I'm baaaaaaack!

Yes, Hunted is making a return. This is the remake of Hunted. For those of you who read this before welcome back, it's going to be a bit different. Actually there will be very few similarities between this one and the last one. For those of you who are new, welcome for the first time.

To the new people: Hunted was the first Left 4 Dead fic I ever made, and, by my standards, was a smashing success. However, I posted that when Left 4 Dead 2 was still abuzz with activity, unlike today. I know this new rendition won't be as famous.

This story will probably go down the same road the last one did. This means I'm preemptively making it Rated M. The people who read the last one will understand.

I do not own any rights to Left 4 Dead. All rights go to Valve for the game, zombies, and any characters that appear in Left 4 Dead. Any original characters are property of me.


Two weeks after first infection…

The zombies had turned the country to hell in a matter of weeks. No place was left uninfected.

The only ones who survived were the lucky ones, they either hadn't been infected from pure ingenuity.

Or they were immune to it.

Those who were immune were few in number. Something that was being looked into in secured research labs spread throughout the country.

However, that didn't mean that immune weren't targets.

One group of survivors had already learned that they were not safe. But they wouldn't last long enough to get anywhere safe.

Except for one.

A group of five walked through the streets of a rural town, looking for a place to stay the night. They were all high school students who had been in class when the infection hit. They were all that was left of their hometown, which they were now on the outskirts of.

In the lead was a high school quarterback. He was large, in charge, and ran on minimal brain function. He wore a green and yellow jacket with the letters LIS sewed onto the front, and a pair of jeans that were practically hanging around his knees. His hair had been shaved down to barely be there at all, and was a dark black. His eyes were dull and gray. He carried himself pompously and didn't listen to anyone else, and swung around a shotgun as if it weren't possible to blow off someone's head at any moment. His name was, as he demanded to be called, 'The King'. His real name was Ian.

Walking next to him was his 'girlfriend', if she could be called that. Her hair was dyed blonde with pink and blue streaks in it, and her eyes were purple from contact lenses, and she only wore a poorly buttoned jacket and short skirt. She had been in the bed of every guy in school in the exact way you're probably thinking as of this sentence being typed. She walked around with a pistol like it was a title. She'd never shot the thing even though the group had been attacked by zombies twice now. Her name was 'Kitty', as she demanded to be called.

Behind them walked perhaps the most typical nerd you'd ever seen. He was bone thin, covered in acne, and wore the typical square glasses. His black hair had once been cut short and neat but now was messed from a few attacks by the infected. He wore a green plaid shirt and khakis. His name was Leonard. Armed only with a crowbar.

Behind him were two other survivors, one of them stood tall and assertive.

He was the only one who could actually rival their 'leader', but he kept his mouth shut. His hair was a light brown, and cropped to one side. His eyes were a bright blue and shined with rage. A rage fueled by his one goal in this apocalypse: Make sure his sister stayed safe. His name was Tyler. He clutched the baseball bat in his hand a little too tightly. He was very ready to use it, be it on a zombie or human.

The young woman that walked next to him was his main concern. His younger sister. Her name is May. She's a year younger than her brother, but they weren't your typical 'argue over everything' siblings. When they were growing up, and still very much to the present, it was one of those sibling relationships where Tyler came home plenty of times with cuts and bruises from getting into fights to keep his sister's decency from being tarnished by false rumor.

May was a beautiful, intelligent, modest girl of sixteen years old. Her hair, like her brother's, was a light brown, but was long and flowed in a way almost indescribable. Her eyes were completely different from her brothers. Hers were a bright green, almost like emeralds. They once were full of life, as was she, but after all this had started, she felt hollow. Like she was dead but forced to stay alive. She held a machete in her hand.

"The way I sees it, we jus' hit up a few places fer some food and shit and be on our way." The King said as he kicked a disembodied zombie skull some distance.

"I don't know what you plan to do with shit, Ian, but you enjoy yourself." Tyler said, getting a laugh out of May and Leonard.

"Shut the hell up." Ian muttered, only getting May to be quiet. Tyler didn't respond. Leonard was still snickering.

