AN: And thus the updates continue! Thanks to the two who reviewed, it's nice to know you're still out there ^^

Left 4 Dead is property of Valve.

Happiness Is Not a Smoking Gun -2- Butcher in the Bedroom

"And there's a witch in the living room," Sophie added indifferently.

The pair paled at the news. Neither appearances of infected were good signs.

"Can you two go wake up Coach and meet us downstairs? Awayfrom the witch," the blonde instructed as she reached for her night stand.

Ellis nodded his approval and waited for Cas, but she stood there with a curious look on her face.

"Why are you so... calm?"

Sophie gave her friend an unimpressed look. "Just go."

Without another word, the girl followed after Ellis and headed to Coach's room. The man was in for a rude awakening.

With her instructions in place, Sophie slid open her nightstand drawer and pulled out a butcher's knife. Most people stuck to small knives or a gun at their bedside for protection, but on the other hand, it was Sophie.

"Since when do you keep a meat cleaver in there?" Nick asked curiously.

Sophie headed to the door with her weapon in hand. "Since I dwelled on the thought of a zombie apocalypse."

"But we already survived one," the man countered.

"And look where we are now."

Nick shut his mouth. In any other circumstance he could have (and would have) questioned further, but the chances of a second zombie invasion just skyrocketed.

Once the slumbering man was awoken, the five met up in the downstairs kitchen. At first, Coach had laughed at the couple's information, but when the high pitched screech of a hunter echoed through his room, the joke was over. Now all five stood in the kitchen, equipped with weapons; the best they could find at least. There was really no need for them to keep guns in the community. It was relatively small and the crime rate was at an all time low (nonexistent, really), so guns didn't seem necessary in the least. The only two who had kept any were Nick and Ellis. Nick had kept his mainly as a precaution, but he would often test his aim and take bets—he was a conman after all. Ellis, on the other hand, had insisted on keeping his. The excuses he had used were rather...irrelevant, but the group let him keep his shotgun anyways. If his hick nature required a gun, then there was no use in disallowing it.

If not for the current situation, an 'I told you so' would have been in order. Time didn't allow them that luxury.

"So... What are we going to do?" Cas asked quietly.

The witch in the next room put a limit on their volume. The last thing they needed was an angry witch attacking them.

"We make our way to Lillian's," Sophie informed. "Once there, we'll explain the rest of the plan."

"You already have a plan, Young'un?" Coach questioned.

Sophie nodded and turned towards the back door. "Let's get there in one piece, shall we?"

The scene outside was nothing less than discouraging. Common infected roamed around freely, confirming the groups creeping suspicions. If it wasn't just the tank and witch, then they were in trouble.

"Man, where'd all them zombies come from?" Ellis asked after a low whistle.

"Doesn't matter," Nick muttered. "They're here so let's get this over with."

With a silent agreement, the group marched forward towards their friends' house. It was safer for them to keep a low profile as they made their way down the street. The last thing they needed was a tank to come barging through. With only two guns, someone was bound to get hurt.

"Looks like them zombies are back for roun' two," Ellis commented as they passed by a few dead bodies.

"And you'll be next if you don't shut up," Nick retorted.

Ellis frowned at the man, but kept quiet none the less. He knew that they weren't in a good position at the moment. Everyone did.

Cas had been particularly aware of how bad their situation had become. Especially for her. Fatigue hadn't been that much of an issue from day to day, but when doing a lot of physical activity, it was easy for exhaustion to creep up on her, especially if there were zombies to keep away from.

Silently, she slipped her hand into Ellis' and drew closer to him. For the time being, he had given his gun to Coach so the man could keep at the back of the group. Nick and Sophie had taken point, leaving the two in the middle. Cas knew that her friends would protect her, but she couldn't help but feel nervous.

"Yew okay?" He asked her softly.

She nodded briefly before turning away, but Ellis had seen it. She was on the verge of tears. Without a word, he pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her from behind as they walked. By now, he knew not to question it out loud. He had learned the hard way many times, usually ending in a screaming fit from the pregnant girl. Her mood swings had some not-so-pleasant consequences.

Up at the front, Sophie and Nick kept their eyes peeled for any hazards. If anything were to happen, they were the pack's first line of defense. They'd see to it that nothing got close.

Once at their friends' residence, Sophie ran to the door and made quick use of the key she had been carrying. It didn't take long for everyone to get inside, the door quickly shutting behind them. Now it was just a matter of finding their friends.

"I'll check upstairs; Nick, you check in the basement; and you three can look on this floor," Sophie instructed quietly.

Assuming their tasks, the group split into three, keeping weapons at the ready. It didn't take long for the three on the main floor to come up empty handed. Having no where else to search, they returned to the stairs, shortly joined by Sophie.

"Looks like they're downstairs or they got away," Coach concluded.

Sophie nodded her agreement and moved to the door with the remaining three.

"Shouldn' Nick have found 'em by now?" Ellis enquired.

In the span of a second, the group heard a loud shattering sound, immediately followed by Nick's shouts.

"Are you fucking crazy?"

"Well, I guess they found him," Sophie chuckled.

Down at the bottom, the four found Nick on the floor, surrounded by bits of (it was assumed) a vase. Nick had been rubbing his head with a scowl with Chelsea and Brandon trying to hold back their laughter. Lillian didn't even attempt to hold it back, even as she tried to get out an apology.

"Well Nick. I'd say congratulations but..." Sophie trailed off into a muffled laugh.

"Ha, ha. Very funny," Nick muttered snidely. "You could have warned me she was going to throw something at me."

The blonde shrugged with one last chuckle. "If I had known, I would have told you."

Nick rolled his eyes at her comment and stood up, soon joined by everyone else.

"Might as well get straight to the point," Coach started. "What the hell we gon' do?"

Everyone fell silent at the man's statement. Only Sophie had the nerve to speak up.

"If you don't mind me bossing you guys around, I have a plan."

"Sounds good to me," Lillian piped in.

Under Sophie's orders, the team had split up to look through the building for items. First aid, painkillers, food, weapons, anything that could be of use to them. They had agreed that moving would be their best way of survival, and since they had time to get prepared, they took it.

"Ellis, if you don't mind, could you keep Cas company down here?" Sophie asked.

The hick dipped his head before turning to the girl beside him.

"I can still help out," she stated stubbornly. "Just tell me what needs to be done."

Sophie couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips. "Well, you've been demoted to child bearer, and it looks like you've already started working. Good job. Keep up the good work."

Leaving her utterly baffled friend, Sophie made her way upstairs to join the others.

"Yew could—well, maybe if—uhmm, what about—"

Cas threw her hand up to silence the hick. "Ellis, it's fine."

"Right... but I jus'..." He fumbled with his words as he moved in front of her. "I'm jus' worried. I don't want yew to get hurt."

Pushing back her evident agreement, she closed her eyes and rested against his chest. "You'll protect me, right?"

Ellis was slightly taken aback. "O—of course! A'int nothin' gonna touch yew."

A small smile formed on the girls lips. "Then everything will be okay."

After about an hour of preparing, the squad regrouped in the basement. Everyone was now equipped with some form of weapon along with a bag of other useful items.

"So, what this plan you've got goin', girl?"

FN: I know you guys are out there, so you might as well leave a little comment XP Anythings welcome, really.

I'm thinking about msging a bunch of people who left reviews for the first story, so don't be surprised if you find a msg in your inbox ^^