Until I Find My Way Back To You: Book 1 by captainwhiteshadow

by Professor Guttenberg

If you're looking for this since it disappeared during the later half of the last decade, fear not, it's back for a comeback tour! This is perhaps one of his better-known fics, which puts a unique twist to the usual interaction between survivors and zombies in the game. It had a sequel which was never finished. Story is Wayback txt file, presented as found. Credit goes to author.

4. Chapter 4

4. Chapter 4

**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 4: Friend or Foe?**

I sat in the corner of a dark alley, the only light coming from a burning trashcan. I felt horrible—both mentally and physically. My stomach hurt like hell from hunger, and my mind kept running back to Zoey. I felt my heart, which had ceased to beat since I became an Infected, constrict with guilt. I had attacked the one I loved, planning to kill her. I had forgotten all about Zoey. Forgotten the fresh cherry smell of her hair. Forgotten those emerald eyes that once swirled with love and joy from being with me. Forgotten about her favorite pink sweater. Forgotten her sweet, innocent smile. Forgotten the way her lips felt against mine. Forgotten the way her body fit perfectly against mine when I held her, as if we were two pieces of a puzzle that was finally completed. Forgotten the times we shared, the precious forget-me-nots. Everything.

I suddenly smelled smoke behind me and I knew Jerry was there. I recognized his scent. "Hey, Jerry."

"Sup?" he replied as he took a seat next to me. "You look a little glum."

"I…I remembered someone from my past," I replied. "Someone precious to me."

Jerry blinked. "You _remembered_? Whoa, dude, that's pretty nice. It's extremely rare if one of us Infected remembers something of our human life. So, who's this 'precious person?'"

"A girl," I replied. Why was I telling him this? "My girlfriend, Zoey."

Jerry smirked knowingly. "Of course. It's always about a girl."

"Like every story worth telling," I said.

"Hey," Jerry said, "you got that from Spider-Man."

"I thought you said Infected don't remember things?" I reminded him mockingly.

"They don't…not usually, anyway," Jerry replied. He shrugged. "But even Infected get bored and watch movies."

"Huh," I mused. "I would've thought that things like electronic appliances would be a handicap to the Infected."

Jerry rolled his eyes. "We don't _all_ get stupid when we change."

"This coming from the guy who got his tongue shot off," I retorted with a grin, which earned me a slight smack on the back of the head.

"Hey, Hunters who are afraid to hunt shouldn't be talking," Jerry said, then added, "Besides, my tongue grew back already."

"It's not that I'm afraid to…" I replied, frowning at the memory of chasing Zoey, "…I just…when we were hunting those humans…"

Jerry blinked, his teeth clinched. "Wait…this 'precious person' of yours…she's a human, isn't she?"

My eyes narrowed. "So what if she is?"

Jerry stood up, appalled. "You can't be with a human! Infected _kill_ humans, not _love_ them!"

I stood up, standing at eye-level to him, and glared at him. "So what if I am? So what if I don't want to hunt humans?"

Jerry glared back. "Zack, you're an Infected now. Your human life is over! Why can't you understand that? To humans, you're dead!"

"Because I still feel human!" I yelled back, anger coating my voice. "And as long as I feel that way, I'll continue to love Zoey. I'll protect her, no matter what!"

There was a long moment of silence between us. Finally, Jerry spoke up. "Whose side are you on? The Infected? Or the humans?"

I answered without a doubt in my mind, "Whichever side Zoey's on."

Jerry sighed, smoke seething between his teeth. "Then you leave me no choice. You have one hour to get out of here. After that, I'll tell every Infected to kill you if they see you. It's…disappointing…I thought we could be friends."

My glare softened a little. "Maybe if the situation was different, we could have been."

Jerry said no more. He turned and quickly climbed up the alley wall, not even taking a second glance at me. And that's when I knew that soon I would not only be the Hunter…but the hunted.

