Left 4 Dead: Lambs 2 Slaughter V3

by Mattrocks

In Auckland City, New Zealand, 2012, an experiment to find a cure for a new disease has gone horrifically wrong. Now four new friends must fight to survive the hell that's been unleashed upon their home and each other. Revised! Please Read and Review!

1. Prologue and Part One

Author's Note: Hey good readers, I'm back with Left 4 Dead: Lambs 2 Slaughter once again. This time, however, it's a new version and I need your help.

Y'see, apparently my dialogue for my characters isn't strong at all. It doesn't show their personality. So, what I need you fullas who are reading is to review or send me a PM (Private Message, for those of you new to FanFiction) if you've got any ideas on what I could do. Short of putting in accents for each character (and that's too far - they're not that different, save for Ben - you'll find out who he is later on), I just don't know how I can improve my language.

Yes, I am an anti-social guy at home trying to write dialogue for teenagers about my age who are in my story. Oh, the irony.

Of course, any reviews would be greatly appreciated (seeing how I didn't get ANY reviews for the previous version of this story - I'm surprised, really. Why is that? Can someone answer that, too?), but good critiques on how I can improve the story would be absolutely brilliant.

As with the previous version, the way the Avatar of the Sickness/The Sickness (Early, I know, possible plot spoiler, but I have to get this across) speaks is supposed to be in Chiller font on Microsoft Word 2007, Size 18, but since doesn't support any other fonts, I'm forced to make it so that the Avatar of the Sickness/The Sickness speaks in Bold, Underlined text. If the Underlining doesn't work, then take note that there won't be any quotation or speech marks around what these two speak.

As well, the plot of the story's changed a bit from the previous version - a few details have been changed, but it's generally the same. It's bound to be longer, too. I've aimed this time to give my characters more of a "human element" and to make readers have more empathy for the characters, which I think I've done better at this time than before, but it's up to you guys to judge just how successful I've been in this.

Well, thanks for reading this (again, in a sense, for those of you who read the previous version that was on FanFiction, which was V.2.), and please, this time, remember to review!

-Matt

EDIT: After some wrangling with FanFiction's editing system (which won't even let me put in FF. Net together), I can't seem to get the underlines to stick. Ah well.

UPDATE: I've re-worked the entirety of the story. There's going to be more characters, more factions, more situations, more places, and, more importantly, more plot :D Here's the revised edition of Left 4 Dead: Lambs 2 Slaughter V.3.! :D

Left 4 Dead: Lambs 2 Slaughter V.3.

By Kiwi Productions

(Matthew Co)

Prologue: St. Monica's College, Auckland City, New Zealand, 12:23 PM, 18th December, 2012

'"El Enfermedad hasta Final Todo Enfermedades." Can anyone tell me what that phrase means and where it comes from?'

Mrs. Sarah Smith, Homeroom Teacher of the St. Monica's College Auckland Christmas Holiday Hostel Over-Stayers, strode around the front of her classroom, looking for signs of interest or even life amongst her assembled students as they sat at their desks.

Some looked at each other in bemusement. Others scratched their heads, trying to guess the meaning. Only two students at the front of the class seemed confident enough to know the answer to the question, but Mrs. Smith knew that she'd save them for last, hoping to milk some drop of interest from the class.

Before someone else could lift up their hand, there was a knock at the door, followed by the loud squeaking that accompanied opening said door. A girl poked her head out, looking nervously at the class and then at Mrs. Smith. A few wolf-whistles echoed across the classroom as the girl's long, deep crimson red hair draped down from a very pretty face.

She opened her mouth once, and then swallowed.

'Um… is this Mrs. Smith's class?'

'That it is, young lady,' Mrs. Smith replied, cocking her head at the newcomer. 'And who might you be?'

The girl swallowed once more, keeping the rest of her body behind the door.

'S-sonja Ignis, miss.' She pointed a thumb behind her. 'I was told by reception to get some help here with moving me and my brother Ben's stuff into the dorms.'

Mrs. Smith sighed.

'Bloody receptionists keep forgetting I'm teaching a class,' she muttered under her breath. She coughed and raised her voice, turning to the others. 'Who'll help Miss Ignis with her things?'

Again, two hands popped up first – the very two teenagers at the front of the class who'd put up their hands before. She made a show of deep thought before picking them.

'Go ahead. I expect you two back by one, though.'

Nodding, both brother and sister vacated their seats and made an almost straight beeline for the door, closing it after themselves quietly.

Mrs. Smith smiled as she turned back to the rest of the class, folding her arms across her chest. Now with the threat of the Head Boy and his sister blurting out the answer out loud gone, the class would have to come up with it on their own.

'I'm still waiting, people…'

Outside the classroom and in the corridor, Sonja Ignis took a good look at the two students who had volunteered to help her and Ben with their bags.

She managed to garner that by the matching hair colour of chocolate brown and the green eyes that they were brother and sister, and… well, that was it, really. The boy extended a hand towards her with a smile, which she shook reluctantly.

'Norman. Norman Skibursky,' he introduced himself. He gestured towards the girl who'd accompanied him. 'And this is "Sio-b", my sister. Siobhan, mind you.'

Sonja smiled. Five minutes in this school and already she'd felt like she'd already made friends.

'Sonja,' she returned. 'But you already heard that, didn't you?'

Siobhan nodded and looked at Sonja's main piece of luggage – a large red wheelie almost big enough to fit in two lockers' worth of stuff. It towered over the other two bags.

'No wonder you could use the help, Sonja,' she whistled. She motioned towards the main bag. 'That thing looks pretty heavy, especially for a girl like you.'

'I know,' Sonja replied, making a thoughtful look on her face. 'It wasn't that heavy when I first packed it…'

She bent down and unzipped the bag. Norman, Siobhan and even Sonja gasped at what lay within.

'Holy shit,' Norman whistled.

'I'll say,' Siobhan added.

'Oh, for chrissakes...' Sonja moaned. '…Dad…'

Inside, nestled amongst her clothes and other belongings, was a black assault rifle, complete with a tissue-box-sized ammo container.

'Wait, what?' Norman asked her. 'What's this about your dad?'

Sonja sighed.

'My dad's ex-U.S. Military,' she explained. 'This is my Grandpa Bill's rifle. He's got a strange superstition that it'll give me good luck. And I told him specifically I didn't want to bring it with me…'

'So then how the hell did you get this past Customs?' Siobhan wondered aloud, raising an eyebrow.

