Well hey guys I'm back with chapter 2. So... Review and all that good stuff. Oh, did I also mention that this is the sequel to my L4D story? If not, then yeah.

Also... Epic battle ahead.

Edit: My L4D story, Unexpected Circumstances, has been deleted so don't try looking those who are curious about it. I tried going back and editing it after finishing it, but I got so lazy and the chapters were everywhere that I eventually got rid of it altogether.

Anyway, enjoy this chapter dedicated to our favorite PEELZ loving man, Louis!

Chapter 2

The morning was gray and dreary. Louis gave a loud yawn while he stretched. They had spent the night in a tree house while taking turns keeping watch. Bill wanted them to leave as early as possible; the sun hadn't even been up yet. Now the Survivors found themselves standing around a picnic table littered with ammo, first-aid kits, grenades, and weapons. Ahead of them stretched a valley, and it wasn't one full of lush grass with flowers and rabbits hopping around. No. The grass was brown and brittle, a few scraggly bushes here and there. Not to mention the Common Infected wandering around. It genuinely looked depressing.

Louis stared at a hill silhouetted ominously against the gray sky. A shiver of fear crawled down his spine and he bleakly wondered if the ominous vibe he was feeling meant that something bad was going to happen. He shook his head.

I've got to think positive, he told himself determinedly.

"From what I can see," Bill speaking caused the business man to turn his attention toward him, "all we have to do is get over that hill."

Zoey held up a hand. "Before we go," She strolled over to the table and picked up some ammo for her hunting rifle. "How about I snipe some heads first?"

"I'll help you," Sabella volunteered, readying her bow and arrow.

Bill gave his consent and the two girls wasted no time in picking off the Infected. Louis stumbled over to the picnic table, strapped on a first-aid kit, grabbed ammo for his assault rifle, and picked up a pipe bomb. With their combined efforts, Zoey and Sabella were able to get rid of the Common Infected. Louis headed off after Bill who was already making his way toward the hill with the others behind him. Sabella raced ahead of them to recover the arrows she had used.

"Let's go lady!" Francis called behind him.

Louis turned around to find that Luigi was nodding off. At the sound of the biker's gruff voice, the boy gave a startled jump before dumping the rest of the water in his water bottle over his head in hopes of waking up. He then raced over to join them with Tycho zipping along at his heels, murmuring an apology. Louis gave him a small smile. Luigi returned it before he frowned with worry.

"Are you okay?" he asked, nodding toward Louis' injured leg.

"I'm fine," he reassured. "It's just acting up a little bit."

"If you're sure…?"

"I am."

Luigi opened to his mouth to comment when Sabella strolled up.

"Here!" She pushed a package of powdered donuts into the brown-haired teen's face. "Breakfast! Maybe some sugar will wake you up."

Luigi blinked his bright blue eyes a few times before accepting the donuts. "Thank you," he said with a grateful smile.

She beamed. "Anytime!" she chirped before skipping off in Zoey's direction.

"I didn't think she'd be the morning person type," Louis commented.

"Yeah, me either, but hey, the more you know." Luigi tore open the package and helped himself to a mini powdered donut. He involuntarily moaned because damn, it had been too long since he had these. From the corner of his eye he saw Louis giving him a weird look and embarrassment flooded over him. "S-Sorry. Want one?" He held out the package.

"Don't mind if I do." Louis plucked one out and popped it into his mouth.

They fell silent as the Survivors continued their walk. Overall, it was going well. There were no Infected in sight. Louis gave a quiet sigh of relief. They were going to make it after all. Tycho suddenly zipped off toward a nearby flock of birds, tail wagging and barking excitedly. The birds all gave startled squawks as they flew up into the air to escape the puppy. This reminded Louis of the time he accidentally scared some blackbirds back when the group had been transferring through a cornfield toward a farmhouse where the military would pick them up.

Francis glared up at after them. "I hate birds," He then directed his glare down at Tycho. "And puppies."

Tycho lowered his head, ears, and tail at the comment, whimpering.

"I'm so sorry, guys." Luigi flushed in embarrassment. "I thought he'd learn by now."

Before anyone could comment, the bone chilling howl of an approaching Horde was heard. Common Infected poured out from the trees, sprinting toward them with inhuman speed and bloodlust gleaming in their empty yellow irises. The Survivors responded by opening fire and trying to take down as many as they can. They each knew that they needed to get over that hill as fast as possible because once the Infected had been alerted they would not stop coming until the Survivors were dead.

