Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead or anything even remotely referenced in this chapter!

Wow! So many reviews in less than two days! 4 of which came within a span of an hour! I never had that happen before, but I ain't complaining! I love you guys!

Chapter 1

Two in the chest, one in the head.

Those words chanting through her head, Sparky took aim at every single goddamned zombie that dared got in her way...Which surprisingly, there was none. Still didn't stop the words from chanting in her head anyway. Two in the chest, one in the head. That's what her instructor taught her when she was learning to fire weapons before the Infection broke out, when she was training in the Air Force before they discharged her. In fact, if she wasn't mistaken, she could remember those words exactly: "If the enemy's chargin' for ya, take 'im down with a simple method: two in the chest, one in the head. If he still runnin', do it again. If he still goin', do it again. If he's still fuckin' goin', just drop your gun and run, 'cause that's some Resident Evil shit right there!"

How ironic, given the situation mankind's been facing for weeks now. Or had it been months? She's never really bothered looking at a calendar even before the outbreak; one can't really expect her to change that, especially now... She looked to her traveling companion just a few feet from her right side; it was much too risky to go off wandering too far.

"Yo, Rae. Any idea how long it's been since the world went screwy?" Her comrade looked at her and took on a thoughtful look, risking to lower her weapon just a little as she searched her mind for answers. How long has it been? Finally, after a few minutes, she came to her all-knowing conclusion:

"Uhhh...I dunno. Does it matter?" She got a shrug in response.

"Not really. Just thought I'd ask."

Sparky and Rae's been pals for a few years now. And for the majority of those years, they never met each other face-to-face before. It all started when Rae left a review on one of Sparky's stories on the internet. Then it turned into an IM chat and that chat turned into a roleplay story between just the two of them and their countless OC characters. And over those years, the RP never died and just kept growing bigger as they added more and more characters. Finally, a meeting was arranged at an amusement park closeby Rae's residence. They finally had the chance to meet their internet friend in person and that's when the Infection chose to spread and wipe out the majority of humanity and replace them with rabid people. How wonderful...

The worse part was the issue of family. Sparky's family was all the way in California, the other side of the freakin' continent! To mock her, her cellphone, equipped with its ready-to-die-in-less-than-five-seconds-of-use batteries, was of no help. Not that her parents ever picked up the phone anyways... And the power probably went out over there too... The fate of Rae's family was unknown as well. When they went to her house, nobody was there. She tried calling the cellphone of her dad, but never really got an answer. Things didn't seem to be going very well at all, but there's little they can do about it. Just gotta keep pressing forward and hope for the best. Being a bit on the pessimistic side, Sparky didn't have much hope on that last part.

Well, at least I'm not stuck in my room all day, hissing at the sun. Mom would be proud... She let her thoughts turn into a ramble. Sis and my bros should be proud too. I'm totally kicking ass. Dad's never proud at anything I do. God...I hate the sun. I'm probably gonna wind up with skin cancer or something, end up looking like those Smokers. Speaking of which...

She looked around, not liking this situation despite the peace. This should be a relief, but instead it felt wrong. Probably her paranoia speaking, as it won't be the first time, but...

"Don't you find it weird that we hadn't run into anything yet?" she asked.

"I think that's a good thing." Rae answered, skirting around some dead bodies, nose wrinkling a bit from the smell. "It probably means that someone came here before we did."

"Sounds good enough t-" Sparky's words were cut off when she heard a very distinctive shriek. "Aw, crappity crap crappers..." She spoke too soon. All she had time for was to tense as she was tackled and knocked to the ground, pinned by the Hunter. Although she was seeing stars, she instinctively tried to get the Infected off, but it was of no use. He was too heavy and too strong and now he was clawing at her black GIR shirt, trying to reach flesh. Knowing she'll need help, she gave the alarm for just this situation: "RAAAAAPPPPEEEE!"

The alarm was hardly needed as Rae was already to the rescue, charging the Hunter and slamming into his side, freeing her friend. Both reacting fast, they pointed their weapons at the predator and opened fire. Two in the chest, one in the head. Bastard's down. Rae turned back to her friend and held out a helping hand. Catching her breath from her massive adrenaline rush, Sparky accepted the hand and stood up, wasting not a moment in looking down at her shirt. It had a few slashes, but nothing too revealing, thankfully.

"Zotz dammit," she cursed. "This was my favorite shirt and Hoodie Dude had to tear it up." This got an eye roll and chuckle from her friend.

"Well, that's what happens when you wear it during a zombie apocalypse."

