Author's Note from WulfLynn A.K.A. PsychoTyco

-X-

Long time no see, my Lovelies! My sincerest apologies for the years of hiatus, but I am back, and ready to get writing! I began playing Left 4 Dead again and out of nostalgic curiosity, I re-read my L4D fic. I'd thought to myself, 'not too shabby.' but I was sad that they never really went anywhere. The few readers who left reviews really inspired me to keep this going, so here I am! I hope that these will pick back up, and that the readers who enjoyed it (as well as any new readers!) will find them and keep on enjoyin'!

The first three chapters are on my old account, I can no longer log into it! If you've not yet read those I suggest you go read them, or you may be a little lost. I apologize for any confusion, and feel free to message me with any questions! Thank you for sticking with me!

Disclaimer: I do not, unfortunately, own Left 4 Dead. Only my OC's!
-X-

Chapter 4 – Close Encounters

Kat's POV -

Ali's voice came from behind James in a warning, "Kat, I don't know what's going on here exactly, but you need to get away from Zombie!James, like right now." She was standing there with a lamp held above her head, obviously ready to strike Kat's Infected friend down.

Kat felt James go rigid, and her heart raced as she heard—felt—the guttural rumble rise in his throat. She didn't have a moment to react when James slipped out of Kat's arms, spun around and dove for Ali, pinning her down with a clawed hand raised high. A shriek left Ali for a split second before she was on the ground with the air knocked out of her. Kat screamed for James to let go, and grabbed onto his raised arm. She hit the wall with a thump! when he threw his arm back. He twisted to face her, momentarily forgetting about Ali.

Kat pushed herself up with her back against the wall and pleaded, "James, if you're still in there somewhere, do not hurt us, please!" She slowly held her hands up in a calming submission. She'd never been a religious person, but praying didn't sound half bad right about now. Please still be in there somewhere.

James ceased his snarling, but his teeth were still bared. He and Kat made eye contact for what felt to Kat like an eternity. James looked conflicted, torn, almost pained. Seeing her best friend this way broke her heart, and all she wanted to do was hug him again. She'd always liked James' hugs. He had to be around six feet tall, and always towered over her—which really wasn't too hard for anyone to do, since she was a full five foot three. His hugs were warm and comforting. He'd always been a gentle soul, always dropping everything to make sure Kat and their other friend Nikki were okay when things were rough.

She blinked back tears and continued to watch him, hoping that Ali wouldn't make a move. She didn't. James finally broke the stare and let out another growl, before throwing himself through what little glass of the window there was left, and out of sight. Kat and Ali both shared glances and looked back at the window with disbelief. Ali was the first to break the silence.

"Well that was.. It.. He almost killed me!"

"Yeah, well he didn't, so.." Kat sighed with relief and slowly began getting up, mentally assessing each part of her body. Nothing felt broken, but she'd most likely have some bruises. She couldn't describe what happened in any other word but bizarre. James or no James, did Infected ever let people live? Did they ever turn down a meal? They were practically on a platter.

"—like the others. Kat, are you listening? He could have killed you, too!"

Kat snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Ali, who had gotten up and paced to the bed. "What?"

Ali rolled her eyes and made a frustrated noise that would have been funny coming from her if it weren't under these circumstances. "I told you he probably ended up just like the others, and he did! Only he's extra weird. You should have listened to me, and from now on we are keeping any firearms we find with us when we go to sleep!"

Kat pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath. She was listening to Ali, she really was, but all she could see was the expression on James' face. He obviously wasn't like the others, but why is that? Why didn't he kill them, right then and there? Perhaps her speaking directly to him caught him off guard, how many folk stop andtalk to an Infected?Though how many Infected stop to listen? She finally decided to reply, "Guns in bed, agreed. But he had the opportunity to rip us both to shreds, and he didn't. I say we pack up some more provisions that we can find and move on out. This was his house, he's obviously going to stay close to it since he hasn't left the area yet."

"Well then let's get moving. I want a safe place to nap. I'm grabbing the guns and heading to the kitchen. You coming?" With that, Ali hurried out of the room. Kat could hear the guns being picked up and fiddled with in the other room, before Ali's footsteps went down the stairs.