'Dad used to be part of an elite Covert Ops unit that served during Operation: Desert Storm,' Sonja said. 'Infiltrating the enemy bases. This would've been considered a cakewalk for him. Shit. The gun? Sure. But the ammo, too?'

'What the hell are you gonna do with that?' Siobhan finished for her.

'Exactly.' She bent down and quickly zipped up the bag. 'I gotta hide this thing, or else I'll be booted out of here before I even get in my first class.'

'Well, you'll be able to get in at least one class before that happens,' Siobhan smirked. Her confidence put Sonja at ease.

'I say we tell Mrs. Smith about the gun,' Norman suggested. 'Just tell her the truth. But leave out the fact you've got live ammo, too. We don't want to give her heart too much to handle – even though she's in her twenties.'

Siobhan nodded.

'I can tell right away that you're going to be an interesting person to have in our room,' she said. She spotted Sonja's confused look and smiled. 'Mrs. Smith told us that we'd have newbies in our room.'

'More like FNGs,' Sonja corrected her. Siobhan giggled a bit as Norman raised an eyebrow.

'What's that mean?' he wondered aloud. His sister simply gave him a gentle punch on the arm.

'It means I know one more term than you do,' she grinned as she began to wheel one of Sonja's other bags and led the way to the dorms. Sonja glanced at Norman.

'What was all that about?' she asked him. He chuckled.

'Little brother-sister rivalry we have,' he explained as he helped her wheel the big bag. 'Simply about the size of vocab, y'see. Me? I'm ranging about two thousand words at best.'

Sonja whistled as they started to wheel the main bag.

'Excuse my swearing, but that's a shitload.'

Norman smirked.

'Yeah. Well, thanks to you, Siob now can remember two thousand and one words.'

'Hey! I can hear you two back down there!' Siobhan called out from the other end of the corridor. 'Sonja, don't worry about him! He's just trying to seduce you with simple chat, just like the other good-looking girls here at St. Mons!'

Norman just shook his head.

'Backstabbing little vixen,' he muttered. 'Next time, I shouldn't be so merciful about her claims that she has logorrhoea.'

'"Claims"?' Sonja wondered aloud. 'And what's logorrhoea?'

Norman nodded.

'Yeah. Dunno why, but she thinks she's got logorrhoea – a disorder that causes people to start spewing out irrelevant and trivial information,' he explained. 'Hell if I know why – she doesn't sound like it – but she reckons it gives her an excuse to be a bit bitchy at times. Hardly can see the link between the two and can hardly complain without her gnawing off my head, but what can you do?'

Sonja shrugged as they wheeled hers and Ben's bags towards the dorms. This new school was definitely going to be an interesting experience.

'"The Sickness to End All Sicknesses".'

Sonja raised an eyebrow at Siobhan.

'Excuse me?'

Siobhan smirked as she perched herself on the edge of her bed. The freckles that were generously sprinkled across her nose seemed to accentuate her smugness.

'You heard me,' she replied. She gave it a second of thought before raising a finger. 'Or, rather, you probably heard Mrs. Smith, no? It was the answer to her question; the translation to "El Enfermedad hasta Final Todo Enfermedades".'

Sonja just shrugged as she lay back on her new bed in "The SD", or rather "The Skibursky Den", as Norman had lovingly called his and Siobhan's room. It was large and T-shaped, and had plenty of space. She wondered what the two did with all the extra space.

In fact, The SD really did feel like a den, Sonja had to admit. The perfectly-dimmed-down yellow lighting from the four lamps equally scattered around the room, the T.V. nestled on the other end of the room and the comfy, much-loved couch that faced it certainly gave it the homely feel. Even with two more beds there was plenty of space to go around.

The only difference was that this wasn't just an ordinary den. It was a den for either nerds or people who really kept on top of, well… everything.

A massive corkboard was hung on the main wall with numerous things either printed out from the St. Monica's College computer network or newspaper clippings. Each was dated and labelled.

The most recent one was about a new disease, labelled "The Sickness".

'Y'know,' Sonja began, changing the topic, 'I've been in dorms before… but this…'

'The couch was recycled, mind you,' Norman told her as he unzipped the last of the bags Sonja had brought with her. He stopped and lifted up what Sonja had originally thought was the actual surface of the brown leather couch. Underneath were numerous patches, sewn skilfully in. 'And the T.V. and the lamps were being thrown out when me and Siob came across them,' he added, gesturing towards the respective objects. 'And yeah, I know. It's not normal in schools anywhere to have mixed gender dorms. St. Mons is trying it out and seeing what happens.'

Sonja, for once in the past month, was speechless. The last time that happened was when Ben had burnt down the house just before they left America for New Zealand.

Siobhan noticed the look on her face and the smirk grew wider. Unchecked, Sonja reckoned, she'd be grinning like the Cheshire Cat considering the rate it was spreading.

'Pretty much everything in here you see that's not normal dormitory equipment is recycled or scavenged,' she told her. 'You could say we're… resourceful.'

Sonja drew in a quick breath.

'I'll say.'

Before she could get in another word, there was a loud knock at the door. Siobhan hopped off her bed and opened it.

A figure stumbled in. Slightly smaller than Sonja, he was wearing a pair of scientific goggles and was covered in soot, trailing a bag behind him with his left hand. He looked up at the stern look Siobhan was giving him.

'Hullo,' he simply said with a toothy grin. He cocked his head around Siobhan and spotted Sonja, who groaned at the sight of him. 'This is the right place, innit?'

Siobhan folded her arms across her chest and narrowed her lustrous green eyes at him menacingly.

'Mmmmmmhm. And you're Ben, I take it?'

The boy opened his mouth and then closed it.

'Yup. Ahem.' He took off the goggles to reveal a pair of blue eyes, turning over the goggles in his free hand before handing them to Siobhan. 'Mr. Pebbleford's probably going to want these back, and peferrably not from me.'

Siobhan sighed and let him into The Den, closing the door behind him. Ben whistled as he looked around.

'Whoo. Love what you've done here.' He glanced at Sonja. 'What'd you get?'

Sonja raised an eyebrow.

'What?' she managed.

'Y'know, what didya get from Dad? I just found he snuck in a Glock in my bag. Surely you got something from him, too, Sonja?'

