Author's Note
Originally, this was just an extra part, written purely for myself, but I decided to make it a bonus chapter since the story is drawing to an end soon(or is it? O.o)I've decided I might do this kind of thing sometimes(saving room for the actual story though). Now, this chapter is important if you read it until the end because that's part of the next chapter, so READ TILL THE END MOFO! Oh, and let's be mature after the third line, this is a T rating my friends. And if you want an explanation of why exactly, well, that's just who he is. Oh, and hi, R&R, and I hope you enjoy this bonus chapter(it's kinda long...)!
Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead(obviously) but I do own all my Ocs.
Joeth could remember a time in his past where he could put on his hood and still stay sane.
He remembered when him and his friends would play zombies in the school yard. But Joeth was never one of the zombies. He was always a survivor, shooting on the sidelines. And if the 'zombies' reached the survivors, the game was over. There was never anything after the zombies found the humans.
He remembered how it felt to take his jacket off in the summer, to feel the cool breeze after being under his blistering hot black jacket in the sun.
He remembered how they would all laugh when talking about anything fantasy, persay, zombies. Oh how his wished zombies were all just fantasy. Anything was better than being a zombie. Especially a half-blood.
"Sometimes fantasy is better than reality, son." His dad had once told him. It was after the twins' mom had left on her train, and Joeth was lost in his imagination. His dad had tried several attempts to get his attention, but Joeth was too lost in his thoughts-as he usually was. Finally, his father's words reached him, and Joeth shook his head slightly, rustling his short blond hair under his cap. Looking up at his dad with his big brown eyes wide, his father gave a laugh, and told him those exact words.
His boys had dressed the same that day, with caps on and dark grey jackets clinging to them in the winter chill. The twins hated dressing the same, but today was special.
Joeth remembered other things from that particalar memory. Like how his mother had hugged both him and his brother while his father stood in the shadows. Joeth had allowed Zak to go first- he didn't really have a choice; Zak was more toughly built, while Joeth got the short end of the stick, and was more skinny and lanky. Zak had run up to their mom with tears in his eyes, so it was either get tackled by him, or wait his turn, and Joeth was the patient twin, so he waited. After Zak had sobbed in their mom's arms for a couple minutes, she then held his face and kissed his forehead. Zak backed up, his eyes puffy, and Joeth took his turn.
"Take care of Zak, Joeth." she whipspered, and he nodded. She then kissed his forehead as the train whistled.
Joeth stepped back with Zak, who still had tears streaming down his face. Seeing his brother cry, Joeth looked back at where their mother was waving, now in her seat, and tears welled up in his own eyes. He remembered how Zak ran to the end of the landing, trying desperately to keep up with the train. And when the end came, he stopped and stood there until the train was out of sight, and stood there minutes afterward.
Finally, Joeth and his dad walked up to him, and his dad put a hand on each of their backs and kneeled down. Their father was a tall man, and especially at the twins' age of 7, towered over them even when he was kneeling.
"It'll be alright boys." Their dad said quietly. He always seemed to be whispering, but they always could hear him.
"I'll always be here for you boys." he said.
And the boys never saw their mom again.
But when they got home, there was a present on the twins' beds from her.
They opened them.
At first, Joeth couldn't see what Zak got, but what he got made him wonder.
It was a black jacket.
Joeth groaned. He knew he couldn't study with the noise of bed springs above him. He stared at the screen for a moment before his stomach growled loudly. Chewing the inside of his cheek for a moment, he shut the laptop and got off the couch to go see if their uncle had even bothered gone to the store recently.
After their father died when they were 9, the twins lived with their uncle, who was a drunk and almost never did anything else but stay at the bar all day. Sometimes, he even forgot to come home. But after 7 years, the boys had grown used to having to take care of themselves.
And as Joeth opened up the fridge, the smell of rotted food smacked him in the face. Coughing, he squinted open his eyes to see rotted cheese, spoiled milk, and a sad-looking banana. Still coughing, he closed the fridge and sighed. It looked like he would need to go get more groceries. Again.
Striding over to the couch for his keys, Zak comes bouncing down the stairs.
"Wat's up, bro?" he asks, a grin on his face. He was only in his boxers, but that was probably the most decent Joeth had seen his twin in a while.
Joeth just grunted, keeping his eyes glued to the floor. "I'm going to the store..." Joeth murmured, grabbing his wallet on the table next to the couch.
His brother shrugged, then went over to the couch and sat down, grabbing the remote.
Right on Joeth's keys.
