Author's Notes: After my girlfriend, Adrienne, read the story she pointed out something important, Hubbard is WEST of Corsicana. A shamefully regret my horrible abilities to give directions but will keep the direction the same for the sake of story flow.
That is all.
LEFT 4 DEAD: HOMEGROWN
Chapter 5: Sirens
"So… who do ya'll think will kill us? Zombies, bugs, gators, or swamp people?"
"With the way we're shooting? I'd say each other."
Rochelle and Ellis, L4D 2
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
Narration
Sound effects
INFECTED
Important/Exaggeration
WALL WRITING
"It's leaning to the left."
"Nah, it's just slumped over."
"Hmm… I think you're right, but it's still moving too."
"What the hell do you know, you're half blind?"
"Bite me! I still say you can't make it."
"Twenty bucks says I get it between the eyes."
"But it's raining, there's no way you'll make it."
"He's got a point."
"Then what is he scared of?"
"Hmm… deal, but you have to hit the forehead."
"Will ya'll be quiet and just take the shot."
"I'm trying, but this fucker won't shut up!"
"She'll never make it. The thing has to be at least…"
Bang
Thump
In the distance a small thumpwas heard as a zombie collapsed from its position at the baseball fields.
"… a hundred yards… away." John's mouth fell open.
Sadie lowered Ebony and comically blew the smoke away from the barrel. "That was the easiest twenty bucks I've ever made." She tucked the gun in the back of her pants and held her hand out to John. "Pay up."
"Fat chance, I want to see the hole." After the rough night and shaky morning, the group's spirits had taken a turn for the better. The survivors currently stood outside the Dawson Auditorium fire exit. The theater was attached to the Liberal Arts building by a small archway between the buildings.
Henderson rose from his position of leaning on the archway. "That's the last one. You better pay up if she wins, ya know? She would probably shoot you too." After exiting the building, Henderson had an idea; clear out as many zombies in their path as they could from a safe distance. It would be safer, save on ammunition, and it would reduce the chance of attracting more infected creatures with their yelling. Naturally, the two younger survivors turned it into a game, 'who could kill the most?' For the past hour the two had passed the black handgun back and forth, killing forty seven zombies. The light rain had made the shooting a bit difficult, but Sadie won with a three kill lead.
The college's baseball fields were finally in view, with the edge of Navarro right beyond that. Beyond the colleges were a city park, then an open field, and finally a small church. After the church was the back road leading all the way to Dawson, and then Hubbard. The only thing standing between the survivors and the fields was the Art building and a large parking lot.
"How much ammo is left?" Sadie emptied the used clip into her bag and pulled out a fresh one.
Henderson rummaged through the bags that had been abandoned during the game. "Umm… we still have three two hundred and forty pistol rounds, with eight clips ready. This isn't counting what's already on you." During any down time she could find, Sadie refilled any clips she used with fresh ammo. The idea of manually reloading a clip in the middle of a fight seemed impossible to her, so she always remained prepared.
Henderson began to look through John's bag. "And… there's a hundred and six shells, not counting what's loaded or with you John." The youngest survivor felt safe with that amount. It only took one good shot to kill a zombie with a shotgun, but he would need to find more ammunition eventually.
"Ya'll are lucky I found all that ammo. Without me ya'll would probable be dead by now." Although they didn't want to help her inflated ego, John ad Henderson knew she was right.
Henderson handed the backpacks to the other survivors. The food had been given to him, while the ammunition had been split between John and Sadie.
Sadie shouldered her bag and looked to Henderson. "Where we gonna go now?"
Henderson stood in thought for a few minutes. "Well… since we cleared out the area before us, and there may be more creatures in the Art building, I say we go around the building. The parking lot reaches around most of the building, so we'll take the side opposite the highway. From there we can cut straight to the baseball fields." He pointed straight to across the parking lot for emphasis. He waved his hand for the others to follow as he and John walked out into the rain.
Sadie looked to the cloudy sky; she had hoped to stay inside longer. "Uhg… I hate rain." She sighed in defeat and followed the boys out into the rain.
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The two parking lots were separated by a small road running through the campus. Each was littered with cars. Some were still parked, they had probably been there before the first attack just a few days ago. A random few cars had been crashed into the ones that had already been parked, turning the parking lot into a maze of cars.
