Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead

Among The Bodies

At this moment, I was very; very grateful I decided to keep the soap and perfume. And so was Olive. They shared a meal with me, showing that they trusted me and I thought I would do the same by pooling out what I had stashed in my pack. When I dumped it over, I completely forgot about the pink bottles until they came tumbling out.

Currently, we ladies took advantage of this. Having no plumbing meant we would have to bring in and heat up enough bath water for the both of us, not like we minded. We were content with the idea of having the privilege of bathing.

I shivered, cursing the sudden chill wind. The weather seriously needed to make up its mind. A few days ago it was as hot as the summer, now I worried about my own snot freezing mid-air if I happen to sneeze.

Olive handed me another bucket and I smiled to her before taking it back inside. I passed a snoring Doug, snoozing away on the couch and rolled my eyes. I shoved more wood into the old fashion oven, replacing the bucket that was already there with the second one.

I took it to the back, where the bathroom was. The bathtub was almost full, and with just one more bucket it would be ready. Walking outside, I took the last remaining bucket from Olive's hands.

"It's ready, you can take the first one, and I've got to deal with Aaron anyway."

Olive raised her brows. "You sure honey? I haven't even seen that boy since dinner…" I nodded "Yeah, go ahead, I can get mine later." She smiled warmly at me, patting mw on the shoulder. "Don't get sick. Now" I nodded and ushered her inside before refilling the water.

She had a point. No one has seen or heard of Aaron when dinner was through with. After he had his fill, he lept up and bounded out of the room and no one has seen him since. He could still be inside for all I know. I just hoped he was ok.

My hands became stiff and rigid and I put the bucket on the ground, breathing on my fingers to warm them. Which reminds me, when was the last time I popped my fingers?

I rolled my wrist around and pressed hard on each of my knuckles, pulling my fingers. Each one made a slight crackle sound and my hand went limp. Maybe I should have waited until I took the water inside to crack them. Shaking my hands, I picked back up the bucket and brought it inside.

Doug was still snoring, though I can't say I'm surprised. I didn't see Olive so I assumed she already jumped into bath. Sauntering into the kitchen, I put the oven on low and let the water simmer.

Inside my head, I secretly hoped that Olive would leave me some sort of perfume or shampoo. Though I wouldn't blame her if she ended up using all of it. The smell of boomer and decay were so prominent on us, we couldn't have smelt anything different until we sniffed the bottles.

I looked down at my shoes. They were filthy, no longer the black and white they were before, and now mostly brown with specks of yellow. If I was going to get clean, my clothes needed to be clean too. What's the point of bathing and then jumping right back into nasty clothes?

As for my tops and jeans, I would have to ask Olive if there was a way I could clean them later. But for now I can get to work on my shoes. I rolled my sleeves up to my elbows and grabbed a rag out of one of the drawers. I'm sure they wouldn't mind.

Outside, I wet the rag and sat myself on the front steps of the cabin. I took off my left converse and started scrubbing away at it. Bits of dried mud and even blood flaked off onto the ground and I could start to see the white of the sides again.

Once that shoe was finished, I began on the other. The cold felt like needles to my toes, but it wasn't unbearable. It didn't take long to finish and I put them both back on before I got frostbite. They weren't as good as new, but they were better than before. I felt a bit proud of myself.

An annoyed grumble caused me to look up.

Aaron was sitting on a low branch of a nearby tree, one that I could climb up to if I tried. It's not like I was startled. He has been with me too long to scare me anymore, appearing out of nowhere anyway. In fact, I almost expect it of him now.

What surprised me, however, was the fact that he was dripping wet.

From his hood to his sneakers, he was soaked. I could see that some blood and dirt that he had accumulated on his hoodie was now washing away with the dripping water. I got up and walked underneath the branch he was sitting on, hands on my hips. He just stared.

"What did you get yourself into now?" As expected, no answer. I just really hope that Doug or Olive didn't walk outside for some fresh air or something. "Did you see your reflection in a puddle and attack it? You're completely soaked." Aaron sniffed, which either meant he was freezing, or just bored with me. I'll assume the latter.

"Well, you not going inside as wet as you are. You'll track mud and gunk all over their floor!" I nagged, with no reply. I sighed, and held up my hand as if to tell him to 'stay put', like one would a dog. "I'll be right back"

I ran inside, passed a still snoozing Doug and into a bedroom and snatched a blanket. On my way out the door, I heard Olive call from the back. "I'm done, dear. You can go ahead now." I smiled. "Yeah, ok, just a minute."

He wasn't in the tree anymore, and for a second I thought he had run off again. Then I heard a snarl and turned around. The hunter was crouched on the roof, watching. "Come here, you cold right?" Whether or not he understood me, he hopped down beside me. Without another thought, I threw it over his shoulders.

Annnnnnnnnnnd no reaction.

What was is problem? Just a little while ago, he couldn't sit still. Now a statue could be jealous of him. Whatever. I held the front door out and ushered him inside. Doug was just beginning to awaken. "Well, now" He yawned "I thought he had ran off somewhere

He stopped for a moment, rubbing his eyes before asking. "Why that boy wet?" I shrugged, amused. "I wish I knew" Immediately after shutting the door behind us, Aaron crawled over to the fireplace, sat on his behind and just stared into the flames. Doug and I shared a confused shrug before he snuggled back into the cushions.

I rolled my eyes at their behaviors, walking past a sweet smelling Olive, and into the bathroom. She had done me the kindness of already pouring in the fresh bathwater. I would have to remember to thank her later.

I undressed and dipped into the bath water. The sudden warmth made me feel refreshed. Using the last of the pink bottle's substance. With bubbles all around I felt like royalty, or it will be closest I will ever come to in a world like this.

Rinsing out my hair, I cursed myself for forgetting to ask about getting my clothes washed. I put them back on anyway, wiping some grime off of each one and spraying perfume so it would at least have some sort of improvement.

I was in the middle of towel drying my hair when I heard the familiar sound of a gunshot echo outside.

Throwing my hair back up in a ponytail, I rushed out, still struggling to put my sweater on. Doug wasn't in the living room, and the shotgun by the door was missing. So was Aaron. The door stood ajar, and Olive stood beside the fireplace, both hands clutched and with a fearful look on her face.

I picked up my crowbar "What happened? Where are the guys?" She turned to me, and I could clearly see the surprised terror on her features.

"I-I don't know. I was just talking with my Doug, a-and all of a sudden we heard gunfire!" She unclutched her hands, and I could clearly see the kitchen knife in her grasp. "The boys ran out to see what it was. I-I just don't understand! It was so calm a minute ago…" From how she was acting, I could tell this didn't happen often.

My first day here and already something has gone wrong. I just hoped it wasn't because of me.

With the crowbar in my hands, I peered outside. Doug and Aaron were nowhere to be seen. Afraid, but careful, I took a step out on the porch.

More gunfire came from the side of the house, where the well was. I turned back to Olive. "Stay in here, ok?" Before she had time to answer, I shut the door on her. Sticking to the wall, I took a few steps at a time.

A yell came from the other side of the house. It was a male's voice, but it didn't sound anything like Doug's. His was old and raspy from long term smoking. This voice sounded young, also like it was around my age. This made me quicken my footsteps

When I got to the corner, I heard the deafening screech. Only one being could make that dreaded noise. At this moment, I began to fear for Aaron's life, not knowing where he was and the possibility that he might be shot and even killed began to frighten me.

My heart raced and I was panicking, also realizing that Doug was with him, most likely, and that would mean he would be in danger too. I shut my eyes and took a deep breath, before peering around the corner.

My heart stopped when I saw the flailing body on the ground, but it escalated when I realized who was on top of it.

"AARON!"

I shouted across the yard, but my voice went unheard…or ignored. Aaron's arms moved rapidly, so swift it was almost a blur. Skin and blood were being flung to the sides, turning the dirt into mud and the grass red. I heard someone else shouting his name, and found Doug leaning on the side of the house, a blood trail leading down the side of his leg.