Rolling his eyes, he went out the front door and broke the old lock on the garage door. Clearing away the cobwebs, he went over to where his old skateboard was. It looked sturdy enough to hold him, and when he stood on it, the board creaked and caved, but held. But when he tried bouncing, the board snapped in half. Sighing, Joeth looked around the room, but all he could find was Zak's old bike. Joeth never learned to ride one, and Zak had stopped using his bike when he was still in grade school. Joeth was always scared of bikes, but his hunger started hurting him. And he knew that his uncle or Zak sure as hell wouldn't get them. And though Joeth was scared, he ripped the bike off the wall and rolled it out. Taking a deep breath, he got on and stated pedaling.
Joeth was a natural. He didn't fall or wobble much, and he was actually enjoying himself, his hunger forgotten for now. His hood had flown off, and his blond hair blew out behind him. When he finally got to the store however, he discovered a problem.
Where would he put the bike?
Looking around, he became more and more worried. He couldn't just leave it here-he didn't live in a very nice part of town. Then, with a sigh, he made sure no one was around, he promptly pushed it into a bush.
By the time Joeth was done, all the food had gotten heavy in his arms and the afternoon was turning to dusk. Joeth didn't want to ride home with a bunch bags after dark, but he had no choice. Dumping all of it onto one of the register's moving things, he looked up at the cashier and his breath caught in his throat-she went to his school. Catching his brown eye with her blue, she smiled and Joeth looked away, trying not to blush. Straightening up, he went over to pay, and she started to talk to him.
"Hey, you go my school, don't you?" she asked, still smiling-she was very pretty. Joeth just looked down and nodded.
"You don't talk much, do you?" she asked. He shook his head, keeping his eyes on the ground.
"I've never heard you talk before, ya know?" she sais, still packing up the groceries and trying to catch his eye.
He shrugged. "I guess I just don't really have anything to say."
She smiled as he fianlly looked up at her. "I never caught your name..."
"Joeth..." witha slight hesitation-he had never really talked to a girl before, so he stuck out his hand.
She giggled, then shook it back. Joeth blushed as her eyes met his again, and he quickly pulled his hand away, looking immediately down to the floor.
"Hey, how did you get here? Cuz, I can give you a ride home if you need one." she said, pointing out the store window.
Joeth shook his head, eyes still on the floor. "No, no, i-it's ok." He quickly grabbed the groceries, murmered a thank you, then got the hell outta there before he embarrassed himself even more. By this time, his face was fully magenta and his feet couldn't carry him any faster to his brother's bike in the bushes. It was dark now, and Joeth had a bad feelng welling in his throat that his brother's bike might not be there.
Shoulda taken that ride home now with that girl Joeth his conscious told him.
"No!" he told it back-inhis head, of course; it was more often than he'd like to say that he talked back to that little itching voice in his head, but today, he felt it needed an answer.
You like her, don't you Joeth? it mocked him.
"If I did, I sure as hell wouldn't tell you!" Joeth replied hotly. Finally he came upon the bush that held his brother's bike, or as he realized minutes later-used to.
Joeth stared in disbelief at the bush until he felt a hand on his shoulder, making him jump.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" it was the girl from his school.
His chest tightened and his heart skipped a beat, but he managed to spit out, "No, it's ok."
She smiled, and her eyes did too-making his heart stop again. "Well, ya know, my offer is still up." she looked at him.
Joeth hesitated, looking over the bush and back. "Um, actually..." he put his hand behind his head and looked over to the side.
She puled out her keys and smiled. "C'mon Joeth."
The entire car ride home was quiet-neither talked. Joeth was the first-surprisingly-to break the silence when he realized something-
"I-I never got your name." he said quietly.
She laughed and glanced over at him. "Kristy."
He nodded, then kept quiet the whole way until his house drew near.
He opened his mouth to say something, but she had already turned onto his street, causing him to look at her, confused.
She glanced over at him, then replied rather quietly, "The whole school knows where Zak lives..."
Of course, his first thought was: 'SHE KNOWS ZAK?' Which, was of course, followed immediately by: 'Well he must have fucked her.'
But as many times as Zak had had girls over 'studying', he didn't remember a Kristy, and surely he would have immediately recognized her-how could anyone foget what she looked like? But then again, Zak was probably the most popular boy at school-all the boys thought he was awesome, all the girls thoguht he was hot. Joeth had the same naturally good looks, but he was more misfited than prep. Besides, Zak had the sharper features, slightly longer hair, deeper set eyes, and the more toughly built body-not that he would take advantage of it to build actual muscle, the lazyass. Joeth was lanky and skinny- still undountebly handsome- but less defined features, slightly shorter hair, and brighter eyes. The two boys were Yin and Yang.
