2011 update: Be warned, fellow L4D lovers! I haven't dared to touch this story since last year! It may be a Mary Sue-ish mess!
Well. It is a Mary Sue-ish mess, but whatever.
I've renamed Jacinta to Jamie, for anyone who reads the reviews and goes "Who the f* is Jacinta?" I've also deleted the flames. I've embraced them after so long, but I just feel like I'm keeping immaturity as a tag for my story. If you think Jamie is a Mary Sue, steer clear, or suck 'em. (Because I know you want to, if you hate her so much but you keep coming back.)
Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead 2, Coach, Rochelle, Nick, or Ellis. OC's belong to me.
The door opened, releasing a cloud of dark smoke. The kill was made not too long ago; the air was still putrid and heavy. Except for the slant of light from the other room, it was dark. He presumed someone human had killed the Smoker, but he couldn't see anyone, or anything else in the room. He walked in cautiously, floorboards creaking underneath his footsteps. He could make out the rest of the room except for the kitchen and the doorway behind the love seat, which led to a bedroom. He glanced at the table on his left, then double took at a bowl. He rushed over to it, becoming confused with the recently eaten cereal. He turned to notify the others, but noticed a sniper rifle, and a hand a few inches away.
There on the floor, lay a girl. The first thing he noticed were her cheekbones, which were flustered with freckles, and her unnatural red hair. Soft amber eyes were slightly opening, trying to catch a glimpse the boy kneeling on the side of her.
His eyes ran down her boyish figure. She was slim, and looked strong. He noticed the gashes on her right arm, and the dark bruise circling her neck. Her hands were throbbing, and covered with dry blood and dirt. There were little chunks of pulsating flesh on the carpet scattered above her head; The Smoker that was trying to kill her would've succeeded if not for her physique, and probably her reflexes.
It must have come in through her bedroom window, and waited until she came out of the bathroom to strangle her. The girl turned her head a little to the side, painfully remembering the bruises from the Smoker she encountered earlier. The boy on her side was wearing a yellow shirt and overalls, and from only the fact that he was wearing overalls, she realized that it couldn't have been anyone she knew. She spelled out the words 'Bull' and 'Shifters' on the boy's shirt, as he watched her lips work it out.
"Hey, hey, don't talk. You're already hurt pretty bad," he said to her quietly, squeezing her hand.
He bent over her to pull her up, and rested her back between his legs. Ellis couldn't help but blush; their faces were so close. This was the only girl he'd seen around since the infection so far, other than Rochelle. He was staring at her nervously, anticipating the moment her eyes would open. She let out a grunt, and he jerked. He blew out several "oh shit"s as he waited for his panic attack to end, and after her presumed state of discomfort ended, he finally pulled his first aid kit from the strap on his back to open it for bandages. He wrapped her bad arm, and slid his arm around her waist, breathing heavily. He lifted her to her feet, and they stumbled over to the love seat. He laid her down, and sat on the edge of the coffee table next to her.
"Um..." he let out a breath. "What's your n-n-n-n-name? Do you need...anything? Like pain pills or somethin'?" he asked, trying not to die from embarrassment.
She shook her head reluctantly, and whispered "Jamie."
"That's a...p-p-pretty...name," he stammered. "I'll be right back, okay, Jamie?"
Jamie turned over, and buried her face under a pillow without answering.
Ellis got up from the coffee table, whispered to himself that she thought he was a spaz, and went back to the others.
"Ellis, what took you so long?" Rochelle asked, three pairs of eyes turning to him upon arrival.
"I uh...I m-m-met a..." he took his hat off, and wiped the sweat from his face. "Aw, shit..I can't...think..."
"What's wrong with you boy?" Coach asked.
He took a deep breath, and shook the self-imagined pressure out of his head.
"There is... a girl. In there. Her name is Jamie."
Rochelle, Coach and Nick stared at him in disbelief. They hadn't seen another living person since they'd left the hotel, and Ellis hadn't exactly proved to be the brightest of the bunch...
"A Smoker almost killed her, but she's fine. I saved her."
"Good going Ellis," Rochelle smiled.