Sonja glanced at Norman and Siobhan, who just shrugged.

'Sweet Jesus, for some strange reason I like the way your dad packs,' Norman remarked.

Two hours later at Lunch, Sonja sat at one of the rectangular teal tables in the school's canteen. Sitting by herself in one of the corner tables, she was writing into her pad with a pencil, her hearty lunch of mashed potato, peas and steak beginning to grow cold and unloved to one side.

'Hey. Mind if we sit here?'

Sonja looked up to find Norman standing there beside Siobhan, each holding their own lunch trays. She smiled.

'Sure. Why not?'

Nodding, both brother and sister sat down on the other side of the table as she continued her writing. Norman raised an eyebrow at what Sonja was writing.

'Strange,' he said. 'Doesn't look like homework.'

'It ain't,' Ben's voice said from behind the Skiburskys. 'It's her story, that's what.'

Sonja looked up again to find her brother take a seat next to her. She shuffled away from him a bit as Siobhan looked at her thoughtfully.

'A story, hm? What's it about?' she asked inquisitively.

Sonja gave this a bit of thought. She was about to reply when a group of three students approached the table – a girl with long, blonde hair who had an entourage of two boys.

'It's Madison…' Siobhan whispered in a sing-song voice, gritting her teeth. 'Shit.'

'Sonja, Ben, best to stay quiet and let us handle this,' Norman said. 'Trust me.'

Ben raised an eyebrow before he saw the approaching teenagers.

'Hey! That's the girl that had been shouting at me when I popped in during that Chemistry lesson earlier-'

'You.'

The girl's voice was sharp and cold, like a piercing knife as she glared at Ben, stopping him.

'You. You're the retard who blundered in during class three hours ago.' She paused as her two friends seemed to tense, leaning forward and putting her hands on the table next to Ben. Her voice changed to a sultry tone. 'Ya know, that show you put on was much more amusing than what Mr. Pebbleford was teaching us…'

Ben gulped as he knew what would come next.

'…I wouldn't have minded it too much. Except for the fact that you wrecked my handbag with that little chemical explosion you set off.'

Her eyes narrowed in contempt as Ben began to lean away from her.

'Hey, hey!' Norman interjected. 'Madi, leave the new guy alone, willya? You even said that handbag of yours was crap, anyways.'

Sonja spared a glance towards Siobhan, who was clenching her fists under the table. She could feel the hostility Siobhan held for this Madison. She simply returned to her work. Madison simply sneered at Norman.

'And, Norman? He still wrecked it. And he's going to pay for it. These newbies will learn to never screw with Madison Perry!'

Her hand lashed out and ripped Sonja's pad out from under her and immediately began reading the contents. Sonja, for a few seconds, was dumbstruck.

'What… the hell… is this?' Madison managed. 'The writings of some screwed up bitch?'

Sonja immediately stood up and gave Madison her worst glare. It was enough to cause Norman, Siobhan and Ben to flinch.

'Give… my pad… back.'

Madison looked up at her.

'Oh… and who's going to stop me?' she sneered. 'You?'

That was enough. Sonja had dealt with numerous bullies in her previous schools, and thus there was only one way to end this. Without warning Sonja kicked her chair back, cupped her hands and with a single move, she slammed them onto Madison's ears, snatching back her pad while Madison was dazed. She planted a shoe onto her chest and sent her onto her back.

Enraged, one of Madison's entourage, the one wearing a black hoodie, swung a punch at her. She ducked and executed a low roundhouse kick that caused him to tumble. The second boy swung another punch at her.

Before Sonja could react, Siobhan had come up from behind the boy and restrained his arm. Turning on her, the boy tried to lash out at her, but she managed to pull off a quick kick to his groin, causing Ben and Norman to cringe. As the pain reflex hit in and the boy bent over, groaning, Siobhan slammed her knee into his forehead, knocking her victim on his back.

Sonja calmly put her pad back onto the table as Madison scowled and escaped from the scene, her cronies doing the same.

'That'll teach her to mess with me and my brother,' she said, retrieving her seat. She looked at the small crowd that had gathered during the fight and asked sweetly, 'What are you lot looking at?'

Without a word, they each retreated back to their own tables, talking intently to each other.

Siobhan whistled as she sat down. 'I've always wanted to do that to Madison and her cronies for a long, long time. You can fight real good, Sonja, I'll give ya that.'

Norman nodded at Sonja.

'Oh, believe me, she has,' he said. 'While I might be Head Boy of St. Mons for this year, Madison's been Head Bitch for the past three years. If you get in trouble, Siob and I'll stand by ya.'

Ben smirked as Sonja returned to her work as if nothing had happened. He turned towards Norman.

'Thanks for standing up for me by the way, Norm,' he said. 'First time someone's done that for me.'

'Oh, and I wonder why that is, Ben?' Sonja chortled teasingly, not looking up from her freshly retrieved pad. 'After all, people don't exactly want to be associated with a pyromaniac such as yourself, after all.'

Ben simply shrugged.

'I honestly don't see the connection between me getting mocked and me being a pyromaniac, Sonja,' he replied. 'Hell, if anything, the reaction's I've been getting should be the opposite. A pyromaniac's a fun guy to have at a party, innit?'

'Well… from what I've seen of you so far, Ben, you seem like the Bart Simpson of the school,' Siobhan said, cocking her head and pursing her lips at him before digging her fork into her mashed potato. 'Not to mention you ended up frying Madison's bag.'

'Yeah… like that's making me feel better,' Ben snorted and ruffled up the mop of crimson-red hair on his head. 'Anyways, Sonja's writing a story, since she wants to be a writer – like Mum. It's something about a romance in the middle of a zombie apocalypse or whatnot.'

Norman smirked at Sonja.

'Inspired by current events, eh?' he asked her. She shrugged.

'You could say that…' she replied, although it was clear that wasn't the case.

'You mind if me and Siob take a look?'

Sonja shrugged and passed the notepad over to Norman, who scanned its contents for half a minute and nodded.

'Well, well, well. This story looks like it could be going places, given enough time,' he said, letting Siobhan have a look, 'contrary to what Madison said. I didn't read too much, but your writing style… I can sort of envision this Fairfield city and your characters.'

