Here is your new chapter 5 enjoy. Explanation for the delay is in the Authors Note at the end.

The usual disclaimer still applies. I DO NOT OWN L4D, L4D2, VALVE, OR ANYTHING ELSE OTHER THAN MY OC AND THE PLOT.

It's been 4 weeks since my run-in with Mike and Joe. For the first week or so I was able to keep busy with looking for a safe house of my own, and not once did I even consider staying in their safe house, not even for a single night. Turns out, however, that finding a safe place to stay was the least of my worries. During my fight with Mike and Joe I had given my hunter half full control of my mind and body, but what I didn't realize was how strong that half was. It took me almost 4 days before I was able to suppress her again. I knew that if I didn't figure out how to control her one of two things was going to happen. Either she was going to completely take over one of these days, or we were both going to end up dead.

At first I tried shut her out completely but that proved to be both extremely difficult and dangerous. Not only did it take most of my concentration to keep her down, but it also dulled my senses and my reaction time by great deal. A zombie would be almost on top of me before I would realize it was even there. After a few close calls that were a little too close for comfort I decided that she and I were far too integrated for one to exist without the other. So instead of blocking her I begin to learn how to work with her.

It took a few days for us to work out who would be in charge and when, but once we did we truly began to survive. While out searching for food or supplies I would be in control but I would borrow her heightened senses such as her sense of hearing and smell. If I would have to focus on one thing in particular, such as searching a room or building, we would share control. I would retain control of my arms, legs, and sight but she would take over my other senses and my reflexes. While searching our flight or fight response would be on a hair-trigger. If we needed to flee she would take control of my body but I would still control our mind and guide her where to go. This arrangement also helped us to get around the city fairy well. However if we were forced into a close quarters confrontation with either a zombie or special infected, with no possible means of escape, I would give her full control to increase our odds of survival. The only bit of control that I would keep would be to tell her when it was time to stop attacking and start running.

Surprisingly sleeping turned out to be the easiest part workout. Before we found our safe house we were stuck sleeping out in the open which meant we could never drop our guard. Once we found a safe spot for the night I would work out the best escape route, have something to eat, then I would settle down and allow my half of our shared bring to sleep through the night. At the first sign of sunlight I would wake up and let her to sleep through the morning while I scouted around.

Once we found a safe house that we liked we were able to settle down and start work out a life for ourselves in this new world. We begin to spend more time searching for food and other supplies such as ammo and other such necessities. One thing I was always searching for was sunglasses because I found out that glowing red eyes act like a beacon to any zombie that happens to see it. With all the moving around I do most pairs of sunglasses only last a few days before I either lose them or they break.

It was while I was out searching a supermarket in the eastern half of the city for some food when an ear piercing shriek cut through the air. I was out the door and halfway up the side of the building in an instant, but when I reach the roof I realized it wasn't the predatory scream of a zombie that had found its next meal. It was an out of control freight train charging forward at full speed straight at the pile up of other trains in the freight yard across the river. It wasn't the first train to come through and it certainly wasn't going to be the last, but as I was about to turn and leave something out of the corner of my eye I caught my attention. In shocked disbelief I watched as four figures jumped from the doomed train and land in the river just a second before it collided with the pile up and explode.

I was so shocked to see what could only be more survivors that I didn't even bother to try and find cover as debris from the explosion a half mile away began to fall around me. It took a small piece of shrapnel slicing open my cheek to jar me back out of my stupor. My hand flew up to my cheek to assess the damage but I already knew it would be completely gone in a few minutes time, such are the perks of being a mutant hybrid with the accelerated healing of the special infected.

I wanted to turn and run away from the river where I can see the heads of the survivors breaking the surface as their need for air became too great. With my encounter with Mike and Joe being the only other interaction I have ever had with other people, it's pretty easy to see why I would want to avoid any other confrontations. I don't know why but for some reason I started to make my way to the river's edge instead of away from it. If I stayed up on the rooftops I would be able to follow them from behind and stay out of sight while I decided whether I could risk alerting them to my presence. I got to the last roof just as the survivors reached the edge of the fortified wall that kept the river from eroding away the dirt underneath the street that ran right next to it. I briefly wondered how they were going to climb out since the wall extended at least three feet up from the water's edge. There were no ladders or large pieces of debris that they could climb out with, and the river's water had worn the face of the wall smooth so hand and foot holds were likely few and very far between.

