Pairings: Can you guys guess whose being paired? ;)
Warnings: This story will contain coarse language as well as references of violence not suitable for younger readers. Adult themes may be present.
Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead nor any of the characters. My story does not follow the game's storyline (Well, for those who are familiar with the "Sacrifice" campaign).
Hints: AGAIN! Just to make sure, italicized words are just words that are emphasized when a character is speaking. Italicized phrases are the thoughts of characters. Well anyhoo...
Hey ya'll! Back to it!
Chapter 14
The Ruined Base
"No way."
The words coming out of Francis' mouth couldn't describe anything about what they saw right in front of them. Francis and Benny stood right on the stairway, frozen as if they became chained down to the spot. It was one of the few times the street-hardened biker was shocked speechless. Benny on the other hand, felt more and more nauseous as he continued to look at the scene in front of him.
They had gone the wrong way. There was absolutely no way that they were going to the main headquarters, not when the only thing on the bottom of the stairs was a bunch of what seemed to be containers. However, these containers were see-through, the insides cast in some eerie blue. Although it already seemed strange after running down so many flights of stairs just to see container after container stacked on top of each other, it was the insides that caught their attention. Every container was a horror. Piled with meat cuts, neatly stacked and hung. A supermarket of raw, human flesh misted in chilled frost behind a glass fronted door. Francis' eyes were wide open as he took in the sight of dozens of body parts, the biker didn't know how to react to this sight. Benny felt his stomach churn as he saw an eyeball staring directly at him, the owner long dead. What the fuck? Benny turned away from the spectacle only to take in other details from the room. Blood splattered over the walls and over what-seemed-to-be a stainless steel work bench. There were butcher's tools of every size and shape hanging around the bench, but the worst part was the smell that suddenly hit Benny like a rampaging rhino. Maybe it was the adrenaline from running so much that made them ignore the overpowering stench of raw flesh and blood, but it was too much for Benny-
"Francis, we gotta go back."
"Wuh? Alright."
Benny ran back the way they came, not intent on going back to see the frozen remains of humans. Francis gave one more glance at the bottom of the floor before running after the teenager.
Time was running out, they had spent too much time staring at the containers. There were still distant screams outside the base that were loud enough for the two of them to hear. The mission was still hot. Main headquarters remained the goal. They had to get there as fast as possible before the head tango would dispel the confusion and plan for a counter-attack. Both of them panted as they raced up the stairs. In Francis' mind, he already put the scene with the human remains far behind in his brain as he prepared for the next brutal fight when they charged to wherever they were going. The biker wasn't one to put unneeded thoughts or speculations in his head when there was a fight going on right in front of him (or in his case all around him). However, Benny couldn't shake it, his mind reeled with images and thoughts on what the heck those human remains were there in the first place. What could they be doing with all those body parts? After all, there was no way those tangos would need to research those bodies for diseases or anything. The world was already ruined by the Green Flu and there was no hope left in anyone that there would actually be a cure. His stomach churned once again as Benny realized that there was only one possible thing the bodies was there for-
Food.
It all snapped together like a puzzle piece, a truly sick one at that. That would explain why the tangos would freeze those body parts as well as slice them into pieces. Shaking himself out of those disturbing thoughts, Benny focused on running up the stairs as fast as he could, Francis panting behind him as he tried to keep up with Benny. Sweat was beginning to get into Benny's eyes as they climbed upwards yet again. Annoyed, the teenager wiped the beads of sweat on his face with his jacket. There was no doubt from their sawing breathe and hammering chests that their stamina wouldn't hold for that long. They finally reached the doorway that lead into the main entrance, both of them panting for air. Benny glanced around the room, looking for any sign of tangos hiding or running around. There wasn't much there besides abandoned poker cards on a small table and a few chairs. It seemed that the tangos were enjoying themselves before their group had arrived. The place was deserted like the very first time they entered it, the hundreds of light bulbs making everything unnaturally bright. Francis scowled as he squinted to look at all the other ways they could go to get deeper into the building.
Left or straight in? There wasn't any way they could tell where the main headquarters where which left them with either the option of taking a route together or separating. On one hand if they separated, they would be able to find the headquarters easier, but there wasn't any way they could communicate to each other if they found it or not as well as the off chance that they would be outnumbered one to three if they ran into the boss tango and his lackeys. And if they stuck together and not find the headquarters, then they would be losing their element of surprise and confusion as more and more time passed.
Benny turned towards the biker and questioned-
"Together or separately?"
Francis only cocked his head to his side, grinned, and did something totally Francis-like-
"Don't ask me, I'm just the idiot that shoots everyone. I think I'll leave the thinking to you."
Frustration rose up in Benny as he realized that Francis was being a complete ass. Growling, Benny began-
"Listen here, you stu-"
Benny didn't manage to finish before the sudden rapid fire of an assault rifle came from right on top of them. They both instinctively dived away from where they were standing from, bullets raining all around them as Benny landed in a pile of used boxes and Francis right into bags of trash.
