A.N. Hi, it's me again. Same thing: THIS IS A RE-POST FROM MY ORIGINAL ACCOUNT! Please don't say I'm stealing it blah, blah, blah. It's me, SpontaneousCombustion00, just with a different account and pen name. So enjoy this (again if you've already read it) and I DON'T own the company that makes this awesome game. That right is reserved for Valve and Source and whomever else.

Not Ready To Die

Ch. 1: Memories and Bullets

BANG! The door flew open as Zoey raced inside the abandoned warehouse, pistols at the ready.

"Die, you motherfuckers!" she yelled as she unloaded her clips into the few zombies that were roaming around inside the warehouse. Bill, Francis, and Louis all rushed in behind her to finish the job as Zoey ejected the empty pistol magazines and slammed two more in, then cocked her pistols, and looked around for any more Infected. Seeing that there were none, she sighed and lowered her pistols at her sides.

"Hey, this warehouse might serve as a good safe house for the night." Louis commented, looking around.

"I don't think so Louis." Bill said, shaking his head.

"And why not?" Louis asked incredulously

"Because it's too open." Francis replied.

"Francis is right Louis. There are too many openings in here and the walls are way too thin." Zoey explained. "Imagine is a Tank found us in the middle of the night, while we're sleeping. The walls wouldn't last to give us enough time to get ready."

"Yeah, I suppose you guys are right." Louis said. "I think I'm just getting' really tired, runnin' around and all."

"We all are Louis." Bill stated, as he sat down on an empty crate and reloaded his assault rifle. Francis took the opportunity to look outside the warehouse from one of the small windows that were placed sporadically around the dingy place so they wouldn't be surprised by an oncoming horde. Louis sighed, ejected his clip, saw he didn't need to replace it, so he thumped the cartridge back in and cocked his Uzi.

"Ya'll wake me up when somethin' excitin' starts happenin', k?" Louis said before yawning and stretching out on the oily ground of the warehouse and closing his eyes.

"You can't be serious." Bill said, looking down at Louis. "You're sleeping now?" Louis opened one eye to glance at Bill.

"Man, I'm tired as hell!" Louis defended himself, shutting his eyes again. "An' ya'll don't want me to fall asleep when we're blastin' the shit outta those bastards that are out there, do ya?"

"No, I suppose not." Bill said chuckling and shaking his head. "Zoey, you alright kid?" Zoey jerked her head away from the window she was staring out of.

"What?" she asked. Bill laughed.

"Get you head outta the clouds, kid. We need you head in the game when we're facing those sons-a-bitches later on, k?" he said, smiling with a twinkle in his eye. Zoey nodded faintly and turned her head back to the window, her expression slackening as she slipped back into her memory.

Her thoughts took her back to the heart of the city where this whole ordeal began. A deadly pathogen had surged through the entire city, causing all the inhabitants to become an army of zombies; a heartless cavalry of the undead. Zoey's thoughts travelled back to an incident that took place a little over a week ago.

A massive horde…

A dark, narrow alley…

A crouching form…

Burning crimson eyes fading to emerald green…

A weaponless victim…

A heated stare…

A kiss...

And that's all it took. She was lost. A survivor falling for an Infected; an enemy falling for her opponent.

Unfortunately, thought Zoey, the guys would never understand. She could never tell them about Zion, the Hunter she had briefly met and befriended in the city. While any other sensible human would have mercilessly put a bullet between its' eyes, Zoey had been struck speechless as its deep green eyes penetrated into her own…

"Oh shit! WE GOT COMPANY!" Francis bellowed from the second story window he was watching out of, knocking Zoey out of her reveries. She glanced up sharply and saw Francis jump off the last ten rungs of the ladder he was rapidly descending. Louis jerked awake immediately and scrambled upwards, snatching his Uzi as he looked around wildly.

"Come on boys and girl!" Bill yelled, waving his assault rifle and pointing towards a room in the back of the warehouse, "Let's get our happy asses movin' before we join their ranks!"

"Agreed!" Zoey nodded and ran ahead of Bill to get to the small sheltered room that they could easily fight from without receiving much damage. Glancing to her left, Zoey found a small pile of ammunition sitting atop a few crates. Hmm, I wonder why those are just sitting there. Zoey wondered. Oh well, it's fucking ammo, why should I care where it came from? I should be grateful. She grabbed a few more pistol magazines and jammed them into the various pockets in her hoodie.