'Yeah,' Siobhan added. 'The names sound pretty original. Zoey, Francis, Louis and Bill. Actually, it's quite a co-incidence that me and Norman just so happen to have an Uncle Francis who's a biker as well.'

Ben shrugged. 'Fairfield's an actual place in America,' he said. 'Our Grandpa Bill lives there. After he heard that Sonja was writing a zombie story, he wanted in on it. And so, that's that.'

Siobhan nodded before handing the notepad back to Sonja.

'This is really good, Sonja…' she paused. 'Y'know, somehow… somehow calling you Sonja just doesn't seem to fit in with you.'

Norman nodded in agreement.

'If we're going to be hanging around with you, and to be honest, I reckon that we might be, I think you're going to need a nickname,' he said, scratching the back of his head, his short, handsomely-styled hair spreading at his fingertips. 'Me and Siob have our nicknames, even if they are a bit simple. Ben obviously doesn't need one. You, on the other hand, could use something more… elaborate.'

Sonja shrugged.

'Really, guys, I'm flattered, but there's no need,' she said. 'Simply "Sonja" works fine with me.'

Siobhan raised a finger.

'I know! Blaze!' she announced. She produced a pen from a pocket and wrote down the word "BLAZE" on a clear spot on Sonja's pad. 'That would fit in with your last name, your personality – "leave me alone or I'll burn ya" – and your look – unless you intend on changing those in the near future…'

Ben snorted.

'Really? Nicknames soon after you meet her for the first time?' He shook his head. 'First it's the classes being open right before Christmas. Then we've got bullies willing to attack in broad daylight. And then this. This school's more messed up than St. Tim's…'

The three of them ignored his statement as Sonja peered at the new name she'd been given.

'Actually, if you can give me that pen for a sec…' Sonja took Siobhan's pen and placed an "I" between the "A" and "Z". She smiled smugly at both brother and sister. 'If you'll spell it like that, we have a deal.'

Norman raised an eyebrow and nodded.

Norman thought about this for a few seconds before smiling at her. 'Blaize,' he said. 'Sounds like a brilliant name.' Siobhan nodded in agreement as she finished the rest of her lunch.

'Miss Ignis? And Miss Skibursky?'

The four of them immediately turned to see the principal striding towards them, a stern look on his face. Norman and Siobhan gave Blaize reassuring smiles.

'Don't worry,' he said. 'We take care of our own, remember?'

Blaize smiled as the four of them stood up to meet the principal.

One hell of a first day.

Part One: St. Monica's College, Auckland City, New Zealand, 6:28 AM, 19th December, 2012

'What the hell?'

A large, burly man in a black trench coat wielding a black assault rifle shook his head as he heard his partner curse. They had returned from some break they had taken to do a guard switch for the facility they were guarding, expecting the switch to go as smoothly as it had previous times.

Instead, when they reached the facility, they found the place was eerily dark and looked deserted. The lights were out, and there wasn't anyone outside to greet them. When they opened the entrance doors with their security clearances, they were greeted - not by a human being, but rather a large bloody handprint on the inside of the entrance door.

Managing to restore the power to the place from the outside, the two had advanced slowly into the laboratory, following the blood trail that originated from the handprint. They soon found that their mission to guard the facility had failed.

A man in a scientist's coat was lying on the ground, a massive chunk of his throat missing. The walls of the corridor were stained with the man's blood. The man's partner prodded the fatal wound with the end of his black suppressed machine gun.

The grooves alongside the wound revealed that the man's throat had been torn out by a set of monstrous jaws.

'This bite… it's like a bloody crocodile did this,' the second man piped up from behind his black gas mask. 'Plus, this looks fresh. It has to be that diseased chimp. What the frak have these scientists done? Looking at this, I don't think I want to know what's happened to Rick and Jordan…'

The first man raised an eyebrow and peered at the wound, his weathered brown eyes scrutinizing every gory detail.

'I knew it,' he spat. 'I knew something bad would come of this.' He shook his head. 'Cyrus, go get Animal Control in here. And the rest of the Rough Riders. Now.'

Cyrus nodded, fiddling with his radio.

'Damnit. There's no frakking signal,' he reported after a few seconds of disturbing silence. 'I'll have to do it outside, Nick.'

'Go ahead, then. I'll secure the area.'

Cyrus nodded, and seconds later the edges of his own black trench coat disappeared down the wide corridor as Nick examined the corpse under the dim, damaged and flickering lights that cast an ominous glow along the reddened walls.

The radio on Nick's coat sparked to life a minute later.

'Nick? Heads up; just found multiple sets of footprints that lead outside,' Cyrus' voice reported. 'Something, a pack of something got out while we went in. Animal Control and the rest of the Rough Riders are on their way. I'll have tracking teams on whatever it is that got out. Probably a few survivors.'

Nick swallowed.

'Got it. Stay on guard outside the facility,' he ordered. 'Nothing gets in or out without my permission or if it's one of us. If you can, get in contact with the school that's nearby – St. Monica's College, I think it is – and tell them what's happened.'

'Yes, sir.'

It was silent once more. Five minutes after Cyrus' departure, he heard meaty thumps from down the other end of the hallway.

Looking up towards the source of the sounds, he found that the lights on the other end of the corridor had gone out, rendering that area pitch black…

…except for a pair of glowing red eyes that seemed to stare into Nick's very soul. Then, the shadows spoke.

Rise... for the Sickness... it said in a strangled voice as the lights around Nick started to flicker and slowly die.

Nick raised his eyebrow, confused, when movement right next to him alerted him that the darkness wasn't talking to him. As he averted his gaze from the creature to the body of the scientist, his eyes widened in horror as he watched the corpse pick itself up and bare its teeth at him.

He instinctively rifle-butted the scientist back and shot a few rounds into its face, killing it. His heartbeat was pounding in his ears, adrenaline rushing through him as he stared at the corpse, trying to steady his breathing.

And then he turned back towards the darkness.

Enveloped in shadows no more, the creature with the glowing red eyes emerged into the light, just two meters away from him.

Nick had seen many things during his life as a front-line soldier. He'd seen heads blown off from sniper shots. He'd seen medics trying to re-attach a man's arm back to his body. He'd even gutted an enemy trooper with his knife when the poor bugger tried to sneak up on him.

But what he beheld was worse than all of what he'd seen in his life.

It was a chimpanzee.

