Lost to the World
This is a Left 4 Dead fanfic! I do not own the concept of Hunters, Smokers, or any of the other infected or survivors that may show up in this story. I do, however, own the individual characters. If you wish to use them, ask first.
:~*~:
Gun shots rang out through the chilled air, howls of the infected mixing in with the booms of warfare. Two particular infected were crouching in the shadows of an alleyway.
One was down on all fours, clutching the shredded remains of an aqua colored hoodie around his torso. His fingers were shaking with cold and dripping with freshly spilled blood.
His companion was leaning heavily against the wall, his tall figure slouching down and causing his long, tentacle like appendage to drag uselessly along the muddy ground. The hooded one peered around the corner, calculating the distance to safety.
"How far do you think it is?" his companion asked. The hooded one sighed and glanced back over his shoulder at the other figure hidden in the shadows.
"About one mile left until we reach the apartment complex, but at the rate the survivors are moving, they may cross our path in as few as 5 minutes. That would put in a precarious situation and it's not like we can risk any other injuries at this point," he replied. The tall one, Vance, nodded in silent agreement as he glanced down at the large gash running along his side from an unfortunate run-in with a weeping one. He had been losing blood all day and was now starting to feel the after effects of it.
However, his younger companion was probably worse off than he was. The hoodie wearing infected had had a rather messy confrontation with another member of his own kind. The two had rolled around in the mud for nearly 20 minutes before the opponent ran off, leaving the younger of the two with serious lacerations across his upper body and his clothing soaked and torn. That was hours ago, and on top of that, it had also started raining, chilling the hunter's thin body even more.
Noticing that said hunter was shivering, Vance knelt down and draped his own thin jacket over the trembling shoulders.
"Landon, maybe we should just hide out in this building here for the night until the survivors pass. We can catch up with them tomorrow," If you're feeling well enough… Vance added in his head.
"No, we need to keep going. The only safe place for us now is the apartment building where we hid all of our things. With the amount of racket that the survivors are making, every common brother and sister in the city will be out for blood tonight. You know how they are when they are hungry."
"But you really aren't in any condition to travel and like you said, we can't risk any more injuries!" Vance insisted.
"Oh, and like you're in any position to lecture me!" Landon snapped right back.
"I'm just worried about you!"
"Well I don't need you to worry about me! I can take care of myself!"
Vance was almost taken aback by the harsh tone that Landon was taking with him, but considering that he was cold, wet, and in serious amounts of pain, Vance felt that Landon had been rather civil with him thus far.
Slowly, Vance managed to calm down. Remember, you love him and all that he is. His quirks, his mannerisms and even his temper.
"Ok, what do you suggest then?" Vance asked, taking on a much more loving tone. Landon seemed to soften as well.
"Well, I was thinking that we could-,"
BOOM!
The two lovers whirled around as the ground shook from the force of the explosion that had just come from the mouth of the alley.
As it turns out, while the two of them were arguing, the survivors had crossed a great deal of ground and were now directly outside the alley in which they were hiding. Landon stood and shivered again, pulling himself closer to Vance. The smoker wrapped the arm that wasn't holding his side together around the scared hunter. They could hear the survivors screaming to one another in a language that they could not understand. The four humans sounded angry and scared, which only served to frighten Landon more.
At one point a stray bullet from the pink survivor hit a car, setting off the alarm. As if the sudden loud noise wasn't enough to terrify the wounded special infected, the swarming sea of common brethren that came seemingly out of nowhere certainly was.
They were coming from all directions. Pushing, shoving, and trampling each other to get to the source of the noise. More cursing could be heard from the survivors as the swarms met them and the battle for survival was once again in full swing.
One of the common brothers, in his haste to reach the entrance to the alley and the fresh meat beyond, rammed his body into Vance. The force of the shove sent both him and his younger companion into the screaming river of infected. They were tossed and rolled around until Landon was snatched right out of the smoker's grasp. The taller infected could have sworn that he heard Landon scream for him, but was already up to his neck in trouble to see where his hoodie wearing lover had disappeared to.
Spotting a fire escape above him, Vance shot his tongue out and latched onto the railing. Hauling himself up and over the bars, the smoker frantically searched the still crowded alley for his lover. He managed to find his little hunter clinging to a drain pipe near the entrance of the alley, but just as he was about to shoot his tongue out to pull him to safety, the drain gave way and send Landon back into the fray. The horde carried the hunter out into the open and toward the survivors.