Then they all heard the ominous thumping as the zombies banged at the warehouse doors. There was also the noticeable sound of glass shattering as it gave way under the clawing nails of the Infected.

"Here we go everybody." Louis said, cocking his Uzi, as they all heard the warehouse door breaking and falling as the zombies poured in to get their prey. Zoey flattened herself against one of the walls that wasn't covered by crates as the Infected started to claw and break through the heavy wooden door.

Suddenly, they all heard something that struck fear past their hearts and into the pits of their stomachs and sent an icy chill down their very spines.

"Oh fuck!" Bill exclaimed. It was the tell-tale roar, and the pounding footsteps of a Tank! Zoey looked into the faces of her scared comrades. The fearful look only lasted a moment; however, as all of them became looks of determination, as the Tank finished bashing down the door to the room the survivors were in. There was one good feature, though, about this room. The doorway was too small for the Tank to get through. But that didn't stop the zombies from pouring into the room. All the survivors unloaded into the horde, causing the once clean walls to become splattered with blood and gore.

As she shot the head clean off a charging zombie, Zoey spotted a cavity in between the oncoming horde and the doorframe that would be perfect if she could throw a pipe bomb through it. It would give them all a chance to unload, and possible harm the Tank, making their job that much easier. Using only one of her pistols to shoot any Infected coming her way, she reached and unclipped one of her pipe bombs from her belt. Louis took down three zombies and looked in Zoey's direction, saw the bomb in her hand and realized what she was planning to do.

"Zoey, are you outta your fuckin' mind?" Louis yelled, as he smashed an Infected with the butt of his Uzi. "You're gonna kill us all if you throw that thing!"

"Not if I throw it right." Zoey countered, pressing the button on the bomb to trigger it. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" she yelled as she threw the explosive. Her aim was true, and she watched it fly out of the door, bounce off a wall and land in the middle of the warehouse. Dozens of Infected instantly swarmed the bomb, including the ones in the room with the survivors, clawing one another to get to it. Seconds later, they heard the satisfying sound of the bomb exploding, body parts flying everywhere, and the enraged roar of the Tank.

"Reload your weapons quick, before any more come!" Bill shouted, slamming another cartridge into his assault rifle.

After everyone reloaded, they all focused their attention on the Tank. Francis with his riot gun, Louis with his Uzi, Bill with his assault rifle, and Zoey with her dual pistols. The Tank roared wildly with each bullet that impacted with his tough exterior and with strength that only a Tank could have, ripped the front wall completely off the room where the survivors were.

"Oh shit!" yelled Louis, "Run for it!" and they all bolted from the remains of the room. There were a few zombies left in the warehouse, which they easily dispatched as they ran.

"Look out!" Francis yelled and pulled Bill out of the way as a huge boulder of concrete came smashing down next to them as they ran. They kept running away from the destroyed warehouse, the Tank still behind them. As they were running they dodged cars, street lamps, dumpsters, mailboxes, and other miscellaneous shit like that that the Tank kept throwing in their direction. They continued to run blindly through the city, not knowing or caring which direction they turned so long as it was away from the Tank, until they came to an alley. The alley led to another street, but the alley was cut off by a huge chain-link fence. There was no chance for escaping into the alley because the Tank would be able to fit into it with room to attack them and probably kill them. So the survivors turned and unloaded all their ammunition into the Tank.

But the Tank kept coming and with one massive, sledgehammer-like swipe of his fist, it knocked Zoey into the alley and through the chain link fence, causing two dumpsters, tons of boxes filled with old newspapers, several overflowing garbage cans, and the lowest part of the fire escape to come crashing down on her. The tremor also caused parts of bricks and plaster from the surrounding buildings to come crashing down on her, completely crushing her beneath everything. The last thing she heard before her senses faded was her friends finishing off the Tank and the Tank's final anguished roar before it crashed to the ground.

A.N. - What do you think? Suckish? I know, I'm a bitch for leaving a cliffie right there. Reviews are greatly appreciated and any reader ideas for chapter 2 can be submitted also since, like I said, chapter 2 is currently being written so there's always room for improv! Flames are accepted too, but will most likely be ignored, unless you have a good reason to criticize what I wrote, then I might consider it. Anyway, I'm gonna get back to writing and I'll be back with chapter 2 in a few weeks. 'Til then, buona notte!