Alone…By all standards I was. Clasping a blood-stained claw to my chest I could hear my breaths coming harsh and loud in my ears. Dried tears streak my face almost like decoration, like they belong there. Energy, or my lack of it, had me on the verge of ending my trek but still I moved forward.

Fear gripped my undead heart all too tightly, when I heard foot falls so soft coming from behind me, that I was straining my ears to make sure they were real. "Gr!3f", a somber voice called seeming confused, seeming afraid, cautious? "He's not dead Gr!3f, you didn't kill him…" I froze, was it really her, was Slam behind me or had I finally lost the last of my sanity. Joy so shameless in nature came over me when I felt her small arms encircle my torso.

Knowing she cared enough to come after me made my hollow expression regain some semblance of authenticity. Labored breaths left my chapped bloody lips harder now and an equally red hand came up to my face to shield the younger from my sudden coughing fit. My midsection screamed at me, the wound there stinging all to hell from the loving embrace we shared. Nothing, not even the searing pain encasing my insides, a result of the girl's strength, could make me free her from my faltering grip. Other than the uninterrupted panging, I was in heaven; the girl I'd "killed" one of my fellow hunters for was here with me instead of seeing to said lover's recovery.

"Please," she whispered into the front of my damp and dingy rainbow colored hoody, "- please come back, I'll only love you from now on, I promise…"Questions of varying importance stormed my mind with excessive force, 'Should I go back' being the one that sprang out at me repeatedly. "Rusty and 5 and the others," the younger hunter continued only to trail off once more so she could lift her chocolate stare to my own forest green one, "-they forgive you." Slam stopped when she saw my expression morph into an even wearier one at the mention of our friends. Truth be told I hadn't expected them to, not after I crossed the line like I did.

Unsure lips found their way to mine in a chaste reassuring kiss that I was sure would be our last. 'Very reassuring' I thought giving her a heated look that made her blush, which only darkened after I swept my tongue along her bottom lip, leaving a lazy crimson trail that she lapped up without hesitation. We stood there holding one another for a time before my long since tired legs buckled beneath me; my green clad charge moved us under a dying tree that easily shielded us from any Survivors in the area.

"…x Slam 4 ever…you wrote this all those years ago and you said you'd never leave me, remember…" she whispered although it was more to herself than me, my blood loss had me falling in and out of consciousness but I still heard her as she rocked us back and forth slowly, my head cradled in her bosom. "You have to stay up Gr!3f, you have to stay up, the others are coming, you just need to stay up…", I tried answering her, tried to console her, erase any doubts she had, any thought that I would ever leave her, but I was in a dark place now and her voice was a dying echo when a final tear rolled down my cheek…

"…Z, now I know my ABCs please give my Gr!3f back to me…"

The End

Author's Note:

Well, that was just heartbreaking. Don't you think so? Anyway this is, in my opinion, my not so great attempt at killing off one of my L4D OCs, Gr!3f and an A-Z story I had to do for my American Lit class. She is a mute hunter(which is the main reason as to why you only 'heard'/saw what she was thinking to herself) who is in love and lust with Slam, a younger female hunter that she takes care of.

As I am sure some of you are wondering, 'what's going on?' or 'who the hell are these characters and why should I care?' I will explain.

This takes place a few years into the zombie outbreak of L4D. There are a group of Hunters that, for a multitude of reasons, now reside with one another. Among this group of special infected are a special three that have formed a rather Bizarre Love Triangle (tee hee, this is funny because it's an actual song and one of my favorites), consisting of a playful and caring although mute female Hunter, a tall and handsome albeit overprotective male hunter and the shy and ever adorable female hunter they fight over constantly. Their names respectively are Gr!3f, Alex, and Slam. For more info on these characters you can look me up on dA my name is Chokarrie there also.

Thank you for reading and reviewing!~