"And that goes for you too, unless you want a slug in your head." Ian snarled, pointing his shotgun directly at Leonard's face.

"Yessir!" He muttered and backed up a bit.

"Wimpy bitch." The jock muttered and continued forward.

Kitty chuckled mockingly and followed after him.

"I told you we should've left those two to get eaten." Leonard muttered to Tyler. Ian and Kitty would've been torn apart by zombies if Tyler hadn't rescued them from a horde. While Leonard was usually nice…he didn't like anyone who put the barrel of a shotgun in his face…or had attacked him a multitude of times before the infection began.

"I thought that the apocalypse might cure idiocy." Tyler said. "That was naïvety on my part."

"Hey! Are you pussies going to sit there and get torn up? We aren't saving your asses if you get lost!" Kitty called back to them.

"Why'd we give them the guns?" Leonard muttered.

"We didn't. They found them first." Tyler sighed.

The group continued on for some time. Any stray zombie that came near got a slug in the head.

"Hey, maybe we could conserve the ammunition a bit?" Tyler snapped at Ian as the gray matter of another infected went flying all about.

"I can shoot this damn thing as much as I friggin' want ta. So shut the hell up." Ian growled. To prove his point. He shot three more shots into the air.

Tyler put his face in his palm.

"He's going to get us killed…isn't he?" May muttered. It was the first time she had spoken in a while.

"I don't know…if we're dead. We don't have to put up with him." Leonard muttered.

"Where is he even leading us?" May asked. She was looking along the roof tops. She felt like she was being watched.

"I dunno…Let's just hope he actually acts competent."

Another hour of walking had everyone feeling tired.

"We're stopping here fer five minutes." Ian said.

He said this in the middle of a four-way intersection, complete with wrecked cars and bodies strewn about.

"Isn't it a little exposed?" Leonard muttered.

"Shut the hell up! I'm not going to clear out one of them buildings just for a little more comfort."

"…How many brain cells does he have again?" Tyler whispered to Leonard.

"Uh…Functioning? I'd say…two." Leonard muttered. Once again, the three of them tried to stop themselves from snickering.

Everyone sat down someplace in the intersection. Tyler was resting against a car, and May was nestled next to him. Leonard sat on top of the car. Looking for any zombies.

Ian walked around. He was bored. His miniscule brain told him to find something to entertain himself.

He looked up at Leonard and grinned evilly.

"Hey babe. Gimme yer gun." He muttered to Kitty, who obliged and placed the gun in Ian's meaty palm.

The jock held the pistol up and shot it at Leonard. Not to hit him, just to scare him.

He got the desired effect. Leonard heard the gunshot and bullet whiz past his head and his instant reaction was to tumble off of the car and fall onto the road. Flat on his face.

"Leo!" May yelled and rushed to him. Tyler was up in a flash and stormed over to Ian and Kitty, who were both laughing hysterically.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! What the hell did you do that for?" Tyler demanded.

"I was bored. I wanted to see a geek break his own nose for once and it looks like it worked." Ian grunted, and looked over to May and Leonard. Leonard's glasses sat broken on the ground, and his face was covered in blood.

"Well great. Now we're going to need to get him fixed up. And he might draw the zombies now since he's bleeding. Great fucking job. You're killing us."

"Well die then. Survival of the fucking fittest. I'd say whoever has a gun is probably the fittest." Ian muttered, and pointed the pistol directly at Tyler's chest.

May got Leonard to his feet and grasped her machete. But she was quickly aware of a shotgun barrel being pointed at her head. Ian gave Kitty the shotgun when he asked for the pistol.

"Maybe without your bitching and falling behind, we might get somewhere. You's been holdin' us back…I don't think anyone will miss three whiney fucks." Ian said with a shrug.

It was quiet for a moment. Ian then made to pull for the trigger, but Tyler shoved Ian's arm so that the gun wasn't for him. But it was aimed at a car.

The bullet went through the window of the car and shattered the glass. Almost instantaneously, a loud beeping began to come from the vehicle.

Screams erupted from all over the town. Zombies began making their way out of alleys and buildings. Jumping out of windows and beating down doors to get to their targets.