A loud bellow cut through the commotion, and Louis peered over his shoulder in time to see a Charger sprinting toward him. He squinted his eyes shut and braced himself for the impact before giving a gasp of surprise as Luigi pushed him out the way, taking the hit for him. He fell back on his ass and watched in shock as the Charger carried the boy off after seizing him in its massive arm. Tycho yelped in alarm while Francis chased after the Special Infected.

"Tycho, hide!" Louis commanded, not wanting the puppy getting in the way of their feet.

Tycho glanced between him and his master unsurely. The black Labrador then raced off to crawl underneath a thorn bush and peered out through the barbs at the action unfolding. Quickly getting to his feet and wincing when he applied too much pressure to his injured leg, Louis checked on Luigi's status. Francis had managed to kill the Charger and Luigi seemed fine if not a little beat up. Louis made a mental note to thank the boy for protecting him later as he turned his attention to the Infected trying to sneak up behind him.

"Watch out, guys!" Zoey shouted.

Louis barely had time to react as a green glop hit the ground where he was standing just before. He looked around for the Spitter, but Bill spotted it first and quickly disposed of it. The war veteran then turned to him, Luigi, and Sabella.

"You three head for the hill. Francis, Zoey, and I will hold them off for as long as we can."

"But—" Louis began to protest.

"There are too many Infected! You three could be easily overrun! At least let me help!" pleaded Sabella.

"Louis and I will be fine without her, I think." Luigi added more quietly.

Bill's nostrils flared in annoyance. "That wasn't a question that was an order."

Sabella opened her mouth, but before she could speak Louis placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. Now wasn't the time for arguing; they just needed to heed Bill's command. Louis knew the old man was just trying to look out for them. He also knew that because of his injured leg he wouldn't be able to do much. Luigi glanced between them, twiddling his thumbs nervously. Louis gave them a firm nod, and led the way toward the hill. Luigi followed without a word, but Sabella hesitated with a glance over at her fighting teammates. Her hesitation was enough for a Hunter to take advantage of.

"Get it off of me!" she screamed while trying to push it off her.

Before Louis or Luigi could react, Bill beat them to it. Sabella didn't meet his gaze as she got to her feet after he had disposed of the Hunter. Louis could see there was irritation written over the veteran's face for the teenager's recklessness.

"Thanks for that, Bill, and I'm sorry." she murmured.

Bill merely nodded before rejoining Francis and Zoey. While Louis and Luigi waited for Sabella to come over to them, Luigi spotted something that made his blood freeze. He made a weird choking sound in the back of his throat. Louis turned to him questioningly.

"What is it?"

"T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T—"

Louis was baffled. "Luigi, what's wrong?"

Sabella started shaking him. "Get a hold of yourself!"

"Two Tanks…" Luigi whispered.

"What?" Louis and Sabella asked at the same time.

The boy pointed at something behind them. "Two Tanks."

They turned around, their jaws dropping.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Sabella shrieked.

"Shit! Look out!" Louis screamed at the others.

Two Tanks were quickly approaching. Bill, Francis, and Zoey were too busy fighting the Horde to notice the dangerous threat. With a punch, one of the Tanks made the picnic table soar into the air and crash mere inches past the three Survivors. They froze and turned to look at the two Special Infected.

"Fucking run!" Luigi screeched just as the Tanks spotted the Survivors and lumbered toward them with enraged roars.

He began helping Louis again while Sabella rushed over to help the others. Zoey managed to set one ablaze with her molotov. Bill and Francis dodged out the way as the one not on fire tried throwing a chunk of Earth at them. Louis bit his thumb as he watched the scene before him. The Tank on fire was chasing after Zoey who was shooting at it over her shoulder. Louis felt his eyes widen when she suddenly lost her footing on a puddle of blood and crashed to the ground.

"Zoey!" he cried while Luigi hoarsely whispered, "Oh no…"

The college student tried rolling out of the way as the Tank slammed down its massive fists. A high-pitched scream of agony ripped from her throat when one of the fists struck her right leg. Bill and Francis, who were flanking the other Tank, looked over at the sound of her cry. Taking advantage of their distraction, their adversary threw a punch at Francis. The biker grunted with pain as he was sent flying back. Sabella had tried going over to help Zoey, but a small number of Common Infected were stopping her. A small black blur zipped by in the same instant. It was Tycho. The puppy circled around the Tank's legs, nipping at its heels and barking at it. The Tank was momentarily distracted and Zoey was able to crawl away with Louis limping over as fast as he could to assist her.

"Zoey, how bad is it?" he asked worriedly.

"I think it's broken," she gasped with pain as Louis helped her to stand on her good leg.