I turned and ran across the long dirt road that would eventually lead me to the one I love; to Zoey. I soon found their footprints in the muddy ground. It wouldn't be too hard to find them. I followed the footprints until I reached a large forest. Had they gone through here? I decided to trust my senses and venture into the darkness of the forest.

It was dark outside before…but this was just ridiculous! The trees and shrubbery offered such immense shade, even _I_ had to struggle to see in the dark. I wondered if Zoey was okay—the other three, I could honestly care less whether they were dead or alive. But in this dense forest, Zoey could be lost…or worse. I slapped myself and shoved that last thought deep into the back of my mind.

"Louis!" I heard a voice shout. It was that old man, Bill.

"Louis, where the hell are you?!" another voice yelled. Brutal. Masculine. Francis.

"Please, Louis, if you can hear us, answer!" Bingo. There she was. My angel. My savior. Zoey.

_They're looking for Louis? That one guy in the business suit?_ I thought to myself. Suddenly, I heard a low moaning coming from a few yards to my right. Out of curiosity, I made my way toward the sound.

"Well, speak of the Devil," I said in human language—I was getting better at it. I looked down at the bruised and bloodied form of Louis lying up against a tree. He had a few large gashes—most likely from an Infected attack—running up and down his arms and torso. He wouldn't live much longer if he didn't get help.

My stomach growled violently. I hadn't eaten in almost a full day now. My mind immediately began to wander. _His friends aren't here to protect him_, I thought. _It would be so simple. And yet…_

Louis opened his eyes and gasped. "Hun—"

I covered his mouth with my hand, cutting him off. I put my index finger to my lips and whispered, "_Shh!_ Do you want to alert more Infected?"

Louis' eyes widened when I uncovered his mouth. "You…you're Zack. Zoey's boyfriend."

I smirked. "Pleasure to meet you. Now, how about less chit-chat and more 'let's get the hell out of here?'" I grabbed him by the wrists and threw him onto my back, piggy-back style, to which he grunted in pain.

Louis let out a sigh of relief as I started running through the darkness. "So, you really are on our side."

"No," I answered. "I'm on whatever side Zoey's on. I'm actually extremely hungry right now." I felt Louis tense up. I smirked. "The only reason I'm not eating you right now is because I'm sure it would make Zoey upset to know that her comrade was killed by her reanimated boyfriend."

Louis shrugged a little. "Yeah, I get your point. I'm down with that, brother."

About five minutes later, the forest began to turn into a swamp. Large pits of murky water filled the woods, only visible by the light of the fireflies that roamed these woods—well, only visible to _human_ eyes through that resource. I had no problem seeing the bog. I also had no problem seeing the massive horde of Infected approaching from the other side of the swamp…wait—_what?!_

"Louis, do you see that?" I asked.

"No, but I can _hear_ it," Louis replied in a panicked voice. "Sounds like a horde, and _a lot_ of them."

"Oh, that's an understatement," I said. "Okay, we're gonna try to sneak past them. Keep your eyes out for a safe house."

"What about the others?" Louis asked.

"Zoey's a smart girl. And Bill seems wise. Francis seems like an idiot though," I replied. "But with two smart people on the team, they'll most likely be waiting in a safe house by the time we get there."

I ran around the bog, making sure to keep low and stay where there weren't a lot of dead leaves to make sound. The bog smelled worse the further I ran—like rotting corpses. But I was sure we were running _away_ from the horde. Shouldn't the smell recede?

"Up ahead!" Louis shouted in relief. "A safe house!" He pointed to a medium-sized shack up ahead. It was made of steel and other hard materials. The door was painted a dark color—_red_, I remembered from my past experiences with safe houses as a human—and barred, with 'caution' signs and posters put up all over the outside.

"Quiet, you idiot!" I shushed. "We're not out of Hell yet."

The smell was getting worse…and more familiar. I barely had time to react when I suddenly remembered the smell. Suddenly, a spew of vomit flew towards us. I wasn't really affected by it, since I was an Infected anyway, and I could still see easily. But Louis was now covered in the stuff, making him temporarily blind, and tipping off the horde of our whereabouts.

