Hey guys, its Yobloc20 here. Thanks for the nice reviews! I honestly didn't expect to get any… I'll try to make longer chapters I promise :') Anyway onwards with the story. Valve owns all the characters.

Chapter 4: Letting go

"You know, I thought the actual streets were bad. I thought the zombie wedding was bad. But this shitty Under the River tour? Oh it takes the goddamn cake!"

The wedding the group had stumbled across not too long ago was a depressing sight for the whole group. Especially the witch bride which they barely managed to sneak by.

"Give it a rest Nick, would ya? We gotta keep moving." Coach grunted, tired of the conman and his constant complaining and whinging. He fired his automatic shotgun at an advancing zombie.

"No I'm serious! Who would ever take time out of their day to come down into this shithole! I mean this place was already bad when-

"Hey Nick, you got a turd on your shoulder." Ellis bluntly informed the conman as he tried to hide his grin. Whether this was an attempt to shut Nick up or there actually was a turd on his shoulder was unknown. Nick didn't want to know. The other two just laughed.

"I'm not looking." Nick grumbled.

A few infected ran out of the dark but were quickly dispatched with the combined gunfire of the survivors.

The group came up to a concrete platform with a ladder on the side. All four hauled up the ladder and took a minute to catch their breath. Wading through sewage was not an easy task. Beside them was a walkway which led out into the unclear distance.

"Is that the right way out of here?" Rochelle asked, wanting to get out of this underground 'tour' as quickly as possible.

"Ro, your guess is as good as mine." Coach replied with a shrug.

"I don't see 'nother way. This is our only option I guess." Ellis stated while his hands were busy reloading his sniper rifle. "Alright, let's keep going." Coach walked to the gates before turning around and smiling.

"Hey Nick, looks like we're back in the water." Coach chuckled. The first section of the walkway had collapsed into the water. "That sums up my luck recently." Nick muttered to himself.

Coach pressed the button to open the gate. Unfortunately, a bell sounded, the ringing echoing all around the sewer. "Great, just great… Of course the gate has an alarm." Rochelle mumbled in frustration. A shriek sounded out from the infected in the near distance.

"C'mon, we gotta turn that alarm off!" Coach barked as he jumped into the filthy water again, Rochelle grimacing before following right behind him. Ellis approached the edge before turning back to Nick with a grin.

"What? Are you afraid of a little water or something Nick?" He sarcastically questioned with a huge smile and leaped into the water after Coach and Rochelle.

"I hate you Ellis!"

Back at the Bridge

Francis looked at the young woman from a distance. She had her head in her hands as she leaned against the railing. He felt awful. He didn't want to startle her so he walked up to her, making his footsteps quite audible. She looked up at him before quickly wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

She had obviously been crying.

"Hey Zoey." Francis said awkwardly. He didn't know what else to say besides that. Zoey didn't respond.

"I'm sorry for sounding so harsh earlier. You know I didn't mean it." He stated. She simply nodded at his words.

"I know." She responded, it was barely above a whisper. She cleared her throat and gazed down at her feet.

"I know you don't like bringing it up. We all miss him Zo. We know you especially." He commented in a rather soft voice considering he was a tough, bar fighting biker. But he continued for her sake.

"He's in a better place Zo. He died a hero. He died for us. He doesn't have to deal with this crappy world anymore. He's no longer tired or hurting or sore. He's happy now."

He could see Zoey's eyes begin to get glassy again. She quickly wiped the tears away again, hoping he wouldn't notice. Zoey didn't like others seeing her cry. It made her feel weak.

"And he doesn't have to climb any more stairs." Francis added with a smile. Zoey give a small giggle before looking at him.

"Thanks Francis. Thanks a lot." She said with a smile.

There was a brief pause before Francis made another statement. "We should lower the bridge." He highly expected Zoey to strongly disagree but to his surprise, she nodded. "Yeah, we should." Francis shot her a smile. This was the first step to recovery.

Letting go.

"Sorry for being a bitch earlier." She said. Francis shook his head. "Nah, you weren't at all. Now come on. You'll freeze out here in the rain."

The two walked back to the building together. Zoey felt a lot better.

Somehow, Francis always knew how to cheer her up.

Back with the others

The four survivors trudged into the safe house. Tired, beaten and filthy. Ellis slammed the door shut behind them before moving a table in front of it for good measure.

"Never. Again." Nick panted, exhausted from the run to turn off the alarm.

"Since when did they alarm goddamn sewer gates?!" Rochelle asked, trying to catch her breath. There was a moment where the only noise in the saferoom was all four survivors' attempts to recapture their breath.

"I swear to God." Nick began. "They better lower that goddamn bridge after that shitstorm." That was concern the other three had completely forgot about. They had just gone through hell for the possible chance to be told to turn back around and find another way to New Orleans. They suddenly began to dread meeting up with the other survivors again incase their worst fears were to be confirmed. But not Ellis.

Ellis could not wait to see the other group again. To see that girl again. He had thought about her the whole way. He was fairly still fairly nervous but he promised himself he wouldn't become a tongue-tied mess on their second encounter. Coach and Nick however, had not spared him any mercy about his new 'crush' if you could call it that. They constantly teased and mocked him, Nick being the more frequent. He even went as far as to advise Ellis to grab the dress from the witch bride for future use. Ellis just ignored them.

Coach got up off the table he was resting on and stretched his back. He then picked his SPAS-12 up off the table and gave the group a determined look.

"Let's go and meet these guys again."

A/N: Francis and Zoey are in no way romantic in this. They are very close friends and share very personal matters with each other. Just thought I should clear that up in case of any confusion. Thanks for reading!

Yobloc20