Disclaimer: I have never, ever owned Left 4 Dead...no matter how much I want to...
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Chapter 2
A strange noise. He's never heard anything like it. It was soft and quick, but very urgent and insistent. The young Smoker gave a soft hum as he began to wake up fully from his rather uneasy nap, stifling a cough as best he could without success as he did so. Rubbing his bright yellow eye, which was slightly glazed with sleepiness, he sat up with a little yawn before looking around for the source of the weird sound. The sound itself wasn't threatening at all; if anything it sounded pleading and a bit desperate. It didn't take too long to realize this new noise was coming from his new friend, who was sitting a couple feet away, facing away from him. Tilting his head a bit, the Smoker gave a confused cough, at which the pup stopped for a moment to glance over his shoulder in acknowledgement before resuming his calls.
It was night, the moon just barely moving past its highest point. Naturally nocturnal, the two didn't mind the darkness and can see perfectly in such low light. It made the little Hunter feel safer, as it will be easier to hide from the attention of strangers, although there was a downside to their night-time schedule: they weren't the only ones awake at this hour. This was peak activity for the other Infected and their chances of being spotted actually increased just for that fact alone. Not to mention the Smoker's green smoke wasn't much help in that department. Of course, all this was beyond the conscious knowledge of the little ones; they still had lots to learn about the world and how to go about living in it. No, they only thought of the here and now in simple terms and for the Hunter pup, it meant he was hungry. He's been awake for about an hour now, mewling into the darkness, still hoping his parents would arrive soon to help. So far, he's gotten no response and his little voice was starting to get a bit hoarse from his efforts.
The Smoker continued to watch his new companion make the weird sounds before looking around distractedly, cooing softly in response to each of the pup's mews. Fiddling with his tongue, he began to feel uneasiness after a few minutes, his instincts noticing the pup's calls gradually getting louder. He did not like that at all. Shifting to his feet, he stood for only a second before a cough sent him back down on his bottom. He sat there, confused for a second as to how he got back in this position, before standing again and toddling over to the pup with a whimper. This got a whimper in response and, wanting to move elsewhere, the little Smoker grasped onto the pup's coat and tugged like he would his sister whenever he wanted her to follow him. The pup didn't move, confused by this and starting to give a little growl at each tug. Coughing insistently, the other baby kept tugging, instinctively curling his tongue around the pup to get him moving. But instead of moving, the pup assumed this was a game and plopped to the floor, rolling over and mouthing the tongue playfully.
Whining and puffing out more smoke, the other infant tried to pull his tongue away, lightly fisting the pup to make him stop. The Hunter only saw this as part of the game, however, and righted himself to 'pounce' on his playmate, sending them back on the ground. The Smoker blinked, even more confused at this before trying to wriggle away in protest. Why was this pup so difficult? Didn't he understand that it was time to go? A playful growl answered that question and the Smoker child felt like giving up, going still and allowing the pup to bite and bat to his heart's content. But playing with a ragdoll was boring and the pup eventually stopped with a questioning tilt of his head. Finally free, the other baby got up and took the easiest course of action: toddling off on his own. Alarmed at being left behind, the pup clumsily stumbled after his friend with a whimper.
Traveling was not something either baby did very often, both having never left the security of home before their individual incidents. Now forced out into the world so suddenly, practically everything was a new experience and the two found that they had different ways of approaching new objects in general. Upon seeing things like cars and streetlights, the young Smoker stayed back in heavy caution, instinct telling him to be wary until he learned that a trash can was not going to lunge to attack, or a Med Kit wasn't going to eat him. The Hunter pup, on the other hand, investigated every new object of interest very thoroughly, feeling the massive urge to stick his little nose into everything. Through this, he learned that the street wasn't water and could be stood on and that fire extinguishers were not edible. In between getting stuck to something or having something stuck to him, the pup let out more loud mews, still convinced that if he called long enough and loud enough, his mommy and daddy would respond.
But his calls were eventually responded to, just not in the way he desired. A Common groaned and hissed at the mewling sounds and began to follow it, a very vague but spiteful instinct urging him to track the insistent noise all the way to the source: Food. Two unprotected babies. Easy targets. He growled.
