DISCLAIMER: I do not own Left 4 Dead, Steam, or any affiliated companies and characters. I do not own Doctor Jack Embers or Steve, they are owned by Green Soldier Maker and Sciina Bocere respectively. I own Isabelle Claudia, Lillian Claudia, Hawkins Hawthorne, Doctor Bastion Ender, The Impressives, and The Man At The End Of The Table.

Chapter 1: ViRuS

Mixed Chapter

"Breaking news!"

Doctor Jack Embers was not a very charming man.

"The government has just quarantined January city!"

He never had been, and he didn't plan on starting on being a charming man any time soon.

"The Green Flu epidemic in January city has, again, been quarantined!"

Jack Embers was snooty to his coworkers, indifferent to his patients, and nobody much liked him.

"This is the last broadcast from channel eight! We repeat, this is the last broadcast from channel eight!"

Except for one patient, Isabelle Claudia. She had been admitted some three months ago. She had MPD.

"Survivors have been-" the news reporter is suddenly cut off by a crashing sound from off-camera.

Isabelle Claudia was not a happy case, but, not many were. Her mother was neglectful and her father was abusive. Her sister who had been born four minutes before her died four weeks after birth.

"What the hell was that!"

They said her MPD had been stemmed from the death of her sister, and that it was a way to live her life for her. Jack said that was bullshit. Isabelle was just a sad little girl, who was suddenly frightened that she might have a problem. She wasn't a puzzle to be solved, a problem to be fixed, she was a human being.

"G-Get it out of here!"

Embers was not a charming man in the very slightest. He was not pleasant to be around. He was plain-spoken, abrasive, in some cases, obnoxious. He spoke his mind, and did not care for the consequences. What others thought of him was not a factor in how he worked, or how he lived his life.

"No! What is it doing in here! C-call 9-11! Get security!"

But, at the moment, none of this was on his mind as his foot pushed as hard onto the gas pedal as possible.

"N-no! What are you doing-AGGGHHHH!" The camera falls over, as the camera-man flees the station. Only the sound of obnoxiously loud chomping is heard, and a slight moaning.

The car screeched to a stop, and Jack leapt out of the drivers seat, rushing towards the slightly ajar doors of the Brighter Tomorrows Mental Institute.

"Ahrr...Nnn..." The sound of shuffling feet is heard, and something kicks the camera screen. A bloodied shoe.

Jack rushed through the halls of the Brighter Tomorrows Mental Institute, flipping the safety off the shotgun he had in both hands. ~Don't worry, Embers. Everything's going to be fine, just fine.~

Whatever had kicked the camera screen falls over onto it, blocking the entire screen. "Gaaarrhh..." The sound of continuous moaning comes from whatever fell onto the camera, as it struggles violently to get up.

Jack kicked open another set of doors, then quickly swung his shotgun to aim into the new room. Nothing there. Jack sighed with relief, then, realizing he needed to keep moving, started to run again. Isabelle's room was three hallways down. He had memorized his way there.

"HNGRAR!" shouts the thing that fell onto the camera, venting it's frustration verbally. In another violent throe of frustration, the camera shakes sharply, as the being falls off of it.

Jack pushed his way through another set of double doors, breathing harder and coughing occasionally. ~A-almost there...Don't worry, Embers, she's fine. She's just...fine.~ He ran again, turning sharply into another hallway. Hoisting his shotgun up to aim forward, he fired, twice. Two originally moaning and shuffling individuals fell down, large holes in their respective heads.

The camera suddenly shuts off as the Channel Eight Technical Difficulties screen turns itself on automatically.

Room 101711, Isabelle Claudia's room, was fifty feet away, at the end of the hallway. It was actually just room 11, the 1017 was just to make it look more impressive. ~How unbearably stupid,~ mused Jack as he sprinted towards the slightly ajar door. His heart was pounding out of his chest, his breathing was ragged and harsh, his sides burned, his legs were sore, and his feet were tired after pounding against the hard, flat floors of the Brighter Tomorrows Mental Institute.

"Sir!" The door of the meeting room bursts open, and the four impressive-looking men in business suits look up at the young boy who has just burst in. "Yes?" asks the man at the end of the table who is covered in shadows.

Halfway down the hallway, the sound of hacking hit Jack's ears. Without even looking, Jack thrust his shotgun into the mouth of a tall, horribly mutated man, and fired, then sprinted towards the door again as the man fell over, the top half of his head blown off.

"January city has been quarantined successfully, sir. But..." the young man stops short, and looks up from his clipboard to the faces of the waiting men. "But...?" asks the man at the end of the table as he leans forward slightly.