Landon looked terrified. He was now in plain sight of the survivors, who in their trigger happy frenzy would surely shoot him. He screamed for Vance, his cries getting drowned out by the screams of the infected and the booms of the guns. Suddenly, he was shoved to the ground. He covered his head with his arms as the violence continued. He could feel his common brethren stepping over his curled up body in their haste, kicking his already abused torso and nearly crushing his limbs.
Finally when the gunfire stopped, Landon peeked over his sleeve to see the survivors staring at him uncertainly. Landon slowly raised himself to his knees, clutching around his middle trying to stifle the bleeding. He suddenly felt dizzy, bending back over to cough up blood onto the pavement.
The survivors didn't seem to like the jerky movements that the hunter was reduced to making due to his condition. Landon perked up at the sound of a gun being cocked. He glanced up to see the tattooed survivor aiming the barrel of his assault rifle at the wounded infected.
Back on the fire escape, Vance was hyperventilating at the sight of his young lover on his knees in front of the survivors. The very idea of the burly survivor with the assault rifle shooting his little hunter drove logic from his mind and he leapt down from his perch and started running toward his lover, knocking over a trash can as he ran.
The noise startled the survivors and their little friend on the ground. Landon whirled around to see is lover sprinting out of the alley toward him. Glancing back at the survivors, he watched in slow motion as the tattooed survivor re-aimed his rifle at the smoker. His eyes widened in terror and he let out a screech as he leapt at the survivor.
The survivors seemed shocked that he young hunter could even move. Expressions changed from those of mild concern to expressions of terror. Guns were drawn and cocked, barrels aimed, and fingers placed on the triggers.
As for the smoker, he was still running through the street. His only thought was getting to Landon so that he could protect him. His sprinting slowed a little when he saw Landon's feet leave the ground in the direction of the survivors. His breath hitched as he watched the faces of the survivors change and the tattooed man reel back in surprise.
Please tell me he's not going to…
BANG!
Vance never got the chance to finish his thought. A loud bang resounded through the street. The smoker's one yellow eye widened as he expected pain to shoot through his body. Surprisingly, he felt nothing. No pain, no agony. Nothing.
At least until he saw Landon's body hit the ground.
Vance had stopped running by the time that he registered that his lover was face down on the pavement and making no move to get back up. He could see a puddle of blood that was seeping from underneath the hunter and was steadily expanding outward and staining the asphalt that he was laying on. The smoker sank to his knees, numb to the world. The depth of what just happened finally sunk in when he watched the tattooed survivor hesitantly kick Landon's side, getting a weak cough from him in return.
Landon was alive… but barely.
Vance scrambled on his hands and knees to his lover, rolling him over onto his back holding him close. It was a miracle that the survivors hadn't shot him yet, but he wasn't really complaining. Landon needed him now.
Looking at him now, Vance could see that the bullet had entered his chest just short of hitting his heart. The wound was messy and bleeding profusely. His skin was paler than normal and his face was contorted in an expression of excruciating pain. His breathing was shallow and almost wet sounding, making Vance think that the bullet must have damaged his lung as well.
"Landon, can you hear me? Open your eyes. Please!" Vance pleaded. The hunter's eyes fluttered open and searched the air between them for a moment before landing and locking on the smoker's face. He let out a wet cough and took a shaking breath before speaking.
"Are you… ok?" Landon wheezed. Vance nodded, tears coming to his eyes. The hunter smiled weakly. "I'm glad… I was… worried…"
"Why did you do that?" Vance asked, tears spilling over and streaming down his face. Landon thought about it for a second before he lifted his shoulders slightly, so Vance assumed he was shrugging.
"I… just wanted to…"
Landon's words were getting softer and softer. He was obviously getting weaker. Vance didn't have much time left before it would be too late to save him. The smoker gave one pleading glance over to the survivors. They were just standing there, looking at the two of them in disbelief. Fine, let them stare. Vance didn't care anymore.
Vance turned his attention back to Landon, who was starting to get almost eerily quiet.