"Are you sure this wasn't some figment of your imagination?" Nick mumbled while pushing past him, barging in the room. Jamie was sitting up, smoothing out imaginary wrinkles in her jeans, before she looked up at Nick. He was soon joined by Rochelle, Coach and Ellis.
"Uh, Jamie, this is Nick, Coach and Rochelle," he said, picking back up his fluttering heartbeat.
"Hello everyone. It's nice to meet you." she smiled.
Coach and Rochelle were pleased to see that she wasn't as rude as Nick was when they'd first met him.
"So you let Ellis help you? Every time Ellis tries to help someone, they die," Nick sneered.
Jamie giggled.
"Quit that." Rochelle frowned as she nudged Nick in the arm.
Nick rubbed his arm, and kept his eyes on Jamie. "What's a girl like you doing in a shithole like this?" he asked, getting a slight glance of disapproval from Rochelle.
"I've only been here a few days. I was visiting a friend, and then...all this happened. I don't know where she is..." she paused, and visibly swallowed.
"This was the only apartment complex in the area that hadn't been overrun yet." She got up, and walked over to the group. "So, where are you guys headed?"
"New Orleans," Ellis said hastily. "Wanna come with?"
Even though she'd only met them, they seemed alright to travel with. And she could place some sort of unquestionable trust in Rochelle. She was the only other woman she knew, so they had no reason not to like each other.
"Sure. It'd be better than staying here," she smiled.
She went into the bedroom and opened the closet, arming herself with two pistols and an automatic shotgun. Ellis followed, looking around the room, then at the shotgun she held.
"You know how to use that, little lady?" he teased.
"Probably a lot better than you can." She shot him a playful smile as she returned to the living room. He followed, with a smile on his face as well.
"I'm ready to go whenever you all are, unless you wanted to stay a little longer." Jamie offered. "Whoever lived here has a lot of useful supplies," she said, strapping a first aid kit to her shoulder.
Rochelle shook her head. "We have to keep moving. Whenever we stay in one spot too long, a horde comes."
Jamie nodded, and the five of them left the apartment.
It had been seemingly hours of running and shooting infected scattered around the area, before they finally saw Liberty Mall in the distance. There were no infected around, so they could take a break; they had a chance to actually walk.
Everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing since each of the five were quiet. They probably weren't going to like what they found inside the mall...
Ellis started trying to match his footsteps with Nick's, and Rochelle was counting the cracks in the concrete. They tried to distract themselves, but after about ten minutes of silence, all of their positivity was destroyed.
"The evacuation center is overrun," Nick said finally, and casually.
A soft sigh came from Ellis in the back, followed by a grunt from Jamie, and a "Shut the hell up." from both Rochelle and Coach.
Jamie stopped, standing tall in front of Nick. "Are you always such a downer?"
"You'll get used to it sweetie," he snickered, reaching to lift her chin. "Since we'll be together 'till one of us dies."
She smacked his hand away, smirking. He smiled back at her, studying her face as they continued walking. Nick could see her age in her eyes, in everything she did. She was in her twenties, and probably as gullible as she'd ever be; perfect for the facade. When they'd finally gotten rescued, life would go back to normal no matter where they'd be. He'd have a good chance of coming out on top in the new, structure-less world with his knowledge of scamming and trickery. It wouldn't be long before he'd flourish above the rest... but with his past, a criminal database and his record could easily destroy all of that. Being involved with this naive little girl however, would be the perfect cover for a 'changed' man.
Ellis was behind them, feeling a little disheartened. He felt as though he'd be the only one to hit on Jamie, whenever he got the guts to, anyway. Even though what he'd said didn't necessarily have to be flirtatious, Jamie still could have taken it that way. Nick was taking his chance with her...
He looked to the ground as he thought about what type of guy Nick was.
He's smooth, handsome, funny, and probably rich. What more could a girl want?
And in a situation like this, when it seems like the end of the world - Jamie probably couldn't resist him. Ellis wanted it not to be true, but it could've been. She was probably already thinking about what she'd say to him next, how she'd flirt with him, how they'd like each other, love each other, then...well. He didn't want to think about it.
Ellis decided he would show Jamie what a great guy he was. He could probably be everything Nick was, and a little more.
He put his hand on her shoulder.
