Hey guys, its Yobloc20 here. This is my first fic so please understand if it's not good, spelling mistakes etc. I always loved Left 4 Dead and Ellis and Zoey are my favourite characters so I thought why not? Please favourite, review and enjoy! P.S. Constructive criticism is approved. Hell, any sort of review is heavily appreciated.

I do not own any of the characters in this story. Valve does.

Chapter 1: Obstacles

Everything was quiet. Everything was slowly getting darker.

There was no noise except the slight rhythm of the rain, the gentle wind rustling the leaves of the trees and the shuffling and gurgles of the mindless infected. Debris was littered all over the narrow road which stretched on for a while. The infected simply wandered aimlessly, as if their mind shut off when there wasn't something to chase. Others lay motionless on the cracked road or the leafy grass, starved and unresponsive.

But suddenly, something caught their interest.

Two sources of lights quickly advancing closer from the end of the long road. A faint humming noise gradually getting louder the closer it was getting. The infected on the ground jumped up and stared at the lights which were getting closer. Their eyes reflected off the beams of light. It was getting closer and closer. The noise was quite audible now. They started to run at the advancing object. The infected let out snarls of hunger and rage. Then with a swift roar, the two lights passed in a flash of fluorescent blue. The noise died down again gradually to the previous hum. The lights were gone. The infected gave chase but quickly lost interest. Then as if nothing happened, they started wandering again.

"I'll never get used to how their eyes look in the dark."

"Huh?"

"The zombies, the way their eyes, like, shine. Makes 'em look like a wild animal. Creeps me the hell out."

"Damn, you got that one right boy. Like a feral animal or some shit."

Ellis was driving the car. He insisted one hundred times at the mall. As long as it made him stop whining about it, the other three were fine with it. Everyone could tell the mechanic was having the time of his life while he was behind the wheel of his hero's stock car.

Coach was in the passenger seat. Every once in a while he would warn Ellis of an incoming piece of debris just incase Ellis didn't see it. They had sat in silence for around thirty minutes before Ellis brought up that previous thought to Coach. There was an odd atmosphere in the car, as if the four survivors all had a big argument with each other and they were now ignoring one another. Ellis knew it. Coach knew it. Ellis was simply trying to get a conversation going to kill the strange mood in the car.

Nick and Rochelle were seated in the back of the stock car. Rochelle had her elbow up against the door; she was gazing out the window up at the sky, lost in thought. Nick had his arms crossed, his head against the window and his eyes shut. Whether he was actually asleep or he was trying to give the impression he was, the other three didn't know. But they all knew that they should leave him alone for now and let him have his rest.

"How you holding up Ellis?" Coach enquired to the young man. "I still can't believe that I'm driving Jimmy Gibbs Jr.'s stock car! This is been a dream o' mine since I was a kid." Ellis replied cheerfully, his signature grin plastered onto his face. Coach chuckled to himself. "I mean are ya tired? I can drive if you wanna sleep." Ellis shook his head. "Nah I'm good. I could drive this beauty for days!" Coach gave him a questionable look before relaxing back into his seat.

"So em… Where were ya when eh… you know… All this zombie shit started?" Ellis asked with caution, worried that perhaps it was a sensitive issue with the brick wall of a man. Coach sighed and thought. "Ehhm… I was driving my car home from a training session with the football team and I got to the highway and it was completely blocked… Everyone had gotten outta their cars and some folk were running so I left my car to check what shit was going on and some people just ran by and told me to haul my ass outta there. I heard screaming in the distance so I did… Went back to Savannah." Coach paused for a moment before continuing. "I called my wife as soon as I got the chance. She said she was on her way a CEDA centre at 'the Vannah' hotel with our daughter. I said I would meet her there… I met up with Ro and she was headed that way anyway so we went together. And that's when we met you and Nick. I don't know where they are, I'm just praying they were evaced and they're okay." There was a moment of silence before Rochelle commented "I'm sure they got out and they're okay Coach." Coach gave a small smile. "I sure as shit hope so Ro."

Coach turned back to Ellis "So what about yourself, boy?" Ellis gave a moment of thought. "Well uhh, I was in my garage with Keith actually. We were workin' away on this beauty of a car when we heard this commotion goin' on outside. We saw people running and the radio we had on just went to static and a message started to play about going to your nearest CEDA evac centre. Me and Keith thought to hell 'bout that and we started workin' on this truck we had, ya know, makin' it one hundred percent zombie proof!" Coach gave Ellis a funny look before the mechanic continued.

"We set off and well it turns out it was only ninety-nine point nine percent zombie proof. Bastards ripped it up in a matter of seconds. Me and Keith escaped and he ran one way and I ran the other. I sure hope he's okay but I dunno… Not too long later I found Nick."

Coach gave a small chuckle. "From all the ridiculous stories of the pain and nonsense Keith has gone through, I'm sure an apocalypse is nothing to him!" Ellis gave a laugh. "Yeah Coach! Maybe you're right man!" The mood was now replaced with a cheery atmosphere much to the relief of Coach, Ellis and Rochelle. The rain was getting heavier now.

The headlights then picked up a figure in the middle of the road. Ellis gave a quick look at Coach and then returned his gaze onto the road with a massive smile. "Hey Coach. Watch this!" Ellis remarked as he put his foot on the accelerator. The car roared and sped at the figure. A huge smash was heard and the body tumbled over the windscreen and rolled off onto the road behind. Coach and Ellis started laughing hysterically to themselves. Rochelle looked startled but gave a small grin. Unfortunately, a certain conman was not so impressed by his rude awakening.

"What the hell are you idiots doing?!"

Coach and Ellis looked at each other with a look of immediate regret. They had just woke the viper. "Uhh sorry Nick we just hit a zombie." Nick wasn't having that as a viable excuse. "Are you watching the goddamn road? You can't go ramming into everything you want Overalls!" Ellis looked crestfallen. "Uh yeah sorry Nick…" Ellis muttered.

"Calm down Nick. He was just having fun." Rochelle tried to reason with the conman. "Oh yeah, well I'm pretty sure it will be a lot of fun when a zombie smashes through the windscreen, won't it?" Nick sneered, not appreciative of his rude awakening. "Nick, the boy said he's sorry. Drop it, okay." Coach reasoned.

Nick let out a large sigh. "Anyone know where we are?" Coach shrugged while Rochelle chimed in "I think I saw a sign not so long ago that said Rayford or something?" Coach seemed to light up at that word "Rayford?! Shit! We're on the right track then!" Nick and Rochelle looked confused. "How would you know that?" Questioned Nick who seemed unconvinced.

"You can cut right through Rayford to get to the highway which will take us right to Naw'leans!" Replied Coach. Nick sighed at how Coach pronounced 'New Orleans' but a relieved grin appeared on his face. "Okay, I hope you're right big guy." Nick had forgotten that Coach was a Georgian local.

Ellis gave an ear-to-ear smile. "Next stop! Rayford!"