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Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead.

Chapter 4: The Screamer

Zoey POV:

Sleeping more than three hours was never really possible during a zombie apocalypse. Either you would wake-up to the sound of someone else screaming or you would wake-up to your own. Nightmares plagued everyone, no matter how tough you were; once you fell asleep you were alone in your own mind with no one there to comfort you. So as you're walking through the streets of your old neighborhoods and fighting off horde after horde of the undead, those hours you lay lying awake begin to catch up with you and you start to lose the energy to go on.

That's what was happening to all of them. She knew because she could see it in their eyes as they loaded their guns and opened the safe house door to continue their journey. It wasn't even quite dawn, but it didn't matter what time of day it was because the sky was always overflowing with gray clouds. Whether it was the smoke from all the burning buildings or just the infection itself, it had been hovering there for a couple of weeks and only glimpses of the sun had been seen.

Zoey herself was beginning to feel like a vampire, as her skin grew paler and her eyes always had dark circles underneath them. All she needed now were the fangs and she would be one of her favorite horror movie creatures.

When they had first came together as a group they moved like the wind. They tore through any infected in their way and would sleep all night and be fully rested, but now it was different. Zoey was scared about how bad they would all be next week, if they survived that long. It didn't matter right now though. Right now they needed to make it to the next safe house and get out of this godforsaken city.

The air around them was beginning to chill more and more these days and before long it would be below freezing. The light clothes they wore did nothing to block the icy wind as they continued silently on their way. Just as they were all beginning to shiver and they're teeth beginning to chatter, it had started to drizzle. If the mood of the survivors was bad before it was pissed now.

"Fuck." Was the only word that left Francis' mouth as they continued to trudge down the street.

It didn't take long for Zoey to notice something was wrong as she looked around her. Normally there would be random zombies stumbling around and Francis' yells of excitement as he blew one away with his shotgun. But, today there was nothing…Not a single trace of any infected in the area, only the deserted street stretched out before them.

"Something's off. Keep your guard up." Bill stated, speaking Zoey's exact thoughts.

"Maybe the zombies are cold." Zoey thought as she imagined a certain hunter shaking himself like a dog and then curling in a ball by the fire. She laughed and caught the rest of the group's attention and she quickly looked away from their confused stares.

Staring through an apartment window she tried to catch a glimpse of anything moving, but once again nothing was present. She was just about to voice her thoughts to the guys, as Bill had; when a long, ear-shattering, scream broke the calm air and suddenly all hell broke loose. The undead began pouring out of windows and doorways, jumping over cars, and knocking each other down as they sprinted toward the unknown individual screaming.

Zoey slammed her hands over her ears following the rest of the group's example. The scream continued to resound throughout the area and seemed to have no intent on stopping. Throwing their heads in every direction the survivors desperately looked for the source so they could kill it and stop the screaming. Suddenly Louis' voice rang out over the scream as he pointed toward the top of the apartment building closest to them.

A figure just barely visible sat teetering on the edge of the roof, rocking back and forth. Secured tightly around its body was a blood-stained straightjacket that kept its arms restrained so that there was no way for it to attack. Its black skinny jeans and Converse were a surprising comparison to the straightjacket. The long, black, matted hair hung around its face and was sticking out in every direction. Only one eye was visible and the sickening mucus color of it made Zoey shudder as its whole eye swiveled completely around in its head and went back to normal.

Something was terrifying about this infected and it's cries seemed to be attracting all the undead in the area.

"We have to shut this fucking thing up!" Francis said as he walked toward the building intending to walk up there and shoot it.

"Wait…" Zoey whispered as she stared at the shadowy figure leaping from roof to roof heading toward the screaming figure.

Hunter POV:

"Why the hell am I following them…umm…her?"

The Hunter growled as this thought ran through his head. When she had knocked him unconscious he had woken a few minutes later only to be shot at by the rest of her group. He had barely managed to escape and he knew one of the bullets fired from that damn shotgun had almost taken his head clean off.

Hunched over his whole body shook from the biting cold and the drizzle that had begun to fall about thirty minutes ago, still he refused to let the girl out of his line of sight and when that did happen he would slightly panic and begin sniffing for her. Now that the rain had begun it would be impossible to pick up her scent, so he was following them closer then he should be. One loud growl could alert them to his presence and he did not wish for another confrontation; not yet at least.

