Chapter 2: In which the Hunter learns how to operate a Fire Extinguisher and learns about Closets.

Disclaimer: If I owned Left 4 Dead, I wouldn't be here writing this. I'd be making the movie.

A/N: Thank you to all the reviewers who posted! Unfortunately, there is a tad more drama than humor in this chapter because I had this chapter written a long time ago, when Left 4 Dead had just barely came out. So sorry, don't flame me, 'cause I'll just wind up in a closet. Again. This one is a little shorter than the first chapter, so sorry....

--Day 3--

(Hunter POV)

I now had to be very careful when following the group since they had seen me, and shot at me, when I returned the tube to Zoey. They huddled very closely to each other to insure safety in the event of a large attack. Whenever a Smoker came along, it was quickly killed so it couldn't forcibly split up the group and cause problems.

They still held onto the idea that their places of temporary rest were still safe, so I was still free to enter the room ahead of them and watch them without being detected. This time, I made myself comfortable in a large pile of blankets. The pile was so large that they took a few of the blankets and never even saw a glimpse of me.

Again they made a fire, and again they began to converse, their words making little sense to me. I had been hearing them talk for so long that I understood some of the words, but got a headache whenever I tried to understand them any further. This time, Francis brought out a small object and held it up to the others, who lit up when they saw it.

"All right who wants to play some cards?" he asked.

Cards? What are those again? Agh, my headache's coming back...

After the throbbing stopped, I watched Francis give so many cards to each person. It looked simple; each person had so many cards and tried to trick the others into thinking something else before showing their cards. A short amount of time had passed before they started tossing objects into a pile, who ever had the best cards got the pile.

"All right, Old Man, I'll raise you your pistol and toss in a shotgun as well," sneered Francis.

Bill eyed him warily. "Son, don't go betting everything. You might just lose."

Betting? Is trading weapons and other objects by cards betting?

Francis shifted the cards in his hand. "The only way I'll lose is to a Tank, Bill."

Louis remained silent, I almost thought he was asleep until he threw some objects in the pile as well. " I'll add some extra ammo and a Med Pack too."

Bill and Francis both whistled, saying things like " Feeling lucky, Louis?" and " You must be confident." but I could tell in his voice, that he was nervous. Zoey, quiet as well, stared holes into her cards before tossing a few objects into the pile.

Bill smiled. " All right. Time to show what you got!" All of the players showed their cards except for Zoey.

Francis grinned while Louis moaned and Bill snapped in disgust. He then turned to Zoey, who looked confused, " Are you too embarrassed to show your cards, Zoey?" Zoey scratched her head and then put her cards on the ground.

"I forgot, what do four aces mean again?" she asked.

Francis's jaw dropped at the same time his cards did while the other two fell over with laughter. Zoey helped herself to the pile as I yawned quietly and curled up under the warm blankets, trying to find a reason as to why 'four aces' was enough to make Francis mad and Louis and Bill laugh.

--

A really, really loud noise woke me up as screams and the sounds of fighting reached my ears and startled me into leaping out of the blankets. I stood up fully, realized what I was doing, and ducked back under the blankets. Fortunately, the others were far too busy fighting to notice that I was there. I risked taking another look to see what they were fighting so furiously.

A roar jolted me out of the blankets before I could even look. My largest brother, what Francis called " The Tank." Uh-oh.

Not wanting to stick around for any kind of confrontation between any of the fighters, I leapt over the remains of the mangled door and dashed for safety. A yell from the room had me looking back to find that the Tank had pinned Bill up against on of the corners and was moving in for the kill. Having been a loner for quite some time, I knew that if a group who was strong together were cut by just one, their chances of survival/victory dropped.

I ran back into the room, fully intent on deterring the Tank long enough for Bill to get free. However, I knew that if I just lunged at the Tank with no plan or survival strategy, I would get torn to bits or tossed. I then saw an object hanging on the wall. It was a much larger tube than the one that blinded me a day ago, with a different color and a hose at on end. It took no effort to smash the protective window covering it and I removed the object from the case.

I had every intent of throwing it at the Tank's head and providing a momentary distraction but while lifting it over my head, I had brought my hand down on one of the parts, removing it completely from the large tube. While trying to retrieve it as quickly as I could, because I could hear the shouts of the others as they tried to free Bill, I moved my hand to another part of the tube and pressed down.

A steady stream of liquid sprayed from the hose, causing it to fly everywhere, covering everything in the liquid, including my face. I couldn't see anything until I had cleaned my face off and the liquid had turned into a kind of foam at that time.

If I can't see anything through this liquid, Then neither can the Tank!

Through a bit of practice, I found that I could aim the path of the liquid so I took the opportunity to spray the liquid onto his eyes. It worked! My victory was very short; Francis shouted some kind of warning and threw a flaming object into the room. The flames spread across the room, engulfing the Tank and burning some of my upper body clothing.

I beat out the flames and grabbed Bill, who was choking on the smoke in the room, and dodged around the Tank and escaped into the cool hallway. I ran several feet, dragging Bill behind me before locating a room that only had one door. I threw him in there and closed the door and shoved an heavy object in front of it, preventing Bill from leaving. (A/N: Ha Ha! Now we know how people wind up in closets! *opens another soda*)

Now to lose the Tank...

