(Coming up with all these chapter titles just keeps getting harder and harder… :T)
Wow, I finally finished another chapter! It's a MIRACLE! Sorry this one took so long! D: Either way, it's done! Phew! O: And yesh, this sequel is going past chapter twenty, unlike the prequel! We've still got a loooong way to go, people! XD Anyway, nothing much else to say…let's go!
And as usual, lacks proofreading! Gosh, I'm lazy. :P
Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 or the characters in Left 4 Dead 2 in any way, shape, or form! I only own Taunter, Noir, Tai, the personalities that I have given to the already existing special infected, and the plot of the story. Commander of the Rabbids owns Sam and Blake. Sorrowsnow owns Calli. Zipper Whippersnapper owns Jeffry. Foxstar-Nukiu owns Valery. Coheed17 owns Claire. Breaking Ground owns Mike. Scorpion 123456 owns Clawer and Healer. TwilightSymphony owns Cole, Gina, and Granny. MirrorDemonNema owns Angel. Uros Osium Tokker owns Alan. Kynmarcher17 owns Hammer. Dance in the Moonlight owns Ivy. ZombieFreak owns Mauler. KrystalDot owns Jojo. Dodgerjoey owns Eric. Tyrant Wolf owns Shawn. Awsomedacious1 owns Lurker. A Little Help Here owns Spectre. Butters321 owns Echo. Golden-Gargoyle owns Cat.
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"Looks like you didn't find him either," Sam said, jumping over from a nearby rooftop.
"Nope. No luck," Hunter shrugged.
"Should we head back?"
"Echo is still out there. We'll have to find her, first."
"Yeah." The two of them sat for a while on the rooftop, not really sure of what to say.
"So," Hunter said after a moment. "What do you think's gonna happen?"
"With what?" Sam asked.
"Everything." Another pause.
"Well, I don't know," Sam replied after a while. "I mean, first thing's first, we've gotta get Cole out of here."
"Who knows how long that will take? We probably won't have any city left to live in by then."
"You think so?" Sam looked out over the stretch of buildings in front of them. "I sure hope not. I want things to be how they were before that Cole guy came."
"Yeah, me too," Hunter stood up. "Enough break time. Let's go find Echo and get back to where everyone else is." Hunter jumped down from the roof without waiting for a response, and then Sam stood up as well.
"We'll just have to see how it turns out," Sam muttered to himself before jumping down as well.
…...
Everyone else back at base was busy. They were either training with Spectre and Alan, or they were resting up for future confrontations.
"You feeling better?" Calli asked Taunter as she sprayed the sparse remnants out of a paint can and onto a nearby wall, making a small blue circle.
"Yeah, I think so," Taunter nodded, nibbling on a small piece of meat. "I just needed to vent at someone, I guess. Either way, I feel better now. And I'm sure that they'll find Tai, so there's no need to worry, right?"
"Right," Calli smiled and nodded. Valery and Noir sat nearby, though it was unapparent whether either of them was listening or not.
"You can't let your opponent out of your sight," Alan was calling out to the trainees in the background. "Always be aware of where they are, and try to read their movements." Taunter turned to look over at everyone training. Who was training over there, anyway…? Smoker, Cat, Eric, and a few others, with a few spectators among the sides.
"Maybe I should train, too…" Taunter said to herself.
"Hunter could always give you a lesson later," Valery shrugged.
"Yeah, that's true."
"So…what is it with you and this guy, Riley?" Noir asked, turning around.
"Huh? Nothing! I mean, he's…uh…" Taunter struggled for words.
"Riley?" Calli asked, and Taunter mentally thanked her for saving her from having to explain, even if Calli had had no idea of this "saving."
"It's her name," Noir shrugged. "Last time I checked, anyway."
"Really?" Valery and Calli asked almost at exactly the same time.
"You remembered it?" Valery continued the questions. "When?"
"In the hospital," Taunter told her. "I mean, I guess it just sort of slipped my mind to tell you guys. Sorry."
"But then how does Noir know it?" Calli said, confused.
"I met her before the infection," Noir replied simply.
"You did?" all three girls asked in unison.
"Uhhh…I don't remember that," Taunter said, trying to think back. "Hm…"
"You had just run away from home or something," Noir told her. "I found you in a park eating a loaf of bread. Actually, you're the one that told me not to really trust anyone."