But this thing could only be called such if a chimpanzee was a large, bulky thing twice the size of a man that had heavily bloodstained black fur, claws and fangs the size of kitchen knives and hateful glowing red eyes.

Large, bulging veins could be seen across the creature's face, and a large portion of the meat from its face hung out, the flesh exposed and leaking pus, greenish blood and other disgusting substances.

He wasn't a scientist, but even he knew that pus didn't appear until days after an infection had developed in a large wound. The fact that the disgusting stuff was already present in what appeared to be freshly-caused wounds made him realize just how horrific the disease was.

His eyes widened as it prowled slowly towards him, as if it were a sick parody of a cat. His limbs were paralysed with shock.

And then suddenly he could now smell the creature. Nothing could've prepared him for the noxious smell of the mixed substances that leaked from the creature's skin. He fell to his knees, retching.

The smell was so strong that it surrounded the creature in a miasma that assaulted even the pores of his skin, an extremely sick feeling overwhelming him as he felt his skin crawl. He began to cough violently, the miasma crushing his insides like a vice and sapping his strength.

Despite this, he was able to use his military discipline to override the debilitating effects of the stench and lifted his assault rifle with what remained of his strength to fire at the creature.

His index finger squeezed the trigger, but then an almost deafening inhuman scream pierced the air, and the thing leapt at him.

Blaize woke up.

Bolting upright in her bed, she struggled to control her breathing. Her heart was thumping in her chest rapidly. Sweat started to pour off her forehead as she rubbed her eyes.

She'd had a nightmare – at least she was familiar with such things. She was in The Skibursky Den, in her new bed, not accompanying two trench-coated men in a science facility.

Moonlight shone in from the window behind her bed, illuminating her army-coloured tee shirt and pyjama pants. She took in a few deep breaths before looking up at the clock to her left, high up on the wall.

It was six-thirty in the morning.

'Bad dreams, huh?'

Blaize glanced to the bed next to hers. Siobhan was still lying on her bed, but she was awake and looking at her inquisitively.

'I… I…' Blaize swallowed nervously. 'It's a bit early to be up, isn't it?' she finally managed.

Siobhan shrugged.

'Me and Norm generally get up at this time,' she replied. 'Don't think that I don't notice you trying to shift the topic, by the way. I know it must've been bad, since you kept moving around and groaning about something.'

Blaize looked away.

'I… it's nothing,' she said. 'Just… just bad dreams, 'sall.'

Siobhan shrugged again.

'Well… if you want, I'm here,' she said. She paused, looking at Blaize inquisitively. 'Y'know, I'd been meaning to ask; where did you learn how to fight like you did earlier, anyway?'

Blaize nodded. The nightmare was fading away quickly from her mind.

'My dad,' she explained.

'The one who snuck in guns and ammo in both yours and Ben's bags?' Siobhan wondered aloud sarcastically. 'Why am I not surprised?'

This made Blaize smirk.

'Well, he was a sergeant. Least he could do for me was teach me how to defend myself,' she replied. 'And trust me, he taught me how to kill. There's about three ways I could've killed Madison today, mind you.'

Blaize immediately clasped her hand over her mouth. To her surprise, Siobhan just smirked.

'Not to worry,' Siobhan assured her, 'you seem like a decent person. I trust that you won't be going 'round killing everyone you don't like.' She smiled. 'Plus, it's a great way to keep Madison in check.'

Blaize nodded, and climbed out of bed. She was about to start making her way towards the bathroom to wash her face when there was a loud thump on the door, which was next to Siobhan's bed. Norman and Ben shifted in their beds, but didn't stir.

'Who the heck could that be at this time?' Siobhan wondered aloud. She would've said something else, but then there was a loud crash as the door was turned into splinters.

Siobhan's eyes widened as a large figure stumbled into the room. She gasped.

It was a man in a science lab coat, but his clothes were wrecked and bloodied, his right arm was missing and huge wounds, caused by something inhuman, covered his body. A pair of glowing yellow eyes regarded the teenager with what seemed to be a mixture between hunger and hate.

Suddenly, its jaw dropped, and it let loose a loud, inhuman scream, and leapt at her, tackling her to the ground.

Siobhan tried to push the man off her, but he was surprisingly powerful – his large hand held her throat down with a vice-like grip. He seemed to drool as she tried to fight him, snarling at her. It opened its mouth, revealing a set of razor-sharp jaws, but then there was a deafening bark and suddenly its head exploded.

The thing's grip loosened instantly and Siobhan rolled it off her, wiping the blood off her face away hastily with her hand and almost hyperventilating.

She turned and looked to find Blaize standing there, holding her black assault rifle in her hands, the gun trembling almost as much as she was. Smoke slowly rose from the end of the barrel.

'Jesus! What the hell happened?' Norman exclaimed from his bed as Ben stared, his mouth agape at the corpse of the man- no, the thing that had tried to assault Siobhan.

For a few moments, dead silence reigned as no one spoke, each of the four teenagers trying to gather their wits together. Then, a scream from one of the other dorms could be heard as someone else stumbled into the room.

Blaize immediately trained her rifle on the figure, but then her eyes widened as she recognised who it was.

Mrs. Smith, who watched over the dorms, raised her hands immediately. She was covered in blood.

'Don't shoot, don't shoot!' she blurted out before regaining her wits. 'Sonja! Where the hell did you get that gun?'

Blaize lowered down her rifle.

'Miss! What's going on?' Norman demanded, slipping out of bed and putting on a pair of dark green shorts, a pair of sports shoes and a brown tee shirt.

'I… I don't know! There's some sort of man-beast-thing that's gone around and ripped some of the students apart and- oh my God!'

She'd seen the corpse of the man in the room and cupped her hands around her mouth. She started to back up into a wall, and after she'd hit it, she slid down onto the floor, the shock overwhelming her.

'Blaize! Siob! Ben! I don't think that's the last of these guys we're going to see!' Norman said. He ran up to the large, heavy wooden desk in the room and started pulling at it. 'Help me with this! We gotta block the doorway!'

Nodding, Blaize put her rifle back on the bed and helped Siobhan and Ben barricade the room as Mrs. Smith tried to comprehend the situation. Before they could fully close the door with the flat surface of the desk, the four of them could feel the impact of someone slamming on the desk in protest. Screaming could be heard from the other side.

Human, comprehensible screaming. Blaize realized with a tinge of horror that it was Madison.

'OH MY GOD! NORMAN! NORMAN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? LET ME IN!' she was screaming.

Norman turned to the others, a look of shock on his face. He began to pull back on the door, but then Siobhan and Ben pushed back against it.

'You can't, Norm! What if she's one of those things?' Siobhan protested.

'Yeah!' Ben was adding hastily.

'We are not leaving someone outside!' Mrs. Smith suddenly spoke up. She got up and got into a position to help Norman.

'Look, Miss, we don't want to, but we wanna survive!' Siobhan pointed out.

'Oh, for God's sakes, Siob! This is another human being we're talking about!' Norman spat back. Siobhan just sneered at her brother.

'You're only acting that way because she used to be your girlfriend!' she screamed. 'Chrissakes, Norm! You're going to get us all killed! And for what? A backstabbing bitch?'

'You wouldn't be saying the same if it was Blaize out there!' Norman yelled back. Suddenly, all four of them stopped and immediately turned towards Blaize. Her jaw was hanging agape and her eyes were wide open as the scene unfolded before her eyes.

'Blaize?' Siobhan pleaded, putting on her best "Please?" look. 'Please? Help me and Ben keep this thing shut! You remember what Madison was planning to do to you during Lunch, didn't you?'

'Miss Ignis! You will help me and Norman open this door right now!' Mrs. Smith ordered.

'Oh, for cripe's sakes, Sonja, DO YOU WANNA DIE!' Ben yelled.

'HELP! HELP! JESUS, NORM!' Madison screamed. More thudding.

Blaize looked left and right, unsure of what to do. She swallowed. The only person who wasn't either yelling or screaming at her was Norman.

'Blaize. C'mon. I know you're made of better stuff,' Norman calmly told her. 'Do the right thing. No person gets left behind.'

Blaize swallowed as she heard Madison's sobs coming from the other side of the barricade. She shook her head.

'No man gets left behind,' she told herself, and helped with shifting the barricade aside. Siobhan and Ben were pulling on it as hard as they could, but they weren't able to stop it from opening. As soon as there was a large enough gap, Madison squeezed through and stumbled into the room, collapsing on the floor as soon as she was inside, sobbing, and still in pyjamas.

Quickly re-sealing the doorway, Siobhan and Ben stared at Blaize. Ben looked like he was just told he was going to die the next minute. Siobhan gave her a pained look, pointing a shaking finger at Blaize and quivering.

'I THOUGHT YOU WERE ONE OF US!' she shrieked, tears already in her eyes. 'YOU RISKED OUR LIVES! YOU RISKED YOUR LIFE! AND FOR WHAT! THIS!' She immediately pointed her shaking finger towards Madison, who was still crying on the floor.

Norman stepped in between the both of them.

'Look, Siob-' he began.

Siobhan immediately turned on her heel and sulked off towards the bathroom, where her sobbing could be heard. Ben just shook his head and walked over back to his bed. Norman sighed and put his hands on Blaize's arms.

'Hey. You did the right thing today,' he comforted her before going after Siobhan. Somehow, she didn't feel like she had.

She knelt down beside Madison and put an arm around her shoulder, stroking her gently.

'Hey. It'll be okay,' she soothed.

At that, Madison looked up. And to Blaize's utmost surprise, sneered at her.

'You think it's going to be okay?' she retorted sarcastically. The venom and the iciness in her voice was beyond surprise. 'Markus and Jeff are… are dead! Or worse! And all this only happened when you showed up!' She brushed away Blaize's arm rudely. 'Get. Off. Me. Now.'

Blaize recoiled as Madison got up and sulked off to the other side of the room.

For once, she felt alone. For once, doing what felt like the right thing… didn't feel like the right thing.

'We've got to get out of here,' Norman announced. He'd managed to coax a still teary Siobhan from the bathroom, and his loud, confident voice brought all of the others together. 'We can't stay here, that's for sure.'

The others just kept giving each other looks. Siobhan was giving Madison the evils, and Ben seemed almost distant. Soulless. Inside, it was all tearing Blaize apart.

'We have to get us some makeshift weapons,' Norman continued. 'Me and Mrs. Smith will take apart the beds and see what we've got. Ben, Siob, Blaize, get changed, and then check the bags. Take what we need, and nothing more. Madi, stay and keep the barricade there. We'll go on from there. Got it?'

Begrudgingly, everyone else nodded and got to work.

Blaize slipped back into the red Kathmandu jacket and blue jeans she'd been wearing the previous day, as well as donning a pair of socks and plain white Nike shoes. She grabbed her father's lucky combat knife from under her bed, as well as the small box of ammo for her gun.

She noticed Ben slipping on a pair of sand-yellow shorts, black shoes and a red shirt that read "Kiss Me If You Like Pyromaniacs!" in large bold white text. As he noticed her looking at him, he shook his head and looked away.

Shaking her head, Blaize grabbed her knapsack and stuffed in the bits and pieces she could before taking a glance at Siobhan.

Although she could see that Siobhan was still spooked by what had happened earlier, Blaize was relieved to find that she was hastily getting stuff together, putting on a pair of fashionable black boots, a black tee and blue jeans before snatching her bag and doing the same. Catching the look Blaize was giving her, she narrowed her eyes towards her.

'Regretting letting her live after all, hm?' she asked her bitterly, motioning to Madison.

Sighing, Blaize simply zipped up her knapsack.

Minutes later, everyone was set and formed a circle around the middle of the room. Norman and Mrs. Smith had been able to obtain two First Aid kits and enough flashlights for everyone from the bathroom.

Siobhan had managed to snap off one of the ends of her bedpost to use as a stake, Ben had taken out a bottle of deodorant and a lighter as a makeshift flamethrower and had his Glock as a back-up, Mrs. Smith held a broken-off shower head from the bathroom nervously and currently Norman was rolling up a towel "rat's-tail" style to use as a whip, which received raised eyebrows from the others.

'What? It might not be deadly, but at least it's better than nothing,' he shrugged. 'Well, here's the plan as far as I know – we move the desk away from the door, and we try to see if there's anyone else alive in the hostel. After we've checked, we'll make our way to the bus that's in the school parking lot, as Mrs. Smith has the keys – right, Miss?'

Mrs. Smith nodded.

'But Norm,' Ben piped up, gesturing towards the corpse of the thing that had tried to attack Siobhan, 'what do we call those?'