"Just hang on. I'll get you inside and I'll take care of you," he whispered to the weakening hunter. Landon just shook his head.
"You… don't need… to take… care of me," he wheezed back.
"Are you crazy? Of course I do! I can't let you die here!"
"Yes you can… I'm happy…that I could… do something… to help you… for once. I just… wish that… I had done it… more often…"
"What? You always do things for me! That's why I need you here! I'm nothing without you! Please don't leave me alone, Landon!"
Vance knew he was pleading now, but he didn't care. He would drink a gallon of boomer bile if it meant that it would make Landon happy.
Landon smiled at him. A small, weak, but beautiful smile that made Vance's heart break all over again. The hunter lifted his small, clawed hand and grabbed the hand that Vance had been using to try and keep him from bleeding out on the street. He slowly pulled the smoker's hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles.
"I love you, Vance. I hope you know that."
Those had been the first words that Landon had been able to say in one breath since he'd been shot. Vance sucked in a painful breath. He nodded at the fading hunter in his arms.
"I know," he croaked. "I love you too…"
Vance leaned down and pressed his lips to the colder ones of his hunter. He could taste blood leaking from Landon's mouth as the hunter weakly moved his lips against his. He wished that the moment could have lasted but he knew Landon's strength was fading fast.
Too fast in fact.
Just as Vance pulled away, he felt Landon's grip on his hand loosen and go limp. Looking at the still figure in his arms, Vance felt a gut wrenching sob escape him. Landon's face was peaceful and at ease. His eyes were closed and if not for the solitary drop of blood that was escaping from the corner of his mouth, one would have thought that he was sleeping.
Vance gently lay Landon's body down on the pavement, letting the rain soak him to the bone. He honestly couldn't bring himself to care. His lover was gone and the survivors were more than likely to shoot him next.
The survivors…
They were the reason for this. They were the reason that the horde came along and dragged Landon into the streets. They were the reason that Vance had left the safety of his fire escape perch when they had shown signs of aggression toward Landon.
They were the reason that Landon was dead!
Sending a silent prayer up to whatever God was watching this (and probably laughing his ass of, mind you), Vance prayed for strength.
The smoker stood and faced the survivors with his head bowed toward the pavement. The humans were looking at him with an air of expectancy. They were waiting for him to do something.
Suddenly, the smoker's head snapped up, his one eye glaring at the four survivors with all the hate in the world evident in the yellow iris. The survivors all took a step back, eyes wide and started stammering something that he couldn't understand. Not that he would have listened anyway. He was out for blood tonight, and no horde, survivor, or tank was going to stand in his way.
The humans finally caught onto the rage and tried to turn tail and run. Vance would have none of that. His tongue shot out and wrapped itself around the body of the green, hat wearing survivor and swung him under the feet of the other humans, knocking them off their feet and onto the sidewalk. He then used all the strength he could muster and hurled the body currently in his grasp into the air. The screams of the falling ended with a sickening crack and splat on the roof of a nearby office building. After a fall like that, there was no way that the man could have survived.
Turning his attention to the other three, he could see that they had their guns trained on him. Thinking fast, he extended his tongue again and snagged the dark skinned man and pulled him toward his own body just at the other two fired their guns.
When the two had emptied their clips, the black man had more holes in him than Swiss cheese. The young woman looked horrified. She dropped her pistols in disgust and held her arms closely around her body. The remaining man looked just as appalled by what he had done, but instead ended up clutching onto his gun even tighter and stepping in front of the woman in a protective gesture.
Dropping the hole-filled corpse, Vance moved as fast as his long legs would carry him and managed to make his way behind the two humans. He grabbed the arms of the woman pulling her close. He could sense that the woman was by far one of the more reasonable members of the group and would feel bad if he caused her much pain. With that in mind, the smoker wrapped his tongue around her neck and in one quick motion, snapped it to the side.
There was a sharp crack and the woman fell from his arms, limp as a rag doll.
Vance was standing in contemplative silence after he killed the woman. He at one point glanced over at the remaining man, who looked like he was about ready to piss his pants. Sensing his fear, a maniacal grin spread across his tumor covered face.
The world seemed to go black around the smoker for a moment. A mind numbing pain was spreading through his veins, causing him to cry out into the dark sky. He felt as if something was trying to break free from the confines of his body and it was causing him to relive everything that he had been through with Landon. He saw when they had first met, when they had first started working together, and when they had decided to move into the same apartment complex together.
