Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Left 4 Dead (Even though it is a wicked game). I just wish I did.
Harry Potter/ Left4Dead crossover
In Case Of Zombies
By: Mage-Alia
Chapter 1: Infection
Summary: What do you do when the world is being consumed by a mutated killer virus. What happens when your relatives, in one last reluctant act take you with them to another country, and what happens when they leave you for dead against the Undead hordes? Harry is put to the test as one of the few survivors of the Apocalypse, but with no help from the wizarding world, how long will he last?
AU, No Pairings.
Bloody Cross Biker Bar
T Plus 1 Hour 23 Minutes
"Feh, I ain't gonna go runnin from some Virus." Francis was a simple guy, with simple needs. Just as long as he had pretty girls, beer and a skull or two to crush he was happy with life, but if he left the bar now, he'd be deprived of at least two.
'And that,' he thought as he leered at a barmaid in clothing that could barely be called clothes strolled past on the other side of the divider that protected the bar staff from the bikies, 'just won't do.' The woman gave a flirty sort of smile in return until a crash from upstairs whipped it right off her face. She glared at the ceiling.
"Ed better not be trying to have his way with the girls again." She growled and stomped over to the stairs.
There went one.
No one else was behind the bar and Francis only realised this when he finally drained the dregs of his last bear out of his mug.
There went two.
Suddenly, there was a scream from upstairs, and the Barmaid came barrelling down again, her scant clothing torn to shreds and her back covered in scratches as she ran past him to the far end of the bar.
It was a dead end.
"Help! Help me please!" She shrieked but before he could even think to move Francis witnessed the woman's two children and her good for nothing husband come barrelling down the stairs but they didn't look right. Their skin was grey, and they where covered in ugly bites an gashes that looked as though they'd come from human nails and teeth. There was a glazed look in their eyes but there was still a powerful bloodlust in their gaze. They zeroed in on the Screaming woman and in a flash they where on her, ripping and tearing her limb from limb with the only weapons they had. Fingers and Teeth. The screams died to a gurgle, and Francis knew without a doubt that she was already dead. He'd put down the mug, and was getting up to leave when one of the little girls noticed him.
Francis nearly crapped his shorts when she slammed herself violently against the barrier so hard her own blood and brain matter where smeared against the bars.
"Oh fuck no, I ain't stickin around for this." He cursed and turned to face the empty bar, only to notice a few extra shadows to the corners that hadn't been there before.
"Damn!" One of the…. Zombies charged him and Francis let fly with his fists, knuckles pounding into the zombie's face and dropping it to the floor like a ton of bricks. More turned toward the noise and Francis weighed the odds before deciding there where too many of them to take on solo. So he cut his losses and ran. Out in the alley it was no better as the screaming and howling that he hadn't registered from inside the bar became apparent. It took one look a Police car at the end of the alley before he was running toward it and another minute later he was armed with a pump action shotgun that he held with all the confidence of someone who had been in and out of prisons to many times to count.
Counting the ammo, he cocked the weapon and grinned.
If everyone else was killing everyone, then why should he miss out on the fun?
At least he still had option number three.
Down Town Emergency Shelter
T Plus 4 Hours 13 Minutes
The sound's of howling and the screams of panicked citizens had gradually grown louder over the course of the evening and down in the shelter where Harry had taken refuge people where starting to get restless.
A few more cops had joined them, as well as a young family before they'd sealed everything off and locked them in, the teenagers where sitting in sullen silence as the novelty wore off and fear set in. A few of the girls where even crying. The bums where still sleeping, oblivious to the noise and the collage girls and the smoking army veteran had slowly gravitated closer to where Harry and Lewis were sitting.
"I'm Gina." The red haired collage girl had introduced herself. "And this is Zoey.' She gestured to the pink clad brunette that had tried to see if he was okay earlier in McDonalds.
"Hi there, well, I'm Lewis, and this is Harry." Lewis did the introductions as the girls pulled over a box and turned it into a makeshift seat. Harry looked up to see Gina biting her nails nervously, when she wasn't twisting her dress in shaking hands, Zoey however, looked much calmer, almost serene sitting on the packing box with one arm around her friend. Harry raised an eyebrow, silently asking why she wasn't freaked out, but the older girl just shrugged.
Lewis chatted away the time, making small talk and ending in his life story. No one stopped him from talking either. They all wanted something to keep their minds off the chaos outside. Someone screamed from close by and half the room jumped before the Veteran stood up and shuffled over, the group of four watching him warily as he sat down and began muttering.