"I did?" Taunter asked, even more surprised. "Oh, geez…sorry about that…uh…why did I say that?"
"Beats me," Noir shrugged again. "Maybe you were just angry about something."
"Huh…" Taunter thought hard, trying her best to remember. "…Sorry, still can't remember."
"It's fine," Noir answered. "I don't really get why I remember everything, but I know that you guys don't remember much."
"I'll remember sometime," Taunter smiled.
"Man, I wish that I could remember that much stuff," Valery sighed. "All I know is my name and a few little bits and pieces. What about you, Calli?"
"Who, me?" Calli asked, a bit taken off guard. "Well, I've had a few dreams about it…nothing big…"
"I bet you'll remember more, soon, though!"
"Maybe."
"Well, for now, let's just relax. We don't have to think about that yet," Taunter said. "I mean, we don't have anyone attacking us right now. We really just need to rest, and not worry about anything.
"Works for me," Valery smiled. "Let's do that."
…...
Tai and Echo slowly walked over to the slumped figure in the middle of the cleared area. The sickening smell of burning…everything, burning…was reaching their noses, making it a bit difficult to simply walk out there.
"What the heck happened here…?" Echo asked, glancing around.
"Clawer and Cole were fighting," Tai told her. "And so this…" The two of them approached even further.
"Is he…dead?" Echo said quietly.
"…Clawer?" Tai said, cautiously nudging the dark clad Infected with his foot. "You okay?" No response. Tai glanced around, making sure that Cole wasn't anywhere nearby. All that could be seen around them was smoke and debris.
"Clawer, get up," Echo squatted, shaking Clawer's shoulder lightly. Still no response of any kind.
"Uh…how do we check if he's…you know, okay?" Tai asked, getting on his knees to get a better look.
"I don't…I don't remember," Echo shook her head a bit.
"I don't think he's knocked out," Tai bit his lip. "This isn't good. He's not waking up." Echo tentatively reached down and touched Clawer's hand.
"He's still warm," she told Tai, standing up a again.
"Well then, that means that he…you know…not all that long ago."
"Hm…Maybe we could find something to help, right? Like…a med kit?"
"A med kit's not going to work on something like this. What else is there…?" Both of them thought about it. All they knew about were med kits. But there must be something! The survivors used them, they had seen the survivors use them before!
"Those…zappy things," Echo said finally. "We need one of those."
"Yeah," Tai nodded. "I've got no clue what it's called, but we need one." The two of them stood up, knowing that they had to find one…fast. They split up, going to opposite sides of the area, each of them beginning to dig through a pile of junk that had accumulated there.
Tai picked up forgotten flyers, small cardboard boxes, and all manner of things, but he couldn't find anything. Echo had much the same result, the only thing close to anything electric that she found being a dented toaster oven.
"Where did the survivors get those things, anyway?" Tai called over to her.
"I think that they got them from those red boxes on the walls inside buildings," she replied. "Should we look inside?"
"But…we can't just leave him out here…right?"
"I'll go look inside," Echo said, heading into the nearest door to a building while Tai remained outside. She glanced around the dark room, the only light coming from the filthy windows and the doorway. That was when she saw it. The red box on the wall. She jogged over and opened it. Empty, save for a few bottles of…something. She left the building, then went to another. Yet another empty red box. She went to another, and another, still coming up with nothing. Chances to help Clawer were looking slim now, had they ever been existent at all. Echo went into the last building there in the area. She didn't even see a box on the wall in that room. But just as she was about to leave, a small flash of red caught her eye. She turned, pushed past a Common who was gnawing on something or other and had ended up in there, and lifted a wooden beam up off the floor. Under it was the red box. At first, when she grabbed the cold, metal handle, it wouldn't budge. She heaved with all her strength, nearly falling backwards, but managed to get it open. And there, sitting in the slightly crushed box, was just what they were looking for. She picked it up very carefully, a bit suspicious of things that the survivors would use. Bringing it back outside, she held it up for Tai to see.
"Great!" Tai said, his face lighting up a bit. "So…do we use it like the survivors do?"
"I guess so," Echo said answered. "Do you want to try?"