"Hey, if I'm gonna kill zombies, I want the last thing they see to be the almighty GIR, okay?" After a few seconds, Sparky gave a smile. "Thanks for saving me, buddy!"

"You're welcomes!" No sooner was that sentence finished than they heard more growls. Not Hunters this time. Great, looks like their gunfire attracted the attention of a horde. Side-by-side, weapons at the ready for when the Commons appear, they were ready to go down fighting.

"Ready to seriously kick some ass, Master of Milkshakes?" Sparky asked, catching sight of the horde. It wasn't very big, probably about a couple dozen zombies. Seems whoever passed by didn't leave too much action behind. She didn't know whether to be happy or disappointed.

"Totally ready, Queen of the Almighty Donuts! First one to use a pipebomb loses!"

With that exchange of words and nicknames to lift their spirits and get them in the game, they fired at the horde mercilessly. Before the Infection, Sparky didn't think either of them would have the guts to kill another living thing like this. But now it's a matter of life-and-death, and those morals were at least temporarily put on hold. They came to an agreement near the beginning of the Infection not to kill more than necessary. No hunting down a tongueless Smoker to beat the shit out of it or getting out of one's way to crown a Witch for shits and giggles. Plus, no need to put themselves at even more of a risk in doing such stupid things. This wasn't some kind of video game, after all; there were no extra lives to go around...

A few of the Commons managed to get past the line of fire and were treated for their troubles with a few brutal hits upside the head. The two girls tried to ignore any injuries they sustained; individually, each wound wasn't life threatening and, being immune, they had no worries in that department.

"BOOM! Headshot!" Rae exclaimed, unable to help herself as she took out the last of the horde. The whole thing felt like forever, though it probably only lasted a few minutes or something. They really needed to get a break from this life-threatening trauma, at least for the night. "Hey, Sparks, you think there's a safe room anywhere close by?"

"I hope so! My iPod needs charging!" was the response, although that was just Sparky's way of saying: 'Maybe. Let's hurry up then, shall we?' Rae doubted Sparky even still had her iPod. If she did, she never took it out or anything. But that was beside the point. Gathering themselves up, they moved forward in search of a safe room. This time, they weren't going to let their guard down, taking careful steps and keeping their eyes and weapons ready. Sparky will be damned if she were to be 'raped' twice in less than ten minutes, and so kept an eye on the roof-tops as well. It was only about 30 minutes later, a rough estimate on the girls' part, when they heard sobbing.

"Isn't this great..." Rae muttered. A Witch was nearby. But where? Stopping and pressing up against the wall, Sparky following her lead, Rae peeked over the corner into an alleyway and, low and behold, the Witch was sitting there, crying her eyes out. And just beyond her... "Why do Witches always turn up in front of safe rooms? Are they trying to make our lives more difficult?"

"Most likely." Sparky whispered back, shifting a bit past Rae to peek over the corner too. "It's weird how that works, though. It's called fate hating us..."

The Witch seemed to become aware of their presence, as she began growling, much to the girls' surprise. They weren't even that close to her and she was growling already? Rae immediately backed up, bumping into Sparky and still shoving back. Sparky got the hint and hastily retreated with Rae. Out of sight of the Witch, the girls held their breaths as they pressed even tighter against the wall. Last thing they needed was a Witch going berserk on them. They had enough close brushes with death of that nature; they didn't need to add to the collection. But thankfully, to their immense relief, the growling began to subside and the weeping started up again. They let out their breaths.

"So now what?" Sparky asked, always looking to Rae for solutions even though she's the older. Rae was just always better at giving orders and making plans than she was, so Sparky made her leader in her mind, an unspoken job for her friend.

"Isn't it obvious...We have to take her down." That was not a favorable option for them. Not only was it extremely dangerous, but...shooting a sobbing person isn't too easy, especially when it's obvious that the said-person just wanted to be left alone. But it had to be done. The Witch was too close to the safe room to sneak around and they couldn't risk going off to search for another safe room. Rae looked to Sparky. "I'm going in. Hand me the Auto Shotgun."

Sparky hugged the shotgun closer, the most clear sign of reluctance on her part. "Maybe I should..."

"No, Sparky. You risked your butt to do it last time, now it's my turn." Rae told her gently, but firmly.

There was no point in arguing; it won't make anything better. Whimpering a bit, Sparky reluctantly handed her friend the shotgun, at the same time, muttering softly. "Whoever invented the 'common courtesy', taking-turns rule needs to screw himself sideways with a spoon." This lightened the mood just a bit and she offered her best friend a smile. "Good luck, Milkshake Master. And be quick, this one seems to get easily annoyed."

