Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead 2 or its characters. I only own my OCs.
A/N: Hey, guys! Thanks to everyone who's read this story so far! I'm currently writing chapter fourteen and I've got a lot more to go. I really hope you're enjoying this story so far. The lack of feedback is leaving me a little uncertain, but if you're taking the time to read it, I really do appreciate it!
Happy reading!
~ Not So Forsaken ~
- Chapter Four -
The mall was almost pitch black as they stepped out of the safe room.
Unsettled by the growls of infected that they could only see the silhouettes of, Julia and Rochelle moved close together, women in solidarity, covering each other's backs. Coach's large form acted as a shield for both girls, keeping them safe from anything attacking from behind. Nick and Ellis were together at the front, walking warily towards a somewhat brighter area near an escalator.
"I hate this." Julia whispered, "It's... It's so creepy..."
"Tell me about it." Rochelle whispered back.
"Hey, if anyone sees a men's store, let me know. I got blood on my suit." Nick said from up front, pausing to shoot a zombie who was wandering by a counter near the bottom of the escalator.
He and Ellis moved to continue shooting the small crowd of infected near the bottom of the escalator while Coach, Rochelle and Julia went to make their way upstairs. Rochelle was thinking about how nice it'd actually be to have a change of clothes, not to mention some other items that she knew she'd be needing soon... Razors, for example.
"That's actually not a bad idea. We can get a change of clothes each and carry them in that sports bag." She suggested, looking back at Coach.
"What's the point when they'll probably just confiscated at evac?" Coach asked, earning an incredulous look from Rochelle, who leant away from Julia briefly to whisper to him.
"What if there isn't an evac?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.
Coach knew deep down that Rochelle could be right. He and the others were hoping to see some kind of activity other than zombies walking around, but the fact that they were confronted with no other sign of life apart from said zombies made his heart sink. Maybe the evacuation centre was further in, and they would hold onto that hope, but they would also take on Rochelle's plan and stock up on some supplies.
"Guys?" Coach whispered harshly as Ellis and Nick were returning to them, "Rochelle's got an idea. What the hell is that in your hand, boy?"
"Pipe bomb." Nick said with a chuckle, "That ought to clear us a good path if we need one."
"Yeah, don't go usin' that without good reason." Coach said, eyeing him warily, "Anyway. Rochelle's idea... Go ahead, Ro."
Rochelle, who was busy looking at the escalator, spun around when she realised the group was waiting for her to speak, let out a shocked gasp and a nervous laugh, which earned her yet another roll of the eyes from Nick, who was now admiring the jewellery on his fingers. She wanted to call him an asshole but she knew that time was of the essence, and that it wasn't worth starting an argument when they were trying to find rescue.
"Oh, yeah... Nick was just talking about a men's store, and I figured that since we're in a mall, we might be able to gain access to some stores and pick up some supplies we might need later." She explained, clearing her throat, "There is a possibility, and I hope it's not the case, but... We may have come all this way to find that there isn't an evac here. So... It can't hurt to have a change of clothes and some basic hygiene supplies, right?"
"Of course there'll be an evac, Ro." Ellis laughed heartily, "We just gotta find it."
"I'm sure, you're right, Ellis." Rochelle said with a warm smile, trying to keep his spirits up, "Come on. Let's see what we can find."
They headed up the escalator, finding only a handful of infected at the top, which Rochelle and Julia quickly dispatched with their rifles. Well... The fact that there were fewer zombies up there was a little more of a positive sign, so the five of them set off walking together in the hopes that maybe the evacuation centre was just a little further into the mall. It was just so quiet though... So quiet...
Heading across to a shutter that was clearly broken, half up and half down as though someone had been ragging the shit out of it just to get it out of the way, the group decided to follow Nick's flashlight as he walked in front, his eyes scanning the darkness for any sign of either danger or rescue. It was so damn quiet...