Fifteen feet...Ten feet...Five feet...Jack bashed his way through the double doors of room 101711. The girl on the bed had long blonde hair, and her clothes were simple. A denim jacket over a long light blue sleeveless dress over denim jeans. She looked to be fifteen years old. Isabelle Claudia slept soundly throughout this chaos, like an Angel walking calmly through the carnage of a battlefield in the middle of Hell itself. Why did he have to wake her from a peaceful dream to a waking nightmare?

"The quarantine has left multiple survivors trapped inside the city. Some might be resourceful enough to escape, bringing the virus with them. I give it a week, maybe more, before at least one group escapes the city," states the young man, then hastily looks up at the men, who have now begun talking amongst themselves again. Planning amongst themselves again. "Thank you, Hawkins. You may go," says the man at the end of the table, and Hawkins hastily leaves the room.

Isabelle Claudia did not have an easy life.

"Well, men. What are we to do about this problem?"

She had never had an easy life. That much was obvious to the people who cared enough to acknowledge her existence.

"The virus has contaminated everyone in the city, and the 'survivors,' the ones immune or highly resistant to the virus, are carrying it with them."

Her mother didn't care that she existed, her father abused her physically and mentally. Her twin sister had died four weeks after birth. And, at age thirteen, she had been diagnosed with MPD, Multiple Personality Disorder.

"If we don't 'nip this in the bud,' the epidemic will be spread to the outside world and the January City Incident won't be an isolated one. I suggest you start thinking hard about how we will remove this from the grid now, before they get any closer to escaping from the quarantine."

They said her 'other self' was a way to bring her dead sister back to life, a way to revive the sister she had never known. She didn't know was this meant, but, it scared her. She had always thought that it had been normal up until then, and now she was frightened.

The chatter goes on amongst the impressive men for several minutes, until: "Enough!" The chatter stops suddenly, all the men turn their attention to the one at the end of the table.

She had been admitted to multiple institutions, but only stuck with one in the end. Brighter Tomorrows. The only place where somebody had actually genuinely cared about her. Embers. He was kind to her when nobody else had been. He looked at her like a human being when nobody else had. He treated her with respect when nobody else would.

"All those ideas are all fine and good, but...I think this is the perfect opportunity to test out The October Project, don't you agree?"

So, now, while she slept, thinking that when Jack returned, they would leave the institute forever, and live together like father and daughter, she could never have foreseen what actually would happen.

There was a general murmur of agreement around the table, and a grin forms on the man at the end of the table's face. "Good. We are all in agreement. HAWKINS!"

Something was on top of her, and the bed was sagging slightly. She opened her eyes slightly. "J...Jack...?" she asked sleepily, yawning. Opening her eyes fully, she stared at a man in a dark blue hoodie glaring down at her. "AHH!" she tried to push him off hastily, kicking viciously at his vital regions, but seemingly having no effect.

Hawkins rushes in, hastily stopping and standing up straight in front of the impressive men. "Y-yes, sir!" The man at the end of the table gestures slightly, and Hawkins walks forward. The man at the end of the table hands Hawkins a piece of paper. "Take this to Floor Z, to Doctor Ender. Tell him that it's about The October Project, he'll know what you mean."

There was a loud BANG as the man fell off the bed, bleeding viciously from the side of the head. "J-Jack!" shouted Isabelle, looking over at the lanky Doctor, who was holding a shotgun aimed at where the man had been moments before. "Belle, we have to get out of here. Now."

Hawkins nods, taking the piece of paper, and then he walks briskly out of the room, feeling very important. An official order for Doctor Ender! No intern for the Impressives had ever done that before. He walks down the stairs, towards the elevator. Once inside the elevator, he presses the hidden button on the side of the dial, bringing up a small keyboard. A simple code. 1-0-1-7-1-1. And, with that, the elevator slides down towards the bottom floor. Level Z.

Isabelle looked down at the man who had stopped twitching now. "Uh...W-who was th-that?" she asked timidly, backing away from the body. "It was a...uh...It wasn't a normal person, that's all you need to know right now. But, we have to get out of here before any others come." Isabelle nodded hurriedly. "O-okay. Sh-should I bring anything...? Cl-clothes, o-or, anything else?" Jack shook his head. "No, we have to get out of here right now, there's no time. Just, stay behind me at all times, and...J-just be careful, okay?" Isabelle nodded again.

