This has been a long time coming.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"How much further?" Sei questioned.

The Glitch and Hylotl stood waiting in an elevator, the third one they've been in. Sei was getting worried, not for herself but for her companions. She's confident that they could hold out for a while, but she wasn't sure how long.

"Inform. This is the last one, Emrik despises the idea of having an elevator that could access every floor. Inquire. Who is it you are trying to find?" Crimson suddenly asked.

"Didn't think you would be one to care." She remarked. Not that she would be wrong in that assumption, the Glitch had been cold but not unhelpful.

"Assure. Just want to make sure I'm not making a mistake, getting this cover was not easy and I'd rather it not all go to waste." Last thing he wanted to do was help save some monarch. Not that he couldn't just kill them after.

Sei looked to the top corner of the elevator where a very obvious camera was placed. She would have questioned the cover still being intact, but it seemed that this Glitch has some tricks up its sleeves.

"Hm," She simply nodding, "If you must know he's a Floran, nothing of high esteem, but a good friend."

"Bewildered. A Floran, huh? Unapologetic. I doubt they are still alive."

Sei felt a sudden pang of anger, but quickly smothered it before she spoke.

"And why may that be?" She asked coldly, not letting her emotions get the better of her.

"Interpret. Your kind teach Hylotl to think of Floran as monsters, and you're not completely wrong. Explain. Floran are pack creatures, unlike us they are driven by instinct more than reason. Clarify. When a Floran loses their pack they sometimes find themselves with other races, don't confuse this for friendship, they can't live on their own for long and they'll always long for their original tribe."

"Justify. It's the whole reason they have Greenfingers, it's not because of some urge that's hardwired into their DNA, but because every pack needs a leader. Specify. Any Floran can become a Greenfinger, they just choose not to when another is already in place. Simplify. Anyone smarter than them can lead them, but alone they will do things most have never seen a Floran do; run away, cower, attack randomly. Remark. A pack may seem to attack randomly, but they are some of the smartest hunters I've seen, but when they're alone. Callous. It makes them easier to kill."

Maybe he was right, She's seen how Keth acted. He always followed John like he was the greenfinger of the group. Maybe Keth would be happier with his own kind... but that wouldn't stop her. She would fight for him because he would do the same, whether it be from instincts or actual friendship didn't matter to her. The point was that she would not allow herself to doubt him.

"You're wrong, he's stronger than that. He may be a Floran but he is a caring soul above anything else. Even alone he would find a way." The strength and emotion behind those words were not left unheard.

The Glitch didn't give an immediate response. If anything he seemed at a loss for words.

Suddenly a ding sounded as the elevator came to a stop. The Glitch and Hylotl readied their weapons. Their motives are different but Crimson at the very least felt that he understood hers a bit better.


The feeling was getting worse. Keth had to fight his instincts every step they took closer to the school. He wouldn't call it fear, he'd call it caution. Floran don't fear anything, Keth would stab anyone that said otherwise. Knowing something is dangerous is different to fear.

The humans moved ahead of him while he followed close behind, only seperating to take care of any infected that might follow behind them. It was a short distance, but Keth noticed something about Joel that separated him from any human, or in this case any other race, he's seen.

Keth knows that Floran senses are more keen than those of other species, but the way Joel moved was very familiar to him. When a Floran hunted they either stuck to the trees to spot the prey or they stayed low to the ground to track the scent, but if they couldn't see or smell their prey, they would listen.

Floran believe that when one stayed low to the ground they could hear even the faintest of sounds or could catch even the faintest scent, while keeping themselves undetectable. The way Joel moved reminded Keth of his sapling days when he followed other hunters.

Without really realizing it, Keth was no longer fighting his instincts.

He was following a fellow hunter.

They took out most of the fungus humans in their path and were closing in on the school, but they came up to two busses that sat near the school wall. They were set up in a way that kept the space between them about the size of a hallway near the building, with only a small path through to a fence near the front of the school.

"We're almost there." Joel informed as they made their way closer.

That's when all hell broke loose.

Some came from under the buses, others started climbing over a nearby fence, and must came crashing through the school windows. There were too many scents, Keth couldn't identify them at all.

"Infected!" Bill shouted as those very infected started pouring into the area.

"Ellie, stay behind me!" Joel yelled, he brought up his shotgun to the incoming infected, popping one in the chest that got too close.

"They're everywhere!" Ellie exclaimed.