Making her way toward the closet, Kat opened it and grabbed one of James' duffel bags. She crossed over to his desk and dumped any remaining contents on the floor. Some gum wrappers and gym socks fell out, and she scooped up a few books from the desk and placed them along the bottom. Either they'd serve for good reading when they were holed up, or she could use the paper for fire kindling, should they need it. Her eyes scanned the rest of the desk, and she pulled open the top drawer. There inside, a red leather journal sat, among numerous pens and some Nintendo DS games. She took a brief moment to shake her head at James' inability to put games back in their cases. Back to the task at hand, she picked up the journal. James had never had any secrets from his friends, but like many others, he did keep a journal that was off-limits. Part of her felt guilty for taking it, but she'd never again be able to have a conversation with her best friend. She'd never be able to ask him what he was thinking about, or how he was feeling. He most likely wasn't feeling any good at the moment, wherever he'd zoomed off to. She held the journal close to her, still trying to process what had just happened only moments ago. Stashing the journal at the bottom of the duffel with a defeated sigh, she went around and gathered a couple of hoodies for backup attire.

One last stop before she joined Ali downstairs. Kat walked over to another dresser and opened the bottom drawer, rummaging through jeans and basketball shorts. She wasn't sure if she'd find what she was looking for, chances are that James had used it himself before he turned, so it may not even be there. Her fingers brushed against hard leather, and she smiled with relief. She gripped her hand around the object and pulled it out. James was wanting to collect Katanas, after they'd come across a vendor at a convention last year. He'd used all of his convention money—plus some of hers—to pay for this. She gripped the hilt with her free hand and slid the blade out of its scabbard. There was dried blood on the blade, and she made a face. He must have used this during the outbreak, but had put it back. She's thankful that he did, though maybe he wouldn't be the way he is now if he'd kept it on him. Not that he was a true swordsman by any means. They were nerds, who fantasized about kicking ass, though they'd never expected to actually need to fight for their lives. They should have covered this in P.E… She slid the Katana back into its scabbard and slung it over her shoulder with the baldric. She had never used a sword in combat, but she'd have to figure it out. It's do or die now, and she didn't plan on dying. She stood back up and strode to the door, turning back to give the room a final, appreciative glance. She then turned and went down the stairs to find Ali.

Ali's POV -

After she'd gathered up the gun and ammo she headed downstairs to the kitchen. There wasn't much there, but some cans of peas and carrots. Sardines—gross! She rummaged through some tupperware and found a box of crackers and some granola bars—jackpot! She snatched the individually wrapped bars and crackers and shoved them into her pack, forsaking the boxes. More room that way.

Taking a peak out the kitchen window, she spotted some Infected meandering around across the street, occasionally stopping to vomit fluids of a very unnatural color. She shuddered and went back about her business. She grabbed a roll of paper towels and two thermoses. She tested the faucet and was pleased to find that the water was still on. She'd always been spoiled on water bottles, and never liked tap water. Now, tap looked just as good as any, to be honest. If the water was working in the kitchen, maybe she could take a quick shower. She looked under the sink to find another melee, not sure if she'd get lucky. She didn't. Sighing, she left the bags on the table and went to the bathroom in the hall.

The toilet was covered in that nasty vomit, no doubt from James or his mother. Where was his dad? She wondered as she peeled off her clothes—still caked in slobber from whatever that long-tongued Infected was. She hopped in the shower and turned on the faucet. The water was only hot for a moment, then it went cold. This was still better than nothing. She bopped the shampoo bottle upside down and open against her hand, until some shampoo landed in her hand. She lathered it into her hair and used the rest to run over her body, wincing as she ran her hands over bruises. She got more shampoo into her hands and gave her body another good lather. She did not want to touch any of the soap bars. Ali was a germaphobe even before the outbreak. Now it was worse, but she had to ignore it. She couldn't let Kat see something like this bother her or she'd never live it up, even though most things were probably swarmed with unpleasant germs now. Green Flu germs, none the less. It'd be practical to worry about that, right? She stepped out of the shower and stuck her clothes in the tub, manually washing with a whole bottle of antibacterial hand soap. It was no detergent, but it was better than leaving the clothes all gross. After numerous rinses, she shut off the water and rung out the clothes the best she could. She hung them up to dry but put her undergarments back on, wrapping a towel around her and leaving the bathroom after grabbing some rolls of toilet paper.

She found Kat rummaging through the kitchen. She was still rather peeved about Kat's poor judgment about Zombie!James. The Infected didn't have feelings, show remorse, or care about anything but mauling faces. They'd gotten lucky that the thing left them alone. Yeah, it didn't eat them, but maybe it was saving them for later.

Kat must have noticed whatever look Ali had on her face, because she spoke up, "what are you looking at? While you took the time to get a shower, I've been finding more supplies," she held up a cast-iron skillet, "until we find you another bat."

"A skillet? Are you making fun of me? And is that a sword?"