"I don't like the look of this." Nick muttered, gripping his sniper rifle tightly, "Place seems empty."
"Let's just keep goin'." Coach whispered, "Might be further in."
Shining his light ahead of them, Nick could see that the far end of the section they'd just entered was fenced off. He beckoned for the others to follow him and set off back down the next escalator to see what was waiting for them below. Coach could be heard praying for the food court to be okay as he had in the safe room as they headed back into the darkness and Ellis could be heard whispering some story to Julia at the back of the line, but Nick tried to block that all out. Something was growling further ahead and it didn't sound like a Hunter. This sound was much deeper. Much... Angrier...
"Hey! Shut up!" Nick hissed, turning off his flashlight as the group stopped their talking, "Listen..."
There was a huffing sound and then a snort, followed by more deep growling. No-one quite knew what to do. Whatever was making that noise didn't sound at all friendly, and they didn't know if they'd be able to pass through the next area without disturbing it. It sounded big... Big, and nasty, and horrid...
"What do we do?" Julia asked, her dark eyes widening in fear, "Do you guys know what that is?"
"Never heard that before." Coach whispered, looking at Nick warily, "We'd better keep movin'. Take it slow, everybody..."
It must've looked hysterically funny to an outsider to see the five survivors creeping along with their guns raised, almost in a cartoonish fashion with their feet barely touching the floor as they moved. The ladies could be heard breathing shakily, their eyes frantically scanning the darkness and almost shielding themselves between the men, who almost immediately formed a tighter group around them. Coach and Nick drew closer to the entrance of the food court and caught sight of an enormous shape moving slowly across and between the kiosks, like something out of a horror movie, and it caused them to stop in their tracks, utterly alarmed. It was still growling and huffing, and whatever it was clearly didn't need or want to be disturbed.
"What the hell is that?" Nick asked in a near-silent whisper, looking at Coach with wide eyes, "Did you see it?"
"I did." Coach whispered back, just as quietly, "That thing was enormous."
"Oh, God..." Julia breathed, looking to Rochelle who seemed to be equally as scared, "What do we do?"
"Shhh..."
Instead of being the sharp sound that Nick would've normally made, it was almost soothing; soft and quiet as though he was hushing a frightened child. He held a hand out behind him as if to try and offer some reassurance that everything was okay, even though he knew damn well that it wasn't okay. The last thing they needed right now was people to start panicking. He beckoned the group to follow him and they continued to creep into the darkness, guns gripped tightly in their hands.
Nick was looking for any sign of the damn thing as they moved forward, but his scouting mission was interrupted by a very loud, very frightening roar that came from ahead of them. Through the dimly lit food court, which apparently hadn't survived the zombie apocalypse, a very large, very pink and horrifically angry looking zombie was hurtling towards them, gigantic knuckles dragging along the floor as it moved. Its shoulders were enormous, its much smaller head missing the lower jaw which left its tongue hanging helplessly from its damaged mouth. It was the most terrifying thing they'd ever seen. And they knew that with one hit, it could easily kill any one of them.
"Okay..." Nick breathed out, his face paling, "That's a reason to panic."
"Scatter!" Julia yelled, her eyes tearful and frantic, "Split up! Go!"
"Oh, Lordy! That's a big-ass thing!" Ellis yelled, starting to blast the creature with rounds from his shotgun.
He and Julia ran to the right while the others took a left, trying to confuse it so that it didn't know who to go after. Julia was shooting it with her M16 while Ellis was still firing at it, almost frantically, and as it turned towards them, Coach, Rochelle and Nick grouped together behind it, blasting it with their weapons to try and take it out before it could hurt anyone. It was angry, grunting and yelling in pain as it was hit with shot after shot, and the sound of its roaring was mixed with various yells from everyone else to shoot it and kill it. It kept turning, somewhat confused as to who it should chase, but after a few more rounds of ammo, the creature let out one last pained cry and fell to its knees before collapsing to the ground. It was dead.