The Smoker looked up towards the growling sound and spotted a large figure. It wasn't nearly as tall as his daddy, but was imposing nonetheless. He didn't know why, but his cautiousness rose dramatically at the sight and he let out a whimpering little wheeze. The Hunter pup couldn't see what upsetting his friend, as his head was currently stuck in a small cardboard box he was sniffing in. Luckily, sight wasn't exactly his most important sense and he would hear and smell the stranger quite clearly. Recognizing it as a threat, both by instinct and from vague memories of his parents' past reactions to these particular creatures, he gave a defiant little growl in his best attempt at being scary. But even with a box covering his hooded head, he can tell that the 'unwittingly-being-adorable-when-trying-to-be-scary' tactic wasn't working, if he were to guess by the approaching footsteps. With that, he backed up with a whimper, his bravado leaving him in an instant. He felt his friend tugging his coat and this time, he knew exactly what it meant: The two infants high-tailed it out of there as fast as their little legs can go.
But it was very soon apparent who the faster one was. Although the Common and his kind had a reputation for mindlessness, he certainly knew how to give chase and how to be fast about it. The little one's were at a heavy disadvantage from the start, their clumsy little gaits no real match. In a few seconds, they'll be nothing more than a meal for the fellow Infected. It didn't help that the Hunter pup was weighed down and generally hindered by the box, but he continued to follow his friend via listening for the footsteps and the distinctive little coughs. But listening to footsteps and wheezing wasn't enough to properly sense obstacles and the pup tripped and stumbled to the ground. At least the fall removed the unwilling 'hat' on his head, but he was too dazed to take any sort of advantage.
All the pup could do was whimper as he looked up at the snarling Common, instinctively curling up as tightly as he could. He could hear the panicked cries of his friend, but there was nothing either of them could do. The Common took a swipe at the pup, who yelped and screamed loudly in response and the adult zombie was just about to give a strong kick to end the pup's life when a few other Commons ran over, attracted by the prospect of a kill. However, the original Common instinctively knew there would not be enough to go around and he grabbed the pup roughly, hissing and snarling as the others turned violent. The pup only cringed and whined as he was fought over, hurting all over as the Commons pulled at him and struck at each other.
Nearby, the young Smoker wanted to run, but hearing the distress cries of his comrade kept him glued to the spot. His own instincts were contradicting each other, confusing him even more. He wanted so badly to give his assistance, to do something to save the only companion he had left, but could do nothing but stay back and watch the chaos. Why did he have to be so small and helpless? Why can't he be big and strong and scary like his daddy? Unable to help himself, he began to sniffle and cry, hiccuping as the crystal clear image of his father and sister materialized in his brain, along with the fuzzy image of his mother. Holding in a louder wail, he almost didn't notice when their luck changed: in the scuffle, the Hunter pup was dropped and forgotten and the youngster made no hesitation in stumbling towards his friend.
Taking a moment to comprehend that he wasn't going to be alone after all, the Smoker began to cheer up and huggled his friend tightly, giving an infantile hum of delight. The pup was confused by the gesture and was going to give a questioning growl when they heard the screech of the fighting Commons. Maybe they should start running before their feuding predators gained focus... Turning tail, the babies went off again, the knowledge to avoid Commons now deeply embedded in their minds.
Slowing down after the scary monsters were out of sight, the baby Smoker went into a long-held coughing fit as the Hunter pup began sniffing around. It wasn't to explore as he was no longer in much of a mood to be curious. He just hadn't failed to notice that there was a familiar scent in the air, a very familiar and reassuring scent. It smelled like comfort; it smelled like...home. And if he wasn't mistaken, he could smell his mommy too. With an excited squeak, he stumbled off, ignoring any lingering pain from his previous hostile encounter. That smell was just too wonderful to ignore and he wasn't going to let anything stop him from following it.
The young Smoker had just finished his little fit when he noticed the pup going off seemingly to nowhere. Tilting his head a bit, the confused Smoker hurried to catch up, cooing questionably. The pup responded with an even louder and more enthusiastic squeak as he made his way to a nearby alley way. By this time, the Smoker could smell an almost familiar scent. Almost, but not quite. Plus, there was the strong smell of blood, but given that everything smells like blood around here, that didn't seem like much of an issue. The Hunter certainly ignored that part of the scent as he turned the corner and cried out joyously. The Smoker, extremely hesitant but curious, poked his head around the corner to look at what was causing all this excitement. What he saw gave him a strange feeling of familiarity. Maybe because he lived in an alley too...or maybe because his mommy was laying there. No, wait, it wasn't his mommy. The smell was very similar, but very different. No, it was another Witch altogether. He felt heavily disappointed.