They heard a curse from their shooter as he quickly reloaded, obviously not pleased that the two of them managed to avoid dying. Benny saw that the one that shot at them was one of the lackeys, most likely he had stayed inside the base with the boss tango to figure out some plan against their group. Wasting no time, Benny began shooting at the lackey, the latter scrambling back into the entrance leading straight into the military base. Hissing in annoyance, Benny decided to chase him thinking that he would lead him straight to the tango boss himself.
Francis struggled getting up as he felt woozy from smashing head long into a huge pile of trash. Where's that kid running off to? Francis saw the back of Benny as the teenager chased his prey deeper into the base. The biker made a motion to follow him, but a sudden sound from his left made him glance towards it. It was lucky Francis did because another storm of bullets came from the left, the biker just barely diving out of the way once more. He bellowed in anger at his shooter, the other lackey flinched from the biker's huge yell. Rage and instinct took over thought as Francis blasted his shotgun at his attacker, who was forced to run back the way he had just came from to avoid the spray of bullets. With a snarl, Francis stomped off towards the running lackey, completely forgetting the fact that he and Benny were now separated.
However, that was the least of both of their thoughts as they chased their prey deeper into the unknown fortress.
"GET OVER HERE AND LEMME BLOW YOUR FUCKING HEAD UP!"
Francis gave a maniacal laugh as he ran at the lackey who was in the process of reloading his spent gun while avoiding the blasts of the biker's shotgun. The lackey hissed in frustration, not knowing how long he could actually keep moving at top speed while trying to reload and not die from the crazy biker. With sudden inspiration, he abandoned his attempts at both tasks and dived right at Francis, the latter completely surprised and didn't react fast enough to shoot him while he had the chance.
With a loud -crash!- the two men fell to the floor with yells and began to wrestle, each forgetting about the guns that clattered to the ground. Francis wasn't a novice when it came to wrestling or hand to hand combat, but he was still surprised when the big lackey suddenly dived at him. Blows rained on Francis as he tried to struggle to get the upper hand in the match. The biker gave a roar of pain as a fist smacked into his right eye, blinding him. Francis couldn't help but acknowledge that the lackey knew how to use his weight to his advantage, but Francis' only response was to give the lackey the same treatment by smashing his knee into the lackey's groin, the response being a massive scream of pain. Francis could care less about fighting "fair", below the belt moves were his specialty.
Using his advantage, Francis pinned the lackey onto his back and began to smash with all his strength at the lackey's face. The latter tried to move his arms to shield his face, but Francis was far more bulky then him, his legs effectively pinning down the lackey's arms, forcing him to take the full brunt of the biker's fists. The lackey blacked out as all the bones in his face broke from Francis continuous punching. Francis fell down after a few more seconds of punching, gasping for air as he felt all the adrenaline and energy leaving him. He looked at the wasted body of the lackey on the ground, clearly dead after his face was deconstructed by his pummeling.
The pain from the wrestling finally hit Francis with the full force of a speeding car as the biker bent to pick up his shotgun. Not only was his head wheeling from the multiple times the lackey hit his head, but his arms and legs were completely bruised from the rolling and pushing. His fists felt dislocated from using all his strength to break the lackey's face in, his blood mixing with the lackey's blood. His right eye wouldn't open, maybe the punch from the lackey was too much even for the biker. Francis took the lackey's automatic as well, not wanting to see a perfectly good weapon wasting on the ground. His ragged breathes filled the passageway back to the main entrance as he made his way there, blood leaked into a pool from the lackey's motionless body.
"Where the fuck is the rest of them?" He growled as he made his way back.
Blood pumped into Benny's head as he chased the lackey down. Benny did shoot at the lackey with his pistols (Francis had made sure to supply them with all possible weapons), but not managing to get a clean enough shot to do more then hit where the lackey was a millisecond ago. The annoying part was that Benny couldn't keep shooting unless he wanted to run out of bullets and the fact that there was absolutely no time for him to reload unless he tore his eyes away from where-ever the lackey was running to.
Besides, there was no doubt in Benny's mind that the lackey would overpower him in terms of physical strength and fist-fighting. Benny followed suit as the lackey ran around yet another corner. Damn, where the heck is he going? Benny was beginning to feel strained as his breathe was running out, there was no way he could keep chasing forever. The lackey was gasping for air as well, but he was reaching his goal of luring Benny into the worst possible place the teenager could be in-the bosses command center.