Panting, the five survivors regrouped, staring down at the monster with horror on their faces. Even Nick was shaken, and the colour still hadn't returned to his face yet which strangely led the others to take some kind of comfort from the fact that they were all as freaked out as each other. Rochelle, who now had a protective arm around a very frightened Julia, cleared her throat.
"I think I heard that... They've been calling those Tanks." She breathed out, "Something like that."
"Tank sounds fucking appropriate." Nick said, staring down at the huge zombie, "Jesus..."
"Everybody alright?" Coach asked, looking at the women who were still trying to recover from the shock of what they'd just seen, "Ladies?"
"I think we're okay." Rochelle answered for both of them, still holding onto Julia and rubbing her arm reassuringly.
Julia ran her hand over her face, swallowing down the lump of fear that was sitting in her throat. She simply nodded since she couldn't actually speak at that point in time, and that was when everyone decided to just pick up and keep moving before they attracted more unwanted attention. They soon realised that the other end of the food court was blocked, so they headed back up an escalator to get to the other side of the barricade they'd encountered previously. At the top of the escalator, the group crossed the empty floor, looking for a possible way out. A shaft of bright light caught the attention of Nick, who moved towards it to find a doorway that had some sort of makeshift ramp leading to the other side of a barricade, and into the breeze block corridors of the mall which held storerooms, restrooms and could be used as an emergency exit. He headed over first, taking out his pistol and shooting at a zombie that stood at the end of the corridor. Ellis came over next, followed by Julia and Rochelle, who Ellis helped down, and then, last but not least, Coach joined them in the corridor. Nick opened a door to their immediate right, shining his light into the room.
"Watch this door..." He said, stepping inside to see what he could find.
"Damn." Coach said as Nick disappeared, "We'd better find that evac in here. I don't wanna go up against another one of those big things again."
"What if we don't find it...?" Julia asked quietly, her eyes still somewhat tearful.
"Hey, it's gonna be okay." Coach said softly, "You need to keep it together for just a little longer, young 'un. Alright?"
Julia looked at him, her lip trembling as she nodded in response. This was not how things were meant to be. She'd been through enough lately without this nightmare on top. Her boyfriend had abandoned her, after everything he'd put her through, and then there was the reason they'd come to Georgia in the first place... Her hand rested itself on her lower abdomen and she leant back against the wall, trying to pull herself together. Amazingly, since she'd woken up in the hotel, she hadn't thought about what had happened just before she'd come to Savannah with Kevin which was now the reason that she was cradling her lower abdomen.
A beating from him (and a severe one at that) had caused her to miscarry their baby. Finding out she was pregnant at just twenty years old had scared her to death, and finding out that she was pregnant to an abusive man was even more frightening, but she'd hoped against hope that the baby would be enough to change him... Unfortunately, it hadn't been. Three months down the line, he'd beaten her so badly that she'd lost their child. And according to him, that had been her fault. That was the whole reason that they'd waited to come to Savannah in the first place since it took her a very long time to somewhat recover from the physical and emotional trauma of losing the baby. A horrible sensation of guilt swept over her that she'd been so busy trying to survive that the baby hadn't even entered her head, but now...
'Keep it together.' She thought to herself sternly, 'You're okay. He isn't here to hurt you anymore. You need to be strong for your team. These people are counting on you.'
"Look what I found."
Nick's voice brought Julia back to reality, and she caught sight of him holding up a Desert Eagle similar to her own. He looked very pleased with himself and with his find, and as he set it in the holster around his right thigh, Julia set off walking in front to just get moving again before she ended up unable to move at all. Ellis jogged ahead to catch up with her, concern evident in his voice when he finally got the courage up to speak to her.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine, Ellis."
Damn... That response had been robotic as hell. Was she really so well practised at hiding this stuff that she could sound so calm when she felt like she was dying inside? What the hell had Kevin done to her over those two years?