Was he shot? Just grazed? I ran over, steering far clear of the rampaging hunter. "What happened? Are you ok?" He huffed, letting his shotgun drop to the ground and put a hand over his leg. He slumped to the ground and I crouched to meet his height.

"How bad are you?" I had to speak louder than I normally would. Aaron's screeching was still echoing in the air. He looks up, and grinned painfully. "It's times like these that I really need a cigarette" He chuckled, wincing. Looking him over, the bullet had only grazed him.

He'll live; I repeated in my mind, he'll live. "We need to get you inside-" "Bub, you need to stop your boyfriend before he turns that poor fool into one of my wife's meatloaf." He pushed me away. "I can make it on my own, stop him."

I pushed some more for me to help him, but he still insisted on moving by himself. Pulling him up so he could limp, he leaned on his shotgun, staggering to the front of the house. I spared him one last worried glance before turning to Aaron.

The body was long gone, dead. It wasn't hard to tell, since the face and chest had been almost completely clawed beyond recognition. What scared me the most was the fact that Aaron was still angrily attacking, showing no signs of slowing.

I was afraid to approach, but I had a feeling it will be a long while unless I did something to stop him. "…Aaron?" I spoke softly, not wanting to startle him and having attack me too. He continued to tear, wild snarls escaping his mouth as the victim laid unmoving.

"Aaron!"

I called his name louder this time, hoping somehow he would associate the word with himself and give full attention to me. He didn't.

"AARON"

At this point, I was right behind him, steadily getting closer with each step. He faltered and I held my breath and my crowbar to my chest.

He was panting I realized, either exhausted or angry to the point of being exhausted. Slowly, he climbed off the corpse glared at it, as if he still wasn't finished. Not once had he looked in my direction.

I hesitated, wondering whether or not I should run inside and check on Doug, or if I should do something to try and identify the body. It could be an infected, but even if it was, then who yelled earlier? Infected feel pain, I remembered.

But this body wasn't infected. While their face and chest was severely mutilated, I could tell that the skins on the hands were near-untouched and they look to be perfectly healthy. No boils, no rash or any claws.

I leaned over the corpse, prodding it with my weapon. Just to be sure, you never know nowadays. It didn't stir. It wore some sort of uniform, that looked as if it had been taken cared for very well, it was hardly dirty, and didn't have any rips and tears in it. Aside from the ones that Aarons had just done.

Something glimmered in the corner of my eye and I spotted the ring around his finger. He was either married, or his wife was dead and he just decided to keep it. Part of me wanted the wife dead, it would be horrible to have your husband go out and never come back.

I noticed something else on the victim's hand, also like a tattoo on the back of it. Poking it to turn it over, I concluded that it was a tattoo, not just blood.

In red ink, it said CLEAN.

Clean? Like, as in non-infected? I had no idea, but this was something that needed more investigation. Aaron shuffled nearby, and I noticed him wiping off the gore on the grass, not like it was really doing him any good.

"We're going to have to wash your hands again"

He snarled in reply, more annoyed then angry now. Too bad, he isn't allowed to eat again until he washes his hands anyway. I noticed he was still slightly damp, and the blood that had washed off his hoodie before was back again. Shame.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked up. Doug stood above me, with a bandaged leg and a determined look plastered across his features. "C'mon, Bub" He grumbled, no longer sounding like the sweet old man I met the other day. "We're going hunting'"

So um, it's 11:46 at night, my eyes burn and listening to all this dubstep will NOT help me sleep tonight. But at least I'll feel better having posted something, even though it needs to be looked over.

This chapter will be edited sometime after it's posted, so some sentences and/or dialogue will change. Right now I'm accepting OCs under these conditions: There are limited spots, they have to be BAD people, and can be of either gender (though males would be preferred…sorry ladies) these guys won't last long, if ya know what I'm saying…

EDIT: All spots taken, no longer accepting anymore OCs. Thanks!

Reviews are ammo in an apocalyptic world