And here is chapter 4. =) This chapter focuses a bit more on Skoll and Terra for the time being. Right now I'm brain storming on what to do next for chapter 5. As I said before I want to keep a healthy balance between each group of survivors so it isn't always Terra and Skoll or James and his crew in the spotlight. ;) Maybe I'll mention someone else instead. Who knows...? 8D

Left 2 Die.

Chp. 4

Despite her fears, Terra had the fortune of Skoll shadowing her movements even if he did disturb her. She ran into quite a few infected on the way to town and managed to fight them off only because he had her back. Many times Skoll would pounce on an enemy and tear at them like he would to a survivor before they even came close enough to her. It was odd that he kept pushing her on and took to dragging her if she didn't move fast enough. As they moved along the road, Terra heard the strained coughing of a smoker and muttered a curse, sticking closer to Skoll instinctively. She dearly wished she could get her hands on a gun or two; her old ones were back at the cabin and there was no way she would go back to that hell hole. The coughing became louder as the two traversed up the hill.

There… Just up ahead was the tall figure of a smoker staggering up the hill. Skoll let out a snarl and she willed him to be quiet. If the smoker didn't notice her, she could avoid a fight. Smokers could let out a loud shriek upon spotting survivors, and that alert rarely went unnoticed by the other infected. Skoll glanced up at her and she gently tugged him to the side, keeping out of the creature's line of sight. He was confused. She did not want to kill the smoker? Another growl left him as he jerked from her grip and he pounced, letting out his trademark scream as he landed on the smoker's back. It let out a cry of surprise and then went silent when Skoll quickly snapped his neck with those powerful jaws.

'Jesus H Christ…' Terra thought to herself as she fought to control the sudden wave of panic at the hunters impulsive attack. She crept up the hill, avoiding the large cloud of smoke left behind by Skoll's fallen enemy. He sneezed and coughed, frequently rubbing at his face as he crept out of the smoke cloud to follow his pack member. Just down the hill was the bridge leading to the town. And there were several infected waiting. Of course… She mumbled a curse and got her crowbar ready as she and Skoll charged down the road. It didn't take long for the infected to notice her. Terra swung with all her might, busting jaws, cracking open skulls, and even stabbing a few in the face with the narrow end of her weapon. Already though, she was growing weary. Skoll showed them no mercy, they were as much prey to him as any survivor would be.

It was easier for him to shred into the infected though. They were too stupid to realize one of their own had turned on them before it was too late. A familiar high pitched howl echoed from the forest and he snarled, grabbing his pack member by the wrist and dragging her across the bridge. The horde was closing in on them fast. Letting out a frustrated growl he hoisted Terra over his shoulder and leaped up to the roof of a café before jumping to the neighboring building. It would take the horde a while to climb up the buildings, and by then he would be long gone. In most circumstances he would have stayed to fight, but Skoll knew from experience that when too many infected gathered in one spot it would draw the interest of a tank. The hunter was still aching from his last tussle with one.

As he ascended to the highest building and set his pack member down, he could hear the faint snarling of another hunter. Skoll bared his teeth and listened for the rival as it approached. The hunter would have chuckled if he could remember to do such a thing, for the hunter that appeared to him was little more than a pup. It snarled at Terra and prepared to pounce but Skoll caught him easily by the scruff of his black hoodie. It almost made Terra sick; the boy looked to be only eight years old… And there he hung in the larger hunter's grip, swinging wildly and almost throwing a fit, letting out tiny outraged howls. Skoll grinned and tossed the pup to the side, sitting on his haunches beside Terra. The small hunter rolled onto his hand and knees, appearing as if he was ready to pounce again before Skoll uttered a threatening growl staving off the young hunters intentions to attack.

Terra glanced over the ledge of the building and spotted two very familiar things. One was the gun shop, which she hoped wasn't completely raided. The other was the bright red door of the safe house about two blocks beyond the shop. If she could grab some guns she'd fare much better in combat. With a disappointed groan she realized they were rather high up. The hunter who followed her probably wouldn't carry her on his back all the way down the building, which meant they would have to do more fighting. Her stomach growled again and she made a mental note to find something to eat.

Skoll heard her stomach again and glanced at his pack member. He nudged her back and spared a threatening gnash of teeth at the smaller hunter who remained submissively on his stomach. She opened the door of the stairwell and let out a gasp at the arrival of a rather tall smoker. He let out a surprised cough before stumbling back away from her. That gave Skoll the time he needed before pouncing and tearing the creature's throat out with his claws. Terra coughed and waved the smoke from her eyes as she hurried down the steps. Another infected met her crowbar, then another and another; the shriek of the hunter nearly drowned out the screams of the infected as she fought for her life. 'Stab, swing, kick, do what you must...' she told herself. Before long there were dead bodies laying at her feet, though many were due to Skoll's own savagery.