Keth was quiet. Normally he would have already been on top of the first prey that he could see, but his instincts were at him again, telling him this wasn't a hunt he would come out on top of. He needed to escape.

A few of the infected started closing on Ellie and Joel from behind. All hesitation left Keth as he sprong at the closest infected. The infected had no time to react as it was knocked to the ground before the Floran grabbed its head and slammed it into the concrete. He then drew his knife and stabbed the second one in the chest multiple times before pushing it into the third one, forcing the other to the ground leaving Keth to bring his heel down atop its head.

There were too many. Bill took out several infected with his machete and 9mm pistol, but it seemed the more they took out, twice that would take their place.

"Bill!" Joel shouted as he smashed a Clicker in the face with the butt of his gun.

"I'm working on it!" Bill shouted back as he beheaded a Runner, while looking for anyway past the fence or a way into the school.

Bill wasn't the only one. Keth was covering Joel and Ellie's back and was looking for anyway into the school or type of advantage.

But neither of them that saw a way out.

"Up there! A ladder!" Ellie shouted as she pointed out a bus flanked by two fences near the front of the school with the rear facing them and as stated, a ladder directly on top.

The swarm of infected made it almost impossible for any of them to get to it safely.

Joel blasted a Runner's head off and pumped his shotgun before going for another shot.

The only sound that followed was a small click. "I'm running low!" He informed as he switched to a revolver.

Keth knew that the other races rely heavily on their guns, so he was okay with the quick decision he made. He leg swiped the feet of an infected as he pulled his backpack off and pulled out his Adler shotgun.

"Human!" Keth called, causing Joel to turn towards him. "Kill quicker!" He then tossed the shotgun to Joel before delivering a swift kick to the infected's skull he downed earlier, using the sharp digits of his foot to stab into its head.

Joel caught the gun with his off-hand and fired off the last few shots in his revolver before holstering it and using the shotgun.

Keth only had one shot, the humans were at risk. Without fail he ran past the infected, towards the bus, within five feet of the bus he leaped over infected and managed to get his torso above the bus before pushing himself up the rest of the way.

He promptly pushed the ladder down giving the humans a way up.

"Move meat thingsss!" He shouted over the screams of infected.

The humans quickly made their way to the ladder. Ellie was the first, then Bill. As Joel started to climb the ladder as a couple of infected were closing in.

"Hurry Joel!" Ellie implored.

Keth immediately grabbed onto the top of the ladder and pulled while pushing down causing the ladder to swing outward and upward catching one of infected in the chin with the last step. Keth isn't as strong as most of his kind, but even the weakest Floran were stronger than the average human, so even lifting a fully grown male was little trouble.

Joel moved across the ladder onto the bus while the infected tried to claw their way up to no avail. As soon as Joel made it Keth put the ladder where it originally was, catching a familiar scent on the ladder, similar to the tree house. It was definitely human and recent.

The big human took a second to catch his breath, Keth was surprised he lived this long being so large."We need to keep moving." He said as he moved to the front of the bus.

"We're okay, we just need to get to the hood of the truck." Bill explained, sounding a bit worried or out of breath.

Keth took a second to look down at the infected. Is that what Sei saw when she looked at him? Hungry... dangerous, relentless... It left a wretched feeling in the pit of his stomach, one filled with hate, but for what? He held pride for his race, but was this how everyone else saw them?

"Hey, you coming?" Ellie called out as she jumped down onto the hood of the bus.

Keth turned his head to her and nodded before turning back to the infected and letting out a threatening hiss. Not that he thought they would react, but it made him feel better.

At that moment he noticed more infected trying to break through the fence.

They weren't done yet.

Keth turn and ran to the humans, jumping from the top of the bus to the ground. "Need inssside, now!" Keth shouted.

Bill ran past the truck to the doors it crashed next to and repeatedly pulled on the handles to no avail.

"It's locked!" He definitely sounded worried now.

Keth moved past Bill to the door and was ready to rip the door from its hinges.

"No! We might not have a way to keep 'em out!" Joel warned.

Then what were they suppose to do? Keth looked back at the human hoping for an answer before seeing a Clicker push through a gap in the fence. Keth gave a instinctual warning growl to which the Clicker completely ignored and started running at Joel and Ellie.

"Get back!" Joel ordered Ellie as he moved her behind him and pulled out another pistol similar to Bill's.

Before he could pull the trigger the Floran charged at the infected and stuck his knife in between the fungal plating that covered its face before pushing it to the ground.