The first was remotely empty, a few infected had been hidden behind the random cars. The survivors decided against climbing over the cars for now, for fear of being seen by more infected.
Henderson took point knocking out any infected he could find. "We need to be careful, some of these cars may have alarms. We don't want to alert the ones at the road."
"Twenty three!" John called as he disposed of another hidden zombie.
Sadie responded in a sing-song voice, "We're not playing any more."
"Aww… Shit! I was making a come back too!"
"Cut it out you two," Henderson called back, bludgeoning a downed infected over the head. 'Twelve' he thought to himself. The trip through the first lot, was passed in relative silence after that, except for the occasional gun shot or bat to the head.
As they prepared to cross the small road to the second parking area, they stopped to observe the infected still clogging the highway roughly eighty yards away. It seemed a few had left, possibly because of the crying infected that had killed most of the infected in the administrative building. There were still quite a few though, roughly two hundred give or take.
John looked to the giant crowd in fear. No matter how good the survivors were, there was no way they could take on that many creatures. "Think they'll notice us?" He looked to the others, but Sadie only shrugged her shoulders.
"No, they won't even know we're here if we keep quiet." Henderson looked across the lawns of the baseball fields to a small forested area that was the park. It was only a mile away from where they where, and about three quarters of a mile from the edge of the fields. "Let's not take our chances though, once we're free of the cars we will make a break for the park, but until then keep it down."
The younger survivors silently agreed with the teacher. One by one they sprinted across the street as quietly as they could. The next lot was the same as the first; half demolished cars strewn about made it hard to find their way out. A fire truck had even found its way into the maze.
John stopped and studied the big red truck for a few moments. "Henderson," he whispered, "you said we needed to be as quiet as possible, right?"
"Yeah why." Henderson was faced away from him, scanning the cars for more zombies.
John smiled a little bit, "'Cause if we get into a fight, my gun may be too loud."
"Yeah, but I don't think the creatures are drawn to gun fire that much. You're fine as you are." He didn't receive an answer.
Confused Henderson turned around to see John pulling a fire ax from the side of the fire truck. It had a sturdy looking wooded handle and the blade was bright red and sharpened to a point. The object looked deadly in his hand, and John swung it around a few times, finding it lighter than he expected.
"Can I have the holster back, I think this will do well for now." John motioned for the large sling still on Henderson's back that at one point housed his extra bat. Henderson tossed it to him, and John practiced switching between the ax and his shotgun a few times.
"This will work better now," Henderson said. "I'll take point, and John you take the end. Sadie will be in the middle taking care of any long range infected." John and Sadie agreed to the older man's plans and formed into a line.
(^(00)^)
The trip turned to silence once again. The group kept their distance from the cars, fearing any car alarms.
John took to the ax quickly, he could decapitate the zombies quite effectively. If any infected tried to charge him, John would bludgeon it with the wooden handle and knock it to the ground, making decapitation all the easier.
The second trip was nearly over in twenty minutes. The infected had already been dealt with, resulting in limited zombie interference. But as the survivors reached the end of their journey, things took a turn for the worst.
GRRRRRRR
"What the fuck?" Sadie turned around quickly trying to find the source of the growling. "Ya'll hear that too?"
John switched from the ax back to his shotgun. "Yeah, it's behind us." He looked to Henderson for a plan. "Do we fight it or run away, this thing doesn't sound like the others."
GRRRRAARR
The growling was getting closer.
Henderson looked to the edge of the parking lot only thirty feet away. "I say we get out of the cars. If it follows us, we kill it. If it doesn't follow, we ignore it." He moved faster now, weaving between the cars.
GGGRRRRAAAAAHHH!!!!
A dark shape flew through the air. It arched and descended towards Henderson.
"Look out!" Luckily, Sadie was close behind him. As the creature neared the older survivor she tackled him out of the way.
It soared over its target landed gracefully in front of them. The creature crawled around on all fours, looking for its meal. It paused as it found the two survivors behind it, and Sadie prepared to shoot. The shot went wide as the infected only stood still for a moment before leaping back into the sea of cars.
"It's like the one yesterday!" John finally caught up to the other survivors, "We need to keep moving or it'll attack again." He stood guard as the other survivors picked themselves up from the asphalt.