He saw when the two of them first admitted feelings for each other, when they had first kissed, when they had first made love. Lastly, he saw when the gun went off and pierced his lover's chest and the expressions on his face as he slowly bled out on the street.
Then he remembered the man that had fired the gun. He remembered the man who had been willing to shoot him even if he had done nothing wrong! He remembered the man that was to blame for Landon's pain. The one who was responsible for his death!
Tears were once again streaming down the side of his face, the physical and emotional pain was simply too much for the smoker to handle. His body was on fire and he felt his skin was at the point of bursting. With one last final cry of anguish, Vance felt his last ounce of humanity burst along with the skin of his back.
When Vance finally returned to awareness, he was still standing in the middle of the street in the rain, but there were large puddles of blood running at his feet. Lifting his head, the smoker saw what looked like new additions to his arsenal of tongues. He had at least four more of the slimy tentacles protruding from his back.
Well, he thought, this makes things a little bit easier.
He turned his attention back to the man that was standing stunned in front of him. He seemed to forget that this creature had just killed all of his friends and would likely be planning a very messy death for him as well. But who could blame the survivor for being fascinated? He had just watched a smoker go Super Saiyan and sprout several more of the creepy appendages that they were proficient in from his back in less than 30 seconds.
Vance seemed increasingly satisfied with this new adaption to his body and with a devilish cackle, released all four new appendages on the stupefied survivor.
He wrapped each one of his new tongues around the individual limbs, forcing the man to drop his rifle and cry out in terror. The man was not spluttering out some kind of gibberish that sounded like pleas for the smoker to spare his life. Vance just laughed at this and leaned his head in close.
"You took away the thing that gave me life; I see it as only fair that I should do the same thing to you."
He could tell that the frightened survivor in his grasp hadn't understood a word of what he said, but the actual words didn't matter. It was the intent behind them that really mattered to Vance.
"I'll see you in Hell!"
With those words, Vance pulled his appendages in four directions, stretching the man's limbs far beyond their limits. The tattooed survivor was screaming as his limbs were pulled apart against his will. The cries peaked in volume and pitch the harder that the smoker pulled, finally ending with a sickly wet squelch as the man's body came apart down the middle.
Blood rained down onto the pavement and was almost at abundant at the rain water that was still falling from the heavens. Vance tossed the two halves of human flesh to the side and began to trudge back across the street to the body of his fallen lover, snatching up one of the pistols that the woman had dropped earlier in the fight.
The smoker's movements were sluggish as he dragged his body through the rain before finally settling down beside the soaked body of his hunter. His new tongues were draped limply behind him as he stared in silence at the corpse of the one person who could have made everything better.
"I guess that I lost it there for a minute, huh?" the smoker asked to the chilled nighttime air. As he expected, no one replied. "I don't think that there is anything left for me to take care of here," he added, swallowing, "So if you don't mind any, I think that I'll come join you now…"
Vance pulled the pistol up and placed it to his temple. He felt cold and numb, but not fearful. With one last thought, he brought his other hand to his lips and kissed the tips of his fingers. He then pressed his fingertips to Landon's cold lips and pulled the trigger.
The bang from the pistol rang through the silence of the night, sounding out with a note of finality. As the night wore on, common infected began to peek out of their shelters, drawn out by the smell of fresh blood on the street.
When the sun finally managed to climb its way over the skyscrapers and into its personal place in the heavens, the warm rays of light shone down on the two bodies resting on the asphalt. A fresh summer breeze blew through the concrete jungle to caress the resting lovers.
The world was right again.
:~*~:
Ok this was one of those things that was just eating away at my consciousness until I finally broke down and wrote it. I'm aware that is not by best work, but I never was very good at oneshots. I am also aware that I have about 7 other stories that I really should be writing, but this just seemed easier due to the lack of time that I have now that I'm in school. I promise that I will get those other chapters up as soon at time and my muse permits. It feels like I've been saying that for about a year now…
Anyway, please read and review if you liked it. Even if you didn't like it, constructive criticism is always appreciated. Emphasis on CONSTRUCTIVE! So go ahead and click the button now!