Pushing roughly against the ground he leapt a good fifteen feet in the air and grabbed on to a metal pipe. Swinging his body he flipped on to the pipe and jumped to a window seal. His mind contemplated on whether to go inside and dry off, but he immediately threw that thought out the window.

Chuckling at his own joke he grabbed the top of the window and pulled up hard and grabbed on to the edge of the roof and climbed up onto it.

"Why am I so determined to protect her?" He growled to himself. "I don't even know her, but I risked my life to save her…and who the hell does she think she is trying to kill me for saving her life?" His growls turned angry as he glared at the survivor and his silver eyes turned to a deep crimson. "That's it! I'm following her to teach her a lesson, that's gotta be it." He nodded his head, smiling at his own brilliance. "Shit…I gotta stop talking to myself…"

As he stared down at them he noticed the girls peculiar movements as she looked in random windows and her head spun in all directions. He was about the throw something at her just to make her piss herself when a startling scream broke the misty air.

Letting out a yelp of pain he grabbed his ears and put his head in between his knees hoping to block out the sound. He heard the sounds of the infected running from every direction to the source of the sound. He clenched his teeth as the scream grew louder in pitch. A moan escaped his lips as he released his ears and took off across the buildings heading toward whatever it was screaming.

Making the jump between the buildings he stiffened as he landed. His leg was still bothering him and kept aching and sending jolts of pain through his body when he leapt. Shaking it off he continued to bound toward the noise.

"This motherfucker is gonna die…" Was the only thought running through his head as he made the final jump and skidded to a halt. "There you are." He growled as he stalked toward the figure on the edge of the roof.

Smirking he looked over the edge and saw the survivors standing below and staring intently at him as he continued on his way toward the unknown assailant. Reaching down he grabbed the straightjacket and ripped the thing off the ground and into the air. The scream grew so loud and high in pitch the Hunter let out another yelp of pain and glared daggers at the thing. In one swift move he pushed it backwards and watched it tumble over the edge and heard the sickening crunch as it came in contact with the asphalt.

A cry of fear was heard from the girl and the Hunter grinned in triumph…

"Holy Shit! It's still alive!" Zoey cried as she took a step away from the infected being and quickly made sure her pistols were reloaded.

The Hunter heard her cry and looked over the edge as the thing moved and stumbled into a standing position. At that moment he was so glad he wasn't standing beside the thing because bullets tore through the air in a fury and it fell to the ground as a mutilated, bullet-filled lump.

The Hunter took this as a chance to leave as the survivors knelt down beside the now dead figure. He slowly backed up and disappeared from sight. The whole time his eyes were trained on the young woman…

Zoey POV:

"What the fuck was that?" Francis yelled as he prodded the lump with his foot and laughed when it emptied the contents of its stomach. Zoey and the rest of the group looked at him disgusted and Zoey bent down toward the thing.

"I don't know, but I suggest we get the hell outta here." Bill stated glancing around at the various zombies now moping around on the streets and roofs. The blood of the lump began absorbing into sidewalk as the rain made it spread out further.

"I can't believe they're still taking on new mutations. I thought we had already run into all of the special infected…" Zoey said glancing around her uneasily and slightly moving closer to the group as a form of comfort.

"I don't know what it was, but I sure as hell know what we can call it, a screamer. I thought that fucker would never stop screaming. Good thing that hunter came along and knocked his ass down here." Francis said as he reloaded his shotgun and began to walk away.

"Real creative Francis." Zoey thought sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

"You're right." Louis said standing up and heading toward the direction they were traveling before. "What's with these past two days anyways, with hunters I mean?" Louis chuckled. "Hey Zoey maybe you have a stalker." Stepping away from the strange infected they continued on their way.

"Oh haha Louis, or maybe Francis does…"She joked smirking at the end of her sentence. Francis glared back at her and grumbled something about gay hunters and assholes. Zoey and Louis laughed which only earned them a glare from Bill as he pointed toward the zombies. Their mouths snapped shut, but their eyes were full of laughter as they looked at each other.

Zoey glanced behind her and up to the roof of the apartment building. Crimson eyes bore into hers and with a single blink they were gone and she was left to wonder if they were ever really there at all…

Many cheesy jokes, I just can't resist. :P Please review my lovely readers and know how much I appreciate you all!