I terrible scream pierced through the night as the horde approached us, running as fast as they could. And who was to blame for all this commotion? Why, the answer is simple…

"_Michael_," I said as I spotted the fat bastard running off into the woods. But he wouldn't escape. "Louis, shoot directly ahead of us!"

Louis grabbed his pistols and did as he was told, sending bullets flying ahead of them. They each hit Michael's obese, bile-filled body, making him explode on contact.

I smirked. "One idiot down, one hundred to go. Louis, can you see yet?"

"Kind of." Louis wiped his eyes with a part of his shirt that was dry.

We were almost to the safe house when I heard crying on the inside of it. It was Zoey. I caught some of what the others were saying to her.

"Zoey, Louis was a brave kid," Bill said. "He fought honorably throughout this war."

"Yeah," Francis agreed. "And if nothing else, he was fun to mess with."

"Shut up, Francis!" Zoey yelled angrily. "I'm sick of your fucking attitude! First Zack and now Louis? How many more will have to die?!"

Just then, Louis and I reached the door and I nearly busted it off its hinges as we went flying through, much to the surprise of Bill, Francis and Zoey.

"Miss us?" I asked as I placed Louis down on the floor and ran to the supplies table to grab a pipe bomb.

I pressed a red button on it, that being the _only_ button on it, and sent it flying out the door. The horde chased after the beeping object as I slammed the door shut and barred it. I pushed a few metal crates up against it, reinforcing it. An explosion and screams were heard a few seconds later.

"Jesus Christ, Louis, what happened to you?" Bill asked as he started cleaning Louis' wounds and wrapping them in gauze.

"After that Smoker grabbed me and hauled me off, I was able to shoot it in the face," Louis explained. "I left a pretty bad gash on the side of its face. It ran away. And then Zack here came and found me. We were attacked by a Boomer, and Zack told me where to shoot. He saved my life."

"I don't believe it," Francis said, holding his pistol firmly in his right hand. He wasn't pointing it at me, but it was pretty obvious what its purpose was. "A fucking Hunter saved you?"

But nobody was listening to Francis. Bill was healing Louis, while Zoey was just staring at me with the same expression as before. I flinched a little. Did she really still love me? Or was that just something she said on a whim to save me? Would she hate me now that I'm an Infected?

"Zack," Zoey called as she stepped toward me. Closer and closer, until she was just about a foot away from me. Why wasn't she running? Why wasn't she afraid of me? Why wasn't she trying to kill me?

"Zoey…" I started, "…you shouldn't get too close." _But isn't this what I want? For her to love me?_

"Why?" Zoey asked, a frown appearing on her face. I could've sworn I saw new tears starting to form.

I sighed. "Aren't you afraid of me? I'm an Infected; a Hunter."

"I don't care," Zoey said, closing the distance between us. She wrapped her arms around me, shutting her eyes tight to hold back tears, and I tensed. "I thought you were dead! I thought I would never see you again! Do you know how worried I was?! I missed you!"

Everyone else in the room stiffened, too, as if expecting me to rip Zoey apart. Instead, I just relaxed and put my arms around her, careful not to crush her or cut her with my claws. I inhaled the cherry scent of her hair. It was the best thing I'd smelled since becoming a Hunter. "I know. I'm sorry I worried you. I...I won't leave you again…that is, if you still want me."

She looked up at me, a tear rolling down her face; I wiped it away. "How could I want anything else?" She smiled, and I smiled back.

The moment was ruined by an audible clearing of the throat by Francis. "If you two lovebirds are done, do you mind getting your asses over here so we can plan our next move?"

Zoey blushed, something I couldn't help but think was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. "Right. Oh! Louis, how are you feeling?"

"Much better," Louis replied. He then looked as if he remembered something. "Hey, Zack, you mentioned something about being hungry, right?"

Bill and Francis cocked their guns and stared at me, something I wasn't surprised about. After all, I was dangerous, so it was only the normal reaction one would give. Zoey gave them a death-glare, making them lower their guns in fear.