GGGRRRRAAAAAHHH!!!!
The infected leaped over the group, landing near the exit of the maze of cars.
"It's toying with us. It knows where we're trying to go." Henderson pulled himself off the ground. "We can't run."
"Fuck running then," Sadie pulled out both her guns. "We'll fight it then. It's just one him against three of us."
"Circle up and try to watch for its attack." Henderson positioned himself on John's right.
"Now you're talking." Sadie Went to Henderson's right and John's left. She scanned the area before her, 'I want payback.'
"There!" John heard the infected crawling to the left. He swung his gun around towards the noise and waited for the monster to show its head.
GGGRRRRRRRR
"Don't hit the car." Henderson still stood in his position, gripping his bat tightly. If the creature missed again he would be ready.
GGRRRAAAAAAAHHHH!!!
The creature was airborne again, this time it was leaping towards John. He followed its arc to where he thought it would land.
"Gotcha!" He cried as he fired into its chest, but it never stopped its attack. The creature landed on him, pinned John to the ground, and began its attack in only a few seconds. The assault sent John's weapon skidding across the asphalt towards the other survivors. "AGH! FUCK! HELP!" John threw his arm up, trying to knock it off of his chest.
Henderson was quick to turn around and help the downed survivor. He brought his bat across the creature's side and sent it rolling past a few cars. The infected stopped its path by flipping onto its feet.
As the zombie regained its balance, Sadie charged, firing both pistols. Her barrage kept the infected from fighting back as the force of the shots started to push it back. With a final kick, Sadie killed the creature as its body collapsed against the hood of a random car…
HONK! HONK! HONK!
…and set off the car's alarm. The sound pierced the once silent air with its deafening sounds.
Sadie stood there for a moment fear plastered on her face. "Ohhhhh shit! OHHHHH SHIT!" She retreat backward slowly from the wailing car.
Henderson grabbed her arm and nearly dragged her away. "We need to go NOW!"
He let go of the girl and began to run to the exit. The two of them helped John as he pulled himself up and retrieved his gun. His arms were bleeding heavily, but he didn't need them to run.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The distant screams of hundreds of zombies alerted to their position pushed the survivors to flee. The three leapt over the cars, all thoughts of sneaking had flown out the window. It only took the group twenty seconds to escape the parking lot and arrive at the Baseball fields.
"Jump the fence!" Henderson ran ahead and leapt over the chest high fence surrounding the playing field, John and Sadie were close behind. They fled across the field with Henderson leading, Sadie behind him, and John not far behind. As they ran, the group passed a corpse with a large hole in its forehead.
"HA! You owe me!" Sadie cheered as they ran.
John nearly stopped running in amazement, at both the girl's marksmanship and strangeness. "Not now!" He yelled ahead to her.
The Survivors cleared both baseball fields before looking back. The hoard of infected had just arrived parking lot they had fled from. For a moment the trio believed that they were safe.
Henderson slowed his running to a jog and the others followed suit. The car's blaring sirens could still be heard from this distance.
"What are they doing?" John turned around to watch the crowd of infected.
"I don't know, but we need to keep moving." Henderson tried to get the boy to move, but John stood still. Suddenly the car's alarm cut off.
"What happened?" It was Sadie's turn now to watch the hoard.
Henderson paused a moment before replying. "They… I think they destroyed the car."
"Damn… what will they do now that…?"
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The giant crowd now began to approach their direction.
Sadie ended her initial question with a quiet, "Fuck."
"YOU JUST HAD TO FUCKING ASK DIDN'T YOU!?!" John screamed as the survivors resumed their fleeing.
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END CAPTER
I'm sorry that this chapter was shorter than the others but I ran out of ideas for this. All of this was what I originally wanted in the last chapter, but I felt the witch was a good stopping point
I do know where the next chapter will go, but I can't type another two thousand words all saying "they ran like hell!"
I also know that a pig point in this chapter was inspired by Left 4 Dead one, it was my favorite part.
But on the other hand, this chapter marks my twenty thousand word mark so go me!
Lastly I will thank my reviewers: The Golden Echo, Sanima, Biteme4eturn-t, and Rem Ri. Thank you all, you alone are keeping this story going.
Tiredly, Guardian Shotgun
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