AN: Okay, it's not that late right now so you'll get a pretty sane AN this time :D

Uhh, let's see I'm planning making this one more true to the story line and campaigns than my other so I'mma call the chapters by where they take place so you can yell at me if I get the map wrong. Also I've been doing a TON of research on the L4D wiki and I found out so much stuff! I love that site! And they have video walkthroughs of the levels, those have been on my computer nonstop! :D

AND a lot is gonna change from the first (crappier) version of the story so I'm contemplating deleting that one as I will most likely never have any sort of motivation to finish it within the next two years :) If you have an issue with that go ahead and let me know but I'm telling you now that thing's on its (it's?) way out...

Reviews still equal love! And cookies! You wouldn't deprive a girl of her cookies would you? :'(

CHAPTER 3

Next thing I knew I was on a bridge. No, a raised highway, cars abandoned on either side of me. On the right side of the bridge was my team, Louis, Francis, even Bill. They were yelling to me, telling me to run. But from what?

To my left were the people I had just met, Coach, Ro, Nick and Ellis, they were yelling at me too, telling me to hurry.

Then I felt the earth rumble beneath me. A hunk of the highway crumbled as an enormous Tank clambered up into sight. I started unloading bullet after bullet at its head, but the thing just roared and came after me. The new team was also shooting it, making it confused. It started racing back and forth between me and them, allowing me time to run to where my team was waiting.

But I couldn't. I kept running and running but I couldn't move. The highway was getting longer, stretching the distance between us even greater. My legs were pounding away and I could feel my strength ebbing, I was getting weaker and still no closer.

I stopped when I felt a pull against me. Turning, I saw Ro and Ellis tugging me back Nick and Coach were shooting at the Tank that was now where I was just headed. I thrashed and fought against their arms, but it seemed to do nothing against them. They told me nice things, saying not to worry, that they would save me. But I didn't want to be saved.

I could still see a ghost of Bill, just a whisper of Francis, only a promise of Louis as the barred door slammed in my face. Ellis rubbed my shoulder soothingly while I screamed. "Zoey, darlin', you should heal up." (AN: That's a Francis quote, by the way... :D)

I woke with a jolt, nearly flying off of the couch. It took me a moment to gather myself and slow my breathing.

Just a dream, only a dream nothing more.

But it wasn't.

Shut up.

Once I was back in control I looked around. The safe house we were in looked bigger in the daylight. There was an open doorway to what looked like a kitchen to my right and a closed door to my left. Behind the couch was a set of wood stairs worn down with age. Leadin up to what I assumed were bedrooms by the way everyone had flocked to them last night.

It hurt a little to get up but the night's rest had done me some good, even if I did have a limp. The door on my left opened and let out a bit of steam. Ellis exited and turned in my direction, smiling a bit when he saw me up. "Left some hot water for ya, yer probably gonna want ta get in there 'fore Nick wakes." And he crossed the room into the adjacent one. I was surprised that he was so warm to me, even after how cold I was to him last night. I decided to take his advice and get in the shower now instead of possibly missing an opportunity that might not come again any time soon. So in a matter of minutes I had a blessed rainfall of hot water cascading over me. As soon as the water shut off I heard a knock at the door. I cracked it open the tiniest bit and stuck my face out, sheltering the rest of my body with the door. Ro was smiling at me through the crack.

"I found some clothes I thought might fit you, figured you didn't wanna run around in those same ones you've got." She handed me a small bundle of clothes, including fresh socks. I smiled.

"Thank you so much." She smiled back at me brighter than before and walked away after telling me breakfast was almost ready. Clean clothes and real food? Pinch me I must be dreaming.

The jeans clung to me but they weren't tight, which was good. They didn't allow for anything to snag me and they were comfortable, the perfect combination. The shirt, however, was a different story. It fell down almost to my knees but it was tight and hugged my every curve. And it wasn't like I was flat-chested either.

When I was fully dressed I emerged from the bathroom only to be struck by a mouthwatering scent coming from the room across from me. I limp-ran over to it and smiled hungrily. Eggs. Real goddamn eggs sitting on a huge plate on a nearby countertop. I almost moaned when a smiling Ro handed me a huge heap of eggs. "Oh, sweet! How'd you score these?" I sat in the closest available chair between Ellis and Coach and dug into the meal before me.