He bit his lip. "Shit, this ain't good."

"Let's hurry, I don't think Tycho will be able to distract that Tank any longer." Zoey said. "How are Bill and Francis handling the other one?"

Louis glanced over. The two were still locked in combat with it, but this time Sabella was fighting beside them. The three were dodging around the Tank's attacks. Louis could tell it was getting frustrated as it swiveled its head back and forth, trying to figure out which one to pummel first. He opened his mouth to tell her that they were managing, but a startled yell caught their attention. Their heads whipped up in alarm. Luigi had been ensnared by the throat by a Smoker and being attacked by Infected that had heard his yell.

Louis cursed, forgetting that he had up and left the boy when he saw that Zoey needed help.

"Duck!" Zoey suddenly hissed.

He did so, just as a slab of Earth sailed over their heads. He cursed again. The Tank on fire had noticed their retreat and was ignoring Tycho in favor of chasing after them.

"Francis!" he called.

The biker glanced over in his direction.

"A Smoker has Luigi!"

Nodding, Francis raced off to go help the teenager who let out another yell. Louis and Zoey focused on getting away from the beast chasing them as fast as they could in their condition. From the corner of his eye, Louis spotted Bill and Sabella coming to help them after finally taking care of the other Tank. Because a majority of the damage inflicted upon it came from the molotov, it only took a couple of bullets for the second Tank to be taken down. After getting rid of the remaining Common Infected in the area, the Survivors were able to take a breather. Louis furrowed his eyebrows, shaking his assault rifle. He repeated the action for a couple of more seconds before looking at his teammates in frustration.

"I'm out of ammo!" he informed.

Francis spoke before anyone else could. "Why don't you just go get some—oh yeah. Never mind." the biker trailed off, just now realizing what had become of the ammo. "Sucks for you then."

Louis glared, but before he could make a sharp retort Zoey threw her hunting rifle onto the ground. "Mine's out too!" she announced unhappily.

Bill frowned and checked his assault rifle before he too discarded it. Luigi and Sabella followed suit.

Francis spotted an Infected running toward them and happily shot its head off with his auto shotgun before dropping it. The biker then pulled out his dual pistols and began aiming them around randomly.

"Are we going to move or not?" he demanded, looking expectantly at the hill. "I don't know about you guys, but I want to finally get out of this nightmare."

He then proceeded to stare dumbfounded when everybody else walked past him to the hill during his words. Francis grumbled something under his breath and chased after his teammates, taking up the rear. It seemed strangely quiet and there weren't any Infected to be seen except for the occasional Special Infected, but they were quickly taken care of. Louis noticed that Luigi was constantly rubbing at his throat. Worried, he limped over to quietly ask the teen what was wrong, wincing when he saw the angry red marks on the boy's throat. Luigi shot him a look full of distress, but didn't say a word which confused Louis.

Surely the bright blue-eyed boy could talk, right?

When Louis tipped his head to the side questioningly, Luigi just shook his head sadly before directing his gaze to the front again. Louis didn't press the matter, focusing on their surroundings once again. Before the six Survivors knew it, they had made it to the foot of the hill. Louis sighed with relief. Bill looked happy as he began making the first steps upward only to pause suddenly and skitter back down. This confused the others as they exchanged glances with one another at the look of pure horror written over the war veteran's face. He looked like he had just seen a ghost.

"What's wrong with… Holy shit." Francis began to ask only to trail off as the biggest Horde—bigger than the one back at Rayford—the group had ever seen came rushing over the top of the hill.

"We can't fight against that many Infected with just pistols!" Sabella wailed.

Luigi had grown pale, griping the handle of his katana so tightly his knuckles turned white.

Louis was freaking out. "Oh shit, SHIT, SHIIIT!" he screamed with fear. "What do we do?!"

Bill was trying to calm them down. "Relax, people, relax!" he shouted above the screeching of the oncoming Horde. "I'll think of a plan, you just have to calm down."

Zoey's eyes never left the Horde as she addressed him. "Hurry, they're getting close."

Eyebrows furrowing, Bill crossed his arms and looked down at the ground as he tried to come up with a plan. While this was happening, the other Survivors decided to take out as many of Infected as they could with their dual pistols. When three minutes passed and the old man hadn't spoken yet, Zoey took it upon herself to yell at him.

"Bill! They're getting closer!"

The words sent his head snapping up and he fixed his blue eyes on his comrades determinedly. "Francis, do you have that bile bomb on you?" When Francis nodded he turned to Louis. "Still have that pipe bomb, Louis?"

"Sure do." Louis replied and held it up.