"Find way." Keth calmly put, before tossing him something wrapped in cloth.

Joel noticed the Floran take an almost feral like stance. He lowered into a wide crouch, arms off to his sides with his knife in one hand, almost daring the infected to try to pass him. Joel immediately turned around to the sound of more infected. They were clawing through another fence. He already used all the shells in the shotgun Floran gave him, so he couldn't help on either front.

Joel undid the cloth to reveal a hand full of shotgun shells. He would have to rely on the plant. It wasn't trust, Joel told himself, it was mutually assured survival.

Only two or three at a time could get through the ever growing hole in the fence, more than enough for Keth. He could hear more behind him, but he had to trust the human to handle them. He could not waver, not even for a second.

The first one was a Runner that he simply stabbed in the chest before pushing the corpse off his knife. The second one was slower, a Clicker. A Runner pushed past it to which Keth threw his knife, but not at the Runner. The blade caught the Clicker in the shoulder, off setting its shambling, causing it to fall to the ground.

Right when the Runner was within close range Keth clawed it across the face causing it to stagger. Before it could recover the hunter seized it by the throat, digging his claws in as he stabbed his other clawed hand into its gut and lifted it into the air before swiftly bringing it back down head first, crushing it.

As quickly as that happened the Clicker managed to get back on its feet as another clicker moved with it towards him.

"Found a window, cover me!" Bill ordered, though neither Joel nor Keth didn't pull their attention away from the infected.

For Keth, it was mostly because his knife was still inside one of them.

Keth had to hold them off and leave as soon as Bill had the window open. With that in mind he sprinted towards the one with his knife. It attempted to grab at him only to catch air as Keth dodged to the side and delivered a clawed hand across its face, removing the fungal plating, revealing its bloodshot eyes.

The second infected managed to grab him from behind only for him to grapple its arm and throw it over his shoulder, Slamming it into the first one knocking them both down.

Keth quickly brought his heel down on the first one's head before lifting his other foot to crush the second as it screeched at him. Only to be silenced as his heel crushed through its skull as well.

Keth retrieved his knife as three Runners made it through the fence. They rushed him all at once, almost tripping over each other just trying to get to him.

The first one practically jumped at him, only for him to step back out of reach and with just one swing of his knife tore a huge gash in its throat. He kicked the body into the second as the third closed in.

It tried to grab him only for Keth to wrap his arm around its own and shanked it three times in the chest.

The second one recovered and started to swing wildly as it approached to which Keth simply grabbed one of the arms that veered toward him and twisted it. The infected turned with it, leaving its arm behind its back, but Keth didn't stop. With another pull Keth felt the bone snap.

At most Keth could normally dislocate an arm if he applied the same force to a human, but he felt it snap like a twig. Keth knew that bones were usually more durable than that.

The Runner showed little sign of pain as it tried to break free from his grip.

"Windows open, get movin'!" Bill shouted, but Keth saw five more infected pushing through the fence.

Keth felt that same anger starting to spill over inside of him. He's killed many of them already. They should fear him! He's the predator, not the prey!

He could take them, he'd kill every last one of them and take their heads as trophies!

Keth stabbed the knife into the joint of its arm and pulled the arm completely off in a spray of blood. He kicked the infected away and tossed the arm towards the infected and snarled as the creatures continued to approach.

Did they think he was scared? He wouldn't let a single one of them past, he would gut them like fish! Slaughter them like cattle! They were nothing to him but weak flesh and bone!

"Joel!" It wasn't the name that snapped Keth out of his bloodlust, rather it was the unbridled panic in the young human's voice.

He made a promise. He couldn't let himself get distracted again. He wouldn't let another one die because of his instincts.

Without a second thought Keth circled the building.


Joel started crawling across the industrial vent that sat below the small rectangular window only to suddenly feel something grab him from behind.

"Joel!" Ellie shouted.

The second he heard clicking and the feeling of something grabbing him, he instinctively threw an elbow. It connected with a solid crack. He didn't have time to fight every infected, he continued to push towards the window.

Ellie tried to grab and pull him though as the Clicker was recovering from the sudden impact to its face. The infected didn't stop as it grabbed his ankle and it tried to pull him back. Past the Clicker she could see more infected running towards them.

Just when things were looking grim, she saw a figure come into view running towards them. It was moving fast. It practically flew into the Clicker before slamming it into the wall, smashing the front of its face flat.

