Authors Notes: Hi! This is my first fanfiction, all comments are appreciated. I plan on updating this within a week with a new chapter if this reaches a couple of people. This will be a novelization of Left 4 Dead, though for now I intend to do No Mercy first. We'll see. By the way, I find that most Left 4 Dead fanfic here start with the intro scene. I skipped over that part. Enjoy.
"The tears began to flow, and sobs shook him. He gave himself up to them now for the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body. His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too."
-William Golding, The Lord of the Flies
"Son, we just crossed the street," Bill interrupted as he lit a cigarette and pressed it against his lips. "Let's not throw a party 'til were out of the city." With a big exhale, he felt his body relax. That was way too close a call. He always did his best to make sure things were controlled, but with these things, the chaos was almost war-like. For the sake of his group's morale, he hid his nerves under a steel expression and a thin layer of smoke as he walked to the edge of the rooftop, peeking down at the dark city streets.
A few feet away from him, Zoey lay on her back on the wet floor of the apartment rooftop, gasping for air. Her heart was pounding, her chest heaving as she struggled to breathe. A moment ago, she was falling the height of a building straight down into a pit of rabid animals and that ...thing. Through pained breaths, she mouthed a faint "thank you" to her savior, who acknowledged it with a short nod.
"You're heavier than you look." Francis said with a dry chuckle. After checking himself for any scratches or bites, he set his shotgun down at a table made of cardboard boxes and walked towards Bill, who was now looking up to the night sky, searching for something. "Where to now, old man? It's freaking cold out here," he spoke in a gruff tone as he tried to wave the smoke from Bill's cigarette away.
The soldier said nothing, scanning the clouds with his eyes. After a few seconds, he spoke. "Well we certainly aren't going back the way we came." He took a puff of his cigarette before looking over his shoulder. "Louis, you all right?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," replied Louis, scratching his head. He was crouching down beside Zoey, offering her a bottle of water from his pack. When she declined, he put the bottle back in his pack and continued: "It nicked me a couple of times, but it doesn't really hurt much."
"Are you bleeding?"
"Just a small cut."
"Let me see."
Louis walked forward to Bill and lifted his dress shirt to show him a short, shallow cut just below his left rib. A small spot of blood in his shirt marked where the wound was, but it seems to have stopped bleeding by now.
"It doesn't seem to be bad, but we need that cleaned up or you might get an infection," said Bill as he scratched his beard. "I think we have some disinfectant and bandages left in Zoey's pack."
As Louis reached over to Zoey's pack and dug out a first aid kit, he spoke: "I still think that dude in the helicopter heard me, by the way."
"Well at least the vampires heard you" Francis replied in a sarcastic tone, part of him still blaming Louis for the frenzy earlier.
"They aren't vampires!" Zoey said with an annoyed tone. "And Louis got pounced by that dude, we didn't even kill it-cough!"
"Easy, girl, we'll get it next time," Louis said as he wiped some disinfectant on his wound with a cotton ball.
Suddenly, Bill saw a faint cone of light emerge from the clouds. "Look!" he announced to the others as a news helicopter circled the skies, seemingly surveying the streets for survivors. In a static-filled voice, the pilot spoke:
"IF ANYONE CAN HEAR THIS, PROCEED TO THE HELIPAD OF MERCY HOSPITAL FOR EVACUATION. I REPEAT, PROCEED TO THE HELIPAD OF MERCY HOSPITAL FOR EVACUATION."
"Was that the helicopter from earlier?" Francis asked.
"Yeah it is! News Channel 5! I knew he heard me." Louis replied, feeling a bit too ecstatic now that he knew they were not the only ones left in Fairfield.
"We can take the subway tunnels to the hospital." Bill said as he left the edge of the rooftop and rejoined the others. "There's a Red Line station not far from here." There was a small glimpse of hope in his voice, but he knew they were not out of this city just yet.
"Sounds good to me." said Zoey, stretching her arms and letting out a small sigh.
"How's everyone doing on ammo?" Bill asked the group. "I've got both a magazine left for my M16 and my 1911."
"I still got a couple of magazines."