Distant sounds rang in the background as Benny continued his chase, the teenager was too caught up in trying to catch the lackey to notice that he was getting to deep into enemy territory without any backup. Unfortunately, both of them were running on their last wind, either one would run out of energy soon. The lackey gritted his teeth as he realized that there was no chance that he could keep running to the command center, it being deeper and on another floor. After all, he couldn't find the right time to reload before the teenager chasing him would shoot him down. Seeing a sharp corner, the lackey dived towards it, hoping to lose Benny and find a hiding spot to reload. However, just as he was about to round the corner, a bullet just managed to lodge itself into his right arm. Benny gave a triumphant yell as the lackey roared in pain. Blood dripped from the lackey's arm as he cursed darkly at the teenager. The lackey's thoughts were going wild as he tried to figure out what to do next. His right arm was now useless since he couldn't even move it without it bleeding even more and probably making him pass out from the pain. Not only that but the teenager was about to round the corner and find him in the straight hallway where there was only one exit at the end leading to the stairs that led to the command center. The lackey couldn't see what he could do except for one thing-
Benny was about to reach the corner but slowing down to a careful walk as he knew that the lackey probably couldn't run anymore with his right arm shot and since he probably had no energy left anyways. Benny took this time to reload, carefully inspecting his surroundings in potential that any tango would come in and shoot him. Benny could see specks of blood from where he shot at the tango and hit his right arm, but couldn't hear anything even though he was straining his ears for any sound. Where is he? Benny didn't think anyone would actually be capable of not even having any gasping breath or some sound of pain when their arm was shot and they had no time to dull or deal with the wound. Benny cautiously made his way around the corner, but-
-AHHH!-
With a yell, the lackey dived for Benny the moment he saw his face. Suspecting that the lackey would pull something off like that Benny shot at him, hitting him in the leg, but not managing to move out of the way before the lackey pounced on him, Benny's pistols flying out of his hands. With a grunt, Benny hit the floor hard on his back, the lackey's full weight on top of him.
Shit.
Benny tried to get the lackey off of him by kicking and shoving, but he was just too heavy for the teenager. "Ya think ya can kill me?!" The lackey used his good arm to send a heavy punch to the side of Benny's head, the teenager moving his head in time to make sure that he wouldn't get knocked out. However, stars sprung into his eyes as the punch made contact, a loud smacking sound coming from the lackey's fist hitting him.
Benny's thoughts were reeling as he tried to punch at the lackey, but not really making any impression on him as the lackey continued to punch him. Benny managed to land a hit on the lackey's shot leg, but there was no more response from the lackey than a hiss of pain. Just what the heck is he made of? Benny shielded his head once again with his arms, feeling more and more pain as the lackey showed no sign of restraint in his full-power smashes. The lackey was now laughing manically as he knocked Benny's arms away from him. Using his both of his legs, he pinned Benny down, the teenager struggling with no avail. With an iron grip, the lackey began choking Benny. The teenager choked and tried to pry the lackey's hand away from his throat, but it was like trying to get out of a steel trap when he was already caught. Benny choked again, he was beginning to see the world around him turning black and red as he was passing out.
Am I really going to die here?
"HEY IDIOT!"
Wha-? Am I turning crazy just when I'm about to die?...
"Do you really want to die that badly? What happened to the knife that I gave you?!"
Knife?
With a jolt shaking him back to reality, Benny felt for his right pocket, for the army knife that Bill gave to him. The same one that Bill used to kill the tango that tried to use him as a hostage. With the last of strength, before it faded away, Benny found the knife and drove it as hard as he could at the lackey's neck. The lackey let of Benny's neck as he jumped back, the knife lodged deep into the side of his neck. The lackey blundered around like a drunk animal, screaming in pain, blood flying everywhere. However, he finally fell down dead, the knife clattering to the ground next to Benny completely coated in crimson red. Gasping for air, Benny slumped and sat with the wall behind his back. That was too close, way too close. He didn't have any more energy to move around, only able to eye his attacker with disgust as blood quickly formed a pool around his head. Keep it, you'll need it. Those were Bill's words as the veteran gave Benny his own knife. Silently thanking Bill, the teenager decided to take a rest, not wanting to go ahead in his condition. Looking back at where he chased the lackey with his eyebrow raised-
"What's taking them so long?"
-outside-
With a yell, the last tango tried to bum rush Louis who was the closest one to him. However, before managing to even take a dozen steps, Zoey took him down with a headshot. The scene around them was a massacre, blood and bodies all over the place. However, the three of them roared in victory as they had managed to take down so many of the tangos by themselves. Regrouping at the entrance of the military base-
"Nice work. Hope Francis and Benny did what they were suppose to do." Bill gave a slap on Louis' back as a sign of victory.
"Let's hope they aren't hurt or anything." Zoey bit into her lip as she worried about what had gone on when they weren't there with them. Louis nodded, worrying about them as well.
"Alright then. Both of you check how much ammo you have left, got to make sure none of us run out when we go in! Just because we aren't wounded doesn't mean we could take any risks. Enemy territory here. Remember, keep together or else we might get lost and die. Ready?!"
Both of them checked how much ammo they had left before nodding to Bill that they were ready. Without another word, Bill pointed forward and rushed into the military compound. The other two quickly followed suit.
Author's note: OMG! Here's to a happy new year ya'll! Sorry about the recent absence of mine, the final month of the semester in college is just crazy! I'll probably be updating a lot faster though, don't worry! :D. Please, comment or review!
To a wild 2013 and to an even wilder 2014! YEAH!