3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Left 4 Dead, Valve (and probably some other gaming corporations I didn't bother to pay attention to) does.**

Until I Find My Way Back To You

_Book 1: Blood Harvest_

**Chapter 3: The Chase**

The wind rushed through my hair as I ran and jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Along with being a Hunter, I gained incredible speed and I could jump higher and further. Jerry ran beside me, using his tongue to latch onto things and pull him forward to keep up with my pace. Although I still didn't like Infected, I supposed I could get used to this. After all, there was no going back now, right?

Jerry suddenly stopped a few feet ahead of me, and I stopped next to him, turning my confused gaze to the direction of his own stare. Humans. Four of them to be exact. One was an elderly man with white hair and a white beard, wearing a Vietnam War veteran uniform. He carried an M16 for a weapon and a cigarette in his mouth. There was another man who was muscular and looked to be in his late-twenties. He had tattoos inked all over his arms, and wore leather pants and a black, leather jacket over a white undershirt, making him look like a member of the Hell's Angels. For a weapon, he carried a pump shotgun. A third man was tall, dark-skinned, bald, and wore a slightly blood-stained business suit. In each of his hands, he held a pistol. And lastly, there was a girl. She was the shortest of the group, with a slim body-build, and long brown hair that she kept up in a ponytail. She wore a long-sleeved jacket over an undershirt, along with a pair of jeans. She carried a sniper rifle in her hands, and holstered at her side was a pistol with some odd-looking letters engraved on the side.

I stood at the top of the building, next to Jerry. I couldn't stop looking at the girl. Something about her seemed so…familiar. She also suddenly looked so…appealing. I licked my lips, the hunger growing almost painful.

"Ah, there we go, perfect targets," Jerry announced with a smirk. "You ready, Zack?"

I grinned, my razor-sharp teeth gleaming in the moonlight. "Let's get 'em!" I crouched down and was about to pounce when Jerry suddenly stopped me.

"Easy there, you'll get yourself killed if you just attack carelessly. Watch and learn, young grasshopper." Jerry hid behind a large concrete structure on top of the building, sticking his head out from the side just enough to get a clear shot at the humans. His tongue flew from his mouth and wrapped around the burly, Hell's Angels guy's neck. The man shouted as Jerry dragged him away from the group.

"Bill! Louis! Zoey!" the man called out. "A Smoker's got me!"

_Zoey…?_ I thought as I watched Jerry drag away his snack. _Where have I heard that name before?_

"Don't worry, Francis!" the Vietnam veteran called out. "Hold on tight, kid." He fired a few rounds at Jerry's tongue, splitting it in two. The biker guy known as Francis dropped to the ground.

"Thanks Bill," Francis said, running back to the group and readying his gun.

"Shit!" Jerry swore as he drew back what remained of his tongue. He grabbed me and dragged me inside a new building as bullets flew past us.

"Wow, that was some mad skills you showed me back there," I said sarcastically.

Jerry glared at me. "Shut up."

I grinned. "So, how's your tongue?"

Jerry waved it off. "I'll be fine. My tongue grows back fast. But for now, I want you to try and catch one of them. Try singling them out; get them separated."

I nodded. "Right." _And I know just who I'm going after first._

I rushed out another window and leaped onto a building, looking for the humans. I spotted them running down a dirt road, firing away at common Infected. I leaped onto another building, then another, following them from above. They eventually came to a large church and went inside. I jumped down from the building I was on, and ran over to the house of God—too bad for them though, He decided to go on a vacation. There were crevices in the brick walls, so I climbed up the left side of the church, up into a broken window. I saw that they were all huddled together in their little group, speaking in whispers. I couldn't hear them, so I decided to move closer, trying not to be spotted. I climbed down a set of stairs, leading to the lower part of the church, and hid behind a pillar.

"…and then we need to see if we can find any radios to call for help," Bill was saying.

Francis scoffed. "I don't see why we don't just grab a shitload of pipe bombs and blow all those fuckers up."

"If we do that, it's bound to cause a lot of noise, making stronger Infected come running to us," the dark-skinned business man, who I assume was Louis, explained.

"Then we blow them up, too," Francis said, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"Do you really think a pipe bomb or a Molotov is going to defeat a Tank?" Zoey asked.

"No," Francis replied. "But a dozen will."