It was Keth.

Joel took the moment of respite to make it through the window as Ellie helped pull him though. Joel was catching his breath as Ellie went to close the window. She watched as Keth redirected one of the incoming infected's swings as he quickly moved his knife across its throat in one fluid motion, before punching it in the chest sending it into a group of more infected.

"Hurry Keth!" She exclaimed.

Keth had his back facing the human, but without even looking, in a single movement sprang himself towards the open window backwards causing Ellie to move as he landed on all fours on their side of the glass. Ellie quickly closed the window.

"Holy shit." Was her only response as she tried to catch her own breath before looking back to the window. "Uh, guys, that isn't going to hold them." She warned as infected tried to break through the small window.

At the same time the main doors buckled to which the lock that held the doors in place broke with a resounding snap. Before the door could fully open both Joel and Keth threw themselves into each door, reclosing it.

"Tell me you got something!" Joel called out over the screaming infected to Bill. Ellie went between him and Keth to try to help keep the door close.

Bill moved over to the hood of the truck and pushed it open. The look on Bill's face was one of complete shock.

"It's empty." Bill almost whispered in bewilderment.

"What!?" Joel could barely hear him over the infected, but he was hoping he didn't hear right.

"It's fuckin' empty!" Bill shouted as he slammed the hood shut.

Joel heard growling next to him, he almost thought it was infected before he looked to see the Floran.

"Too many, Floran can't hold!" Keth knew he had the strength to hold the door, but he could feel other parts of the door shake in places a door shouldn't shake. He couldn't hold a broken door.

The human looked like he was having trouble holding the door and, as much as he did appreciate it, the little one wasn't adding much to the effort. They didn't even get what they were there for and he could smell that same human scent all over the room, so it was safe to say Keth was thoroughly annoyed.

"Bill, where to?!" Joel asked bill, trying to keep the door shut.

"Uh." Bill looked completely lost.

"Bill, Where?!" Joel shouted louder, he needed him to concentrate.

It seemed to work, if only a little. "Anywhere but here." he sounded rattled, but at least he was coherent.

Bill moved further into the school past another set of doors.

"Ellie, go!" Joel ordered.

"Okay." Ellie quickly answered as she ran down to Bill.

Joel looked over to the Floran. "On three we haul ass." The thing didn't even look at him, but nodded as it crouched against the door, as if ready to pounce.

In that instant Joel noticed something. It wasn't new per se, it was more like he was just noticing how strong the thing was, even though it stood a foot shorter than him. Joel felt like he was holding the floodgates back, while the door barely budged for the Floran. Logically it should be considered a bigger threat. He should be cautious around it.

So why was his gut giving him the opposite feeling?

"One..." Another growl, he really couldn't tell what it was thinking.

"Two..." He looked to side at the sound of glass cracking and could see the infected banging on the window.

"Three!"

The second that word left his mouth he bolted for the next double doors. For a moment he didn't see Floran, until it darted past him like a mad animal. Bill looked startled and almost looked ready to shot the thing. Joel wasn't far behind and closed the doors behind him once he made it.

Again, both Keth and Joel held the doors, but to Joel's surprise the loud screaming and shouting of the infected started fading.

"They're... leaving?" Ellie stated more as a question.

"That's not how infected work kid, they'll keep climbing up your ass till they see the sun." Bill corrected.

"Then why, Bill?" Joel asked as he faced Bill.

Bill opened his mouth to respond only to suddenly aim his shotgun past Joel.

"Ah, Joel?" Ellie pointed behind him.

Joel turned around to see their green ally who was, from what he could tell, freaking out. It was holding its head, shaking uncontrollably and started growling and hissing.

Keth felt like all his senses were on fire! He's never been in a place with such a strong stench just from going into another room. His instincts were warning him in the most overwhelming way possible, trying to get him to run, to get away. The Floran immediately crouched trying to process the intense feelings.

"Hey, Hey!" He heard a male voice harshly whisper through the sound of snapping fingers.

The Floran looked up still holding its head, as if afraid of what would happen if it let go. Joel was on one knee and stopped snapping his fingers once he got its attention, he kept a couple of feet back incase it jumped at him. He had one hand on his sidearm, this whole situation was new to him and he didn't know what was going on. He's had people lose their cool, but this was a bit more intense.

"What's the problem?" Joel tried questioning, not sure if he was going to get an answer.

Keth could barely hear him over the throbbing feeling in his skull. He knew the humans wouldn't understand, he saw it in every single race. Every race had a danger sense, a feeling when something wasn't right or that they were outmatched. Floran senses were by far the strongest, but unlike the others Floran had a hard time fighting them. It was like fighting common sense.

Maybe that's why the infected left, maybe they knew that this was something else's territory. It's like prey taking shelter from the predator by running into another's territory. The beast of prey knows better. Or maybe it was intentional, run prey into bigger predator. It was all too much for Keth to even ponder.

Keth hissed trying to think straight. "Sssomething here." He unintentionally growled in his own language. "Not good, need out."

"We need to keep movin', Joel. We don't have time for this shit." Bill informed.

Joel looked to Bill. He knew he was right, it would be better if they just got moving. He looked at Floran again. It was like a child after a nightmare, it stirred unpleasant feelings in Joel.

"You hear that? We need to go, either you come with us now or we leave you behind." Joel offered.

"We can't just leave Keth, Joel. He helped us get this far." Ellie protested.

Joel held up a hand. "Ellie." He sternly put, shutting her up instantly as he turned back to Keth.

Was that its name? Joel thought it was Floran or something as he was never offered another name for it. It was looking at the ground again, did it not hear him?

"Keth." Joel put as much authority in his voice as he could. "You said you made a promise, to protect Elliel, right?" The shaking started to subside. "I don't know what you are. Hell, I'd rather not know, but I know damn well that you can't do that when you're shaking in your boots. So make a decision, it's now or never."

Keth was trying, but he couldn't shake the feeling of impending doom. He's faced dangerous things before, as large as a house even, but that was when he had his friends backing him.

The human, who always made light of everything, but who's more experienced than he lets on. The Glitch, that always had his head on straight and kept the group organized and was one of the most passionate in the group. And the Hylotl, who always seemed cold, but was fair and always seemed to know the right thing to do in any given situation.

Now he might never see them again. It was like losing his tribe all over again.

"Ellie?" He heard a male voice question with unease.

"It's okay Joel."

Suddenly he felt something touch his shoulder. His first instinct was to strike out, that whatever it is was an enemy, but he caught the scent before he did. He looked up to see Ellie, knelt beside him with a hand on his shoulder. He was wearing a coat but he could still feel the gentle, small hand. All at once the tension throughout his body began to loosen from such a simple action.

He told himself he wouldn't let his instincts get the better of him, but not even a day later he was panicking like a sapling on their first hunt. He tried to stand causing both Ellie and Joel to stand straight and take a step back. He could feel his feet shake, that scent was driving him to either run away or hid. Instead he concentrated on Ellie, Joel, and Bill.

It was helping, but he still felt like he was ready to bolt at any moment. He needed something to tether to. Too many things smelled the same to him at the moment, so there was only one scent he could latch to.

"Floran follow." He managed to whisper as he locked on to Ellie's scent. A strange mixture of infected and human that was unique enough to drown out the others.

Joel could tell that Keth was having trouble, it probably wouldn't be of much help until it got over whatever was bothering it.

"Stay close behind, I'll get us outta here." He assured, moving with Bill further into the school.

All Keth did was concentrate on Ellie and her scent. He knew it would practically make him blind to the rest of his surroundings, but it was the only way he knew how to fight his instincts.

Joel lead them down the hall a short ways before ducking when he heard clicking ahead of him.

He was at a T-shaped intersection. Across the hall to him him he could see the outline of a clicker in the light of a window, barely visible through the smog that's built up over the years. He could also hear a faint whining sound from the hall to his left, most likely a Runner, maybe more.

He motioned behind him for his group to follow as he took the left hall, not risking the chance of the infected hearing him.

Ellie followed only to glance behind her to see Keth partly hunched over. His blank, black eyes seemed to glaze over as he followed. It was kind of unnerving, but he still looked like he was pushing past whatever was bothering him.

With Bill giving direction and Joel taking point it didn't take long for them to pass through a few classrooms. A lot of the halls were blocked by chained gates or by groups of infected, they had a better chance moving around than to cause a commotion. They did run into the roaming Runner a few times, but they took them out or moved quietly enough to avoid detection.

Joel looked back every once and a while to make sure everyone was with him. Keth was slowly starting to shake again. It was clicking and hissing to itself, it was starting to fall behind, but the infected didn't seem to pay any mind to it.