"Hey Jamie, wanna race to the door?" he asked, smiling.
"Random, Ellis..." she said awkwardly. He couldn't help but feel humiliated...rejected. She thinks I'm just childish, and plain stupid now, he told himself.
The moment he saw Jamie take off and yell that he was gonna get burned by a girl, he was the happiest guy on Earth.
He ran after her, Rochelle, Coach, and Nick watching. Coach and Rochelle seemed to be the only ones who thought it was funny, though.
"Cheater!" he yelled.
The joyous mood most of them were in ended when a Charger came running for Jamie.
Ellis' jaw dropped before he screamed her name, pulling out his submachine gun. He shot after it, picking up speed while the others ran after her. It reached the gate of the lot with her, and started pummeling her into the concrete.
"Fucking kill it!" she cried. E
llis could see it banging her deeper and deeper into the ground, feeling as though he were shooting 'harder' at it with his anger. It finally died, and she pushed its limp corpse off of her body.
He reached her, and fell to his knees as he picked her up and held her close. She heard him crying into her shoulder, saying that he was sorry over and over. She hugged him back.
As Nick watched Ellis whimper over Jamie, he realized Ellis would pose a threat to his plan. A little jealousy couldn't hurt, Nick decided.
"It's okay Ellis, I'm okay."
He stopped apologizing, but she was still in his arms.
"Ellis...I'm ok. We need to get moving..." she said softly. As sweet as she thought this was, Nick was watching them. He looked...scary. To say the least.
He pulled Jamie up and gave her the most sincere look she could remember, just before she saw Nick walking up a little fast out of the corner of her eye.
"Jamie. Are you ok," his voice demanded, over Ellis' head.
"I'm fine, thanks Nick."
He stepped in between them, pointing Ellis to the mall entrance.
"Mood killer," he whispered to Jamie. She giggled, then straightened up when Nick turned to face her.
The whole way to the entrance, Ellis walked with his arm over Jamie's shoulders, laughing with her, smiling in her face. Nick didn't mind it, but god, was that boy persistent.
They opened the doors, praising the rush of the AC. That didn't stop them from sweating however; the mall was filled with zombies, and there were no evacuation teams to be found.
"I told you." Nick said, extending his hand to the infected. "I just tell the truth. And I'm a downer. Aren't I Jamie?"
Jamie rolled her eyes, pushing Ellis' arm off her shoulders.
"So how're we gonna get outta here?" Coach asked.
The group looked around the mall, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Well, nothing that would help a group of five escape a zombie infested building of three floors.
"...there's a car over there." Rochelle pointed, and the five looked over to the right corner of the first floor.
"And there's gas over there. How convenient," Nick sneered.
"Everybody get some gas. We need enough to fill up the tank." He grabbed Jamie's wrist, and started walking to the left side of the mall. "We'll search over here. Everybody else, go search wherever the hell you want."
The three of them disappeared into separate parts of the mall. Jamie saw Ellis storm off, and was a little worried. She hoped he didn't think Nick was up to something. Not that there was a reason for him to be, but she couldn't think of why Nick took her with him. Well she could, she just couldn't imagine him trying anything. He'd have to be really into her to do something stupid, which was pretty unbelievable since they'd met each other less than an hour ago.
"Why do you want me alone? Trying to seduce me?"
"Well no, but if you want me to," He stepped to her, forcing her to back against a wall. One of his hands were behind her left shoulder, pulling her forward, while the other was on the wall, holding him from her body. "All you gotta do is ask."
He eased in, and his eyes became drained. Nick pulled her closer, and her upper lip was now touching his. "Is it working?" he asked. She could almost feel him kiss her, and tried her best to keep composure.
"I'm afraid not." she said mindlessly, avoiding eye contact.
She lifted her head, feeling her lips brush against his. She thought that would've told him to back off, but he didn't seem to get the message. When she lowered her head again, her eyes were forced to meet his.
"Why? You and Ellis already a couple or something?" he asked.
"No." she paused. "But..."
She couldn't find anything else to say, and she hoped Nick couldn't feel her heart racing against his chest.
"Don't worry kid. It's nothing serious," he smirked, as he pushed himself away from her.
Feedback is appreciated on what I've attempted to fix so far. D: