A/N: This is pretty long, so feel free to skip if you'd like to get straight to the story. I've had a general idea of how this story was going to flow for several months now, after I got my hands on L4D and became a zombie-killin' addict. However, upon the release of The Passing for L4D2 (which I also purchased in due time), my story, from the very first chapter, suddenly became non-canon, since they obviously didn't stay in Philadelphia after their rescue in Blood Harvest. So I was able to adapt the storyline to make it fit with canon. What I especially like about my idea was making this thing into not just one songfic, but an entire linked chain of songfics for an entire album (why no, OF COURSE I'm not a sucker for songfics, why do you ask?). I just kinda… put plots to songs all the time in my head, and began thinking about how a lot of Muse's songs from Black Holes and Revelations could fit in a L4D storyline. So I thought "AHA! A CHALLENGE!" Thus was born this.
One more thing. I'm terrible at updating regularly, which really sucks because I love writing fiction for my enjoyment (and hopefully for yours!). However, I've got basically every Wednesday free for the rest of my college quarter, so I'm hoping I'll be able to remain motivated to finish this story and not use "meh… I'm swamped with too much work" as an excuse.
~*~Prologue~*~
Paranoia is in bloom,
The PR Transmissions will resume, they'll try
To push drugs, keep us all dumb down and hope that
We will never see the truth around, so come on
"What the hell is this bullshit?" Francis asked, gesturing to the music coming from the speakers in the military APC they were riding in. Zoey shot him an acid glare.
"It's NOT bullshit. It's a band called 'Muse'. Maybe you should take some time and actually LISTEN before you start complaining about something. You know… just ONCE in a while, Francis."
The tattooed biker was slightly taken aback by Zoey's sudden, defensive outburst. The effect wore off quickly, though, and he was back to his regular grumbling self. "I hate Muse." The teenage girl just threw her hands up in a mixture of frustration and defeat. Louis looked over and gave a light chuckle. "Just give it up, Zoey. It's hopeless trying to get Francis to like something other than his shotgun and his vest."
Another promise, another scene, another
Package not to keep us trapped in greed with all the
Green belts wrapped around our minds and endless
Red tape to keep the truth confined, so come on
A bump in the road jostled the fourth passenger awake. Bill floundered for a moment, forgetting that he was in the safety of an armored vehicle, reaching for his rifle and flicking the safety off before coming to his senses. He stared around stupidly as the other three were crouched and ready to disarm him should he have started firing his weapon. "Oh… sorry about that, guys. I guess the last week has brought back some old 'Nam habits I thought I'd managed to get rid of." He sheepishly flicked the safety back on and put the rifle back in its original resting place. He looked up at the speakers with a mixture of confusion and annoyance. "What the hell is THIS noise?" Zoey looked about ready to murder someone.
They will not force us
And they will stop degrading us
And they will not control us
We will be victorious, so come on
"Bill." Zoey said in a very sweet, very patient tone. "This is not noise. This is Muse. Muse is a band, a very POPULAR band, that was active when the infection broke out. They are relatively recent. They are good. And they. Are. Not. Noise." Bill put his hands up as a sign of surrender. "Okay, okay. I don't feel like getting dismembered today, especially after avoiding it for a goddamn week of madness. How long have we been driving?"
Louis glanced down at his watch. "About an hour. Hopefully we'll be getting to the military outpost soon. I can't imagine it's THAT far away." Bill nodded, settling back in his seat and shutting his eyes once more. "Just be sure to wake me gently when we do get there." He mumbled before dozing off again.
"I still can't believe we got picked up by the army." Francis mumbled to himself, shaking his head incredulously. "I just hope that they don't go looking into my past records. Might kick me out and leave me to the zombies." Zoey smiled at Francis, amused that he was worried the surviving population of humanity would be worried about whatever petty offenses he'd committed before this shitstorm had come down upon all of them. "They probably won't care. Besides, you've become pretty experienced at killing infected with that shotgun of yours."
Frances chuckled. "Heh, yeah. Those vampires never stood a chance."
"Zombies, Francis."
Interchanging mind control, come let the
Revolution take its toll, if you could
Flick a switch and open your third eye, you'd see that
We should never be afraid to die, so come on
Another half hour passed before the APC stopped. Louis nudged Bill awake, apparently in a gentle-enough manner so as not to spark another frenzied outburst from the old veteran. The back ramp to the APC lowered, and the two MPs who were driving waved them out.