The Hunter pup was feeling the exact opposite. He felt elated to be back on familiar ground, back in his mother's presence. Through his excitement, he didn't seem to notice the large amounts of blood nor the trauma that has been inflicted. All he knew was that he had his mommy back and he snuggled into her. His glee making him ignore the unusual coolness of the body, he purred and cooed, nudging his mother's claws to encourage her to pet him in the loving way she always did. She didn't respond, of course, so he pushed himself under her hand, instinctively careful of the long daggers decorating each of her fingers. Nuzzling and licking the hand over him, he looked at his friend just outside the alley way and gave a delighted chirp. His friend didn't budge, still wary of the whole situation.
Unable to stay still for any length of time, the pup squirmed out from beneath the hand and curled up against his mother's neck, cuddling even more before rolling over to be groomed. But strangely, his mommy made no move to clean him. He gave a mew before pausing expectantly for her response. Still absolutely nothing. Maybe he needed to move to a better spot. He got back to his little hands and feet and shifted in front of his mommy's bloodied face before rolling over and mewing again. Silence. Why wasn't mommy doing anything? Maybe she's taking a nap. He should wake her up; grooming him was a necessity right now. The pup nudged and prodded at his mother, cooing and squeaking more and more insistently with each passing second. After a while, he tried a different tactic and backed up a bit, sitting down and mewing nonstop for attention.
The Smoker, having determined that there was no threat here, went closer into the alley and felt another sense of deja vu as he watched his comrade's attempts to wake the grown up. More devastating images of the incident came up in his mind: how he tried to wake up his daddy, staying for hours as he had continued his efforts, before instinct finally forced him to accept that daddy wasn't going to move, wasn't going to get up to reassure the frightened youngster, wasn't going to be with him anymore. That same instinct forced him to leave the area practically against his own will. Now, here he was, watching the exact same process all over again with this Hunter pup. His infantile mind couldn't really understand the fine details, of course, but that didn't stop the feeling of empathy towards his friend. Coughing a bit before giving a sad hum, the child wandered over to the mewing pup and grabbed that soft coat again, tugging.
The pup, having learned what that gesture meant not too long ago, was extremely reluctant...to say the least. He didn't wanna go now that he was home; he was going to stay here with his mommy! Growling in warning, the pup dug his little claws into the ground to stay put. But the Smoker was determined to leave and kept on tugging, eventually resorting to using his tongue. This was enough to budge the pup, who squirmed in panic before lashing out at the fellow baby, biting hard into his arm. The Smoker practically screamed and let the pup go, stumbling back onto his bottom and looking towards the pain. Green blood and spores came from the bite wound and the young Infected began to sniffle before glaring angrily at the pup. He got back up to his feet and then pushed the other baby over. The Hunter yelped, both in surprise and pain, before growling in an equal amount of anger. But the Smoker child already walked away into a corner deeper down the alley, plopping down into a sit with a heavy pouting expression.
The Hunter gave a tiny huff before righting himself and resuming his demanding mews, unwittingly opting to make himself learn the hard way. Luckily, his loud mews didn't attract Commons this time, but it did alert someone to his presence...
Groaning, Rae woke up from her sleep, shifting in her sleeping bag before sitting up with a yawn. What time is it? Late, according to how dark it still was. Now, what was it that woke her up. Listening carefully, she heard a strange and unusual sound. What was that? Shifting out of her sleeping bag a bit, she looked about, allowing her eyes to adjust to the darkness before focusing on her friend. "Hey, Sparky..." she muttered sleepily. "Sparky..." Nothing. Shifting out of the bag some more, Rae reached out with her foot and poked her friend's inert body. "Sparks, wake up."
"Huh...?" Sparky responded, finally stirring from whatever dream she was having. "Is it breakfast time yet?"
"Nah. Do you hear that?" Rae responded with a stretch.
"Hear what?" Silence as the girls listened to the darkness. Each second felt like forever and Sparky was just about to doze back to sleep before: Mew...Mew...Mew... "What the hell...?" was her only response as she shifted out of her sleeping sack, Rae standing up completely as they both stared at the safe room door. After a few more minutes of hearing the mysterious sound, Sparky decided to speak what her conclusion of the source was. "It sounds like a kitten."
"A kitten?" Rae questioned logically. After all, what would a kitten be doing in a zombie apocalypse? If she wasn't mistaken, human children were mostly killed off by the disease, so wouldn't young animals be killed off too? Even if that wasn't the case, how can a kitten survive the world out there? Even a full grown cat would be small enough to find it nearly impossible. But then what else could be making such a noise? It was so kitten-like, there had to be no explanation... "Or maybe it's an Infected." she offered.