Joeth was a sweet boy nonetheless, while Zak would much rather be out getting illegally drunk and partying, Joeth would rather find a good book or study up for a big test. And as much as they were Yin and Yang, so were their grades in school.
But when Kristy was pulling up to his house, that was the last thing he was thinking.
"Thank you..." he said, grabbing the groceries and closing the passenger side door.
"No prob Joeth, expect to see you arund school?" she asked, her eyes bright. Joeth nodded-what else could the boy do?;he was stuck to the ground. She smiled and the front screen smacked close to the house, causing Joeth to look around in time to see Zak-fully dressed this time-chugging a beer can as he walked out. Joeth waved bye to Kristy, and she drove away.
Next thing he knew, Joeth was encased in his twin's version of putting his arm around his shoulders. But as uncomfortable as Zak's hold was and the smell of alchohol reeking from him, Joeth didn't notice any of it, not even Zak trying to speak to him, nor how the stench from his breath smacked Joeth in the face.
He was too lost in thought.
The hammock creaked underneath Joeth's weight as he stood up. His brown eyes cut through the darkness on the giant cell, revealing gruesome creatures known as the undead. He would be scared-any normal teen would-had he not been one himself. With a wince, he took a step forward. His old, run-to-the-ground Vans had been replaced with Converse too small for him, and his uncut nails were not helping his situation as they desperately pushed against the rubber, only to be ground deeper into poor Joeth's toes. As soon as they had gotten here, the Lynthians had branded all their ankles with the Lynthian guards symbol, stitched up their clothes, and had even cut Joeth's hair to his ears. Still being part human, Joeth could still feel pain-not only physically, which is why he hadn't eaten the first couple months they had been in here, knowing damn well who was also inside the castle. Joeth had grown weak from that, and became all skin and bones without any muscles-he could barely jump. Madle didn't like that he wouldn't eat, and despised how Violet-or Lily, as they learned the day they came here-had caused this. Deeming her hatred towards her.
"Don't blame her," Joeth had told Madle. "I'm the one who's starving myself-not her." Joeth still had hope back then-hope that maybe Lily hadn't found anybody, maybe, just possibly, she still loved him.
Madle had snorted. "Well it's your daydreaming about her that caused you to look this this." she gesture towards the way Joeth's jacket hung even looser around his skinny frame.
Joeth shrugged. "I'm losing weight." Joeth smiled softly, Madle rolled her eyes and walked away.
But after that, Joeth had really got down to thinking-he really was losing weight rapidly, and if he lost anymore, surely he would die for real. And his hope was lost more and more by the day. Of course, the day he had gotten his eyebrow piercing wouldn't be forgotten for how much he had changed that day. A poor, starving witch had freaked out when she smelled humans outside the door and had pounded the door, crying. Joeth had stepped in, pulling her away from the door. But she had turned around and struck him, she had missed mostly, but her middle one had gotten straight through his eyebrow and Madle, Mel, and Shadow all had to help pull it out. It was bloody and hurt, and Joeth was miserable for days. Then, as an afterthought, Mel had taken off the piercing of a scene infected and had promptly stuck it through the hole in his eyebrow. Handing him a part of a broken mirror with a smile, he saw that it covered up the blood and didn't look half bad.
"Thanks Mel..." he told her, a smile on his lips. Mel giggled and he hugged her. Before, Mel had been his height, but he had grown since they came here, and now stood and head taller than her, and a head and a half over Madle.
Other than that those changes, Joeth had started eating again-making Madle very happy- and built up some muscle-making Mel very happy- once all his hope was gone with Lily. But Joeth had become, well, more serious over the time his hope was rapidly fading and was, well, a bit mean. Madle pretended not to notice-she didn't want him to starve again- but deep down, she was worried again. And by the time they had been in that cell for 6 months, Joeth's heart was turned to stone, and he seemed angry all the time. And as Madle believed, it all led back to that stupid girl, Lily.
And for that reason, Madle hated Lily.
Alright! It's heating up a bit here, and that's exactly where I'm gonna leave you. Next chapter out when I get the time(I wrote most of this in the time I was supposed to be updating Return-sorry Return fans), which really isn't much. Anyway, this chapter is actually over 3,000 words(more than any other chapter on here) so I hope this counts as two chapters (:D)! But if I did, you guys would find me in the future and probably eat my first born child O.o, SO I won't. Anyway, real chapter out hopefully soon, blah blah blah. Bye! PLEASE REVIEW CUZ I NEED TO KNOW IF IT WAS WORTH IT TO POST THIS BONUS CHAPTER AND I'M STUCK ON CAPS LOCK!...
FUCK YEA CAPSLOCK
Well, bye! (Hey! It's gone! :D)