"Hope the ride wasn't too uncomfortable. We drove as fast as we could."
Bill looked around, noting that they were in a field, with no outpost in sight, military or otherwise. He looked over at the closest MP and asked, "Son, is there a reason we stopped here, or are we having a picnic?" The MP chuckled for a moment before responding, "No sir. We have to stop a few miles out from the safety zone and radio in. HQ is very careful with any inbound personnel, whether it's on foot or in a military vehicle." He gave Bill an assuring smile. "Don't worry sir, this will only take a few minutes." The MPs quickly went about setting up a small, portable communications array. Within minutes, it was set up, and the MPs donned headsets, plugged themselves in, and radioed the military base.
"Raven's Nest, this is Sparrow Five, over. Yeah, we picked up those survivors who called for extraction from Evac Point Echo, over."
The survivors stood around, awkwardly waiting for the military to finish with its silly precautionary checklist. What were they expecting? Infected that could operate vehicles? Hell, they couldn't even operate a GUN. The fact that the MPs were looking over at them from time to time during the conversation wasn't helping, either.
"Affirmative, the survivors HAVE been in contact with the infected for an extended period of time, over."
"About a week, son. And we're damn tired of having to fend them off ourselves." Bill put in. The MP looked over at him, then focused on the radio conversation again.
"Yes sir, we read you clear on that, but what does it have to do with anything? They're survivors. Over. I…" He glanced over at the survivors again. Zoey shifted nervously from foot to foot. She didn't like the vibes she was getting from their half of the conversation. Not at all. "Yes sir. Understood. Over and out." The MPs took off their headsets and warily walked back to the survivors, careful to stop a few paces away from them. "There's… there's been a change of plans, fellas." Bills eyes narrowed dangerously. "Son, what in the HELL does that mean?" He was really wishing he hadn't left the vehicle unarmed.
Now it was the MPs that were fidgeting nervously. "Well, apparently it has something to do with your infection status." Louis was incredulous. "Bullshit! Do I look like one of them? We are DEFINITELY immune!" The MP shrugged. "It seems that some people can have the infection in their system without it manifesting itself. These "carriers" are able to transmit the infection to other people, causing non-immunes to turn, which would lead to mass chaos and destruction within the holdout."
"This is BULLSHIT. Can't you just have us live with other Carriers and Immunes or something?" Bill spat angrily. "That's just the thing." The MP responded. "We don't know who's what… until it's too late and we have infected on our hands. You can't come in. That's HQ's final stance. We're also going to have to keep your firearms, so that you don't try and attack us out of veng-hurk!"
In the blink of an eye, Francis had rushed forward and delivered a knuckle-strike to the throat of both MPs. While they were reeling from the sudden attack, the biker followed up with a pair of nasty hook shots, effectively knocking the MPs unconscious. "I HATE the goddamn army! C'mon guys, we're getting out of here."
Rise up and take the power back, it's time that
The fat cats had a heart attack, you know that
Their time is coming to an end, we have to
Unify and watch our flag ascend, so come on
Without even a backwards glance at the MPs, Francis made his way to the driver's seat of the APC. Upon arrival, he realized that the vehicle had been turned off, and he had no idea how to turn it on again.
"Looking for this?" Bill tossed a key to Francis, and took a seat next to him in the cab. "Zoey and Louis are in the back. Any idea where we're going?" Francis shrugged. "Anywhere but here. D'you think we should make for the coast? Grab some gas and supplies, and try to wait out this thing in the water for a while? See what it's like in a month or two?" Bill nodded. "Sounds like a good idea to me. It's a shame that the Slaters became infected. We sure could've used their boat for this. Plus, I kinda liked them." Bill looked out the window sadly, thinking back to when he had to put down their saviors when they started turning rabid.
That was behind them, though. Bill had to focus on what was happening now. For what seemed like the fifth time since this hell-on-earth began, his little band of survivors wasn't quite out of the woods yet. Francis started up the APC, and the stereo picked up where it had left off.
They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious, so come on
"I hate Muse."
A/N: Yes, I am aware that this song is not part of BHaR. That's why it's in the prologue. Yes, I'm also aware that the lyrics only loosely fit with the actions. Again, it's the prologue. The rest of the story should be a lot more interesting and song-attuned. That's why it's NOT the prologue. In any case, I hope you've found this little piece to be enjoyable. First up to bat next time is Take a Bow, though I plan on "adjusting" the chapter titles so that they are more zombie apocalypse-related.