Thank you to all that reviewed so far! They were very encouraging! In this next chapter, the Paramedic and the Conman meet once again! R&R and disclaimer: Remember I don't own Left 4 Dead 2! Just the characters that appear in here!

Isabelle leaned her head against the wall of the pharmacy they were hauled up in for the moment, her shotgun laid beside her as her hand absentmindedly fiddled with her chain again. It wasn't much so the chain of the necklace, but more so the ring that dangled from it. It was a sheer reminder that she still felt some sort of feelings for her husband—ex husband--, she blew out a breath before letting her wedding ring drop against her chest.

It was just her and Mike in the pharmacy as Doc and Keith were on the rooftop surveying and mapping out a possible route to lead to the mall. The convict was busy shuffling through the shelves while reading the labels of the products out loud to either himself or to further irritate her.

"Doctor Odor…Always Kotex…Midol…Trojan 'Her sensation'…lot of good brands," Mike remarked sarcastically before looking over towards Izzy. "Do you need one of these?" his light British accent made her want to punch him in the face and break something.

"Piss off."

"Okay…then you need Midol and Kotex, it's obvious that it's the time of the month from Mother Nature."

"Don't you have better things to do then piss me off?" Izzy snapped at him while turning her now cold blue eyes onto the slightly older man.

Being twenty-eight or thirty and still he was brash and immature; her mind then drifted to yesterday when she and Keith had found both Doc and Mike. At the time Michael was dressed in an orange jumpsuit, and so he had broken into of the many department stores around the area and had stolen his current outfit. Doc had been leaning against an abandoned car smoking a cigar and in that sheer moment Isabelle had seen the look of relief upon seeing her and Keith.

When Mike had come out of the store he froze immediately and narrowed his brow and eyes dangerously at the two. She remembered shivering as his eyes that shared the same color and depth as a head of iceberg lettuce, suddenly seemed to tear through her guard and defense mechanism. Isabelle remembered how she compared everything about this criminal to her husband—ex-husband--right down to their personalities and backgrounds. This seemed to be a slap to her face letting her know that he was always gonna be with her, either there in the physical sense or by any other means.

"I wish I did," Mike sighed with little meaning to it. "But since the redneck is up top, you're the only one toots."

"Do not call me that," Isabelle almost snarled.

"Oh you know Led Zeppelin is so 70's right?"

"Michael-"

"Isabelle-"

"I'm serious I'm not really in the mood, I have a headache and-"

"You're thinking about him again."

Whatever Isabelle was about to retort with was suddenly forgotten as he had spoken that; was it possible Mike knew about him? Could it be that they knew each other? She knew that she hadn't told her group about him, he was her own well guarded memory. Never to be spoken about with anyone.

"What did you say?" she asked while getting up on her feet while keeping her eyes on him.

"You. Are. Thinking. About. Him. Again." Mike answered making sure to pause after each word.

"And who is him?"

"I don't know! Your boyfriend or fiancé or husband!" he exclaimed before turning back to look at the shelves. "I catch you sometimes, even though we barely met yesterday, I catch you…holding onto that ring."

Isabelle hadn't caught onto her grown habit, better yet how could've Mike caught on? If anyone would've pointed this out to her she would've expected it to be Doc or even Keith, but not Mike.

"It's nice to know that you can still be observant, but stick with your business and I'll stick with mine." Her words cut in deep and they were as cold as her new adopted personality. Mike didn't respond, instead he turned away from her and opted to sit down cross-legged on the floor.

Immediately she felt guilty for speaking with him that but believe it or not there was a time when she was so sweet, so kind, and so loved and well liked by everyone. Her personality attracted potential admirers…one of them was her soon to be husband…Nicolas.

With a heavy sigh she dropped to her knees beside Mike and hugged him from the side, "I'm sorry Mike; it's not your fault. It's just a sore subject for me that's all."

He had immediately flinched from her sudden touch, he was a hardened criminal who was sent to jail for…well…he was just sent to jail.

"Izzy, as much as your attractive and believe me you are…hugging me is a little over the edge." Somehow he managed to gently remove her arms from him as he leaned back away from her.

Isabelle gave him a scowl before leaning back on her legs as Mike got up just as Doc and Keith entered the pharmacy once more. Looking behind her towards the exit she found that the sun had casted it's last light before beginning to sink in the horizon.

"Alright, I know this may sound crazy but we found a route. We leave now and we should be able to make it there in no time." Doc said while looking from Mike to Isabelle in turn.