"Thanks." She added, smiling up at him warmly, all traces of her earlier tearfulness now gone.
"No problem." He replied sweetly, "Hey! I wonder if we can get into any of the stores from back here."
Just as they reached the end of the corridor, they found themselves with an open door to the left, and couple of bathrooms to the right. When the others caught up, Coach told them to head left, so Ellis and Julia started to walk down the corridor to their left, being sure to keep an eye out for anything that could be useful. It was deathly quiet. The hopes of there being an evacuation centre somewhere in this building were dwindling, and dwindling quickly.
The checked various store stock rooms, coming across some of the basics they thought they might need just in case the evacuation centre wasn't here, including things like toothpaste and toothbrushes, razors, and even a few feminine hygiene items that had Ellis asking some very uncomfortable questions. Julia had even come across a half-full bottle of hand sanitiser that she decided to keep in her first aid kit in case of emergency. They took the time to do a quick stop and split up the supplies so they each had something in their packs that they could use if necessary before breaking into a jog, trying to find a way back into the main part of the mall. Finally, the group came across one that was at the back of a clothing store, which was the only store they'd come across with its front shutters raised. They would have a way back out into the mall, where they could continue to search for the evacuation centre.
They tore open boxes, grabbing enough items for one completely clean change of clothes each, and then entered the main section of the store, stopping dead in their tracks when they spotted a blinking alarm above the door, and a small crowd of zombies wandering around near their exit. Nick adjusted the duffel bag he now had over his shoulder, looking up at the alarm before trying to search for a way to turn it off. One of the zombies, however, chose that moment to turn towards them, and that caused the others to do the same. They formed a tight pack, running towards the group with their arms outstretched.
Before anyone could stop him, Ellis started shooting round after round into the infected that were approaching the group, and as one of the bodies flew backwards, it crashed through the store's front window, and the horrific sound of an alarm began to ring in their ears. Nick cursed, Rochelle and Julia gasped in horror, and Coach whirled on a now very anxious Ellis, who had the look of a child being scolded by a parent.
"Boy, you ain't got any sense in that head, do you?!"
The scream that filled the seemingly empty mall was enough to make the group flinch, and the group didn't hesitate before breaking into a run, climbing quickly through the broken store window. The sound of pounding feet somehow seemed louder than the ringing of the alarm, and as infected started to approach from both sides of them, the group started to open fire on them.
"We gotta shut off this alarm!" Nick yelled over the noise, trying to look for a way to go.
"Try upstairs! There'll be a security office somewhere!" Julia yelled back, "Come on!"
She and Ellis ran at the front, him following her to the other side of the floor and towards the escalator. As she reached it, she stopped, beckoning the group past her while trying to shoot at oncoming zombies. Ellis set off running up the escalator first, with Coach, Nick and Rochelle hot on his heels.
"Go! Go! Go!" Julia yelled, continuing to shoot the oncoming horde.
When Rochelle was past her and halfway up the escalator, Julia quickly followed, taking the opportunity to reload her weapon. Coach was already running towards what could possibly be the security room, and Rochelle had soon overtaken Ellis and then Nick to join the eldest of their group at the front. Julia was at the back, still trying to shoot the oncoming zombies. Over the scream of the alarm, Julia's ears tuned into a new sound. It began like a poor attempt at mimicking a horse's neigh and then was accompanied by manic giggles, which seemed to get more and more manic as it got closer. She turned around quickly and within a second, she spotted it; a little zombie with long arms, red hair and a clownish, ugly looking face, that sprinted towards her at incredible speed with no other zombies in the way to slow it down. She tried to shoot at it, but it almost expertly dodged her shots like something out of The Matrix before taking a flying leap through the air. It landed on her shoulders, spun itself so that it was sitting at the back of her head and dragged her by the hair into a pillar at the side of her, causing her to shriek out in pain.