"There is most certainly something not right going on out there." He grumbled and lit another cigarette making them lapse into a tense silence.
"And what do you think is going on out there?" Harry found the nerve to ask. There was a thin layer of Apathy in his voice, and that apathy was one of the few things that allowed him to be so calm in the first place…
That and the death grip he had on his wand where no one could see it.
The old guy shrugged.
"I don't know jack shit." He swore. "And that lot aren't telling." The police where huddled into a tighter group around the door, not looking at anyone as they spoke in low whispers. Zoey was the only other one to turn and look at them as Gina decided to break the tension.
"So…. Harry, you're from England right? Your accent…." She trailed off. "Must have made this a hell of a holiday, huh?" She made a weak attempt at a joke. "It's usually much more peaceful around here." Harry stared at her.
"It's…. been strange so far. I certainly wasn't expecting this when I made my first trip to the colonies." The Veteran snorted in bad humour and Harry figured he was a bit of a patriot. Gina just tittered nervously and the conversation from there came a little easier, the Veteran, who'd named himself as Bill, even throwing in a comment every now and then.
That was until the unthinkable happened.
Mostly unnoticed, the bums in the corner had begun to move. For the last six hours they'd been dead to the world, probably not even aware there was a crisis at all. One sat up slowly, blinking around the room with a glazed expression. Under a concealing layer of dirt, his face was a pasty shade of white that was almost unnatural and his eyes, bloodshot as they where, would have brought thoughts of Voldemort to mind had he noticed in time… but no one did.
He got up, uncoordinated, and resorted to using the wall to stand before the man found his balance, those bloodshot eyes lighting up as he finally took a look around the room, shining with hunger.
One of the girls in the other group shrieked as the bum leapt at her from behind.
"Wha?"
"HELP ME!"
"GET OFF HER!"
"QUICK! SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING!"
The other kids got to their feet and two boys slammed into the bum, knocking him off her but the bum just got to his feet once more and made a lunge for the nearest breathing body. The police near the doorway where rooted to the floor in shock, unable to move for the horror.
After a stunned moment of silence, Harry was just about to pull out his wand and curse the man to pieces when someone finally did something. Zoey flowed to her feet, shrugging off Gina's frantic grip, crossed the room to the police in a few strides, unbuckled one's gun and levelled it at the bum before the sharp report of the weapon firing sounded throughout the shelter with a ominous CRACK.
Thud.
No one dared to move as Zoey lowered the firearm and moved forward to check her handywork.
It was about then that they noticed the smell. The reek of death and infection permeated the air and the policeman who's firearm Zoey had confiscated didn't even think to get it back as he drew his nightstick and prodded the bums left in the corner.
They were already dead, every single one of them.
The girl that had been attacked groaned weakly, and the others hovered around her but she'd been bitten at least three times before they'd got the bum off her. A boy, the bum's second target wasn't looking much better, cradling his arm where the man had clawed him like a rabid animal, and suddenly the semi-safe feeling of the shelter was gone as they realised that the infection. What ever it was. Had already been in there with them. Harry looked back at the others, and Bill frowned as he meet Harry's gaze. Recognising the expression on his face confirming his feeling that he'd seen something like this before.
"Well, I don't know about the rest of yah, but I'm taking that as my cue to get outta here." He said in a low tone as people started to panic. Zoey had backed up, hands shaking almost imperceptibly as she heard Bill and nodded to the door.
"First rule of the Zombie Apocalypse." She said quietly. "Never go out into one alone." In the second after she said that Gina looked up at her like she was mad.
"ZOMBIES!? YOU THINK IT'S ZOMBIES!?" She shrieked in panic. "YOU'VE BEEN WATCHING TO MANY OF THOSE DAMN MOVIES TO BE THINKING OF SOMETHING AT A TIME LIKE THIS!" People stopped and stared but Zoey met Gina's gaze and held it.
"Well what do you think is going on out there huh?" She raised the same question Bill had earlier, waving her gun hand at the door. "It's certainly not all sunshine and daisies! This entire situation reeks of Zombies! We even have the token Black guy down here and you don't think this doesn't seem awfully familiar? No offence Lewis." She cut to the side quickly, apologising to the older man who just gulped nervously.
"Eh… no problem."
Gina looked almost betrayed.
