Luna: I've been working on this as a side project, and it became more... well more. I did this for a friend, to introduce a character of hers. Autumn. And I had fallen in love with her sweet little character, I couldn't just do one chapter. But it shows what happened after Zack 'died'. Anyways, without further adue, read on!
Disclaimer: I don't own L4D, just the OC's. Except Autumn belongs to my friend on Deviantart.
Amy sighed, as she looked at her charge, annoyed. "I left you for an hour, and you go missing for weeks!" She scolded the little Hunter, who had been wearing her hoddie. Now all she had was a long sleeved purple shirt, and ripped cargo pants. Her dark brown hair was to her shoulders.
The infected boy sighed, and looked away. The hoodie had been taken off, so as to get to his wounds and make them stop bleeding out. Although he may have been infected, he was still a child that lost a lot of blood.
"Then, you go and let yourself get shot at! What were you thinking Clark? No, sorry your new name was Zack, as that human called you." She huffed, her arms crossed.
He was looking down at his scuffed feet, and swung them a little before looking back up at her. He shrugged and sighed. Amy sighed as well, and sat beside him on the table she had placed him upon. "Do you realize that girl could have killed you the first day you met? That she could have killed you the many times you tried to attack her?" She questioned the little Hunter.
He shrugged his shoulders again. Her eyes softened a little. "Why did you follow her Clark?" She asked.
The boy shuddered, and stuck his tongue out upon hearing the name. Amy glared. "Stop acting like a Smoker."
He looked at her pointedly. "So, what if I don't either? I may be one, but to grab a human with my own tongue is hard. And not to mention how clothing is too rough against it either. That and I hate not wearing a hoodie." She said, trying not to look at the infected child that was looking at her pointedly.
He grabbed her sweater again, and flung it over himself. The hoodie now covering his dark brown hair that usually flopped in front of his eyes. "Clark. Clark. Claarrrk! Hellllooo!" Amy called, trying to get his attention, but he had crossed his arms and huffed not looking at her.
"...Oh don't tell me you like the name Zack, that that human girl gave you."
He nodded, still not looking at her.
She sighed aggravated with the little Hunter's attitude. "Your name is Clark, not Zack."
He stuck his nose in the air, clearly saying that there was no way he was going back to that name once again. "I will not be having this conversation with you. Your name is Clark, and you will deal with it."
He screeched at her, and tackled her, trying to get her to stop calling that name. Vixy, as he learned her name was shortly after becoming Zack, had given the name to him saying it was her brothers. And was special to her. He didn't understand himself why he thought that to be important, but it was.
Amy chucked him off her shoulder, and he landed on the ripped up and moth eaten bed on his back. He looked up at her, his hair and hoodie not covering the eyes that showed he was angry and upset. Amy sat by him, as her eyes softened.
"You looked up to the human girl, didn't you?" She said softly.
He nodded. "You like her more then a friend I'm guessing?" She said softly, as she began petting his head. Her fingers finding naughts and tangles in his hair.
He nodded, sadness now full in his eyes. He wished he had understood what she had tried telling him. He did know that she tried protecting him, but a large male human had knocked her out. He was only lucky that Amy had showed up when she did, and killed one of the humans before picking him up, and running to a safe place to heal him.
"Is he okay now?" A small voice asked, causing the two to look to the door.
A little female infected stood, watching. She wore an over large black hoodie with the shoulder's ripped, her blue jeans matching. If it weren't for her black hair covering her eyes, one would see the two bright yellow ones looking over to them. She wore a black spiked dog collar around her neck, though it too was large.
"Yes, Autumn. Come see him if you want." Amy said, motioning for the little eight year old infected.
Autumn bounded over to her older brother and guardian. She gave him a small hug before letting go and snarled at his behavior for the past few weeks.
Zack shrugged, and looked away. Amy smiled and got to her feet. "I'll go search for some food. You two WILL stay here. Do you understand me, Clark?" She asked, looking pointedly to the little hunter.
Zack didn't respond, as usual. He had even glared upon hearing her use his old name. With a warning snarl to listen, she left. Autumn sat by her brother, being two years younger, she had less freedom then he had.