She realized she was running on borrowed time and adrenaline, so Terra began to dash down the road with Skoll behind her. She needed guns, she needed food, and she needed shelter. One day of rest was barely enough for her and had it not been for Skoll she would probably be dead. Hell, if he never came along she would still be bound to the post in the basement. As the darkness of those memories began to creep into her mind she felt herself slow down, her mind falling into a dark pit of terror. Suddenly, Skoll grabbed her and dragged her into an empty alley. Terra was about to struggle and protest but he clapped a dirty, bloody palm over her mouth. As the panic and terror began to drift away she realized that the ground was steadily shaking beneath her feet…

'Oh no. Not here, not now…' she thought as she stilled in the hunters hold.

Two hulking beasts charged down the road and past the alley way where Skoll and Terra were hiding. It seemed as though the tanks did not notice the pair, lucky for them. Tanks were notorious for their tenacity to get to their prey, exercising primal aggression in their pursuit. As they remained still for several more minutes, she had to admit the hunter really was looking out for her. Terra carefully pried his hand from her mouth, hoping he would understand she knew to keep quiet. After a moment the hunter relented but still held her close until he felt the danger had completely passed them. Letting out a soft growl, he released her and followed her along the sidewalk into the gun shop. As she predicted the place was raided nearly bone dry. But there in the corner, illuminated under the flickering fluorescent light's, lay two guns: a shotgun and a hunting rifle.

Here are the weapons, now would there be any ammo for them? Terra grabbed both guns, slinging the rifle's strap around her torso, noting with grim realization how heavy it felt to carry these weapons now. Remembering her time was borrowed, she went about searching the store for ammuntion. The aisles were a mess of scattered boxes, gleaming with littered shells of all kinds each of them used and useless to her. She found she was lucky enough to find two boxe of shotgun shells and half a box of rifle ammo. Terra loaded both the rifle and the shot gun, and went about searching for anything else that would be useful. In the back of the store was a busted counter in which lay a single hunting knife; she grabbed that too, out of instinct. Outside Terra could hear the unintelligible growling of the infected. They must have caught her scent. As long as they didn't see her she should be okay; it wouldn't take long for them to bust through the glass once they caught the sight of prey.

Skoll snarled and skulked to the back of the store where his pack member was. She opened the door to the back room and cursed as four infected ran at her. She brought up her crowbar and struck at them, watching the blood fly and feeling it splash against her skin. Terra motioned for Skoll to follow her before closing the door behind him. She could have shot those four infected but then she would risk alerting the swarm of infected outside that she was right under their noses. The hunter had noticed she now carried those odd sticks his prey usually brought with them. He knew from experience what came from the sticks, how they had left odd rocks embedded in his body and his pack brothers. She hadn't turned and used it on him though. His pack member was an oddity, but perhaps she also recognized they were the same. Skoll merely smirked and kept a close vigil on her.

Terra noticed there was a mini fridge in the employee lounge, yet there was no power. The chances of there being something fresh to eat were very slim, but there may be something to at least drink. She opened fridge and shut it immediately. It was overrun with maggots feasting on rotten meat… Terra moved on, ignoring the hunger and wave of nausea that continued to churn in her stomach. As they left the store through the back exit, she heard the gurgling belches of a boomer and at first looked upwards to see if the morbidly obese creature was skulking atop the roofs waiting for prey to come along. No… Instead she, for this was a "boomette", was at the end of the alley, blocking Terra's way out. The other end was blocked by chain link fencing. Terra aimed and took the shot, blowing the creature's head off, resulting in the rest of her body exploding, spraying her foul bile on the walls and pavement. The survivor kept her shotgun ready, blasting through the now alerted infected as she and Skoll tore down the street. The safe house was within reach, and she felt a faint flicker of hope emerge in her pounding heart.

'Almost there, almost there, almost there, almost, almost...' was her mantra as she pushed her body to its limits. Skoll had slowed considerably to keep from leaving her behind; he knew where she was heading though. Another place where prey usually stayed for the night… Terra passed the threshold with him in tow and she slammed the door closed, placing the bar on it. He could hear her heart pounding wildly as she stumbled around the safe room and noted a sudden "jump" in the rhythm as she gasped. He crouched, ready to pounce and kill if she missed an infected with her stick. But that wasn't what made her gasp. It was the few canned goods sitting in the corner. Terra stumbled over to the small pile, falling to her knees as she pulled out the hunting knife and cut open the first can, a can of spinach. She wound up cutting her fingers on the torn metal a little as she peeled the cover upwards but barely cared for that as she started shoveling the leafy vegetable into her mouth.