Nick and Ellis both skidded to a stop, spinning around to see the creature riding on Julia's back as it tugged her towards the glass of the balcony. They both sprinted towards her, trying to shoot at it, but not before it had forced her into the glass, which caused to her let out a terrified scream as it broke on impact. It was toying with her, making her lean towards the edge as though it was going to send her falling to her death. She was so high up that it made her dizzy, her heart pounding wildly as she fought for control. She managed to get herself turned around so that her back was to the edge, but as someone managed to fatally shoot the little creature, its hands slipped, grabbing her around the throat and pulling her with it. She stumbled backwards, her heart in her mouth, reaching out for anything that might save her.
She felt a calloused hand, hot and slightly sweaty grab onto hers, and she felt something pulling around her throat. She looked up into the grey-green eyes of Nick, who now had a tight hold on her right hand and arm with both of his larger hands. Ellis managed to pry the hands of the zombie from around her neck, and it fell with a final cry over the edge, allowing Nick and Ellis to bring her away from the edge. She collapsed to her knees, exhausted and in shock, and it was only then that she realised that the alarm had stopped. Her face and neck felt sore, as though she'd been scratched, and when she put her hand to her throat to check for bleeding, she found herself met with a slight smearing of the red liquid across her dainty fingers.
"Shit..." She cursed, completely unprepared for the calloused fingers that she felt suddenly against the skin of her throat.
In a moment of panic, she gasped and shot backwards out of the way of whoever was touching her, her eyes squeezing shut out of instinct. Unexpected contact, in her experience, wasn't usually good, especially when someone went to touch her throat like that. She'd been so used to being suddenly grabbed like that that her instinct to protect herself had kicked in, even when the touch had been much more gentle. She heard footfalls around her and then felt the fingers on her neck again, this time approaching with more caution.
"Hey... Let me see." The voice wasn't Ellis' as she'd expected, but Nick's, and it was uncharacteristically soft as was his touch, "It's not too bad... It'll probably stop bleeding in a couple of minutes."
"What the hell was that?" Julia asked, slowly getting to her feet while trying to recover from her shock.
"That was a Jockey." Nick said with a wink, "They like to give us humans a good humping while trying to drive us towards any kind of danger they can. Little bastards."
Ellis handed Julia her gun, which she hadn't even realised she'd dropped, and she thanked him for returning it to her with an embarrassed smile. Her aim had been terrible when trying to get the damn thing that it was no wonder she got ridden around like that. She definitely had to take more care and up her game.
"Guys?!" Rochelle's voice sounded so loud as she called to them from the security room, "Everything okay?"
"Fine!" Ellis called back cheerfully, "We're comin'!"
The three broke into a jog, hurrying to catch up with Rochelle and Coach who were waiting patiently for them in the security room. When Coach saw Julia's dishevelled appearance and bleeding neck, he checked her over with concern, despite her insistence that she was fine. She didn't want to be so up close and personal with people and she didn't want unfamiliar hands touching her either, especially not after being 'humped', as Nick had so eloquently said it.
"Jockey got her." Ellis said quietly, seeming to sense the young woman's discomfort, "Nick already checked her over, Coach, she's okay."
Coach nodded, patting the twenty-one-year-old on the back. They took a moment to recover from the sprint up to the security room, standing in nervous silence. Once again, the quiet of the mall was getting to them. They were each starting to get seriously worried that indeed, there was no evacuation centre here. Then what would they do?
"Let's move." Coach said quietly, "Come on..."
After making their way out of the back of the security room and down a flight of stairs, the group came to another long corridor. There were no infected in the corridor, but they were definitely nearby. Their growls, groans and shouts could be heard at the end. It sounded eerie in the dimly lit corridor and it sent chills down their spines as they slowly walked towards the end of it.
"We've gotta be close..." Nick murmured, stepping into the next room with the others in tow, "We've just gotta be."