Siobhan swallowed.

'I took a closer look at it. The man… he's got the symptoms of The Sickness,' she said, reluctantly. 'Like the chimpanzee. Plus, he's in a Medatech Laboratories scientist's coat. That can only mean one thing.'

Norman nodded.

'I say we call them "Sickened". Best name so far, and we shouldn't be able to underestimate these things by calling them zombies,' he suggested. Everyone else nodded in agreement. 'Ben, since you've got the makeshift flamethrower, you go first. Let's do this.'

Making a quick check that they had everything in order, Blaize, Siobhan and Norman stood ready to move the desk out of the way. Ben readied his makeshift flamethrower and pointed the lighter and deodorant spray can towards the doorway in anticipation.

'On three,' Norman ordered. 'One… two… three!'

On the count of three, the three teenagers pulled the desk back. Ben rushed out, looking at both sides of the corridor quickly before looking back inside and nodding.

'It's-'

Before he could finish his sentence, a shadow dropped down from the roof and tackled him to the ground with a loud screech and raised a clawed hand to swipe at his face.

It would've connected were it not for Norman's towel whipping out and wrapping around the thing's wrist with a loud crack. Its head turned towards him, its glowing green eyes turning into an expression of shock and fury, but was immediately introduced to the end of his shoe.

The moment it fell off him, Ben scrambled backwards to get away from the thing, snatching his fallen lighter and deodorant can. Blaize aimed her rifle, but Norman stopped her.

'Save the bullets,' he told her. He raised his towel up and held the end of it in front of Ben's face. 'Ben!'

Understanding Norman's plan, Ben raised the lighter and set the sharp end of Norman's rat's tail alight. Using the fire, Norman whipped at the shadow, igniting a part of the thing's clothing. It reeled back and screeched as what Blaize could identify as its black hoodie caught alight.

As it thrashed about screeching, trying to extinguish the flames, Norman stamped out the fire from the end of his towel.

'Not so useless now, is it?' he said smugly. 'Siob!'

But Siobhan was already moving. She sent the burning thing onto its stomach as soon as its back was to her with an eager boot. She immediately followed that by plunging her stake down into the middle of its neck, and the thing went still, the fire dying out under its body.

Swallowing, Siobhan took the stake out, stood up and looked at the others.

'Woah,' Ben breathed.

'"Woah" indeed,' Norman agreed.

Suddenly, the creature's clawed hand sprung out, gripping Siobhan's ankle. She kicked out, flipping the Sickened over onto its back, but it used its other hand to grab her stake and ripped it free from her grip. It sprung back up onto its feet using its arms and slammed her against the wall of the corridor within the space of five seconds.

Its burnt face screeched at her, but then a fist impacted on the side of its head and it stumbled back down onto the ground. Before it could react, Blaize had drawn out her combat knife, leapt onto its chest and rammed the knife into the side of its throat.

Remembering what had happened with Siobhan, she immediately tore it out, reversed her grip and plunged it straight into the thing's head three times in rapid succession.

She was panting heavily as she ripped the knife free and wiped it on the thing's clothes before sliding it back into its sheath.

'I… oh God… that was Markus!' Madison exclaimed. Blaize recognised the figure under the hood as the boy who had thrown the first punch at her the day before. Madison turned to Blaize. 'You… you bitch!'

Madison's reaction caught Blaize off guard. Siobhan, to Blaize's surprise, came to her defence in the form of a very loud slap.

'Can you shut up for even a few minutes, you retarded bitch?' Siobhan snarled immediately afterward, pointing a stern finger in Madison's face. 'We're in the middle of God-knows-what and the last thing we need is some useless piece of shit like you telling us what to do-'

'Siob!' Norman put himself once more in the firing line; this time between his sister and Madison, who was currently dumbstruck. 'That'll do! That'll do.' He sighed. 'Look. Whatever we have going on between each of us at the moment we can get over and done with after we get out of this shithole! Right, guys?' He paused. 'No offence, Miss.'

'That's all fine and good, but we'd better get going,' Mrs Smith said, nodding at Norman. 'I just hope we're not too late.'

At that, Norman nodded. As if to emphasize Mrs. Smith's point, a scream came from a nearby room.

Running ahead, Norman slid across the wall towards the door, which was slightly ajar. The sounds of screaming from a few girls inside could be heard, as well as the screech of one of the Sickened.

He immediately went up to the door and swung it open. Inside, there were three girls, all in their pyjamas, huddled in a corner, with a Sickened in the middle of the room shambling towards them. It turned as soon as it heard the sound and snarled at Norman with blank, milky-white eyes.

'Oi! Over here, asswipe!'

Ducking back outside, Norman held out his hand immediately.

'Siob!' he whispered to his sister. 'Your stake!'

Siobhan threw her brother her weapon, and as he caught it, the Sickened burst out of the door. Norman swung around and impaled it in the solar plexus with the stake, stopping it. He then flung the Sickened into the other side of the corridor, slamming its head into the wooden wall before handing Siobhan her stake back. He let her and Mrs. Smith finish the thing off.

Blaize poked her head inside to see the girls staring back at her.

'Come on,' she told them. 'We gotta get outta here, quick!'

Nodding, the girls made straight for the door and brushed past Blaize as they all simultaneously hugged Norman and started kissing him, much to his embarrassment. Madison simply spat.

'Thankyouthankyouthankyou, Norm!' they thanked him, crying with relief. Blaize looked at Ben, who was staring, jaw hanging, at the spectacle.

'Damn,' he whistled.

'Okay! Okay, ladies, that includes you, Madi, I need you to go with Mrs. Smith!' Norman told the three girls, pushing them away reluctantly. 'We need you to get to safety! Miss! Get them to the bus!'

Mrs. Smith nodded, and ushered the girls and Madison away towards the stairs on the other end of the hall.

'Wow,' Ben whistled again. 'Norm, you have got to teach me how to do that!'

Norman raised an eyebrow.

'Teach you how to do what?'

Ben was about to reply but instead thought better of the situation and shrugged. 'I'll ask you later.'

With that, the four of them moved to check the other rooms. There were a few Sickened inside each of the rooms, but those were dealt with reasonably easily. Quite a few were people Blaize recognised.