"Well, we don't _have_ a dozen to spare, kid," Bill said. "So we need to find a more effective way of killing the Infected."

I couldn't take it anymore. The hunger was killing me. I was about to make my presence know by attacking, when suddenly a horde of common Infected, followed by a Boomer, barged through the door. The group of humans opened fire on the oncoming Infected. Just then, the Boomer let loose a vile, green substance from its mouth, splattering it on the humans. The humans were temporarily blinded.

_Perfect!_ I thought as I rushed up to the girl, Zoey, and grabbed her from behind. She kicked and screamed as I dragged her out of the church. I heard her comrades yell for her, but they couldn't help her at the moment. Just then, she brought her fist up and hit me square in the jaw. I dropped her, mostly out of shock, and stumbled back a little. It was dark where we were now, so I was sure she couldn't see me properly. I dodged a few bullets she shot randomly at the darkness. She ran, and I could see the fear in her eyes. The chase began.

I followed her to a seemingly abandoned, old, two-story house. She shut the door behind her and I heard the lock click. I suppressed the urge to laugh. Did she really think a door could keep her safe? I quickly busted down the door with a few quick swipes. Inside the house, there were finely decorated rooms. Paintings from famous artists were displayed on the walls, although some of them had been torn to shreds. There were some pots and plates with exotic designs on them. And there was a staircase leading to the second floor.

I slowly climbed the staircase, sniffing the air. She was close. That's when I spotted her in a child's room, working on taking off some boards from a window so she could climb out. I snuck up behind her and crouched. She barely had time to turn around before I was on top of her, pinning her to the ground. I was about to thrust my sharp claws into her chest when she let out an audible gasp, her eyes widening as she looked up at me. There was shock, horror, sadness, and some other deep emotions swirling in her eyes.

"Zack?" she asked.

I stopped and just looked at her, still pinning her to the ground. How did this girl know my name? And why did she seem so familiar?

"How do you know my name?" I asked, but then I remembered that humans couldn't speak the language of the Infected. I tried to remember how to ask my question in human language, talking slowly to get the hang of it…again. "How…do…you…know…me?"

"Zack…it…it really is you," she said, tears starting to roll down her face. "You don't remember me? It's me, Zoey."

My mind felt hazy. But then, something hit me. No, not a memory. It felt sharp, and it bit me in the shoulder. I jumped off Zoey in surprise, looking back to see her comrades standing in the doorway.

"Zoey, watch out!" Louis shouted, aiming his pistols at me.

All of a sudden, Zoey stood up in front of me with her arms spread out, facing Louis. "No, wait!"

"Huh?" Francis blinked. "Zoey, what are you doing?! That's a Hunter, not a human! It'll kill you!"

"No…please," Zoey said. "He's my boyfriend, Zack." Her comrades gasped, their eyes widening.

Bill dropped his cigarette. "Zoey, have you lost your mind?"

Louis raised an eyebrow. "Uh…shouldn't that be, like…illegal or something?"

Zoey rolled her eyes. "What I mean is…he was my boyfriend before he was changed, and he is now."

"Oh," Francis said. He lowered his gun slightly. "So, you wanna be the one to shoot him. I get it."

"We're not shooting him!" Zoey said angrily.

Louis sighed in frustration. "Zoey, he's not your boyfriend anymore. He's an Infected!"

"I don't care!" Zoey shouted. "I love him!"

Suddenly, like a rush of wind to my head, blowing away the haze and the fog that clouded my memory, I saw it: Zoey and I running through dark hallways; us hiding away in various rooms; me blasting away at any Infected that dared to come near us; me being forced to leave Zoey, so that she could be safe.

I fell to my side, clutching my head in pain as the memories started to come back. I didn't have all my memories back, but at least enough to remember who Zoey was…and to extremely regret what I had done to her.

"Zack!" Zoey rushed over to me, kneeling down next to me.

I stared up at her, my eyes widening. "Z-Zoey…I…I…" I jumped up quickly, landing next to the window. "You have to get away from me! I don't want to hurt you!"

She reached out a hand to me. "Zack, please, wait!"

But it was too late. I smashed through the window and fell to the ground, rolling as I landed. I got up and started running. I could hear Zoey shouting after me, but I couldn't turn back. Not after what I had just done to the person I loved most in the world. I'm a monster…and monsters don't get happy endings.