Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead.

Among The Bodies: Monsters Under The Bed

There couldn't have been a worse time. The growl stole my attention away from the horde and up to the sky. I was smart enough to throw the bomb first. I looked to roof of the house and to the trees in the distance, but I couldn't see anything but flying body parts. I looked to the others; they were doing the same gesture.

Our distraction brought the horde even closer and we snapped back into positions and started firing. I kept most of my focus on the air though, every ten or twenty mindless victims I killed, I would look up for a second and scan for anyone or anything with claws about to land and tear me to shreds.

The pipe bomb weakened the horde noticeably and left limbs to trip over. I shot a man in swim trunks in the chest twice, did a full turn and kicked one reaching for my ponytail. I got him in the knee and he fell to the ground. Feeling a hand around my ankle and teeth digging into my shoe, I yanked out of his grip and brought down my sneaker to the side of his head. One kick and he was dead.

Spinning around to whatever was behind me, I was a smacked across the face and hit in the stomach. I clutched my belly, and used my other hand to aim. Bill got him before I did, planting a bullet in the the neck of the infected. He reached out a hand and pulled me to my feet, and we both went back to fighting. I'll consider that my 'thank you' for earlier.

They were getting closer, and I wasn't sure how long it has been since the man on radio sent out a unit like he said, or even sent out a unit at all. We've been abandoned before. I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to leave us for dead dispite the promise of rescue.

The horde wasn't thinning out as it was doing a couple of minutes ago; instead, it seemed to thicken. I had a feeling we were going to run out of ammo before this was over. I reloaded and popped the pin on my second pipe bomb, throwing it out onto the mass crowd. The crowed weakened ever so slightly and we all took a deep breath before firing again.

"Their coming in too fast! Into the house!"

No one argued with Francis, and we backed into the house. They weren't coming as close as they were, but they were still flooding through the open door and windows. We kept backing up, until our backs hit the wall.

A stupid idea came to mind, but I yelled it out anyway. "Block them with the furniture! Louis, Francis!" I was given are-you-for-real-looks, but they ran over to the nearest couch and started to lift it. Bill and I stepped up to cover them. "Watch it!"

We stepped out of the way as they practically chucked the couch at the gap. The couch covered the entire doorway. Infected bat on it for a minute before figuring out that it wasn't going to budge. Now the only problem was the windows. "Find more stuff, we'll cover you!" I yelled, shooting through the broken glass of the windows. I could just feel Francis roll his eyes behind my back. I turned around to find him doing just that.

I huffed, something that was more of his thing, but I guess it was rubbing off on me. "Fine, I'll find something, cover me" And before he could protest, I started running up the stairs. Everything else downstairs was either too big or nailed to something else.

I ignored the smell of dried blood, and ducked under the broken ceiling. I spotted a chair in the corner. If it was big enough I could lodge it in a window.

Reaching out and picking it up by the seat, I turned and started heading downstairs, but a small rustle caught my attention. I used one hand to hold the chair, the other to aim one of my guns. There was a bed, in the opposite corner I found the chair in. It was covered in white sheets, blood stains clearly visible on them.

I could of sworn I saw something make movement underneath the bed. I squinted and tried to focus on the dark shape underneath. But hearing the sounds of fighting downstairs, I just assumed it was a rat and continued down.

"Francis! Catch!"

I tossed the chair to him and he lodged it in the nearest window. There were two more windows, both broken and infected still flooding out of them. I took out my handgun and joined in shooting whatever came through.

So it was just me and Louis with one window and Bill and Francis with the other. It was getting to be so easy; Bill leaned up against the wall to shoot the infected. How he could take on such a relaxed pose, I had no idea. All we had to do is aim for a single spot in continuous fire. The horde wasn't really that much of a horde anymore.

A little while later, infected stopped pouring through the opening and the screeching from outside had stopped. We finally had room to breathe again. I sunk down to the floor seeing as how the couch was now the new door. Bill lit another cigar, what looked like his fifth that day and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Can't you come up with ideas like that more often?"

I smiled at him. Though it sounded more like a scold, I knew it was just his way of saying way-to-go-kid. Even Francis nodded, though he seemed unimpressed."Get more ammo, we're not out of here yet." A pack of ammo was sent fly towards my face. I turned away and put my hands up to catch it before in came into contact with my already bruised up nose.

Catching it, brought it down to glare. Louis held up his hands, in an 'my bad' pose "Sorry" he chuckled. Grinning, I waved my gun in a playful manner, and stood up to full height. I wanted to go upstairs again. I needed to see what was underneath the bed. Could it be an infected? Maybe a scared survivor? Or maybe just a rat. Probably a rat.