"No worries." Making sure the weapon's ready and all, Rae took one last deep breath to calm her nerves. This was serious chizz and she couldn't afford to screw up. Giving a nod to her friend, she went for the Witch quickly, aiming accurately as the Witch was instantly growling and making a move to stand, a move that seems much more at haste than usual. But Rae was ready regardless and squeezed the trigger for a couple of shots. The Witch screamed in furious pain before dropping to the ground, dead. Instantly, movement and high-pitched yelps came up from a cardboard box near the Witch and tiny things scurried out and down the alley clumsily. Rae wasn't expecting that and only watched, dumbfounded as every last one was out of sight.

What the hell?

Sparky wasn't all too sure what to make of it either. It was so unexpected and she wasn't prepared to take a closer look as the tiny things scattered out into the shadows. An awkward silence overtook the area and it was Sparky that broke it with the question harassing both their minds as she walked over to where her friend was standing. "What the fudge was that?"

"I have no idea. Rats, maybe? Though I swore, they were wearing hoodies and stuff..."

Sparky and Rae looked at each other for a long moment. Rats in hoodies? That didn't make sense in the slightest unless the Infection overtook the rodents and made them a hell of a lot smarter... Or maybe they weren't rats at all. Maybe...Just maybe...they were...

"Nah!" they both said simultaneously, attempting to laugh it off. Baby Hunters, as if there was such a thing as that. Regardless, they were wasting time out here, increasing the chances of getting caught by an Infected. Best talk about this later or something. Turning in the direction of the safe room, they skirted around the Witch's dead body, each muttering under their breaths about how it wasn't personal, before making sure the safe room's clear and hastily getting inside. Slamming the door shut and securing it, both slumped against the walls and slid down to the floor in utter relief to finally be able to relax, although Sparky was half-expecting a Tank to smash through the door just to mock them.

Either way, they both had their adrenaline rush for today.

Just outside their safe room door, relief was not the best word to use in a description. A Hunter pup scurried across the road as fast as his four little legs could carry him, stumbling repeatedly in clumsiness. He didn't really understand what happened back there. He and his brothers were sleeping, lulled by the reassuring sound of their mother's weeping. Then all of a sudden, a couple loud bangs startled the litter of pups awake and instinct took hold of all of them, driving them out of the cardboard den, out of their alleyway home, and into the world. Under normal circumstances, the pup would be thrilled to be out into city, no doubt having tons of new things to explore. But this was not a normal circumstance. He was terrified and he was going to keep on scurrying until he couldn't scurry anymore.

He didn't know where his brothers were, and that only deepened his instinctive panic. Where was mommy? Where was daddy? ...Where was home? Finally stopping and panting, the pup looked about, shivering in his soft slightly-fluffy coat. Where was he? Naturally, he didn't recognize where he was, and hadn't yet learned that he only needed to retrace his steps to return to the comforting warmth of the den. Whimpering softly, he listened, hoping for the sound of his mother's weeping or his father's growling or his siblings' squeaking. Nothing but the unsettling noises of the other Infected. Instinctively not liking it, he pushed himself to scurry on further, trying his best to stay in the darkest places possible. He didn't understand that this instinctive fear is what's saving his life. Like most children, he did not have a conscious sense of mortality and the concept of his own inevitable death didn't exist to him.

Tired, as he was not used to moving around so much and so fast, plus the added fact that he would normally be sleeping right now, he stopped once more to catch his breath, little tongue sticking out as he panted heavily. Pressing up against the wall, the pup squeaked and whined for comfort, to be groomed, hoping his parents would materialize out of nowhere to carry out the request. Nothing. His limbs were tired and he unceremoniously laid himself down with a little plop. This place was not his den and was too open for his liking, but he had nowhere else to go. Sniffling softly, he curled up as tightly as he could, looking for all the world like a round little lump of cloth.

He wasn't even half-asleep yet when he heard a little cough and he stiffened, just barely peeking enough to sniff. An unfamiliar scent filled his little nose and he saw, not two feet away from him, another baby, no older than himself. However, it wasn't one of his brothers, he knew that immediately. It was too lumpy and its coat was hardly a coat at all. It didn't even have a hood. Green smoke came from the newcomer and a long thingy hanged out of its mouth. It took the pup a moment to realize that the mouth thingy was its tongue. How strange.