The elevator stops, and Hawkins walks out, looking around. Level Z. Nobody like him, even with his security clearance, was allowed down here. There were all sorts of secret projects stored here, there was even a rumor a Nuclear Bomb was stashed down here. Hawkins walks briskly towards the central lab, where Doctor Ender resides. He opens the door, and walks inside. "Doctor Ender? Are you here, sir?" calls out Hawkins in the sudden darkness of the laboratory. The light suddenly turns on, and Hawkins stumbles back at the sudden sound of a voice from nowhere. "Why are you in my laboratory, intern?"

Jack and Isabelle quietly stalked out of the room, Jack aiming his shotgun forward, squinting through the slight darkness caused by the outage of most of the Institutions lights. Turning a corner, Jack notices half the room is covered in complete darkness. "Shit, I can't tell if anything's there..." He froze up as the sound of moaning came to his ears. "God dammit..." "Braiiiinnnnsssss..." moaned the being in the shadows, making a shuffling sound. "...Oh, for christ's sakes. Receptionist! Stop fucking with us!"

The tall, aged man that was Doctor Ender walks out of a room separate from the main laboratory. "I repeat, as you have not answered me, what are you doing in my laboratory, intern?" Hawkins gulps, looking up at Doctor Ender. Doctor Ender was a good 7'5, possibly taller. "S-sir, I-I have this from-I-It's about The October Project." As if Hawkins had suddenly captured the Doctor's interest, Doctor Ender snatches the piece of paper Hawkins was holding away, and reads it. "Ohoho..."

Steve walked out from the shadows. Steve was the receptionist for Brighter Tomorrows, and he had a habit of getting on Jack's nerves. This, was just case in point. Jack stomped forward, and grabbed the receptionist by the collar, and then held him slightly upwards, bringing the receptionist into the air. "Give me a good reason to not shoot you right now!" shouted Jack, poking into Steve's chest with the end of his shotgun. "Jeez, Doc', it was just a joke. I had forgotten you hadn't developed a sense of humor." Jack pushed the shotgun harder into the receptionist's chest, almost snarling. "Know what sounds funny to me right now? Shooting you. That'd be pretty damn funny." Steve made to retort, but, Isabelle spoke up nervously, "Uh, guys...D-don't we have to get out of here?"

Doctor Ender gently touches a button on his coat, and speaks loudly and clearly, "We have been given order 10. All personnel are to cease all other activities and begin activating The October Project." Doctor Ender looks down at Hawkins once more, then says, in a much less calm tone, "Anybody who impedes progress will be disposed of within the hour." Hawkins looks down at his feet as Doctor Ender looks at him again. "I severely doubt the Impressives will allow you to return to your post, now that you've been here." The doctor grins slightly, and shoves a clip-board into Hawkins' hands. "They'll require a reason to keep you on pay-roll, go facilitate some menial office task before I decide we should test The October Project on you."

Jack, Isabelle, and Steve, walked cautiously out of the Institute, each looking around nervously. When they stepped out of the doors of the Institute, it was not a happy sight. At least two dozen of those things were shuffling outside of the Brighter Tomorrows Mental Institute, all moaning and groping at the air. Jack hoisted his shotgun up to aim at the creatures, and Isabelle backed away as Steve pulled a pistol off of his belt. "Stand back, Belle," muttered Jack. Suddenly, the sound of a muffled yell came from the main mass of the creatures. Somebody was under there? Jack gritted his teeth in frustration, and stepped forward, firing at the main mass. Steve followed suit. "O-oh dear," mumbled Isabelle, stepping back against the Institution doors.

Doctor Ender walks into the large, circular room, an air of impressiveness about him. He was conducting this project, he was in charge here. Nothing could stand in the way of this glorious battle of his. The instant he walks into the room, the scientists within notice him, and salute hurriedly. "Doctor Ender, sir," says a young man next to the tall Doctor. "Yes, what is it?" The man salutes, and then answers, "We have begun the process of readying The October Project, all processes normal. The October Project will be armed and ready in fifteen days exactly, sir." Doctor Ender leans down, to look straight into the young man's eyes. "I want it ready in ten days, and if it isn't finished by then, I will be forced to demote you to test subject, insect," says the Doctor in a quietly unsettling voice, putting emphasis on the word 'insect.' The man nods quickly, salutes once more, and hurries back to his work, looking over his shoulder at the now grinning Doctor Ender. What an unsettling man.

Thank you for reading, this is my first 'fic. Reviews are nice, and keep me going, but, they are not necessary. Please review if you can, though! Next chapter is an all-Survivor chapter, so, you won't see anything about Hawkins or Doctor Ender. Introducing a new character next chapter. -Changing Colours Studios