A distant sound of a motor brought me back to current focus. It sounded like a boat, or a car. My eyes widened, and I looked to my teammates. Francis had a smug grin on his face and was slapping Louis on the back, who was peeking out a window. Bill was still smoking, blank faced as ever.

Louis peeked out the broken shards of glass, and I followed. I could see it through the fog and it got even louder now. Coming out of the woods was a large truck, a mud splattered, dirty, but human controlled truck. I saw three soldiers in the back, holding large guns and one of them holding a scanner of some sort. I couldn't see at this distance, but I felt my heat beat faster and the excitement of getting out of here was overtaking me.

"Bill, it's them…" My voice cracked ever so slightly, but I didn't care. Francis was already outside, having climbed out the window when I wasn't looking. He waved towards the truck, trying to catch their attention. Louis was following him, and I even found myself trying to climb through.

The sound of a throat clearing caught my attention and I shifted around to face Bill, who amusedly stood by the open door way. How an old man could push it down by himself, don't know, don't care. I chuckled for acting dumb, and removed myself from the window.

Following Bill, I had to cover my nose from the stench. There wasn't even a single fully intact body in sight. Everyone had some limb or other part missing. I took a notice of the pile of bodies by the two windows we fired at. They were all stacked up on each other, just a pile of rotting flesh.

Louis and Francis were already on the truck. Laughing and talking with the men. Francis caught sight of the open door gap and raised a brow. I laughed as I was pulled up onto the truck. Bill was the last one up. "What? Doors not cool enough for you, Francis?" I joked.

One of the soldiers shot a surprised look at me and him. "Your name is Francis? Man, that's gold!" All three solders burst into laughter and I joined in myself. It felt good to laugh after fighting this long. These were the moments I treasured the most.

Of course they never last forever.

We heard the screeching at the same time, and did what reflexes have been taught to do; grab our guns and start shooting. More figures from the trees, only this time it wasn't as much as there was before. I couldn't shoot the distance that the men could with my measly pistol, so I just watched the sky and watched for any special infected.

"Well, I think it's about time we ditch this dump, eh fellas?"

The fellow soldiers agreed with their comrade. The one closest to the inside banged against the tinted glass. The wheels started moving and we were driving away. The infected crowds were growing more and more away as we moved away.

I took a deep breath, and smiled. "So where now?" The soldier beside me reloaded his gun before replying. "We have a safe place, not well populated, but has plenty of weapons and food. We'll take you there, then have you-"

I didn't get to hear the rest of the sentence. A slimy appendage wrapped itself around my mid-section and for a split second, everything was frozen. Then I was yanked out of the truck and onto the ground.

"Zoey!"

Their voices were lost throughout the screeching. I heard gunfire and felt the tongue loosen and I ripped it off me. I could do nothing but sit on the ground as I watched them drive away. The soldiers were holding my friends back, like they were about to jump straight out of the truck.

I wanted them to. I didn't want to be left alone. I didn't want to die here. So I turned and ran away from the woods. It would have been useless to chase after the truck; the infected would have gotten me first. Louis had given me ammo before, but I never reloaded my gun.

None of the infected seemed to head directly towards me, mostly heading for the disappearing truck. I shot my way through two or three and stumbled into the doorway. I didn't have the strength or time to put back up the couch or shoot through the windows downstairs. So I did the next thing I could think of.

Running upstairs, I looked around, panting. The bed caught my eye. With a heave, I pushed it over the opening of the stairs and it covered the same way the couch did the doorway. I normally wouldn't have the strength to do that in record time like I did, but I guess when your life is at stake the adrenaline rushing through your veins makes you stronger.

There was a small hole in the ceiling where the roof had cave in. It could expose me, but it could also be a hasty escape route. I readied my gun and pulled myself high enough to look outside the opening. All the infected had stopped running for the house, and were running into the same woods that my dear friends have just driven away into.

I wiped away my wet eyes. I need perfect vision right now; blurry vision could cost me my life. Looking around, the body of a smoker lay on the tile nearby. He must have been on the roof and when he was killed, fell off to the side.

If only I had paid more attention when I was in the truck, I could of killed the smoker before it had ever snatched me. But instead, I let my guard down and now I'm stuck here alone.

Sitting against the wall, I curled my knees to my chest. I clutched my only gun in my right hand, and fought the urge to cry. Making too much noise would give away my position. But it was hard.

I put my head down, and sobbed quietly. They saw me get yanked out of that truck, and yet they didn't turn around to save me. I don't blame them. Bill or Francis, even Louis would have jumped out to save me, but they were held back, and now I'm on my own.

Tears blocked my vision, so when I felt a little prick on my head, I didn't pay any attention to it. I thought I could feel migraine coming on.

Raising my head, I found lethal, bloody teeth and claws instead. I rather would of had the headache.