AN: Sorry for not updating sooner. My band had a gig yesterday and we opened up for The Agonist. It was soooo much fun XD Anyways, Soph isn't on msn... so I'm posting the unedited version... I'll fix it up later.

Left 4 Dead is property of Valve.

Happiness Is Not a Smoking Gun -4- Guns n' Smokers

Everyone's attention was once again put onto Sophie. There was a lot to take into consideration, but she knew that the end result would be the same.

"We're going to get through the city as carefully and quickly as possible," Sophie informed. "There will be a lot more infected in the area, so we'll need to stay close."

She glanced over the group, taking a quick look at their equipment. By the looks of it, they were pretty well off, but of course, there was always room for improvement.

"There should be a few useful stores on the way too. We would do well to stop by them," she added.

"Amen," Coach approved.

Now that they had reached the city, the safe rooms were closer together and a lot more frequent. It was a nice change for the group, but at the same time, it was because of the increased amount of infected.

"Shit man, we just got in an' look at 'em all," Ellis whined as they barricaded themselves in a safe room.

As soon as the first zombie had caught sight of the survivors, a horde had been on their tail nonstop. Considering all the zombies that the group had previously faced, it wasn't too difficult to get through them, but the limited space left the survivors with a few scrapes and bruises.

It didn't take long for them to regroup and patch up any wounds. Since nothing had been major, Cas volunteered as nurse for the time being. Sophie's instructions for her had been simple, disinfect and cover. It was an easy job, but it gave the girl a sense that she was actually helping out. That and she got to have fun with the alcohol swabs.

"Take it like a man," she ordered.

It was hard to keep a straight face as Ellis backed away from her hurriedly, putting his back to the wall. "But yew 'ready cleaned it."

Stopping in front of him, she put on a puppy dog pout. "But I don't want it to get infected."

With one look, the mechanic gave in and turned his cut cheek towards her.

"Boy, the lil'lady got'cha whipped too," Coach teased from his spot on the floor.

Sophie chuckled from her spot beside the man as she worked on his sore ankle.

"Hey, as long as the end result's there, it's worth it," Nick defended coolly.

The blonde shot him a disapproving look which he just smirked at.

"Man, Nick. Is'at all yew do it for?" Ellis questioned as a band aid was placed on his cheek.

Nick groaned at his question. "That's the last time I defend you, Overalls."

Once everyone was good to go, they moved out of the safe room. With the scent of blood mostly masked, it was easier for them to avoid the infected if they stayed to the side of the roads. They even had easy access to the different stores along the way.

"I didn't think zombie's cared about jewelry," Sophie commented, spotting a broken in store.

Noticing her gaze, Nick moved towards the retailer and carefully stepped over the broken glass. "It's about time."

"Not really," Cas countered, "there's zombies out here, remember?"

The group stopped momentarily as the conman searched through the shelves.

"Nick, get your ass out here; we have to keep moving," Sophie ordered in annoyance.

"Yeah, yeah. Just a se—finally!"

With his gun under one arm, Nick walked out of the building as he fumbled with something on his wrist.

"Nev'r knew yew was into that girl stuff, Nick," Ellis stated.

Nick sighed as he clasped the watch on. "It's a Rolex, Ellis. A Rolex. Not for women."

"A Role-lucks? Well yew could'a fooled me."

Cas patted the hick's back. "Rolex. It's a watch," she corrected, then turned to Nick. "And they make them for women too."

Nick huffed and turned to lead the group down the street. As they continued, they found it wasn't as necessary to stop in each safe room; just a few here and there. If anything, the current area was turning out to be the easiest distance to cover. Sure, there were a few zombies about, causing a small disturbance every once and a while, but all in all, it was a smooth walk. They were even able to stop at a grocery store of sorts. Seeing as it was in the middle of a busy city, it was more of a convenient store if anything, but the point was, there was food and they needed some.

After the short break, everyone packed their bags and moved on. They had started a brisk walk, only stopping on sight of a gun store. The front of the store had been completely untouched; the door was locked and the front windows were intact.

"This will most likely start an alarm," Sophie warned. "Good thing we're breaking into somewhere with more ammo."

She reached into her bag and pulled out some sort of small, metal contraption. The group could only assume it was a lock pick.

As expected, opening the front door had set off a blaring alarm, alerting all the infected in the area. The survivors didn't even have a second to breathe before they were surrounded.

"Keep your backs to the store," Coach bellowed.

The four mobile survivors formed a semi-circle around the vulnerable member of their team and started picking off zombie after zombie. Neither side was giving in.

"We gotta turn that alarm-" Ellis' sentence was cut short as a jockey jumped on him. "Get this thing off me!"

Nick, being the closest, sprinted after the hick as he was led to the middle of the street. At just a few feet away, Nick was hit from the side and carried a good ways down the road by a charger.

Sophie and Coach both exchanged worried looks. One of them would have to stay back and the other would have to go and save the incapacitated two.

"I'll be fine in here, both of you go help them," Cas instructed.

Both didn't like the idea of leaving the pregnant girl on her own, but they didn't have much of a choice. With a hesitant nod each, they both charged forward. Cas fully understood the faults in her plan, but with only one of them leaving to help, it would have been easy for a special infected to pick them off. At least this way, they had a chance.

Reloading her pistol, she backed up into the store, keeping a foot or two away from the door. This way, the infected could only come from one direction.

All had been going well for her, until her strategy was compromised. In the heat of the battle, Cas hadn't noticed the wheezing of a smoker behind her until a tongue wrapped around her neck and stomach. As quickly as she could, she brought her hands to each coil of the infected's tongue for breathing room. The loop around her waist was easy to sneak and arm into, but the one around her neck was too tight. Now she was in trouble.

"Now that's just offensive, what those little guys do," Ellis complained.

As soon as Sophie and Coach had the little infected off him, they started towards Nick.

"Boy, go help Cas. She's in the store," Coach ordered.

With minimal thought, he ran towards the store. If she was alone, he was going to get there as soon as possible, if not sooner.

"Cas?"

Upon entering the store, there had been no sight of the girl. Ellis felt his heart pound in his chest, only stopping at the sight of green smoke. In a panic, he rushed forward, his gun at the ready.

"Son of'a bitch!"

As soon as Ellis had the smoker in his sight, it had taken a bullet to the forehead, plus an aggravated kick when he was close enough.

"Cas, yew okay?" He asked hurriedly as he dropped to her side.

Instead of the response he had been expecting, she clutched onto his shirt weakly, a look of panic on her face. Confusion washed over his face. Wasn't she supposed to be gasping for air? Or coughing? Or something?

Ellis deadpanned as the girl's face didn't relax, instead, continuing to turn a deep purple colour.

"Wh-Wha-" His growing terror had left him flustered and not knowing what to do. He wasn't a doctor in the least. Plus, he didn't even know what was wrong.

"SOPHIE!"

It was the only thing he could do.

FN: Uh oh...how ever will I keep posting chapters if I die? :O And since I mentioned my band in the author's note... if anyone likes bands like Evanescence, or We Are the Fallen, or metal in general, check out my band on myspace, Embracing Soul. Lemme know what you think ^^