True, they've never met an Infected that sounded like that, but in a world practically swarming with them, it seemed highly possible. In the darkness, she hardly noticed as Sparky moved and when she realized that fact, the older member of the duo was already at the door. Immediately concerned of her friend's intentions, Rae walked over hastily and shook her head. "What're you doing, Sparky? You can't go out there." she said worriedly. Sparky looked back at her with a pleading face.
"I know, but what if there is a kitten out there? We can't just leave it all alone, especially not when we're in the middle of the freakin' Holocaust."
Rae nodded as she knew that was true. Only a cold-hearted bastard would leave a defenseless little kitten to die out in this dangerous world, and she was certainly NOT a cold-hearted bastard. She was a friendly person with a love for animals that equalled that of her companion's. They had to help the poor little thing. It's probably cold and starving by now. "Okay, but be careful." she warned.
"I know. If it is an Infected, I'm prepared." Sparky grabbed her gun for emphasis, clicking the safety off and ready to shoot if this turned out to be nothing but a trap. With her now-armed friend having her back, she opened the door cautiously and peeked out and what she saw stunned her beyond belief, her voice barely managing a whisper. "O...M...G... Rae... Look..."
"What?" Rae asked, squeezing a bit passed her bud to see what the cause of the sudden mood change was. Catching sight of it, her mouth dropped as far down as it could, eyes wide. "Whoa..."
There was a mini Hunter sitting there in front of the Witch's body and it was the one making the mewing sounds. They couldn't believe it; a baby Hunter. They didn't even know the undead could reproduce. Well, technically, the Infected were still alive, so maybe it was possible. They just never thought they'd come to a situation like this.
There was a cough and both the pup and the girls reacted at the same time. The humans raised their guns automatically, fingers set to squeeze the trigger. After all, coughing almost always equalled Smoker and their alarm was practically a reflex by now, despite the cough sounding a bit too high-pitched and childish. The pup, meanwhile, snapped his attention to the humans and cried out in alarm, stumbling to press against the Witch's body. Seeing that they were frightening the baby, Sparky took the risk to lower her weapon as Rae continued to scan the rooftops. Stepping completely from the safe room door, she lowered herself onto her knees and spoke softly, reaching a hand towards the pup.
"It's okay, we're not going to hurt you, little one." The pup growled in response, especially when Rae stepped out the safety of the door as well, still scanning.
"Careful, Sparks. I don't know anything about the ways of Infected parents, but I'm not doubting that the little guy has a mommy or daddy somewhere."
There was a few seconds of silence as Sparky studied the pup, who stayed huddled tightly against the Witch's body, and what her mind brought up made her feel a heavy sense of guilt. "Rae... I think this Witch was his mommy..."
"Oh..." Rae muttered, lowering her gun too at the revelation. Wow, now they both felt like shit. They killed off a mother...and now the baby no doubt thought its parent was still going to protect it from them. That was a heartbreaking thought and Sparky scooted closer to the pup, who cringed back even more.
"Oh, baby, we're sorry... If we knew she was your mommy, then..." She didn't know what to say and it didn't seem to matter. The pup most likely didn't understand her. She scooted closer and reached out, taking the risk and taking gentle hold of the pup, picking him up as he squirmed and struggled with a cry. Immediately, there was another whine from deeper in the alley and Rae felt something wrap against her ankle. Gun ready for the Smoker, her eyes followed the tongue to...
"Sparky. There's another one." she said, pointing at the green smoke surrounding the tiny little figure. Sparky glanced over and saw the other baby before gently and carefully handing the still-squirming Hunter pup to her friend. Approaching the young Smoker, she saw it was backed into a corner, eye wide in fright at her approach. If anything, this little one looked even more frightened of them than the pup and she immediately went down to her knees to appear smaller and less threatening.
"Hey, there. Are you the little Hunter's brother?" she asked gently.
"I don't think so." Rae answered, coming over with the struggling pup in her arms before bending down to unwrap the tongue from her ankle. The appendage was surprisingly strong for it coming from such a little critter, but it was still relatively easy to remove from her leg. She then stood back up straight as the Hunter began to whimper. "If the Witch is the Hunter's mom, then the dad has to be a Hunter too...Right?"