"Well. Have fun!" Ian chirped, and he and Kitty ran off.

"Run!" Tyler yelled. The three of them chased after Ian and Kitty. There was a method to their madness.

The infected came pouring out of the buildings as they ran. Kitty and Ian seemed home free. But a zombie jumped through a window, and tackled Kitty to the ground.

"IAN! HELP!" She yelled as she tried to push the zombie off of her.

The jock turned around and pointed his pistol at the zombie. Tyler, May, and Leonard shoved past him, ruining his aim. When he got his aim back, he found the flood of zombies approaching at high-speed. And more of them were coming out to join.

"IAN!" Kitty yelled again as the zombie began to force her back down.

"Sorry, babe." He said and ran off after the other three.

"NO! IAN! HELP ME!" Kitty yelled as the flood of zombies surged past. Many of them stopping to help pin her down.

A loud scream sounded out before a multitude of sickening cracks abruptly ended it.

Ian looked around as the zombies began to block his path. He could only think of one thing to do.

He lifted the pistol and, while still running, shot it at the other three survivors.

Leonard's scream from having a bullet enter his leg could curdle blood. May and Tyler instantly stopped and made to help him, but Ian came charging in like a bull and tackled Tyler to the ground, and forced May off-balance.

A loud screech was heard, and a horribly ugly female zombie appeared. It wore only a bra and pants. Its stomach had become flabby and distended. It lacked a jaw, and its lips had burned away from the acid that seeped from its throat.

"Leo, get up!" May yelled as she tried to help him up. Ian had grabbed the bat away from Tyler and was now swinging it at him, but kept missing.

Leonard tried to put weight on his leg, but the zombie that dripped acid decided to attack while her prey was vulnerable

It built up a ball of the acid, and shot it at him.

Leonard screamed as the acid splashed over his head and back, burning into his flesh.

May was helpless to get it off him, especially as a zombie tackled her into the ground, only to be impaled by the machete.

The green acid had dripped onto the ground and dissipated. It was soon replaced by a crimson red. Leonard didn't move.

A loud screech sounded, and a hooded figure appeared in the sky, aimed for Tyler and Ian.

May grabbed a rock and tossed it at the zombie, hitting it in the side of the head.

It yelped in pain and lost focus, and body slammed into the two.

It groaned as it stood up, and turned to look at May, who was pointing her machete directly at it.

The figure wore a dark blue hood, and cargo shorts. Duct tape had been tied around the wrists of the jacket, and around the bottoms of the short's legs.

It didn't attack, just stared. The commons didn't come near while this special was about. They'd only help it when its attentions were diverted.

May couldn't help but notice how young the zombie looked. He couldn't be older than her. And…despite being a little pale and thin…He looked kind of handsome.

May instantly swore she was insane and would tie herself in a straight jacket if she got out of this, and die while screaming profuse insanity to the zombies.

Ian groaned and rubbed his head. A cut had formed from hitting the pavement. But he couldn't worry about that. He got up and turned to Tyler. "I'm going to kill you, you piece of shit…" He muttered and pointed the gun for Tyler's head.

The Hunter turned to Ian and screeched. It leapt forward and tackled into Ian, but this time it on the ball. It pinned Ian under him and began to claw into him. Tearing at whatever he could.

"No! NO! GET IT OFF!" Ian yelled out as he struggled against the zombie.

Tyler pushed himself off the ground as the horde took its chance to charge again.

Tyler and May said nothing as they turned and fled.

Ian wouldn't have any of it.

He punched the Hunter in the stomach, then lifted it up and tossed it into the horde.

He pointed his pistol, and fired.

Tyler didn't even think, he just pushed May away to make sure the bullet came nowhere near her. A hole appeared in his back, and another in his stomach.

"You bitch…" Ian muttered as the zombies poured over him, another glob of acid found its way through the mass of zombies that tore at him and covered Ian in it. His loud yells soon ceased.

"Tyler!" May cried as he collapsed to the ground, holding at his stomach.