"Are you trying to kill us old man?" Mike questioned with anger boiling deep down, Doc continued to eyes him with no visible emotion. "Us traveling in the night will guarantee that we die from those things and the other greatly mutated ones! Doc, I know you are a wise man and all but doing this…is completely utterly insane!"

Keith swallowed down the air that lodged in his throat as he look unsteadily between his comrades, for the first time he didn't know what to do. Isabelle looked on impassively for a moment before turning back to face the discussion on hand, she stood up and walked back to her shotgun before slinging it over her shoulder.

"This is the best we got, Keith here figured out the route and if we stay here any longer a horde will come. This pharmacy wasn't built to withstand such force if they were to come, especially not from a Tank either," Doc remarked before turning back to grab his bottle of water, "Oh and no offense, but you're a criminal who probably has no sense of direction. We keeping moving towards the next evac which is in the mall, you're welcome to make this place your new home Michael."

"Enough!"

All eyes turned to Isabelle as they spotted her stuffing her pack with necessary items such as band-aids and gauze and solution to treat wounds. Not too long ago they had used their medical packs after dealing with the Tank. The men continued to watch her as she crammed everything into the pack; she was tired and exhausted, the last time she had ate a decent meal was two days ago. She really didn't have time for hearing arguments; if Keith had figured out a route then it was to move.

"Keith," she called as her eyes swept over the shelves.

"Yes Izzy?"

"This route we're taking, it'll lead us straight to the mall?"

"For sure."

"Alright, we're leaving then." She finished while turning to see Mike looking at her with those piercing eyes once again, he probably felt she had betrayed him in some way. Right now, Isabelle didn't have time for his bullshit. "Mike, we're leaving. We need to get out of here alright?"

He cussed before grabbing his rifle, "Fine. Guess the criminal losses against the medic and the cop."

'I can't freakin' believe you Nick.'

'I'm sorry Isabelle; this will be the last time I'm in jail. I promise.'

'No more promises, especially if you can't keep them.'

Mike heard the click of his gun, letting him know that it spit out all of the ammo. He cursed before reaching into his pocket for another clip; he froze when he heard the all too distinctive growl coming from his side.

"Bloody freakin' hell not now!" he shouted while frantically finding the hold for the clip. The growl became louder as he could practically hear the Hunter crawling towards him now, its attention on the criminal. "Stay back you son of a bitch!"

The hunter screeched before leaping towards him, just as Mike slammed his clip in Keith came out of nowhere and pumped shot after shot into the hunter just before it yelped and fell to the floor dead.

"You alright Mike?" Keith asked while turning to him and just when he was about to answer, Keith suddenly let out a small yell before falling to his side. Mike looked and found that another hunter was about to pounce on the injured kid, Mike quickly aimed and took fire.

The gunshots brought Doc and Isabelle to attention as they ran back over towards them, they had reached the mall but both parties had been separated from a horde. Isabelle felt the blood pumping and she quickened her jog to a run as she saw the other creatures lurking in the dark waiting to attack the two men. She found Keith down as Mike was helping him back on his feet but unknown to him, the round obese monster was stalking its way towards them. Its bile would cover them and provoke a horde and with Keith injured they all had no way of escaping it alive. No molotovs and pipe bombs to distract the infected from them.

Keith's brown eyes widened behind them and as Mike turned he came face to face with a Boomer. Its large boils covered one of its eyes and it began to gurgle.

Mike sucked in a long breath, "Oh shit."

A bullet grazed passed him and lodged itself into the arm of the creature; it gave a small growl but was stumbled away from them. Mike turned and pushed Keith back making him hurry his pace over to Isabelle; meanwhile Doc peered into his scope again and found the boomer waddling towards Mike once again.

"No tonight buddy." He hummed before pushing down on the trigger. The second and final bullet pierced its large belly and exploded sending parts flying everywhere.

"Tell me where it hurts," Isabelle said as she skimmed her hands over his wound delicately, making sure to not actually touch the wound. As her left hand crept down Keith's leg he suddenly gave a jolt with a sharp hiss releasing from his throat. "He has a minor laceration…I just need to patch it up. No harm done."

"You better not get infected from this Keith," Mike said as his suspicious gaze turned serious. "If you do I'm shooting you dead on."

"Mike, not another word," Doc said before handing Isabelle her pack. She unzipped the blue pack before delving into its contents, upon grabbing the antiseptic solution she rolled up his pant leg and looked up at Keith.

"It might sting a little just a fair warning."