"Its all just one big horror movie to you isn't it." She breathed out. "All you ever do is sit around and watch movies all day, but I never thought it would make you think like this! Someone will come for us, they will. The last thing we should be doing is going outside! The authorities will-"
"You're Authorities ain't commin." Bill grumbled out behind her, taking a long drag from the cigarette in his hand. He'd started chain smoking as the pressure got worse, but this was his last as he dropped it to the concrete floor and stamped out the ashes. "Those things out there aren't about to just let them walk in here and get us. They're gonna take over and if you've got any sense you've gotta leave now. I ain't lived through two wars not to learn a thing or two missy."
The redhead gaped at him, her jaw working silently, real fear pouring off her in almost tangible waves and Zoey opened her mouth to say something, but before she could the collage girl had stomped off toward the girl who'd been bitten, deciding to gather what courage she had and take charge of the teenagers. Zoey watched her go with sad eyes, but didn't stop her as Bill opened a box on the wall and pulled out a small red bundle with a white cross emblazoned across the top.
A first aid kit.
"If you're both leaving, I'll go with you." Harry's voice surprised them, and himself as he spoke up quietly. "I can't stay here, not when there's things back in England I still need to do." Bill gave him another measuring look, and finally nodded, throwing him another first aid kit from the box.
"Carry that then, will ya, and keep up, once we leave here we ain't gonna be stopping any time soon." The old man threw another kit to Zoey who caught it easily and slung it over her shoulder before he looked expectantly at Lewis.
"You commin?"
The black man looked uncertainly between them all, his gaze going from one face to the next before he finally nodded.
"Sure, one more of us can't hurt, and I guess this shit wouldn't be complete without the token black guy." He made light of Zoey's earlier argument, and the Brunette gave him a weak smile in return. Harry looked between them and crammed the first aid kit into the top of his bag before swinging it onto his back and heading for the exit, only to be stopped short by the nearest cop.
"Sorry, kid. But no one's gonna be leaving here. It ain't safe to go out yet." He held up his radio as if to emphasise the point. It merely crackled with static, no voices having emerged for the last few hours. Bill swaggered forward, a length of pipe he'd torn off the wall hanging over one shoulder.
"It ain't safe in here either." The old man said gruffly and the cop flushed. Signalling them to wait there, he crossed to his colleagues and huddled there closely. Their low murmurs continued and for a while and finally they turned back, one taking the key off his belt and heading to the door. He paused at the metal barricade and listened but outside, an eerie silence had fallen. After hours of screams and roars they where disturbed by the sudden peace.
"We'll let you out, but once that door's closed, it's not opening again. You're on your own." The look he was giving them was almost pleading them not to leave, but he said nothing else. Behind them, Zoey went to hand the gun back to its owner, but the man shook his head.
"No, you keep it." He was white in the face as he said that, his fingers finding a better grip around his nightstick. "I doubt I'd get into trouble for giving it to you now." He joked weakly and Zoey just tucked it away into her jacket pocket without a word.
The first officer opened the door while the other two trained their weapons on the opening. When nothing came through they opened it further and Bill lead the way outside. Harry himself was last to leave, and so it was him that got grabbed from behind by the cop and held back.
"Look kid. I don't know what's going on out there, but I can tell you one thing. There's on one else responding to their radio's down here." He said in a hurry, too low for the other inhabitants of the shelter to hear. "Not even the switch. I shouldn't have to remind you guys to be careful, but still, keep your eyes open and stay alert. These things won't stop to eat or sleep, and I doubt they're gonna be able to talk back if you try yelling at em. Good luck then Eh?" His piece said, he stepped back and the door slammed shut behind them with a ringing tone of finality leaving them alone in the dark underground tunnel that lead to the exit.
"Right then." Bill murmured, hefting his pipe and swinging it through the air like a baseball bat, an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips. "Lets get the hell outta here."
The others followed him without a word.
The streets where still eerily quiet as they approached a convenience store two blocks over. Being the only two who where obviously armed, Bill went first, quietly leading the way, while Zoey brought up the rear. Her hands where still rather unsteady on the pistol she held, but her eyes darted to every shadow and corner as she sought out threats with a paranoia induced by years of scaring herself spitless with horror movies. Harry had moved his wand to one deep pocket of his pants and still held it tightly as he walked, barely making a sound while Lewis, somewhat clumsily attempted to keep up.