"Oh God…Oh God!" She cried as he coughed up blood. "Don't worry…we'll…we'll figure this out…" She muttered as she looked up at the zombies, marching forth like an army ready for the final charge.

"Sis…just don't…" Tyler muttered, trying to force a smile out. "I swore to myself I'd die to protect you…I just hoped I could've done a better job of it…" A small puddle of blood was forming around Tyler.

"Tyler…" May cried. "Please…don't leave me alone…"

"Sorry, May…" He muttered weakly. "Get out of here…and don't die on me…I won't forgive you…" He still tried to force a smile.

May looked up as the horde's anticipation broke and they charged forth.

"Run, damn it…" Tyler groaned. May turned and ran, looking back only once to see the horde flooding over Tyler. The loud screech of the hooded zombie sounded.

He didn't scream.

May tried to keep her tears from flowing as she ran, but found it to be difficult.

Just at the end of the street. Just a mere fifty feet from where Tyler went down, there was a red brick building, with a red steel door standing proud. 'SAFE HOUSE' red dark red paint on one of the walls.

May crashed through the door and forced it shut behind her, and began piling up any furniture she could push against it as the zombies collided with the door. They screeched and snarled, and clawed and shoved at the door. But it was shut tight.

May collapsed onto the ground, and her sobs burst forth. They could be heard for miles around…


Tyler watched his sister as she ran off. He thought that her delaying would've given the zombies the advantage they needed.

"Sorry dad…I couldn't do it…" Tyler muttered as he saw the first few zombie lunge for him.

A loud, high-pitched screech sounded, and the infected were knocked off Tyler. The hooded zombie stood over Tyler and snarled. The infected ran around the two, any of the zombies that delayed or tried to attack Tyler got nearly lost their arms from a swipe of the hooded zombie's claws, and quickly returned to chasing May.

The spitting zombie screeched and spat a ball of goo at the two, but the Hunter took the hit too and let the acid drip off around him. It didn't even phase the clothing.

The wave of zombies past and the spitting zombie jumped from the roof she was standing on, which was three stories up, and landed with a thud. She didn't flinch.

She approached and screamed angrily at the male infected, who screeched back. A set of pink nails were reared and sliced into the Hunter's back. The hooded zombie snarled and sliced open the stomach of the spitting zombie, before standing up in a hunched over, two-legged stance, and bit the female zombie in the neck.

It gurgled out a screech as it die, acid seeping from its stomach and covering the ground.

The hoodie growled and turned to look at Tyler. He was just about dead.

"So…This is how I die, huh? I always thought it would be cancer or a heart attack or something…but a zombie?" He muttered. The hoodie just sat and stared at him.

"You didn't attack my sister…" Tyler muttered. "But you had the chance…"

The zombie nodded.

"Maybe being close to death makes me insane…But if you understand me…and you aren't going to kill her…Then make sure she's safe…please…" Tyler begged.

The zombie nodded again.

Tyler coughed up more blood. "I don't like pain though…Please…Make it stop…" He begged.

The zombie delayed for a second, thinking about how to do this quickly.

He pointed five of his claws directly at the top of Tyler's head.

"Just do it…" Tyler gasped.

The hoodie snarled and put all his force into his one hand.

"Bye sis..." Tyler muttered, just before the claws met their mark.

Tyler shook for a few seconds, and then was still. His blue eyes stared unseeing at the evening sky.

The zombie picked up Tyler's body and dragged it into an alley. He first shut Tyler's eyes, carefully, and then found a large tarp to wrap the body in.

It was a long, arduous process, but when the Hunter was done, Tyler was completely wrapped in the blue tarp. Nothing could get to him.

The zombie snarled angrily and leapt to the rooftops with a loud screech as the sun began to set.

He jumped from rooftop to rooftop until he landed on the roof of the safe house. He could hear May's quiet sobs and whimpered.

What this zombie was up to was a mystery in itself. How it had not become a blood thirsty killer is another one.

But he was now the only ally May had.

So long as he was alive to protect her, he wouldn't let the other infected kill her.

Anything that tried to harm her would die.

Anything that harmed her and fled would be hunted.