"Sure," Tai took the machine. "Okay, so…switch it on, here…" The machine whirred quietly as it was turned on. It was a miracle that it was even working. "Then, take these two…things," Tai took a paddle in each hand. "And…rub them together!" He put the two paddles against each other, rubbing them together vigorously, just as he had seen the survivors do so many times. Echo pushed Clawer so that he was lying on his back, his tousled black hair actually falling out of his face for once. His eyes were open, but certainly not glowing anymore.
"Well, let's hope this works," Tai said as he prepared to administer the first shock. "Here goes nothing!"
…...
In short, Cole was very happy with himself. He had single-handedly taken out Clawer. That wasn't something that you get to do every day, of course. The others back at the parking lot could see that he was in a good mood by how he sauntered past them all, heading up towards the roof.
"What's got him so happy?" Ivy wondered aloud once he was gone.
"Beats me," Shawn shrugged, feeding Bongo from his hand. Hammer and Mauler remained silent, each absorbed into their own thoughts. Cole took his own good time walking through the old parking lot, up and up and up, higher and higher, until he got up to the roof. Clawer had been the one he had wanted to take out the most. But now, he still had to take care of Healer and that Sniffer kid. After that, he could focus a bit better on taking over the actual town. He knew that as long as he could take out the main fighters of the other team, then everything would go according to plan.
"You seem happy," came a voice from behind him. Cole turned his head a bit to see that it was Gina.
"Well, I think I should be happy," Cole said, a hint of a smile on his face as he looked over at Gina. "I just took down Clawer, and hardly got a scratch."
"Hardly a scratch, huh?" Gina said, noticing a rip in his jacket's arm, damp with blood.
"Nothing big," Cole shrugged. "Now it'll be a piece of cake to get rid of Healer."
"Yeah," Gina agreed, nodding. "And as for the rest, we can just pick off the weaklings first."
"Yeah…" Cole paused. "Gina, you and Ivy go and try to get of some of them. That sure as hell worked last time, so it'll work again."
"Sounds good," Gina turned to leave. "Just don't get too eager only because you killed Clawer."
"I know, I know," Cole said in a voice that everyone uses at one point in their life; it was the voice that shows that the speaker, in reality, wasn't listening at all.
…...
"There, that's the last of it," Boomer said, placing the last package of their meager supplies into the storage room that he and Jeffry had found. "It should be safe here."
"Mm-hm," Jeffry nodded. He was about to say something else when suddenly, they heard a noise. It was like a chirping, whirring noise. And when the two of them looked up, they saw it. A helicopter.
"Did the survivors come back?" Jeffry asked in surprise.
"No, that helicopter is a different color…" Boomer stared at the helicopter as it flew over them. There was writing on the side, but he couldn't read the bold "CEDA" that marked the side plating. The helicopter came to a landing on one of the roofs a few streets over. "They're…landing here."
"Yeah," Jeffry said. "Why do you think they're here…?"
"I don't know…" Boomer said, frowning worriedly. "But I've got a bad feeling about this. Let's go tell everyone else." Jeffry nodded without another word, and the two of them quickly headed off back down the alleyway. As if they didn't already have enough problems with Cole. Things were about to get a whole lot more complicated.
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Dun dun dun DUUUUN! CEDA? What are they doing there? I thought that they wimped out and ran away. XP You'll just need to wait til the next chapter to find out! :D Aaaand omg, Clawer! What will happen to him? Will he come back to life? What will he be thinking if he does? And is Tai even certified enough to use a defib? Answer to that last question: No! :P Buuuut anyway. XD Wow, including everyone's characters is hard. D: If I don't directly mention them, just assume that they're bunched up in the group descriptions. ^^; That huuuge file I had that documented all the characters and their bios is on the flash drive that had an emotional breakdown on me, so I gotta see if I can salvage that, too. ^^; Either way, I feel like this chapter feels kinda half-assed, so I'll write better in the future, I promise! XC
Now, question time!
For the good guys: Now, since everyone is training and such, what are you going to be doing to train when you aren't being specifically instructed by someone?
For the bad guys: Why do you think that Cole is so happy? And do you think that there will be any other big battles soon?
For everyone (readers): Why do you think that CEDA popped up outta nowhere? o3o
Also, another note: The romance-ness will be starting soon, I promise~! XD