She just stared, and he stared back. They sat like this for a little bit longer, when they heard a crash from far out, causing the two to jump. The scrambled to the window, and saw smoke and fire rising far out of the city.
"What coulda caused dat?" Autumn asked, her voice barely heard.
"An explosion." The two turned and saw another Smoker walking into the room.
His hair was dark, and his left side covered in the usual lumps and boils. He wore a dark blue plaid shirt, and ripped jeans. In his mouth was a cigar, rare, but then again he usually had some in hiding.
"Hi Danny." Autumn greeted, and ran over to the tall Smoker. "Amy's not here." She told him.
He nodded. "I know, she told me to watch you two." He said, and looked over to Zack. "So, how was your adventure Clark?" He asked the young hunter.
He glared, hissed under his breath, and vanished back into the bedroom. Danny scratched his head, and looked to Autumn. "What I say?"
Amy had heard the explosion, and had gone to investigate. She was at a field, and a helicopter had crashed, causing fire and smoke to surround it. She smelled the burning flesh, and scowled.
"Hello." A voice startled her, and she turned to see another Smoker. This one male, and looked much stronger than herself.
The two glared to each other, when they heard coughing, and turned to see a girl crawl her way out of the wreckage. They watched her crawl out into the field, and just lay there. They could hear the small hiccups from the injured crying girl.
"She's tough." The male Smoker said, a glint in his eyes.
Amy glanced at the male, then turned to the wounded girl. "You can have her." She said, glaring at the girl, recognizing her as the girl who had allowed Zack/Clark to get shot. She turned on her heel, and left the male to his dinner.
She found a dog, rare since most of them were eaten once realized that the humans were gone. Although it was a skinny thing, it was better than nothing. She killed it quickly, and made her way back to the apartment. She heard a voice, and stopped outside the door to listen in.
"So, that's what you've been up to, eh?" A familiar voice said. "You crushed on a human girl, and you were shot because of it. You should know, humans are tricky devils. They would sooner shoot you, then think of you as a friend."
Amy entered then, and tossed the dead dog in front of Autumn's feet. She then looked to Zack.
"And don't you forget it." She snarled.
He snarled right back, and jumped out of the window in his fit of anger. She and Danny used their tongue's to grab the boy by his ankles, and brought him back in. They set him down, and he bared his teeth at them. Amy was furious with his attitude.
"I seen her." She said, causing Zack to look up at her, startled and perhaps with hope. "She was in that wreckage, where that explosion was. I seen her crawl out." She told him. "And another Smoker got to her. He's most likely enjoying the girls flesh as we speak. She's dead. There ain't no way you'll see her again."
Zack had stilled as she told him this. His form began shaking and with rage he attacked her, causing her to fall, as he snarled in her face threateningly as his small claws pushed pressure on Amy's throat. Autumn stared at her brother, and ran over to him. She tugged at his sweater, trying to make him let go. After a few moments he did, and leaped away from her. He snarled and leaped out the window, this time with Amy and Danny letting him.
"Ungrateful waif." Amy snarled, wondering where he had the strength to actually do that when he couldn't take down the human girl.
"He'll learn soon enough." Danny said helping her up. When the two looked to see where Autumn was, she was gone. Most likely after her bother.
Zack didn't know how long he ran and leaped. What he did know was that Vixy was gone. He snarled and attacked a common, and took it down. He kept scratching at it till it no longer moved. He hadn't realized till now that his claws had sharpened, and his strength was better. He saw another common, and attacked that one as well.
He did this a few more times, before his anger left him. His sadness though, stayed. "Zack?" He looked up startled, and saw that it was Autumn. Zack looked away from his sister, and seemed to cave into himself. Autumn walked over to him, and noticed his shaking form. She sat by him and started making soothing sounds to try and calm him down. Zack held his little sister close, and sigh as he finished crying.
"All better?" She asked him. He nodded, and gave her a tight squeeze to tell her that he appreciated it. She smiled, showing off her pointed kitten-like teeth.
Luna: Please R&R^^