Bill on the other hand couldn't stop turning back to look at it. Joel should feel the same, but it just looked scared, not feral.

As soon as they got out of another classroom Joel spotted a light down the hall.

"I think I see an exit." Joel informed.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's move." Bill said, taking point.

Quickly and quietly they all moved down the hall towards the door. Bill pushed on the handle only for it to stop ajar. Bill looked through the crack and turned to Joel.

"Help me with this." He beckoned.

Joel moved to his side and they both started to push on the door. Whatever was holding the door shut was moving, but was making just as much noise. At about the same time they heard screaming coming from the path they took.

"Ah, Joel?" Ellie questioned.

"Shit, hurry!" Joel shouted as he put more force into the door.

As soon as it was open enough Bill pushed through the entrance, Joel waved Ellie in second. He was about to go through before he noticed Keth just standing there.

Joel watched it look around frantically. He's seen this behavior before, it wanted to run. Joel usually just let it happen, it would only slow him down if he tried to help. He couldn't save everyone, it would only put himself in unnecessary danger, but he could stop himself as he called out.

"Pull yourself together and move!" He shouted, he didn't even look back as he pushed through the gap. Whatever happens after is out of his hands.

As soon as he made it through he recognized the place as a gymnasium. He could tell it was turned into a makeshift quarantine zone. At least, what was left of it was. It was a complete mess. There was stacks of suitcases and random pieces of junk everywhere.

"Help me with this!" Bill called as soon as he saw Joel.

Joel moved to his side and started to force the barricade, that blocked them before, slowly back in place.

"Where's Keth?" Ellie asked.

As if on cue the green skinned creature pushed through what was left of the gap before it was blocked fully. After it made it through it went straight to the closest corner and just huddled into it, arms wrapped around its legs as if it thought it could disappear if it made itself as small as possible.


What was he supposed to do? Were the humans mad?! The stench was strongest here and they just wandered in, why did he follow?! The human just told him to move and he did, why?!

"What's wrong with him?" Ellie questioned with concern.

"Who cares, look." Bill pointed up past a wall of bleachers, just above was three large window, the one farthest away being completely broken. "That's our way out."

Before he could even move towards the bleachers they heard a loud bang on the opposite of the gym coming from the double doors.

"That don't sound good." Joel thought out loud.

The doors flew open, almost removing themselves from their hinges as a large figure stamped through the doorway.

Joel and Bill immediately recognized the figure, a Bloater. It was humanoid in shape but that was as close as the comparisons could go. There was not one part of the infected's skin that wasn't covered in fungus chitin. It was bloated, hence the name, and no remnant of what could have been a human face was now a cracked open skull with fungus sprouting like a blooming flower. It had the same clicky tendencies of a Clicker but with a deeper voice and much louder as it demonstrated.

"Oh, shit!" Bill shouted as he quickly removed his gas-mask from his side and put it on.

Joel followed this action himself as the Bloater starting approaching while pulling at one of the fungus pods on its body. The force of being hit by one of those could break a rib all on its own but those things also explode, spraying spores into the air infecting anything caught in the blast.

Good news was that Bloaters weren't known for their accuracy, so a gas-mask and distance was all they needed. The only other issue was the blast radius of the pods, but that's what the gas masks were for.

"What the fuck is that?!" Ellie called out.

At least that's what Joel thought until he looked over to Ellie, there was no way Bill would believe she's immune.

"It's a goddamn Bloater!" Bill quickly answered as the Bloater finally got the fungus pod removed from its shoulder.

"A what!?"

Joel immediately grabbed her by the shoulder and guided her behind cover as the pod flew past them and crashed against the wall near Keth. The only reaction from him was to cower further into the corner.

"Stay down!" Joel ordered. "I've got this." He said to no one in particular.

Joel played bait as Bill tried to pull around the large infected. They've done it before, a good blast from a shotgun to the back of the head would usually put it down. To get its attention Joel banged the metal pipe he's been carrying against anything to give it a good ring.

As long as he stayed close enough to make it move, but not too far to where it would throw a pod, he was good. Bill circled around to its back and started getting closer. Right when he was close enough bill leveled he's gun to its head.

Suddenly the infected stumbled, whether it was because of something on the ground or just from how old the infected was didn't matter. The fact was that Bill fired just as it faltered missing the shot completely.

It turned to Bill, who was cursing his luck.

"Shit!" Bill shouted as the Bloated let out a loud, husky, and gurgling moan while it tried to grab on to him.