Very angry that he had lost his prey, the Tank chased me through the hallway, still burning. He chased me past the rest of the group, who stood and stared as I ran past, and howled when I jumped out of a window and hung for dear life onto a pipe above, sending him plummeting outside of the building three floors. He hit the ground and I felt the building tremble from the impact. The flames finally put out, he lumbered around the building, trying to find another entrance to get at the people inside.

I decided to ignore the Tank for now and crawled back into the window, ready to find the group and lead them to Bill. Somehow. Zoey ran back and forth, calling for Bill, while Louis and Francis shouted, Francis yelling words that made my ears burn just hearing them, trying to get an answer from their missing comrade. They then gathered their gear and set out to look for him.

Going the wrong way.

No! Wrong way! Bill will never get out of that room if you go that way! I should know, I put him in there!

I quickly tried to think of any way to lead them towards Bill without getting shot while I watched Francis swing his shoulder bag to his other shoulder. Got it!

I lunged from my hiding place onto Francis, knocking him to the ground. Before Zoey or Louis had even a chance to react, I had ripped off Francis's shoulder bag and bounded away in the right direction, with the bag firmly clenched in my teeth. Francis pulled himself up from the ground, realized what I did, and gave my ears another torching with his words.

I ran back to where Bill was, only lingering long enough for them to see me and follow me. Francis clearly wanted his bag back, he continued to yell burning words in my direction along with a few shots. I stopped in front of the closet, and hung around long enough for them to catch up and then ducked out of sight. Bill's yells were more than enough to make them stop looking for me and help him.

Zoey and Louis got about removing the large object which I had shoved in front of the door while Francis stood, watching for any signs of movement, uttering words I think were aimed at me. I pulled myself up to a crouch and dropped the bag from my jaws.

Opening it was no easy task, though ripping it to shreds certainly crossed my mind, I gently eased the two clips open and lifted the cover. Once open, I pawed through the contents of the bag.

Weapon, tube, medical thing that I often see them use on their injuries, something wrapped in cloth; Hey! A hamburger! Mine now. Yum. A weird bottle that I also see them use, little thing that makes fire when you open it, and a few sheets of paper held together. What good was the paper?

I took the paper out of the bag and opened it. Why is this thing full of naked females? They don't have any protection from any sort of temperature! Ignoring the heat coming off of my face, I shoved the papers back into the bag and closed it again like I had never taken it.

Zoey and Louis had freed Bill and were welcoming him with open arms while Francis continuing to shout words that still made my ears burn. I crept closer to them and threw the bag with a steady hand and good aim; having the bag land a few feet away from its owner.

Confused, Francis picked up the bag and re-tied the strap before swinging it back onto his shoulder. Satisfied, he motioned to the others that they should keep moving and the others went ahead. Once they were out of sight, he quickly dropped to one knee and shuffled through the bag; breathing a sigh of relief when he found the papers.

"Move it or lose it, Son!" shouted Bill from ahead.

Francis scooped up his bag and raced after them, smiling widely. I noticed that they were headed for another safe location so I got ahead of them again and got comfortable in another pile of blankets.

I love these blankets.

Once inside, they barricaded the door extra tight tonight due to the earlier encounter and sat talking about what had happened. I was starting to become drowsy, but small pieces of the conversation I could hear, like " Loony Hunter," and " That frigging' Hunter took my hamburger!" Hamburger? Where?! Hmm, doesn't look like there are any near. I can't smell any either. Aww.

--

(Survivors, out of POV)

Louis rolled his eyes at the conversation. Zoey, Francis, and Bill were all ranting about a supposed Hunter that had brought a flashlight, locked a closet, stolen and returned a shoulder bag among other things. Personally, he thought that all three of them had been overdosing on painkillers.

" Hunters aren't exactly bright enough to know how to differentiate between a closed door and an open one.*1 Hell, pretty much the only thing they know is how to tell between Infected and Non Infected!" he thought.

Zoey crossed her arms. " Crazy incident with Hunter aside, this whole thing is quickly going to hell in a handbag. At least we got rid of the Tank somehow."

--

(Hunter POV)

I opened one eye lazily at her voice. Got rid of the Tank? That's what you think. I know those things all too well. They don't die very easily. The group will probably encounter him again if he didn't manage to find another entrance.

As the talking died down I curled up into a ball, pulling my arms and legs tightly to my chest as I lay still. Since I had begun following the survivors so closely, I had learned how to pattern my sleeping habits close to theirs: go to sleep after they do and try and wake up before they do. Naturally, that meant I would go to sleep when it was really dark outside and be awake when it was just very cloudy out. Originally, I would up all night searching for a meal, not that I ever found anything.

Hopefully the Tank would leave us alone and let us sleep.

End Chapter 2

Sorry about the dig at Francis, Francis fans, I could just see him carrying one of those around for the purpose of "salvaging some of the remains of the people who were lost." Don't flame me to Hell, okay?

Purr... Another chapter done and I don't have writers block! I need a little help though, does anyone know the average size of a hunter in a numerical form, like 5' whatever or something like that? I would really appreciate it. Ciao!

*1 Actual Story: I was playing left 4 dead on Co-Op mode and a Hunter (A.I.) slammed into a door that wasn't open.