"Around ten shells left"
"I lost both my pistols" Zoey remarked, looking over her shoulder to see the destruction that happened just a while ago.
"Here," Bill held out his 1911 and offered it to Zoey. "Take it."
Zoey was reluctant at first, then took the handgun from Bill. "How about you?"
"I think I'm gonna use this one." Bill picked up a sheathed machete from the far end of the rooftop. "If we use our guns inside, every infected inside this building is going up our ass." He inspected the machete and found it was stained by rust and dried blood. "I want everybody silent as a ghost when we enter. No guns. Strangle them, beat them do death, as long as you do it quietly. Sound good?"
"Sounds pretty dark, but okay." said Louis, clearly disgusted by the thought of choking an infected man's neck.
"All right, I'll take point. Zoey next in line, then Louis, then Francis will be guarding our rear. Do NOT shoot unless we got a full horde on us. Follow me closely and keep quiet."
"Yeah, yeah, let's get inside already!" Francis said in an annoyed tone. "It's freezing up here!"
Bill shot the biker a frowned look and then addressed the group, "Let's go. Stay close." He motioned the others to follow him as he opened the door to a stairwell leading to the inside of the apartments. At the base of the stairs, they were immediately greeted by a pile of bodies, the smell filling up their noses and making them gag.
"Oh god." said Zoey, trying to prevent herself from throwing up. She tried her best to look away, but the gazes of the corpses sear into the back of her skull.
Bill paid the pile of bodies no mind, and instead directed the group's attention to a small kitchen area that met the group at the entrance.
Quickly but carefully, he checked the cupboards for anything they could use. Food, water, meds, anything. Zoey and Louis followed suit, opening the lower cabinets, while Francis looked outside of a window. He could hear the sound of distant gunshots, slowly dying down.
"Lots of poor souls out there tonight, huh?" he asked the others.
"Yeah, including us," Louis closed the final cupboard, not finding anything of use. "Let's get moving."
The living area immediately after the kitchen was mostly clean, but slightly unsettling. A TV playing static was on, the couch was pushed out of place with light spots of blood on it. Moving on, the group found a staircase leading down the apartment, but it was barricaded by furniture.
"And of course, the stairs are blocked," said Zoey in a tired tone.
"Let's try the second floor, people," answered Bill.
As Bill turned the corner, he was immediately facing an infected man in his pajamas, twitching aggressively. It was bleeding from its mouth and its skin was of a greyish tone.
Before it could register the presence of his group, Bill swung his machete and hit the infected man in the temple. When it slumped down, its hand held to its head, the soldier swung the machete again, this time to the man's neck, for a final blow. Blood spurted onto the light brown wooden flooring.
"Ah, I can never get used to that." Zoey remarked, cringing at the almost headless body on the floor.
"What's the matter princess, afraid of a little blood?" teased Francis, following Bill who was now a few paces ahead of them.
"Eyes and ears, people. Eyes and ears," said Bill, wiping the machete on a blue sofa to get some of the blood off. "I don't like this place. Too tight."
Coming to another kitchen area, Bill saw two more infected. One lying down near a stove, and another with its head pressed beside a hole in the wall, leading to a room on the other side.
Bill pressed a finger to his lips, signaling the others to stay quiet. He then pointed a finger at Francis, then to the infected woman lying on the floor. The latter showed his understanding by giving the soldier a quick nod.
Francis crouched towards the woman, while Bill swung the machete quickly to the back of the man's neck. Blood spurted out in a line as the man made a whimpering sound, followed by gurgling noises. Before the lying woman could notice, Francis stomped on its head full force, spilling blood onto the floor and his leather boots.
"ARGH come on man, not the boots!" said Francis in an annoyed tone, wiping his boots onto the infected woman's shirt.
"Awww it's okay princess, we'll get you a new pair." replied Zoey in a teasing tone, chuckling lightly.
Without warning, two infected rushed out from the hole in the wall, running towards Bill and Francis.
"Watch out!" Yelled Louis, who was already aiming at a man approaching Bill with his submachine gun
Bill spun forward, trying to dig his machete out of the other man's neck. He was inches away from the man's jaws when it suddenly went limp, its forehead bearing a bullet from Zoey's 1911. Bill's eyes widened in shock; the sound of the gun firing pierced a hole in the apartment's already fragile silence.