"Bastard had a working fridge, stored eggs like he was, well, like he was getting ready for an apocalypse," She finished, smiling. I tried to smile back but my mouth was too full of eggs. They were rubbery and greasy and the best thing I had tasted in a long time.

"Damn, didn't you eat this whole time?" I heard from across the table. Looking up I noticed that only Coach and I were still eating, the others were watching us stuff our faces. I got suddenly self-conscious.

"Not real food. And canned stuff was never any better."

"Too cold?" Asked Ro.

I shook my head "No can opener." They eyed me strangely. Nick raised an eyebrow incredulously. "And, being the strange boys they were, my team decided the next best thing was an axe. Needless to say we smelled like refried beans for a week." That got a laugh out of everyone, including me. But there was still that ache.

"So that brings me back to my question from last night: How long you been down here? You can't have been traveling alone for long, have you?" I tensed just a bit. I could almost hear Ellis's mouth opening but I spoke before he did. I didn't want to avoid things with these people, they deserved to know.

"Do you know what month it is?"

"Should be around the end of September."

"I've been traveling about two and a half months." Everybody kind of stopped in mid-air. Jaws dropped and I could only assume the infection hadn't hit down here as soon as it had in Pennsylvania.

"The infection hit Pennsylvania about mid July. I had a team of three other men. We got to a hospital and a helicopter managed to extract us. We made our way to the Louisiana coast to get to a ship the pilot said was out there. The military commandeered cruise ships and they're in the Gulf of Mexico. They're still extracting.

"Last we stopped for fuel was three weeks ago. We left but somehow our pilot got infected. We managed to kill him but the chopper went down somewhere near Mobile, Alabama. Two of my teammates got separated from Bill and me. He was injured so I wouldn't leave him. I searched everywhere but I never found them. They left us for dead."

I stubbornly held back the tears that threatened to fall. I dug my hand into my knee. I felt Ellis's hand pat mine under the table and I didn't push him away, all my strength was working on that one little tear.

I sniffled slightly and continued. "He healed and we kept moving on. A Tank came. He knew we were no match for it. He gave his life to get me out of there alive. I lost a good man that day." And with that I lost my battle with the tear. I burned an acid path down my face.

"I only managed to kill it cus I found a bottle of bile. If I'd found it earlier . . ." I shook my head to shake the thought. Of all of them, that was the one that always got out of control.

"I got to a place the military was supposed to be extracting from but all they left was some recorded message to wait and they'd be returning soon, so I left. I've been alone for about two weeks." Everyone was silent.

Ro was the first to break the silence, "Well, you've got us now, honey."

I looked up at her and smiled as well as I could, "Thanks."

"What about those two other guys?" Nick put in, "They still out there?"

"I'd like to believe they are but I'm not getting my hopes up."

"Well," Ro said. "They'll have to wait. You're not going anywhere on that leg, honey. We'll stay another night and see how you're doing then." I opened my mouth to protest but she had already left the room.

"Not a word about it, kid." Coach interrupted. "Listen to what the girl says, she's just lookin' out for you."

Nick waited until Coach had closed his door to speak up, "Listen, Ellis, I don't mind sleeping on the floor tonight. Go ahead and take abed tonight, you look like you could use it." He had a sly smile on his face that gave me a bit of chills.

Ellis remained calm, "No, I think I'm good down here. A course, Zoey may want a bed. More room than that tiny couch."

"Sounds good. There's one more room. Of course, if you want a bed you can always share with Ro again." He smiled wide and I was confused but figured it was something to do with some rivalry. They reminded me of Louis and Francis . . .

"That was jus' that once, 'sides, yer more used to it than me anyway." Nick's smile slid into a scowl. Frankly, I was kind of tired being in the middle of this. I didn't really know or care what sort of problem they were having and I didn't want to.

I stood up and both men looked up at me. "I'm just fine down here. I don't need either of you; I can take care of my own damn self." I limped as straight as I could manage out of the rooms

The rest of the day passed with more than moderate boredom. Ro and Coach forbid me from leaving the safe room with my leg like this so I took the time to practice sniping random zombies that wandered across the very limited view through the bars. I had to admit I was a pretty sweet shot; I even got a Hunter from about 150 yards out. However the rest of the day was spent scavenging through crates in the room and taking inventory over and over again until night fell.

And every second in between was spent trying and failing to keep Francis Louis and Bill off my mind; and once again I went to sleep with tears straining at my eyelids.