..."

~*~

*[1] Spy said 'merde', the French equivalent for 'shit'.

*[2] No offence to anyone, but in Soldier's profile on Valve's official site it says he spent his time blowing up Nazis till WW was over.

Hmmm yea....the last fanfiction I wrote was for Kingdom Hearts 2, I stopped that and went on a writer's hiatus, but now I'm back! Wiiiiith TF2 fanfiction. Ohnoez. Haha. Don't really know where this is going, let's just say playing TF2 *and* L4D at the same time created this. It's not a crossover, but there are gunna be zombies. Because everybody likes zombies right?

This starts out with Scoot's(RED btw) narrative. Because I just wanted to write in how Scoot would say things. Sorta. It's a little draggy, and there isn't any action, but just you wait. 8)

Thank you for reading! 3