"Makes sense." Sparky responded before looking back to the terrified Smoker. "No need to be scared, lil fella. We're friends." She reached out for him and the baby pushed himself even tighter against the corner, starting to cry before trying to retract his tongue for another attempt to defend himself. Sparky took the opportunity to pick him up, holding on to the wriggling infant. "Shhhhh... It's okay." Turning back to Rae, she gave another pleading look. "Can we keep them?"
Rae was taken aback. "Keep them? Sparky, these two aren't puppies or kittens. They're Infected babies. They could still be dangerous." Something else popped into her mind and she casted a glance to the rooftops once more. "Besides, what about the Hunter's dad? Or the Smoker's parents? They could be nearby."
Quite unexpectedly, Sparky stupidly yelled into the distance. "HEY! IF THERE'S ANY SMOKERS OR HUNTERS AROUND, COME CLAIM YOUR BABIES!" she shouted as her friend facepalmed. How stupid can this girl get, yelling like that? Now every Infected within a 5 mile radius knew where they were. But Sparky seemed rather unfazed by this as she gave a goofy smile. "See? Nothing."
"Doesn't mean they aren't out there." Rae pointed out, sighing before looking down at the Hunter in her arms. The little guy had stopped struggling and was clinging to her arm like his life depended on it, clearly scared to death and not knowing what will become of them. She'll admit, despite the pain of the little one's claws pricking through her sleeve and skin, the tiny pup was adorable, especially when he looked up at her with a scared face and a horrified whimper. "Okay. We can keep them in the safe room for tonight. Hopefully, another Infected will take care of them soon, especially after your broadcast."
And again, quite abruptly: "OKAY, MR. HUNTER AND MR. SMOKER, WE'LL KEEP YOUR BABIES WITH US UNTIL WE FIND YOU!" Insert another facepalm from her friend.
"Would you please stop that?"
"My bad." Sparky responded sheepishly before smiling. "Thanks, Rae. I'd huggle you, but both our hands are full." She looked down at the Smoker, who stopped his struggles as well and was staring wide eyed at the Hunter pup, clinging to her arm with his little hands and tongue. "I'm gonna name you...Ace." That was one of her most preferred names; before the Infection, she named some of her OCs that and she also given her bicycle that name. Nothing was stopping her from applying the title to this cute little guy. She returned her gaze to Rae. "Are you gonna name the Hunter?"
"You do know we're not keeping them long, right? Just for the night." Giving another sigh, she looked down at the Hunter, still reluctant about keeping Infected in the safe room. The pup whined and whimpered before quite unexpectedly cuddling tight against her. She couldn't keep back a smile at the general cuteness and she nodded. "I'm gonna name him Tao." That was the name of the dog she used to own. And since Hunters are so dog-like as it is, it made sense to give the little pup such a significant name.
And it seemed the babies were already warming up to them, as both were snuggling tightly into their respective human carriers. But that cuddling was not without good reason. Snarls, groans, and hisses rose up as the girls finally sensed the Commons that were no doubt racing their way, lured by Sparky's previous outbursts. The two girls wasted no time in going back into the safe room, slamming the door into the first of the zombie's face and putting the babies down to secure the entrance before they both sighed. That was a close one. Looking about for the babies, they found them huddled together in a corner, shivering as they stared in the direction of the two girls. Both humans tried to look as gentle as they could as they slowly walked towards the two, Rae actually going down to all fours to resemble a Hunter a little bit better. But the babies were not fooled and they both screamed as they held each other tight, cringing as they waited for the humans to eat them.
The girls sighed, knowing their advances were only frightening the young ones more. Sparky looked over to Rae, hoping she would have an idea to help, but the 'leader' of the duo merely shook her head. "Maybe it's for the best. Probably shouldn't teach them to like humans, just in case their families arrive or something." Sparky reluctantly nodded, standing back up and flopping down on her sleeping bag; she couldn't decide if she was still sleepy or not. The other girl looked towards the safe room door. Commons were still hissing and growling as they reach inside in vain, but they'll begin to disperse sooner or later for an easier meal. Grinning as she watched them, she turned her attention to her roommate, putting on a serious face.
"And this is not your fault, right?" Rae said, both playfully and sarcastically. Sparky instantly responded with a beam as she got up to mini glomp her friend.
"Nope nope nope!"
Again, I intended this to be a present for the holiday (Mother's Day), but again, I'm way late. *sigh* Oh well, at least the chapter was submitted and that's what really matters. In other news, I put up a link on my profile leading to a drawing of the little babies. You can check it out if ya want.
Anyway, Happy (late...again) Mother's Day everyone!