'Easy…not too much or too fast…' she reminded herself as she slowed down her gorging. It was then she noticed Skoll was watching her, his head tilted to the side, blood smeared mouth curved in a curious frown. She resumed eating, a little slower this time, and began feeling a bit of relief all around. The hunter stalked towards her and she froze in mid-chew, nervous of what it was doing this time. He sniffed at her making confused grunts before sitting in front of her in his crouched position. Skoll nudged the hand she used to eat with before laying down across from her, stretching out. His hoodie pulled up a bit with his motions, revealing a little of his lower back. It had a few scars, some of them looked as though there were still bullets embedded where the flesh had healed over.

Terra found herself frozen to the spot, the can gripped firmly in her hand as the darkness in her mind started creeping forward. She looked down at her arms, noted some of the scars left over from cigarette burns. The pounding in her brain urged her to close her eyes to ease away the pain, but she refused, for she was far too scared of what she may open them up to once the pain subsided. Her hands shook and she swore it felt like her very bones rattled, sending out hollow rings. Terra clutched at her head, biting her bottom lip, fighting the urge to whimper lest she attract the attention of the sleeping hunter. And then, quite unwittingly, she closed her eyes, hot tears pouring down her cheeks. Already the rough, hard voices, and the horrible memories with which they were held in, came to her. For a second she could feel the tightness of the rope encircling her limbs, her muscles stretching as her body was sprawled out for them…

No!

A sudden stabbing pain shot up from her thumb to her forearm and she opened her eyes. She had pierced her thumb on a piece of the torn can by mistake. Or quite possibly in her subconscious she may have done it to draw herself out of the memories. It didn't matter to her as she tended the small wound; anything to keep her mind off it all. Terra realized the hunter was sitting up, staring at her. She almost felt irritated with him, it seemed like he was constantly observing her. After cleaning the cut and placing a small band-aid on it she resumed eating her spinach, then finished it off before hitting another can. Terra expressed the closest thing to a smile as she held the can of yams and then carved off the top with the knife peeling up the cover a little more carefully this time. She reached in and nibbled on the first slice, enjoying the taste. After filling her belly she laid down in the corner, finding no blankets this time around. As she laid on the musty cement floor, she wondered for a moment what she was to do now… She found guns, ammunition, and even got something to eat after what felt like forever.

Terra stifled a yawn, blinking slowly as she counted the cracks in the ceiling. She recalled hearing the government setting up refugee camps for the immune and special facilities prepared for those who needed to be quarantined. That would be for the best, she decided. Many of the refugee camps were situated on islands far, far away from the infected. Unless they mutated further allowing them to sprout wings or swim the vast oceans. As highly unlikely as that sounded, Terra had to remember she was in a zombie apocalypse. Just about anything was possible, it seemed. Rain began to fall outside leaving a gentle rhythm before a loud clap of thunder shook the sky, startling the hunter from his sleep. Skoll was up in an instant before he realized it was what he recognized as a "sky sound". He looked over to his pack member to see she was settled for the night and crawled over next to her, laying his head on her stomach. Terra stiffened, not at all liking the idea of having him so close, even as his body helped to warm her own.

The young survivor noted that he smelled pretty bad, all of him seemed to be blood and ashes… She wrinkled her nose, trying to lever him off her body, but instead he growled so she stilled herself. His hoodie was very dirty and, as she carefully lifted the dark green fabric, his face was too. There were scars running halfway down his cheeks, his long black bangs covering his eyes. Terra noted with grim amusement that he had a small scruff of a black beard just along his chin. It reminded her of her late brother Jordan. The creature stirred, uttering a small, softer growl this time, and she lowered the hood, resting her hands just under her chest. She decided she would try to tune out his presence, ignore him practically sleeping on top of her as that would be the only way she would get a wink of sleep. Slowly, Terra closed her eyes, letting herself fall into a dreamless void.

/

Wow, did a lot of editing for this chapter before uploading it. Originally I had her find quite a few boxes of bullets, but I felt that would have been annoying lucky streak and takes away from there being conflict. She had already found guns and some food once she made it to the safe house, I needed something to again keep things in balance. I'm not going to do the whole flashback thing for her very often either as that can be quite annoying and detracts from the plot.

To all of you who have reviewed thank you all so very much for your encouragement! And especially DeviltobeLoved for suggesting I add in some extra descriptive detail. I'll try to edit the previous chapters to give them a bit more "oomph" as I call it. =) As always, read and review an don't be shy to give me some constructive critique. :3