While Nick, Coach and Rochelle were checking the room for supplies, Ellis and Julia walked slowly together towards the exit, and towards what looked like a very quiet, very bloodied evacuation centre. Ellis shone his light on the area ahead, illuminating the bloodbath that indeed had once been a bustling and very much alive evacuation centre. There were bodies everywhere... And no sign of any living thing apart from the odd, wandering zombie that stumbled in the darkness further in.
"Oh, God... This... This is just awful..." Ellis breathed, his face drained of colour and his expression one of despair and horror.
"What is it?" Rochelle asked, hurrying through with the others, "Ellis?"
"There's... There's no evac..." Ellis murmured, keeping his flashlight on the mess in front of them.
"Damn... I hope somebody got out alright." Coach said quietly, moving forward to take a closer look.
"CEDA. Leaving me twice in one day." Nick said, his face a portrait of both irritation and what could only be described as suppressed rage, "Lesson learned."
Julia stared at the bodies piled up on the floor, the blood pooled around them and smeared all around the evacuation centre, her heart leaping into her throat. Her boyfriend had left her for dead... And from the look of this, they were going to die there in that mall. She was going to die with strangers, not knowing where that son of a bitch had gotten to, or why he'd abandoned her. The poor people who'd been here before them... What had they gone through? Tears pricked at her eyes. Tears of frustration, betrayal, hurt, fear and pure devastation at the thought that her life was going to end so soon and in such an awful way and that these poor people had been killed like this. It must've been a horrendous ordeal to go through.
A small sob left her lips, and she threw her hands to her mouth, her gun falling to the ground beside her. Once she'd started to cry, she didn't seem to able to control it and now, in addition to all her other emotions, she felt embarrassed and ashamed that she'd lost it in front of everyone else. The other four survivors stared at her, surprised by her sudden outburst. Rochelle covered her mouth as well, her fingers curled into a fist, trying to keep her composure. She wasn't one to get emotional, but she knew this was bad, and she felt so awful for the youngest member of their team who was clearly distraught that it was hard not to cry with her.
"Oh, no... Don't cry..." Ellis moved towards Julia carefully, gingerly drawing her close to him to try and hug her, "Don't cry... It's gonna be okay, Jules. We'll think of somethin'."
When no-one else tried to help comfort Julia, Ellis looked up at his fellow teammates, seemingly not far from bursting into tears himself. Nick couldn't help but take a step back. If the younger man burst into tears, Nick didn't want to be in the firing line.
"Won't we?" The stern tone of Ellis' voice brought almost an instant reaction from the others.
"Of course we will." Rochelle said, moving towards Julia and offering her a supportive back rub.
"Yeah, sure." Nick rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Damn right we will." Coach's voice was the most determined, so much so that everyone's gaze was drawn to him now instead of Julia, "You bet your asses we will. Come on. I ain't waitin' around here to die."
Ellis picked up Julia's M16 for her, handing it back to her as she tried to dry her eyes. He patted her shoulder and headed after Coach, clearly feeling better about the situation due to Coach's determination. Rochelle eased Julia forward, looking back at Nick, who was glancing between the abandoned evacuation centre and the retreating forms of Coach and Ellis.
"You coming with us, Nick?" She asked.
Nick hadn't wanted to stick with anyone but now? Now, it seemed better to be with a group of people than alone. Safety in numbers and all that. Plus, the four survivors he was with weren't so bad. Coach was optimistic and clearly obsessed with food, but he was also smart and good at keeping people's spirits up. Ellis was irritating as hell, but the kid's heart was in the right place, and he seemed to be pretty loyal which was a good team bonus. Rochelle was smart, pretty and she kicked ass, which again, was another plus for the team. Then there was Julia, the cute, petite redhead who was smart, way too nice for her own damn good and skittish as hell. Nick shrugged to himself. He could cope with them for a little longer, he supposed. Better than dying in this dump.
"Sure." He said with a sigh, moving to catch up with the others, "Come on. Let's find a way outta this shithole."
~ To Be Continued ~
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Thanks for reading so far!