"Good, and I have my molotov. On a count of three, I want us to throw them in different directions. After that, haul ass and shoot. Got it?" Bill explained and when everyone nodded he turned to face the Horde. "1…"

Francis cocked his arm back with his hand gripping tightly onto the jar with the green liquid sloshing around inside.

"2…"

The Horde was literally upon them now.

"3!"

"Fight amongst yourselves ya damn vampires!" Francis shouted as he threw his bile bomb and it exploded on a male Common Infected unlucky enough to be in the way.

Louis threw his pipe bomb on the left flank of the Horde. "Grenade!"

After Bill threw his molotov onto the right flank, Louis helped Zoey hobble up the hill. Francis bounded over and offered to carry Zoey on his back. She accepted the biker's help with a grateful nod. Sabella rejoined Louis's side and covered his left while Louis covered the girl's right. Luigi raced past with Tycho at his heels, slicing up any Infected that got too close to them. Bill still lingered behind, but picked up his pace until he had caught up to them, shooting over his shoulder at the Infected chasing after them.

An angry shout from ahead made them turn their heads in the direction it came from. At the very top of the hill Francis wrestled with a Jockey while Zoey lay on the ground in pain. While trying to get the Special Infected off of him, the biker lost his footing and disappeared over the hill.

"Francis!" Louis raced forward, ignoring the pain in his leg, until he was skidding to a halt at the top. He watched as Francis and the Jockey tumbled into a river none of them had known was there. He turned his head over toward Zoey who was being swarmed and attacked by Infected. She shot at them with little success and was shouting to get their attention. Bill was quick to answer her call.

"Come on, Louis, I'll help you." Sabella told him.

When Luigi finally spoke, he sounded horrible. His voice was hoarse and barely more than a whisper. On top of that he was having a hard time getting the words out and his face would scrunch up with pain from the effort. Louis concluded that Luigi's throat had been damaged due to the pressure from the Smoker's tongue, to what extent he didn't know. He hoped it wasn't anything too serious.

"I… C-Cover… Best I can." Luigi told them solemnly.

Louis nodded. He and Sabella carefully picked their way down the hill. Luigi wasn't too far away from them, taking down any Infected that got too close to the pair and keeping a careful eye out for Special Infected. Louis glanced behind him, seeing Bill and Zoey catching up to them. Reaching the river's edge and staring into its fast-flowing current, they wondered how they were going to get past this obstacle. Louis's head jerked up when he heard splashing and looked over in the direction. Francis was farther downstream, swimming strongly against the torrent and seemingly fine after his fiasco with the Jockey. Louis silently thanked God that Francis was okay.

"It's not as bad as it looks," the biker called over after pulling himself up onto the bank. "Trust me!"

"Right. Louis are you going to be able to manage?" Bill asked him.

The business man nodded. "I'll be fine."

Suddenly Luigi tried shouting something, but he couldn't get out what he was trying to tell them. He shook his head in frustration before waving his arms and pointing at something. They turned around to see that a Charger and Hunter decided to make an appearance. The Hunter bunched its muscles and took a mighty leap. The Survivors immediately threw themselves on the ground. A sound of confusion left the Hunter's lips as it flew over them and landed into the water with a loud splash! They watched it flounder in the current then disappear underneath the waves and not resurface. A bellow from the Charger brought them back to the current situation and Louis cursed when he saw that it was headed straight for him. Bracing himself, he took in a deep breath before diving into the river. The icy shock of it took his breath away; he wasn't expecting it to be that cold.

As his head broke the surface he gasped in air, managing to stay afloat as he was swept downstream. Blinking water from his eyes, he frantically looked around for his teammates. He spotted Bill and Sabella swimming along with Zoey, keeping an iron grip on the college student so they wouldn't lose her. Luigi was not far from them with Tycho splashing confidently beside him. Louis gave a sudden cry of surprise when something heavy slammed into him. Briefly disoriented, he began swimming around in circles, but was soon snapping out of it. He looked behind him to see what had hit him and saw two things, one being the Charger's corpse rolling around in the current and two being a tree root sticking out over the river. Kicking out strongly and minding the dull throbbing in his bad ankle, he reached out to grasp the root and use it to pull himself out the river.

Louis spread himself out eagle style on the ground once he was out of the water. He closed his eyes while trying to catch his breath. He began to shiver violently and that was enough to get him to struggle to his feet. The others were experiencing the same chill as he was and were huddling together in a feeble attempt to warm themselves.

The business man gave a tired sigh.

If the Infected didn't get to them first then it was going to be of hypothermia.

How much longer can we go on?