I was looking around for something that might help them get out when a grunt and a splash drew my attention back to them. After a few failed attempts I finally saw a pair of hands emerge over the edge of the wall and get a good grip. When the owner of the hands had pulled himself up and over the edge of the wall I gasped and took an involuntary step back. He was a large man with thick arms that were covered in tattoos. He was wearing a white shirt and a black vest that looked like it had been through a lot even before the world went to h***.

After taking a moment to catch his breath the giant of a man reached down to help his comrades climb up the wall. First was a man with a green coat and once he was on his feet he reached for his back pocket and slipped on a hat with a strange symbol on it. He was old, but looked rather healthy. Next was a bald man with a white long sleeved shirt and a red tie, but what surprised me most was the fact that his skin was a much darker color than any other person I had seen. When the larger man reach down and helped up the last member of their group I was completely caught off guard, instead of another man I saw a woman. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail but it was still a mess from her jump in the water. She had a red jacket on with a white shirt underneath.

After he had helped all his companions climb out the large man tried to use a pole sticking out of the top of wall to help himself stand up, but the pole broke and sent him headfirst back into the water with a surprise yell. The older man turned around at the sound of the splash and look back over the edge, "Come on Francis, stop messing around. You know we don't have time for that."

"You know I didn't decide to jump back in because I liked it in here Bill. Now quit your complaining and help me up."

The older guy, who I assumed was Bill, let out a sigh and motioned for the guy with the darker skin to help him. Once they had gotten Francis back onto dry ground he shook himself off and exclaimed, "I HATE the water."

The woman just smiled and shook her head, "Sure you do Francis." She then turn to the old man with slight scowl on her face, "So what now Bill. Your grand plan of riding the train to the coast has literally gone up in flames, we have no idea how far inland that little switch the tracks sent us and we all lost our weapons during that lovely little dip in the river."

Any response he would have given to her little outburst was drowned out by a sound I had learned to fear since they day I broke out of the lab, the screaming cry of a hungry zombie that has found its next meal. Before the first cry had faded it was joined by dozens of others as the horde round the corner a block away and spotted the four survivors. Without another word between them all four survivors took off running down the muddy strip of land and blacktop that separated the solid line of buildings on their left, and the river and its retaining wall on their right. Whether by unspoken consent or just force of habit they fell in line with Bill in the front leading the group. Keeping to the rooftops I followed the survivors to see if they could survive the horde without any weapons or outside assistance.

When it became apparent they would not be able to outrun the horde I watched as Bill turned down a side street and begin to weave their way around the buildings. At first it seemed to be working as the gap between the survivors and zombies started to grow, but then I realize which street Bill had picked. Out of all the streets and alleyways that he could have chosen he picks the only one that leads to an unavoidable dead end. Any branches were either blocked off or ended up looping back around to connect with the main route. The survivors were heading into a deadly trap.

With each turn and much needed break to catch their breath the horde behind them got closer and closer. By the time they reach the dead-end the horde had reached the mouth of the alley and sealed them in. The only other way out was an old rusted fire escape at the far end but its ladder was pulled up too high for even the tallest of them to reach. With the horde only seconds away from reaching the survivors I didn't have any time to think or even consider my options. I jumped to the top of the fire escape, unhooked the pipe bomb from my belt and tossed it into the heart of the swarm that was now at least 50 strong. The distraction bought me enough time to climb down to the first landing on the escape and kick the ladder loose, even though it took me three kicks to free it from the rust and grime that had built up on it from countless years of disuse. By the time the end of the ladder hit the ground with a loud crash my distraction was nearing the end of its run and the infected begin to notice their surroundings again.