The baby Smoker hardly knew what to make of the pup either. He's never seen anything like it in his short life. It barely seemed to have a face, he could only make out the nose and mouth. It looked a bit fluffy in its weird looking coat and as the pup shifted a bit out of its curl, he could see weird...thingies around its arms and legs. How strange.

For a long time, neither baby did anything, just watching each other with a mixture of curiosity and uncertainty. They both knew the other was not family, it was not 'their kind'. But there was some recognizable feature in their scent that linked them both as Infected. The babies didn't understand it at all, as it was much too complicated for them to interpret. The other baby's weird, that's all they could get out of it. Before long, the Hunter pup decided to make the first move and gave a tiny growl, trying to be threatening. The other baby paused for a moment, before deciding not to be bullied and gave a tiny growl back. But it didn't go well and the young Smoker began coughing a bit. The Hunter pup tilted his head at this and leaned a bit closer to sniff some more. Was there something wrong with the other baby?

Well, if there was, instinct told him to take advantage while he still can! He shakily got to his little hands and feet and stalked closer to the Smoker. The long-tongued baby didn't notice this as he went about his coughing fit and when it was finally done, he noticed the pup was a lot closer than before.

"Rawr!" came the 'battle cry' as the pup attempted to pounce. It wasn't much of a pounce at all, but it succeeded in knocking down the other baby, who whined in protest. The pup bit the other baby's arm with a tiny growl and the Smoker yelped and retaliated by indignantly hitting a little fist against his opponent's back. Both wanted to cause damage, but was not very good at it. The baby Smoker wriggled as he continued to hit in defense, eventually succeeding in rolling the little bundle over so he had the pup down this time. He kept fisting the other infant with his free hand, more puffs of smoke coming to show his aggravation of this whole situation. The pup squealed and hissed as he let go of the Smoker's arm and began to squirm in turn, hoping for the tables to be turned yet again.

After a few moments of rolling around in the baby equivalent of viciousness, something began to change. The squeals and yips began to die down and the Hunter pup began batting at the Smoker's tongue like a string, fascinated by its movement. The Smoker stopped hitting the Hunter to stare into space as babies often do, letting the pup bat at his dangling appendage. After a moment, the Hunter pup bit into the tongue with another growl, but this growl was of a much more playful nature. This snapped the Smoker out of it and he looked down at the pup before getting off and sitting beside the other baby, doing nothing to stop the Hunter from playing.

The pup, however, realized the baby Smoker was still there and, unwilling to share his new toy, began to tumble away with the tongue in his mouth. The Smoker watched this, his tongue getting longer before deciding that he wanted his own tongue back. He began to pull it in. The pup yelped in surprise as the tongue pulled him back and he looked over his shoulder to the other baby, who sat there with a pouting expression as he reeled the tongue back. The Hunter squeaked in protest and pulled back, wanting to keep the toy. But even this bout of hostility turned into yet another fun activity and the Hunter began to purr and growl happily at the Tug-a-War game. The Smoker wasn't amused at first, but he soon began to give little happy coughs back. These happy sounds were understood by both babies and their willing game continued for a few minutes before the Smoker began to cough rather violently again and bit down on his tongue by accident. The tongue detached rather easily and the pup yelped as he stumbled off balance and fell over.

Confused, the pup sat back up, the tongue's remains still dangling from his mouth. He tilted his head at the Smoker, who continued to cough for a few more seconds before stopping and realizing that his tongue was gone. Despite having learned that his tongue will grow back soon, he seemed rather distressed about it and began to sniffle and cry. The pup was confused even more, but could smell blood from the baby and from his new toy. And just as the happy sound was understood, the other baby's unhappy sounds seemed universal. Giving a soft whimper in response, the pup made the decision and scurried back to the Smoker baby, dropping the tongue to return it as if that'll fix everything.

The Smoker hiccuped a bit and looked at the tongue, then at the pup, who offered a tiny smile. After a moment, the little Smoker began to smile back.

Yay, another chapter! I intended this to be done earlier as an Easter present, but we had a party and I couldn't finish it on time, meh... The girls in the beginning are based off my actual friendship with my best friend! Love ya, Rae! And lookie, the baby Smoker and Hunter pup became friends! Anyway, I can't thank all of you guys enough for reviewing so eagerly; I admit, I was way nervous about this story, but yall's encouraging reviews helped ease my nerves. To everyone else, thank you so much for even reading this far into the story; lets me know I'm doing something right! :)

Happy late (by an hour) Easter, everyone!