Seeing this, Francis aimed his shotgun at the infected rushing at him. With a direct shot to the man's head, blood and pieces of skull were sent flying across the room, some hitting the survivors. Any silence left in the apartment was violently ripped apart by the sound of Francis' shotgun and the groans of infected that heard it.
"FRANCIS YOU IDIOT!" Bill shouted at him as he heard several pairs of feet shuffling towards them, quickly closing in. "Everybody, hustle!"
"Oh shit, here they come!" Louis screamed as he fired his gun at several infected rushing out from the room to their side.
The group rushed through the hole in the wall, reaching another small living area. Inside, they found a group of infected running at them, screaming and eyeing at the survivors hungrily.
"YEAH, come and get some!" Francis said sadistically, blasting the infected with a couple of point-blank shots to their heads and bodies.
"Zoey, Louis! Watch our backs!" ordered Bill, slinging his M16 from his shoulder and firing it at a couple of infected climbing up from a hole in the kitchen's floor, leading to the ground level. "Down here!"
"Just go, there's too many of them!" shouted Zoey, firing two shots into a hole in the door, with several infected at the other side trying to tear it down.
As the survivors dropped down to the first floor, they were instantly confronted by an army of infected advancing towards them. Most of them were wearing army uniforms, a fact that made Bill freeze for an instant. Once he heard his companions open fire, his instincts kicked in: he crouched down and fired short, deadly bursts with his M16, taking down a handful of infected with expert precision.
"I'm reloading!" he shouted over the chaos of gunfire and angry growls.
On the other hand, Francis mowed down the infected rather happily; with a sick grin on his face, he watched as bodies flew with every pull of his pump-action shotgun's trigger.
As they slowly advanced towards the first floor's back exit, Zoey and Louis shot quick glances to their rear, where a few infected have managed to follow them. They quickly silenced their pursuers with quick bursts from Louis' submachine gun, along with a few shots from Zoey's 1911.
"Come on guys, they're gonna catch up!" Louis called to the front line, as he reloaded another magazine.
"Kid, swap to the front for a bit," Bill told Zoey, seeing that the zombies coming from the streets were thinning out. His rifle's firepower would be more valuable ensuring that they were not being chased out. With the help of Louis' quick bursts and the distance they covered, he was able to clean up the remaining infected.
"Think that's all of them?" Francis called out, already at the emergency exit into an alleyway.
"I ain't gonna stick around to find out," Bill said as he motioned the others outside. "Ah hell, this is my last mag!"
"Want your pistol back?" Zoey offered.
Bill shook his head as he slung his M16 over his shoulder and unsheathed his machete. "Nah, you keep it. I still got this."
"Aww come on, we gonna play 'Ninja Bill' again?" said Francis in an unsatisfied tone. "I hate being sneaky."
"Ah! Apparently, you do," replied Bill in a father-like scolding tone. "That was some true amateur hour horseshit back there."
"Hey man, you run at a guy with a shotgun, you get blasted by a guy with a shotgun," replied Francis, defending himself.
"All right guys, come on," Zoey interjected. "We still got a helicopter to catch, remember?"
Bill cast one last glance at Francis and motioned to the group to move on. Once again, he took point with his machete, followed by Francis in case they needed some firepower. Zoey and Louis followed closely, checking their backs from time to time. The alleyways proved to be an easier walk than inside the apartments: any infected here before rushed inside when they started shooting, and the ones left behind could easily be spotted in an open area. Bill easily picked off stragglers silently with his machete, while the others clutched their weapons just in case a horde comes charging in. Luckily, their short walk was met with little resistance.
Meanwhile, from the rooftops above them, a predator lurks undetected. It has tracked its prey diligently and patiently, and now its reward is a single leap away. From this height, it can crush bones and dismember limbs of any unsuspecting target. But for now, it backs away. An opportune moment is yet to be found. Then again, the most dangerous hunter is not the most powerful, but the most precise.
Author's Notes: Thanks! Update soon, hopefully.