They managed to complete the sweep with only a few minor injuries. The only person who didn't get hit at all by the Sickened was ironically Norman, especially since he was always the first one to enter the rooms. They took everything they could with them, managing to find five more First Aid kits and six more cans of deodorant for Ben.

In total, they were able to rescue twenty students, not including themselves. It was terrifying for each of them, but they managed to get the job done.

They made it out of the building and into the parking lot, where the bus, already running and lit up, was waiting. They climbed aboard, with a large Maori student in the bus driver's seat, with Mrs. Smith standing next to him.

'I reckon that's it, Miss,' Blaize reported. 'Building's clear. Let's go.'

The bus driver reached out for the lever next to his seat and closed the doors to the bus.

'We're going to go straight to the city,' Mrs. Smith told Norman. 'We'll get to the closest hospital we can find and get checks done. You remember Michael, from Homeroom? Turns out, he's just got his bus-driving licence.'

Nodding, Norman led Blaize, Ben and Siobhan to a spot left for them near the front of the bus, where they collapsed down onto the seats – Siobhan sitting next to Blaize and Ben next to Norman behind them. Their endeavour had taken a good deal out of them.

The bus started up and drove hastily out of St. Monica's College, leaving the school abandoned for whatever Sickened remained in there.

Siobhan immediately pulled out a First Aid kit, opened it and took out a roll of dressings.

'Hold still, Blaize – there's a gash in your arm.'

Blaize looked down to find that indeed there was a large gash down her upper right arm. She was shocked – she hadn't even felt it. It was only now she could feel it, and she cringed at the pain.

'So… you're not… mad at me anymore?' Blaize asked her. Siobhan shook her head.

'I…' Siobhan stopped and pondered for a second before continuing. 'I-I still am. Kinda. Sorta. Bah. I think a good deal of that went away when I slapped Madison.'

She coughed nervously as Blaize smirked.

'This'll have to do,' Siobhan continued, beginning her work with the dressing. As she wrapped it around slowly in an anticlockwise fashion, Blaize felt like she was staring at a pendulum swinging around and around in a circle. 'A few wraps of this, a few happy thoughts…' Siobhan tied it off, patted Blaize on the back and gave her a warm smile. '…there.'

'Thanks,' Blaize smiled back before sarcastically adding, 'I feel better already.'

Siobhan smirked before producing a small box of Panadol from the First Aid kit and a water bottle from her bag.

'Here. Take these,' she said, handing Blaize the bottle and Paracetamol before adding with a smile that accentuated her cute button nose: 'Doctor's orders.'

'Hey, can I get some of that, too?' Ben whined. 'I think my thigh's got a boo boo…'

Siobhan sighed, produced another bottle of water and another box of Panadol and instead irreverently shoved them into his face.

'Here,' she said, not taking her gaze off Blaize.

'Drat. Y'can't blame a boy for trying,' Ben muttered, taking the medicine and water dejectedly.

At that, Blaize and Siobhan started quietly laughing.

The bus had made good time in getting to Auckland City itself, but once they were in the city, they were caught up in traffic.

Blaize had rested her head on Siobhan's shoulder and had been napping when a voice woke her up.

Take… a last look… at your beloved city… it snarled in a strangled voice.

Waking up immediately, she startled Siobhan as she sat back up straight and looked around the bus for the source of the voice. She couldn't find it.

'Did… did you hear that?' she asked Siobhan, who shrugged.

'Hear what?' Siobhan asked. 'I didn't hear anything.'

Blaize nervously looked around the bus. The other students were either sleeping or talking to one another quietly about things. Outside, through the windows, she realized that the bus was travelling through Queen Street – she recognised the particular assortment of shops with their neon signs and lights on brightly outside. She checked her watch.

It was strange. It was eight in the morning – about one hour after they'd escaped from St. Monica's College – and yet it was still dark.

The darkness will fall… when the Sickness comes to call… that blasted unholy voice spoke in her head.

It was scaring her.

'Who are you?' she said out loud. 'What do you want from me?'

Some of the students that were awake were giving her strange looks, Siobhan and Norman included. Ben probably would've done the same were he not snoring away peacefully, blissfully unaware of what was happening.

Foolish girl… only you can hear me… the voice mocked. Your end was recorded… when you discovered me…

'Blaize? You okay?' Siobhan asked her. 'You're scaring me.'

Blaize swallowed and held her forehead like she was having a headache. In a sense, she was having a headache.

'I… it's nothing,' she lied. 'Just probably the side effect of the Panadol, 'sall.'

It was at that moment she felt a sharp pain in her head. She immediately doubled over, and closed her eyes, groaning as the pain seemed excruciating.

'My God! Is she alright?' Mrs. Smith asked in a worried tone. Siobhan grabbed Blaize's rifle.

'I… I think she's turning!' she said, fumbling with the bulky thing, sheer terror crossing her face.

Welcome… to the fold…Blaize… the sickened voice sneered inside of her head. Oh… by the way, since I can hardly use you if you are damaged… duck.

It was at that she rose out of her seat, her eyelids still trembling.

'Blaize… I don't want to do this…' Siobhan started, her voice and her grip on the rifle shaking, 'but…'

Blaize's eyes opened, and she turned towards Siobhan.

To Siobhan's horror, instead of her usual red irises, her eyes now glowed fully red. She was about to pull the trigger on Blaize's assault rifle when suddenly, Blaize's facial features softened, and a loud scream ripped itself from her lips.

Then, as if on cue, a loud, deep inhuman roar came from the direction Blaize stared at.

The bus had stopped in front of an alleyway. And as Siobhan turned to look at the source of the loud roar, she realized that Blaize wasn't looking at her. She was now looking at the gigantic thing that was thundering down the alleyway. It was a Sickened, but the size of a jeep.

'What the fu-' Norman began, but was interrupted by a loud screech of metal as the monstrosity picked up a white car with ease and, with another loud roar, lobbed it at the top of the bus.

Norman immediately ducked down below his seat, and Siobhan managed to pull Blaize down with her just in time as the vehicular projectile slammed into the roof of the bus, the screeching sound of metal filling her ears. In that moment, confusion and shock took over in a nauseating second.

The force of the impact caused Blaize to slip, her head colliding against a pole and knocking her unconscious. With a loud explosion the car's ruptured fuel tank ignited, and burning fuel streamed down from the crumpled roof of the bus as screams echoed filled the night.

The Sickness had come to Auckland City.