The survivors were so stunned by the sudden rescue from there seemingly imminent death that I had to scream at them to get moving. Immediately they begin to work their way up in the same order as I had seen them running in. Bill was in the lead position with the woman behind him, the darker skinned man in the third spot, and Francis bringing up the rear. Just as I was about to make my way back up the stairs I heard a low moaning growl that stopped me in my tracks. I turned just in time to see the Charger crash into the wall below us with its rock like super arm. The sudden impact shook the fire escape so much I was knocked off the first landing to the hard concrete below. Before I could get my feet under me the charger grabbed me in its massive hand and began to slam me into the ground with bone jarring force. No matter how hard I tried I could not get myself lose as the beast continued to smash me into the hard ground.

Just as I had resigned myself to the fact that I was going to be beaten to death by this mutation I heard the repetitive blasts of an assault rifle being fired. After what sounded like an entire clip had been fired the Charger collapsed into a lifeless mound with a bloody mangled lump where its head used to be. After taking a moment to make sure nothing was broken or internally damaged I climbed the ladder and made my way to the top of the building.

Just as I made it over the edge of the roof there was an ear splitting screech as the joints holding the top of the fire escape tore away from the building and sent the whole pile of metal crashing into the hoard below. As I reached down to rest my hands on my knees and catch my breath I heard the sound of a gun being cocked. I looked up and thought to myself, "Wow this looks awfully familiar", as I once again find myself staring down the business end of a gun, except this time it was my own assault rifle in the hands of Bill, a man whose life I just saved while almost losing my own in the process.

Feeling a little pissed I couldn't help it state, with more than a little edge to my voice, "Wow if this is how you say "thank you" to someone who just saved your a**, remind me to never get on your bad side. Save someone who saved your life just so you can threaten to kill them yourself."

Apparently I wasn't the only one who was upset with the current situation as the woman begin to berate Bill, "What the h*** are you doing. If it wasn't for her we would be dead by now."

"Zoey you know full well what happened to us the last time we blindly trusted someone who saved us," he answered angrily. "We ended up as military lab rats because we are carriers."

"Well I guess that's another thing we have in common," I said pulling Bill's attention back to me. "We're both survivors, we're both carriers, we both have no love for the military, and we both know the clip in that gun is completely empty. So why don't you put it down and help the rest of us find a way off this roof so we can get back to my safe house where you and I can get back to trying to kill each other in peace."

After another moment or two of tense silence Bill relaxed as slung the rifle over his shoulder. Having finally caught my breath I walked over to where I had tossed my backpack and checked to make sure nothing had broken when I dropped it to lighten my load. Satisfied that everything was okay I slung it over my shoulder and walked to the far side of the roof where the others had gathered. As I approached I could both see and, thanks to my hunter half, hear as Bill and Zoey had a very heated but quite argument over whether or not I should be asked to join their group.

I decided to put an end to that train of thought and said, "Okay here's how it's going to go. I'm going to take you guys back to my safe house and let you get at least one decent night's sleep. In the morning I'll give you guys a few weapons and supplies and take you to the edge of the city. After that you guys are on your own."

For a second it looked like Zoey wanted to argue but seemed to realize it would be pointless and let it go. One by one the others agreed and I couldn't help but sigh, it was going to be a long night.

Authors Note

The explanation for the long delays between my chapters is on my profile page, but this one has more cause for delay than others. I had this chapter finished over 2 months ago and had sent it off to one of my friends who proofreads for me. But once a few weeks had passed with no response from her I decided to search the beta pages of this site for a beta reader. While I was waiting for a response from one of the betas I asked another friend of mine contacted me and agreed to proof my chapters until I could get an official beta.

Since I want to avoid another delay like this last one from now on I will post chapters differently. As soon as I finish a chapter I will post it here, but I do warn readers it will have numerous grammar mistakes. Once I get it fixed and checked I will swap it for the bad copy.

While I do not enjoy the idea of posting a chapter as rife with grammatical mistakes as mine it has come to my attention that some of the readers of my story seem to get upset if I do not post in a timely manner. One reviewer, who does not have an account on this site and so remains anonymous, has left a few upsetting reviews.

To that reader, and you know who you are, all I have to say is that I do not know if the review you left on 6/21/13 was meant to be in jest but it was still rather upsetting to me. While it is good to know that someone is really excited in my story, when things like that are said in a review it takes away from the complement.