"Yes, it's a sword. No, you can't use it. Yes, this is a skillet, and it's hard and durable. Who alive will be around to make fun of you for using it? I clearly don't care. A weapon is a weapon. You were about to face an Infected with a porcelain lamp."

Ali rolled her eyes and snatched the skillet, her hand quickly lowering under the weight. She narrowed her eyes to examine it, and gave it a couple of test swings. "Maybe you're right, but I still feel ridiculous."

"It's only temporary, we'll find you something else." Kat opened a duffel bag and pulled out a long white hoodie, tossing it in Ali's direction. "Wear that until your clothes are dry. We have to move when the sun comes up."

Catching the hoodie, Ali looked at it and put it on. It went down to her knees. She put her socks and boots on, feeling less stylish than ever before. She was over it. Kat was right, they just had to survive. Hopefully they could make it until they find a town were CEDA hadn't closed a Safe Zone yet, if there were even any Safe Zones left. She didn't know anymore. "Would it be better to go when it's dark?"

Kat paused for thought, and replied, "it would make sense to be in the shadows. It'd be harder for us to see though, we've already figured out that flashlights attract unwanted attention, and the Infected can find us in the dark anyway. Best go when we can see what's coming. Did you find enough food for now?"

Ali nodded, "yeah, and I grabbed us some thermoses with water in them, too. They're in the pack there on the table."

"Okay, great. Thanks."

Ali's brows shot up. "You're thanking me?"

A shrug from Kat. "May as well. Look, we don't like each other. However, we're in this together, whether we like it or not. We put our differences aside, and get to where we need to be. We good?"

After a pause, Ali nodded. "Yeah, we're good. Lets just find some other Survivors."

Kat removed some notes from her pocket and handed them over. "These are notes on some Infected. The weird ones. James must have been doing some research when this started. You should read them, be as prepared as you can."

Ali took the notes and scanned over them. "Nerd Boy is a Hunter now, isn't he?"

Kat bristled, "it would appear that way. We'd do best to avoid those. All of them, really, but we saw up close how deadly those claws and teeth are. If it wasn't James that we encountered, we probably wouldn't be standing here right now. Just remember that."

"Yeah, yeah.." Ali finished reading the notes and handed them back to Kat. "Want a granola bar?"

"Abso-freakin'-lutely!"

After finishing their small yet satisfying meal, they hunkered down in the living room with their two rifles, a frying pan, a katana, two packs of provisions and a duffel bag. Once the sun began to rise, they slowly opened the door and looked around. There was a group of Infected to the right down the sidewalk, but only a couple across the street and none to the left to be seen. No need to draw unwanted attention with the noise of the firearms, so Ali pulled a glass wine bottle from her pack and silently stepped to the edge of the porch. She chucked that bottle as hard as she could, and was proud when it made it a couple houses down and hit a driveway with a shatter. She ducked down and they both watched as Infected turned toward the noise and blindly ran toward it. She glanced back at Kat—who looked quite proud of the prep—and nodded toward their now-free path. They quickly and quietly hopped the fence and booked it, checking every corner of the house to ensure they didn't run into anything. They rounded the corner to the next street, also residential, but closer to the town limits. They stopped dead in their tracks when they heard a whaling cry.

"Is that a Survivor?" Ali wondered out loud.

"Or a Witch, like in James' notes. Tread carefully, don't piss her off. Stay quiet."

Ali looked at the scene in front of them. A couple houses down, in their path—of course—there was a very pale and thin woman sobbing into her hands and stumbling around. If they were to go around her, they'd have to take a clique of Infected on the other side of the street. They could try and sneak past her, opposite side of the others. She told Kat her plan. "Think it could work?"

Kat shrugged, "it's our best bet. Let's give it a shot. Just be careful."

They made their way around to the house the Witch was in front of, in the driveway. It was too close for comfort, but they made their way to the wall and hugged it as they slowly made their way across the house, hoping to get to the other side and around the corner. Neither of them said a word, nor took their eyes off the Witch. Their movement stopped when Kat had accidentally kicked a soda can. Their eyes shot to each other, and back at the Witch. The whaling had stopped, and the Witches head snapped toward them with a low gasp, her eyes glowing a menacing red. She began growling.

"Shit" Kat and Ali whispered in unison.

Dun dun dunnn! Nah but really, Chapter 5 will be up later today or tomorrow morning. I hope you all enjoy! I'm having fun with this again, and it could go anywhere. Soo, please stay tuned! Let me know how you like it, helpful criticism is always welcome~