Keith grinned before shifting slightly, "I've been through much worse Izzy, believe me."

She mirrored his grin before applying the solution to his laceration. If Keith was in pain, he didn't show it. Isabelle put her training to work as she made sure to get the corners and over the wound itself, when she was finished she pulled out a roll of gauze and wrapped it around his calf before securing it with a pin.

"So, you up for some revenge?" Mike questioned as he offered a hand to the young man to much of everyone's surprise. Keith grabbed it and he hauled him to his feet.

"You betcha," he answered. "That hunter got away; well he's not getting away that easily I'll tell ya that much for sure."

Mike passed a glance towards Isabelle and realized that she was still kneeling down; her back was to the three men as her hands were in front of her chest. It seemed like she was gripping or cupping something, he hoped she wasn't crying. Mike wasn't one of those loser guys who went as far as to disrespect women or degrade them, no matter how much they annoyed him. So upon seeing Izzy kneeling there with her shoulders hunched over in defeat with her head bowed, it…irked him to say the least. He began to walk over to her when something stopped him.

Mike's attention casted towards the safe room door they had come through as the sounds became more distinct and clearer. Gunshots and shouts, meaning that there were more survivors coming their way which also meant more trouble for him. He turned back to find Izzy on her feet as her blue eyes locked on the door as well, Doc inclined his head towards it as Mike took the hint and grabbed his rifle from the table top.

Keith stood beside Izzy as Doc opened the door and checked the outside, the wind still began to blow fiercely but Doc was able to see. Up ahead he could make out four silhouettes fighting off a horde, he gave a curse from Mike's vocabulary while bringing out a Molotov.

"Hey! Move!" he shouted while lighting the white paper and getting ready to toss it.

The taller man of the group turned and motioned for his group to follow, Doc threw the glass bottle as it landed and exploded into a wall of fire. The orange and red flames licked away as the oncoming infected ran through it with no caution at all, they immediately fell one by one as the flames consumed their bodies.

The blonde-haired criminal caught sight of the new add ons and immediately he didn't like what he saw; the new group ran inside with Mike and Doc following close behind. Once Doc had secured the door he turned to the seven inside.

With a scowl Isabelle inspected the man closest to her; slicked back dark brown hair with a few strands that managed to escape the product's hold. His glassy green eyes scanned the survivors as his hands, which were adorned with gold rings on almost all his fingers, straightened out the front of his suit. Oh yes, the suit was all too familiar to the medic.

"When are you giving me those divorce papers?"

The man whipped his attention towards her as his eyes widened slightly before dropping down to narrowing at her. "What good are those papers gonna do now that there's a zombie apocalypse? Isabelle?"

Izzy folded her arms in frustration before her anger began to take over, "The more the better to be divorced from you."

Doc, Mike, her husband's three comrades, and Keith had quieted down to watch the scene but eventually the woman of their group made it a point to tear their attention away from the two.

"Alright guys nothing to see here," she said distracting the men by shooing them away from Isabelle and Nick.

"Keith! What up brother!"

"Ellis you little snickler!" Keith laughed as they hugged each other before letting go.

"I thought you got out here way long ago! What're ya doin' back here?"

Keith gave his buddy a grin and a pat on the back before leaning up on the table, "I jumped out, landed on a pile of zombies, then I had to beat em' off with a wooden stick. No kidding there."

"So how was your gambling cruise huh?! How was the whore too?!" Isabelle's yells had drawn their attention back to her and Nick.

"Oh don't start, don't even fucking start with me woman."

"Oh no I'm starting, I have every right to! You take off without so much as a word, and you expect me to still be married to you?!"

"Here we go again," Nick mumbled as he subconsciously rubbed his chest were the Witch had attacked him. "Look don't start Izzy, I'm not really in the mood right now ok? Oh and by the way it's the zombie apocalypse which means that our little problem has to be put on hold." Blood began to seep through his dark blue dress shirt and it took Isabelle a moment to notice the slash marks on the right side of his body. More so it was chest that seemed to receive the most damage.

"Um hi Izzy," Isabelle's blue eyes moved towards the African-American woman. "I'm Rochelle…and um…Nick was attacked by a Witch which means that I need to have a look at his wound since it seemed to open up again. May I?"

"Let her do it Ro," Nick turned away to lean against the wall as he slid down against it. "She's a nurse."

"Paramedic," Isabelle corrected sharply while grabbing her pack from off the floor. "I got it here; I used to clean this stupid idiot up after a night of getting into brawl fights."