"Yeah," I replied. "I haven't eaten anything since I was changed."

"What's the diet of a Hunter?" Bill asked.

"Psh, isn't it obvious?" Francis remarked. "Humans."

"Francis!" Zoey scolded.

"Actually…" I stared, "…he's right. Or at least that's what I've been told."

Zoey looked at me, concerned. "Who told you that?"

"Jerry," I replied. "He's a Smoker."

Francis blinked. "You can talk with those guys?"

Bill rolled his eyes as he lit up another cigarette. "Well he _is_ an Infected."

"What I don't get is how you can speak English," Louis said, looking at me.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I'm just smarter than other Infected."

Bill got up and walked over to a slightly dented mini fridge in the corner of the room. He opened the top door and pulled something bloody and red out. "Well, whatever the case, if you're hungry, you should try eating this. Maybe it's not just humans, but any meat in general you can eat."

I saw what he was holding. It was a big, juicy, raw steak. And it smelled so…wonderful. I felt my body start to shake. My mouth was watering. Zoey let go of me and moved back a little.

"Zack, you okay?" she asked.

I didn't answer. Instead, I crouched down on all fours, as if I were hunting, and growled. Bill jumped and rolled to the side as I pounced and caught the steak he had dropped in mid-air. I tore into it with my teeth, ripping it easily, and savoring the delicious taste in my mouth. Jerry was wrong. It wasn't just humans. Any meat could satisfy a Hunter. And the blood…it was like A1 steak sauce for my meat—it just topped it all off. The pain that was my hunger had stopped. I was satisfied…at least, enough that I wouldn't kill everyone. When I was done, I turned back to the others, who were looking at me with expressions of horror, amusement, and some other emotions.

"Whoa…." Louis said. "I'm glad that wasn't me."

"Jesus, kid," Bill said, although it wasn't out of anger. He was grinning in amusement. "That's one hell of a pounce you got there. You'll make a good ally."

"What?!" Francis shouted, staring at Bill. "You can't be serious, old man!"

"Yes I am," Bill said, his cigarette bobbing up and down in his mouth as he spoke. "And if you call me 'old man' one more time, I'll tie your tongue in a knot. Trust me, I did it back in Vietnam when this guy…" He continued on about some old war story, but I wasn't listening. I was too fixated on Zoey's stare. She looked…scared.

I walked toward her slowly, trying not to send even more fear spiraling into her heart. I couldn't bare the fact that it was me who scared her. "Zoey…? Are you okay?"

She ran up to me, to my surprise, and hugged me. "Oh Zack…I'm so sorry for what's happened to you."

I smiled. _So she was just sorry for me. That's just like her, always worrying about others._ "Zoey, it's fine. I'm just glad you made it out alive."

Bill yawned. "Well, Zack, eat all the meat you want. It'll go bad soon anyway. We'll leave tomorrow morning, so everybody get some sleep!" He said that last part to everyone and then he walked off into a corner where a spare sleeping bag was laid out. He placed his M16 against the wall, opened the flap of the sleeping bag and got inside, falling asleep only seconds later.

"Well, I'm gonna hit the sack, too," Louis said, stretching. "Goodnight Zoey, Zack, Francis." He grabbed a sleeping bag for himself and curled up in the corner opposite to Bill.

Francis seemed a little peeved that Louis mentioned me before him. He grumbled something about hating Infected and then went to sleep in a corner of his own. I smirked, happy that I was making him upset.

There was an old mattress, which I guessed they had left for Zoey out of courtesy. "You should get some rest," I said to her. "I'll keep watch for any more Infected."

Zoey smiled and touched my shoulder. "We're safe in here. Why don't you come with me?"

I smiled. "I'm not tired. But I'll sit with you if you want."

I followed her to the mattress. She lay down and I sat cross-legged on the floor beside her. We just stared at each other in silence for a long time. From my memory, I could see beyond the sepia tone, and look straight into her emerald green eyes; the ones I loved so much. Slowly, her eyelids began to droop and she drifted off to sleep.