Their first order of business had been to find supplies. Being the only one with a backpack Harry was their designated pack mule and the green eyed teenager hadn't complained about the task. Personally, he could go for days without food, having been conditioned somewhat by the Dursley's neglect, but the others where far from about to give up the luxury of eating just yet.
The lights where out, just like most of the shops in that part of the city and the dim light from the solar powered street lamps did little to reveal the contents of the gloom, but they did reveal something that would. Just inside the glass door of the convenience store was a display of torches.
Bill checked the door, jiggling the latch only to have it come free. It scraped against the frame and they all tensed, waiting for a reaction from the night around them, but it never came. Not questioning their luck Bill slipped in, grabbing a display torch and doing a round of the store, carefully shutting the door to the stock room at the back before he gestured them inside.
"Alright, quick now. Harry, Lewis. You two start collecting anything that'll keep. Just take stuff with sealed packaging. If it's been exposed to the air we can assume its contaminated." The pair nodded and hopped to it, Harry shrugging off his backpack as he went and Lewis grumbling faintly to himself. Bill and Zoey went for the torches, grabbing spare batteries they grabbed a couple of smaller ones that could be clipped onto things like the pistol and a few larger Mac Lights that, if all else failed, could become a weapon in their own right.
They knew it wasn't all that secure in the store, so as soon as they where ready they prepared to leave and that's when they made the best discovery of them all. Sitting behind the counter, was a much loved, well used shotgun will a box of shells. Zoey's eyes lit up as she noticed the gun and reached out for it only to have it snatched away by Bill at the last second.
Harry and Lewis just shared an exasperated look as the Black Man inherited Bill's pipe.
Apartment 2C, Edgeview Apartments, Claire Rd
T Plus 7 Hours 45 Minutes
Now Francis wasn't all that smart, he knew that much, no matter how he tried to avoid thinking about it… But he didn't need any book smarts to know that something big had gone belly up. If anyone else had been around, he would have put on a blustery face, and no one would have been likely to tell that he was afraid, but the truth of it all was that he was pissing himself in Terror.
These Zombies, had already eaten his neighbour and he could just hear the groaning from out in the street. His couch was pressed against the door, holding it closed against the occasional banging Zombie, while a bookshelf he'd never really had a need for before now stood before the only window of the little one room apartment. Francis was crouched behind the bed, the first shotgun in his hand and an array of others scattered on the bed sheets before him.
When it had become apparent that whatever was happening wasn't going to be temporary he'd started to gather whatever guns, ammunition and supplies he could find before retreating to familiar ground of his dingy apartment and blocking himself in and hunkering down where he could crap himself in peace and for the moment everything was peaceful…
Except for that Damned Crying!
He could hear his neighbour through the paper thin walls, and the bitch just wouldn't stop crying. No matter what he did to try and stop the sounds from reaching him he could still hear her sobbing and screeching her heart out. If he didn't know any better he would have said that she was gonna bring down all the zombies in the city on him with all that noise, but miraculously, there hadn't been so much as a groan nearby since the crying began.
Hell, he didn't blame them. He was creeped out by it too.
Another wailing shriek pierced through his brain as he pressed his ears into the pillows where he was trying to get some rest but it just wasn't working…
Oh hell, he'd go over there and put the bitch out of her misery.
A handgun went into the back of his belt, and an AK-47 he'd scrounged up from the warehouse of a very shady guy he used to know went over his shoulder on its strap before he crammed all but his favourite shotgun into a big duffle bag and dragged it to the door of his apartment. He crouched by it, listening carefully for anything outside and didn't see a thing, that that didn't count for squat. The Zombies could be sneaky little bastards when they wanted to be.
Francis had learned that the hard way.
Finally, he pushed the couch aside and opened the door, pulling his bag of guns and ammo with him as he went. Outside was a balcony that ran the length of the building with stairs down to ground level every ten meters or so. Below the balcony was the next level of apartments and the car park. Beyond that he could see a pool with the underwater light still on that threw the ghastly silhouettes of the corpses floating in it up on the walls of the cheep complex that had probably been an old hotel that had gone bust.
A few of the doors further along the balcony hung open and in the gloom beyond he could just imagine the shambling horrors watching him and waiting for him to fuck up. He gave the early morning darkness a sneer full of false bravado and started to make the silent crossing to his neighbour's door.
It was unlocked and free from obstruction.
That should have clued him in right there that something wasn't right.