He managed to guard against it with his shotgun, it wrestled against his grip. A Bloater is exceptionally strong so Joel only had a short amount of time to try to help. He was running low on ammo and didn't have any shotgun shells left.

So that left one option. Joel ran to the back of the infected and, with all his strength, striked the back of its knee with his pipe. It staggered, but not before practically backhanding Bill across the face as it turned around and knocked Joel back with a powerful blow.

"Joel!" That voice again, it dragged Keth out of his instincts before. This time though it only caused him to look up from his knees.

Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as he watched the events. Bill was on the ground, trying and failing to get off the floor. Ellie, small knife in hand as she moved from her cover. Joel was leaning against a stack of suitcases, Keth couldn't see his face, but he looked like he got the air knocked out of child was going to try to help? The looming creature was making its way to Joel.

In that instance something changed. Suddenly the noise was gone; the clicking, the yelling, even his instincts seemed to calm down. For that one moment Keth felt clarity.

Joel felt like his head was spinning, he only managed to just see the Bloater lift both of its arms to strike him. Just as Joel was about to move his hands suddenly flew to his ears as a screeching sound pierced them. The infected seemed just as disorientated, stepping back as it held its misshapen head trying to block it out.

The ear piercing sound seemed to end and Joel would have tied to find out where it came from or, more importantly, deal with the infected. That was before he watched as the Floran jumping on the bloaters back, digging its knife in between the infected fungus plating of its collar. It released a pained, guttural roar as it quickly reached for the green aggressor, managing to get ahold of its wrist before throwing Keth across the room.

As Keth flew through the air upside down, he sank his claws into the ground to slow himself and skillfully land on his feet. Keth looked to the infected as it turned to face him, letting out another roar.

Keth felt alone, he's felt that way many times before; when his clan was burned to ash, when he couldn't save his friend or when he got stuck on this stupid planet. That alone would cause him to break down, but not now. For once in his life his mind didn't feel like he was letting his instincts do the fighting.

He was so used to a group that he thought it was the only way to survive, but he forgot the one singler thing that all Floran are taught.

Floran don't survive, Floran adapt.

Keth pulled his claws from the floorboards and took a defiant step forward as he released another screeching roar of his own. The bandana fell from his face as he bared his teeth at the infected.

The infected did the worst thing it could have possible done in the presence of a Floran. It took a step back.

The Floran took full advantage of its backpedal and rushed his prey. He moved close to the ground, the Bloater lifted it's foot as if to crush him. Only for the hunter to suddenly dodge back as the foot fell and then moved forward again, using the infected's knee to propel himself over its head. Keth grabbed onto the knife still inserted in the prey's shoulder, pulling it free as he landed behind the beast.

Then he struck at the most unarmored part of its body, the ankle. A quick swipe with his blade caused the infected to fall to a knee as it whirled around trying to hit Keth, only to catch nothing but air as he effortlessly jumped back out of range.

The infected faced him once more, but Keth didn't wait any longer before he pounced straight at it, knocking it on its back fully. The Floran quickly pinned one of its hands with his knife and pushed down the other with his foot. The Bloater may have been stronger than other infected, but not at this angle and not with this opponent.

The true hunter looked down at its prey as it struggled helplessly in his grasp, only being able to hopelessly wait for its end as the Floran bared both his claws and teeth. The predator was calm as he hacked into the fungal plating of its face, he didn't stop until he saw bone.

Then he grabbed its unprotected face and brought it to his gaping maw. In one smooth motion Keth ripped off half of the infected's face. There was only a few twitches as the body soon fell silent.

Keth spit out pieces of brain and bone before feeling his instincts telling him to let out a fierce roar to dissuade any other prey. Keth quickly crushed those feelings with surprising ease.

"Holy shit!" Keth's head immediately snapped to the side where he saw the three humans atop some wall near a window.

He always had trouble gauging expressions, but he could tell that each human had their own. The larger human seemed more shocked than anything else. Not that Keth could blame him, he could feel the blood between his claws and even some dripping from his chin, to which he tried to wipe away with his sleeve.

The other male seemed just as shocked, but more ready as he held his rifle readied at the Floran's head.

"That was fucking awesome!" The little one seemed to be of awe, which really confused the Floran.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Holy shit did I fucking procrastinate or what.

Sorry about that, no real excuse.

This is just my hobby but I feel that I need to be somewhat consistent.

I'll try to do better!