Prologue: Left 4 Dead

It seems as if God's wrath has come upon the earth once again, but not in the form of water, nor fire. Surprisingly, it has taken an unlikely form: An incurable virus which turns man against fellow man.

There are those who are immune. And they must learn to fight to survive.

March 14, 2013...

Andrew Malic, a 20 year-old, slowly opened an eye. He felt blood on his forehead and decided that getting out of his car would be the best idea. Crawling out of his wrecked car, Andrew grabbed the Benelli M3T 12-guage shotgun from the passenger seat.

He quickly went to the back of the car and opened the trunk where he took out a small backpack full of shotgun shells. Slinging it around his back, Andrew left the vehicle behind as fast as he could.

It was dark, and the fires of numerous cars illuminated the night. There was an overpass ahead and the sign, which now hung by a single bolt, read "Memphis, next exit." The moon was bright, and the former college student jogged in the direction of his hometown.

When news of the infection broke-out, Andrew immediately jumped into his car and drove as fast as he could back to Memphis. His family still lived there, and he wanted to make sure his friends were safe.

Andrew had to admit, driving a car through an infected Chicago was not an easy task. And when he left the city behind, he was grateful. But on his drive he was asking himself: Why was he driving to another infected city? He figured he would find out when he got there.

There was no noise.

The slightest twitch scared him. There could be infected everywhere...

There was crying. He could hear someone, a girl, crying...

Andrew turned on the flashlight that was attached to the gun and slowly walked in the direction of the noise. It was coming from inside a gas station, the lights inside were flickering on and off.

If it was another survivor, he was in luck.

The glass door eerily swung open by itself as if beckoning him to enter.

The sobbing got louder.

Inside one of the aisles he could barely make out the figure of a woman, crying in the feeble position.

Slowly, he approached her and cautiously brought the light to bear on her.

Suddenly she stopped crying and beneath strands of blood-stained hair were bright, yellow eyes.

"Ah, shit..." Was all Andrew managed. The witch screamed a loud scream and ran for him. Andrew shot her down with several shots and let out a sigh of relief.

He could hear moans and screams in the distance. The horde had awoken.

All that came to his mind was run.

Sprinting as fast as he could, Andrew ran out of the gas station and in some direction in which he could not hear the angered howls of infected humans. Their shadows were unnaturally large in the light of a gas-tanker fire.

Running, his eye caught a small sign. A sign which would save his life.

A safehouse.

Running into safety, Andrew shut the steel, protective door of the safehouse seconds before the horde of irritated infected crashed against it like water on rock.

"You're one lucky S.O.B., my friend. You are really lucky."

The voice startled him, Andrew turned around and pumped his shotgun, an empty shell clanging to the tile floor. He swallowed hard.

"Whoa, there. I'm not infected, same as you!"

The figure emerged from the shadows. Could it be?

"Keegan? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Andrew? Why are you in Memphis?"

The two old friends embraced despite the racket outside and the zombatic arms that reached through the small grate in the steel door.

"Dude! What the hell are you doing back here! It's Memphis, this place is a shithole!"

"I came back for my family. And I came back for Hannah."

He sighed, "Man, are you still not over her? It's been four years."

"No. I don't care. Have you heard anything about my family?"

"Yeah, they were evacuated north with my parents, the Bedwells, and the Vasquezs. They're safe."

"What about Hannah?"

"I don't know, dude. But I suggest we leave."

"No, I'm going back for Hannah. You can go if you want to, but I'm going to go and get her." Andrew walked passed his friend and to the back door to the safe house. He unbarred it and was about to open it when Keegan stopped him.

"Wait, man. It's suicide going out there by yourself into the city. Even Arlington, where Hannah is." He grabbed a Remington 870 shotgun from the table, "And you'll need this just in case." He tossed him a first-aid kit. "If you're going out there, I'm coming with you."

"Thanks, man."

The two former college students walked out into night.

"Damn, dude, we're gonna need a lotta luck..."

"I know, I know."