Twisting the handle he shouldered it open, wincing as the hinges gave a few small squeaks and slipped inside. It took a moment for his eyes to readjust to the gloom, given he couldn't hold his torch and his gun at the same time, but when they did he didn't need to look far to find his neighbour.
She was huddled in front of her open fridge.
Light from the small bar fridge spilled out onto the figure of the woman, curled in to a ball. She looked far too skinny to be healthy as she rocked backwards and forwards sobbing. Her hair, formerly brown, had been bleached white and her skin was equally so, and it didn't take more than a second to understand why she didn't attract the Zombies like he did.
She was infected too.
Her hands and feet where malformed, mutated and she wore only the barest minimum of clothing, a dirty white singlet and a pair of underwear. If it had been under any other circumstances Francis might have found her somewhat attractive… if you counted out the claws that could rip you to shreds and the bone chilling crying.
He took a moment to think back to the last time he'd seen her outside her apartment and he found he couldn't remember… A shiver ran down his spine and he found himself creeping closer and closer, skirting the fallen objects on the floor until he stood just outside the refrigerators small pool of light.
"Sorry Tess." He grunted at the last second and startled, the creatures head turned to look at him with a startling speed but it was already to late for her to do anything more than look up at him with red ringed ruby eyes and gasp before he pulled the trigger and her head was blow clean off.
Francis absentmindedly cleaned off the muzzle of his shotgun before the groaning of Zombies nearby finally began to rise in the silence and Francis realised with Tess and her crying gone, they'd be coming back. Without a thought as to what he'd done he turned and fled out the door only to barrel head first into a zombie dressed in a business suit. The force of his body slam threw it clean over the railing and down into the parking lot…. Straight onto the hood of a car. The Zombie's head was splattered upon the bonnet but it got it's revenge a moment later as a piercing shrill split the air and red lights began flashing.
The car had an alarm.
"Oh FUCK!" Francis threw all caution to the wind and RAN. He bolted down the nearest flight of stairs as the doors in the Apartment building all flew open and Zombies all began pouring out toward the shrilling car. Out in fresh air though they caught wind of something else much tastier and changed direction, making Francis start to bolt blindly through the streets. He charged along as fast as he could still lugging the bag of weaponry before he recognised the area he was in and noticed he was back near the bar. Thinking quick he remembered that the Restaurant out on the street had a nice big thick metal door on the side and if there was one thing the zombies couldn't possibly get through all that quick it was a metal door.
He ran across to it, mindful of the horde that was only a street or two away before he slammed against the door. His fingers shook as he jiggled the handle and shouted out against all good sense.
"Hey! IS SOMEONE IN THERE! LET ME IN DAMNIT! LET ME IN!" He pounded hard against the surface of the door and then the handle moved in his grasp as someone responded on the other side and it swung open.
Francis didn't stop to think, he charged in, turned around and slammed the door behind him before he heard a cough.
"Now who the hell are you and why shouldn't I blow you from here to kingdom come?"
Smokey's Heart Attack Barbecue and Grill - Kitchen
T Plus 8 Hours
Francis turned around, putting up his arms, one still holding his gun as he took a look at the people in the kitchen.
The old guy that had him at gun point had white hair and a grizzled face that looked vaguely familiar before he remembered that he worked here. He was holding a shotgun something like his own and had a single unlit Cigarette hanging from the corner of his lips. Beside him, with what looked like a police issue handgun was a skinny bald black guy wearing the remants of a business suit and a red tie.
And behind them, peeking around the edge of a counter where two more. A scrawny kid with black hair and green eyes and behind him with her arms around the kid's shoulders was a girl.
An honest to god, not monster-eyed, uninfected Girl.
"Shit, ya old man. Get that fucking gun outta my face, I ain't infected with whatever that crap is so just fuck off." Then like magic, the two with the guns backed off.
"He ain't one of them." The old guy grumbled and the pair at the back of the room stepped out into View. "He talks to much."
Francis blinked as he went from the centre of attention to ignored.
"So who the fuck are you?"
A/N: If you've been to the Left 4 Dead website, it tells you that Zoey is a major Horror movie buff. When I started this I was kinda gonna just skip the whole character introduction bit, but then I decided that I might as well give the characters some depth if this is gonna become one of my epics.
And I just love Francis as a character. He's all big and tough but you really get the impression sometimes that he's just a big old pussycat. Lol.
Don't Forget to Review!
Cya.
